You Can't Even Get a Taco These Days Without One of Your Extremities Falling Off...

David Weigel | May 11, 2007

Via David Neiwert, it seems like Lou Dobbs leaned on the extremely specious research of Madeleine Cosman in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons for a segment on how illegal immigrants make your body parts rot. Says the Southern Poverty Law Center:

Dobbs said he stands "100 percent behind" his show's claim that there had been 7,000 new cases of leprosy in the United States over a recent three-year period, and he further suggested that an increase in leprosy was due in part to "unscreened illegal immigrants coming into this country."

Dobbs' endorsement of the claim came after CBS correspondent Lesley Stahl challenged the leprosy figure during a profile of Dobbs on "60 Minutes" this past Sunday. Stahl cited a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services document that reported 7,029 cases over the past 30 years — not three.

The dispute highlights the SPLC's concern that Dobbs and some others in the media are regularly using discredited and inaccurate information about immigrants — material that often originates with far-right ideologues and organizations dominated by white supremacists and nativists.

Dobbs and CNN reporter Christine Romans said they had gotten the information from the late Madeleine Cosman, who was described by Romans as "a respected medical lawyer" – but who, in fact, was a woman who repeatedly ranted about Latino men raping boys, girls and nuns.

Ladies and gentlemen, we hereby present: Lou Dobbs' source.

Cosman died in 2006 - but not from leprosy!

More on body parts here.

Comments

|5.11.07 @ 1:26PM|#

Lou Dobbs is a fucking scumbag. I hope he dies a slow painful death

|5.11.07 @ 1:27PM|#

Even down here in the Minuteman compound, we find this leprosy stuff absurd.

Thrall|5.11.07 @ 1:28PM|#

It makes me sick that I live in the same city as that lady in the video. It said san diego in the beginning. UGH.

Guy Montag|5.11.07 @ 1:30PM|#

Anybody pulling crap like this is a skumbag. If you can't cite a fact you want to be true try finding something that is true to support your case.

This reminds me of those folks who were making up death counts of young women from eating disorders.

Plenty of other examples out there too.

Jesse Walker|5.11.07 @ 1:32PM|#

I suddenly find myself thinking of "Thomasina Paine" from Death Race 2000.

Guy Montag|5.11.07 @ 1:32PM|#

Even down here in the Minuteman compound, we find this leprosy stuff absurd.

Did you get to meet Penn Gillette?

I hear you guys are pretty mainstream, according to the Examiner, I think.

|5.11.07 @ 1:35PM|#

Alms for an ex-leper. . . .

(Guy, it's Jillette. The future President of the United States, not the razor company.)

grylliade|5.11.07 @ 1:37PM|#

Why does the American flag in the background in the video only have 48 stars? Did Madeleine Pelner Cosman, Ph.D., Esq., not believe that Hawaii and Alaska were part of the U.S.? Was it because the ZIP codes for them were incorrect? Did she refuse to use ZIP codes? Was she a libertarian?!?

And what exactly is a "rip-roaring" contagious disease? Are there non-"rip-roaring" contagious diseases?

Guy Montag|5.11.07 @ 1:38PM|#

(Guy, it's Jillette. The future President of the United States, not the razor company.)

Sorry, his usual sharpness confuses me sometimes. Except when I see reruns of Hackers.

Guy Montag|5.11.07 @ 1:39PM|#

Why does the American flag in the background in the video only have 48 stars? Did Madeleine Pelner Cosman, Ph.D., Esq., not believe that Hawaii and Alaska were part of the U.S.? Was it because the ZIP codes for them were incorrect? Did she refuse to use ZIP codes? Was she a libertarian?!?

More importantly, did she pay income taxes?

|5.11.07 @ 1:41PM|#

Hansen's Disease is not a "rip-roaring contagious" disease at all. It is also very treatable these days.

Cesar|5.11.07 @ 1:42PM|#

I always love how Lou Dobbs always foams at the mouth about the "elites" in this country favoring all the things he and the "common people" oppose. Nevermind the fact Dobbs is worth millions of dollars and lives in a mansion in New Jersey.

SugarFree|5.11.07 @ 1:42PM|#

grylliade,

Why does the American flag in the background in the video only have 48 stars?

"I'll be in a cold grave before I recognize Missurah!"

