Let the Diamond Age Begin

an obscure piece of the TPP agreement, the so-called Investor-State Dispute Settlement process, . . . allows multinational corporations to sue national governments in international forums and win cash judgments that cannot be appealed

Fingers Crossed

Here's hoping that

lasts long enough for me to finish

Office Space? What Office Space?

The average amount of space per office worker in North America dropped to 176 square feet in 2012, from 225 in 2010, according to CoreNet Global, a commercial real estate association.

Really? That would be great, since I currently have about 8.5 square feet. I had more elbow room and personal space on a Greyhound Bus than I do at my current work arrangement.

Quote of the week

While sitting in front of his computer:
Ethan: Holy crap! You can get ranch on your pizza. Or barbecue sauce. No one man should have that much power.

Also, after a week of frigid temperatures, the thermostat finally said it was cold enough to do something about it.

Graeme: What's that smell?
Me: The heat.

Research

“Research without action is like dusty books
on a shelf…and action without research is
simply a tantrum.”
—Shirlene Cooper, NYC AIDS Housing Network
Opening keynote, Housing & HIV/AIDS Research Summit III

Ways forward

“The [CDC Department head] replacement needs to be someone who’s committed to public health—as opposed to disease control,” said Director of Shubert Botein Policy Associates Virginia Shubert. “And I hope it will be someone who can contextualize disease and understand it as an outcome of a whole range of structural factors, and someone who will understand and have a commitment to addressing race-based health disparities.”

Quote of the Day

Meeting the housing needs of people with H.I.V. could avert more than 1,000 new infections and save New York state $485 million in lifetime treatment costs and $1.08 billion in avoidable health spending over the next six years, according to analysis of C.D.C. data by Shubert-Botein Policy Associates.

That’s at least $1.5 billion in savings, gained just by caring for a small segment of our homeless population. Not only could supportive housing help end the AIDS epidemic – something many thought impossible without a vaccine – it could allow for more opportunities for people with serious physical and mental health issues.

“Thirty years ago, New York was the epicenter of the AIDS crisis,” Mr. Cuomo said in a statement on Saturday. “We are in a position to be the first state in the nation committed to ending this epidemic.”

Steve is in the (White) House!

Dreams

This evening, as the snow blanketed the streets in powdery silence, I dozed off.
I dreamed that I was working with the prosecutor's office on a police event, walking a dog that I pretended to be mine, in a neighborhood where bad things had been happening recently. My task was just to talk, to be neighborhood-friendly to anyone I passed, but especially to keep an eye out for any white men in their late twenties to mid thirties. We had been out for nearly an hour, with temperatures dropping and light fading quickly, when we all decided to call it a bust for now and go get a glass of wine. I headed down the backstretch of the block towards my (borrowed) Subaru Legacy Outback when a young man came over and asked how I was doing. I said that we were first e, just finishing up our walk, and he grabbed at the leash, pulling out a gun when I jerked back, shooting toward me without aim or pause, and running when I started yelling for help.

I brushed off assistance, swearing I was more shaken than injured, and returned to the shared house that was our base of operations, where I fell asleep in seconds, still wearing my coat, my shoes next to the couch. When I woke up in the dream, I went to where one of the medical students? Young doctors? Prosecutors? was hanging out watching Grey's Anatomy, and asked him to take a look at my left elbow, because it hurt and I was pathetically too scared to look at it myself. In the process, I gave him grief about watching McDreamy.

He found a bullet lodged in the bend, stuck where it had smashed into the metal plate from seven years ago and took me to the hospital for surgery, pointing out that I am an idiot, with me agreeing and asking if I could have that glass of wine now.

The phrase, "I know prosecutors are supposed to be tough, but this is ridiculous." was a thread throughout the dream.
When I came out of surgery, I asked what happened to the dog, and they told me she had been taken back to the pound. I made them go get her for me.

Freaking snow dreams.

Thought of the Day

True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.

Arthur Ashe

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/arthurashe124531.html#eZX3WGFgiW6VyW33.99

Quinn rocks

"It doesn't matter how many times you reinvent your identity; Sallie Mae will find you."

Pressurized?

That word.
I don't think it means what you think it means.

Putin did, however, claim that he had pressurized the separatists to sign the agreement.

