Read This First, Heuristics (1), Glossary (A-H), Mini Lessons (2)
1. Water Mafia, 2. Korean MERS, 3. Media Violence, 3.1 Climate of Violence, 3.2 BioTrump Violence, 4. Iced Age Tattoos, 5. Terror vs Hurricanes, 6. Scam Cult, <ADDED >1. Bird Extinction, >2. Threats to Science, >3. Congo Ebola, >4. Sour Limes, >5. Complex Sounding Explanations, 180916-VCP.
Other Topics: BioTrumpism, BioPolitics, Vaccine, Biosphere, Disaster, Humor, Climate Change, Anthropocene, Anthropogenic, Communication, One Health, Environmental Change, Human Factors, Water Theft and Shortages, Rewarding Crime, Florence & Maria, Lessons Not Learned, Ice and ICE, Evacuation, New Definition for Success, Stereotypes of Climate Denialists, Climate Court, Nuclear Contamination, Africa Swine Fever, Censorship, Extinction,
-1. For Karachi's Water Mafia, Stolen H2O Is a Lucrative Business. [Slide] In a slum neighborhood of Karachi, a sprawling port city of some 16 million people in Pakistan, there's no running water. So how do people get the water they need to drink, to cook, to wash up and to clean their homes residents have to call a group of water handlers known as the water tanker mafia. For a price, drivers will deliver clean water, which is pricey, or polluted water, which is cheaper. Years ago they used to have running water, but about a decade ago, residents say the mafias began siphoning off water from government pipes running through private land – and their supply dried up. The mafia sells it at different prices based on the water's quality. The government's water is considered the cleanest, so it fetches the highest price, about $150 for a month's supply. The situation in Karachi reflects a broader water crisis across Pakistan. Inefficient agriculture, dwindling aquifers, an increasingly dry environment, rapid demographic growth and heavy pollution are diminishing both the quantity and quality of water for residents. The Karachi water board tried to entice the mafias to work legally. Mafia drivers could fill up from legitimate government water sources, but on one condition: They would have to distribute about half the water at cheaper, government rates to residents in designated areas where there are \fs24softlineno pipes, or where the water infrastructure has collapsed. They are free to sell the rest at commercial rates to whomever they wanted. The tanker drivers now sell nearly half of the city's supply of water. ¶ Too bad they can’t just go to where there is lots of water that is in a portable Form, Antarctica Has Lost 2.71 Trillion Tons of Ice. Here’s What That Looks Like. By 2040, Most of the World Won’t Have Enough Water to Meet Demand Year Round.
-2. Quarantine Officials Rapped for Neglecting Suspected MERS Patient. He submitted a report of his health over the past 21 days, a requirement for those who visit Middle Eastern countries. The law was instituted Aug. 4, 2016, to better detect suspected MERS patients. He wrote the names of the countries he had visited and symptoms of illnesses over the past 21 days. He had diarrhea 10 days before he arrived in Seoul, but that he had no fever or phlegm, or symptoms of respiratory illnesses. The body temperature of the man indicated by a digital ear thermometer was 36.3 degrees Celsius, a normal temperature, and he said he had no other respiratory symptoms. Questions Arise Whether MERS Patient Knew about Infection Before Arrival from Middle East. <ADDED 180909-180701-1.1>6. This seeking for someone to blame when a weak system fails is widely found and cross cultural. Gov't Struggling to Find People in Contact with MERS Patients.
-3. Violence Against the Media Isn’t New – History Shows Why it Largely Disappeared and Has Now Returned. In the 19th century, attacks on the press were common. Violence and journalism were intertwined in American culture, largely because of the partisan politics most newspapers propagated. Journalism became less partisan to be more palatable to mass audiences. Opinion was separated from reporting and clearly labeled. Such segregation of reporting and opinion was not the norm in American journalism history. It was a new idea that quickly gained traction because it proved so commercially advantageous. Removing opinions from most reporting produced enormous profits for television networks, radio stations and daily newspapers. It became commonplace. Americans grew accustomed to it. Then things changed. There was profit in masquerading opinion as fact, to foster violent passions where there is profit no matter the costs. Unfortunately opinion as fact (INDEX) includes information about health and environment. That means some spin journalist will die rich and will do so without regret (butguilt) about deaths they caused. [Cartoon, Cartoon, Cartoon, Cartoon -5A]. The Mystery of Tucker Carlson. BBC and False Balance Revisited.
