Human Interest

What made the world the way it is?  The spread of people, ideas and goods--Geographers refer to this as diffusion and these 5 podcasts all center on what factors promote the spread of some phenomena, and what obstacles and barriers exist to the diffusion of others. 

Tags: podcast, medical, diffusion, culture, popular culture, globalization.

What made the world the way it is?  The spread of people, ideas and goods--Geographers refer to this as diffusion and these 5 podcasts all center on what factors promote the spread of some phenomena, and what obstacles and barriers exist to the diffusion of others. 

Tags: podcast, medical, diffusion, culture, popular culture, globalization.

What made the world the way it is?  The spread of people, ideas and goods--Geographers refer to this as diffusion and these 5 podcasts all center on what factors promote the spread of some phenomena, and what obstacles and barriers exist to the diffusion of others. 

Tags: podcast, medical, diffusion, culture, popular culture, globalization.

Unit 1 nature and perspectives of geography

This video is about how a world wide pandemic can occur and has occurred in history. I thought this was interesting because it  spoke of many specific events like the black death and the 2010 cholera outbreak in haiti, gave detailed information, and was very informal.

This relates to unit 1 because it shows how pandemics and epidemics occur in a detailed way. It also shows how geography has related to epidemic outbreaks by showing disease spread maps and showing how doctors used this to solve the issue of it.

Unit 2

Benjamin Hennig's map of the world displays the number of unimmunized children in the world. The larger the immunization rate, the smaller the country and the lower it is, the larger the country appears. Even though some parents in The United States are choosing  not to immunize their children, those numbers still have no comparison to those in Nigeria or India which are the largest due to lack of money and resources.

The use of different sizes to present the data is very helpful and makes it easy to determine the highest and lowest rates but a key for the countries would be helpful since they are so distorted. 

When I viewed this map I was quite shocked to see that India had the highest amount of unvaccinated children in this world. The lack of finical stability could be a major factor for India, Nigeria and other locations such as Congo or Bangladesh. Instead of the news focusing on places with unvaccinated children such as California, who by the way is more stable than India. The news and government should take it upon themselves to help these countries since the priorities of the government right now are not being placed appropriately. This map gives a good perspective of how unvaccinated children are globally, not by showing numbers but rather showing by the size. The yellow blob ( India) should not be as enormous as it is, instead of funding and worrying about unnecessary places, the focus should be on helpless and unstable locations.

Before I even read the article, my first thought went to the Linneaus classification.  That really damaged history with this one chart.  I think people still think of Africans and blacks(very dark blacks) as dirty or unintelligent.  Which is horrible and couldn't be further from the truth.  Misinforming the public is criminal.  News media and social media need to be careful and educate properly.  I've been asked from a customs offical, "Have you been to Africa in the past 6 months?"  Which is a very blanket question because Africa is a continent.  There were areas that were not hit with Ebola.  

Those who deny the continued influence of racism in our society are blinding themselves to the truth. Contemporary influences of the racism that plagued the preceding centuries are still found in most major media depictions of Africa. The Ebola epidemic has served to highlight the bigotry that plagues Western media, as the assumption that all of Africa is diseased and dirty is continuously perpetuated (when, in reality, Ebola only affected a very small part of the continent). Africa is presented as "other," a backwards continent that is in desperate need of Western help and guidance- in what was is that different from the European colonizers who also viewed their actions as benevolent attempts to "civilize" the uncivilized? That mindset has not left Western circles, and yet we continue to pat ourselves on the back and congratulate ourselves for suddenly being so tolerant. The insensitivity of Western audiences to the concerns of black individuals both at home and in Africa related to the prevalence of racism highlights how determined mainstream media is to deny the existence of a problem. Until we recognize the Eurocentrism that continues to plague our media and make the necessary moves to correct the practice, harmful depictions of Africa will continue to loom large in Western media and in the opinions of many Europeans and Americans alike.

Africa has long been treated by the western media as a dark , brutish, uncivilized place. Africa is a place were people starve and murder each other in large numbers. There is so much more to Africa than the picture I just described. The problem is, many people just do not accept the existence of a culturally complex Africa. That narrative would destroy the traditional  darker narrative of the past 500 years. A narrative grounded in the beliefs that blacks are inherently inferior beings. During the Ebola crises, the calls to cut off travel to Africa were quick and demanding. Had the crises been in England, would those same calls have been so loud? I think we all can guess the answer  to that question. Much progress has been made, but we still need to change our cultural depiction of Africa.

The development between MDCs and LDCs are very different in a lot of ways. The Ebola epidemic is handled in two different ways because of the levels of development in countries. in MDCs there is more of a health indutry and can cure sicknesses much faster than those countries of less development. 

I.C.

