PAGE A4, KEIZERTIMES, SEPTEMBER 4, 2015
KeizerOpinion
KEIZERTIMES.COM
Yes to childhood My 2016 dream: Biden vs. Kasich
vaccinations
gene h.
By JULIANNE BROCK,
protects against more
FNP-C
than a dozen potentially
As a family nurse practi-
life threatening diseases,
tioner, I get many questions
which are preventable
from parents about whether
with immunizations.
to vaccinate their infant or
Immunizing indi-
child.
vidual children also
While I understand their
helps protect the com-
concerns, my overwhelm-
munity from the spread
ing answer is yes. It’s also
of highly contagious
important to understand the
diseases such as measles.
recent law changes effective
Vaccinating your chil-
next February regarding re-
dren is an important
ligious exemptions (noted
conversation to have
at the end of this article).
with your child’s medi-
Many myths and non-
cal provider and ev-
evidence-based statements
ery parent should feel
have circulated around
comfortable to share
Julianne Brock
childhood vaccinations in
concerns or questions
the last two decades. The
about immunizations.
most common is that childhood
Parents should also prepare for a
vaccinations can cause autism.
new law if they choose to opt out
The scientifi c community doesn’t of immunizations because of non-
fully understand how and why au- medical reasons. It takes effect on
tism develops in certain children. Feb. 17, 2016.
What we do know is that numerous
Religious exemptions submitted
peer-reviewed scientifi c studies have prior to March 1, 2014 are no longer
shown no link between vaccina- valid. Parents choosing a non-med-
tions and autism. In fact, the Centers ical exemption will be required to
for Disease Control and Prevention submit a document showing either:
(CDC) published a study in 2013
A signature from a health care prac-
supporting the fact that childhood titioner verifying discussion of the
vaccinations do not cause autism.
risks and benefi ts of immunization; or
As a parent, I understand the need A
certifi cate
of
completion
to protect your children from harm of an interactive online edu-
and/or permanent disabilities; how- cational video about the risks
ever, vaccinations are not the source and benefi ts of immunization.
of this.
Parents are also required to turn in
Another follow-up question I’m documentation of immunizations by
often asked: “What about the addi- this date.
tives that are in vaccinations? Don’t
Your child’s school will have all
those cause health problems?” This the information you need; or you
is a great question, and it refers to can review the law, Senate Bill 895,
the fact that prior to 2002, several online.
vaccinations contained the mercury-
My recommended resources for
based preservative, thimerosal.
parents regarding childhood vacci-
This preservative is no longer nations:
used in childhood vaccinations, ex-
Centers for Disease Control:
cept for some multi-dose vials of in- www.cdc.gov/vaccines/parents/
fl uenza—also, science has shown no American
Academy
of
Pe-
correlation between thimerosal and diatrics:
www.aap.org
autism.
Healthy Children: www.healthychil-
I hope this education provides dren.org
(Julianne Brock, FNP-C, is a cer-
some guidance for parents as they
make one of the most important de- tifi ed family nurse practitioner with
cisions for their children. The cur- Willamette Health Partners Family
Medicine clinic in Keizer.)
rent childhood vaccination schedule
guest
column
Gun violence
To the Editor:
It was just a few hours after the
tragic shooting of the journalist
and cameraman in Virginia before
the Democratic progressive liberal
governor of that state blamed gun
violence for the crime. That was
followed shortly afterwards by the
Democratic progressive liberal for-
mer secretary of state and the cur-
rent president’s press secretary with
the same comments. Their mission
is to blame the possession of guns
for the crime instead of the men-
tally unstable humans. These are the
same humans who have killed each
other with stones and wood since
the days of the cave people.
It is not the guns, it’s the knives;
knife violence. These are the same
knives that have beheaded people
in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. The
very same knives that have threat-
en people all over the world with
beheadings—including here in the
United States. It is not the crazed
murderous Is-
lamic terrorists.
We have to get
those knives out
of their hands
and do back-
ground checks
on them. That will solve the prob-
lem. No, it is humans who kill peo-
ple with sticks, stones, vehicles, poi-
son, arrows, spears, bats and shovels.
Democratic progressive liberals
must think the people of the United
States are stupid.
Could it be a civilization enter-
tained by violence from childhood
by murderous graphic game vio-
lence, or the daily shoot ‘em up cop
shows or demolition movies with
carnage beyond belief? A society
entertained by violence but then
demoralized by real life tragedies.
Such hypocrisy! Yeah, it is the guns.
It’s the knives.
