Strict Austerian Repugs: No Money for ZIKA

[boutons_deux]

White House: Congress is ‘passing out umbrellas in a hurricane’

the dispute over the federal response to the Zika virus is a little different than most.

When the process began two months ago, it didn’t seem especially contentious.

The Obama administration requested $1.9 billion in emergency funding to respond to the looming public-health threat.

The White House noted (http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/04/zika-congress-white-house/477816/) at the time, “This sort of falls in the category of things that shouldn’t break down along party lines.”

But that’s exactly what happened anyway. Congressional Republicans responded to the request by telling the administration to use $600 million that had been allocated to combat Ebola. The trouble, of course, is that this money (a) is far short of the $1.9 billion needed, and (b) still being used to address Ebola in West Africa.

And so, the White House kept pushing, saying Congress needs to step up to help address the Zika threat.

Then the Office of Management and Budget soon after said (http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/white-house-rips-congress-over-zika-funding-221646) in effect, “No, really, Congress needs to step up to help address the Zika threat.”

Then the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention effectively said (http://time.com/4289164/zika-virus-cdc-anne-schuchat-mosquito/), “No, really, Congress needs to step up to help address the Zika threat.”

Then the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases effectively said (http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/04/zika-congress-white-house/477816/), “No, really, Congress needs to step up to help address the Zika threat.”

Roll Call reported (http://www.rollcall.com/news/policy/zika-funding-spars-war-words) that Congress did pass a bill, intended to create incentives for drug makers to speed work on Zika treatments, but it allocates none of $1.9 billion the administration says is necessary. It’s reached the point at which the White House has stopped being polite and started getting real.

Press Secretary Josh Earnest compared a Zika bill the House sent to President Barack Obama’s desk on Tuesday to “passing out umbrellas in the event of a hurricane.” […]

Earnest called the bill (S 2512) “insufficient” because it would not allocate a single dollar for things the Obama administration says are needed to combat the virus before mosquitoes are out in force across the U.S. That list includes targeting specific Zika-carrying mosquito populations, diagnostic testing and other efforts, according to the White House.


Earnest told reporters, “In this case, Congress is two months late and $1.9 billion short in providing the assistance that our public health professionals say that they need to make sure that they respond appropriately to this situation.”

In response, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers (R-Ky.) complained that the White House hasn’t given Congress enough information on what, specifically, the $1.9 billion would be used for, fearing that the administration’s plan amounted to the creation of a “slush fund” with money that “could be used for any purpose.”

Appropriations Committee Democrats said they have no idea what Rogers is talking about.

“I quite frankly don’t know what information you all are looking for from the administration,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) told (http://www.rollcall.com/news/policy/zika-funding-spars-war-words) the Kentucky Republican. “It is pretty detailed as to what this would encompass.”

And so, very little is happening, even as Dr. Anne Schuchat, Principal Deputy Director of the CDC, explains (http://time.com/4289164/zika-virus-cdc-anne-schuchat-mosquito/),

“Everything we look at with this virus seems to be a bit scarier than we initially thought.”

The response from public-health officials has been one of concern and alarm. Much of Capitol Hill, meanwhile, prefers to remain passive.

Ironically, in February, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) declared (http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/the-problem-the-gops-zika-virus-appeals), “We need to get out in front of the Zika virus.”

In hindsight, “we” apparently did not refer to Republicans in Congress.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/white-house-congress-passing-out-umbrellas-hurricane?cid=sm_fb_maddow

file under: "All Knitter-hatin Politics All The Time" and "Repugs Fuck Up Everything (for the 99%) That They Touch"

how many 100s or 1000s of American babies (at least 1%'s babies) get screwed up by ZIKA before the Repugs do anything?

[boutons_deux]

Republicans’ response to the Zika threat takes an offensive turn

Yesterday afternoon, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) published (https://twitter.com/SpeakerRyan/status/735155665002483712) a Twitter message asking people to retweet a message: “Mosquitoes carrying Zika must be killed.” It included a link to a press statement (http://www.speaker.gov/general/mosquitoes-carrying-zika-must-be-killed)from the Speaker’s office featuring Ryan’s new plan to address the public-health threat: weakening EPA regulations of pesticides.

It was at this point that the House Republicans’ response to the Zika threat made the transition from reckless to offensive. The Huffington Post highlighted (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/zika-pesticide-bill_us_57447ddfe4b0613b512b535a) the most glaring problem with the GOP’s plan:


While eliminating the clean water protections would make life easier for mosquito sprayers in some respects, environmental advocates say the restrictions on spraying are entirely irrelevant to a potential Zika outbreak for several reasons.

First among them is that if one particular pesticide has polluted a certain lake or stream, there are other options, said Mae Wu, a policy expert with the Natural Resources Defense Council….

On top of that, the clean water regulations apply only to areas larger than 6,400 acres. And if there is an outbreak, the rules specify that mosquito control authorities can act immediately, and get any needed permits after the fact.


The New York Times added (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/25/us/politics/political-battles-color-congressional-feud-over-zika-funding.html) that exceptions to EPA regulations “already exist for emergency situations like fighting Zika.”

Making matters slightly worse,

Paul Ryan’s statement said policymakers should heed the recommendations of the Center for Disease Control – which might make more sense if Paul Ryan weren’t ignoring the CDC’s pleas to Congress to pass the Obama administration’s Zika response plan.

Keep in mind, as we discussed (http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/congressional-republicans-reject-robust-response-zika-threat) last week, the White House has been waiting since February for Congress to act on a $1.9 billion Zika bill, which House Republicans have refused to consider for reasons they have not explained.

Instead, GOP House members have passed a bill that’s one-third the size and redirects money currently being used to combat the Ebola virus.

Or put another way, the House Republican majority, eager to prove how little it cares about the public-health threat, doesn’t want to make necessary investments, but does want to undermine environmental safeguards.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/republicans-response-the-zika-threat-takes-offensive-turn?cid=sm_fb_maddow

Repugs misgovern disastrously, fuck America, because they HATE the knitter. Their VRWC/1% owners are laughing their asses off at how their $Bs screw govt and screw America's 99%.

[CosmicCowboy]

Can anyone explain where the 1.9 BILLION would go to "fight" Zika? not disagreeing just curious.

