The Blacklist Declassified

🔴 Is The Blacklist’s Medical Science Believable?

 
September 16, 2015 (Updated October 1, 2015)

I just added this section to the 🔴 Deep Background “page” of this blog. Thinking it would be “lost” otherwise and not noticed, I am also posting it here as a blog entry. I found out that most of the medical science exists or at least appears to be feasible, if anecdotally. My guess is that the show has access to experts in addition to what the writers come up with.

Many of these medical “wonders” of course raise ethical questions, not unlike a show like the original Star Trek did. Red often is the one who describes the ethical issues. It is important to me that the show remains connected to reality. I am somewhat versed in medical science, so knowing it holds true to reality there implies to me that it likely does too in areas I am not familiar with.

 
🔴 Medical 
♤♤🔴 Recent Breakthroughs 
♤♤♤♤ Obesity
♤♤♤♤ Cancer
♤♤♤♤ Aging (Longevity)
 

🔴 Medical Research 

 

🔴 RECENT BREAKTHROUGHS

 
[ Update: ] “Cures” in Sight for Obesity, Cancer and Aging? What else is there? –

 
💙 ScienceNews: Gene thought to cause obesity works indirectly http://bit.ly/1KEHguf
// 8/19/2015

 
💙 ScienceDaily: Discovery of new code makes reprogramming of cancer cells possible http://bit.ly/1PRJbQq Mayo Clinic/NIH research
// 8/24/2015

 
💙 ScienceNews (Dec 2014): Young blood aids old brains http://bit.ly/1Ehzmdj Studies in mice offer hope for alleviating aging

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⭕ Congenital Insensitivity to Pain

From: 1:5 The Courier

Doctor: I’ve read about cases like this. Your suspect has congenital anhidrosis. It’s a rare genetic disorder. He can’t feel physical pain.
Ressler: That makes sense.
Liz: And the scarring?
Doctor: People with the disorder obviously get injured more often, but not not like that. That– That’s something else entirely.
Cooper: We’re more interested in the knife wound in his chest. We think he might have placed evidence inside of it.
Doctor: What evidence?
Cooper: We’re not sure. That’s why you’re here.

[ Doctor removes the computer chip from the Man’s chest. He must be The Courier ]
The Courier: [ Suddenly. ] Boo.

There is indeed a condition characterized by the inability to feel physical pain. However, the term “anhidrosis” refers to the inability to sweat, a condition that often accompanies the inability to feel pain. The combined condition is refered to as “CIPA” or “Congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis.” From the National Institutes of Health:

NIH (May 2011): What is CIPA? http://1.usa.gov/1LlSg5O

● “Congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis (CIPA) has two characteristic features: the inability to feel pain and temperature, and decreased or absent sweating (anhidrosis). This condition is also known as hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathy type IV. The signs and symptoms of CIPA appear early, usually at birth or during infancy, but with careful medical attention, affected individuals can live into adulthood.

● “An inability to feel pain and temperature often leads to repeated severe injuries. Unintentional self-injury is common in people with CIPA, typically by biting the tongue, lips, or fingers, which may lead to spontaneous amputation of the affected area. In addition, people with CIPA heal slowly from skin and bone injuries. Repeated trauma can lead to chronic bone infections (osteomyelitis) or a condition called Charcot joints, in which the bones and tissue surrounding joints are destroyed.

● “Normally, sweating helps cool the body temperature. However, in people with CIPA, anhidrosis often causes recurrent, extremely high fevers (hyperpyrexia) and seizures brought on by high temperature (febrile seizures).

● “In addition to the characteristic features, there are other signs and symptoms of CIPA. Many affected individuals have thick, leathery skin (lichenification) on the palms of their hands or misshapen fingernails or toenails. They can also have patches on their scalp where hair does not grow (hypotrichosis). About half of people with CIPA show signs of hyperactivity or emotional instability, and many affected individuals have intellectual disability. Some people with CIPA have weak muscle tone (hypotonia) when they are young, but muscle strength and tone become more normal as they get older.”

The Independent [UK] (5/25/2015): The people who can’t feel pain: Scientists discover cause of rare inherited condition that turns off pain sensors http://ind.pn/1MIFpYO
// “No sense of pain can result in severe self-inflicted injuries and premature death”

● “About one in a million people are thought to be born without a sense of pain. A genetic cause of a rare inherited condition that leaves people with an inability to feel physical pain has been discovered by scientists.

● “About one in a million people are thought to be born without a sense of pain, which results in severe self-inflicted injuries from an early age and can lead to premature death.

● “Scientists studying the condition, known as congenital insensitivity to pain, in 11 affected families in Europe and Asia have now identified mutations in a gene called PRDM12 that was already known to be involved in activating genetic switches.

● “The researchers found that mutations in both copies of the gene that a person inherits from their mother and father – who are unaffected carriers of the defective gene – results in all the pain sensors of the body being turned off from birth.”

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⭕ “Genetic Heroes”

From 1:7 Frederick Barnes

Liz: You were right about Barnes. They weren’t just attacks. They were experiments. He was searching for someone with a natural immunity for Kurz disease.
Meera: You mean like Elisa Rubin?
Liz: That’s why she survived the attack. Her test results just came back. She has zero sign of infection.
Meera: So, he’s going to use this genetic immunity to synthesize an antidote, then, if Barnes believes he has the cure –
Liz: He’s going for the boy. …

ScientificAmerican (5/30/2014): ‘Genetic Heroes’ May Be Key to Treating Debilitating Diseases http://bit.ly/1Ybu1Ln

● “The Resilience Project seeks to find people who are unaffected by genetic mutations that would normally cause severe and fatal disorders”

● “Some people who have a fateful mutation … live healthy lives without any apparent symptoms of illness. These rare individuals are the focus of The Resilience Project, a new initiative that aims to identify people unaffected by their problematic genes and figure out how they have avoided their dismal destinies. The hope is that by studying these people, researchers can find new approaches for treating these genetic diseases.”

● “The new initiative seeks to enroll one million people over the age of 40 to search for such ‘unexpected heroes,’ as project leaders call them. Those who enroll will receive a DNA kit, much like those that companies such as 23andMe use …. The Resilience Project is looking specifically at 162 genes that can cause what Friend and Schadt refer to as ‘catastrophic’ diseases.

● The researchers “expect that about one in 15,000 people are living healthy lives with mutations that should cause severe illness. That estimate comes from a retrospective analysis of about 600,000 genomes collected by 23andMe and other companies.”

