Give a little whistle

What is causing that whistle/hum (in A flat) in the Caribbean?

Space.com has a discussion and embedded video that won't post.

here is another video that discusses the phenomenum:



Gizmodo has more in less scientific language.

When those waves strike the western boundary of the basin, they die out and reappear at the eastern edge.
This phenomenon, flashily named the “Rossy wormhole,” was first described several years back. Scientists now know that waves of certain shapes and sizes will resonate when they hit that western wall, just as certain frequencies resonate when you blow into a whistle. In both cases, the resonant frequency produces a sound.
 But because the basin of the Caribbean Sea is so vast compared with an actual whistle, the resonant frequency is extremely low. It takes 120 days for waves to propagate east to west in the basin, yielding an A-flat tone that’s roughly 30 octaves below the bottom of a piano. A pitched-up version of that excessively eerie sound can be heard in the clip above.
 Dubbed the “Rossby Whistle” in a paper accepted for publication in Geophysical Research Letters, the phenomenon can be detected from space owing to fluctuations in Earth’s gravity field as pressure changes propagate across the entire basin. 

hmm...maybe someone is trying to tell us something:

Brexit? Oy veh...

I don't know much about Brexit except that the EU was planning to ban tea kettles and had regulations on the proper curve in bananas.

Somewhere awhile back, I read a warning that the "tribes" would revolt, i.e. that the local ethnic groups would want to separate from empires, in the same way that the Ukraine et al left Russia and Yugoslavia went kaput.

But with an outsider, Duterte, winning in the Philippines, and now the rural and working folks in the UK are giving a strawberry cheer against the EU, I wonder if the Trump will be the next big thing.

Don't ask me: I only get US news from the MSM and the blogosphere and it's hard to figure out the grass roots opinion from 8000 miles away.

as for Immigrants: I think maybe the problem is not immigrants per se as that the elite want to use "multiculturalism" to destroy the self reliant and independent culture of the US or UK, where folks dare to think they should have a say in what laws are passed. And to destroy Christianity, of course.

Assimilation is the answer.

I suspect my relatives in the UK are more pro British than many elites who love to run the place, but alas, the brexit types do include some who object to foreigners...

Dangerous weapon of the week

headsup DaveBarry

Jesus and his wife: They seek novelty not reality

For later reading: A long article at the Atlantic about the Jesus wife kerfuffle.

Turns out it was a fake. Duh.

well, a lot of experts figured that out within a few days. And isn't it strange that the seller found a feminist theologian who would see this as confirming her ideas?

rule one: If something seems too good to be true, it probably isn't.

But now the Atlantic article traces the "origin" and seller of the tiny fragment...and guess what?

a murky tale of lies and fraud...and a guy who knew a lot about Egyptology but who peddled his own wife as a porn star.

read the whole thing.

Corruption and the environment

MomJones has an article about the killing of environmental activists.

part of it is about the killings in the Philippines, especially in the south.

 In the Mindanao region of the Philippines, a largely indigenous region flush with coal, nickel, and gold, 25 activists were murdered in 2015. The violence carries global implications—according to the IBON Foundation, foreign industries control 97 percent of all mineral production in the Philippines.

they use the "evil corporationgs vs poor people" meme, but it's actually corruption that allows this.

Corruption at the level of corporations that put profit over the environment, and the willingness of local officials to take bribes to look the other way when this is done. Then the officials use their private armies to kill those standing in the way of their corruption.

In this article, it is the local activists, but in our nephew's killing 8 years ago, it was the mayor who wanted to keep his pockets filled and paid to off his opponent (and our nephew was killed as a bystander).

Duterete plans to include left wing activists in some of his government.

one hopes he can do this without making the Philippines revert to a nice natural environment where poverty is shrugged off as eco friendly lifestyle.

And although often the NPA etc. are, like the Mafia in the US, defend the little folks from the powerful, they also, like the Mafia, are also corrupt... and collect taxes on businesses.

