ISIS Unveiled, 17/777, Jonah's Tomb, Israel. AIDS/Ebola

[stillrobertpaulsen]

Ebola is very difficult to transmit. The chances of a global epidemic are slim to none, barring the possibility that the virus somehow becomes more easily transmitted.

Could that possibility be moving into the realm of probability with this particular strain?

Ebola - What You're Not Being Told [UPDATED]
31.Jul.2014 | SCG


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnQVUf775VE

There is something very, very important that the corporate media and public health officials are not telling you regarding the Ebola outbreak in west Africa.

The information I'm about to present here is frightening. There's really no way around that. However, I request that you do your very best to maintain a calm state of mind.

Right now in West Africa the worst Ebola outbreak in history is in full swing and is jumping borders at an alarming rate. Already it has spread to four countries, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and now Nigeria. This latest jump into Nigeria is particularly serious since the infected individual carried the virus by plane to Lagos Nigeria, a city with a population of over 21 million. Doctors without borders has referred to the outbreak as "out of control".

To make matters worse, there is something very, very important that the corporate media and public health officials are not telling you regarding this crisis.

You'll notice if you read virtually any mainstream article on the topic that they make a point of insisting that Ebola is only transferred by physical contact with bodily fluids. This is not true, at all.

A study conducted in 2012 showed that Ebola was able to travel between pigs and monkeys that were in separate cages and were never placed in direct contact.

Though the method of transmission in the study was not officially determined, one of the scientists involved, Dr. Gary Kobinger, from the National Microbiology Laboratory at the Public Health Agency of Canada, told BBC News that he believed that the infection was spread through large droplets that were suspended in the air.
"What we suspect is happening is large droplets; they can stay in the air, but not long; they don't go far," he explained. "But they can be absorbed in the airway, and this is how the infection starts, and this is what we think, because we saw a lot of evidence in the lungs of the non-human primates that the virus got in that way."

Translation: Ebola IS an airborne virus.

UPDATE: Someone pointed out that in medical terms, if the virus is transferred through tiny droplets in the air this would technically not be called an "airborne virus". Airborne, in medical terms would mean that the virus has the ability to stay alive without a liquid carrier. On one hand this is a question of semantics, and the point is well taken, but keep in mind that the study did not officially determine how the virus traveled through the air, it merely established that it does travel through the air. Doctor Kobinger's hypothesis regarding droplets of liquid is just that, a hypothesis. For the average person however what needs to be understood is very simple: if you are in a room with someone infected with Ebola, you are not safe, even if you never touch them or their bodily fluids, and this is not what you are being told by the mainstream media. Essentially I am using the word "airborne" as a layman term (which kind of makes sense, since I am a layman in this field).

Now I'm not going to speculate as to whether these so called "journalist" and public health agencies who keep repeating the official line regarding the means of transmission are lying, or are just participating in some massive display of synchronized incompetence, but what I will say, is that this shoddy reporting is most likely getting people killed right now, and may in fact put all of humanity in danger.

How so?

By convincing people that the virus cannot travel through air, important precautions that could reduce the spread of the virus are not being taken. For example the other passengers on the plane that traveled to Lagos, Nigeria were not quarantined.

To put this into context, Ebola kills between 50% and 90% of its victims, so the stakes are very, very high here.

NOTE: We have reported on the fact that Ebola can spread through the air in three separate articles since March of 2014, here, here and here, however the corporate media has continued to misrepresent the vectors of transmission.

This particular strain of Ebola is not Ebola Zaire. This is a new strain, and it may in fact be more dangerous than the Zaire variety. Not because of any difference in the symptoms (the symptoms are identical), but because this new virus seems to be harder to contain. Whether this is due to some characteristic of the virus itself or merely dumb luck is uncertain at this time, but the rate at which this outbreak has extended its range is unprecedented.

According to the CDC this virus is genetically 97% similar to the Zaire strain. However if you are interested in this virus' phylogenetic relationship (genetic lineage) to the Zaire strain you should look read "Phylogenetic Analysis of Guinea 2014 EBOV Ebolavirus Outbreak" on plos.org.

Another study by the New England Journal of medicine (this was the one referenced by the CDC) specifically names the parts of the genetic code which differ:

The three sequences, each 18,959 nucleotides in length, were identical with the exception of a few polymorphisms at positions 2124 (G→A, synonymous), 2185 (A→G, NP552 glycine→glutamic acid), 2931 (A→G, synonymous), 4340 (C→T, synonymous), 6909 (A→T, sGP291 arginine→tryptophan), and 9923 (T→C, synonymous).

