A deadly Philippines typhoon that crossed the country on 14-15 September has caused extensive damage and disruption.
Typhoon Mangkhut (locally named Ompong) affected more that 270,000 people in 30 provinces as the storm damaged houses, crops and livelihoods.
Roads and bridges are blocked by landslides and the electricity supply is down. 138,000 people were forced into 1,250 evacuation centres and 16,191 people are staying with relatives or friends.
Caritas assessment teams say that there is an urgent need for food in coastal and interior areas.
"There are a lot of things we need right now, particularly food, canned goods, clothes, blankets. We are again knocking on your door, asking for you generosity," says Fr. Peter Rambac, parish priest in Roxas in Isabela.
In his town of Roxas, 90 percent of vegetable crop has been damaged and 15 percent of rice harvested.
Emerita, 31, is a farmer from Caoayan, Ilocos Sur. Before the typhoon, she says they were expecting to harvest six sacks of rice from less than a hectare land. This time, she's not sure if they can get even one sack of rice.
"The saddest part is that the land is not ours. Everytime we harvest, we need to give one sack to our land owner as payment for the use of the land. What are we going to give them now?" she said. She and her husband will need to earn extra to sustain the family over the coming months. "We appeal for your mercy. Help us restore our livelihoods," she said.
Emerita, a farmer from Caoayan, Ilocos Sur, laments at how Typhoon Mangkhut damaged her rice fields.
Fr. Edwin Gariguez, Executive Secretary of NASSA/Caritas Philippines, says that relief efforts must empower communities to harness resilience and sustain long-term recovery. Caritas Philippines has already allotted an estimate of PhP 1,000,000 (18456 USD) for the emergency operation to be followed by an international appeal. Caritas staff have already handed out food packs to affected families.


The academic level of college is considered as the make or break time for the students. Either, they will pass with flying colors or they will struggle with the objectives that they require to meet. Things are carried forward from the college level up until the end of the university. The things learned here or the base set here will help students dealing with their academic pressure at the university levels. Therefore, the students must work hard in order to make their future academic challenges relatively easier to deal with. But, unfortunately, there are a few students who don't understand the delicacy of the time and pay the ultimate price later on. When we talk specifically of the subjects, then Finance is a kind of course which can be daunting to deal with if they have chosen it as one of their majors. The objectives are quite difficult to meet and they require some special efforts to deal with the challenges of their subject of finance. If they are looking for the help related to their homework, then there are quite a few options that they can look to go for. The only thing that should be of concern here is to look for the options which are authentic and reliable. It is highly advised to take the reference of someone you know for a specific help source order to be sure about the quality.
Online homework site – The online homework site surely offers online help for college level finance and you can approach a number of quality online homework sites which will provide you with reliable help.
Freelance tutors – The freelance tutors with specialization in finance can be the best paid help that you can get. It is because of their flexibility and the ability to provide customized support.
Finance related sites – There are some specific finance related homework sites which provides with specialized help to all levels of students on the subject. This option is far better than the general tasks sites.
Google search – Google search can be used directly to find some direct answers for your problem. You have to scan those answers on the basis of quality and reliability.


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Philosophizing The Walking Dead S2E5 Say The Word, The Media Apparatus and Alienation
By SquidXIII - August 04, 2014
Welcome to our journey into the guts of The Walking Dead. What kind of journey? A philosophical, psychoanalytical and political kind. What I would like to do over the next couple months is dig thought the Walking Dead episode by episode to see what it can teach us. Thank you for following me on this journey. I look forward to reading your comments. Be forewarned: There are spoilers everywhere. Don't forget to check out my previous post in the Philosophizing TWD series: Philosophizing The Walking Dead S3E4 Killer With In, Metaphoric Babies, And Lori's Irrational Political Agenda
In Say The Word, we are introduced to the activity that Woodbury uses to blow off steam. The Gladiator-like games pit two residents of the town to fight until incapacitation. The arena is lined circled with a group of zombies chained by their necks to stone blocks. When the fight heats up a stage hand loosens the chains holding the zombies effectively shrinking the combat zone. As the combatants swap blows the crowd cheers on their favorite fighters. The fighters respond in kind by physical displays of ego much like in a World Wresting Entertainment (WWE) match. Using the time where the opponent is knocked to the ground to turn to the crowd to call on them for morale support. The WWE wrestling match and the fights in Woodbury perform the same function. They enlist the masses to celebrate their distraction and alienate audience from the rigged nature of the game.