-3.1. Climate Violence: -180513-1.1↓, 180513-1.1B-¶2. Does Climate Change Cause More War. Climate Change Induced Migration and Violent Conflict 2007, ¿Climate Clashes? Weather Variability, Land Pressure, and Organized Violence in Kenya, 1989 - 2004 2012, Raiding Pastoral Livelihoods: Motives and Effects of Violent Conflict in North Western Kenya 2012, Climate Change and Violent Conflict in Kenyan Pastoral Lands: UN Sustainable Development Goals Present a Way Forward 2017, Climate Change, Conflicts and Permanent Instability in Kenya. For Decades Global Hunger Was on the Decline. NowIt’s Getting Worse Again – and Climate Change Is to Blame$, World Hunger Levels Rise for Third Year Running. Climate Change Conflicts Are Here – and Scallop Wars Are Just the Beginning.
-3.2. Biotrumpism violence. Analogous to the learned behavior or bullying, threat of losing one’s temper to control others, reminds one of the violence a psychotic displays when worldview is questioned and from that perspective is a proportional response , science and media question him. Supporters are codependents [Cartoon], and they have guns, ammo and permission. Destruction of health and environment, perhaps because they are not part of either, to include violence they incite or fuel [Cartoon]. Anti-the other. Trump Adviser Warns of Tougher Response If Syria Uses Chemical Weapons Again, but are these chemical weapons so different from the pollutants and toxins biotrumpism wants to dump in the US environment. They are faster acting with higher doses but otherwise the agents and impacts of populations are the same. Trump Set to Weaken Methane Air Pollution Rule [Cartoon]. Trump's EPA Rolls Back Obama Era Coal Ash Regulations, EPA to Plan One Hearing on Coal Rule, [Cartoon, Cartoon, Cartoon]. Former EPA Head in Talks to Become Coal Consultant [Cartoon]. Trump’s EPA Chooses Coal over the American People. California Launching its ‘Own Damn Satellite’ to Track Climate Change Pollution.
-Quote: When you have your health, you have everything. When you do not have your health, nothing else matters at all. – Augusten Burroughs. It is possibly that biotrumpism misheard health as wealth while they were Running with Scissors.
-A. It is important to remember that though biotrumpism and dominionism are associated with extreme conservative interpretations of the Christian bible, preferring literal interpretations rather than thoughtful comments that can be analyzed for application in current times and circumstances, this is not true for every conservative religionist. An Evangelist for Climate Science: Five Questions for Katharine Hayhoe, by sharing her own religious beliefs, the atmospheric scientist hopes she can connect with faith based groups on why climate change matters, -2-. <ADDED 180909-180729-1INDEX>5, 180902-2.4, <ADDED 180715-180624-4.1>4‡, <ADDED 180701-VCP-The Netherlands, 180415-3.1, <ADDED 180401-180304-6>5, 180311-1.1*, <ADDED 180311-180211-4.1>8, 180301-3.5, <ADDED 180128-180121-2A>1Quote, 171112-6.1, 170604-4.2A‡, Evangelicals to Trump: History Will Record the Greatness That You Have Brought, Trump Warns Evangelicals of Violence if GOP Loses in the Midterms, Pruitt in Resignation Letter to Trump: You Are President Because of God’s Providence, Half of Evangelicals Support Israel Because They Believe it Is Important for Fulfilling End Times Prophecy. Chelsea Clinton: Undoing Roe v. Wade Would Be Unchristian.
