Uncharacteristically Off-Point Analysis By Nate Silver

The normally astute Nate Silver takes an unusual tack with this analysis:

Why An Ebola Flight Ban Wouldn’t Work

...

Duncan’s case [Dallas patient zero] has sparked calls to ban flights to the United States from the countries hardest hit by the recent Ebola outbreak — Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone — possibly along with others in West Africa. While some of these arguments have been measured, others seem to convey the impression there are thousands of passengers arriving in cities like Dallas each day from flights originating in these countries.

There aren’t. We searched on Kayak.com, ExpertFlyer.com and airline websites for direct flights from West African nations (as the United Nations defines the region) to destinations outside the African continent. Specifically, we looked for flights available for the week from Jan. 2 to Jan. 8, 2015, a time period far enough in advance that such flights are unlikely to have sold out.

There are no regularly scheduled direct flights to the U.S. from Liberia, Guinea or Sierra Leone — and very few from other countries in West Africa. There are far more flights from West Africa to Western Europe instead. Duncan’s case was typical. Before arriving in the United States, he connected through Brussels.

And his conclusion:

But for a ban to be even halfway effective, it would need to be much more sweeping than banning the handful of direct flights from West Africa to the United States. It seems unlikely that travel from Europe or the Middle East will be halted. But the next Ebola patient may be on a flight from London, not Liberia.

Well, yes, there are not a lot of direct flights to the US from West Africa. That is why most people are calling for a travel ban; in a world with passports, visas and networked communications it is not brain science (or virology) to track an airline passenger's country of origin, as well as any connecting flights and countries of transit.

For example, here is the National Review:

The ban should, of course, apply to a traveler’s country of origin, preventing persons from West Africa from entering the United States via other countries. Such a ban would, in theory, have prevented entry to Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the United States, who arrived from Liberia via Belgium. Furthermore, it would have protected the two hospital workers who contracted the disease through their interactions with Duncan.

Of course. There are other argument made in opposition to a travel ban, heroically reported by Jonathan Cohn of TNR. Some are silly strawman arguments. For example, this is recycled from a Bush-era official involved with the SARS outbreak in 2003:

It’s such an appealing idea, it sounds so easy. But it’s when you get to the second layer of activity and then the third and fourth it gets complicated. For example, imagine a Liberian citizen goes to Spain and in Spain he manifests symptoms and people in Spain get it. Do you now expand the travel ban to include Spain? Somebody from Spain goes to the U.K. and now it’s there, so do you include the U.K.? Now somebody who gets it there turns out to be a U.S. citizen and wants to come home to get treated. Do you let the citizen in?

Please - SARS was more easily transmitted, and in any case, this slippery slope analysis is silly. Banning travel from a tiny country with a raging crisis and a health system in collapse is quite a different proposition from banning travel with the UK or Spain. Which is sort fo where the Bushmen came out:

Those complications alone wouldn’t have stopped the Bush Administration from imposing a ban. But officials also became convinced the ban just wouldn’t be very effective. People determined to evade travel restrictions, particularly family members, would find ways to do so. Models predicted that a ban might delay transmission to the U.S., not stop it altogether.

I am somewhat more persuaded by the concern that if you outlaw travel, only outlaws will travel. Illegally, obviously, making it very difficult to trace their travel and contacts if they eventually arrive in the US with Ebola. And God forbid sick Africans should start flying to Mexico City and working their way north to Obama's non-border, spreading disease along the way. (No, I have no idea why Mexico and our other friends south of the border wouldn't institute their own travel bans.)

That said, Cohn ducks the obvious political argument. Democrats in close races are drifting towards the Republican 'travel ban' position. If (as seems likely) the situation worsens, Obama will be announcing a ban after the election. But for another three weeks, Democrats need to rally their base by staying on-message about hate-filled, racist Republicans. Back to Cohn, who feels obliged to wave that flag:

Are these calls for closing the borders the product of political opportunism? Xenophobia? In some cases they are. But some of them represent good faith attempts to protect public health, both here and abroad. The editors of the National Review have endorsed a travel ban, for example.

Uh huh. Well, I am sure that some of the no-ban crowd is motivated by their sense of the politics. And we have the citizens of the world (like Obama) who thinks the US is equally obliged to defend Liberians and Americans.

Comments

[henry]

Power and control of the printing and distribution of money is all progs care about.

