Parademic Notes Week Ending 171217

Read This First 170423, Heuristics 170928, Glossary Updated 171008, Mini Lessons 170827

1. Anti-Vax Tipping Point, 2. Consensus, 3. Third World USA, 4. ∩ Sandy Hook, 5. DNR, 6. Default Choice, 7. Grinch, 8. Cretaceous, 9. Attitude, 10. Define Addiction. <ADDED> 1. Maria Caused Deaths, 2. North Korea Bioweapons, 3, Pathological Anti-Vaccine, 4. Chernobyl Repeat, 5. Julia the BigPharma Shill, 6. Zika Causes Conspiracy.

Other Topics: BioTrumpism, BioPolitics, Vaccine, Biosphere, Disaster, Humor, Climate Change, Anthropocene, Anthropogenic, Communication, Worldview, Risk Perception, Smoking, Trust, Dengue Vaccine, Korean War II, Diphtheria, Grief, Memorials, Anniversaries, Puerto Rico, Flu, Education, Cyber, Fox, Linguistic Relativity, Media.

-1. Social Media Trends Can Predict Tipping Points in Vaccine Scares. A tipping point represents the point at which vaccine coverage declines dramatically due to spreading fear, which could cause large disease outbreaks due to a loss of population immunity. The same mathematical theories used to predict tipping points in phenomena such as changing climate patterns can also be used to help predict tipping points in public health. By monitoring people's attitudes towards vaccinations on social media, public health organizations may have the opportunity to direct their resources to areas most likely to experience a population wide vaccine scare, and prevent it before it starts. -171015-11↓. Critical Dynamics in Population Vaccinating Behavior.

            -‡. VCP News Archive: From Ebola to Plague and Beyond: How Can Anthropologists Best Engage Past Experience to Prepare for New Epidemics. While the social sciences are rarely included in emergency interventions, anthropologists have been increasingly mobilized by the WHO in Ebola outbreak response efforts since the 2000–2001 epidemic in Uganda. Some of their experiences and lessons learned are relevant to outbreaks of other diseases, as well as to future epidemics of EVD. The role of anthropologists in responding to EVD began with rapid qualitative investigations of the sociocultural factors that enable the spread of disease and limit the effectiveness of emergency response efforts. However, anthropology’s engagement with epidemic response quickly escalated beyond a mediating position between global health agencies, national response programs, and populations. During the West African EVD epidemic, anthropologists served as expert advisors to national response coordinators and global actors like the WHO, and they also delivered trainings and implemented research projects. As a result, social science methods and knowledge were engaged to adapt messages and activities to specific contexts, acknowledge the perceptions and local knowledge of populations, show the limitations and controversial aspects of public health measures, and speak up against the overuse of sociocultural factors as a general explanation for the spread of epidemics, especially in connection with the pathologizing use of terms like “resistance” or “reluctance”. Anthropology usually functions as a slow science, taking the time to listen, observe, analyze, and think about the data it gathers. Involvement with rapid emergency response efforts challenges this usual working process, as public health actors require rapid studies, drawing on strategies like KABP (Knowledge, Attitudes, Beliefs and Practices) surveys that – from the perspective of anthropologists – are often insufficient and require complementary, in depth investigation to produce meaningful findings. In order to share relevant research in real time during the Ebola epidemic, anthropologists created dedicated social science platforms. Anthropologists’ involvement in outbreak response should not be limited to the beginning of an epidemiological event. After the last case of Ebola in West Africa, the biological consequences of the EVD the social disruption caused by the disease continues. Perceptions about the disease and how it was addressed remain, even in places that never experienced a single case. In affected communities, many individuals who received treatment for EVD still experience the social effects of the disease. | VCP has also reached a required endorsement of being a valid source of vaccine news, Age of Autism has attacked it in Paradoxes for Heidi Larson: The Vaccine Confidence Lady.

            -1.1. <ADDED 171210-160515-↕4>9. Sanofi Scandal in the Philippines Could Spread Dangerous Mistrust of Vaccines. At a time when convincing people to be vaccinated has encountered increasing resistance, it’s really unfortunate to have this story emerge. The company owes a full accounting of what it knew and when. Philippine Senator Criticizes Reckless Disregard in Dengue Vaccine Program. DOH: Kids with Dengue Vaccine Won't Have 'Severe Disease' for Two Years. Philippines Probes Dengue Vaccination Drive That Went Ahead Despite Warnings. ¶ Still waiting for anti-vax taking advantage of this or why there is a delay. At the very least one would expect to caw in victory [Photo, Photo 2.2↓] that they were right*. Researchers Openly Admit Dengue Vaccine Would Cause 7 Fold Spike in Infections (2014), CNN Admits Vaccinations Spread Disease, as Dengue Vaccine Creates More Outbreak Cases (2016). *So far response is muted Vaccinated Children Suffer Severe Disease after Vaccination. Vaccine Program Now Suspended by Government. Possible reasons are that the Philippines is considered too remote, there were concerns before the government started the program, or it was the manufacturer that announced the problem.

