This is the definition of insanity.

[cornermouse]

http://news.yahoo.com/fc/health/influenza

"If a super-flu begins spreading here, states and cities will have to ration scarce medications and triage panicked patients to prevent them from overwhelming hospitals and spreading infection inside emergency rooms, the plan says."

HELLO???????

We're planning on having scarce medications? Why? At what point can we expect our leaders to stop panicking and start thinking?

[lse7581011]

1. They Are Planning

for martial law!

[Lindsay]

3. And decreasing

the surplus population.

[The White Tree]

9. Just in time for Christmas too.

Ebeneezer Scrooge would be so proud.

[paparush]

16. But, If they decrease the surplus population..

then who's gonna pay taxes that go to coroporations and weathly donors? Who's gonna keep the gravy train flowing? Or, is birdflu BushCo's new plan to deal with Social Security; by allowing tens of thousands of retirees to perish, thus culling the SS rolls??

Sinister...very sinister....

[Richard Steele]

2. Looks like the next fuck-up will be NO accident, eh? nice catch! recd.

[cornermouse]

7. Looks like the "Stay Home and Die Plan".

1. Not enough meds.

2. We aren't supposed to go to the hospitals and clinics. In the case of a pandemic there won't be enough EMTs or ambulances and it looks like they might not be allowed to take people to the hospital anyway for fear of overwhelming them?

3. What else is left?

[adigal]

4. I have a plan to go to the country

if this gets out of hand. We should all have a safe place, especially if you are in a city.

Not to be crazy, but just in case.

[FSogol]

8. Aren't there more birds in the Country? ;-)

My parents live in the Shenandoah valley and are surround by turkey farms.

[lonestarnot]

13. Have tent will travel....LOL

[MadHound]

17. Don't be coing to the country after the flu hits

I live out in the country, and if the flu hits, I will be allowing family and friends to come out to stay for the duration before the outbreak really gets bad. Once it gets really bad, nobody is crossing my property line until the damn thing runs its course. I've got enough supplies and what have you to hold out for a long while, but I will not be taking in every Tom Dick and Harry who is fleeing from the city. After all, you might be carrying, or your kid, or their kid, etc. etc. And yes, I will enforce that at gun point.

Call me cold hearted, call me an asshole, but hey, my friends, family and I will still be alive for you to cuss me out. Those who let people in during the outbreak could very well be dead. It won't be anything personal, it is just a matter of survival for myself and those close to me.

[adigal]

20. You sound like Prince Prospero in "Masque of the Red Death"

by Edgar Allen Poe and we all know what happened to him!!

No, I won't be coming to your country, I have my own "mini-estate." The difference between us is that I will welcome my fellow Dems who have tents and want to get away. I don't have to mingle with them, but I sure as hell am not going to shoot them.

So enjoy your survival.

[Bridget Burke]

18. By all means, retire to your country estate.

That's how the nobles of Europe coped with the Black Death.

[SheilaT]

5. Given that the plan is

to have Homeland Security take over in the event of a major flu outbreak, and given the things Bush was saying in the aftermath of Katrina, it seems obvious to me that the country is being prepared to accept the idea (and reality) of martial law in the event of any kind of emergency.

Notice also to what extent the whole idea that Americans can't cope with the slightest disruption and are likely to panic, riot, cower at home, or anything other than go on with their lives, notice that that template is a constant. In other places, terrible things happen -- wars, insurgency, daily suicide bombers, tsunamis, earthquakes -- and as terrible as all those things are, the people somehow get on as best they can, and don't just panic, riot, cower in their homes.

I guess we Americans are not made of very stern stuff, are we?

[cornermouse]

6. I think the real problem is that they're delicate and we aren't.

[LisaLynne]

10. Good point.

I don't think our leaders are panicking. I think they figure that they're rich and powerful enough that they'll be okay. They want US to panic so we'll accept Martial Law. For our own safety, of course. And if a bunch of us die, less for them to do.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

11. My doc has supplies

of homeopathic remedy for the flu. I know folks who have taken it for years every flu season and they haven't gotten the flu. I know some here raise their eyes at homeopathy, but all I know is that for me and many others it works.

[lonestarnot]

12. Planning on ... plan already implemented. My doc said just

yesterday, that he can't even get plain ole flue vaccine anywhere.

[ljm2002]

14. Not only that...

...but think about it: they will have to "ration" scarce medications? Who do you suppose will be able to obtain available rations? Hint: it won't be the inner city po' folk, that's for sure.

[cornermouse]

15. I expect them to start with the White House, work their way through

the Pentagon and Congress and their families, down through Congressional aides, the leaders of business and industry...

[ucmike]

19. this is pretty crazy too. rummy makes $$$ on tamiflu

http://money.cnn.com/2005/10/31/news/newsmakers/fortune_rumsfeld/?cnn=yes
(don't know if this link shows up properly)

rumsfeld makes at least a million already on tamiflu sales.