[boutons_deux]

Can anyone explain where the 1.9 BILLION would go to "fight" Zika? not disagreeing just curious.

"We didn't just choose $1.9 billion from the top of our heads," Obama said. "This was based on public health assessments of all the work that needs to be done and to the extent that we want to be able to feel safe and secure."
"This is a pretty modest investment for us to get those assurances," he added.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/zika-virus-cdc-dramatically-ups-number-infected-pregnant/story?id=39253562

Can't any specific budget items, but my guess is big part of the money would go to development a virus vaccine, which would include human trials, which are famously long and very expensive.

[boutons_deux]

Risk of severe birth defects from Zika virus may be as high as 13 percent


http://www.theverge.com/2016/5/25/11778206/zika-virus-brazil-threat-13-percent-microcephaly

other reports have found all kinds zika damage other than microcephaly.

But for the Repugs, blocking the hated knitter trumps microcephaly.

[boutons_deux]

Congress leaves town with no Zika resolution, lengthy negotiations ahead

Congress abandoned the Capitol Thursday for an almost two-week break without addressing how to combat Zika, even as public health officials issue dire warnings about the spread of the mosquito-driven virus with summer approaching.

Republican leaders insist a deal can be struck soon to provide the money federal health officials say is needed to develop a vaccine. They also downplayed the risk of waiting a little longer, arguing existing money is available for the initial steps needed to help contain the virus while lawmakers resolve the larger funding fight.

“The big disagreement that we have and the difficulty we deal with is,” Sessions said, “should every time a billion-dollar or $2 billion project comes along, do we just borrow the money?” :lol

the Ebola response “certainly a success” but said that much of the roughly $2.7 billion in those funds was not spent in the most “prudent and logical manner.”

“Not having a real plan, where that’s spent and how it’s spent, is troubling and something that has to be addressed,” ( sounds like the Repugs invasion of Iraq! :lol )

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/05/27/congress-leaves-town-with-no-zika-resolution-lengthy-negotiations-ahead/?ncid=newsltushpmg00000003

[boutons_deux]

Short Answers to Hard Questions About Zika Virus

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/health/what-is-zika-virus.html?_r=0

Repug still blocking funds for Zika research.

This is just like the St Ronnie Repugs ignoring the AIDS crisis in the 1980s.

"We hate queers, they caused their own queer disease, so let them die. Better for the rest of us"

[CosmicCowboy]

"We didn't just choose $1.9 billion from the top of our heads," Obama said. "This was based on public health assessments of all the work that needs to be done and to the extent that we want to be able to feel safe and secure."
"This is a pretty modest investment for us to get those assurances," he added.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/zika-virus-cdc-dramatically-ups-number-infected-pregnant/story?id=39253562

Can't any specific budget items, but my guess is big part of the money would go to development a virus vaccine, which would include human trials, which are famously long and very expensive.





:lmao

Another "You have to pass it to read it".

[boutons_deux]

:lmao

Another "You have to pass it to read it".

nope, it's another "Strictly Obstruct The KNITTER and everthing DEM every fucking time (and we don't give a fuck who or what gets hurt, killed, or dies"

[CosmicCowboy]

I'm not saying it's not a worthy cause, just saying if you are going to ask for a specific amount then itemize where it is going and how you arrived at that specific number.

[boutons_deux]

I'm not saying it's not a worthy cause, just saying if you are going to ask for a specific amount then itemize where it is going and how you arrived at that specific number.

but you're perfectly OK with BigCorp writing TPP/TTIP in total secrecy from Congress to enrich itself and screw the planet, and then demanding it to be passed fast track totally untouched.

Zika is a planetary crisis, with victims who survive severely damaged and incapable for decades.

Zika is a "shoot first, ask later", which is perfectly acceptable to you if it's the police shooting.

Repugs STRICTLY OBSTRUCTING Zika research funding is PURELY POLITICAL, and not "fiscal responsibility", and you fucking know it.

[CosmicCowboy]

but you're perfectly OK with BigCorp writing TPP/TTIP in total secrecy from Congress to enrich itself and screw the planet, and then demanding it to be passed fast track totally untouched.

Zika is a planetary crisis, with victims who survive severely damaged and incapable for decades.

Zika is a "shoot first, ask later", which is perfectly acceptable to you if it's the police shooting.

Repugs STRICTLY OBSTRUCTING Zika research funding is PURELY POLITICAL, and not "fiscal responsibility", and you fucking know it.

Where the fuck did I say that? You are such a tool, Bookaki.

[boutons_deux]

Where the fuck did I say that? You are such a tool, Bookaki.

As whiny little, self-congratulating, rich punk, you're guilty of BigCorp support until proven innocent.

[CosmicCowboy]

As whiny little, self-congratulating, rich punk, you're guilty of BigCorp support until proven innocent.

:lmao

what a fucking loser.

[SnakeBoy]

but you're perfectly OK with BigCorp writing TPP/TTIP in total secrecy from Congress to enrich itself and screw the planet, and then demanding it to be passed fast track totally untouched.

Zika is a planetary crisis, with victims who survive severely damaged and incapable for decades.

Zika is a "shoot first, ask later", which is perfectly acceptable to you if it's the police shooting.

Repugs STRICTLY OBSTRUCTING Zika research funding is PURELY POLITICAL, and not "fiscal responsibility", and you fucking know it.

lol planetary crisis

[SnakeBoy]

"We didn't just choose $1.9 billion from the top of our heads," Obama said. "This was based on public health assessments of all the work that needs to be done and to the extent that we want to be able to feel safe and secure."
"This is a pretty modest investment for us to get those assurances," he added.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/zika-virus-cdc-dramatically-ups-number-infected-pregnant/story?id=39253562

Can't any specific budget items, but my guess is big part of the money would go to development a virus vaccine, which would include human trials, which are famously long and very expensive.



If a vaccine is developed nutters like you will oppose it as just another ploy by for profit big pharma to steal the money of human americans.

[SpursforSix]

If a vaccine is developed nutters like you will oppose it as just another ploy by for profit big pharma to steal the money of human americans.

It won't be a ploy for profit so much as a plan to get chemicals put into human Americans with the end result of making them docile.