[henry]

Besides, if his czar doesn't start for six months Obama doesn't have to approve his recommendation to ban travel until April at the earliest.

[jimmyk]

I think TM has been doping, this must be a record number of new threads the past few days.

[MarkO]

Speaking of doping,

Duke football 6-1, even without the patsy game against some service academy.

[Danube on iPad]

Supremes OK TX voter ID law for Nov. 4.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/18/politics/texas-voter-id-law/index.html

[daddy]

JimmyK,

I'm wondering how much TM lost in the recent market crash. it's obviously keeping him up at night.

I can't catch up with his posts, much less with the comments in the threads.

Not complaining however, not complaining. In the big picture, more TM is better than less TM.

[jack is Back!]

Of the 150 west African originated flyers to America via Brussels, Madrid or Dubai, et. al. are US citizens? How does that visa tracking thingy work again?

[Captain Hate]

Duke football 6-1, even without the patsy game against some service academy.

I caught the Bojangles Network game of the week and it was fun to watch. I can't figure out why they kept going back to Charlotte for updates from the Thursday night game. Pitt still won in case anybody was wondering.

[Captain Hate]

Welp it looks like the Tide is administering a slattering to A&M. Good to see Allie LaForce is still doing commercials for local car dealers; almost time to break out the Santa's helper outfit.

[jimmyk]

Well, yes, there are not a lot of direct flights to the US from West Africa. That is why most people are calling for a travel ban

Huh, a straw man argument. I'm stunned. He must be taking his lead from our President. "There are those who say..." usually followed by something no one has ever said.

[jimmyk]

daddy, my post was a hanging curve ball for hit to come in and provide the data for the most new threads in a 5-day period. But he's traveling, so maybe he can't do that so easily.

[Threadkiller]

I'm not worried about "thousands of [west African] passengers arriving in cities like Dallas each day", I am worried about one arriving every now and then.

[jack is Back!]

daddy,

On your next sortie to Stanstead I suggest you keep out a sharp eye for this guy:)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2798083/is-bird-plane-no-s-mystery-man-flying-past-airbus-passengers-flew-macclesfield.html

[daddy]

I find this CDC info page of interest:

Outbreaks Chronology: Ebola Virus Disease (1977-2014)

It shows the dates and, if possible, the suspected vector source that originally transmitted the Ebola Virus to humans.

What I find worth mentioning is how there will be no cases worldwide from, for example, 2004 until 2007, and then amazingly it infects another human population hundreds to thousands of miles away from the previous location.

What this tells me, the point I harped on a couple days back, is that this Ebola Virus has been vectored into humans from non-human sources multiple times, in multiple locations, since at least 1977. Therefore it is false for the CDC and the President and Shemp Smith and whoever else, to keep saying that it can only infect humans if you come into contact with the boldly fluids of an infected, symptomatic human, and that you are a moron if you do not totally agree with the CDC or the President's statement that that is the only way you can get infected.

Obviously the Virus is capable of infecting humans by other means than that, and the Virus has been proving that since 1977. What I want out of our President and our CDC heads, are precise, honest statements, and it frustrates me that that is not what we are getting, and that intelligent people (i.e. Rand Paul) are mocked for pointing that out.

[rse]

Getting ready to go Westward tomorrow so I went off schedule to get a post up today. http://www.invisibleserfscollar.com/propagandizing-the-k-12-classroom-to-create-desired-worldviews-for-change-the-new-anti-bias-standards/

The Anti-bias Standards are from the Southern Poverty Law Center. Their tight marriage to the Common Core lets them be widely forced into classrooms with parents nary the wiser until their child's attitudes dial to 11.

[Threadkiller]

Daddy, it is my understanding that the Frontier Airlines jet is having its carpet and seat fabrics replaced.

They seem to be reading the same report as you.

[jack is Back!]

rse,

Nothing says scary like the SPLC endorsing a supposedly right of center prop like CC. This is exactly why Huckabee and Jeb Bush need to be fully marginalized for 2016.

[narciso]

it could be a cunning, cunning plan, on their part,

[Threadkiller]

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/390577/dems-west-virginia-senate-candidate-wont-mention-obama-name-when-asked-whom-she-voted

[Captain Hate]

When I think "right of center" the SPLC isn't in the picture. Nor is Jeb Bush.

[daddy]

Jack, Saw that.

