[JohnHuang2]

Tuesday, April 22, 2003

Quote of the Day by Texas Eagle

[WoofDog123]

"Now we can move away from methods like isolation and quarantine and move aggressively toward modern intervention strategies including specific treatments and eventually vaccination," said David Heymann, executive director of the World Health Organization's communicable diseases programs.
"

This strange person is apparently implying that incurable virii should not be treated by containment, but rather by WHAT unclear, vague method??? Presumably he lists the viral illnesses previously treated by vaccination?

[WoofDog123]

"Fortunately, China has finally taken steps to end the cover-up. Health Minister Zhang Wenkang and Beijing Mayor Meng Xuenong were removed from their Communist Party posts Sunday after being accused of systematically understating the number of those infected with SARS. The government also reported a ten-fold increase in the number of infections in Beijing, suggesting that earlier figures had been falsified."

Blah Blah Blah, why does this author think this despotic government has ANY idea of how many of its billion citizens have been exposed? Why does he give jiang big brother the credibility of assuming they know? Since when does Government know anything for certain besides its daily revenues?

Notably, what do either of these beauracratic posts have to do with management of the disease spread in Canton prior to the current world-wide interest?

[WoofDog123]

"No considerations of Chinese pride or special political circumstances can excuse this kind of behavior, which exposes the whole world to risk. "

Continuing my rant against the odd person who apparently put their name on this article, I am wondering what political and cultural sensitivities I am lacking that make me unable to understand under what circumstances it might have been understandable for Chinese pride or "special political circumstances" to have excused this 'behavior?'

Is 'special political circumstances' like TWA 800, where a presidencial election is imminent?

[TheLion]

Texas Eagle's comment would have been a wonderful retort to Tim Robbins.

Somehow, I think we might have felt a little easier if this bug had been called "China Flu" or somesuch. We could have thought of it more in the vein of "Asian Flu". The word SARS just seems more deadly....just a thought.