The Ebolas

[ZMan]

While the hysteria is ridiculous, there have been some incredibly stupid decisions made. Maybe moreso from a PR standpoint than medical one, but stupid none-the-less.

You just treated the one single ebola case in America, why not go hop on a plane or a cruise ship? All you're doing is inciting more panic.

[degenerasian]

vacations have been booked!!!

[rass]

A really great article on the start of the current outbreak, the work to genetically identify the virus and the development of drug treatments. Sometimes people are awesome.

And if I can be a bit crude, the rocking Harvard researcher is pretty hot.

[tennbengal]

A really great article on the start of the current outbreak, the work to genetically identify the virus and the development of drug treatments. Sometimes people are awesome.

And if I can be a bit crude, the rocking Harvard researcher is pretty hot.

Sabeti is a slender woman in her late thirties, with a warm manner. She is the head of a lab at Harvard, and leads viral-genome efforts at the Broad Institute of M.I.T. and Harvard. She specializes in reading and analyzing the genomes of organisms and, in particular, studies virus evolution—the way viruses change over time as they adapt to their environments. In her spare time, Sabeti is the lead singer and songwriter for an indie band called Thousand Days. Its fourth album has been delayed owing to her work on the Ebola outbreak.

Awesome.

[The Sybian]

Yay, my idiot Congressman is petitioning Obama to stop all flights to Ebola-stricken foreign countries. Fuck, Leonard Lance is an idiot. I'm seeing more FB posts with people upset to freaking out about ebola. 3 fucking cases. 3!!!! OMFG it's an epidemic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know I am beating Barbaro here, but this is seriously starting to piss me off.

I decided I would insert my opinion into the online memory hole and sent a letter through my Congressman's website. Dude just called me to discuss! Holy fuck, I wasn't expecting that. He gave me 10 minutes to state my opinions, made it sound like he was open minded and willing to consider my thoughts. He deferred to my experience at Customs in discussing the feasibility of tracking people who would travel through a 3rd country to avoid the ban. I'd assume this was a ploy before the elections, but he has no opposition. Hell, I didn't even know who the Dems were running against him. Had to look it up, and I've never heard of her. Don't recall seeing her signs. My district is pretty hard right.

[rass]

A staffer for Senator Ted Cruz tweeted this:



I don't know why he deleted it. He's not wrong!

[Shirley]

Before Obamacare, Robin Williams was still alive.

[Rex]

I demand footage of them fumigating this bowling alley he was at

[rass]

I demand footage of them fumigating this bowling alley he was at

That bowling shoe spray is a cure-all.

[Rex]

You think there's nothing to worry about but

[rass]

The CDC has really munsoned this entire situation.

[Ryan]

I take back all the other times I thought "wow, this is a Post headline writer's dream"

[The Sybian]

A staffer for Senator Ted Cruz tweeted this:

I don't know why he deleted it. He's not wrong!

Reminds me of this classic Michelle Bachmann boner. Not just idiotic, but factually inaccurate.

[Pruitt]

The CDC has really munsoned this entire situation.

Great reference, and completely accurate.

Maybe the CDC can learn from the way the health authorities in Nigeria acted.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/21/world ... .html?_r=0

Other important Nigerian actions cited by the W.H.O. included the quick response and close coordination of public health authorities and international organizations to isolate and treat patients, and the detective work of contact tracing teams.

But I will say that the Nigerian health care system never contained an Ebola outbreak before Obama became President.

[tennbengal]

With a case in NYC now, I am sure the national media will practice restraint...

[The Sybian]

Other important Nigerian actions cited by the W.H.O. included the quick response and close coordination of public health authorities and international organizations to isolate and treat patients, and the detective work of contact tracing teams.

But I will say that the Nigerian health care system never contained an Ebola outbreak before Obama became President.

I actually saw a video of a Congressman bashing Obama for speaking to an international organization. WTF is wrong with these people?

