Comments | dear_tiger: The fandom zika campaign

dear_tiger

The fandom zika campaign

Jun 29, 2016 11:52

Far be it from me to attempt to derail any charitable campaign at all. But I want to explain the reason I've been stomping my boot about this zika auction.

( Hide yo wife, hide yo kids, hide yo husband, zika is coming to YOUR barbecue party )

Comments 13

amberdreams June 29 2016, 19:31:33 UTC

I feckin' hate mozzies. Horrible whiny blood-suckers. Got to admit I'd be more worried about malaria, West Nile virus, dengue and yellow fever than about zika though. PS - I thought that rabies vid was a spoof - is it real/serious then?

dear_tiger June 29 2016, 19:36:16 UTC

Awful things, agreed. And honestly, of all the things they transmit here and in the tropics, zika is not the worst. Malaria isn't going anywhere, for instance.

No, no, the rabies video is from the US version of Office. It is a joke. It's funny because it campaigns against very real, very dangerous disease - but with the focus entirely off. It is why I bring it up with this zika campaign. Only unlike rabies, zika is not particularly bad at all, not even in the Caribbean, and its main impact is not because of how horrible it is but because it spreads so quickly over there and gobbles up their resources. But no, let's focus on how dreadful it is and how much it threatens us over here.

amberdreams June 29 2016, 19:39:02 UTC

Oh phew, I thought it had to be a skit, but then I was second guessing myself... And I agree with the point you are making. It is always the case that in the first world countries until something threatens to impact on our cozy little lives we very rarely react to things as we should.

dear_tiger June 29 2016, 19:43:09 UTC

It kills nearly four thousand Americans every one thousand years!

amberdreams June 29 2016, 19:33:39 UTC

PPS - this is interesting! Check out this article.

dear_tiger June 29 2016, 19:39:01 UTC

Huh. That's definitely a cool and interesting approach to the problem. Kudos to the guy, I hope his work continues to be successful.

amberdreams June 29 2016, 19:42:59 UTC

we've recently discovered the zapper approach to treating bites - I can't remember what the things are called but they basically deliver a small electric shock to the bitten area, stimulating (as I understand it) the body's natural antihistamine. I've noticed that this not only stops the itching for several hours, but it also reduces the swelling and redness. Maybe this is the way to reduce that inflammation?

dear_tiger June 29 2016, 19:44:36 UTC

Never heard of that, but it also sounds pretty interesting. Nifty :D

Thread 5

zempasuchil June 29 2016, 19:54:38 UTC

this is super cathartic to read. thank you. I hate the zika fearmongering mostly because it reeks of pro-lifer BS, so to see fandom fall prey to alarmism was super WTF.

dear_tiger June 29 2016, 20:43:19 UTC

Seriously, WTF, I almost spar tea all over my keyboard. I'm sure that everyone's intentions are good. But I do judge whoever started this campaign, because if I were to start a campaign in support of a charity, I'd at least bother with some research and think about where my facts and focus are. I want to know what compelled fandom to pick this particular disease. It better not be "I saw it on TV and my friend is pregnant". Third world doesn't have enough bigger problems? The US doesn't have enough bigger problems? No. Fucking zika.

tsuki_no_bara June 30 2016, 04:56:31 UTC

i wonder if some of this sudden zika fear is because of the olympics in rio, because it's in the news now. (altho apparently rio has other problems besides zika. like, no one's paying the cops and firefighters. and a dead body just washed up on the beach volleyball beach. ew.)

but yeah, why zika? if it's a fundraising campaign aimed mostly at north americans, why not raise money for, i dunno, vaccine awareness? because unvaccinated kids and their willfully ignorant dumbfuck parents are a demonstrable threat and have been for longer than zika, and will be long after we've figured out how to prevent it. it looks like the fundraiser is raising funds for various charities, at least, rather than some general us-focused awareness campaign, but what an odd, low-impact (at least in the us) thing to raise money for.

dear_tiger June 30 2016, 05:08:47 UTC

You know, I wouldn't be surprised at all if this is all because of the Olympics and the ridiculous publicity this issue got. Brazil's firefighter and cops not being paid isn't affecting the US, so eh. But oh my god, their snot bug is coming over ( ... )