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HuckleB
HuckleB's Journal
HuckleB's Journal
April 5, 2016
It's way past time.
West Coast Scientists Urge Rapid Action Against Ocean Acidification
Source: KUOW
A panel of ocean scientists from Washington, Oregon and California said Monday that local action on the West Coast — one of the regions of the world hardest hit by ocean acidification — could soften the blow of this rapidly worsening global problem.
While acidification's main cause is carbon dioxide emitted globally, the West Coast Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Science Panel said it's urgent to fight the phenomenon close to home as well as globally.
Changing ocean chemistry has already taken a toll on the Northwest shellfish industry. As oceans absorb more of the carbon dioxide that humans keep adding to the atmosphere, it will only get harder for shellfish and plankton to grow shells as seawater turns more acidic.
Ocean acidification and the related problem of hypoxia, or low oxygen levels under water, "will have severe environmental, ecological and economic consequences for the West Coast," the panel's report states.
Read more: http://kuow.org/post/west-coast-scientists-urge-rapid-action-against-ocean-acidification
It's way past time.
April 5, 2016
Global warming making U.S. sick, federal report says
Source: CBS News
Man-made global warming is making America sicker, and it's only going to get worse, according to a new federal government report.
The 332-page report issued Monday by the Obama administration said global warming will make the air dirtier, water more contaminated and food more tainted. It warned of diseases, such as those spread by ticks and mosquitoes, longer allergy seasons, and thousands of heat wave deaths.
Environmental Protection Agency chief Gina McCarthy said if that's not enough, climate change affects people's mental health, too.
"It's not just about polar bears and melting ice caps. It's about our families. It's about our future," McCarthy said at a White House event unveiling the report.
Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/federal-report-says-global-warming-making-us-sick/
April 5, 2016
"Debates and discussions around booster vaccinations usually focus on infants or children. But grown-ups should be rolling up their sleeves,too. Unfortunately, far too few adults are getting booster shots.
There are several reasons why not. Adult immunization hasn't been on the radar screen. When we talk only about vaccines in kids, we may be sending the message that it's not important for adults. Some doctors don't mention boosters to their patients. Some health professionals don't know which vaccines to recommend and how often. Adults don't get the same coordinated immunization programs that kids get.
Annual physicals used to be a good for figuring out what shots you need. But some provinces no longer pay for them. Do you have an up-to-date record of immunization? It's hard to know where to begin without one. And let's not forget cost. It's easier to roll up your sleeve when the province pays. The out of pocket cost of herpes zoster and human papillomavirus vaccines may be prohibitive. Some adults may believe those who say vaccines are unsafe.
Everyone needs a tetanus and diphtheria booster every ten years. Adults born after 1970 who weren't immunized need to get one shot of measles, mumps and rubella or MMR vaccine. For whooping cough, adults 18 years and older need one dose of acelluar pertussis-containing vaccine (found in Tdap). As for polio, most Canadians are immune, but non-immunized adults should get the full series of shots.
..."
----------------------------------------------------------------
Friendly Reminder From The CBC: Grown-ups need vaccines too
http://www.cbc.ca/radio/whitecoat/blog/grown-ups-need-vaccines-too-1.3519800"Debates and discussions around booster vaccinations usually focus on infants or children. But grown-ups should be rolling up their sleeves,too. Unfortunately, far too few adults are getting booster shots.
There are several reasons why not. Adult immunization hasn't been on the radar screen. When we talk only about vaccines in kids, we may be sending the message that it's not important for adults. Some doctors don't mention boosters to their patients. Some health professionals don't know which vaccines to recommend and how often. Adults don't get the same coordinated immunization programs that kids get.
Annual physicals used to be a good for figuring out what shots you need. But some provinces no longer pay for them. Do you have an up-to-date record of immunization? It's hard to know where to begin without one. And let's not forget cost. It's easier to roll up your sleeve when the province pays. The out of pocket cost of herpes zoster and human papillomavirus vaccines may be prohibitive. Some adults may believe those who say vaccines are unsafe.