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⭕ DNA Evidence Falsification

From 1:12 The Alchemist

Liz: Y- you can’t change DNA.
Red: Well, the Alchemist can. Lizzy, this man is a forensic virtuoso. He’s an artist who paints in blood and saliva samples. Human tissue is his canvas. I’m not ashamed to say he’s even better than me at helping people disappear, which is why Madrczyk hired him and not myself.
Liz: Wait. Madrczyk tried to hire you?
Red: Competition is fierce.
–
Liz: How does he do it?
Red: I don’t know even half of it. I’ve heard rumors– removing the white blood cells from the victim and replacing them with the red blood cells of his client, leaving clone DNA at crime scenes to mislead the police, even incorporating synthetic DNA into genuine human tissue.
Liz: So this isn’t just evidence tampering. This is genetic manipulation.
Red: Yes. It’s a trade in death. The guilty give their blood and genetic identity.mThe innocent give their life for the guilty to live. If you find the Alchemist, you have a chance to resurrect the dead, to bring to justice some of the most vile creatures who ever lived.

NYT (2009): DNA Evidence Can Be Fabricated, Scientists Show http://nyti.ms/1QFthct

● “Scientists in Israel have demonstrated that it is possible to fabricate DNA evidence, undermining the credibility of what has been considered the gold standard of proof in criminal cases.

● “The scientists fabricated blood and saliva samples containing DNA from a person other than the donor of the blood and saliva. They also showed that if they had access to a DNA profile in a database, they could construct a sample of DNA to match that profile without obtaining any tissue from that person.

● “‘You can just engineer a crime scene,’ said Dan Frumkin, lead author of the paper, which has been published online by the journal Forensic Science International: Genetics. ‘Any biology undergraduate could perform this.’”

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⭕ Sperm Donation

From 1:13 The Cyprus Agency

Liz: And you and your employees get rich?
Mallory/Shaw: No. Well, yes. But it’s not about the money for me.
Liz: What does that mean?
Mallory/Shaw: I think I’ve said enough. But my legacy is complete. And there is nothing you can do to change that.
Liz: Your legacy. You’re the father. The children brokered by the Cyprus Agency are yours. Why? Mallory/Shaw: Well, I was damaged goods, wasn’t I? Not fit to survive in their privileged world. Well, I am surviving. Now part of me is thriving in every home that has my child.

ABCNews (2012): Did Sperm Bank Founder Father 600 Children? http://abcn.ws/1LxDGm3

● “Wiesner died in 1972 and his wife died ten years later. Dr. Barton destroyed all the clinic’s medical records before her death. The couple had supposedly used sperm donations from their family friends to impregnate clients, with an attempt to match the physical characteristics of the clients.

● “DNA tests conducted on 18 people conceived at the clinic between 1943 and 1962, however, found that Wiesner was the father of 12.”

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⭕ Dissociative Identity Disorder

From: 2:1 Lord Baltimore

Ressler: You’re the expert, but from where I sit, this is the perfect setup. One personality hiding behind the other, able to commit a crime and yet have no memory of it.
Liz: Well, that’s not exactly how it works.
Ressler: Rowan passed the lie-detector test.
Liz: That’s because Rowan’s unaware of Nora and Nora’s unaware of Rowan. That’s how dissociative identity disorder works. The two can’t conspire.
Ressler: [ Chuckles ] Well, then we’re screwed because we have Rowan and we need Nora. Liz: What we need to do is identify the trigger the image, sound, memory that flips her switch. Of course. It’s him.
[ Liz takes photo of Nora/Rowan and Marcus from evidence board ]
–
Liz: You were at her apartment. You’re in her photos. What are you, some kind of handler?
Marcus: I’m nobody.
[ Grunts, inhales sharply ] [ Breathing heavily ]
Marcus: She runs everything.
With your help. You’re manipulating her. You’re looking at life in prison. Cooperate, and maybe we can make a deal. Tell me about her trigger.

PsychologyToday: Dissociative Identity Disorder http://bit.ly/1MmDTOz

● “Dissociative Identity Disorder, formerly referred to as Multiple Personality Disorder, is a condition wherein a person’s identity is fragmented into two or more distinct personalities. Sufferers of this rare condition are usually victims of severe abuse.”

● “DID reflects a failure to integrate various aspects of identity, memory and consciousness in a single multidimensional self. Usually, a primary identity carries the individual’s given name and is passive, dependent, guilty and depressed. When in control, each personality state, or alter, may be experienced as if it has a distinct history, self-image and identity. The alters’ characteristics—including name, reported age and gender, vocabulary, general knowledge, and predominant mood—contrast with those of the primary identity. Certain circumstances or stressors can cause a particular alter to emerge. The various identities may deny knowledge of one another, be critical of one another or appear to be in open conflict.”

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⭕ Hyperthymesia (“Highly Superior Autobiological Memory”)

From 2:2 Monarch Douglas Bank

Kaja: It’s called hyperthymesia. Highly superior autobiographical memory
Ressler: Like a photographic memory.
Kaja: It’s why the bank hired me so there wouldn’t be any paper trail. Pick a day: Any day, any year.
Ressler: Um, December 21, 2001.
Kaja: It was a Tuesday. I had dry toast for breakfast, bigos for lunch. I picked up a copy of the Fakt. Two earthquakes – One in Japan, Bonin Islands, another in Iran, 6.5. There was a lunar eclipse.
Liz: That’s incredible.
–
Kaja: A sheet of paper, I- I don’t just look at it and remember every word. I relive it the temperature of the room, the light.

Hyperthymesia[.]org: What is hyperthymesia and who has it? http://bit.ly/1M6H5ep

● “Hyperthymesia, or Superior Autobiographical Memory, has become more prominently known thanks to a TV series (Unforgettable) and the publicity surrounding Marilu Henner, who is one of only 12 known people in the world who are able to remember their lives on a day-by-day basis. People with hyperthymesia are able to remember the events of any given calendar date, usually back to puberty, with stunning and accurate detail. They can compare similar dates, or catalog days where the weather was rainy or they were in a certain place. Superior Autobiographical Memory makes it possible for individuals to use their minds like databases, remembering unusual details such as the clothes they wore, whom they may have met that day,and what they ate for lunch, even decades after the original event.”

