Stories below the fold

USNavInstBlog has an article about the pros and cons of Hospital ships.

They do a good job and give good publicity, but take so long to get supplies and go to disasters, they are not much help in the acute phase of a disaster.

However, for prolonged conflicts or disasters, they are a life saver.

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what is "Magic Leak", and why should we care?...




reminds me of  the world described in The Machine Stopped.
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Trumpieboy has been clamping down on sex trafficking, and put Ivanka in charge.

From Physorg:

Congress just passed a law, and now even Craigslist is shutting down their part in that evil trade.

but the techies are upset because if expanded, it could result in censorship of innocent activities.

Rappler notes: UNICEF says the Philippines is the top global site for internet child pornography.

“Child pornography is a billion-dollar industry, and Filipino children are the ones being traded and exploited online. Children who are made to perform sex acts in front of a web camera will never get their childhood back. We must all work together to protect our children,” Unicef Country Representative Lotta Sylwander said.

The report noted that online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC) was the leading form of cybercrime in 2014. One case study cited by Unicef showed that while abuse starts in the digital space, it can lead to physical prostitution. 

(also READ: Facebook groups open more channels for PH cybersex trade – study)

oh, but don't worry: Facebook will keep your data safe. Would they lie to you?
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Don't worry: if TEOTWAWKI occurs, Elon Musk to the rescue

although I suspect it would be a lot cheaper just to move everyone underground into caves or old abandoned mines and grow food hydroponically.

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NYTimes reports Netflix will put a warning lable on one of the pro suicide miniseries for teens.

yes, she killed herself in order to punish the kids who bullied her.

well, it's better to do that than pull a "Carrie" or Columbine. (/sarcasm). (Stephen King wrote Carrie when he was teaching in high school... hmm..)

And although it was good in that it showed how bullying and social isolation is horrible the problem is that it is also promoting a terrible solution to those vulnerable to suggestion.

Suicide is contageous (as are school shootings, the flip side of bullying, where the anger turns outward instead of inward).


CDC reports on a study of teen suicides:

. A recent crisis, defined as an event occurring within 2 weeks of death that was indicated to have contributed to the death, was reportedly experienced by 83 (55.3%) decedents; these were most commonly family relationship problems (31, 21.8%) and intimate partner problems (15, 10.6%). Other crises included school problems and suicide of a friend or a family member.

and many were druggies: self medicating their pain, which alas doesn't work very well.

Among 131 (92.2%) decedents tested, 26 (19.8%) had one or more of the following drugs detected in their system at the time of death: alcohol, cocaine, amphetamines, marijuana, and opiates.

The really bad news: Most (84%) were being treated by the mental health system.

and social isolation/ lack of connectedness is part of the problem.

Medical article on suicide prevention programs.