So now they are telling us we will die of the flu if we don't trust our

[rzemanfl]

government. "Public anxiety heightens mistrust of government, diminishing compliance with public health advisories."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/08/politics/08flu.html?ei=5090&en=fe3a7bec6c129653&ex=1286424000&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=print

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. It's times like this you wish the Democrats were running the government.

[rzemanfl]

3. A couple of homeless winos from the rescue mission could do

better than the crooks we have in charge now. At least they wouldn't be worried about helping their portfolios at our expense.

[indepat]

2. Trust them that bringing the military to most villages and hamlets will

help keep us safe.

[ToolTex]

4. We trusted them for flu vaccine with shortages in the past few years.

In fact, I just got a flu shot Wednesday. Here in Texas we seem to have to get them from the State Health org. Which each year gets cutback more. So I only had to drive 60 miles this year since the local clinic just closed down.

Just a few years ago we could get them from our private doctors, but the doctors aren't in priority they tell me.

Trusting these governments (Texas and Fed) with anything is a risk to our lives. Trust is now the last thing they deserve, along with our money or acquiescence to their power. They are guilty of criminal neglect and criminal actions.

[sam sarrha]

5. shortages were just to get us defused for the big one...

[momster]

6. 1918 All Over Again

Last time, the military is where the flu started. Are they really going to spread flu around by transferring military personnel from A to B? I don't get what all the panic is about anyway. Today they said that 2 million Americans might perish from the flu. There are darn near 300 million of us. I don't see why losing 2 million -- even in a very short time -- would necessarily bring the nation to a screeching halt. This smells like the government spreading fear under the guise of stilling it. Gee, where have we seen this before?

[mcscajun]

9. It's not the deaths that'll bring the nation to a screaming halt...

...it's the enormous number of those stricken with the disease that will.

In the 1918 pandemic, 28% of all Americans became ill. 28% of 300 Million = 84 Million People, if the same level of people became ill next time around.

Factor in the way our health care system operates today and how many people would be needed to care for 84 million severely ill people.

Factor in that in 1918, we had a relatively cohesive society with far fewer people crowded into cities and public transportation systems. More people on farms and in small towns who were more self-sufficient and could isolate themselves. We had more shared values, more trust in government, and a generally higher level of basic consideration for others across the board.

Factor in the widespread use of air travel.

Factor in that today's "bread and circuses" audience fed on a diet of celebrity pap and "reality" TV, cynical of politicians, tempered by the 9/11 and Katrina disasters, and an overall me-me-me, fuck you, I've got mine attitude.

Factor in the flu-drug resistance like the problems with Tamiflu, and the rise in antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the past several years.

Factor in the way rumors fly around the Internet faster than facts and how the media is distrusted nearly as much as the government.

Factor in a general decline in educational standards including the neglect of civics, health and sciences in the curriculum.

Factor in a mistrust of intellectuals, science, and a rising acceptance of false preachers, faith-healers, and various other cult-like behaviors, including everything from Left Behind maniacs to snake-handlers.

Factor in a failing economy with people already looking askance at immigrants and casting about for a scapegoat for their problems.

Add it all up and you begin to see what we'd be up against if a massive outbreak of avian flu hit here.

:scared:

[MountainLaurel]

7. Our health system itself is a danger

The fact that many, many millions of Americans do not have ready access to health care (and I'm not talking just about the 45 million without insurance, but those who can't use the insurance they do have because of high premiums or because it would get reported to their boss) is a huge public health and homeland security risk unto itself.

For instance, take any one of the weaponized diseases that in the beginning manifest themseles as headaches, nausea, diarrhea. Basically, flu symptoms. People outside the boundaries of American medicine won't go to the doctor until they're almost dead, and thus the mechanisms that monitor healthcare providers for a spike in disease won't catch it until it's too late and they're in an ER bleeding from the eyes. Also, they'd still be going to work while they're sick because they're scared to take off and can't afford to lose pay. These people on the margins typically work in jobs that involve dealing with the public or in service: transit workers, janitors, child care workers, restaurant cashiers and cooks, newsstand operators. Thus, their opportunities for inadvertently spreading the disease are magnified.

Yet, not trusting the government is considered to be the problem.

:eyes:

[mcscajun]

8. One slight alteration...

"Bush's words and actions heighten mistrust of government, diminishing compliance with public health advisories."