-2. #Communication Presenting Facts as Consensus Bridges Conservative-Liberal Divide over Climate Change. Social facts highlighting expert consensus changes perceptions across US political spectrum – particularly among highly educated conservatives. In the murk of post truth public debate, facts can polarise. Scientific evidence triggers reaction and spin that ends up entrenching the attitudes of opposing political tribes. Research suggests this phenomenon is actually stronger among the more educated, through motived reasoning: where data is rejected or twisted – consciously or otherwise – to prop up a particular worldview. However, one type of fact can bridge the chasm between conservative and liberal, and pull people's opinions closer to the truth on one of the most polarising issues in US politics: climate change. US conservatives are the most sceptical of climate change. Yet by presenting a fact in the form of a consensus (presumably an actual consensus, not an implied or faked* one [Meme]) – 97% of climate scientists have concluded that human caused global warming is happening – shifts perceptions significantly towards the social norm. For parademic the division of communities between Conservative-Liberal is not a useable heuristic. Cultural Demographics, Cooperative-Competitive, Mutualists-Dominionists 171105-10 or the example in 2.2↓ are better models of behavior in biodisaster and parademic situations. Perhaps the differences can be described as selfish vs altruistic, self serving vs public serving, id centric vs global, immediate gratification vs long term strategic thinking. However as these terms are value laden people may find them offensive and may reject messages that use these terms as being personal attacks. Climate Change Endangers Public Health.

            -*. Pope Begs Journalists to Avoid Sins of Communication. There is an urgent need for reliable information, with verified data and news, which does not aim to amaze and excite, but rather to make readers develop a healthy critical sense, enabling them to ask themselves appropriate questions and reach justified conclusions. There is an urgent need for news communicated with serenity, precision and completeness, with a calm language, so as to favour a fruitful reflection; carefully weighted and clear words, which reject the inflation of allusive, strident and ambiguous speech. The Art of Translating Science. When trying to explain complex ideas to non experts, mere simplification may not be the most effective strategy. <ADDED 170827-170305-C.1>, 170806↕4, 170409-C.2,

            -2.1. France Names Winners of Anti-Trump Climate Change Grants. Eighteen climate scientists from the U.S. and elsewhere hit the jackpot Monday as French President Emmanuel Macron awarded them millions of euros in grants to relocate to France for the rest of Donald Trump’s presidential term. The “Make Our Planet Great Again” 3.1↓ grants – a nod to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan – are part of Macron’s efforts to counter Trump on the climate change front. Macron announced a contest for the projects in June, hours after Trump declared he would withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate accord. 170723-3‡. Paris Summit Finds New Money, Tech to Fight Climate Change. Trump’s Climate Politics Propel US Scientist to New Start in France. Without the U.S. Government, the World Unites to Fight Climate Change.

            2.2. #Communication Trust in E Cigarette Safety Varies by Worldview, Source of Messaging. Public health messaging 2.1↑ about the safety of E cigarettes needs to account for the worldviews of the target audience, with different groups displaying varying levels of trust depending on the source of the message. Using only two dimensions (there are far more) of cultural worldviews: hierarchy-egalitarianism (attitudes toward authority and power) and individualism-communitarianism (focus on self reliance or responsibility to a larger group). People tended to trust health sources (presumably legitimate ones), but not tobacco or vapor company sources, those with individualistic and hierarchical worldviews were less trusting of health experts, and were more trusting of tobacco and vapor manufacturers. The same message about the potential risks or benefits of E cigarettes may have different, opposing or unintended effects on individuals risk / benefit perceptions depending on their worldviews. Worldviews and Trust of Sources for Health Information on Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems: Effects on Risk Perceptions and Use. [Chart]. Health Warnings on Cigarettes Could Deter Young People, though the perversity of teenagers may result in the opposite behavior [Meme, Meme, 1-1↑]. Now or Never: Smoking Cessation Discussions in the Face of Serious Illness.

            -2.3. [Word] How Errors Affect Credibility of Online Reviews, those who have a high level of trust in other people distinguish between "errors of knowledge," which they are willing to overlook, and "errors of carelessness," which erode their confidence. Those who have a low level of trust in others are not influenced one way or the other by knowledge and carelessness errors. This indicates a parademic assumption about error may be incorrect. With the assumption that information flow would be chaotic and limited time to review products that carelessness would be understandable and unintended (or intentional for a purpose, or a different spelling from a different English), while errors in knowledge would be intended exploitation to cause others to reach incorrect conclusions (or unintentional passing on false information from presumed trusted sources). The stubs in the weekly notes used to have intentional misspellings, typos, grammar or verbatim from the source. However it turns out the planning errors took more effort than the value of the teaching point to separate content from form, learning not to be being swayed by errors or bias against other than SAE. I also found that intentional errors would be glossed over. People would not see errors of form because they would insert what should be there; for example, when the word “in” is used people would read the correct “it” “or” “is”, or glossing an incorrect spelling by seeing “appearance” when “appearence” was what was written. Besides, by being the sole producer of the weekly notes and limited time for review, edit and correction errors naturally occur without more effort on my part. I still insert some errors for subtle humor or to emphasize a point, but pointing out minor errors of others seems petty [Meme]. These errors differ from Mistakes of Commission or Omission, What Is the Difference. This is not to discount that error of content and differences in meaning can have devastating consequences, such as what the word hospital means. Errors are an integral part of parademic notes, to give practice at critical thinking and filtering, recognizing that what sounds credible may be wrong, while the incredible may be correct, and knowing that there are more than one point of view for any situation that can hinder containment and control of the situation, in not create the situation.

            -2.4. Want Help Explaining a Medical Procedure. Ask a 9 Year Old. Much of the information doctors hand patients before surgery is too complex and hard to understand. So British researchers asked 9 year olds to rewrite a brochure about a hip replacement.