-G. What Happens When Climate Change Meets the Courts. A sociologist at George Washington University, is interested in the social dimensions that shape climate change, Creating a database of all 838 climate change lawsuits in the US between 1990 and 2016. Climate change lawsuits aren’t all trying to instigate climate action, some are trying to prevent regulation, challenging existing regulations or laws. Overall, there were more anti-regulatory wins, even though there were more pro regulatory cases overall. But there was one category where pro regulatory cases seemed to do better: the small number that involved energy efficiency and renewable energy. Court Orders Trump EPA to Ban Controversial Pesticide, Court Orders Ban on Harmful Pesticide, Says EPA Violated Law, Trump Administration Endangered Public Health by Keeping Pesticide on Market, Appeals Court Rules, Court Blocks EPA Policy Against Enforcing Truck Pollution Rule, Scott Pruitt Gave “Super Polluting” Trucks a Gift on His Last Day at the EPA. A Court Just Put it on Hold.
-3.3. China Clamps Down on Public Discussion of African Swine Flu Outbreaks, 180916-VCP-Global↓, for previous times china has hidden outbreaks. Keep in mind that China has a shame culture, which means that if people agree to pretend something does not exist it doesn’t no matter how many die. In a guilt culture, such as the US, people can pretend but they get eaten away by toxic guilt, also known as mental illness due to unhealthy ways of coping. In this case hiding the outbreak may increase it African Swine Fever in Asia: Just the Tip of the Iceberg, Japan Reports 1st Classical Swine Fever Outbreak in a Quarter Century. China's Small Farmers Pose Huge Challenge in Swine Fever Battle. -5F↓. African Swine Fever Jumps To Belgium.
-4. What Ötzi the Iceman’s Tattoos Reveal About Copper Age Medical Practices. New study argues that the 5,300 year old Iceman’s community boasted surprisingly advanced health care techniques. [Tattoos]. Can Tattoos Be Medicinal. This is not stating the tattoos are medicine but that they can be therapeutic. Personally I don’t see any contextual assemblage to be definitive that this is magicomedical, and with the lack of continuity from that time to this modern tattoos with healing intent that look the same may not be the same.
-5. One of the reasons that Katrina was worse than it should have been was that resources, people, money, assets were diverted from protecting the nation from natural hazards that constantly happen, to protect from foreign terrorism that rarely happens, FEMA’s Focus on Terror Criticized 2005, Transforming National Preparedness 2006 [Cover], The Response to Hurricane Katrina 2009, The Response to Hurricane Katrina 2012, 180729-11.1‡, 180603-1.2, <ADDED 180527-180513-3.1>2, 180311-6B ('Wild Wild Country' Rajneesh Documentary Garners Emmy for Netflix), 171210-9.2, <ADDED 170903-170827-8H, ##↓↓. That lesson has been unlearned or that past mistakes were never learned by those are supposed to be in charge now D*↓.
-A. Thousands Told to Evacuate Outer Banks as Hurricane Florence Reaches Category 4,
How to Move a Million People Out of a Hurricane's Way, Why Some People Never Evacuate During a Hurricane, According to a Psychologist, South Carolina Won’t Evacuate a Prison in Hurricane Florence’s Path. [Cartoon, Cartoon, -3↑]. 1 Family's Dilemma to Evacuate or Not Comes down to Money. Priest on Grand Strand Beach Before Storm: God Bless You, Be Safe. As Hurricane Florence Looms, Woman Feared Deportation for Family If They Went to Shelter <ADDED 180902-180826-2.1>2. Only God’s Going to Get Me out of this House: Sick, Elderly Often Hunker down for Storm Instead of Leaving. Myrtle Beach Resident Refuses to Evacuate from Family’s Ancestral Ron Jon Surf Shop. More than 1 Million Ordered to Evacuate Due to Hurricane Florence, FEMA Officials Panic after Accidentally Evacuating 1 Million Residents in Direction of Hurricane.
-B. We Aren’t Ready for Hurricanes like Florence. Could Florence Become the next Hurricane Hugo. Charlotte Waits Remembers but just six years ago North Carolina Chose to Ignore Its Dangerous Sea Levels. [Cartoon]. Fearsome New Stage Begins as Florence Floods Inland Rivers.
