I can't help believe we need to rethink of the technology as Pre vs Post Ebola.

This is a suction container used in patient rooms and intensive care rooms to remove secretions from patients to maintain an open airway. It is necessary. Intubated patients especially have higher amounts of secretions as a rule. They are usually better hydrated through IV infusion.

But, this product is interesting. (click here) It is added to the secretions and normal saline to solidify the liquid and make it less likely to spill if a container is mishandled or the integrity fails along the way. It is called Safe Sorb. I am wondering if there can be such a product that also has a disinfectant that will kill the virus on contact. In other words, reduce any possibility a health care worker could be exposed to contamination while handling the virus intensive fluids.

I am sure there are decontaminates used and one of the most popular ones is a bleach solution. Can something like Safe Sorb be also an agent for decontamination? Can a health care worker add something to a full container to not only contain the body fluids but kill the virus at the same time.

In the case of Ebola I have to wonder if there isn't something that can be adapted to be added from hour to hour or procedure to procedure that would better kill the virus in a rapid fashion so things like droplet and/or blood spots could be decontaminated quicker. Of course, the best possible decontamination is at the point where secretions meet a disposable suction catheter, but, that may be too dangerously close to the patients body tissues to be effective or safe. If the patients own body tissues are compromised there is a great chance of death than if the body's membranes are intact.

I think it is best to realize the procedures and equipment being utilized by health care workers were developed Pre-Ebola. We might not be able to do any better than that, but, I think we can. I think we can help reduce health care worker exposure if we realize how the equipment they are working with becomes contaminated and later decontaminated and disposed. I would hope infectious disease MDs would be accessed by medical and pharmaceutical companies to make this an ongoing consulting dynamic for national emergencies that could occur. 

Infectious disease MDs are amazing. The CDC and FDA are magic if they are given the possibility of better opportunities to thwart disease.

This is what I believe I heard from the CDC.

What I heard from the CDC was extubation and dialysis were the culprits and both are highly invasive procedures. This contamination did not occur in a casual setting.

Every intensive care room has the capacity to provide ventilator assistance and dialysis to any patient. That means the equipment is in direct contact with bodily fluids with high concentrations of virus and especially the case with Mr. Duncan.

Mr. Duncan succumbed to Ebola infection with high levels of the microbe in his blood, therefore, the equipment he was sustained on was also highly contaminated. The equipment involved have two components, the disposable equipment that are in contact with the patient (primarily plastic) and the hardware that is expensive and decontaminated and reused.

The contaminated disposable equipment would have been properly contained in medical waste containers and the hardware might not have been and was most probably contaminated both outside the equipment as well as within. 

The extubation of any patient is fairly straight forward after a person expires, but, dialysis maintains a catheter in the patient to carry out the procedure which serves as a connection between the patient and the machine. Dialysis is more heavily a blood intensive procedure than extubation, however, there are secretions that are involved in extubation that can be droplet and miniscule. Both procedures can offer an opportunity to contaminate a room if not handled meticulously. YES. Meticulously is possible.

I don't know what the nurse may or may not have done to allow exposure of her skin or otherwise to the extubation procedure or dialysis procedure, but, I am curious to the extent these life support systems are used in West Africa. These are First World treatments for patients, however, they are found in a variety of places in the world. These are not exclusively First World treatments.

If this is the first time or at the very least the first time in the USA that Ebola has come in contact with these invasive and life sustaining procedures this may be the initial experience with Ebola in this setting. 

Again, I want to commend Dallas for all it's involvement in providing as intensive information and scrutiny this virus is receiving. I do not believe this is a breach in INITIAL diagnosis. The CDC stated the nurse reported her symptoms very early on and with a low population of virus in her blood test. I still believe we are carrying out good initial evaluation. This is a breach in protocol and/or an unknown source of contamination for the extensive amount of virus involved in Mr. Duncan's case.

There MAY be other exposures, but, we don't know that and can only be patient to maintain a vigilance. I do believe the USA is way ahead of any extensive exposure or outbreak. I have confidence in the CDC and it's vigilance. This has nothing to do with ports of entry into the country. This was a contamination of the internal room environment with the patient.

