No offense to Texans…
Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday said he won’t veto a bill that would block state officials from following his order that all sixth-grade girls be vaccinated against a virus that causes cervical cancer.
The Republican governor accused the state legislators of politicizing the debate over his February executive order that required vaccinations against the human papillomavirus vaccine for girls starting in September 2008.
However, he acknowledged the Legislature’s overwhelming disdain for his program and said he will allow the bill to become law without his signature.
“It is time to move this issue from the political arena to the court of public opinion where real lives are at stake,” Perry said. […]
The vaccine protects girls and women against strains of the sexually transmitted virus that cause most cases of cervical cancer and genital warts. Merck & Co.’s Gardasil is the only HPV vaccine on the market.
Republican Rep. Dennis Bonnen bristled at the governor’s criticism of his bill.
“We should not and are now not going to offer the 165,000 11-year-olds in Texas up to be the study group for Merck to find out what the implications of this vaccine would be for these girls,” he said.
Uh, yeah right. It’s about the boinking, guys. You think giving girls the vaccine will encourage boinking. Just admit it. Creeps.
This pisses me off.
First of all,how many parents actually sit their kids down and tell them what exactly they get shots for in the first place? I have two kids,and I don’t ever recall having any deep discussions about vaccines. Also,this is about the age that kids have to get MMR boosters and other booster shots anyway,for entry into middle school,so wtf is the problem with including this in with those other (mandatory for public school attendance-unless you get a waiver)shots?
It’s not just about the boinking,it’s about punishing the boinking. It’s ALWAYS about punishment,spite,and being just generally mean and nasty with these fucking pricks.
Ahh, more enlightenment from the American Taliban. I’m really begining to understant their platform. Girls should be allowed to get an utterly avoidble desiease if they have sex. That’ll teach ’em. Devine retribution. Strikes me as similar to the girls that died in that Pakistani school fire because they weren’t dressed “properly” to run outside.
It’s a crime to abort a fetus consisting of 12,000 cells, but there’s nothing wrong with taking a million lives in five years of war. Buggeryfuck, if the wingnuts personal philosophy wasn’t informed by a silly 1400 year old storybook, the fact of their mental derangement would be obvious for all to see.
It just keeps getting more and more obvious. The only difference between the wingnuts and jihadis, between Mullah Omar and James Dobson is the name of the deity and the name of the book.
I’m begining to be convinced. Taken together, they ARE an existential threat…
mikey
Pakistani school fire
Saudi.
Besides, who’d want to boink an 11-year-old unless she’s been vaccinated? 😉
Besides, who’d want to boink an 11-year-old unless she’s been vaccinated? 😉
I dunno, who?
And right afterwards, half the Texas State Legislature headed off to the local cat house. The other half made preparations for Sunday morning services, followed by heading off to the local cat house.
Buggeryfuck
I really like that word. I like to read it, I like to say it. It’s at once Edwardian and neovulgarian. Whose is it? I’m thinking I first read it from Qetesh, or maybe Ganesh. Mehitabel? For some reason I’m getting a feline vibe here, but I may be guilty of false attribution, in which case: buggeryfuck.
I either stole it from you or Herr Doktor. It is a wonderful bit of syntax…
mikey
I notice the state of Texas requires students in grades K through 12 to be vaccinated against Hepatitis B (pdf). This disease, as you all know, is transmitted when an infected person’s blood enters the body of an uninfected person . Should I assume the vaccine is required because the state of Texas assumes that incoming kindergarteners are having unprotected sex, shooting H with shared needles, or both?
Guv Perry’s former chief of staff is now a Merck lobbyist. Perhaps Perry would like to become a Merck lobbyist.
Credit goes to Qetesh for Buggeryfuck, I think. Damned good word. In my Will & Testament, I am going to provide my family with a list of suitable epitaphs, and Buggeryfuck! will be near the top.
#1 on the list will be “He was always such a quiet neighbour, polite, didn’t say much…”
This is one of those times that my libertarian streak comes out. Don’t force anyone to give their kids the shots. Just make them available, for free, to anyone who asks for them, regardless of age or ability to pay.
People who love their children will get them the shots. People who don’t will continue to quote chapter and verse as to why they don’t care if their daughters die.
Everyone knows vaccinations are bad. That’s why dogs, cats, cattle, horses, and hogs never get any vaccinations in Texas, either.
In Texas, if Teh Jeebus doesn’t want you to get rabies, then you won’t.
I’m never going to Texas.
Buggeryfuck
It’s a lovely portmanteau word, but I didn’t coin it. I think it was Qetesh.
