The 'poster' is sincere. ...... The epi-center of Lyme disease is right there, and there are and have been deer herds roaming the wooded areas there even more so since it has been built up over the last 50 or so years.
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Nowhere on Earth, you know the big round ball we all live on, is Lyme more prevalent than Lyme, CT.
If Lyme is the epicenter, then we would expect the incidence of Lyme disease to be higher in Connecticut than in other states, right?
Here's a listing of the states with the highest incidence of confirmed Lyme disease per 100,000 population (2013-15 average) from the CDC (
Lyme disease data tables | Lyme Disease | CDC)
Vermont -- 85.5
Maine -- 82.5
New Hampshire -- 59.8
Connecticut -- 52.9
Vermont has an incidence rate 43% higher than Connecticut. What credible evidence can you offer to support your claim?
I didn't cite a source because I'm not all that familiar with the entire Lyme disease manifestation personally; though I had a recent conversation with someone who is very familiar with it, and that is where my comment(s) came from. And my saying it is 'believed' doesn't make what I said untrue or some creationism gibberish either.
It doesn't make it true or anything other than gibberish either.
What I know is the conversation I cited having recently is with someone who is very well versed in Lyme disease, where it came from, and how and why it got off the island and into the general population.
So, as someone who is "not all that familiar with the entire Lyme disease manifestation personally," how did you judge that your interlocutor was "very well versed in Lyme disease"?
What are his/her credentials?
Surely your interlocutor must have published his/her research in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Please direct us to those journal articles.
Does having read the Michael Carroll book make him/her an expert?
Your takeaway from a personal conversation with an individual who you judge to be "very well versed in Lyme disease" doesn't constitute scientific evidence.
Did your interlocutor tell you about these findings from Margos et al. * --
Lyme Disease Bacterium Came From Europe Before Ice Age -- ScienceDaily?
"The bacterium responsible for Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, originated in America, or so researchers thought. Now, however, a team from the University of Bath has shown that this bug in fact came from Europe, originating from before the Ice Age.......
The study's findings appear to show that Borrelia burgdorferi originated in Europe but that the species has been present in North America for a long time. The researchers suggest its re-emergence there in the 1970s occurred after the geographic territory of the tick that carries the bacteria expanded, for example through the restoration of woodland."*
Meaning what exactly, you don't believe in science, too, just like the OP?
Meaning that you accuse the OP of accepting unscientific evidence while you give credence to an interlocutor who appears to be blowing smoke on the topic. You should practice what you preach.
You can read can't you? Let's see, government denial of wrongdoing and experiments of weaponizing biologicals - nah, that could never happen in the USA.....
I understand English -- it is my Mother Tongue. I hope that I have developed critical thinking skills and I expect extraordinary evidence from folks making extraordinary claims.
Here's some additional info on Carroll from
CNN.com - The mysterious lab off New York's shore - Apr 2, 2004
"... Carroll,
an attorney, admitted to The Associated Press that
he has no direct evidence of his book's horrific tales, just years of research. 'Every investigation is about connecting the dots,' he said.
Others disagree with his stories.
'I personally just don't think that has any merit,' David Weld, the executive director of the American Lyme Disease Foundation, told the AP."
I don't have any issues with lawyers, but I don't rely on them when it comes to scientific matters. When it comes to scientific issues, I give more credence to someone with a PhD in a relevant discipline than to someone with a JD. Also, I am more inclined to give credence to peer-reviewed findings published in scientific journals than to conspiracy theories published in books intended for a mass market.
If there was any credible scientific evidence to support Carroll's conspiracy theory, I expect that trial lawyers would have filed lawsuits on the behalf of those afflicted with Lyme disease. As I understand it, the plaintiffs' lawyers would be able to depose the Plum Island officials/employees and obtain evidence via the discovery process. Please advise us as to the lawsuits that have been filed and the outcomes of those lawsuits.
So say you...try providing facts disproving the connection.
Even the author of the conspiracy theory admits he doesn't have any direct evidence. If you are willing to accept a lawyer's conspiracy theory, fine with me. I'm inclined to give more credence to the scientific evidence provided by Margos et al. and others with scientific credentials.
Some of my family is almost close enough to touch Plum Island, and has lived in Old Black Point CT; (sorry it's a gated community so only owners and their family/guests are allowed), for over 100 years.
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Roundup and it's pervasiveness in and around the entire world
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approval of it's considered to be non-carcinogenic status as a herbicide.
I grew up in a rural part of NC where the only gates present allowed access to cow pastures. However, somewhere along the line, I think in the third grade, I learned the correct usage of "its" versus "it's."
Steve
* Here's a partial listing of the authors of the referenced study:
Gabriele Margos
Departments of Biology and Biochemistry and
Anne G. Gatewod
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520;
David M. Aanensen
Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College London, St. Mary's Hospital, London W2 1PG, United Kingdom;
Klára Hanincová
Department of Microbiology and Immunology and
Darya Terekhova
Department of Microbiology and Immunology and
Stephanie A. Vollmer
Departments of Biology and Biochemistry and
Muriel Cornet
Centres Nationaux de Référence des Borrelia et de la Leptospirose, Institut Pasteur, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France;
Joseph Piesman
Bacterial Diseases Branch, Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ft. Collins, CO 80521;
Michael Donaghy
Department of Clinical Neurology, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, United Kingdom;
Antra Bormane
Public Health Agency, LV-1012, Riga, Latvia; and
Merrilee A. Hurn
Mathematical Sciences, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, United Kingdom;
Edward J. Feil
Departments of Biology and Biochemistry and
Durland Fish
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520;
Sherwood Casjens
Division of Cell Biology and Immunology, Department of Pathology, University of Utah Medical School, Salt Lake City, UT 84132
Gary P. Wormser
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY 10595;