Swine Fever Outbreak.

[vt_maverick]

Well, just so I'm clear on this view:
Faced with the whole of the world's numerous and various health agencies saying that there is a major health threat that deserves significant attention and preventaive measure, you have two options:
1. Believe that they are probably expressing reasonable assessments, though they certainly, and appropriately, err on the side of caution.
2. Assume that a massive, world-wide, multi-agency scam is underway in which these agencies have colluded in order to decieve the world regarding a largely made up threat, all for the purposes of securing their agency budgets.

Also, it is helpful to differentiate between the health agencies (CDC, WHO, etc) and The Media.

- Os

Organizations acting in their own best interest is called capitalism, not a conspiracy.

[Osteomata]

Well, private organizations acting in their own best interest is a aspect of capitalism. These government organizations, by supposedly acting in their own best interest by massively exagerating to the point of coordinated international lie-festivals, might also take as their best interest the risk of being called out by legitimate, qualified specialist that disagree. So far I have a couple of news paper editorial wirters and a quack. I'm going with the CDC and the thousands of epidemiologists that have experience on the subject.

Organizations acting in their own best interest is called capitalism, not a conspiracy.

[vt_maverick]

Well, private organizations acting in their own best interest is a aspect of capitalism. These government organizations, by supposedly acting in their own best interest by massively exagerating to the point of coordinated international lie-festivals...

Point taken on private v. public. Perhaps evolution / natural selection is a better fit. We see it all the time in the government / defense sector. If your agency doesn't stay relevant, you'll disappear. And there's nothing high-level bureaucrats fear more than that.

Again, just because multiple organizations have the same motivations and therefore act in the same way does NOT mean they are part of a "coordinated international lie-festival" conspiracy in the same way that the hundreds of people who flock to a Chevy dealership for an employee pricing sale aren't part of some anti-foreign automaker conspiracy. They just all have the same motivation, and therefore take the same action on the issue.

Btw, I don't think the agencies are overhyping either. Heck, I hope it's the JOB of organizations charged with worldwide disease control TO be paranoid. I agree with others however that the media is recasting cautious statements and actions to create a ratings spike.

[Osteomata]

OK, I can buy that much easier, as I made the distinction between The Media and the multiple health organizations earlier. I don't particularly care what the media is saying, I based my assessment of the threat on the warnings from every (that is, I have found no exceptions) national and international health organization, both government and non-profit.

Also a member of the government /defense sector, and my program looks solid for another five years, heh.

Point taken on private v. public. Perhaps evolution / natural selection is a better fit. We see it all the time in the government / defense sector. If your agency doesn't stay relevant, you'll disappear. And there's nothing high-level bureaucrats fear more than that.

Again, just because multiple organizations have the same motivations and therefore act in the same way does NOT mean they are part of a "coordinated international lie-festival" conspiracy in the same way that the hundreds of people who flock to a Chevy dealership for an employee pricing sale aren't part of some anti-foreign automaker conspiracy. They just all have the same motivation, and therefore take the same action on the issue.

Btw, I don't think the agencies are overhyping either. Heck, I hope it's the JOB of organizations charged with worldwide disease control TO be paranoid. I agree with others however that the media is recasting cautious statements and actions to create a ratings spike.

[don moore]

ok.. I just ordered 100 cases of EMERGEN-Cs and 200 cans of chicken noodle soup..Im set

[Riff Raff]

ok.. I just ordered 200 cans of chicken noodle soup..Im set

Chicken noodle soup??? Not for me, I prefer Bean n' Bacon.