Are we ready for Bird Flu?

[zjurhgvc]

Just thought I would submit the following: we must now be almost ready for a real National Emergency. I work at a small state university and have become privy to the plans of those who run the university--our president, along with the presidents of all public (and presumably private) universities, was recently sent a form letter from the head of Homeland Security requesting that his university come into compliance with the emergency management plans for bird flu. We discussed this in an administrators' meeting, and it turns out that most counties have already been brought into compliance, plans have been laid, and quarantines have been decided upon (police and etc. will enforce this). The creepy thing was that every administrator in the meeting, basically through what they've seen on TV, heard on NPR, read, or had personally experience with at the local or state level, was aware of what's going to happen (no one voiced any suspicions--it's a conservative place--I kept my mouth shut) and was brainwashed. There was this eery convergence of opinion and fear--millions will die, the young will die in greater numbers, it will come from the northwest, anywhere it crops up will be quarantined, etc.<br><br>It seems to me that this bird flu thing is serving to coordinate much better, in a hierarchical fashion, our entire national emergency apparatus, than the Terrorist Threat ever did. I might conclude that this is because the "Bird Flu" will actually happen, so They definitely want everything to work smoothly when totalitarianism descends.<br><br>But maybe I'm just being paranoid. I will say that my set finally has something to post on the wall--the recent crappy 911 Truth coverage in the Chronicle of Higher Education, but at least it was front page news (with Fetzer's photo), and The Chronicle is the bible of academia. <p></p><i></i>

[Mentalgongfu]

<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr><br>It seems to me that this bird flu thing is serving to coordinate much better, in a hierarchical fashion, our entire national emergency apparatus, than the Terrorist Threat ever did. I might conclude that this is because the "Bird Flu" will actually happen, so They definitely want everything to work smoothly when totalitarianism descends.<br><hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br>I'll have to grudgingly agree from what I've seen in my own profession (I'm a writer for a small community newspaper). Across the country, state, county and city officials are being required to undergo NIMS training, which stands for National Incident Management System. While not technically required, it is necessary in order to remain eligible for federal disaster aid. Ostensibly as a response to Hurricane Katrina failures, the training focuses on the hierarchy of command in a disaster. Understanding and obeying the command structure is, on the surface, a good idea, but when that command structure leads to FEMA - well, I'm obviously skeptical.<br><br>Visiting Nurses Associations (VNA) are being warned and trained on the bird flu. At the prompting of the VNA (which probably was prompted from higher above), the county I work in recently approved a "quarantine and isolation" ordinance. It basically tied up any loose ends, ensuring the legality of a county-wide quarantine ordered by the Board of Health. The ordinance provided for judicial oversight, checks and balances, appeals, etc., and seemed reasonable in the way it was worded - no smoking guns of the impending police state - but the potential for abuse remains at the forefront of my mind. <br><br>There was a public comment period, but no public chose to comment. <br><br>It's not any of these measures alone which have me wary, but the fact these and others are all coming down the pike at the same time, and they're all being sold on fear of a catastrophic disaster, gives me pause. <br><br>Our local FEMA region (FEMA region 6, I think), is set to host a massive bird-flu exercise in August or September. It will be the first of its kind and is being spearheaded, at least in part, by the Clinton County Iowa VNA. <br><br>If the bird flu does materialize as a human pathogen, I would bet it will come from efforts such as the experiments currently underway in which US researchers are attempting to force the bird flu to mutate. The story is they want to see how it mutates, so if the 'real' bird flu mutates to a human disease, they'll have a better understanding how.<br><br>For more on that genius idea, see here:<br> <br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://flubirdnews.com/2006/04/04/us-to-create-a-bird-flu-virus-mutation/">flubirdnews.com/2006/04/04/us-to-create-a-bird-flu-virus-mutation/</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br><!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>Edited to add link</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=mentalgongfu@rigorousintuition>Mentalgongfu</A> at: 6/26/06 9:59 pm<br></i>