#2
Our educational system is in worse shape than I thought, who the hell is she talking about?
Who is George Jefferson ?
Does she mean George Washington and Thomas Jefferson ?
I Binged George Jefferson and this is the only one I got....
A Founding Father he was not, hey kid ever here the saying “It's better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than open it and remove all doubt” ― Mark Twain
[NBCNewYork] The number of people under "active monitoring" for Ebola symptoms has increased from 117 on Monday to 357 people Wednesday, health officials said.
The vast majority of those being monitored arrived in New York City within the past 21 days from the three Ebola-affected countries, the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation said in a statement.
Others being monitored are the staff caring for Dr. Craig Spencer, the physician being treated for Ebola at Bellevue Hospital, the lab workers who conducted his blood tests and the FDNY EMTs who transported the doctor.
All of those being monitored showed no symptoms but are being checked on out of "an abundance of caution," the statement said.
#1
We talked the other day about how projecting exponential growth too far into the future was risky, but the flip side of that growth rate is that if you get behind the curve, there is hell to pay.
The Nigerians have done a heroic job in checking the spread of Ebola. We may have the capability to mount a similar response, but I'm uncertain we have the will. Wouldn't want to spread panic now, eh?
#3
While Dallas, "Ground Zero" for US Ebola, will clear the last of 170+ people monitored for symptoms. Texas is now Ebola-free!
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/07/2014 10:13 Comments ||
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#4
If an outbreak happens then exponential growth will correctly describe its dynamics during the first phase before there's a change in the epidemiological ecosystem (quarantine, systematic decontamination, behavioral changes etc).
Should things go wrong at some point (it hasn't happened yet) we could easily end up with a few hundred people infected and scores dead in Western nations before any countermeasures start to work.
Compared to other disasters or even infectious diseases this would still be a very small incident. Still the psychological and economic impact would be considerable.
[MassGenHospital] SARS led to the discovery of "super-spreaders," who can infect dozens of people. They also exist, it appears, in other infectious diseases.
When an infectious disease outbreak occurs, public health authorities are keen to determine its R0 value: the reproductive number of the pathogen, or how many people will become infected from contact with one individual.
Yet with SARS and other respiratory diseases, it turns out that the R0 value tells only part of the story about a disease's spread. If R0 is less than one - meaning that, on average, most people aren't infecting anyone else - the disease will eventually die out on its own. If R0 is more than one - on average, each case leads to more cases - public health authorities must contend with an epidemic.
Beyond the R0 Value
Transmission rates were once assumed to approximate a bell curve. However, some super-spreaders can be linked to dozens of cases, while the majority infected few or none. The phenomenon of super-spreading is as important to epidemiologists as the overall R0.
Case Study: Beijing SARS Outbreak 2003
A woman entered a Beijing hospital in February 2003 to be treated for complications of diabetes. No one knows of any contact she had with a SARS patient, but the hospital did treat someone with SARS in March. On April 5, the diabetic woman developed a fever, headache and fluid on her lungs. On April 12, the day she died, eight of her relatives were diagnosed with probable SARS. She infected 33 or 74 people who had contact with her in the hospital; the chain of transmission ultimately included 77 SARS cases and 15 deaths.
How to Stop the Spread?
Does this mean we should be on the hunt for modern-day Typhoid Marys?
Of course. But I vote for first quarantining everyone exposed, just in case.
Targeting infection control strategies - such as isolation or administering scarce vaccines - on the people who are most likely to spread disease would be an optimal way to halt an outbreak. But that raises both practical and ethical issues.
Colourfully useful graphs and charts at the link, which will serve to make the text more intelligible, though at a USA Today rather than a Wall Street Journal level. Click on the headline to go to the webpage.
#1
TW: Interesting article. I wonder if superspreaders might have a mutated form of the disease which makes them more contagious and lethal than the those with the original version of the virus.
#2
Those in our government seemed to have a cavalier attitude about ebola and enterovirus EV-D68. It became evident very quickly not how much was known about these viruses but how little was known. That is why the public was so dismayed about the cases appearing in this country and the lack of federal efforts to control further outbreaks.
#3
I highly recommend reading the wiki on Typhoid Mary. The woman refused to believe she carried the fever and spread it from family to family wherever she went. She was a cook who didn't believe in hand washing.
