1. Viral Messages, 2. Interagency Pandemic Preparedness, 3. Ebola Prisoner Dilemma, ↕4. Zika, 5. Food Myths, 6. Casualty Data, 7. Increasing Viruses, 8. Antibiotic Resistance, 9. Points of Dispensing (PODS), 10. Aztec Collapse, 11. Road Ecology, 12. Leader Dementia, ↕T. Trumpism ↔ Parademic, ↕C. Communications.
-1. Psychological 'Recipe' Identified for Viral Campaigns Such as Ice Bucket Challenge. New work focusing on the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge reveals very brief shelf life of such viral campaigns, and suggests the nature of ‘virality’ and social tipping points themselves may be a stumbling block to deeper engagement with social issues that campaigns aim to promote. ¶ The optimistic use of global digital networks to propel positive social change is balanced by the shallow, short lived nature of engagement with anything viral. ¶ SMART: Social influences; Moral imperatives; Affective Reactions; Translational impact [Chart]. [Photo].
-1.1. This is the complete opposite, a message that is persistent and viral in another sense, but SMART still applies. The Looming Battle Against Anti-Vaxxers. People who support vaccinations are typically not a loud advocacy block. But they're now mobilizing urgently to find their collective voice. They're signing petitions, contacting lawmakers, and sharing personal stories about the importance of vaccines to counter their opponents' emotional anecdotes about sick or autistic children. Even the 89-year-old former first lady Rosalynn Carter has gotten involved, writing a letter delivered through aides to first lady Melania Trump requesting a meeting on vaccinations. It's a dramatic turnabout for a coalition that has seen little need for vocal advocacy in the past — but now sees fresh threats to public health popping up both in states and at the federal level. ¶ Vaccine advocacy groups for parents, have seen spikes in membership each time stories about Trump's ties to the anti-vaccine movement hit the news. ¶ It's difficult to match up boring science against a story of a parent who 'watched their child change overnight because of the vaccine that they got. ¶ Republicans' plans to dismantle the Affordable Care Act could make it harder to access vaccines, so pro vaccination advocates are taking action now to try to shape the replacement. Italy’s Vaccination Rates Raise Government’s Concerns24 , when measles inoculations have dipped below level of India amid stubborn antivaccine sentiment. President Donald Trump Has Never Had the Flu Shot… and Never Got the Flu, Either – Coincidence, then follow up with fake news about fake news Fake News Vaccine Attempt under Way to Make People Immune (Oblivious) to Real News, making anything based on evidence seem unreasonable It’s How You Question Vaccines. India: Government Moves Against Doctor for Spreading Vaccine Rumours. The Deep Denialism of Donald Trump.
-A. I Was Skeptical That the Anti-Vaccine Movement Was Gaining Traction. Not Anymore. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Says He Expects Trump Vaccine Panel Will Move Forward. AP Fact Check: Trump’s Iffy Grasp of Autism Research, Donald Trump Raises Concern about Autism Myth Used by Anti-Vaccination Campaigners President Has Previously Indicated He Believes Vaccines Can Cause Autism.
-B. Trump’s Claim That There’s a ‘Tremendous Amount of Increase’ in Autism Cases, Donald Trump Just Broadcast a Dangerous Misconception About Autism Rates, Trump Says Autism Is on the Rise, but Experts Who Study Autism Disagree, President Trump, You Need a Lesson in Autism – Here it is, Trump’s Stupidity about Autism Is Dangerous, Trump Asks about Autism in Educators Meeting. Trump, DeVos Discuss Education In Meeting With Parents and Teachers, Here’s Who Trump Invited to the White House to Talk about Schools. The List Says a Lot about His Education Priorities, Will Education Secretary Pick Betsy DeVos Dilute Science Instruction in Schools, Students in Ohio's Online Charter Schools Perform Worse than Peers in Traditional Schools; This creates an interesting problem for DeVos, because she was sitting next to Trump when he made the statements she will appear to condone the anti-vax belief, no matter her personal opinion; she already has an anti-science reputation so public school advocates and pro-vax journalists will try to draw her out into taking a position. Coming out anti- or pro vax (or being anti-vax by claiming to be pro vax) are not good options at this time; she can take the position that school vaccination is a states responsibility, or say that HHS is the one that can speak about Public Health. Trump Meets with Education Advocates. 3.1, T.1↓.
-C. Another association with Trumpism that can neutralize something, whether it is good or not is art therapy, VP Pence's Wife Aims to Raise Awareness about Art Therapy. Art therapy is one of those iffy diagnostic and treatment where some applications/patients and practitioners show results, but definitive evidence that it is effective, efficacious, or ineffective has not been demonstrated. Some art therapists probably like the support while others are concerned, Political Support Divides Art Therapists. ¶ Pence's Support for Conversion Therapy Not a Settled Matter complicates this, especially given The Lies and Dangers of Efforts to Change Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity, while others believe Gays Can Change. Reparative Therapy Works, which is further complicated with Coming Out Through Art: A Review of Art Therapy With LGBT Clients, Prayer and Pain: Why Gay Conversion Therapy Is Still Legal Despite Dangers. [Art, Strip].