If I believed there was something questionable, I'd say so. I am in the USA along with everyone else.

Where do many of the killer diseases come from?

It is believed that the chimpanzee version of the immunodeficiency virus (called simian immunodeficiency virus or SIV) most likely was transmitted to humans and mutated into HIV when humans hunted these chimpanzees for meat and came into contact with their infected blood.

It is called quality of life. If the people of Africa had quality of life and received the same chance of living as Americans there is a better than good chance HIV and Ebola would not exist.

The World Bank (click here) measures poverty globally. In the USA what we define as poverty is wealth elsewhere. Poverty in the USA exists and it should not and is should not be growing. But, then abject poverty as witnessed around the world should not exist either.

Good night.

How many vaccines does an American receive in a lifetime?

Enough to keep them disease free for nearly fifty years.

How many vaccines do Liberians receive in a lifetime?

I don't think it is really known how protected Liberians are from disease or how engaged their immune systems truly are. But, I do know if an American is to travel to Liberia, they are required to receive a vaccine for Yellow Fever as it is still widely transmitted in most countries of Africa.

Vaccines (click here) keep children alive and healthy by protecting them against disease. Immunization is especially important for the hardest to reach families as it can also be a bridge to other life-saving care for mothers and children in isolated communities – such as child nutritional screening, anti-malarial mosquito nets, vitamin A supplements and de-worming tablets. Immunization is one of the most successful and cost-effective public health investments we can make for future generations.

Vaccines are protecting more children than ever before. But, in 2012, nearly one in five infants –22.6 million children – missed out on the basic vaccines they need to stay healthy. Low immunization levels compromise gains in all other areas of health for mothers and children. The poorest, most vulnerable children who need immunization the most continue to be the least likely to get it.

Almost one third of deaths among children under 5 are preventable by vaccine. UNICEF and its partners are working to change these numbers and ensure that the lives of all children are successfully protected with vaccines. But, if immunization is not prioritized, the most marginalized children will not get vaccines, which could mean the difference between life and death....

Surprise, Ebola!

I believe Dallas did the absolute level best it could. I am grateful they had a dry run through the day before they had a definitive diagnosis of Ebola. I am sorry for the death, if anyone could have prevented it he would be here now. I find it interesting Americans, who tend to be healthier on a global basis, are finding they can live through the viral's course.

I congratulate Dallas for being able, willing and dedicated to healing every person that comes to them in need of dire medical treatment. It is very questionable that a city anywhere else in the country could have done better.

(Adds NBC news crew ordered into quarantine; cameraman's condition improves, paragraphs 10-11)

By Sebastien Malo

Oct 11 (Reuters) - 

Medical teams at New York's JFK airport, (click here) armed with Ebola questionnaires and temperature guns, began screening travelers from three West African countries on Saturday as U.S. health authorities stepped up efforts to stop the spread of the virus.

John F. Kennedy Airport is the first of five U.S. airports to start enhanced screening of U.S.-bound travelers from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Those countries have seen most of the deaths from the outbreak, which has claimed more than 4,000 lives.

Nearly all passengers traveling to the United States from those countries arrive at JFK, Newark Liberty, Washington Dulles, Chicago O'Hare and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta. The new procedures will begin at the other four airports on Thursday....

I think the Sayreville administration is wrong and have enforced the punishment of those that raped other students.

October 10, 2014

The field stood empty, (click here) framed by barren stands and an open parking lot at Sayreville War Memorial High School on Friday, the first night since the season was canceled amid allegations of a hazing ritual that involved digital penetration.

It was supposed to be the night of the homecoming game, but instead the people of Sayreville settled into the lonely quiet of a fall without football.

“Football is big in this town,” Tommy Nagle, owner of a hot dog stand on Main Street and caretaker of a blue-and-white Sayreville Football billboard on the same lot, said earlier Friday before the arrests of six juveniles accused of taking part in the hazing. “Even now I feel lousy because there’s no game tonight.”...

