Read This First (170423), Heuristics (New 170801), 1. A Tortoise Crosses the Road, 2. Reaction to Anticipation, 3. Nutrition as Treatment, ↕4. Mosquito Borne, 5. Shadow Science, 6. Side Effects and Law, 7. Huntington's Stigma, 8. Redefining Health Threats, 9. Transient Demographic, 10. Don’t Kill the Birds, ↕C. Communications, <ADDED>.
Tags: BioTrumpism, BioPolitics, Vaccine, Biosphere, Anthrosphere [Cartoon], Anthropocene [Cartoon] Disaster, Humor, Climate Change, Exploitation, Price Gouging, Unconsidered Consequences, Changing Mind Set, Changes in meaning, Extinction, North Korea, Trump Speak, Appalachia, Health Disparity, Favorable Future, Polarization, Pope, War as Biodisaster, Hearing Loss, Fatigue, Death, Cremation, Menstruation, Cholera, Yemen, Food Security, Famine, EPA, Language Drift and Change, Goop, Medical Scams, Avian Flu, Magical Contamination
-1. Unconsidered consequences: Desert Tortoises Can't Take the Heat of Roadside Fencing. Desert tortoises pace back and forth and can overheat by roadside fencing meant to help them. The problem was seen that tortoises crossed the road and could be run over. The solution was to build a fence to keep them off the road. What was not considered was the tortoises were not crossing roads but heading someplace for shade, food, sex, reproduction, water, and a road was in that path. Still wanting to get to where they were going they would go along the fence looking for a way across. Inversely roads can provide better paths to where the tortoise wants to go, or a new favorable habitat, despite a couple of major drawbacks. [Photo, Sign, Photo, Photo, Meme, Meme]. 170806-7.2‡.
-1.1. When Will Humanity Finally Die Out. Homo sapiens have been around for at least a hundred thousand years, and civilization for maybe a few thousand. These timescales are far longer than your minuscule lifespan, but given our 13 billion year old galaxy, they're shorter than a cosmic heartbeat. And unlike galaxies that require a major wallop to tear apart, humans are fragile things susceptible to disease, famine, war, meteors – really, we're quite pathetic. Currently, the most likely cause of human extinction is a human-caused disaster. While natural risks are still around (meteor impacts, gamma ray bursts, a really nasty pandemic...) they are less likely than human caused disasters like nuclear war, bioweapons, or wrecking the civilizational and ecological infrastructure we need to survive. Some emerging technologies like AI, misuse of synthetic biology, or self replicating machines may also produce exciting new threats. The actual disaster likely to do us in is likely a combination of several kinds: a disaster wipes out most humans, leaves the survivors vulnerable, and then something else makes the situation worse until all are extinct. Extinction(Search). The Last Man on Earth. The Last Flower. [Art, Photo, Art].
-2. What is of interest here is not HIV, but the change in mindset. Instead of responding to where a biodisaster has already been, going to where it will be next. Congress Revamps Housing Program to Benefit Areas Where HIV Is Spreading. Congress has restructured a federal program that provides housing assistance for people living with HIV to funnel more money into areas struggling to control the outbreak. While legislators and housing advocates say the adjustments will better target regions with high rates of the virus, these changes are likely to mean less money for some of the large cities that confronted the early effects of the epidemic. This mindset was encountered when establishing Ebola Treatment Units in West Africa. They tended to be built where there was an outbreak, and by the time they were finished the outbreak had moved to another area.
-3. Hey, Hippocrates: Food Isn’t Medicine. It’s Just Food. Hippocrates supposedly said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”. I disagree. Food is not medicine. I can hear people saying, “But, Dylan, you have type 1 diabetes and a Ph.D. in human nutritional sciences. Surely you of all people know that food has a powerful impact on health”. I do. But that still doesn’t make food medicine. 2500 years ago most treatments were magical and medicines were herbs and food. In other words Hippocrates, though the father of medicine, would have been charged for medical fraud if he practiced medicine today. The current definition of medicine is relatively recent, with Latin, not Greek, origins. The Greek word equivalent to medicine is pharmakeia as in pharmaceutical. The word food is of Germanic origin, Ancient Greeks mostly ate gruel, not considered nutritious foods or meals in today’s world. I suspect that “Let gruel be thy* pharmacy and pharmacy be thy gruel”, does not suit the narrative needs of those promoting organic natural foods and fighting BigPharma. Let Food Be Thy Medicine and Medicine Be Thy Food. The Obsessive Worship of Medicinal Foods. What Would Hippocrates Do. *Use of old terms give the weight of old authority, as in English versions of the Bible. [Cartoon, Cartoon, Cartoon, Cartoon].
-Quote: Who said anything about medicine. Let’s eat. – Attributed to Skeptikistís who was eventually kicked out of the Asclepieia for arguing.
↕4. Florida Adds Dozen More Zika Cases, including the first sexually transmitted case in 2017. Americas Countries Report More Chikungunya Cases. 697 more suspected, confirmed, and imported chikungunya cases last week, most of them from Panama, which added 4 week's worth of cases. New NACCHO* President on Zika, Equity & the ACA: We can’t do this alone. We have to do it together. *NACCHO.
-4.1. Why Did Zika Not Explode in Cuba. The Role of Active Community Participation to Sustain Control of Vector Borne Diseases. As the global public health community develops strategies for sustainable Zika prevention and control, assessment of the Cuban response to Zika provides critical lessons learned. Cuba's early and successful response to Zika, grounded in the country's long standing dengue prevention and control program, serves as a model of rapid mobilization of intersectoral efforts. Sustaining this response requires applying the evidence generated within the Cuban dengue program that active community participation improves outcomes and is sustainable and cost effective. There is also a need for implementation science efforts to assess the transferability of lessons learned from Zika prevention and control to other pathogens and from one context to another in addition to how to take these efforts to scale. With the current strained relations it may be difficult to learn what they did. 4.2B↓,<ADDED 170723>-170618-2.3. This has been suspected before, Common Mosquito Can Carry Zika Virus: Brazilian Scientists.
-4.2. Cuban Diplomats Expelled after U.S. Embassy Staff 'Incidents' in Havana. In the fall of 2016 U.S. diplomats began suffering unexplained losses of hearing. Several were recent arrivals at the embassy, which reopened in 2015 as part of former President Barack Obama's reestablishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba. Some of the symptoms were so severe that they were forced to cancel their tours early and return to the United States. After months of investigation, U.S. officials concluded that the diplomats had been attacked with an advanced sonic weapon that operated outside the range of audible sound and had been deployed either inside or outside their residences. ¶ Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a staunch critic of former President Obama's decision to reopen relations with Cuba after decades of Cold War isolation, said: Personal harm to U.S. officials shows the extent the Castro regime will go and clearly violates international norms. The conjecture that a sonic weapon was used is not a conclusion, its speculation, possibly made to support an agenda. It would be reasonable to say that the hearing loss is consistent with that seen from some sonic frequencies and those frequencies are from listening devices or non-lethal weapons. ¶ No indication that there was coordination with Cuban Public Health. The location of the Embassy [Map] indicates apartments in the area that may suffer from the same sonic sounds, or could be a location to shoot the imagined weapon at the embassy, though the distances are outside known effective ranges [Chart]. In either case other people in the area may have the same hearing loss, and finding the source would be easier with more data. ¶ The embassy is swept for surveillance, which makes in likely that the sub and ultra sonic and other frequencies are searched. It could be that the accusation of a sonic weapon is based on unshared fact, meaning that classified information was revealed, or is a fantasy related to Mind Control Technology [Art]. US Diplomats in Cuba Attacked with Sonic Weapon That Caused Hearing Loss, Hearing Loss of US Diplomats Posted to Cuba Blamed on Mysterious Device; Canadian Diplomat in Cuba Also Treated for Hearing Loss, the [Map] of the two locations indicates they are about 3.5 kilometers from each other. Hearing Health in Cuba (2014). In the meantime magical thinking draws links between what are likely to be actual meetings about the recent accusation by the US or a random coincidence framed as something nefarious, Cubans, Russians Meet as Questions Swirl about US Diplomats’ Hearing Loss. Yet Another Amazing Trump/Russia Coincidence, Conspiracy or Coincidence A Timeline Open to Interpretation, Are There Too Many Russia Connections to Be Coincidences.
