My neighbor burned his yard signs this morning.

[Savannahmann]

Around the corner from me lives a man enjoying his retirement with his wife. He's 74, and worked for nearly thirty years at a number of Hospitals. He retired as a Chief Administration Officer from a pretty large medical center. Nice guy, his wife loves to cook egg rolls for the wife and me. I've helped them with yard work, and carried a couple loads of trash to the local collection point. We celebrated the Fourth of July with them. We've enjoyed beers together in the evening while we both walk our dogs. In other words, I have more than a passing acquaintance with the man and his wife.

This morning, I walked my dog as usual, and I saw my neighbor burning his yard signs. Signs for Jason Carter, Michelle Nunn, and John Barrow. All three are Democrats by the way. I stopped and spoke with him.

All the excuses don't matter to him. All the explanations don't matter. He is furious that the Government is acting stupidly. He's outraged that the Administration is refusing to take public health protective measure number one and risk lives. This man bought yard signs to support the candidates. He displayed them on a fairly busy road, a main road in this part of the county. Thousands, perhaps even tens of thousands of cars drive by his house every day.

Locals will see his yard signs down. Some may think they were stolen, but most will know what my neighbor did. Word will spread. So how do I handle this? Do I say my neighbor suddenly went Racist? Do I say that the signs were stolen and hope they don't check with the source when he goes to the local store?

We just lost I don't know how many votes. Because our Government won't take the precautions taken by Belize, Mexico, the Ivory Coast, and who knows how many other nations.

You can only come down on the unpopular side of so many issues. We live in a Representative Republic. Our elected leaders were chosen to represent the ideals, the will of the people. If we don't do that, we won't be selected by the people to represent them. Who's fault is that? Is it the fault of the people for losing faith? Is it the fault of the Representatives who failed to represent?

My neighbor didn't mention if he was getting Republican signs, and I was afraid to ask. I am not going to ask him either. But I wouldn't be surprised if I see them, or if I don't. He's really disgusted and disappointed right now. I can tell you this, those candidates won't have signs in his yard again this year.

[wyldwolf]

1. Aren't we all disgusted to a degree?

Then again, I'd never cut off my nose to spite my face. Interesting, though, he'd be disgusted with Jason Carter (who has been a solid Democrat) and Michelle Nunn (who hasn't a record to be disgusted with.) Revisit him in a year if/when the GOP runs the table and see how he feels then.

[merrily]

2. Ebola "precautions" aside, remind me of all the issues where Democrats are on the unpopular side.

And do you know if he took down his signs because of whatever precautions you would like to see taken, or because the CDC has been fucking up so horrifically, or for some other reason entirely?

[Warren DeMontague]

162. We're not. Which is why it boggles my mind as to why the vacation plans of a handful of visa-holders

from Liberia, Sierra Leone, or Guinea can't be put on hold until this is under control, why it would be such a humanitarian tragedy for the state department to temporarily suspend those travel visas.

Because if 67% of the US public supports it now -majorities not only of Republicans but Independents AND Democrats- that number is only going to go up if and when we see more cases like Mr. Duncan, people who entered the US on a state dept. visa from a country at the epicenter of this epidemic, showing up at the ER and potentially infecting more health care workers or other members of the public.

[merrily]

174. "We're not" on the unpopular side of issues other than ebola? Savannahman posted we are.

That is why I asked him the question. He's chosen not to respond, though.

Why do you assume that vacation is the only reason people would come to the US from Africa? For just one thing of many other possiblities, some of them may be Americans who went there on business or vacation and want to come home.

Why should even vacation plans be put on hold until after election day? Because savannahman claims his neighbor burned his signs and savannahman assumed the reason for burning without asking? And, if there is any real danger, why would Democrats end the ban after midterms?

Why do you assume we are going to be seeing more cases like Duncan?

[MattBaggins]

175. You don't think much of the Nations of Africa do you?

Just a handful eh.

[Warren DeMontague]

185. 3 Countries, where transmission is currently out of control.

That's not all of Africa or even a large chunk- in fact most of the rest of Africa has already closed their borders to those 3 countries, for the time being.

But go ahead- if you've got something to say, don't be shy, say it.

[NightWatcher]

3. I'm a little hung over, but this makes no sense

What did those Dems do that affected the government's response to Ebola...the disease that's killed fewer Americans than OJ Simpson?

The problem is that the repukes log jammed the Surgeon General's appointment, cut funding for the CDC, and generally mucked up everything that's been going well in the government.

I could see if he was trashing the signs of republicans that are currently in office (Barrow is a republican in my book, sorry I'm from Sav), but to trash the people who are running to make things better, makes no sense.

I hope your neighbor figures out what bug crawled up his butt before the election and still votes for Nunn and Carter.

[Fumesucker]

12. It's the travel ban, the Cordon Sanitaire as they called it a century ago

It's one of those obvious "Common Sense" measures.

[NightWatcher]

14. and the person in the OP is mad at the Dems running for office because???

If you've got a bunch of incompetent people doing a job, vote for their replacements. If you get mad and give up, you just look silly.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

19. It sounds like the gentleman in the OP is mad at the party that holds the

administrative / executive branch of government. The GOP is the public voice for those wanting travel restrictions. We can dismiss that as cynical politicking but it seems people are still going to blame the Democratic party unless and until they collectively force Obama's hand.

[NightWatcher]

26. I'm sure the repubs would've handled things sooo much better

Let's put more of them in office and see what happens after they've disbanded/privatized more government offices.

We'll have people dropping dead from poisoned food after the FDA is shut down, asthma deaths go up after the EPA is shuttered, once the water is no longer monitored and fracking is allowed to run wild I'm sure everything will be sunshine and lollipops.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

33. You're comparing abstractions to demonstrated facts.

Even taking everything you said as a given the optics of the President's actions are horrible. Claiming it is unfair won't help either. People need to see positive, forward action and appointing political lawyers to report to political appointees isn't going to assuage public concerns.

[pscot]

34. Obama refuses to protect us

is SO much easier to understand. You may wish it were otherwise, but that's what people are hearing, and believing. The administration is tone deaf and it will cost us votes. It's all about the message.

[highmindedhavi]

121. THIS!!!!

nt

[laundry_queen]

197. 100% true

And yes, they are tone deaf to the nth degree.

[homegirl]

67. Remeber

KATRINA!

[RiffRandell]

76. As well as 9/11. nt

[LukeFL]

52. I am still scratching my head at the fact

That Obama WONT stop flights from Liberia.
It's a health risk to The American people and a lot of regular folks like me are asking the same thing.
It's obvious that someone infected with the diseases would lie to travel here to be cured thereby exposing everyone.

Look at Duncan- he KNew He had it and LIED to everyone about it.

[JDPriestly]

64. I agree with you. A travel ban is elementary.

Why is it being delayed or not done? It is simply a precaution. Whether it will work or not is unimportant. It should be imposed. Ebola got out of hand because the countries in which it has spread so badly did not educate their populations to follow rules of hygiene and public health. And now the disease has spread outside those societies.