[boutons_deux]

lol planetary crisis

Snakeboy :lol

[boutons_deux]

Republicans Use Zika To Fight For Pesticide Deregulation

Efforts to fight the Zika virus are the latest expression of American partisanship and Congress’ inability to act in times of crisis. Congress always seems to find a way to politicize any issue that requires the immediate passage of legislation, and the dangerous viral outbreak is no exception.

Efforts to fight the Zika virus are the latest expression of American partisanship and Congress’ inability to act in times of crisis. Congress always seems to find a way to politicize any issue that requires the immediate passage of legislation, and the dangerous viral outbreak is no exception.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — and congressional Democrats, and President Obama — has requested funds to study and fight the virus, but Republicans want to combat it by stripping away environmental regulations on an array of pesticides.

The White House asked Congress back in February for $1.9 billion to protect the country from Zika, but Republicans aren’t having it.
Instead, last week the House approved legislation to reallocate $622 million from other federal health programs, including money being used to combat Ebola, and put it towards the fight against Zika. The Senate, for its part, passed a measure that would provide $1.1 billion in emergency funds.

Rather than committing to funding the full amount necessary to combat a serious outbreak, House Republicans passed a bill easing restictions on pesticides — it’s a playbook move, to use a public health emergency to try to weaken unrelated environmental restrictions.

“other than the title and a new expiration date, the bill has not changed since it was known as the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act.”

http://www.nationalmemo.com/republicans-use-zika-to-fight-for-pesticide-deregulation/

Why would Repugs want more poisons in the environment? Because BigChem, BigAg pays the whores to increase markets and profits.

[boutons_deux]

Banned in Europe for years, but BigChem, BigAg have enough whores in Congress (to keep US$ flowing to China), have captured FDA, EPA, etc, so ..

Widely used U.S. farm chemical atrazine may threaten animals: EPA

Atrazine is primarily used on corn, sorghum and sugarcane to fight weeds and increase yields in the Midwest.

The EPA's review adds to a debate about the safety of leading crop chemicals after a branch of the World Health Organization said last year that the herbicide glyphosate was "probably" able to cause cancer in humans.

The EPA said atrazine's effects exceeded its "levels of concern" for chronic risk by 198 times for mammals and 62 times for fish. The agency will accept comments on the preliminary findings and consider whether to require label changes after it publishes a final risk assessment.

The EPA republished the findings after it said it inadvertently posted the same report, along with other related documents, online this spring in an error that has sparked criticism from U.S. lawmakers.

Syngenta, which is set to be acquired by Chinese state-owned ChemChina, said atrazine is safe and that the EPA report "contains
numerous data and methodological errors and needs to be corrected."

If the EPA's report is finalized as written, it could cause label restrictions so severe that they would "effectively ban the product from most uses," the Iowa Corn Growers Association said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-epa-atrazine-idUSKCN0YO2X9

[boutons_deux]

Repugs don't GAF who or what they fuckover, as long as it's not themselves nor their big donors.

Even Rick Scott thinks the GOP Congress is negligent on Zika

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/even-rick-scott-thinks-the-gop-congress-negligent-zika?cid=sm_fb_maddow

... but when Repugs themselves are at risk, the demand that "we need to see exactly what the money will be used for" isn't insisted upon.

[angrydude]

That last budget Congress passed sure was full of Austerity........

Remember when Obama raised taxes on the poor? Lol

What politicians say and what they do are not the same things.

[russellgoat]

White House: Congress is ‘passing out umbrellas in a hurricane’

the dispute over the federal response to the Zika virus is a little different than most.

When the process began two months ago, it didn’t seem especially contentious.

The Obama administration requested $1.9 billion in emergency funding to respond to the looming public-health threat.

The White House noted (http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/04/zika-congress-white-house/477816/) at the time, “This sort of falls in the category of things that shouldn’t break down along party lines.”

But that’s exactly what happened anyway. Congressional Republicans responded to the request by telling the administration to use $600 million that had been allocated to combat Ebola. The trouble, of course, is that this money (a) is far short of the $1.9 billion needed, and (b) still being used to address Ebola in West Africa.

And so, the White House kept pushing, saying Congress needs to step up to help address the Zika threat.

Then the Office of Management and Budget soon after said (http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/white-house-rips-congress-over-zika-funding-221646) in effect, “No, really, Congress needs to step up to help address the Zika threat.”

Then the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention effectively said (http://time.com/4289164/zika-virus-cdc-anne-schuchat-mosquito/), “No, really, Congress needs to step up to help address the Zika threat.”

Then the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases effectively said (http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/04/zika-congress-white-house/477816/), “No, really, Congress needs to step up to help address the Zika threat.”

Roll Call reported (http://www.rollcall.com/news/policy/zika-funding-spars-war-words) that Congress did pass a bill, intended to create incentives for drug makers to speed work on Zika treatments, but it allocates none of $1.9 billion the administration says is necessary. It’s reached the point at which the White House has stopped being polite and started getting real.

Press Secretary Josh Earnest compared a Zika bill the House sent to President Barack Obama’s desk on Tuesday to “passing out umbrellas in the event of a hurricane.” […]

Earnest called the bill (S 2512) “insufficient” because it would not allocate a single dollar for things the Obama administration says are needed to combat the virus before mosquitoes are out in force across the U.S. That list includes targeting specific Zika-carrying mosquito populations, diagnostic testing and other efforts, according to the White House.


Earnest told reporters, “In this case, Congress is two months late and $1.9 billion short in providing the assistance that our public health professionals say that they need to make sure that they respond appropriately to this situation.”

In response, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers (R-Ky.) complained that the White House hasn’t given Congress enough information on what, specifically, the $1.9 billion would be used for, fearing that the administration’s plan amounted to the creation of a “slush fund” with money that “could be used for any purpose.”

Appropriations Committee Democrats said they have no idea what Rogers is talking about.

“I quite frankly don’t know what information you all are looking for from the administration,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) told (http://www.rollcall.com/news/policy/zika-funding-spars-war-words) the Kentucky Republican. “It is pretty detailed as to what this would encompass.”

And so, very little is happening, even as Dr. Anne Schuchat, Principal Deputy Director of the CDC, explains (http://time.com/4289164/zika-virus-cdc-anne-schuchat-mosquito/),

“Everything we look at with this virus seems to be a bit scarier than we initially thought.”

The response from public-health officials has been one of concern and alarm. Much of Capitol Hill, meanwhile, prefers to remain passive.