The majority of the team is not at fault. While the police and detectives have to get to the bottom of this, the team should not suffer the punishment of the rapists. The rapists promised to ruin the season and careers of the team if they were exposed. Well, guess what, they were rights. As soon as they are exposed everyone is made to suffer. This is not the way it should be. The team members, coaches and administrators completely innocent of participation, cover up or negligence should be out on the field while those most guilty are expelled.

There are going to be legal consequences as well, but, the young men that truly had no part or would not have any part in this should be playing and attempting to win their division.

The dream should still be theirs.

October 11, 2014
The Front Seven salutes the blood moon.
1. New: No. 6 Mississippi State (click here) doesn't get long to enjoy yet another historic victory. The program so often overshadowed by its more accomplished SEC opponents has to prove itself yet again as No. 2 Auburn comes to Starkville (3:30 ET Saturday, CBS). The Tigers looked the part of a national championship contender while dismantling LSU last week, but the Bulldogs' more polished offense under the direction of QB Dak Prescott, a breakout Heisman candidate, should prove harder to shut down....

Children are safer today in North Carolina.

October 10, 2014

Wake County Deputy sheriff Chad Biggs and his partner Chris Creech exchanged vows as they are married at the Wake County Courthouse in Raleigh, N.C. Friday, October 10, 2014. Read the story here: (The News & Observer)

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/10/10/4223085_north-carolinas-first-same-sex.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

MICHAEL MOORE  World premier of Edward Snowden doc, CITIZEN FOUR, just ended to a long and rousing standing ovation at Lincoln Center. Brilliant, damning.

I happen to think balloting is private and that is especially true in the South where a job can hang in the balance.

I don't know why privacy is controversial for this candidate for Senate. I don't get it. I also don't routinely ask people who they vote for so much as discuss differences in principles and policy. It is silly. I am trying to remember the last time I asked anyone who they voted for and I can't. I expect the same respect from others.

October 10, 2014

LOUISVILLE, KY. — U.S. Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes (click here) has already shared a stage with President Bill Clinton, and now she will be in the spotlight with another member of the family when the former secretary of state joins her on the campaign trail.

Former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton will try to boost Democrat Grimes' campaign to unseat Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is seeking a sixth term. Clinton's appearance is set for Wednesday night at the Kentucky International Convention in Louisville, Grimes' campaign said Friday.

"Alison has been a long-time supporter and admirer of Clinton's leadership and independence, and is humbled that she will be in Kentucky to endorse her campaign and her plan to get Washington working for Kentucky," Grimes campaign manager Jonathan Hurst said....

Read more here: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2014/10/10/3905174/hillary-rodham-clinton-to-campaign.html#storylink=cpy

How contaminated are the crops? Don't do this half way. If the land is contaminated due to irrigation the people have a right to know.

Energy Zealots were more important than California's precious water supply. 

October 7, 2014

After California (click here) state regulators shut down 11 fracking wastewater injection wells last July over concerns that the wastewater might have contaminated aquifers used for drinking water and farm irrigation, the EPA ordered a report within 60 days.

It was revealed yesterday that the California State Water Resources Board has sent a letter to the EPA confirming that at least nine of those sites were in fact dumping wastewater contaminated with fracking fluids and other pollutants into aquifers protected by state law and the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.

The letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Center for Biological Diversity, reveals that nearly 3 billion gallons of wastewater were illegally injected into central California aquifers and that half of the water samples collected at the 8 water supply wells tested near the injection sites have high levels of dangerous chemicals such as arsenic, a known carcinogen that can also weaken the human immune system, and thallium, a toxin used in rat poison....

October 11, 2014

MINSK, Belarus (AP) (click here) Russian President Vladimir Putin says his country does not oppose ex-Soviet states seeking closer ties with Western countries, but has criticized them for not taking Moscow's interests into account.

Leaders from the 11-member Commonwealth of Independent States met Friday in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, to discuss closer ties. The president of Ukraine which is facing the most violent conflict in post-Soviet history, between government troops and pro-Russian insurgents did not attend.