Look. People do not have to be ignorant and careless. Each one teach one is the rule. It works. We owe it to the world to set the example ourselves. Those who come in contact or have risked coming in contact with ebola contaminants should quarantine themselves. Do you even go to work when you have a bad coled or an infectious condition? No. Not if you are responsible and care about others.

I agree that the Obama administration is not handling this well. A 30-day quarantine should be placed on people and countries in which anyone has had ebola within the past 30 days. We should be extra sure that we don't allow a tiny, almost non-existent problem (which is what ebola is for us now) to become something larger.

And the people of the countries in which ebola is spreading or has spread should get their act together. I don't care how poor they are. I was under a quarantine once, and we were very poor. It was at a time in US history when most people were poor. There was such a time you know., It was a time when Americans worked together to achieve the greatest good. Can't we still do that.

[freedom fighter jh]

68. I've heard that there are no direct flights from Liberia to the US. nt

[LukeFL]

70. Ummm not true.. Duncan flew straight from

Liberia to Texas

[freedom fighter jh]

79. No he did not.

He had a layover in Brussels. See http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ebola-patient-thomas-eric-duncan-flew-united-airlines-to-dallas-texas/

[LukeFL]

81. Okay but government can track these

[LukeFL]

126. I see

Because I don't agree with you?

[tammywammy]

83. He flew Liberia to Brussels to DC to DFW. n/t

[uppityperson]

109. Ummmm not true at all. If you continue to believe that, words fail me. eom

[Dorian Gray]

193. Yes

because there are straight flights from Liberia to Texas. And to New Mexico. And to Nebraska. and to Florida. And to Washington. And to Michigan. And to Louisiana. And to alaska.....


It's easy to get from Liberia to anywhere in the USA.

[justgamma]

74. Maybe it's because there are no direct flights from Liberia to the US? n/t

[LukeFL]

80. But the government can track people

Who travel from Liberia. For example Duncan traveled from Liberia to Brussels. Government can monitor and not accept those who travel from Liberia to a second charter/stop..

They can do it or make some type of o agreement with those countries for example, Brussels is one of them

[Historic NY]

155. How so unless the US employes people there...

air lines from other countries don't report to the US on eveyone of their flights.

[Warren DeMontague]

160. The state department issues travel visas. A Liberian with a Liberian passport -like Duncan-

can't just fly into the US, no matter how many times he changes planes.

While "ban the flights" is stupid, suspending the 10,000 or so outstanding travel visas and not issuing new ones to citizens of the 3 countries where there is out of control ebola transmission, is a real workable proposal and is actually what many other countries have done. Had we done that months ago, as Alan Grayson suggested, Mr. Duncan would not have been able to come to Dallas.

There are controls on international travel. They are called passports and visas.

[MattBaggins]

179. We can isolate those unimportant people

and forget about them. We won't have to trouble our pretty little minds as they die off.

Now if the infection was coming from real countries in Europe or Asia then the "common sense easily workable solution" would be anything but and we would have to do something to actually help them.

[Warren DeMontague]

186. Why is letting people vacation over here essential to us offering assistance over there?

The actual answer? It's not.

[MattBaggins]

188. They are just vacationing.

Sorry Captain Pierce had me believing they were after our toilets.

[Warren DeMontague]

190. You seem tense.

Beyond that, I haven't the slightest flippin' clue as to what you're on about.

Unless that's one of those Canadian jokes, snork.

[cannabis_flower]

104. How about...

they can come but they have to stay in quarantine 21 days over there before they get on the plane?

[uppityperson]

108. "Obama WONT stop flights from Liberia"? There are NO flights from Liberia.

[kelliekat44]

113. How many direct flights from Liberia come to the US? nt

[MattBaggins]

177. You are thinking about this way too much

I think this is one of those "cool story bro" stories.

[alarimer]

86. Which doesn't work.

It never has.

It would be stupid and would mean giving in to all this irrational fear-mongering, by despicable Republicans and Fox News.

[MattBaggins]

180. I have been saying. Only when it's Africa

People wouldn't be foaming at the mouth like this even for the poorest of Asian nations.

[MattBaggins]

176. Common Sense measures that only matter when an illness is coming out of the "dark continent"

[Orsino]

144. OP won't come right out and say it, but it's a close-the-borders post.

Never mind that it won't work. Right-wing minds love the idea because it sounds simple and was what they wanted anyway.

[NightWatcher]

147. OK, no flights from Africa, but what about the people who connect through London, Amsterdam???

Are we going to round up every African traveler and put them in forced, locked quarantine for 21, 28, 42 days?

What about everyone who has had contact with anyone who has been through an airport in the past month?

The cat is out of the bag. It's too late to close the barn door, the horse has been out for a month.

[Orsino]

148. Yep. Deal with the society we have, not the society that we never could have had. n/t

[Warren DeMontague]

165. "The society we have" requires foreign travelers to have something called a passport, and a visa.

A visa which is issued by the state department. A state-department issued travel visa, and a Liberian passport, which is how Mr. Duncan got into this country.

How do you suppose the public- which already favors some form of travel restrictions by a broad majority- will feel about it if and when the next ebola patient who entered the country on a travel visa from one of the 3 countries where transmission is out of control, shows up at an ER room?

[MattBaggins]

181. Will we do this to all asians next flu season?

Americans are the biggest carriers of MRDOs. Should we be banned from entering other countries?

[Warren DeMontague]

187. The Flu is essentially impossible to contain. And it's generally not 70% lethal.

Whereas with ebola, geographical containment does work- is working. There are quarantine zones INSIDE of Liberia, for instance- which is why there is an entire district of Liberia which has no ebola cases.

There seems to be something on the tip of your tongue, here, that you want to say to me as you zip from one of my posts, to the next. Perhaps you should say it to the Liberians, since they've instituted the same sorts of controls within their own country?

[Yo_Mama]

4. There are a lot of medical professionals in this country

And recent events have given many of them the impression that they will be scapegoated in circumstances beyond their control.

Based on my contacts, this is not an abnormal reaction. Anger, worry and disgust crackles in the air.

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. So you look to Belize, Mexico and Ivory Coast for good government health policy, not Canada, the EU,

Japan, Switzerland, China, Russia, Cuba, Norway, Australia, New Zealand ...

List of countries with some form of ban: https://www.internationalsos.com/ebola/index.cfm?content_id=435&language_id=ENG

It's countries with very poor health systems that are implementing bans.

[tularetom]

9. Yeah, that struck me too

Wouldn't you think a retired hospital administrator would make that connection?

[LawDeeDah]

38. Yeh, don't get it, but whatever. Even people with credentials are sometimes not the sharpest.

[truebluegreen]

18. Got it in one.

Seriously, one death and two infections out of 300,000,000+ people is a reason to PANIC! ?

Americans always go on about "the land of the free"; at the moment I'd like to see more stress on "the home of the BRAVE."

[brewens]

82. George Steinbrenner once said, "Never sit around discussing things rationally when the situation

calls for panic!" Seems to be the FOX "News" philosophy.

I still can't see much harm in a general travel on people coming from effected areas. I suppose we could allow special military flights for some health care workers to bring them here for treatment.