[Ryan]

With a case in NYC now, I am sure the national media will practice restraint...

Oh I don't really think so, no.

[Rex]

Actual sentence on the New York Times website today:

If someone left blood, vomit or feces on a bowling ball, and the next person to touch it did not even notice, and then put his fingers into his eyes, nose or mouth, it might be possible.

[HaulCitgo]

Actual sentence on the New York Times website today:

If someone left blood, vomit or feces on a bowling ball, and the next person to touch it did not even notice, and then put his fingers into his eyes, nose or mouth, it might be possible.

Depending upon the bowling alley, id guess that about much of the equipment has blood, vomit or feces. The other two are virtual certainties.

[howard]

E-bowl-a, amirite?

The CDC has really munsoned this entire situation.

That was awesome!

But I will say that the Nigerian health care system never contained an Ebola outbreak before Obama became President.

Kenya hasn't had any of the ebolas since Obama!

[The Sybian]

But I will say that the Nigerian health care system never contained an Ebola outbreak before Obama became President.

Kenya hasn't had any of the ebolas since Obama!

OMFG! OMFG! Trump is spinning in circles cooking up a conspiracy theory based on this. What ever happened to Trump's crack team of investigators in Hawaii looking into Obama's birth certificate. "Just wait until you see what my guys dug up!" Still waiting.

[Johnnie]

So the New Jersey governor can demand a mandatory quarantine to someone who isn't showing symptoms?

What the fuck?

[howard]

So the New Jersey governor can demand a mandatory quarantine to someone who isn't showing symptoms?

What the fuck?

isn't that what you are fighting for?

[Pruitt]

In the current "On The Media Podcast," they discussed the results of a survey concerning people's attitudes about Ebola.

Gist is that the more that American people have been informed - the more news reports they read or heard about Ebola - the more likely they are to harbour misconceptions and completely inaccurate ideas about the disease.

I was gobsmacked for a moment, "knowledge" is supposed to dispel ignorance after all. But it makes sense considering how sensationalistic and flat out wrong the coverage has been.

Shockingly, the only reporter/anchor that they singled out for his calm, informed analysis (and his pleas to his viewers to not overreact) works at Fox News. Sheppard Smith is now the voice of reason. He even finished a report by urging viewers to get a flu shot as the flu presents a real danger to people in the USA.

[Nonlinear FC]

Pruitt, that's pretty much how I framed that when I posted the link to the Smith clip on Facebook. When he is the voice of reason, you know shit has gone sideways.

[Johnnie]

isn't that what you are fighting for?

The more I live outside of America, the more I never want to come back. And the longer I stay in the military, the more I truly grow to dislike it. If there's a 15 year retirement option in two years, I'm punching. 33, retired, and onto something else.

[Johnnie]

This beautiful little sideshow where the president acts like military members being quarantined (fuck that euphemized 'controlled monitoring' bullshit) is completely cool and totally necessary, is but a glimpse into the world of the illogical nonsense we have to deal with daily. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, military members being quarantined does fuckall. And it creates a precedent and panic amongst civilians whereby if the military has to be quarantined, why not us? It makes the conspiracy theorists get Ebola boners that the government is hiding something from everyone.

Oh, and insisting that the notion that we aren't volunteers was cute. Even if he meant it in a "They are 'ordered' by me to go and don't go there of their own free will" context. Putting "military" and "aren't volunteers" in the same sentence makes me laugh because I like laughing at idiots and the idiots that irritate them.

[The Sybian]

This beautiful little sideshow where the president acts like military members being quarantined (fuck that euphemized 'controlled monitoring' bullshit) is completely cool and totally necessary, is but a glimpse into the world of the illogical nonsense we have to deal with daily. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, military members being quarantined does fuckall. And it creates a precedent and panic amongst civilians whereby if the military has to be quarantined, why not us? It makes the conspiracy theorists get Ebola boners that the government is hiding something from everyone.