● “Some of the defining characteristics of hyperthymesia include the ability to “see” depictions of days in their heads with no conscious effort and recollect events that hold personal significance. It is distinguished from other forms of exceptional memory in that it does not involve any form or practice or mnemonic tricks to store information. Studies have shown that hyperthymestics are not like autistic savants but they do exhibit an interest in dates, which they use extensively to categorize when a particular event in their lives happened.”

Wikipedia: Hyperthymesia http://bit.ly/1ioM3cK

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⭕ Tampons used to stem bleeding

From: 2:2 Monarch Douglas Bank

Click to Enlarge

 
Snopes [ a fact-checking site ]: Tampons to the Rescue http://bit.ly/1Ya9XJ8

● “[A]n April 2003 news story about odd uses soldiers stationed in Iraq were finding for non-military items said, ‘In the 4th Infantry Division from Fort Hood, Texas, many soldiers carry tampons to plug bullet holes in case they are shot.'”

● “Numerous soldiers have told us that yes, tampons are indeed carried in med kits and are used on bullet wounds in the field. Medics with years of combat experience say they consider tampons excellent for penetration trauma because not only do they absorb a lot of blood, they are sterile, packaged with easy-to-use applicators, and leave a ‘tail’ protruding from the wound that aids doctors in easily removing them.

● “As to how old this practice is, one of our correspondents says he saw tampons used in this fashion during the Vietnam War.

● “Materials used in the manufacture of feminine products are especially well suited to wound care. Cellucotton, the substance used in Kotex (sanitary napkins), was devised for the purpose of improving bandages in World War I. In an odd way, with tampons being employed as emergency wound dressings in the field in Iraq, these products have come full circle.”

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⭕ Warrior Gene

From 2:4 Dr Linus Creel

Aram: Agent Keen had me expedite DNA profiles. All three perpetrators possess the MAO-A 2R gene.
Liz: The extreme-warrior gene.
Aram: Clinical studies have proven people who possess this gene are prone to aggressive, antisocial behavior.
Ressler: Are you suggesting the government has identified people with mild genetic abnormality and is turning them into killers?
That’s exactly what we’re suggesting.
–
Creel: Senator, it is all right here – seven years of research. These killings can be prevented. In my system, it will require children to be screened for the MAO-A 2R gene. Kids will be labeled. We’ll target them. It will cost —
Sheraton: I promise you, Dr. Creel, your research will be reviewed.
Creel: Reviewed. Studied. You don’t return my calls. You refuse to see me when I come up to your office. And when one of these incidents happens, you do nothing! I have been the leading voice in Congress on mental health for 20 years. How many more of these mass killings do we have now than we did then? I’m telling you we have the science. I can stop these killings, and you want to reject me? You want to reject the science?

BrownUniversity, Deborah Baum/R McDermott: “Warrior Gene” Predicts Aggressive Behavior After Provocation http://bit.ly/1M6IHVl
// 1/19/2009

● “Individuals with the so-called “warrior gene” display higher levels of aggression in response to provocation, according to new research co-authored by Rose McDermott, professor of political science at Brown University. In the experiment, which is the first to examine a behavioral measure of aggression in response to provocation, subjects were asked to cause physical pain to an opponent they believed had taken money from them by administering varying amounts of hot sauce. The findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.”

“Monoamine oxidase A is an enzyme that breaks down important neurotransmitters in the brain, including dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. The enzyme is regulated by monoamine oxidase A gene (MAOA). Humans have various forms of the gene, resulting in different levels of enzymatic activity. People with the low-activity form (MAOA-L) produce less of the enzyme, while the high-activity form (MAOA-H) produces more of the enzyme.

From 2:22 Tom Connolly

Connolly: … Look around. Why do you think I’m here? There’s a banquet tonight, fraternal order of police. I’m the keynote speaker. Four hours from now, I’m going to be on that stage, announcing that my office has secured an indictment against the members of a rogue task force.
Cooper: This task force was authorized by the FBI and the DOJ.
Connolly: By my predecessor at the DOJ. You’re going to prison, Agent Keen. Donald Ressler – his little oxy addiction will get him drummed out of the Bureau. Samar Navabi will be extradited to Iran, where she will stand trial for the murder of one of their top nuclear scientists. Charlene, Harold, even Agent Mojtabai. We have a little something in mind for all of you, including treason charges and the death penalty for Reddington.♤ So are we finished here? Because I think it’s cocktail hour. [ Liz draws her gun ] Oh. [ Chuckles ] What are you gonna do, Agent Keen – arrest me?
Cooper: Keen, put it down.
Connolly: I am nothing. I am a cog in a very large wheel. Shoot me, and somebody at least as powerful will take my place. You just won’t know who.
Cooper: Agent Keen, you do this, you become everything they say you are.
Liz: I can’t let him.
Cooper: Elizabeth, listen to me.
Cooper: That conversation we had in my hospital room, the good person I told you I didn’t want to lose [ Distorted ] The agent you were before all of this – you do this, and she’s gone.
[ Liz fires. Connolly falls, dead. Liz recalls, on the night of the fire, shooting her father ]
Cooper: Keen – Run.

“Several studies have found a correlation between the low-activity form of MAOA and aggression in observational and survey-based studies. Only about a third of people in Western populations have the low-activity form of MAOA. By comparison, low-activity MAOA has been reported to be much more frequent (approaching two-thirds of people) in some populations that had a history of warfare. This led to a controversy over MAOA being dubbed the ‘warrior gene.'”

“Their results demonstrate that –

● “Low-activity MAOA subjects displayed slightly higher levels of aggression overall than high-activity MAOA subjects.

● “There was strong evidence for a gene-by-environment interaction, such that MAOA is less associated with the occurrence of aggression in the low-provocation condition, … but significantly predicted aggression in a high-provocation situation (when the amount of money taken was high).” [ Emphasis added ]
 
Plus, Wikipedia: Monoamine oxidase A http://bit.ly/1FIi9oN
 
My research from earlier:

The Warrior Gene and Me http://bit.ly/1CCSij5
The Warrior Gene and Lizzie’s Mom http://bit.ly/1AVD3gG

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⭕ Pneumonic Plague

From: 2:5 The Front

Sharp: It’s a map.
Cooper: A map to what?
Sharp: A bedtime story. It’s a legend about the Apophis Strain, an ancient plague weaponized in the 14th century by both the Byzantines and the Ottomans that was mistakenly released and believed to be the real origin of the black death.
Ressler: You’re talking about the Bubonic Plague.
Sharp: No Pneumonic Plague, which is airborne and far more fatal. Scientists now believe that was the plague that killed 200 million people, one of the largest pandemics in history. That’s why, to prevent Armageddon, the sworn enemies agreed to task four priests to take the strain to the end of the world.
–
Sharp: One of the priests sent to guard the strain got sick. And to protect it, the dying man swallowed it whole, taking it to his grave. We know this because the others survived and created the map.
Liz: And the markings? What do they mean?
Sharp: They’re archetypal alignments. When you connect them, they create lay lines linking a network of historically significant sites.
Liz: You said the priests were sent to the end of the world. Where?
Sharp: Well, I said it was the end of the world. Not anymore. If I’m reading this correctly, the strain is buried here in America.