#4
Those in our government seemed to have a cavalier attitude about ebola and enterovirus EV-D68
that's because the health impacts on ACTUAL American citizens is less important than the Democrat party picking up those amnestied voters from Central America (who also are living on the American Citizens' dime)
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/07/2014 22:34 Comments ||
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#5
I am impressed by how little attention the enterovirus outbreak is getting in the media. Very good message discipline. Usually something that results in dead or paralyzed children would be Big News.
Of course, if they start talking about it, people might start drawing conclusions as to how it got started.
[TODAYONLINE] "After the Arab Spring, this is the Black Spring," said Martin Aglo, a law student from Benin where the opposition has already organized demonstrations against any attempt by President Boni Yayi to stay in power.
Long-serving African leaders, such as those in Angola, Zim-bob-we and Equatorial Guinea, face emerging pressures at home from restless unemployed youth, discontent over inequality and democratization demands, magnified by expanding social media.
But not all African states can replicate Burkina Faso ...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president is currently Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and will leave office feet first, one way or the other... 's readiness for change.
The poor, cotton-producing state south of the Sahara desert already had a tradition of street protest and military-supported social uprisings. Marxist military captain Thomas Sankara led a popular revolution in 1983 inspired by Fidel Castro's rise to power in Cuba in the late 1950s.
Opposition movements elsewhere want Compaore's downfall to serve as a warning to their own rulers. "I am full of admiration for what happened in Burkina Faso ... Our African leaders should draw a lesson from this," said Mierassa in Brazzaville, where Sassou-Nguesso has spent a total of 35 years as president.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/07/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Brazzaville, nice place to start an Afri war. Always has been. Democracy, not so much.
[ARABNEWS] Saudi women are turning to foreigners for stability and security in the marital world.
Many say they would rather marry foreigners to ensure that the marriage doesn't end in divorce or polygamy, not to mention the greater social and cultural freedom they say they would enjoy by getting hitched "outside the box."
"Countless young women are afraid of marrying into Saudi families because of soaring divorce rates and social restrictions," Hady Makki, a hospital nurse, told Arab News.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
11/07/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Plus the significantly improved chances of a healthy babies.
#2
Countless young women are afraid of marrying into Saudi families because of soaring divorce rates and social restrictions," Hady Makki, a hospital nurse, told Arab News.
#7
Hmmmmmm, I wonder how these ladies' "Personals" read on an online dating service?
Like to take long sunset walks in the sand. I like someone who will not lop off my head. I'm not into being on the receiving end of an honor killing. Want a monogamous relationship. Stoning is definitely a turn off. I have aspirations such as driving a car.
#8
Lol, john qc. Woman seeking open-minded man: must like reciting the koran. But maybe only once a week not every day. One who won't mind if I show my face in public. Genuine responses only - aacid-throwers, beheaders, stoners and beaters won't be considered.
[DAWN] Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... on Thursday executed a Pak for heroin smuggling, bringing to six the number of convicted Pak drug smugglers beheaded over the past three weeks.
The sentence against Amin Allah Zar Gul was carried out in Riyadh after he was "found guilty of trying to smuggle heroin in his gut," the official Saudi Press Agency said.
The five other Paks beheaded since October 15 are among 65 people executed this year in the kingdom.
The interior ministry says the government is battling narcotics "because of their great harm to individuals and society".
A United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... independent expert called in September for an immediate moratorium on the death penalty in Saudi Arabia.
Christof Heyns, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said trials "are by all accounts grossly unfair" and defendants are often not allowed a lawyer. He said confessions were obtained under torture.
Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Saudi Arabia's strict version of Islamic sharia law.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/07/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Well, it's a start. I'd like to see Pakistan behead some Saudis in retaliation. The more Muslims dying, the better.
#2
Down at Benning yesterday. Always a treat to see these young Paki officers attending our Maneuver Command Advanced courses at Benning and other instruction at Bragg. Do we somehow still think these military exchange programs with Pakistan change anything ?
'Each female citizen of Russia will be able to receive by mail the genetic material of the President'
The essence of my proposition is simple, says the Chairwoman Of Parliamentary Commission on Women’s affairs, Children and Family, Yelena Borisovna Mizoulina. Each female citizen of Russia will be able to receive by mail the genetic material of the President, get pregnant from him and have a baby. These mothers will be receiving special allowances from the government.