Everyone needs a tetanus and diphtheria booster every ten years. Adults born after 1970 who weren't immunized need to get one shot of measles, mumps and rubella or MMR vaccine. For whooping cough, adults 18 years and older need one dose of acelluar pertussis-containing vaccine (found in Tdap). As for polio, most Canadians are immune, but non-immunized adults should get the full series of shots.
..."
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April 5, 2016
The scumbags appear to be very proud of this, too.
https://www.facebook.com/manhattanfilmfestival/posts/1145505988795202?fref=nf
Manhattan Film Festival Now Plans To Show Wakefield Anti-Vax Movie
http://manhattanff.com/event/vaxxed-from-cover-up-to-catastrophe/The scumbags appear to be very proud of this, too.
https://www.facebook.com/manhattanfilmfestival/posts/1145505988795202?fref=nf
April 5, 2016
"According to the National Alliance on Mental Health, one in four adults experiences mental illness in a year. That’s about sixty-one million people. One in seven, or about thirteen million people, live with a serious mental illness, like schizophrenia, major depression, or bipolar disorder. And every single time some white guy decides to slaughter innocent people, society immediately jumps on the blame mental illness bandwagon.
I have borderline personality disorder, major depression, and mild PTSD. I am isolated in that I have no support system outside my immediate family. The irony is, when I was really sick, deeply immersed in BPD, I was very popular. Now that I am well-ish, I have no friends. Oh, I have people online who are whatever online friends are, but I don’t have anyone I can call and just say “I really need to get things off my chest, can you listen for awhile?” There are millions of folks who are isolated and struggling with mental illness in America, and whenever we hear society call us all violent, or dangerous, it isolates us even more.
Being mentally ill statistically means you will be a victim of violence, not a perpetrator. Does this stop society at large from labeling us all as dangerous? After Sandy Hook, a woman I knew online-a liberal-wrote she thought all mentally ill people (she used the word crazy) should be locked up, in order to keep society safe. Wayne LaPierre, official sociopath for the NRA, suggested a registry for all mentally ill people in America. Because it’s easier to say we’re all going to snap, and shoot up a school, or a mall, or an African-American church, than dealing with our societal problems.
...
There is no shame in being mentally ill. There is no shame in getting help, or taking meds, or having days, weeks, or even months, where it takes all your energy just to get dressed. The shame lies squarely on the shoulders of everyone who believes we should be locked up, or in jail, simply for being sick. Do we do that with cancer patients, or diabetics?
..."
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This needs to be spread far and wide.
An Open Letter To Society About Mental Illness
http://modernliberals.com/open-letter-society-mental-illness/"According to the National Alliance on Mental Health, one in four adults experiences mental illness in a year. That’s about sixty-one million people. One in seven, or about thirteen million people, live with a serious mental illness, like schizophrenia, major depression, or bipolar disorder. And every single time some white guy decides to slaughter innocent people, society immediately jumps on the blame mental illness bandwagon.
I have borderline personality disorder, major depression, and mild PTSD. I am isolated in that I have no support system outside my immediate family. The irony is, when I was really sick, deeply immersed in BPD, I was very popular. Now that I am well-ish, I have no friends. Oh, I have people online who are whatever online friends are, but I don’t have anyone I can call and just say “I really need to get things off my chest, can you listen for awhile?” There are millions of folks who are isolated and struggling with mental illness in America, and whenever we hear society call us all violent, or dangerous, it isolates us even more.
Being mentally ill statistically means you will be a victim of violence, not a perpetrator. Does this stop society at large from labeling us all as dangerous? After Sandy Hook, a woman I knew online-a liberal-wrote she thought all mentally ill people (she used the word crazy) should be locked up, in order to keep society safe. Wayne LaPierre, official sociopath for the NRA, suggested a registry for all mentally ill people in America. Because it’s easier to say we’re all going to snap, and shoot up a school, or a mall, or an African-American church, than dealing with our societal problems.