Note that there doesn't yet seem to be a consensus as to what this new strain is called. One study referred to it as "Guinean EBOV", another as "Guinea 2014 EBOV Ebolavirus" and others are still referring to it as Zaire. Given that we can specifically name the points where the virus has mutated, using the old name is misleading.

Right now the question on everyone's minds is whether this virus will spread outside of Africa. Considering the fact that Ebola has a three week incubation period, can travel through the air, and has already hitchhiked onto an international flight, this is a very real possibility. There are some that are downplaying the probability of this outcome, and to be honest, I hope that they are right, but the simple fact of the matter is that these people are basing their assessment on the faulty premise that Ebola is not an airborne virus.

Now the first thing you might be feeling when looking at this situation is a sense of fear and helplessness, and while that's a perfectly normal reaction it's really not helpful. Instead we should be thinking in terms of practical steps we can take to influence the outcome.

One thing we can all do is to start confronting journalists and public officials who keep making false statements regarding the way Ebola spreads. Use the links to the original study, the BBC report from 2012 and this video to put them in their place.

We also need to confront the fact that there isn't a full out, coordinated, international effort to contain this. This is being treated like a sideshow but it has the very real potential to become a main event.

The doctors on the ground in West Africa don't have enough staff or resources to deal with this situation. It is absolutely inexcusable for the U.S. and the E.U. to be investing billions of tax payer dollars into their little power games in Ukraine and Syria (which are both in the process of escalating right now by the way) while Ebola is getting a foothold in Africa. Every available resource should be shifted to West Africa in order to contain and extinguish this epidemic right now.

This is serious. Call them, write them, heckle them in the streets if you have to, but don't allow them to ignore this issue. Make it impossible for them to pretend later that they didn't know.

Now whether or not official policy towards the Ebola crisis changes there are some precautions that you should take right now for yourself and your family.

1. Know where you would go if you needed to leave your home on short notice. If Ebola escapes Africa the last place you want to be is in a densely populated metropolitan area. It may be that the most practical destination for your family would be a rural area near your current home, but if you already have concerns about the government you are living under, and how they may handle a crisis like this, then you might want to start looking at alternatives. Finding an alternative location that suits your family's needs is something that requires a lot of time and research, so don't put this off. The primary characteristics you should be examining in an alternative destination are geography , political environment, climate, population density and visa terms and requirements. Ideally you would want to end up somewhere that is geographically isolated to some degree.

2. If you don't have passports for yourself and each of your dependents, get them now. This is not to say that you should leave your country, but you should have the means to do so. In countries where the Ebola outbreak is underway it is getting harder and harder to exit. Borders are being closed down. Flights are being cut off. This didn't happen right away, but you definitely don't want to be waiting for your passport to show up if Ebola arrives in your city.

3. Know what you would carry with you if you had to leave on short notice. Have those items ready, and have the luggage to carry them. It would be wise to consider buying a pack of surgical masks as part of this.

Now if you think about it, these preparations are wise steps to take regardless of whether the Ebola situation deteriorates or not. Knowing where you would go in an emergency, and having the means to get there on short notice is important for a wide variety of situations. The civilian population of Iraq, Syria, east Ukraine, and Gaza can attest to that.

Whatever you do don't let fear take control of your mind. Take the steps you can take now, monitor the situation calmly, and be prepared to adapt if necessary.

UPDATE: A number of people have requested that I comment on the fact that the Americans infected by Ebola are right now being flown into the U.S. My personal opinion is that this particular move will not lead to the virus getting out. This event is going to be highly scrutinized, and the isolation security should be at max. The real danger isn't in these highly controlled transfers and quarantines, but rather in the ongoing flow of air travel from these regions. Thirty five countries are merely one flight away from an Ebola zone right now.

Why is this random air travel more dangerous?

Because if it gets in when people aren't looking, it can spread before containment measures are put into place.

P.S. If you want to learn more about Ebola I highly recommend that you read "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston.

[MayDay]

Good. Let it spread. Best possible outcome for life on this planet- 70 percent of the humans die suddenly in the very near future. Beats the hell or of the likely alternative scenario- global nuclear annihilation. Hate to be so heartless, but I care more about life on planet earth in general than I care about a few billion ignorant , destructive bipedal domesticated apes.

[stillrobertpaulsen]

Good. Let it spread. Best possible outcome for life on this planet- 70 percent of the humans die suddenly in the very near future. Beats the hell or of the likely alternative scenario- global nuclear annihilation. Hate to be so heartless, but I care more about life on planet earth in general than I care about a few billion ignorant , destructive bipedal domesticated apes.

