"Oh, come on, Casey. You have to admire its simplicity. It's one billionth our size and it is beating us." - Sam Daniels, or Ratzo from "Outbreak".I have avoided the blog about the Ebola virus. Even though I live fifteen minutes east of where the first guy in the U.S. died from it. Even though it has been politicized. Even though when I went in for my dental cleaning last week, I had my temperature taken. Even though people are acting the fool... I refrained.
Last night, after a shitty weekend... I was plagued (pun intended) by dreams of my contracting the virus. It was the kind of thematic dream where upon waking up, you realize, "Man, that was fucked up", only to fall RIGHT BACK INTO THE DREAM!!! Can't happen when I am dreaming about Charlize Theron, nooooo....
So... Ebola. Not a lot of fun. Kind of depressing, actually. This from the man who will debate you that 80% of the world's population needs to "go away.".
Stopping Flights
The knee jerk reaction... Read that phrase again and place emphasis on the middle word. Every person of a medical/scientific background, not employed by Fox "News"*, has repeatedly stressed that this would be a stupid idea.
The major reasons for not stopping flights are as follows... 1) Doctors and "People Trying To Stop the Epidemic at the Source" need to get INTO the countries. Imagine a battle for a continent. Now imagine people with big ol' brass balls diving into Hell on Earth, headfirst, to fight that war.
These people are trying to get the source, the epicenter, and get it under control. If WE, as in the human race, do not do that, then the cases of infected people getting out will continue, and increase.
Think of a fire... People are losing their shit and getting stupid over a stray ember or two. Embers need the attention, sure...Trying to stop the aid workers is akin to stopping the people with the hose from putting out the actual fire.
2) The second reason stopping flights is a dumb fuck idea is that there are rules for travelling by plane and that helps keep dispersal low and traceable. In Africa, the transmission is usually contained to villages... Those villages usually are completely wiped out by the disease, and as cold as this sounds, that is a good thing.
Containment is the key and by stopping flights, those who feel that there is nothing left to lose will seek less "regulated" means of escape and travel. At the airports, if a person is tested and found to have been exposed to the virus, they don't just point them to the nearest dock or bus station... I hope...
The Nurses In Dallas
I tried explaining to my salt-of-the-Earth co-workers, who were of the opinion that them thar nurses were idiots for not following protocol, to imagine you have a snowmobile in Texas.
I would vote that the snowmobile, like the "In Case of Ebola" Binder had collected some dust from not being used or looked at in decades. Should it have been browsed (or at least taken off the shelf) once the news of the virus spreading in Africa hit? Sure... Hindsight is a mother fucker.
These ladies deserve nothing but accolades and admiration. Did they do everything right? No. But until I get the invitation to your "Perfection Coronation", shut the fuck up. It is easy to cast derision from the safety of your own home vs. an emergency room.
Also, nurses are in direct control of the needles that may or may not enter your body at varying degrees of "owwwww". Mad props to the nurses.
Politicization
Due to the proximity of the mid-term elections... Many political ads have started to include Ebola comments. I have yet to hear of any politician come out in favor FOR Ebola.
This is not a political issue. This tactic of fear mongering, panic inducing verbage.... Seems to be used more by the party without one single idea of what they actually believe in, that resonates with people who are NOT crusty, old, rich, white dudes.
What is the most depressing fact, is that the majority of the rhetoric is about how the candidate was FOR restricting flights... Which I already discussed as a jerk move... I do hate repeating myself...
Politicians, when questioned about climate change have repeatedly quipped, "I am not a scientist." Well, they seem to be Virologists, Epidemiologists, and know better then the head of the damn CDC.
Assclowns.
Stupid, Stupid Humans
Heart disease, obesity, tobacco, guns, alcohol... These things are killing humans, 'MURICANS!!!, in droves... But any regulation to impede these things is infringing on your rights... Basically, you want your bullet frosted rum cake and eat it too...
I saw a report from a person warning people not to eat "strange mucus" until this crisis is resolved.. WTF??? Once we get a handle on the Ebola thingy, then we can go back to slurping up the mucus we have not been properly introduced to?
My favorite aspect has been the fact that EVERY doctor or scientist interviewed has said WITHOUT FAIL to NOT PANIC. Of course, these same scientists could scream until they are blue in the face about climate change and get crickets... Or refuted by politicians... who are not scientists...
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While not a fan of humans, I am not rooting for Ebola either. If it could be directed, controlled.... No more NASCAR!!! Turn that nightmare into a dream!!!
In the still of the night, I hear the wolf howl, honey,
d
* - In fairness, Shepard Smith from Fox "News" did a nice piece about how the media needs to calm the fuck down.
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