It was sad that it took over 4 months for there to be declared an epidemic.  I think if this hit in the US or Europe then things would have been taken care of a lot faster.  Out of sight, out of mind till one trickled in then another.  Then we got scared.  But Africa needs to get it together and create a better continent with healthcare systems that work.  The doctors over there said it looked medieval.  I believe that and can't even fathom how horrible it was.  

Talking about the failure of WHO to stop the Ebola outbreak and how the low developed countries were so quickly affected by the disease. 

In just a few months the Ebola virus has cumulated out of control. More people became affected and died in the last five months than all of the combined deaths that have occurred since Ebola was first discovered in 1976. Ebola began to spread from rural areas to a border region in West Africa when ill people traveled to the city to work or go to the market, making international spread likely. Mounting a campaign to increase awareness of the risks and to contain the virus was nearly impossible due to the low illiteracy rates. Consequently, health workers were taking ill people away from family and their homes to contaminate centers. This caused much fear and mistrust and was not successful. More people became infected and the snowball effect ensued. When people did show up at ill-equipped hospitals, there were not enough beds or free space and most were turned away. Some health workers walked off the job fearing being infected because of the poor conditions. No gloves, masks or gowns were provided and workers feared for their own health. The ill patients went back into the community and Ebola continued to spread. The response of the global community was not fast enough, and help did not arrive in time before the spread of Ebola became an epidemic. It is clear that in a world that is so closely connected, we must have a global heath system that works.  

Ebola is getting worst every day. one of the things that has caused the spread of this virus is the fact that many working people cross the border to other regions to work or to go to market. Back in days, you used to see this Ebola issue in very rural areas, but now is getting worst. In these areas were the Ebola is getting worst, they do not count with a good health system. Sometimes there are day when they do not have gloves, gowns and mask, and because of that, there have been health care workers who have just walked away from their jobs because they do not want to put in risk their life. This  is a very sad situation, which I hope it get better.

Geography played an important role in spreading this disease like wild fires. In a rural place such as Liberia where there is low literacy rates and  limited knowledge of Ebola, it can be spread without people knowing what is happening. On top of that there are workers crossing the border everyday for work and exposing it to everyone around them. This even took place in west Africa where Ebola breakout are unheard of. All these contributing factor led to the worst epidemic of the century. 

Education makes a huge difference in the health of poor nations. All they needed was to educate a few citizens on the basics of diseases endemic to the region and they have seen significant improvement in the health of the citizens.

This is amazing!  Although Ethiopia still has a long way to go in the medical field they have made major improvements in the last few years.  The building being used as an office is not anything spectacular by any means but it is helping save lives.  Common ailments that used to be the cause of death of young children are now treatable and children are able to live past their fifth birthday.  This is a big deal for the people in Ethiopia.  This is not any expensive program brought in by the United States, but a government run program created in Ethiopia.  Common remedies are given to children as well as vaccines that are carefully documented for who needs what and when by the people that run the facilities.  Although the program is still improving and it may take a long time for it to become top notch, the improvement that has been because of this is stellar for the circumstances.

Mortality rates have become overwhelmingly high in many countries. Ethiopia has now found simple health remedies to improve these rates. Many of these poor countries do not have numerous resources or even medication to help them when they are sick. Ethiopia used to have one of the highest child mortality rate in the world. one of the statistics given was very alarming and it stated ""If you were a kid born in 1990 [in Ethiopia], you had a 1 in 5 chance of not surviving to your fifth birthday." This is horrific for children who cannot predict where they are born and raised. Since 1990, Ethiopia has improved that rate by 60%. They havented invested a lot of money but have opened basic clinics with community individuals who are minimumally educated on these matters. Many of these workers have gone through a one-year training but nothing fancy. Many of these clinics have even two rooms and no electricity. Many of these children are finally being treated properly for some basic things that shouldn't be taking their lives. There is a long way to go for improvemnet but as long as their is a will to help these children, this country will vastly improve.

This is a great article on the side affects of man made infrastructure. While dams can be used in positive ways they can also have negative effects like this that probably were not even considered.

<< I had measles back in 1977, when I was too young to be vaccinated during an outbreak in the Southern California region.  My father-in-law still lives with the effects of Polio that he contracted when he was a toddler, right around the time of Jonas Salk's great discovery that lead to the Polio vaccine.  I care about this issue because the effects are personal--but for too many, they've never known the realities of a world before vaccines. We collectively have forgotten WHY life expectancy and have steadily gone up over the decades at the same time that infant mortality rates have dropped.  It's in large part because the nightmarish diseases of yesteryear have been eliminated, if we collectively are all immunized. Unfortunately, this is the discouraging truth (for now): anti-vaxxers are nearly impossible to convince. I hope this current measles outbreak is the tipping point for their to be enough public sentiment to lead to change. >>

Is your state on here?

