You missed the sound of the old man peeing....flushing....then returning without ever using the sink.

Sad, because this issue IS important. These diseases are spreading throughout the world, are deadly, and are making our antibiotics useless. Most people can't even imagine a world without antibiotics, it could get ugly fast. I would bet that nearly every hospital in America is infected with some strain...that's where my mother in law caught one.

From recent experience, I can say these diseases are mostly easily transmitted, sneaky, destructive, expensive, and often deadly. Most people don't find out they have one until they have an adverse reaction to treatment for some other infection, that adverse reaction can be deadly organ failure, high fever (103+) respiratory distress, etc.... Normal treatment with antibiotics can make things exponentially worse! Many can be spread more easily than a cold, and are spreading rapidly worldwide.

So as a relative newcomer* to the backcountry, here's my $0.02:

They were incredibly lucky.

Going into a gully like that after a snow storm is a "terrain trap" where even a small slide can accumulate very deep snow. Getting buried under 2-3m is bad, but 10m+? Unless you have the world snow shoveling champion team in your party, you're dead.

Good on them for carrying shovels and probes, but where were their transceivers? The article states that the victim had his transceiver with him but the others didn't. A single transceiver is about as useful as a prick in a nunnery.

The only reason that guy is alive is he managed to stick his ski pole above the snow. Without that, by the time they find him, they're not rescuing him, they're recovering the body.

Most importantly, they knew it was a sketchy line and they went anyway (and altogether.... jesus.... spread the fuck out... no-one gonna rescue you if you're all buried).

Right there, that's the fatal mistake. I know guys who have hiked for 6 hours to get to a run, looked at it and turned back. If you're not sure, don't go. Even if it means climbing back out.

So to sum up:
unsure about conditions: don't go
the entire party doesn't have a shovel/probe/transceiver each: don't go
if you absolutely have to go: one at a time and aim for a safe spot

/sermon

I'm being a bit of a prick on this. It's really easy to criticise, but I've been there and I know that powder fever takes hold. But *nature hates you and wants to kill you. Keep that in mind.

* I've been side-country riding for a few years, but started splitboarding last year.

The first link is about China. Do they use the same vaccination schedule as we do? Do they use the same vaccine? How good is their record-keeping? Were there 1000 randomly sampled people from all over China, or from one specific place in the province?

They furthermore only mention that that one province has the mandatory vaccinations. Do the others? Are there a lot of unvaccinated people coming through the area that could disrupt the herd immunity effect? Like, say, a few tens of unvaccinated people at Disney?

The second link is someone trying to sell a DVD. There is absolutely no information there, just claims that have been refuted to the end of the universe and back. And some fearmongery correlation/causation conflation. Did you know that the Internet was getting built up at the same time as the skyrocketing Autism rate? I bet the Internet causes autism.

Third link: It is entirely believable that RIGHT NOW the measles vaccine causes more complications than the measles does. Because there are only a couple hundred cases of the measles in the US per year. It is all but eradicated, because of the vaccine, which means that it kills very few people.

If you go back before the vaccine, though, around 500,000 people had the measles a year (and this is probably a low guess, per the link). Around 20% of those had to be hospitalized. About four times more people died from it than now have fatal complications due to the vaccine.

No vaccine: (Possibly much) more than 500,000 people sick. 100,000 people hospitalized. 1,000-10,000 brain damaged. A few hundred dead (not a super fatal disease). Thousands more get liver damage, hearing damage, eye damage, other complications.

Vaccine: Assuming we're at a 90% vaccination rate, around 3,500,000 kids vaccinated a year. ~100 dead, per your link. 1000 with dangerously high fever. Deafness/seizure/brain-damage: So rare that a link to the vaccine can not be established. Autism: Completely fabricated and discredited.

This has a good chart comparing the relative danger, for equal numbers infected/vaccinated. If we stopped vaccinating, it would not take long to get back to where dealing with the measles was a dangerous rite of passage for almost every kid.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'nightmare fuel, puppets, mundane, fever dream, real time' to 'nightmare fuel, puppets, mundane, fever dream, real time, blah, airlines' - edited by Fusionaut

In some ways, I find I have sympathy with the fundamentalists. They may be wrong and in some cases even evil, but at least they're honest.

Ever read Terry Pratchett? One of his characters, a witch who is often the authorial voice, has a great line about religion

Now if I’d seen him, really there, really alive, it’d be in me like a fever. If I thought there was some god who really did care two hoots about people, who watched ‘em like a father and cared for ‘em like a mother…well, you wouldn’t catch me sayin’ things like ‘there are two sides to every question’ and ‘we must respect other people’s beliefs.’ You wouldn’t find me just being gen’rally nice in the hope that it’d all turn out right in the end, not if the flame was burning in me like an unforgivin’ sword. And I did say burnin’, Mister Oats, ‘cos that’s what it’d be. You say that you people don’t burn folk and sacrifice people anymore, but that’s what true faith would mean, y’see? Sacrificin’ your own life, one day at a time, to the flame, declarin’ the truth of it, workin’ for it, breathin’ the soul of it. That’s religion. Anything else is just…bein’ nice. And a way of keepin’ in touch with the neighbors.