-A. Unable to locate any information about hearing loss in Havana. No idea if in the general population it is higher, expected or lower than normal levels. Cuba does not have a stellar record about sharing its health data causing suspicion it was hiding data on outbreaks Cuba Conceals Cholera Outbreak. This reputation for secrecy is likely to continue even if it would fuel wild speculation about a sonic weapon. Likewise; it would be consistent for Cuba to provide information about statistically significant hearing loss in the geographic area in question. The data could reflect poorly on their touted Public Health programs 4.1↑. It makes sense that Cuba at this time would want to have a little fear that they may have a secret weapon, at the same time it serves the US Administration that the Cubans have a secret weapon. It is unfortunately common for people to want to gain and remain powerful via being feared, no matter the cost. An example was Saddam Hussein who preferred to remain ambiguous if Iraq had chemical and biological weapons to remain a middle east power, risking being attacked by the US and others. With the recently antagonized relation between the US and Cuba it is unlikely that Cuba will be forthcoming with any information that could explain the problem, and the US are unlikely to believe them anyway. Another speculation is that there are three airports in the Havana area, one of which has a flight path over the area of the embassies and the other two are close by. This may be the source of the hearing loss [Photo, Map] with about 50-60 flights per day. ¶ The Five Characteristics of Fear Based Leaders 1) They'll Teach You, Whether You Like It or Not. 2) Everyone is a Friend or a Foe. 3) It's All about the Trophies. 4) They Don't Step Outside Boxes. 5) They're Addicted to Yardsticks. Some fear based power is based on wanting to be stigmatized, or to become a leaders of a stigmatized group in order to gain power. (Cross Cutting Topics) -6.2, -7, -10, -170806-7↓. This may be one reason anti-vax thrives. To be stigmatized can be spun to mean one is unjustly persecuted, allowing one to take on the mantel of other persecuted figures such as Galileo, 170326-1 [\fs24ulMeme], and Jews [Meme, Meme], that the persecution is a badge of honor, and beliefs are affirmed by persecution (Martyrdom, fallacy) -170430-2↓.
-4.3. Can a Zika Outbreak Be Sustained Sexually. It's Complicated. Unlike other mosquito borne outbreaks, Zika doubles as a sexually transmitted infection, 170806-4.2, with men retaining the virus 10 times longer in their semen than women do in their vaginal fluids. Populations least likely to get tested for Zika could sustain a silent outbreak. Puerto Rico comes to mind as one possible population 170611-4, Favelas are another 160703-4.1. In all likelihood Africa has probably been a hidden Zika epidemic for a long time. World Map of Areas with Risk of Zika. The History of Zika Virus. Zika Hasn't Hurt Africa, and That May Be the Key to Beating It, Zika Originated in Africa. Why Are We So Sure It’s Harmless There, The Zika Virus Just Quietly Spread to Southwest Africa. Scientists Develop Improved, Potentially Safer Zika Vaccine. Tobacco plant produced vaccine could also be less costly, targeted for the developing world.
-5. Turns out there really is a shadow government 170806-7.2 and deep state 170806-7.2‡ [Cartoon]. With Trump in the White House, Obama Science Experts Operate Shadow Network to Press Their Positions. Nearly all of the Obama administration’s science staff has departed the White House since January 170702-10, and the Trump administration has moved slowly to replace them. In the meantime, however, an unofficial shadow office, stocked with Obama loyalists, is quietly at work. The network is informal yet organized, allowing for a far reaching if largely inconspicuous effort to continue advocating for the Obama science agenda. Participants have provided counsel to Democratic lawmakers and their staffs on Capitol Hill, and they have held group wide strategy sessions much in the same fashion as they did when they worked adjacent to the White House. U.S. Already Feeling Consequences of Global Warming, Draft Report Finds. ¶ Scientists Fear Trump Will Dismiss Climate Change Report, [Cartoon]. The report directly contradicts claims about global warming made by the Trump administration, which must sign off on it before it can be released, -170611-3.2↓. There is also the possibility of not suppressing the report, but rewriting it, classifying it or making it FOUO, only permitting a highly edited summary, and claiming the version that was released was Fake. The media article adds some drama by implying that the newspaper somehow obtained it despite barriers [Tweet]. In actual fact the existence of the report has been known for some time, as well as draft copies of the report. The final itself will be available soon, especially if it is not signed off on. Obama Left Trump a Major Climate Change Report – and Independent Scientists Just Said It’s Accurate. Review of the Draft Climate Science Special Report. Science or His Base. Climate Report May Make Trump Choose, not sure why anyone wonders which he will choose; it’s neither, the choice will be himself [Cartoon]. Climate Change Report Now in Hands of Trump Administration. A similar report in 2004 was barely noticed, Now the Pentagon Tells Bush: Climate Change Will Destroy us. Our Climate is Our Security. The United States military already regards environmental factors as a national security threat. Two years ago, in response to questions from Congress, the Pentagon issued a report identifying the specific environment related threats facing each geographic combatant command. The Climate Report Scientists Are Afraid Trump Will Censor, Explained. [Photo, Photo last seen in China Photo, Photo. Cartoon. Screen Grab (2014)]. Trump’s Attack on Science Isn’t Going Very Well. At the same time science and other professional fields can be accused of creating or using obscure new words [Word Cloud]. #Book Humans Can’t Tell Legitimate Science from Junk Science (Synopsis), Little Black Book of Junk Science [Cover].
-5.1. USDA Has Begun Censoring Use of the Term 'Climate Change', Emails Reveal, to reference “weather extremes” instead. Instead of “climate change adaption”, staff are asked to use “resilience to weather extremes”. “Reduce greenhouse gases” is blacklisted in favor of “build soil organic matter, increase nutrient use efficiency”. “Sequester carbon” is ruled out and replaced by “build soil organic matter”. We won’t change the modeling, just how we talk about it. USDA Clamps down on Staffers Using the Term Climate Change. 2016 Hit Records for Global Temperature and Climate Extremes. Warmest year on record, highest sea levels (no new term yet) and lowest polar sea ice (no new term yet). ¶ EPA scrapped its entire online climate section in April pending a review that will be “updating language to reflect the approach of new leadership”, 170430-C. Sam Clovis*, Trump’s nomination to be the USDA’s chief scientist, ADDED 170806-170709-6.1, has labeled climate research “junk science”, [Cartoon]. NewSpeak from Orwell’s 1984 Meets Climate Change, 170514-1.1‡, 170409-2.2A website, 170129-T.3.2. Don't call it fucking dumb. It's an intelligence extreme. [Cartoon, Cartoon, Cartoon].
