Microcephaly: babies born with smaller heads and brain impairment.
Heard of it? Of course you have. Towering experts are saying it's
caused by the Zika virus in Brazil.
They don't know how. They don't know why. But they're saying it over and over like trained parrots.
They're saying that, somehow, this virus, which for at least 60 years
was causing only mild illness, is now at the heart of all these new
cases of microcephaly.
Really?
Then why are there 25,000 cases of microcephaly in the US every year?
For science bloggers who live in mommy's basement and love the
statements of the experts, try this. I'll give you the full citation.
Ready?
"Practice Parameter: Evaluation of the child with microcephaly (an evidence-based review)";
Neurology 2009 Sep 15; 73(11) 887-897; Report of the Quality Standards
Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology and the Practice
Committee of the Child Neurology Society.
Here's the money quote:
"Microcephaly may result from any insult that disturbs early brain
growth...Annually, approximately 25,000 infants in the United States
will be diagnosed with microcephaly..."
Bang.
Let me take apart that quote. Microcephaly can result from
any early insult to the brain.
Any.
That could mean a highly toxic pesticide, for example. It could mean
severe and prolonged malnutrition of the mother. It could mean a toxic
substance injected into the mother---a street drug or a vaccine. It
could mean a physical blow. It could mean a mother's chronic high
fever. And so on.
Moving on: 25,000 cases, not just once, but every year in the US, means
what? Christopher Columbus actually brought the Zika virus to America
in 1492, and it lay dormant for a very long time and then, in the modern
age, exploded on the scene in the US?
No. 25,000 cases a year in the US means we're being treated to an unsupported major bullshit story right now.
That's what it means.
In a previous article on Zika, I laid out my top six causes for
microcephaly in Brazil. None of them was the virus. I cited a study
that revealed a link between the pesticide atrazine and microcephaly.
Then there is Roundup. In another previous piece, I cited a study
linking that herbicide to microcephaly. Etc., etc.
If you carefully read stories in the mainstream press these days, you'll
notice that even there the Zika hypothesis is shaky, to say the least.
Here's a sprinkle:
Start with a paragraph buried in a Reuters story headlined,
"Race for Zika vaccine gathers momentum as virus spreads":
"Zika had been viewed as a relatively mild illness until Brazilian
health officials identified it as a matter of concern for pregnant
women. While a direct causal relationship has not been established,
scientists strongly suspect a link between Zika and thousands of
children born in Brazil with abnormally small heads, brain defects and
impaired vision."
No causal relationship established. Scientists strongly suspect. Well,
that does it. That seals the deal. I strongly suspect ants eating
brown pears will enable them to pilot spaceships to the rim of the Milky
Way.
Here is a piece from Quartz (qz.com) titled,
"That 'baby-brain-shrinking virus' has made it to the US":
"The real worry, as Brazil's health ministry has been warning its
citizens, is the suspicion-as yet unproven-that women who catch Zika may
give birth to children with microcephaly, a neurological disorder that
gives them abnormally small brains."
Suspicion. As yet unproven.
The article continues:
"A 2007 [Zika] outbreak on Yap Islands in Micronesia is estimated to
have affected nearly 75% of the population of some 12,000 people, and a
2013 outbreak in French Polynesia affected nearly 28,000 of 270,000
residents. Neither epidemic caused a spike in microcephaly [small baby
heads, brain damage]."
Who cares? Just assert Zika is the cause of microcephaly. Just say it
is. That's enough, isn't it? Oranges cause cancer. Gluten-free bread
causes polio.
The BBC, January 28,
"Zika virus: Up to four million Zika cases predicted":
"...there has been a steep rise in levels of microcephaly - babies
born with abnormally small heads - and the rare nervous system disorder
Guillain-Barre syndrome. The link between the virus and these disorders
has not been confirmed, but Dr. Chan [Director General of the World
Health Organization] said it was 'strongly suspected' and was 'deeply
alarming'."
I may strongly suspect something and then be deeply alarmed by it, but
I'm not going to call it science. Dr. Chan follows a different path.
Well, she's a General. That confers certain privileges, doesn't it?
Troops, maps, GPS satellites, UN dollars.
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