I imagine he jumped from a small puddle jumper that radar may not have picked up.

I recall that back in So-Cal in 1980 there was a hang gliding site called Dead Horse Canyon, pretty much due east of San Diego by probably 40 miles or so, and that when we returned from training missions at El Centro (@130 some miles east of San Diego), we would return IIRC at about 11,000 feet back to Base, and we were overflying the exact same territory I had been Hang Gliding overtop in my kite the previous weekend. I always recall looking down and thinking "This is nuts."

Good news BTW, Just found out that next month I get another 4 days hanging out in Cambridge drinking beer. WooHoo!

I'm thinking Brit Museum or finally getting around to making it to the Grenwich Observatory. I always have grandiose plans but usually wind up hardly accomplishing any of them:)

Open to suggestions.

[narciso]

You know I wondered how this chestnut came to be,

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/anne-applebaum-nato-pays-a-heavy-price-for-giving-russia-too-much-credita-true-achievement-under-threat/2014/10/17/5b3a6f2a-5617-11e4-809b-8cc0a295c773_story.html?tid=pm_opinions_pop

Stay Puft is regarded as center right, but that's really a Vizzinism,

the proof of the pudding is which legislation did Tennant support, the same with Uterus,
'coal miner's lawyer, grimes, et al,

[anonamom]

I'd love suggestions on Oxford--four days.

[jack is Back!]

CH,

CC was a right of center proposition to sell it. Not SLPC. Re-read rse and my post.

[jack is Back!]

Texas A&M padding Lane Kiffin's resume. There should be a mercy rule in football - at least this game. Can't wait until 7:00 when Florida meets Mizzou:) What? There's another game at that time?

[Danube on iPad]

daddy, read Longitude before you go to Greenwich. You'll want to see Harrison's clocks (and it's a fascinating read).

http://www.amazon.com/Longitude-Dava-Sobel/dp/B0028BX10K/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1413666752&sr=8-4&keywords=Longitude

[narciso]

really it's not sporting after 45 points, never mind the yards run,

[jack is Back!]

anonamom,

1. Hertford bridge - just like the Bridge of Sighs in Venice

2. Ashmolean Museum

3. Eagle & Child Pub - where Tolkien and Lewis imbided

4. Carfax Tower

5. Just walk and walk and walk - plenty to do and see.

[daddy]

President Obama: The only way that a person can contract the disease is by coming into direct contact with the bodily fluids of somebody who is already showing symptoms.

Here are some of the interesting Ebola vector sources from my CDC Link above:

1) Ebola-Reston virus was introduced into quarantine facilities in Virginia and Pennsylvania by monkeys imported from the Philippines.

2) A chimpanzee found dead in the (African) forest was eaten by people hunting for food.

3) First known occurrence of Ebola-Reston in pigs. Strain closely similar to earlier strains. Six workers from the pig farm and slaughterhouse developed antibodies but did not become sick.

Anonamom,

the mystery other medical person who wishes to remain anonymous at Emory

I see you mentioned the 4th Ebola infected patient who has remained nameless and is rarely mentioned. Here's the President 2 days back:

"To date, we've seen three cases of Ebola diagnosed here -- the man who contracted the disease in Liberia, came here and sadly died; the two courageous nurses who were infected while they were treating him. Our thoughts and our prayers are with them."

Any further info you can tell us about Anonymous patient number 4? My guess is that most American's would have no idea we have an Anonymous infected Ebola patient Number 4.

[narciso]

how does one say, You Betcha' in their language:

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/10/is-putin-going-to-cut-off-my-gas-111956.html#.VELZ6vldUz4

[sbw]

Just attended a very nice wedding.

The artist for Bob the squirrel and his new spouse.

[rse]

anonamom-go to Blenheim Palace. It's maybe 10 miles or so away. Not because it was Churchill's childhood home but because Queen Anne gave it to her best general and it is a magnificent home. When I was there they were filming Mel Brooks History of the World Part 2 and it was subbing for Versailles. The dressed up crowd of ruffians was moved around the scaffolding so that in the end it would appear to be on every side without paying for that large a cast and their costumes.

If the weather is nice, go punting and bring along wine. It is easy to get to and from London and it is Paddington Station that takes you to Oxford.

[rse]

Find a pub that the locals go to and not the tourists.

[Jane]

Open to suggestions.

