New high for the Dow

The 324 countries and territories of the world

There are 324 different countries and territories.  There are 193 member nations of the UN.  Obviously, nations can be made up of multiple countries.  For example, the United States includes: Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, Alaska and Hawaii, in addition to the continental US.

Here are the countries and territories that start with A:

• Abkhazia
• Abu Dhabi
• Admiralty Islands (see Bismarck Archipelago)
• Afghanistan
• Agalega (see Mauritius & Deps.)
• Aitutaki (see Cook Islands)
• Ajman
• Aland Islands (Mariehamn)
• Alaska
• Albania
• Aldabra (see Zil Elwannyen Sesel)
• Alderney (see Guernsey & Deps.)
• Algeria
• Amirante Island (see Zil Elwannyen Sesel)
• Amsterdam(see French Southern & Antarctic Territory)
• Anatolia (see Turkey in Asia)
• Andaman-Nicobar Islands
• Andorra
• Angola
• Anguilla
• Anjouan (see Comoro Islands)
• Ankara (see Turkey in Asia)
• Antigua & Deps. (Barbuda, Redonda)
• Argentina
• Argentine Antarctica (Palmer Peninsula)
• Armenia (Yerevan)
• Aruba
• Ascension
• Atafu (see Tokelau Islands)
• Austral (see French Polynesia)
• Australia
• Australian Antarctic Territory South Pole (Mawson, Davis, Macquarie, Heard)
• Austria
• Azerbaijan (Baku)
• Azores Islands

Demethanizer

"The transport of what is thought to be Oklahoma's largest oversized load ever has completed day one of its journey. The 186-foot long demethanizer is making its way from Exterran in Broken Arrow to a gas processing plant in Fort Lupton, Colorado. The 536,600-pound object is being moved on a specially designed trailer pulled by two trucks in front and pushed by two trucks in back."
http://www.news9.com/story/26819780/transport-of-huge-demethanizer-underway-saturday-morning

Was Ebola accidently released from a lab?

You mentioned that a map produced by the CDC shows where the laboratories are located on the West Coast of Africa?

Yes. They've got one in Monrovia [the capital of Ebola-stricken Liberia] ... one in Kenema, Sierra Leone [the third largest city in the Ebola-hotzone nation], which was shut down this summer because the government there believed that it was the Tulane vaccines which had set this whole thing off. And then they have another one in Guinea, where the first case [of Ebola] was reported. All of these are labs which do this offensive/defensive biowarfare work.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-10-23/exclusive-was-ebola-accidentally-released-bioweapons-lab-west-africa

The Most Expensive Building in the World

Unisex soldiers in Norway

The Norwegian parliament has voted in a strong majority on a bill aimed at extending mandatory military service to females. If the legislation is approved, all women in the country will be subject to the same conscription conditions as men. The proposition, which was first announced in June 2013, was passed in Oslo this week, with 96 parliamentarians voting in favor of gender equality in the army. Only six voted against it.

Earlier this year, the Norwegian army started testing unisex dormitories. Women soldiers shared bedrooms with male recruits at one of the country's military bases. "Even though there is a girl in the room, it doesn't mean there are any romances. We are just soldiers," conscript Mathias Hoegevold told Ruptly news agency.

 In August 2013, the country's military officials announced that men in the army would be permitted to grow their hair long and keep it in ponytails, after a male officer complained it wasn't fair that only women were allowed to have longer styles. If enacted, the new bill for mandatory female service will include provisions for the use of gender-neutral language.  http://rt.com/news/197152-norway-army-women-military-conscripts/

Colonize Mars and make humans a multi-planet civilization

When Elon Musk founded SpaceX in 2002, it was, at best, a millionaire’s flight of fancy. He had made his fortune from tech startups Zip2 and PayPal, and was still two years away from starting Tesla, the electric-car firm.