-3. The U.N. Looks at Extreme Poverty in the U.S., from Alabama to California. One sign of the poverty they're investigating – the recent (and surprising) reemergence of hookworm in Lowndes County, Alabama. UN Official Shocked by Toxic Conditions in US Black Belt: 'Worst Poverty' in First World -8↓, Alabama Has the Worst Poverty in the Developed World, U.N. Official Says, U.N. Monitor on Extreme Poverty Tours Skid Row in L.A., UN Shocked by Level of Poverty in Alabama: We Haven't Seen this in the First World. [Map]. Half of World's People Can't get Basic Health Services: WHO, while in the US access is not necessarily availability of the service, but the cost, Why a Pill That's 4 Cents in Tanzania Costs up to $400 in the U.S., Health Care Costs Push a Staggering Number of People into Extreme Poverty. ¶ #Document, America’s Health Rankings Annual Report, 2017, Alabama ranked 47^th. Whooping Cough Outbreak Reported in North Carolina County which ranks 33^rd in overall health. This outbreak may not necessarily indicate high rates of not vaccinating, though likely there is an anti-vax cluster, but a wider lack of awareness of the need to revaccinate for pertussis. Whooping Cough Cases Double in 1 Week in N. Carolina County. ¶ It is useful to be aware that rankings are not necessarily evenly spaced. Some ranks may only be separated by .01 or less in difference, while others may be separated by 10 or more points. The highest rank on one scale may be near the bottom of another, while a low on a different scale may be near the top with different measurements. This is another reason why comparison and context are important to know. Healthcare Costs Are Pushing Millions into Extreme Poverty. This Outrage must End.

 Table 3 Click on chart to enlarge

            -3.1. This is a linking syndemic of poverty, megafire, climate change 2.1↑, drought and disease outbreak. Homeless Camp Fire Sparked Los Angeles Blaze. 171210-5, <ADDED 171210-170924-3>7. City Forms Team to Target its Most Vulnerable Homeless. ¶ Another dramatic syndemic From Cholera to Diphtheria: Yemen’s Shattered Health System Battles a New Threat. Yemen Blockade Leads to Diptheria Outbreak, 28 Deaths Reported, Ravaged by Cholera, Yemen Faces 2^nd Preventable Scourge: Diphtheria. 171210-9.2A, <ADDED 171203-171126-3.1‡>1. Rohingya Refugees Suffer from Diphtheria Outbreak, Bangladesh Restricts Rohingya Refugees, Starts Immunization, 171210-5, <ADDED 171210-170924-3>7, <ADDED 171203-171126-3.1‡>1, <ADDED 171203-160515-↕4>9B. Indonesia Races to Contain Diphtheria Outbreak Ahead of 2018 Asian Games.

-4. Though not a biodisaster, which are usually very long drawn out events, there are analogies that can be drawn in terms of grief, memorial, coping and living after a mass fatality. What is documented here may occur in a Biodisaster that is a sudden event: Meningitis 2 among a large group, food poisoning, a toxic leak. | Newtown Is ‘Still So Raw’, Five Years After Massacre. Tangible reminders still linger. A teddy bear with wings cradles a smaller bear, alongside a message declaring that the town’s “26 Angels” are “Always Here, Never Forgotten”. Not all the signs of the bloodshed that erupted five years ago at Sandy Hook Elementary are as visible. But they exist. In the new school building, there are bullet resistant windows and reinforced walls, meant to ease the fears of parents still haunted by memories. | There are the uncomfortable silence that creeps into everyday conversations at soccer games and in pediatricians’ offices. The town struggles to figure out how to talk about what happened, but quickly developed a shorthand to refer to it: “the tragedy” or “12/14”, the date of the anniversary, the “season of extra mourning” as soon as the sun starts setting earlier in the fall. | Displays of grief follow a familiar routine: Candlelight vigils and makeshift memorials. National offerings of thoughts and prayers. Pleas to tighten gun laws, immediately trailed by calls to avoid politicizing a tragedy and conspiracy theory, -170528-5.2‡↓. To see Newtown in 2017 is to see how grief endures and evolves, and how a community can, however fitfully, negotiate a way forward. It is an uncomfortable process, involving a delicate dance between not wanting to dwell on the loss and not wanting to stray from a vow to never forget. | The shock waves have, by now, faded to something more subtle. Yet they still ripple through the town, stirring concentric circles of anguish, leaving people with varying degrees of pain and differing sets of struggles. The victims’ relatives are at the core. Beyond them are the teachers and students who witnessed the carnage and chaos that day; the police officers, emergency workers and doctors who responded to it; and then an entire community. “It’s almost impossible to ask the question, ‘How is the town doing’. It depends entirely on who you ask”. “One of the things an event like this does — it doesn’t change you, it simply heightens who you already are. There are beautiful, meaningful, thoughtful and very kind gestures at every turn, from people you know well and people you don’t know at all”. Some withdrew, seeking space and solitude. Some formed charitable foundations and organized fund raisers. And there were some, who leapt into activism. How Newtown Is Coping Five Years after Massacre. What If We Treated Gun Violence like a Public Health Crisis, -9.3B***. ¶ The Heroes of Burial Road, Lending Dignity to the Penniless Dead.