Come to the other Cambridge - TC will show you his 3 piece suit gig on the treadmill. I'll drive. You may be the one to get Dave out of hiding, which is deserved of a trophy.

The only thing I ever did in the other Cambridge is get a jug of bloody mary's and cruise the river at 10:00 AM. That was okay too.

[Jane]

The only thing I remember about Oxford was the rotary (AKA roundabout) and it is on the way to (or maybe in) the Cottswalds which is an incredible area. You can always go see Shakepeare's House - which has ceilings about 5 feet tall.

[Some Guy]

Wasn't there an article a day or two ago that stated that the State Dept was processing hundreds of visas from Ebola striken areas?

That Mr. Silver was dumb enough to search for only direct flights is just embarrassing.

[Jane]

Very fun SBW - what a lovely tribute.

[jack is Back!]

anonamom,

Don't know when you're going but if its May or June you can witness the agonization of Exams at the Oxford complex. I was once invited to give a presentation at Queen's College on Project Management during the Exam period and I was unsettled by the pure fear, anexiety and anticipation on all the particpants faces. They wanted to be somewhere else, where they could cram and study.

Spent two days there and it was revealing. Niot a lot of PC crap there but truly disciplined learning and studying and filling in the blanks during exams.

The pubs are quiet for some reason.

[matt]

Daddy;

have you been to the Imperial War Museum's aviation museum near Cambridge? It is one of the best in the world. The only one better is the USAF Museum in Dayton.

[narciso]

this reinforces the notion that Khattalah is a bit player;

http://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2014/10/18/it-took-them-nine-months-to-charge-this-guy-initially-they-just-didnt-know-what-they-were-doing/

[Captain Hate]

JiB, I knew how they tried to sell commie core.

[anonamom]

Jib, rse thank you! Going next week, so we'll miss the high anxiety of end of year exams.

daddy, the only way I even know about the person who wishes to remain anonymous at Emory is because of JOM--someone mentioned "the person at Emory" and I thought they were thinking Sacra was there--but I googled him to confirm that he went to Nebraska, and found that that there was indeed this other person at Emory.

This is all I know:
Sept. 9, 2014 - An unnamed American Ebola patient arrives at Emory University Hospital for treatment. This patient had been working for the World Health Organization in Sierra Leone. The patient was still there as of Oct. 15, 2014. "Given the national focus on Ebola, particularly with the diagnosis in two health care workers, I want to share the news that I am recovering from this disease, and that I anticipate being discharged very soon, free from the Ebola virus and able to return safely to my family and to my community," the unnamed patient said in a statement released on Oct. 15.

[Jeremiah Bourque]

Let me just toss this out. There are visas and passport checks. Blocking FLIGHTS is not the point, and it's inane to say it is. It's about blocking PEOPLE, or subjecting them to mandatory quarantine, but of course that will be regarded as slavery, internment and all sorts of other ills which no one should suffer, for which the government should pay compensation and so on and so forth, because liberals' hearts are bleeding (as opposed to their skin pores since they don't have Ebola at this time).

There's no reason the State Department can't institute any controls it wants except not wanting to, and it doesn't want to because the President doesn't want it to want to, among other, less important reasons.

So to cite direct flights or lack thereof Nate Silver is appealing to child-like ignorance. And furthering it. This is chiefly effective on journalists.

[Threadkiller]

If a person is a dual citizen of both the United States and Liberia, would blocking his entrance to the United States be as easy as blocking someone who, through no fault of their own, was born with only a single allegiance to Liberia?

[AliceH]

There have been 8 people treated for Ebola on American soil.

[Captain Hate]

I don't know how it will ultimately turn out but there is some Clemsoning going on.

[Extraneus]

The normally astute Nate Silver

Isn't this just more evidence of the lengths they'll go? Forget Nate Silver. All of the people in positions of responsibility who have spoken on it, including the supposed experts, have made ludicrous, silly, obviously illogical statements about the futility of protecting the border.

Even embarrassment doesn't deter them.

But it's not surprising. No amount of data related to murders, child rapes or other heinous crimes committed by illegal Mexicans and other jumpers of the southern border can deter them from this fetish.

They really don't care if people are infected with Ebola, except as it relates to negative publicity.

[Momto2]

Extraneus "They really don't care if people are infected with Ebola, except as it relates to negative publicity." Absolutely - that is why the "Czar" knows nothing about this disease or any other disease...he's there to try to control the PR nightmare that is looming - nothing else.