The spectacle of alienation is a collaborative effort. Audiences invest their leisure time to distraction through their participation and illusion of returned investment. The audience member cheers on the gladiator and misidentifies their participation in raising their fighting intensity. In one sense, this illusion of causality seems to be contradicted by what the audience sees. They see the wrestler acting as if their words had a magical effect on wrestler's performance, compelling him to turn the tides of combat. The consequent and the antecedent appear to be synced. The believability of this faulty logic is made believable by the nature of the event. The nature of entertainment is to get the audience toss of their capacity to think critically in favor of the passive consumption of an entertainment commodity. If the audience were to retain their capacity to think, the magic would be demystified, by knowledge of what is behind the curtain. The staged fight follows a script. The fight's winners and losers are pre-identified by market researchers whose primary goal is to enlist more viewers into the consumption of a product. The magical moment here when the fan screams and the combatant appear to come under the sway of the voice is pure fabrication.
But, unlike media in contemporary capitalism, Woodbury's fights are not rooted in the market. Tickets are not sold, nor is there any gain financial to the fighters themselves. While the Woodbury fights function fully outside the market, they still function as a social control. The fights at once alienate the audience to their lived reality and the constant threat of being eaten, and contribute to maintaining the Governor's authority. Alienation and fear play off each other to create the effect of the wrestling match without its ruthless drive for profit. The Woodbury fights reinforce the Governor's authority by giving credence to the idea that the Governor has control to such an extent that not only can he maintain order, but harness their greatest threat for their entertainment. By pitting the town's warrior class (Merle and the other guy) against each other, the fight also works as a show a military might. The fights are not just entertainment but have an ideological content geared towards reification of the residents leisure time.
The reification works by planning an event that is intentionally serves multiple purposes. Like the WWE, the Woodbury fights structurally act on multiple levels. Wrestling and The Walking Dead are both gears in the media apparatus whose mission is to generate profit above all else. As stated above one of the necessary components of the reproduction of profit is the audience's self-alienation. The media apparatus does not want to think too hard about its product because the viewer's critical engagement with it is a product has a tendency to lower profit generation.
Upon realizing the event she is viewing, Andrea (not always the best representative of critical thought) immediately voices her disgust about the fights to The Governor. The Governor counters her suggesting that the games are just for fun.
Andrea: What the hell is this?
The Governor: Well… it's a way to blow off steam
Andrea: Blow off steam?! You go for a jog to blow off steam. This is sick
The Governor: Well look around everyone is having a great time
Andrea: Its barbaric.
The Governor: Its staged. We pull out the biters teeth. It's all for show.
Andrea: that is crazy. This is your reason for keeping walkers around?
The Governor: People need entertainment (TWD S2E5)
Where does this need for entertainment originate? And even if there is some authentic human need for entertainment is it worth the risks inherent in incorporating zombies into that entertainment? Notice the Governor's justification for the Woodbury fights. He appeals to the residents need to be entertained and to use entertainment to blow off steam. As if watching two dudes fight to incapacitation has some transferential effect that opens the valve on collective stress. The Governor here appeals to the fight's capacity to psychologist vent vicariously through the actors in the rigged spectacle. It is as if to say only through a self-alienation and projection into a lie can a community empty themselves of the tension of their daily lives.
Hey Awesome-Face! Check out the next post in this series: Philosophizing The Walking Dead S3E6 Hounded, Zombie Ethics and How Many Walkers Have you Killed?
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The National Association for Law Placement recently published its 2018 Report on Diversity in U.S. Law Firms, with some promising results. The number of women in law firms has steadily increased for three years in a row and, overall, women and minorities managed to make small gains as partners. However, black representation among associates dropped in 2018.
Although the representation of women, minorities, and minority women associates has grown in the past year, minority women continue to be the most underrepresented group at the partnership level, despite a small bump over 2017's numbers.
The number of LGBT attorneys has generally been trending upward since 2002, but this year's increase was a small one. What is interesting about the LGBT statistics, though, is that this group still only makes up less than 3% of attorneys, and among that 3 percent there are drastic geographic disparities: 55 percent of LGBT attorneys reside in just four cities (New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and San Francisco).
The smallest group in this diversity study has finally begun to gain more attention in the past few years, yet it still accounts for just 0.5 percent of attorneys: attorneys with disabilities. Attorneys with disabilities, regardless of race or gender, are pretty scarce at both the associate and partner levels.
While the numbers from this survey suggest growth in law firm diversity overall, gains made at the associate level are not necessarily translating to a more diverse equity partnership. Firms must move beyond a focus on recruitment to examine policies around mentorship and business development that will stem attrition and lead to full inclusion at the top.


