The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

I'm really starting to think we should make world geography courses mandatory from grade school through college. Yet another recent report showcased our lack of knowledge in the area with regard to Africa and Ebola. It's being reported that Susan Sherman, a registered nurse and teacher at St. Margaret Mary school in Louisville, Kentucky, has resigned from her position at the school after the school received complaints from parents about her going to Africa on a mission and potentially endangering their children with exposure to Ebola. The problem with this is Ms. Sherman's mission work was in the country of Kenya, which is approximately 3,300 miles away from the Ebola outbreak. That's the equivalent of driving by car from Seattle, Washington, to Miami, Florida. It would take about 2.25 days to travel to Miami from Seattle by car. In other words, Ms. Sherman wasn't anywhere near Ebola while in Africa. Using this comparison as my guide, these parents would likely sa...

So, former Florida Governor and brother of former President Dubya, Jeb Bush, has decided to go on the attack with regard to President Obama's response to Ebola. When speaking to Vanderbilt University, Bush said: "It looked very incompetent to begin with, and that fueled fears that may not be justified. And now you have states that are legitimately acting on their concerns, creating a lot more confusion than is necessary." I find it funny that a politician with the last name of Bush would have it in him to criticize President Obama about "incompetence" and a "poor response." Deaths via a poor response to Hurricane Katrina from President Bush: 1,833 deaths Deaths via poor listening, research, and preparation to 9/11 under President Bush: 2,752 deaths Deaths via a "poor" response to Ebola from President Obama: 1 death Sorry to lump you in with Dubya, Jeb, but given your family background, it's probably not the wisest of decisio...

It's getting increasingly disturbing how ignorant so many are about both geography and Ebola. I noted yesterday that there have been at least a handful of documented cases where a student, principal, school bus driver, or guests at a school have either been sent home or have prompted parents to keep their children home due to fear of a person from Africa or traveling from Africa potentially spreading Ebola to their kids. The crazy thing about every one of these cases is the fact these individuals, whom were from or traveled from Africa, were between 1,000 and 3,000 miles away from the Ebola outbreak. That brings me to an even more recent such case, where Liberian-American mother and TV presenter, Shoana Solomon, released a viral video telling a sad tale about her 9-year-old daughter, whom was told at school that she has a disease because she's Liberian. Just a day later, after the little girl sneezed in class, she was sent home. This is despite the fact that, in the past two ...

When Christopher Columbus came to the U.S. thinking it was India and, still to this day, many people refer to Native Americans as "Indians," it seemed all but inevitable that Americans would excel at geography like Rip Van Winkle excelled at speed-dating. Case and point, it appears as if some schools, in light of the Ebola outbreak in Africa, feel that the continent is one country, as opposed to 47 countries. The thing is, this outbreak has broke out in just 3 of the 47 countries in Africa (6.4%). According to my math, that leaves 44 of 47 countries in Africa Ebola-free (93.6%). However, these wild numbers haven't seemed to cease the panic any at some schools. In New Burlington, New Jersey, two Rwandan students are being forced to stay home due to the school's and parents' paranoia they'll magically infect kids with Ebola. Judging by the map and those crazy numbers again, Rwanda is about as close to a country fighting the Ebola outbreak as New York City is...

Just like Fox News is a joke to news, regular Fox contributor Dr. Keith Ablow is a joke to doctors. When appearing on Fox News Radio's The John Gibson Show , "Dr." Ablow made the following remarks with regard to President Obama and the Ebola scare: - "He (Obama) has it in for us as disappointing people. people who've been a scourge on the face of the Earth. In his mind, if only unconsciously, he's thinking, 'Really? We're going to prevent folks suffering with illnesses from coming across the border flying into our airports when we have visited a plague of colonialism that has devastated much of the world, on the world? What is the fairness in that?'" - "How can you protect a country you don't like? Why would you?" - [Speaking as Obama] "You miserable people have destroyed so much in the world in terms of good things, and now you're going to build a wall? Really? To insulate yourself from things that are devastatin...

While we mustn't take Ebola lightly, it really amazes me how news channels have blown the situation completely out of proportion and how many people have started panicking as a result. Unless a person is traveling from West Africa or has had direct contact with a person whom is suffering from the condition, there's nothing to worry about. As Ohio Department of Health (ODH) state epidemiologist Dr. Mary DiOrio recently stated, "Only individuals who travel to or from West Africa, where the Ebola outbreak is occurring, or individuals in close contact with someone ill with Ebola [need to worry about getting sick]." Let's put things in their proper perspective for a second here. In 2010, here were the leading causes of death in this country: 1) Heart disease: 596,577 2) Cancer: 576,691 3) Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 142,943 4) Accidents (unintentional injuries): 126,438 5) Alzheimer's disease: 84,974 6) Diabetes: 73,831 7) Influenza and Pn...