314 Revolving Door: Pharma "Scientists" Running for Office. "Wyeth Not?"
By Anne Dachel
Imagine more and more scientists and doctors elected to state and national office. Imagine lots more vaccine industry shills like Dr. Richard Pan in California promoting bills like SB277 that removed parental choice when it comes to vaccinating children.
Now there’s a political action committee designed to do just that. It’s called 314 Action and it’s getting the word out that scientists plan to take over politics. 314 Action is especially eager to promote vaccines and denounce people like Robert Kennedy, Jr. for their questions about vaccine safety.
Never underestimate the power of corporate interests, under the guise of promoting science, to expand their power and control.
314 Action wants to get thousands more scientists into politics (4,000) to be exact).
"We are members of the STEM Community, grassroots supporters and political activists committed to bring innovation to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education, aggressively advocate for real solutions to Climate Change and elect more STEM trained candidates to public office."
314 Action has connections at over 75 U.S. universities. “We are adding campus chapters every day.”
They're very upset at President Trump and Robert Kennedy for their questions about vaccines. The founder, Shaughnessy Naughton, is a scientist who twice ran for a congressional seat from PA (and lost) and who used to work at Wyeth.
April 22, 2017, TIME: Meet the Scientists Running for Office
By Jeffrey Kluger
For every epidemiologist or virologist who shows again and again that vaccines are safe and effective, there's a politician who insists that somewhere in a Big Pharma lab, someone is sneaking autism sauce into the shots. For every environmental researcher who explains that climate change is real, deadly and in large measure our fault, there is a politician — actually there are lots and lots of politicians — who call it a hoax. (Worse, a Chinese hoax.)
At last, it seems, the scientists have had enough, as a new TIME video makes clear. Faced with a President who originated the Chinese hoax canard, an Environmental Protection Agency Administrator who has said he "would not agree" that carbon dioxide is a principle cause of climate change, and the likes of anti-vaccine fabulist Robert Kennedy, Jr. possibly offering advice to the administration on vaccine safety, the empiricists are fighting back.
In 2016, pharmaceutical chemist Shaughnessy Naughton, a former Congressional candidate from Pennsylvania, founded 314 Action — a science-based nonprofit group that fights for evidence-based policies and recruits scientists to run for office. The group, which takes its just-right name from the first three digits of pi, claims to have already been approached by more than 4,000 potential candidates who hope to add letters like "D, Pa" or "R, Fla" to names already followed by MD, MS or PhD
Molly Sheehan (bioengineer running for Congress):
“Science used to be a bipartisan issue. Everyone used to love science. …
“We’re in such a crisis that we can’t be complacent anymore. …
“As scientists, we haven’t done a great job of speaking to things people are worried about right now. …
Shaugnessy Naughton (founder of 314 Action)
“The thought was, we’ll just put the results of our research out there and let the facts speak for themselves. And that’s not working.
“I founded 314 Action to bring the scientific community together, but also to encourage them to run. We need scientists to actually step up and be involved in electoral politics.”
Sheehan:
“I don’t want to live in a world where I’m afraid if my baby drinks the bath water. And I don’t want to live in a world where I’m afraid of her playing in dirt because it has lead in it. …
“I want her to see by me running, that when our country really is in crisis, we don’t just sit down. That her mom stood up for her and that she should do that too. …
“I’m worried about our country …
Ending: “314 Action says more than 4,000 scientists are now interested in running for public office.”
314 Action founder Shaughnessy Naughton is a scientist who used to work at Wyeth.
She ran for Congress from Pennsylvania’s 8th District in 2014 and 2016 and lost both times.
Naughton/314 Action has gotten support from the media, and she makes it clear that no one should question vaccines.
April 21, 2017, CNN: Scientists won't win until they run
By Shaughnessy Naughton
Donald Trump has supplied science skeptics with a megaphone. Radio host and anti-vaccine propagandist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been approved to chair a commission on "vaccine safety and scientific integrity."
January 25, 2017, The Atlantic ran the story, Professor Smith Goes to Washington—In response to the new president’s stances on a range of issues, more scientists are preparing to run for political office.
For American science, the next four years look to be challenging. The newly inaugurated President Trump, and many of his Cabinet picks, have repeatedly cast doubt upon the reality of human-made climate change, questioned the repeatedly proven safety of vaccines.
Jan 21, 2017, Quartz: Scientists in the US are running for office to combat the science-denial descending on DC
US president Donald Trump did not study law or governance, yet he rose straight to the top of American politics. This gave some scientists, technologists, engineers, and mathematicians an idea: they launched an initiative, STEM the Divide, to get more of their own into public office.
