comments requested on anthrax scare

[critter44]

It seems to me that the liberal, ambulance chasing, headline hungry media are again hyping the anthrax incidents into such a froth that we are playing into the terrorists hands. The danger of anthrax is quite small (at least a lot smaller than many other pathogens) as it would take a sophisticated lab, an expensive and complex delivery system to kill a lot of people (remember it is not contageous).

We are spending a lot of time, resources and money on anthrax investigations, vaccines, antibiotics, etc. where the threat is relatively small.

THEN THEY HIT US WITH SMALLPOX or some other, much easier to deliver, much more contageous, more dangerous plague.

We can not be ready for EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING they can imagine. AND they WILL use what we are least ready for! Neither can we reason with fanatics, especially religious fanatics.

So, I believe the only things we can do is be vigilant, prepare for what we can, individually be ready to 'repel boarders' as much as we can and continue to destroy their networks worldwide by whatever means we can-bombing, tying up their money, undercover operations, spooks, snipers, SEALS, Ghirkas, tactical nukes-whatever.

AND can we PLEASE cool the media driven, hyper-hyped panic messages?!

Comments on our preparations and on the media driven hype as well as these other points are welcome.

 

[Gino]

My advice on how to keep healthy during the anthrax scare:

eat right
exersize
stop smoking
wear your seat belt

The chances of any one of us having a problem with anthrax is minimal. Now smallpox would be a major disaster...

 

[Covert Mission]

Critter,

I mostly agree w/you. But the media is in a bit of an untenable position... they can't NOT report the anthrax incidents so far, but the total reporting by individual media orgs is cumulative, and makes the threat seem bigger.The odds of exposure are infinitesimally small, and of course, there is no shortage of weirdos, psychos, and sociopaths from our own country who might use the cover of terrorism to carry out their personal grudges, using methods attributed instead to a foreign enemy as a smokescreen. A possibility, imho... copycat crime.

We can't stay in Condition Red all the time, without becoming exhausted. We have to be vigilant and intelligent, without being panicked. We also can't eliminate the threat... the Israelis have been fighting terrorism for decades, and while they have had major successes, they haven't stopped all attacks... not even close... and it has deeply affected the Israeli psyche.

As one analyst put our situation metaphorically, "This is a hockey game... we have to stop every shot on goal, and all they have to do is get one shot by the goalie to have a success." That's the cruel truth, imo.

 

[lonegunman]

Comparing the risk of Anthrax and Smallpox is difficult at best, and probably a moot point anyway.

Anthrax is easy to get, and hard to spread.

Smallpox would be much harder to get, and probably easier to spread.

Are the terrorists even trying to kill large numbers of people with anthrax? At this point to me it appears not. They are either targeting certain people specifically, or trying to cause enough fear to disrupt our system.

 

[Jim V]

Daschle being the best known of the Anthrax "victims".

I don't see why everybody gets their knickers in a knot over the stuff. It does not cause one to die in a few days, the spores are easy to kill with most houshold cleaners, bleach for one and use of common sense would help protect people from any chance exposure anyway. Anthrax has been hyped as the super killer spore that even would take out SuperDuperMan. If that is so, why are there any people that have been shearing sheep left alive?

 

[Oleg Volk]

Seems to me that the most reliable way to eliminate the US leadership would be through a couple of interns with AIDS or hepatitis. As for using anthrax, it seems like a complicated and subtle approach compared to other methods. We can build all the Maginot lines we want but eliminating known enemies would be far more effective than trying to contain their thrusts. Of course, political dissidents just might get eliminated along or even instead of tangos, so we best be careful when wishing.

 

[swifter...]

Give me a break!
Less than 20 cases?

The only big thing here is the panic of the newsghouls, because their precious selves came under attack...

As far as any of the pols goes, this is "hoof & mouth disease", right? How could we tell if they did or did not have it?

Also, when did the powers that be decree that we no longer needed smallpox vaccines? My lady's been vaccinated, and she's on the mature side of 40.

