There is a report on the CNN website that sounds troubling: “Sexually Transmitted Disease rates reach record high” but it’s dated October 20,2016. I guess the media was more interested in the presidential election at that moment. The CNN report is based on a report from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), one of those agencies slated for budget cuts in the new administration.
The CNN report is illustrated with posters like the one reproduced above, from WW II.
The CDC report shows numbers collected for the year 2015 of the reportable sexually transmitted diseases, syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia. Hepatitis C is not considered a venereal disease, but deserves a mention in this context; the CDC reported it separately on May 4, 2016.
The numbers show a yearly increase in the rate of chlamydia infections from the date it was first reportable, 1984, to 1.5 million cases in 2015. At the same time, the rate of syphilis dropped from a peak of nearly half a million cases in the first reported year, 1941, to a nadir of about 30,000 cases in 2000-1; there has been a gradual but steady increase in syphilis cases to about 75,000 in 2015. Gonorrhea rates rose from about 200,000 reports in 1941 to a million cases in 1975-1981, then dropped gradually to about 300,000 in 2009 before increasing to about 400,000 in 2015.
The numbers for these three infections are on the rise again, and the rate of chlamydia has been increasing every year for the last 30 or more years to dominate the picture.
For Hepatitis C, the situation is even worse: the CDC report shows mortality increasing by six percent a year over the last fifteen years to almost 20,000 people a year, more than any other reportable infectious disease. At the same time, the rate of HIV-related mortality has decreased a total of 42%, to under 9,000 deaths a year.
These are serious, and preventable, infections that can ruin a person’s health and life. National health insurance would go a long way towards reducing the rates and mortality from these infections. The increases in chlamydia rates, in particular, represent a failure of preventative measures that is directly related to poor education at the high school level. Sex education is critical for reducing these rates, and home schooling will not fill the bill. Only a public school with obligatory attendance by children will serve to educate and protect them from serious harm in so many ways. Our present administration is pointed in the wrong direction on this issue as on so many others.
Comment of the Day (from the Guardian)
1617i blame the government. Surely, they could issue a little handbook to the newborn explaining why life will be such a big disappointment.
Despite Growth In Renewable Energy, More Coal Plants Being Built: More Global Warming on Horizon
Despite the precipitous drop in prices for solar panels and wind turbines, companies worldwide are planning and building some 1,600 coal-fired electric power plants. The addition of these plants would increase the world’s coal-fired power capacity by 43 percent and make it impossible to meet the terms of the Paris climate accords, which aim to keep the world’s average temperature from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit. China has entered the renewable-energy competition, but it is primarily aimed at reducing pollution in cities and less on overall emissions reduction.
The reason for this continued growth in coal-fired electric power plants? The motivations are unclear. Demand for infrastructure development is high in developing countries, and in places like Egypt and Pakistan, electric power supply is limited. Many African countries get by on four hours of power a day. It appears that the overall supply of new electric power generating capacity is limited, and existing solar and wind power installation growth simply is not enough to supply the rising needs of developing countries.
The development of worldwide modern infrastructure is overwhelming the capacity of the environment to tolerate it. Significant temperature increases are inevitable and development will continue to be spotty. Predictions of future temperature increases over the next hundred years are probably conservative, meaning things are going to be worse than we think.
Source for coal power plant numbers: New York Times July 1, 2017.
Civil War May Come to America
Here’s what Noam Chomsky had to say in an email interview with the NYT, conducted over the last couple of months:
Noam Chomsky: We have to be a little cautious about not trying to kill a gnat with an atom bomb. The performances are so utterly absurd regarding the “post-truth” moment that the proper response might best be ridicule. For example, Stephen Colbert’s recent comment is apropos: When the Republican legislature of North Carolina responded to a scientific study predicting a threatening rise in sea level by barring state and local agencies from developing regulations or planning documents to address the problem, Colbert responded: “This is a brilliant solution. If your science gives you a result that you don’t like, pass a law saying the result is illegal. Problem solved.”
Ridicule is a morale-booster for our side, but it is not a weapon of attack. The only weapon that can possibly defeat the Republicans is the acquisition of enough raw power to pass laws and staff the federal executive branch with experts so that Republicanism as it now exists can be utterly destroyed. Republicanism must change or be eliminated, or Republican policies will destroy America, not to mention the world.
There is at present a significant risk of civil war between the urban population and the rural population of the US, with blacks, Latinos, and Asians being forced onto the urban side by rural racial bigotry and poor to middle-class, uneducated whites being forced onto the rural side by Republican propaganda and racial affinity. A further risk to civil war is the proliferation of lethal firearms, over 300 million in the country. As blacks have begun to feel more at risk, they have been taking advantage of lax gun-control measures to arm themselves as best they can afford. Other ethnic groups are not far behind in arming themselves.