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Yehi'am Fortress
Ruins of a Crusader and Ottoman period hilltop fortress in the Upper Western Galilee near Kibbutz Yehi'am.
* Site of the Month Apr 2016 *
Home > Sites > West Galilee > North > Yehi'am fortress (Judin, Qal'at Jiddin)
* Aerial Views
* Entrance
* Reception hall
* Second Floor
* Bathhouse
* Mosque
* South Walls
* Eastern Tower
* Western Tower
* Central gate
* Eastern side
The hilltop castle in the Upper Western Galilee started as a fortified farmhouse, then rebuilt by the Teutonic Knights in 1208. It was destroyed after 60 years by the Mamelukes. The ruined fortress was rebuilt by Daher el-Omar in the 1760s. In 1946 the Kibbutz of Yehi'am was established here.
The fortress is located on the south east side of Kibbutz Yehi'am, at a height of 405m above sea level. Its greatest natural defense is on the south side, as the fortress is 125m above the valley. The visitor center is on the south east side of the Kibbutz, reached through its main street.
Roman/Byzantine
The fortress was built on the ruins of a Roman and Byzantine period settlement. A Byzantine burial cave can be seen in the entrance to the fortress.
Crusaders (12th-13th Century)
The Crusaders arrived from Europe to the Holy Land in order to liberate the Holy Land and free Jerusalem. They accomplished the mission in 1099, and established the Crusader Kingdom. Although the Crusaders were confronted by their enemies in many battles, the Kingdom held for 88 years.
Within a few months after the defeat of the Crusaders at the Horns of Hittim (July 4, 1187), the Crusaders' presence in the Holy Land ended.
A third Crusade was launched in 1189 in order to reclaim the Holy Land and Jerusalem, and by 1192 the Crusades reestablished the Kingdom in the Galilee and a narrow strip along the coast. The capital of the Kingdom was in the Galilee port city of Acre, while Jerusalem was recaptured only in 1229.
Along the borders of the Kingdom the Crusaders built fortresses. The land was divided among land owners who constructed fortified farms. One of the fortified farms was built on top of a hill overlooking the valley of Nahal Yehi'am. The tower on the east side of the complex was built during this time.
The fortified farm was sold in 1208 to the German Teutons, Crusaders that came from Germany in the 13th Century AD and established the "Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem", or in short: the Teutonic order. This order was formed in Acre in 1192 based on a mission to manage a field hospital, like the Hospitallers order. They were then transformed to a military order in 1198. The order was the largest landlord in the Western Galilee, and their center was the Montfort fortress until its fall in 1271. Their center continued in Acre until the fall of the city in 1291, then the Teutonic order spread out to Europe.
The Teutonic Knights strengthened the fortress in Yehi'am, and named it Judin. They also owned the nearby fortresses in Mi'ilya ("King's fortress – Castellum Regis) and Montfort ("Kings new castle" – Casatellum Nouwn Regis ). These fortifications were planned to defend the capital Acre from the east side.
Statue of Crusaders in Yehi'am fortress
The fortress of Judin consisted of two great rectangular towers, with the eastern tower probably being the earliest. The towers were enclosed by high curtain-walls – a common medieval fortification design of defensive walls around the towers. This castle was designed according to German castle plans, such as found in the 12th Century Münzenberg castle, which also had two high defensive towers. The high tower is based on a structure known as Bergfried, similar to the Keep or Donjon in English and French medieval castles. Another feature of the Teutonic castles is the remote, rough and inaccessible location of the castle.
The strength of the castle could not withstand the enemy assaults. In 1268-1271 the fortress was captured and ruined by the Mamlukes, and it remained in ruins for about 500 years.
Daher el-Omar (18th Century)
In the 18th Century a Bedouin named Daher el-Omar mutinied against the Ottoman empire, capturing the area of the Galilee and establishing a self governed province in the years 1730-1775. Daher and his family fundamentally reshaped the Galilee landscape by building fortresses, warehouses, khans and administrative buildings.
Daher was born in the Galilean village of Arraba in 1690, son of a rich Sunni Muslim family from Tiberias. He first conquered and fortified the town of Tiberias on the shores of the Sea of Galilee (1730). He refortified a number of ruined Crusader fortresses, including Jiddin (Judin). Daher captured this fortress in 1738 from its owner, Ahmad al-Hussein, following a battle near the fortress.