The initiative is run by a new political action committee called 314 action, named after the first three digits of pi. On its website, the PAC explains its goal is “electing more leaders to the US Senate, House, State Executive and Legislative offices who come from STEM backgrounds. We need new leaders who understand that climate change is real and are motivated to find a solution.”
The PAC’s founder, Shaughnessy Naughton—a chemist and cancer researcher-turned-business owner, who has twice run for Congress and lost—told the Washington Post, “Especially now, we need people with scientific backgrounds that are used to looking at the facts and forming an opinion based on the facts.” The impetus for organizing, she said, was Trump’s choice of cabinet members who deny widely accepted scientific facts like climate change, and the validity of vaccines, among other issues.
Jan 17, 2017, Washington Post: This group wants to fight ‘anti-science’ rhetoric by getting scientists to run for office
The project is partially motivated by worry over the election of Donald Trump, she said, noting that the president-elect and some of his Cabinet picks dispute the scientific consensus on climate change, vaccines and other issues.
See my past stories on how Jeffrey Kluger and TIME spin the truth about vaccines.
Anne Dachel is Media Editor for Age of Autism.
If vaccines are so safe and effective there should be no more need for the 1986 Vaccine Injury Compensation Act. Let's even the playing field. We don't have to debate this ad nauseam. Get rid of that law that exempts doctors, pharma manufacturers, hospitals, drug stores, insurance companies, etc. from a law suit due to what they call a vaccine injury. If it isn't a vaccine injury but just more idiopathically caused illness, then the courts can really decide that, can't they? Hmmm I thought that the Supreme Court said that vaccines are unavoidably unsafe and that is why there was a need for the 1986 vaccine law to begin with. So what is it? Who is right here? Are vaccines unavoidably unsafe and therefore to protect the vaccine supply the country needs to protect doctors, etc. etc; or are vaccines so safe and effective you could take thousands, literally thousands. If that is true, then obviously there is no need to protect doctors and manufacturers.
Posted by: kapoore | April 30, 2017 at 04:30 PM
In a normal society, scientists running for office would be a very good thing. We do need intelligent educated people in office. Problem is our universities turn out corrupt feeble-minded automatons.
I read yesterday that Denmark is planning to be the first 100% organic country. We need some of their scientists. Except Thorsen we can put in prison.
As for "autism sauce" - Kruger can go to hell.
Posted by: Linda1 | April 25, 2017 at 10:43 PM
Well; I would vote for Mr. Hooker.
But probably all that runs for office would be the liar Pan.
Posted by: Benedetta | April 25, 2017 at 08:03 PM
Hi Morag,
It surprises me from how you described it, that they focused on keeping it quiet, and that his TB progressed so fast.
Not trying to diagnose or anything like that, just intrigued. Back in the early 80's HIV was the diagnosis everyone tried to hide.With no retroviral drugs or treatment for the most part for HIV, opportunistic infections like TB could be deadly, and happened much quicker than usual..
http://www.tbfacts.org/tb-hiv/
From the article
When people have a damaged immune system, such as people with HIV who are not receiving antiretroviral treatment, the natural history of TB is altered. Instead of there being a long latency phase between infection and development of disease, people with HIV can become ill with active TB disease within weeks to months, rather than the normal years to decades. - See more at: http://www.tbfacts.org/tb-hiv/#sthash.HM5cpPcg.dpuf
Of course , this is just an idle thought, and most likely has no relevance to your chief. It was just the hiding of the diagnosis that had me intrigued.
Posted by: Hera | April 25, 2017 at 05:28 PM
Hi Bob,
The World Hit-and-Run Organisation - and I have encountered the presence of groups protesting in Europe, and need to inform myself more.
John
Posted by: John Stone | April 25, 2017 at 02:29 PM
@Eindeker,
You say "a TB incidence of >40 cases/100,000 person years is one of the main criteria for offering vaccination. The increase in cases is due to increased migration from countries with high incidence of TB."
A logical approach to TB Immigrants is to test, and individually quarantine and treat appropriately - NOT vaccinate the non-TB Host Country population with (always) toxic vaccinations. Your frequent comments here always ignore the terrible toxicities of vaccines, and your always thinking vaccines are truly effective.
As a matter of medical history, TB in the U.S. went to near zero when hundreds of "Sanitorians" (splg?) 70+/- years ago took in great numbers of TB-stricken Americans; with their overwhelming universal recovery from TB resulting from lots of sunshine, busy hobby/work and exercise such as raising vegetable gardens, and healthy diets with 3 hardy nutritious meals a day. In other words, Nature was the cure, and NOT toxic medical treatments and/or vaccines. It seems to me you represent current group-think pro-vaccine Western Medicine who've conveniently totally forgotten how we solved TB those many decades ago, and why my generation born/raised 60+ years ago had virtually zero vaccinations, were constantly playing outdoors absorbing sunlight, had orange juice and other Vitamins via spinach, etc., went through all the childhood diseases, and been historically proven to be the healthiest in history.
