Naturally the folks at Faux (0.00 / 0)

would appreciate an "illegal alien" Halloween costume. What could be more appropriate and frightening to a group of xenophobic hysterics?

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by: sricki @ Tue Oct 20, 2009 at 10:13:50 AM UTC

Morning Oh, there are different kinds of "equal"? (0.00 / 0)

Germans Unhappy with Alternative Swine Flu Vaccine for Politicians
Damage control is the name of the game in Berlin on Monday as politicians rush to deny that they are receiving a better, safer swine flu vaccine than ordinary Germans. The first of 50 million doses arrived in Germany on Monday.

One might think that the arrival in Germany of the first of 50 million doses of swine flu vaccine on Monday might be cause for celebration. But with news breaking over the weekend that top government officials in Berlin will be injected with an alternative vaccine -- one widely seen as safer -- a debate about an alleged two-class medical system has erupted.

SPIEGEL over the weekend reported that Chancellor Angela Merkel, a number of her ministers and other government officials would receive a vaccine manufactured by the pharmaceutical company Baxter -- the same vaccine that the German military opted for, as was reported last week.

The mass-circulation tabloid Bild on Monday plastered the story on its front page on Monday, assuring its readers that "experts are accusing the government" of serving up "second class medicine" to ordinary Germans.

Fevers and Headaches

The controversy centers on an additive included in the vaccine manufactured by pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline. The additive includes an inactive strain of the entire flu virus as opposed to virus fragments. Critics say the additive can increase the risk of side effects from the flu vaccine such as fevers and headaches."
http://www.spiegel.de/internat...

Well, the US, with the recent controversy about mandatory vaccination of NYC hospital staffers, isn't the only place where there's a heated discussion about the pros and cons of Swine Flu prevention. And here in Germany, there are also some critics stating that the whole brouhaha is simply a huge bailout for big pharma, regarding that the desease isn't even remotely as deadly as hyped during the intital outbreak. And that the GSK vaccine uses additives (including poisonous mercury) to get the same effect out of a quarter of the agent, with some very well known side effects for the human immune system, sure raises concerns  about saving money at the expense of the patients. After all, Pandemrix hasn't been thoroughly tested, and is not demmed safe for pregant woman.

I, for one, won't let my doc give me any of this stuff. I don't want to be a guinea pig for big Pharma!  

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by: Gray @ Tue Oct 20, 2009 at 11:46:47 AM UTC

Re being deadly (0.00 / 0)

The initial outbreak was actually much more lethal, for whatever reason, but you can see it if you look up the news reports about the town where it first struck. And it's still killing people you wouldn't expect to be susceptible to the flu - the youngish to middle-aged and often otherwise healthy - which tends to alarm communities themselves more.

Also, flus like this can have multi-year cycles, not necessarily reaching peak lethality for years. Reducing the number of infections reduces the virus' opportunities to evolve.

Even if some versions of the vaccine are better than others, I'm going to be getting it as soon I can when the city here gets its supply in.

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by: Natasha Chart @ Tue Oct 20, 2009 at 18:41:12 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

One fine reason for men to embrace feminism: so as to avert the (4.00 / 1)

sexual shame expressed in those Broadsheet comments. The significant realization that lead me to healing from my rape was knowing that I could walk away from the intertwining of sex and misery- my rapist, not so much. Although, actually I will say, that the day to day sexual harassment I experienced in grad school was probably more traumatic for me than the rape, in the way it insistently pervaded my life. So I feel for those Broadsheet authors, although I tend to assume (hope?) that virtual sexual harassment is somewhat less invasive.

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by: sb @ Tue Oct 20, 2009 at 14:31:04 PM UTC

Oh, shame (4.00 / 1)

The catalog of neuroses caused by telling people that there's something wrong with what should be a naturally positive impulse is large.

Though now that you've got me thinking about it like this, it's sad that many men seem to be deeply preoccupied with how to get women to like them better, yet all this sexist cultural programming they can fall into gets in the way of exactly that. Then when they realize, all crestfallen and stuff, that they've irritated another woman they try to shrug it off with chest-beating display posturing designed to impress other men - which would be fine except that the guys who act like that are rarely into dudes.

Weird how you can take members of a very sociable, friendly species and teach them to be repulsive to each other, creating lifetimes of misery for all involved. And we're supposed to be so damn smart.  

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by: Natasha Chart @ Tue Oct 20, 2009 at 18:53:54 PM UTC

[ Parent ]