-1.2. Darwin Would See Right Through Pence. In the context of the Age of Trump, ignorance is not actually a pejorative term, it’s a description of a set of beliefs in which knowledge and truth are less persuasive than prejudice and fear. ¶ This process began long before Trump decided to run. Years of talk radio diatribes fueled by Obamaphobia and Fox News harangues prepared the soil and then Breitbart, the alt-right, and fake news softened it further. Trump understood this better than anyone and harvested its fruits. ¶ In fact, the bedrock beneath this process was much older and a uniquely American phenomenon, a widespread consensual ignorance. There is a strain of dogmatic religious activism here that does not exist to anything like the same extent in other advanced democracies. It uses (misuses) religion to resist or rollback changes in social behavior and to suggest who the alien “other” should be. ¶ This consensual ignorance involves accepting a set of ordained beliefs while at the same time rejecting others that are not ordained, no matter whether they are based on facts. What begins as a theological system easily slips into a secular one: the habit of denying what is an inconvenient truth or of simplifying a complex exterior world into stereotypical threats. ¶ This is not the ignorance of unlearned knowledge – it’s more potent than that. It’s a tutored ignorance, and in its most basic form it’s anti-scientific. The source, The Daily Beast, of this article is one that is deemed less than reliable, with a record of promoting scandal about politicized science, When Scientists Hate Science, The Truth About Vaccines, The Vaccine/ Autism Fraud's Surprising History. However, if less than acceptable source of academic truth, it does demonstrate the value of knowing about the source and its biases and then know the when, where, and what it is valid for.
-2. DOD, HHS, and DHS Should Use Existing Coordination Mechanisms to Improve Their Pandemic Preparedness. HHS and DHS have plans to guide their response to a pandemic, but their plans do not explain how they would respond in a resource constrained environment in which capabilities like those provided by DOD are limited. DOD coordinates with the agencies, but existing coordination mechanisms among HHS, DHS, and DOD could be used to improve preparedness. One of the problems that we identified as Regional Pandemic Planners was that there were not enough resources in the whole country to handle a US size wave of a single pandemic. The best we could come up with is mobile task forces under cooperating area commands. Should I Stay or Should I Go. National Bioterror Emergency Response Preparedness.
-2.1. Global Health Works. Maximizing U.S. Investments for Healthier and Stronger Communities. Since 2003, when President George W. Bush announced the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the United States has been a leader in improving the health and lives of millions of people around the world. U.S. global health programs, such as PEPFAR, the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), and the USAID Neglected Tropical Disease Program, have been successful in saving lives and ensuring healthy outcomes, especially among the most vulnerable populations. ¶ On Capitol Hill, global health programs receive strong bipartisan support, and there is a consensus that global health programs are one of the great success stories of U.S. foreign assistance. With relatively modest investments, infant mortality has been reduced more than 50% since 1990; maternal mortality has declined by over 43% in the 19 countries where U.S. involvement has been greatest; and the proportion of undernourished people has fallen from one in five to one in nine. Many diseases that threatened millions of people only a decade ago are declining, and we are in sight of achieving an AIDS-free generation; ending preventable child and maternal deaths; and eradicating polio, Guinea worm, measles, and malaria. ¶ Ensuring that we reach these milestones, secure further gains, and address new challenges requires strong political commitment and investment, and working with other countries, donors, and partners. Productive and accountable partnerships are a way to leverage U.S. investments and encourage other donors, improve programming and services, andfoster a sense of common purpose and leadership on a global stage. Perhaps because it would be too forward this does not mention that reducing health problems in other countries lowers health problems in the US. Global Rapid Responders – Our Boots on the Ground Defense.
-2.2. In China, Consumers Seem to Shrug off Deadly Bird Flu Outbreak. Four years ago, a bird flu outbreak in China killed at least three dozen people, triggered mass poultry culling, put masks on millions of Chinese faces and hammered shares in fast food and travel companies. This winter, more than 100 people have died, but few birds have been slaughtered, there are few masks on the streets and little sign of any consumer reaction, let alone the panic seen in 2013. This flu fatigue (akin to disaster, compassion, hurricane fatigue) is not unexpected when people are disappointed that thousands have not died. Unfortunately this can lead to not taking measures for protection when a pandemic flu arrives. Bird Flu Strain Taking a Toll on Humans we are facing the largest pandemic threat in the last 100 years. Beijing Orders Closure of Live Bird Markets to Control H7N9. Woman Detained for Spreading Bird Flu Rumors.
-2.3. Bill Gates: a New Kind of Terrorism Could Wipe out 30 Million People in less than a Year — and We Are Not Prepared. War zones and other fragile state settings are the most difficult places to eliminate epidemics. They’re also some of the most likely places for them to begin. It’s also true that the next epidemic could originate on the computer screen of a terrorist intent on using genetic engineering to create a synthetic version of the smallpox virus . . . or a super contagious and deadly strain of the flu. ¶ We ignore the link between health security and international security at our peril. Whether it occurs by a quirk of nature or at the hand of a terrorist, epidemiologists say a fast moving airborne pathogen could kill more than 30 million people in less than a year. And they say there is a reasonable probability the world will experience such an outbreak in the next 10-15 years. ¶ You might be wondering how likely these doomsday scenarios really are. The fact that a deadly global pandemic has not occurred in recent history shouldn’t be mistaken for evidence that a deadly pandemic will not occur in the future. Bill and Melinda Gates Make the Case for Vaccines — and US Engagement in Global Health.