The NPA can raise large amounts from the Compostela Valley because of its relationship with small-scale miners. These men resist government efforts to establish larger mines, instead turning to the NPA, which approves the opening of small-scale operations. NPA regulars may even be mining themselves. The CPP, while officially opposing destruction of the environment, considers such limited extraction acceptable as it is not used for export. The NPA targets small businesses as well. The owner of a fleet of trucks transporting gravel and sand from a quarry in the Davao area pays P5,000 ($115) per year for each truck. The NPA also levied a tax of four pesos (ten cents) per kilogram on banana vendors in New Bataan in the Compostela Valley, until the military increased its presence. Other businesses may be taxed a percentage of their total profits.
“In December 2010, seven large mining companies in Caraga threatened to pull out of the region over NPA ‘taxes’, underscoring how control over resources is at stake in the conflict. According to the 4th infantry division, the NPA has increased tax levied on mining companies from P15 million ($340,000) to P20 million ($450,000) a month. The group has also demanded the firms supply computers, radios and guns...

alas, small mines are often not eco friendly, and are dangerous since there are no regulations.

Of course, although larger corporations might be regulated to prevent accidents and pollution, the dirty little secret is that regulations can be overlooked if you give a small gift.

Sigh.

we live in a rice growing area, so I don't know about mining in the Philippines, but a similar problem can be found in logging etc.

 

Calling Dr Who

headsup DavidReneke

Family news

Brownout yesterday...they are placing higher poles for the electric lines.

There is so much traffic now that they made main street one way, meaning the trucks now detour around our street to get through town. (In the past, they only did this when the road was being fixed etc).

The electric wires frequently get snagged by the rice trucks. Indeed, I shudder when I see these trucks with the staff sitting on top of the rice bags, and worry that one might stand up and get killed. So far that hasn't happened, but last year a half dozen men were killed nearby when one rice truck got in an accident and they were thrown off it into the street.

Here, no one uses safety helmets. Of course, the tricycles and motorcycles don't go very fast, but I shudder when I see a 2 year old in front of his father on a motorcycle. 

One good thing is that the local drainage ditch is now covered. The bad news is that some of the neighbors no longer have their septic tank drainage attached to the new ditch.

Zika in NYC

A long CDC report here.

there are imported cases, but now they will monitor for locally acquired cases.

locally acquired cases mean that the local mosquitoes are spreading the virus (a major problem that will require vector control e.g. spraying pesticides, destroying areas of stagnant water, and protecting people from mosquitoes e.g. insect repellents, screens, clothing that covers you up)

Certain clinics are chosen to report on such things (I worked in clinics where this was done for flu). Expect false positives because this is done empirically (based on symptoms and where you traveled etc) unless the lab work confirms, because the lab takes forever.

I'll give an example: the high RMSF reports in Oklahoma was probably because the IHS rural clinics diagnosed all patients with fevers and with a history of tick bits were treated with antibiotics before the lab came back. A large number of reported cases was from one of the designated reporting clinics, who reported all suspicious cases as RockyMountain Spotted Fever, even though several other viruses (e.g. influenza, Lyme disease, Colorado tick fever, Erlicheosis, and more recently, West Nile Virus) had similar symptoms...but you simply didn't wait for the rash to treat (by the time you got the rash, which appears after a few days, often you were quite ill) and the lab took two weeks to confirm you had a case...

Many locals had high RMSF titers from previous, usually untreated, mild infections. So the only way to confirm a case was to do a second test in two weeks and see if the antibody count went up.

Indeed, few patients come back for the "two week later" test that will actually confirm you had it.

Since Zika is a new virus, and they now have more sensitive tests to diagnose it, the accuracy of monitoring the infection will be a lot easier.

The CDC also will be checking for the mosquito Aedes now (up to now, they mainly checked for a different mosquito that carried West Nile Virus).

 Despite the absence of local mosquito-borne transmission or Zika virus–infected mosquitoes currently, expanded source control and applied larvicides and adulticides for Aedes mosquitoes might reduce the likelihood for local transmission. Similar approaches could be considered in other jurisdictions that are likely to have large numbers of imported human cases of Zika virus disease and potential Zika vectors.

The CDC also is planning to screen blood donations in affected areas. LINK

Zika is actually a mild disease: but like Rubella, it affects the unborn babies in pregnant women...but unlike Rubella, which mainly caused problems in early pregnancy, this virus affects babies later in pregnancy.

Sigh.

and no, I don't have expertise in Zika: We didn't have it in our area of Africa.

Nice stories

GetReligion blog links to a NYTimes story about the marriage of two theology students, one of whom is a Trapp family great grandchild...
The story is about their marriage in Stowe Vermont, complete with music.

more HERE.