Some cats have better things to do than make up clever words.
*goes back to staring vacantly out of the window*
your state sucks
DON’T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT?!?
Anyway, it does encourage boinking. I have it from an unimpeachable source.
And parents who want to have their children vaccinated but can’t afford it, will be SOL because the vaccine, no longer being required, is not covered under medical insurance. If they have it. That is the result of failing to make it required–since those who object can simply “opt out.”
Oh, you meant the lege would provide it a a free benefit. Good one.
March 1, 2007, at 3:27. Qetesh the Abyssinian introduces “buggeryfuck” into the Sadly, No! lexicon. All concur that this was and continues to be a very Good Thing.
Between 1) the misogynist godbags who would rather females die of cervical cancer than possibly have one less thing to worry about if they have sex, and 2) the pharmaceutical corporoscum using females, as usual (in this case, children) as guinea pigs for their latest moneymaker—I do declare, what’s a girl to do! Well, it’ll ultimately be whatever the corporo-godbag patriarchy decides, that’s fer sure.
This is a way complex issue, and most people can’t handle complex. I would refer anyone who wants to peel away the many layers of a government-mandated, cancer-preventing-but-sex-related vaccine for girls to this article. It’s based on an interview with the researcher who dedicated 20 years of her life to helping to develop the vaccine, so she has a few clues as to what she’s talking about.
Heaven (or whatever) help us all when big pharma, the government, and the godbags decide they need to meddle in anything having to do with female sexuality.
“He was always such a quiet neighbour, polite, didn’t say much…�
This one not being available to me, I’ll have to stick with Buggeryfuck.
Heaven (or whatever) help us all when big pharma, the government, and the godbags decide they need to meddle in anything having to do with female sexuality.
It is WAY beyond me, and will regularly generate sputtering rage, how ANYBODY outside of the two intimates thinks they have the right (or worse – the responsibility) to determine how a woman deals with matters reproductive. That in itself is a hubris beyond understanding…
mikey
March 1, 2007, at 3:27. Qetesh the Abyssinian introduces “buggeryfuck� into the Sadly, No! lexicon.
I’m simply gratified, and somewhat amazed, that my first bleary recollection turned out to be accurate, what with all the (thoroughly defensible) self-medication and all.
Strikes me as similar to the girls that died in that Pakistani school fire because they weren’t dressed “properly� to run outside.
If you’re thinking of this incident, it was our dear, dear friends the Saudis:
One witness said he saw three policemen “beating young girls to prevent them from leaving the school because they were not wearing the abaya”.
The Saudi Gazette quoted witnesses as saying that the police – known as the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice – had stopped men who tried to help the girls and warned “it is a sinful to approach them”.
Follow up story:
But Interior Minister Prince Nayef last week denied the charges, saying that two members of the police force had gone to the scene of the fire to prevent “mistreatment” of the girls.
Thanks for reminding me, Dorothy, of how much more the reichwingers in the U.S. and the nutjubs in the Mid East have in common than either care to admit.
Fuggerybuck.
I don’t think I have the hang of this yet.
Those texas legislators, howsomever, need to contract a violent case of rectal cancer. Bungholes.
People who love their children will get them the shots. People who don’t will continue to quote chapter and verse as to why they don’t care if their daughters die.
Alas, those girls didn’t choose their parents. This is an argument that always gets up my hooter. It was used a lot here as justification for why the gubmint should give money to private schools: “because we want to be able to provide the best education for our kids”. So, the ones who can afford the best buy it for their kids. The ones who care provide the best for their kids.
And the ones who don’t care, well, their kids suffer that little bit extra. Great. Why should it be about what the parents want?
And yes, I proudly claim my coinage of the word ‘buggeryfuck’, and I love the designation as ‘Edwardian and neovulgarian’. Y’all feel free to use it in memory of me.
All because sodding Ganesh beat me to the ‘staring out of the window’ concession…
Re. the article. MzNicky linked.
“The only way to test for the presence of HPV is through a vaginal swab – which is inappropriate for young girls, she said.”
Why?
I know they don’t give pap smears to chicks under 21 unless they’ve been sexual active, and I seem to remember hearing that part of that reason is because speculums can damage the vagina in virgins, but that sounds like BS to me.
“Harper feels that too many girls and women who have had the vaccine will develop a false sense of security, believing they are immune to cancer when they are not, and failing to continue with their annual Pap exams, are crucial to diagnosing dysplasia before it can develop into cancer.”
If only there was some way, some HOW, to make sure they’re informed that this isn’t the case… but how?