Lou Dobbs is just Abe Simpson without a stylish onion on his belt.

TLB|5.11.07 @ 1:50PM|#

Fun facts:
1. The SPLC has at least one indirect link to the MexicanGovernment: they're part of a group whose leader is collaborating with that government. An opp research article he wrote - about "vigilantes" - was ordered by that government and appears on their government website. He was at least introduced to some clients by that government, and the DA suspected that that government had an even deeper involvement. And so on. What's the SPLC doing in a group with him? The leader is well-known, frequently being quoted (without his affiliations listed), so they must have known about his links. Whose side is the SPLC on? Whose side is Reason on?

2. I note that Reason isn't offering a counterargument to what's on the video, but rather simply retransmitting smears.

3. Contrary to what Potok implied on 60Minutes, Dobbs has only had six reports about illegal aliens and sex predation or disease:

transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0705/07/ldt.01.html

4. Why is a libertarian rag promoting such far-left sources? I guess some things are more important than others.

|5.11.07 @ 1:54PM|#

Appropriate response, Guy. Penn's slashing through lunacy with a straight razor. Just like Mertz in Porklips Now.

|5.11.07 @ 1:54PM|#

This woman clearly has leprosy.

|5.11.07 @ 1:56PM|#

Nice post.

|5.11.07 @ 1:58PM|#

If the problem with illegal immigration is that the illegals can't be checked for disease and are therefore tracking in horribly contagious germs, the solution is to allow more LEGAL immigration, which would channel immigration pressure through a process where people could be carefully examined for diseases.

But really, why accept the obvious answer?

|5.11.07 @ 1:58PM|#

"raping girls, boys, and nuns" huh?

I think that was a hentai that I saw once.

So; Lou Dobbs walking the kid into the woods, turns and says "your scared? I'm the one that has to come out of those woods alone".

|5.11.07 @ 2:03PM|#

TLB:
1) I hear that you've been seen as part of that group that has in turn been known to collaborate with that other group that shall remain nameless, a member of whom once posted to that website where you-know-what.

2) Never wrestle with a pig. You end up dirty, and the pig just loves it.

3) Sounds like six too many.

4) Because libertarians are neither left nor right (okay, okay, we're CLASSICAL leftists)

SugarFree|5.11.07 @ 2:04PM|#

Is Lonewacko in fact... LOU DOBBS?!?

Have they ever been seen in the same place at the same time? Huh? Have they? Do they both have the same surrealistic grasp of capitalization?

GILMORE|5.11.07 @ 2:06PM|#

Why does that woman enunciate like she emigrated from Transylvania?

Serious, she aint no american i've ever met. She's on some Dr Strangelove type shit.

|5.11.07 @ 2:08PM|#

"3. Contrary to what Potok implied on 60Minutes, Dobbs has only had six reports about illegal aliens and sex predation or disease..."

I was gonna write, "Contrary to what was inferred by indirect reference, twice removed..." just to be obnoxious, but it's funnier the way you wrote it.

dhex|5.11.07 @ 2:09PM|#

"4. Why is a libertarian rag promoting such far-left sources? I guess some things are more important than others."

dude, how the fuck else is the reason foundation going to get their payoff from TheShadowyElites who are pushing all of this ILLEGALimmiGRATION from MEXICO?

which is an anagram for I CEX MO - mexicans are shills for big islam?

ThePlotThickens!

CHIEF FOOT IN YOUR ASS, COMANC|5.11.07 @ 2:13PM|#

I still say, America for Americans! Sent the white man home!

|5.11.07 @ 2:15PM|#

So; Lou Dobbs walking the kid into the woods, turns and says "your scared? I'm the one that has to come out of those woods alone".

So Lou Dobbs is Senor Cardage?

edna|5.11.07 @ 2:18PM|#

great video. am i the only one who gets a firesign theatre vibe from it?

|5.11.07 @ 2:20PM|#

I despise Dobbs and have no reason to credit the claim that immigrants, illegal or otherwise, are responsible for an increase in US cases of leprosy. But according to Ken Silverstein's November 2000 takedown of the SPLC in Harper's, that group has serious credibility problems of its own.