-C. One can’t help but notice that unlike last year [Tweet], Trump is not taking a prominent spotlight position [Photo]. It was on Fox news so he should be aware of it. Maybe because the last time the response was criticized, to include the photo ops, the administration wished to avoid an unfair fake news situation. Possibly there is confusion of Charlotte NC with Charlotteville VA. FEMA Stages Relief Supplies at Fort Bragg; NCNG Troops Brace for Hurricane Florence. Trump Campaign Cancels Mississippi Rally Because of Hurricane Florence. Prepare Yourselves: President Trump Tweets about Hurricane Lane. Virginia Reps Urge Trump to Declare Federal Emergency Ahead of Hurricane Florence. FEMA Frantically Prepares Apology for Screwing up Hurricane Florence Response. FEMA Official: Hurricane Florence Will Cause Massive Damage, Including Potential Loss of Life. FEMA Has Radically Underestimated How Vulnerable Americans Are to Flooding [Cartoon]. Alarm Grows Inside FEMA as Administrator Brock Long Fights for His Job, White House Officials Discussing Potential Replacements for FEMA Chief -F↓. Strategic Leadership: A Critical Skill in Short Supply. Introducing the “ACT” Crisis Management Framework: Accept responsibility, Communicate quickly and effectively, Take advantage of the opportunity to learn and improve.
-D. Trump Calls Maria Response an Unsung Success After 2,975 Deaths <ADDED 180909-180128-3.1>9, <ADDED 171105-171015-3 et al>1A, Fact Check: Puerto Rico Was an Incredible, Unsung Success, Trump Says His Successful Response in Puerto Rico Is Proof That He’s Ready for Florence, Never Give an Inch: Trump Keeps Touting Perceived Failures as Successes. San Juan Mayor: Puerto Ricans Won't Forget Images of Trump Throwing Paper Towels to Hurricane Survivors, [Cartoon, Cartoon, Cartoon], FEMA Has Approved 3 Percent of Requests for Puerto Rico Funeral Aid, which is equivalent to the original 64 official deaths. Tons of Water Sent to Puerto Rico's Hurricane Maria Victims Was Never Distributed, Puerto Rican Government Abandons Bottled Water on Naval Base, Citing Bad Taste, 171001-2.1‡, <ADDED 171022-171001-2.1>4, <ADDED 171015-171001-2.1>4A, <ADDED 171008-171001-2.1>2‡2, FEMA Official Says Bottled Water in Puerto Rico Was Moved to Runway to Save Money. Trump Claims Without Evidence That 3,000 People Did Not Die in Puerto Rico Hurricanes, Blames Democrats for Inflating Toll, Trump Ignites Firestorm over Number of Hurricane Related Deaths in Puerto Rico, [Tweet -F↓, Trump Stands by Tweets Questioning Puerto Rico Death Toll: NO WAY, Cartoon, Cartoon, Cartoon, Quote], Trump Just Invented a Cruel Conspiracy Theory about Hurricane Maria’s Death Toll, Trump Claims Hurricane Maria Death Toll Rose like Magic, Trump Doubles down on Puerto Rico Death Toll Conspiracy, 4 Takeaways on Puerto Rico’s Death Toll, in the Wake of Trump’s Tweet Storm. Actually the first questioning of the official death toll were soon after they were announced, and the first revised number were higher Hurricane Maria Killed More than 4,600 People in Puerto Rico, <ADDED 180304>4 <ADDED 180225>3 <ADDED 180603>7-‡ -180128-3.1. What Was the Actual Death Toll from Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. Trump Tries to Rewrite History on Maria as Hurricane Florence Approaches. Trump Denying Puerto Rico's Death Toll Puts Lives at Risk. Trump Echoes Far Right Websites on Puerto Rico, for a year its presence on the internet has been casting doubt on the severity of Hurricane Maria’s impact on Puerto Rico. Trump’s False Claims over Hurricane Maria’s Death Toll Anger, Shock Both Allies and Critics: I’m Flabbergasted. FEMA Evicts Hurricane Maria Evacuees as Florence Hits and Trump Tweets. Trump Leans on Shaky Numbers to Shape Reality. These Are the Staggering Numbers Behind Florence's Wrath. FEMA Administrator Brock Long Defends Trump on Puerto Rico Death Toll Study, I don't know why the studies were done. FEMA Chief: Too Much Blame Around on Puerto Rico Deaths. With NC’s so far low death count -2- it will be interesting to see how that is handled. The precedence has been set for this administration that the number of deaths defines severity, ignoring costs of infrastructure loss and rebuilding. If large amounts of relief and money are put in the area, that will contradict reasoning that was applied to Puerto Rico, if there is only small amounts that may lose a support base who are probably OK not sending sufficient aid to foreign lands like Puerto Rico, but feel they should be treated the same way. It is also likely the deaths were among impoverished groups, which in the US correlates with ethnic groups, which becomes dicey as this administration also has the reputation of racism. Then there is the problem of the wealth gap -2- <ADDED 180909-180701-1.1>6, where the proclivity of supporting the rich while ignoring the poor in terms of disaster recovery -2- could be additional opposition ammunition if the pattern from last year’s hurricanes is repeated. Inconsistency of logic and incoherence of narrative have been part of the biotrumpism brand, so it is likely that obvious unequal application of law and relief will not be seen as a problem to this administration. If questioned it will be rationalized, there will be apologist to justify, there where be gaslighting without ftlineevidence, and called faked. We Calculated the Deaths from Hurricane Maria. Politics Played No Role$.