-3. The Ebola Suspect's Dilemma. In 1950 the prisoner's dilemma(Search) [Chart] was made that represents a situation in which two prisoners each have the option to confess or not, but their sentencing outcomes depend crucially on the simultaneous choice of the other. Fittingly, it has become the paradigmatic example of individual versus group rationality and is an often used heuristic when conveying introductory social theory to students. ¶ Although not a homologous predicament, the Ebola virus disease suspect also faces a consequential dilemma. The ‘rational’ – that is, not informed by superstition or baseless rumour – aversion to West Africa's ill equipped and poorly sanitised hospitals was described even before the 2014–16 Ebola outbreak. This characterisation could a fortiori be extended to those Ebola virus disease suspects who eschewed presentation to an Ebola treatment unit. ¶ Consider the situation in which you are an Ebola virus disease suspect (you have fever, vomiting, muscle pain, and headache), but don't know whether you have Ebola virus disease [Chart]. ¶ Thus, you would be acting in your rational self interest by staying at home, since the suspect who is uninfected might become so nosocomially through ambulance transport with actual cases or unsafe triage at an Ebola treatment unit. Then factor in (1) rational desires to die at home rather than in (or in the queue in front of) a far off tent; (2) rational fears that you might never see your family again; (3) rational responses to the pervasive messaging that Ebola has no cure. And therein lies the Ebola suspect's dilemma – at least according to the rational choice lens that refracts the world around us into binary options for our moral retinas.
-3.1. The prisoner dilemma can also be applied to Anti-Vax 1.1A↑. Vaccination and the Theory of Games. If a sufficient proportion of the population is already immune, either naturally or by vaccination, then even the slightest risk associated with vaccination will outweigh the risk from infection. As a result, individual self interest (Tragedy of the Commons) might preclude complete eradication of a vaccine preventable disease. Increases in perceived vaccine risk will tend to induce larger declines in vaccine uptake for pathogens that cause more secondary infections. After a vaccine scare, even if perceived vaccine risk is greatly reduced, it will be relatively difficult to restore prescare vaccine coverage levels. Vaccinating Your Children and the Prisoner’s Dilemma, Of Cops and Shots. The Game Theory of (Anti) Vaccination, The Selfishness of Anti- Vaxxers and Why They Suck at Game Theory, Vaccine Refusal and theEndgame: Walking the Last Mile First, Obfuscatory Vaccination Math. If you believe there is potential harm from vaccination, while everyone else vaccinates, then the selfish rational choice to have the lowest probability of personal harm is to not vaccinate. You are protected by herd immunity from pathogens and you did not risk harm from vaccination - You are rewarded for the temptation to take no risk. If, however, everyone believes that there is potential harm from vaccination and no one vaccinates then there is the high probability of personal harm as there is insufficient herd immunity to protect you, and everyone else is also harmed by the pathogen – Everyone is punished. The most rational choice then for someone who is anti-vax is to not tell anyone they don’t vaccinate, stay in communities where protection of others has more value than self protection (that is benefit for the most people by taking a personal risk*), and to steer clear of other anti-vaxxers (or cannot vaccinate for other reasons, like poverty) who may become infected and will infect you – This is the reward of suckering everyone for your own benefit. Me first usually ends in failure in dynamic situations such as economics, politics, pandemic, climate change, social collapse, disaster, and war. The tendency for anti-vax to be very vocal and cluster either indicates irrational behavior, or rationality based on a different game and logic.
-* In the cases that people recognize that vaccine has a very low risk then there is a double benefit of protection of others and self, or if a selfish choice, benefit oneself and others can fend for themselves if they don’t vaccinate. C.1↓.
-A. The curator is resisting the temptation of the obvious application to Trumpism. Well maybe just a little peek because there is an overlap application to parademic when faced with the situation of depleted resources in a biodisaster and having to decide to trust and cooperate with others (and which others), or compete and not trust others. Donald Trump and the Iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma, What Game Theory Tells Us About Donald Trump, The GOP’s Trump Prisoner’s Dilemma, Republicans Snagged by Prisoner's Dilemma. Michael Flynn, Trump's National Security Adviser, Resigns amid Controversy over Russia Call. T↕.
-3.2. A variation of the prisoner dilemma is patient expectations, where doctors are trapped into providing antibiotics for conditions that do not need them, or ordering diagnostic tests to avoid medical malpractice suits. Study Maps Where US Patients Appear More Ill than They Are. Measuring 'diagnostic intensity'. In some areas of the US, medical providers consistently order more tests and treatments for patients than providers do elsewhere – a fact that has generated considerable public debate. Now a new study suggests that these differences in medical practices influence how the apparent health of populations is measured across regions. There is also the opposite where areas appear healthier than they are because people do not have access to health care. This in some cases supports moral panics. For example an easy way to lower abortion and unwanted pregnancy statistics is not have access to abortion clinics and services for pregnancy, attacking Planned Parenthood makes one seem moral, while defeding it makes one immoral 4↓. Defunding Planned Parenthood: A Moral Issue, Not a Legal One, Republicans Stoop Low to Attack Planned Parenthood, Hillary Clinton’s Morality: Defunding Planned Parenthood Is Bad, Selling Baby Body Parts Is Good, The Morally Bankrupt Left Still Has Cash for Planned Parenthood. House Votes to Let States Strip Money from Planned Parenthood.