After successfully withstanding a siege of the Ottoman army from Damascus in Tiberias (1742), he conquered Shefaram (1742), fortified it and later moved his headquarters to this western Galilee town. After capturing Acre (1746) he refortified it (1750). In 1757 Daher expanded to the south west by capturing and fortifying the port towns of Haifa and Tantura (Dor), in order to expand the export of cotton and olive oil to Europe, which was the main source of income of the Galilee. In 1771 he captured the port city of Jaffa. This was the peak of his territory, extending from Sidon (captured a year earlier) to Jaffa. The Ottomans finally decided to put an end to his domain, and following a massive naval bombardment of Acre (1775), Daher was killed during an attempted escape from the city. His son Ali held the fortress until 1776, but then the governor of Acre captured the fortress.
The fortress was used in 1834 as a safe haven during the Peasants revolt of 1834. Muhammad Ali of Egypt, the Ottoman commander and later the ruler of the Ottoman Egypt, bombarded the fortress in order to quell the mutiny.
Survey of Western Palestine (19th Century)
Conder and Kitchener surveyed this area during the Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) in 1873, commissioned by the Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF). A section of map sheet 3 appears below.
Part of map sheet 3 of Survey of Western Palestine,
by Conder and Kitchener, 1872-1877.
(Published 1880, reprinted by LifeintheHolyLand.com)
The SWP report describes (Vol I, p. 154, 185-186):
"Kul'at Jiddin is mentioned by Marino Sanuto in 1322 as a castle of the Knights of the Teutonic Order, situated on Mount Saron. It is shown on his map in correct relative position to Chateau du Roi (M'alia) and Montfort (Kul'at el Kurein). The fortress was restored by Dhahr el 'Amr in the middle of the eighteenth century.
A Saracenic castle, built by Dhaher el 'Amr during his rebellion against the Turkish power. Some parts of the castle are still in a fair state of repair, though now it is entirely deserted and is rapidly falling to pieces. It shows some good Saracenic masonry, and was protected by a wall defended by round towers at some little distance from the keep, on the east side. A photograph in the Palestine Exploration Fund new series shows the general characteristics of the building. There are a good many rock-cut cisterns and a rock-cut birket round the castle. This castle is mentioned by the Monk Bouchard ('Descriptio Terræ Sanctæ, c. iv. ) as the Castellium Judin, about four leagues from Acre. He says that it formerly belonged to the Teutonic Order, but was in his time destroyed.
Guerin thus describes it : 'Two great square towers, deprived of their upper stage, are still there, partly upright, and contain several chambers now in very bad condition. The staircases which lead to them have been deprived of part of their steps to make access more difficult. Underneath are magazines and cellars, the vaults of which rest on several ranges of arcades. Cisterns hollowed in the rock are found beneath a paved court. Below and near the castle a second enclosure, flanked by semicircular towers, contains within it the remains of numerous demolished houses and cisterns.' ".
Independence War
In 1946 a Kibbutz was established near the fortress after purchasing the lands in the area. The members first settled in the ruins of the fortress, then relocated to the area west of the fortress. They named their settlement in honor of Yehiam Weitz, one of the 14 Palmach soldiers who fell in the attack (June 17, 1946) on the Achziv railway bridge, part of a nation wide attacks on bridges during the British Mandate. During the independence war the settlers used the fortress to defend themselves, building defensive walls and posts. In March 27, 1948, a convoy bringing reinforcement and re-supply to the Kibbutz defenders was attacked near Cabri, with 47 Haganah members dead.
The fortress is a national park. Its ruins were cleared and the site was prepared for viewing by the public. Art festivals are occasionally held here. At the end of the summer time, during the Sukkoth holiday, the park service conducts a Renaissance festival in the fortress.
As you can witness from the sample photos in the remainder of this page, the site is highly recommended!
(a) Aerial Views:
A drone captured this view of the ruined fortress from the west side. Notice the steep valley of Nahal Yehi'am on the south (right) side.
Click on the photos to view in higher resolution…
A lower view of the fortress is in the next photo.
Another view from the south west side:
Fly over the site and view its surroundings with the following YouTube video:
(b) Entrance to the fortress
After passing the national park entrance, the path leads up to the north side of the fortress.
Below is a view of the fortress from the west side, with the park entrance to the fortress marked with a yellow square.
The photo below shows the northern side of the fortress, as seen from the access path.
A section of the northern wall is seen along the entrance path.
Steel statues of Crusader knights were installed across the park to simulate the Crusaders times. There is also text written on them that explain their function.
