<p>They are not bogus, smoking is killing people everyday, it is in third world countries, it is happening and has been, but ignored pretty much, and with millions dying, why is it allowed to continue being done? so its not contagious, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t care about the addicts who are dying…young kids pick up smoking everyday and it matters, </p>
<p>People die all over the world from dirty water, something that we can help with, but we don’t give a (&%# unless it affects us personally</p>
<p>We are a nation of hypocrits, and not a very Christian one at that, so many only care if it affects them personnally, otherwise, let them die</p>
<p>While these same government agencies dismiss science regarding so much- globabl warming, gulf war syndrome, polution dangers, who have approved dangerous drugs</p>
<p>Smoking related deaths 5 million per year worldwide vs “the end of civilization as we know it” - aaahhh, guess we won’t really care, will we?</p>
<p>Personally, I am glad that the WHO, the nations of Vietnam and China, AND, our government is taking this seriously. After all, the kids with dirty water, who live with their chickens will die first - but then again, I guess we don’t care until it gets here. </p>
<p>We live in an artificial world, even those kids in Turkey and Vietnam, a world where most people are protected from infectious diseases to some extent - even in poor countries, unless they are caught in a war or a famine. We don’t really understand what an infectious disease can do - what it did do.</p>
<p>I haven’t read that book mentioned on the Oprah website, about the great flu, but I will. I, and most living Americans have at least one relative that died of the great flu - most people just don’t realize it. Other books that I would recommend - A Distant Mirror, Plagues and Peoples, Guns, Germs and Steel and one I am reading now - 1491. They are not exclusively about infectious diseases and their impact on history, but you can get a feel from these books of how real the impact of infectious disease used to be and how removed we are from it.</p>
<p>No doubt, AIDS, clean water, malaria - all are problems - but they are just flea bites compared to an unchecked human to human spread viral epidemic. The key word being unchecked - that’s what CHina Vietnam, the WHO and the CDC are trying to do.</p>
<p>Just a few thoughts from one of the worlds cesspools…</p>
<p>A few months ago I wrote to a friend who is an infectious disease specialist at a US university to report what I knew about the local avian flu situation. Specifically, in country here there were exactly 0 people from WHO/CDC in spite of reports of, at that point, about 11 avian flu deaths. Exactly 2 non-local doctors were involved in any Avian flu work here…one was on loan from US NAMRU (the naval medical research unit- about to be closed). The other a company doctor from a large oil company with an interest in tropical diseases scrambling to collect samples, interview people after his day job. That’s it. Any information, statistics, conjectures etc were coming from local personnel, beholden to a government in one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Interpret this as you will. I have Tamiflu.</p>
<p>Second thought…don’t know what book Oprah recommends…but “The Flu” by GIna Kolada of the NY Times is excellent…for learning about the epidemic, the science and, perhaps most importantly, decision making and government agencies related to the swine flu. What does it take you to change your mind once you have made it up-- the Anderson question…very interesting. Strongly recommend this.</p>
<p>Third thought…driving in the US last week listening to NPR. The ‘reporter’ from Turkey has the following comments about the experience of the Turkish people related to the recent deaths and subsequent culling…(I am paraphrasing here)…“What must these Turkish people be thinking. First they see this information on CNN about the deaths and then these people come and ask to take away their birds.” Now, admittedly I was jet lagged, and driving. But, it struck me that perhaps the reporter was a bit clueless about what information sources matter to rural people in Turkey, how they might think about birds and disease, and that they don’t watch CNN." Further ‘information’ in this ‘report’ related to financial losses due to the culling. The number quoted was ‘$300 lost’. So, what is $300 to a Turkish family- a year’s salary, a month’s salary- no frame of reference given. The least a person on the ground can do is frame the experience of the people accurately. </p>
<p>Be careful what you believe. In a city where there have been 15 deaths from Avian flu I can look out my apartment window and see chickens and birds co-mingling all the time with people…</p>
<p>Sorry, CGM, but I haven’t noted a bit of hyprocrisy in cangel’s or coureur’s posts. I have benefited through the last couple of years from information concerning infectious diseases that affect everyone, including our kids at school, that came from cangel, coureur and others.</p>
<p>I know that many people in this country have self destructive habits. I know that the environment needs much work and that funding will always be an issue for everything. But, I think calling us all hypocrits and saying we’re not Christian is heading off in the wrong direction. I personally know Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists who are concerned with the same issues. I personally don’t care if your aunt smokes pot for medical reasons. Her reasons are hers. And, I think our concerns may not be yours, but are ours nontheless. I guess I just don’t understand where your apparent anger at us having concerns that aren’t your own comes from.</p>
<p>Oh, and appeal to authority! I love it! Logical fallacies abound on this site…</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter. It’s still not the gay community’s sole fault in the matter. Last time I checked, it’s spreading faster in the hetero community than in the homosexual community. But, that’s their fault to, right? ;-)</p>
<p>Nobody said it was the gay community’s sole fault. But they had the first great opportunity to mitigate the spread and the blew it. That’s just a fact.
Oh, and it is still spreading faster in the male gay community. I know you are young and missed the early spread but at least get the current facts right.</p>
<p>I know very well that the spread first occurred in the gay male community. I’m young, not stupid.</p>
<p>And you’re right, it spreads faster in the gay community. But it’s not gays that are spreading it in the largest numbers. That still goes to straights and drug users.</p>
<p>Wrong again, look at the numbers. Drug use is a relatively small cause and many of the druggies are also gay.
The numbers for straights not using drugs are far less than gays and heading down.</p>
<p>I said straights “not using drugs”. But anyway back to the Bird Flu. UW scientists working with the University of Tokyo have made a major discovery that might make vaccines easier to make and more effective.</p>
<p>Wow. Take a day off from CC, and the thread explodes. I stay with my previous points, but my response would be in a total other direction than the one to which this topic has traveled.</p>
<p>The latest from AP. The first is on the latest confirmed case tally by the WHO and the second concerns the apparent spread to Iraq and the subsequent alert.</p>
<p>It has spread to my little island. And it took from Jan 12th to now for the results to come back from the UK. Politics are involved. If it’s here it seems to me that it is all over the middle east…the eastern med and come spring, europe when the birds turn around and head north. Is it as bad as some folks are saying? WHO knows. (get it) My motto, pay attention, do your research and use your own brain not CNNs.</p>