↕4. Surprisingly, in light of 170129-T.2↓ this CDC web page is still up at Know Your Risk: Special Zika Newsletter – February 14, 2017, it was first posted Dec 29, 2016. Preventing Unintended Pregnancy during the Zika Virus Outbreak does not mention abortion 3.2↑. The current White House position on contraception is currently unclear, Tom Price: 'Not One' Woman Struggled to Afford Birth Control, Donald Trump Thinks You Shouldn’t Need a Prescription for Birth Control. It is also unclear on the abortion of a fetus exposed to Zika. Most Americans Favor Late Term Abortion If Zika Harms Fetus and this position is probably stronger as more evidence has come out that the neurological harm is more than just initial microcephaly,Zika Damaged Babies Could Appear Normal. In any case there will still be resistance Texas Anti- Abortion Efforts Renew after Supreme Court Defeat, Most Texas School Districts Have Scant Sex Education, Four More Local Zika Cases Confirmed In Texas, What Media Are Missing about Planned Parenthood and the Controversy over Zika Funding. Trump’s TV Confidant, Dr. Oz, May Be America’s Most Influential — and Controversial — Physician.
-4.1. A reversal from when congress went on break during Zika funding debates, Zika Exploded While Congress Went on Vacation, 160911-4F, 160821-4C, 160612-4↓. Now people want them to take a break so they can confront local opinions and get a break from congressional action. Congress Goes Home, and Constituents Fired Up Over Health Care Are Waiting. Trump’s Toxicity Has Republicans Running Away from Their Constituents.
-5. Setting the Record Straight on Some Common Beliefs about Food and Health. When it comes to what certain foods can do to or for you, it’s probably best to take motherly advice, familiar sayings and other bits of conventional wisdom with a grain of salt. Fish is brain food, score one for Mom. Eating chocolate causes acne, nope. Eating carrots improves vision, not exactly. Spicy foods cause ulcers, no. Good nutrition clearly helps maintain health, unfortunately “nutrition” is an understudied field, allowing claims that are the basis of medical scams, anti-GMO, anti-vax, pseudoscience, weight loss cures. The Miracle That Cured My Son’s Autism Was in Our Kitchen, How Helpful Is the Casein-Gluten-Free Diet. Gluten Free Diet May Have 'Unintended Consequences' for Health.
-6. Fewer than 5,000 Missing, Duplicate Names Removed from Lists was one of the problems encountered after the 911 World Trade Center collapse and it took more than a year to have a “final” count Deaths in World Trade Center Terrorist Attacks – New York City, 2001. This is a problem for data in any large scale disaster. Even in a country where records are relatively complete and up to date there were problems determining the number of casualties. Imagine then the problems in remote areas, such as West Africa during the Ebola outbreak, where there are no standardized spellings of a person’s name that is consistent over time, that a person’s local name differs from the official names, that there may be different names for the same person when they are in different social roles, or several people have the same name when they are in the same social role. Add to this mistrust of how data will be used, a desire to remain hidden, the tendency of families to use the same name over generations, nicknames, refusal or not knowing a national identification number or birthdate, or the place of birth, that people move in and out of locations – data then becomes meaningless. This is especially a problem when the official, but not in the field, believe that their numbers are accurate.
-7. Why Killer Viruses Are on the Rise. If you think there are more disease outbreaks than ever, that's because there are. The number of new viruses detected in a decade has quadrupled T.2↓. Germ History: Milkmaids Inspire Vaccines, but the Germs Keep Coming (Video). After milkmaids helped discover vaccination, we spent the next 150 years learning how to keep ourselves safe from germs. By the 1960s, we thought the battle was finally over, 8↓.
-8. Antibiotic Resistence is a biodisaster that has still not accelerated. Currently a few bacterium are or becoming resistant to all available antibiotics. The real problem is when all, or nearly all, bacterium become resistant to the arsenal of antibiotics. The problem then is not that we cannot kill bacterium, but they will not be antiseptic but germicides and disinfectants that can kill all living tissue. This makes it possible to sterilize an area for medical and surgical needs, but are rapidly repopulated, and leaves the problem that the living things will contaminate the sterilized environment, others, and the patient themselves, causing infections that cannot be controlled without serious injury or death to the patient, and opening the flood gates of reemerging diseases. [Mt Saint Helens: Photo exponential, Photo acceleration, Photo crash, Photo exponential. Photo Hospital in Aleppo, Syria, 2012, 2013]. ¶ Keep in mind that like other areas of human behavior there are “fads”. It was not that long ago that it was believed that infectious diseases would soon be gone, with the diversion to lifestyle diseases, which was one of the reasons why pandemic preparedness was so easy to dismiss 7↑ .