-*A. Not exactly the person one would want to be in charge with The Wheat Disease Threatening Asia's Food Supply. Farmers are struggling to control a deadly fungus that jumped two oceans and now has US scientists on guard. Alone in a field of deep green, the bleached yellow head of a single winter wheat plant jarred the experienced eye of an agronomist walking through a test plot in Princeton, Kentucky in May 2011. DNA testing at the University of Kentucky confirmed the bad news: The plant had wheat blast, a disease that can drastically reduce a farmer's yield, and for which little natural resistance is known. Magnaporthe oryzae, the fungus that causes it, had never been seen on wheat in the US outside of a Biosafety Level 3 lab. [Photo].
-B. Chokepoints and Vulnerabilities in Global Food Trade. • Trade chokepoints – maritime, coastal and inland – pose an underexplored and growing risk to global food security. • Maritime chokepoints will become increasingly integral to meeting global food supply as population growth, shifting dietary preferences, bioenergy expansion and slowing improvements in crop yields drive up demand for imported grain. • Rising trade volumes, increasing dependence on imports among food deficit countries, underinvestment, weak governance, climate change and emerging disruptive hazards together make chokepoint disruptions – both small and large scale – increasingly likely. • Climate change will have a compounding effect on chokepoint risk, increasing the probability of both isolated and multiple concurrent weather induced disturbances. • Investment in infrastructure lags demand growth: critical networks in major crop producing regions are weak and ageing, and extra capacity is urgently needed. -170730-5.2B.C↓. Snapshot: Web Tools Help Prepare for Livestock Disease Outbreaks. #Document Manual on the Preparation of National Animal Disease Emergency Preparedness Plans. 10↓.
-C. DOD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms July 2017, no longer has Civil Support as a separate entry. However defense support of civil authorities still includes that Civil Support is part of this. Also note that DSCA is now in lower case and has of, instead of to, 170806-C.3. This may mean nothing, may represent decreasing knowledge and interest in the area, continued ignorance about the legal separation of the two, the errors that natually happen when one simply copies what was done before, or a policy change where this is becoming more of a National Guard responsibility, or area that is in general being neglected.
-5.2. The Long Dark: A Game Tailored for the Age of Climate Anxiety. Hinterland Games' chilly survival adventure is about understanding nature – and being unable to escape it. As the pinnacle of the genre of survival games, The Long Dark renders a version of the natural world that's fully digestible without losing an edge of danger. In a world now shaped irrevocably by climate change, nature can feel entirely opposed to civilization – elementally chaotic and threatening. Mother Nature's vengeance and all that. Nature is entirely systemized here in ways familiar to videogames, a matrix of slowly depleting meters and comprehensible mechanics, but understanding nature doesn't make it safe. This is essential. A pocket of imagined nature that you can inhabit and manipulate but that you can never conquer, nor prevent it from conquering you. The game is rigged, and you will always lose. It's a microcosm of an essential contemporary anxiety grafted onto the husk of an ostensibly empowering outdoorsman fantasy. We understand our planet better than we ever have. But for all of that knowledge, we're not sure if we can stop it from killing us. [Logo, Graphic]. There would be a way to beat the game. It is designed for a single player, but if you set up a cooperative team it would be possible to survive, assuming there is an escape designed into the game. If however the game design is that there is no way to win, the it can be hacked and still won.
-5.3. Believing the Future Will Be Favorable May Prevent Action. People tend to believe that others will come around to their point of view over time. The findings show that this 'belief in a favorable future' holds across various contexts and cultures, shedding light on some of the causes and consequences of the political polarization evident today. The Belief in a Favorable Future. People believe that future others’ preferences and beliefs will change to align with their own. People holding a particular view (e.g., support of President Trump) are more likely to believe that future others will share their view than to believe that future others will have an opposing view (e.g., opposition to President Trump). Six studies demonstrated this belief in a favorable future (BFF) for political views, scientific beliefs, and entertainment and product preferences. BFF is greater in magnitude than the tendency to believe that current others share one’s views (false consensus effect), arises across cultures, is distinct from general optimism, is strongest when people perceive their views as being objective rather than subjective, and can affect (but is distinct from) beliefs about favorable future policy changes. BFF can influence people’s behavior today. [Photo, without the ice it does look so much better. Cartoon, Cartoon, Strip, Cartoon, Cartoon, Cartoon, Cartoon, Cartoon]. -170730-5.2B‡↓.
-5.4. Canadian Scientists Explain Exactly How Their Government Silenced Science. This will take time to sort out, and perhaps the legal battle will consume four years of time. Disagree; this action could take place immediately, then the legal process could take years to sort out. In the meantime funds could be cut off creating massive vulnerabilities in trying to solve a security problem that did not actually exist in the first place. Donald Trump’s War on Science. 170129-T et al. In a Place Where Suspicion Has Dug in Roots, Researchers Want to Demystify Science.
-6. US Soldier Who Murdered Afghan Civilians Will Blame Malaria Drug Used by Army. An Army court will decide this week whether to review and perhaps reduce the life sentence of a soldier who massacred Afghan civilians – and in the process it will judge a controversial malaria drug given to troops that is known to cause hallucinations, anxiety, paranoia, neurological and vestibular problems in a small percentage of users. ¶ Concerns inside the Defense Department began surfacing in 2002 following a string of violent deaths and suicides among soldiers and military family members at Fort Bragg, N.C. In 2004, a federal investigation found that 11 troops taking the medication experienced debilitating vertigo. In 2009, the Defense Department issued a policy listing it as a last choice preventive, to be used only in areas where strains are resistant to other medications. And in 2012 and 2016, several case studies were published of troops developing brain damage as a result of taking the drug. Probably nothing will come from this except removal of the drug and release of the individual. But it could be generalized for anti-medicine and FDA approval weaknesses. It is also a twinkie defense [Cartoon, Cartoon], not needing proof that the individual took the drug. Legal cases have been won when it could be proven that something could not be proved. In some cases pseudoscience will cite legal decisions as proving their case, but something that is legal, had more skill in a debate, or won a court case, is not science. Meanwhile to help further degrade food security and science FDA Puts New Restrictions on Hiring of Foreign Scientists.