Oh, and insisting that the notion that we aren't volunteers was cute. Even if he meant it in a "They are 'ordered' by me to go and don't go there of their own free will" context. Putting "military" and "aren't volunteers" in the same sentence makes me laugh because I like laughing at idiots and the idiots that irritate them.

It's really a catch 22 for the Prez. If he does nothing, the media and everyone buying into the media's nonsense will freak out that he isn't doing anything. It's unnecessary CYA from a reality standpoint, but if one military member came back with Ebola, he would take a massive hit. I'd love to see him come out and condemn the media, but it would just be spun against him by the media, and chalked up to the government lying to us by those buying into the hype. Look at the response to the CDC and countless medical and infectious disease specialists. No matter how many of them come out saying there is no cause for concern, people still freak the fuck out.

[Pruitt]

It's really a catch 22 for the Prez. If he does nothing, the media and everyone buying into the media's nonsense will freak out that he isn't doing anything. It's unnecessary CYA from a reality standpoint, but if one military member came back with Ebola, he would take a massive hit. I'd love to see him come out and condemn the media, but it would just be spun against him by the media, and chalked up to the government lying to us by those buying into the hype. Look at the response to the CDC and countless medical and infectious disease specialists. No matter how many of them come out saying there is no cause for concern, people still freak the fuck out.

I don't know about the response if he came out and lambasted the media. It worked for Nixon (not being facetious) and other than political bodies, "the media" is the most hated institution in America. Hell, he's getting ripped apart anyway - why not tell people to "calm the fuck down" and listen to doctors and not coiffed morons on morning shows?

A once bold, decisive man who has become Merkin Muffley.

[The Sybian]

It's really a catch 22 for the Prez. If he does nothing, the media and everyone buying into the media's nonsense will freak out that he isn't doing anything. It's unnecessary CYA from a reality standpoint, but if one military member came back with Ebola, he would take a massive hit. I'd love to see him come out and condemn the media, but it would just be spun against him by the media, and chalked up to the government lying to us by those buying into the hype. Look at the response to the CDC and countless medical and infectious disease specialists. No matter how many of them come out saying there is no cause for concern, people still freak the fuck out.

I don't know about the response if he came out and lambasted the media. It worked for Nixon (not being facetious) and other than political bodies, "the media" is the most hated institution in America. Hell, he's getting ripped apart anyway - why not tell people to "calm the fuck down" and listen to doctors and not coiffed morons on morning shows?

A once bold, decisive man who has become Merkin Muffley.

The media landscape in the US was much different in the 1970s. Journalism was still practiced, the evening news programs had the goal of actually educating their viewers, not getting ratings to sell commercial slots [bring back the Fairness Doctrine!], and the media wasn't dominated by partisan hacks more concerned with pushing an agenda and saying controversial things to keep themselves relevant. Th Right Wing is going to bash Obama no matter what he does, and the Left will either agree, or as happens more often, ignore what they would have bashed Bush for doing. I wish he would take a stand and not cave, but that has not been his MO since taking office. I would stand up to this, but that is why I would never get elected. Doing what is best for Constituents is rarely the best political move.

[Pruitt]

Yeah, you're right.

Boy, does the USA ever need a viable third party. Where's Hal Phillip Walker when you need him?

[The Sybian]

A friend posted this on FB. I can't figure out how to post a tweet, so I'll just cut and paste the quote:


Dr. Dave Stukus @AllergyKidsDoc
Actual discussion: Parent "I want #Ebola vaccine for my child" Doc "There isn't one, but we have #flushot" Parent "We don't believe in that"

[Pruitt]

My brother was in Morocco last week. He saw this on the plane...



He thought it was funny. His girlfriend did not.

[The Sybian]

So I just heard that a Liberian doctor being treated for Ebola died in an Oklahoma today. Where is the panic and chaos? OMFG, Obama needs to close the borders!?!?!?! Must be a coincidence that the last time we heard about Ebola was election day, right?