The wall is composed of a lower level dated to the Crusaders period (larger stones), and the upper level dated to the 18th century.
On the side of the path are remains of the Byzantine period which predated the construction of the Crusaders fortified farm. Additional findings and structures dated to the Byzantine period are located on the east side.
Steps lead down to the burial cave.
Remains of the Crusaders and Ottoman period walls are located along the path and in various sections of the complex. Many sections have not yet been excavated and await future archaeological work and conservations.
Another view of this ruin:
(c) Reception hall – Daher el Omar:
Daher el Omar added a west wing above the hillside. The three storey building included a large vaulted hall on the lower level, a bathhouse and mosque on the second level, and a third level with a residential house and tower.
Below is a view of the fortress from the west side, with the three story building seen on the closer side. The entrance to the halls is marked with a yellow square.
The photo shows the entrance to the halls on the north west side.
The vaulted halls were the basement of the residential quarters of Qal'at Jiddin – the fortress of Judin.
The roof above the halls rest on 15 square pillars, and are supported by the arches. The National Park authority and the IAA performed a conservation project of this beautiful colonnaded hall.
An opening in the south western side lets in light into the vaulted halls:
Steps lead up to the second floor:
(d) : Second floor on the west side
The second story above the vaulted halls included a mosque on the south side and a bathhouse on the west side. In this photo is the entrance to the mosque on the left.
Another view of the entrance to the mosque is in the following photo. Above this building is the third level of the 18th Century castle.
The interior of the vaulted hall is seen below. It was probably the residential quarters of the governor of the castle. This hall is used today as a restaurant and center of events that are occasionally held here.
The next photo is a view towards the entrance. The reconstruction of this 18th Century building is remarkable.
A view of the building from the west terrace is seen in the next photo. Notice that above this level is a third third storey, with residential rooms and a tower.
To the east of the west wing are remains of the central section of the fortress. This was also a third storey building, first built in the 13th Century by the Teutonic knights, and later repaired in the 18th Century by Daher el-Omar.
(e) : Bathhouse
A bath house, dated to the 18th Century, is located above the vaulted halls on the west side. It is marked with a yellow square here on the aerial west view:
Below, the view of the ruins of the bathhouse. It was probably a private bathhouse used by the governor and his family. Another bathhouse may have been located in the central tower.
The water was warmed by a wood stove, heating the bath water in one room and filling another room with steam.
The water for the bathhouse was fetched by jars from the cistern, then poured into the tunnel.
(f) : South West side – Mosque
A mosque is located behind the bathhouse, on the south side of the second story. It is marked with a yellow square:
A view of the mosque:
The Islam prayer niche (Mihrab), here on the left side of the black statue, faces the south (in the direction of the Kabaa in Mecca, as in all mosques).
(g) : South Walls
Remains of the Crusader and Ottoman period walls are seen on the south side of the fortress. They are marked with a yellow square:
The lower side of the southern wall is made of larger stones, dated to the Crusader period. The upper level was built during the 18th century.
Embedded in the south wall is a white marble stone, which is a reuse of a Roman/Byzantine stone belonging to the earlier settlement, perhaps a public building or a Byzantine Church.
At the end of the path is an entrance to the mosque on the south west corner of the fortress.
Other ruins located on the south eastern side are shown in the following photos:
Along the south side is a defense post dated to the Independence war. In this post a mortar fire killed three soldiers and wounded one female soldier.
A path protected by walls connects it to other sections of the hill.
Another section of the path, which overlooks the valley on the south:
(h) : Eastern tower
The eastern tower is marked with a yellow square:
Remains of the eastern tower are seen here, dated to the Crusader period, with a later extension in the 18th century. This tower is located in the center of the fortress and was probably the earliest structure.
Above the Crusader level is an addition of the 18th Century building.
Another view of the eastern tower is below. The wall is 4-5m thick and 15m high.
Other remains of the Crusaders and Ottoman walls are seen here.
A general view of the center of the Crusader fortress, with a view towards the north, is seen in the following photo.
(i) : Central tower
Steps lead up between the eastern and central towers up to an observation point on its roof. This is marked with a yellow square:
Along the way up you can stop to enjoy the scene – a good excuse to catch breath. The view in the photo below is towards the north west, with the central tower on the left.
The way up passes along sections of the tower.
After reaching the observation point on the roof of the tower, you can enjoy the great views around the castle.
A western view from the western tower is seen in the following photo.