-5. DNRs can cause ethical dilemmas for medical personnel. What happens though when the meaning of DNR is vague -10↓ or changes such as to Do Not Roboticize, or Do Not Repair if a person is now in a biotech body. Will it be that only the select few (very wealthy) can afford to be placed in immortal (completely repairable and replaceable) bodies, that may or may not be immune to biological hazards, or may be vulnerable to a new array of biotech hazards. Innovative New Prosthetic Hand Offers Finer Motor Control than Was Previously Possible (Video), 171112-6, 6↓ [Photo, Photo]. When Death Is Imminent, End of Life Care Decisions Sometimes Go out the Window. Informed Decision Making in Cancer Care: More Myth than Reality. ¶ A large part of the physical environment if already biotech (technosphere) with urban and agricultural areas. Even wild areas are no longer protected from humans Chimpanzee Deaths in Uganda Pinned on Human Cold Virus.

-6. Default Choices Matter, Especially for Poorer, less Educated Individuals. Taking advantage of a resulting federal lawsuit against a fraudulent company to test default choice architecture when the optimal choice was clear: end the subscriptions. 99.8 percent ended their subscriptions when it was the default, but only 36.4 percent of consumers ended their subscriptions when they had to take action to do so. The results also demonstrated that those residing in poorer, less educated areas were less likely to actively cancel. People are not the rational beings policymakers sometimes believe them to be. Bad default options can be harmful, particularly harmful for people in lower socioeconomic groups. Knowing how to design science informed policies can help us better protect everyone from exploitation, but especially those people who are least equipped to protect themselves. This raises a question about policy makers. Are policy makers always the best informed or claim to be using science and/or faith to be informed, and if the people who demonstrate that they cannot make the best choice for themselves be allowed to do so, for example areas where economic policies that destroy source of income and living environment would also are more likely to have people of lower socioeconomic status and education. What if this includes DNR 5↑.

-7. A BMJ Christmas Issue Filled with Wine Glasses, Sex, and Back Pain Brings out the Grinch in us. Is the highly anticipated Christmas issue of the British Medical Journal delivering more lumps of coal and fewer tinselly baubles lately. Maybe it’s Noel nostalgia, but we find ourselves reminiscing about BMJ offerings from Yuletides past, which brought us studies reporting that 0.5 percent of U.S. births are to (self reported) virgins, determining how long a box of chocolates lasts on a hospital ward, or investigating Nintendo injuries. The annual issue emphasizes originality and lighthearted fare. Where, then, are the papers on whether mistletoe has a placebo effect, causing those who stand beneath its spiky leaves to see others as more kissable, or on how many times a fruitcake can be regifted without it causing gastrointestinal problems. Note to BMJ editors: Fatal motorcycle crashes, old people falling, and joint pain – three of this year’s Christmas issue studies – do not qualify as lighthearted. [Cartoon]. Joke Christmas Medical Journal Papers Make Unfunny Bad Science. 9.1‡↓.

-8. Parademic Notes includes Longue Duree, deep history of social phenomena that impact on the biosphere in the present day, and past events in the biosphere that influence the social sphere on now. This however is the deepest into the past that has been used for environment shaping human behavior, beyond the mass extinction event that made humans possible. The Alabama Senate Election Was Decided 100 Million Years Ago. An obvious, and devastating overlap between the location of slave era plantations and the locations of black populations (who did not vote for Moore) in the South today. Geologist saw a less obvious overlap. The clearly defined outline of a rock formation that emerged more than 100 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period. Soils make agriculture, agriculture makes economies, the economy makes voting patterns. In the Cretaceous Period, much of this part of the country was underwater. As the sea creatures in the water died off, they left behind massive chalk formations, which eventually made for rich soil. The fertile soil created by those rock formations drew plantation owners to this part of the South, and with them, millions of slaves [Meme]. The soil allowed cotton plantation agriculture, which created an economy built on the backs of slaves in the Black Belt Region in Alabama -3↑; that economy ended one hundred sixty years ago, but the former slave population remained in impoverished conditions. [Map, Map, Map].

-9. Knowing a communities likely attitude to biodisaster control and containment measures – vaccine, quarantine, body disposition, mass graves, autopsy, western and/or alternative medicine, trust in authorities, mosquito control, etc – can help anticipate problems that can hinder assistance, and may exacerbate the problem. With the foreknowledge one can have solutions and mitigations already in progress before a biodisaster accelerates. Willingness to Accept a Future Influenza A(H7N9) Vaccine in Beijing, China. The study aimed to estimate residents' willingness to accept a future H7N9 vaccine and its determinants in the general adult population. A great number of had doubts about the vaccine’s effectiveness and were not concerned about disease risk, which were the factors affecting willingness to be vaccinated. Targeted education programs on disease risk as well as vaccine’s effectiveness are needed to improve the willingness of vaccination for potential H7N9 pandemic preparedness. 171210-2.1, 171203-6 -6.2, 171119-3.1, <ADDED 171008-170108-11.1>14, 170813-6.1, 170806↕4, 170730-11.

            -9.1. Health Department Says the Flu Is Running Rampant in New York (Video). This one interests me as Fox is known to spin news to downplay environmental threats, generate hysteria about disease outbreaks as a foreign threat or terrorism, or simply ignore health (and other) news that are the topics of parademic. Fox would be a valuable source as it is known in what way it is valid, truth not having a bearing on if information, beliefs, opinions are valid if people behave as if they are true. Fox news and opinions tend to be after other sources have published, or they publish the material from sources, rarely offering anything new. This is a rare example of neutral reporting and being timely on a topic of interest to parademic. This item is from AP but for some reason hit the internet before the AP site posted it. It probably does not help that the Fox audience apparently has difficulty separating news from opinion. That fact alone would normally make it a valuable source concerning attitudes and beliefs that could exacerbate or cause a biodisaster. [Meme]. -9.3B*↓.

