Medical Health

Mesothelioma and Asbestos Information

We often hear of opportunists building rather shallow web sites around mesothelioma and asbestos so that they might obtain top dollar from contextual pay-per-click Google Adsense advertisements (Google crawls participating web sites and serves ads that match each site’s content). Or the myth is that content related to mesothelioma will bring webmasters some of the best paying Google Adsense ads.

The mesothelioma information site, www.mayoclinic.com/health/mesothelioma/DS00779, tells victims and victims’ families (and other interested parties) all about mesothelioma: what it is, how and why individuals fall victim to the disease, and the symptoms and procedures leading to diagnosis. The writers go on to point out the products that contain asbestos and the jobs that lead to asbestos exposure, and provides links to cancer centers that treat individuals suffering with mesothelioma. Available treatments (including nutritional and alternative therapies) are enumerated and explained.

Science, Ethics, and Abuse

Here is the statement I gave to the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and then e-mailed to President Bush:

One of my present concerns is that science (both in government and academia) attracts (and subsequently recruits) sinister political hacks and abject academic lackeys. I recently expressed my concern to the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy:

[originally addressed to the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy]

In your U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy Preliminary Report you state,

“The education of the 21st century ocean-related workforce will require not only a strong understanding of oceanography and other disciplines, but an ability to integrate science concepts, engineering methods, and sociopolitical considerations. Resolving complex ocean issues related to economic stability, environmental health, and national security will require a workforce with diverse skills and backgrounds. Developing and maintaining such a workforce will rely, in turn, on programs of higher education that prepare future ocean professionals at a variety of levels and in a variety of marine-related fields.”

Obviously, your educational and institutional environments and curricula must include rigorous methods for assessing codes of conduct and ethics. Mistreatment of employees, students, and constituents WILL RENDER YOUR SCIENCE SUSPECT.