-*Quote: Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. – Various -2-. Corollary: Those who don't learn from the own personal recent past are simply doomed, and doom others. Mayor: If Trump Doesn't Learn, God Bless Us All.
- Trump Declares State of Emergency in Both Carolinas as Hurricane Florence Nears, Trump Says Administration Is 'Absolutely and Totally Prepared' for Hurricane Florence, Trump Attacks Mayor of San Juan as He Touts Readiness for Hurricane Florence. Except that it is apparently more important to detain US and Non Citizens, tear up families and then lose or deport them, than to have the resources available for this year’s hurricanes, despite there not being enough last year when it had a larger budget. Dem Senator Releases Documents Appearing to Show DHS Diverted $10M from FEMA to ICE, Trump Moves Nearly $10 Million from FEMA Budget, FEMA Funds Transferred to ICE, Hurricane Florence Strengthens Near Carolinas, FEMA Says Funding Transferred to ICE Won't Harm Hurricane Response losing a bit more of their under funding doesn’t change a thing. Is Trump Using Hurricane Relief Money to Fund ICE. Not Exactly. It's Not Just FEMA: ICE Quietly Got an Extra $200 Million. CNN's Avlon on Trump Complicity for Florence: Policies Tearing down Our Defenses to Climate Change. Paul McCartney Reveals New Song about Climate Change Is Directed at Donald Trump. Trump Redirected Nearly $10 Million In FEMA Funds Toward ICE.
-F. FEMA to Test System Allowing Trump to Send Emergency Alerts -2-, this is not only another example of the president getting into the weeds that a seniors leader should never do, but speaks toward someone who wants to be seen in the limelight as important, as the rescuer (even if they were the ones that created the problem that needed to be rescued from), sort of like someone claiming they would run into a building with a school shooter even though they are unarmed, untrained, would probably get more people killed, and are in a position of responsbility that should not endanger themselves. Under normal conditions one does not allow the top officials make such announcements. Besides the fact they should be working of bigger national, international, long term policy rather than the mundane announcement that a bad storm is coming is that things can go wrong in so many different ways. To protect the integrity and trust of positions of the highest trust and responsibility of a country or organization, one normally does not permit those people to make a public statement until there is certainty or that level of authority is needed. Even if always right in such statements (very unlikely) each time deteriorates the allure of authority to the point it will be lacking when really needed, or completely ignored even if correct and would have saved lives. If it is true that the FEMA Director’s job is in jeopardy, they may be taking advantage of the fact that Trump adores being praised and put in the limelight, simpering to him with this unwise choice -C↑, When Politics and WEA Collide. Frankly Trump having the ability to send out an emergency notification alert at this whim, scares me more than his having the nuclear football -2- -3- -4- [Cartoon, Tweet* D↑]. The football at least has protocols to prevent a whim, believing a rumor, out of anger <ADDED 171210-171119-2>2, or other error in judgment. Former Colorado Nuke Site Opens to Public as Wildlife Refuge, Interior Moves Ahead with Opening Wildlife Refuge next to Contaminated Nuclear Site. *Given the consistent pattern of deleting information from the web that doesn’t support biotrumpism’s climate change is not real narrative, and presenting an image of infallibility, it is surprised this is still up. Maybe this is an actual faked tweet, along with Mar-A-Logo vulnerability to submersion from seal level rise, strong wind and rain, or disappearing in a thermonuclear cloud. Overall one should expect biotrumpism to level and downplay Florence, saying it was small, that hurricanes will continue to be minor threats, that they are adequately prepared, emphasizing any news that supports that narrative. The opposition will of course sharpen, be more alarmist with information that supports that hurricanes are more deadly, that the already severely weakened safety net and protection are being dismantled further, and that things will get worse. People Show Confirmation Bias Even about Which Way Dots Are Moving.