Ms. Mizoulina, who holds a PhD in law, made the proposal in a roundtable discussion regarding the issue of fertility and Russia. For God's sake don't give the Obama worshipers any ideas
Ick. By the way, how many children have either his ex-wife or his current girlfriend had? There are both individual success and success via number of descendants. If between the two of them the number isn't "lots", his sperm isn't as good a bet as all that.
#3
Thank goodness Monica never took that dress to the drycleaners or he would never have been caught out lying. No-one Left To Lie To: the triangulations of William Jefferson Clinton. The cover of that hHitchens book has the most wonderful picture of spermy old Bill looking silly with his lips all puckered up as if he is saying : yes. There really is nobody else that i can lie to
#4
Each female citizen of Russia will be able to receive by mail the genetic material of the President, get pregnant from him and have a baby. These mothers will be receiving special allowances from the government.
Won't work here. Champ is too busy golfing to wank into specimen cups, not to mention the cost of USPS overnight shipments. Any jobless, dope running surrogate will do. Same gov't subsidy applies.
#4
I've been working with computers for over 30 years now but I'm getting weary of it. The Internet held great promise back in the early '90s but has now shown itself to be a very dangerous place. Russians, Chinese, Ukrainians and various other bad actors all over the world including the United States threaten our security because we let them. Just like the failure to secure the border, the government has failed to secure the Internet. Hackers in this country should be ruthlessly prosecuted and countries like Russia should be denied access to our Internet. If the Chinese can do it, so can we...er, that is, if we didn't buy all of our computers from China. I can't keep up with all of the new vulnerabilities that are being discovered every day. I'd have to patch my servers every damn day to keep up with it. Then I'd have to upgrade to a new release of software every month. That requires downtime and my bosses and users would freak out. So I sweat and I'm growing weary of it. I'd rather be programming and creating value than playing defense all the time. Away from the job, I'm afraid to use my credit card, or is it my debit card? Or is it both? Cash works. At the polls, we're afraid that some Democrat party boss has rigged the computerized voting machines. I like paper ballots. I still like Rantburg but I worry that Barack Obama and his IRS henchmen will persecute me for my comments, either that or some jihadi will bomb my house. I want out of this business.
#6
OldSpook, that's what I use. But, because of excessive 'features' and 'flexibility', they are still too complicated to secure effectively. We need something much simpler, which runs code only specifically authorized by the user, with end to end encryption using keys known only to the owner/user.
That means no Microsoft and no Apple. And no Google OS, either.
#3
Reminds me of a Snake, still writhing after the head is cut off.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/07/2014 20:36 Comments ||
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#4
Actually reading the article... she's right.
please realize that Americans were not necessarily voting FOR any party; they were voting AGAINST the continued dysfunction and corruption in D.C. Just like the Democrats got "mauled" on Tuesday, Palin warned the same thing could happen to the GOP next time around.
#5
OS, Yup. Its true and I believe we are f^&ked. The day after the election where America over resoundingly said enough is enough, what did the GOP do? They called out the Rhino's. Cry baby Boehner, McConnell and McCain are now back at the front. Just like old times and they will have the same results. Did they really think Boehner threatening the president on day 2 was a good idea? They just don't get it, and I'm afraid they are not listening now, and will not be listening later. But they will surely get it in 2016 when Satan, Hillary, gets elected and the dems sweep both houses. We will be surely screwed....
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
11/07/2014 21:50 Comments ||
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#3
Despite watching recorded shows and fast-forward, I still saw a lot of adds for her Ft. Worth seat saying "Konnie Burton: Too conservative for Tarrant County" (which is Ft. Worth) The Dems must've sunk millions of greenbacks into the loss.
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/07/2014 19:08 Comments ||
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She's an under-the-radar contender to become the first black woman to head the Justice Department. Under-the-radar = newspeak for someone without a record.
Loretta Lynch rarely holds news conferences, does interviews or gives speeches in her current job as U.S. attorney in Brooklyn. But the lack of a paper trail on Lynch hasn't kept her from emerging in recent weeks as one of only a handful of people still under consideration by the White House to replace the outgoing Eric Holder as attorney general. Nice of Obean to pull that out after the election.
The buzz over the 55-year-old Harvard Law School graduate was apparent as she sat next to Holder for his appearance at a ceremony last week in Brooklyn highlighting efforts to divert low-level offenders into drug rehab and job diversion programs, one of the attorney general's pet causes. In her introduction of Holder before an audience that included U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara of Manhattan — considered another attorney general contender — a judge made clear who she favors for the job.
