Ebola

[Jeep]

I think this is one of the things that needs to be addressed.

This is not a "fedgov" thing. The medical system is not "fedgov." CDC is federal. That's it. The response to ebola is based on the independent actions of healthcare workers and their employers' (ahem, non-governmental) policies and procedures.

This is not the Umbrella Corporation. The US healthcare infrastructure is not the Borg Collective. It is not one unified, synchronized body and most of us have jack-all to do with the government.

So, with that being said, in response to Czech: you think the answers and actions so far are incongruous? Well.....no kidding! The decision to place the ambulance out of service for 2 days probably wasn't by direction of the CDC....it was probably by direction of a ranking firefighter who has little to do with the medical field, and only deals with EMS because he wouldn't have a job otherwise.

So, I guess I don't really understand what you guys are actually expecting. The healthcare infrastructure is getting guidelines and education from the CDC, but decisions are decentralized and made on the ground by independent practitioners and/or policy makers.....and that has absolutely squat to do with this fictional overarching, omniscient "fedgov" that you guys are imagining.

TGS: I understand that point, but the people doing the talking all seem to be fedgov--from the President to the head of CDC etc. And they are the ones who are making the decisions about whether, for example, to allow flights to Liberia and back. Again, this is not my area of expertise and so I'm not about to say what should be done. But I have little faith that the people making the decisions at that level are making decisions that are primarily based on facts and reason rather than politics and institutional face saving concerns. Nor do I have any faith that they feel constrained to tell us the truth. Perhaps this time they are--but faith (or the lack thereof) in others is based on experience, and that experience has been less than stellar.

And that, I think, is the key. I don't trust them, whereas I accept your statements because while you are a guy on the internet I've never met, you seem to know what you are talking about, you have no obvious reason to spin the facts, and you've seemed to be sensible in your other posts. It would be nice if I could say as much for our federal officials.

[JV_]

But I have little faith that the people making the decisions at that level are making decisions that are primarily based on facts and reason rather than politics and institutional face saving concerns. Nor do I have any faith that they feel constrained to tell us the truth.

I agree.

[Bigguy]

I'm struck by the eerie similarities to the recent new casts on the subject and the opening sequence to most B grade, post apocalypse, horror movies I've seen recently. Just saying.

[MDS]

TGS: I understand that point, but the people doing the talking all seem to be fedgov--from the President to the head of CDC etc.

Not TGS, but in my ignorance it strikes me that fedgov's biggest role is to prevent mass hysteria. From that perspective, running their mouths is exactly their job. Shockingly, their efforts have probably had the opposite effect, but that's because of the NRA.

[Chance]

The sensationalism around this has been interesting to watch. According to AVERT, there are roughly 1.2 million AIDS-related deaths in sub-Saharan Africa every year. If my math is correct (never guaranteed...), that's: 1,200,000 / 365 > 3000. So that's over three thousand deaths per day due to AIDS-related complications. Horrifying though they are, Ebola's numbers relative to that figure seem almost trivial.

[Sensei]

The sensationalism around this has been interesting to watch. According to AVERT, there are roughly 1.2 million AIDS-related deaths in sub-Saharan Africa every year. If my math is correct (never guaranteed...), that's: 1,200,000 / 365 > 3000. So that's over three thousand deaths per day due to AIDS-related complications. Horrifying though they are, Ebola's numbers relative to that figure seem almost trivial.

Your math is sound. However, Ebola is the new guy around town so we should expect some hysterics from people. Remember how people wanted to kick Ryan White out of school in the late '80s?

I also think that America has a fascination with post-apocalyptic dystopia and Ebola feeds that particular genre quite well.

[TCinVA]

The sensationalism around this has been interesting to watch. According to AVERT, there are roughly 1.2 million AIDS-related deaths in sub-Saharan Africa every year. If my math is correct (never guaranteed...), that's: 1,200,000 / 365 > 3000. So that's over three thousand deaths per day due to AIDS-related complications. Horrifying though they are, Ebola's numbers relative to that figure seem almost trivial.

Mr. and Mrs. America aren't terribly worried about contracting AIDS. Somdood from WhereTheHeck? who can cough on them and give them a disease that liquefies your internal organs, on the other hand, is scary.

I also think that America has a fascination with post-apocalyptic dystopia and Ebola feeds that particular genre quite well.

Right. The whole genre of Zombie Apocalypse entertainment is predicated on some horrible disease that spreads out of control and completely wipes out civilization. We even have iPad games where you can build a virus to try and completely wipe out all of human kind. So far my record is 6.5 billion people, but humanity ultimately survived.

The other day someone remarked to me that they think Mr. Ebola in Dallas is a good thing, as maybe it will get people to consider the consequences of having basically no border enforcement on the eve of an important election. I have my doubts.

[JV_]

I think that if people had more faith in this governments ability to not BS the public about everything, it'd be a bit different. This governments attitude of "it's not a problem" with things like illegal immigration and F&F are great examples. We have zero faith that they're trying to do what's genuinely best for the country, rather than their political future, so everyone is left to become an expert (via Google).

[RevolverRob]

My mother in law is head of the nursing staff at another Dallas hospital and can expound at great length about the politics and quality of care at virtually all of the DFW institutions (she is in year 32 now), she felt Presby staff did well. While the political handling of the situation may not be ideal, I can almost guarantee the efforts by the hospital staff, exceeded the standards necessary to contain the virus, once it was discovered. Politicians in Dallas are notoriously photo-op driven and it's sad, but completely unsurprising that they would be idiots in the situation.

[JLM]

I haven't read all 7 pages of this thread but the OP's post was spot on.

I'd also add, for some rational analysis:

www.twiv.tv

CV's:

http://www.twiv.tv/about-2/