            -‡. Seasonal Flu Kills More Globally than Previously Thought. Where Would Pandemic Flu Wreak the Most Havoc. A virulent flu strain would overwhelm developing countries where health care systems are already floundering. Pandemic Flu Would Hit an Uneven Playing Field. | Lung Experts Deeply Concerned by Low Flu Jab Uptake in England. Man Flu May Be Real. Man Flu: Urban Myth or Scientific Reality; One Hasty Study Doesn’t Mean That “Man Flu” Is Real, but a whole body of scientific research does suggest that men are more vulnerable to respiratory infections. That Man Flu Study Is from BMJ's Irresponsible Holiday Issue, 7↑.

-10. #Linguistics. Given that the terms “Opioid Crisis and Opioid Epidemic”, have been used for several months now it is worthwhile to point out that a key term associated with Opioids, specifically “Addiction”, doesn’t have consistent meaning throughout the general public. This is characteristic of Moral Panics, where meaning of terms are vague -5↑, may even have contrary meanings between groups which adds to the conflict. By in large people know that addiction is a bad thing, but have no idea what it means. Without knowing what it is people then have no basis to finding a solution. This in turns allows the possibility of unscrupulous people to exploit the situation for financial gain, commit crimes, consolidate political power (withholding access to treatment being effective), attack people who are not like us, or deny them health care because they are undeserving. This is done all under the guise of doing good because it is against an evil. To add to the confusion the literature is also not clear what addiction is – The Three Stages of Drug Addiction, The Three Link Chain of Addiction: Physical, Mental and Social, Neurobiology of Addiction: An Overview, Behavioral Addiction versus Substance Addiction: Correspondence of Psychiatric and Psychological Views, Understanding the Dependence vs. Addiction Debate. Since addiction is clearly a possibility in parademic the following terms are used to distinguish different aspects and combinations under the umbrella term of addiction:

            -A. Tolerance: Over time with repeated exposure the body adapts to the agent and a higher dose is required to have the same positive or negative effect. This can be altered or euphoric states of mind, being poisoned, or not being sickened in highly toxic environments. The agent can be given in lower doses until no longer needed without harm.

            -B. Dependence: The body comes to need the agent, either because it replaces something that the body produced, or becomes a substance the body craves and requires to maintain itself. No longer having the agent can cause harm as the body may not be able to reproduce the same or biosimilar substance, or results in withdrawal symptoms.

            -C. Behavioral: No agent is required but there needs to be a social situation that causes physiological response. This can be habitation of behavior that is normal or deviance from social norms. The body responses to the social situation are what becomes what is craved, to include substance abuse and peoples reaction to the abuse. Behavior can perseverate despite clear evidence that it is no longer achieving the desired result and harming the person in the socialsphere. A person may become so compulsive in their behavior that they are unable to stop, hardening positions when confronted with contrary concepts.

            -‡. Tom Marino out as Trump's Drug Czar Nominee after "60 Minutes" Report, Trump: Drug Czar Nominee Pulls His Name from Consideration, [Tweet]. It’s Been Months since Trump Said He’d Declare a National Emergency over Opioids. He Still Hasn’t, Trump Says Opioid Emergency Will Be Declared next Week. Perspectives: Outrage Aimed at the Government’s Role in the Opioid Epidemic. Trump Opioid Panel Will Recommend Nationwide Drug Courts, Tightened Requirements for Prescribers is a bit worrisome as they can easily become like immigration courts that become administrative law, and skirt legalities of due process and US/International law. China Disputes Trump’s ‘Flood’ of Fentanyl Claim, To Stop the Opioid Epidemic, the White House Should Embrace Prevention. <ADDED 171210-171105-6.2>4. Kellyanne Conway Leading an ‘Opioids Cabinet,’ as She Assumes More Active Policy Role, on Opioids, the White House Keeps Talking and Planning — but Not Doing Anything of Significance. White House Tamps down Expectations of Additional Opioid Funding this Year. Industry Is Tackling Opioid Abuse as Washington Drags its Feet. New Drug Law Makes it Harder for Us to Do Our Jobs, Former DEA Officials Say. Opioid_(Search).

            -9.3. #Linguistics. Trump Admin Gives CDC List of 7 Banned Words, Including Fetus, Diversity, vulnerable, entitlement, transgender, fetus, evidence based and science based, from being used in official documents being prepared for next year’s budget. Trump Administration Bans CDC Officials from Using Certain Words. 171112-2.2*‡, 170813-5.1, 170129-14T1*. This newspeak has been mostly aimed at eliminating the word Climate Change and closing science and data offices, Energy Department Climate Office Bans Use of Phrase Climate Change, Trump Administration's Solution to Climate Change: Ban the Term. The intent is probably to stop thought crimes, but this type of action tends to increase the use of banned terms and hiding from official view what is banned. In the meantime people can openly joke about Trumpspeak, and more legal concerns about violating the first amendment.