Musk, as he will gladly tell you, has a vision: Colonize Mars and make humans a multi-planet civilization. He sees it as insurance against a global catastrophe that leads to human extinction. Per Musk, the only sensible policy in this universe is redundancy.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/10/what-it-took-for-spacex-to-become-a-serious-space-company/381724/?single_page=true

McDonalds FTW

Ebola has a 42-day incubation period

A jaw-dropping report released by the World Health Organization on October 14, 2014 reveals that 1 in 20 Ebola infections has an incubation period longer than the 21 days which has been repeatedly claimed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

This may be the single most important -- and blatantly honest -- research report released by any official body since the beginning of the Ebola outbreak. The WHO's "Ebola situation assessment" report, found here, explains that only 95% of Ebola infections experience incubation within the widely-reported 21-day period. Here's the actual language from the report:

95% of confirmed cases have an incubation period in the range of 1 to 21 days; 98% have an incubation period that falls within the 1 to 42 day interval. [1]

Unless the sentence structure is somehow misleading, this passage appears to indicate the following:

• 95% of Ebola incubations occur from 1 - 21 days
• 3% of Ebola incubations occur from 21 - 42 days
• 2% of Ebola incubations are not explained (why?)

If this interpretation of the WHO's statistics are correct, it would mean that:

• 1 in 20 Ebola infections may result in incubations lasting significantly longer than 21 days

• The 21-day quarantine currently being enforced by the CDC is entirely insufficient to halt an outbreak

• People who are released from observation or self-quarantine after 21 days may still become full-blown Ebola patients in the subsequent three weeks, even if they have shown no symptoms of infection during the first 21 days. 

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/047267_Ebola_outbreak_incubation_period_viral_transmission.html

The Ebola Breakout Coincided With UN Vaccine Campaigns

The mystery at the heart of the ebola outbreak is how the 1995 Zaire (ZEBOV) strain, which originated in Central Africa some 4,000 km to the east in Congolese (Zairean) provinces of Central Africa, managed to suddenly resurface now a decade later in Guinea, West Africa. Since no evidence of ebola infections in transit has been detected at airports, ports or highways, the initial infections must have come from one of either two alternative routes:
     
  - First, the possibility of an anonymous “Patient A”, a survivor of the devastating 1995 Zaire pandemic, perhaps a doctor or medical worker who was a carrier of the dormant virus into Guinea. An example of a Patient A is Patrick Sawyer, the infected American resident of Liberia who first transmitted ebola to Nigeria. No attempt has been made by the national health ministry or international agencies to trace and identify the original ebola case in Guinea. So far, not a shred of evidence has surfaced to indicate the very first victim to be a foreigner or a Guinean who had traveled abroad.
     
  - Second, the absence of a Patient A leaves the prospect of an unauthorized test in humans of a new antidote for ebola in rural Guinea, done under the cover of a vaccination program for another disease. Whether the covert clinical trial’s purpose was civilian health or military use of an antibody-based antidote cannot be determined as of yet.
     
 The reason for suspecting a vaccine campaign rather than an individual carrier is due to the fact that the ebola contagion did not start at a single geographic center and then spread outward along the roads. Instead simultaneous outbreaks of multiple cases occurred in widely separated parts of rural Guinea, indicating a highly organized effort to infect residents in different locations in the same time-frame. http://www.liberianobserver.com/commentaries/ebola-breakout-coincided-un-vaccine-campaigns

Will Pooley

"The British nurse who survived Ebola after contracting the disease in Sierra Leone is heading back to the African country to join the exhausted frontline workers battling to treat patients with the virus.  Will Pooley confirmed his plans as he spoke to potential volunteers at the Department of Health on Wednesday. ... Doctors are confident he is immune to all five strains of the Ebola virus, making it safe for him to return without risk of contracting the disease a second time." http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/15/british-nurse-ebola-survivor-sierra-leone-return

That is awesome.  Finally some good news.

El Perdedor

No Risk

"Sgt Monning told medics at the Frisco clinic today that he had been in contact with first victim Mr Duncan and had not been wearing protective clothing. The CareNow clinic was immediately placed in lock-down because Monning was exhibiting signs of the deadly virus - including feeling sick and appearing flushed with a fever. The CDC told MailOnline today that the person is not one of the 48 contacts being monitored, and there is no indication of any direct contact with the initial patient, Mr Duncan.  None of the 48 individuals with verified or possible contact with the patient has shown symptoms, the CDC said today.  Sgt Monning's son, Logan Monning, told CBS that his father had woken up with 'stomach issues' and had gone to the clinic as a precaution.  Logan said their family had been told that their father was at no risk of the virus, as he had only been in the apartment for 30 minutes and had not come in contact with bodily fluids." 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2785514/Second-person-rushed-hospital-Ebola-symptoms-contact-patient-zero-Thomas-Duncan.html

Comment:  Who told him it was "no risk"?  Liars. Idiots. Fools.  