The violent rhetoric and exclusionary policies of the current Republican administration have led to a deteriorating mental attitude among die-hard supporters of Don the Con. Here’s a quote from another article in the NYT:
One friend who twice voted for Barack Obama now sees World War III on the horizon and deeply regrets his vote for Mr. Trump.
Revolution is unlikely because the reins that hold the country together are held by the military and the National Guard, who remain loyal to their government paymasters. But small unit actions by local vigilance committees and hippies who have fled to the hills have become increasingly likely. Disintegration of the social fabric that provides people with a basic sense of security is making everyone trigger-happy.
The only thing that can hold the country together is a de-escalation of violent rhetoric and the re-establishment of benevolent government. The first thing that must happen is removal of the current administration. Then a administration must take steps to provide jobs that pay well enough to keep body and soul together to everyone, even people who don’t want to work. Everyone must have a home to live in; all foreclosures must be reversed and all housing units must be occupied. Once these basic steps have been taken to calm unrest, government must attack on the propaganda front. True propaganda must be produced that shows the actual situation in the world today, with global warming and pollution wrecking the planet and millions of people starving in countries Americans have never heard of. Someone has to lecture the American people on their duty to help make things better.
Here’s what Noam Chomsky had to say in an email interview with the NYT, conducted over the last couple of months:
Noam Chomsky: We have to be a little cautious about not trying to kill a gnat with an atom bomb. The performances are so utterly absurd regarding the “post-truth” moment that the proper response might best be ridicule. For example, Stephen Colbert’s recent comment is apropos: When the Republican legislature of North Carolina responded to a scientific study predicting a threatening rise in sea level by barring state and local agencies from developing regulations or planning documents to address the problem, Colbert responded: “This is a brilliant solution. If your science gives you a result that you don’t like, pass a law saying the result is illegal. Problem solved.”
Ridicule is a morale-booster for our side, but it is not a weapon of attack. The only weapon that can possibly defeat the Republicans is the acquisition of enough raw power to pass laws and staff the federal executive branch with experts so that Republicanism as it now exists can be utterly destroyed. Republicanism must change or be eliminated, or Republican policies will destroy America, not to mention the world.
There is at present a significant risk of civil war between the urban population and the rural population of the US, with blacks, Latinos, and Asians being forced onto the urban side by rural racial bigotry and poor to middle-class, uneducated whites being forced onto the rural side by Republican propaganda and racial affinity. A further risk to civil war is the proliferation of lethal firearms, over 300 million in the country. As blacks have begun to feel more at risk, they have been taking advantage of lax gun-control measures to arm themselves as best they can afford. Other ethnic groups are not far behind in arming themselves.
The violent rhetoric and exclusionary policies of the current Republican administration have led to a deteriorating mental attitude among die-hard supporters of Don the Con. Here’s a quote from another article in the NYT:
One friend who twice voted for Barack Obama now sees World War III on the horizon and deeply regrets his vote for Mr. Trump.
Revolution is unlikely because the reins that hold the country together are held by the military and the National Guard, who remain loyal to their government paymasters. But small unit actions by local vigilance committees and hippies who have fled to the hills have become increasingly likely. Disintegration of the social fabric that provides people with a basic sense of security is making everyone trigger-happy.
The only thing that can hold the country together is a de-escalation of violent rhetoric and the re-establishment of benevolent government. The first thing that must happen is removal of the current administration. Then a administration must take steps to provide jobs that pay well enough to keep body and soul together to everyone, even people who don’t want to work. Everyone must have a home to live in; all foreclosures must be reversed and all housing units must be occupied. Once these basic steps have been taken to calm unrest, government must attack on the propaganda front. True propaganda must be produced that shows the actual situation in the world today, with global warming and pollution wrecking the planet and millions of people starving in countries Americans have never heard of. Someone has to lecture the American people on their duty to help make things better.
The National Center for Health Statistics has published a provisional report stating that the birth rate in the United States dropped 1% in 2016 from last year to a record low. The birth rate has been below the replacement level for some time, but the country’s population continues to grow as a result of immigration. The world’s population also continues to grow, although birth rates have dropped; see this CIA web site for authoritative figures by country. A Worldbank graphic shows the dropping birth rate since 1960, when there were roughly 5 births per woman; there are now roughly 2.46 births per woman. The Worldbank website also has graphs for life expectancy, infant mortality, and so on.
Another graph on the Worldbank website is of interest: the crude death rate in the United States. After dropping from 9.5 per 1000 in 1960 to a low of 7.9 in 2009, the rate has increased to 8.2 in 2013, then levelled off. It seems that the Great Recession has killed a few people in this country (0.3 people per thousand per year, or 300 in a million: roughly 100,000 people a year over the whole US died because of the Great Recession, and are continuing to die.)