[truebluegreen]

131. I'm going to go with the expert consensus

that a travel ban will result in at least some individuals "going around" the ban, which would result in them coming here...with less information about them being revealed than we get now.

[sharp_stick]

37. No shit

paranoia runs strong in this country.

[heaven05]

77. willfully agitated paranoia

by the RW that so wants this one death to swing the upcoming elections in their favor. They are using everything and most all they are using is based on lies and fear mongering. This shows what intelligence is lacking in the populace. Since 1980, I have not been impressed with the american voter. Guided by hate, paranoia and skewed patriotism.

[former9thward]

47. I think the UK is part of the EU.

Travel ban to Ebola affected countries, UK officials say

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-28966419

[muriel_volestrangler]

57. Misleading headline - not a ban, but a recommendation, and for travel *to* those countries

by UK citizens - "unless essential".

There is no ban in the UK for people coming from the affected countries.

[former9thward]

60. British Air has suspended flights.

Your post is misleading when you say travel is normal with the EU and affected African countries.

[muriel_volestrangler]

63. No, my post is accurate; there is no ban

Public Health England (PHE) is helping to roll out enhanced screening for Ebola starting at Heathrow, then Gatwick and St Pancras (Eurostar), in passengers that Border Force officers identify as having travelled from Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.

Passengers will have their temperature taken and complete a questionnaire asking about their current health, recent travel history and whether they might be at potential risk through contact with Ebola patients. Based on the information provided and their temperature, passengers will either be given advice and allowed to continue their journey, or undergo a clinical assessment by PHE staff and if necessary be transferred to hospital for further tests.

Dr Paul Cosford, director for health protection and medical director at PHE, said:

Anyone who is well but may have been at increased risk of contact with the Ebola virus will be given printed information and a PHE contact number to call in case they develop symptoms. People infected with Ebola can only spread the virus to other people once they have developed symptoms, such as a fever. Even if someone has symptoms, the virus is only transmitted by direct contact with the blood or body fluids of an infected person.

It’s important to remember this is just 1 part of the screening process. PHE is also working with the international community and local health authorities to ensure robust exit screening remains in place at airports in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, which will pick up anyone who is symptomatic before they leave these countries.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/public-health-england-enhanced-ebola-screening-process

British Airways made its own decision to suspend its flights. The question for the USA is not about having flights come from the countries - there are already no flights from there. It's about banning people who have been there; against medical advice from the CDC and MSF:

The successive closure of international borders including air travel renders our efforts increasingly difficult. Infected medical personnel cannot be evacuated anymore – another layer of collective irresponsibility. The international community must ensure that those who try to contain the outbreak can enter and leave the affected countries if need be. A functional system of medical evacuation has to be set up urgently.

http://www.msf.org/article/ebola-failures-international-outbreak-response

[LukeFL]

84. Yeah believe in the goodness and honesty

Of people. Just like Eric Duncan..


Ebola takes 21 says.. People will lie if they were exposed to it. Their safety measures of taking travelers temperatures is IRRESPONSIBLE AT BEST!!

[muriel_volestrangler]

89. So, you'd stop healthcare workers from returning to their own countries

like this guy?

I have just returned from Liberia with a group of physicians and health activists. We are heading back in a few days. The country is in the midst of the largest ever epidemic of Ebola haemorrhagic fever. It’s an acute and brutal affliction. Ebola is a zoonosis – it leaps from animal hosts to humans – which is caused by a filovirus (a thread-like virus that causes internal and external bleeding). It was first described in 1976 in rural Congo, not far from the Ebola River, as an acute-onset syndrome characterised by complaints of weakness, followed by fever and abdominal pain. Patients became dehydrated as a consequence of fever, vomiting and diarrhoea. Many became delirious and started to haemorrhage from the mouth, nose, vagina, at sites where intravenous lines had been placed, even from the eyes.
...
Even without a specific antiviral therapy, the treatment for hypovolaemic shock – which occurs when there isn’t enough blood for the heart to pump through the body and is the end result of many infections caused by bacteria and some caused by haemorrhagic viruses – is aggressive fluid resuscitation. For those able to take fluids by mouth, shock can often be forestalled by oral rehydration salts given by the litre. Patients who are vomiting or delirious are treated with intravenous fluids; haemorrhagic symptoms are treated with blood products. Any emergency room in the US or Europe can offer such care, and can also treat patients in isolation wards.

Both nurses and doctors are scarce in the regions most heavily affected by Ebola. Even before the current crisis killed many of Liberia’s health professionals, there were fewer than fifty doctors working in the public health system in a country of more than four million people, most of whom live far from the capital. That’s one physician per 100,000 population, compared to 240 per 100,000 in the United States or 670 in Cuba. Properly equipped hospitals are even scarcer than staff, and this is true across the regions most affected by Ebola. Also scarce is personal protective equipment (PPE): gowns, gloves, masks, face shields etc. In Liberia there isn’t the staff, the stuff or the space to stop infections transmitted through bodily fluids, including blood, urine, breast milk, sweat, semen, vomit and diarrhoea. Ebola virus is shed during clinical illness and after death: it remains viable and infectious long after its hosts have breathed their last. Preparing the dead for burial has turned hundreds of mourners into Ebola victims.
...
But the fact is that weak health systems, not unprecedented virulence or a previously unknown mode of transmission, are to blame for Ebola’s rapid spread. Weak health systems are also to blame for the high case-fatality rates in the current pandemic, which is caused by the Zaire strain of the virus. The obverse of this fact – and it is a fact – is the welcome news that the spread of the disease can be stopped by linking better infection control (to protect the uninfected) to improved clinical care (to save the afflicted). An Ebola diagnosis need not be a death sentence. Here’s my assertion as an infectious disease specialist: if patients are promptly diagnosed and receive aggressive supportive care – including fluid resuscitation, electrolyte replacement and blood products – the great majority, as many as 90 per cent, should survive.

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n20/paul-farmer/diary

[MattBaggins]

182. Yeah Eric Duncan was a filthy little liar

Let's go spit on his grave.

[uppityperson]

110. Travel TO...should be AVOIDED-UNLESS ESSENTIAL"

"The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office says all travel to Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia should be avoided - unless essential, due to the Ebola outbreak."

It does not ban travelers back.

[former9thward]

114. Poster implied travel is normal.

It is not.

[uppityperson]

115. OP is about banning travel into USA, your article's headline says "ban", text doesn't.

"The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office says all travel to Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia should be avoided - unless essential, due to the Ebola outbreak."

Not banning travelers from flying, not travelers leaving those countries.

Also, from your link

Such flight restrictions may make it increasingly hard for people working in these areas to leave, the FCO warns....
(clip)
The FCO say British nationals working in these countries "should be aware that the narrowing range of commercial flight options and growing restrictions on travel may make it difficult to leave, particularly at short notice".

[former9thward]

118. Main airline in UK is British Air.

They have stopped flights. You keep on digging trying to imply everything is being treated as normal.

[uppityperson]

122. Not at all, simply addressing 1 point. GB has not banned flights from W Africa.

[fadedrose]

49. Rec'd if I could...

[iemitsu]

94. And you think we don't qualify as a country with poor health care?

Even with Obamacare, most Americans go to work when they feel lousy, they avoid the cost of a Drs. visit, and they have daily contact with many other people.
This is not a place that will contain an outbreak of Ebola easily.