From Wikipedia:

In November 2000, Harper's Magazine published an article critical of the SPLC. In "The Church of Morris Dees," Ken Silverstein wrote "Morris Dees doesn't need your financial support" because "the SPLC is already the wealthiest 'civil rights' group in America." Furthermore, Silverstein claimed "Back in 1978, when the Center had less than $10 million," but then it sought 50 million dollars and again "upped the bar to $100 million" to allow the Center "to cease the costly and often unreliable task of fund raising." However, in 2000 "the SPLC's treasury bulges with $120 million, and it spends twice as much on fund-raising - $5.76 million last year - as it does on legal services for victims of civil rights abuses." In fact, Silverstein cited the American Institute of Philanthropy who gave "the center one of the worst ratings of any group it monitors, estimating that the SPLC could operate for 4.6 years without making another tax-exempt nickel from its investments or raising another tax-deductible cent from well-meaning 'people like you'."

Silverstein adds that most alleged "hate" groups on the SPLC's list are non-violent and reports that 95 percent of hate crimes are committed by "lone wolves." Further, he says that the SPLC's "'other important work for justice' consists mainly on spying on private citizens... a practice that, however seemingly justified, should give civil libertarians pause."

A former partner of Dees, renowned anti-death penalty lawyer Millard Farmer, was quoted by Silverstein as remarking that Dees "is the Jim and Tammy Faye Baker of the civil rights movement...though I don't mean to malign Jim and Tammy Faye".

Wikinger Elch|5.11.07 @ 2:22PM|#

again. TLB: für Sie

highnumber|5.11.07 @ 2:32PM|#

Jesse Walker,

Yes. You nailed it. I can't find a picture to link to, so everyone must rent Death Race 2000 or buy it from iTunes tonight.

|5.11.07 @ 2:50PM|#

I knew Madeleine Cosman, and while I disagree with her profoundly on this question, the disparaging of her physical appearance on this thread is, frankly, disgusting (not to mention unworthy of an argument that should be wholly intellectual). She died last year of a debilitating course of scleroderma (a disorder which causes one's skin to harden), after a career that included obtaining an M.D., a J.D., and an M.A. in, of all things, comparative literature. She taught at City College of New York for 30 years before moving to San Diego. Her elocution came from a foray as an opera singer. She was also a lifelong libertarian-sympathizer and an author of a book on the importance of women taking advantage of their second amendment rights. By all measures, she was immensely talented woman, who made a wrong turn with this particular issue.

The levels of testosterone around here need to be modulated. We don't need to criticize a woman's appearance every time we criticize her ideas.

TLB|5.11.07 @ 2:54PM|#

Here's more on the MexicoLinked person mentioned above:

http://lonewacko.com/blog/archives/005038.html
http://lonewacko.com/blog/archives/005017.html
http://lonewacko.com/blog/archives/004477.html
http://lonewacko.com/blog/archives/005919.html

Let's imagine you run a non-profit, and you're invited to join a new coalition to support flooding the market with goods from China. Wouldn't you be a little uneasy if the head of the group had extensive links to the Chinese government? Obviously, if you were on China's side rather than the U.S.'s side, you might even consider that a good thing...

In related news, meet the Libertarian Children's Choir: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7YrkpKNB7M

They're definitely going to vote libertarian when they grow up.

highnumber|5.11.07 @ 3:06PM|#

Shannon Chamberlain,

Was your comment some sort of joke?
B.P. said Dr Cosman clearly had leprosy. This is the only comment that seems to be possibly about her appearance.

Jesse Walker and I compared her to a character in a movie, but that was not disparaging her appearance.

I have to ask, what are you talking about?

SingleLunatic|5.11.07 @ 3:14PM|#

I hear LoneWacko might have links to WhiteSupremacistOrganizations. AmericanRenissance, NeoNaziGroups, the KuKluxKlan, and VDARE all want to ReduceImmmigration, and they all have RacistTies. They are LoneWackos AlliesAndFriends.

Jim Henley|5.11.07 @ 3:24PM|#

Call me crazy, but it seems like, whether or not Morris Dees is a bad guy, and I hold no brief for the man, what matters here is a question of fact that is utterly independent of Morris Dees' manifold failings. There have either been 7,000 cases of leprosy in the last 3 years, or in the last 30. The link takes one directly to HRSA data that seems to establish the 30-year figure conclusively. Unless Dees hacked into the HHS servers, he does not matter to this particular question.