-8.1. 11↓, T↕, There is no evidence of Trumpism directly stopping antibiotic research, or is even aware of the problem, but many of the actions have had the unintended consequence of eroding or stymying more research to finding solutions. Day 5 of the Trump Administration: Freezing EPA Grants and Contracts Could Jeopardize Environmental Projects in NC, researchers recently published a study that found antibiotic resistant staph bacteria from swine farms was also found in some farmworkers. That research was funded by a $126,000 EPA grant. Trump is Ruining Our Health on a Global Scale Now. Keeping Our Eyes on the Antimicrobial Stewardship Ball: Dr. Tom Price as the next Secretary of HHS, is a member of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, an organization that vehemently opposes antibiotic stewardship legislation. It is unclear if that stance is supported by Dr. Price. ¶ I worry that he will tout stewardship as needless control over physicians who should prescribe antibiotics to whomever, whenever they please. Hand Hygiene and the Power of Labbit.
-9. The Power of Yes. Community Resilience. How many times have you been in a meeting trying to figure out how to accomplish something really important and one yahoo takes all of the oxygen out of the room spouting reasons why any path you take is sure to lead you into the fifth or sixth – if not the seventh – circle of hell. ¶ We’ve all seen this play out in our communities too many times. Someone has an idea that could make a positive difference in the community. Instantly the opposition attacks by slinging mud indiscriminately. Sometimes the mud -slinging is personality driven (He’s not my President). Sometimes it’s self-interest-driven (If that happens, my Party, neighborhood, business, constituents may lose power or prestige). Sometimes it’s mistrust (It sounds good, but I can’t trust that SOB not to be hiding something). But whatever its source, this explicit negativity holds implicit veto power. In fact, this implicit veto power is the greatest barrier to positive change. ¶ Another place, another example of the “Power of Yes!” PandemicPrep.org (PPO) in St. Louis is doing an outstanding job of preparing the community for pandemics – and other disasters. One of their best innovations was getting most of the businesses in St. Louis to act as closed points of dispensing of vaccines in case of contagion outbreak. Without this, it would take public health authorities over a month to provide vaccine to the city. By using businesses to vaccinate their employees and their families, the process should take only a few days. This initiative also had the unexpected consequence of raising morale and productivity for the companies that are participating – in the words of one employee “We didn’t know you cared”. PPO has also worked on crisis information sharing and other disaster-related initiatives.
-10. Collapse of Aztec Society Linked to Catastrophic Salmonella Outbreak. One of the worst epidemics in human history, a sixteenth century pestilence that devastated Mexico’s native population, may have been caused by a deadly form of salmonella from Europe, a pair of studies suggest. The 1540s epidemic killed up to 80% of the country's native inhabitants. ¶ This is potentially the first genetic evidence of the pathogen that caused the massive decline in native populations after European colonization. The largest of these disease outbreaks were known as cocoliztli (from the word for ‘pestilence’ in Nahuatl, the Aztec language). Two major cocoliztli, beginning in 1545 and 1576, killed an estimated 7 million to 18 million people living in Mexico’s highland regions. “In the cities and large towns, big ditches were dug, and from morning to sunset the priests did nothing else but carry the dead bodies and throw them into the ditches”, noted a Franciscan historian who witnessed the 1576 outbreak. There has been little consensus on the cause of cocoliztli but is was exacerbated by a catastrophic drought. Again not a social collapse just from a biodisaster, but one that included a combination of biodisasters to a raft of other problems 170212-11↓. The Most Violent Era in America Was Before Europeans Arrived. BTW it may be happening again soon, Mexico City, Parched and Sinking, Faces a Water Crisis.
-11. Roads Are Driving Rapid Evolutionary Change in Our Environment. Why road ecology matters. Roads are causing rapid evolutionary change in wild populations of plants and animals according to a new paper. A study looks at the evolutionary changes that are being caused by the way roads slice and dice our planet. Assessing and Managing the Ecological Impacts of Paved Roads. Researchers Find Roads Shatter the Earth's Surface into 600,000 Fragments. Assessing and Managing the Ecological Impacts of Paved Roads. [Cartoon, Cartoon, Map]. Another problem that has been known for a long time, but the damage is so gradual and immediate benefit so high, that it remained unnoticed. Roads, pipelines, walls, canals, urban areas have been part of invasive species (to include disease and humans) and ecological damage, more so than air traffic, which is usually pointed out as something that can bring a deadly pathogen anywhere in the world within 24 hours. ¶ 8.1↑, ↕T, This may also explain why an administration that is big of infrastructure wants to dismantle the EPA, Senate Vote Puts Seasoned Foe of E.P.A. in Its Top Job, How the EPA Became a Victim of its Own Success, 170212-T↓. Channeling a Bold Trump Infrastructure Plan. The Oroville Dam Crisis Exposes the Flaws in Trump's Infrastructure Plan, Will the Crisis at Oroville Dam Become a Catalyst for Change*. Conservatives vs. Trump’s Infrastructure Plan. Preferential Trade Agreements Enhance Global Trade at the Expense of its Resilience. Why Trump Just Killed a Rule Restricting Coal Companies from Dumping Waste in Streams, Why Trump's Plan to Bring Back Coal Jobs Makes No Sense. 5 Possible Futures for the EPA under Trump.
