The Oil Drum | DrumBeat: July 9, 2009

185 comments on DrumBeat: July 9, 2009

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Undertow on July 9, 2009 - 9:34am

As Argentina shuts down here's everything you wanted to know about swine flu but were afraid to ask...

http://www.slideshare.net/Bilogical/influenza-a-h1-n1-master-update-ver-...

Plus Swine flu sweeps the southern hemisphere

THE swine flu pandemic is intensifying. The White House will meet with state representatives on 9 July to discuss preparations for the autumn flu season in the US, while the UK has shifted its response to dealing with widespread infection.

Meanwhile, in the southern hemisphere, in the midst of its winter flu season, swine H1N1 virus seems to be replacing the seasonal flu viruses that circulated till now - classic pandemic behaviour. This raises concerns that seasonal flu vaccine, which some companies are still making, may be useless when the northern hemisphere's flu season arrives later this year.

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ericy on July 9, 2009 - 10:17am

Damn. That's over 500 pages of slides to wade through. That presentation must have been deadlier than the H1N1 virus itself.

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Undertow on July 9, 2009 - 10:25am

Yeh, I know. But you can fast forward through it page by page rapidly on on broadband. There's a downloadable PDF version as well but the link I have for it seems broken.

I liked this slide ;-)

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HereinHalifax on July 9, 2009 - 11:00am

There's something uniquely Canadian about a poster warning of "deadly force" that includes the words "please" and "thank you".

You don't mess with a Cannuck.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqOI7KejIng&feature=related

Cheers,
Paul

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Undertow on July 9, 2009 - 1:14pm

The White House will meet with state representatives on 9 July to discuss preparations for the autumn flu season in the US, while the UK has shifted its response to dealing with widespread infection.

The US Flu Summit is live online at http://www.flu.gov/ - currently replaying the morning session during the lunch break.

Secretaries Kathleen Sebelius (HHS), Janet Napolitano (DHS), and Arne Duncan (ED), along with Homeland Security Advisor John Brennan, will host an all-day H1N1 Flu Preparedness Summit with states to further prepare the nation for the possibility of a more severe outbreak of H1N1 flu in the fall.

Federal, state and local officials, emergency managers, educators and others will discuss lessons learned during the spring and summer H1N1 wave, and discuss best practices and preparedness priorities.

Plenary sessions will air live from 8:30 AM – 12:30 PM EDT and from 2:45 PM – 4:00 PM EDT. The 8:30 AM EDT session will replay from 12:30 PM – 2:45 PM EDT.

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goghgoner on July 9, 2009 - 1:25pm

I received a Swine Flu email from the White House today about the second wave approaching this Fall (I think the vaccine may be ready by mid-December).

Taking precautions for this fall's flu season is a responsibility we all share. Visit Flu.gov to make sure you are ready and learn how you can help promote public awareness.

We are making every effort to have a safe and effective vaccine available for distribution as soon as possible, but our current estimate is that it won't be ready before mid-October. This makes individual prevention even more critical. Wash your hands regularly. Take the necessary precautions to stay healthy and if you do get sick, stay home from work or school.

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Undertow on July 9, 2009 - 1:52pm

From watching the conference it seems that a decision has apparently been made to be as open as possible and that includes broadcasting the event live. The speakers have been quite clear so far that a rerun of 1918 is what is being planned for but always with the hope it won't get that bad. Latest official estimate from Homeland Security (Janet Napolitano)is that despite their best efforts (as lead agency) they don't know which way it is going yet.

Obama addressed the conference from Italy briefly.

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Ignorant on July 9, 2009 - 2:40pm

If it mutates (into either a milder or stronger form), will the vaccine still be effective?

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Twilight on July 9, 2009 - 2:46pm

It doesn't matter - as long as people believe it will then sales should be good. Profits can be increased even further if we use cheap preservatives like mercury. As long as they die after the pharmaceuticals get their money then all is good.

