nerdgirl

Thanks for the serious reply putting forth another perspective ... & honestly, I think it's more of spectrum than two dichotomous options. It's not a light switch of either/or. But the relative prioritization. Imo, the strong respect and recognition of history and tradition, including a tradition of hospitality and friendliness, _is_ a really neat aspect of the South. Admittedly, I spend the majority of the time that I am in Georgia inside 'the perimeter,' which does not seem to represent a 'true' Southern experience. /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

That's quite clever. /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Blatantly USA-centric poll I’ve lived in 5 States (California, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, and Virginia), and I spend a lot of time in another (Colorado). I don’t have any specific or stronger allegiance to any one over the other. And my primary allegiance to the USA trumps them all. Speaking with some friends from church last night, one brought up a recent bill signed into law by Georgia's Governor Sonny Perdue "celebrating the Confederate States of America." The initial discussion related to racial issues, history (the good and the very bad), Southern culture & heritage, identity, etc. My first thought was: the Confederate States tried to break away from the USA. It was a 19th Century insurgency that became an outright war. Recognition and respect of the importance and historical significance I appreciate. At the same time, what motivation would I have to "celebrate" something that challenged/threatened my nation? The discussion then shifted to loyalty to a State versus the nation. Like many things that come into conversation, if one goes to the actual text of the bill, Georgia SB27 it's both more sophisticated than a 4-line commercial news-blip ... and at the same time it does say: "The month of April of each year is hereby designated as Confederate History and Heritage Month and shall be set aside to honor, observe, and celebrate the Confederate States of America, its history, those who served in its armed forces and government, and all those millions of its citizens of various races and ethnic groups and religions who contributed in sundry and myriad ways to the cause which they held so dear from its founding on February 4, 1861, in Montgomery, Alabama, until the Confederate ship CSS Shenandoah sailed into Liverpool Harbor and surrendered to British authorities on November 6, 1865." Do you feel a stronger sense of loyalty, allegiance, or connection to your State of residence or birth or to the overall nation as a whole? /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Me too!

I'm awfully fond of BBC's MI-5, which my local PBS station is airing. /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

… sort of … & it relates to the unusually high mortality in healthy young adults (18-35) with robust immune systems that was observed with the 1918 “Spanish” influenza pandemic. The Spanish flu virus caused the immune system to go into overdrive. A “cytokine storm” is one example of one such immune reaction. The papers you mentioned are a historical review, “Deaths from Bacterial Pneumonia during 1918–19 Influenza Pandemic,” in the August 2008 issue of Emerging Infectious Disease (EID) and a letter in the January 2009 EID issue “Time from Illness Onset to Death, 1918 Influenza and Pneumococcal Pneumonia.” The authors of the first paper examined the average days from onset of symptoms to death. Based on their findings, they hypothesized that the incubation period of ~50% of the 50-100M deaths associated with the Spanish influenza was longer than most viral infections. Instead it more closely resembles bacterial pneumonia, like that caused by bacterial strep infection. It’s epidemiology not experimental bacteriology or virology. And here’s the connection between the flu virus and the bacteria: the Spanish flu induced an overdrive of the immune system, which caused the immune system to “attack” the throat and upper lung tissue of those infected with the 1918 flu virus. Therefore, they were more susceptible to a Strep bacteria. In the days before widespread use of antibiotics, strep throat and/or pneumonia killed. Stepping back, the researchers who authored the EID paper demonstrated a closer correlation between death by pneumococcal bacteria; infection than a viral infection. Based on that correlation, they hypothesized that the direct cause of up to 50% of those 50-100M deaths was from subsequent bacterial infections that were able to infect due to the effects on the throat and upper lungs of folks who had been infected by the flu virus. It’s a well-founded idea. It’s really cool … from a nerd perspective. And more importantly, having the viral flu infection first was critical to make the otherwise healthy young adults (largely young men who were fighting in WWI) susceptible to a bacterial infection. Does that make sense? The main point of the paper is that flu pandemic preparations should include antibiotics as well as antivirals. There are thus far unsubstantiated reports that there is unusually high mortality of healthy young people among the deaths in Mexico, as opposed the usual segment of the population, the very young and the very old, who die from flu. In some ways, this is similar to mortality from sulfur mustard (aka “mustard gas”) during WWI. Very, very few soldiers died directly from sulfur mustard exposure; instead, the associated open sores, “blisters,” became routes through which bacteria could infect those who had been “gassed.” /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Discussion of secondary transmissibility or basic reproductive rate, aka R0 (R with subscript zero). At this point the denominator is not known w/r/t 2009 H51N1 swine flu, so we're all speculating. /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Perhaps, ironically (?) … while not on the wall, I do have a picture of Donald Rumsfeld and a talking Donald Rumsfeld doll on one of the bookshelves in my office. The latter was a birthday gift from a guy I was dating a few years ago (a hardcore Republican Navy senior officer), and the former was a departure gift from a colleague. /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Concur. Concur heartily. Root was very interesting, influential, and effective. Another one of those moderate Republican Senators from New York, among other positions he held and awards received. /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Interesting observation - thanks! The first thought w/r/t SecDef Rumsfeld's choices was how externally directed (foreign) the choices were. The 2nd thought was "Iraq?" Afghanistan and Pakistan were represented. /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