"We all hope that the 83rd attorney general is in this room — someone who may be wearing a little orange thing," said U.S. District Judge Carol Amon, referring to a colorful jacket Lynch had on.
A spokesman for Lynch later said she wouldn't discuss her prospects, but her supporters were vocal.
"She has everything that we would want in an attorney general," said Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson. "She has intelligence, dignity and the ability to be fair, but also tough. I have the utmost respect for her."
Lynch, who grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina, began her career as a federal prosecutor in 1990. While a chief assistant U.S. attorney, she was on the trial team in one of the most sensational police brutality cases in city history, the broomstick torture of Haitian immigrant Abner Louima in a precinct bathroom.
She originally served as U.S. attorney in Brooklyn from 1999 to 2001 before entering private practice. She returned to the position in 2010 and was appointed to the Attorney General's Advisory Committee, a position that required her to spend more time in Washington and drew her closer to Holder.
During her second tenure at one of the country's busiest federal districts, Lynch's office has won convictions in a thwarted, al-Qaida sanctioned plot to attack New York City subways, and charged the head of a Mexican drug cartel with 12 murders. More recently, her office brought tax evasion charges against Republican Congressman Michael Grimm that's scheduled to go to trial next year.
Still, Lynch often has been overshadowed by the media-savvy Bharara, whose office has prosecuted numerous headline-grabbing cases against terrorists, corrupt politicians and Wall Street swindlers. But behind the scenes, she has won respect for dedicating much of her career to law enforcement without seeking publicity.
"I don't think that's why she's in government and that's a real admirable quality," said Andrew Weissman, a former federal prosecutor who worked closely with Lynch and now teaches law at New York University.
Thompson, who teamed with Lynch on the Louima case when he was an assistant U.S. attorney, recalled her cool under fire. "There was so much pressure to get it right. She was unflappable," he said.
Seeing Lynch become the first black woman to serve in the position "would be inspiring to millions of people, especially children, to know what they could become," he said. Race and gender. Pay no attention to her short record.
#8
Hope she is vetted much more thoroughly than her prospective boss was (which was not). She (1984) graduated from Harvard 4yrs before Obama (1988).
From wiki: During her first term as U.S. Attorney, Lynch oversaw prosecution of the New York police officers in the Abner Louima case. The Reverend Al Sharpton has a working relationship with Loretta Lynch and has met with her in discussions concerning the death of Eric Garner killed during a police arrest.
Does this mean she is a social justice clone of Obama and Holder?
#9
Obama is all about checking off those 'firsts' with the benefit of the ability to scream racism AND war on women if she doesn't fly through the Senate vote.
[DAWN] The remote Sarghuz village near Mastuj town has been reconnected with rest of the district after four years as a jeepable suspension bridge destroyed by boulders has been rehabilitated.
The Sarhad Rural Support Programme (SRSP) rebuilt the bridge at a cost of Rs5 million under its program for economic advancement and community empowerment (Peace) project.
SRSP chief executive officer Shahzada Masoodul Mulk inaugurated the bridge the other day. Villagers in large numbers had gathered at the site and were cheered up at being reconnected with rest of the district after a long time.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
11/07/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] The government of the Pakistain Moslem League-Nawaz (PML-N) appears to be extremely sensitive to any mention of the video-sharing website, YouTube.
At least that was impression conveyed by the attitude of retired Captain Mohammad Safdar, the chairman of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication as he tried to scuttle discussion on the fate of the website that has been blocked for users in Pakistain for well over two years now.
However, denial ain't just a river in Egypt... a ruling party MNA told Dawn that "unblocking YouTube was no longer a priority for the government" and that they had bigger fish to fry, such as the rollout of 3G and 4G services, as well as allegations of fraud in the Universal Service Fund (USF).
During Thursday's meeting of the standing committee, PML-N MNA, retired Major Tahir Iqbal, asked, "How soon will Internet users be able to access YouTube again, for educational and entertainment purposes?"
The committee chairman, however, seemed to be in no mood to discuss the unbanning of the website and insisted that discussion on the topic be deferred until the committee's next meeting.
Then, PML-N MNA Talal Chaudhry and Muttahida Qaumi Movement ...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead... 's Syed Ali Raza Abidi both tried to inquire about the status of the ban from the chairman of the Pakistain Telecommunication Authority (PTA). But the chairman would have none of it and adamantly replied, "We cannot discuss this today."