I can see her point if it’s not fully tested yet, though. My immediate thought on that, though, is that, if it’s not mandatory, insurances are mostly likely not going to cover it. If it’s not covered, only middle-class and up woman are going to get it. And when that happens, your test results are going to be skewed, anyways.
Seven years ago, as a True Texan, after reading that my state sucked, I would have cowboy’d up and opened a can of whoop ass.
But birthing the likes of Bush and DeLay and too many more to count, I can’t disagree with you sir.
Although my fair city, Austin, was home to the late-great Miss Molly, Willien Nelson and Jim Hightower, so it’s just the areas directly outside of Austin but including the Capital.
Guv Perry’s former chief of staff is now a Merck lobbyist. Perhaps Perry would like to become a Merck lobbyist.
I’ve often said that when it comes down to religion vs. riches, the GOP elite will dump their “family values” supporters and pretend they never met those fundies. Sure, the fundies are great for votes, but we all know it’s just a fling: corporate money is the GOP’s true love.
It’s a pretty sad state of affairs when the only thing saving us from a fundamentalist theocracy is greed.
Rick Perry said,
May 9, 2007 at 1:54
Guv Perry’s former chief of staff is now a Merck lobbyist. Perhaps Perry would like to become a Merck lobbyist.
__________
I was wondering why Rick “Good Hair” Perry was fighting on the side of the angels in promoting the shots in teh first place. Rick Perry’s comment above explains it nicely. Jeesh… Venal bastard. It’s always about the money.
Dorothy beat me to it…
The weird thing, Dorothy, and I really don’t understand how they managed it, but they somehow convinced religion and riches that they were part and parcel of some unrecognizable ideology they still call conservative. I’d direct you to Thomas Frank for additional details.
But as long as they can create this illusion of a unified electorate around abortion, race and sexuality, they are a serious menace. Any progress toward the dissolution of this unholy alliance will be welcome…
mikey
Look, you fancy coastal elites, you have no reason to hate Texas until you are born, raised and enter middle age here. Then, and only then, can you grow to hate Texas as much as I do.[*]
[*]Love it too, but the love is a constant while the hate accumulates.
P.S. Rick Perry makes Chimpy look like Jed Bartlet.
Oops, I forgot to close the italics.
Sorry.
Ooh, dig the WordPress close-the-italics-tag-for-me magic!
In Texas’ defense, it also gives us the never-ending joy of watching Kinky Friedman try to build a political career. I don’t care who you are, that’s funny right there…
Oh, yes, and kissmybigbluebutt.com (formerly, Juanita’s- the World’s Most Dangerous Beauty Salon Inc., which is always a hoot.
Critters ca
I believe she may have coined the term “congressvarmint,” which I find much more appropriate than “congresscritter.” (Critters are just any wild animal. Varmints are annoying pests.)
Shorter religio-wingnuts: “Sex is for making babies and it makes your body ugly afterwards and let’s not talk about it.”
(Of course that only applies to the ladies, men have certain, shall we say, urges that must be dealt with…)
mikey: I really don’t understand how they managed it, but they somehow convinced religion and riches that they were part and parcel of some unrecognizable ideology they still call conservative.
Asshole authoritarians, freaky Dominionists, greedy neo-Robber Barons, selfish Glibertarians:all very different animals united by their hatred and disdain for various aspects of liberalism. Its works (or worked) because the Repubs are smart enough to make sure that the promises made to each group are seldom heard by the others and the leaders in each group strive to keep their guns trained on Teh Evil Libruls.
The good news for America is that, now that their choke-hold on power is gone, the blaming and internecine warfare will start as each group tries to figure out how it all went wrong and vies for the mantle of True Conservative.
Sorry to be late to the party. J– Hep B is not only a sexually/IV drug transmitted disease. If itwere, it wouldn’t be ravaging southern Asia right now. It is spread like HIV, it’s true (bodily fluids) but is several orders of magnitude more contagious than HIV.
You can spread it by sharing earrings. True. Cases are documented. More than a few.
I’m very, very much in favor of mandatory Hep B immunization. The only argument for making human papillomavirus immunization mandatory is that it’s the only way to force scum-sucking subhuman parasitic insurers to pay for it, as randomfactor and Some Guy have pointed out. Until we get national health…
You know, when I heard that Governor Hair was pushing for HPV vaccinations I thought to myself – “there has to be a catch. This sounds too much like a good idea for Perry to follow through.” I was right. The catch is Perry is full of fucking shit. Fuck him. “the court of public opinion” is a bunch of hick good ole boy Texas state congressman who couldn’t find their ass with a bluetick coonhound. Disgusting.