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One year ago, a white racist shot and killed people in a black Baptist church...

But the aftermath was a story of love and forgiveness and prayer and solidarity by Christians of all races, which did not fit the narrative.



GetReligion links to the local newspaper's 5 part series about the aftermath since that atrocity, on how the church tries to balance being a church of worship under the glare of publicity

The Comedian who is upsetting Italy

I was vaguely aware that Rome elected a beauty from a minority party as mayor.

David Warren comments brought to my attention it might be more than a local quirk to vote for the prettiest candidate:

the country’s Five Star Party, founded by the comedian Beppe Grillo a few years ago, has won 19 of the 20 cities in which its candidate stood for mayor. Starting with Virginia Raggi in Rome, many of these mayors-elect could pass for fashion models. She, for instance, will try to improve upon a record that has “Left” the city indebted to more than twice its annual revenues, and its officials enthralled to organized gangsters.

the "puppet master" in this case is Beppe Grillo, a comedian who has essentially been banned from TV because his humor is not PC, so he now blogs.

Wikipedia entry here.

As Grillo became more and more involved in Italian politics, the use of his blog to convey a political message was accompanied by a strong emphasis on the role of the Web as the harbinger of new possibilities for direct democracy and for a fairer society, making Grillo one of the leading populariser of digital utopianism in Italy.[13]

wikipedia on the FiveStarMovement. 

UKGuardian's take on the election: it's the corruption, stupid.

no, I don't know anything about this, but it shows the anti Establishment populism is not limited to the Brexit types, the Duterte supporters, or the Trumpettes...

Dengue and Zika and: Oh Crap Yellow fever

I often point out that the hysteria about Zika, which causes some infants to be born microcephalic, does not have as high a mortality as does Dengue, which is epidemic here in SEAsia. But both are carried by the same mosquito.

Wikipedia:

The yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti) is a mosquito that canspread dengue fever, chikungunya,Zika fever and yellow fever viruses, and other diseases.

and I also pointed out in an earlier blogpost that there is an epidemic of yellow fever in Angola, and that several cases had been accidentally exported to China when their workers returned from that country.

Well, be afraid, be very afraid:

UKTelegraph: Yellow fever epidemic hits the Congo.

more at Science Daily from May warned:

Evidence is mounting that the current outbreak of yellow fever is becoming the latest global health emergency, say two Georgetown University professors who call on the World Health Organization to convene an emergency committee under the International Health Regulations.
In addition, with frequent emerging epidemics, they call for the creation of a "standing emergency committee" to be prepared for future health emergencies.
 In their JAMA Viewpoint published online May 9, Daniel Lucey, MD, MPH, and Lawrence O. Gostin, JD, of the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown, explain that the ongoing spread, and potential future spread, of yellow fever coupled with a limited vaccine supply should compel the WHO to "urgently convene an emergency committee to mobilize funds, coordinate an international response, and spearhead a surge in vaccine production."

and the WHO is on it: Their 19 May 2016 report says they plan to work on vector control, surveillence, and making sure that travelers get their shots.

But as of May they didn't think it was a big deal:

Based on these views and the currently available information, the Director-General accepted the Committee’s assessment that the current yellow fever situation is serious and of great concern and requires intensified control measures, but does not constitute a PHEIC (Public Health Emergency of International Concern) at this time...

and when it hits, you will hear about Global warming as the cause (just ignore those stories of the 1793 Yellow fever epidemic in Philadelpia)

The Filipina who won a Silver Star

From the Inquirer: Corporal Magdalena Leones has died.

Photo courtesy of PVAO.