Not so much heartless as it is biocentrist in respect to life without humanity's phony moral "sanctity" arguments. As Bill Hicks said, 'I'm tired of this back-slappin' isn't humanity neat bullshit. We're a virus with shoes.'

I recently saw a History Channel film online that hypothesized about how a pandemic on the level (2/3rds of humanity dying) you're describing might go down.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eym4PwHmUvI

But there's one aspect in this depiction not explored - nuclear meltdown. There are currently 447 nuclear power plants in the world, the vast majority running on the same electrical grid we all do. In the event of civilization - and the power grid - collapsing, backup generators can only last so long before they give out and the plants go into meltdown mode. According to Guy McPherson, it takes 60 years to decommission a nuclear power plant. Once a virus like ebola hits pandemic levels, we won't even have 60 weeks.

[dbcooper41]

let's role!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/04/ebola-new-york_n_5648821.html

NEW YORK, Aug 4 (Reuters) - A New York City hospital is testing a patient who traveled to a West African nation where Ebola has been reported, local media reported on Monday.

Mount Sinai Hospital on Manhattan's Upper East Side said the male patient, who had a high fever and gastrointestinal symptoms, had been placed in strict isolation and was being screened to determine the cause of his symptoms, according to reports. (Reporting by Barbara Goldberg; Editing by Frank McGurty)

[stillrobertpaulsen]

let's role!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/04/ebola-new-york_n_5648821.html

NEW YORK, Aug 4 (Reuters) - A New York City hospital is testing a patient who traveled to a West African nation where Ebola has been reported, local media reported on Monday.

Mount Sinai Hospital on Manhattan's Upper East Side said the male patient, who had a high fever and gastrointestinal symptoms, had been placed in strict isolation and was being screened to determine the cause of his symptoms, according to reports. (Reporting by Barbara Goldberg; Editing by Frank McGurty)

Ay Yi Yi.

I wonder how much safer the fabric of full-body suits for workers in New York isolation wards are compared with Sierra Leone.

Exposure of health workers weakens Africa's Ebola fight

By Umaru Fofana, Daniel Flynn and Kate Kelland

FREETOWN/DAKAR/LONDON Fri Aug 1, 2014 11:07am EDT


1 of 4. Medical staff working with Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) put on their protective gear before entering an isolation area at the MSF Ebola treatment centre in Kailahun July 20, 2014.
Credit: Reuters/Tommy Trenchard

(Reuters) - Jenneh became a nurse in Sierra Leone 15 years ago with the hope of saving lives in one of the world's poorest countries. Now she fears for her own after three of her colleagues died of Ebola.

Health workers like Jenneh are on the frontline of the battle against the world's worst ever outbreak of the deadly hemorrhagic fever that has killed 729 people in Sierra Leone, neighboring Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria so far.

With West Africa's hospitals lacking trained staff, and international aid agencies already over stretched, the rising number of deaths among healthcare staff is shaking morale and undermining efforts to control the outbreak.

More than 100 health workers have been infected by the viral disease, which has no known cure, including two American medics working for charity Samaritan's Purse. More than half of those have died, among them Sierra Leone's leading doctor in the fight against Ebola, Sheik Umar Khan, a national hero.

"We're very worried, now that our leader has died from the same disease we've been fighting," said Jenneh, who asked for her real name not to be used. "Two of my very close nursing friends have also been killed ... I feel like quitting the profession this minute."

Jenneh works at a 64-bed emergency clinic set up by the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in Kailahun town in eastern Sierra Leone, at the center of the outbreak. She said she didn't know why so many doctors were dying from the virus, which in its most deadly strain can kill 90 percent of those it infects. In the current outbreak, the rate is running at about 60 percent.

But like other carers interviewed by Reuters, she is worried the fabric of the yellow full-body suits used to protect workers on isolation wards is too flimsy to block the virus. "Improper personal protective gear is a serious issue here," she said.

World Health Organization (WHO) experts strongly deny there is any problem with the protective equipment. They point to a chronic lack of experienced staff that is forcing health workers to cut corners in the arduous daily task of decontaminating wards and treating patients.

The WHO launched an urgent appeal for hundreds more trained medical personnel on Thursday as part of a $100 million drive to bring the outbreak under control. It said it was seeking ways to safeguard scarce medical workers from infection.