"Shots Before School. It's the Rule." This slogan is posted on our school website and many other places, but there are exemptions from the rule. 19 states will allow exemptions for philosophical or religious reasons. 48 states and Washington D.C. will allow only religious exemptions. Only 2 states will not allow any exemptions at all.

America is founded on principles of religious freedom and the ability to choose for yourself. It makes sense that the majority of states would allow some sort of exemption for religion. What is really interesting is that the only 2 states with a no exemption policy are Mississippi and West Virginia. The states that allow philosophical exemptions are usually clustered in groups and spread their beliefs and rules to one another. Example: The Bible Belt

Over the last quarter century, the medical technology has ever so changed. Simple tests and modernized medications can help slow the progress of the HIV infection. The tests can tell if someone has advanced AIDS or early stages of the HIV virus itself. However, over the last year and a half, the epidemic has been placed on the back burner with the Ebola epidemic that has and still occurring. The fact that Ebola spread as rapidly as it did, shows that any virus or disease can spread extremely quick if someone comes in contact with bodily fluids of another human and can be contracted pretty quickly.

this is a media issue all over the world. focusing on one part of a story and not revealing the rest. people can focus on how bad things are or they can focus on the advancements and how much better things are than how they were and how they continue to get better, especially in regards to medical care in africa. their level of care is still just awful but is obviously steadily improving. especially in south africa.

It doesn't surprise me that the average person doesn't know his geography.  It shocks the hell out of me that a college would put themselves in a situation to look that stupid!  Do your research people.

This is another example of stereotyping taking its course through Africa.  Even though I am aware of the size and diversity of Africa, I was guilty of associating Ebola with the whole continent and not just the affected areas.  Same thing goes with the AIDS virus and other things, such as poverty.  Articles are great for people in other parts of the world to read to better educate them on the size and diversity of Africa and that there are many different ways of life in its 54 countries.

The Ebola epidemic over the last year put everyone in the world on high alert, not just those who lived in Sierra Leone and many countries in West Africa. It is important to understand how the virus spread so quickly and the advancements made to treat the virus. Geography played a big part of the spread of the virus. Because Africa, and the countries are far from modern medical technology, many non-profit organizations like Doctors without Borders were dispatched to those affected areas to help show and train physicians there the proper techniques on how to treat infected people with Ebola. That's why on the map one can see a far range of countries who treated infected people in facilities that were built to handle cases of Ebola.

unit 1 diffusion!

Ebola has been a growing concern for some time now. With its origin in Africa to its spreading throughout the world, people have become increasingly worried about contracting Ebola. With the initial diagnosis of the first patient infected with Ebola in the US, the CDC has been working constantly to prevent further spread of this infectious disease. Not only has this raised medical concerns, but as soon as the Ebola outbreak has entered the United States Biotechnology stocks began to rise. With the help of devices and programs stemming from Biotechnology there is great hope for eradicating the disease once and for all. Even healthcare workers are hesitant upon working with infected individuals, so hopefully biotech will enter with a grand entrance by providing materials or machinery to help prevent these workers from getting Ebola.

Although Ebola is a disease that can be stopped now, different measures need to be taken now. With the vaccines that were administered to the Ebola aid workers that were working in the site of the outbreak, mass production of that vaccine should be created and made available to those who are believed to be infected with this parasite.

It's almost ironic that the Western World has chosen to wait so long to get involved and now because of it's spread fear has begun that Ebola might travel to the United States. By not sending aid in a timely fashion the US has allowed the virus to grow to a point that now the US finds itself in danger. To make a historical comparison it's almost akin to the Munich Agreements, France and England chose not to stop a growing and dangerous Germany out of fear of conflict only to find war on their door steps because of it. Why did the western world wait so long? Euro-centric bias or racism? Short sightedness? Regardless of the reason the United States and Western Europe are at risk from a nearly untreatable disease primarily through negligence.

This article shows how the Ebola virus began to spread in many of the countries on Africa and how likely the virus will arrive in the United States. The virus has crossed many borders in Africa already and, according to the article, has infected five people in the United States, but has been quarantined and is currently being treated.  The Ebola virus outbreak has shown how ill equipped certain parts of the world are, in terms of, having the necessary tools for combating a deadly disease. For example, the article provides a map that shows the areas in Africa are more infected with Ebola than others, illustrating how certain parts of the country are becoming more susceptible to the outbreak than others. So geographically, the Ebola virus has gone from a regional outbreak into a potentially global epidemic, what with the cases in the United States.

Ebola started in western Africa and it spread overseas to the United States more specifically than any other country. It currently affects over 23,200 people in western Africa. To make sure that Ebola is not being spread throughout the whole United States, eastern United States quarantines any visitors or immigrants from West Africa. Eastern United States seems to have the highest rate of ebola because it is closer to Africa. In that case, it can spread westerly un the United States. Perhaps, it could spread to Canada, Mexico or any other country.