[muriel_volestrangler]

96. On that level, no

Read what the doctor on the ground in #89 says.

[iemitsu]

105. We need to have a procedure for monitoring those coming from

Ebola infected areas to be able to provide the kind of care, the specialist on the ground advises, if any of those traveling are discovered to have contracted the disease.
They need to be isolated and observed to provide the care they might need and to protect the rest of us from a potential outbreak.

[Savannahmann]

169. You're confusing two different things.

Perhaps I can explain it. Travel bans seek to prevent infections. Good health systems are better at treating such infections. Now, it is not a one or the other situation. It is a both of the above situation. You seek to limit the possible infections in your own citizenry, while standing ready to treat any that somehow slip through.

A good health system means your odds are slightly improved if you do catch it. A travel ban means your odds are very much improved that you will never catch it. Why must we focus on the treatment and not the prevention?

How many times have we seen someone post statistics on people killed by gunfire? How outraged were we when the Republicans would not enact the universal background check for purchasing guns? We seek to prevent the injuries and deaths. We don't jump up and down and celebrate that we have the best treatment system in the world for those who get shot. We try to prevent them from getting shot in the first place. If they get shot, we try very hard to make sure they get the care they need to survive and recover.

Prevention takes place in every other human endeavor. Construction workers wear high visibility vests and hard hats to prevent accidents if possible. They have ambulances on speed dial if an accident does happen. They try to figure out if there is any precaution they can take to minimize the risk of accident.

People who go out and do commercial fishing have life vests and life rafts available. But they still inspect the boat to see if there is any obvious reason it might not make it back. They don't jump for joy and celebrate the EPIRB or the life rafts. They don't want to use those things, they hope to prevent the need from ever arising.

You are saying because we have a modern health system, that we need not worry about infection. OK, let's say our system is awesomely modern. Then we can hope that the median death rate from the disease will drop from 70% to 50%, or perhaps as low as 40%. I and six out of ten Democrats want the infection rate as close to zero as possible. Two thirds of our population want it too. It isn't how well we treat those who have it with our awesome medical knowledge. It's preventing them from getting it in the first place that is driving our support away.

[muriel_volestrangler]

172. No, what I'm saying is that the governments of the major countries are better at setting policy

but you want the USA to behave, not like them, but like the ones with worse health policy and systems. As I pointed out in #63, MSF oppose a ban on travel as well. And if you did have a ban, you'd stop people like the doctor in #89 being able to return to his own country. A ban makes it more difficult to treat people in the affected countries.

[bullwinkle428]

6. Did he ever express disgust with Reagan back in the 1980s

for ignoring a disease that killed thousands and thousands?

[Savannahmann]

55. I didn't know him then.

But his Brother in law from his first wife was an Air Traffic Controller who was part of the PATCO firing. So I'm guessing his love of Reagan isn't all that great. I could be mistaken. He did mention that over a beer a while back when we were talking about the missing Malaysian Airliner.

[Yupster]

7. Don't lie -- that will make things much worse

if you lose credibility to your neighbors.

[boston bean]

8. Most people in the US want restrictions. It has become political.

Dems will suffer for not implementing policy that seems like common sense to most Americans. It also feeds into fears that the government isn't protecting it's own citizens.

I will still vote a straight Dem ticket, but the indies and some who dems who might have, it could be a deciding issue.

Basically, the premise to not restrict travel was because our health care infrastructure was one of the best in the world and there would be no outbreak here and that we could handle it. Since that premise has been proven false, one would think restrictions would become a reality, sooner rather than later.

[LiberalArkie]

10. A lot of Democrats are really pissed off, me included. Can't tell the R's from the D's

I think most of our problems have been running and electing lawyers. Lawyers (in my opinion) have no feelings for anyone or anything except who or what is paying them. Why was Jimmy Carter (again in my opinion) the last good president. He was not an MBA or lawyer, just a small business man.

Edit: When I see someone with a law degree in the small office who is working for the poor and homeless, then I will support that lawyer.

[Maineman]

73. Like Barrack Obama, right?

[LiberalArkie]

99. I was really thinking of the corporate lawyers like the clintons

[Cha]

133. Yeah, it's sooooo hard to tell the "Rs from the Ds"

[99Forever]

11. Methinks...

... you seriously over-estimate the power of freakin' yard signs.

Tens of thousands, indeed.

Precisely how many times have you EVER decided who to vote for because of a yard sign?

Good grief.

[IdaBriggs]

22. It's called name recognition and it got Bush elected. nt

[99Forever]

25. Nonsense.

Bush got appointed, not elected and if someone didn't recognize the Mini-Shrub's last name already, they were idiots.

[IdaBriggs]

29. He made it as far as he did because people recognized his name.

Do you honestly believe that incompetent would have made it past the press vetting if his name was Humperdink? The name was recognized by the voters - it is one of those marketing facts where you repeat the name and people start to recognize it, and magically incumbents get re-elected.

The money helps, too, but I paid for several thousand bumper stickers for a candidate in one election with the caveat they be given away, and they showed up everywhere. My county went blue that year.

Yard signs and bumper stickers are free advertising that can't be tuned out with the mute button, or the change of a station. They also demonstrate the support of your neighbors, and are why "grass root" efforts are so effective/important.

Name recognition is Marketing 101.

[hfojvt]

85. lots of old people are going to recognize that name

But I think name recognition is over-rated. Take Jesse Ventura (please). Sure he had name recognition because he was on TV. But it was not just that people said "hey I have heard of him". He had an image attached to the name. People did not just know the name, they felt like they knew something about him - they knew he was pretty clever and pretty eloquent.

People like Carter and Nunn already have name recognition - because of their daddies. They don't really need yard signs to establish that.

I drive around and see yard signs, and huge ones for Brownback. He's a two term senator, ran for President and is currently Governor. How many voters are so clueless that they have not heard of his name?

A big part of the purpose of yard signs, is to sway the sheeple - maybe 10% of voters who are uninformed, really don't care that much, and will go with the flow. If I can get enough signs out, on the busier roads so that most drivers will see, say, three of my signs for every one of my opponent, then to a lemming it looks like "almost everybody is voting for Brownback, so I probably should too."

[tavernier]

23. That ^^^

Yard signs make me see red. Hate 'em, hate how they trash up the streets and the landscape. They are not tasteful because they are meant to catch our attention, which can be a double edged sword. Undecided voters might decide to nix the guy with the eyeball destroying lime green sign, just out of disgust.

[1StrongBlackMan]

13. Did your neighbor explain why ...

he was pissed with Nunn and Carter ... since Nunn isn't in office and Carter is in the State Senate, so neither have anything more to do with the Federal governments response to ebola than you, I, or he does.

I suspect there is more going on there.

