SSS 2009-10-14

（单词翻译）

In the celebrity¹ vaccine² wars, I’m siding with actress Amanda Peet. And comedian³ Bill Maher, well, I like your show, but when it comes to vaccines⁴ you don’t know a punchline⁵ from a clothesline.

Maher recently tweeted to his Twitter followers⁶ “if u get a swine flu shot ur an idiot.” On his HBO program Real Time last week, Maher went head-to-head with former Senator Dr. Bill Frist, who patiently explained why vaccines were in fact good. But Maher wasn’t buying it. He advocates a healthy lifestyle over vaccines. But polio and smallpox⁷ outmatched many robust⁸ immune systems.

Actress Amanda Peet, meanwhile, has used her celebrity to encourage vaccinations⁹, specifically in response to the alleged¹⁰ vaccine-autism connection, for which there’s no scientific evidence, but which has some parents afraid of childhood vaccinations. In a letter to a parenting magazine, Peet wrote: “It’s irresponsible to suggest that virtually the entire medical community, and the CDC, and the American Academy of Pediatrics are behind a massive cover-up about vaccine safety.” See you in the line for the flu shot.

—Steve Mirsky