Ebola...

[The Human Q-Tip]

On a scale of 1-10 I'd say John Rocker. She phrased it as, "a kid from fucking Africa."

Well, it doesn't seem like she's got anything against black people in general, but only against people coming from the continent infected with Ebola. Not so sure it makes her racist in that context. She might have the same reaction to a white kid from Africa coming to her son's school, and him then getting sick.

Speaking of which, I was once in Tanzania crossing the border into Kenya (no, this isn't the prelude to a joke) and saw an albino kid sitting with some other kids on the stoop of a small building. Then I read a week or so ago that some shaman (what's the plural form of 'shaman', btw?) in Tanzania believe that albinos are magical, and so they're hacking them to death for their body parts. Made me think of that kid and wonder what happened to him.

Not that this has anything to do with this thread at all, though.

 

[Nathan S]

Whether something is airborne isn't the only thing to affect transmissibility. The bubonic plague epidemic in the mid-1300's -- the Black Death -- wasn't airborne -- it was transmitted by the bites of infected fleas coming off rats. And while that's not person-to-person contact, the point remains that a virus doesn't have to be airbrorne to strike down huge numbers of people. I mean, if health care professionals who routinely operate in full hazmat gear are getting it, what else would you call it?

Ebola isn't airborne, but it appears that people have very little natural immunity to it, it's strong enough to kill otherwise very healthy people (unlike the flu), but the real kicker seems to be that it's viral load is very high.

I'm not a medical expert, and I'm not pretending to be one. I didn't even know what "viral load" meant until a week or so ago. But apparently, the amount of virus in a given volume of infected fluid is extremely high compared to how much is normally present with other diseases. So, contact with even the tiniest amount of fluld can be enough to infect the victim.

I know, I was only joking and I don't claim to be an expert either. Just pointing out that the situation could be much worse in the transmissibility department. I mean, even fucking Nigeria was able to contain their outbreak. I don't think the virus is a major threat to the western world in its current form unless we let it spiral completely out of control in Africa.

 

[Jack Brickman]

Come on, Nate. We gotta panic about something.

 

[The Oi]

Well, it doesn't seem like she's got anything against black people in general, but only against people coming from the continent infected with Ebola. Not so sure it makes her racist in that context. She might have the same reaction to a white kid from Africa coming to her son's school, and him then getting sick.

We'll wait for Doc's input, but I'm nearly certain she's a racist...

 

[FiveThous]

Just checking in to see if we have discussed this "outbreak" as a way for the government to distract us so they can pass some more BS behind the scenes.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

Just checking in to see if we have discussed this "outbreak" as a way for the government to distract us so they can pass some more BS behind the scenes.

Nope, we haven't.

 

[Huber.]

Just checking in to see if we have discussed this "outbreak" as a way for the government to distract us so they can pass some more BS behind the scenes.

That would make more sense if the Republicans weren't the ones freaking out about it.

 

[AZ_]

That would make more sense if the Republicans weren't the ones freaking out about it.

FEAR EBOLA!

Vote for us so we can stop Obama from spreading it with his negligence.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

FEAR EBOLA!

Vote for us so we can stop Obama from spreading it with his negligence.

Seems some Democrats aren't too happy with the way its being handled either. In fact, I think the first member of Congress to call for restricting flights from the infected countries was Alan Grayson, a Democrat, and a member of the Congressional Black Caucus. And before you say he was saying that just to fend off a Republican challenge, he's in a safe seat.

I don't think many people would dispute that this has been bungled at least on a communications level. Obama doesn't seem to like staking out controversial positions publicly, so things kind of play out without a clear statement or explanation from the top. The flight ban was the first real controversy to come up, and the explanation for not imposing restrictions has been delegated to lower level people who haven't sent out a clear message. The result is that some people are concerned that the health of the American people is not the first priority, and that concerns/pisses them off.