...
There is no shame in being mentally ill. There is no shame in getting help, or taking meds, or having days, weeks, or even months, where it takes all your energy just to get dressed. The shame lies squarely on the shoulders of everyone who believes we should be locked up, or in jail, simply for being sick. Do we do that with cancer patients, or diabetics?
..."
----------------------------------------------------------------
This needs to be spread far and wide.
April 5, 2016
"...
Whenever a tragic case like this comes along, it’s useful to consider what naturopaths claim compared to what they actually do. I’m referring specifically to the oft-repeated claim by naturopaths that they can function as primary care providers, not just for adults but for children. In Alberta, Canada, for instance, the provinicial government has granted the College of Naturopathic Doctors of Alberta (CNDA) the power to self-govern their profession. Indeed, as Alheli Picazo notes, there is a profound irony here in that, in prosecuting the Stephans, the Alberta government is prosecuting parents who pursued cures from quacks that it licenses and thereby legitimizes. Indeed, Tannis herself graduated from the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine in 2003 and is licensed in “good standing” in Alberta. It’s thus very scary to consider that, despite the extreme inadequacy of naturopathic training that leads them to treat diseases with ineffective herbs and other interventions, naturopathy as a quack field has the extreme hubris to think that its members can actually deal with the common diseases that primary care doctors see and treat.
All of this brings up the difference between adults and children again. Again, adults can choose whatever quackery they want, including naturopaths, although I would point out that the state should not facilitate such a choice or otherwise legitimize it by licensing such a pseudoscientific profession. That very same legitimization helps lead parents to think that naturopaths can treat children, too. Granted, in this case it clearly wasn’t the fact that Tannis is a licensed naturopath that led the Stephans to think it was acceptable to seek help for their son from her. They are clearly so far down the rabbit hole of quackery in their belief system that it almost certainly doesn’t matter either way to them whether naturopaths are licensed. However, to other parents, who might be a bit woo-susceptible but aren’t hard core believers, state licensure implies a legitimate profession, which might lower their skepticism.
...
There’s no “may or may not” about licensure conferring legitimacy to naturopathy. It’s why naturopaths fight so hard for licensure, because with it comes legitimacy. After the Affordable Care Act, if a state licenses a health care profession, then health insurance companies have to pay for their services, which is yet another reason naturopaths crave state licensure, at least here in the US.
Personally, if it were up to me, I wouldn’t allow naturopaths to treat anything. I’d even be loathe to let them give nutrition advice, so steeped in pseudoscience and prescientific mystical ideas is their world view. That being said, stopping them from being able to treat children in order to make it more difficult and less likely for a woo-believing parent to take their children to a quack naturopath quack."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
It's time to stand up to people who are playing doctor and expecting to get paid for it. It simply is not legitimate.
Ezekiel Stephan: Why naturopaths shouldn’t treat children—or anyone else
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2016/04/05/ezekiel-stephan-why-naturopaths-shouldnt-treat-children-or-anyone-else/"...
Whenever a tragic case like this comes along, it’s useful to consider what naturopaths claim compared to what they actually do. I’m referring specifically to the oft-repeated claim by naturopaths that they can function as primary care providers, not just for adults but for children. In Alberta, Canada, for instance, the provinicial government has granted the College of Naturopathic Doctors of Alberta (CNDA) the power to self-govern their profession. Indeed, as Alheli Picazo notes, there is a profound irony here in that, in prosecuting the Stephans, the Alberta government is prosecuting parents who pursued cures from quacks that it licenses and thereby legitimizes. Indeed, Tannis herself graduated from the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine in 2003 and is licensed in “good standing” in Alberta. It’s thus very scary to consider that, despite the extreme inadequacy of naturopathic training that leads them to treat diseases with ineffective herbs and other interventions, naturopathy as a quack field has the extreme hubris to think that its members can actually deal with the common diseases that primary care doctors see and treat.