[Jane]

Pat Caddell says the Czar has no qualifications and it's pure PR and it could blow up.

One can hope.

[Wild Idle.]

Now wait a minute. I read the other day that there are 150 W. Africans transiting JFK daily. Don't remember where I read it, but I call BS.

[narciso]

now we know he's journolist, but his degree of obeissance is something else again

http://newsbusters.org/people-organizations/jonathan-cohn

[Fore!]

I think it's possible that panic will be more destructive here than the disease itself, but if they think Klain can manage panic, they have another think coming.

Some of this panic will simply be from the perception that we have a golfer in charge.

[Extraneus]

MM from a couple of threads ago:

Maybe we ought to try it Horowitz's way.

I'm all for it! The only problem is that it would require different leaders. Our current crop is clearly unable to fight like Horowitz suggests. They have no stomach for it - probably were abused on the schoolyard as children - and when someone on the right who *is* able to fight pops his head up, they swarm on him or her like bees on an infected hive-member.

Just think how Democrats once loved Anthony Weiner, for example. And why did they? Because he was a fighter. Yes, he was a disgusting nerd, but he could go on a talk show and take it to the Republicans. They loved that!

[Momto2]

So far, I've noticed - rather than admit their dismal failure to plan or even to act responsibly - they've attempted to blame:

-the nurses (failure to follow protocol)
- Congress - (budget cuts)
- Republicans - ( same as Congress)
- the media - ( causing panic)

...how typical...

[Pagar]

"But it's not surprising. No amount of data related to murders, child rapes or other heinous crimes committed by illegal Mexicans and other jumpers of the southern border can deter them from this fetish."

These people don't have to jump anything.
The Obama regime is going to welcome them here.

http://www.independentsentinel.com/jeh-johnson-makes-illegal-immigration-from-some-third-world-nations-legal/

Unbelievable! Wonder if the NAACP thinks these people are going to help their members get jobs.

[AliceH]

Reposting this great rant about Ebola "panic": "I am calm"

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-10-14/precipice-breakdown-confidence

[jack is Back!]

Ex,

And you have DWS. A bigger liar,exaggerator and unprincipled libelists you can ever find.

But she is a Dem so none of that is relevant.

[narciso]

Ok, this is just ridiculous, 58-0, shirley?

[Tonto]

From the previous thread re: DoT's nephew and G-B.

Joe Heller got G-B when he was about 10 years older than DoT's nephew. He was also treated at Mt. Sinai, then went on to the Rusk rehabilitation institute in Westchester. Heller married the nurse who cared for him there. His book about the experience -- No Laughing Matter -- really covers the G-B waterfront. Speed Vogel, his co-writer, was reputed to be the model for Felix Unger.

Joe made a great recovery, by the way. When he died, a dozen or so years later, it was from a heart attack.

[Extraneus]

And when their position becomes almost untenable, what do they resort to?

Are these calls for closing the borders the product of political opportunism? Xenophobia? In some cases they are.

I love that. I'd also love to see someone punch this asshole square in the face.

[Some Guy]

Some of this panic will simply be from the perception that we have a golfer in charge.

Heh, if he could actually play golf, and had the mental discipline to play well, we'd be a LOT better off.

He can't, and doesn't. So it should be:

Some of this panic will simply be from the perception that we have a shankopotamus in charge.

[Extraneus]

CNN columnist: Slow aid for Ebola because… racism

There’s evidence lighter skinned people have trouble “feeling” the pain of those with darker skin. Researchers at the University of Milano-Bicocca, in Italy, tested this in by showing a group of Caucasian people video clips of people of various races being pricked with a needle. They monitored the viewers to see how their bodies responded to the sight of another person being hurt. The white viewers reacted more strongly — or showed more physical empathy — when white people were hurt than Africans.

In another study, “researchers found that white participants, black participants, and nurses and nursing students assumed that blacks felt less pain than whites,” Slate writes.

Except for a handful of health workers, nearly all of Ebola’s 4,400 casualties have been black Africans — and these simmering biases are deeply troubling.

[daddy]

Thanks DoT and Matt.

