Althouse: "[T]he tragic news equivalent to losing hundreds of years of broad expertise in combatting HIV/AIDS."

July 18, 2014

"[T]he tragic news equivalent to losing hundreds of years of broad expertise in combatting HIV/AIDS."

"Many HIV/AIDS researchers, officials, and activists – perhaps scores – had been traveling on Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 en route to the 20th anniversary AIDS 2014 conference in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia."

48 comments:

Unknown said...: Sad, but data lives forever.; 7/18/14, 7:08 PM
Michael K said...: I read there were 100 people going to an AIDS meeting in Melbourne.; 7/18/14, 7:08 PM
Jupiter said...: "Activists", hey? Perhaps there is something to be said for passivity.; 7/18/14, 7:10 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Whoa - all the joking just stopped,...; 7/18/14, 7:12 PM
Drago said...: It would be helpful if the number of actual researchers and scientists involved in identifying therapies for HIV/AIDS were broken out from the others.

Further, a bit of information regarding the areas of expertise of those lost who fit the above criterion would help lend context to the actual "hit" our research efforts have absorbed in this "potential tragedy".; 7/18/14, 7:24 PM
n.n said...: AIDS, as other STDs, is principally a behavioral disease. Its non-elective manifestations can be prevented through careful screening.; 7/18/14, 7:45 PM
rhhardin said...: If they're going to conferences they're not important.; 7/18/14, 8:06 PM
rcocean said...: Could we get a breakdown on how many were medical scientists and how many were "activists"?; 7/18/14, 8:33 PM
rcocean said...: Because "activists" are really, really, replaceable.

Medical scientists not so much.; 7/18/14, 8:34 PM
Seeing Red said...: Videoconferencing has its points.; 7/18/14, 8:36 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: America rolled Aces.

Barack Obama.

Nobody has a clue what he is gonna do.

Like the newbie at the table.

The most fearsome foe ever.

Barack leads America, back to America.

Brilliant.; 7/18/14, 8:37 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: In my esteemed opinion, President Obama will lead America to Victory.

Unlike the Bushes in the Middle East.

It is because he looks different, as many on the right have noted.; 7/18/14, 8:41 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: The record will record my theory is based on Steel Panther.

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/steelpanther/ifiwastheking.html

"drop a nuke on the Middle East"; 7/18/14, 9:01 PM
The Godfather said...: The death of 300 people is terrible whoever they were.

The story says that the plane was shot down "perhaps accidently". Anything is possible, but it's highly unlikely the rebels "accidently" fired the missile at the plane. The only "accident" may have been that they thought it was a military plane not an airliner. I think the best cover you can plausibly give them is "recklessly". I wonder if the same guys still have access to such missiles? I bet they do.; 7/18/14, 9:11 PM
Drago said...: n.n.: "Its non-elective manifestations can be prevented through careful screening."

Unfortunately, in Africa where we are dealing with, (well, how can I put this?) some of our non-white crack-like "betters", the forcible rape of young girls (virgins), even infant rape, is actually considered a "cure" for HIV/AIDS by far too many Africans.

So, again, unfortunately, there are many a "non-elective behavioral manifestation" which contributes to the spread of HIV/AIDS.; 7/18/14, 9:16 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Activists are really just hobbyists. Like sports fans in a way. So should not mean much to real research.; 7/18/14, 9:22 PM
MadisonMan said...: I also read, somewhere, that a big WMO TB in Africa expert was on the plane.

Russia has a lot of explaining to do, especially to its citizens with TB...and there are plenty.; 7/18/14, 9:26 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: Human beings are intrinsically diverse.; 7/18/14, 10:27 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: There is so much diversity within any human any suggestion to label ought be subject to strict lability.

And you can quote me.; 7/18/14, 10:29 PM
madAsHell said...: Let's not waste a crisis!!; 7/18/14, 11:01 PM
n.n said...: Drago:

Medicine will not cure their dysfunction. It may treat their symptoms. Unfortunately, the majority are innocent victims, of their governments, their rebels, and their activists. Perhaps the integration (e.g. intermarriage) of Chinese into African societies will help stabilize them.; 7/18/14, 11:05 PM
Anonymous said...: 'Russia has a lot of explaining to do to its citizens.'

Good for a laugh.; 7/18/14, 11:15 PM
Lyle said...: CDC says HIV is making a come back too... at least among gay men.

I've also seen it reported that only 6 HIV/AIDS conference people were on board.