I hope that's not the case. Thanks for reminding me about Edwards. I recall hearing an interview with him last year. Good Stuff! Concur heartily (!) ... on both parts of your response. /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Different strain. Iirc, that was an H2N2 strain; this is an H1N1. Different vaccine. There is no vaccine for the current strain circulating. You do, perhaps however inadvertantly, illustrate the importance of communicating information. /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

I like John's posts too (w/occasional exceptions ). Regardless of whether I agree or disagree, there's usually a strong ethical component underlying his arguments. He's definitely one the dz.com folks I'd like to meet IRL, along with you Wendy!

+1 I'm not sure if I understand your point or not, but if your contention is that men prefer a boyish, runway body like Kate Moss to a womanish, swimsuit body like Heidi Klum, you cannot be more mistaken. I don't know of a single dude who would prefer the former to the latter. Seriously, not one. nonsense, In Amazon world, Heidi Klum has an anorexic boy body - Beatrice Arthur - now that's what she wants us to call a WOMAN Guys … I understand what you’re trying to say. Heidi Klum, however, may not be the best model (case) to put forward. Depends on when you’re talking about her. At the height of her swim suit model days, like when she’s in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition, arguably more for men than women, her BMI was 17.6 (5'9", 119 lbs). That puts her in the category of “underweight” and 0.1 units from “anorexic.” A BMI of below 18 is associated with significant functional consequences. By comparison, Kate Moss (5'7", 105 lbs.) had a BMI of 16.4, and Adriana Lima (5'10", 112 lbs.) has BMI of 16.1. More recently, some estimates put Klum’s weight closer to 140 lbs, i.e., after multiple children and transitioning from modeling to television host. That corresponds to a BMI of 20.7. That’s healthy. The healthy weight range for a 5’9” woman extends to 169 lbs (per BMI). Reading what some folks on dz.com comment, a 5’9” women of 169lbs would likely be called obese. To be consdiered "obese" by BMI, a 5'9" woman would have to weigh more than 203 lbs. Tried to find a weight for Bea Arthur (5'9" or 5'10", seems to vary depending on source.) to do a BMI calculation. Couldn't. Throughout most of career, it does not seem to be reasonable to call her "obese" or really, even "overweight." BMI’s are hardly a perfect measure and is particularly problematic measure especially for athletic, muscular folks. /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Are local, country, State, federal (e.g., CDC), and international (e.g., WHO) public health services over-reacting? I don't think so. Is it becoming a media-driven event? Probably. What doesn't today? Am I over-reacting? I don't think so ... but rarely do individuals self-identify their own reactions as over-reactions or under-reactions. I've had a couple folks contact me for recommendations on travel to Mexico. Most are just looking for plain-spoken information from someone they trust ... . And I've told both to go ahead; one couples' trip isn't scheduled to December ... what one can say meaningful about pandemic flu risk next December is extremely limited, i.e., very little beyond historical extrapolations. /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