John P. Rizzo
Keizer
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The other morning I was wonder-
ing what headlines I would most like
to read while munching my granola,
I imagined these as high on my list
of most desirables: (1) Jeb moves to
Mexico; (2) Hillary wants only grand-
motherhood; (3) Trump is commit-
ted; and (4) Congress approves Iran
deal, avoids another war. Impossible
you say; nevertheless, they seem like
dreams worth dreaming.
But why would I want any of
these headlines to be true? I view
both Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton
weak and indecisive as a president. A
good feeling is not what I’d feel hav-
ing either one of them win the White
House. First and foremost, I do not
believe either really wants the job.
To me, Jeb’s being strongly encour-
aged to run because a huge number
of wealthy interests in this country
want him as Commander-in-Chief so
that they, as during his brother’s and
father’s terms, have all the doors of our
government open to them to do as
they please and, obviously, make tril-
lions more dollars by running amuck
throughout the land. Like George the
First and George II, they manage to
do nothing to help or protect ordinary
Americans who depend nowadays on
the federal government for their very
survival. Further, there’s no fi re in
Jeb’s belly as is obvious by the lacklus-
ter, ho-hum appearances he has made
on the “stump.” I think to myself,
“That guy’s bored and he bores me.”
Of course, he wants all the pomp and
pageantry of the presidency while the
Bush family would relish more wealth
and power that comes with holding
the most powerful political job in the
world again along with personal pos-
session of the White House.
Hillary Clinton and her hubby
just love money and power so much
it seems to just ooze out their pores.
She and Bill regularly appear for
$500,000 stand ups before those who
can pay the tab and will not be denied
access to the White House once she’s
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ensconced
in
it again with
Bill having free
reign on in-
terns. Then, af-
terwards,
the
two of them can
bask again in the
limelight, having the throngs of ad-
mirers and camp followers throwing
rose petals at their feet. Will these two
really work on behalf of the America’s
Main Street? Don’t bet your life on
it as they will have too many political
debts as paybacks to spend their wak-
ing hours trying to get anything done
for you and me. Also, without much of
any training and experience but a lot
of silver spoon opportunities, Chelsea
will probably be the head of the U.S.
Department of Homeland Securi-
ty. Incidentally, since the Bush family
has grown to battalion-size numbers,
expect the name Bush to appear on
the heads of several cabinet members
and head many a federal government
agency, just to make certain no rich
Bush friend goes unserved.
Will Donald Trump ever be com-
mitted? Of course, The Donald has
been committed to strengthening
his ego for years. But is Trump cra-
zy? Maybe like the proverbial fox.
But his plans to build a wall along the
U.S.-Mexico border is comparable to
China’s Great Wall may qualify him
for a padded cell, especially since he
says, and may even believe, Mexico
will pay for it. He promises to dis-
pose of the nation’s 14th Amendment
so that “anchor babies” cannot get a
free ride to U.S. citizenship. Does he
know what is required to add or take
away an amendment to our Constitu-
tion? Further, his many vague and un-
defi ned threats and promises exceed all
but the most naïve among our wishful
thinkers. He becomes scary, too, when
anyone asks a question he doesn’t like
as exampled by Fox News’s Megyn
Kelly who was verbally assaulted af-
ter the fi rst debate and returned from
vacation the
other day to
receive an-
other bat-
tering. He
is reported
to have said
that he liked
her
show
better when
she was away
and said she
“must have
had a terrible
vacation” be-
cause “she’s
really off her
game.” Also,
according to
mcintyre
The Donald’s assessment of her, Kel-
ly’s a “bimbo.” Nevertheless, her lead
question in the fi rst debate was hard
core. Meanwhile, Trump says he loves
women but seems to react like a neu-
rotic whenever one asks a question
that tests his “cool.” As for Jorge Ra-
mos, he was shown the exit during a
Trump news conference more likely
for being an obnoxious activist, not a
journalist, with a hidden agenda (his
daughter is a Hillary employee and
there’s that Univision law suit, too)
rather than for being an Hispanic,
about which Trump seems to pos-
sess some schizophrenic sentiments.
As for whether Congress will ap-
prove the deal with Iran, the jury’s out
until sometime later this month. The
U.S. neoconservative empire, Ben-
jamin Netanyahu plus members of
his Likud right wing party, and long-
standing U.S. warmongers have gath-
ered their resources and are innundat-
ing the airways with ads that urge you
to call your member of Congress to
discourage voting in favor of it. These
Americans were the people who
worked together to lie our nation into
the invasion of Iraq and they will not
be deterred without a sustained fi ght
(now well underway) to attack Iran.
