Everyone else is embedding this video. Why should I be any different?

The headline at Slate currently reads: “The Problem With That Catcalling Video.” But at the top, it says: “The Problem With That Catcalling Video: They Edited Out the White Guys.”

Racists

QE4 begins in 3…2…1…

Isn’t it ironic?

The definition of a chickenshit is someone who anonymously calls someone else a chickenshit.

— Patterico (@Patterico) October 30, 2014

I was going to make this an update to Dana’s Ebola post about the defiant nurse, but it’s important enough to deserve its own post, I think. The New York Post reports that the CDC has quietly changed its guidelines to specify that Ebola can spread through the air via droplets from a sneeze:

Ebola is a lot easier to catch than health officials have admitted — and can be contracted by contact with a doorknob contaminated by a sneeze from an infected person an hour or more before, experts told The Post Tuesday.
“If you are sniffling and sneezing, you produce microorganisms that can get on stuff in a room. If people touch them, they could be” infected, said Dr. Meryl Nass, of the Institute for Public Accuracy in Washington, DC.

Nass pointed to a poster the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention quietly released on its Web site saying the deadly virus can be spread through “droplets.”

“Droplet spread happens when germs traveling inside droplets that are coughed or sneezed from a sick person enter the eyes, nose or mouth of another person,” the poster states.
Nass slammed the contradiction.

“The CDC said it doesn’t spread at all by air, then Friday they came out with this poster,” she said. “They admit that these particles or droplets may land on objects such as doorknobs and that Ebola can be transmitted that way.”

Here is the poster, which I have saved in .pdf form in case they try to delete it. Here are a couple of screenshots from it:

It’s not clear to me that this is a change, as claimed by the expert, as I think that the CDC has previously said that Ebola can be transmitted through sneezing on someone. But this poster illustrates that what most people would call an “airborne” transmission (a sneeze) is something CDC defines as “droplet spread” — allowing them to continue to maintain that it does not travel through the air.

This is a rather . . . esoteric distinction for people who are repeatedly told Ebola does not spread through the air. After all, a sneeze travels through the air. Rather far, actually. According to MIT, in fact, sneezes can travel up to 20 feet in the air.

A novel study by MIT researchers shows that coughs and sneezes have associated gas clouds that keep their potentially infectious droplets aloft over much greater distances than previously realized. . . . Smaller droplets (less than 50 µm diameter) can remain suspended in the cloud long enough for the cough to reach heights where ventilation systems can be contaminated (4–6 m).

Also, remember Dr. Craig Spencer? He’s the fella who the New York Times editorial board said was not symptomatic while gallivanting about the city, when the New York Times news pages said he was. Anyway, turns out he initially lied and claimed he had self-quarantined:

The city’s first Ebola patient initially lied to authorities about his travels around the city following his return from treating disease victims in Africa, law-enforcement sources said.

Dr. Craig Spencer at first told officials that he isolated himself in his Harlem apartment — and didn’t admit he rode the subways, dined out and went bowling until cops looked at his MetroCard the sources said.

“He told the authorities that he self-quarantined. Detectives then reviewed his credit-card statement and MetroCard and found that he went over here, over there, up and down and all around,” a source said.

Spencer finally ’fessed up when a cop “got on the phone and had to relay questions to him through the Health Department,” a source said.

He’s reportedly in serious condition.

I can’t see why people are making such a big deal out of the government repeatedly and systematically understating the possible risks of transmission of a deadly disease.

[guest post by Dana]

A health care worker under voluntary quarantine refuses to remain under voluntary quarantine? That’s never happened before, right?

After being granted permission to return to Maine from a controversial quarantine in New Jersey, a defiant Kaci Hickox does not “plan on sticking to the guidelines” and is “appalled” by the home quarantine policies “forced” on her. Ironically, it appears Maine officials will have to go to court to make sure that Hickox complies with Maine’s “voluntary” 21-day quarantine period. The quarantine applies to all health care workers who have treated Ebola patients:

“I truly believe this policy is not scientifically nor constitutionally just, and so I’m not going to sit around and be bullied around by politicians and be forced to stay in my home when I am not a risk to the American public,” she said, saying she’s in “perfectly good health.”

Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew commented:

“We do not want to have to legally enforce in-home quarantine,” she said. “We’re confident that selfless health workers who were brave enough to care for Ebola patients in a foreign country will be willing to take reasonable steps to protect residents of their own country. However we are willing to pursue legal authority if necessary to ensure risk is minimized for Mainers.”

And if you’re still struggling or confused about Ebola protocols and procedures, don’t worry, so is the president.

–Dana

[guest post by Dana]

Infamous Houston Mayor Annise Parker (D), whose city recently subpoenaed all sermons related to the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) from local pastors, is making the news again. This time, she is blaming the Texas Department of Public Safety for preventing her daughter to take a driving test “because she has two moms”. Parker married her partner in California where same-sex marriage is recognized, unlike Texas, where she now resides. And that, of course, is what this is really about. How to smear Texas and its hopelessly out-of-date hostility to same-sex marriage.

Daughter needs drivers test. Has all docs, some in MomA name, some MomK, but w/ birth cert showing both. DPS says can only be from 1 mom!-A

— Annise Parker (@AnniseParker) October 24, 2014

Parker alleged that TDPS refused to accept her provided documentation and that she had to make three trips in order to satisfy the request and get approval:

Finally! After 3rd trip to DPS w/ different sets of docs in an unnecessary paper chase, last child has her drivers license.-A

— Annise Parker (@AnniseParker) October 24, 2014

In a released statement, TDPS Press Secretary Tom Vinger strongly disagreed with Parker’s accusations:

“All individuals applying for their first Texas driver license must provide a variety of documents to prove their identity, Social Security Number, U.S. citizenship or lawful presence status, and Texas residency. In this case, the adult applicant did not initially present sufficient documentation to prove residency. Once she provided the required documentation, she was able to complete the transaction. There is no indication that any delay in the process was related to same-sex marriage.“

In spite of Vingar’s clear explanation of department policy which clarified the matter, Parker has offered no apology for her false accusation. Her last tweet on the matter:

Thank you to the DPS clerk & supervisor in the Rosenberg office who took the time to read my daughters documentation & realize it was OK.-A

— Annise Parker (@AnniseParker) October 24, 2014

On a side note, after word of Parker and the subpoenas for sermons spread, she found herself the recipient of 500 to 1,000 Bibles. If she opens one, she’ll find some pretty good instruction on how liars and those who make false accusation can find restoration.

–Dana