The ten prospects who just missed the top 100 column is up today. Over the previous three days, we posted my top ten prospects and full farm reports for all 30 teams (that’s the index page; Tampa Bay’s report is free), my ranking of the top 100 prospects in baseball, and my ranking of all thirty farm systems from best to worst.
I also answered a slew of questions about the lists in this week’s Klawchat.
I’ll have a January music update out in the next few days.
Now, this week’s links, heavy on vaccination stories because the country is finally waking up to what a threat these anti-vaxxers are:
- Anti-vaxxers are mad that everyone else thinks they’re stupid. Refusing to get your kid a tetanus shot after he cuts himself on a wire fence should be considered child abuse. And I’m all for schools refusing to let the unvaccinated come to class – they are a hazard to other children. It’s long past time to end all non-medical exemptions to vaccination.
- Some doctors are dropping patients who won’t vaccinate their kids. Those doctors are heroes. You should have confidence that your pediatrician’s waiting room is free of vaccine-preventable diseases, and those doctors should ensure their time goes to parents who actually listen to medical advice.
- Parents who oppose vaccinations refuse to listen to reason. The fact that they won’t listen to hard science in the face of a growing epidemic should tell you everything you need to know about their position.
- The White House wants more funding for research into fighting antibiotic-resistant bacteria. That’s great, but it would be much easier to ban prophylactic use of antibiotics in animal husbandry, which is a major cause – maybe the main cause – of said resistance in the first place.
- Beware the K-Cup Monster. Those devices are an environmental disaster and they make really crappy coffee.
“I’d rather you miss an entire semester than get that shot.” This woman is an absolute loon.
I’m on board with the idea that any parent who refuses to vaccinate their kids, unless there is a legitimate medical reason, is abusing said children.
I’m completely unfamiliar with chiropractic, but is there a reason why so many anti-vaxxers are chiropractors? That guy in AZ was married to a chiropractor, the lady in Marin County in that NYT article is married to a chiropractor… Are chiropractors, like, scientologists or something?
The father arguing with me on Twitter about vaccines, proud that he didn’t vaccinate his kids, is a chiropractor in Tennessee: http://schroderchiropractic.net/
The clown in Arizona isn’t a real cardiologist – he’s an osteopath. Both fields are closely tied to alternative (i.e., non-scientific) medicine. Lots of chiropractors claim they can treat or heal conditions unrelated to neuromuscular problems. It’s complete nonsense, of course, but that doesn’t stop them from touting this BS or even believing it themselves. Chiropractic treatment is great if you injure yourself, but I’d never give my business to any chiropractor who opposes vaccinations or claims that s/he can treat or cure unrelated conditions.
I’m not sure which is worse. A “doctor” who uses their title of as a doctor to spread this dangerous nonsense around or the reporter who publicizes it. There is no false balance with vaccinations, journalists don’t have to give these people any space in their articles.
This post is so great that I can almost forgive you for dropping the Phillies 11 slots on your club rankings. Especially the K-cup link – there’s tons of pro-vaccine people (though not enough), but few anti-K-cup warriors.
Personally, I have no problem with mandatory vaccines for all, since any loophole WILL be exploited. This is less of an imposition and will cost less lives than something we already do, namely forcing young men to go to war against their will…
The Anit-vaxxers really irritate me.Thank you Keith Law.
I was watching the story on the measles outbreak, and people STILL think vaccinating your kid can cause autism. It doesn’t, but getting the measles can sure KILL your kid!
Solution to the environmental issue: http://www.amazon.com/Keurig-K-Cup-Reusable-Coffee-Filter/dp/B000DLB2FI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1422721446&sr=8-2&keywords=refillable+k+cup&pebp=1422721451865&peasin=B000DLB2FI
Of course, I realized after I bought mine for the office that it doesn’t exactly fit in commercial models, but for home usage it’s quite effective.
I love Frontline on PBS. They covered antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and I recommend it to anyone looking for information on the subject. It’s another story about the power of special interest groups.
