Related library sites for the Unorganized Borough

2009-09-27 Feed Demon / Newsgator no longer offers a public readership library. I am in the process of converting the shared libraries to Google Reader, no easy task. This means that if you have subscribed to the newsclips offered by Newsgator (below) you must instead subscribe to the Google newsclips. Please bear with me as I get all this straightened out. At least one advantage– tags can be applied through my Feed Demon reader to the clippings making it easier to find, sort, and provide a context for the newsclip. A disadvantage– newsclips won’t be separated into separate library/museum collection and the broader grassroots science collection.

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The library based at Connotea is linked in the sidebar. The Twittered and Tumblred libraries are linked there as well. I’ll eventually get all the libraries linked together. In the meantime, here is the Google Books link–

• Books in Unorganized Grassroots Science library

→← →← →← →← →← →← →← →← →←

• Newsclips for Grassroots Science (obsolete)
  http://services.newsgator.com/ngws/svc/ClippingsRSS.aspx?uid=1434014&fid=11769270
• Newsclips for library, museum, knowledge systems (obsolete)
  http://services.newsgator.com/ngws/svc/ClippingsRSS.aspx?uid=1434014&fid=30257972
• Grassroots Science Tumblr micro library
• Grassroots Science tweeted library
• Unorganized Internet Archive http://www.archive.org/bookmarks/hlthenvt

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Site Search Tags: library, Google+books, knowledgebase, TEK, IK, Connotea, Twitter, Tumblr, GoogleBooks, Wayback+Machine, Internet+Archive, libraries

How to find commercial hovercraft expertise

Are you looking for expertise in successful commercial and international hovercraft operations? contact cerebraloddjobs+hovercraft at gmail dot com

Principles only.

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Site Search Tags: hovercraft,, consultants

om

Unorganized Borough gets first MacArthur Fellow

Jill Seaman, MD was one of the 2009 MacArthur Fellows, just announced. Her fellowship was for

adapting the tools of 21st-century medicine to treat infectious diseases endemic to Southern Sudan….

Jill Seaman is a physician committed to delivering and improving treatment for infectious diseases endemic to Old Fangak, Sudan one of the most remote, impoverished, and war-torn regions of the world….

She spends the remaining portion of each year in Bethel, Alaska, providing health services to Yup’ik Eskimo communities.

Read more about

• Dr Jill Seaman
• http://www.alaskasudan.org/
• http://www.medicalmissionhalloffamefoundation.org/bios/seaman.html

Q. What is the MacArthur Fellowship? A. The MacArthur Fellowship is a five-year grant to individuals who show exceptional creativity in their work and the prospect for still more in the future. The fellowship is designed to provide recipients with the flexibility to pursue their creative activities in the absence of specific obligations or reporting requirements. There are no limits on age or area of activity. Individuals cannot apply for this award; they must be nominated.

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Site Search Tags: Bethel, YKHC, MacArthur+Foundation, Unorganized+Borough, Third+World, medicine

What ever happened 12 months ago… SP VP2B

A year ago I heard the news announcement about John McCain’s pick for his VP2B– I nearly fell out of bed (and I have a futon) because I knew more about governing than Sarah Palin and I knew I wasn’t prepared to be President.

The national media had trouble pronouncing Palin’s name and suddenly everyone was searching for the city of Nowhere, Alaska.

See Mudflats take– A Year of Sarah Palin. What a Long, Strange Trip It’s Been.

Previous posts

• Where is… Palin and bridge to Nowhere Alaska
• Sarah Palin content
• Where is… Wasilla (Gov. Sarah Palin’s residence)

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Site Search Tags: Sarah+Palin, blog+stats, Nowhere

Anchorage trifids nearly ready

These things are nearly 6 feet tall. They seem to stem from the cabbage family.

Downtown trifids ready

Where is… homeless dying on the streets of Anchorage

Where the homeless die on the streets–

View Larger Map

Homeless dying on the streets

Twelve people who were homeless or familiar with life on the streets have died outdoors in Anchorage this spring and summer, most of them in woods and parks. Only one death has been classified as a homicide.