The US Silver Star medal is the third-highest honor for valor awarded to members of the US Armed Forces. Leones’ Silver Star citation states that she was an intelligence operative in the Philippines who, on Feb. 25 to 26, 1944 “repeatedly risked her life to carry important intelligence data, vital radio parts and medical supplies through heavily garrisoned enemy-held territory.”
Read more: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/140317/only-asian-female-wwii-us-silver-star-recipient-dies-at-95#ixzz4CAk1Yp3A Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

more about her HERE

an excerpt: after learning some Japanese while imprisoned, she used her knowledge to save local civilians:

A few days or weeks after the killing, Magdalena came upon a terrible prospect—Japanese soldiers ready to fire upon a group of returning evacuees. (Inter-town travel was strictly prohibited at the time.)
A lesser person, especially one unschooled in the ways of bloodshed, would have turned a blind eye or would have watched in aghast silence the impending slaughter. But Magdalena was no lesser person.
Acting swiftly and brazenly, she intervened in behalf of her countrymen. One could imagine the maiden shouting in the nick of time, approaching the Japanese commander, her chest pounding as it had never before, both fearful and fearless of a hail of bullets that could come and shred her little body at any moment, or worse, a fate worse than death at the hands of vicious, deprived men.
And that, quite probably, is what Magdalena did. By her own account she explained to the battalion commander that the evacuees were coming from a wedding. The Japanese reluctantly believed her. She sold her story not only through her wits, daring, and seeming honesty but because of her knowledge of Nippongo and English.
The young woman’s earlier incarceration proved to be a blessing in disguise, saving the lives of the evacuees—and her and her country’s freedom, as she was to find out in the months to come.

and that was only the start of her story. Read the whole thing.

Conspiracy theories! Conspiracy theories!

Yoga poses to light up UN building

UNITED NATIONS— India’s U.N. ambassador says yoga poses will illuminate the side of the iconic United Nations headquarters building on the eve of International Yoga Day.
Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin said that various poses will be projected onto the side wall beginning at 9:00 p.m. EDT Monday night to highlight the role yoga can play in helping the U.N. achieve its sustainable development goals.

Read more: http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/231247/yoga-poses-to-light-up-side-of-un-building#ixzz4CANGBLmD Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

hmmm... So the UN is promoting a Hindu religious discipline?

Place One World Order conspiracy theory here.

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lots of stuff out there insisting China will take over the world's economy and replace the dollar with their currency.

Or maybe not:

China's currancy problems. 

BEIJING, China — China is struggling to reconcile its push for economic reforms and a freely traded currency with curbing massive outflows of capital sparked by worries over its slowing economy — and a lack of communication is fueling fear.
The thorny problem represents the so-called “impossible trinity”, as China’s ruling Communist Party seeks to control the exchange rate and monetary policy, while at the same time moving to freer capital flows, analysts said.
Around $1.0 trillion left China last year, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. In December alone capital outflow from the country was nearly $160 billion, it said.

Read more: http://business.inquirer.net/206424/china-grapples-with-contradictions-over-currency#ixzz4CAQEJHs0 Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

Uh OH: Soros says they are in trouble.

Yeah being honest and open is a bitch.

related item: Chinese company bilked investors $7.6 billion.

Chinese company steals Apple's designs. and some how it's Apple's fault for not stopping them from stealing it earlier.

and then there is this: ASEAN may replace China as economic hub.
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NWO Puppet master Soros?

 according to the UK MAIL. his organizations funded all those Furgueson protests.

Billionaire George Soros spent $33MILLION bankrolling Ferguson demonstrators to create 'echo chamber' and drive national protests
Hedge fund mogul's Open Society Foundations made huge donations
Organizers bussed in from New York and D.C. to take over campaigning
Different cash recipients would repeat each others' messages
Helped to keep events and messages at the top of news agenda
Soros cash, from speculating on markets, is given to many liberal causes

and they also note:

The billionaire's fortune was made from speculating on financial markets, most notably making more than $1billion in the 1990s helping cripple the British financial system by speculation on the pound sterling.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2913625/Billionaire-George-Soros-spent-33MILLION-bankrolling-Ferguson-demonstrators-create-echo-chamber-drive-national-protests.html#ixzz4CAVnb6xK 

(headsup Instapundit)

And from the UK Guardian: Soros says EU exit risks "Black Friday"

The world’s most famous currency speculator has warned that a vote on Thursday for Britain to leave the EU would trigger a bigger and more damaging fall for sterling than the day he forced Britain out of the Exchange Rate Mechanism almost a quarter of a century ago.

Read the whole thing...it sounds like a threat rather than an observation.


I first became of Soros 25 years ago,  when his "open society" funded "end of life" discussions and set up an organizations that included some very suspicious spokespeople.

Supposedly he was worried about people suffering but if you read the Open Society's goals, it openly admitted their goal was to legalize euthanasia. When I pointed this out, the end of life organization denied this pointing out that some of those involved in the group were not pro euthanasia.

