There is one thing Democrats are good at.

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

Democrats have criticized the administration for not having a plan. Sen. Tom Harkin (news, bio, voting record), an Iowa Democrat, said in a statement Saturday that time for action was short.

 

This is taken from a Yahoo article about the flu pandemic that everyone is worried is about to happen.

 

Every time I hear about something bad happening in the news this is always a part of the article. Democrats criticize the Bush Administration for ( insert perceived failure here ). Could they, just once, just shut the hell up and do something useful?

 

PLEASSSSSSSE?!?!?!

 

 

A potential problem arises, the administration reacts to it and Democrats whine that not enough is being done. But thats alright though. People take note of who's doing something and who sits there and crys all the time.

[Heads22]

Yeah, because Harkin's facing a real threat of not getting re-elected....right. Harkin's not going anywhere anytime soon, even in a red state. Either is Grassley for that matter, because, as my dad (a liberal who votes democrat all the time, but votes for Grassley) says, he'll not just go along party lines. I don't see Iowa's senators changing at all until one of them dies or steps down. I think people like the balance.

 

Politics, the neverending struggle.

[Rex Kickass]

Maybe when the Republicans actually include Democrats in the process of making a plan - or considering what they do bring to the table - you can make that argument.

 

But when you have Katrina investigations excluding Democrat oversight, when you have the Congress waiting a year to consider a Department of Homeland Security because it was a Dem idea... its kind of hard to get Congress to even consider your idea - why bring it to the table?

[EvilMonkey]

And when you spend the whole election campaign saying "I have a plan", but when asked about your plan,can't come up with anything, that's progress.

[CubKilla]

Maybe when the Republicans actually include Democrats in the process of making a plan - or considering what they do bring to the table - you can make that argument.

 

But when you have Katrina investigations excluding Democrat oversight, when you have the Congress waiting a year to consider a Department of Homeland Security because it was a Dem idea... its kind of hard to get Congress to even consider your idea - why bring it to the table?

 

Democrats ran the entire State of Louisiana and look what happened. We already know how the Louisiana democrats reacted when a Class 5 hurricane was approaching and gaining strength ..... then..... they blamed Bush.

[Steff]

Democrats ran the entire State of Louisiana and look what happened. We already know how the Louisiana democrats reacted when a Class 5 hurricane was approaching and gaining strength  ..... then..... they blamed Bush.

 

 

But, but, but...

 

Maybe if the Republican's didn't cut the $$ to repair the levies....

 

:rolly

 

 

Funny stuff here... now it's the Dem's fault that the CAT 5 hurricane destroyed Louisiana because somehow how they run the G'ment is directly related to the degree of a natural disaster.

[Kyyle23]

I love how Republicans keep saying "Oh sure, George bush caused the Hurricane."

 

I never faulted anyone for the natural disaster. I faulted people for the reaction to the natural disaster, which was embarrassing and shameful at the very least. I blame FEMA more than I blame Bush in this instance, a hell of alot more. The boss always takes the heat for his employees. Im not saying its right, its just the way things work. I dont see this issue as being republican or democrat, I see it as being humanitarian. It was a sense of responsibility and reactive-ness(if thats even a word) that was abandoned, and thats a shame.

[EvilMonkey]

But, but, but...

 

Maybe if the Republican's didn't cut the $$ to repair the levies....

 

:rolly

Funny stuff here... now it's the Dem's fault that the CAT 5 hurricane destroyed Louisiana because somehow how they run the G'ment is directly related to the degree of a natural disaster. 

 

No the hurricane isn't the dems fault, but the negligent preparedness and first level response to the hurricane is. The failure to use city and school buses is. The failure to enforce a mandatory evacuation is. The using of levy money to build casions is. There is enough blame to go around here for all, but it started right there in the cradle of corruption.

[Steff]

No the hurricane isn't the dems fault, but the negligent preparedness and first level response to the hurricane is. The failure to use city and school buses is.  The failure to enforce a mandatory evacuation is. The using of levy money to build casions is. There is enough blame to go around here for all, but it started right there in the cradle of corruption.

 

 

 

And that cradle includes ALL politicians.

 

The two bottom lines here are that #1, anything over a 3 would have killed Louisiana.. and #2 many people refused to leave. No amount of planning would have done squat for those folks.

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

But, but, but...

 

Maybe if the Republican's didn't cut the $$ to repair the levies....

 

:rolly

Funny stuff here... now it's the Dem's fault that the CAT 5 hurricane destroyed Louisiana because somehow how they run the G'ment is directly related to the degree of a natural disaster. 