-6.1. When anticipating likely behavior and attitude of a population caught in a biodisaster and/or parademic is it worth taking the time to learn of previous stresses. The Ebola parademic would have been different in West Africa if there had not been civil war, Ebolaphobia in the US would have been different if there had not been terrorism and political exploitation. Stress Heightens Fear of Threats from the Past. Recognizing threats is an essential function of the human mind – think 'fight or flight' – one that is aided by past negative experiences. But when older memories are coupled with stress, individuals are likely to perceive danger in harmless circumstances. However;the past only influencea the present and future, it does not determine either. Predicting Community Resilience and Recovery after a Disaster. COPEWELL: A Conceptual Framework and System Dynamics Model for Predicting Community Functioning and Resilience After Disasters. Things to Make You Go Hmmm – About Community Resilience. C.2↓. Surge of Migrants Crossing Into Quebec Tests Canada’s Welcome, As Asylum Seekers Flock to Quebec, Canadian Agencies Pitch in, 170806-7.2‡, 170423-9, 170312-2.4. A Taxi Driver's Mission to Help Refugees Reach the Canadian Border, A Trump Supporter, and His Cab, Play Unexpected Role in Escape to Canada. Stay, Hide or Leave. Hard Choices for Immigrants in the Heartland, is this FFF in another guise. ¶ Out of curiosity I checked. Fight is a word that comes up very often in parademic. Five times in this week’s notes alone.
-6.2. #Glossary ʛ. Epitigue – Combination of epidemic and fatigue. This is both the stress and fatigue of an event, and disaster fatigue, donor fatigue to provide support. This is where the public becomes tired of the continual message that turn out to be nothing. Disaster fatigue, Hurricane fatigue, Ebola Fatigue. | Characteristics: Numbness / Helplessness. Burnout / Disengagement. Losing touch with reality, surreal, inability to assess validity and risk, New Analysis: Biological Risks must Be among Top Security Priorities. Erosion of critical thinking and increase in magical thinking, Contamination Requiring Ritual Purification: Superstitious Concepts at the Heart of Antivaccine Beliefs. Words and actions become more fluid in meaning, those with opposing beliefs use same words in direct opposition. Grasping at normalcy or previous (usually imaginary) conditions. Normalcy of Deviance. Cumulative effect is that the risk remains, but less ability to cope and take appropriate action. | Coping strategies: Biodisasters are long term problems that won’t be resolved immediately, in fact the tendency is to end the project to correct to soon, if it is initiated at all. Set priorities on what is actually important and urgent, don’t let political, economic, self interest, and other factors set the agenda. Maintain critical thinking about media consumption and other reports, especially social media, and those you find you agree with, without asking why you agree. Take some time off, its okay to not always know the latest about everything that happening. Modified from How to Combat Trump Fatigue Syndrome. Biotrumpism is proving to be a good analogue for parademic, especially biopolitics. ¶ This magical thinking associated with parademic, along with archaic ideas of stigma and contamination, may explain the appearance of supernatural or imaginary creatures during biodisasters. 4.2A↑, 7, 10↓.
-6.3. Death Anxiety: The Fear That Drives us. Cremation Rates Reach All Time High in the U.S. The practice has surpassed burial rates for the second year in a row. This is of parademic significance because one of the issue of a biodisaster is disposition on the dead. Usually dead bodies are not a source of infections, though with some diseases like Ebola the body is infectious. However, they can become unpleasant very quickly attracting vermin and scavengers, can contaminate water and soil, and in mass fatality can quickly become a storage problem. This is further complicated if there is insistence of ceremony for burial and the logistics involved. Even with incineration there are record keeping and logistic issues, but less than ground burial, and there may still be the need for temporary mass graves by burial. ¶ Ashes to Ashes, Dust to ... Interactive Biodegradable Funerary Urns. Technology is fundamentally changing how we deal with death, memorials and human remains. One of the latest examples: A startup offers a smartphone connected urn where ashes are used to grow a tree. 170702-6.3A, <ADDED 170702>-170625-2, <ADDED 170709>-170305-13: 160501-10, +↓.
-7. Pope Speaks Out on Huntington's Disease. Pope Francis is trying to remove the stigma of people afflicted with Huntington's Disease, an incurable genetic brain disorder that causes such serious involuntary movements and psychiatric problems that sufferers are often shunned and isolated. Families Bear the Burden of this Disease in Silence. Pope Francis Made Us into a Community. Stigma: The Fourth Component of Huntington's Disease. [Photo] 6.2↑, 10↓. ¶ Does Pope Francis Have a Master's Degree in Chemistry, False: Pope Francis Has a Master's Degree in Chemistry. Dear Rick Santorum: Sorry, the Pope Actually Did Study Science. So He MightKnow about Science. Bill Nye and Neil deGrasse Tyson Praise the Pope for Embracing Science, Bill Nye the Pseudoscience Guy.
-8. Non-Traditional Health Threats: Redefining the Emergency Management Landscape. The study of disaster risk is primarily aimed at identifying who may be at risk from specific events so as to prevent and/or facilitate timely responses to them. These causes are predominantly defined by historical data rather than from forecasting potential risks. Many of the threats to health and security today are transnational, whether it is the spread of an infectious disease, migration of displaced people (who may be contaminated and therefore stigmatized 6.2, 7↑), or the widespread impact of a weather event.
-8.1. The potential health threat of when those are working on rolling back health care, defund public health, and don’t believe in medical science and vaccination are now responsible for the stewardship of those laws. These people, if not now, in the future can become stigmatized for any association with Trumpism.
-‡. Vaccine Funding must Continue — the Health of American Children Is at Stake. [Cartoon]. Bipartisan Coalition of Experts Proposes Blueprint to Shore up Fragile Marketplaces. Health Officials Denounce Trump’s Decision to Cut Funding for Pregnancy Prevention Programs. Taking a U Turn on Benefits, Big Employers Vow to Continue Offering Health Insurance. Trump Administration Won't Answer Questions about Obamacare Enrollment. Trump Administration Shifts Tone on Obamacare, Signals Openness to Bipartisan 'Fix'. Trump Officials Confront New ObamaCare Reality. Trump: 'Can You Believe' McConnell Couldn't Repeal, Replace ObamaCare. Senate Democrats Delay HHS Nominee over Concerns on Women’s Health Funding. Bipartisan Group Floats ObamaCare Fixes, Will Republicans Work with Democrats to Fix Obamacare, Senate Republicans Seek to Move Past GOP Only Health Debate. Price: ACA Is Law of Land, and It’s Still HHS’ Responsibility to Implement it. Trump Turns Glare to Health Care Subsidies. ‘I Think It’s Over’: Senators Ready to Move on from RepealEfforts. The Courts May Have Just Checked Trump’s Ability to Sabotage Obamacare. Trump Halts U.S. Effort to Combat Truckers' Sleep Disorders. Senate Plans September Hearings on Health Insurance Market.
-9. A demographic that had not been specifically considered before in parademic. Crops Rot as Border Crackdown Creates Farmworker Shortage. Transient demographics through a native, not always larger, population have impacts on that population’s economics, make up, disease risk, ecological damage, sex ratios, age rations, demands on services to include public health. These transient populations can be a surge labor force for periods of high labor, tourists, migrants passing through, specialized occupations (such as health care workers in the Middle East), those seeking permanent residence, an armed force during a conflict, imprisonment, disenfranchised, internally displaced, homeless, assistance workers for a disaster, quarantine / patients / isolated, business, and groups that are intent on staying but still viewed as outsiders. In some instances the native population is forced to become the transient one by an incoming population, usually via depopulation of that demographic. Mobile and ignored populations also represent a hidden reservoir, or unrecognized victims of a biodisaster.