Wonder if anyone is following the money here?

A similar push for "medical marijuana" was partly funded by this organization (a few other pro pot millionaires also funded these drives): but if you read the Open Society plans, their goal is the legalization of all drugs.

But only Glen Beck and other nut cases dare point out the puppet master...

In contrast, the left has pushed many articles correctly pointing out how the Koch brother's supported right wing causes.

---------------
speaking of MSM bias: Instapundit is full of links about MSM bias.

Forget the Koch brothers: If they want a NWO, maybe they should stop Instapundit, who is merely a law professor from Tennessee, not to mention that reclusive guy posting from his Florida apartment.

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Family news

Joy and Ruby went to Manila for her to register at her home school base.

They spent all day Father's day at church. Ruby showed me her photo of the praise and worship group in colour coordinated gowns.

Me, I just go to 5:30 am mass.

Make America Mexico? Don't tell the Apaches

When I see the protest signs to "Make America Mexico again", I wonder if they asked the Apache about this?

The dirty little secret is that the area was mainly Indian, even after the Spanish takeover, and although the Pueblo tribes, despite several bloody revolts, couldn't throw them out, the Apaches were at a constant state of war against them.

And don't forget it was the Comanches that made the Mexican government of Texas welcome all those Yankees... from Wikipedia:

 The number of colonists was extremely limited, and they were always at risk of Comanche raids. By the early 1800s, as a result of the Comanche wars, the Mexican wars of Independence, and the collapse of colonial power, Mexican resistance to Comanche attacks had almost collapsed.
In contrast to the neglected military capabilities of the Mexicans, authorities considered Americans as extremely aggressive in combat and they were subsequently encouraged to establish settlements on the frontier in present-day Texas as a defensive bulwark to Comanche raids further south. 

When I worked in Mescalero, there was a "reconciliation" ceremony, to forgive the Mexicans who turned in the fugitive Apaches at the end of the long wars.

And every year, they celebrated the last battle between local farmers and the Apache: the Battle of Round Mountain.

more HERE

From Ruidoso News:Photo: Dianne Stallings — Ruidoso News)http://www.ruidosonews.com/story/news/local/2015/04/23/shedding-light-round-mountain/71579710/

when you travel up the highway from Tularosa to Ruidoso (via Mescalero), you will see a huge cross on a small hillock, put there to commemorate the Battle.

one day the Apaches hold a memorial ceremony, and the locals from Tularosa held a ceremony the adjoining day.

and the Mescalero church not only has placques in honor of Gernonimo and Vittorio, but also a placque in honor of those who served in Bataan (which as I have noted in previous posts, included the mission's priest and several local men in the NMNG).

So where do you make the line to decide who owns the land?

the Apaches and Pueblos who lived there first? The Mexicans who moved there 300 years ago? Or the Anglos who developed the area, changing it from a dirt poor area with famines to a middle class area with high tech?

and those who say they want it to become "Mexico again", I ask: Which Mexico? The ancient cultures of the Olmec? Mayans?

The Aztec were sort of late comers and not well liked by those they conquered. From Wikipedia:

The Toltec for a time dominated central Mexico in the 11th–13th century, then collapsed. The northern Maya were for a time united under Mayapan, and Oaxaca was briefly united byMixtec rulers in the 11th–12th centuries.
The Aztec Empire arose in the early 15th century and appeared to be on a path to asserting dominance over the Valley of Mexico region not seen since Teotihuacan. Spain was the first European power to contact Mesoamerica, however, and its conquistadores and a large number of native allies conquered the Aztecs.

or maybe you want the Spanish to run the place? Or the pureblood Spanish rich families who ruled Mexico after independence? like the Philippines, the rich families run the place, no matter who is supposed to be in charge, and the many revolutions since independence hasn't changed that.

the reason for so many Mexicans (and now Central American) immigrants, both legal and illegal, is that, in the USA ordinary people have a chance for prosperity. You don't in Mexico.

that is why those carrying the signs are not just wrong, but could inspire a backlash, because they imply only one group should be in charge, i.e. the autocrats of today's Mexico... and they send a message that non Mexicans are not welcome (not just Anglos and AmerIndians, but  Cubans, Colombianos, Puerto Ricans, and those Central American refugees who are treated terribly when they try to flee into Mexico trying to get away from the drug gangs in both countries)

It's one thing to call for a wall, but another thing to have a porous border that lets the drug gangs in with the refugees from the drug wars of Mexico and central America... read the Council of Foreign relations article from 2016...

