Flu vaccines or global warming?

[cptacek]

As for the vaccine, I think the problem was that it was hyped so much as a completely different flu. People are used to the regular flu vaccines being for 3 different strains for the year, but they expect the people who make the vaccines to have experience with doing that. But then, here comes H1N1! Completely different! Much deadlier! AAGH!!! So naturally, questions start popping up as to "did they do something different to get this vaccine? Are they rushing it? Do we know it is going to work? Will it make me sick?" I think hyping it so much has backfired.

[SoCoolGifts]

Great topic... Sadly the whole Global warming thing has been swept away in politics. It is good to try and save energy and people should want to do it. We should all want to be good stewards of our resources. Problem is it became political. The bigger problem is all the money and reputations tied up in it. Even with the scandal that seems to point to evidence being tampered with and that this whole warming thing is a hoax, I believe that the impact of humans on climate is not a significant factor in the temperature of the planet. I've know for years that no matter what model used by scientists they could never work it backward to accurately 'predict' what happened in the past...so how could they predict the future. The biggest flaw has always been the impact of the sun. When you can't accurately model the biggest energy source in the universe, simple logic dictates you probably don't have a handle on the problem. That does not preclude me from believing we should still conserve resources. I just don't want someone lying to me and telling me to do it.

What does this mean about flu vaccines? Again, I think this too has been impacted by politics. Right now, big pharmaceuticals, insurance companies, medicine in general are under attack and being portrayed as villains. So the logical undercurrent of this is that the flu vaccine is somehow bad or wrong. This type of political impact is cyclical and I think this is where we are right now. As for me, I have never had a flu vaccine and probably won't take one this time either.

[Snodog]

Vaccines are wonderful and have saved many lives, and my views on global warming depend on what day of the week you ask me.

No doubt it is getting warmer but I just don't know if humans are to blame and what if anything to do about it. I've studied all the charts/stats but I still can't determine what role humans play. It is I think unknowable and the scientists are just making educated guesses. Regardless it's still a good idea to take care of the planet.