I was reading this article on yahoo on Bush wanting to use military in case avian flue breaks out. Not having a good knowledge in the related material I did a google and came across an article in nation. Links to both articles below: yahoo - http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051005/ap_on_he_me/bush_avian_flu nation - http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20050718&s=davis I was talking to someone and they said that while a number of countries around the world have been busy stockpiling certain vaccines as precautionary measures, Bush Administration has not been interested at all. A lot of other countries have been baffled by this. If something major were to happen, and Bush administration fails as they did during Katrina, what would be the repercussions?
I can hear it now. W saying "We put the call into the military, reserve, and national guard but you gotta understand that it takes time to get them out of Iraq back to the states, like 15-20 years."
judging from his response to 9/11 (attacking iraq), im sure that when the first case of bird flu hits america dubya will declare war on hemmroids.
Maybe he thinks it is just another FEMA water issue. "Evian?! Jesus, can't they just drink tap water, or Aquafina at least?"
Some interesting developments: After Bush's fear mongering, Bush uses the "2 million people could die" rhetoric to justify purchasing 20 million doses of tamiflu . So what, you ask? Well, it turns out that the patent for tamiflu is held by Gilead Corporation, whose former chairman and still primary stockholder is none other than ol' Chief Chicken Hawk - Donald Rumsfeld. One might venture to assume he will profit mightily on the 2 billion dollar purchase courtesy of the US taxpayer. Of course, it could be that Rummy was just in the "right place, right time" right? Well --- Avian Flu is not currently thought to be transmissable to humans, according to the British Medical Journal. Even better, tamiflu does nothing to actually prevent and/or cure the disease. At best, it will relieve symptoms. At worst, it can cause mutations to an even more deadly strain. In fact, it was proven completely useless against the disease. As of September 30, 2005, the H5N1 strain has been shown to be resistant to tamiflu in Hong Kong. Funny how it still seems to work out for Rummy huh? Maybe it helps to have his type of prior experience.
I have over two months of sick time saved up that I'll lose if I don't use it. A good case of bird flu would be a nice change of pace... Come on Avian, gimme whatcha got!
How is it stupid? I was pointing out the facts, Bush gets bashed because he didn't stockpile the vaccines, so when he did buy the vaccines, he gets bashed again. Am I wrong that he is pretty much in a no-win situation?
For one - nix the accusative. I am rather ambivalent on the subject, due to the aforementioned medical journal citation. As for your opinion: Timing and method are everything. I will happily admit "I am glad that Bush is keeping abreast of the flu situation and attempting to protect the american public". HOWEVER: Don't you think it a little strange that the president, with access to hoardes of medical advisors, chose tamiflu, the drug that won't help anyone or anything other than Rumsfeld's wallet size? If I said I'd help you out financially in your time of need, and showed up with a ton of "invest for dummies books" conveniantly written by a good friend of mine, wouldn't you be a little "underwhelmed"? Maybe even suspicious? Goddam man - think critically.
It's not about who holds the patent! It's about the drug being useless, yet a financial orgasm for Rumsfeld. That just stinks of corruption. Duh.
