12 Comments

Roger:

Which Middle eastern government will be the first to blame the Bird Flu on the Jews. My bet is Iran.

The russkies have already blamed it on us.

This happens all the time whenever there is an epidemic. We always blame the people we don’t like. That’s why syphilis has so many names, depending on which country you are in (Spanish disease, Italian disease, French disease, English disease, etc.)

Bonding experiences are bonding experiences.
Personaly, I would prefer a live,wholesome, blond, blue eyed stripper to share. But if the Palestinians and Israeli’s prefer a dead diseased bird..who am I to judge.

The avian flu could be a real problem.

For up to the minute info on what the med/sci community is thinking check out:

http://www.fluwikie.com

RBT

Roger,

Certainly, the best remark on bird flu that anyone has recently uttered has to be James Lileks’ on March 15:

[You should] study the scenarios, lay in supplies, then get on with your life. If we panic, the birds have won!

Jamie Irons

Roger,

Just as a follow-up to my comment above.

It’s obvious that of the nearly one thousand bird species known to fly around the US and Canada, not all of them are going to be likely to participate in speading this illness.

I have spent my life since the age of eight learning to identify birds as a hobby; now, I’m no David Sibley, but I’m pretty good. There are many thousands of people of all ages, genders and gender identities, ethnic backgrounds and religions at my level.

Such people could volunteer as “profilers.”

Of course, there will be howls of protest from the usual suspects: The Audubon Society, the SPCA, CAAR (Council on American Avian Relations).

Jamie Irons

Hi all you knowledgeable folks.

I’ve asked the following question on a number of occasions and never gotten an answer. I’m being completely serious here.

Why is THIS flu scare so much more real than the Swine flu scare of a few years ago?

I remember the same kind of “We’re all gonna die!” panic and then perhaps the biggest anti-climax in epidemological history.

We certainly haven’t gotten rid of all the folks that make their living off pseudo-scientific scare mongering whether it’s global warming/climate change, second hand smoke, Alar, butter or what have you, there are plenty of false panics.

Why is this one real?

AlanC,

Excellent question.

Jamie Irons

AlanC:

“Why is THIS flu scare so much more real than the Swine flu scare of a few years ago?”

Because George Bush is president, of course.

A couple of comments. First, the Israelis are sometimes quite remarkable for what they put up with. An example is the near-constant digging of tunnels from Gaza into Israel. There are a variety of reasons for digging such tunnels, which are exceptionally difficult to detect, but a frequent reason is to smuggle munitions and personnel into Israel. At least twice in the past year or so, the folks digging the tunnels have severed sewage lines. At this point they contact the Israels for assistance, and, amazingly, the Israels thus far have always rescued them! I assume, of course, that after rescuing these people, they arrest them.

The second comment is on the bird flu scare. We all recall the world-wide SARS epidemic that, two or three years ago, was to kill millions of people, right? The bird flu scare seems the same: it is possible that it could turn into a very serious killer, but I really doubt it, and the world-wide scare tells us more about the 24-hr news cycle than anything else.

While I certainly agree with Henry’s comment about the “24-hour news cycle”, I think there is something to be said for the idea that if there is even a small chance the bird flu could become widespread it is better to err on the side of caution (partly by giving it all this publicity).

Gary, I can’t agree with you. This smacks of the “if it saves one life” type of reasoning. Any activity has a down side of some type if only lost opportunity to do something else with the time and money.

The biggest downside here IMHO is that this is just one more boy crying wolf. Why will anyone pay attention to the doom sayers in the future after the incessant drum beat of hyperbole at best when it comes to health issues?

Be it Swine flu, Sars, Alar, Butter, cell-phone induced brain tumors or Eggs we have been bombarded by panic mongers and scare tactics to the point that no one listens.

You’re problem is that you see spreading panic to be cautious. Is it really?