-*. And a s usual there was unheeded prior warning. Alarms Raised Years Ago About Risks of Oroville Dam's Spillways. And lessons not learned A Mt. St. Helen's Warning to Officials in California. And the usual secrecy of information that is needed, The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Says Sacramento River Flood Maps a Secret. The bureau has distributed them to law enforcement and other emergency agencies, but under Department of the Interior policy can't release them to the public. And the usual lack of planning Oroville Dam's Flood Control Manual Hasn't Been Updated for Half a Century.
-12. As Presidents Live Longer, Doctors Debate Whether to Test for Dementia. The true health of politicians has likely been cloaked in secrecy since the days of Mesopotamian kings, but definitely since the Wilson administration. Has the time come to test presidents' cognition, be. The Hidden History of Presidential Disease, Sickness and Secrecy. Tests for Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia. Personally I would include other political offices and positions of trust and responsibility, as well as being able to pass a test such as required for immigrants to become citizens. 160925-2, 160911-4G↓ .
↕T. Stephen Miller Claims That 72 People from Banned Countries Were Implicated in ‘Terroristic Activity’. A top White House aide makes a sweeping claim that is not supported by the research he cites. The parademic interest here was looking for a refutation of the curator’s position that bioterror is self inflicted fear to justify massive diversion from current real world biothreats Biological Terrorist Attack on US an 'Urgent and Serious Threat'. The current administration of the executive branch appears to be unconcerned about information, operation, health, and biological security issues. Justifications of the immigration or Muslim ban was therefore an opportunity to get a glimpse if there is any non public information about bioterrorism. Trump Turns Mar-a-Lago Club Dinner Table into Open Air Situation Room [Tweet], Trump’s Meal with Abe Is Latest Incident to Raise Security Questions, Mar-a-Lago Member Complains about Loud, Obnoxious Cabinet Meeting at next Table, Trump Ran a Campaign Based on Intelligence Security. That’s Not How He’s Governing. Son of Trump Security Adviser Spread Baseless 'Pizza Gate' Conspiracy, Trump Declines to Say Whether He Has Full Confidence in Flynn. Security and Intelligence Officials Slam Trump’s Classified Briefing Reveal, Trump Comments Raise New Concerns about Candidates' Intelligence Briefings, Are Confidential Intelligence Briefings for Donald Trump a Recipe for Disaster. Trump Leaks Classified Info After Intelligence Briefing, Who Politicized the Trump Intelligence Briefings. Hint: It Wasn’t Trump, [Cartoon], Officials Struggling to Condense Trump’s Intelligence Briefing down to One Word.
-A. There was no direct accusation of bioterrorism, the closest was About 10 people who were among 20 men of Middle Eastern origin arrested after the 9/11 attacks under suspicion of fraudulently obtaining a license to transport hazardous materials. None of them were linked to terrorist groups, 20 Indictments Returned in Haz-Mat License Case 2001. With the exception of Somalia and Yemen of the seven banned countries based on terrorism justification, only Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Syria have any associations as a nation sponsoring bioterrorism, and in each case there has not been any clear evidence to verify the claim. There is evidence of terrorist groups (not all foreign, not all Muslim) that have expressed interest in bioterrorism, and few of those have taken steps to develop or acquire bioweapons, though in most cases the association ischemical and biological weapons, and there is clear evidence of the use of chemical weapons Syria Used Chlorine Bombs Systematically in Aleppo (This absence of evidence is used as a justification for bioterror preparation, because it is hard to prove a bioweapon was used or not, the problem of disproving a negative. The banning, deporting, and investigating members of those terror groups that have expressed interest in bioweapons would be justifiable, and in fact are part of the vetting process already 8 U.S. Code § 1182 - Inadmissible Aliens. This appears to be successful (self inflicted) terrorism and bioterrorism without needing to have a bioweapon. Again, for full disclosure there only needs to be one bioterror attack to destroy the position that bioterrorism fear is misplaced. Then again there have been biodisasters, to include bioagents, that could be used as a bioweapon, that have not as yet demolished that natural outbreaks and other biodisasters deserve more resources. Bioterrorism and Biocrimes: The Illicit Use of Bio Agents Since 1900, Outbreaks of Disease Associated with Food Imported into the United States,1996–2014. ¶ There is also the amusing situation that Somalia's New President Is Also a U.S. Citizen.
-B. A New Model Proposed for U.S. Bioterrorism Response. On 17 January 2017, the InterAgency Board released its Proposed Model for Bioterrorism Response: Initial Operations and Characterization). This 28 page document puts forward a method to make use of the many federally developed standards and strategies produced over the past 16 years – at a cost of millions of taxpayer dollars – that have yet to produce a national capability. The paper begins by pointing out that, since 2001, the United States has invested $17,000,000,000.00 in civilian biodefense and continues to have major capability gaps. Except for this being proposed for being under HLS (though FEMA that is independent or under another department could make this work) this could be a model that would also work for natural outbreaks or toxic events, as lower costs are more application. However this is still insufficient for other types of biodisaster. Removing the Viral Threat: Two Months to Stop Pandemic X From Taking Hold DARPA is now launching the Pandemic Prevention Platform (P3) program, aimed at developing the foundational work into an entire system capable of halting the spread of any viral disease outbreak before it can escalate to pandemic status. Neither program, however, appears to address parademic issues that could neutralize these programs.
