"Debunked" Leprosy Story Still True
I heard the story about the prevalence of leprosy, TB, and certain sexually transmitted diseases in the Marshallese Islanders living in NWA. I did not post a story about it at the time. Nine cases of leprosy spread over 9,000 islanders did not seem to be that big a story, and other people were on it. Leprosy (may or may not be the same disease referred to as "leprosy" in the Scriptures) is a serious disease, but not excessively contagious and at least it is treatable.
I am only writing about it now because if there is one thing I can't stand, its deceit. It is true that the prevalence of disease among these immigrants is a small point in favor of stricter controls on immigration. The re-emergence of diseases that we thought had long since been eliminated in civilized nations is doubtless in part attributable to globalization. But the disease itself is not as great a public danger as is the refusal of many in the local "news" media to be unbiased in their coverage of stories with an immigration angle, aided and abetted by a compliant state government.
I am no fan of globalization, as I believe it is a risky scheme which ties our economic fate to corrupt non-free market economies. It also has many hidden costs that are shifted from those who most benefit from gobalization unto the backs of the common citizen. Regardless of that, I harbor no ill-will against the Marshallese themselves who appear to have immigrated here in a perfectly legal manner. If our immigration controls are not strict enough, it surely is not the fault of legal immigrants. What I do object to is that we can't even have a discussion about immigration, even when it touches a legitimate local health concern, without the local corporate media/government complex jumping in and pretending that those raising legitimate concerns are making much ado about nothing.
Normal people I talk to about this issue tell me that the leprosy story has been "debunked" by the state health department. That is the message they get from local media coverage. Is it the truth? No. It is just another case of one-sided "news" reporting skewing perceptions so that the open-borders interests of large area corporations are protected. It is not even that I have a problem with the large corporations. I have a problem with mis-information posing as legitimate news.
If you will read carefully at this link from KFSM you will discern that the nine cases of leprosy in the Springdale Marshallese do in fact exist. The basis for the "debunking" of the story is NOT that the cases don't exist, but rather simply that they have been "known" for several years. Well, they may have been "known" to a small circle in the state health department, but not to the general population. The "debunking" reports also don't seem to comment on the reports of a high rate of TB and sexually transmitted diseases in the population.
When PC gets in the way of truth, we can't have rational discussions and therefore we can't make rational decisions about public policy. Deceit is wrong at any rate, but even if it wasn't, we are coming on hard times where PC self-delusion is a luxury we can no longer afford.
I am only writing about it now because if there is one thing I can't stand, its deceit. It is true that the prevalence of disease among these immigrants is a small point in favor of stricter controls on immigration. The re-emergence of diseases that we thought had long since been eliminated in civilized nations is doubtless in part attributable to globalization. But the disease itself is not as great a public danger as is the refusal of many in the local "news" media to be unbiased in their coverage of stories with an immigration angle, aided and abetted by a compliant state government.
I am no fan of globalization, as I believe it is a risky scheme which ties our economic fate to corrupt non-free market economies. It also has many hidden costs that are shifted from those who most benefit from gobalization unto the backs of the common citizen. Regardless of that, I harbor no ill-will against the Marshallese themselves who appear to have immigrated here in a perfectly legal manner. If our immigration controls are not strict enough, it surely is not the fault of legal immigrants. What I do object to is that we can't even have a discussion about immigration, even when it touches a legitimate local health concern, without the local corporate media/government complex jumping in and pretending that those raising legitimate concerns are making much ado about nothing.
Normal people I talk to about this issue tell me that the leprosy story has been "debunked" by the state health department. That is the message they get from local media coverage. Is it the truth? No. It is just another case of one-sided "news" reporting skewing perceptions so that the open-borders interests of large area corporations are protected. It is not even that I have a problem with the large corporations. I have a problem with mis-information posing as legitimate news.
If you will read carefully at this link from KFSM you will discern that the nine cases of leprosy in the Springdale Marshallese do in fact exist. The basis for the "debunking" of the story is NOT that the cases don't exist, but rather simply that they have been "known" for several years. Well, they may have been "known" to a small circle in the state health department, but not to the general population. The "debunking" reports also don't seem to comment on the reports of a high rate of TB and sexually transmitted diseases in the population.
When PC gets in the way of truth, we can't have rational discussions and therefore we can't make rational decisions about public policy. Deceit is wrong at any rate, but even if it wasn't, we are coming on hard times where PC self-delusion is a luxury we can no longer afford.
posted by Mark Moore (Moderator) at Monday, February 11, 2008
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