an ebola reminder

[Darwoth]

yeah pretty much, but the goal of the starbucks sipping cellphone texting "writer" was obviously "hey you guys are racist!" not "what are reasonable measures to protect against widespread fatal disease"

[alloin]

ebola arrived in salem !

[trungdle]

ebola arrived in salem !

Confirmed.

[Dallane]

Time to quarantine providence

[MagicManICT]

Time to quarantine providence

let's get to building that fence!

[DarkNacht]

Time for The Great Wall of Darwoth 2.0.

[Dallane]

EVERYONE WE HAVE TO ACT. EBOLA IS AIRBORNE IN PROVIDENCE

[Syndarn]

http://www.spiritscienceandmetaphysics.com/what-you-are-not-being-told-about-ebola/

Video in the end of that article explains a alot.

[Mereni]

http://www.spiritscienceandmetaphysics.com/what-you-are-not-being-told-about-ebola/

Video in the end of that article explains a alot.

Oh fun! I know it's useless, but I really felt like arguing about something today. This one's a little too easy, but I'll do it anyway.

So, the premise of this article from Spirit Science and Metaphysics is that the US government wants to squeeze diamonds and oil out of West Africa and so created and spread Ebola virus because... somehow that is going to do the trick, the article doesn't actually go from cause to effect.

So, the line claims:

Not many people realize that the US actually has a bioweapons research facility in the Kenema Government Hospital in Sierra Leone (one of the main centers of the Ebola outbreak).

It then goes on to not support that argument at all over the next two paragraphs as it explains that the US Government is funding a research lab at the Kenema Government Hospital who's goals are to develop an Ebola early detection kit and create an emergency ward at the hospital for treatment of deadly viruses like Ebola.

The article also tries to imply that the funding of these grants were suspiciously timed to happen just before this outbreak. No. The grants were funded 5-7 years ago. Outbreaks occur about every 3-5 years, so calling that a suspicious coincidence just demolishes this article's credibility right there.

It also points to the 'obvious fact' that the US Government is an unfeeling monster and can't possibly care about the people of West Africa and so the funding must, by definition, have an ulterior motive. Fine, let's ignore the fact that the US Government has sent billions upon billions of dollars in aid to various struggling countries over the years. If Ebola outbreaks in West Africa get bad enough, they will become pandemic, that is they will spread worldwide, so aiding any country in dealing with the disease is aiding yourself.

The article next takes the fact that the CDC patented Ebola Bundibugyo and makes it into a huge conspiracy involving the CDC having created the virus and using it for nefarious purposes. It makes no mention of the fact that the patent in question and the virus currently ravaging West Africa are completely different species.

A few things are wrong with this assumption. First, until last year, it was allowed for private companies to patent lifeforms and then charge people to research them. So, the CDC patented many lifeforms itself and allowed researches to study them for free. NOW, you have to actually create said life form to patent it, but not then, and so government agencies patenting things like Ebola Bundibugyo doesn't seem so nefarious, does it? Secondly, the strain of Ebola currently plaguing West Africa is Ebola Zaire, a completely different strain.

Here's a nice article from Snopes about it: http://www.snopes.com/politics/medical/ebolapatent.asp There are other articles easily found, but Snopes is a private site and I know you don't trust either government or media. Also, they're easy reading.

The article next claims that:

Everybody In The Infected Areas Already Knows That Ebola Is A Conspiracy -

The article in Nature used to support that statement is actually pretty well written and I enjoyed it. But it doesn't support any of the points the article is claiming it supports. I suspect the reference was made in hopes that most people would see the citation and then assume everything that follows is part of the Nature article when it is not.

Points claimed to be in the Nature article:

1. Ebola was a conspiracy to infect the population. Now, why would they believe this to be true? 2. Why would first hand witnesses living in the infected countries claim that there is something fishy going on? 3. Why is a plant pathology expert under the impression that this virus has been developed by the US at the Kenema Government Hospital?

1. Because they are panicked, have little relevant education, and want someone concrete to blame for their fear rather than an amorphous virus?

2. There was no mention of any first hand witnesses anywhere, but it's not difficult to find a few people living in any population who think 'something fishy is going on', you just have to look.

3. What Plant Pathologist? Where? There was no mention of one anywhere in the Nature article. Either way, what does a Plant Pathologist have to do with anything? Just because he has 'Pathologist' in his title? I'm a Mechanical Engineer, if I start raving about a 9/11 conspiracy, does that make me knowledgeable just because I have 'Engineer' in my title? No, it actually doesn't, not at all, because I am not a Structural Engineer and there is a huge difference.

I do like how the article uses Fox News as a source and then later claims, in the Video, that Fox News is a filthy liar and should never be believed about anything.

FInally, the article claims that the government stands to profit billions, as does the private company it has given a grant to, if said company manages to develop a vaccine. This is somehow supposed to be shocking. I'm not sure how anyone else feels, but I personally have no problem with a company putting in the time, financial investment, and risk involved in developing a vaccine and then profiting by its distribution.

At the end of the article, there is a video. It really doesn't bring much new to the table except it uses as its main source the previous article written by this guy, and tries to claim that the Red Cross is secretly injecting something into everyone they can and that this something is actually what is making everyone sick. Not only does this negate most of the rest of both articles, but is also so silly I don't know where to begin, so here's another nice Snopes article: http://www.snopes.com/politics/conspiracy/ebolafake.asp

The video also talks about how frightened people are attacking aid workers in one section and then later questions the presence of armed guards, implying that said troops are there for some nefarious purpose. I wonder if the author has a very short attention span or perhaps short term memory loss?

[Syndarn]

Well it's good that you question everything. I think it's a very healthy way of thinking. But like all conspiracy theories, they are there to inform you of the flip side of the coin. For some that side might be too much truth to handle and they would not accept it even if 100% proof would hit them in the face. Most people get to the point that they really can't explain it away and call it unreasonable and refuse to look at similar theories afterwards because them being exposed to such cause them negative emotion and the feeling of not being in control. They fall into a state of feeling powerlessness. So naturally they will do everything they can to validate that everything they have learned and read prior to articles such as this, is the way to go. So this must be false not matter what, just for the sole purpose of feeling better. It's very natural to do that.

If you would buy into this theory, then that wires your brain up for more of this so other conspiracy theories could also potentially be true. Now that in itself has big implications on most of the people lives when suddenly you will have to start questioning EVERYTHING. Suddenly your leading organs in your country aren't seen in as a pure light as before and that is very scary. People usually don't choose to go there because of previously mentioned reasons.

But the situation isn't really that bad, it's more that people are misinformed and not conscious enough of what causes all of this negative behavior. We are all victims here in a multitude of ways, but most of us don't even know it yet. Or as explained above, don't want to know.. because it feels extremely scary and we will rather paint up a illusion construct pattern in our brains that things are ok and safe, even if they aren't, just to feel better.

- Kruger