It wasn't always. And frankly, one might be able to build an argument that historically, throughout much the 20th century, that the Republicans exceeded the Democrats in doing so. Les Gelb was in Atlanta on Monday … mostly to promote his latest book Power Rules. Gelb is one of those folks who irritates – to put it diplomatically – both Democrats and the Republican. I criticized one of his NYT Op-Eds, “How to Leave Afghanistan” in March. In response to a question on state of US politics, Gelb – who first came to DC to work for Republican NY Senator Jacob Javits – cited a lack of pragmatic problem solvers who put the national interest above parochial or local interests. He called them, like Javits, the Rockefeller-Republicans. And extended that loss of pragmatism to absence of folks like Sen Sam Nunn (D-GA). Some of his comments reminded me of the words of former Rep Mickey Edwards (R-OK), who is one of my favorite Republicans – & there are quite few favorites

A couple weeks ago during his speech at the Army War College, Secretary of Defense Gates commented: “Behind my desk at the Pentagon are portraits of two Army officers -- Dwight D. Eisenhower and George Marshall.” The only two pictures that former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld had on the wall of his E-ring office were one of President Karzai & him and one of former President Musharraf & him. Former SecDef William Perry recalled having a portraits of Gen Marshall and Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, etchings of Commodore Matthew Perry’s landing in Japan, and pictures from the denuclearization taking place at Pervomaysk, Ukraine. (Pervomaysk was the site of the largest and most modern ICBM field in the former Soviet Union. At it’s height, there were 700 nuclear warheads at Pervomaysk, all aimed at targets in the USA.) [NB: I don’t think former SecDef Perry is closely related to either Commodore Perry] I think it’s neat to see and to think about what leaders choose to put forth as individuals, moments, or words of inspiration and wisdom or what they select to project significance or importance of their aims, policies, and tenure. It's not something that one often gets a chance to see. Among other things that were displayed on the walls of the Oval Office, it has been reported that President GW Bush had the words of British Army officer LTC Tim Collin’s Eve-of-battle speech from March 2003. Video of actor Kenneth Branagh recreating Collins' speech from the BBC docu-drama 10 Days to War. It's very good and supposedly was delivered extemporaneously! I shared my observations with a few folks via PMs. The inspiration for this post came from a PM response from Jason [downwardspiral], asking me what I would put on the wall of my E-ring office. It took me a while to think about who or what I would want (today). So if you had an E-ring Pentagon office, 8th floor Foggy Bottom (State Dept) office, were the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), or had any other cabinet position, what would you display on your wall & why? Would you care what others thought? Would you try to choose strategically? What message, if any, would you want to send to the folks who work for you? Or for the folks, such as international visitors, that came to see you? /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