Ebola-Chan loves you, Dallas.

National Debt up $1.1 trillion in FY2013

As of 9/30/2013, the total national debt was $16.747 trillion.  As of 9/30/2014, it was $17.875 trillion, an increase of $1.128 trillion.

A trillion here, a trillion there, pretty soon you're talking real money.

Source for numbers: http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/pd_debttothepenny.htm

Slavery means the US has a moral responsibility not to ban flights from Liberia

David Quammen, an author of multiple books on science and diseases, including “Ebola,” and "Spillover," argued against a ban on flights to Liberia by stating the US has a “responsibility” to the nation “given the fact that this is a country that was founded in the 1820s, 1830s because of American slavery” on Thursday’s “AC360” on CNN.
Quammen first argued that such a ban would not be feasible because “it’s impossible to track them [people flying from Liberia],” and “you can't isolate neighborhoods, you can’t isolate nations. It doesn't work.” He then said, “people talk about ‘well, we should not allow any flights in from Liberia.’ I mean, we in America, how dare we turn our backs on Liberia given the fact that this is a country that was founded in the 1820s, 1830s because of American slavery? We have a responsibility to stay connected with them, and help them see this through.” 
http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2014/10/02/Author-Slavery-Gives-US-Responsibility-to-Not-Ban-Flights-From-Liberia

Ok, David Quammen, you get an Ebola-Chan award.

Frieden

I've been very critical of this guy and I won't say anymore.  Just watch and form your own opinion.

See also http://video.foxnews.com/v/3818929859001

Ebola is an aerosol-transmissable disease

Ebola respirator suit

"We believe there is scientific and epidemiologic evidence that Ebola virus has the potential to be transmitted via infectious aerosol particles both near and at a distance from infected patients, which means that healthcare workers should be wearing respirators, not facemasks. Being at first skeptical that Ebola virus could be an aerosol-transmissible disease, we are now persuaded by a review of experimental and epidemiologic data that this might be an important feature of disease transmission, particularly in healthcare settings. The act of vomiting produces an aerosol and has been implicated in airborne transmission of gastrointestinal viruses. Regarding diarrhea, even when contained by toilets, toilet flushing emits a pathogen-laden aerosol that disperses in the air."   These two infectious disease experts believe that Ebola is already – in its current form – transmissible via aerosols. They therefore urge all doctors and nurses working with Ebola patients to wear respirators.
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2014/10/center-infectious-disease-research-policy-university-minnesota-ebola-may-become-airborne.html


"Most scientific and medical personnel, along with public health organizations, have been unequivocal in their statements that Ebola can be transmitted only by direct contact with virus-laden fluids and that the only modes of transmission we should be concerned with are those termed "droplet" and "contact." These statements are based on two lines of reasoning. The first is that no one located at a distance from an infected individual has contracted the disease, or the converse, every person infected has had (or must have had) "direct" contact with the body fluids of an infected person. This reflects an incorrect and outmoded understanding of infectious aerosols, which has been institutionalized in policies, language, culture, and approaches to infection control. We will address this below. Briefly, however, the important points are that virus-laden bodily fluids may be aerosolized and inhaled while a person is in proximity to an infectious person and that a wide range of particle sizes can be inhaled and deposited throughout the respiratory tract. The second line of reasoning is that respirators or other control measures for infectious aerosols cannot be recommended in developing countries because the resources, time, and/or understanding for such measures are lacking." 
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2014/09/commentary-health-workers-need-optimal-respiratory-protection-ebola

"Caring for a patient in the early stages of disease (no bleeding, vomiting, diarrhea, coughing, sneezing, etc). In this case, the generation rate is 1. For any level of control (less than 3 to more than 12 ACH), the control banding wheel indicates a respirator protection level of 1 (APF of 10), which corresponds to an air purifying (negative pressure) half-facepiece respirator such as an N95 filtering facepiece respirator. This type of respirator requires fit testing."

Wait, what?  If you are caring for a patient who has no symptoms, you should wear a half-facepiece respirator?