In January 2016, amid a new rush of arrivals from the region, U.S. authorities began to round up and deport recently arrived immigrants whose asylum claims had been denied. The Obama administration said that its aim was to deter would-be migrants. Meanwhile, the administration announced it would expand its refugee program to admit as many as nine thousand people each year from the Northern Triangle and enlist the United Nations to help screen refugee claims in Latin America. 

The rule in the USA is that everyone is welcome, and that many who came just wanted to have prosperity and raise their families in peace and not in poverty. And the worries implied in Trump's rhetoric, that "they" (be they Mexican or Muslim) will never become "real" Americans is not true: The same arguments were made about the Irish Catholics, and later, about the Jews, Eastern Europeans and Italians.

but there is another problem no one wants to talk about that Trump has brought up:

The Trumpettes want to stop immigrants from stealing jobs,(and the elites from exporting jobs to other countries, which is usually a union/Democratic demand) but the dirty little secret is that most immigrants came to work, so are harder workers.

So what to do? Screen those coming in, secure the border, and get an amnesty for those who can prove they have jobs.


This doesn't mean you let in Taliban supporters and Saudi terrorists. Screening might not work, but when many people reported the bozos behind the last three attacks (Orlando, Boston, Fort Hood), uh, maybe someone should have taken them seriously.

the problem with the US election is that President Obama has spent 8 years dividing the nation: between "us" and "them"...encouraging racial division, and demonizing people of faith

So what does this have to do with the border wars?

Two things.

One: when they note that the immigrants are taking jobs, no one wants to say they are taking the jobs from inner city blacks and working class whites. Most people who want to work can still find jobs, but often they are low paying or part time. And the rest? They will get used to welfare and living off of their moms or girlfriends. Is it a coincidence that suddenly is legalizing marijuana (and next on the list: Pushing the wonderfulness of the really bad drugs)

Two, with the "Fergueson effect", where police are demonized as the enemy and crime by gangs has skyrocketed in some cities, the locals are less likely to welcome younger illegal immigrants who they could associated with drug gangs.

But of course, a better argument would be to insist that Americans stop using drugs.

How do you do that? Militarize the police,...

or maybe see the churches that demand ethical behavior as an ally.

The stricter churches (and mosques) of course stress hard work and a sober life, but Hillary, alas, will continue with the Obama administration's policies (and the MSM propaganda wars) that those who follow the ethics of the Bible/natural law/the Koran/Confucius are the enemy because they are "judgemental".

So who is the real enemy? Those who follow the rules. And this includes most Hispanics and Muslims (although you might not know it, since the "activists" who "represent" these groups in the press are usually left wing plants in astroturf type organizations).

GetReligion has another summary on the MSM being "clueless" to what Christians believe..

ah, but if they tried to understand these bozos (or people who they think are bozos) they might hesitate before they put the two minute hate on facebook/twitter.

And posting two minute hates is sooo much fun.

Lecture of the week

Professor Vinay Lal has a new lecture course up on youtube about Gandhi's political thoughts.



I haven't listened to this one, but his previous courses on the history of India was good.

The weirdest political commercial this season

Trump-chan wa kawaii desu!!




headsup DaveBarry

Beware of Zika

I mentioned a few days ago why worry about catching HIV from blood transfusions, since modern screening tests catch most cases and the rate of infection is one in 1.5 million...but now there is danger to the blood supply by Zika.

