6 ms·

For some reason, possibly because it is overly dramatic, ridiculous and has no real data sources the article immediately felt made up, aka fake news. Then I sa

For some reason, possibly because it is overly dramatic, ridiculous and has no real data sources the article immediately felt made up, aka fake news. Then I saw this in the Wikipedia about one of the alleged sources labeled as "interviews by MintPress": > By 2016, MintPress News had begun reprinting copy from RT (formerly Russia Today) and Sputnik.

arcticfox 7y ago
On that note, corn appears to be a ~$10B export and blood a ~$1B export making the article completely wrong, unless these sources or my interpretation completely incorrect. [1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenroberts/2019/01/14/corn-is-one-of-2018s-fastest-growing-exports-might-slip-past-soybeans/#3829d49c490b https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenroberts/2019/01/14/corn-is-o... [2] http://www.worldstopexports.com/top-blood-exporters-by-country/ http://www.worldstopexports.com/top-blood-exporters-by-count...
- tantalor 7y ago
  It's not clear where the numbers on that site come from, but the MintPress story has this actual source: https://oec.world/en/visualize/tree_map/hs92/export/usa/all/show/2017/ https://oec.world/en/visualize/tree_map/hs92/export/usa/all/... > Human or Animal Blood; HS92 ID: 3002; Export Value: $28.6B; Export: RCA2.30; Percent: 2.3% For all of the HS data used throughout the site (1995 - 2017) we use the BACI International Trade Database2. The original data comes from the United Nations Statistical Division (COMTRADE), but is cleaned by the BACI team using their own methodology of harmonization. (https://oec.world/en/resources/data https://oec.world/en/resources/data)
  - bloodthrowaway 7y ago
    According to worldbank.org, HS92 3002 includes human and animal vaccines: > Antisera and other blood fractions > Vaccines for human medicine > Vaccines against foot-and-mouth disease > Other vaccines for veterinary medicine (excl. f > Human and animal blood; microbial cultures; tox http://wits.worldbank.org/data/public/CountryProfile-ProductMetadataforSector.xlsx http://wits.worldbank.org/data/public/CountryProfile-Product...
- scottlocklin 7y ago
  According to this; blood is a $21b export: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-world-s-top-exporters-of-blood.html https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-world-s-top-exporter... I love it when "fake news" is flagged as such to cover up .... reality. Wonder if the people who thought up this meme actually thought of that.
  - arcticfox 7y ago
    The author of the oec.world site used as the source for the original article already updated the site to be more clear and posted in this thread because this was, in fact, fake news. The $21B number includes human and animal vaccines, which is the overwhelming majority.
    - scottlocklin 7y ago
      Citations needed: most of it is actually blood plasma as far as I can tell[1] [2]. Just because you don't like the messenger doesn't mean the message is false. [1] https://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/wtf-why-does-the-us-export-blood-despite-vermonts-shortages/Content?oid=24981787 https://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/wtf-why-does-the-us-expo... [2] https://www.newsweek.com/two-percent-us-export-income-blood-1476763 https://www.newsweek.com/two-percent-us-export-income-blood-...
  - glofish 7y ago
    The most important attribute of fake news is the appeal to emotion and outrage, and using that to paint a manipulative picture - that's is the primary reason for this being a fake news. Not even wether or not blood is the biggest export. As it turns out the "blood category" was a mislabel, it included vaccines as well - thus this fake news lost even that shred of credibility. But even if this tidbit were true the main original article is still nothing more than propaganda.
hn_throwaway_99 7y ago
Spouting "fake news" for shit you disagree with is just beyond lame. It's fine to argue that "MintPress News" is not a reputable source, but that MintPress News article is loaded with verifiable sources that you can easily look up yourself: https://oec.world/en/visualize/tree_map/hs92/export/usa/all/show/2017/ https://oec.world/en/visualize/tree_map/hs92/export/usa/all/... https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2018/03/plasma-donations/555599/ https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2018/03/plasma-... https://oec.world/en/visualize/tree_map/hs92/export/usa/show/3002/2017/ https://oec.world/en/visualize/tree_map/hs92/export/usa/show... But instead of arguing about the interpretation of the data, or pointing to other data sources, you choose to parrot "fake news" because that's apparently what passes for logical discourse in this day and age.
- arcticfox 7y ago
  From your oec.world source, "Human or Animal Blood is also known as vaccines, toxins. Human or Animal Blood is a 4 digit HS92 product." What does that even mean? I think they're looping in vaccines and more in their human or animal blood category. https://oec.world/en/profile/hs92/3002/ https://oec.world/en/profile/hs92/3002/ Edit: among other things, they seem to be including all of the following as "human and animal blood", among others: * 300220 Vaccines; for human medicine * 300230 Vaccines; for veterinary medicine * 300290 Toxins, cultures of micro-organisms (excluding yeasts) and similar products https://www.foreign-trade.com/reference/hscode.htm?code=3002 https://www.foreign-trade.com/reference/hscode.htm?code=3002
  - Nasrudith 7y ago
    I wonder if that is a historical or legal artifact. Medicine wasn't always so refined to the point that the vaccines were pure pathogen in chemical carrier and didn't have some human specimen material trace or otherwise when isolating. Both for transport safety concerns and exemptions (no arresting the doctor for carrying vaccines even if he technically is guilty of transporting importing dissected human remains not fuffiling legal burial requirements when it takes a microscope to detect the human cells) would make sense.
  - 7y ago

arcticfox 7y ago

On that note, corn appears to be a ~$10B export and blood a ~$1B export making the article completely wrong, unless these sources or my interpretation completely incorrect. [1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenroberts/2019/01/14/corn-is-one-of-2018s-fastest-growing-exports-might-slip-past-soybeans/#3829d49c490b https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenroberts/2019/01/14/corn-is-o... [2] http://www.worldstopexports.com/top-blood-exporters-by-country/ http://www.worldstopexports.com/top-blood-exporters-by-count...