Putin lashed out at the European Union for "not considering it necessary ... to discuss the risks" of political and economic integration with post-Soviet countries. Ukraine's decision to sign an association agreement with the EU in September provoked complaints from the Kremlin that it would hurt Russia's economy.                        

The last time the USA took Fallujah it was fully engaged and it was a chronic battle with the Ba'athists. Fallujah was the place where four contractors were burned and hung on the bridge. I have no doubt the Ba'athists are back in An Albar. If there are Ba'athists within the Islamic State there probably won't be any resistance when they come through the region. It could be when the Islamic State joins the Ba'athists in An Albar they will rearm with USA military equipment.

After the death of the four contractors the USA military organized an operation into Fallujah. On the morning of the action against the Ba'athists the Iraqi National Guard removed their uniforms and abandoned the USA military.

Now mind you, there were absolutely NO Iraqis fighting for the town but the IRAQI GOVERNING COUNCIL insisted the USA military carry out their attack. 40 Marines died that day and approximately 500-750 civilians and insurgents.
There was a pause in the attacks to allow 70,000 women and children to leave. The USA military then violated the Geneva Convention by taking Fallujah hospital, closing it and placing an assassin/sniper on the roof to kill anyone in sight.

While the USA was destroying Falljah, Muslims around the world were demonstrating against the invasion.

Fallujah continued to be the center of insurgent and USA fighting. Addition to the first 40 dead Marines there were 95 more dead and 560 wounded by December of 2004. During the same time frame an estimated 1500 dead and 1500 captured from the insurgency.

"...the amount of drug use (by USA soldiers) was very, very high..."

Analysis (click here)

In many respects, the U.S. approach in Fallujah resembled Israeli tactics in the West Bank and Gaza. This is not surprising because numerous sources indicate that Marine and Army officers studied Israeli tactics prior to OIF. Israeli urban warfare tactics are sophisticated, effective, and well practiced. In many respects, however, the IDF has different operational and strategic objectives from U.S. forces. In addition, the IDF historically—for example, in Jerusalem in 1967, Beirut in 1982, and Jenin in 2002—has proved willing to take high casualties in urban warfare....

Reliving it should be better than GOING THROUGH IT AGAIN. Why violate the Geneva Convention Twice?

Iraqi forces should take the keys out of the ignition when they take a break from war.

Iraqi security forces rest on a sidewalk following clashes with jihadists on Sept. 19 in Ramadi, the provincial capital of the western province of Anbar and the birthplace of al-Qaeda in Iraq. (Azhar Shallal/AFP/Getty Images)

Five vehicles, five drivers; where is everyone else?

Oh, wait, I forgot they are awaiting for American "Boots on the Ground," right? I don't think so.

I just checked my ballot and there was nothing there about Iraqi statehood.

Besides Congress is on vacation.

Senator Kay Hagan's sole focus is the people of North Carolina.

Of the nearly 300 votes (click here) by the US Senate, US Senator Kay Hagan chose to not vote four times.

In addition (click here) to her dedicated voting record, Senator Kay Hagan held 100 conversations with constituents. 

When Senator Hagan was elected, she pledged to visit all of North Carolina's one hundred counties. In 2012, Senator Hagan reached her goal of holding her 100th "Conversations with Kay," one-on-one meetings with North Carolinians, in every county in the state. Her "Conversations with Kay" series took her to each and every corner of the state to meet personally with residents, listen to their concerns and help them navigate issues with federal agencies.

Kay Hagan (click here) introduced her bill S 2569 "Bring Jobs Home Act" on July 8, 2014.

With North Carolina being the center of many landfall hurricanes and the recipient of multiple flooding storms Kay Hagan voted yes for HR 3370, "Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act or 2014 - Key Vote." 

Senator Kay Hagan is a life long North Carolina resident. She is North Carolina Blue through and through.

Senator Kay Hagan is the co-sponsor of SB 2223 "Minimum Wage Fairness Act," "Paycheck Fairness Act," "Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2013, and the  "Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013." And that is only the beginning.