A couple more examples of information that is not easily monetized by the market with tremendous longterm value. How about standards? Standards are information, at a fundamental level, that are very hard to monetize. Do we really want Beta vs VHS playing out w/r/t all things that depend on measurements and standards? From clocks to nuclear security? Those are derived from or dependent on NIST &/or NIST laboratories. ANSI, which provides ISO accreditation, is a private, not-for-profit company that works closely with and receives government support ($). I would site that as an example of a very successful privatized function that promotes the ‘general welfare.’ It's not the video or the DVD standards that are of concern but the process that underlies how those standards came about. For an example of the inverse, see the history of rail gauges and impact on national defense particularly in Russia. A recent example of how a lack of standards has resulted in inefficiencies and where the market has failed to self-regulate: On Randall’s Island (“the Rock”), the FDNY has a closet full of gadgets that don’t work/don’t serve useful purpose for CBRN-detection & protection. The DoD, DHS, and local first responders really don’t need another 150lb ‘anthrax’ detector that has to be plugged in (220V), requires refrigerated consumables, requires a PhD to interpret the results, & btw has only been demonstrated to detect vegetative B. cereus & Bacillus subtilis (i.e., related non-select agent Bacillus species that are found in the dirt, cause food poisoning, not sporulated, and would result in an overabundance of false positives.) Companies are going to try to sell their ideas, their products, and their services; that’s what they are supposed to do. Yeah! But that’s also an illustration of where the market has failed and how a lack of robust standards (industry resisted them) did not benefit the public, the consumer, or business – those that were trying to make good, useful products were tainted by those just looking to make a quick dollar. Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

On the serious side: declaring it a public health emergency triggers (some) statutory actions and abilities: coordination among federal, state, county, and local public health laboratories on monitoring and detection; allows opening of Strategic National Stockpile for therapeutics, etc. On a mixed serious and satirical note: This strain of swine flu (that’s the apparent difference from the 1976 swine flu; there are a half-dozen, dozen or so deaths from swine flu every year in the US) appears to be targeting young, healthy people. Most influenzas target the very young, very old, or immuno-compromised, i.e., that’s where the highest mortality rates are observed. The way that the 1918 “Spanish” influenza killed – that’s the one that killed 50M people and also killed healthy 18-35 yos – was by causing the immune system to go into metaphorical overdrive destroying throat and lung disuse. So, a healthy immune system *may* put folks at the most risk. Therefore, to limit the risk of this H5N1 swine flu: eat poorly (no green vegetables, lots of processed foods and refined sugars), start smoking, and imbibe lots of alcohol (give your liver something else to work on). Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional and nothing should be read as serious medical advice … not that most of you would listen anyway /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Have we shown that "the information isn't worth that much money"? If the question is not based on a solid foundation or based on a presumption, the answer may be pre-supposed in the question and may not get any answer other than the one wanted, i.e., "begging the question.") That the information doesn't have value seems to be a presumption put forth as a given that is doubtful, like these assertions on less government corresponding to less corruption, which were shown to be incorrect. To reply to the underlying questions: why invest in something that may not have immediate market monetization? Lots of reasons: from risk reduction to enabling technology. In order to enable the monitoring and response currently being executed in response on the swine flu outbreak, State, local, county, and the federal government have invested money to understand preventative, containment, and treatment measures; to enact and to coordinate policies; and to exercise those policies. By many of the arguments presented here, that information might have been assessed to have very little value absolute monetary value two months ago. Two months from now, it may prevent the death of you, members of your family, or such a large percentage of the population that the economic stability of the nation would be imperiled. (Unlikely, imo, with this strain but a not outside the realm of possibility of nature.) Another example of information that the private sector passed because they did not consider it to have much value (at the time) is the underlying science that led to the development of lasers. Charles Townes left Bell Labs, which was much more oriented toward basic research back then even before became Lucent, to go to Columbia University and did the research that led to the laser using DoD funding. For-profit companies have made more money off of that initial DoD funding than Townes and the DoD program manager could ever have imagined. One can build lists, hundreds of technologies long, like that: Doppler radar, integrated circuits, the internet (nee ARPA net). If you’ve never read or heard of Vannevar Bush’s Science: The Endless Frontier you might find it interesting. Or maybe not. Nonetheless, there are more examples of information that initially was not perceived as having value that later did. /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Hmmm … I suspect Tom’s values are going to withstand internet debate. In reading through most of the exchange in question in mass rather than piecemeal as it was posted, what I noticed was quite a few assertions presented as fact or true with no data (perhaps no surprise to anyone that I would notice. ) An argument was presented based on a mix of ideological, economic, and hypothetical reasoning. That's part of dicussion. In response, some folks asked questions and challenged the argument. Since my pyschic powers still aren't working, I ask questions. (Sometimes folks don't like those questions ... c'est la vie virtuelle.) If one can’t ask questions or challenge assertions, how is that different than what you’ve noted -- & unless I've misunderstood, pejoratively -- as attributes of religion? Or perhaps, cynicism is the last refuge of the idealist, eh? /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