            -A. Planned Parenthood Rips Trump for CDC Ban on Using the Word Fetus. There’s More to Evidence Based Policies than Data: Why it Matters for Healthcare. Rep. Moore: Trump Banning Words in CDC Documents Deeply Disturbing and Offensive. Trump Administration Reportedly Instructs CDC on its Own Version of 7 Dirty Words. Word Ban at CDC Includes Vulnerable, Fetus, Transgender, the assertion that HHS has 'banned words' is a complete mischaracterization of discussions regarding the budget formulation process. HHS will continue to use the best scientific evidence available to improve the health of all Americans. HHS strongly encourages the use of outcome and evidence data in program evaluations and budget decisions. After Report on CDC’s Forbidden Words Policy Draws Outrage, HHS Pushes Back. Boy, I Sure Wonder Why the CDC Has Banned Staff from Using a Bunch of Words like 'Science Based'. CDC Director Tells Staff ‘There Are No Banned Words,’ While Not Refuting Report is this a case of proving a negative. Why the CDC’s “7 Banned Words” Is Worse than You Think. Replacement given for science is “CDC bases its recommendations on science in consideration with community standards and wishes”. Abstinence based education can be a recommendation based on science in consideration with community standards and wishes, but not science based at all. Anti-vaxxers who believe vaccines are “toxic” can now become a CDC recommendation based on community beliefs, War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength (1984_Search) [Meme]; never felt quite so close to home as it has in 2017. A CDC Ban on ‘Fetus’ and ‘Transgender’, Experts Alarmed. For decades, the agency has had a mostly sterling reputation as a source of scientific information. That the agency could be censoring certain language sparked alarm and anger. A word that’s still allowed: ridiculous. These things matter because the words that we use ultimately describe what we care about and what we think are priorities -B*↓. If you are saying you cannot use words like ‘transgender’ and ‘diversity,’ it’s a clear statement that you cannot pay attention to these issues. The budget language came from higher ups, and not from anyone at the CDC, but its not known who made the language suggestions. A number of federal agencies have moved to downscale data collection on topics like climate change and homeless people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender and to remove information on such topics from some government websites. The public health community recognizes that there is a slowly growing timidity by colleagues whose budgets are dependent on the federal government. The CDC ban on certain words and terms may not be limited to budget documents. Agency workers have been told not to use the term “health equity” in presentations or public talks. The term refers to a goal of removing obstacles like poverty and racial discrimination in making sure people have an equal chance to be healthy. There’s no written directive about not using the term; it’s only been communicated verbally. What is clearly happening is those people are afraid to use those words in any talks or papers. Everybody’s afraid to do their job right now. Civil and Human Rights Coalition Blasts Latest Trump Administration Move to Censor Truth and Science. H1N5 Comment.

            -B. The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis*, more accurately referred to as linguistic relativity** posits that the language we use can influence and even control how we see the world, the categories we make, and the associations we make about those categories, a form of social constructionism. The hypothesis asserts that aspects of language, including not only the ideas specified in its lexicon, but even technical details such as the ways it uses to specify grammatical tenses and its use of copulas***, all create a worldview_(Search) and influence how people interact with the world (whatever world means). What makes the concept of language influencing behavior may or may not be true, but it is expressed in many different ways and at least some people behave as if it is true. This is a parademic assumption, that belief, weather real or not, if believed as real people will behave as if these beliefs are real. -A↑.

            -*. The relation of Language and Thought as in The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis is still debated, The Evidence for and Against the Sapir Whorf Hypothesis. There are two issues that keep it a hypothesis rather than a theory that has been proved or disproved. First there is an ideological repugnance to the idea that words determine or influence how people act, perceive and interpret. Secondly developing a way to test the hypothesis still has not been developed, or at least not a way that is ethical. Biotrumpism could be a natural experiment that could provide observational insights, but not definitive proof for or against. In any case the administration is unlikely to allow observation, and later historical analysis will not likely have the data and records needed. The concept is used as an organizing heuristic for parademic as influence but not determining behavior, until a better model is created. There are clear links between belief and concepts with how people act, but the exact nature of these is still a developing models, such as Orwellian. -9.1↑.

            -**. Not a single specific concept but a range of behavior and language concepts.

            -***. How concepts are linked (public health + infectious disease), lose their link (public health - sin), or kept separated (public health ≠ guns -4↑.

<ADDED 171217>

-171210-9.2>1. 2 Democrats Think Puerto Rico’s Death Toll Is Suspiciously Low and Want a GAO Review. Parademic notes has been following Puerto Rico Public Health numbers since 170423-4.1 when under reporting of Zika numbers was suspected. What attracted attention was that if one was familiar with the under funding of Puerto Rico Public Health it seemed more likely that there would be over reporting numbers, not under reporting. It seemed that the intent was related to setting up Puerto Rico Public Health for legal action while hiding that there were insufficient funds to do the job properly, or possibly interfere with Puerto Rico gaining more political clout to get what it needs. Hurricane Maria might have derailed that if that was the intent. ¶ The disagreement in count may be derived from the deaths counted only being those that are directly connected with Maria, not those that were an indirect consequence of Maria such as: infectious disease, loss of power, traumatic injury, lack of food and water, inability to get medical care or needed medicines, flooding, delays being rescued or arrival of aid, asphyxiation, violent crime, theft of disaster aid supplies, disaster scams, withdrawal of aid too soon, respiratory and heart problems, corruption diverting resources, toxin exposure (cancer), preexisting health conditions acerbated by disaster, traffic related accidents (evacuation, emergency response), not being able to leave an unhealthy environment, and forced migration. In disasters there are usually far more deaths from the event in the aftermath than the actual incident. In this particular case there are suspicions that the definitions and statistics have been manipulated to make the disaster seem less severe. We Still Don’t Know How Many People Died Because of Katrina. Puerto Rico’s Death Review After Maria Is Slowed by Lack of Power. Did All of the Patients in a Puerto Rican Intensive Care Unit Die. Official reports seem to corroborate an online allegation that Hurricane Maria's death toll has been heavily under reported.