This is a statement Senator Hagan made in regard to the "National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013."

Mrs. HAGAN. Madam President, (click here) as we conclude our work on S. 3254, the fiscal year 2013 National Defense Authorization Act, I would like to draw attention to yet another important role my State is playing in our national defense.

North Carolina is home to the two major lithium suppliers in the United States. Not only are these important employers in my State, but they are serving our defense industry with critical materials that are vital to our Nation's defense capabilities both now and in the future....

Children of the world have received the Nobel Peace Prize.

October 10, 2014
By Alan Cowell

Reaching across gulfs of age, (click here) gender, faith, nationality and even international celebrity, the Norwegian Nobel Committee on Friday awarded the 2014 peace prize to Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan and Kailash Satyarthi of India, joining a teenage Pakistani known around the world with a 60-year-old Indian veteran of campaigns on behalf of children....

Rick Perry's poll tax found to violate constitution.

October 10, 2014
By Will Weissert and Todd Richmond

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A federal judge (click here) likened Texas' strict voter ID requirement to a poll tax deliberately meant to suppress minority voter turnout and struck it down less than a month before Election Day — and mere hours after the U.S. Supreme Court blocked a similar measure in Wisconsin.

The twin rulings released Thursday evening represent major and somewhat surprising blows to largely Republican-backed voter identification rules sweeping the nation that have generally been upheld in previous rulings.

Approved in 2011, Texas' law is considered among the nation's harshest and had even been derided in court by the Justice Department as blatant discrimination. Wisconsin's law was passed the same year and has remained a similar political flashpoint....

I hear the next strategy Perry will carry out to block the vote is call out  the National Guard.

The Coalition campaign has been effective.

October 9, 2014
By Andrew Kinney

RALEIGH — Chad Biggs, (click here) a Wake County sheriff’s deputy, and his partner, Chris Creech, also a sheriff’s office employee, are set to receive Wake County’s first same-sex marriage license, according to Laura Riddick, register of deeds for the county.

That marriage must wait for the legal maneuvering to settle, but experts say federal court decisions have set North Carolina on a path to legal gay marriage soon.

On Thursday morning, preparations were underway at the Wake County Justice Center. Riddick’s office was working with software vendors to prepare the county’s databases for changes to the marriage application.

There were no lines of couples in the morning, but court employees were casing the lobby, planning for potentially large crowds and trying to keep TV camera crews out of the way.

Biggs, who has been engaged for more than two years, was on duty at the courthouse in full uniform on Thursday morning. Riddick, the register of deeds, had his number on a sticky note attached to her identification badge, ready to call him as soon as word of a decision in the continuing court matters arrived. She had been brushing up on her clerical skills so she could issue the license herself, she said....

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/10/09/4219734/wake-courthouse-abuzz-ahead-of.html#storylink=cpy

GOP will attempt to rewrite Prop 8.

This will go on forever until there is a marriage equality amendment. Please get this done. North Carolina passed the most heinous marriage amendment to their state constitution which victimized the LGBT community as well as those unmarried heterosexual couples and their children. People in this state were frantic about the continued integrity of their families. These people are not only hateful they are among the worst nightmares in the country. They don't care about a family unless it meets their theocratic definition. 

October 9, 2014

Republican leaders (click here) in the North Carolina legislature apparently will make good Thursday on their pledge to fight the expected go-ahead for same-sex marriages in the state.

House Speaker Thom Tillis and Senate President Phil Berger reportedly have hired a conservative California legal expert to lead the effort.

John Eastman, a former Republican candidate for attorney general in California, is the former dean of the Chapman University School of Law in Orange, Calif. He is also chairman of the board of the National Organization for Marriage, a group involved in the legal defense of traditional unions between a man and a woman....

October 9, 2014

By Zaid Jilani

...But sure enough, (click here) as America finally inches towards joining numerous other countries where same-sex marriage is legal, the right-wing is freaking out, predicting all manner of doom. Here’s ten of the craziest reactions:

1. Gay Marriage Is Like The Pro-Slavery Dred Scott Decision: At The National Review, Matthew J. Franck, said that the expansion of marriage equality is like “a slow-motion Dred Scott for the twenty-first century.”

