This summer will remembered for a lot of things (ah, Real Girls Eat Meat) — but one of the more contentious was the debate on vaccines for children. It kicked off with Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey attending a “Green Our Vaccines” rally in D.C., followed by actress Amanda Peet slamming parents who do not follow standard child inoculation schedules, passionate debate, and then relative calm.

Until now.

Jenny McCarthy is firing back at Amanda Peet in a new interview in Spectrum Magazine. The 35-year-old actress and mother of an autistic child said, “(Peet) has a lot of [nerve] to come forward and be on that side, because there is an angry mob on my side, and I like the fact that I can say she’s completely wrong.” She added, “I look at (Peet) now and say to myself, ‘That was me before I had autism in my life,’ and until she walks in our shoes, she really has no idea.”

Oh, snap!

In addition, the national autism advocacy group Autism United is calling for a boycott of all of Amanda Peet’s movies. “We want to send a clear message to her,” says Executive Director John Gilmore. “Our community will not support the continued misinformation that is funneled into the media by organizations like ECBT and the American Academy of Pediatrics. We are not against vaccines, rather we are for safe vaccines. Until they understand that, we won’t back down. Ms. Peet’s comments are deplorable and an apology will not suffice. We applaud Jenny McCarthy’s continued efforts and for speaking up for our community.”

[Update: Welcome Scienceblogs readers! Welcome Age of Autism Readers! Yes, the below poll has been influenced by many different sites -- and as such, it serves as a very poor feedback item. As some have mentioned, the best course of action going forward is to scrap polling on a topic like this one in favor of comments only. Thank you all for your insights on this. I also want to thank those from both sides who are commenting respectfully and listening to what people have to say.]

Actress Jenny McCarthy has appeared on the new social networking site for good, CauseCast, to champion her involvement in the organization Generation Rescue and talk about her son’s battle with autism.

Earlier this summer, Jenny McCarthy and partner Jim Carrey traveled to D.C. for a rally called Green Our Vaccines. Check out the video — and for more info on Generation Rescue, visit their official site here.

Peet has since apologized for the comment — but even before her remarks, the issue was getting more spotlight time thanks to a rally lead by Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey down in D.C. called Green Our Vaccines.

But back to Soleil. Last October, she opened up an eco-friendly baby store called The Little Seed in Los Angeles. At the time, she said “it was very difficult for her to find one place that carried non-toxic and organic items for babies, so she wanted to create a place of her own.” Now, she’s also created a blog where she’s addressing green parenting and talking about all the stresses and joys of having two kids of her own.

Regarding the issue of child vaccinations, the little seed team wrote, “We know that this is a sensitive issue for families. Whether you cheered for Amanda Peet’s controversial article in Cookie Magazine or read it and strongly disagreed, we want you to feel safe expressing any and all thoughts on this issue.  After all, our goal at THE LITTLE SEED is to create a safe haven not only for parents and children, but to create a community for thoughts and ideas as well.”

Please click here to read the letter presented on her site and join in the great discussion that has followed. Whatever side of the issue you’re on, it’s worth reading up on what others in the medical profession have to say. Keep up the great work Soleil!

Jenny McCarthy, Generation Rescue, and John Cena from the WWE teamed up for a special taping of Saturday Night Main Event with the hopes that wrestling fans will send in some donations to help Generation Rescue. The pairing may seem awkward, but Cena has assured that the two organizations go hand in hand, and that the WWE has the “avenue to get it out there to a bunch of viewers”.

They certainly do. And Jenny has more ties to the cause than just the warm fuzzies from helping people. “Jenny says she suspected that toxins such as mercury, aluminum, formaldehyde, MSG, or live viruses found in some traditional children’s vaccines were causing the condition, but she was pooh-poohed by pediatricians.”

Generation Rescue helps families who could otherwise not afford care for their children diagnosed with autism. They aid households that make less than $30,000 a year, with autism care and treatment sometimes costing upwards of $75,000 per year, with the “majority of state insurance policies do not cover the long list of expenses that come along with autism”.

Even though Saturday Night Main Event has already come and gone, you can still go to the WWE’s website to see videos from other celeb supporters of the fight against autism, as well as make friends with Jenny McCarthy on WWE’s Fan Nation.

via: Celebrity Baby Blog, ET Online

Looking quite well, smiling for photographers, and mingling with other celebrities, she attended the Generation Rescue benefit fundraiser.

Generation Rescue follows a mission to “continue to discover and share the truth with families about the potential cause of their child’s Neurological Disorders so they can focus on effective treatments.”

The event was hosted by Jim Carrey and girlfriend, Jenny McCarthy.

Other celebrities to attend include Hugh Hefner, Holly Madison and his other two girlfriends, as well as Charlie Sheen and his wife, Brooke Mueller.

To read more and view pictures, visit celebrity-gossip.net

“Frankly, I feel that parents who do not vaccinate their children are parasites,” she says. “I have a lazy, fluffy, actor-y side that’s instinctive. And I have a side that’s practical and into statistical evidence. I’m not a casual person.”

Yikes. I wonder what Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy would say to this.

In a recent interview with Britain’s Sunday Express, Alba opened up about her new daughter, Honor Marie Warren, and the potential health issues she might encounter. “I’ve been reading a lot about kids and infections, autism and vaccinations,” she says, who suffered from health problems as a child. “I’ve come to think that perhaps I was a product of my environment or the vaccines or something my mother took when she was pregnant.”

Today, on average, kids receive 24 vaccine injections to protect against 16 diseases. Advocates for change believe that children receive “too many vaccines, too soon, many of which are toxic.”

via People

via: eonline.com

Being a celebrity has its crappy parts: ruthless paparazzi, scandalous gossip columns, sketchy yes men. But as we like to prove here at Ecorazzi, being in the limelight also has its advantages — like using your power for good and adding credibility to a cause you believe in.

Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey are on a mission to spread awareness about the rise in autism by leading the Green Our Vaccines march and rally in Washington, D.C., today.

Here’s a little brain candy: in 1960 children in the U.S received 5 vaccinations. By 2007 the number had reached 24 vaccine injections to protect against 16 different diseases. That’s a lot of frigin chemicals! The Green Our Vaccines initiative calls for the elimination of toxins from children’s vaccines and to change children’s vaccination schedules.

Today in America 1 out of every 150 children are diagnosed with autism and many parents believe that the increase in childhood vaccination is to blame. Jenny McCarthy and Carrey said that while they do support immunization, they and their allies believe children receive “too many vaccines, too soon, many of which are toxic.”

What do you think Ecorazzi readers? Are kids getting overly vaccinated at too young of an age? Are all those chemicals contributing to the rise in autism? Grab that keyboard and let us know what you think!

So far, only 4 cars have managed to roll off the production line — so that means Pitt, Clooney, Damon, and Schwarzenegger will have to wait a bit longer for their electric fix. Automobile Mag has a bit more on the retail plans for the company,

“Located in Los Angeles, Tesla’s first dealer – actually a factory outlet – occupies 10,000 square feet along Santa Monica Boulevard.  Carrying a price tag of nearly $2 million, the store portrays an airy, industrial feel, thanks in part to concrete floors, visible ductwork, and colorful illumination. That appearance will expand as Tesla opens five stores across the country over the next year.  An outlet at its Menlo Park, Calif. headquarters should be open in the summer, while properties in New York, Miami, Seattle and Chicago could be functional by 2009.”

There’s some pretty crappy video over on Autobloggreen that almost looks like someone shot it with a cameraphone — but if you’re the tiniest bit interested in seeing what went down the other nigh, jump here to have a look.