I don't think Anthrax is anything without the crisis whores and panic pimps of the media,
Tom

 

[Waitone]

The biggest single factor blowing the anthrax scare out of proportion is the existence of a 24 hour news cycle with half dozen cable channels devoted to all news all the time. Back in the good ol' days you saw something in the morning paper, maybe a lunch news report and ended the day with a "detailed" story on an event.

No more. The same 7 second story is repeated who knows how many times in the course of one day. People do not listen to reports front to back but pick up pieces every now and then. Result is one 7 second slice of reality is blown up to humongous proportions.

I doubt the cable stations will back off because it is cheap to program news and revenues are high because people listen.

 

[Coyote 6]

We've won!

The current Anthrax situation is proof that the terrorists have shot their wad and all that's left is the clean up.

So far the total is...(DRUM ROLL PLEASE) one dead plus a bunch of Hollyweird namby pambies, tabloid media types and Nooo Yawk network newsies quaking in their boots. BFD!

Oh yeah, and Tom Daschle, the Senate Majority leader. Hell, I won't be surprised if the headline on the front of the New York Times or the Washington Post tomorrow attributes everything to a Republican plot.

Cmon. What started out so badly has deteriorated into the stuff that night club comics dream of.
I mean it truly is a joke. They get their hands on "weapons of mass destruction" and their primary delivery mechanism is the US Postal Service? Plus they use regular mail - not even Priority Mail! Have they ever heard of Fed Ex?

The most dangerous place in America is probably the dead letter section of the Post Office.

If we play our cards right we could probably humiliate these people enough so that they'll never show their faces again.

What a bunch of losers.

 

[C.R.Sam]

Anthrax...................................1
Teddy Kennedy's driving.........1

Score tied.

Sam

 

[Jim V]

Check out......

http://nov55.com/athr.html for a view on Anthrax.

 

[Fred Hansen]

I sprinkle anthrax on my breakfast cereal. What doesn't kill me makes me stronger. I'll be damned if I bunch of walking dead diaperheads do anything besides piss me off!!

"One bleeding-heart type asked me in a recent interview if I did not agree that 'violence begets violence.' I told him that it is my earnest endeavor to see that it does. I would like very much to ensure - and in some cases I have - that any man who offers violence to his fellow citizen begets a whole lot more in return than he can enjoy."
-Jeff Cooper, "Cooper vs. Terrorism", Guns & Ammo Annual, 1975

 

[Calamity Jane]

Can't resist posting this...

Hubby said, "I eat anthrax, poop mustard gas, and piss napalm!"

Yeah. Me too. (said in best Clint Eastwood voice)

You guessed it: I'm sick of the whiny scaremongering mainstream media.

Yes, it's important to be careful, aware, and cautious. But to go through life like a traumatized bunny rabbit?

NADA. I... don't.... think.... so.

 

[Waitone]

Members of the press have gone out of their way to separate themselves from America. After all, they are to report not participate (some think they need to participate).

Now all of a sudden they see they are identified with the bad guys (US) and are not considered a people separate. Must be quite a shock to see they are hated just like the rest of us.

Now maybe they will report reality instead of the horse race. Naw, they won't.

 

[Mr. James]

Well, at least some of the news whores are getting it right. Fox News had a good segment last night with a microbiologist (sorry, can't recall his name) who downplayed the significance of anthrax as a weapon, and explained it could be wiped out by a 9-to-1 water-bleach solution. He also mentioned generic antibiotics are every bit as effective as Cipro in knocking out anthrax, and cost about $20 for the entire course of treatment. I believe this fellow has a book pending on common-sense protections from terrorist actions. Let's speed up the presses, boys.

I'm more worried about getting hit by lightning than I am about anthrax - and I'm in downtown Washington. Get serious.

 

[Art Eatman]

Swifter sorta touched on it in passing: For the first time, the American Liberal is discovering that he is as likely a target as the people he dislikes so intensely.

For the first time, the A.L. is figuring out that were he to approach a bin-Ladenite with, "I feel yore pain!", he is as likely to be made dead as anybody else. This is a totally new feeling of vulnerability, and it just scares the bejeezus out of him.

I luvvit.

Art