• Anchorage’s 12 homeless deaths this year Published: August 22nd, 2009 10:07 PM
• What’s killing the homeless in Anchorage? By LISA DEMER Published: August 22nd, 2009 10:23 PM

1) There are far more homeless than those living rough or in shelters.

2) The list for AHFC (Alaska Housing Finance Corp.) rental assistance or housing in Anchorage is 10 months long at least.

3) Even last December the state was bragging about all the jobs available [sic] bringing in many individuals and families from Outside directly to the shelters and “camping out”.

4) If a person has a cut artery or broken leg, they can be taken / go to the hospital for treatment. If a person has a psychological crisis, they cannot receive any treatment or support, even by going to a hospital. The only humane way is to have them arrested for “trespassing” which takes them to police HQ for someone to decide if they can go to the hospital. Otherwise, wait for the person in crisis to assault themselves or someone else, then call the police.

5) Inebriates do look after each other, in many cases. This past winter bus riders noticing someone fall or lying down on the pavement would alert the driver who calls community service patrol. Some will ask passersby to call CSP for themselves or their friends. This means that we can all be alert for those in trouble and be accessible for those seeking help. (CSP on speed dial)

6) CSP is a contract service and evidently only available from 2 PM to 10 (?) PM. They aren’t available in the early morning. Fortunately, Anchorage police, if possible, will respond to get people off the street during morning “rush” hour on icy streets.

7) Many homeless and street folks cannot get proper health care. In this country, medical care, Rx are rationed to those with money and knowledge of how to access health system. Or, to those with money and knowledge to force IHS and VA to provide competent service.

Previous posts–

Drug Saves Frostbitten Digits

Displaced person in Palin’s Alaska

Demonstrating health care reform in Anchorage, August 11 2009

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Site Search Tags: where+is, homeless, Anchorage, ADN.com, Google+map, alcohol

Demonstrating health care reform in Anchorage, August 11 2009

Those without health care–

Homeless backpacks-- Will think for healthcare

Those with health care–

People with money for health care, housing, food, have bigger signs against health care reform.

Welcome, Stumblers

Please feel free to look around, add your thoughts, suggest information, etc.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/search?q=ykalaska

TULAREMIA, HUMAN – USA: (ALASKA), REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

In Mississippi, my Dad used to check rabbits for tularemia for Fish & Game. Rabbits were a subsistence food for many, then.
"F. tularensis was discovered in 1911 during an outburst of rabbit fever, when the disease killed a large number of ground squirrels in the area of Tulare Lake in California. Scientists determined that tularemia could be dangerous to humans; a human being may catch the infection after contacting an infected animal. The ailment soon became frequent with hunters, cooks and agricultural workers"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tularemia

Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:18:44 -0400 (EDT)
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promed.isid.harvard.edu>
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Tularemia, human – USA: (AK), RFI

TULAREMIA, HUMAN – USA: (ALASKA), REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
*********************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org

Date: Thu 6 Aug 2009
Source: Associated Press [edited]
http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=10861604

Two residents of Fairbanks, Alaska have been diagnosed with tularemia, a potentially fatal bacterial infection more commonly found in animals. Alaska Department of Fish and Game veterinarian Kimberlee Beckmen learned of the outbreak from state public health authorities late last week.

The disease can be transmitted to humans from snowshoe hares, and the hare population has been high in the interior. It’s unclear how the Fairbanks residents contracted it.

Beckmen says people are usually infected through the skin by handling sick hares, but they can also get it when bitten by ticks, flies, or mosquitoes that fed on sick hares.

A Fish and Game spokeswoman says the Fairbanks patients were treated with antibiotics and are doing well.

