A quick anecdotal lesson in why skepticism is important.

Today I found out my sister's cat had feline leukemia. This was entirely preventable. She loves those cats like they're her kids. She takes great care of them overall, and even buys them this stupidly expensive organic pet food that I have no idea how she affords.

The reason her cat got feline leukemia is related to that last point. The lady who sells it to her (owns a pet food store called Bark and Purr here in Boise, which I urge everyone to boycott for reasons I'm about to get into) convinced her that her cats do not need to get their vaccinations every year. I don't know what her reasoning behind this is, and frankly, I don't care. The bottom line is, feline leukemia is preventable. So is FIV. So are a lot of other diseases cats get. My stance on this is that if you can't get your pet the proper immunizations and can't provide proper care (not to mention spaying and neutering), don't own one. Or if you must, there are lots of great pets in animal shelters whose shots are current already. But anyway, I'm getting away from my point.

There's a lesson to be learned, here. This reminded me of the kind of behavior exhibited by people like Jenny McCarthy who are trying to convince America that putting ourselves at risk of dying of some of the most horrifically painful diseases nature has to offer is preferable to the possibility (based on a paper with no scientific credibility, even among the scientists who did the study) that we might get autism. I'm sick of seeing people (especially celebrities) handed credibility to spread their crackpot ideas while real scientists and doctors are fighting an uphill battle to get anyone to even listen to what they have to say about health care. So here's a hint: your doctor went to medical school. He has a highly advanced degree and passed classes that would make your head explode. Jenny McCarthy was in Scary Movie 3. Compare the credentials for yourself.

My point is, consider your source before you believe things. A lot of people have got this down already. A surprising number, however, will believe pretty much any stupid thing someone tells them, especially if it's in print or on TV or sharted out of a congressman's mouth (fun fact: a seat in congress is not the same thing as credibility). In fact, don't even believe anything I say without looking into it. While this is not always the case, your life or the life of someone you care about might depend on it. Whether it's you, your kid, your pet, your best friend, your neighbor down the street, or whoever. There are lots of people out there trying to make money off of things that have potential to be incredibly harmful, and it's up to everyone to make sure they don't get paid for it.