In article , Paul Carpenter wrote: [....]
Worry more about the pigs in China. They can catch both the human flu and the one from the ducks. The DNA can mix if the same cell gets infected with both. The result may be something nasty. If it can survive on the surface of cheap plastic crap, it may wipe out the population of Mall Wart customers.
-- -- kensmith@rahul.net forging knowledge
Can someone here please advise me why there's this current hysteria about bird flu ? I expect bird flu has existed since the dawn of time. What's so dangerous about it in 2005/6 ?
I assume it's just media hype. They found something 'new' to worry us about.
Graham
Bill, you have evolved into a tedious ritual insult-recycling machine. That sounds like decline to me.
John
You might want to read
"The Spanish Flu Pandemic, also known as La Grippe, or La Pesadilla, was an unusually severe and deadly strain of avian influenza, a viral infectious disease, that killed some 50 million to 100 million people worldwide over about a year in 1918 and 1919. It is thought to have been one of the most deadly pandemics so far in human history. It was caused by the H1N1 type of influenza virus, which is similar to bird flu of today, mainly H5N1 and H5N2."
Virii don't just "exist since the dawn of time". They mutate.
Steve
In article , Pooh Bear wrote: [....]
Back around 1912, the bird flu jumped into humans and kill large numbers of people. It didn't just pick on the sick and infirm.
The above plus the fact that these days it can get all around the world before the first person dies of it. The flu shot, you may have gotten, will be of almost no help against it. Rumsfeld's company Gilead has the only thing that really works against bird flu, Tamiflu, and it is unlikely that anyone will be able to make enough to matter if the flu gets wide spread.
The "24 hour news cycle" does play a part in this. It is a simple enough story that even CNN and FOX can wrap their heads around it. It doesn't sound a lot like stories we heard last summer. It doesn't scare off advertizers or get the FCC spun up.
-- -- kensmith@rahul.net forging knowledge
Parenting is always done by amateurs. About the time parents gets some experience, they're no longer in the business.
Grandparenting is easy -- spoil 'em rotten and send them home!
When I was there, the Nazi-era laws forbade anyone starting work early enough to get the makings for a good breakfast prepared. You could have a roll baked the previous day and a little cheese or butter to put on it.
I borrowed a book from the library titled something akin to "Modern Steam Locomotive Construction" first published in
1894. It was interesting to note that the designers of the locomotives of that era were called master mechanics and there was almost nothing about engineering as we think of it today in the book. Apparently strength of materials was an unknown subject in those days.
Not true, they do exist from the dawn of time and usually the mutations are weaker and less viable than the so-called "wild strain." You have to recognize that it's not still with us and in fact died out quite abruptly, so why is that. The "spanish flu" is a misnomer, the first major outbreak was in England among troops in 1916 but the news of this was suppressed for security reasons. Spain had no such censure on reporting its problems. Also there were factors contributing to the severity not present today such as shortages of food, proper shelter and medical care, and the stress of the wartime conditions. Another less well-known contributing factor was the large demographic shifts with urban and rural populations being forced to mix within a short time span, the rural populations being hit hard by urban disease to which they had no prior exposure, weakening their health status. Modern methods of detection, control, and quarantine will do more wonders in suppressing the spread of a human contagion than any viracide.
In article , Jim Thompson writes
Well I agree that is a load of crap from some one with an agenda or completely blinkered. Though as an ex-military person who is a capitalist I am not left wing by any means.
-- \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ \/\/\/\/\ Chris Hills Staffs England /\/\/\/\/ /\/\/ chris@phaedsys.org www.phaedsys.org \/\/\ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
The media are ignorant scum from hell- they will say anything to sell by sensationalism. Almost *all* the great plague catastrophes have been made by the stupidity of man. There is not a single one that could not have been greatly attenuated but for the stupidity, ignorance, and irrationality of the ass-wipe institutionalized authority of the day. Then there are the punk-assed leaches looking for more funding, it is in their interest to misinform, exaggerate, and scare people.
In article , Joerg writes
The C.Eng requires a degree, More to the point a suitable degree from a recognised university.
You also need three supporters who are also C.Eng and are prepared to sign off on your work experience.
All these "bureaucrats" will be at least degree qualified with a lot of relevant experience behind them. No one on the panel is not a qualified Engineer.
Well the C.Eng requires the relevant degree from a known university PLUS several relevant experience plus continued, structured, on the job training. So if the C.Eng is used as a level for the license all the licensed Engineers will be degree qualified and at least 5 years relevant experience.
IT is possible to get a C.Eng without a degree but the amount of relevant experience goes up a LOT (about a decade I think) and they do expect suitable training and pre-degree qualifications etc
In theory you should only have the Good People licensed but like doctors some Good People don't manage to pass the exams (brilliant but freak out at an exam) and a few Bad People who get though but like doctors and architects it works 95% of the time.
-- \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ \/\/\/\/\ Chris Hills Staffs England /\/\/\/\/ /\/\/ chris@phaedsys.org www.phaedsys.org \/\/\ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
That takes me back a long way... Colpitts and Heartly were the two I played with :-) Though we used electronic calculators which were just about affordable then.
That is why you go to University to understand the theory and then need some time of on the job training to understand the practice. However one is no use without the other.
-- \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ \/\/\/\/\ Chris Hills Staffs England /\/\/\/\/ /\/\/ chris@phaedsys.org www.phaedsys.org \/\/\ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Ah, I'm sorry, I forgot - evolution is merely a theory. How silly of me.
Steve
I have a wonderful book called "Modern Electric Practice" It is undated, though the latest date mentioned in it is 1903, but it is a stark reminder NEVER to use the word "modern" in a title :-)
The pictures of "modern" factories producing some electrical fittings probably break all the current working practices including child labour!
-- \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ \/\/\/\/\ Chris Hills Staffs England /\/\/\/\/ /\/\/ chris@phaedsys.org www.phaedsys.org \/\/\ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
bird
dangerous
about.
It is believed that a version of bird flu was the virus that infected the world in 1918.
When my wife was working in Germany on closing military bases (environmental cleanup management) the group would sometimes work very late. The German landlady would come and yell at them and tell them that it wasn't proper to be working at those hours.
Best regards, Spehro Pefhany
-- "it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward" speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com
I read somewhere that a major contributing factor was the fact that the war wounded were stacked up like cordwood in the various hospitals, which is like ringing the dinner bell for Flu and lots of other diseases.
Thanks, Rich
-- "We have met the enemy and he is us." - Pogo Possum
True it is a theory but nonetheless a virus is a relatively simple structure with very few genes in a protein wrapper. There is not much to evolve. The probability of mutation is a strong function of the complexity of the replication process, as this becomes more multi-staged then it is just more chance for genetic defect development, as you might expect. Generally the defective strains are not optimized for survival of the defect population like the naturally occurring strain. This does not mean the defect cannot play hell on the human host, sometimes they can be much worse. There is also the problem of host enhancement of virulence, which is to say providing an environment conducive to mutation of a more deadly and transmissible strain, which although vulnerable to extinction in nature, can replicate out of sight if allowed quick spread from human to human- it does eventually kill its host afterall. Theories have been proposed and animal experiments conducted where virus has been induced to mutate in the host to crowd out the wild strain replication and kill it, leaving a less virulent mutant strain to die out naturally.
If they came from India, howcome they're called "Arabic numerals"?
Thanks, Rich
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