Epidemiocracy

A scrapbook of maps, graphs, rants and stats.

[vaccineswork]

Preventable diseases are still alive and kicking, even though vaccines work to stop them. 

For a better look at outbreaks around the world, check out this great map from Council of Foreign Relations.

[brutereason]

The best thing I ever got at a social justice conference was a dishtowel: Embroidered on it are the words “Everyone wants a revolution – no one wants to do the dishes.” It’s easy to give someone glory and social cred for being an Internet personality or making a speech at a march. It’s easy to get lost in judging other folks’ value by how well they “speak feminist” or how many articles they’ve written. It’s harder to recognize and celebrate the invisible and unglamorous work like child raising and cooking and cleaning that has always traditionally been done by women, particularly migrants and women of color. This, however, is the work that makes any “movement” possible, and is equally important as speaking on a panel or teaching at a university. We need to start recognizing and centering this work, and the people who do it, in order to build truly accountable social justice communities.

9 Ways We Can Make Social Justice Movements Less Elitist and More Accessible — Everyday Feminism (via brutereason)

this is important 

[liberaleffects]

A shocking statistic about gun deaths in the US - Vox

 http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2015/12/4/9851102/gun-deaths-us-children

[humanrightswatch]

Pope to Visit Isolated Muslims in Central African Republic

Pope Francis is in Bangui, the violence-ridden capital of the Central African Republic. He is scheduled to visit the Muslim enclave of Kilomètre 5 and its central mosque, isolated in one of the most volatile parts of a city gripped by sectarian violence. If it happens, it will be an extraordinary moment, a demonstration that respect for rights of Christians and Muslims alike is critical to ending the violence.

Read more

[epidemiocracy-blog]

awww frank #1 pope u the best 

[treedance]

Getting Up to Speed with the Global Climate Summit

The Global Climate Summit kicks off with representatives from 195 countries gathering in France.

Here’s some background to get you up to speed.

So What, Exactly, is Going On?

The Guardian: Everything you need to know about the Paris climate summit and UN talks. See also, The Paris climate summit at a glance

Slate: Your Jargon-Busting Guide to the Paris Climate Change Talks

BBC: Beginner’s guide to the UN Paris climate summit

The Atlantic: What’s Being Discussed at the Paris Climate Talks?

What Are The Stakes?

New York Times: Short Answers to Hard Questions About Climate Change

Washington Post: The magic number: Holding warming under two degrees Celsius is the goal. But is it still attainable?

Los Angeles Times: Paris climate summit could bring historic deal on emissions, but likely won’t halt climate change

What Are The (US) Politics?

New Republic: The GOP’s Plan to Thwart the Paris Climate Conference. See also, How the 2016 Presidential Candidates View Climate Change

New York Times: Two-Thirds of Americans Want U.S. to Join Climate Change Pact

Where Can I Get More Background

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

United Nations Conference on Climate Change

Image: How Much CO2 Per Capita Does Your Country Emit? via Deutsche Welle.

[epidemiocracy-blog]

helpful backgrounders!

[rewiredotnews]

(via How Hard Is It to Get a Gun and an Abortion in All 50 States?) Abortion may be legal in the U.S., but for thousands of women all over the country, it has become almost impossible to access. When you contrast those kinds of restrictions with the stunning lack of regulation around guns in this country, the results are galling.  

[arooooo-deactivated20160323]

did anyone see that video of the guy who was like “im really good at finding moles” and hes saying that hes gonna pull a mole right out of the ground and for a few seconds youre like ok whats the joke and then he just squats down to the grass and and jams his fist into the ground and pulls a mole up

i think about it so much

[arooooo-deactivated20160323]

@ladyepicenter

[epidemiocracy-blog]

one-nil

[skunkbear]

February, March, May, June, July, August, and September also broke records. More here. 

[engineeringworldhealth]

For Poor Countries, Well-Worn Path to Development Turns Rocky

Economists worry that the factory-led model of advancement—which, for more than a century, has offered the quickest route out of poverty—is simply no longer available to today’s poorest nations in South Asia, Africa and Latin America.

[epidemiocracy-blog]

the trillion-dollar sustainable development question. 

[skunkbear]

Nola was born in the southern savanna woodlands of Sudan. In the mid-1970s she was captured to protect her from poachers, and in 1989 she moved to the San Diego Zoo. She shared her enclosure with buffalo, giraffes and gazelles, and enjoyed daily belly scratches. 

In 1990, a male rhinoceros named Angalifu joined Nola in San Diego, but she wasn’t interested in him. After hormone treatments, she mated with another male named Saut, but never became pregnant.

Saut died in 2004. Angalifu died last year. Nola was getting older, and suffering from a bacterial infection. Yesterday the zoo announced:

In the last 24 hours, Nola’s condition worsened and we made the difficult decision to euthanize her. We’re absolutely devastated by this loss, but resolved to fight even harder to #EndExtinction.

With the death of Nola this weekend, the northern white rhinoceros inches closer to true extinction. But it became extinct in the wild 2008, and the remaining rhinos have all been to old to breed for several of years. Still, there are plans to resurrect the subspecies using a preserved egg and sperm. The San Diego Zoo’s Institute has pledged $2 million to this difficult project. 

And there is reason to be hopeful. A cousin subspecies, the southern white rhino, has seen its population blossom from 20 to 20,000 in the last century thanks to the intervention of humans. 

Want to learn more? Check out this article by my friend (and housemate) Sarah Kaplan.

Image credits: Jeff Keaton, Make it Kenya, Ernst Schäfer, Colin P. Groves et al, TONY KARUMBA/AFP/Getty Images 

[ucresearch]

Read more about the report

[epidemiocracy-blog]

Love this. People talk about the CO2 benefits of cycling all the time, but the public health potential to combat obesity pollution-related respiratory conditions are even greater. 

Learn more: 1, 2, 3. 

[epidemiocracy-blog]

xkcd

[cartographerswithoutborders]

Locations approximate. Learn more: 1, 2, 3.

[coolthingoftheday]

Johnathan the tortoise in 1900, and the same tortoise again in 2015.

[medicalstate]

Gene that makes bacteria immune to last-resort antibiotic can spread

Researchers fear it could move to new bacteria, create unstoppable superbugs.

[epidemiocracy-blog]

[haircutsandsurgery]

[epidemiocracy-blog]

Reasons I mad relate to pangolins

rare

beautiful 

will develop stress ulcers when forced to be in the company of others

roll up into a ball when threatened

trouble vocalizing caused by 27-inch tongue anchored in pelvis 

covered in toenails 

smol

http://nmnh.typepad.com/100years/2015/05/rediscovering-the-pangolin.html