Flu Shot, Schmoo Shot

Every year like clockwork, the mainstream media suddenly start harping on the flu shot, headline-style. Out of nowhere, it seems to leapfrog directly to the head of the class, and have you noticed that it usually does so at the beginning of the month? Kind of like it was...dare I say it...planned? Orchestrated? Engineered? The exact timing varies; it could be October 1st, November 1st, it doesn't matter. I doubt they'll do it on September 1st again; they did that one year and I had to laugh because they were trying to instigate mass panic (as usual) but it was still over 90 degrees and sunny (as it commonly is in North Texas in September) and not a single soul had any evidence of the flu just yet. It just made them look stupid.

So, what's all the hype about the flu shot? They keep changing the rules anyway. Who should get it this year? Elderly people? Kids? The immunocompromised? Everyone else? Lord only knows. But what I do know is this: first, please understand that the flu shot is not all it's cracked up to be. It has not been shown to reduce mortality (read: the instance of death) from the flu. It has not been shown to decrease symptoms. It has not been shown to make any positive impact on the target groups (elderly and kids).

Its common classification as a "vaccine" is not exactly accurate. Vaccines typically contain a weak or dead pathogen, or remnants/products thereof. This particular shot doesn't contain any part of the flu virus at all anymore.

So what does the flu shot include? Let's take a look at that, shall we?

* Mercury: From Mercola.com, one of the leading authorities on health and wellness, a typical flu vaccine contains 25 micrograms of thimerosal, which is about half mercury by weight. That amount is indeed safe for you....if you weight more than 550 pounds. Mercury is perhaps the most neurotoxic substance on the face of the earth. Out of the 80 trillion or so cells in your body, exactly NONE of them can live without proper nerve supply. Mercury directly hampers this, and it does its damage quickly, with far-reaching effects. Run a search on YouTube for the videotaped study of the introduction of mercury to normal nerve tissue done by the University of Calgary.
* Aluminum: While the most recent evidence no longer links this with Alzheimer's Disease, it remains on the list of toxic heavy metals you should avoid.
* Ethylene glycol: this is plain ol' antifreeze, ladies and gentlemen. Why not just go sit under your car and catch the sweet-tasting drops? I'd be crazy to do that, you say? Why would I get the flu shot then? ;)
* Formaldehyde: Yes, the embalming agent. For real. The EPA has classified it as a probable human carcinogen (meaning that it in all likelihood causes cancer in humans). This means that it is toxic to cells and can cause damage throughout your system and unpleasant reactions.

There are others, but these are the heavy-hitters. This information came from multiple sources, including mercola.com and vaclib.org (which has put together an expansive and comprehensive site on vaccines, studies, efficacy, ingredients, and many other facts. If you're interested in this kind of thing, do check it out. The layout is tough to read, but it's worth it.)

It comes down to this: please resist the pressure to get a flu shot this year. You really don't need it, no matter which demographic you fall into. Chances are really good that even if you get a shot, you'll still get the flu. Chances are also really good that after just a few consecutive shots, your risk for neurological diseases (such as dementia, especially premature/early-onset) increases exponentially, although these don't shot up till much later and thus are never correlated with the reception of a flu shot, but are rather attributed to "old age" or some other nonsense.

The worst that can happen is that you actually get the flu. As much as the media scare people about the mortality rate of influenza every year, the flu still comes around every year and it still infects people, and by and large, they survive. I now have a cold/flu for the second time this year, and I'm simply weathering the storm using as many natural remedies as I can (although NyQuil comes in a little handy--I'm not a drug-oriented person and I don't like the way I feel on it, but at least it forces me to SLEEP). But I'm going to bounce back in a couple of days. And so would you.