“Protection of healthcare workers is important for two reasons," said David Heymann, a professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. "Number one, so they don't get infected and take it home to their families; and number two ... so healthcare workers don’t just carry the infection from one patient to another.”

SECOND WAVE SURPRISED DOCTORS

Doctors turned patients have been a common feature of Ebola outbreaks since the virus was discovered in Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976 near the Ebola river. However, the infection rate typically tails off as doctors and health staff get used to strict procedures for handling patients, experts say.

But a second wave of Ebola infections in West Africa from late June caught many by surprise as the disease popped up in new areas after relatives took infected patients out of clinics rather than leave them in wards they feared were death traps.

This year's outbreak was the first time the rare disease had struck in West Africa, blindsiding both the superstitious local population and unprepared healthcare systems, where even basic equipment like medical gloves was in short supply.

The scale of the disease meant that for the first time MSF - the organization that usually spearheads Ebola reaction - was not able to cope with all the outbreaks, so local governments and other agencies had to step in.

Daniel Bausch, associate professor in the department of Tropical Medicine at Tulane University, who has worked in hemorrhagic fever outbreaks since 1996, said he was alarmed by conditions at a state-run clinic in Kenema, Sierra Leone.

"This is for sure the worst situation I've ever seen," he said, noting that doctors were examining patients in scrub suits before proper protective equipment arrived. "You don't have enough staff, and you don't have enough doctors."

When nurses walked out on strike in Kenema after their colleagues got sick, Bausch and another WHO-sponsored expert were left to cope with a ward of 55 Ebola patients, he said.

The virus is only transmitted via contact with body fluids - blood, urine, saliva, faeces - from someone showing symptoms of Ebola. Patients in the final stages of the disease can be bleeding from their orifices, covered in blood blisters, vomiting and suffering from diarrhea.

For doctors attempting to clean them or deliver palliative care - like intravenous drips for hydration - while wearing protective suits, goggles clouded by tropical heat, and thick gloves, the work can be physically and mentally exhausting.

"None of us expected to have as many healthcare workers get sick as we did," said Bausch, who said 10 staff in Kenema became ill with Ebola during the three weeks he was there in July.

"There were times when nurses were getting sick and I thought, 'We have to close this ward', but that's just not an option."

Constant fatigue among overworked and poorly trained staff probably led to mistakes, Bausch said. He said he saw some staff not wearing protective suits or wearing them incorrectly, but even experienced professionals were at risk.

"Fear is not quite the right word ... but you haven't slept a lot, it's a stressful environment in a tropical country, and maybe you feel feverish. Everybody has a moment where you start to wonder," he said. "No-one who I talked to could give me a specific incident or say the moment when they got infected."

RIGOROUS TRAINING

Experts say the techniques for avoiding Ebola are not complex but require rigorous training and application. But, with a crisis underway, there was not time to spend hours every day practicing drills as floods of new patients arrived at centers.

Derek Gatherer, a virologist at Britain’s University of Lancaster, said Ebola was not "super-infectious”. Each case is expected to lead to two or three more, similar to a flu outbreak and much lower than diseases like measles, where one case could lead to 12 to 18 more.

“The reason doctors need to wear all the protective gear is because of the sheer consequences of getting it,” he said.

Sierra Leone's Chief Medical Officer, Brima Kargbo, admitted that many local health workers were not following standard precautions, leading to their infection.

Mohamed Sheriff, spokesman for nursing staff in Kenema, said workers had only been offered workshops in how to wear the protective clothing once the crisis was well under way: "We don't have the technical know-how ... Some of our colleagues are new nurses dealing with a new disease."

Just taking the suits on and off under controlled conditions required up to 45 minutes and must be done with the assistance of another person, experts say. After removing goggles, mask, suit and gloves and throwing them in a plastic bag, workers are sprayed down with chlorinated water.

Samaritan's Purse, which ran the case management centers in Foya and Monrovia, said that with its workers only able to wear the suits for four hours, it was using 75 Personal Protective Equipment suits per center per day.

"The risk of getting infected when taking the suit off if proper procedures are not followed is high," said Ken Kauffeldt, Liberia country director for the U.S.-based charity.

It has said its two American staff - Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol - probably contracted the virus in the scrub-down area from a local worker who caught it at home.

HARD TO TRACK

As well as the medical challenges, health workers in West Africa also face social stigma for working with Ebola, including the risk of physical attack by a sometimes hostile population.

MSF has said some of its staff in Guinea prefer to conceal where they are working for fear of being ostracized. Gangs of youths have blocked access to affected villages and mobbed health workers.