All of this brings up the difference between adults and children again. Again, adults can choose whatever quackery they want, including naturopaths, although I would point out that the state should not facilitate such a choice or otherwise legitimize it by licensing such a pseudoscientific profession. That very same legitimization helps lead parents to think that naturopaths can treat children, too. Granted, in this case it clearly wasn’t the fact that Tannis is a licensed naturopath that led the Stephans to think it was acceptable to seek help for their son from her. They are clearly so far down the rabbit hole of quackery in their belief system that it almost certainly doesn’t matter either way to them whether naturopaths are licensed. However, to other parents, who might be a bit woo-susceptible but aren’t hard core believers, state licensure implies a legitimate profession, which might lower their skepticism.
...
There’s no “may or may not” about licensure conferring legitimacy to naturopathy. It’s why naturopaths fight so hard for licensure, because with it comes legitimacy. After the Affordable Care Act, if a state licenses a health care profession, then health insurance companies have to pay for their services, which is yet another reason naturopaths crave state licensure, at least here in the US.
Personally, if it were up to me, I wouldn’t allow naturopaths to treat anything. I’d even be loathe to let them give nutrition advice, so steeped in pseudoscience and prescientific mystical ideas is their world view. That being said, stopping them from being able to treat children in order to make it more difficult and less likely for a woo-believing parent to take their children to a quack naturopath quack."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
It's time to stand up to people who are playing doctor and expecting to get paid for it. It simply is not legitimate.
April 5, 2016
"...
I am not arguing that the current evidence-based treatment protocols for managing bipolar disorder are perfect. They are not. This is precisely why there is a market for alternative bipolar therapies. But the shortcomings of pharmacology does not mean we should allow outright unethical practices, like using homeopathy to “cure” bipolar, to persist. Patients’ lives are literally at risk.
...
I am expecting to get slammed for this article. I am going to hear critiques about psychiatry, in general. Many readers have written to me stating they believe that the fields of psychology and psychiatry are quackery, and will I write about these fields, too? (No, I won’t.) I have also heard many arguments that psychiatric intervention involves the swapping of drug side effects for mental illness symptoms. These folks argue that simply “medicating away” mental symptoms is not real treatment.
Fine. But here is the key difference for me, distilled down perfectly by Jane. One group of symptoms, specifically the drug side effects, are annoying and bothersome, but tolerable given the tremendous benefit. The other group of symptoms, which include delusions, dangerous behaviors, suicidal thoughts, and depression, are not. She’d rather risk kidney failure due to lithium, than risk her life due to bipolar disorder.
I’m with Jane. The risks associated with bipolar are too great to not demand anything but the safest, most effective medical care. In the interest of doing no harm above all else, naturopaths should be prohibited from treating bipolar disorder.
..."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The article begins with an anecdote about a Naturopath who claims to be able to treat bipolar disorder, seizures, rheumatoid arthritis, and other things with homeopathy.
This is just so bloody sad.
The Homeopathic Treatment Of Bipolar Disorder Is Unethical And Dangerous
http://www.naturopathicdiaries.com/homeopathic-treatment-of-bipolar-is-unethical-and-dangerous/"...
I am not arguing that the current evidence-based treatment protocols for managing bipolar disorder are perfect. They are not. This is precisely why there is a market for alternative bipolar therapies. But the shortcomings of pharmacology does not mean we should allow outright unethical practices, like using homeopathy to “cure” bipolar, to persist. Patients’ lives are literally at risk.
...
I am expecting to get slammed for this article. I am going to hear critiques about psychiatry, in general. Many readers have written to me stating they believe that the fields of psychology and psychiatry are quackery, and will I write about these fields, too? (No, I won’t.) I have also heard many arguments that psychiatric intervention involves the swapping of drug side effects for mental illness symptoms. These folks argue that simply “medicating away” mental symptoms is not real treatment.
