Mark, At my museum we often joke about being MSI (Museum scene investigators!) Also did you catch that meteor that fell over Australia, not to mention that earthquake in the Congo! Marielle ********************** Marielle Fortier Museum Registrar Norwich University Museum Northfield, Vermont ********************** >From: Mark Janzen <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Re: The most serious health threat facing the planet says W.H.O. - >a rational digression? >Date: Mon, 5 Dec 2005 16:37:35 -0600 > >Roger et al., > >Thanks. Looks like a well constructed site, and useful. Kudos on your >involvement. > >However, since I do not have an alarmist bone in my body(and it is Monday), >I feel the need to express my personal reasoned opinion on the issue, which >I have been hearing far too much about. No one in particular is the object >of this particular angst. I believe we should be far more concerned with >the looming "plandemic" (a word taken from one of the site's interesting >articles that I wish I had coined) associated with this phenomenon, than >with the potential of the pandemic itself. A plandemic is a serious, though >normally non-fatal affliction contracted quite easily by a wide array of >institutions in any media obsessed culture. Plandemics are however >enormously wasteful of time and resources better spent on something >substantive. Y2K springs to mind. > >Essentially in this case: bad science + errant immunology assumptions + >alarmist media + government support = bird flu plandemic > >Although it is possible for some variety of this flu to become commonly >transferrable to humans and subsequently transmissible between us, there is >no certainty that it ever will. Much like the possibility that an airborne >version of HIV will develop over time. There are thousands of animal >diseases that do not cross over species lines to which we are exposed >daily, any one of which might have the same effects. Currently you can only >get the "bird flu" from infected birds(and perhaps through mosquitoes), and >even then the odds are astronomical, since it is not a virus that normally >effects humans at all. Even if you catch it, it still can not be >transmitted from person to person, and it is nowhere near 100% fatal. At >this point it is hardly an earthshaking problem, and no amount of planning >on my institution's part is going to do a darned thing to change whether it >becomes a bigger one. It also seems odd to me that they are cranking out >vaccinations for a virus that does not yet exist, i.e. a virus that can be >transmitted from person to person. Perhaps a vaccination against the one >that occasional people get directly from birds will be helpful? > >My university does have plans for tornadoes, terrorist attack, fires, >nuclear war, floods, and even earthquakes(in Kansas). There are medication >distribution plans and centers should something sweep across the nation. >Hopefully they will not go further off the deep end and develop a new plan >for every potential yet unrealized threat that crops up in the future. >Besides, are we done planning for HIV, tuberculosis, heart disease, cancer, >and all the other problems that we already have, without adding ones that >do not yet exist and may never come to pass? Hundreds of thousands die >every year from those already pandemic diseases. > >All that said, it is still technically possible that the bird flu pandemic >will occur someday. Actually, on a less cheerful note, it is a certainty >something like it will occur eventually, since the earth is going to get >really tired of the skin disease that is us. I am glad the CDC and the >WHO(not the band) are there to shield us from the plaent's righteous >revenge. I personally prefer to waste my fears on random lightning strikes, >dinosaur-killing meteors, and machete-wielding sociopaths. I promise not to >complain if I am one of the ones it strikes down. The plandemic I mean. > >Please note that the usual caveats of my not being a professional alarmist, >viral epidemiologist, or vital statistics analyzer apply, although I would >be happy to play one on tv. A spot on CSI Las Vegas would rock! > >Have a great day all. > >Mark Janzen >Registrar/Collections Manager >Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art >Martin H. Bush Outdoor Sculpture Collection >Wichita State University >(316)978-5850 > > > > Roger Smith > <[log in to unmask] > CO.NZ> To > Sent by: Museum [log in to unmask] > discussion list cc > <[log in to unmask] > SE.LSOFT.COM> Subject > A thought for the list - The most > serious health threat facing the > 12/04/2005 11:04 planet says W.H.O. > PM > > > Please respond to > Museum discussion > list > <[log in to unmask] > SE.LSOFT.COM> > > > > > > >Greeting to list members, > >CBS yesterday is quoted as saying " Fewer than 100 people have died >worldwide, yet the World Health Organization calls the Avian Flu' the most > >serious health threat facing the planet, greater than AIDS or tuberculosis" > >While not wishing to spread either panic nor despondency amongst the list, >it seemed timely to remind people that I recently published another "public > >good" web site - Global Pandemic News - which can be viewed at >http://www.pandemic-news.info > >Our university ( my day job! ) is reasonably well advanced it its plans to > >combat such an pandemic and other list members may also be formulating >plans? > >I built the above site to bring live news feeds 24X7 to anyone with an >interest in this topic. This is just a timely reminder of the web address >and its existence. You may want to share it with friends? > >Best wishes to all > >Roger >Global Museum > >========================================================= >Important Subscriber Information: > >The Museum-L FAQ file is located at >http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed >information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail >message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should >read "help" (without the quotes). > >If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to >[log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff >Museum-L" (without the quotes). > >========================================================= >Important Subscriber Information: > >The Museum-L FAQ file is located at >http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed >information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail >message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should >read "help" (without the quotes). > >If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to >[log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff >Museum-L" (without the quotes). _________________________________________________________________ Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today - it's FREE! http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/ ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). 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