Tracking the infected and isolating them is a key element in tackling Ebola. If a case were to be detected in the West, it would likely be relatively easy to contain, experts say, but not so in West Africa.

With a highly mobile population, sufferers have often reappeared in an entirely new community - exposing the lack of equipment and training in rural healthcare.

"In rural health clinics and centers, they don’t have the ability to protect themselves,” said Kauffeldt. “They don’t even have simple supplies such as examination gloves.”

Early symptoms of the disease are like malaria or flu, with headaches and joint pains, so doctors can be unaware they are coming into contact with the disease for the first time.

One of Liberia's top doctors, Samuel Brisbane, became the first healthcare worker to die from the disease after examining a patient in a Monrovia hospital for symptoms of peptic ulcer disease. Since then, more than 17 doctors in Liberia have died.

“A lot of health workers are getting infected, and they're afraid," said Assistant Health Minister Tolbert Nyenswah. “Every patient who goes to a facility during this outbreak should be an Ebola suspect until it is proven otherwise.”

(Additional reporting by Clair MacDougall in Monrovia and Adam Bailes in Freetown; Editing by Will Waterman)

[8bitagent]

Despite the absolute carnage happening in Ukraine, Gaza, Azerbaijan, Syria, Iraq, and all this other crazy stuff...it still feels relatively quiet. No that's not meant to be doomsaying for something looming, but that
I don't feel the shit has truly hit the fan. Now it'd really take some meta WTF shit to hit the fan to jar people out of their smart phone/social networking/tv coma

[seemslikeadream]

Iran ready to fully support Palestinian resistance: IRGC

[norton ash]

Y'know, I couldn't help thinking that there was some story-development afoot in mid-July with the widespread reports of how the CDC were a bunch of screw-ups. But I suppose I'm paranoid.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/ ... story.html

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/j ... ntrol-labs

[8bitagent]

Iran ready to fully support Palestinian resistance: IRGC

Good, let's seem em man up. I mean I don't like any religious piousness, but as a balance against rich Sunni thugs like Saudi Arabia/Kuwait/UAE-Dubai, well hey...
I was strongly in support of the early twitter revolution in Iran of 2009 against the Iranian government...but maybe it's time for the Iranian government to show some good will.
Not like their pals in Syria, who have murdered 200,000 people recently, are on a righteous side

[seemslikeadream]

Coping: The Ebola MainStreamMedia Lie?
Posted on August 5, 2014 by George Ure
I’ve mentioned this one multiple times, but if you haven’t been following the adventure of this global plague adventure series on TNT (which just got picked up for a second 13-week season, you’re missing a fictionalized television preview of what could be coming.

Not that it will be as bad and dire as all this, but with an Ebola case suspected in New York now, one of my liberal friends got in a decent poke at my calling officialdumb out on bringing the disease ashore rather than fitting out a ship and leaving the victims offshore.

For something like a deadly communicable disease, I would like to know that what we do to contain it will work. To test the technology and methods, I’d rather see the first “live drill” done with as little duress and panic as possible, as totally monitored as we can make it. The Emory University hospital facility has been around for 20 years, set up to handle an outbreak of whatever at CDC. Thankfully that hasn’t happened, but it’s reassuring to me that they are treating a real patient there with plenty of forewarning, rather than trying it for the very first time in an emergency situation.

Think of it like an airplane. Would you rather fly in a plane that had test flights first, or one that had only wind tunnel tests and computer simulations?

As a matter of fact, yes, my point exactly. You don’t begin with a high-performance short-field landing in downtown Atlanta.

See the list of US Navy Hospital Ships. We’ve forgotten a little something, eh? Check the dates on ‘em. Yet bioterror has been on the radar for how long?

And here’s why flying is safer than reading media reports on Ebola: When a pilot takes up an airplane for the very first time, there is an incredible checklist of items to ensure that all risks have been systematically minimized. There is taxiing, static engine run-ups, high speed taxi, bare liftoff and set-downs, and yes, depending on plane and tests, pilots wear parachutes.

Epidemiologists do…at least the medical analog…but only in the highest tech areas.

This is NOT the case with Ebola, or someone with the brains at the top would have moved a Hospital or Quarantine Ship offshore (which should already have been set up for this kind of thing, again, it’s been in the movies since Andromeda Strain came out) and everyone sent there.

And I sill say this again, because it shows up (as one of numerous examples) in this WABC-TV report: The MainStreamMedia is (as Ures truly sees it) failing it’s duty to due diligence with statements like this one (and I quote):
“It is spread through direct contact with bodily fluids, such as blood or urine, unlike an airborne virus like influenza or the common cold.”