W.H.O: Plague http://bit.ly/1FMWz2m 3 types: bubonic,septicemic,pneumonic (the most deadly)

 
WaPo (3/31/2014): Everything you know about the Black Death is wrong http://wapo.st/1ND0YwH

● “In the autumn of 1348, a central Asian sickness arrived in London and quickly dispatched 60 percent of the city’s population. Within a decade, in what’s believed to be the worst human calamity of all time, something like 25 million Europeans [ and 75 million worldwide ] were dead. And when they died, the secrets of their demise disappeared with them.

“Until now.”

● “Expert Tim Brooks, who’s unrelated to this current finding, theorizes the disease was pneumonic — not bubonic — meaning that coughing and sneezing likely spread the sickness.”

● “‘As an explanation [rat fleas] for the Black Death in its own right, it simply isn’t good enough. It cannot spread fast enough from one household to the next to cause the huge number of cases that we saw during the Black Death epidemics,’ expert Tim Brooks, who’s involved in a new documentary on the plague, theorized to the Guardian.”

 
TheWeek (3/30/2014): Rats and fleas off the hook: humans passed Black Death to each other http://bit.ly/1iPj2Xx

● “[S]cientists now believe the only way that the Black Death could have killed so many people in 1348 was if it was actually a pneumonic plague – an airborne version of the disease which can be spread from person to person through coughing.”

● “Dr Tim Brooks from Public Health England at the Porton Down research facility has a theory. Speaking of rats and fleas, Dr Brooks told the Guardian: ‘As an explanation for the Black Death in its own right, it simply isn’t good enough. It cannot spread fast enough from one household to the next to cause the huge number of cases that we saw during the Black Death epidemics.'”

 
Can ancient viruses be brought back to life?
 
TheNewYorker (2007): Darwin’s Surprise: Why are evolutionary biologists bringing back extinct deadly viruses? http://nyr.kr/1QhHfAr

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⭕ TET1 Memory Extinction Gene

From Luther Braxton – Conclusion

Aram: Sir, sir, I think I found a doctor with a connection to Braxton. [ To Samar, hugs ] You’re safe.
Aram: Uh, w– uh, what about Mr. Reddington?
Samar: He’s, uh, pursuing his own leads.
Cooper: Aram, the doctor?
Aram: Yes, right. Uh, sorry. Okay. Her name is Dr Selma Orchard. She’s an attending in neurology at Walter Reed and was part of a team that discovered a gene that makes it possible to erase memories.
Cooper: I’m sorry. Erase memories?
Aram: Yeah, the gene is known as TET1, and it’s critical to a process called memory extinction, where painful events are replaced with more positive associations. She was at Walter Reed.
Ressler: Was Braxton a soldier there?
Aram: First Gulf War. He was part of a friendly fire incident with multiple casualties in Khafji. I assume he brought this home with him. Orchard must have treated him at some point for this.
Cooper: Selma Orchard – Find her now.

TET1 Memory Extinction: MITNews: How old memories fade away http://bit.ly/1K91u1M
// 9/18/2913, Subtitle: “Discovery of a gene essential for memory extinction could lead to new PTSD treatments”
● “To measure the mice’s ability to extinguish memories, the researchers conditioned the mice to fear a particular cage where they received a mild shock. Once the memory was formed, the researchers then put the mice in the cage but did not deliver the shock. After a while, mice with normal Tet1 levels lost their fear of the cage as new memories replaced the old ones.

● “What happens during memory extinction is not erasure of the original memory,” Tsai says. “The old trace of memory is telling the mice that this place is dangerous. But the new memory informs the mice that this place is actually safe. There are two choices of memory that are competing with each other.”

● “In normal mice, the new memory wins out. However, mice lacking Tet1 remain fearful. “They don’t relearn properly,” Rudenko says. ‘They’re kind of getting stuck and cannot extinguish the old memory.'”

● “The findings suggest that a threshold level of methylation is necessary for gene expression to take place, and that the job of Tet1 is to maintain low methylation, ensuring that the genes necessary for memory formation are poised and ready to turn on at the moment they are needed.

● “The researchers are now looking for ways to increase Tet1 levels artificially and studying whether such a boost could enhance memory extinction. They are also studying the effects of eliminating two or all three of the Tet enzymes.
 
Nature: DNA methylation regulates associative reward learning http://bit.ly/1LbjWZy
// 8/25/2013

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⭕ Recovered-memory therapy

From 2:10 Luther Braxton – Conclusion

Dr Orchard: [ To Liz ] It’s called recovered memory therapy. I’m going to use a combination of hypnotherapy and pharmaceuticals to put you into a lucid, waking dream state. My field is in blocking trauma. Extracting it, there are probable risks.
Liz: You don’t have to do this.
Orchard: I’m going to give you a sedative. The mind turns things off for a reason. I found that what the mind fights, the body tries to fight, too. I need you relaxed. This is for your own safety. He told me I need to take you back to a fire 26 years ago.
[ Whimpering ] [ Sobbing ]
Liz [ Sobbing ]: I don’t want to go back.
Orchard: I’m sorry.