-10. Philippines Warns Against Killing of Migratory Birds amid Avian Flu Outbreak. The Philippines warned citizens not to kill or poach migratory birds that usually fly in from China, the possible source of a virus that triggered the Southeast Asian nation's first outbreak of avian flu, to avoid worsening the situation. The outbreak prompted a cull of 200,000 fowl last week after it was detected on a farm north of the capital Manila, and spread to five neighboring farms.
Migratory birds or smuggled ducks from China may have brought in the virus. The bird migration season in the Philippines usually starts around September, with the birds returning to their breeding grounds the following March. The culling, poisoning or chasing of migratory birds is strongly discouraged as they have proven ineffective and counterproductive. Sick or dead wild birds should immediately be reported to the Department of Agriculture to allow checks for the virus. Breeders in areas frequented by migratory birds need to guard their flocks against contact with them. 5.1B, 6.2, 7, 8↑. This is consistent parademic response. Blame and banish, stigmatize or kill. This happened during Ebola with stigmatization of those who had buried the Ebola dead, help treat the Ebola sick, or recovered from Ebola, or had some relation with Africa. This happened during the 2009 Swine Flu where pigs were killed in Egypt. The happened during the plagues in Europe where Jews, Women, Heretics (Witches) were killed, tortured, burned at the stake, driven from towns. This happened against Gays during the early HIV outbreak. This did not happen during the Spanish Flu, at least I am not aware of any Spanish speakers who were killed because they were the source of the flu. Usually there is an underlying political agenda behind such acts, where disease is used as the credible excuse for the behavior.
↕C. Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication (CERC) Corner [Logo]. Newsletter Archive. Upcoming Webinar Topic: Mental Health and Spiritual Care in Emergencies (CDC & NVOAD Webinar) When: August 29, 1:00 PM ET.
-C.1. Old news, but sometimes the way to get the message across is repetition, saying it over and over again, and then repeating. Pro-Vaccine Messages Can Boost Belief in MMR Myths. Images which suggest unvaccinated children can suffer from disease inspired the strongest belief that vaccines had harmful side effects. Countering false information in ways that repeat it appears to amplify and spread the misconception, making it familiar and therefore more acceptable. One group was shown a leaflet that confronted vaccine myths with facts. Second group was given a series of tables comparing potential problems caused by measles, mumps and rubella with potential side effects of the MMR vaccine. Third group was shown images of children suffering from measles, mumps and rubella. The fourth group acted as a control and was given unrelated reading material. All of the strategies were counter-productive. Belief in vaccine myths were strengthened and the likelihood of vaccinating children lessened. This effect only increased over time. Misinformation Lingers in Memory: Failure of Three Pro-Vaccination Strategies. Reminds one of a recent presidential election where there were massive anti-messages against one candidate in the media. This backfired and had the same effect of increasing belief and misperceptions of this core true believer group over time. How ‘CleanEating’ Can Damage Children’s Health, a healthy diet is a good idea, but cutting out entire food groups is not. Another Study Shows Just How Hard it Is to Change Beliefs in Antivaccine Misinformation, Correcting Vaccine Misinformation May Reinforce False Beliefs Instead. ¶ Just a coincidence I’m sure, but note the similarities between anti -Vax, -GMO, -Political Rivals, -Science messages, and conspiracy theory. Russian Propaganda Is Pervasive, and America Is Behind the Power Curve in Countering It, #Document The Russian "Firehose of Falsehood" Propaganda Model, page 2 (2008). 1) High volume and multichannel. 2) Rapid, continuous, and repetitive. 3) Lacks commitment to objective reality. 4) Lacks commitment to consistency. How ‘clean eating’ can damage children’s health.
-A. Dumb and Dumber: Kent Heckenlively and Mike Adams Team up to Support an Antivaccine WhiteHouse.gov Petition. An antivaxer named Kent Heckenlively posted a WhiteHouse.gov petition demanding a five year moratorium on childhood vaccines. It failed. Did that stop Mr. Heckenlively. Of course not, and this time he has help from über crank Mike Adams, who is whining about being "censored" by Facebook over it. <ADDED 170716>-170709-9.
-C.2. Development of a Set of Community Informed Ebola Messages for Sierra Leone. The West African Ebola epidemic of 2013-2016 was by far the largest outbreak of the disease on record. Sierra Leone suffered nearly half of the 28,646 reported cases. This paper presents a set of culturally contextualized Ebola messages that are based on the findings of qualitative interviews and focus group discussions conducted in 'hotspot' areas of rural Bombali District and urban Freetown in Sierra Leone, between January and March 2015. ¶ Four cross cutting principles emerged through the message development process: Trusted messengers. Two way communication. Parallel operational services. Local factors. The six different components of the messages: The rationale for the message. The audience to whom the message was directed. The channel(s) through which the message would be disseminated. The messenger(s). The message content. and; Associated operational issues that need to be taken into account. 6.1↑, 170806-1, 170730-C.2. Too bad similar messaging was not developed for outside the hotzone to counteract Ebolaphobia.
-C.3. Lessons to be learned on communication that conflict with social norms. The Surprising Origins of Kotex Pads. Before the first disposable sanitary napkin hit the mass market, periods were thought of in a much different way. Menstrual Taboo. The Taboo of Menstruation.
All around the world, and throughout history, women have been shamed, sequestered, and medicalised for bleeding regularly. Nepal Strengthens Laws Against Dowry, Menstrual Exile. Taboo Words' Impact Mediated by Context, Listeners' Likelihood of Being Offended.
-170806-2.2: Homeland Security Is Too Important to Leave Without a Leader. New Leadership Needed at DHS.
-170806-7: Health Gap Widens Between Appalachia and Rest of the U.S. The Appalachian Region [Map, Map] is in dire need of health care. This section of the U.S., long acknowledged to be among the most economically disadvantaged in the country, is showing a growing gap in health outcomes with the rest of the United States, with higher rates of infant mortality, smoking, obesity and early deaths from motor vehicle accidents, drug overdoses and Advanced Black Lung Cases Surge in Appalachia. Illustrates that when people are economically and physically desperate that they will sometimes make choices against their best interests, and there will be people willing to exploit that desperation 4.2A↑. 170806-7.2‡, <ADDED 170723>-170709-6C,170618-3.1‡, 170604-4.2A‡ -4.3, 170521-5.1, 170409-2.2A, 170402-7.1, 170326-4.2A, 170220-5.7.T -6.3T, 170219-11, 170129-12.2, 170108-13. [Photo, Cartoon, Meme]. Sure, Appalachia Voted Heavily for Trump. But Not Everyone Here Loves Him, Trump Seeks to Ax Appalachia Economic Programs, Causing Worry in Coal Country, What the Media Misses When it Sees Appalachia as Just Trump Country. [Cartoon, Cartoon, Cartoon]. HBO Suffers Setback in Coal Baron's Defamation Lawsuit Over John Oliver Segment. The Early Deaths of Appalachians.