That gives an impression of communicability that I’d suggest to you seriously understates the severity of risk. To make my point, probable OTHER THAN BODY FLUID communicability has been documented since at least 1995 as even a 15-second search of the government’s own http://www.pubmed.gov website discloses.

Specifically I refer to: Lancet. 1995 Dec 23-30;346(8991-8992):1669-71 where 10 researchers reported this:.

“Abstract

Secondary transmission of Ebola virus infection in humans is known to be caused by direct contact with infected patients or body fluids. We report transmission of Ebola virus (Zaire strain) to two of three control rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) that did not have direct contact with experimentally inoculated monkeys held in the same room. The two control monkeys died from Ebola virus infections at 10 and 11 days after the last experimentally inoculated monkey had died. The most likely route of infection of the control monkeys was aerosol, oral or conjunctival exposure to virus-laden droplets secreted or excreted from the experimentally inoculated monkeys. These observations suggest approaches to the study of routes of transmission to and among humans.

And PubMed cites from the Journal of Experimental Pathology (1995):
Abstract

The potential of aerogenic infection by Ebola virus was established by using a head-only exposure aerosol system. Virus-containing droplets of 0.8-1.2 microns were generated and administered into the respiratory tract of rhesus monkeys via inhalation. Inhalation of viral doses as low as 400 plaque-forming units of virus caused a rapidly fatal disease in 4-5 days. The illness was clinically identical to that reported for parenteral virus inoculation, except for the occurrence of subcutaneous and venipuncture site bleeding and serosanguineous nasal discharge. Immunocytochemistry revealed cell-associated Ebola virus antigens present in airway epithelium, alveolar pneumocytes, and macrophages in the lung and pulmonary lymph nodes; extracellular antigen was present on mucosal surfaces of the nose, oropharynx and airways. Aggregates of characteristic filamentous virus were present within type I pneumocytes, macrophages, and air spaces of the lung by electron microscopy. Demonstration of fatal aerosol transmission of this virus in monkeys reinforces the importance of taking appropriate precautions to prevent its potential aerosol transmission to humans.

Now, here’s the critical point: Solid scientific research suggests that Ebola virus is transmissible by aerosolized droplets.

The Material Safety Data Sheets online reports:

In the laboratory, infection through small-particle aerosols has been demonstrated in primates, and airborne spread among humans is strongly suspected, although it has not yet been conclusively demonstrated (1, 6, 13). The importance of this route of transmission is not clear. Poor hygienic conditions can aid the spread of the virus (6).

I was a major market radio news director for more than a decade in a top 20 market and this may seem like a small nit to pick, but it is cases like this – where the use of a phrase could become critical to how the public perceives a threat and how it prepares to deal with the threat.

Let’s look at the quote I pulled from a mainstream source and see how it could be restated to more accurately reflect medical reality:

Instead of:
“It is spread through direct contact with bodily fluids, such as blood or urine, unlike an airborne virus like influenza or the common cold.”

How about:

“It is spread through direct contact with bodily fluids, such as blood or urine, and experimentally it can be spread as an airborne like influenza or the common cold in primate studies….”

I believe that would more accurately reflect the seriousness of the disease-spread potential. There is a critical, perceptual, and motivational difference between permissive language (may be spread by) language and declarative (not communicable) language.

I believe the case is made clear in the paper Ebola hemorrhagic fever, Kikwit, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1995: risk factors for patients without a reported exposure. m(emphasis added):
Abstract

In 1995, 316 people became ill with Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF) in Kikwit, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The exposure source was not reported for 55 patients (17%) at the start of this investigation, and it remained unknown for 12 patients after extensive epidemiologic evaluation. Both admission to a hospital and visiting a person with fever and bleeding were risk factors associated with infection. Nineteen patients appeared to have been exposed while visiting someone with suspected EHF, although they did not provide care. Fourteen of the 19 reported touching the patient with suspected EHF; 5 reported that they had no physical contact. Although close contact while caring for an infected person was probably the major route of transmission in this and previous EHF outbreaks, the virus may have been transmitted by touch, droplet, airborne particle, or fomite; thus, expansion of the use of barrier techniques to include casual contacts might prevent or mitigate future epidemics

I also believe the mass media are (wittingly or otherwise) understating the risk of Ebola transmissibility by other means.

Why might they understate? Well, turning off air travel globally is one reason to consider impacts, after all, we live in the globalist’s paradigm and that doesn’t include grounded jets. Sure, they might be a decent public health option, but where’s the ABSOLUTE PROOF of airborne spread? It’s just monkeys – but I would hasten to add: so far.

