Keep hammering the antivaxxers!

Bad Astronomy
By Phil Plait
Aug 16, 2009 5:00 PMNov 5, 2019 7:19 AM

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The Australian skeptics are still hammering away at Meryl Dorey, the Australian Vaccination Network, and their (to be charitable) distortions of the truth. It's nice to see. And what we have seen is that, like a pinata when that critical blow is made, a torrent of dumbosity comes out. Which brings up an interesting point. A lot of people think that using an ad hominem -- an argument that attacks the person and not the issue --is a logical fallacy. That's not necessarily the case. For example, if someone on the street walks up to me and say, "Aliens speaking with the voice of Glenn Beck are sitting on my shoulders and forcing me to eat brussel sprouts, and Obama's health care plan will set up death panels," then there is some merit in questioning the person's sanity before wondering if what they say about the health care plan is true. So if you're inclined to give Meryl Dorey and her AVN group the benefit of the doubt, you might want to read up on some of the other, um, stuff they believe. It may open your eyes.

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