-C. This is an example of what most of the bioattacks have been, White Powder. Ohio Inmate Threatened Trump, Sent Powder. This is not the first such attack White Powder Mailed to Trump Tower Not Harmful [Screen Grab], White Powder Sent in Envelope to Clinton Campaign HQ in New York Tested, Officials Say Substance Was ‘Non Hazardous’. 9/11 Turned White Powder into Symbol of Terrorism or a form of protest, or drug White Dust. The Curse of the White Powder, how fake bioterrorism attacks became a real problem. Possibly this is a way to feel powerful, the ability to cause fear or make a threat using something that is not real, draw attention by receiving or vicariously by sending, or to become powerful by fear mongering and symbolic magic that others come to believe and act accordingly. Anthrax Hoaxes Pile Up, as Does Their Cost. in a Season of Terror, Fear Came in Small Packages – via Mail [Photo]. ¶ It is possible that talcum powder has been confabulated with anthrax California Woman Awarded $70 Million in Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder Lawsuit, Johnson and Johnson Admits: Our Baby Products Contain Cancer Causing Formaldehyde [Poster], Procter and Gamble and Satanism Rumor [Logo], In Spite of Old, False Satanist Accusations, P&G Put a Moon Back into its New Logo. Post Truth, Alternative Facts, Fake News: Implications for Businesses, Impact of Negative Media Reports Mapped in New Study.
-T.1. Education was not a major issue for Trumpism prior the inauguration but appears to be an emerging one. Today’s Riot Prone Mobs Are a Product of America’s Cult like Education System. From Kindergarten to Grad School, Trump Is Already Wreaking Havoc on the US Education System. Trump Effect: Now Leftists Want to Homeschool Kids. Trump Will Repeal Common Core, Says Kellyanne Conway (He Can't), Donald Trump Can Make Good on His Pledge to End Common Core. Education is a convenient way to shape perception of biodisaster and therefore parademic. Not surprisingly both sides of the issue use different interpretations of the same material to support their point 1.1A↑. How Donald Trump's Management Style Works (Or Doesn't) in the White House.
-Quote: Give me a (student) at an impressionable age and (they are) mine for life. – Muriel Spark, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
-Quote2: Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. – Nelson Mandela
-T.2. Conservatives Want to Slash FEMA's Disaster Budget. The proposal to cut disaster aid was part of a lengthy report released last year by the Heritage Foundation. Dubbed a Blueprint for Balance, the document argued that the federal government can save $10.5 trillion over the next decade by slashing funds for some programs and eliminating others. This is probably a good estimate of how much would be saved. Would only cost $42 trillion. There was no mention of lives lost by this cost savings. ¶ Another cost savings measure is Surprise Us, Mr Trump. The halls of global health diplomacy were buzzing last month, as the WHO Executive Board voted on Jan 25 to narrow the field to 3 candidates for the position of WHO Director General. The USA is part of the current 34 member board and a vital member and funder for WHO, one that provides close to a quarter of the total membership dues and about a third of voluntary contributions to the agency's budget – at least for now 7↑. In fact if the US stopped all its funding to the UN and its agencies would save about $7 billion a year United States Contributions to International Organizations. That would be about $70 billion in ten years, ignoring that WHO is underfunded in the first place, and would only cost $280 billion, as well as keeping problems out of the US, like lethal disease outbreaks. Of course the savings could be spent on building an airtight dome over US Cities that will keep everything out, or getting out in case something happen inside the dome [Photo]. How the Shocks of Disasters are Impacted by the Stresses of Social Issues, Feeling Way More Stressed Out. You're Not Alone, You Can Have it Good, Fast or Cheap – Pick Two. Warning: New FEMA Administrator, It Could Be Hazardous to Your Integrity. Trump Supporter Evacuated from Oroville Dam: 'I Feel like a Refugee', when he fled with his family they were sheltered by a Sikh temple in Sacramento. His experience gave him new insight into the president’s travel ban. The Republican Plan to Kill FEMA Might Have an Upside. If states are held responsible for disaster costs, they might be more inclined to start taking climate change seriously.
-T.3. Continuation of 170212-T, 170205-T.4↑. Diehard Coders Just Rescued NASA’s Earth Science Data. Similar groups across the country believe that the Trump administration might want to disappear this data down a memory hole. So these hackers, scientists, and students are collecting it to save outside government servers. ¶ But now they’re going even further, doing more than archiving. Diehard coders are building robust systems to monitor ongoing changes to government websites. And they’re keeping track of what’s already been removed – because yes, the pruning has already begun. This can also become legal evidence of cover up and corruption of data for personal gain while in a government position, as well as legal arguments and reframing about illegal hacking of government databases. [Cartoon, Meme, Cartoon].