TLB|5.11.07 @ 3:25PM|#

SingleLunatic: I link to VDare occasionally, and they link to me. Other than that there's no connection. As for the rest, there's no connection. Please note that IP addresses and thus identities can be and will be subpoena'ed in the case of libel.

The links I provided above represent documented links. The person with the MexicoLinks doesn't even try to hide it, although news of the collaboration has moved to the bottom of the page: vocesunidas.org

grylliade|5.11.07 @ 3:28PM|#

Let's imagine you run a non-profit, and you're invited to join a new coalition to support flooding the market with goods from China.

A) There's no such thing as "flooding" a market. It's a term protectionists made up to make them furriners seem scary when they're providing us with low cost goods.

B) Why would a non-profit be involved in such a thing?

Wouldn't you be a little uneasy if the head of the group had extensive links to the Chinese government?

If they're not doing anything wrong, who cares what links they have? Wait, no, scratch that. What links are you talking about? Are they owned by the Chinese government? Are they a front for Chinese intelligence?

See, in the world where sane people reside, these things matter. Shadowy, unspecified, scary-sounding "links" don't say anything. It might concern me if it turned out I were helping to finance Chinese intelligence (though frankly, the Chinese don't scare me at the moment, and if I'm right aren't the up and coming superpower anyways).

Obviously, if you were on China's side rather than the U.S.'s side, you might even consider that a good thing...

If you were seriously insane, you might find innuendo and ad hominem attacks to be an acceptable substitute for rational discourse. I'm only speculating, of course.

And dude, seriously. See that big, wide key at the bottom of your keyboard? It's called a spacebar. Here's the Wikipedia entry on it. Here's the entry on spaces. Here's the entry on capitalization, and how to use it. Study them. Learn them. Internalize them. English grammar is your friend. See the nice English grammar? Pet it. See how nice it is?

|5.11.07 @ 3:34PM|#

48 stars? I see 5 rows of 10. I don't see any missing. In which rows are the two missing?

|5.11.07 @ 3:35PM|#

Sam Kinison routines are racing through my mind...

LEPER WHORE! LEPER WHORE!

SingleLunatic|5.11.07 @ 3:35PM|#

LoneWacko visits VDARE. JaredTaylor was a GuestColumnist for VDARE. JaredTaylor is the head of American Reniassance, a WhiteSupremacistOrganization. Can'tYou See the ObviousLink LoneWacko????

|5.11.07 @ 3:41PM|#

Please note that IP addresses and thus identities can be and will be subpoena'ed in the case of libel.

Hilarious. This has all been a joke, I knew it.

Does anyone else find it adorable, and somewhat sad that Lone Wacko has publicly admitted to having fantasies about debating pro-immigration writers on TV?

grylliade|5.11.07 @ 3:50PM|#

48 stars? I see 5 rows of 10. I don't see any missing. In which rows are the two missing?

Ah, so it's just a malformed American flag. My bad.

In related news, meet the Libertarian Children's Choir: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7YrkpKNB7M

They're definitely going to vote libertarian when they grow up.

Ho ho ho, you got us good there! Zing! You have clearly demonstrated your intellectual superiority with that one!

VM|5.11.07 @ 3:54PM|#

Aurora, IL has enacted pro TLB legislation:

Flag-waving, noise laws are forwarded to full council

May 2, 2007
BY ANDRE SALLES Staff Writer

AURORA -- Alderman Juany Garza's proposal to curb flag-waving and noise passed the city's Committee of the Whole Tuesday with no discussion.

City attorney Alayne Weingartz has made it clear that the ordinances are not designed to target any one ethnic group.

But Garza has said her plan is to rein in the September celebration of Mexican Independence Day...

hier

ah yes. Springtime. Time for such twaddlenockery to bloom and grow. Bloom and grow forrrreeeeevvvveeerr.

Edel WEISS. Edel WEISS.
Paging you-know-who. White courtesy phone. White courtesy phone.

|5.11.07 @ 3:58PM|#

Call me crazy, but it seems like, whether or not Morris Dees is a bad guy, and I hold no brief for the man, what matters here is a question of fact that is utterly independent of Morris Dees' manifold failings. There have either been 7,000 cases of leprosy in the last 3 years, or in the last 30. The link takes one directly to HRSA data that seems to establish the 30-year figure conclusively. Unless Dees hacked into the HHS servers, he does not matter to this particular question.