2. Gay Marriage Will Spread Disease: Liberty Counsel chairman Mat Staver warned that marriage equality would be “harmful to individuals” and lead to all “kinds of serious and deadly disease.”

3. Gay Marriage Will Of Course Lead To Polygamy: Right-wing radio host and activist Erick Erickson predicted that “all the people now saying polygamy is different from gay marriage will be polygamy’s chief advocates within the decade.”

4. We Need To Amend The Constitution To Stop Gay Marriage: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) went as far as to say he will introduce an amendment to the Constitution to stop the national recognition of marriage equality....

N.C. Rep. Henry M. Michaux Jr., left, and House Speaker Thom Tillis meet at the State Capitol in Raleigh in May. Tillis and Senate President Phil Berger reportedly have hired a conservative California legal expert to lead the effort against same-sex marriage in North Carolina.

COREY LOWENSTEIN — clowenst@newsobserver.com

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/10/09/4219288_gop-will-attempt-thursday-to-stop.html?sp=/99/100/&rh=1#storylink=cpy

Washington - Today (click here) the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC), on behalf of the Republican Legislative Campaign Committee (RLCC), announced Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger as a 2014 RLCC Executive Committee Member. Senator Berger will serve as Immediate Past Chairman and will continue to serve the RLCC’s mission to support and build Republican representation in all fifty state legislatures....

"All around nice guy," except, when it comes to politics. He'll be sure you have your say and then stick a knife in your back. Others views and lives mean nothing unless it lines up with his agenda.

May 10, 2014

By Jay Price

...As Berger, (click here) a 61-year-old lawyer from Eden, prepares for his fourth session at the helm of the Senate, many believe he is now the most powerful politician in North Carolina.

He became that through meticulous, long-range planning to craft a majority, a laserlike focus on major goals, a blue-collar work ethic that he honed with actual manual labor, and a natural geniality that he has used as a glue to bind his caucus. That caucus now holds a veto-proof 33-17 majority, thanks in part to his savvy candidate recruiting and ceaseless fundraising.

Since his elevation in 2011 to Senate president pro tem, Berger has been cast as villain and hero. Liberals believe changes like the tax cuts, changes to the education system and the voter ID law have placed the state on a path to ruin....

Honshu at 7:16 pm EDT Sunday, October 5, 2014 was hit by Typhoon Phanfone.

October 7, 2014

Super Typhoon Vongfong, (click here) currently tracking towards Japan, is being called the most powerful storm on earth this year. It underwent rapid intensification last night and is now packing maximum sustained winds of 155 mph. The storm comes just after the deadly Typhoon Phanfone made landfall in Japan earlier this week.

Vongfong is forecast to take a similar path to that of Phanfone. Although it may strengthen a bit over the next 24 hours, the long-term track shows it weakening while moving North. Officials in Japan will be monitoring the typhoon closely over the next few days. Heavy rain, strong winds and mudslides are possible as this storm tracks closer to the island.

This will be the second storm to hit Japan in one week. Sediment plumes, like the ones that appears below  are good markers for estimating the amount of water leaving the land.

...Phanfone (click here) dumped 48 centimeters (19 inches) of rain in the mountainous region of Shizuoka Prefecture. At one point during the storm, rain fell in Shizuoka—the capital city of the prefecture—at a record-rate of 8.7 centimeters (3.4 inches) per hour. The 667,000 people living in the prefecture were urged to evacuate to safer ground.

The intense rain and resulting runoff led to sediment plumes in Suruga Bay, visible in the natural-color image (top) acquired October 6, 2014, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite. Such plumes were not apparent on September 29 (bottom image).

Phanfone later turned northeast and headed for Tokyo, bringing torrential rain and strong winds to the city before moving out to sea....

US Naval vessels should be in port for this storm. I don't care if this is a low category typhoon or the captain thinks the ship can weather this storm at sea better than in port. That was proven differently.