Fine. But here is the key difference for me, distilled down perfectly by Jane. One group of symptoms, specifically the drug side effects, are annoying and bothersome, but tolerable given the tremendous benefit. The other group of symptoms, which include delusions, dangerous behaviors, suicidal thoughts, and depression, are not. She’d rather risk kidney failure due to lithium, than risk her life due to bipolar disorder.
I’m with Jane. The risks associated with bipolar are too great to not demand anything but the safest, most effective medical care. In the interest of doing no harm above all else, naturopaths should be prohibited from treating bipolar disorder.
..."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The article begins with an anecdote about a Naturopath who claims to be able to treat bipolar disorder, seizures, rheumatoid arthritis, and other things with homeopathy.
This is just so bloody sad.
April 5, 2016
It is an amazing book on so many levels, and it brings these ugly acts to the light of day, to the light of the emotional and cognitive intelligence of these beautiful fellow beings.
So very sad. I ask everyone to read Beyond Words, What Animals Think and Feel, by Carl Safina
http://bigthink.com/risk-reason-and-reality/the-murders-of-cecil-the-lion-and-blaze-the-yellowstone-grizzly-the-growing-concern-with-animal-rightsIt is an amazing book on so many levels, and it brings these ugly acts to the light of day, to the light of the emotional and cognitive intelligence of these beautiful fellow beings.
April 4, 2016
"Saying they found "a darker link between religion and the evolution of modern hierarchical societies" than has been previously suggested, a group of scientists say ritual human sacrifice promoted stratified social systems – and helped to sustain inherited class systems once they were established.
After comparing dozens of societies, the researchers found that ritualized human sacrifice was far more common in highly stratified societies than it was in egalitarian societies. Noting the high level of overlap between religious and political sectors in the societies, the scientists write, "human sacrifice may have been co-opted by elites as a divinely sanctioned means of social control."
Acknowledging that their findings might be "unpalatable," the scientists say, "our results suggest that ritual killing helped humans transition from the small egalitarian groups of our ancestors, to the large stratified societies we live in today."
For the study, researchers looked at 93 traditional Austronesian cultures – societies that share a family of languages and span from Madagascar to Easter Island and from Taiwan to New Zealand. For each one, they noted how segmented the society was — designating them egalitarian or either moderate or highly stratified — as well as the presence of human sacrifice in their rituals.
..."
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Hmmmmm.
Human Sacrifice Is Linked To Social Hierarchies In New Study
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/04/04/473004808/human-sacrifice-is-linked-to-social-hierarchies-in-new-study"Saying they found "a darker link between religion and the evolution of modern hierarchical societies" than has been previously suggested, a group of scientists say ritual human sacrifice promoted stratified social systems – and helped to sustain inherited class systems once they were established.
After comparing dozens of societies, the researchers found that ritualized human sacrifice was far more common in highly stratified societies than it was in egalitarian societies. Noting the high level of overlap between religious and political sectors in the societies, the scientists write, "human sacrifice may have been co-opted by elites as a divinely sanctioned means of social control."
Acknowledging that their findings might be "unpalatable," the scientists say, "our results suggest that ritual killing helped humans transition from the small egalitarian groups of our ancestors, to the large stratified societies we live in today."
For the study, researchers looked at 93 traditional Austronesian cultures – societies that share a family of languages and span from Madagascar to Easter Island and from Taiwan to New Zealand. For each one, they noted how segmented the society was — designating them egalitarian or either moderate or highly stratified — as well as the presence of human sacrifice in their rituals.
..."
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Hmmmmm.
April 4, 2016
The most recent three are very interesting lectures from this Spring's Brain Science Lecture Series. Very fun stuff, for anyone interested in such things.
Links to lectures and other pieces on Brain Science from Oregon Health & Science University.
https://www.youtube.com/user/OHSUvideo/videosThe most recent three are very interesting lectures from this Spring's Brain Science Lecture Series. Very fun stuff, for anyone interested in such things.
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