[Maineman]

78. Republican ads are really good at stoking irrational fear and causing knee jerk reactions.

[Savannahmann]

170. Republicans across the board suffered because one Republican said "real rape"

We ran ads and wrote letters denouncing the Republicans as a party for the actions of one candidate. Republicans across the nation called on supporters to defeat Nancy Pelosi, despite the fact she was elected in one little district in California.

the actions of one reflect on the image of pretty much all of the members of that group. If this is the first time you've come across this, I'm genuinely surprised. Republican Senate elections strategy around the nation all have a section about firing Harry Reid from his post as Majority leader. We do the same thing. A vote for a Republican here helps this lunatic Republican there.

So when the President, a member of the Democratic party, and titularly the leader of the party takes action, the entire party is taken that way like it or not, and the entire party is associated with it. It may not be fair, but it is the way the game is played.

[KittyWampus]

15. Cool Story, Bro.

[PeaceNikki]

27. I just served on a jury for this reply.

Results pending.

[avebury]

36. Someboy actually alerted on that post?

Unbelievable. There was nothing in it worth alerting to.

[PeaceNikki]

39. Yup. 5-2 to leave. I was in the majority.

[RiffRandell]

58. Thank you.

[fadedrose]

142. Me too, one of the 5

And I very seldom vote guilty. It bothered me that a rather decent exchange in the thread, pro and con, was not the right spot for this particular insult.

In many threads, I would have just acceoted it because 9/10ths of the posts are rather rude, but not this exchange..

[Comrade Grumpy]

50. It basically calls the OP a liar. I think that kind of post is obnoxious.

I wasn't the alerter and wasn't on the jury, but I would have voted to hide. Every time.

[PeaceNikki]

59. lol, if "obnoxious" was a hideable offense, there would be like 3 posters left on DU.

MAYBE.

Also, the "Cool story, bro" meme is not about calling someone a liar.

At all. It's a statement of indifference.

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/cool-story-bro

[dionysus]

119. cool post, bro.

[Cha]

134. Now you've done it! I'm alerting.. you're calling him a LIAR.. or something.. Rofl

[Warpy]

136. Alerters are weird

It has to be over the top for me to bother to alert. That aint it.

For most alerters, it seems to be a case of "somebody out there might get annoyed by this."

People who post on political boards need thicker skins.

[alcibiades_mystery]

90. ROFL

[WinkyDink]

16. Ask him (or yourself) why we don't have a confirmed Surgeon-General.

[former9thward]

54. Harry Reid will not allow a vote until after the election.

He could do it tomorrow if he wanted.

[Cha]

138. And who cut the budget from the CDC.. Hint.. the ones who are screaming the loudest..

[Doremus]

17. Cool neighbor story. They're always a fun read. Thanks.

[Fla Dem]

20. I don't see how not voting for Nunn and Carter will impact public health policy.

Sounds like a pretty unreasonable reaction to me.

[CK_John]

21. I glad he found an excuse to avoid making a decision. Decision avoiders are great

at performance art or the politician who is very well informed and knows both sides of every issue but never takes a stance.

[frazzled]

24. What an idiot

And he's creating a bigger health hazard than Ebola. Those yard signs have plastics in them: burning them creates hazardous fumes. Not to mention open fires are probably illegal in your municipality.

Stupid people do stupid things, and their political reactions reflect that stupidity.

[babylonsister]

28. I wonder if he's at all outraged

Deal won't help poor people with medical needs. Seems like a very big deal to me and this guy worked in a hospital...

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/02/24/3322621/nathan-deal-medicaid-expansion/
How One Governor Is Trying To Avoid Responsibility For Denying Health Care To 600,000 Poor People


Sounds like he's buying into the fearmongering. Or maybe watches faux.

At this point, Jason Carter, Michelle Nunn, and John Barrow have nothing to do with decisions made by this admin. I don't quite understand his sudden change of heart. Maybe some rwnj got to him.


Edit to add:

Battle Over Ebola Travel Ban: Health Officials Call It a Big Mistake
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ebola-virus-outbreak/battle-over-ebola-travel-ban-health-officials-call-it-big-n228666

snip//

Many health experts agree that a ban isn’t necessary.

"You're not preventing the movement of the population anyway," said Harvard epidemologist John Brownstein. "Many of these countries have very porous borders."

And there's no evidence that travel bans have any lasting effect, he said. Brownstein co-authored a study that found that the airport closures in the eastern U.S. after 9/11 did delay the onset of flu that year, but only by two weeks.

"Ultimately these pathogens find their way around the globe," said Brownstein.

A ban on travel could also hurt the local economies in Africa.

snip//

"And if you're banning air travel, would there also be a call to ban ship travel? Any port of call is banned as well?" Brunner asked, referring to potential ways around a travel ban.

If you're going to start isolating people who don't even show symptoms, he said, "Where does it stop?"

First published October 19th 2014, 4:52 am
Amy Langfield

Amy Langfield is a New York-based reporter covering travel and leisure companies for CNBC.com.

[lunasun]

30. Watch out he may get what he is after if he wants to vote opposite now

what can he expect staring into a TV set


I don't know why but this random act of irrationality ( burning signs not changing your vote)reminded me of this old song

No rec & what's with the racist snark in OP?

[logosoco]

31. Maybe he is just fed up with the whole system!! And I can't say that I don't

blame him.
The ebola thing is just the thing that made it look like it finally caught up and is showing how it's inefficiency and short sided-ness.
I am disgusted with one of my picks this year, a state rep. who is behind the funding of Darren Wilson, the cop who shot Mike Brown in Ferguson. I've had to hold my nose to vote before, but I am just about gagging with this one. But I will because I am not giving up hope, but I am not in my 70s either!
I do worry about people who would vote based on a name or color on a sign. Why even bother going to the polls, that seems to add to the problems. But, on the other hand, it does make me feel good to see mostly dem candidate signs nearby!

[Jenoch]

32. Why did you introduce

race into this situation? Did your neighbor mention anything about race?

[Bluenorthwest]

35. No doubt a 'Reagan Democrat' who voted for Ronnie a second time in spite of Reagan's inaction about

a public health crisis that had killed more than 20,000 Americans when America reelected the man who had not even mentioned it. Another 50,000 Americans were infected with the virus by that time and there were cases around the world, it was a global pandemic with hundreds of thousands infected by the time Reagan bothered to mention it in passing.
I bet your neighbor voted for Reagan over and over again. Like the majority of the country did.

[sharp_stick]

40. Your neighbor is an idiot

as is anyone that would take public health advice from the Ivory Coast, Mexico and Belize.

[RiffRandell]

46. As a GA resident, I thank you. nt

[Fred Sanders]

53. As a member of the human race, I thank you, your neighbor is a brainwashed idiot....76?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

98. this. nt

[jwirr]

41. And somehow he thinks the Rs will do a better job?

[RiffRandell]

45. No fucking shit.

Do any of the people who recced this thread live in GA?

We've had to put up with Saxby Chambliss and Karen Handel...remember her?

Thanks for thinking of us, people...truly.

[RiffRandell]

43. Why do you have to 'handle' what he did with his yard signs?

I live in GA too, and if he was a true Dem he would want that piece of shit, corrupt Nathan Deal out and try to do his best to get Nunn in against Perdue.

This year, GA has the closest shot at getting Dems elected than they have had in over a decade!