And, by the way, so-called polio cases in the late 1940's-1950's were clearly caused via direct annual exposure to hundreds of millions of pounds of neuro-toxic Agricultural chemicals sprayed right alongside new suburban neighborhoods and by DDT trucks spraying down suburban streets (with kids playing in the DDT mist!) - further of course these new neuro-toxic chemicals were being ingested in everyday diets by foods permeated with such toxins, their effects the same as "classic" infantile paralysis.
Posted by: david m burd | April 25, 2017 at 01:58 PM
@ John
"Not certain we are heading for mandates in the UK - historically I don't think financial sanctions against non-compliers would be acceptable"
Received and posted this column yesterday .. was wondering if you have heard of the "WHO's European Immunization Week" regarding vaccine mandates in European countries?
"Apr 23, 2017 — Childhood vaccines are already mandated in some European countries and in a number of countries where up to now there has been freedom of choice, governments are talking about bringing in mandates. Today, as the WHO's 'European Immunization Week' opens (24th to 30th April 2017), citizens in many European countries have already demonstrating or are planning demonstrations against this breach of their fundamental human rights. Italy demonstrated in March, Croatia demonstrated on the 9th of April, there will be a large demonstration in Vienna on the 6th of May (meet at 11am in front of the Empress Maria Theresa monument, Maria Theresienplatz, 1010 Vienna, between the Art History and Natural History Museums - more participants very welcome), and Poland is calling for demonstrations worldwide to support them on the 3rd of June.
"This is a date already made official last year by the Czechs as ‘Light a Candle’ day, in memory of those whose lives have been either changed for the worse or lost due to vaccination. If there is any way you can join forces with others in support of these countries where the authorities are clamping down on freedom, please gather to demonstrate in your towns, cities, countries
Posted by: Bob Moffit | April 25, 2017 at 01:36 PM
Jings hello hera TB seems to be considered not to be worth consideration . we were definately told not to discuss this because it could cause alarm within the local community . Our dear Chefs wife went to the papers . we felt terrible because we initally thought he had a taste for the drams after work with working a 10 am to 6pm then the Pub afterwards the weight loss was visible but he was a great chef and a lovely guy we did really think that he had a habit with the drams or [whisky]
WHO states tb rates in Scotland double accepted numbers
Posted by: morag | April 25, 2017 at 01:11 PM
Rather typically John you malign the efficacy of BCG vaccine effectiveness against TB without, perhaps, checking current thinking it will come back if someone invents a product which is plausibly effective. A recent meta analysis by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Clin Infect Dis (2014) 58 (4): 470-480 showed it is highly effective in individuals not having contracted TB already. There was less than strict tuberculin testing is some studies, which showed poor protection, allowing individuals with pre-existing TB infection to be included. One reviewer of the meta analysis commented "The research shows for the first time that the BCG vaccine is actually highly protective against pulmonary TB in all parts of the world, including significant protection when administered in the tropics."
@Morag, yes TB is a growing health concern, especially the multiple antibiotic resistant strains, some isolates of which are effectively untreatable; there were >6000 cases in the UK in 2015 and UK policy is now to offer selective BCG vaccination to individuals at high risk, see http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/2/5/e001303 for details of the policy for more details, areas with a TB incidence of >40 cases/100,000 person years is one of the main criteria for offering vaccination. The increase in cases is due to increased migration from countries with high incidence of TB
Posted by: Eindeker | April 25, 2017 at 12:50 PM
The CDC and the WHO are failing in their duty of candour and transparency to let us be aware of infectious tuberculosis as a health concern in favour of vaccine agenda that is going to promote a serious amount of money for International companies
Thank you age of autism without you I don't know of a voice to talk about "The UNMENTIONABALES"
Posted by: morag | April 25, 2017 at 12:18 PM
"Science fascists" yes. That's what they are; bloody agenda driven freaks who see science as a belief system rather than a method of investigation. Of course it's not surprising they are pushing and rewarding people like the slippery Dr. Pan into politics.
Trump had best do something about this issue and soon. I notice he's protecting other American interests but he needs to move on this one. A nation of far too many damaged children is present. It would barely be possible to scrape together a healthy army at this point and it will only get worse unless he does something about it. Obama didn't and we are left with a catastrophe.