-170806-7.1: Plan Big, Even to Respond Small. In emergency planning efforts, there is much debate about whether to plan for the worst and scale down, or plan for current threats and scale up. Of course, in complex systems, small changes in initial conditions can have profound effects. By considering larger, low frequency events, communities can overcome this challenge and be better prepared for disasters of all sizes. I’ve observed that worst case scenario planning tends to leave one unprepared to what actually happens, and in fact diverts resources from the more probable disaster. Preparing for bioterror at the expense of a natural outbreak is an example. This has been explored before as Low risk/probability, high damage; Black Swan. This often times is due to misdefining the problem, resulting in solving the wrong problem The Problem Statement – What’s the Problem. Lessons in Providing Psychosocial Support: a Review of 3 Postdisaster Programs. Despite great advances in emergency management, we live in a world where the incidence of individual and collective loss, bereavement and trauma and the need for post-disaster support is as great as ever. The provision of formal and informal psychosocial support is not new. However, some interesting models of post-disaster support have emerged following recent disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis and deliberate acts of violence including terrorism. <ADDED 170806>-170730-5.2. Proper Prior Planning Prevents Pretty Poor Performance Post Problem, again not considering consequences of an event, or action taken in relation to an event.
-Quote: Problems cannot be solved by the level of awareness that created them. – Dubious attribution to Albert Einstein, [Meme, Meme].
-170806-7.2‡: Deregulation [Cartoon, Strip, Cartoon, Cartoon, Strip, Cartoon, Cartoon, Cartoon, Cartoon]. Environmental Penalties down under President Trump. Al Gore Thinks Our Political System Can Save the Climate. His Daughter Isn’t So Sure. In an age of insanity, Gore still hasfaith in reason and democracy. Trump’s Environmental Agenda Is Crashing into the Courts. Scott Pruitt Is Carrying Out His E.P.A. Agenda in Secret. Trump Administration’s Deregulatory Agenda: Watching the American Safety Net Unravel Before Our Eyes.
-170806-8A: Boulder Author Warns of More 'Megafires' on Nation's Horizon. Before 1995, the United States averaged one megafire a year. Between 2005 and 2014, the number jumped to 9.8 per year. And, since the 1990s, the federal price tag for fighting such fires leaped from $300 million a year to $3 billion annually. 170723-3‡ -C.2, <ADDED 170709>-170702-5.1. [Meme].
-170730-5.2: <ADDED 170806>, Diagnosing Trump Is More about Politics than Mental Health.
-170730-5.2B -C: <ADDED 170806> [Tweet] pattern of building drama and anticipation. Dems: Trump Offers 'Another Broken Promise' on Opioid Crisis. Trump’s budget proposal and the Medicaid cuts he supported as part of the Republican healthcare repeal would both make this crisis even worse. Until Trump takes real action and abandons his attempts to reduce healthcare access to these communities. Anything he does is nothing but more empty rhetoric and another broken promise. Pattern of preemptive deflation of drama and dread. Trump Vows to 'Win' Against Opioid Epidemic, Offers No New Steps and did not act on a recommendation made by a presidential commission that he declare a national emergency. This was billed as a major briefing on the opioid crisis and also unexpectedly issued a stern warning to North Korea over its threats to the United States*. "I'm confidant that by working with our healthcare and law enforcement experts we will fight this deadly epidemic and the United States will win. We're also very, very ftlinetough on the southern border where much of this comes in, and we're talking to China, where certain forms of man made drug comes in, and it is bad". HHS Secretary Tom Price said the administration was still working to devise "a comprehensive strategy" to be presented to Trump "in the near future". President Trump Promised “A Major Briefing” on the Opioid Crisis. It Was a Huge Nothingburger. Trump Holds off on Declaring Opioid Crisis a National Emergency, the best way to prevent drug addiction and overdose is to prevent people from abusing drugs in the first place. Trump Rejects Call to Declare Opioid Epidemic a National Emergency, H5N1 Comment, Trump Ignores His Own Commission’s Advice on Opioids. Trump Is Declaring a National Emergency over the Opioid Epidemic\fs24plain , Trump to Declare National Emergency over Opioids Two Days after Top Aide Rejected Notion, Trump Declares the Opioid Crisis a National Emergency, technically a national emergency has not been declared yet, as noted before a tweet or verbal statement is not a legal presidential directive or emergency declaration; Trump: The Opioid Crisis Is an Emergency, and I’m Saying Officially Right Now, and apparently he forgot to tell his staff again about this. Lets hope the WH does not confuse the opioid and nuke crisis. Would be embarrassing if there is a preemptive strike on New Hampshire, and money sent to North Korea to build a wall, especially if he does not tell the WH staff. 4 Questions about Trump’s Emergency Declaration on Opioids.
-‡. Stopping Epidemics at the Source: Applying Lessons from Cholera to the Opioid Crisis. B.C. Collecting Comprehensive Data on Overdose Victims to Curb Opioid Crisis. Doctor’s Murder Raises Tough Questions About Battling Opioid Epidemic. Trump Stops Short of Declaring National Emergency for Opioid Epidemic. #Document, US: Geographic Variation in Opioid and Heroin Involved Drug Poisoning Mortality Rates. How U.S. States Have Used Emergency Declarations to Fight the Opioid Epidemic. New Hampshire Sues Purdue Pharma over Opioid Marketing Practices, f2 New Hampshire Is Latest State to Sue OxyContin Manufacturer. What Declaring a National Emergency over the Opioid Epidemic Could Actually do. Opioids May Be Killing Thousands More People Each Year than We Previously Thought. Trump Doesn't Need to Declare the Opioid Crisis a National Emergency. 32 Churches and No Methadone Clinic: Struggling with Addiction in an Opioid ‘Treatment Desert’. A Vaccine for Addiction Is No Simple Fix. From Alaska to Florida, States Respond to Opioid Crisis with Emergency Declarations. The Cost of Treating Opioid Overdose Victims Is Skyrocketing, Is Big Pharma Hindering Treatment of the Opioid Epidemic, drugs on the street are cheap, while the treatment skyrockets. Stark Increase in Opioid Related Admissions, Deaths in Nation's ICUs with demand for acute care outstripping the available supply. Trump Misdiagnoses the Opioid Crisis, focusing on finger pointing and punitive measures. The crisis is the fault of the Mexicans and the Chinese. The metric that he offered for success in handling the problem domestically was the number of federal drug prosecutions brought and the average length of prison terms they produced. Both have dropped since 2011, which the President sees as evidence not of a bipartisan consensus on the need for sentencing reform but as proof of the laxity and the bad faith of members of the Obama Administration; H5N1 Comment. | Underground Safe Haven Keeps Drug Users off Street, May Save Lives, A Secret, Supervised Place Where Users Can Inject Drugs Has Been Operating in the U.S. for Three Years, is an example of an emergent solution with authorities are not meeting a need. | Then there is the most common drug of choice Risky Drinking Habits on the Rise among U.S. Adults, It’s not just opioid addiction. Alcoholism may be on the rise too. ¶ Another issue is that we have no idea what information or motivations (except self interest) that Trump is basing decisions on, Donald Trump Gets a Daily Briefing All about How Great He is, dangerous cocooning, 5.3↑, -170730-5.2B-Quote↓. [Meme, You Can't Handle the Truth]. A 'Vaccine for Addiction' Is No Simple Fix. Trump's Opioid Effort at Odds with Repeal and Replace (Video). Opioid Prescriptions Across the U.S.