This is one of those cases where I think everyone has reason to “trust but verify” and when you do that, MSM doesn’t look so good. How much ad revenue is on the line with Ebola? Could we be looking at a showdown between cash flow and common sense?

If any of my relatives happens to die of Ebola, I’d be calling a Harvey Specter-type lawyer because I believe a strong case could be made against local media for incorrectly failing to state the aerosolized risk attendant to this killer on our doorstep.

In news, as in medicine, the rule is: First do no harm.

I’ve already got my “Harvey” searching Google for stories with the search phrase “not spread by.” How many dead murines (rats and mice) does it take?

Tomorrow in Peoplenomics we’ll be talking about propagation speeds and developing a worst-case outlook as a personal planning scenario.

But hell, we don’t need conspiracies. We’ve got ignorance and it’s doing just fine.

I’m just curious how many of the MSM types would volunteer for a “sneeze communicability test”? And might the results of such a test be a more thorough breed of reporters and editors?
Tunnels and Disease, Reality Mimics Media

I don’t know if you do a lot of TV watching. We don’t, but now and then we’ve checked out episodes of The Bridge.

Not to spoil the plot line if you have plans for it, but part of the set up is a woman who is widowed and lives outside of El Paso on a rather nice ranch with a horse barn.

And what do you suppose is down in the basement of the barn?

Why, it’s a tunnel from Mexico which is (as things progress) not only a way for illegals to come into the country but also (as the plot evolves) a way for US-made weapons to be shipped back the other direction.

All of which revolves – in this part of the plot which is more complicated and has many more body parts as is the fashion in shockyouvision – tunneling.

For some reason people digging around in tunnels, which has been going on for years along the border seems to have been on the increase. Just as “the walls” that Israel uses have likely driven Hamas to fig intricate tunnels, so too seems that breaking the border has gone underground, too.

imageThe Customs and Border Patrol staff has released a series of photos of some of the tunnel insides – as in this pic of supervisory Border Patrol agent Kevin Hecht working his way through a tunnel discovered in Nogales, AZ.

Unlike the television series, this tunnel was found before use.

This particular border breaching effort has characteristics of both rudimentary and interconnecting tunnels and I sure hope the agents get serious bonuses for going into these things. Why, just the scorpion potential alone is enough to send a flood of resumes to the Coast Guard, instead. And if not that, certainly I can see the CBP recruiting amping up at the Colorado School of Mines…

Nevertheless, it’s getting to be just downright odd how certain aspects of television are showing up as real-time episodes of content that’s real-time on the next door news channel, know what I mean?.

OK, sorry for such a serious report this morning, but even with a fine sense of humor, sometimes we’ve just got to be serious now and then.

[jlaw172364]

Anyone else notice that Samaritan's Purse is connected to Worldvision, if I'm not mistaken?

[8bitagent]

It's all finally going to come down, it's going to hemmorage, the entire god damn world and at this point I cannot say I am all too upset. I say let it reign down chaos. Let the world shake. We need a cleansing. It's been a long time coming.

[semper occultus]

http://saltformysoul.wordpress.com/2014/07/22/2014-heliacal-rising-of-sirius/

The 2014 Heliacal Rising of Sirius
By Arcturus Jones•2 weeks ago• ( 1 )•



The Heliacal Rising of Sirius is on July 26. That means on July 26 in Egypt, Sirius rises before the Sun does in the morning. So if you’re watching it from Egypt, you’d see Sirius shine incredibly bright in the East and then the Sun rise right after it. Depending on where you live, the physical Heliacal Rising of Sirius could occur before or after July 26. It will be a few days after on the West Coast of the United States.

Sirius represents Isis who brought Osiris back from the dead. The heliacal rising of Sirius was an incredible moment for the ancient Egyptians. Many don’t realize, but it was a big moment for the astronauts aboard Apollo 11. Recognizing that Sirius would rise at a different time on the Moon, did you know that the landing of Apollo 11 was perfectly timed to the exact moment when the Heliacal Rising of Sirius would occur AND at precisely the spot where they would see it? The story is told that Buzz Aldrin did a short ceremony and had communion as soon as they landed; a fact recreated by HBO in their Apollo 11 series.

[stefano]

Recognizing that Sirius would rise at a different time on the Moon, did you know that the landing of Apollo 11 was perfectly timed to the exact moment when the Heliacal Rising of Sirius would occur AND at precisely the spot where they would see it? The story is told that Buzz Aldrin did a short ceremony and had communion as soon as they landed; a fact recreated by HBO in their Apollo 11 series.