Putin might need to go, right?; 7/18/14, 11:49 PM
traditionalguy said...: An Airbus A300 with an almost identical 290 passengers and crew load was negligently assumed to be an Iranian F14 and shot down by a US Navy missile in a tragedy identical to the Russian accident. The civilian airliner was on a scheduled flight in the proper flight corridors and there was no war going on.

That was in 1988 . The weakened USSR of Putin's Russian
people gave the USA no trouble about that because we were the guys with the white hats on.; 7/19/14, 2:05 AM
SomeoneHasToSayIt said...: Fog of war?

Reports now saying: "Not 100. About 6".; 7/19/14, 5:29 AM
Quaestor said...: The "100 AIDS researchers" claim is likely to turn out to be a wild exaggeration. A spokeswoman for the Melbourne conference says that so far only 6 of their attendees are unaccounted for.

Here we are, deep in the Information Age, only to discover much of it is misinformation. Is there any news outlet that can resist the temptation to pass on rumor and speculation as fact? ... That was a rhetorical question.; 7/19/14, 6:14 AM
Bart Hall (Kansas, USA) said...: Crap. Meade. This is Bart. Somehow my wife Margit was still signed into he G-mail account.

This was Bart Hall, not his wife Margit, commenting on Russian actions.

Don't get me going on Google leaving people signed in until they actively sign out. Our computer was *off* overnight.; 7/19/14, 7:02 AM
rhhardin said...: Something distant outdoors is sounding alternately two sine-wave notes a musical fifth apart.

It's either an ambulance or an ice cream truck.

Perhaps an emergency ice cream delivery.; 7/19/14, 7:17 AM
rhhardin said...: Railroad locomotives have horns that are designed not to sound like automotive horns, for instance the Nathan five-chime.

The same principle ought to apply to ambulances and ice cream trucks.; 7/19/14, 7:21 AM
Curious George said...: Russia invades Ukraine. The American left yawns.

Russia shoots down an "Asain"airliner in "Europe" killing almost 300. The American left says "it's the world's problem".

There are some HIV/AIDS activists and researchers among the dead. The left says "OMG SOMETHING MUST BE DONE!"; 7/19/14, 7:42 AM
Crimso said...: "The civilian airliner was on a scheduled flight in the proper flight corridors and there was no war going on."

Not a declared war. But the U.S.S. Vincennes was engaged in combat with Iranian speedboats at the time (I remember all of this as well as the other incidents in the Persian Gulf of that era; speedboats were essentially Iranian Navy, and if you don't think they had to be taken seriously then I would recommend some reflection on the U.S.S. Cole). They definitely screwed up, but they surely weren't sunning on the poop deck when the captain glanced up, saw the jetliner, and ordered "Bring 'er down, me lads!"; 7/19/14, 7:59 AM
Scott said...: If you and your co-religionists believed that your holy text called for the death of homosexuals; and that your deity would absolve you of responsibility for killing people who enabled them to live longer lives (with such absolution having been obtained by participating in some kind of religious or judicial ritual beforehand); wouldn't it make sense to shoot down an airliner full of AIDS researchers?; 7/19/14, 9:19 AM
Robert Cook said...: "Russia invades Ukraine. The American left yawns."

That's not what happened. Rather, the United States fomented the overthrow of a democratically elected government in Ukraine. The new US-supported government is made up of neo-Nazis and anti-semitic fascists, and is inflicting violence on pro-Russian Ukrainians who oppose the new illegitimate government. Russia has acted with restraint, actually, and certainly has not invaded Ukraine.

"Russia shoots down an "Asain"airliner in 'Europe' killing almost 300. The American left says 'it's the world's problem'."

It's not yet known exactly who shot down the airliner, or--if it was the pro-Russian rebels--whether or not Russia had anything to do with it or any prior knowledge the plane would be shot down.; 7/19/14, 10:24 AM
garage mahal said...: Russia invaded the Ukraine? LOL; 7/19/14, 11:50 AM
n.n said...: Curious George:

Russia did not invade Ukraine. There was a regime change in Ukraine following a violent coup. Russia is protecting people and assets in Ukraine.; 7/19/14, 12:46 PM
sinz52 said...: Robert Cook:

What you wrote is a total falsehood. I notice that you didn't provide one shred of evidence--because there is none.

The Ukrainians had a free election--entirely consistent with their constitution--in May 2014 and kicked out the pro-Russian regime, as was their right to do.

They didn't do anything that you guys on the Left didn't do (and more) when you rioted against the Vietnam War in the 1960s.; 7/19/14, 2:09 PM
sinz52 said...: n.n:

Russia doesn't get to "protect people and assets" by military force in ANYBODY ELSE's country.