 
Wikipedia: Recovered Memory Therapy http://bit.ly/1iHRL9A Sources: Late 90,s to mid 2000s

● “(RMT) is catch-all psychotherapy term for therapy using one or more method or technique for the purpose of recalling memories.[1] It does not refer to a specific, recognized treatment method, but rather several controversial and/or unproven interviewing techniques, such as hypnosis and guided-imagery, and the use of sedative-hypnotic drugs, which are presently rarely used in the responsible treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder and other dissociative disorders. Proponents of recovered memory therapy claim that traumatic memories can be buried in the subconscious and affect current behavior, and that these can be recovered. The term is not listed in DSM-IV nor is it recommended by mainstream ethical and professional mental health associations.[2]”

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⭕ Transgenic Research

From: 2:17 The Longevity Institute

Maynard: According to his notes, Powell’s focused on transgenic research, which is the transferring of genes from one species into the genome of another. Look. These two rabbits are sisters. Now, before their mother gave birth, Powell removed the embryos that made them and injected one with jellyfish DNA. He then inserted the embryos back into the mother. Do you see the difference?
Liz: They look identical.
[ Maynard turns off lights and one rabbit is glowing ]
Maynard: Legitimate researchers around the world are doing this. They’ve made glowing cats, monkeys, cockroaches. I mean, this is very impressive, but the new work he’s doing that’s in here.
⋘⋙
Maynard: Behold– turritopsis dohrnii, known to modern science as the immortal jellyfish. As far as we know, it’s the only living creature on Earth that never dies. Well, I mean, it’s born and grows old like we do, but then, when it encounters environmental stress or assault, it reverses the aging process until it’s just a little polyp again.
Ressler: How is that even possible?
Maynard: It has the amazing ability to change its own cells. Some say it’s like a butterfly that turns into a caterpillar that grows back into a butterfly or a chicken that becomes an egg that hatches a new chicken.
Liz: So Powell is using these jellyfish to conduct experiments on human brains.
Maynard: He must be trying to regenerate the damaged brain tissue. He wants our cells to learn from the turritopsis dohrnii. I mean, look, Julian Powell, clearly insane, if this ever worked, it would be a concrete first step toward human immortality.

GeneticGeneration: Transgenic Organisms http://bit.ly/1UX9T0t (undated)

● “Modern genetic technology can be used to modify the genomes of living organisms. This process is also known as genetic engineering.’ Genes of one species can be modified, or genes can be transplanted from one species to another. Genetic engineering is made possible by recombinant DNA technology. Organisms that have altered genomes are known as transgenic. Most transgenic organisms are generated in the laboratory for research purposes. For example, ‘knock-out mice are transgenic mice that have a particular gene of interest disabled. By studying the effects of the missing gene, researchers can better understand the normal function of the gene.”

● “Example: Golden rice: modified rice that produces beta-carotene, the precursor to vitamin A. Vitamin A deficiency is a public health problem for millions of people around the world,
particularly in Africa and Southeast Asia. Golden rice is still waiting regulatory approval.”

ActionBioscience (2003): Transgenic Animals: Their Benefits To Human Welfare http://bit.ly/1KqGHrT “[A]rticle highlights: Transgenic animals, i.e., engineered to carry genes from other species, have the potential to ● improve human welfare in:
● “agriculture, such as larger sheep that grow more wool
● “medicine, such as cows that produce insulin in their milk
● “industry, such as goats that produce spider silk for materials production”

Australian Dept of Health: List of Genetically Modified Product approvals http://bit.ly/1Ny1cno (last updated 8/11/2015)

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⭕ Longevity

From: 2:17 The Longevity Institute

“Red: My yogi tells me that time doesn’t exist. He fully intends to live forever, and tragically, he’s not the only one. Tell me, what do you know about the Longevity Initiative?
Liz: I haven’t heard of it.
Red: It’s a private company dedicated to extending human life indefinitely, funded by none other than Roger Hobbs.
Liz: The tech billionaire?
Red: Yes. He started years ago. I know because he offered me the opportunity to invest as a founding partner in the project. I passed.
Liz: You know Roger Hobbs personally?
Red: Roger is considerably smarter than the above-average bear, and now it appears he may also be as deadly. You’re aware of the New York state trooper who was gunned down last night in the line of duty?
Liz: The suspect’s still missing, but they found mutilated bodies in the back of the truck.
Red: Not mutilated. Experimented on. The Longevity Initiative has entered the human-trial phase. If they’ve made a breakthrough, they need to test it.
Liz: On innocent victims.
Red: With any luck, I’ll be dead-wrong. Perhaps you’ll have a better sense once you’ve spoken with Roger Hobbs.
–
Hobbs: Sounds like science-fiction, I know, but it’s all grounded work. We have a goal– to solve the death riddle. To do that, we target the issue from every angle. We support unproven advanced genetic technologies that the mainstream establishment won’t even touch. Simply put, we are trying to extend the life of the human body as long as possible.

 
National Institute on Aging https://www.nia.nih.gov

 
American Federation for Aging Research http://bit.ly/1F3dEKy research funding

 
Alliance for Aging Research http://www.agingresearch.org policy, lobbying

 
ScienceBlog (Feb 2015): Ideology is Holding Back Aging Research http://bit.ly/1Lhz4Vl Rapamycin

IBTimes (Dec 2014): Big Pharma Makes Headway On ‘Fountain Of Youth’ Drug, Pouring Money, Resources Into Anti-Aging Research http://bit.ly/1KgRYtp

ScienceNews (Dec 2014): Young blood aids old brains http://bit.ly/1Ehzmdj Studies in mice offer hope for alleviating aging [ also under “breakthroughs” ]

TheAtlantic (Oct 2014): What Happens When We All Live to 100? http://theatln.tc/1LhA2AT
// “If life-expectancy trends continue, that future may be near, transforming society in surprising and far-reaching ways”

 
WebMD (Dec 2014): Researchers Take ‘First Baby Step’ Toward Anti-Aging Drug http://wb.md/1JckEja

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🔴 BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS

⭕❓ “Weapons of Individual Destruction”?

 
I found no references to such targeted viruses or “WIDs” actually having been developed. However, their possibility is discussed here:

 
BiologyStackExchange: “Theoretically, what technique would one use to modify a virus so that it only affected a subset of the population? http://bit.ly/1ioPlNl [ additional links are given ]
This is being suggested for convincing use in a fictional account, but the author says it would probably work:

… I think HLA type is probably the best way to claim specificity. Then the glycoprotein (fusion protein probably) on the virus fits only in an exact MHC class II molecule. If you want to hit some valid heavy science jargon, I recommend saying the virus was made with recombineering, using a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC), with a florescent marker to make the scientist’s life easier (mush harder to work with viruses without nice markers).

Here is a methods paper [link] that describes that exactly, and has the advantage of of a free published protocol as well.