Yeah, I grew up here.
Yep, vile shenanigans this session. Big items of interest are the voter suppression bills, and since HB 218 passed the House, the only thing keeping it from passing is democratic senator Gallegos, who is recovering from a liver transplant and has been out most session. With all democrats on the floor they have enough votes to prevent the bill from coming up for senate debate, where it will pass, so he’s coming in heroically half dead everyday, weak and staggering, laying his head on the desk just to keep the bill from coming up while the wingnuts pray for him to keel over and die so they can disenfranchise 2 million elderly and disabled Texans. He’s got 3 weeks to go, we’re on pins and needles hoping his health holds up.
Those texas legislators, howsomever, need to contract a violent case of rectal cancer.
You know HPV causes anal warts and carcinoma as well, eh? It is true. Also penis carcinoma. On the tip.
Some Guy: First of all, congratulations on actually reading the article I linked. I mean, I guess you sort of read it. I can’t imagine why Dr. Harper would have any reason to indulge in “BS” concerning the anti-cancer vaccine she helped develop and therefore, one might assume, would be at least as eager as anyone else to see widely distributed.
“If only there was some way, some HOW, to make sure they’re informed that this isn’t the case… but how?”
(Yeah, that’s such a cute funny piece o’ snark, why not run it into the ground?) Again, this is a complex subject (apparently, too complex to be discussed in this venue). You think a thorough review of what the vaccine can and can’t do is going to be relayed to every girl at every public-health facility, private doctor’s office, or women’s clinic in the country? Or that, even if thoroughly explained, the advised parent, let alone the advised girl, would comprehend, remember, and be able to intelligently parse the information? What planet did you say you were from?
Regarding the use of the speculum and/or a vaginal swab on young girls—excuse me, “chicks”: Perhaps this is a subject best left to discussion by people who are more experienced in such matters and thus know what they’re talking about. This would exclude you.
Finally, your tiresome generalization that “only middle-class women” would end up getting the vaccine and “skew the results” shows an appalling lack of concern for the whole issue, at the very least. Hey, I know: Why don’t you just stick to the discussion about how stupid the state of Texas is.
As a Texan, I would like to personally apologize for the tenure of Gov. “I’ll have 100% of the authority” Goodhair and the Goopers in the Texas Legislature. They’re the reason that Molly Ivins (Koresh> rest her soul) called the Lege “The National Laboratory for Bad Government.” Amanda, myself and other Texas liberal bloggers are working on changing that, but – quite frankly, we need help!
Even if this would encourage sex, it’s better to have a girl who’s promiscuous at 15 than a woman who’s dead at 40.
Given how much the current GOP has gutted the regulatory powers of the FDA, I think it is a good idea to take it slow with new mandatory vaccines.
DocAmazing,
Also a recent case of dental-to-dental pt. transmission through, as far as they can gather, SURFACES (chair, table). I understand it is viable for a considerable length of time (for viruses) under ambient conditions.
anangryoldbroad
I agree. What really irks me is the “religious convictions” exemption which allows non-immunized students into schools (at least in this state). Consequence: at this university, only last week, three cases of the measels. Source: student who had traveled abroad was also someone who had not received an MMR…for religious reasons. (Don’t know what the deal was with the other two).
Spirula–
Yeah, and now the poor kid that’s got the hepatootis has got a one-in-three chance of hepatocellular carcinoma, if I remember my stats right from med school. Nothin’ like cancer to keep those with religious convictions happy…
Well it ain’t just Texas — there are 30 or so other states that haven’t introduced the vaccine so you can probably spare some spittle for someone closer to home. And you haven’t got the excuse of Rick “Database” Perry.
err….measles
“Paging preview button!”
You can spread it by sharing earrings.
Yes, as well as toothbrushes, razor blades, and bites. My point was not to call into question the wisdom of the required Hepatitis B vaccine, but rather to note that for those moralizing Texans, in and out of the legislature, who oppose the required HPV vaccine because of their assumption about the message or messages it would send regarding girls’ sexual activity, there already exists a law on the books that could be taken as reflecting a similar assumption about children’s potential involvement in this and another disreputable activity (intravenous drug use).
I am a native Texan, and I take offense to your insult against my state and …. NAH, just kidding, you’re totally right – our state does suck.
The 2006 elections showed some promise in moving things in the right (left) direction, but it will be a long time before these Jeebus creeps loosen their stranglehold. How about some love for those of us who slog it out down here with these backwards ass morons?