-Aphorism: Better to Remain Silent and Be Thought a Fool than to Speak and Remove All Doubt.
-G. Hog Farmers Scramble to Drain Waste Pools Ahead of Hurricane Florence, Hurricane Could Flood Many Waste Sites, Creating Toxic Brew, Flooding from Hurricane Florence Threatens to Overwhelm Manure Lagoons, [Photo], and if there is a concurrent swine zoodemic during the flooding this potentially increase the chance it could jump to humans. North Carolina's Hog Waste Problem Has a Long History. Why Wasn't it Solved in Time for Hurricane Florence. | Uh Oh, This One Is Very Different: Super Typhoon Mangkhut Threatens Hong Kong, Philippines and Taiwan, -3.3↑. | To Prep for Hurricane Florence, Investors Sell off Insurers. As Florence Barrels Toward Carolinas, Hospitals Brace for Storm’s Impact. Loading the Dice: Climate Change Could Make Hurricanes More Devastating. If Florence fizzles biotrumpism can claim success and attack nay sayers about their hype. If it’s terrible biotrumpism has shown previous skill and diverting blame, at least in their own collective mind and its audience that want to believe, that it was not so bad -180916-5>. Florence’s Rains: Coal Ash Landfill Collapses in Carolinas. A repeat of history during Harvey where EPA has just eased rules for superfund sites and closed down a lab, Trump EPA Eases Standards for Coal Ash Disposal, Coal Ash. The Toxic Threat to Our Health and Environment,, EPA Coal Ash Basics Coal ash contains contaminants like mercury, cadmium and arsenic. Without proper management, these contaminants can pollute waterways, ground water, drinking water, and the air, Impact: Wildlife, Environmental Impacts of Coal.
-H‡. In Preparation for Hurricane, Bill Nye Explains What Water Is on MSNBC [Video, Video, Video], Why Hurricanes Are Expected to Dump More Rain in a Warming World, Storm Surge Like You've Never Experienced it Before Video. What Will Persuade Conservatives to Fight Climate Change. North Carolina Politicians Have Decried the Climate Change Science That Makes Hurricane Florence So Dangerous. Hurricane Florence Is Not an Omen about Climate Change. Some South Carolina Lane Reversals to End. Unique Gullah Communities Have Ridden out Many Hurricanes. Closed Ports, Lost Power: How Storm Could Hurt Area Economy. Hurricane Florence Will Slow Down. That’s a Bad Thing, Hurricane Florence Could Stall Offshore in Repeat of Harvey. Six Nuclear Power Plants Are in Hurricane Florence's Path. [Cartoon, Cartoon]. How Coastal Development, Climate Change Make Hurricanes More Costly. Landfall, Storm Surge and the Waffle House Index: Hurricane Terms and What They Mean <ADDED 180923>. What Happens to NC’s Wild Horses When a Major Hurricane like Florence Hits, As People Evacuate Before Hurricane, Zoo Animals Move Inside, Five Ways Cultural Institutions, Landmarks and Zoos Are Prepping for Hurricane Florence. You Can’t Put America First If You Put Climate Change Last$. Trying to Protect Seniors, the Most Vulnerable, from Formidable Foe Florence, The Race to Evacuate More than 120 Seniors and People with Disabilities Ahead of Florence Flooding. Before and after a Storm, the Supply Stores Are Critical. Wilmington Cut off by Extreme Flooding as Florence Threatens Carolinas with Still More Rain. Florence Threatens More than a Million Homes Without Flood Insurance. Florence Power Outages in the Charlotte Area Leave Tens of Thousands in the Dark. Preparing for Hurricane Florence and Potential ID Impacts, ID for infectious disease, though identification is another parademic issue. This Is How the World Ends: Will We Soon See Category 6 Hurricanes. Hurricane Florence and Unintended Consequences, the secondary impacts could be worse than some direct impacts. More probably these unintended consequences are unforeseen ones, Hurricanes Can Cause Enormous Damage Inland, but Emergency Plans Focus on Coasts, for example Houston if 40 miles from the coast, with large barrier islands between it at the gulf. Shelter in Hurricane’s Path Warns it Will Euthanize Animals If it Can’t Find People to Adopt Them. How the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Responds to a Hurricane like Florence.