Measles Outbreak in Dollars and Cents: It Costs Taxpayers Bigtime

Measles Outbreak in Dollars and Cents: It Costs Taxpayers Bigtime:

'via Blog this'

Intentional Measles Exposure and a Mumps outbreak

Apparently anti-vaxxers think that the way to address an incurable disease is to willfully expose their children to it. To the point that the Department of Health not only had to say it was a bad idea, but also had to tell people to stop asking about Measles Parties.

And since the measles vaccine is part of the three-pronged MMR measles mups rubella vaccine, there is a corresponding mumps outbreak as well. It was only a matter of time.

Quote of the Week

Me: Friday night is the perfect time for experiments.
Graeme: Cool. But why?
Me: You have two days to heal before you have to go back to school.

The holes in the armor

Because as far as germs and viruses are concerned, mostly dead is still slightly alive.

Over 80 percent of kindergarteners at some Oakland schools entered this year without all of their state-required vaccinations. At some Los Angeles Unified schools, more than 90 percent are under-vaccinated, meaning only 10 percent of kids — or far fewer — are fully up to date on their immunizations. . . .

“We have a conditional-entrant problem here,” insisted Pine. “They’re not immunized. They’re not protected.”

The national measles outbreak has now spread to Marin County, where the Department of Health and Human Services confirms that two children have come down with the disease. As of this afternoon, the total number of confirmed cases in California stands at 92, with one being an adult coach of a high school baseball team, and one being an infant at a daycare center, where it was in care with 23 other infants and toddlers who are likely not vaccinated due to their ages.

It's difficult for me to put this sentence together, but perhaps Mississippi got it right on this one. A strict law mandating vaccinations and the lack of loopholes for exceptions have left Mississippi nearly impervious to Measles, Mumps and Rubella, and one suspects to whooping cough as well. As for the 0.3% (yes, that's three-tenths of one percent) of the population in Mississippi who remain unvaccinated because of age or medical condition, the herd really will protect them, creating a immune-based shield that will stop the advance of the virus in its tracks. This is what vaccinations are for.

We need to seriously consider, as a society, the limits of personal choice on the public welfare. In Mississippi, public health unquestionably trumps personal choice. I understand that this is the United States of America, and that we were forged in the crucible of rugged individuality and independence that was the American Frontier. I get it. But there is no reason to compromise the health of an entire population when we could so easily stop it. MMR vaccinations are cheap, readily available, and have few if any complications.

"The science is pretty indisputable," the President told NBC.

“You should get your kids vaccinated — it’s good for them,” Obama said. “We should be able to get back to the point where measles effectively is not existing in this country.”

Dumb & Dumber

There are 102 confirmed cases of measles in 14 states across the country, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. In addition, there are also hundreds of other people being monitored for possible exposure.

The first four weeks of 2015 saw more confirmed cases of measles that in a typical year. And 2014's 644 cases are more cases than occurred in the previous five years combined. And then Chris Christie stirs up the hornet's nest, calling for “balance” and “choice.” Because apparently politicians know more about medicine than doctors and scientists do.

It’s more important what you think as a parent than what you think as a public official. I also understand that parents need to have some measure of choice in things as well. So that’s the balance that the government has to decide.”

-- Chris Christie, February 2, 2015

I have simply had it with this idea that public health concerns are somehow trumped by personal choice. This is beyond ridiculous; it has moved squarely into the crazy-makingly insane territory.

Dr. Tim Jacks wrote a blog post chastising parents for the continued circulation their measles-susceptible, exposed children "bone headed." The response? Arizona cardiologist, Dr. Jack Wolfson,went on the defensive, throwing in plenty of offense along the way, and channeled his inner Hitler, Himmler and Goering:

My child is pure,”

Wait. What?

Asked if he could live with the idea that his unvaccinated child could cause another child to become gravely ill, the cardiologist was dismissive.

“I could live with myself easily. It’s an unfortunate thing that people die, but people die. I’m not going to put my child at risk to save another child,” he said,before adding, “If a child is so vulnerable like that, they shouldn’t be going out into society.”

Perhaps it's not Dr. Jacks' children who should be removed from circulating in society, but Dr. Wolfson's. If he elects not to vaccinate, shouldn't we effectively quarantine his children?

But no, Rand Paul can't learn from the backlash that Christie encountered in the hours after making his gaff. Paul had to weigh in with equal idiocy, saying that when it comes to vaccinations, "for the most part it ought to be voluntary." Carly Fiorina also weighed in with anti-vaccination beliefs, saying that vaccinations are a parent's decision. "I do think parents have to make those choices."