I've read Longitude, but so far have been too lazy to visit Duxford. I am useless:(

Anonamom,

Would you put it past our "Leadership" to intentionally under-report domestic cases of Ebola? So far all I'm hearing about are the 2 Nurses and the NBC Camerman. I suppose that if they could say someone had not been "officially diagnosed" they could effectively justify keeping it quiet. My read on this new Ebola Czar is that he has exactly the qualifications to play dirty with anyone who might not appear to be playing ball with the Administration.

I suppose that sounds conspiratorial, and it may be, but when I consider that just yesterday we learned that the Vice President's son popped positive for Cocaine on a Military Piss test, and was booted out 9 months later, and we're only finding out about this 16 months after the fact, and dozens of folks in his Unit and the Pentagon had to know about this, I conclude they have the ability to keep it quiet if they want to.

From your experience am I nuts to hold that suspicion, or is it reasonable?

[He hasn't the heart of a goof.]

Point taken, Some Guy. I should have said a goof-off.

[jack is Back!]

tonto,

If I remember correctly., Heller was a regular at Driessens back in the day. He came to Southampton regulary and even boought a board game at the store once. My aunt had him sign her copy of Catch 22:)

[daddy]

If anyone knows,

Who is Stephanie's College Football Team. I see my 2 and 4 TarHeels are about to go up against 5 and 1 Georgia Tech, and I need to know if I should start talking illogical and insupportable smack against Steph.

[Extraneus]

Imagine their inner-circle meetings, daddy.

Obama Consigliore: "Is there anything to be gained by letting this information out?"

Obama Lackey: "No. It might create a panic."

Obama Consigliore: "Ok, then. We're all agreed that, for the Good of the Nation, the information will be bottled up?"

MSM: "Yes, sir."

[rich@gmu]

>>>They really don't care if people are infected with Ebola, except as it relates to negative publicity.

Posted by: Extraneus | October 18, 2014 at 06:25 PM<<<

Nor will they as the crisis gets worse. Yeah, we have a czar ... with no background on the issues.

And don't forget the GOP is all for open border and amnesty too. They would be screwing up just as bad.

[rich@gmu]

DoT-

my prayers to your family and your nephew. My hopes for a recovery.

[Stephanie accidentally OnT?]

What's the good word? TohellwithTarheels!

My class reunion is tonight and I decided not to go. $50 for light snacks and BYOB. Seriously? I just can't work up the excitement to go hang around people that I don't see very often and listen to the old BS and 'put on a face.' Blech.

[jack is Back!]

daddy,

Steph is a "rambling wreck of an engineer". Watch yourself.

[narciso]

hensarling in the journal, says a good guest worker program is as good as a fence, it'z in the second to last paragraph

[anonamom]

daddy, as Alice noted, so far we know of eight people treated here for Ebola: Drs. Brantley and Sacra, Ms. Whibole, the NBC cameraman whose mom was an English noblewoman who married a monk but had an affair with Dr. Levy (per the internet, anyway), the late Mr. Duncan, anonymous and Nurse Vinson at Emory and Nurse Pham at NIH.
So far, only Mr. Duncan has died.

I don't think it would be possible to keep any others a secret, in light of how information explodes at hospitals.

[daddy]

So far Steph's pathetic and stinky Engineering student Ballplayers are as lousy and incapable of holding on to the ball as my uneducated Afro/American Studies Majors who don't have to attend classes.

May the best Scholars win!

[rich@gmu]

wow that was fast florida down on a return td ...

[Extraneus]

The eminent Dr. Freiden:

"A travel ban is not the right answer. It's simply not feasible to build a wall -- virtual or real -- around a community, city or country."

Who else thinks he was referring to the so-called "virtual" border fence, which was approved in 2006 and abandoned in 2011 after over $1 billion was spent on its construction?

They hated that idea, on principle.

[Extraneus]

Has one Republican said anything like "President Obama obviously doesn't care if infected people are allowed into the country"?

Sure, it's yucky to get into the trenches like that, but he obviously doesn't care, and neither does Freiden.

The political opportunity won't last long, because their position is untenable and they're sure to institute a travel ban soon.

[daddy]

I don't think it would be possible to keep any others a secret, in light of how information explodes at hospitals.

Good. Thanks Anonamom. I hope you are correct. I wouldn't have thought they could have kept the Biden Cocaine bust under wraps for 16 months, but I guess careers were on the line and probably very specific and actionable orders to keep quiet came down from the top of Biden's Chain of Command.

