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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Henry Niman who wrote (79024)	10/19/2004 7:18:04 PM
From: Ish	Respond to of 793897

<<Actually, I think viruses play a historical role in population control.>> Black Plague, Cholera and the 1919 flue sure did.

To: Henry Niman who wrote (79024)	10/19/2004 7:54:57 PM
From: Maurice Winn	Respond to of 793897

<I think viruses play a historical role in population control.> Henry, especially of opposing tribes. One immune tribe's subclinical virus is another vulnerable tribe's nemesis. It's a lot easier to kill off the enemy with a virus which they pass around among themselves than with a sword, or club, which would involve significant opposition and risk to oneself. Inadvertent germ warfare has been around forever in the red in tooth and claw struggle for survival. Which is interesting history, but now we operate on a global miscegenated basis with integrated economic systems based on free exchange of goods and services, so the idea of genocide for liebensraum is out of date. So bugs which have enjoyed a free ride with humanity for eons should be killed off. Genocide is good as far as human viruses and other death-dealing microbes are concerned [from our point of view, not their's]. The bugs are continuing their efforts, cunningly using poor people with less ability to defeat them, gaining a position there, before moving out in the world when there are too many of them for us to stop them. They'll be like Islamic Jihad on steroids and shrunk so that we can't even see them, even if they aren't disguised. They'll arrive on 777s, slipping through Airport Security, which will be consfiscating Nanna's nail clippers but letting through a sniffling chicken farmer. Playing chicken with chicken flu is hazardous to our health. While we fiddle with trivial issues, we ignore a vast and looming catastrophe. As with Osama's guys being ignored up until they bolted through the cockpit doors with box-cutters, we are ignoring chicken flu. Oh, sure, we know chicken flu is out there, just as we knew that Osama was grumpy and doing a bit of damage here and there, but neither Osama wasn't taken seriously until it's was too late. It's the same with H5N1. Once again, after the catastrophe, people will hold inquiries as to why nothing was done, leadership was lacking, how it happened, who was responsible and to make sure it never happens again. There will be a new government department, like Homeland Security, set up after the event. But never mind that gloom and doom stuff, John Kerry and John Edwards have got better hair than King George II and Dick Cheney. But Laura is nicer than Theresa. And George Bush's daughters aren't lesbians. These are important matters for voters. Mqurice