Does your neighbor remember how Saxby Chambliss was elected and attacked war hero Max Cleland in 2002?

Stupid Americans thought Republicans could protect them from terrorism after 9/11 even though they were warned.

Don't even get me started on Katrina.

The government completely fucked up; I haven't made up my mind on the travel bans yet and my husband goes to Europe once or twice a month to London then Amsterdam...went to Germany the last 2 trips. He had a trip to Spain and Poland scheduled but it got canceled for business reasons, not Ebola. He still might have to go in the next month or two.

I'm also a wicked germaphobe, and I'm not panicking as I believe the number of Americans who will die here from Ebola won't come close to those killed in 9/11 or Katrina.

I trust Democrats with the lives of my family and myself any day over a Republican, who also don't give a flying fuck about the people dying in Africa from Ebola or anything else for that matter.

You know how you can handle this? Tell your neighbor a fellow Georgian says thanks a fucking lot. I'd like to say more, but sometimes I follow my mother's advice if I don't have anything nice to say...

[Cha]

140. As a citizen of the US.. I thank you, RiffRandell!

[Warren DeMontague]

161. There's a lot of noise and misinformation about "travel bans".

The sensible stuff I've heard involves suspending the outstanding 10,000 or so travel visas the State Dept. has already issued to citizens of the 3 countries where transmission is currently out of control. No flights would need to be cancelled, No direct impact on movement of humanitarian supplies, etc. Our people who go over there to help would still be able to get back, although probably sensible monitoring and observation of them for 3 weeks is warranted.

Here's a good example- Nigeria. Everyone talks about how Nigeria "got ebola under control", and they did, awesome. But they had one guy fly in from Liberia, Patrick Sawyer, who infected a bunch of others, who infected still more others- and it was touch and go for a while, both in Lagos and Port Harcourt- huge cities. When Sawyer flew into Nigeria, they did not have restrictions on entry of visitors from the 3 main countries, they DO now.

Most of Africa has restrictions, border closings, etc. Hell, even inside Liberia and Sierra Leone there are quarantine zones- THEY want to control movement of people out of heavily infected areas, and through these measures they have kept at least one district in Liberia totally free of ebola.

So to suggest that somehow it is unfair of us to restrict entry from countries where transmission is out of control, when that's something even they themselves engage in... it's a little specious.

And I suspect that if we get a couple more people with ebola over here on visas, there will be some restrictions. Absolutely. But right now the foot dragging is costing us votes, no question. Because according to the recent WaPo poll, 67% of Americans support restrictions like I've outlined above. That number is only going to go up if we get more cases.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/10/14/americans-want-flight-restrictions-from-ebola-countries-and-its-not-close/

[shenmue]

44. Oh my

[ucrdem]

48. October surprise.

They always have one. Sorry if that sounds cynical or conspiratorial but it started in Dallas and took some heavy lifting to get launched. Just a hunch, nothing certain of course.

[RiffRandell]

51. As a GA resident, thanks to all that recced this OP.

We have a real shot to have a Dem Governor and Senator this year.

The best we've had in over a decade.

Thanks for rooting for us to fail.

I'm from a true-blue state and it has been so hard to adjust living in a red one.

I don't think I ever will. I could almost cry over this...almost.

[Cha]

141. Consider the source of the Recs.. chance to hate on Dems because some idiot has burned his yard

signs. Check out all the people who are calling it out as sheer stupidity.

Good Luck to Jason Carter, Michelle Nunn, and sorry.. who was on the 3rd sign?

[Ykcutnek]

56. Nations should be fact-driven, not ignorant-people-driven.

No one at the CDC or NIH should give a damn what the public thinks they should do.

A recent poll showed OVER HALF of Americans thinks Ebola is already airborne. Should we start reporting that as fact because that's what the public thinks is happening? HELL NO. The public isn't smart enough to collectively make decisions about infectious disease.

If doing the smart thing and not the fearful thing is unpopular, so be it.

[ucrdem]

62. The blame rests with cable TV I think.

I don't even have a TV but I have no trouble catching the latest CNN memes because it seems every public place has a TV screwed to the ceiling tuned to FOX or CNN. That's not his neighbor's fault, or ours, but it's our problem and we have to figure out a way to deal with it.

[YvonneCa]

127. I agree completely. n/t

[uppityperson]

111. Exactly, thank you. eom

[itsrobert]

61. " Do I say my neighbor suddenly went Racist?" WTF?

You really don't sound too sincere when you use a right wing talking point. Why would you call him "racists"?

[Savannahmann]

65. The usual denouncement of people who don't support the Democratic Party.

Sorry if it upset you.

[itsrobert]

66. denouncement by who?

Why are you playing games?

[Savannahmann]

124. I'm not.

But it's the usual knee jerk excuse.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025687661

If we lose an election, it must be racism. If President Obama loses approval points, it's racism. If we lose a supporter......

I'm surprised you haven't noticed it before.

[Cryptoad]

69. Move

[RiffRandell]

72. Best answer yet!

Last edited Sun Oct 19, 2014, 01:19 PM - Edit history (1)

Believe me, the second my husband says we can I'll have my house packed in a NY minute.

[Sunlei]

71. as an ex Chief Administration Officer he should know the State Gov regulates hospitals

[sendero]

75. Your neighbor..

... is a fucking idiot, and I wouldn't worry too much about what he "thinks" or about what anyone who notices the signs down thinks either.

Really, of all the shit going on in politics and the world, all the corruption, shredding of the constitution, legalized theft, this is the issue that pushes him over the edge? He's a FUCKING MORON.

[DhhD]

87. I think no signs will come up in the yard. He has moved from signs to nose holding.

[Cali_Democrat]

88. bwhahahaha!

Your neighbor is a fucking moron.

[elleng]

91. 'Public health protective measure number one'

would be what?

[alcibiades_mystery]

92. He didn't just throw them out, people. He BURNED THEM!!!!

[GoCubsGo]

103. It seems to me that he has other issues besides being pissed off at Democrats.

He's so outraged ad people who have nothing to do with what he's angry over that he's setting fire to their campaign signs? It sounds like he has psychiatric issues.

[alcibiades_mystery]

106. To me, it

sounds like bullshit.

[GoCubsGo]

154. Yeah. That, too.

It does sound kind of BS. But, I've seen so many kooks like that in these parts (I'm in an adjacent district), that it wouldn't surprise me at all if this loon was for real.

[Cali_Democrat]

123. ROFL

[Barack_America]

93. I suppose he's a big supporter of the DHS then.

Gotta curb those rights to protect the people, no matter how small the risk.

[Hoyt]

95. Never met a hospital administrator that was rational.

[mnhtnbb]

120. Thank you very much.

What would you like to know so I can dissuade you of that opinion?

[Hoyt]

129. Having worked in the field and seen them go as far as literally praying for a flu epidemic when the

census was down, not much you can say. And, I'm talking bowing heads and praying for people getting sick.