Of course it's a thing. It was Stephen Colbert's sport of the summer. There's no stopping this train, America's com jug fever has only just begun.

http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/1y9s5s/sport-report---a-rod-s-drug-scandal---combat-juggling

Ebola is very destructive to health care systems. It is silly to compare it to other viruses that do not create the panic, fear and lethality of Ebola. Ebola has the potential to get out of control because it takes a very serious toll on health care systems. Once panic is in place, it becomes very difficult to screen patients and process intake. Once a region has just a handful of cases, everyone with a simple fevers thinks they have Ebola and overwhelm the intake system - and ironically, the best place to get Ebola will probably be the waiting room. This virus can very quickly sap the resources of hospital staff, and once a few staff and patients in the waiting room get infected, panic just gets worse. Ebola is very unforgiving to mistakes by health care providers.

The media is quick to make out everyone in Africa as naive and child like. This is a mistake. Many in Africa know all about viruses and how they spread. They suffer greatly by a an absolutely dismal and bankrupt health care system, but I think it would be naive to think of our system as so superior that we would not have the same panic.

Ebola is very serious. It needs to be taken seriously. Anyone that belittles the problem is making the situation much worse.

Just as an FYI, health care workers who are exposed to HIV-infected blood at work have a 0.3% risk of becoming infected. In other words, 3 of every 1,000 such injuries, if untreated, will result in infection. : Source CDC.

Yeah, try that with Ebola.

I don't get the wait times argument from those who oppose a single payer system. They clearly never went to an emergency room in the US. I've never had a short wait time in a US ER/Stat Care/Ultra Care type facility. Even when they seem empty it seems like an hour wait before you finally see a doctor. Oh your 2 year old is having a hard time breathing, wait an hour and a half. Your one year old is running a high fever and vomiting, wait two hours. Heck, the wait times to find a doctor if you don't already have a family doctor can be weeks or months, forcing you to go to the ER for stuff you'd probably normally see a doctor for. That isn't an efficient medical system. They anti-single payer people then will say they don't trust the government to make decisions about their health insurance... but they trust the one of the most profitable, per dollar earned, business in the US? (I vaguely recall insurance being number 3 in per dollar earned profits, right behind banks and pharmaceuticals, with a rather large gap to get to number four.) They don't get those huge profits by making decisions in the best interest of the patients and consumers. Walmart could pay $3 more per hour to every employee, give them benefits, increase the work force, and still make profits without raising prices, meaning that while half the work force there needs food stamps now, none would if the company would do the right thing and pay a living wage, but instead we have people mad at the people who work there for not making enough rather than the people who run it... anyhow the point is people like that, who run the business, can't be trusted to make decisions about your health insurance as they only care about their bottom line and their paycheck. Getting you the proper health care costs them money and they will gladly sacrifice you and your family for a better paycheck for them.

@bcglorf

i did not posit drones are bad.
i didnt posit anything actually,except to refrain from the conversation entirely.
(our government,not you or i).

you or i can discuss ad nauseum and would have every right to.
we can and many do actually volunteer their time to help those in need,helpless or hurt.
some very brave souls travel to these broken countries to help ease the suffering of ordinary folk.

and you already know my answer to your query.
diplomacy is the only resolution and the reason is twofold:
1.diplomatic talks almost always are started with a cease and desist of all aggression.
2.it allows a multilateral approach therefore diffusing the hypocrisy i spoke about.

many people in this country are reluctant to look at what their own government has perpetrated in their name.
maybe out of fear...or pride.
but in my opinion any real conversation has to begin with absolute truth.

so by my vicious criticism of my governments foreign policy over the past 50 years does not mean that i ignore all the great achievements,great accomplishments and great ideals.

so if i was to posit anything on this thread it would be this:
we have lost our way.
the very things that made us great have become whispers lost in a cacophony of paranoid musings by the powerful and we sold our freedom to be cocooned in the safety of consumerism.
and while the wolves howl at the door we are fed platitudes of american exceptionalism and handed flags to wave in remembrance of good-deeds from days long past.
individualism has been ratcheted up to a fever pitch of self-aggrandizing twitter feeds and selfies.
that a persons self worth is based on their ability to purchase status symbols.
where news has become opinion and everybody has a right to one.
where facebook is a place to post your own,personal cartoon all the while never really communicating with anyone.

we have become afraid little children.

and its time to grow up.

Thanks for all the personal attacks and presumptions. It's... distracting.

If the term 'controlled' is more fitting for you, then so be it. But yes, even type 1 diabetes can be eliminated. Look into the placebo effect - the power of a peron's beliefs. It is a very real, demonstrable, repeatable effect. And it has far more efficacy than most medications being produced.

In a way, the diabetes isn't the problem, but is one more symptom of the actual root of the problem. Runny noses, fevers, sore throats, lesions, pain - even traumas such as broken bones, cuts, and bruises - none of these are the problems themselves, but mere symptoms which point to something the individual should learn about how to live their lives.