(j) : Central Gate of Daher el Omar
The 18th Century fortress, built by Daher el Omar on the ruins of the Crusaders castle, was entered from the north east side of the complex. It is marked with a yellow square:
Below is the semi-circular tower which protected the entrance. The gateway was through a narrow entrance in the side of the tower, which was closed by a pair of wooden doors reinforced with iron straps.
After passing into the tower, there are two more turns that are required to pass prior to arriving into the court. This plan slowed down the penetrating enemy, which is a common design in gates.
Along the walls and the corridor were a number of arrow slits, such as the one seen on the left side of the entrance. The exterior side of the arrow slits are thin vertical openings. The inner side, behind the wall, has an oblique angle cut away that permitted the archer a wide field of view.
(k) : North Eastern side
On the north east side are remains of the defensive positions and walls built and used by the Kibbutz settlers during the 1948 independence war.
Another battle shelter is seen in the following photo. Here one of the defenders was killed during the enemy attack.
Etymology (behind the name):
Yehi'am, Yechi'am – Hebrew: "The nation shall live". The the Kibbutz and fortress are named after Yehi'am Weitz, one of the 14 Palmach soldiers who fell in the Bridges attack in 1946.
Judin – Crusader name of the fortress. Jüdin in German language means Jewess – a female Jew .
Qal'at Jiddin – Arab name of the fortress. Qal'at means fortress, Juddin based on the Crusader name.
Yehi'am Fortress national park
Visit in the fortress – Beshvil Ha'aretz pp. 32-34, Dr. M. Aviram (Hebrew, pdf, 2 pages)
Drone Aerial views – collection of Biblical sites from the air
* Other Teutonic fortresses:
BibleWalks.com – touring the sites of the Holy Land
Kishon River<<<–previous West Galilee site—<<<All Sites>>>
This page was last updated on Apr 23, 2016 (Site of the month)


The Good: Many conversations around K-index showed me that at last clinicians (leaders, educators and researchers) are getting interested in social media and the impact it may have on their careers. Unfortunately the fact that K-index worries so many of my colleagues also pointed out the misconception that still exists around the simple notions such as followers, citations, dissemination and influence.
The Bad: The K-index author uses number of followers to index influence online. The number of Twitter followers can easily be manipulated and has no relation to ones influence online. Arguably using "influence score" provided by websites such as Klout, Kred or PeerIndex would have been a better index for this. Being on Twitter has never been about number of followers, which can easily be inflated (just tweet #FollowBack and see your followers grow!), it's about the quality of interactions. Also, the number of your citations says nothing about the quality of your research. You can have published a totally misleading article, which raises the scientific community in arms against you, who will publish numerous articles against yours, which will still make your citation number rise!
The Ugly: Physicians have always concentrated, with valid and good intentions, on disseminating their research results behind peer-reviewed walls of high-impact journals. This is debatably one of many factors that provoked the 2014 measles outbreak in the US (at least 599 confirmed cases of measles in 2014). The famous retracted Lancet article, considered to have been pivotal in beginning a linking in the public mind between MMR vaccination and Autism (published 1998, Cited by 1960, retracted 12 years later in 2010), is a perfect example of the ugly consequences of focusing our dissemination to high Impact Factor journals and ignoring the popular media, including social media. The scientific community went in arms against the Anti-Vax movement after the Lancet article but used the only dissemination defense they knew: peer-reviewed publications in journals with high Impact Factor. Although the message got through about the safeness of vaccines to other physicians, not many thought about communicating it in the digital world where many people were (and are) looking for answers. On the other hand, the Anti-Vax movement used the communication tools they knew: TV, newspapers, low-impact journals, and social media. Though the rise of Anti-Vax movement is more complicated than described here, I ponder on the fact that if scientific community have been more present in these non-peer-reviewed media, the US may not have been struggling with a measles outbreak in 2014! My aim is not to discuss the benefits of vaccination but merely to point out the serious consequences when physicians concentrate on their old ways of calculating disseminations (h-index and Impact Factor) and ignore the new dissemination tools as a fad. No matter how many times we blow the horn of privacy and professionalism concerns (and now the risk of being called a Kardashian clinician) the fact remains that our patients are using those tools to get information on internet, and if we don't do our health advocacy there and educate them, someone else will.
Looking at this today, when we're dealing with an Ebola outbreak, and seeing all the fear-mongering and sensationalization on TV, internet and social media, I believe it's more important than ever for physicians to think about their social accountability in the digital world. They should see it as an important part of their role as health advocates to be present on social media to educate the population at large, even if it means being labeled, by a few, as 'Kardashian clinicians'.


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