Ironically, in February, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) declared (http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/the-problem-the-gops-zika-virus-appeals), “We need to get out in front of the Zika virus.”

In hindsight, “we” apparently did not refer to Republicans in Congress.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/white-house-congress-passing-out-umbrellas-hurricane?cid=sm_fb_maddow

file under: "All Knitter-hatin Politics All The Time" and "Repugs Fuck Up Everything (for the 99%) That They Touch"

how many 100s or 1000s of American babies (at least 1%'s babies) get screwed up by ZIKA before the Repugs do anything?




Just abort the fetuses. What's the big deal?

[boutons_deux]

Zika: The Epidemic at America's Door

Zika may have already infected 80,000 Americans, just in Puerto Rico, and Congress has refused to act — what if Miami or New York is next?

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/zika-the-epidemic-at-americas-door-20160615

Repug Zika Nazis: "No Moonshot for you PRs"

[Winehole23]

Not so strict. Gov. Abbott has asked for federal assistance:


As Texas braces for a possible Zika virus outbreak via local mosquito populations, Gov. Greg Abbott (http://www.texastribune.org/directory/greg-abbott/)asked federal health officials Wednesday to review the state’s plan to combat the disease, which has been linked to serious birth defects.


In a letter sent to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Tom Frieden on Wednesday, Abbott, an outspoken critic and litigator (https://www.texastribune.org/2016/05/26/texas-vs-federal-government/) of the Obama administration, touted Texas’ cooperation with the federal government in the face of a potential public health crisis.


"Having the CDC’s input on that plan before it is finalized — and before Zika takes a foothold in Texas — is critical," Abbott wrote (http://gov.texas.gov/files/press-office/CDCZikaLetter_06152016.pdf). "Like the CDC, the State of Texas, along with our local partners, is taking steps to prevent and prepare for local transmission of the Zika virus."


Abbott also called on the CDC to help pay for public health preparedness measures in Texas. State leaders have asked for about $11 million for Zika surveillance and laboratory infrastructure.


Additional federal funding would “ensure that we are developing and implementing the strongest possible Zika virus response,” Abbott wrote.

https://www.texastribune.org/2016/06/15/abbott-asks-feds-funding-zika-funding/

[Winehole23]

Can anyone explain where the 1.9 BILLION would go to "fight" Zika? not disagreeing just curious.States like Texas asking for coordination and help. Any state preparing for an eventual outbreak.

Got a problem with that?

[boutons_deux]

Zika: The Epidemic at America's Door

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/zika-the-epidemic-at-americas-door-20160615


Three babies born in the US with Zika-related birth defects

http://www.theverge.com/2016/6/16/11956278/us-zika-birth-defects-cdc-three-infants

but Repugs just love fucking over their knitter boy.

[boutons_deux]

New York State Department of Health: 233 Confirmed Zika Virus Cases in New York City, Officials Say

https://www.facebook.com/topic/New-York-State-Department-of-Health/111979848819624?source=whrt&position=7&trqid=6302036889313963282

[boutons_deux]

The GOP won’t fight Zika: Anti-woman agenda makes it hard for conservatives to combat the disease’s birth defects

Republicans demand cuts to contraception spending, even though it's a critical part of fighting the Zika virus

http://media.salon.com/2016/07/paul_ryan14-620x412.jpg

The Zika virus (https://www.cdc.gov/zika/about/index.html) is spreading rapidly in the United States, with the Centers for Disease Control (http://abcnews.go.com/Health/320-pregnant-women-us-zika-cdc/story?id=40412233) reporting over 300 cases in pregnant women so far. Most people agree that the federal government needs to do something, and soon, to combat the spread of this disease, but as Congress goes into its last week of the summer, there seems to be no real movement on passing (http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/zika-virus-outbreak/zika-virus-countdown-funding-done-it-s-not-coming-us-n607091) a bill funding the anti-Zika efforts.

The problem is that Republicans are far too obsessed with the fact that women have sex — and with punishing women for it — to worry about something like a dangerous virus that causes birth defects spreading rapidly through our nation.

Last month, Republicans did offer a bill to combat the Zika virus, but the bill was a grab bag of radical right wing demands — including

cutting Obamacare funding by half a billion and

money for veterans by another half billion more —

but the crown jewel of this supposed Zika bill was an item

defunding Planned Parenthood.

Cutting services at Planned Parenthood has been a long obsession for Republicans, and it’s clear they want to use public panic over Zika in order to take another run at making sure low income women lose access to contraception services.

But there’s something particularly gruesome about Republicans wallowing in an anti-sex, anti-woman agenda right now, because the overwhelming medical consensus is that contraception access is an important tool — perhaps the most important tool — in fighting the worst effects of the Zika virus.

After all, as the CDC notes (http://www.cdc.gov/zika/about/), the “illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting for several days to a week”, with very few cases requiring hospitalization or resulting in death. No, the real danger of Zika is that it’s linked to serious birth defects, if pregnant women get infected, with microcephaly (http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/birthdefects/microcephaly.html) being the biggest dangerous.

In the face of a disease that is otherwise no big deal, unless you’re pregnant, clearly the move here is to prevent pregnancy until the danger passes.

Otherwise, women will be forced to choose between abortion or risking giving birth to a baby who may die or be seriously retarded or blind (or both) due to microcephaly.

http://www.salon.com/2016/07/12/the_gop_wont_fight_zika_anti_woman_agenda_makes_it _hard_for_conservatives_to_combat_the_diseases_bir th_defects/

[boutons_deux]

Harris County confirms first baby born here with Zika-linked defect

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/First-Zika-Linked-Microcephaly-Case-Confirmed-in-8372258.php

just "zika-linked"?

whew, sure glad the microcephaly wasn't CAUSED by zika.

[boutons_deux]

Bell County, Texas: Health Officials Confirm 1st Case of Zika Virus in Area

The male carrier contracted the disease while traveling in a Zika-infected area, health officials said. There have been an estimated 60 cases of Zika virus in Texas so far, reports said.

https://www.facebook.com/topic/Bell-County-Texas/102287766491899?source=whfrt&position=1&trqid=6306967313547555819

[boutons_deux]

When Republicans Sabotage Zika Funding, Local Health Departments Suffer

As Congress continues to stall on funding Zika research, local health departments are bearing the brunt of their inaction.

Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control shifted $44 million of its federal funding towards research on the mosquito-borne disease after Congress failed to allocate any funds itself.

But since this money is normally funneled down to local health departments for emergency preparedness, city and statewide offices have lost critical funds they need in order to prevent the spread of Zika at the local level.

New York City, home to a confirmed 310 cases (http://gawker.com/number-of-zika-cases-nearly-quadrupled-in-new-york-city-1783597139) of the infectious disease, lost $1 million in emergency funds from the CDC — a number that deputy health commissioner Maris Raphael predicts could impact the city’s capacity to conduct lab testing as well as surveillance activities like tracking and interviewing Zika patients.

“It’s very painstaking, time-intensive work, but so critical for the ultimate goal of spreading disease,” she said in an interview. “You need people with that technical expertise to investigate outbreaks on any given day.”

Raphael added that the “highly problematic” cut could affect the department’s ability to sustain its existing Zika monitoring networks while also addressing the competing demands of other potential outbreaks.

House Republicans have repeatedly stalled a bipartisan Senate bill that sought to allocate $1.1 billion towards research on the virus. When the House passed another $1.1 billion plan in June, Senate Democrats objected to

(http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/senate-zika-bill-falls-largely-planned-parenthood-objections/story?id=40193006)“poison pill” provisions (http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/senate-zika-bill-falls-largely-planned-parenthood-objections/story?id=40193006) that would have

prohibited allocating funds to Planned Parenthood for fighting the virus,

weakened pesticide restrictions, and, curiously,

ended the ban on displaying Confederate flags in national cemeteries.

http://www.nationalmemo.com/exclusive-when-republicans-sabotage-zika-funding-local-health-departments-suffer/

America would be so much better off without Repugs and you assholes who elect them.

[boutons_deux]

Florida Identifies Two More Zika Cases Not Related to Travel

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/florida-identifies-two-more-zika-cases-not-related-to-travel/

[boutons_deux]

Zika Cases in Puerto Rico Are Skyrocketing

Infections are skyrocketing: Many residents fail to protect themselves against bites because they believe the threat is exaggerated.

Federal and local health officials are feuding, and the governor’s special adviser on Zika has quit in disgust.

There are only about 5,500 confirmed infections on the island, including of 672 pregnant women. But experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/c/centers_for_disease_control_and_prevention/index.html?inline=nyt-org) say they believe that is a radical undercount.

Just four cases of infection were confirmed last week in Florida. But in Puerto Rico, officials believe thousands of residents — including up to 50 pregnant women — are infected each day.

Most never get tested. Tests on donated blood, the most reliable barometer of the epidemic’s spread, show that almost 2 percent of the donors were infected in the last 10 days.

“That’s a stunning number and reflects an explosion of cases,” \\

The proportion of pregnant women testing positive for the virus has risen sevenfold since January, the agency said on Friday (https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/wr/mm6530e1.htm?s_cid=mm6530e1_w). Officials warned that hundreds of infants could be born with microcephaly (http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/symptoms/microcephaly/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier) in the coming year.

Obstetricians, too, are quietly urging their infected pregnant patients to have regular ultrasounds and to consider abortion (http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/surgery/abortion/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier) if brain damage turns up.

And damage is turning up.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/31/health/zika-virus-puerto-rico.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

[boutons_deux]

Caring for Zika victims costs $10 million each ... and a lifetime of aching despair (http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/7/25/1552064/-Carrying-for-Zika-victims-cost-10-million-each-and-a-lifetime-of-aching-despair)

At least 12 babies in the United States have already been born with the heartbreaking brain damage caused by the Zika virus. And with that number expected to multiply, public health and pediatric specialists are scrambling as they have rarely done to prepare for the lifelong implications of each case.

“the doctors said she would never walk, but … ” scenarios. These children will never walk. Never talk. Never laugh. Never play with a toy. Never feed themselves. Never even know that they are loved. They will only cry, and never be comforted (https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/lifelong-care-heartaches-ahead-for-babies-born-with-zika-in-the-us/2016/07/24/2cc5e360-42d6-11e6-bc99-7d269f8719b1_story.html?tid=sm_tw).


They heard ophthalmologist Camila Ventura of Brazil, the epicenter of Zika in the Americas, describe how extremely irritable, even
inconsolable, the newborns with microcephaly are.

“The babies cannot stop crying,” she said.


The parents of these children face not only day after day after day of bleak despair, but also crushing financial burdens.

Many of Zika’s littlest victims, diagnosed with microcephaly and other serious birth defects that might not immediately be apparent, could require care estimated at more than $10 million through adulthood.


http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/07/25/1552064/-Carrying-for-Zika-victims-cost-10-million-each-and-a-lifetime-of-aching-despair?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dailykos%2Findex+%28Daily+Kos %29

[boutons_deux]

Puerto Rico is being pummeled by Zika, with hundreds of cases of birth defects feared

The number of Zika (https://www.statnews.com/2016/01/14/everything-need-know-zika-virus/) cases in Puerto Rico rapidly continues to climb, with federal officials warning Friday that the spread of the virus there could lead to hundreds of children being born with severe defects in the coming year.

Health officials said that as of July 7, 5,582 people in the US territory had been diagnosed with Zika (https://www.statnews.com/series/zika-update/), including 672 pregnant women. Of the pregnant women, about one third of them — 231 women — did not have symptoms, leading officials to warn that there could be many more pregnant women in Puerto Rico who are unknowingly infected with the virus.

The Puerto Rico Department of Health, which tallies its numbers through a different method than the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Friday it had counted 788 pregnant women with Zika, 256 of whom were asymptomatic.

The local health department said Puerto Rico has had 7,296 total confirmed Zika cases.

Puerto Rico has seen 21 cases of confirmed or suspected Guillain-Barre (https://www.statnews.com/2016/02/09/guillain-barre-in-zika-patients/)syndrome as a result of a Zika infection or an unspecified infection from a virus in Zika’s family. The condition leads to a gradual and generally temporary paralysis, but many patients have to be put on breathing machines at some point.

