November 27, 2005
Fuss and Feathers
Pandemic panic over the avian flu.
"It's practically a state secret that the discovery of H5N1 in poultry dates back not to 1997 but rather to 1959, when it was identified in Scottish chickens. Perhaps haggis had a protective effect on the farmers, but there was a terrible outbreak of the related H5N2 among both chickens and turkeys in Pennsylvania in 1983-85 (17 million birds were destroyed) that appears to have originated as H5N1 in seagulls. So H5N1 has been flying around the globe for over four decades and hasn't done a number on us yet. That doesn't mean it won't ever; but there's absolutely no reason to think it will pick this year or next.
Still, there are those of great influence who would have us think a pandemic is just around the corner. Reassuringly, their explanations are unscientific. One is that "we're overdue" for a pandemic. Google "avian flu" and "pandemic" and "overdue," and you'll get over 40,000 hits."
article by Michael Fumento
~One of the H's at Unknown News reflects: "I've grown weary -- is that the right word? --perhaps 'impatient' with the plague we're constantly on the verge of dying from. It all seems very unnecessarily alarming... except mad cow, which actually worries me but seems underplayed in the media.
Then again, what the fuck do I know? Maybe hiccups is the deadliest threat ... "
['Cul De Chicken' photo from Hareline Dubbin Inc.\ not above]