Not to mention, buying up medical practices to funnel patients and tack on hefty facility fees; cutting out needed services that weren't profitable; duplicating services that could be coordinated within a community to save money; screwing the uninsured by going after them for everything they have, by not even writing off charges to Medicare or Medicaid levels; lobbying to prevent or impede lower cost services -- like free-standing surgical centers -- to maintain profit centers; bullying physicians and other health care professionals; cutting personnel cost to maintain profit margins and admin salaries; and a lot more.

Sorry, but that's the way it is.

I realize hospitals are important and I guess to be fair, there are a few that truly provide community service. I realize they have to be profitable to provide state-of-the-art services, but most carry it too far. But, most hospitals and administrators are out for themselves and have worked to influence legislation that keeps it that way. Yeah, they put on a good show, but sit in a leadership meeting when outsiders are not present, and listen.

Truthfully, the avarice is troughout the system.

PS, I probably should have gone for "vast majority" in my post above rather than " all."

[mnhtnbb]

139. It sounds like rational is not the issue, but empathy.

I could see the handwriting on the wall when I left the field in the mid 80's.
Plus, I did not see myself being able to work a 60-70 hour/week job
and maintain a marriage and raise kids.

It's not just hospitals, though, and the management. We have a totally
screwed up system of providing health care to people. The insurance
companies need to be taken out of the process, too.

[Hoyt]

145. Yep. It's a screwed up system.

[tabasco]

97. Cool story, bro!

[FSogol]

198. +1 glad someone said finally said it.

SSDD

[mfcorey1]

100. Hell will freeze over if I vote for anybody on this republican ticket in Georgia. Nathan Deal

and Perdue are two of the worst candidates on the ballot. Maybe your neighbor will come to his senses. Perdue is the biggest outsourcer in the country and Deal has an ethics problem that has not been dealt with.

[RiffRandell]

102. Look who we have had to put up with for so long.

Above mentioned plus Newt, Bob Barr, Sonny Purdue, Chambliss and Karen Handell.

We have our best chance yet of getting Dems elected.

I'm with ya!

[Jamastiene]

101. Your neighbor actually sounds like a moron.

First, he is blaming Democrats for all of the unnecessary cuts to nonmilitary government spending made by Republicans, so they can make more bombs to line their pockets and the pockets of all their rich ass, powerful friends in the MIC. If America had just cut one bomb from the list of bombs to be built for a single year and put that money on finding a vaccine for Ebola, we probably would never have had a case of Ebola in America and Africa would have life saving vaccines. Those bombs fucking cost out the ass, but there is ALWAYS money for bombs, but NEVER money for anything else that the government should be funding, like for health care.

Second, he is believing what Republicans are running around spouting, you know, their typical isolationist mentality. If he is damn dumb enough to buy that American Exceptionalism isolationist bullshit, he is part of the problem, not part of the solution. Why do you think America is so reviled and hated by so many in the world? We are a country that only gives a shit about our own profits, not people, not our own people, and certainly not people in other parts of the world.

Third, yard signs are like pom poms. You can rah rah rah for somebody, but most people already have their minds made up who they are going to vote for, if they are going to bother to vote. Yard signs don't decide elections. Voters do.

Fourth, the fact that he is only blaming Democrats for this situation shows that his loyalty already lies with the Republicans. Otherwise, he would be more fair about it and blame both, because, in all honesty, our entire government fucked those nurses and left them on their own to deal with a very serious biological nightmare with lousy information on how to handle it. The CDC fucked up in how they handled it and whoever the administrators of that hospital were who told the supervising nurse not to put Duncan in isolation to begin with deserve some serious scrutiny as well. They should have listened to that supervising nurse.

Lastly, if he cares so much about health, why the fuck is he burning plastic? What idiot burns plastic? Doesn't everyone know burning plastic is a really bad idea?

[uppityperson]

107. "All the explanations don't matter". good god. eom

[stevenleser]

116. If the metric is to win over every irrational person, it's an impossible one to meet

Every organization makes mistakes. Plans for various contingencies turn out to be inadequate, etc.

If you care about the things that make Democrats different than Republicans, and yet are willing to turn over control to Republicans because we found out our contagious disease disaster plans weren't adequate, you are behaving irrationally.

[YvonneCa]

128. THIS ^^^ should be its own post...

... especially the part that says 'if you care about the things that make Democrats different than Republicans'...

[6000eliot]

117. Oh good. So, this guy's a moron, then.

[kelliekat44]

125. Sometimes you have to do the wrong thing for the right reason. We were close in this election. But

the President's two Ebola decisions, I believe, have grabbed defeat from the jaws of victory. Naming an non medical person as czar and refusing to stop all flights from Liberia and the other affected areas just until we get a handle on this epidemic seems unbelievably naive for Obama. First of all you have know that the low-information voter is really only going to understand that "Obama is allowing infected people to come here." I have already heard it from my neighbors. Second, that same voter needs to be able to BELIEVE that the best person has been hired to handle the situation. "I know as much about Ebola as the person Obama hired to be the czar" is also already out there. Although many Dems running in red states are also running away from Obama, he sure didn't do them any favors with these two decisions. He could have done it differently, even against the advice of the " experts" (who are these experts and can they be trusted?). You have to play the political game to be able to move forward...not backward. If there was any hope of getting anymore of his agenda passed in the next two years, the President will need a Dem Senate at a minimum. I think that is lost to him now. The GOP is having a filed day out there just when they were floundering...

[Cha]

143. Oh really? Dr Dean thinks Ron Klain is a good decision and I'm going with him and others on this..

Not with those who are going around proclaiming it a failure.

Howard Dean on Ron Klain.. "We've got to manage this thing. I think Klain is a good manager..."

http://metamorphosis.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5683312

[tkmorris]

130. I don't believe your story

Even if it is true all it means is that your neighbor is a tad nutty. The world is full of irrational people you know.

[Township75]

132. I don't like what can be inferred from your post, so I am going to insult your neighbor, maybe you

, and then go off on Republicans.

If I think there is a problem lurking, better try to convince myself and others that there isn't one!

[Warpy]

135. Ask him if he thinks Republicans who cut everything but the military

are going to do any better.

Let him know that this is actually a fast response to an emerging disease, that at this stage it looks to be a poor candidate for a pandemic because it's hard to catch, and that hospital administration has been frightened into action, no longer are they foot dragging against buying upgraded hazmat gear for people who have to care for Ebola patients.

Burning his signs isn't going to do any good, although you do understand his sense of urgency about a response to an ugly disease. The best hope is a vaccine. Until then, supportive treatment with lucky people getting plasma from survivors is the best we can do.

Republicans will only start slashing the FDA, the NIH, and the CDC budgets. We know this.

[Brickbat]

137. "Do I say my neighbor suddenly went Racist?"

Why on earth would this even cross your mind?

[Savannahmann]

150. As I answered above.

It's the normal knee jerk response whenever anyone doesn't support us. For example a thread from today.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025687661

The OP point. If we are losing in the polls, it must be racism.

[Tweedy]

146. So... Do something damaging for public health because... Republicans?

A hospital in Texas screwed up. This country very recently debated whether the federal government could force anything regarding health care. Remember all of those who cried states' rights? States do have the power to force hospitals to comply with CDC guidelines. The federal government does not.