Residents of 77 out of 78 municipalities in Puerto Rico have tested positive for Zika.

https://www.statnews.com/2016/07/29/zika-puerto-rico-cdc/

[boutons_deux]

Florida Gov. Rick Scott asks feds for help after Zika outbreak produces 10 new cases

Zika outbreak in Miami has led to 10 more local cases spread by mosquitoes in the same neighborhood north of downtown and identified last week as having been the source of the nation's first locally transmitted cases, Florida Gov. Rick Scott announced on Monday.

Scott said he called on the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to dispatch an Emergency Response Team to Miami to help the state's health department in their investigation of the local cases believed to have been spread in a one-square-mile area in early July.

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/08/florida-gov-rick-scott-asks-feds-for-help-after-zika-outbreak-produces-10-new-cases/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

[boutons_deux]

Officials Warn Women To Avoid Travel To Miami Neighborhood Over Zika Outbreak

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/zika-outbreak-miami-travel-advisory?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29

[Winehole23]

Can anyone explain where the 1.9 BILLION would go to "fight" Zika? not disagreeing just curious.Still curious?

[boutons_deux]

In a sign that the Zika cases might affect tourism in Florida, Britain’s health agency, saying the risk was moderate, advised pregnant women on Saturday to “consider postponing nonessential travel to affected areas until after the pregnancy.”

Jack Ezon, the president of Ovation Vacations in New York, said that his agency b, and that about four times as many people called for information about the travel advisory.

“Yesterday, the news was terrorism. Today, the news is Zika,” he said.

The airline JetBlue said in a statement that it would allow refunds for people with “concerns of traveling to Zika-impacted areas confirmed by the C.D.C.”

But Ross Feinstein, a spokesman for American Airlines, which has a hub in Miami, said no refunds would be issued, even for pregnant women.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/02/health/zika-florida.html

We saw how quickly Repugs reacted when they discovered LEAD in Congress' water.

How quickly would they react if Zika were to be found in DC and near suburbs?

[Fabbs]

Can't wait to see how the clusterf of Rio Olympics adds to the spread.

IOC neck n neck with Repugs for repugnancy.

[boutons_deux]

Will State Leaders Keep South Texans Safe from Zika Virus?

Women in South Texas colonias are particularly vulnerable, public health advocates say.

Poor Hispanic women will likely be hardest hit when a Zika outbreak takes place in South Texas, according to public health advocates.

Thousands of low-income women who live close to the Texas-Mexico border are uninsured and have no access to birth control, making them especially vulnerable to Zika’s most serious effect — microcephaly in infants born to women with the virus.

So far Texas has 97 documented cases (http://www.texaszika.org/) of Zika, with the majority concentrated in the urban areas around Houston and Dallas.

“We already have dengue circulating so we know the vector is here, which makes us highly vulnerable,”

“We’re right on the border, and we know Zika is spreading in Mexico. We’re at particularly high risk.”

Brownsville’s 193-day mosquito season is the 23rd longest in the country,

“It’s not that we don’t have the infrastructure, it’s that we don’t have the funding to set up surveillance.”

https://www.texasobserver.org/zika-virus-south-texas-risk/

TX Repugs won't even fund education, so they certainly won't fund protecting "Mexicans".

[spurraider21]

GOP tying up every zika bill with planned parenthood shenanigans :lol

[Pelicans78]

GOP tying up every zika bill with planned parenthood shenanigans :lol

Yeah it's pathetic. Almost as bad as what they did with HIV in the 80s.

[boutons_deux]

GOP tying up every zika bill with planned parenthood shenanigans :lol

They are also attaching to the Zika funding the deregulation of BigChem's environmental poisons.

America is already years behind Europe in blocking poisons, eg, atrazine. But BigChem makes/blocks govt policy to protect/increase its profits.

[Splits]

GOP tying up every zika bill with planned parenthood shenanigans :lol

:lol forced birth zika babies

[boutons_deux]

Florida governor criticizes Washington for lagging in Zika fight


Florida Republican Governor Rick Scott on Sunday accused the federal government of lagging in providing assistance to combat the spread of the Zika virus in a Miami-area neighborhood, the site of the first U.S. transmission of the virus.

“We still need the federal government to show up. The President and Congress have to work together. This is a national, international issue. It’s not just a Florida issue,” Scott said.

===============

Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida stirred controversy by telling political news outlet Politico that pregnant women infected with Zika should not be able to get an abortion, even when there was evidence the baby might be born with severe microcephaly.

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/08/florida-governor-criticizes-washington-for-lagging-in-zika-fight/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

iow, slave states HATE the Feds, except when they beg the Feds/Blue States to save their hypocritical asses.

Will Rubio pay the estimated $10M it's estimated to take to care for a microcephalic baby through adulthood?

[boutons_deux]

Rick Scott's fight against Zika hampered by Rick Scott's budget cutting (http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/8/10/1558741/-Rick-Scott-fight-against-Zika-hampered-by-budget-cutting-by-Rick-Scott)

Fighting the Zika virus has become a top priority for Gov. Rick Scott, but the state’s refusal to expand Medicaid coupled with his record of cutting money for county health departments, health clinics and programs for special-needs Floridians has started to complicate his message that the federal government is failing the state in addressing the potential crisis.

But averaged over his six years’ in office, Scott’s mosquito-control spending represents slightly less than a 2 percent annual increase — had he not cut money for fighting the bugs by 40 percent his first year in office.


As the Zika virus spreads in Florida, Gov. Rick Scott has toured the state, talked up his administration’s commitment to fighting the mosquito-borne ailment and frequently criticized Congress and President Obama for not spending enough to help out.



Scott cut so much health care that things are really efficient. Now, all he needs is someone to replace all the funds he cut.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/08/10/1558741/-Rick-Scott-fight-against-Zika-hampered-by-budget-cutting-by-Rick-Scott?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dailykos%2Findex+%28Daily+Kos %29

Red/slave state govt wants Yankees to bail out their sociopathic asses.

[boutons_deux]

How A Right-Wing Media Myth About Planned Parenthood Could Hurt Florida’s Fight Against Zika

Access to contraception and abortion care are essential to address the spread of Zika in the United States.

As Emma Grey Ellis wrote (http://www.wired.com/2016/08/zika-got-political-american-cities-got-screwed/) in an August 2 article for Wired, “To actually combat Zika, you need to gain control of its vectors.”

She continued that although enabling people “to delay pregnancy to avoid passing Zika to their children is an obvious, vital step,” there were a number of “political stumbling blocks” preventing access to reproductive health services.