 

 

BUT BUT BUT Maybe if the bill wasn't killed over and over again over the years because of environmental concerns..........

 

 

:rolly

[YASNY]

BUT BUT BUT Maybe if the bill wasn't killed over and over again over the years because of environmental concerns..........

:rolly

 

The snail darter's lobby is powerful.

[Steff]

BUT BUT BUT Maybe if the bill wasn't killed over and over again over the years because of environmental concerns..........

:rolly

 

 

Stellar comprehension there NUKE. I know.. tough since my post didn't include a "f*** you, you sorry ass cock sucking pieces of political democratic dog s***... suck it... bla, bla, bla.. yadda, yadda, yadda... "

[Kyyle23]

/becomes observant fly on the wall.

 

Edited October 10, 2005 by kyyle23

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

Stellar comprehension there NUKE. I know.. tough since my post didn't include a "f*** you, you sorry ass cock sucking pieces of political democratic dog s***... suck it... bla, bla, bla.. yadda, yadda, yadda... "

 

 

LOL!

 

I dont need bad language to get my point across here. A little well-placed sarcasm, and facts that are convieniently overlooked by you make the point far better.

[Steff]

LOL!

 

I dont need bad language to get my point across here.  A little well-placed sarcasm,  and facts that are convieniently overlooked by you make the point far better.

 

My point was that all of the finger pointing is BULLs***. It doesn't matter how or why it happened.. it did.. and many people died. Who was it screaming.. "lets drop the political bulls*** and get the people out of there..."...? Hmmm... was it you...? Yes.. I do believe it was you. But the first chance you get here you are slamming. Hypocritical... yea.. hypocritical.

 

1000 people died. Pretty f***ing asinine to overlook that FACT. IMO.. of course.

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

My point was that all of the finger pointing is BULLs***. It doesn't matter how or why it happened.. it did.. and many people died. Who was it screaming.. "lets drop the political bulls*** and get the people out of there..."...? Hmmm... was it you...? Yes.. I do believe it was you. But the first chance you get here you are slamming. Hypocritical...  yea.. hypocritical.

 

1000 people died. Pretty f***ing asinine to overlook that FACT. IMO.. of course.

 

 

Slamming who? Oh yeah, the Democratic politicians who would much rather point fingers and race bait than do something to solve the problem............Yeah. Do people like that deserve to be slammed.......defenitely. If you bothered to read my posts a little closer you'd notice that I also deplored the class and race baiting that was going on but there's another fact overlooked.

 

Yes I did say that we should not point fingers and concentrate on helping people but Democrats were falling all over themselves in the days right after to blame the Federal Government for not responding fast enough to cover for their own shortcomings. When it was suggested that the military take charge of disaster relief the states ( especially Louisiana ) said "Hell no this is our job". If you're looking for hypocrasy here you have it. Its the states responsibility to handle disaster relief according to them but its still the governments fault that it was executed so poorly here. Yeah right. If you're buying that then it's you that has issues with reading comprehension.

Edited October 10, 2005 by NUKE_CLEVELAND

[Steff]

I did read your post Nuke.. and I responded with the sarcastic smiley guy.

 

I'm well aware that the bill was killed and there are a lot of assholes to blame for the levies not being right.. or the evacuation not being executed properly.. and the relief on all levels by ALL involved being questioned.

 

I don't buy any of it.. they are all assholes. I call a spade a spade and dont "slurp" just because of who signs my checks..

Edited October 10, 2005 by Steff

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

BTW, I dont need to be reminded that 1000 people or so died in this hurricane. It bothers me when Americans die like that...........even the poor.

Edited October 10, 2005 by NUKE_CLEVELAND

[bmags]

This is taken from a Yahoo article about the flu pandemic that everyone is worried is about to happen.

 

Every time I hear about something bad happening in the news this is always a part of the article.  Democrats criticize the Bush Administration for ( insert perceived failure here ).  Could they, just once, just shut the hell up and do something useful? 

 

PLEASSSSSSSE?!?!?!

A potential problem arises, the administration reacts to it and Democrats whine that not enough is being done.  But thats alright though.  People take note of who's doing something and who sits there and crys all the time.

 

did you take a hiatus from the country during the years of 1992 to 2000 where the republicans were doing the exact same thing except louder and dirtier?

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

did you take a hiatus from the country during the years of 1992 to 2000 where the republicans were doing the exact same thing except louder and dirtier?

 

 

Republicans took control of Congress in 1994. Evidentely you were asleep during the whole "Contract With America" thing.

 

 

There were only 2 years where we were completely out of power.

