An alternative location for this site has feeds, for those using RSS.

This is a starting page for folks in our region to ask questions about environment, safety, health, and social science research– Please leave your questions in the comment box under the post here or the page located here. To ask questions or to answer questions or leave comments, you do not have to have an E-mail address nor are you required to leave your E-mail address, unless you want the software to E-mail you when there is another comment. [Unfortunately, the restrictions of the software may move the comment box from one location to the other. If you need to communicate by E-mail, use this address — ykalaska AT gmail DOT com Be sure to correct the address before emailing. I have to disguise the address so that it will be less likely for the spammers to find me.]

I’ll then rearrange questions on this site (and get to them to answer, too.) This acts as a work-around for people to ask initial questions without having to sign up for their own, free uniblogs.org account. As the topics are posted, anyone can then contribute by commenting on those posts.

It may not be a useful format; but experimenting is the purpose.

Just as people must share seal meat and oil to maintain physical and social well-being, so, too, must they share knowledge–so that their minds will not rot.

I’ve had a few people ask about research assistance, sort of tutoring, in their studies on environment, health, social sciences. This may be of interest to a wider group of folks, so I set up this non-commercial blog as an experiment.

The site is focussed on the bird flu at the moment, because people are asking questions. A little over 10 years ago we had a “mystery illness” which killed healthy people (hantavirus) in New Mexico. We in the Pueblos couldn’t wait for IHS or CDC to figure out what the disease was and how to protect ourselves, if only from our own panic. We pooled our existing knowledge and expertise which helped our communities in their planning. [Sometimes it takes awhile for institutions to catch up with their constituents.]
This is a world-wide web, Internet accessible site. That is, a publicly accessible site. You don’t have to register or get a free account to ask questions. I’m not a salesperson or paid anything.

I’m just one person, at the moment, so please don’t expect too much. I also do not speak or read Yup’ik but I hope someone is willing to help out a friend is able to help me (quyana). Perhaps someone in the Villages can also help. The more of us who can work together, the better we can help each other.

Recent info on hantavirus in the USA is

Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome — Five States, 2006

Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) is a rodentborne viral disease characterized by severe pulmonary illness and a case-fatality ratio of 30%–40%. Sin Nombre virus causes the majority of HPS cases in the United States, and the deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) is its predominant reservoir. This report describes an increase in human cases of HPS reported during January–March 2006 from Arizona, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas, and Washington state. The findings emphasize the need for renewed attention to reducing the risk for hantavirus exposure.

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/ preview/mmwrhtml/mm5522a3.htm?s_cid=mm5522a3_e

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