Utterly Meaningless

A fearful populace is an easily controlled populace.

yeah this is just as big as the swine flu.. (and even the Y2K hysteria..)
Well, Tamiflu sales must be up..
Nothing like manufactured fear for big pharma to cash in on.

Right now the only people dying from this are people playing with dead chickens.. and in truth if this mutates it won’t be for a very long while that they’ed have a vaccine to use. How do they make the giant leap of faith that 60 deaths will translate to 2 million or even 200,00 deaths in the United States from a virus that does NOT readily spread from birds to humans, or humans to humans? This week’s British Medical Journal has an editorial on the bird flu in which they state the following:

“The lack of sustained human-to-human transmission suggests that this AH5N1 avian virus does not currently have the capacity to cause a human pandemic”

While they do go on to say the virus could mutate with the influenza A virus and has the potential to acquire the means for rapid human to human transmission, it does NOT have this ability now. All the preparation and fear being created in the media is about a theoretical speculation. And it is an extremely remote possibility.

Meanwhile, the “Biodefense and Pandemic Vaccine and Drug Development Act of 2005” (S. 1873), recently passed out of the U.S. Senate HELP Committee one day after it was introduced. The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) is calling the bill “a drug company stockholder’s dream and a consumer’s worst nightmare.” This bill, spurred by bird flu fears, will broadly eliminate corporate liability for vaccines and drugs. This bill will soon go to the full Senate for a vote.

The proposed legislation, nicknamed “Bioshield Two,” is being pushed rapidly through Congress without time for voters to make their voices heard by their elected representatives. It will strip Americans of the right to a trial by jury if they are harmed by a drug or vaccine that they are forced by government to take, whenever federal health officials declare a public health emergency.

The bill establishes the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Agency (BARDA), as the single point of authority within the government for research and development of drugs and vaccines in response to bioterrorism and natural disease outbreaks. BARDA will operate in secret, exempt from the Freedom of Information Act and the Federal Advisory Committee Act, insuring that no evidence of injuries or deaths caused by drugs and vaccines labeled as “countermeasures” will become public.

This proposed legislation is an unconstitutional attempt by some in Congress to give a taxpayer-funded handout to pharmaceutical companies for drugs and vaccines the government can force all citizens to use, while absolving everyone connected from any responsibility for injuries and deaths which occur.

Everything I am reading on this suggests that anyone caught up in this bird flu hype nonsense is to take a deep breath and relax and realize the truth here. Unless you are a full-time bird handler in a third-world country who has a seriously challenged immune system you probably have a much better chance of winning the lottery than dying from the proposed bird flu epidemic.

You don’t believe in the mandatory mental health screenings and yet you’ll buy into this? oh well.. what did PT Barnum say?

The odds of mutation are actually quite high. Viruses mutate differently than otehr organisms. When a virus infects a host cell, it’s genetic material (it doesn’t have DNA) disperses in the cell. The pieces then replicate. When the replicated pieces are ready to leave the cell, thhey recombine. And here’s the rub– they’ll recombine with whatever strands happen to be present in the cell. If a person is infected with both H5N1 and another virus that is more easily transmitted between humans, there is a high statistical probability that the avian virus will then obtain the means to transmit human-to-human. There is, of course, no guarantee that it would retain its terrible mortality (over 50% of symptomatic people) but do you really want to take the chance? And counting on a vaccine might be foolhardy. How long have we been waiting for an HIV vaccine?

And I’d rather be a sucker than dead.

As a veteran, S. 1873 disturbs me because it will probably be used as legal bulletproofing against future class action suits by veterans for health problems related to the Anthrax vaccine that we were forced to take in the 1990s-2000s. Any thoughts?

Jason,

I agree. Any bill that gives blanket protection from lawsuits is suspect.

Thanks for a science lesson I didn’t need..
odds are better that we could get hit by a bus tomorrow ..
it’s still a bunch of hokum as far as I am concerned, and is just a ploy to get people to buy Tamiflu at $100 a pop as well as pass legislation that is dubious at best. Throw in a few pandemic movies put out by Hollywood and you got a scared public who will agree to anything if they think the government will “protect them”.

Thanks for a lesson in bitchiness that none of us needed.

And, BTW, yesterday at work (DuPont) we got another email on the preparations that the company is taking in the event of a pandemic. I guess large multinational corporations are suckers, too.

oh Daryl.. really the name calling is unneccessary and I thought quite beneath you.

If I am a bitch for pointing out the obvious scare tactics going on then so be it. And excuse me for saying but Dupont most likely has a huge stake in selling the very pharmaceuticals and supplies in making phamaceuticals – so it makes sense that they fuel this fire. Best place for them to start is at home with their employees. Gee what large multinational corporation will be next to make such plans? Pfizer? or maybe Eli Lilly?

Just remember I learned the phrase IAATM from you.

And excuse me for saying but Dupont most likely has a huge stake in selling the very pharmaceuticals and supplies in making phamaceuticals

Wrong. You really shouldn’t opine when you have absolutely no idea what the hell you’re talking about. Remember the old saw about opening your mouth and removing all doubt?

And I believe you started the name calling.

I first started tracking the bird flu stuff when Fred First at Fragments from Floyd showed concern about it. That was at least 6 mo. prior to anybody in the US Govt making a public comment about it. However, I guess a semi-retired biologist living in the backwoods of VA could really be a double agent for nefarious corporate interests. Maybe Fred doesn’t even exist, and his blog is actually authored from deep within the bowels of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Yeah, that’s it. That’s the ticket.

