There are two kinds of people .....

Those who think humanity is evenly divided on either side of a given issue, and those who know better. The latter group is probably more of a majority than one would think from watching and reading the news, but that may be because ignorant people tend to get violent, so many triple-digit IQ types tend to adopt protective coloration.

The closest thing to an apparent division at the far ends of a question involves the H1N1 flu vaccine (and the seasonal flu vaccine gets mixed in there, for reasons which shall become apparent).

The division is between those who are lining up around the block to get the vaccine for themselves and their children and those who are convinced that such things are part of a deep, dark, government plot. We used to have more of the latter in Southern California, where I make my temporary abode, but as H1N1 cases went above 50% in school districts, deaths of children passed the 100 mark, and deaths of pregnant women started to climb, there is a distinct shift to the former group.

One local church/conservative group, who had been preaching against vaccinations of any kind, chartered a bus earlier this week and ran their people around to the various free clinics where there is a good supply of both seasonal and H1N1 vaccines. Across county lines they went, many of their number having perfectly adequate health insurance (but the private insurance people who run the HMOs that form the basis of California Health Care were among the last to place their orders, hoping for a price decrease) and having no qualms about using resources paid for by the state and federal governments for people who were far more at risk than they.

When I see these supposedly religious people acting in ways that violate any of the holy books of religions that have holy books, I am reminded on Phil Och's comment on 60s liberals.

"Three points to the Left of Center on matters of national importance, six points to the Right if it affects them personally."

Phil, I said it then, and I'll say it now: the process extends to all kinds of groups.