tantalor 7y ago
It's not clear where the numbers on that site come from, but the MintPress story has this actual source: https://oec.world/en/visualize/tree_map/hs92/export/usa/all/show/2017/ https://oec.world/en/visualize/tree_map/hs92/export/usa/all/... > Human or Animal Blood; HS92 ID: 3002; Export Value: $28.6B; Export: RCA2.30; Percent: 2.3% For all of the HS data used throughout the site (1995 - 2017) we use the BACI International Trade Database2. The original data comes from the United Nations Statistical Division (COMTRADE), but is cleaned by the BACI team using their own methodology of harmonization. (https://oec.world/en/resources/data https://oec.world/en/resources/data)
- bloodthrowaway 7y ago
  According to worldbank.org, HS92 3002 includes human and animal vaccines: > Antisera and other blood fractions > Vaccines for human medicine > Vaccines against foot-and-mouth disease > Other vaccines for veterinary medicine (excl. f > Human and animal blood; microbial cultures; tox http://wits.worldbank.org/data/public/CountryProfile-ProductMetadataforSector.xlsx http://wits.worldbank.org/data/public/CountryProfile-Product...
scottlocklin 7y ago
According to this; blood is a $21b export: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-world-s-top-exporters-of-blood.html https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-world-s-top-exporter... I love it when "fake news" is flagged as such to cover up .... reality. Wonder if the people who thought up this meme actually thought of that.
- arcticfox 7y ago
  The author of the oec.world site used as the source for the original article already updated the site to be more clear and posted in this thread because this was, in fact, fake news. The $21B number includes human and animal vaccines, which is the overwhelming majority.
  - scottlocklin 7y ago
    Citations needed: most of it is actually blood plasma as far as I can tell[1] [2]. Just because you don't like the messenger doesn't mean the message is false. [1] https://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/wtf-why-does-the-us-export-blood-despite-vermonts-shortages/Content?oid=24981787 https://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/wtf-why-does-the-us-expo... [2] https://www.newsweek.com/two-percent-us-export-income-blood-1476763 https://www.newsweek.com/two-percent-us-export-income-blood-...
- glofish 7y ago
  The most important attribute of fake news is the appeal to emotion and outrage, and using that to paint a manipulative picture - that's is the primary reason for this being a fake news. Not even wether or not blood is the biggest export. As it turns out the "blood category" was a mislabel, it included vaccines as well - thus this fake news lost even that shred of credibility. But even if this tidbit were true the main original article is still nothing more than propaganda.

hn_throwaway_99 7y ago

Spouting "fake news" for shit you disagree with is just beyond lame. It's fine to argue that "MintPress News" is not a reputable source, but that MintPress News article is loaded with verifiable sources that you can easily look up yourself: https://oec.world/en/visualize/tree_map/hs92/export/usa/all/show/2017/ https://oec.world/en/visualize/tree_map/hs92/export/usa/all/... https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2018/03/plasma-donations/555599/ https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2018/03/plasma-... https://oec.world/en/visualize/tree_map/hs92/export/usa/show/3002/2017/ https://oec.world/en/visualize/tree_map/hs92/export/usa/show... But instead of arguing about the interpretation of the data, or pointing to other data sources, you choose to parrot "fake news" because that's apparently what passes for logical discourse in this day and age.

arcticfox 7y ago
From your oec.world source, "Human or Animal Blood is also known as vaccines, toxins. Human or Animal Blood is a 4 digit HS92 product." What does that even mean? I think they're looping in vaccines and more in their human or animal blood category. https://oec.world/en/profile/hs92/3002/ https://oec.world/en/profile/hs92/3002/ Edit: among other things, they seem to be including all of the following as "human and animal blood", among others: * 300220 Vaccines; for human medicine * 300230 Vaccines; for veterinary medicine * 300290 Toxins, cultures of micro-organisms (excluding yeasts) and similar products https://www.foreign-trade.com/reference/hscode.htm?code=3002 https://www.foreign-trade.com/reference/hscode.htm?code=3002
- Nasrudith 7y ago
  I wonder if that is a historical or legal artifact. Medicine wasn't always so refined to the point that the vaccines were pure pathogen in chemical carrier and didn't have some human specimen material trace or otherwise when isolating. Both for transport safety concerns and exemptions (no arresting the doctor for carrying vaccines even if he technically is guilty of transporting importing dissected human remains not fuffiling legal burial requirements when it takes a microscope to detect the human cells) would make sense.
- 7y ago