[rich@gmu]

big surprise florida couldn't convert a 4 and 11 ... ball to mizzou.

[anonamom]

Here's the biosurveillance blog update on US Ebola status

http://biosurveillance.typepad.com/biosurveillance/
2014/10/ebola-status-check.html

[Danube on iPad]

"If a person is a dual citizen of both the United States and Liberia, would blocking his entrance to the United States be as easy as blocking someone who, through no fault of their own, was born with only a single allegiance to Liberia?"

Regardless of gis allegiance, if he's a U.S. citizen, dual or otherwise, he can't be kept out. Anyone who does not have U.S. citizenship can be. Fault is not an issue in either case.

[Danube on iPad]

*his*

[daddy]

Breaking on FOX:

CDC TO RELEASE NEW EBOLA GUIDELINES FOR HEALTH WORKERS

[AliceH]

I haven't seen an official with direct knowledge give a status on Duncan's fiancee and the 3 others staying in that apartment. Is there one?

None of the reports and tweets I've seen about this being "day 22 - no symptoms" bother to cite a source of any kind, much less an authoritative one..

[jack is Back!]

What the hell is with this dual allegience BS?

TK, my son has a Belgian mother but was born here and wants to attend the USAF Academy. Do you fear he would drop a MOAB on San Diego given the chance?

[jack is Back!]

Will Muschamp proving once again why he was a huge mistake for a storied program llike Florida. What a disaster. Thank you Mr. Foley.

[rich@gmu]

14 - 0 looks like florida drank too much at Gator City ...

hey Gators there is a game going on.

[Threadkiller]

If an anchor baby is born just inside the razor wire that a mamacita hurdeled over, who gets the blame for his US citizenship?

The innocent child or the person who was first to be subject to the jurisdiction thereof moments before her legs split open creating a second person subject to the jurisdiction thereof?

[RickB]

Anonamom,

I like the biosurveillance take a great deal. I've marked Ebola as 'deadly but not serious' from the start and I believe it only gets serious if the Global Village Idiots keep up the open borders crap. If we canceled all West African visas and reissued them with a 'not good for thirty day' hold with a clear lab test required 48 hours prior to departure, I'd be satisfied.

It would give us time to deal with the repatriation of survivors from Camp Abandon Hope.

[Threadkiller]

No more than I fear a Kenyan, British, American droning a US citizen, JiB.

;-)

[Captain Hate]

Has one Republican said anything like "President Obama obviously doesn't care if infected people are allowed into the country"?

I've been waiting for somebody to lay the wood to that massive hanging beachball but our GOPe leaders are taking "Casey at the Bat" as an strategy manual; at least the first two pitches.

[rich@gmu]

holding florida ... fantastic.

and it is still the 1st quarter.

Fire Mushchump!!!

[daddy]

I haven't seen an official with direct knowledge give a status on Duncan's fiancee and the 3 others staying in that apartment.

AliceH,

The FOX reporter just said something like this: "the Duncan family members are just about to finish up their 21 day quarantine and so far none of them are infected. And when the quarantine period is over the Duncan family will not be returning to their previous Apartment complex but will instead be leaving to some new location which was always their intention."

I think she said they will be leaving Dallas.

[Jane]

I want to know how, and when Duncan's fiance became Duncan's finance - since he's never been here before and she has 3 children.

I don't know why I want to know that, but I do.

[rich@gmu]

crap florida gave up 19 on a 3 and 17 ...

no more play-by-play from me.

[Stephanie accidentally OnT?]

https://twitter.com/ElissaRoberson/status/523209706618105856

if it wasn't for laughing we'd all be crying.

[narciso]

Steyn was tuning on my wavelength, from this review from 1995

http://www.steynonline.com/6607/outbreak

now he leaves out how Contagion, which was airing sometime ago, was a UN promotion campaign, after
SARS proved their inefectiveness,

[Extraneus]

Well, the Oregon governor's girlfriend took $5000 to marry an Ethiopian who wanted to stay in the country, Jane. Seems reasonable to ask about that.

[AliceH]

Daddy - that's what I'm talking about. Who was the Fox reporters source? How was it verified?

[jack is Back!]

Jane,

They're all Liberians. Back and forrth. Probably not the first time Duncan came here or her to Liberia. Loits oi back in fortth. That'smy take> I could be wroig.