[Balta1701]

A potential problem arises, the administration reacts to it and Democrats whine that not enough is being done.  But thats alright though.  People take note of who's doing something and who sits there and crys all the time.

I don't think this is an attack post aimed at any particular group, but I think it's an informative post that if nothing else could be useful in evaluating whether or not Harkin's words would be warranted. link.

 

Pandemic influenza awareness week. Day 5: How ready are we, and what can YOU do?

Thus far this week, I’ve discussed the history of pandemic influenza in general, and avian flu in particular. I’ve discussed some issues that must be addressed to prepare us for a pandemic, and the groundbreaking resurrection of the Spanish influenza virus. Today I want to end the series with a look at how prepared we currently are as a nation, and highlight some personal preparedness steps you can take.

 

If you recall from Tuesday, the first outbreak of H5N1 was back in 1997. The anthrax attacks were in 2001. Surely by now we’re prepared for some kind of serious, large-scale, biological event, right?

 

The Feds: "um, er, the dog ate my homework?"

 

The U.S. is still working on finalizing its Pandemic Influenza plan, which it keeps promising will be done "soon." But scientists are a bit skeptical...

 

    "We need more than just a plan; we need the resources to actually activate it," said Jeffrey Levi, a pandemic specialist at the Trust. "The real test of the plan will be whether it comes with dollars attached."

 

    The current draft of the administration's plan fills several hundred pages. It describes the role of the federal government in coordinating the response to a flu pandemic and outlines steps to be taken at all levels of government before and during an outbreak.

 

    In addition to production and stockpiling of vaccines and antivirals, the plan seeks to conduct research, prepare public education campaigns and develop ways for hospitals to handle large numbers of patients.

 

 

 

(Continued below)

 

Recent events have at least gotten the politicians on both sides of the aisle to start speaking. (And reportedly, Bush even read The Great Influenza over his August vacation). Another Republican, Senate Majority leader Bill Frist has suggested a 21st Century "Manhattan Project" to deal with pandemic influenza:

 

    I speak of substantial increases in support for fundamental research, medical education, emergency capacity, and public health infrastructure. I speak of an unleashing of the private sector and unprecedented collaboration between government and industry and academia. I speak of the creation of secure stores of treatments and vaccines and vast networks of distribution.

 

    Above all, I speak not of the creation of a forest of bureaucratic organization charts and the repetition of a hundred million Latinate words in a hundred million meetings that substitute for action, but action itself -- without excuses, without exceptions -- with the goal of protecting every American and the capability to help protect the people of the world.

 

    I call for the creation of the ability to detect, identify, and model any emerging or newly emerging infection, present or future, natural or otherwise -- for the ability to engineer the immunization and cure, and to manufacture, distribute, and administer what we need to get it done and to get it done in time.

 

    This is a bold vision. But it is the kind of thing that, once accomplished, is done. And it is the kind of thing that calls out to be done -- and that, if not done, will indict us forever in the eyes of history.

 

 

 

Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid said:

 

    Perhaps the only thing more troubling than contemplating the possible consequences of an avian flu pandemic is recognizing that neither this nation nor the world are prepared to deal with it.

 

    ***

 

    Given the very real possibility of an outbreak, its potentially severe consequences, and our relative lack of preparedness, we need to take immediate action on several fronts to prepare this nation and the American people for a potential outbreak and to reduce its impact should it occur.

 

 

 

On September 29th, the Senate approved $4 billion to buy antivirals and to fund “other measures” (including surveillance, vaccine development, and state and local preparedness) to ready for a pandemic. However, it’s not certain this will pass through Congress, as Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens threatened to block the money, as the avian flu “has not yet become a threat to human beings.” With all due respect, Senator Stevens doesn’t get it. Whether the current H5N1 is the next pandemic, or whether that burns out and another virus comes along in 5 or 10 years, we need to be prepared. Preparedness takes money. You’d think some politicians would learn the benefits of an “all hazards approach” to disaster preparedness, but unfortunately, far too many are stuck with the “just in time” model. “Just in time” will be too late for an influenza pandemic.

 

Even if the money is provided, there are no guarantees that the U.S could even get a stockpile of Tamiflu, made by Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche. Roche has set up a first-come, first-serve waiting list for the drug, and sources have reported that the U.S. is nowhere near the top of the list. Currently, we have about 2 million doses in stock; ideally, they want 20 million doses or more. Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt has said they should have ordered it earlier, and he “doesn’t know” why that wasn’t done.