            -A. Other consequences that are directly and indirectly related to Maria. These are not always negatives. After Maria, Puerto Rico Struggles under the Weight of its Own Garbage. Even before Maria hit, most of the island's landfills were filled beyond capacity and nearly half had EPA closure orders. The storm generated millions of cubic yards of waste and debris. ¶ Necesitamos La Música: Puerto Ricans Recovering from Maria Embrace the Arts. Many are still without electricity and basic services three months after Hurricane Maria. Some are prioritizing song, dance and celebration to feel more at home again. ¶ Natural Disasters and the Implications of Missing So Much School. Wildfires, hurricanes, flooding – this fall has brought a wave of natural disasters to the U.S. With that comes many days where schools are closed – and those absences add up; Disasters, Schools and Missed Days of Schooling, [Photo], 5 Million Kids Aren't in School Because of Ebola [Photo]. ¶ A Three Tiered Solution for Puerto Rico. The people of Puerto Rico – who are, US citizens – have been and remain in very serious trouble. Their economy was already stalled before their debt crisis revealed their unsustainable financial situation. Then, Hurricane Maria led to a humanitarian crisis that persists to this day, and much of the island remains without electricity almost three months after the storm. It is unimaginable that such devastation would go unaddressed in any state in our union.

-171119-2>2. <ADDED 171210>2. Officials See Weapons Threat as North Korea Gains Biotech Expertise. Five months before North Korea's first nuclear test in 2006, US intelligence officials sent a report to Congress warning that secret work also was underway on a biological weapon. The communist regime, which had long ago acquired the pathogens that cause smallpox and anthrax*, had assembled teams of scientists but seemed to be lacking in certain technical skills. For parademic the possibility of bioweapons is a larger concern that nuclear ones. Bioagents are a weapon of last resort, that is a suicide weapon likely to be used when one has no way to win, then one can still win in the sense that everyone dies, and maybe leaders can survive. Tillerson Softens US Stance on Possible Talks with NKorea, UN Official: NKoreans Say it Is Important to Prevent War, South Korea, U.S. Conduct Exercises for Removing North Korea Weapons. Kim Jong Un Fetes Rocket Scientists, Promises More Weapons, despite the fact poverty is so severe that Sold NKorean Brides Face Hard Choices in China. ¶ A Yemeni Rebel Claim Highlights the Risk of Nuclear Power in the Middle East.

            -*. It is likely North Korea has anthrax. It’s endemic in many part of the world and easy to obtain and grow. Smallpox is unlikely. The only current sources are unlikely to share with an erratic country where the leader is apt to claim they can control weather. It is also unlikely North Korea would not have had a smallpox accident by this time. Last sources about North Korean Smallpox are speculative as a remote possibility A New Report On North Korea's Biological Weapons Program, North Korea Could Be Mass Producing Biological Weapons to Unleash Smallpox and Plague, Everything We Know about North Korea's Bioweapons Program, or are unreliable sources and what information they provide, tending to be misinformative, if not actual disinformative, Daily Mail, Brietbart, Mirror. Bioweapons do present a problem when targeting. Conventional explosives would spread a bio or chem agent into the air. To assure this does not happen weapons that create extreme levels of heat are needed, such as thermal nuclear devices. Bioweapons have an additional advantage that one does not have to actually have to have them to cause fear and parademic behavior.

            -A. South Korea Conducts Anti-Terror Drills Ahead of Olympics. Set to host the Winter Olympics in February, South Korea prepares against terror attacks ranging from a hostage situation, a vehicle ramming a stadium and a bomb attached to a drone, just 80 km (50 miles) from the heavily fortified border with North Korea. Officers in gas masks also removed a chemical bomb. Anxiety on the Korean Peninsula has been rising in recent months due to a series of missile tests by North Korea as it continues its pursuit of nuclear weapons and could resort to terrorist or cyber attacks to spoil international events. [Photo]. World Unites Against NKorea Nuke Ambitions - North Ignores.

-171015-11>3. The Pathological Optimist: When “Not Taking Sides” over Andrew Wakefield Means Taking a Side. Quacks have discovered that a couple of the most effective tools out there to influence opinion are videos and documentaries. Videos, of course, can be made on the cheap and posted to YouTube, then later sold, either online or in DVD form. But what happens when a legitimate, generally respected film maker takes on a topic related to the antivaccine movement. It’s something I’ve never dealt with before, but now I have the opportunity to do so. Such a film is a different kettle of fish entirely from the sort of propaganda films. In the case of those films we know the film maker is not only biased but making the film to promote the quack or quackery featured. In contrast, when a legitimate film maker with a decent track record decides to take on a topic like Andrew Wakefield, we don’t know that and hope for a compelling, accurate documentary. In this case, I’m referring to the recently released movie The Pathological Optimist [Poster, Poster], which is portrayed as a balanced portrait of Andrew Wakefield [Meme], who basically inspired modern iteration of the antivaccine movement through his fraudulent science linking vaccines to autism in the late 1990s. -1↑.