In complete seriousness, do you think that State and federal governments don’t do that? SAIC (see right-hand scroll for list of government contracts doing what you described; SAIC is also #232 on Fortune 500, iirc; and I did for $15k what they estimated would cost $150k+, i.e., the danger of not knowing ‘better’ ), ANSER, RAND, Noblis are four different private industrial models. Otoh the second part of the scenario you propose is what the DoD did in 2006 for a program to develop medical countermeasures against genetically engineered biological weapons and to develop broad spectrum therapeutics, i.e., a single drug that treats multiple bugs. In 2007, Congress ‘whacked’ (the technical term ) $200M from budget for that program because industry wasn’t responding. Willingness to award large contracts in the tens to hundreds of millions was not seen as enough of incentive to private industry. (And the DoD was even willing to bend contracting rules for those companies.) That's not an anomolous example. And to be explicit that is not in anyway to indicate a lack of support for extramural RDT&E programs to support and acquire. It’s illustrative of the need for smart people in the federal government - ‘cause when a fantastic private solution is offered, I want it to be recognized, supported, and used. And when a dumb one is put forward, I don't want limited federal funding wasted on it. Like most of the real world, it’s complicated. There are lots (thousands+) of instances in which private companies do perform more efficiently, they are not _all_ instances and, perhaps, more importantly, there may be instances in which other factors are more important than lowest cost, e.g., civilian nuclear safety, air traffic control, nuclear submarine operations. Sometimes cheapest isn’t most efficient in the long run, e.g., the Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal India – cost-cutting measures and disabling/not installing safety standards required in the US resulted in somewhere between 14,000 and 60,000 deaths (how do we monetize a life?). In 1989 Union Carbide agreed to pay a $470 million settlement for liability claims. Bhopal is still discussed as a model case for the need for process safety and vulnerability reduction where short-term perceptions of value lead to bad things: dead people and lawsuits for liability. There are still ongoing lawsuits. Too much government stifles innovation and competition; too little results in a variety of ills, ranging from “thalidomide” babies to failed states. The ‘trick’ is finding the right mix, figuring out which ones are better to be more conservative on (e.g., intelligence - on the side of federal), and creating flexible programs that can respond as situations and needs change. /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Single data point: On a domestic Delta flight, I’ve observed the flight attendant re-seat a guy who needed a seat-belt extender. I gave him my aisle seat and took the middle seat so that he could have more room … it was only a short flight from ATL to Washington National. When he asked for the seat extender, the flight attendant told him he would have to move out of the exit row for safety reasons. He had a fit. Not sure if that was FAA policy, Delta policy, or just the inclination of that flight attendant – I’d guess one of the latter two. Ended up sitting next to a prof from Georgetown who offered to take me out to dinner … couldn’t take him up on the offer as I already had plans. (I also didn’t try to reclaim my originally assigned aisle seat, either.

Those look fantastic! And light! Could be great for camping here in Georgia. How well do they keep out bugs? Looks like they require trees or something vertical, yes? I backpack & trek above tree-line sometimes, so trying to figure out how one might use a Hammock tent in that situation? Other than carrying supportive poles, which defeats the ultralight aspect. (I currently have an old version of North Face's smallest mountaineering tent that I use for backpacking and a spacious dome tent for boogies and State Park-style camping.) Anything above tree-line. Doesn't seem to be covered in the video. Thanks for the tip! /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Oh, that looks lovely! Thanks for sharing the pics! And great hat!