- — communicated by: ProMED-mail rapporteur Brent Barrett

[Tularemia is typically found in animals, especially small mammals such as voles, mice, rodents, rabbits, and hares. _Francisella tularensis_ is found in a wide range of animal hosts and is capable of surviving for weeks at low temperatures in water, moist soil, or decaying plant and animal matter. Although hundreds of differing vertebrates and invertebrates can be infected with the tularemia bacillus, no more than a dozen or so are important in its ecology. Humans become infected through a variety of mechanisms including bites of infected arthropods (mosquitoes, ticks, deerflies), handling infected or dead animals, ingesting contaminated food or water, and inhaling aerosols of bacteria. The type of exposure will dictate the form of the disease manifestation with cutaneous exposures usually resulting in the glandular or ulceroglandular forms. The type of disease in these Alaskan cases is not stated.

ProMED-mail posted an alert (20041008.2760, see below) in October 2004 regarding hamsters from a Canadian pet distributor that were found to be infected with type B tularemia as well. No human cases were reported.

Tularemia in humans is generally a rural disease and occurs naturally throughout much of North America and Eurasia. The type B strain (_F. tularensis_ biogroup palearctica) is the dominant strain in Eurasia, whereas both biogroups (type A is biogroup tularensis) are found in the USA. Type A is said to be more virulent than type B.

Although not generally transferable from person to person, the infectious dose of _F. tularensis_ is quite low, and the organism is listed among the category A bioterrorism agents.

According to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, during the period 2000-2006, a total of 873 cases of human tularemia were reported in the USA. In the same period, there were a total of only 3 cases reported in Alaska, with annual reports of no more than one per year, although the disease is likely underreported. See http://www.cdc.gov/tularemia/Surveillance/Tul_CasesbyState.html for the full table of number of cases reported each year by state, 2000-2006. The largest numbers were from the south-central part of the USA, with Missouri (172), Arkansas (123), and Oklahoma (79) leading the list. - Mod.LL]

Some costs of not using the Alaska PFD and leading by example

Andrew Halcro last week wrote a succinct piece on an all too common tragedy in Alaska and New Mexico.

At first glance it had all the makings of a Hollywood movie set. But this was no Hollywood movie set, it was my front yard on Sand Lake and it was 3am on June 10. For two days, fire and police vehicles were fixtures in my front yard, as the search for a missing canoeist continued. Family members gathered outside my front window, watching and waiting as they held hands, cried and prayed….

One APD officer on the scene told me that these kinds of tragedies are all too frequently due to an unfortunate combination of events. … In this case, the costliest hole was when the two young men launched their canoe at the public access point, they walked right past a newly erected life jacket stand that offered boaters free personal flotations devices.

Alaska initiated the “Kids Don’t Float” program. Fireman Bob Painter of Homer founded the program after a number of children drowned in Homer.

(May 29, 2009, Anchorage, Alaska) – The “Kids Don’t Float” and boating safety programs will continue this summer… Under these boating safety programs, children learn about boating safety in schools, and life jackets are available for loan at many lakes and rivers across Alaska. …Representative Mark Neuman of Wasilla sponsored HB 151 and Governor Palin signed the legislation in May.

Both NM and Alaska rank high in the USA for the prevalence of drownings (the number of deaths divided by the population). Alaska is a semi-arid region with a lot of riparian and coast line; New Mexico is a semi-arid region. Both states share a cultural norm that things go better with alcohol, especially if activities involve an engine (boat, auto, snowmachine). Both states seem to believe “accidents” [not my fault] are always happening but ones with bad consequences only happen to others, the less deserving.

PFDs (personal flotation devices, once referred to as lifevests) are no substitute for sobriety but they can buy time, if properly used. Even without alcohol present, PFDs are valuable. Take a look at these numbers–

http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/boating/pdf/kdfschool08.pdf
1. Alaska has one of the highest boating fatality rates in the nation
a. at least 6 out of 10 are NOT wearing a life jacket
b. 9 out of 10 involve boats 26 feet and under
c. 5 out of 6 are due to capsizing or falling overboard
d. 8 out of 10 are Alaska residents
e. 9 out of 10 are adult males
f. at least 1 out of 3 involve alcohol
g. nearly all incidents involve cold water immersion

The state law allows adults to endanger themselves, but not underage children.

