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Scaremongers and Bandwagons...

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
in Politics & Debate
Don't you just despair?

Tory calls for "Bird Flu" Minister

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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Sadly I could imagine Guardian advertisments for Coughs and Sneezes Spread Diseases Co-Ordinators on £50K a year.

    Where's my Protect and Survive handbook?

    We're all dooooooooooooooomed.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    "He called on the government to appoint a homeland security minister, who could oversee all bird flu planning. "

    :eek:

    I has hoped the phrase 'homeland security' would never be used in British politics.........
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Not sure if we need a Bird Flu Minister, but surely at least a Tsar?


    :p
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I'd prefer a Bird Flu Scapegoat, myself- one noble minister (preferably Bridget Prentice *spit*) who takes all the Bird Flu for all of us, and has an agonising death because of it.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    If 50 000 people at the very least could die from this painfull and lethal disease in this country alone then every one save the utterly deluded or smug idiots who believe they are untouchable and care nothing for the suffering of others would want to take every precaution and do everything possible to controll this danger.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Born Slippy wrote:
    If 50 000 people at the very least could die from this painfull and lethal disease in this country alone then every one save the utterly deluded or smug idiots who believe they are untouchable and care nothing for the suffering of others would want to take every precaution and do everything possible to controll this danger.

    Every precaution? How about we kill every bird in the UK?
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    the simple thing to stop it killing loads would be to abandon the practice of going to work when you 1st get some symptoms to prove to bosses you're not ill, infecting lots of people on the tube, then having to go to the doctors and queue up for a medicalcertificiate


    would stop almost all infections

    only children should be vaccinated cause we know theyll be sent to school regardless by some parents
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Bloody immigrant birds coming here uninvited and and bringing all those diseases with them!

    I bet they'll be applying for benefits the second they land in our shores.

    Send the spongers back! :mad:
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Despite the stupid title (the British have never had a homeland - we have a home) I don't think the idea behind it is bad. One of the problems with foot and mouth was too many Ministers having a finger in the pie. If something needs to be done quickly, but isn't related to defence security we have very few structures in place to bring it together.

    There does need to be one Minister in charge, even if it is an alreay existing one in DEFRA, DH or HO.
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    Teh_GerbilTeh_Gerbil Posts: 13,332 Born on Earth, Raised by The Mix
    Oh God.

    We are fucked - The Tories calling for a larger Government. Whole world's gone mad folks! Whoop whoop!

    Stupidity reigns supreme, then?
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Born Slippy wrote:
    If 50 000 people at the very least could die from this painfull and lethal disease in this country alone then every one save the utterly deluded or smug idiots who believe they are untouchable and care nothing for the suffering of others would want to take every precaution and do everything possible to controll this danger.

    Do you smoke? Do you drink? Do you eat fatty foods?

    Wouldn't you say that 50,000 deaths from those was be a very conservative estimate? Seriously dude, you need to look at associated risks.
    • The current virus affects poultry, it doesn't even affect the entrie bird population.
    • When it has jumped to human, it has jumped to individuals and is not contagious.
    • Those affected were people who worked with large numbers of poultry.
    • The disease currently covers a human population of approx 2bn.
    • Since the first case was identified in 1997 there have been approx. 70 human fatalities.

    I'll let you work out the risks from that, but you can be damned sure that you stand more chance of me running you over outside your house, than of catching this virus.

    That isn't smug or idiotic. It doesn't mean that I thinktha tI am untouchable. It just means that I have a grasp on the real world, that I understand the risk and that I don't consider the Daily Mail/a.n.other "news"paper as a reliable source of information.

    Remember SARS? Do you know how many cases there were in the UK?
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    NQA wrote:
    There does need to be one Minister in charge, even if it is an alreay existing one in DEFRA, DH or HO.

    That will happen though, from a Civil Service POV anyway.

    Usually one takes overall responsibility with others feeding infrom their respective departments. F&M was just a clusterfuck from start to finish, but the lessons learned about traceability will help us if our chicken farms get hit.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Man Of Kent wrote:
    I'll let you work out the risks from that, but you can be damned sure that you stand more chance of me running you over outside your house, than of catching this virus.

    In addition to all that, this figure of 50,000 is just a haphazard guesstimate if, and that's a bloody big if, this flu can start to transfer from human to human. At the moment, it can't.

    This reminds me of the huge thing about BSE and vCJD. vCJD was to kill squillions of people in x years, and it was the worst thing to ever happen, like, ever. How many people have died of vCJD? You can count them on your fingers.

    Being realistic doesn't mean you think you're untouchable. But I have more chance of choking and dying on the pain au chocolat and cup of tea I'm currently enjoying than I have of dying from bird fu.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Man Of Kent wrote:
    That will happen though, from a Civil Service POV anyway.

    Usually one takes overall responsibility with others feeding infrom their respective departments. F&M was just a clusterfuck from start to finish, but the lessons learned about traceability will help us if our chicken farms get hit.

    Not sure that's true. Working with other departments is a nightmare if your Minister and their Minister disagree. OK it gets sorted out, which is fine for most situations, but not very good in a crisis.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    the risks of getting it at the moment are miniscule, however if it mutates to be human to human contagious, thats when itll be dangerous

    at the moment, if it affected poultry here, only those working in battery chicken farms will be at risk

    good reason to ban all battery hens i say
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Aladdin wrote:
    Send the spongers back! :mad:
    i saw a guy using binoculars recently ...watching closely the habits of a lesser loaded sponger bird.
    cute little chick.
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