-H. SLA, Narrative, Rumor, Anxiety, and Exploitation: Rush Limbaugh Shares Fake Story That Sharks Are Flying Around in Hurricane Florence, Rush Limbaugh Mocks Fake Story about Shark Hurricanes on Air, People Are Genuinely Concerned That Florence Has Become a Sharknado, Sharks in the Water. FEMA Tries to Fight 'Fake News' as Florence Hits. Swimmer Dead After Shark Attack On Cape Cod. Hurricane Pseudoscience.
-6. Internet Health Scams – Developing a Taxonomy and Risk of Deception Assessment Tool. Health scams are increasing, facilitated by the rise of the Internet. However, little is known about the nature of this phenomenon. This study sought to methodically identify and categorise Internet based Health Scams (IHS), creating an initial taxonomy based on systematic Internet searches.
A five step Delphi approach -2- [Slide], comprised of a multidisciplinary panel of health professionals was used to establish consensus. The resulting taxonomy is the first to characterise the nature of IHS in North America. Five core areas of activity were identified: body image products, medical products, alternative health services, healthy lifestyle products, and diagnostic testing services. IHS purveyors relied on social expectations and psychological persuasion techniques to target consumers. Persuasion techniques included social engagement, claims of miraculous effects, scarcity, and the use of pseudoscientific language. These techniques exploited personality traits of sensation seeking, needing self control, openness to taking risks, and the preference for uniqueness. The data gathered from the taxonomy allowed the Delphi panel to develop and pilot a simple risk of deception tool. This tool is intended to help healthcare professionals educate the public about IHS. This is just speculation but I suspect that there cults are comparable to medical scams, to include those that are also anti-vax. Health Insurance Scams Soar amid Obamacare Changes. Practice Drift: A Feature, Not a Bug, in Integrative Medicine.
-7. Interesting question, Should ‘Race’ Be Taught in High School Biology. Biology textbooks of yore were replete with ignorant classifications purporting to be scientific. But is avoiding the issue altogether the answer. Race is a social construct and would be appropriate for a social science related class, but it would be a useful way to teaching some biological concepts about species, biodiversity, subspecies, geographical population, breeds (which can have genetic variations that are a consideration for medical treatments and immune system vulnerabilities). The politicalization of biology (which is also the social science topics of – arianism, biotrumpism, social Darwinism, sociobiology, eugenics, soviet man .......), is also useful, especially for interdisciplinary education. Ethnicity and language groups are culturally determined groups that often correlate with religions, geographic areas, cultures, class structure and shared history. For parademic race and its accompanying concepts are useful, not as a physical or biological reality, but in what way is it valid for a social group. Halting Biodiversity Loss: Political Actions Are Required, Not Additional Scientific Knowledge.
<ADDED 180916>
-180909-3>1. In the Last Decade, Four Birds Went Extinct and Four More Are Likely Gone
Habitat loss is the main culprit in killing off the birds, including Spix’s macaw, the star of the popular 2011 film Rio. Blue Bird from 'Rio' Movie Now Extinct in the Wild. [Art].