Posted by: Reader | April 25, 2017 at 11:53 AM
Hi Morag; interestingly enough, the U.S. does not routinely vaccinate for Tuberculosis at all. (it's one of the few vaccines they don't give.) And yet there is no epidemic of tuberculosis amongst the almost completely unvaccinated U.S. population.
https://www.cdc.gov/tb/publications/factsheets/prevention/bcg.htm
There are effective medical treatments available for TB if someone does catch it; the Mayo clinic says antibiotics for about 9 months. I am very sorry for the loss of your chief; I wonder if it was really TB that he died from? If so, why did they need to hush it up? Hospital acquired infections, or even the being involved in testing a new drug treatment both spring to mind as potentially more embarassing for the hospital.
.http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/tuberculosis/diagnosis-treatment/treatment/txc-20188961
Posted by: Hera | April 25, 2017 at 11:32 AM
Morag
Not certain we are heading for mandates in the UK - historically I don't think financial sanctions against non-compliers would be acceptable (the postion in most of the US and Australia) so it would have to be made absolutely compulsory which also would hit the rich and powerful. Also the medical profession have not become keen to be enforcers. Another problem is that the British state has never been keen to compensate and presently the legal blame over vaccine damage lies in the first place with the patient/parent who consents. No doubt it could all change (as everything seems to these days).
Probably with TB vaccine it will come back if someone invents a product which is plausibly effective.
Posted by: John Stone | April 25, 2017 at 11:22 AM
Hello John, thanks for commenting, the vaccine frenzy that is being pushed towards mandates leaves me totally astonished and confused Infectious tuberculos is a killer for sure ,it was not called the scurge of the Highlands for nothing !
I dont understand why we are pottering about with childhood pretty much normal stuff like measles mumps etc when real nasty stuff like TB does not get spoken about and would appear to be still very much a big panic. profits of vaccines / it's too disgusting but i'm sure it;s true
Posted by: morag | April 25, 2017 at 11:07 AM
Indeed, I'd love to see a scientist named William Thompson testify before Congress.
Unfortunately, Congress put a stop to that due to their anti-science views.
The thing is there's so many cases of autism and related disorders that people are getting hit everywhere, including science, politics, banking, and even pharma. 'Vaxxed' opened up the can a bit more and the truth will eventually come out, just as tobacco science was eventually revealed.
Posted by: kws | April 25, 2017 at 10:47 AM
Dear Morag,
I am not sure presently that I follow all of your thread. About TB I believe the UK authorities have abandoned the routine vaccination as ineffective, and no doubt it helps to make room for new vaccines which are still under patent and make more money for the manufacturers.
Posted by: John Stone | April 25, 2017 at 10:24 AM
Dear John Stone and Angus Files, wha't I don' t understand is the lack of even a mention of infectious tuberculosis . I am not anti vaccine but at the present time I would not trust the studies that we are accepted to accept as the science is settled to have the ethical and moral integrity to be able to sit their own silly wee selfies the right way round on a bed pan. Infectious tuberculosis can be an obituary diagnosis for people . Our Chef " an ex army chef the best we ever had working for us died I sent him home on sick leave on the Sunday as he was sitting in the corridor with his head in his hands and feeling awful he was dead by Friday . then a big panic we were told by NHS staff not to talk about it .which we thought was really strange at the time .
Posted by: morag | April 25, 2017 at 10:02 AM
They want to give the issue of vaccine induced autism a and national platform! Ba-ring it! I'm going to so love it when our scientists get to prove to the world that Poul Thorsen and William Thompson and Hannah Polling are not hoaxes made up by the Chinese.
Posted by: annie | April 25, 2017 at 09:52 AM
This group is of course, are the "scienfascists & biostitutes" who are experts in "tobacco science" and can create any study, and will make any medical statement with the basic conclusion ....
"give us another damn billion dollars for more research."
They like to wear their white lab coats ALL the time to avoid getting themselves covered with dirty statistics and dirty money.
Posted by: go Trump | April 25, 2017 at 07:18 AM
"Now there’s a political action committee designed to do just that. It’s called 314 Action and it’s getting the word out that scientists plan to take over politics."
Yeah .. that's just what our already wounded country needs ... putting scientists (the fox) .. in charge of politics (the henhouse) .. where they can do even more damage than they have already managed to do .. such as .. USING THEIR OVERWHELMING MANUFACTURED/MANIPULATED SCIENTIFIC "EVIDENCE" .. THE BENEFITS OF VACCINES FAR OUTWEIGH ANY AND ALL RISKS .. THE DEBATE IS OVER .. AND ANYONE WHO DARES DISAGREE .. SHOULD BE FOREVER DEMONIZED AS "ANTI-VACCINE WACCOES" .. IN THE COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION.
I would welcome hearing ANY scientist/politician arguing against creating a Commission to study vaccine safety and efficiency .. or .. against conducting an independent study of "vaccinated v. unvaccinated" populations.
After all .. BOTH studies are the very essence of what SCIENCE REQUIRES.
Posted by: Bob Moffit | April 25, 2017 at 07:07 AM