-*A. North Korea Says It Would Use Nukes Only Against U.S. Apparently radioactive fall out will not cross international borders, assuming they hit the US. This promise does not include conventional weapons. If they fire at the US with a nuke it is likely to coincide their 10,000 artillery pieces firing on the Seoul Mega City of 15,000,000+ people. Trump Vows North Korea Threat Will Be Met with ‘Fire and Fury’ [Tweet, Cartoon, Tweet, Cartoon, Tweet]. Trump Today: President Boasts, Without Evidence, of Improved U.S. Nuclear Arsenal. Even in terms of conventional weapons North Korea would be overwhelmed. There is a possibility of nuke bunker busters that can bury themselves deep into the Earth, lowering the risk of fallout, but people hiding out underground bunkers may not be to happy. However nukes bunker busters are not necessary as closing off exit and air supply would be sufficient. Some strike capabilities may be quietly situated in deep waters near North Korea and could hit before an ICBM launch reached apogee. Watch now for if North Korea announces or demonstrates it has mass chemical and bioweapon capabilities <ADDED 170723><ADDED 170716>-170709-6, A Short History of Biological Warfare: From PreHistory to the 21st Century, We’ve Got to Talk: The Militarization of Biotechnology. ¶ North Korea is essentially a biodisaster at the present time, but I think that nuclear war of any size would also constitute a larger and accelerated biodisaster, one that could cascade into a global one. [Cartoon, Cartoon, Cartoon, Cartoon]. A Los Angeles Suburb Released this Ominous Video about How to Survive a Nuclear Attack, a Public Service Announcement. The Trump Administration Is Publicly Contradicting Itself on North Korea. Lets hope the WH does not confuse the opioid and nuke crisis. Would be embarrassing if there is a preemptive strike on New Hampshire, and money sent to North Korea to build a wall, especially if he does not tell the WH staff. The North Korea Crisis Is Magnifying Trump’s Worst Traits, his style makes him uniquely unsuited to a complex challenge. This has been the concern from the beginning, that he would be unable to manage a biodisaster crisis, and in fact was likely to exacerbate it. Donald Trump: There's Nobody That Understands the Horror of Nuclear Better than me (Video), [Meme, Meme, Meme]. The Cuban missle crisis would be an obvious analogue; however there are significant difference that make it an incompatible comparison, Tense Situation On North Korea - Not Like Cold War Cuban Missile Crisis However. ¶ A potential target in South Korea and Japan is a nuclear power plant [Map]. Recently a Suspected Bomb From WW2 Found at Fukushima Nuclear Site. What if an undetected bomb and been under the plant and exploded after the plant was in operation, or after its melt down from the tsunami.
-B. Cholera in Yemen: War, Hunger, Disease…and Heroics. The harms done by war are many and complex. Death, injury, and displacement are the most obvious, but infection is also closely intertwined with conflict. Across the Middle East and Africa, outbreaks of infection have occurred as a direct effect of war, compounded by food and water shortages, displacement, and damage to infrastructure and health services. Nowhere is this web of interconnections more clear than in the cholera epidemic in Yemen. At the time of writing, an estimated 5000 new cases are occurring every day across Yemen. Cholera is easily treated, but access to basic health care is also hampered by war. Targeting health services in war has become more common in recent years, particularly in Syria, but also in Yemen. Access to essential medicines is stymied by difficulties in importation and transport Bridges and Roads as Important to Your Health as What’s in Your Medicine Cabinet, and with the Yemeni economy in ruins, there is little money to pay for what supplies are available. Health care workers are working in incredibly challenging conditions, even though many have not been paid for almost a year. <ADDED 170806>-170709-7A, <ADDED 170723>-170709-6, <ADDED 170716>-170709-6, <ADDED 170625>-170611-2.3, 170122-1.1 160821-8.1. Bombed Bin Trucks, Breeding Bacteria, Dirty Water: Yemen’s Cholera Explosion, Yemen’s Civil War Turns Country into Cholera Breeding Ground, Yemen National Blood Bank Faces Threat of Closure. Syria: The War Is Easier on Me Than the Sickness of My Child. Cholera Vaccines Less Effective for Children than Adults. Children under age 5, are particularly at risk for dying from this diarrheal disease. The standard two dose vaccine regimen reduced the risk of getting cholera on average by 58 percent for adults but only by 30 percent for children under age 5. U.N. Urges Action to Avert Famine Threatening 20 Million People Worldwide, and hungry people and animals can do desperate things -5.1B↑.
-C. 5 Quotes from the Head of USAID on His First Day on the Job. 1) On his vision for the agency: "I believe the purpose of foreign assistance should be ending its need to exist. Each of our programs should look forward to the day when it can end. And around the world we should measure our work by how far each investment moves us closer to that day. Now, I'm under no illusions. In some places, that day is quite a ways off". 2) On how he hopes to work with USAID: "In the area of humanitarian assistance, we will always stand with people when disaster strikes or crisis emerges. But we'll also call on others to do their part. We'll work relentlessly to ensure that we deliver assistance in the most effective, efficient manner possible, meeting their needs and also building resilience against future crisis". 3) On what it's like to work with him: "You can expect from me leadership that is honest with you...You can expect leadership that believes in you...You can expect leadership that listens to you. You also should expect leadership that challenges you... I like to test you. I even like to rattle you. In truth, I'm often playing devil's advocate. But I want to make sure you've thought things through. I don't want the company line. I want your judgment, I want your opinion. I want to hear from you on all those experiences that you've had, and those thoughts and ideas that you have". 4) On decisions about funding: "In all areas and in every way, we'll focus our limited resources on what is working and will end what is not. Again, that's what our taxpayers deserve, that's what our government partners deserve and that's what our partners all around the world deserve". 5) On public service: "These 98 tiles here on the wall [Photo] are obviously a reminder to all of us, not just of the courage and dedication of our wonderful team all around the world, but, sadly, also of the high price that some have paid for doing their work, for lifting lives and building communities. Just like all of you, I'll never forget that we're called upon to work in dangerous and difficult places. And so many of you do that with bravery and courage and distinction".
-Quote: But I want to say that there is nobody that feels stronger about the intelligence community and the CIA than Donald Trump*. There's nobody. The wall behind me is very, very special. We've been touring for quite a while, and I'll tell you what – ¿29? I can't believe it. Audience Member: Twenty eight. – Donald Trump. At CIA HQ, Trump Boasts about Himself, Denies Feud [Cartoon, Photo]. *Why Do Some People Refer to Themselves in the Third Person, like Trump, Here's How Referring to Yourself in the Third Person Can Help, Illeism, Illeism and Narcissism. -170730-5.2B -C↑, <ADDED 170806>-170730-5.2:
-170723-7: <ADDED 170806>. GOOP Camouflages Hormone Hints among the Hydrangeas. Despite all the GOOP related press in the past few weeks I still keep to my general frequency of biweekly GOOP medical rounding so I can be up to date on their biologically implausible yet expensive health conversations. It seems that after they got all uncensored with me on July 13th there have been no new medical learned ghosts, lunar charged orifice rocks, or scary new fake parasites. Is it possible the GOOP editors and even, dare I say it, GP herself have taken to heart my suggestion that biased half truths are the opposite of female empowerment. Maybe, just maybe, they were trying to do better. Then someone sent me this GOOP gardening article where landscape artist Miranda Brooks drops the heretofore medically unknown pearl about balancing hormones by touching plants. Alex Jones – Snake Oil Salesman.