Until the idiots at the WHO and CDC get this thing under control, I think anyone with the slightest risk of coming within 100 feet of a possible Ebola patient should be wearing these.  That would the entire populations of West Africa, anyone on an international flight and anyone within sight of the Dallas hospital or schools where there is a possible infection.

Ebola isn't contagious until symptoms appear

"Individuals who are not symptomatic are not contagious."
 "I want to emphasize that Ebola isn't contagious until symptoms appear."
--http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2014/t0728-ebola.html

"Ebola symptoms can include fever, muscle pain, vomiting and bleeding and can appear as long as 21 days after exposure to the virus. The disease is not contagious until symptoms begin, and it takes close contact with bodily fluids to spread."
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/01/texas-ebola-patient/16525649/

"The incubation period, or the time interval from infection to onset of symptoms, is from 2 to 21 days. The patients become contagious once they begin to show symptoms. They are not contagious during the incubation period."
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/ebola/faq-ebola/en/

"The only way that an individual can contract Ebola is by coming into contact with the bodily fluids of someone who is exhibiting symptoms."
http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/219492-white-house-no-ebola-travel-restrictions

"Authorities say people with Ebola are contagious but only through contact with infected bodily fluids when they are showing symptoms of the virus. Those symptoms include high fever, severe headache, diarrhea and vomiting, among others."
http://fox13now.com/2014/10/01/us-ebola-patient-came-in-contact-with-school-children-while-contagious/

"People who have Ebola are contagious -- but only through contact with infected bodily fluids -- when they display active symptoms of the virus, such as a high fever, severe headache, diarrhea and vomiting, among others. It's not like a cold or the flu, which can be spread before symptoms show up, and it doesn't spread through the air. "
http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/01/health/ebola-us/index.html

"Ebola isn't contagious until symptoms appear, and then it can spread only by close contact with a patient's bodily fluids."
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2777788/Panicked-parents-pull-kids-school-s-revealed-Ebola-patient-Texas-throwing-place.html


If you repeat something enough times, it must be true right?  Has there been a study?  Where is a link to it? Who authored it? I just write a blog that no one ever reads but I always link to my sources.  I'm calling BS.  Ebola is extremely contagious and even health workers and doctors, who presumably know a thing or two about infection, have caught it and died.  If you can't point to a peer-reviewed study that makes that finding, then shut up and stop spreading disinformation.

Do you want to spread Ebola? Because this is how you spread Ebola

Ebola-Chan

We don't need false assurances that everything is ok.  We need to know that the US is declaring war on Ebola.  So I am going to call out the useful idiots as I hear about them.

===================================
"The White House said Wednesday it will not impose travel restrictions or introduce new airport screenings to prevent additional cases of Ebola from entering the United States. Spokesman Josh Earnest said that current anti-Ebola measures, which include screenings in West African airports and observation of passengers in the United States, will be sufficient to prevent the “wide spread” of the virus.The chances of a U.S. epidemic are “incredibly low,” he said. “The reason for that is that it is not possible to transmit Ebola through the air. ... The only way that an individual can contract Ebola is by coming into contact with the bodily fluids of someone who is exhibiting symptoms.”"
http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/219492-white-house-no-ebola-travel-restrictions

Josh Earnest - I dub thee faithful servant of Ebola-Chan.  You are recognized for your efforts in spreading her presence throughout the world.

===================================

Briefing reporters Tuesday, Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, would not identify the flight on which a man now critically ill with the Ebola virus came to the United States.

Frieden repeatedly emphasized that the unidentified man, now at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, was not infectious when he was flying to the United States.

Therefore he posed no risk to his fellow passengers, Frieden said.

“We will identify any contacts where we think there is a risk of transmission,” he said. “At this point, there is zero risk of transmission on the flight. The illness of Ebola would not have gone on for 10 days before diagnosis. He was checked for fever before getting on the flight, and there’s no reason to think that anyone on the flight that he was on would be at risk.”  http://blogs.rollcall.com/the-container/cdc-chief-says-zero-risk-to-those-on-flight-ebola-victim-took/

Tom Frieden, you keep saying "zero risk".  I don't think you understand what that phrase means.  There may have been a very low risk, but that is not the same as zero.  Dr. Frieden, you are a liar.  Ebola-Chan appreciates your service.

The Trend Is Your Friend... Until It Ends

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-10-01/trend-your-friend-until-it-ends