The Vaccine was a Bad idea… Perry just wanted to pimp Merck on this one. I’m a father of Two daughters in Texas, btw.
There’s a lot to this story- and Perry isn’t some unsung hero trying to save little girls.
Here’s the full story
http://houserisingsons.blogspot.com/2007/02/gov-perry-issues-special-vaccination.html
Jesus, Fade, that’s some powerful stuff. Let’s take it apart, piece by piece.
I’m no fan of Merck, and they’re definitely tryin’ to get paid on this one, but here’s the problem: unless the vaccine is required, the scumbag parasite insurance companies won’t cover it. That’s when that $360 rears its head. Now everybody’s hosed.
It’s not required of boys–yet. The plan is to finish the studies on boys, then approve it for them, as well. Once approved for use…
Human papilloma virus is nastier than polio–it causes cervical cancer, which is one of the leading causes of cancer death among women. Let me repeat that: this vaccine would effectively prevent a major cause of cancer deaths in women.
Dakota Voice references an opinion by the American College of Pediatrics. I’ve never heard of them; I’m a Fellow of the American *Academy* of Pediatrics, which supports the use of this vaccine. You could look it up at aap.org.
As a pediatrician, I would recommend that your two Texan daughters get this immunization once they’re older than nine years of age. Of course, you’re the parent; do as thou wilt.
I’ve no love for Rick Perry, nor for forcing people into things, but I do think that this vaccine is a very good idea, and I do know that the disgusting fucks that run insurance companies won’t pay for it unless it’s compulsory.
Okay, I just looked at the American College of Pediatrics website. They’re a Jesus-freak response to the (legitimate) American Academy of Pediatrics that exists so that the few pediatician-wingnuts can “officially” oppose Heather Has Two Mommies, while the real researchers and clinicians at the AAP recognize that families come in all types.
Sorry, Fade, you been played.
That American College of Pediatrics web page has a lot of quality right-wing kookery. The “Resource Links” section is revealing, like a wingut’s blogroll. Go to “Marriage” and there’s a link to Focus on the Family. Go to “Parenting” and there’s a link to Focus on the Family’s Focus on Your Child. Go to “Movies and Media” and there’s a link to Michael Medved Movie Reviews.
DocAmazing,
I agree with you 100%. I’m glad my daughter is getting her series.
I never underestimate the effort by conservative christians to generate (deceptively named) pseudo-authority organizations. Just look at The Discovery Institute. Wish I could call that irony, but they chose that word for a very propagandistic reason.
Fortunately, I left that belief system years ago.
Okay- It protects for five years. It’s recommend for 11-12 year olds that havent had sex yet. It only protects for FIVE YEARS, (again). It prevents only 2 of 10 different strains of HPV.
So- If my daughters have sex between the age of 12-17 it will protect them from 1/5 of the HPV out there. This new drug has only been tested on a limited # of women, and the results are only 4 years old. And after age 18, the drug is useless. It has no duration beyond this point.
So, you want to make your daughters take an experimental drug that only protects them until they are 17? Uh. No thanks. I’ll pass. But if Perry gets his way, I WON”T BE ABLE TO. You cannot register your kids for school if they don’t have their vaccinnations in Texas.
This drug is no panacea. It’s possible risks FAR outweigh preventing my daughters from getting HPV in the time frame of 12 to 17 years of age.
And you know what? If more information comes out, I can change my mind and allow them to get the vaccine. I like it better that way than being forced to use my daughters as guinea pigs for a drug that hasn’t been fully tested, in my opinion.
Okay, Right wing kookery noted. But even so, upon re-reading the article itself (only one of several linked to my post) the information is still solid – HPV, although dangerous, is in no way,form or fashion communicable on a level that needs to be addressed by state-mandated vaccine).
Does Cancer.org have a right wing bent too? I KNOW Merck does.
Fade–
*One* dose protects for five years. It’s a three-dose series. After the third dose, the protection lasts longer than they’ve been able to test for it. That’s called the “boosting effect”. If you’re going to be deliberately obtuse, do it less obviously, ‘k?
The state mandate for the vaccine, as has been previously noted ad nauseum, is to force scumbag insurers to pay for it. Find another revenue source, or pass some tough laws regulating medical insurers, and we won’t have a problem with mandating the vaccine.
“After the third dose, the protection lasts longer than they’ve been able to test for it.”
Sorry that your acuteness isn’t cuter. Sorry that I don’t trust Big pharma for test results they DON’T HAVE.
‘k?