P.S. All Frontline docs are free online.
here’s a great way to see the magnitude of the problem. It’s every elementary school in California and their vaccination rates. Its not very comforting. https://public.tableausoftware.com/profile/daniel.tedford#!/vizhome/VaccinationRatesbySchool20150126_0/Dashboard1
the distinction between MDs and osteopathic doctors isn’t a very strong one anymore. The training is now basically the same now, though it may be true that more loons are drawn to the latter.
Keith, I’ve seen some complain on your Twitter feed that you should “stick to baseball. ” You have such a large following that you almost have an obligation to post about issues like vaccination since you reach so many people. Not that you would anyway, but please keep posting about medical and social issues. If you’re fortunate enough to reach a few people and influence their opinions, you’re making the world a better place.
A news segment here in the SF Bay Area had an anti vaxxer mom on that said of people in Marin County, “they are very liberal and well educated so if they’re not vaccinating their child, there must be a reason.”
First, it’s hilarious that she used “they” and not “we.” JHC, just own your lunacy.
Second, smart people do dumb things all the time because they think they know better, even in the face of smarter people with specific knowledge telling them they are dead wrong. When presented with the research debunking the autism link, an anti vaxxer simply responds, “well, I still don’t think it’s a good idea to put chemicals in my child’s body at such a young age.” Essentially this is the Jenny Mcarthy’s back tracking response. She doesn’t oppose vaccines (apparently her kids are vaccinated), but questions the schedule. Based on what?
Funny how you don’t see any of these dopes packing up and moving to Africa or South East Asia to live the full natural experience and not have to worry about all those suspicious western medicines and vaccines.
I have a friend who is by no means an antivaxxer but has decided to forgo the chickenpox vaccine because chickenpox ispretty innocuous with kids but can be quite bad with adults and the vaccine still hasn’t proven full efficacy longer than 10-15 years. Thoughts?
Ronaldo: Then your friend is a fucking idiot. Varicella kills a handful of people every year. It can cause sepsis, toxic shock syndrome, pneumonia, and group A strep infections. It can kill pregnant women and the immunocompromised. And if you get chicken pox, you’re more likely to get shingles as an adult, for which there is no vaccine until you’re 50. So tell your friend to stop being a selfish dick and get his kid(s) vaccinated for varicella.
Hey Keith, Huge admirer and regular reader of The Dish, as well as your regular ESPN columns. I am a devoted Mets fan, one amongst many who are sickened by ownership’s tight wallet, yet who keep dreaming that some sort of trade is made from our surplus of arms for another bat, whether it’s SS or another OF/1B type.
Forgive me if this is not the place, but I thought I’d ask you here since it is after all your wrap-up of your week’s ESPN columns, and I don’t have the time for the Chats. I was surprised to see that Marcos Molina didn’t make the top ten of the Mets system, nor did he even make the top sixteen, once you fill in all the other prospects you mention in the column. I could have sworn that you wrote something on him during the season when he had that amazing second half run, although I read a bunch of different articles on him. Do you think he’s overrated? #17 on the list? Did you accidentally overlook him? (you gotta do that once in a while, right?)
James: He’s just not that great a prospect. I wrote about him in June.
Yeah good point. Her concerns aren’t entirely unfounded (i.e., if the vaccine does wear off we could be looking at mortality and complication rates much higher than pre-vax stats since infections will occur more predominantly in adults) but it’s not like toddlers getting chickenpox is consequence-free and when in doubt I agree with you that we should put our trust in the public health experts.
She also thinks GMO is the scourge of the planet fwiw.
She sounds like a big fan of the appeal to nature fallacy.
No just an unhealthy skeptic. She thinks that with google she can come to a better conclusion than people who have devoted their lives to a subject. Her kids have gotten most of the “major” vaccines (MMR, etc) because after hundreds of hours of research she was convinced (thank God), but she’s terrifiied of the consequences of GMO and is weirdly skeptical of AGW despite being a pretty avid environmentalist.
Why is your friend a skeptic of Agnew Airport in Queensland, Australia? That is weird …
Mookie, as a Queenslander myself, I’m not convinced anything north of Cape Tribulation exists.
the article doesn’t mention one of the worst things about k-cups – when you heat plastic, it starts to break down at a molecular level and leaches into whatever food or beverage it contains, in this case your coffee. so you are quite literally drinking plastic molecules!
whenever i drink keurig coffee i get sick with food poisoning symptoms.