Here in the link to the CDC report.

it's not just Zika that can be transmitted via blood: So can other mosquito linked viruses such as dengue and west Nile virus...And of course Hepatitis B, C, etc. and HIV (although modern screening methods detect these so the blood is safe).

one way is to limit blood from areas that don't have the virus, and not to take blood if you have been in an area with the virus (Mainly Puerto Rico right now). Alas, there was  no good screening test until recently, but now one is available:

 On April 3, 2016, Zika virus screening of locally collected blood donations was implemented using a newly developed nucleic acid test (NAT) (cobas Zika, Roche Molecular Systems, Inc., Pleasanton, California) authorized by FDA under an investigational new drug application (IND) (6). As part of the IND, plasma samples from blood donors are screened individually, and specimens with reactive results are subjected to additional testing including an alternate NAT and immunoglobulin M serology. A blood donation with an initial reactive result by NAT is regarded as a presumptive viremic donor, indicating an infected donor, and is interdicted and removed from the blood supply.

so presumably the blood supply is safe.
summary:

Currently, no medication or vaccine is available to treat or prevent Zika virus disease. Prevention relies on avoidance of mosquito bites, elimination of mosquito breeding sites, community mosquito control, and taking measures to prevent sexual transmission. Screening of the U.S. blood supply using nucleic acid tests has markedly reduced the risk for transfusion transmission for multiple pathogens, including for West Nile virus after it was associated with arboviral epidemics in the United States.

CRABS

Medical Stories behind the headlines plus rants

CDC: Yes, men attend federal family planning clinics, for free condoms and STD checks. About ten percent of their clients are now men.

The dirty little secret is that without these clinics, there are often no docs in the area, or to see a doc takes forever to get an appointment, you have to wait a long time in many clincs, and private docs costs a lot of money.

Something to remember the next time you hear about "Defunding planned parenthood".

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a book review about  a new book on the Battle for Nanking.

A particularly damning conclusion could be drawn from the realization that Japan at that time was actually unprepared for war, which further condemns the international community’s failure to resist aggression effectively, not the least of which were the multiple times that naïve Westerners convinced Chinese troops to surrender, only for the prisoners to be brutally slaughtered. 

 many of the Japanese troops were only semi trained National Guard types, not professional soldiers, and probably overreacted to those dang Chinese who didn't want Japan's loving takeover.

 similar atrocities against civilians occurred during the Samurai war, when those dang Koreans stopped the Japanese army who merely wanted to invade China via Korea.

 Often when the Dawkinite trolls post anti Christian comments about the atrocities of "religion", I ask them if they ever read Asian history?

More civilians were killed in the Samurai wars than in the 30 year war ( that the trolls is often cited to prove Christianity is a killer religion.)

 as for WWII: usually the Asian atrocities are overlooked.

Rape of Nanking is now known but how about the "rape of Manila?

 and those 20 million Chinese killed in WWII is a statistic often overlooked...

 no, not "medicine" as such: but violence is a public health matter, and often civilian casualties are due to disease from the collapse of the infrastructure in wars.

----------------------------

 There is also a new book out that interview those foreigners who fought for the communists in Spain's terrible civil war.

One reviewer elsewhere even said the book was needed to counteract the communist's bad reputation from Orwell's book Homage to Catalonia. Must rewrite history to conform to the meme. (there were atrocities on all sides so lots of blame to spread around.)

Father Z notes the Catholic church instead remembers the martyrs:

A thousand years from now, they will be remembered...

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a crazy loner paranoid schizophrenic South African white power guy killed an MP in England: the press is blaming Brexit.

However the BBC reports, this was not an isolated incident:

Of the 239 who responded to a survey, 43 had been subjected to an attack or attempted attack and 101 had received threats to harm them. Comments included "pulled a knife on me in the surgery", "repeatedly punched me in the face", "came at me with a hammer" and "shot with air rifle"...
A report out earlier this year by psychiatrists working with the Home Office,reported in the Guardian, suggested four out of five MPs had suffered intrusive or aggressive behaviour and some feared going out in public.

Does the US have such a high rate of attacks?

I know that attacks of medical personnel are common: I have been hit once (and almost hit a few times)  by patients, and once had my window shot out with a high powered rifle. My joke is that I lived through two revolutions in Africa, but only got shot at by an angry Sioux in South Dakota.

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China is fixing the environment! hear the Cheers from scientists.and since much of the information comes from satellites, it might even be true.

And it's the hottest summer on record!  the article does note it is a result of the ElNino we had this year (dry and no cloud cover, so it gets hotter here in the tropics) but of course, it ignores we are coming out of the little ice age and that there was little data until 100 years ago.

it is one thing to clean up the earth and get rid of pollution of all sorts: It is another thing to use the problem to insist on a one world order dictatorship that will push everyone back to the good old days of walking, not cars, and and using waterbuffalo to plow fields  (and the good old days of drought related famines)...