Here's a link to a letter sent by a bipartisan group of Representatives to the White House. Here's the part I think highlights the underlying concern about the way this has been handled:

You have suggested you will not take such action [flight ban/restrictions] until the WHO (World Health Organization) recommends it. We specifically call on you not to "pass the buck" on this crucial issue. The WHO is an organization of unelected bureacrats and political appointees of foreign countries. It has no duty to protect the lives and well-being of Americans, as you do. Furthermore, it has utterly failed to stem this epidemic through its own action. The responsibility for this decision is yours, not theirs.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/242444231/Ebola-Virus-Letter-to-President-Obama-10-8-2014

Now we've got the weird situation of the Commander in Chief playing agnostic on the issue of a quarantine of military personnel who've been in Liberia, while opposition a quarantine of medical personnel who had much greater and closer contact with infected people. And the justification/explanation for such things don't come from him, but kind of dribble out haphazardly through a series of leaks and statements from others within the Administration.

It's just being managed poorly.

 

[AZ_]

Seems some Democrats aren't too happy with the way its being handled either. In fact, I think the first member of Congress to call for restricting flights from the infected countries was Alan Grayson, a Democrat, and a member of the Congressional Black Caucus. And before you say he was saying that just to fend off a Republican challenge, he's in a safe seat.

They know how to read polling numbers, too. Don't get me wrong.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

They know how to read polling numbers, too. Don't get me wrong.

The polling numbers argument doesn't explain why Democrats in safe seats are making public criticisms as well.

In any case, if the issue is one of perception rather than reality, then that's all the more reason for the President to get out in front of this and be clear about the rationale for the decisions they've made.

But to cut through all this, do you think the President has handled this well?

 

[AZ_]

The polling numbers argument doesn't explain why Democrats in safe seats are making public criticisms as well.

In any case, if the issue is one of perception rather than reality, then that's all the more reason for the President to get out in front of this and be clear about the rationale for the decisions they've made.

But to cut through all this, do you think the President has handled this well?

I don't have a problem with their handling of it.

But the answer to that question is probably more dependent on how serious you believe Ebola to be in terms of it's impact on the country.

I'd argue that it's a ton of sound and fury with little impact, many of the constituents of those politicians embracing the fear and slamming negligence would most likely feel different.

The CDC on the other hand....Woof.

 

[Soda]

She sounds fat and named Tammy.

Wild... I only have ever seen fat Tammys. They're definitely ignorant enough to use that kind of "well I have ____ friends!"

 

[Jack Brickman]

Wild... I only have ever seen fat Tammys. They're definitely ignorant enough to use that kind of "well I have ____ friends!"

I know one pretty attractive Tammy that used to live in my apartment complex and another at work who is a butterface. This conversation line seems much more relevant to my daily life than ebola.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

I don't have a problem with their handling of it.

So the lack of coherent explanations and clear communication doesn't bother you? Or do you think their communications and public statements on this are fine? How about the lack of explanation for contradictions that are apparent to the public, like quarantining troops but not health care workers?

But the answer to that question is probably more dependent on how serious you believe Ebola to be in terms of it's impact on the country.

I'm not so sure about that. Regardless of whether the threat has been overhyped, the lack of clear, direct communication with the public is inexcusable.

The CDC on the other hand....Woof.

Well, the director of the CDC didn't appoint himself any more than the director of FEMA appointed himself for Katrina. And unlike the head of FEMA, who either resigned voluntarily or was asked to do so, Friedan still has his job.

The only difference is that we've now added an Ebola Czar who has absolutely nothing in the way of medical credentials. That being said, I could perhaps accept the logic of not necessarily needing a medical professional in that position. But what's happened is the President appointed the guy, said almost nothing about him, and now the guy has disappeared. The lack of clear communication is what I see as the primary problem, maybe more so than the underlying policies. And it's a problem because it reduces public confidence in the governmental response, which stokes fears rather than reduces it.