These “stumbling blocks” have included opposition from public officials. During an August 6 interview with Politico, former Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) said (http://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2016/08/rubio-no-abortions-for-zika-infected-women-104555) he believed those impacted by Zika should not have the option to abort the pregnancy.

Gov. Scott has urged (http://www.flgov.com/2016/08/01/gov-scott-florida-calls-on-cdc-to-activate-emergency-response-team-following-confirmed-mosquito-borne-transmissions/) pregnant people to “contact your OB-GYN for guidance to and receive a Zika prevention kit.”

However, according to Mother Jones (http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/08/florida-zika-abortion-women-pregnant-governor), “Planned Parenthood hasn't received any Zika kits from the Florida Department of Health, nor has it received any guidance from the department about how to serve pregnant women during a possible outbreak.”

The outlet noted that this failure is problematic given the significant role Planned Parenthood plays in caring for low-income and uninsured patients, who are “more likely to get pregnant by accident.”

Furthermore, even when pregnancies are intentional, the threat posed by Zika is still substantial.

In an article forThe Atlantic (http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/08/pregnant-with-zika-tk/494714/), journalist Liz Tracy reported on her fraught experience being pregnant in Miami during the Zika outbreak.

She wrote that the threat of Zika transformed “nine-and-a-half months into a horror movie with a monster that is almost impossible to locate and hard to avoid.”

As Tracy explained, thanks to the numerous barriers to abortion access, “if a Zika infection terribly damaged the fetus, and we decided on having an abortion, those restrictive laws would pose an overwhelming emotional, practical, and financial challenge.”

Tracy also quoted another pregnant woman saying that with the lack of testing, kits, and care in Florida, “It just feels like too little too late” to contain Zika in the state.

She added, “It’s crazy how much they could have done in advance and nothing was done.”

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2016/08/10/how-right-wing-media-myth-about-planned-parenthood-could-hurt-florida-s-fight-against-zika/212309?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MediaMattersForAmerica-CountyFair+%28Media+Matters+for+America+-+Blog%29

Thanks, Repugs, you fucking sociopathically ideological assholes.

[boutons_deux]

While Republicans Vacation, President Obama Acts to Fight Zika

Failure to pass Zika funding forced the administration to choose between delaying vaccine work and raiding other programs to avoid these delays.

It is not as if Democrats needed anything more to defeat Republicans and retake both chambers of Congress, President Barack Obama just gave them another campaign talking point.

While the laziest REPUG Congress in recent memory is on yet another extended vacation, something they claim hardworking Americans simply don’t deserve, the President is doing their job in protecting American citizens from a frightening enemy.

On Thursday the

Obama Administration announced it was forced to shift roughly $81 million from three critical areas, biomedical research, anti-poverty programs and healthcare to develop a Zika vaccine to combat the virus.

The White House said it had to resort to “extraordinary measures” because Republicans in Congress refused to approve the spending because they refuse to help Americans as their raison d’être.

Republicans would not approve one penny to combat a dangerous virus unless Democrats and the President also banned Planned Parenthood from providing contraception related to protecting Americans from the nasty virus which can be sexually transmitted.

http://www.politicususa.com/2016/08/12/republicans-vacation-president-obama-acts-fight-zika.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+politicususa%2FfJAl+%28Politi cus+USA+%29

Fuck Repugs and Fuck Repug voters

[Fabbs]

[SIZE=3][FONT=arial]While Republicans Vacation, President Obama Acts to Fight Zika[/FONT[B]Republicans would not approve one penny to combat a dangerous virus unless Democrats and the President also banned Planned Parenthood from providing contraception related to protecting Americans from the nasty virus which can be sexually transmitted.
About all that can be done is vote those bitches out in Nov.

[boutons_deux]

About all that can be done is vote those bitches out in Nov.

won't happen, nearly every single one of the sociopathic Repug/VRWC assholes will be re-elected, thanks to Repug gerrymandering, "redmap", and voter suppression.

[boutons_deux]

Zika found to remain in sperm for record six months


http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/17004/production/_87821249_87821248.jpg

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-37057934

[boutons_deux]

U.S. Declares Health Emergency in Puerto Rico Due to Zika Virus

The announcement came hours after Puerto Rico reported 1,914 new cases in the past week, for a total of 10,690 since the first one was reported in December.

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/zika-virus-outbreak/u-s-declares-health-emergency-puerto-rico-due-zika-virus-n630131

Repugs know PRs and South Florida brownies aren't Real Americans, and are on on a very long summer vacation, having done nothing about the Zika catastrophe.

[boutons_deux]

The Potential Zika Threat to Adult Brain Cells

New research has found evidence the mosquito-borne virus can adversely affect cells necessary for replenishing damaged neurons.

new research suggests Zika may damage adult brains, too, giving scientists another thread to follow in their attempts to understand the virus as the number of infections continues to rise in South America, the Caribbean, and elsewhere.

U.S. researchers have found evidence that a certain kind of brain cell present in newborns that remains in some amounts in adulthood can be susceptible to Zika infection, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

The cells, known as neural progenitor cells, are the stem cells of the brain; in newborns, they specialize into the different types of cells that build a complex brain, and in adults, they help replace and replenish damaged neurons.

Neural progenitor cells are believed to play a role in learning and memory in the adult brain—and to be, somehow, resistant to Zika.

http://www.theatlantic.com/news/archive/2016/08/zika-adult-brain-cells/496568/

Damn, if Repugs catch Zika, maybe on their current LONG vacations, their brains will be even MORE damaged.

[Winehole23]

“U.S. agriculture shippers say they are starting to see added costs since China added the U.S. to a list of Zika-infected countries early this month, and the WSJ’s Costas Paris reports they’re worried about bigger problems in supply chains as enforcement policies are rolled out”still think it was a bad idea to get out in front of this, CC?

not doing so is going to hurt US trade.

[boutons_deux]

In Zika fight, CDC nearly ‘out of money’

Before Congress broke for its lengthy summer recess, President Obama and public-health officials implored the Republican-run House and Senate to do one thing: approve funding for the fight against the Zika virus. GOP leaders instead played partisan games with the bill and left Capitol Hill without having accomplished anything (http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/07/a-threat-bigger-than-zika/491564/) to address the threat.

