rfmcdonald | [LINK] "The Anti-Vaxxers Are Spreading Ebola Conspiracy Theories" (Reply)

Jesus fucking Christ. What the hell, people? What the hell. From io9's Mark Strauss:

The anti-vaccination movement sees itself fighting against the shadowy forces of the CDC, Big Pharma, the media and their "lies" about immunization. And now, with the Ebola outbreak, they've cranked their crazy-meter up to 11, declaring the disease to be everything from an autism cover-up to a complete fraud.

I'm something of a connoisseur of conspiracy theories. Every time there's a major world event, I play my own version of the Kevin Bacon Game and try to see how many steps it will take for people to draw a connection between Russia's annexation of Crimea and the faked Apollo Moon landing. (Bonus points if either extraterrestrials or the Freemasons are involved.)

But, rummaging through the anti-vaxxer websites gets downright creepy, given that there's already enough misinformation and panic about Ebola—and it adds yet another layer of ugliness to the psyche of people who embrace junk science at the expense of children's health.
U.S. Emergency Rooms Are Bracing For An Ebola Panic

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As with all conspiracy theorists, the anti-vaxxer crowd is all about the "strange coincidences" of the Ebola outbreak. Thus, the tragically misnamed site, Child Health Safety, noted that the disease became big news at around the time that discredited CDC whistleblowers were preparing to make a statement about autism.