What’s to debate?

THUMBS DOWN: The issue of immunizations for children has been pushing its way into the political arena recently. After an outbreak of measles in California, apparently spread to people visiting Disneyland, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was asked about it in England. His tap-dancing around the issue of respecting parents’s right to choose drew others like Sen. Rand Paul to offer their comments.

What’s to debate? Childhood immunizations have been the biggest public health success story in history. Polio has been all but eradicated in the world since polio vaccines were introduced 60 years. Measles, mumps and whooping cough, all childhood scourges in years past, are unheard of in the U.S., thanks to vaccination programs. But because of public hysteria promoted by conspiracy theorists about “Big Pharma” and one roundly discredited study that tried to show vaccinations cause autism (Folks, it really doesn’t!) a lot of parents are risking their children’s health (and the health of others)?by keeping their kids vaccine free.

There is no question – vaccinations protect kids from dangerous disease. There is no good excuse for not protecting your children. End of debate.

Fun while it lasted

THUMBS DOWN: You knew it couldn’t last. Gasoline selling for less than $2 a gallon had people smiling at the pumps in recent weeks. This week the price crept back up over $2 again, which is still much nicer than the $3 and $4 prices of the few years.

Watching gas prices is like watching the weather. The highs and lows make it interesting, but its the long term trends that are most important. We hope this low trends will continue a long while, even if it isn’t under $2.

Now that’s an app!

THUMBS UP: We all know that cell phones and driving can be a deadly mix, especially among teen drivers. But here’s news about a smart phone app that can actually make them better drivers.

Developed at the University of Minnesota, the app keeps track of teens’ driving habits in real time and notifies their parents if they are habitually speeding, blowing through stop signs or otherwise driving erratically. It seems to work. Tests showed that one percent of the teens with the app drove too fast, compared to 10 to 15 percent without it.

We think it should be standard issue in all teens’ cell phones.