Jim, the post criticized Dobbs for leaning "extremely specious research of Madeleine Cosman," and it used as its source the SPLC, which claimed that Dobbs was "regularly using discredited and inaccurate information." The irony is that the SPLC has been criticized for similar failings--it uses discredited and inaccurate information in to overstate the threat of violence from organized hate groups in order to fuel a fund-raising campaign that benefits Morris Dees personally. I was amused to see Reason quoting the pot calling the kettle black. That strikes me as funny even though the SPLC pot seems, in this case, to be accurately describing Lou Dobbs' kettle.

Reason thus becomes guilty of using a specious and discredited source to criticize Dobbs for using a specious and discredited source.

grylliade|5.11.07 @ 3:59PM|#

Please note that IP addresses and thus identities can be and will be subpoena'ed in the case of libel.

But saying that ReasonWritersAndStaff AreInLeague with TheMexicanGovernmentTM in a PlotToFloodOurGenePoolWithImpureDNA PlotToFloodOurCultureWithFurriners is A-OK? Talk about flexible morality.

Dave Weigel|5.11.07 @ 4:01PM|#

Reason thus becomes guilty of using a specious and discredited source to criticize Dobbs for using a specious and discredited source.

But on this occasion the SPLC's research is right, and that's all I give a shit about.

|5.11.07 @ 4:30PM|#

Dave Weigel, maybe you should give a shit about more than whether SPLC is right in this particular case. By quoting them as a source, I think you do two things: you increase their credibility generally and link the credibility of Reason (and you as a reporter) to that of the SPLC. I don't think either of those things is a very wise choice.

TLB|5.11.07 @ 4:45PM|#

grylliade: Take a look at this: http://portal.sre.gob.mx/ime/pdf/IV.8_Anexo.pdf

That document is from the head of the organization the SPLC is involved with.

Regardless of your position on IllegalImmigration, it would be very difficult for someone to deny that they're involved with someone who supports the Mexican position on IllegalImmigration to the U.S.

Greg: Those who set policy and who have a megaphone have been very good at isolating themselves from those who would ask them ToughQuestions about their policies. No one should cheer that. What I actually stated is that if I were allowed to ask Gillespie (or other similar people like JimWallis) a series of ToughQuestions in a public setting, I could show that they don't know what they're talking about. Unlike most others, I wouldn't have a problem with ending the career of someone who advocates the policies they do.

Dave Weigel chimes in: "on this occasion the SPLC's research is right". The problem is that on 60Minutes, the SPLC's Potok implied things which, as Dobbs points out at the link in my first comment, turned out not to be true.

Scooby|5.11.07 @ 4:49PM|#

SPLC's reputation might matter if they were a primary source, but they're not, in this case. They are just the first(?) to point out that Cosman & Dobbs are FullOfShit and either Can'tRead, Can'tDoMath or are DeliberatelyDishonest.

|5.11.07 @ 4:53PM|#

Unlike most others, I wouldn't have a problem with ending the career of someone who advocates the policies they do.

Is that a threat of violence? Cause I've never known anyone to have their career ended cause they got beat in a debate -- Gillespie, et al. should be fired for agreeing to said fantasy debate in the first place, not on their actual performance.

|5.11.07 @ 4:55PM|#

"""Ah, so it's just a malformed American flag. My bad."""

Yeah, it does look weird. It shouldn't be 5 rows of 10. It should be 9 rows 6-5-6-5-6-5-6-5-6.

I have to give you props for observing that un-American, American flag. That makes the video all the more creepy. lol

|5.11.07 @ 5:08PM|#

I have to give you props for observing that un-American, American flag. That makes the video all the more creepy. lol

It's a plot by the Mexicans to annex New Mexico and Arizona! Flood the market with cheap, Chinese made flags showing only 48 stars, and pretty soon no one will care when Spanish traffic signs start appearing in Tucson!

Guy Montag|5.11.07 @ 5:31PM|#

If the problem with illegal immigration is that the illegals can't be checked for disease and are therefore tracking in horribly contagious germs, the solution is to allow more LEGAL immigration, which would channel immigration pressure through a process where people could be carefully examined for diseases.