The National Center for Health Statistics has published a provisional report stating that the birth rate in the United States dropped 1% in 2016 from last year to a record low. The birth rate has been below the replacement level for some time, but the country’s population continues to grow as a result of immigration. The world’s population also continues to grow, although birth rates have dropped; see this CIA web site for authoritative figures by country. A Worldbank graphic shows the dropping birth rate since 1960, when there were roughly 5 births per woman; there are now roughly 2.46 births per woman. The Worldbank website also has graphs for life expectancy, infant mortality, and so on.
Another graph on the Worldbank website is of interest: the crude death rate in the United States. After dropping from 9.5 per 1000 in 1960 to a low of 7.9 in 2009, the rate has increased to 8.2 in 2013, then levelled off. It seems that the Great Recession has killed a few people in this country (0.3 people per thousand per year, or 300 in a million: roughly 100,000 people a year over the whole US died because of the Great Recession, and are continuing to die.)
This comment was attached to a NYT op-ed titled, “The Hijacked American Presidency”:
David J.
Massachusetts 5 hours ago
Mr. Blow, your assessment is on point, though I would contend that it is not simply the Presidency that has been hijacked but all three branches of government in some measure. Gerrymandering, voter ID laws, the rampant influence of money (courtesy of Citizens United), etc. have all combined to ensure that Congress is less a body of representatives and more a body possessed by a wealthy few. This directly led to a Supreme Court that now has the arch-conservative Neil Gorsuch occupying a seat rather than the moderate Merrick Garland.In short, our democracy is under siege. Trump is merely the thug behind the wheel. The GOP owns and controls the vehicle.
1125 Recommended
American government is, ideally, by the people, of the people, and for the people. The wealthy have an increased standing in life already, but they have become greedy and are attempting to wrest control of government away from the people. Democracy, ideally, is not in the personal best interests of wealthy people, because they are obliged to pay significant amounts of money to support the government which is controlled by democracy. The wealthy would prefer an oligarchy or monarchy, something which resembles the way a private company is managed.
In order to mend our society, we need to organize to counter the unjust demands made by the wealthy and place a check on their power. It is not wise to claim that the wealthy should have no voice in the way things are run because that would produce an unstable situation and society as a whole would suffer. It is better to demand equal time for the voices of the poorer but wiser people who have not been heard. We must organize to add our individual voices together and produce a louder voice that can be heard over the amplified voices of the puppets of the wealthy.
To produce a loud enough voice, our message must be synchronized– we must say something as one. We need not all agree on everything, or even on most things, but we must agree on one or two critical things.
The most critical thing right now is jobs for everyone. I know that sounds too basic; some of us would even say, where are the LGBT rights? But a lot must be just assumed right now in order to combat the basic problem, which is the tyranny of wealth. To do that, we need jobs for everyone to lift everyone out of poverty.
To achieve jobs for everyone, ideally we should have the government take over the task. Since we do not control government, we need to do it ourselves. First, we need to set up a computer application that will coordinate the process. Inputs will be people and things that need to be done, and outputs will be jobs matched to people. To make it work on a private basis, we need some people who have money and need things to be done. That’s my 500 words for today.
Facebook: Look At Patribotics.Org for News on Don the Con’s Collusion with Vlad “the Impaler”
Just go to this website and read everything you need to know about the criminal Don the Con and his collusion with Vlad “the Impaler” Putin. In fact, this website makes it unnecessary for me to write anything further about this criminal and his behavior. It’s all there, with signals intelligence and confidential information from our security agencies and the agencies of multiple other countries. It’s disgusting, criminal, and cringe-worthy, and everyone around Don is implicated in this conspiracy. I couldn’t believe my eyes; the mainstream media simply is not reporting the inside facts about the culpability of everyone from Don to his vice president to the entire Republican Party. They have even been laundering Russian government money into the Republican Party’s coffers to supplement their fundraising and compete with the Democrat’s money advantage.
Go to the site, read it, and weep: https://patribotics.blog/
Just go to this website and read everything you need to know about the criminal Don the Con and his collusion with Vlad “the Impaler” Putin. In fact, this website makes it unnecessary for me to write anything further about this criminal and his behavior. It’s all there, with signals intelligence and confidential information from our security agencies and the agencies of multiple other countries. It’s disgusting, criminal, and cringe-worthy, and everyone around Don is implicated in this conspiracy. I couldn’t believe my eyes; the mainstream media simply is not reporting the inside facts about the culpability of everyone from Don to his vice president to the entire Republican Party. They have even been laundering Russian government money into the Republican Party’s coffers to supplement their fundraising and compete with the Democrat’s money advantage.
Go to the site, read it, and weep: https://patribotics.blog/
Conrad Theodore Seitz 