My problem with this method (using an HLA type to target) is that if you’re targeting MHC Class II, it’s going to be hard to kill the victim quickly. Kill off all the cells would give a person AIDS, but not necessarily lead to a quick death. Targeting MHC Class I could get around this, but then you’re not targeting specific cells (could be nerves, could be skin cells), and the person would probably mount a pretty good immune response. You’d probably have to hit the person with a pretty high dose to be sure you were infecting the cells you wanted to kill.

If you’re willing to allow a two-step process, I think the more targeted approach would be to create an inducible latent virus. Take one that commonly infects humans like CMV, and modify it so that it was only induced out of latent infection by a specific trigger (tagged food for example). Then further modify it so that it generates a highly toxic protein when it comes out of latency, like botulinum, that will both kill the person very quickly and have the possible appearance of something natural. If you use food is a trigger, then health workers would eventually figure out were all these people were eating and accuse them of food poising with botulism. Whether that can help your character in the plot, I don’t know.

Back to the creation of the virus, I would still use the method above, though it’s important to note that botulinum is a select agent, and that proper BSL would be a serious concern. Have a hard time imagining it going down in someone’s garage without them killing themselves. But if the person known how/has materials for gene synthesis (many, many labs do), then acquisition is just a question of making the gene for the published botulinum sequence.

It does occur to me that I might not should [sic] even post this based on it’s ability to work…feel free to vote/comment to close if that is conciseness [sic].

In the meantime, a vaccine for Ebola is being tested! –

⋙ W.H.O.: World on the verge of an effective Ebola vaccine http://bit.ly/1Ny3hBc

Nature: Successful Ebola vaccine provides 100% protection in trial http://bit.ly/1LsgTbk // 7/31/2015
Bad News ⇊ Good News ⇈
SciAm: Weaponized Ebola: Is It Really a Bioterror Threat? http://bit.ly/1QbsRtk
// 8/5/2014

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🔴 OTHER MEDICAL

🔴 Artificial Intelligence (A.I.)

 
💙 ScienceMag (July 2015): Special Issue: Artificial Intelligence http://bit.ly/1F6VN5m

 
BBC: Intelligent Machines: The truth behind AI fiction http://bbc.in/1K6pyjE
// 9/11/2015

 
TechInsider: The real problem with artificial intelligence http://bit.ly/1Lavz2S
// 9/10/2015, the danger is autonomy

 
Observer: Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk, and Bill Gates Warn About Artificial Intelligence http://bit.ly/1VVYv1K
// 8/19/2015, “The ethical dilemma of bestowing moral responsibilities on robots calls for rigorous safety and preventative measures that are fail-safe, or the threats are too significant to risk.”
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SciAm: Eye Tracking in Google Glass: A Window into the Soul? http://bit.ly/1EtoW8U
Two scientists weigh in on the privacy implications of eye-tracking technology on head-mounted smart devices
// 12/18/2014

 
GuardianLV: China’s New Facial Recognition Payment System and Privacy Implications http://bit.ly/15NLi61
// 9/11/2014

 
SciAm: Can’t Take My Eyes off You—Your Face, That Is http://bit.ly/1ycIJSX The direction of your gaze when looking at someone offers an unconscious, automatic giveaway of whether your initial reaction is romance or sex
// 9/6/2014

 
TechReview: Facebook Creates Software That Matches Faces Almost as Well as You Do http://bit.ly/1JKklze Facebook’s new AI research group reports a major improvement in face-processing software.
// 3/17/2014

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🔴 GENOMICS

A law called the HIPAA Privacy Rule guarantees the confidentiality of “individually identified” patient medical data, but what does “confidentiality” mean?

“Under the current regulatory framework in the United States, studies involving deidentified health records are exempt from regulations governing research with human subjects.” http://1.usa.gov/15MnS1N (2010)

This is a ridiculously low bar. What it means is that ALL of your medical, demographic and financial data that the government now collects, CAN be used in population research as long as your name, social security number and/or medical record number are omitted. In other words, your data goes in – it’s just not directly linked to you. This data includes ALL of your medical diagnoses, medical procedures, your race, ethnicity, income level, where you live down to census tract, and the doctors and health facilities that see you, as well as information on your insurance and health plan.

This is a lot like what the NSA does: they collect everything, but it takes a court order to pull it out. Except that, in the case of medical data, it usually doesn’t even require a court order:

“[T]here are only a few states with laws that say the results of testing of a DNA analysis are “the unique” or “exclusive” property of the person sampled or analyzed, and thereby prevent the taking of a sample for DNA analysis. In most states, a person’s genomic information may be extracted from the samples they leave behind and used freely” http://bit.ly/1uU6JON

This is all genomics research needs – just the medical data already collected plus the patirnts’ genomic data, which can be derived from a blood test drawn for another reason. Then researchers simply correlate the data. Example: Determine the percentage of blacks living in Hyde Park in Chicago who have the marker for the “Warrior gene.” How many of these are on Medicaid or have incomes under $20/k a year?

//➔ SNPedia etc

Profiles of groups of people who have a given genomic feature which correlates with a specific medical conditions are now available online in a database called SNPedia. Every research study done on the correlation is cross-referenced in SNPedia http://www.snpedia.com/index.php/SNPedia. Here is the list of the common SNPedia searches:

the oxytocin receptor influences social behavior and personality (many SNPs)
rs1815739 – muscle performance
rs7412 and rs429358 – can raise the risk of Alzheimer’s disease by more than 10x
rs6152 – can influence baldness
rs333 – resistance to HIV
rs1800497 – in a dopamine receptor may influence the sense of pleasure
rs1805007 – determines red hair and sensitivity to anesthetics
rs9939609 – triggers obesity and type-2 diabetes
rs662799 – prevents weight gain from high fat diets
rs7495174 – green eye color and rs12913832 for blue eye color
rs7903146 – in 3% of the population greatly increases the risk of type-2 diabetes
rs12255372 – linked to type-2 diabetes and breast cancer
rs1799971 – makes alcohol cravings stronger
rs17822931 – determines earwax, sweating and body odor
rs4680 – varied cognitive effects
rs1333049 – coronary heart disease
rs1801133 – folate metabolism and several cancers
rs1051730 – and rs3750344 nicotine dependence
rs4988235 – lactose intolerance