I thought that checking for any deseases of legal immigrants was vastly scaled down when the AIDS lobby started raising hell about HIV discrimination?

|5.11.07 @ 6:17PM|#

English grammar is your friend. See the nice English grammar? Pet it. See how nice it is?

Ironically, TLB and his racist friends are those who constantly demand that English be made our nation's official language and freak out if anyone dares use another language in day to day business.

TLB|5.11.07 @ 6:29PM|#

spur: not at all, and I strongly suspect you already knew that since it was clear from the context that I was refering to discrediting people through asking them questions. Many people have been forced to resign or have lost political races after having been exposed to be liars, crooks, charlatans, and the like.

In the case of JimWallis, I don't think it would take too many questions for me to point out to his followers that what he supports (IllegalAlienAmnesty) has the opposite effect to what he claims to want and that his position is the opposite of humanitarian. If I were able to ask him those questions, I don't think his positions would sit too well with his parishioners, and I think they'd probably start looking for a new leader.

|5.11.07 @ 6:32PM|#

Shannon -- Rest assured that I make childish comments about the appearance of men as well.

highnumber|5.11.07 @ 6:39PM|#

If Lonewacko is a racist, he is a very careful one, because I have never picked up on any racism in his comments here. Paranoia, yes, big time, but not racism. I can tell he's nuts, but apart from his fear of Mexico taking over OurCountry, can anyone point me towards indications of racism?

(Here's where I lose all my points with the anti-immigration types, oops! anti-illegal-immigration.)
In fact, he's one of the few anti-immigration nuts around here that don't give off a racist vibe on the topic.

|5.11.07 @ 6:41PM|#

Hmmm. Armadillos can carry leprosy. And they've been sneaking up into North America from Mexico for years and years.

I don't know how that fits in, but I thought I'd mention it.

|5.11.07 @ 6:56PM|#

C'mon, this is a joke, right? I mean, that's gotta be Martin Short in that video.

She lovesh me, but she doeshn't know wiT
She lovesh me, but she doeshn't show wiT

|5.11.07 @ 9:35PM|#

Apologies for the ad hominem, but hearing her spout about US medical science while slurring around ill-fitting dentures was a bit off-putting. The sound of her sucking them back into place made me nauseous.

GILMORE|5.11.07 @ 10:04PM|#

Are ToughQuestions copyrighted yet?

I assume they mean questions to which only the question-asker has the right answer.

i wonder if these anti-immigration blowhards put their money where their mouth is and only eat in immigrant-free restaurants, or pay for all White Guy construction crews, or refuse to eat fruits picked by migrant labor...

|5.11.07 @ 10:24PM|#

Good one Gilmore.

American Idol|5.12.07 @ 8:20AM|#

Was it just me, or did the music at the beginning of that video sound like a really bad, cheesy school film from the 70's, the kind titled Your Uvula And You or somesuch?

|5.12.07 @ 10:48AM|#

"...the media are regularly using discredited and inaccurate information...."

*!*

|5.12.07 @ 10:55AM|#

Armadillos also get leprosy.
I guess we better make a rule about petting one's armadillo before its too late.

|5.12.07 @ 12:25PM|#

...we better make a rule about petting one's armadillo...

VM, are you listening?

Cesar|5.12.07 @ 12:26PM|#

Hey Chris Kelly, er, "LoneWacko"-

WhyDoYouContinueToTypeWordsWithoutUsingALittleThing
CalledASpaceBarItReallyHelpsPeopleReadYourPostsBetter
IKnowLaRazaAndTheOtherPoliticallyCorruptMexicanIllegalsUse
ItAlsoButIGuranteeYouSoDoRedBloodedNativeBronAmericans
AndLEGALImmigrants.

|5.12.07 @ 1:22PM|#

I despise Dobbs and have no reason to credit the claim that immigrants, illegal or otherwise, are responsible for an increase in US cases of leprosy.

You can despise a lot of people for that opinion:

"Almost all cases of leprosy in the United States involve people who emigrated from developing countries."
http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec17/ch194/ch194a.html

"Only about 130 new cases are discovered each year, mostly among immigrants from areas such as Mexico, India or the Caribbean, where the disease is more widespread.
Over 100 cases were found in immigrants last year, more than double the number in 2000, and, while the number of cases is still comparatively small, some researchers believe the trend could lead to leprosy spreading to the U.S.-born population.
"It's creeping into the U.S.," said Dr. William Levis, head of the New York Hansen's Disease Clinic. "This is a real phenomenon. It's a public health threat. New York is endemic now, and nobody's noticed."
http://jscms.jrn.columbia.edu/cns/2005-03-15/whitford-americanleprosy/

But according to Ken Silverstein's November 2000 takedown of the SPLC in Harper's, that group has serious credibility problems of its own.