Diabetes is no exception. Nor is cancer.

If you treat the 'issue' as something that's intrinsic, genetic, inevitable, and beyond the power of the individual to control or cure, you've essentially doomed that person to blind random fate. I prefer to place the power and thus responsibility for healing squarely on the shoulders of the one who's experiencing the problem. That makes far more sense to me than placing that power and responsibility into the hands of insurance companies, governments, congressmen, doctors, or choas.

Oh, and since you bring it up, Cacao (not chocolate) may in fact help diabetic symptoms! :-D Not really sure, haven't done much research on that one.

the thrill of the hunt. It's fun, not only does it provide food, it's exhilarating. Stalking the target is the most fun style of hunting large game, as you have to stay down wind, stay quiet, and get close enough for a good shot.

it is "getting off" so to speak. The adrenaline is pumping, it even has a name you can google "Buck Fever" every hunter gets it. "Buck Fever" causes a lot of missed shots, the heart races, adrenaline pumps and you wind up missing or spooking them. But hunting is a ton of fun, if it weren't my kids wouldn't even be interested in it either. Not only does it provide cheap and plentiful food for family, which otherwise I would probably need food stamps to afford meat for family of 4, it's also fun, entertaining, and constantly trying to get better.

Similar to how fps gamers get addicted to keep getting better scores and "kill streaks" same for hunting, I hate missing a flock of quail, I love when we flush a flock of 5 or 6 quail and we can get them all, which rarely happens, usually 2 or 3 are dropped until next flush.

if hunting was not fun, there would be no point, just buy from store...
but it serves a purpose and it's fun as hell.

Chi Chi, I don't think you've ever offended me even once. Most of the time, I can't even understand what you're saying.

Look I'm not advocating violence: it's pretty ridiculous that the mom in this vid walks right past her son to confront the guy. I can't imagine doing that but I can imagine going into a fevered blood-rage over someone hitting my kid with a skateboard while he's playing in a park. (I also can't imagine what makes you guys think this is a skate park?)

All I'm saying is that, regardless of the fact that it was an accident, if you hit a toddler playing in a park, it's your fault (speaking of trying to find blame in others). And that, just maybe, getting punched in the face isn't such an incredible reaction to expect in that situation.

What I love are the comments about charging the mom with assault or smacking her back with a skateboard after she just watched you smash her baby's head into the pavement. Yeah, that's definitely the appropriate reaction. Congratulations, you share the sensibilities of every twelve-year-old who commented on Youtube.

I'm willing to bet that the skater brushed it off and thought roughly, "oh good, now we can call it even."

Not so much though with Internet Tough Guys.

Guess my point fell with a @criticalthud. There is a huge difference between immunizations and homeopathy, even if you think they have a similar theoretical basis. Immunizations are not a treatment; they are preventative. You would never inject someone who had yellow fever with more of the yellow fever virus. Homeopaths on the other hand would treat a burn by putting it in the flame (http://hpathy.com/homeopathy-papers/on-the-treatment-of-burns/), so I guess 'fire with fire' might be more apt.

Also, I'm not convinced that he is completely kidding.

@Yogi
well said my friend.

ya know.
i was talking with @VoodooV on another thread concerning this topic.
he was of the opinion that this is all about perspective and to look at the bigger picture.

now i actually agree with that, but i think the perspective is on how we approach this subject.

@Yogi and i are not coming from some alex jones 'new world order" premise but rather a historical one.
we do not trust our government because our government has proven over and over they do not deserve our trust.

and as @Yogi alluded to,the list of abuses of power by the US government is massive and extensive.

remember in 2006 when it become public that the telecoms had call system rerouters in data collection?those small rooms?
and remember how the bush administration push forward to give the telecoms retroactive immunity to avoid any civil suits?

my main point is that whenever a government gains a new power or authority they WILL use it.since 9/11 and the "war on terror" (which is just a war on ideology) our government has broadened its power and authority ten fold and it HAS USED that power.

this is not opinion.this is fact.

guess it all comes down to trust.
do you trust this government to obey the law?
i dont because they go out of their way to be creative little monkeys to circumvent the law,or redefine it to suit their purposes.

i know i am going off on a rant here,so let me end with this:
historically empires in their last stages have always become concentrated centers of power and certain criteria have always become evident.
1.the over-reach of empires always culminate with an extreme disparity between rich and poor.
2.they become incredibly militarized.
3.infrastructure and commerce begin to break down.
4.nationalism reaches fever pitch.(see:tea party)
5.those in power (the governing class) tend to become more corrupt and less idealistic and begin to pick the remnants of empire for their own enrichment.hastening the demise of empire.
6.the ruling class becomes extremely paranoid and begins to focus its attention on its own citizens.seeing enemies everywhere.
7.power seeks only to further its own power and it becomes a cycle of cannibalism.

by my statements here i am in no way disregarding or dismissing some of the great achievements that have been won by this country.but those milestones were ALWAYS because of the people and not ONE was ever implemented by a benevolent government.

so while i trust the people i,in no way,trust my government.
because they have proven they do not deserve my trust.