-170611-3.2: <ADDED 170730>, <ADDED 170723>. Cyber Criminals’ next Deadly Target: Grandpa’s Pacemaker. Cyberattacks are accelerating [Chart] worldwide and the U.S. health care system is dangerously unprepared to defend itself, or its patients. In the past two months, thousands of computers of the nation’s No. 3 pharmaceutical company, Merck, seized up amid a global cyberattack, cutting into production of medicines. Security experts expect that the quickening pace of hackers’ attacks will soon affect health care. Those who have studied health care’s specific vulnerabilities worry that hackers – working for enemy states or cybercrime groups – could train their digital sights directly on U.S. hospitals, health care networks and medical devices. We’re going to have our digital D-Day, our cyber D-Day, if you will, in medical, and there’s going to be patients that die. The first time this was identified by Parademic was just a newsletter for Pandemic Region E 100829-8, newsletter. My “boss” at the time wondered why I thought that should be part of Pandemic planning. Not the first time I was directed to only concentrate on Flu and only on the 8 States of Region E. I sort of ignored the direction and they forgot to sign off on the framework I developed, -5↑. Then again I insisted when I was writing the update of the US Army Security Manager Course in 1984 my “boss” at the time questioned why I thought a 1 hour block on computer security was necessary. I was more successful making the point – it helped that I was working with experts in all branches of security and intelligence forecasting of future threats – and the computer security class was included. The Guy Who Invented Those Annoying Password Rules Now Regrets Wasting Your Time, 170514-4.1A. ¶ This was made in 2013, The Biocrime Prophecy: DNA Hacking the Biggest Opportunity since Cyber Attacks; it seems that it is now possible, Biohackers Encoded Malware in a Strand of DNA. Computer Security, Privacy, and DNA Sequencing: CompromisingComputers with Synthesized DNA, Privacy Leaks, and More. Academic Biomedical Research Community Should Do More to Build Resilience to Disasters.
-170514-3‡1: <ADDED 170723>, ACEP Rolls out New “Category 6” Triage Designation.
-170430-2: Are Logical Fallacies Useful. Understanding the nature of argument and specific logical fallacies is a cornerstone of critical thinking. I was therefore surprised when I read, The Fallacy Fork: Why It’s Time to Get Rid of Fallacy Theory. It lays out what the author feels is a critical weakness in using the notion of logical fallacies to police sloppy thinking. The solution is to abandon the notion of informal logical fallacies altogether. Strongly disagree, and ironically it is committing a couple logical fallacies in the argument. [Photo, Photo, Draw, Draw, Draw]. 4.2A↑.
-170312-1.2: #Book Exploration, Integration: A Review of An Unnatural History of Emerging Infections [Cover], An Unnatural History of Emerging Infections (2014). Prehistoric baseline, the first 100,000 years of human history (90% of total human history). At its peak only 8 million people globally. First epidemiological transition – Agricultural revolution, settlement and agriculture allow populations to grow large enough to support acute epidemic disease and animal domestication brings humans in prolonged contact with animals sparking some important zoonotic diseases. Second epidemiological transition – Industrial revolution, decreasing deaths due to infectious disease and an increase in chronic diseases. Total human population soars. Third epidemiological transition (current).
-170108-11: What Frankenstein Has to Do with Anti-Vaxxers. Caution about technology is good. Fear of technology is not. Antivaccine Fear Mongering. What Antivaccine Fear Mongering. I Don’t See Any Antivaccine Fear Mongering. Frankenstein's Creature, Vaccinations, and Data Viz: A Case Study, Part 2, Part 3. The Curse of Frankenstein: How Archetypal Myths Shape the Way People Think about Science. An Antivaccine Frankenstein’s Monster Turns on His Creator. The Director of The Vaccine Confidence Project Separates Vaccination Fact From Fiction.
-161204-7: <ADDED 170806>. The face of price gouging and parademic exploitation. The Shkreli Saga: What's Changed. What Hasn't. And What's Next. Convicted ‘Pharma Bro’ Has An Image Problem, Lawyer Concedes. [Art, Meme Scumbag Hat, Cartoon, Cartoon]. There always seems to be opportunity for exploitation in a parademic and biopolitics Perspectives: 'Obamacare Sabatuers' Are Driving Costs Up; States, 'Bad Ideas' and Insurance Markets. Drug Makers Deserve to Be Publicly Shamed for Thwarting Competition from Generics. ¶ 60 Minutes Investigates Medical Gear Sold During Ebola Crisis. [Logo = Meme].
-A. 47 Hospitals Slashed Their Use of Two Key Heart Drugs after Huge Price Hikes. Nitroprusside’s, used when a patient's blood pressure is dangerously high, price per 50 milligrams jumped from $27.46 in 2012 to $880.88 in 2015. Isoproterenol, key to monitoring and treating heart rhythm problems during surgery, price per milligram rose from $26.20 to $1,790.11.
-B. 160904-12: Corporate Social Responsibility Can Backfire If Employees Don’t Think It’s Genuine, I have observed that this can happen in non business organizations that are charities, NGO, emergency management, first responders. ¶ EpiPen's Dominance Driven by Competitors' Stumbles and Tragic Deaths, which explains how they have cornered the market. The Latest: EpiPen Price Hike Linked to Medicare Drug Issue. The EpiPen Outrage Continues. Mylan CEO Defends EpiPen Cost Increases to Angry Lawmakers. Parent Bloggers Question Role in Mylan’s EpiPen Schools Push. Pricing the EpiPen: Drug Prices, Corporate Governance, and the Financialization of Biomedicine. Mylan CEO Claims EpiPens Aren't as Profitable as Everyone Thinks. U.S. Agency Told Mylan That EpiPen Was Misclassified. House Panel: Mylan CEO Minimized EpiPen Profits in Testimony. Federal Government: Mylan Has Been Overcharging for EpiPens. Epipen Maker Mylan Settles for $485 Million in Medicaid Dispute. An Alternative to the EpiPen Is Coming Back to Drugstores, which may be more the reason for the price hike, a last chance to make money before being forced to lower the price. 161009-4. Mylan EpiPen: One Piece of a Complicated U.S. Pricing System. EpiPen Price Hikes Add Millions to Pentagon Costs. Why the Lone EpiPen Competitor Hasn’t Taken Off, its a cheaper alternative, has benefitted from furor over EpiPen pricing. But its maker is struggling to meet demand, and a generic EpiPen is near. Trump Win Boosts Drug Stocks as Prospect of Price Curbs Recedes. [Cartoon, Cartoon, Cartoon, Cartoon]. Mylan to Sell Generic Epipen at Half the Price of Original. Cigna Changes to Cheaper Generic EpiPen, CVS Cuts Rival’s Prices. A Major Health Insurance Company Dropped EpiPen for Generic.
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