5. Legal requirements
a. everyone in the boat must have a life jacket of the proper size readily accessible
b. anyone under the age of 13 must be wearing a life jacket when on deck or in an open boat
c. must be suitable for the activity and wearer
1. read the label
d. must be in serviceable condition
1. free of defects (tears, missing zippers, broken buckles)
e. must be USCG-approved

A child’s coloring book encourages children to grow up to remember the law’s requirements.
from http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/boating/pdf/2006ColoringBook36pgWEB.pdf

PARENTS:
It’s the LAW!
Persons under the age of thirteen
MUST wear their
PFD in an open boat
or on a deck.

Alaskan 8-year old on open boat without PFD

Gov. Sarah Palin issued this proclamation in May to remind all of us that being safe around water, whether or not boating or fishing, is smart and more than the easily remembered “do what you otter around water, wear a pfd”

“WHEREAS, Alaska is blessed with an extensive coastline, millions of lakes, and thousands of rivers, making Alaska’s waters an important part of daily life; and

WHEREAS, our state offers many diverse boating opportunities for transportation, subsistence, and recreation, including kayaking, canoeing, rafting, and power boating; and

WHEREAS, boating can also be dangerous, and often fatal; and

WHEREAS, Alaska’s frigid waters can kill the unprepared, regardless of swimming ability; and

WHEREAS, four out of five of Alaska’s boating fatalities involve a sudden, unexpected capsize or fall overboard; and

WHEREAS, to help prevent accidents or fatalities while boating, boaters can take the simple step of wearing life jackets when in an open boat or on an open boat deck. In an emergency, life jackets provide an important advantage, and allow all efforts to be focused on self-rescue or getting help from others; and

WHEREAS, the newest designs make today’s life jackets more comfortable, functional, and affordable than ever. There is no reason to not wear one; and

WHEREAS, by wearing life jackets while boating, Alaskans demonstrate that when enjoying the outdoors, safety always comes first;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Sarah Palin, Governor of the state of Alaska, do hereby proclaim May 16-22, 2009 as:

Safe Boating Week

in Alaska, and encourage all boaters to make their boating memories this season good ones by always wearing life jackets, carefully preparing for each trip, carrying appropriate communications and signaling devices, and by serving as a positive example on the water for other boaters.
Dated: May 7, 2009
http://www.gov.state.ak.us/proclamations.php?id=1835

To test a life jacket, lift it at the shoulders. If the life jacket comes up over the ears, it is too big.

Test Alaska child's PFD fit. Will she slip out of unzipped PFD on open boat?

Today comes this tragic reminder of the example set “on the water for other boaters.”

A 56-year-old man drowned in Bristol Bay this morning, the Coast Guard said. He was fishing in an 18-foot skiff with his two teenage daughters when he went overboard while pulling in a net, said Coast Guard spokeswoman Sara Francis. … The accident happened in Togiak Bay around 9 a.m. and a nearby fisherman immediately called for Coast Guard help. The skiff was only 10 to 20 yards from shore but the man was not wearing a life jacket.

http://www.adn.com/money/industries/fishing/story/863256.html

2009-08-11 Very nice picture guide to Alaska Safe Boating Course.

Mahalo!

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Site Search Tags: PFD, Bristol+Bay, children, law, drowning, safety, Palin, preparedness, Kids+Don’t+Float, NM, Alaska

Greetings, all

I hadn’t looked at the ClustrMap in awhile so I was quite pleased to see all the little dots from visitors far from the usual locations (click on the map in the sidebar to see a larger image in a new tab). A nice surprise is that the maps now come with a table of the country of origin– a good way to test one’s geography knowledge by checking the dot location with the country name. This is the country of the IP address used by visitors.

I wish it were easier to visit in reverse, in analog or digital space.

Current Country Totals
From 12 Nov 2008 to 4 Jul 2009

United States (US)	20,669
Canada (CA)	1,935
United Kingdom (GB)	1,767
India (IN)	704
Australia (AU)	632
Philippines (PH)	570
Singapore (SG)	298