Well, yeah, the SPLC is just a silly scam.

Carter|5.12.07 @ 5:22PM|#

That's a fascinating article Le Mur linked to "Dr. Levis said he believes America could be on the brink of an epidemic similar to those that swept Brazil and led to the country becoming a global leprosy hotspot."

Also

"At present, only about two dozen new cases of leprosy are found in US-born patients each year, a number that has not changed for decades, said Steve Pfeifer, head of statistics and epidemiology at the National Hansen's Disease Program.

But the short time between many immigrants' entry to the US and their diagnosis with leprosy suggests that some immigrants, mostly from Mexico, may now be coming to the U.S. specifically to seek treatment, Pfeifer said."

From the New York Times:

"in the past six years, Dr. Levis and his colleagues have proved that a handful of his patients -- including a 73-year-old man from Queens who had never been out of the country and an elderly Jewish man from Westchester -- have contracted leprosy here.

As a result, the disease is now officially endemic to the Northeastern United States for the first time ever. (Cases of leprosy transmission in the Southeast date as far back as the turn of the 19th century.) And leprosy experts think that even some foreign-born people with the infection may have acquired it in immigrant communities here."

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9406E0D81E3AF93BA25751C0A9659C8B63

|5.12.07 @ 6:57PM|#

As a result, the disease is now officially endemic to the Northeastern United States for the first time ever.

Well, I've always thought of Boston as a metaphorical lepers' colony. This just cements that opinion.

|5.13.07 @ 2:41AM|#

I think this woman may actually be a Cardassian spy in disguise.

Either that or she is the result of a horrible cross-breeding of Christopher Lee and Donna Shalala.

VM|5.13.07 @ 10:19AM|#

"BakedPenguin | May 12, 2007, 12:25pm | #
...we better make a rule about petting one's armadillo...

VM, are you listening?"

First of all, I would have to deny that excessive petting of one's armadillo causes leprosy, blindness, hair on the palms, craziness, or any other sort of Szaszian nightmare.

Furthermore, I would note that my humble friends tend to use the word "excessive" in a qualitative, not quantitative manner, thereby rendering what usually should be objective to something subjective.

*ahem*

Indeed, "Armadilloes", specially-trained Banditoes of the south west and in western Mexico have practiced the subtle art of Armadillir, "to armadillo", for centuries.

This lovely art, while condemned by the various churches of the region, including, but not limited to, the United Fourth Church of the Dubious Miracle, Presbyterian-wanna-be-look-alike society of Eastern Iowa (just got an angry email from that group, as apparently, I tend to forget them), the Shrine to the Lone Wacker (that's a private, reflective organization), thrived for centuries. The pure spiritual beauty of armadillir was passed on from generation to generation.

First after gym class. Then on Sunday-organization retreats. Finally, the internet (aka, "teh Intertubz") enabled the beautiful act of the Armadilloes to be enjoyed by all.

Opposition arose from an unexpected corner. The Noam Chomsky Blow Up Doll Federation has issued a press release, virtually condemning all acts of armadillir.

Giving no further explanation, the NCBUDF (apparently, the name is onomatopoeic. The gentle reader is left to figure out how, on what surface that sound is generated, and at what angle) issued this very strong statement.

Experts believe that the "belting effect" (again, Dear Reader may experiment here) may puncture the pre-soiled Noam C B-U D.

Furthermore, we have to believe that this could only serve as a plot to prevent northern ruminant types from mixing with the dasypodidae.

Indeed, this is a modern version of West Side Story!

*clap clap*

Casting call! C'mon people. Work with me, not against me. Stevo - don your director suit. Mr. Crane - strike up the band. You've got some showtunin' to do!

this is your friendly Moose, signing off.

highnumber|5.13.07 @ 10:32AM|#

Glad I was not recruited for that. Still recovering from last night's wedding at the loverly [sic] Garfield Park Conservatory.

