I don't question that it is possible that this strain of bird flu could
mutate to a form that is spead human to human and that it is possible that
it would then lead to a very deadly pandemic, I only question that it is
nearly as probable as we are told. I question the reasons this particular
administration has elevated this particular threat as high as it has. I
also question whether giving millions or billions of dollars to another
administration official's old company (while he profits enormously) is the
best way to prevent or deal with this potential disaster. I further
question if we should trust an administration that personally profits so
much from disasters to give us good solutions. Cheney's Halliburton also
got enormous contracts for re-building after Katrina instead of supporting
the devasated local economies by giving those contracts to local contractors
to hire local people that needed the jobs. They even dedicated a good chunk
of the disaster for money to rebuild a military base instead of say
hospitals or schools while military bases around the country are being shut
down.

Imagine the vice president of France led France into a war based on dubious
reasons. Then imagine his administration gave $10 billiion in no bid
contracts for this war to his old company in which he still held stock
options that increased $9 million as a result. What would we think? Then
what if he made millions more from mis-spending money after a hurricane
destroyed a major French city? If the Bush administration were really
interested in stopping bird flu why didn't they buy all of the domestic
poultry in Asia that was likely to be contaminated. Instead they counted on
both poor farmers and big poultry houses to destroy thier flocks let them be
destroyed without compensation. After Katrina an increasing number of us
don't believe that this administration is not one to count on to manage
disasters and potential disasters well. A shrinking minority (35% or 40%
according to the latest polls) believe this administration is honest after
it has become increasingly clear that the reasons they gave us for the war
in Iraq weren't true.

Stewart Wechsler

-----Original Message-----
From: Ron [mailto:rmcclsky at mindspring.com]
Sent: Sunday, November 13, 2005 10:29 AM
To: ecostewart at quidnunc.net; tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] RE: Bird Flu - possible motives for the hype


I suspect that most of those who are dismissing this as just hype have never
seen a severe case of influenza. One of the clerks in the Emergency room
where I worked in Portland got influenza and was dead in 5 days. She was an
otherwise healthy young woman.

They also are forgetting history. There have been at least 3 bird flu
pandemics in the last 100 years. The worst was estimated to have killed 10
million people in the US and over 100 million worldwide.

So, are we supposed to just sit here and wait for it to happen again? It
seems obvious to me that if that happened again and the administration had
not prepared, the same people that are criticizing Bush now would castigate
him for not being prepared.

Obviously a no win situation unless you are a Bush supporter.

Best wishes,
Ron McCluskey


--
Internal Virus Database is out-of-date.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.362 / Virus Database: 267.12.8/161 - Release Date: 11/3/2005

--
Internal Virus Database is out-of-date.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.362 / Virus Database: 267.12.8/161 - Release Date: 11/3/2005