 

Pandemic czar Stewart Simonson doesn’t seem to know, either. Simonson was brought on board by former HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson; Simonson was Thompson’s former legal counsel in Wisconsin. His official job is to “coordinate interagency activities between HHS, other federal departments, agencies, offices and state and local officials responsible for emergency preparedness and the protection of the civilian population from acts of bioterrorism and other public health emergencies.”

 

The scary part is that even if we have plenty of Tamiflu, we can’t be 100% sure it would work. A strain of H5N1 isolated from Vietnam earlier in the year was reportedly resistant to Tamiflu, although the accuracy of those reports remains in question.

 

So what about the vaccine?

 

There has been some progress with an H5N1 vaccine. Clinical trials are already underway for a vaccine produced by Sanofi Pasteur. Another vaccine by the same manufacturer was tested earlier in the year, but was made without an adjuvant (a chemical added to the vaccine preparation to further stimulate the immune system). For that vaccine, in order to be effective, 12 times as much vaccine was needed compared to the regular influenza vaccine. Additionally, MedImmune, the company which makes the nasal FluMist vaccine, has announced that it will work with the NIH to develop a library of vaccines for more than a dozen strains of H5N1. FluMist is a live attenuated vaccine; the avian flu vaccines by MedImmune will also be live. MedImmune’s Kathleen Coelingh suggests that even if the vaccine isn’t a perfect match to the circulating strains, having a live vaccine can elicit cross-protective immunity; enough to help in a pandemic situation. However, it will take years for this project to reach fruition.

 

Work has also been moving forward on a influenza vaccine targeted at other viral proteins, rather than the viral hemagglutinin and neuraminidase that are currently targeted. Again, while those are in the pipeline, it will take years of development until they are approved—-if they work at all.

 

The Q word

 

President Bush has recently said that American troops may be used to enforce quarantines in areas suffering from influenza outbreaks. Such an action would require a change in law, and would be a shift in the way quarantines have been handled since the inception of the United States. It also brings to mind images of the movie “Outbreak.”

 

Would large-scale, forced quarantines even work in today’s world? Keep in mind that quarantines are for exposed, but still healthy, individuals. In this era of email, cell phones, and text messages, a “heads-up” notice could be sent in minutes, before officials had time to locate everyone who had potentially been exposed. The population is exceedingly mobile; most people could hop in a car, or on a bus, plane, or train in no time. If even a small proportion of them flee into an uninfected area, the net result could easily be to make the situation worse than it had been previously. This is yet another area where we need an evidence-based plan prior to proceeding....

 

A Closing Plea

 

Finally, in the long term, one thing you can do is make prudent use of your vote, and your voice. The public health infrastructure in the United States has been seriously underfunded for many, many years. In addition to the regular hot-button issues, investigate how public health-friendly your candidate is the next time you vote. Lobby your current legislators (Senators here, find and contact your Representative here) for more money for surveillance and vaccine development. Let them know this is an important issue to you. Write letters to the editor of your local paper to raise awareness in the general public. Even if this pandemic doesn’t emerge, improvements in our preparedness capability and vaccine manufacturing procedures will only put us ahead of the game the next time a deadly influenza virus—-or any other infectious agent--emerges.

[bmags]

Republicans took control of Congress in 1994.  Evidentely you were asleep during the whole "Contract With America" thing.

There were only 2 years where we were completely out of power.

 

didn't really change them blaming the administration for everything even with their power

[Rex Kickass]

Ugh, this is such bulls***.

 

Of course the Democrats have a plan. Of course they have an agenda.

 

The Republicans do. And with neither side its "Nuh-uh."

 

Please.

[FlaSoxxJim]

Republicans took control of Congress in 1994.  Evidentely you were asleep during the whole "Contract With America" thing.

 

I think it was Gingrich that was sleeping during the whole "Contract With America" thing. With somebody other than his wife, of course, but stuff happens.

 

I've never taken the time to properly thank Newt for his philandering ways. Talk about paying for an indiscretion. Not only did revelation of the Newt infidelity help usher the Emperor of GOPAC out of the considerable power he had consolidated and seriously compromise GOP leadership, it also was a very real (if largely unspoken) reason why the Clinton bj impeachment vote failed.

[LowerCaseRepublican]

I think it was Gingrich that was sleeping during the whole "Contract With America" thing.  With somebody other than his wife, of course, but stuff happens. 

 

I've never taken the time to properly thank Newt for his philandering ways.  Talk about paying for an indiscretion.  Not only did revelation of the Newt infidelity help usher the Emperor of GOPAC out of the considerable power he had consolidated and seriously compromise GOP leadership, it also was a very real (if largely unspoken) reason why the Clinton bj impeachment vote failed.

And who can forget the Flynt Report during the "BJ-Gate"?