Their mindset, active at least for the
last two decades, is characterized by
a preference for military action over
diplomacy with an emphasis on uni-
lateral U.S. action, exaggerating threats
deep into fantasy fare, by leaders who
do not level with the American peo-
ple about the costs and consequences
of war, and by insisting that the U.S.
can easily and inexpensively impose
our will on any part of the world
we choose to do so. Any interested
American can identify who these
people are by conducting a search of
who was who during the George W.
Bush administration and those of fa-
natical war plans still active in D.C. to
this day.
Seeking a future characterized by
sane developments and war as a last
resort, what headline would I most
like to read after the Democratic and
Republican nominating conventions
next summer? That would be “Dem-
ocrat Joe Biden versus Republican
John Kasich.” These two would pro-
pose the most level-headed and least
partisan ideas, detailing their plans of
action after taking offi ce in January,
2017. And, perhaps most important
to bringing rythum to a Washington
that’s seen little of it lately, both Biden
and Kasich have reputations for being
able to work with both sides of the
aisle.
(Gene H. McIntyre’s column ap-
pears weekly in the Keizertimes.)
Heroism, American-style
By FROMA HARROP
Every country has its heroes, but
something in America’s cultural sauce
makes for a unique and unusually ef-
fective variety. The ingredient would
be improvisation—the ability to
perform without preparation, using
whatever is at hand to complete the
task.
As most of the world knows, Spen-
cer Stone, Alek Skarlatos and Antho-
ny Sadler—three pals on a European
jaunt—were on a fancy train hurtling
toward Paris, when a terrorist bristling
with weaponry started attacking pas-
sengers.
The Americans were unarmed,
but when Skarlatos said “Let’s go” to
Stone, the off-duty U.S. airman ran
down the aisle, grabbed the man by
the neck and wouldn’t let go, even
as the attacker slashed him. Skarlatos
grabbed his gun. Sadler and a British
passenger, Chris Norman, held down
various limbs.
Improvisation requires letting gut
instinct take the wheel from over-
thinking. As Skarlatos, a National
Guardsman who spent time in Af-
ghanistan, later told the media, his ac-
tions on the train weren’t “a conscious
decision.”
Jazz, a truly American musical form,
is all about improvisation, making it
up as you go. “Do not fear mistakes,”
Miles Davis said. “There are none.”
“Let’s go” reminded many of “Let’s
roll,” Todd Beamer’s famous words on
a doomed airliner hijacked on Sept.
11, 2001. Beamer and other passengers
were trying to neutralize the terrorists
and regain control of the airliner.
Before the Normandy D-Day in-
vasion, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower
instructed his fi eld commanders to
make quick decisions on their own
rather than wait for instructions from
above. They did, and their improvisa-
tion saved many American lives on the
battlefi eld.
In 2009, pilot Chesley Sullenberg-
er landed his disabled airliner on the
Hudson River without a single loss of
life in a classic example of on-the-spot
improvising. Air
controllers had
suggested one
of two nearby
airports
for
an emergency
landing, but in-
stinct sharpened
by experience
told Sullenberger to take that uncon-
ventional—and successful —option.
Perhaps because Stone, Skarlatos
and Sadler acted so simply, they did
not fully comprehend the complex
aftermath of what they had done --
including the depth of their heroism.
Exercising calm control, they beat
the terrorist unconscious but not
to death. Stone attended to another
wounded passenger in the car, though
he himself was seriously hurt. He is a
trained medic. That’s what medics do.
Once the assailant was out cold, the
Americans, with some help, tied him
up like a package and handed him
over to the French authorities. In their
way of thinking, the drama was over.
“I thought they were going to let
us go after questioning,” Sadler later
told assembled media.
Did they imagine that after saving
a trainload of passengers, they’d just
move on to their next European ad-
other
views
venture, say, waiting in line to see the
Le Corbusier exhibit at the Pompidou
Center?
There was nothing false about these
Americans’ modesty. They seemed
surprised to fi nd themselves in the
ornate Elysees Palace, being handed
the Legion of Honor, France’s highest
award, along with Norman.
But there was French President
Francois Hollande, tailored to the mil-
limeter, handing medals to the three
Americans, who, though clean and
pressed, were suitless and tieless. (At
least their shirts had collars.) Norman
had packed a suit and tie.
Americans obviously don’t have a
monopoly on quick and courageous
action. Do remember Jasper Schu-
ringa, the Dutch national who may
have saved Northwest Flight 253 in
2009. Upon seeing a terrorist trying to
set off bombs sewn in his underwear,
Schuringa jumped over seats to tackle
him and started putting out the fi re
with his hands.
For the three Americans on the
train, improvising saved the day, but
because it came so naturally, they
didn’t see the big deal in it. By now,
one hopes, they know otherwise.
(Creators Syndicate)