-180819-7>2. <ADDED 180902>4. What Is Threatening Science. Globalization, the digitization of knowledge, and the growing number of scientists all seem, at first glance, like positive trends for the progress of science. But these trends are Janus faced, for they also encourage a hyper competitive, trend driven, and herd like approach to scientific research. I Want to Burn Things to the Ground$, are the foot soldiers behind psychology’s replication crisis saving science – or destroying it. INDEX-Replication Crisis. Cannibalism, Roller Coasters and Self Colonoscopies in the News. It’s Ig Nobel Season. Why Do Medical Journals Keep Taking Authors at TheirWord. A Culture of Standards Matters, perhaps the most dangerous effect of the alternative medicine movement has been an erosion of the culture of dedication to science and standards within medicine. This has to change.
-180513-1.1>3, <ADDED 180909>7, <ADDED 180923>. In Congo, a New and less Isolating Ebola Treatment Center, Ebola Fight Has New Science but Faces Old Hurdles in Restive Congo. Ebola in DRC: Workers Attacked, Supplies Destroyed by Beni Youth, unknown for the article if this was an attack on a soft target in a conflict area INDEX Medical Violence, or defensive destruction from a perceived threat. Ebola Strikes Big City in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and WHO Scales up Response to New Threat. No Ebola Prevention on the Bunia - Kisangani Road. Butembo: Police and Military Learn to Respond to Ebola Virus Disease. No Ebola Outbreak in Goma, Health Authorities Say. South Sudan Intensifies Ebola Preparedness in Response to the Outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo. Ebola Killed My Whole Family. Free Treatment in Butembo and Masereka Starts this Week. Disasters in Conflict Areas: Finding the Politics.
-180805-9>4. #Book Getting Sour on Lyme: A Review of Lyme: The First Epidemic of Climate Change [Cover]. Though mentioned favorably in the premiere scientific journal, Nature, I don’t share their enthusiasm for the book. For those who follow infectious disease news, the controversies and mythologies surrounding Lyme Disease are nothing new despite the fact that they seem to multiply, become more complex, and become more insoluble day by day (though not definitive, the increasingly complex explanations are both likely to be more acceptable, but also more likely to be wrong). The book is written from the viewpoint of someone who gives a lot of credence to alternative therapies for nebulous conditions that may or may not be related to Lyme infection. The best aspects are its chronicling of the increasing geographic range of the deer tick responsible for Lyme Disease transmission and explicitly linking it to suburban reforestation plans that put people into much greater contact with ticks. However there are several areas with which I strongly disagree with. Not surprisingly, much of my disagreement deals with her disparagement of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and major academic Lyme Disease researchers which she basically describes as a involved in a vast conspiracy to hide the truth about Lyme. This ire is focused almost entirely on the contentious subject of “chronic Lyme Disease” — an impossible to define concept that centers on the belief that ongoing damage causing Lyme infection continues after sufficient antibiotic therapy and merits further antibiotics, hyperbaric oxygen, or other therapies.
-180311-6>5, ADDED 180909>8. There is still debate if there was even an attack, and if there was one if it was microwave, sound, harmonics, intentional, unintentional, something else, or a hysteria from current stressful conditions. What is clear is that the incoherent narrative and discordant dissonance of statements, are increasing cognitive difficulties and conditions of uncertainty. Trump Official Discounts Reports Russia Behind Mysterious 'Health Attacks' in Cuba, China, U.S. Suspects Russia Is Behind Cuba, China Embassy Attacks, Russia Main Suspect in U.S. Diplomats' Illnesses in Cuba and China, Intelligence Sources Say Futuristic Russian Weapons Could Be Behind Mysterious Sonic Attacks on Diplomats. Inconsistent, contradictory messages during a biocalamity from what shouldbe a unified source can neutralize official efforts of preparation for containment and control. WSJ: Russians Used Health Law to Sow Political Discourse, Nearly 600 Russian Troll Accounts Tweeted about ObamaCare, <ADDED 180902-180422-1‡>8A, 180902-VCP-USA. Watchdog Finds Breakdown in Communications in Response to Sonic Attacks in Cuba. US, Cuba Meet on Mysterious ‘Health Attacks’ in Havana, Cuban Experts Insist No Proof Exists of Attack on Diplomats.
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