Media Hysteria

[kb9lei]

Is it just me or is the media determined to have an avian flu pandemic?? #
I just saw a post about the airlines spreading disease at jet speed. #Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but so far the limited number of cases of this flu have been in people who care for or live with large numbers of birds--primarily poultry--and therefore are exposed to very high concentrations of bird droppings and other infectious agents.
It's bad enough they are acting as the PR department for the energy companies telling us how bad our heat bills are going to be--because the oil companies decided they could charge that much--but now they seem to be relishing the fact they will be the predictors of second coming of the Black Death.
No flames necessary, but if anyone can convince me otherwise--here is the chance.
Jim

[kl7aj]

Quote[/b] (kb9lei @ Oct. 13 2005,15:57)]Is it just me or is the media determined to have an avian flu pandemic?? #
I just saw a post about the airlines spreading disease at jet speed. #Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but so far the limited number of cases of this flu have been in people who care for or live with large numbers of birds--primarily poultry--and therefore are exposed to very high concentrations of bird droppings and other infectious agents.
It's bad enough they are acting as the PR department for the energy companies telling us how bad our heat bills are going to be--because the oil companies decided they could charge that much--but now they seem to be relishing the fact they will be the predictors of second coming of the Black Death.
No flames necessary, but if anyone can convince me otherwise--here is the chance.
Jim
The real danger here is that Avian flu has now spread to migratory birds. The chicken farms aren't the big problem for us over here, but the visiting geese and the like are. Unfortunately, geese don't need passports. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif

eric

[WA5KRP]

I've said in here several times before, this is needlessly scaring the hell out of everybody.



WA5KRP
Texas

[k4kro]

THE SKY IS FALLING! THE SKY IS FALLING!

Film at 11:00


also ...... #Bush gives contract to Haliburton to prop the sky back up. Jesse Jackson claims that the sky fell faster and harder in black neighborhoods. The Israeli secret service knew the sky would fall and told all jews to stay home today and hide under the bed. The CIA told Bush weeks in advance of the sky's impending fall and he did nothing about it. Al Quida claims credit for making the sky fall on infidels. And finally, Gas prices have risen above the sky!

Hey! This all sounds strangely familiar.

[WA5KRP]

UJF,


You're joking waaaay over your head. That's just TOOOOO FUNNY!



WA5KRP
Texas

[KC0KBH]

Hysteria is a good album. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[AG3Y]

UJF, tell me that's original with you ! Great satire !

73, Jim

[w8cbc]

I'd readily believe the Haliburton bit if the rest weren't a little far-fetched.

[kd5rpo]

The bird flu problem must be taken in perspective. The worlwide pandemic possibility must be considered, but there is only a small chance that distant countries will be significantly affected.

The true question now is how to make the medical manufactures more able to develope flu vaccines in a reasonably shorter time.

We need a mechanism here in the US to save us if such a rare circumstance actually happens.

[KA8NCR]

The media is just reporting what the CDC and other public health officials have been saying for the past 18 months.

Look, this isn't a virus you catch, feel crappy for a day or so and get better. This is a virus that the human immune system has never seen, and has no early defenses that squash it at the onset. It comes in, and it kills you. But only after permitting you the misery of drowning in a white milky fluid of your lung's own making.

The primary reason they are concerned now is trying to keep it from animals that provide a vector to humans. Pigs are notoriously famous for that; they catch all sorts of viruses and provide a nice warm host for the little critters to swap RNA. An avian flu virus can swap RNA with a flu virus that's already capable of human-to-human transmission, and the spawn now has the characteristics of avian flu along with the ability to be spread on door knobs, dirty kleenex or the droplets in a sneeze.

These virus strains tend to mutate very rapidly, so it's probably just a matter of time before it either reaches the right sequence on its own, or manages to get a hint from a friendly human transmissible virus during a little RNA swap-tryst.

Yeah, it's scary stuff. And the hysteria is coming from the public health officials. Hell, the media can barely spell the word virus.

[AG3Y]

The Yosemite Valley is going to blow sky high, California is going to slide into the ocean, a meteor the size of Long Island is going to crash into the Earth, Mt. St. Helens, along with all the other sleeping volcanos along the Washington, Canadian, Alaskan seacoast are going to re-awaken with devistating results.

As George Carlin said years ago, " The weather service radar system has spotted a line of thundershowers descending from Canada down into the midwest ! But the weather service radar system has also spotted a line of ICBMs heading our way from over the polar ice cap. . . . . so I wouldn't sweat the thundershowers ! "

73, Jim