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Undertow on July 9, 2009 - 3:34pm

Don't be so cynical. This is a genuine screenshot of the closing caption

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ex-addict on July 9, 2009 - 3:36pm

What is the one thing to solve most of the worlds problems, energy,climate change,pollution,resource limits, etc. .. ? Population reduction on a grand scale. This would also make it possible to achieve absolute control of human destiny.With a virus no one is to blame,mother nature is the scapegoat.Assuming the oligarchs are aware of p.o. and all the rest ,they find themselves in a prisoners dilemma,
let things run there course and you end up with resource wars, run away global warming and all the other unpleasantries of overshoot the chaos from witch would threaten there hold on order or you engineer a virus to correct overshoot while also remaining in power with a much more manage able population size. Now ready to go forth and design heaven on earth. Almost seems like a good idea except i dont think im in there plans for the future.

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Dryki on July 9, 2009 - 4:22pm

With a virus no one is to blame

We are all to blame, but certainly those who profit by it are most culpable - the industrial food mongers, the airlines, the disease care industry, the banks. After a while, yeah, we are all to blame.

Which doesn't mean PTBs won't use it to their benefit. I noticed a story on CNN a couple of days ago - where federal agents snuck bombs into federal buildings then complained about low security. More gravy-train security and checkpoints coming soon. As for the virus, we'll need chips to track everyone everywhere, because the disease vectors will be supermarkets, hospitals and schools.

cfm in Gray, ME

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Twilight on July 9, 2009 - 4:29pm

I doubt even a horrible epidemic would be very effective in reducing world population. Rather, just like everything that may have once been well intentioned, the process is corrupted by money. Eventually it becomes only about money.

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totoneila on July 9, 2009 - 5:04pm

Respectfully Disagree. If enough people hunker down trying to protect themselves and their families from the disease: no water or food, or other essentials everywhere, as Lots of Liebig Minimums rear their ugly heads. The deaths from the resulting machete' moshpits will be much worse than the pandemic.

Recall that most 'Murkns delusionally think that crabs and lobster are voluntarily ferrying bananas and chocolates across the continental expanse.

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greenish on July 9, 2009 - 7:57pm

Recall that most 'Murkns delusionally think that crabs and lobster are voluntarily ferrying bananas and chocolates across the continental expanse.

Hmmm. I thought I had a pretty good handle on common delusions, but I tip my hat to you on this one.

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totoneila on July 9, 2009 - 8:23pm

Thxs! I just thought JHK's 1500 mile Caesar Salad wasn't descriptive enough to jumpstart synaptic wildfires in the huddled masses--so I came up with that analogy [metaphor?] hoping to further goose their awareness of how dependent we are on long distance food movement.

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J99 on July 9, 2009 - 9:04pm

The form of mercury in vaccines, ethylmercury, does not appear to be dangerous. For example, since that form of mercury was removed from MMR vaccines several years ago, the number of new cases of autism has not decreased.

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jokuhl on July 9, 2009 - 9:23pm

Too soon to say, and these aren't changes happening in a vacuum. We have so many untested and unreported chemical compounds we're being exposed to in ever-increasing blends, atmospheric, hydrologic, products, packaging, preservatives, perfumes, solvents..

We're soaking in it.

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goghgoner on July 9, 2009 - 4:49pm

"If it mutates (into either a milder or stronger form), will the vaccine still be effective?"

This site has trustworthy information, however, they color it in pastels.

Swine Flu: Q and A

Will the vaccine still provide people with protection if the swine flu virus mutates between now and the autumn?

At this stage, it is impossible to predict if or how the H1N1 swine flu virus will mutate (change). However, experiences with the H5N1 vaccine (bird flu vaccine) would suggest that an H1N1 vaccine (produced using the same processes) would also provide a high level of immunity against closely related strains. The level of cross-protection is expected to be greatest for more closely related strains.

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enemy of state on July 10, 2009 - 12:09am

If it mutates (into either a milder or stronger form), will the vaccine still be effective?

I agree with your sites answer. A partial hit immune system wise, still increases the bodies defenses, so an H1N1-A vaccine should provide at least partial immunity -even if the virus mutates. A bigger issue may be if we can get the vaccine out in time. There is evidence from the age distribution of the early wave of victims that exposure to previous H1N1 strains a few decades back probably gives some immunity.

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pondlife on July 10, 2009 - 2:57am

How could they not know?? Waterboard Rumsfeld now - we want answers!

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185 comments on DrumBeat: July 9, 2009

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