Daryl – oh yeah Dupont has nothing to do with making the gear for people who make pharamceuticals (like vaccines)or supplying folks who are scared of flu virus with face masks and plastic gloves and antiseptics. I guess they don’t stand to make a dime off of the avian flu hysteria. Not many hospitals will spend millions on stocking up on items for the feared pandemic. (oh please)

www2.d...en_US/

Medical Device Materials

DuPont has contributed innovation to the medical device industry with polymer science, advanced coatings technology, high-performance packaging materials and protective apparel and accessories for medical and pharmaceutical controlled environments.

At DuPont, where the Science of Protection has evolved over two centuries, you’ll find that DuPont products advance better health care by helping protect people — improving their health with medical and pharmaceutical devices that contain DuPont materials or packaging made of DuPont materials. DuPont helps prevent the spread of disease with antiseptics and disinfectants, protective garments, accessories and non-porous durable surfaces.

yeah – Daryl – I have no idea what I am talking about – LOL perhaps you should go to Dupont’s website and get an education – seems you are the one who has opened your mouth and has removed all doubt..
and by the way, it looks like you owe me an apology –

at any rate keep stockpiling your stuff .. you are obviously making someone rich…

Judy,

You still don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. You wrote: “Dupont most likely has a huge stake in selling the very pharmaceuticals and supplies in making phamaceuticals.”

This is an incorrect statement. We sold our pharma business > 5 years ago and sales into the pharma and medical industry are tiny compared to our overall sales. Probably our biggest individual product that we sell into that market is a spun-bond polymer, used in hospital gowns. You might be more familiar with it in its home/industrial version– Tyvek(R). Which market do you think is larger? Another product in that division is an HFC used in asthma inhalers.

We don’t have a huge stake in selling into pharma. And you might want to read the annual report before you make the next ignorant statement.

Dupont has nothing to do with making the gear for people who make pharamceuticals (like vaccines)or supplying folks who are scared of flu virus with face masks and plastic gloves and antiseptics.

This is correct. We don’t sell to consumers.

Look – it is obvious that DuPont has a financial stake in the avian flu and promoting the idea of a pandemic..
if you want to buy into the fear mongering then be my guest. hoard away and get prepared – but the truth is in the press releases and news reports.

“To assist Delaware’s agriculture industry and federal and state governments in their efforts against avian flu, DuPont, Wilmington, DE, has offered to supply a range of disinfectants, including DuPont Virkon S, to help prevent the “bird flu” from spreading. DuPont also has offered to provide biosecurity control expertise, including appropriate measures for vehicle disinfection, farm border controls and targeted disinfection applications.”

To help farmers and governments battle the current avian influenza outbreak, DuPont today announced it has accelerated efforts to supply DuPont(TM) Virkon(R) S veterinary disinfectant where it is needed most to help prevent the avian flu from spreading. sev.pr...1.html

DuPont today offered to accelerate efforts to supply a range of disinfectants including DuPont(TM) Virkon(R) S to help prevent the “bird flu” from spreading. Also, DuPont has offered to provide biosecurity control expertise, including appropriate measures for vehicle disinfection, farm border controls, and targeted disinfection applications.
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$$ for their consulting services:
“We have offered to federal and state agriculture government officials and industry representatives our unique science expertise, capabilities and willingness to step up efforts during this time of need in our home state,”
anteci...t2.htm

The market segment that Kullman leads for DuPont – Safety & Protection – is focused on providing safety and protection solutions through science, technology and knowledge. DuPont Safety Resources, a fast-growing safety consulting business,
safety...docid={0B8DD3B1-450B-4A9F-A03E-85FDB02CC0AB}&VNETCOOKIE=NO

pharmaceutical manufacturing (vaccines included) 2005-12-09
Teflon® PTFE and Teflon® PFA are strong candidates for pharma processing equipment www2.d...x.html

They make pharmaceutical propellants used in making pharmaceuticals
dupont...t.html

Avian flu has only killed people who handle sick birds everyday – it is still pretty remote that it will mutate into a pandemic virus – there are lots of other strains of flu and disease out there that can also mutate, so what else is new? There are people who are capitalizing on fear. I am not going to buy into the fear mongering. You have just as much of a chance of getting hit by a bus or having some other accident (which I don’t wish on anyone). Let’s face it – if there is ever a pandemic, we all will be screwed anyway – holing yourself up in your house will not stop economic collapse and all the other calamities that they say will be the consequences. You would do better to see what your state is doing about requiring you to get vaccinated against your wishes, even if you quarantine yourself and your family.

Bottomline is that companies such as Dupont are making a buck on this….and DuPont in particular has to make lots of money in order to pay for their Teflon lawsuits.

27 JULY 2005 | Questions of Teflon’s safety continue to mount. Three federal agencies are probing whether DuPont concealed information about the health effects of a chemical used to make the product. People living near a Teflon factory have twenty times as much of the chemial in their blood as the rest of the population. Now, a newly filed lawsuit claims DuPont knowingly sold a faulty product for decades. DuPont has already agreed to pay up to $340 million in a civil settlement for Teflon pollution and is the subject of an EPA investigation into its coverup of studies of the chemical’s health effects.

That’s my last word on this .. have a nice day