//➔ Promethease etc

Remember: You can get this data on your own profile, but the FDA has made it difficult to access it. The agency has ruled that distributing this data along with any information other than the SNP ID number (eg rs123456) constitutes “medical advice,” and therefore is restricted. However, there are services which will do this translation for you, such as Promethease. It is also possible for you to get the information from 23andme but only if you know how. http://bit.ly/1uU6JON (2014)

Most people do not know the amount of medical data that is already collected on then. Most of this data collection was established under the original Medicare law in 1965, long before the widespread availability of computers, or, for that matter, of genomic dats. To learn more:

 
NIH/AmJBioEthics, Mark Rothstein: Is Deidentification Sufficient to Protect Health Privacy in Research? http://1.usa.gov/15MnS1N
// Sep 2010

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🔴 EUGENICS

 
With the availability of individual genomics data to the public, the possibility arises that proactive eugenics will become more pervasive. It is already sanctioned in the case of rare genetic diseases such as Tay-Sachs and Sickle Cell Anemia. Screening for major chromosomal abnormalities (Down’s Syndrome, XYY and XXX) has been the medical standard for decades. (As the mother of an XYY son, I can tell you how agonizing such decisions can be.) Parents may be tempted to try for that “perfect child,” even though the health of a species often lies in diversity. Even now, women wanting to conceive through artificial insemination can select a father from a catalog based on preferred characteristics. At present, the potential for abuse is far more likely to come from the parents themselves than from governments, though the danger of the latter has already been seen once in the 20th century.

Left-handedness was once considered aberrant, so fewer left-handed people found partners and the incidence of left-handedness decreased. Certain mental “disorders” including bipolar and OCD, though they can be painful for the individual, are thought to provide benefits to society as a whole, and besides that, many are now manageable with medicines. It has been established that CEOs, as a group, have a higher incidence of psychopathic traits than less “successful” individuals. Co-occurence is also an issue, for we know that certain positive traits entail an increased risk of traits considered negative. Others are risky, but only under adverse environmental conditions.

These are difficult medical and ethical problems, especially in a society that places almost all of the burden of “imperfect” children on parents who may not emotionally or financially be able to provide for them. And it will only get worse as women have fewer children and delay child-bearing.

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🔴 “LOVE GENE”

(oxytocin, gazing, fandom)

 
My research from earlier:

Fathomless Eyes: Neurobiology of the Gaze http://bit.ly/13lrXbc (“Love Gene”)
Bibliography (Extensive): Oxytocin, Gazing, “Love Gene” http://bit.ly/12ZWgEP

🔴 Neurotoxins

(& vaccines, etc)

 
The original study linking MMR vaccine and autism was retracted…

In 1998, an article was published in The Lancet linking autism to vaccines http://bit.ly/1DlhOI3. Twelve years later, the journal retracted the article http://n.pr/1A3RYdH:

A 1998 Lancet paper reported on a dozen kids who developed various behavioral and intestinal problems. Eight of them had been vaccinated with a combination shot against measles, mumps and rubella.

Dr. Andrew Wakefield, the lead investigator, brought international attention to the paper by saying he thought the MMR vaccinations were to blame. The assertions chipped away at confidence in vaccination.

It later emerged that Wakefield had been taking money from a lawyer suing vaccine makers. The results of his study couldn’t be replicated. Most of Wakefield’s co-authors later retracted the paper’s interpretation of the data. The Lancet backed away from the paper in 2004, but defended its publication on the grounds it helped “raise new ideas.”

In 2011, Mayo Clinic published an article with the title “MMR Vaccine and Autism: Vaccine Nihilism and Postmodern Science” http://1.usa.gov/15MhkQ3. The article cited the numerous studies that had found no link between vaccines and autism and attempted to explain the anti-vaccine movement in psychosocial terms:

The way forward is clear. Because no credible evidence during the past 13 years supports the hypothesized connection between the MMR vaccine and autism disorders, it is bereft of credible evidence and must be discarded. At the same time, autism is a public health concern that must be addressed by enhancing research funding and directing that funding toward studies of credible hypotheses of causation. To continue pouring money into futile attempts to prove a connection to the MMR vaccine when multiple high-quality scientific studies across multiple countries and across many years have failed to show any hint of a connection, and in the face of biologic nonplausibility, is dangerous and reckless of lives, public funding, and ultimately public health….

Unfortunately, the media has given celebrities who comment on an autism-MMR link far more attention than they deserve, and the public, unfamiliar with the background science, has confused celebrity status with authority.

 
New group of neurotoxins identified by Harvard study

In 2014, The Lancet published a study from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, indicating that “evidence is growing that we are pouring toxins into our environment that have been identified in studies as neurotoxins [which] may be triggering the recent increases in neurodevelopmental disabilities among children — such as autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and dyslexia.” This group identified five neurotoxins in 2006 and has now added six more. (pee ScienceDaily http://bit.ly/1vbDszn 2/14/2014). Below is the complete list, with descriptions provided by Forbes:

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⭕ Identified in 2006:

Lead – This is one of the most extensively researched compounds in terms of neurodevelopment, and has been consistently linked to serious deficits, including low IQ. Its effects seem to be permanent, leading to the conclusion that there is no safe level of exposure.

Methylmercury – Affecting the neurological development of the fetus,exposure often comes from materal intake of fish containing high levels of mercury, according to the World Health Organization and the EPA.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) – This family of chemicals has routinely been associated with reduced cognitive function in infancy and childhood. It is often present in foods, particularly fish, and can be passed along in breast milk.

Arsenic – When absorbed through drinking water, this chemical has been linked to reduced cognitive function in schoolchildren. Follow-up studies from the Morinaga milk poisoning incident have linked it to neurological disease in adulthood.

Toluene – Used as a solvent, maternal exposure has been linked to brain development problems and attention deficit in the child, according to the EPA and OSHA.

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Manganese – In the drinking water in Bangladesh, for example, this chemical has been linked to lower scores in math, diminished intellectual function, and ADHD.

Fluoride – Higher levels of this chemical has been connected with a 7-point decrease in IQ in children.

Chlorpyrifos and DDT (pesticides) – Linked to structural abnormalities of the brain and neurodevelopmental problems that persist up to age 7. These pesticides are banned in many parts of the world (U.S. included), but still used in many lower-income countries. They have recently been linked to Alzheimer’s disease as well.

Tetrachloroethylene (AKA perchlorethylene) – These solvents have been linked to hyperactivity and aggressive behavior, and increased risk of psychiatric diagnosis. Mothers in certain professional roles, like nurse, chemist, cleaner, hairdresser, and beautician had higher levels of exposure.