In the court's ACA opinion, Chief Justice Roberts said Congress could not regulate health care under the commerce clause, but could using the taxing power. Congress needs to get in session to give the CDC the power to tax!

Tell your neighbor the truth. A hospital screwed up and the Supreme Court does not recognize public health as a part of national commerce.

[Savannahmann]

153. The truth is the CDC is not doing their job.

How do I tell my Neighbor something he knows is not true. Let's start with the protections recommended for the staff working on the patients at the Hospitals. Paper masks and gowns. Compare that to what the CDC doctors wear when working on the virus in the lab.

Look at the equipment that they wear in the Biohazard level four labs.



Is that a paper mask and paper gown? I bet if you told the Doctors and Technicians who work in the hot lab that they will be working in paper masks and gowns that they would refuse to go anywhere near the door to the lab. I know I would.

Yet the healthcare workers were dressed in accordance with the CDC guidelines. So it's enough protection for you, but not for me at the CDC. We get Positive Pressure Suits and you get a paper mask, don't worry, you'll be fine. Suckers.

The CDC says you can get Ebola if your are pricked by a contaminated needle. But there is no evidence to suggest you can get it from a mosquito. That is just stupid. That is the kind of thing we expect a smart person to come up with if you hit them in the head with a shovel. Does the Mosquito possess some sort of magical decontamination technique that we haven't discovered as we list the many Mosquito borne diseases that are listed by the CDC?

The CDC is saying that there is no way that restricting people from the affected areas would work. Now you would think that the CDC, a Government agency would have heard of Passports. It seems that when you enter or leave a country, they put a stamp in your passport to show the date that you entered and exited. I'm pretty sure that the Customs officials could play match words if you gave them a list to look for in the last month or so. Even the ones who drool would be able to match the words don't you think.

The CDC says that they have assurances that the airports in the affected regions are conducting screenings. Yeah, we had to deploy the 101 Airborne to build hospitals and fly in all the Doctors without borders because Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone. Because they have an outstanding record with public health. You can tell by the bodies in the streets with the modern day equivalent of.

The CDC is not doing their job. There is no way I can sell that they are. There is no way I can tell my neighbor that everything is going to be hunky dory. Best case he laughs at me and decides I've been drinking. Worst case, he decides I'm the village idiot. I'm not gambling my reputation with the neighbors on the idea he might think I'm drunk, and I'd have to be very drunk to even try to tell someone that the CDC is doing a great job.

[Tweedy]

156. Read the Dallas morning news

I am having difficulty posting links. But go to their site and read their coverage. Texas hospitals are not required to follow anybody's protocol for some reason. These nurses are not infected because of the CDC. Mr. Duncan might be alive today had the hospital called the CDC in the first place. Interestingly, the hospital did not call the CDC. Mr. Duncan's nephew did.

[RiffRandell]

158. Now you think you are 'gambling your reputation with the neighbors'

over Ebola and the CDC? Thanks for the laugh!

The CDC is not doing their job. There is no way I can sell that they are. There is no way I can tell my neighbor that everything is going to be hunky dory. Best case he laughs at me and decides I've been drinking. Worst case, he decides I'm the village idiot. I'm not gambling my reputation with the neighbors on the idea he might think I'm drunk, and I'd have to be very drunk to even try to tell someone that the CDC is doing a great job.

[Savannahmann]

166. So you would prefer that I lie to get someone to support us?

Really? You want me to blatantly lie to someone and not worry about what they might think?

SO let me ask you this. Do you expect people to believe/trust you after you lie to them? My experience is that when someone lies, they are considered untrustworthy. Why would you want me to join that category?

[MattBaggins]

183. Mosquitoes are the same as needles?

I fear for our country.

[Savannahmann]

194. Silly Question

How does a mosquito manage to feed on the blood of its victim? Osmosis perhaps? If memory serves, the mosquito uses its proboscis to puncture the skin and draw the blood out. This by the way is how mosquitoes manage to transmit other diseases.

A needle also punctures the skin. Scientists are studying the mosquito in order to make less painful tools to puncture the skin.

Yes I fear for the country too if you were unaware of that little piece of information.

[Cha]

149. Experts say 3000 could die in Texas this year.. Not because of Ebola.. because of Rick Perry..

The Daily Edge @TheDailyEdge
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Experts say 3,000 could die in Texas this year.
Not because of Ebola. Because of Rick Perry. #Obamacare #Medicaid
4:50 AM - 19 Oct 2014 307 Retweets 140 favorites

[JoePhilly]

151. Your neighbor is an idiot. More contagious than Ebola.

[840high]

152. Why do you feel you

have to say anything? It's his signs - up to him to explain.

[Number23]

157. Worst. Thread. Ever.

[Andy823]

168. I have to agree

It smells fishy to me.

[NanceGreggs]

159. "So how do I handle this?"

Seriously? Who elected you to "handle" anything? Why do you believe you're the go-to guy to answer questions as to why your neighbour took his yard signs down?

Who bases their vote on yard signs - or the lack thereof?

Are you serious? Is this meant to be satire?

[davidpdx]

163. Honestly you want an opinion

Let it go and ignore him. He'll vote how he wants to. As for what people think of him, that's his problem. I would recommend not saying anything even if you were asked directly.

[Warren DeMontague]

164. WaPo: Americans want flight restrictions from Ebola countries. And it’s not close.

Like it, hate it, rail against it, pretend it isn't real, that is the bare-bones, bald-faced fucking political reality.

Please note it's not just Republicans and Independents. It is Democrats.



And if we get more ebola cases due to people from L/SL/G here on state-dept. issued travel visas, like Mr. Duncan was, does anyone honestly think those numbers are going to go anywhere except through the roof?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/10/14/americans-want-flight-restrictions-from-ebola-countries-and-its-not-close/

[MattBaggins]

184. Yippy a graph that's tells me Americans don't give a flying fuck about Africa

I would have never guessed that.

[Warren DeMontague]

189. Because the ONLY way we can help Liberia and Sierra Leone is to not keep their citizens from coming

to Disneyland this year?

[gollygee]

167. I'm not buying it

Not buying anything in this thread.

[snooper2]

171. Did they at least use the fire to cook you some more egg rolls?

[Arugula Latte]

173. "Word will spread"

Gee, like on an Internet discussion board?

I give points for creativity on this post, however.

[LeftyMom]

178. Wow, all the yard signs here are coroplast or just a heavy plastic bag material on a flimsy frame.

You guys must have some seriously swanky yard signs if they're burnable.

[Warren DeMontague]

191. I seem to remember a lot of posterboard ones.

Not so good for Oregon this time of year, though.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

192. And this asshole will be allowed to vote

And no one will even question him. Unlike others in Jawjuh, I assume.

[ConnorMarc]

196. So Whatever Became Of Your Nutty Neighbor?

Did he come to his senses?

Did you even find what his stated reason(s) were?

Basically, many posters covered what I'd say, your neighbor is a fool, and that's putting it nicely.

[JoePhilly]

199. He died of Hyperbole-bola.

Its a new strain of Ebola ... spread by the media ... and on the internet ... symptoms include free floating anxiety, panic attacks, and public displays of delusional behavior.