This came as a surprise to the politicians present, who observed privately that while sensitive issues such as terrorism could be discussed in the house, a country that was actively looking to make headway in the field of information technology was afraid of even talking about unbanning YouTube, which is one of the most popular sites on the Internet today.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/07/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Someone should translate and subtitle Christopher Hitchens into Urdu
#2
Plenty of Hitchens on YouTube... Gems such as the only effective cure for poverty is the empowerment of women with contraception liberating them from constant pregnancy the economic and social floor rises for everyone in the village.
Or.... What is more likely, that mohammad had epilepsy, or that god would reveal his divine nature to an illiterate merchant in the deserts of araby
By September 2014, United launch alliance had entered into a contract with Blue origin to develop the BE-4 LOX/methane engine as the replacement for the RD-180. Under the terms of the development contract, Blue Origin will complete development of the BE-4 engine for use on the Atlas V rocket beginning no earlier than 2019.
Two BE-4 engines, each producing 550,000 lbf thrust at lift-off will be necessary on the Atlas V rocket's first stage.
ULA currently has enough RD-180 engines in stock, already imported from Russia, to meet the Atlas V rocket launch schedule and demand until the BE-4 engines can enter service. Nevertheless, while ULA has entered into contract with the Blue Origin company, ATK has announced their plan to offer a solid fuel first stage alternative for the RD-180 engine of the Atlas V.
Initial information came via the Request For Information (RFI) as part of the first step toward the Air Force funding alternative propulsion solutions to the RD-180. According to a press release from late September, "ATK's solid rocket propulsion solution provides a cost-effective, reliable solution based on advanced technology," said Blake Larson, President of ATK's Aerospace Group.
By using a similar approach as those used in the past, ATK would be able to provide a solid fuel alternative to the RD-180 engine by the deadline of 2019 as set by United Launch Alliance.
According to ATK, manufacturing and testing of the solid fueled solution for the RD-180 replacement would take place within the United States using tooling and infrastructure already in place across the country.
The solid fueled first stage could also be designed to specifically meet the Atlas V launch vehicle and payload requirements, including the upcoming requirement to ferry crew aboard Boeing's CST-100 capsule.
At the same time that ATK submitted its proposal for the U.S. Air Force, the company also put forward – as part of a request from Orbital Sciences Corporation – a proposal for a solid-fueled, domestically-produced first stage for Orbital's Antares rocket.
Currently, Antares' first stage uses two Soviet-built NK-33 engines modified by Aerojet Rocketdyne into the AJ-26 engines.
#4
Has a Lox-Methane motor anywhere near that size been fired?
Possibly in the USSR R&D period. Pieces of one a bit bigger in SpaceX's Raptor engine just starting testing at Stennis. As to a full engine with documentation - NO.
LOX/methane has all sorts of advantages esp with safety.
Number one is LOX and super cooled liquid methane are in the same temperature regime. That simplifies tanking, piping, engines, insulation, pad storage and piping - everything.
Second big advantage is LOX/methane doesn't coke much so restarting and reusing a LOX/methane engine becomes much more doable.
Third the US has lots of natural gas and can manufacture it on Mars and some other space bodies.
Fourth it appears that a LOX/methane engine could be simpler to produce.
Fifth - It's the current fad because both SpaceX and Bezos Blue Origin are touting it.
#6
Time will tell but it is beginning to look like the Virgin Galactic crash was due to structural failure due to improper activation of the drogue wings. Mechanical or pilot error, or a combination of both. Not the rocket engine.
[ARABNEWS] An independent investigation by the Harvard Law School has found that troops commanded by Myanmar's powerful interior minister and two other bigwigs tortured and killed civilians over six years ago while fighting an ethnic rebellion.
Researchers spent four years collecting information about Home Affairs Minister Maj. Gen. Ko Ko, Brig. Gen. Khin Zaw Oo and Brig. Gen. Mang Maung Aye, said the report released on Thursday. They commanded troops during an offensive against rebels in eastern Karen state between 2005 and 2008, when soldiers fired mortars at villages and executed civilians, among other crimes, it said.
The report did not accuse the officers of directly ordering troops to commit abuses, but said they took place because of long-standing policies that sanctioned "the direct targeting of civilians and were designed to effect large-scale displacement."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/07/2014 00:00 ||
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How do you say "kish mir in tuches" in Burmese?
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[DAWN] 
'Each female citizen of Russia will be able to receive by mail the genetic material of the President'