-T.4. Obama’s New Appointee to Head the FDA Is a Big Pharma Mega Lobbyist, Donald Trump’s Glorious Victory for Anti-intellectualism: “Drain the Swamp” Just Meant the Eggheads, Meme, Trump's Comments Are Big Pharma's Nightmare pharmaceutical companies are a popular villain. Trump’s F.D.A. Pick Could Undo Decades of Drug Safeguards, 170212-T.1B↓. Confessions of a Washington Swamp Creature. Trump doesn’t understand the revolving door in Washington. Neither did I, until I went through it. ¶ Another factor was that the vexing trend toward FDA-pharma miscegenation had entered the minds of those worried about such things as the public interest and fairness and democracy. The New York Times published a scalding editorial entitled “Conflicts of Interest at the FDA” detailing a way too cozy back and forth between the FDA and industry experts in the field of dietary supplements – an area already rife with sleaze_onomics. The fox, it suggested, was now guarding the henhouse. In the hubbub around this controversy, likely many doctors felt too embarrassed to grab the pharma handout. ¶ We the sellouts were as nasty, peeved, dismissive, frowning, and impatient as we had been when we had (worked with the government, unpaid). We spit back empty claims and harrumphed at half assed “maybes”. In other words, we treated the data from the mock review with the same hard boiled cynicism that we had treated data presented during the real FDA meetings. Sure, having a handful of embarrassed for their greed academics together might have made each too ashamed to really shill, but I doubt it – we liked being tough and mean and fair. ¶ So I completed my stint as an underground man with even more certainty that it is (or was – we shall see just how Trump tries to twist this venerable agency) just about impossible to sneak a lousy medicine through the FDA approval process (unless the company lies). This is not to say all is rosy in the world of drug development in the United States. We have numerous pressing problems: the absurd cost for new agents (pricing, however, sits outside FDA purview); too many me too drugs that help no one but investors; medication shortages; and the ethically complex problem of what to do about understudied, possibly dangerous drugs that represent a patient’s last hope. A calmobjected anecdote attempting to counter passionate, biased, misinformed anecdotes. Pharma Industry Shuns Trump Push for Radical Shift at FDA a less robust FDA would make it harder to secure insurance coverage for pricey new medicines. 170205-T.2↓.
-T.5. The blurring between Trumpism and Parademic is ironically making it clear that a separate section for Trumpism is invalid. As the subject may be of interest, will be using the previous device of #Trumpism to indicate that topic is within a stub, but concentrate more on its parademic implication. This blurring seems to coincide with long term phenomena such as anti-vax, Zika, Ebola, humor, conspiracy theory, fact/fantasy. [Strip].
-T.6. With Coverage in Peril and Obama Gone, Health Law’s Critics Go Quiet. With President Barack Obama out of office, the debate over “Obamacare” is becoming less about “Obama” and more about “care”. It was easy to rally against a law identified with a president they despised when he was capable of vetoing any repeal. Now that he is gone and the law’s benefits appear to be on the chopping block, the people who stand to lose the most are the most vocal. This is an example of a debate using the same words but very different meanings, that there was in fact no debate because the two sides were arguing about different things 170212-T.1A↓. Same is seen with anti-vax, anti-GMO, anti-science, anti-abortion where if one examines the issue deeper than the word one will find that the words means very different things to the two different sides. In this case this was an “ad hominem” (against the man, political party, with potential racist tones) rather than “in idea” (against the idea, which had anti-socialism tones) 161002)-10↓. This is more about changing a narrative rather than ending the narrative ashappened with fear mongering of Ebolaphobia after the 2014 election. Ebola Coverage on TV News Plummeted after Midterms, Ebola Is Officially the October Surprise of the 2014 Election, Why Conservatives Blame Obama for Ebola, [Meme, Cartoon].
↕C. Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication (CERC) Corner [Logo]. This time did not need to find a link in the Newsletter Archive, link in the newsletter worked. Qualities of an Effective Spokesperson Feb 14, 2017. A spokesperson is essential in helping your organization relate to communities in crises. A good spokesperson embodies an organization’s identity, personifies its response efforts, and serves as the overall human connection to the public. While all spokespeople have unique qualities, there are some techniques that every spokesperson can use to effectively reach people in an emergency. ¶ Role of a Spokesperson: • Building organization trust and credibility. • Removing psychological barriers, including fear and anxiety. • Gaining support for the public health response efforts. • If a spokesperson is successful areas affected by a disaster will face fewer incidents of illness, injury, and death. ¶ How does a spokesperson communicate effectively: • Empathy and caring. • Competence and expertise. • Honesty and openness. • Commitment and dedication. • Accountability.
-C.1. Communicating Health Risks in a Post Truth World. Public officials faced with the tough task of communicating risk on contentious issues like vaccination or fluoridation – where the actual risk is low but public concern remains high – need to show that they care, demonstrate that they are taking action and strategically engage with the media. 3.1↑, ↕T.
-C.2. Should We Be Repeating Our Messages More. One word that President Trump has used in many different settings is the word "disaster." It can be our politics, immigration, generals, foreign affairs, jobs, economy, you name it — "it is a disaster!" I am wondering if that use will somehow impact our use of the word "disaster". ¶ If we don't do this, it could be a disaster, a real disaster, an unsurpassed disaster in our time. If you don't want a disaster to happen to you. If you don't want a disaster to happen to you, then you need to do something to avoid the disaster happening to you. Or more Trump like, Disasters are bad. Disasters are really bad. So bad, it's sad.
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