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Censorship Doesn't Just Stifle Speech — It Can Cause Disease To Spread
Lasrick writes "Maryn McKenna at Wired explores fears of a pandemic of MERS after October's hajj to Saudi Arabia, the annual pilgrimage to Islam's holy sites: 'The reason is MERS: Middle East respiratory syndrome, a disease that has been simmering in the region for months. The virus is new, recorded in humans for the first time in mid-2012. It is dire, having killed more than half of those who contracted it. And it is mysterious, far more so than it should be—because Saudi Arabia, where the majority of cases have clustered, has been tight-lipped about the disease's spread, responding slowly to requests for information and preventing outside researchers from publishing their findings about the syndrome.'"
People think you're saying MRSA, and they tune out. I've seen it happening over and over now. I'm not the only one to notice. It's obvious. If anyone reading this has any power to change what the media uses as a name for this, please, for the love of all that is good, get the name of this disease changed.
Cloudiot: A person who does not see offsite storage as a way to lose control over access to his or her own data.
Trying to hide the truth costs something. Usually more than simply not knowing the truth to begin with. ;-)
Discovering the truth, such as the cost of air or water pollution or the cost of always fighiting forest fires (seems like the obvious thing to do) can take generations to learn but we're doing it.
Disease is a human concern, not a political or economic concern.
We're figuring that out just as we're now figuring out what to do now that we've 'conquered' the world as a species
It is dire, having killed more than half of those who contracted it.
That's not a measure of direness by itself. How contractable is it?
(I'll make the obvious joke myself that it's highly contractable, since "MERS" has a lot fewer letters than "Middle East respiratory syndrome")
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
Seems the concept of lack through fortune or obstruction is well known throughout history.
Yes, it is pretty silly to think that no one ever noticed before that information and knowledge can be beneficial.
The Great Influenza by John M. Barrie goes into great detail how the war time censorship under the Wilson administration resulted in a significantly higher death toll in the US. The so called "Spanish flu" got its name because the Spanish press was not censored, the flu appears to have originated in western Kansas.
A Shadeless room is a brighter room.
Read all about it:
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=mers+bats
Point 1: I see nowhere in that article where Faisal's Bastards managed to suppress publication of actual information about MERS. It makes the same claim (word for word) as the FP, but substantiates it... Not at all?
Point 2: So - The vast majority of the 9/11 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia; they count as the #1 contributor to OPEC (how do you like fracking now, bitches?), and... They seem intent on covering up the next pandemic? Someone remind me why we keep playing nice with these worthless misogynist theocratic pieces of dog shit?
Censorship never slows the spread of word where a disease is concerned, it only adds rumor into the mix, to create confusion.
Sure it does. A prime example is the 1918 Influenza Pandemic and president Wilson's reaction to it.
Wilson and his administration saw news of the disease as promoting a public response that would hamper the war effort, and reporting it to be treason. So he had the government suppress the news and spread disinformation. Among the effects:
- The disease had shown up in one military camp. The commanding officer wanted to quarantine the camp to keep it from spreading throughout the military and the country. But his orders were countermanded from above. Result: Sick and incubating soldiers were shipped all over the country, spreading the disease.
- Disinformation about the nature of the disease, and how to treat it, was disseminated, using the Public Relations resources of the government, which drowned out more accurate statements from the medical community and others. This amounted to a set of government-created and broadly propagated health frauds, some of which persist today, causing those who believe them to waste money and impair their health. Among them is the theory of "autointoxication": that flu (or other disease) symptoms are the result of toxins produced by intestinal flora (if retained too long) and a resulting illusory need for "regularity" - having daily bowel movements at roughly the same time of day. To this day this theory results in laxative overuse and sometimes addiction, vitamin deficiencies, intestinal irritation, and delays in seeking medical attention when it is needed for a real illness.
So censorship CAN slow, or even suppress, the spread of word where a disease is concerned, bury the truth, and stop appropriate handling of a disease.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
Hehe yeah right AFTER we all get our personal maintenance-free unique flying unicorn pony (or pig if you so prefer, oink ftw).
Yeah, that's the point though isn't it? Blind following of any ideology is foolish. Absolutism is the true enemy. Look at the way science works, testing the correct paths by experimentation and proven results, not just baseless theories.
In other words, absolutist notions like "Communism" or pure "Free Market Capitalism" are the personal maintenance-free unique flying unicorn ponies and pigs. Neither Neigh-sayer nor Oinker will admit that perhaps the best way forward could be a far less lofty goal: Simply riding unicorn-pig hybrids safely along the ground instead. Additionally: Magical Bacon!
Just out of curiousity, how do the Saudis prevent outside researchers from publishing their research? It would seem that if you are outside Saudi, then their censorship wouldn't apply. I could see how they prevent outsiders from conducting research, but from publishing their research? Seems that something must have been edited out because that doesn't make sense.