The Director|5.13.07 @ 10:51AM|#

HIGH#: you're in charge of the seating charts and catering.

Dammit. Take that hat off. We've got work to do.

highnumber|5.13.07 @ 11:36AM|#

But I like my hat!

|5.13.07 @ 2:44PM|#

That's a fascinating article Le Mur linked to "Dr. Levis said he believes America could be on the brink of an epidemic similar to those that swept Brazil and led to the country becoming a global leprosy hotspot."

Personally I don't believe that'll happen since leprosy is fairly hard to transmit and easy to treat.

On the CDC's "Global Migration and Quarantine" page http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dq/diseases.htm
they list:
"Communicable Diseases of Public Health Significance
These currently include:
1. Tuberculosis
2. Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infection
3. Syphilis
4. Chancroid
5. Gonorrhea
6. Granuloma Inguinale
7. Lymphogranuloma Venereum
8. Hansen's Disease (Leprosy)"

Probably only tuberculosis is of much concern since it's fairly easy to transmit and some forms are quite difficult to treat.

The Wine Commonsewer|5.13.07 @ 10:20PM|#

I'm a little disappointed, I was expecting something a little more Reefer Madness-esque.

|5.14.07 @ 5:34PM|#

Isn't this the same guy who kept 'reporting' on his show that Nancy Pelosi demanded a plane big enough for her friends and family to fly back and forth from San Francisco to DC? Even after the House sergeant at arms said it was he, not her, that made the request? Once you catch a reporter/anchor in a lie...can you ever believe anything they say?

hmmm|5.14.07 @ 9:24PM|#

You sure this isn't a parody? It's almost too mad to be real.

|5.14.07 @ 11:02PM|#

I'm new to this site, but bear with me. Is everyone here all for opening the borders? Amnesty for all?

No legal requirement to come here?

Just step foot here and you got it made?

AND is there such a thing as giving amnesty and all social services to, too many people?

Can the U.S. afford to allow everyone in?

Is there too many?

Ten million more?

Twenty million more?

Seventy Five million more?

Seriously, is there a limit to even the open borders and amnesty for all crowd?

I see a lot of bashing but apparently no ability to come up with any reasonable solution. Of course Bush's idea along with the democrats is to simply call all them legal and therefore "Ilegals" are no longer here, VIOLA! No more illegal problem.

So what is up exactly with bashing Lou?

Considering he has been pretty much on mark I'll give him a pass on this completely. Besides Tuberculosis is on the upswing from illegals as well. No more worrying about disease coming into this country because it's just too UN-P.C.?

And what is up with this acting as though protectionism is a bad thing? The U.S. is the only country that DOESN'T practice protectionism and we are being overrun by corporations who abuse that stand and illegals as well as legals who feel just getting here is their right and it comes with no responsibilities.

I get no sense of racism out of Lou, especially in calling him a racist since he's been married to a Mexican American woman for over 25 years.

So what is up with the bashing and hate of Lou?

Would you have been happy if he hadn't of been the one who sounded the alarm about selling the ports to a Muslim country?

Or the North American Union without any consent from voters OR congress?

|5.15.07 @ 7:29AM|#

Buzz,

Most people here are for open borders. Note that this does not mean the US has no sovereignty or loses control of its borders. Those who are genuine threats to the public interest -- who are foreign agents, or felons, or carriers of contagion -- can be legitimately prevented from entering the US. But, with the exceptions so noted, general immigration should not be restricted.

Note, too, that most here are against all or almost all "social services". New immigrants should certainly not receive much in the way of welfare under open borders.

As for your stance on protectionism, you will find even fewer here who would agree with you. Suffice it to say that the very cornerstone of economics is that a voluntary exchange between two parties increases the wealth of society: Each party values what it possesses after the trade more than before the trade. Each is wealthier. The economy is wealthier. Society is wealthier.

This is the case whether the trade is between a grocery store and its customer, between a Chinese factory and an American consumer, between a Dubai-based company and an American port, or between an employer and an immigrant worker. Protectionism applies an "us" versus "them" mentality to restrict free trade. But the "us" is only a subset of the total society, and protecting the "us" comes at the expense of the vast majority in the economy -- with the total effect always being negative.

Nonetheless, because it sets up such "us" versus "them" mentalities, protectionism sells. And Lou Dobbs is its loudest pitchman.