Wow, thanks.

I had a pretty good book on astrology (one of those woo-ish subjects I'm agnostic about and quite interested in), which reckoned (for reasons I don't remember and can't check because I lent the book out and never got it back) that a time of great upheaval is coming. Which you can also deduce by spending a few minutes looking at demographic, debt and land degradation data, but still. Pretty interesting. I'd recommend the book but I forgot the title, too.

[seemslikeadream]

land degradation

Scientists may have cracked the giant Siberian crater mystery — and the news isn’t good

By Terrence McCoy August 5

A crater, discovered recently in the Yamal Peninsula, in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Russia. (AP Photo/Associated Press Television)
Researchers have long contended that the epicenter of global warming is also farthest from the reach of humanity. It’s in the barren landscapes of the frozen North, where red-cheeked children wear fur, the sun barely rises in the winter and temperatures can plunge dozens of degrees below zero. Such a place is the Yamal Peninsula in Siberia, translated as “the ends of the Earth,” a desolate spit of land where a group called the Nenets live.

By now, you’ve heard of the crater on the Yamal Peninsula. It’s the one that suddenly appeared, yawning nearly 200 feet in diameter, and made several rounds in the global viral media machine. The adjectives most often used to describe it: giant, mysterious, curious. Scientists were subsequently “baffled.” Locals were “mystified.” There were whispers that aliens were responsible. Nearby residents peddled theories of “bright flashes” and “celestial bodies.”




There’s now a substantiated theory about what created the crater. And the news isn’t so good.

It may be methane gas, released by the thawing of frozen ground. According to a recent Nature article, “air near the bottom of the crater contained unusually high concentrations of methane — up to 9.6% — in tests conducted at the site on 16 July, says Andrei Plekhanov, an archaeologist at the Scientific Centre of Arctic Studies in Salekhard, Russia. Plekhanov, who led an expedition to the crater, says that air normally contains just 0.000179% methane.”

The scientist said the methane release may be related to Yamal’s unusually hot summers in 2012 and 2013, which were warmer by an average of 5 degrees Celsius. “As temperatures rose, the researchers suggest, permafrost thawed and collapsed, releasing methane that had been trapped in the icy ground,” the report stated.



A crater located in the permafrost about 18 miles from a huge gas field north of the regional capital of Salekhard, roughly 2,000 kilometers northeast of Moscow, on June 16, 2014. AFP/Getty Images
Plekhanov explained to Nature that the conclusion is preliminary. He would like to study how much methane is contained in the air trapped inside the crater’s walls. Such a task, however, could be difficult. “Its rims are slowly melting and falling into the crater,” the researcher told the science publication. “You can hear the ground falling, you can hear the water running; it’s rather spooky.”

“Gas pressure increased until it was high enough to push away the overlaying layers in a powerful injection, forming the crater,” explained geochemist Hans-Wolfgang Hubberten of Germany’s Alfred Wegener Institute, adding that he’s never seen anything like the crater.

Some scientists contend the thawing of such terrain, rife with centuries of carbon, would release incredible amounts of methane gas and affect global temperatures. “Pound for pound, the comparative impact of [methane gas] on climate change is over 20 times greater than [carbon dioxide] over a 100-year period,” reported the Environmental Protection Agency.

As the Associated Press put it in 2010, the melting of Siberia’s permafrost is “a climate time bomb waiting to explode if released into the atmosphere.”

Researchers with Stockholm University’s Department of Applied Environmental Science recently witnessed methane releases in the East Siberian Arctic Ocean. They found that “elevated methane levels [were] about ten times higher than in background seawater,” wrote scientist Orjan Gustafsson on his blog last week. He added: “This was somewhat of a surprise … This is information that is crucial if we are to be able to provide scientific estimations of how these methane releases may develop in the future.”


NASA also found the situation to be precarious. “The fragile and rapidly changing Arctic region is home to large reservoirs of methane, a potent greenhouse gas,” scientists wrote in 2012. It’s “vulnerable to being released into the atmosphere, where it can add to global warming.”

Now, as two additional craters have also recently been discovered in Siberia, researchers worry the craters may portend changes to local Siberian life. Two have appeared close to a large gas field. “If [a release] happens at the Bovanenkovskoye gas field that is only 30 kilometers away, it could lead to an accident, and the same if it happens in a village,” Russian scientist Plekhanov told Nature.