Notices by Auscandoc (auscandoc@med-mastodon.com), page 4

Public opinion alone won’t save democracy | Science https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ads7371 “even though voters typically express support for democratic norms in the abstract, they will often support candidates who violate those norms.” #bcpoli

Hurricane misinformation is just one piece of America’s rumor habit - The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/10/18/misinformation-social-media-hurricane-fema/

“#misinformation including about recent hurricanes is not only the work of irresponsible politicians, anti-government attitudes or #SocialMedia sites with little regard for the truth. It’s also more evidence that misinformation is a natural outgrowth of our human anxieties, turbocharged by online connections. (1/5)

@WarnerCrocker Have to admit I left it long ago.

So many excellent thoughts in this piece. “But let’s not forget that, despite the whinging of a small but loud minority, the #COVID19 #VaccineMandate was always sound policy.

The safety of patients should always take precedent over the whims of workers, and B.C. did a much better job of protecting its vulnerable citizens than Ontario or Quebec, which abandoned their provincial mandates shamefully early.” https://med-mastodon.com/@picardonhealth/112877027795801323

“The courts have also backed this view. In May, the B.C. Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit by 15 unvaccinated workers who challenged the mandates. Justice Simon Coval said that while the rules may have violated the constitutional rights of some workers, that was reasonable because the 👉law was designed to protect the rights of vulnerable patients who had no choice but to be treated by these workers.”👈

@irina @randahl I’m (now) in a similar predicament. I literally (used to) walk into the store, plonk the old ones on the counter and say “give me another pair”, pay and walk out.

Scrolling through the replies in the hope of finding “I use these instead”.

@irina @randahl So… now what?

Yes it may seem trivial in the big scheme of things but the reality is my shoes make a huge difference to the toll of my work days

Opinion: We're taking the wrong approach to counteracting #ConspiracyTheories - Los Angeles Times https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-07-28/conspiracy-theories-trump-assassination-qanon “ardent #conspiracy theory adopters seldom have a desire to be accurately informed. #Belief in the unbelievable, in many cases, stems from desperation to meet fundamental human needs, such as feeling valued and having a purpose. (1/4)

Over the last three years, while interviewing hundreds of #disinformation-splintered families, it has become clear to me that facts alone can’t fix this. The solution begins with treating conspiracy theory obsession not as a sickness but as a symptom.” (2/4)

“Conspiracy-theory-entranced seniors have described .. how, before adopting a QAnon-like brand of what some called “activism,” they felt as if society no longer valued or had use for them. Facing what experts have identified as an “epidemic of loneliness,” they yearned for purpose, community and fulfillment.” (3/4)

“We’re living in a moment where a slew of critical stressors, including an unprecedented election season and an artificial intelligence boom, are fueling a tsunami of disinformation and leaving many of us mentally and emotionally compromised. As more Americans turn to conspiracy theories to cope, we must remind ourselves that we can’t do away with delusions that meet people’s fundamental needs by simply debunking them. We need to focus on the cause, not the symptom” (4/4)

One of Earth's major #CarbonSinks collapsed in 2023 | New Scientist https://www.newscientist.com/article/2440453-one-of-earths-major-carbon-sinks-collapsed-in-2023/ “Extreme #heat, #drought and #wildfires #caused forests and other land ecosystems to emit almost as much #CarbonDioxide as they removed from the atmosphere in 2023, nearly canceling out a major natural sink of the #GreenhouseGas.

Is climate change accelerating and is it worse than we expected? (1/2)

Researchers say the temporary decline of this sink – which usually removes about a quarter of our annual #CO2emissions from the atmosphere – bodes ill for how these ecosystems will respond to future #ClimateChange.” (2/2)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/wildfire-threatening-jasper-national-park-and-town-prompts-evacuation-order-1.7272029 “An encroaching #wildfire that forced thousands of people to flee the community of #Jasper overnight is now burning 12 kilometres south of the #Alberta mountain town as shifting winds threaten to fan the flames.”

#ClimateCrisis

Most recent update on modifiable risk factors that are attributable to ~40% of cancers via @erictopol

https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.3322/caac.21858

@aardvark @kaye The HHGTTG predicted everything.

Vaccines Work! 2024 Edition - ScienceUpFirst https://www.scienceupfirst.com/project/vaccines-work-2024-edition/ “the lives of 146 million children under the age of five have been saved, 101 million of those being under one year old, leading to a 40% reduction in global infant mortality. It is worth noting that vaccination against measles alone is responsible for saving 60% of those lives” #VaccinesSaveLives

“There’s nothing wrong with contrarianism per se. It’s just that we live in a world where facts exist,” said Murdoch, a senior research associate with the Health Law Institute at the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Law.

Murdoch said there is a vast amount of science that shows the vaccines are overwhelmingly safe.

“Smith also made the claim that the organizers have invited a variety of doctors. I think that is also a reckless misrepresentation,” Murdoch said. (2/4)

“The problem is that the information ecosystem has moved away from reliance on evidence to reliance on ideology and identity politics and extremism.”

Murdoch said the idea that contrarian voices were not considered during the #pandemic is “a false narrative.” (3/4)

Meanwhile in Albertastan

Alberta premier’s support for #TownHall questioning #COVIDvaccines worries experts | Globalnews.ca https://globalnews.ca/news/10511738/danielle-smith-covid-vaccine-town-hall/

“Blake Murdoch at the University of Alberta said #DanielleSmith framing the town hall as a chance to look at the international evidence of harm to children by COVID vaccines is a “reckless misrepresentation of what this event” is based on the guest list. (1/4)