Bird Flu in Scotland

[FridaySe]

I'm quite sure everyone will be upset with me for taking the tone of the conversation a little bit higher with this post. But who cares

What the hell are the Government bloody doing. All i've seen on the news today are stories about how official estimates claim a pandemic could kill 100,000 school children.
What the hell is that all about, the only bloody result of telling eveyone that is to scare the shit out of anyone who gets their news information from the headlines and doesn't think it through.

How many children will miss school this week because their parents panicked and how many people will start bulk buying of foodstuffs because they think bird flu has arrived in the UK and everyone is in deep shit.

The bloody swan might not even be from this country, but could have been on it's way to Germany and got blown off course and died before coming into contact with any local birds. One piece of news I have only seen once.

The discovery of the swan has been blown entirely out of proportion.

It's so stupid that one English superstore chain had signs up stating they had no Scottish poultry on sale.

[Pervert]

A constant theme around this forum, FS, is the fact that fear sells. Without fear, how could the newspapers sell, the mobile phone companies shift their latest models, the retail industry assure its customers of safety?

Fear is also what the government uses to push through stupid, knee-jerk legislation.

At the moment, it's one dead indigenous swan that may have become infected by a migratory bird. No reason to shoot sparrows, lock yourself up in a cellar or stop eating poultry.

But without that panic---in headline, advert or soundbite in speech---who would listen? So long as we keep hiking up the panic meter, the usual suspects are very happy.

I live about 20 miles from where dead swan one was found. Am I worried? Not in the least. If people become infected, then we can show concern. As of this moment, anyone who stops buying Scottish poultry, or begins stocking up for a crisis, is being the sort of retarded tosspot the Daily Mail is pleased to call its loyal reader. Who knows what such a person might do next---believe something Tony Blair says, perhaps.

And for those who think I'm not taking this situation seriously, remember SARS???

[Flat_Eric]

Caractacus wrote:

seriously, remember SARS???>>>

Good post, Caractacus.

Remember the kneejerk gun-ban legislation they pushed though after Dunblaine? The result of which was that after guns were outlawed, only the outlaws had guns.

And the foot & mouth crisis in 2001? What a fucking farce that was. It was basically a case of "we have to kill British livestock farming in order to save it". You wait and see - all it will take will be for a few chickens to come down with bird flu on some remote farm and they'll be slaughtering chickens wholesale within a 100 mile radius.

The only thing I can say in their defense is that in this out-of-control compensation culture that we now live in, they have to be "seen to be doing something" in order to cover their asses "just in case". It's just a shame that all they ever seem to come up with is crackpot schemes that have no effect whatsoever or else just make matters worse and send people into a panic over nothing. But who says that politicians are famous for using their brains?