“It turns out those pink kitty-cat hats weren’t just for show after all.”

The Atlantic: Women Exit the Party of Trump. “After laboring for years to close the gender gap, GOP strategists are suddenly facing a gender chasm.” By Michelle Cottle.

“As if the situation weren’t ticklish enough, the spotlight on sexual harassment is boosting many women’s sense that something needs to change. As [Jean] Card put it, “We’re having a little bit of a sisterhood moment here.“

“Imagine if we had a female leader, how this could be handled,“ said Card (who supported Carly Fiorina for president last cycle). “Instead, we do have the polar opposite. We do have a man who said he could grab women by the pussy. We can’t have presidential leadership on the sexual harassment issue because of that.“

(No question, Trump is a problematic ambassador for the cause. Greenberg recently conducted a national poll asking voters, “Do you believe that Donald Trump sexually harassed women, or not?“ Sixty-eight percent said yes.)”

“If there’s a virus anywhere in the world, it could just come back in.“

Gizmodo: The Last of the Iron Lungs. “In 2013, the Post-Polio Health International (PPHI) organizations estimated that there were six to eight iron lung users in the United States. Now, PPHI executive director Brian Tiburzi says he doesn’t know anyone alive still using the negative-pressure ventilators. This fall, I met three polio survivors who depend on iron lungs. They are among the last few, possibly the last three.” Includes a 7:00min video.

“But another thing they all had in common is a desire for the next generations to know about them so we’ll realize how fortunate we are to have vaccines. “When children inquire what happened to me, I tell them the nerve wires that tell my muscles what to do were damaged by a virus,“ Mona [Randolph] said. “And ask them if they have had their vaccine to prevent this. No one has ever argued with me.“

[Paul] Alexander told me that if he had kids he would have made sure they were vaccinated. “Now, my worst thought is that polio’s come back,“ he said. “If there’s so many people who’ve not been—children, especially—have not been vaccinated… I don’t even want to think about it.“

[Martha] Lillard is heartbroken when she meets anti-vaccine activists. “Of course, I’m concerned about any place where there’s no vaccine,“ she said. “I think it’s criminal that they don’t have it for other people and I would just do anything to prevent somebody from having to go through what I have. I mean, my mother, if she had the vaccine available, I would have had it in a heartbeat.“ “

Link via MetaFilter.

I remember the posters in doctor’s offices during my childhood: Schluckimpfung ist süß – Kinderlähmung ist grausam. (Translation: Oral vaccination is sweet, polio is cruel.)