As NBC News reported (http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/cdc-almost-out-zika-money-director-says-n640361) yesterday, their negligence carries consequences.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is almost out of money to fight the Zika virus, the agency’s director said Tuesday – just hours before Florida announced three fresh homegrown cases of the infection.

Zika has now infected 46 people locally in Florida, presumably spread by mosquitoes. One case is part of an outbreak in Miami Beach and health officials say they’re trying to trace the origins of two others.

And the CDC, which has been helping Florida track cases and fight mosquitoes, is almost broke.


“Basically, we are out of money and we need Congress to act,” CDC Director Thomas Frieden told reporters yesterday.

But congressional Republicans have chosen not to act, in part because of an instinctive discomfort with new government spending, and in part because some GOP lawmakers are skeptical about the seriousness of the Zika threat itself.

This has left officials like Frieden to raise the volume while ringing the alarm, hoping greater awareness of the problem might prompt Congress to do what’s necessary to protect the public. From the NBC News report:


“We are at the point where actions that are taken in the current time will have implications for decades to come,” Frieden said.

“There are a lot of things that we cannot do for lack of resources.”

He said CDC is already borrowing from other vital programs. “We have had to take money from areas including emergency preparedness in the United States, Ebola … immunization programs, HIV, monitoring disease,” he said. The CDC took $38 million from Ebola funding and $44 million from emergency response funding.


It’s not enough. Unless and until congressional Republicans can overcome their indifference, the circumstances will grow more serious.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/zika-fight-cdc-nearly-out-money?cid=sm_fb_maddow

Repugs refused to vote Zika funds because Dems refused their demand for the Fed govt to fully defund Planned Parenthood.

Fuck Repugs and Repug voters to hell.

In yet another Zika discovery, if the kid isn't microcephalic, his hearing can be seriously damaged.

Also, irreversible brain damage can occur to infected adults.

Fuck Repugs and Repug voters to hell.

[boutons_deux]

still think it was a bad idea to get out in front of this, CC?

not doing so is going to hurt US trade.

WH hitting CC in CC's supreme value, money.

[CosmicCowboy]

still think it was a bad idea to get out in front of this, CC?

not doing so is going to hurt US trade.

Don't be a pin head.

I never said they shouldn't appropriate money. I said it's reasonable to ask where and how the money will be spent.

[Winehole23]

did you ever find out? do you have a better idea what the money's for now?

[Winehole23]

don't be a pin head.

stuff like this is what government and government spending is for.

[Winehole23]

face it, CC: sometimes government is the solution.

[SnakeBoy]

face it, CC: sometimes government is the solution.

and sometimes there isn't a solution

[CosmicCowboy]

and sometimes there isn't a solution

oops

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/09/01/like-its-been-nuked-millions-of-bees-dead-after-south-carolina-sprays-for-zika-mosquitoes/

[pgardn]

and sometimes there isn't a solution

This is a problem that can be kept under control. But if university researchers/companies know there is no funding for understanding and preventing FOR THE FUTURE, we will have a much bigger problem that could very well cost us all much more later on. Do Repubicans usually like to wait for the house to be engulfed in flames before acting? Or just sit back in denial? Or, it's not really a problem...

[pgardn]

oops

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/09/01/like-its-been-nuked-millions-of-bees-dead-after-south-carolina-sprays-for-zika-mosquitoes/

We killed bees.

Nothing will work.
Just let the disease run its course.

[CosmicCowboy]

We killed bees.

Nothing will work.
Just let the disease run its course.

:lol

I didn't say that, but really imaginative strawman.

[SnakeBoy]

This is a problem that can be kept under control. But if university researchers/companies know there is no funding for understanding and preventing FOR THE FUTURE, we will have a much bigger problem that could very well cost us all much more later on. Do Repubicans usually like to wait for the house to be engulfed in flames before acting? Or just sit back in denial? Or, it's not really a problem...

Like WNV, Zika is here to stay. Denial is thinking otherwise.

[Winehole23]

Denial is also thinking there in nothing to be done.

[pgardn]

Like WNV, Zika is here to stay. Denial is thinking otherwise.

Who said it was not?

So are the various HIV viruses, Ebola, even polio.
Can you read my first sentence again.

[pgardn]

:lol

I didn't say that, but really imaginative strawman.

Oh I see, that was just a random reference.
Ok.... My apologies.

[boutons_deux]

Hilarious how rightwingnuts want to go kill all the Muslims, but are passive about and ready to get infected by Zika mozzies.

No doubt, they will demand the haed govt that can't do anything better than for-profit predators to provide $10Ms/lifetime for their microcephalic and brain damaged family members.

[boutons_deux]

Zika threatens thousands of lives, one person stopped the funding—and they won't own up to it (http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/9/15/1570422/-Zika-threatens-thousands-of-lives-one-person-stopped-the-funding-and-they-won-t-own-up-to-it)

The Zika bill put forward by the Republicans is still lodged in the Senate. And the reason for that is painfully clear. (https://www.wired.com/2016/09/nobody-knows-whos-behind-zika-fundings-poison-pill/)


Republicans added a rider to the bill that would make the Puerto Rican division of Planned Parenthood, Profamilias, ineligible to get the money. Democrats see that language as a poison pill, just as Republicans knew they would. Cue the legislative deadlock.


This isn’t “both sides do it.” It’s someone on the Republican side who deliberately slipped in a last-minute addition knowing it would stall the bill. For no other purpose than to stall the bill. Knowing that it would prevent funding that’s needed to save lives and protect the health of children. Knowing that Puerto Rico is where this funding is needed most. (https://www.cdc.gov/zika/geo/united-states.html) There are currently over 15,000 cases of Zika in Puerto Rico, including over 1,000 pregnant women.

Democrats asked for nothing in the Zika funding bill but Zika funding. But Republicans chose to play games with people’s lives.

On the bright side, that means that there’s someone to blame for this mess: whoever added the rider to the bill.
No one in Congress will say who that person is.


http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/09/15/1570422/-Zika-threatens-thousands-of-lives-one-person-stopped-the-funding-and-they-won-t-own-up-to-it?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dailykos%2Findex+%28Daily+Kos %29

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/09/15/1570422/-Zika-threatens-thousands-of-lives-one-person-stopped-the-funding-and-they-won-t-own-up-to-it?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dailykos%2Findex+%28Daily+Kos %29