-171008-5>4. <ADDED 171210>6. Russian Nuclear Plant Says it Emits Leaked Nuclear Isotope. A senior executive at the Russian nuclear processing plant suspected of being behind a spike of radioactivity over Europe this fall admitted Wednesday that the isotope recorded does emerge as part of the plant’s production cycle but said its levels are negligible. And in relation to other public health problems in Russia that have global implications this secrecy is troubling 171203-8‡.

-170528-5.2>5. Vaccine Opponents: Sesame Street’s Autistic Character Is Pharmaceutical Propaganda. The introduction of Julia, an autistic Sesame Street character, drew claims by vaccine opponents that the puppet is part of a conspiracy. ¶ Elmo on the West Wing (Video) was another TV show with Muppets being used for BigPharm propaganda. [Photo, Photo]. Elmo Is a Corporate Whore Pushing Vaccines for Bill Gates and Big Pharma's Merck.

            -‡. How could people use children for cynical political agendas -4↑. Congressional Gridlock Is Putting Flint's Pipe Replacement in Peril. Parents to Congress: My Child Depends on CHIP for Health Insurance, Why Millions of Children Could Lose Their Health Insurance in 2018. Parents Worry Congress Won't Fund the Children's Health Insurance Program, Bipartisan Group of Governors Calls for Swift CHIP Reauthorization, The Republican War on Children. Orrin Hatch Comments on Chip Health Program at Heart of Social Media Storm, Sen. Orrin Hatch Sparks Backlash after Claiming There's 'No Money' for Children’s Health Plan, No, Sen. Orrin Hatch Didn't Say He Wanted Poor People to Die, GOP Senator Says It’s Hard to Fund $14 Billion Children’s Health Care Program – Then Advocates for $1 Trillion Tax Cut. CHIP on Their Shoulders. Dysfunctional Congress Puts Children's Health Insurance Funding at Risk, Congress Still Dragging Feet Over CHIP: They’re ‘Playing Politics with Our Kids’ Health Care’, House Republicans Introduce 2 Week Stopgap to Fund Government, Children's Health Insurance Program, Will CHIP Crumble. States Are Getting Really Nervous, For Many It’s ‘Beyond Belief’ That Funding for Wildly Popular CHIP Program Is in Limbo. Two Thirds of Voters Could Support Government Shutdown over Children's Health Care Funding. After Kicking Health Issues down the Road, Congress Faces Day of Reckoning, Congress Is Already Doing Real Damage to CHIP, [Cartoon], States Warn Families of Impending Cuts as CHIP Funding Nears Depletion, Kaffer: Washington's So Dysfunctional It's Rolling the Dice with Children's Health Care. Facing 'Hard Decisions,' Health Centers Plead for Restored Funding, States Prepare to Shut down Children’s Health Programs If Congress Doesn’t Act. Logjam Over CHIP Funding a Testament to Level of Partisan Rancor Gripping Congress, House Passes Bill to Fund Children's Insurance Program this is uncomfortably like parents hurting each other through their children. CHIP Funding Morass: How Did Something Everyone Seems to Agree on Get to this Point. 170917-10> at <ADDED 171008>10 and <ADDED 171001>5.

-160515-↕4>6. Zika Virus, Not Vaccine or Insecticide, Linked to Birth Defects in Brazil. In the fall and early winter of 2015, a startling number of infants in northeastern Brazil were born with abnormally small heads. Mounting global concern gave rise to theories about what was responsible. While public health authorities fairly quickly fingered the Zika virus as the culprit, a couple of other theories established deep roots on social media platforms. Unfortunately these conspiracy theories have had months to circulate and become unconscious beliefs, while definitive research, which is likely not to be believed in the first case, only start to circulate after extensive testing and verification, long after the majority of people are interested. If a Zika vaccine becomes available people will be hesitant about getting it, and if one is not developed there will be conspiracy theory that BigPharma did not develop it because there was too little profit.

            -‡. Dispelling Rumours Around Zika and Complications. Massive New Study Suggests Pesticide the Cause of Microcephaly — NOT Zika Virus. There's Absolutely No Evidence That Pesticides Are to Blame for the Rise in Microcephaly. Scientists Debunk Theory Linking Pesticide, Not Zika, to Birth Defects. Brazil Admits Birth Defects Are Not Caused by Zika Virus. New Doubts on Zika as Cause of Microcephaly. Did a Pesticide Cause Microcephaly in Brazil. Unlikely. Takei with a Grain of Salt. An unsubstantiated theory suggesting a Monsanto pesticide caused an uptick in microcephaly births in Brazil reached a tipping point when it was promoted by George Takei. | As Brazil Confronts Zika, Vaccine Rumors Shape Perceptions. Canadian Website Wrongly Links Whooping Cough Vaccine to Zika. The Real Cause of Birth Defects in Brazil: Zika or Improper Vaccine Use. Zika Virus and Microcephaly: Antivaccine Warriors Say It’s Vaccines That Did it. Brazilian Shrunken Head Babies: Zika or Tdap. Cause of Microcephaly Is Not Zika Virus, Can Be Vaccines in Pregnant Women. Zika Virus or Tdap Vaccine. Fact or Fiction: Is There a Link Between Microcephaly and Vaccines. The most these rumors and conspiracy theories accomplish is diverting resources and leaving the problem It's Heartbreaking: As Zika Babies Age, Devastating Health Effects Become More Clear.