gwydion: (Default)
[personal profile] gwydion
* Four more people have been hospitalized in the Madrid outbreak including the nurse who cared for two now dead infected missionaries. It is not known if the four are infected or merely exposed as of this writing.

They are still looking in to what went wrong that lead to her infection. I'm looking at the time line and it's sounding like she was sick a weekish before turning herself in, but that's based on preliminary reporting, so don't quote me.

* I think that every single Republican politician who voted to cut the budget for Public health, the CDC, and/or funding for medical research need to shut up now about the government response to ebola. They need to put the funding back and maybe five years from now, they might be taken seriously if they are speaking sense. Same goes for the pundits and FOX "News" hosts who screamed for those cuts. 50 thousand public health jobs were cut as a cost saving measure in the last five years. Think about what that does for preparedness for the next real epidemic. We've been cutting funding for things like CDC, infectious disease research, and public health disaster preparedness for my whole life and I've been angry about it since I was old enough to understand what was being done. The infrastructure they have been stripping systematically for decades in the name of tax cuts for the 1% can't be put back in a week when people suddenly remember they need it.

* It is looking very much like the gentleman in Dallas did not know he was exposed. They say a seven months pregnant teenager collapse with no previous symptoms. They thought she was miscarrying. Hospitals turned them away and she died at home. The gentleman had left the area before her post mortem test results were known. Nine people were infected trying to help her because she collapsed and declined so suddenly that they did not realize they needed to take precautions. Demonizing him for trying do do the decent thing is not reasonable or kind

* Claims that some how he knew in Spring when he applied for his passport that in Fall he'd come down with ebola seem bizarre and perverse. He got his passport in July and booked his flight then, like you do. It basically would require time travel for him to have known so far in advance what week he would be coming down with it so far in advance. It really is looking like an innocent mistake. With the incubation period, these things are going to happen. The best and kindest thing to do is to help West Africa fight their epidemic.

* I'd like to point out that demands that the gentleman in Dallas be arrested if he lives are wildly counter productive. Criminalize people for doing the right thing and turning themselves in immediately as potential ebola patients just encourages people to lie about potential exposure and hide their sick. This is an extremely effective way to make sure the disease spreads further and kills way more people. A big problem in the West African epidemic is and was the fear of authorities and doctors because of atrocities that happened in recent wars. Hence you get whole families dying of it and infecting their friend. Hence you get conspiracy theories that the disease isn't real, leading to people attacking clinics and stealing infected patients and bedding as happened at one point in Liberia.

Want to keep inevitable outbreaks small? Don't criminalize people for getting help the moment they fall sick. Instead, do everything we can to reward people for not lying about exposure by giving them excellent health treatment and not demonizing them and their families.

* A child has died in his sleep of enterovirus without showing any symptoms.

* "Paleolithic relics unearthed in China:" http://www.newkerala.com/news/2014/fullnews-110793.html

* "Researchers find possible explanation of early Polynesian migration:" http://phys.org/news/2014-09-explanation-early-polynesian-migration.html

* "Hero Stones Belonging to Pallava Era Found Near Tirupattur:" http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil_nadu/Hero-Stones-Belonging-to-Pallava-Era-Found-Near-Tirupattur/2014/09/30/article2456022.ece

* "Twin 1,300-Year-Old Villages Discovered in Arizona Sand Dunes:" http://westerndigs.org/twin-1300-year-old-villages-discovered-in-arizona-sand-dunes/

* "Ben Affleck calls Bill Maher's views on Islam 'racist' and 'gross':"





* Attn: Greenwick. What do you think about the North Korean bit? "Protested Development:"





* "Victory for Gay Marriage & The Rise of Amicus Briefs:"





* "A Rare Correction - No Ebola Outbreak in the U.S.:"





* It is ebay time again:
BPAL: JOHNATHAN HARKER 2006 (LE, Halloweenie): http://www.ebay.com/itm/301337029112?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

* Fundraiser to Help Us Survive: http://www.gofundme.com/cuovws

(no subject)

Date: 2014-10-09 04:44 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mrbumblepants.livejournal.com
Re the North Korea thing: I haven't heard anything about the possibility of him having disappeared, but I thought it was really weird that North Korea suddenly was having talks with South Korea. I think if he has been deposed, he's been replaced by a relative or one of the other people who rule behind the scenes. I do wonder, though, if his disappearing early might lead to someone other than one of the Kims being in charge.

(no subject)

Date: 2014-10-09 04:46 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gwyd.livejournal.com
I admit to being fascinated.

(no subject)

Date: 2014-10-09 04:52 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mrbumblepants.livejournal.com
It is a really weird development. I feel a little bit hopeful. Also a little concerned - because they've be making mistakes in recent years thanks to different groups trying to one-up each other in the loyalty department. That appears to be why their PR is so choppy, with going to South Korea for peace one day, and then kidnapping all their joint venture workers the next. I recall that when North Korea bombed Yeonpeong, there was speculation that some faction or person or whatever decided to do the bombing, and that the people at the top didn't actually order it done - but of course they all have to look unified, so they wouldn't announce, "So and so fucked up, and we're sorry." So I am concerned that this is more of that business, and that North Korea might once again become more of a loose canon than normal.

If I find any promising speculation, I'll let you know

(no subject)

Date: 2014-10-09 05:26 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gwyd.livejournal.com
thank you. I am very interested.

(no subject)

Date: 2014-10-10 02:43 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mrbumblepants.livejournal.com
Looks like they've started shooting at South Korea from the border: http://www.smh.com.au/world/north-and-south-korea-exchange-heavy-gunfire-as-kim-jongun-extends-his-mysterious-absence-20141010-114ke4.html
I don't know if this means I was right, but it's a disappointing expected development, I guess.

Looks like they've also doubled the security at their borders to keep people from escaping - http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?num=12404&cataId=nk01500

And here are a couple of hypothesis about why they went diplomatically to South Korea: http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?num=12384&cataId=nk03600

My bet is on chaos, though. Some people really want to get South and North Korea together, while others would like to bolster the government through shows of force.

(no subject)

Date: 2014-10-11 06:52 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gwyd.livejournal.com
Wow, I was just looking at BBC coverage of the exchange of fire between the Koreas, and was prepping to write something. I'll go read your links, and odds are they will be in the next update. (I had to cut off where I did as the computer was wanting a reboot.) Thank you.

May 2026

S M T W T F S
      12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31      

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags