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6/09/2006
a little bird flu rumour
Just something I received in the mail.
"Bird Flu"
Do you know that 'bird flu' was discovered in Vietnam 9 years ago?
Do you know that barely 100 people have died in the whole world in all that time?
Do you know that it was the Americans who alerted us to the efficacy of the human antiviral TAMIFLU as a preventative.
Do you know that TAMIFLU barely alleviates some symptoms of the common flu?
Do you know that its efficacy against the common flu is questioned by a great part of the scientific community?
Do you know that against a SUPPOSED mutant virus such as H5N1, TAMIFLU barely alleviates the illness?
Do you know that to date Avian Flu affects birds only?
Do you know who markets TAMIFLU? ROCHE LABORATORIES.
Do you know who bought the patent for TAMIFLU from ROCHE LABORATORIES in 1996? GILEAD SCIENCES INC.
Do you know who was the then president of GILEAD SCIENCES INC. and remains a major shareholder?
DONALD RUMSFELD, the present Secretary of Defence of the USA.
Do you know that the base of TAMIFLU is crushed aniseed?
Do you know who controls 90% of the world's production of this tree? ROCHE.
Do you know that sales of TAMIFLU were over $254 million in 2004 and more than $1000 million in 2005?
Do you know how many more millions ROCHE can earn in the coming months if the business of fear continues?
So the summary of the story is as follows: Bush's friends decide that the medicine TAMIFLU is the solution for a pandemic that has not yet occurred and that has caused a hundred deaths worldwide in 9 years. This medicine doesn't so much as cure the common flu. In normal conditions the virus does not affect humans.
Rumsfeld sells the patent for TAMIFLU to ROCHE for which they pay him a fortune. Roche acquires 90% of the global production of crushed aniseed, the base for the antivirus. The governments of the entire world threaten a pandemic and then buy industrial quantities of the product from Roche.
So we end up paying for medicine while Rumsfeld, Cheney and Bush do the business.
ARE WE CRAZY!!? OR ARE WE IDIOTS!!? AT LEAST PASS THIS ON SO THAT IT CAN BE KNOWN!!!!!!!
And do you know how much damage is caused to public health measures when innuendo-filled disinformation is spread like this, even if it's just something "received in the mail"?
ReplyDeleteDo you also believe that AIDS is a disease created by Western imperialist nations to suppress the Third World? And do you also believe that AIDS drugs don't work and that herbal remedies work better?
You make me sick. And postings like this may ultimately make other people sick.
I agree with the above poster. redbean, from some of your previous blog entries, I can see you're no fan of Uncle Sam but isn't this just taking it a little too far ?
ReplyDeleteredbean is definitely not taking things too far. The media is a salient point in this furor over Avian flu and what-have-you. It's a sexy story- it encompasses all the gore, terror, and mystery that one can want. Helps that it's pushed by these large governmental organs- fantastic PR, business and hegemonic moves.
ReplyDelete(cont'd) even if redbean's friend may be exaggerating, consider the HIV pandemic. Now that's a phenomenon deserving of that title, less so of Avian flu. Oui, quand meme, what's happening with HIV? Are there mass exoduses from infected areas? The presence of sexed-up media stories? HIV is definitely, inevitably, inherently, a larger pandemic. Where's the terror story?
ReplyDeletei have faith that all bloggers are mature and streetwise enough to read and shift facts from fictions. even in all my posts, sometimes i said yes but meant no.
ReplyDeleteevery posting or article here or in the media will be received differently. and how one perceived the info depends on one's belief and other inputs in one's mind.
the article was floating around and circulating. i am not sure about the rumsfeld part. but the number of death, the ineffectiveness of tamiflu, the presences of H5N1 virus in practically all birds, many are carriers without symptoms, are true.
and if this virus can be passed to humans easily, mankind has no hope. some will pass through under certain circumstances. but these are exceptions so far. and better stay that way.
i am no fans of the arrogance of american power. that's true. i call it the evil empire. but i am a fan of the american way of life, the technological and scientific advancement, the quality of life and the value system. the two shall not be mixed up. it is the way the american political elite is playing by two sets of rules, one for themselves and one against the world that they see as a threat, that i don't agree with.