. On the other hand, see earlier post on the Bronze age collapse.... globalization makes one richer, but systems collapse is a real danger when things get complicated.

I mean, what would happen if the millions of Pinoys, Indians etc working in the Middle East suddenly are left without jobs?


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June 19th is world Sickle cell anemia day.

the hope is stem cells could reverse this terrible disease.

Present day treatment HERE. Not much has changed since when I was in medical school 50 years ago except for using more hydroxyurea...and having a decent Pneumococcal vaccine. 


I don't have a lot of expertise in the disease (which was rare in Zimbabwe and also among the rural poor white/Hispanics and Amerindicans who were my patients in the US).

the dirty little secret of the "high death rate" among Afro American children is partly due to this disease.


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The taboo no one wants to discuss: What does GLT etc mean in reality? 

The press usually equate this to an inborn attribute, and who can help it if they are born that way? If you hint at any negative thinking about any part of the agenda being pushed on the world to accept non traditional sexuality as normal and good, you are a homophobe and a bigot... (uh, actually it is behavior not the perpson that is disapproved of, but never mind).

(Catholics agree homosexuality, like other things, is an inborn weakness and serious sins in this area are partially mitigated because of this inborn weakness: hence being gay is less serious than something like arranging a contract killing on your political rival so you can divert city funding into your own pockets...which is one reason that the gay/church wars here are not as rabid as in the Protestant/puritanical USA... or even the Bible, where Jews were aware that homosexuality was equated to the sexual abuse of slaves and boys in Greek culture).

But what is not discussed in the press is something that many Catholic bishops and even the Pope has pointed out as a danger: The gender agenda that wants to destroy the difference between men and women and destroy the patriarchal family. And how the Obama administration is imposing this on the USA (and on other countries if they want US foreign aid).

in a previous post, I noted that people actually think differently in other cultures, and unless you acknowledge this and define what you are talking about, you cannot have a decent discussion....... and this FT article points out:

To be clear, everyone who identifies with any of the labels that go into “LGBTQ...” is worthy of our love, our sympathy, and our solidarity in their quest (with all Christians) for the truth, for justice, and for eternal happiness. But what we share with our brethren on account of our common humanity does not nullify what divides us in terms of our choices and beliefs about happiness, justice, and the truth.

And so, here's the rub: The Catholic Church and the LGBT Community have divergent understandings of human nature, personal identity, the proper use of bodies, and the requirements for happiness.

... the beliefs, practices, politics, and morals proposed by the LGBT Community as an ideological bloc are fundamentally inimical to the primary end of man.

No one backs mass murder (yes, I know: Inquisition. except of course, what you think happened was not the truth).

Sheesh. I f you read some of the left wing sites or the two minute hate in Facebook, you'd think THE enemy was all Christians who don't support the entire gender agenda and/ or Obama's agenda on bathrooms and abortion, e.g. the Little Sisters of the Poor are possible terrorists.

another question no one wants to discuss: Was this "gay nightclub" merely a cool place for locals, not just gays, to dance and have a good time? (which it was, according to one poster on FR)

....or was it a place for buying drugs, cruising and sex in the bathrooms?,

in the good old days, public health docs often recommended that such places (certain bars, brothers, and bathhouses) be shut down as health hazards: remember in 1984 when Diane Feinstein shut down the bathhouses of SanFrancisco? 

she ended up being punished by a recall election and changed her mind. But science is science: Reality ignores political correctness:. The result was an HIV epidemic, but never mind.

But if you dare say that sometimes non healthy activity was going on will get you blamed for encouraging a paranoid gay terrorist who decided to kill people because the gay nightclub was safer to attack than Disneyland...

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oh FYI: The chance of catching HIV from a blood transfusion is one out of 1.5 million. This is a CDC article...and analyzes the data in detail. So letting MSM donate blood is not a risk,

The reason is that tests pick up the virus early now...

and assuming that the lab tests are done correctly.

If you want to get hysterical about blood transfusions causing disease, Wait til Zika hits the blood banks...

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update: If you are following Outlander, you know how Claire stopped a merchant for importing smallpox into France.

TeaAtTrianon has a podcast about Smallpox, TB etc in the times of Louis XVI (a few years later than Outlander)