The polybrominateddiphenyl ethers – These flame retardants are banned now, but believed to be neurotoxins. Prenatal exposure has been linked to neurodevelopmental disorders in the child.

 
Two more compounds of concern are bisphenol A (BPA), a common plastics additive, and phthalate , found in many cosmetics. BPA is an endocrine (hormone) disruptor, and, strongly suspected to affect neurodevelopment in children, it has been banned in baby bottles and sippy cups. Phthalates, which are common in personal products like nail polish and hair spray, have been routinely linked to shortened attention span and impaired social interactions in children.

 
Source: Forbes: 11 Toxic Chemicals Affecting Brain Devel In Children: Complete List http://onforb.es/1jdDD43 6 added in Feb 2014

 
I watched the news coverage of this story carefully and waited to see if it showed up in The New York Times. It did not. Nor did it appear in the The Washington Post. Just about every other reputable news organization covered it, from CNN http://is.gd/SkQ3PG to TheAtlantic http://theatln.tc/VRtzpf, from Voice of America http://bit.ly/1HmnVSv to Consumer Affairs http://bit.ly/1LmRV03.

Within a month, the chemical industry began a counter-offensive http://1.usa.gov/1tA8VtM http://bit.ly/1DlgIfd. Very quickly, it became a non-story.

There is no question that we have been loading our environment with chemicals, many untested, since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Several pieces of legislation were introduced last year to provide for further testing off the effects of such chemicals or to put in place pre-clearance for new chemicals. Such legislation is unlikely to pass given the current composition of Congress. However, in June 2014, the Supreme Court upheld the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases (WaPo http://wapo.st/1A47aYg), providing support to the idea that the EPA already has the authority to regulate toxins without need for new legislation.

Finally, this article which appeared in the New York Times on January 5, 2015, is concerning:

 
NYT: Discovery, Guided by Morality – A Neuroscience Lab Ponders the Purpose of Its Research http://nyti.ms/15WfWKr
// 1/5/2015, “Funding often comes from the military, and some neuroscientists fear their findings may soon be applied in ways that they never intended, raising moral questions that are seldom addressed.” ❗

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🔴 PPP’s 2013 POLL ON CONSPIRACY THEORIES

 
[See also this blog’s section on: Conspiracy Theories]

 
Public Policy Polling (highly accurate in predicting 2012 election) published its Conspiracy Theory Poll Results on April 2, 2013 http://bit.ly/1tyyXrR. They found that “28% of voters believe [a] secretive power elite with a globalist agenda is conspiring to eventually rule the world through an authoritarian world government, or New World Order. A plurality of Romney voters (38%) believe in the New World Order compared to 35% who don’t.” Looks like The Blacklist has plenty of room for its fanbase to grow!

In fact, as readers of this blog know, if  “power elite with a globalist agenda” is characterized as “state capitalism,” a lá China and Russia, count me in. And I’m not even a Republican. Below are the summarized results of the PPP poll:

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● 37% of voters believe global warming is a hoax, 51% do not. Republicans say global warming is a hoax by a 58-25 margin, Democrats disagree 11-77, and Independents are more split at 41-51. 61% of Romney voters believe global warming is a hoax

● 6% of voters believe Osama bin Laden is still alive

● 21% of voters say a UFO crashed in Roswell, NM in 1947 and the US government covered it up. More Romney voters (27%) than Obama voters (16%) believe in a UFO coverup

⋙ 28% of voters believe a secretive power elite with a globalist agenda is conspiring to eventually rule the world through an authoritarian world government, or New World Order. A plurality of Romney voters (38%) believe in the New World Order compared to 35% who don’t. //➔ [sounds like Fitch’s (R.I.P.) “Alliance” to me]

● 28% of voters believe Saddam Hussein was involved in the 9/11 attacks. 36% of Romney voters believe Saddam Hussein was involved in 9/11, 41% do not

● 20% of voters believe there is a link between childhood vaccines and autism, 51% do not

● 7% of voters think the moon landing was faked

● 13% of voters think Barack Obama is the anti-Christ 👿, including 22% of Romney voters [which cannot be true because George W Bush 👿👿 is the anti-Christ http://bit.ly/1AaK26R ]

● Voters are split 44%-45% on whether Bush intentionally misled about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. 72% of Democrats think Bush lied about WMDs, Independents agree 48-45, just 13% of Republicans think so

● 29% of voters believe aliens exist

● 14% of voters say the CIA was instrumental in creating the crack cocaine epidemic in America’s inner cities in the 1980’s

● 9% of voters think the government adds fluoride to our water supply for sinister reasons (not just dental health)

● 4% of voters say they believe in “lizard people” who control our societies by gaining political power [I  me some lizard people ♡ ૂི•̮͡• ૂ ྀ♡ ]

● 51% of voters say a larger conspiracy was at work in the JFK assassination, just 25% say Oswald acted alone [don’t get me started!]

● 14% of voters believe in Bigfoot

● 15% of voters say the government or the media adds mind-controlling technology to TV broadcast signals (the so-called Tinfoil Hat crowd)

● 5% believe exhaust seen in the sky behind airplanes is actually chemicals sprayed by the government for sinister reasons

● 15% of voters think the medical industry and the pharmaceutical industry “invent” new diseases to make money

● Just 5% of voters believe that Paul McCartney [sic] actually died in 1966

● 11% of voters believe the US government allowed 9/11 to happen, 78% do not agree

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PPP subsequently published a follow-up poll on 10/2/2013 “Conspiracy Theories Round Two: Republicans More Likely To Subscribe to Government Conspiracy Theories” http://bit.ly/1vaEYdU

The most dramatic differences between Republicans and Democrats were on whether Obama is trying to take guns away (48% difference),whether Obama is trying to stay in office after 2016 (31% difference), whether Muslims are trying to impose sharia law (30%), and whether bankers are trying to force everyone to use online banking and will then cut the power grid (17%).
Seven percent of Republicans think aliens have taken over the US government [!] vs 1% of Democrats.

Thirty-two percent of everyone and 41% of blacks think major sporting events are rigged.

About 20% of everyone – Democrats and Republicans alike – think a secret society (like Skull & Bones) produces most of the country’s political and economic leaders and serves the interests of the wealthy elite. [What? Only 20%!?].

And 54% of Americans believe it’s possible to get away with murder if you have enough money.

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