The Warsaw Pact dissolved over 20 years ago.

Russia has no right to try to reconstitute it.; 7/19/14, 2:10 PM
Drago said...: garage: "garage mahal said...
Russia invaded the Ukraine? LOL"

Hmmmm.

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/141645/alexander-j-motyl/war-comes-to-ukraine

snip: "in the early morning hours of Sunday, July 13, about 100 Russian armored personnel carriers and other vehicles crossed from Russia into Luhansk province in Ukraine. Unlike earlier Russian deployments into Crimea and eastern Ukraine, these carriers were openly adorned with Russian insignia and flags. The flow of Russian tanks and soldiers into the area has since continued, and Ukrainian authorities estimate that up to 400 additional “little green men” (a term coined during the Crimea invasion for Russian troops without insignia) have infiltrated into eastern Ukraine’s Donbas."

So, gee garage. It's not an "invasion".

Just a simple insertion of Russian military personnel in uniform with heavy equipment into the Ukraine.

You can go back to sleep now dummy and bask in the "tranquility" offered by the obama "flexible"...VERY "flexible" foreign policy of which his boyfriend Putin seems to be quite fond.

Quite fond indeed.; 7/19/14, 2:16 PM
Drago said...: Cook: "It's not yet known exactly who shot down the airliner, or--if it was the pro-Russian rebels--whether or not Russia had anything to do with it or any prior knowledge the plane would be shot down"

Resident Stalinist Cookie (9-11 and October Surprise Truther) wants all of you to simmer down and wait for some "real" evidence before casting aspersions on Soviet KGB Officer Putin and the degree to which the forces he trained and unleashed in the Ukraine are responsible.

Up next for Cookie: a discussion about how Alger Hiss was innocent and framed by the evil right wing!

LOL; 7/19/14, 2:19 PM
Drago said...: sinz52: "Robert Cook: What you wrote is a total falsehood."

Falsehoods are simply tools to be utilized as required for the left.

Objective truth is a bourgeois concept and never an impediment to those advancing the Glorious Revolution!; 7/19/14, 2:31 PM
Anonymous said...: Thanks for the Socialist Party USA take, there, Cook.

You might want to stick to the art criticism in hopes of eroding the bourgeois values.

Freedom is next!; 7/19/14, 2:46 PM
Mountain Maven said...: Lessons to be learned: Don't fly a 3rd World Airline. Look up the accident rates.

Don't fly over a war zone.

Pick an airline where they can actually take off, navigate and land the airplane.; 7/19/14, 4:33 PM
Sunslut7 said...: As a former insurance underwriter of travel accident insurance policies it is a well worn fact that organizations are best served by not allowing all of their members to fly on the same plane or with the same airline. Spread of risk is a useful tool in reducing the consequences of adverse events.

Its a shame that this tragedy happened. It is a grave and burdensome loss to mankind.; 7/19/14, 5:01 PM
Robert Cook said...: "You might want to stick to the art criticism in hopes of eroding the bourgeois values."

Art criticism?; 7/19/14, 5:45 PM
Trashhauler said...: "There was a regime change in Ukraine following a violent coup. Russia is protecting people and assets in Ukraine."

And some people will believe anything if it gives them an opportunity to be a naysayer. As I recall, Polish troops attacked a German radio station in 1938.; 7/19/14, 11:48 PM
n.n said...: Gahrie:

Ukraine is lead by an illegitimate government established by a violent (i.e. deadly) coup. For all intents and purposes, Ukraine is an unstructured territory. So, Russia does indeed have standing to prevent violence in a neighboring territory, especially when it is directed against people who have asked for protection. This is essentially a humanitarian crisis backed by American and European powers. Not unlike the humanitarian crisis created on our Southern border, but with far more visible and immediate consequences.; 7/20/14, 12:09 AM
Robert Cook said...: "And some people will believe anything if it gives them an opportunity to be a naysayer. As I recall, Polish troops attacked a German radio station in 1938."

In this analogous situation, Russia is the "Polish troops." In other words, it is Western propaganda that asserts Russia is the evil aggressor in Ukraine.; 7/20/14, 7:43 AM
Drago said...: Cook: "In other words, it is Western propaganda that asserts Russia is the evil aggressor in Ukraine."

LOL

No further comment required.

Back to made up "9-11" and "October Surprise" truther accusations against BushI/BushII/Reagan!!; 7/20/14, 4:53 PM