Bigger than Ebola

Read an article in the AP headlines online yesterday that upsets me.  You can read the article here. What is upsetting me most is that the author is correctly drawing attention to the disease that causes a greater percentage of death, loss of economic gain, and is more directly afflicting children than any other disease in Africa, and yet receives so little attention.  Yes, for those who have been in my lectures on poverty, disease, African development issues, you guessed it correctly, I am talking about Malaria.

Some noteworthy information pulled from the article:
--14000 Guinean children under age 5 died of malaria last year.  1600 people in Guinea have died from Ebola.
--Liberia, out of fears of Ebola cancelled the distribution of 2 million mosquito nets. (For the uninformed: Malaria is spread by mosquitoes).
--A Cuban doctor sent to Guinea to fight Ebola died of Malaria induced kidney failure.  The one hospital in the country that could have provided dialysis was closed because of Ebola.
--Testing for Malaria requires bloodletting.  Everyone is scared to do it because of Ebola.

For my two cents, Ebola is tragic and terrible, but can be effectively contained from spreading.  Malaria spreads by mosquitoes we are unwilling to kill because the chemicals needed for the job are dangerous for flora and fauna.  But, we rush research and treatment for Ebola, and are casual about treating Malaria.  Some things, I simply do not understand.

Support for Defense Spending Cuts

I came across the following map today as I perused through international and sporting news (interestingly found this link while reading about announcer pairings for upcoming bowl games in an SI article).  Should anyone be surprised that New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, Portland, OR, San Francisco and Los Angeles have the greatest number of people who desire cuts to military spending? I did find it interesting that Maine and Vermont as states were almost completely red (red indicates support for cutting spending in this map), but then again it is really cold in both of those states and they are really near Canada (which I am sure has something to do with everything screwy in this world--a shout out to SS in Ottawa, thanks for sharing with me the level of Canadian support for operations in Afghanistan over the years, makes me rethink a few things about Canadians).  Other pockets supporting cutting military spending center on Boston and Madison, WI (no surprises in either of these cases) and just north and west of Denver (which is surprising but maybe not man, cause we got more important things to do here, like find some munchies man).

(see the map above in greater detail at: http://www.isidewith.com/map/75v/support-for-military-spending)

For my two cents, DoD spending does need to be curtailed.  I do not, however, have a great plan for how to make these cuts without creating economic issues that would negate the positives of cutting the DoD budget.  The question is a tough one but one we need to struggle with as a population.

Waiting to Riot

I will never understand the concept of destroying the property of other people in my own community because of what happened in other communities, the nearest of which is over 2,000 miles away.  So, as I read the reports of looting and destruction in Berkeley, CA where the participants claim they are protesting events in Ferguson, MO and New York, NY, I will remain flummoxed.  I will also not buy any silly argument that if I were not a white male I would better understand the problem--sorry but I have reasons for angst and anger also, maybe not based on racial grouping, but reasons nonetheless, and I have devoted a large portion of my life to understanding political violence based on group dynamics.

For my two cents, if people are looking for an excuse to riot, they will find an excuse to riot.  So, the deeper question is not about what happened in Ferguson or in New York, but why are people waiting for an excuse to riot in Berkeley, CA?  When the demonstrators are even fighting with other demonstrators, supposedly there to demonstrate for the same reason, how are we supposed to view the event other than as people looking for an excuse to riot?  What is happening to the people in Berkeley and the surrounding communities to make young men and women want to riot?  Is what happened in Ferguson and New York what is happening in Berkeley?  Did someone get killed for breaking the law in Berkeley or did someone locally get killed because someone else locally did not like the friends, color, group affiliations they held?  Can I just go back to sleep today and wake up to realize all of these things are a really bad dream and not reality?  

Respect for Barkley

It pains me to say this, mainly because Charles Barkley went to the farm school on the east side of the state, but I feel my respect for Charles Barkley growing after reading this article.  The possibility of rationality warms my heart and my brain.   The media has a vested interest in making everything sensational/tragic/cliff-hanging (you get the point), as they work for competing syndicates each trying to capture listener/readership/viewership shares.  Losing a life was awful for whatever reason, but the media reporting on the losing of a life is often the difference between a rational consideration of why and how the loss of life happened and a knee-jerk reaction.

For my two cents while questions may arise about over zealousness of police officers that we should take seriously, the benefit of the doubt belongs to the police officer.  Very rarely do officers engage in deadly force.  Very rarely do officers actually use physical force of any type.  Officers are trained, better than the average person, how to use force, how to limit the use of force, and how to be situationally aware.  Why are we so willing to overlook that the loss of life in Ferguson began with an officer recognizing a subject of interest in a burglary?  Why are we so willing to castigate the officer who was attacked by a man 80 pounds heavier and several inches larger for use of force?  Because what we heard, read, saw all pointed to an egregious use of force against and unarmed man with his hands up just because of the color of his skin.  Well, now what do we know?

We know now that a grand jury heard testimony, viewed autopsy evidence and other physical evidence that does not support what we heard, read, and saw.  We know now that in the face of evidence contrary to their news service generate opinion, a minority of the population is willing to burn, loot, pillage, and riot.  I am sickened by the whole affair and done considering this mess.  And, I will still give law enforcement the benefit of my doubts.