Maher vs. Science

Normally I'm a big fan of both Maher's shtick and his agitprop, but here he is just plain wrong. I'm sorry to say, he's even wronger than Bill Frist.

Some cat uploaded the full Frist Maher at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB5DLf1Qt78

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• science
• bias
• skepticism
• libertarianism

[chicago6584]

The effects of swine flu were grossly over-exaggerated in order to scare people into buying their drugs.

[hyde1886]

@chicago6584

i think you'll find that the fearmongering was not pharmaceutical companies trying to make more money ... it was pharmaceutical companies trying to spread more autism ...

[kubek]

Well now we know the swine flu was a hoax so...

[hyde1886]

@kubek

no, i don't think it was a hoax, i think there really was a strain of flu called swine flu, what if anything we now know is that the extent of the outbreak was overestimated in some quarters ...

[bigbengamer]

well this video is so chopped up that its hard to gather all of the context of what is being said here. why don't you played it straight through like a real truth seeker would. just seeing this here makes me doubt it and doubt you

[asphyxiafeeling]

kinda wish the whole segment was here. i know somebody else uploaded but with all the jumping around this clip feels like it's trying to push stuff out of context. I do agree with you though, Bill is wrong. I can't believe he has that position!

[BraidedLily]

A girl I knew in HS planned to become a pharmacist. The actual pharmacists do go through rigorous training in college and take many if not all of the same courses as pre-med students. The reason they work at drugstores is because.....that is where people need to go to get the Rx filled. Who wouldn't want to go to a place close to home to get a Rx? Do you want to go to a clinic every time you need to get these things?

[Cacacos]

I don't know how can a smart guy, really intelligent guy as Bill Maher can be that stupid in regard this matter...

I guess it's like the head o Genoma Project... brilliant scientist, but christian... believes in hocus pocus stuff and yet, a good scientist...

How can that be?!

It really amuses me!

[MrRaphal]

I am also a fan of Bill Maher but his position on medecine is simplyt wrong. He is all for alternative medecine, but what has alternative medicine done? Western medecine created pennecilin, cured countless diseases and is working towards a cure for AIDS and cancer. What has alternative medecine done?

[jimbrown257]

@kubek

"Well now we know the swine flu was a hoax so.."

...Wtf are you talking about? Could you give a source for that (World Net Daily doesn't count)?

The fact is, there was, and still is, a potentially fatal virus known as swine flu. What was BS was the idea the virus could easily  transmit to humans and it would become the next pandemic. H1N1 still exists and with the quickly evolving nature of viruses, it will always be a potential pandemic; it should never be dismissed as a hoax.

[jimbrown257]

Cont from below:

It just occured to me the real reason why Maher is an asshole and a total hypocrite in this clip. He belittles the pharmacist and says they are not the experts; the doctors are the experts and they are the only ones who should be giving medical advice.

Well, the exact same thing be said to Maher; he should quit giving medical advice (in this case against vaccines) because he is not a doctor and not an expert.

It hurts to write that because I normally love Bill Maher.

[jimbrown257]

Go look at a chart of average life expectancy through the last 100 years. You can pinpoint when penecillin and vaccines began to be used.

Maher is also mistaking pharmacists with pharmacy technicians. Actual pharmacists have to go through a respectable amount of school and training. He's also being an asshole with how he's insulting people with honest jobs.

I do, however, agree with him that there fundie pharmacists who refuse to fills Rxs because of religion dogma should just quit.

[therrydicule]

@irishbluejay He is getting clause to a senior, he is 55 years old... A senior is 65 in usa, and 10 years is not that long (just think, 10 years ago it was 9/11).