TV vs. Real Life..."Law & Order" episode raises some scary thoughts

[Atman]

I generally avoid the show "Law & Order: SVU," but my wife likes the franchise and turned it on Wednesday night. At first, I was bummed about the sensationalism of using Hurricane Katrina orphans and escaped pedophiles as plot devices. L&O has a tendency to sound a bit too contrived when the detectives start spouting statistics to set up the plot-line "After Katrina, X number of pedophiles escaped from LA jails and scattered across the country. It's estimated that..." blah blah blah.

But it turned out that the pedophile angle was really only kind of a sub-plot, probably because the show is about sex crimes, so they needed a device to wrap the real plot in. Sit back, get a bit of tin foil ready just in case, but here goes...

In an early surprise plot twist, the pedophile who took three young girls from New Orleans suddenly dies after a horrible bout of sweating and other nasty stuff. Then one of the young victims gets sick, but not as severely, after playing with what she called "pixie dust" that the bad man had in van. Here's where it gets creepy, and really got me to wondering about all the supposed "bird flu" pandemic hype we're hearing. One of the detectives starts spewing more facts and figures...it appears that 7 U.S. Government bio labs went ungaurded and were destroyed in the flood. Ton of hazardous agents were released into the air and water. The "bad man" had been an employee at one of the labs, and had stayed behind after everyone else evacuated. After the power went out, the security systems died, too. So he helped himself to a vanload of ANTHRAX and other bio weapons to sell on the black market for big bucks.

Got your tin foil on?

Now, I'm not saying bird flu isn't real, but what if this contrived plot line of SVU isn't so contrived after all? What if all sorts of this shit got lose, and the government knows it's just a matter of time before something bad happens. They can't very well get up and say, "Oops...sorry guys, we lost 7 labs worth of bio agents! We're all gonna die!" So instead, they ramp up the "inevitable" bird flu hype. The anthrax symptoms they described on the show were curiously similar to bird flu...sweating, fever, rapid progression to death with 24 hours.

Too convenient? You have to admit, it IS kind of an interesting angle, no? Discuss, flame, or drop a cipro. Remember, we're now finding out Tamiflu won't stop bird flu..hmmm...

[readmylips]

1. That was scary but not too far from reality....

the show mentioned the over 500 children still missing due to Katrina, and the hundreds of hard core criminals who broke out of jail. They talked about the 3 labs in Louisiana doing research on anthrax, ebola, etc weaponized substances that were left unprotected due to power failure, and the many lab animals already infected with different weaponized substances that escaped the labs. This is very real.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

2. I found it quite believable

But, if you live long enough - especially in these times - you realize that everything IS possible.

Who, ten years ago, or even five years ago, would have believed that two planes would be flown into the World Trade Center buildings?

That a plane would be flown into the Pentagon?

That Fuckface would steal not one, but two Presidential elections?

That we'd be killing and being killed in Iraq?

I wrote for L&O when it first began, about a thousand years ago, and one thing they still strive for is credibility. They're much more tied in with current events today than they were 'way back then, but, you must admit, current events have gotten a lot more complicated and sophisticated in the past dozen years. I think the Internet is responsible for a lot of this, on the shows, that is.

Personally, I wouldn't put anything past this administration. Remember the 5 anthrax cases which showed conveniently right after 9/11? How about SARS? Where did that go? The numbers of deaths from those two incidents are statistically irrelevant, yet the hysteria and fear they created were quite enough to keep the populace from noticing what Cheney and Fuckface and the rest of the cabal were doing.

Now that the Red, Orange, Yellow, whatever color Alert System has been proven to be a joke, they've got to do something.

So, they pull out all sorts of scary scenarios wherever they can find them. Do I think China is culpable here? Of course. China plays dirty, even when it doesn't have to. That's just their way.

But, is there a coming pandemic that's going to sweep away as many, if not more, than did the 1918 Spanish Flu? I doubt it.

I wouldn't read more into the show than what it was - entertainment linked to actual events from the recent past. I find the real life antics of our government, and other governments, a whole lot more entertaining.

[Atman]

5. I found it believable, too...but not really my point.

Could the Bird Flu hype simply be cover for all the missing bio agents that the government cannot account for after Katrina?

[OldLeftieLawyer]

6. Oh, honey ........

If you're just waking up to the fact that stuff like weapons-grade anthrax and other stuff goes missing, you've skipped the last fifty years of American history.

The stuff's everywhere. That L&O show was nothing but a tiny peek at reality.

Personally, I'm more interested in a legitimate body count from Katrina. Seems that's going to be hidden, just like the bodies of dead soldiers arriving under cover of darkness at Dover AFB.

Our greatest national disaster, and we still can't say how many were killed.

Nice.

[Atman]

11. There are still hundreds/thousands of bodies in that debris

There are so many areas of NO that haven't even begun to be thoroughly searched yet. Add to that the cordoning off of Long Beach, Mississippi, which was completely leveled...I have no doubt in my mind that the true body count is a Chinese-government-style scam on the American poeple.

Did the government return those 20,000 body bags it ordered? Empty, I mean?

[cdsilv]

10. IIRC, one of these biolabs was also on Galveston Isand off the ...

SE coast of TX. What brand of idiot puts something like that on a barrier isle? I don't know if Rita's storm surge inundated Galveston, but the potential was/is there.

These toxins likely got washed out to sea (eventually) and will be diluted, but also likely taken up by the sea life that we all so greatly enjoy.

Might as well become a vegan (except for all that nasty e.coli that
keeps showing up on veggies....)

[Neocondriac]

3. Sick of the foil hat referrence........

It should be standard equipment for all Americans. The lies we have been told are so vast that if the truth was revealed we would have 200 million people on Paxil just to stand to wake up in this illusion of a democracy every day. Nothing is out of the realm of believability.

[shrike]

4. What surprised me was that the reporter turned out to be a hero

at the end. Figured it was going to be the usual media-as-scumbag portrayal (not that it isn't deserved most of the time), but I was wrong.

I enjoyed the show, thought it was one of the better episodes. (I like SVU and L&O franchise and never take them too seriously.) But if your scenario played out -- well, I wouldn't be surprised. After what this government has done, nothing surprises me anymore.

[MadHound]

7. If you knew anything about real research labs,

Instead of relying on fictionalized TV shows for your information, you would realize that each and every research lab in this country has plans in place, ready to implement, for securing hazardous material in the event of man-made and natural disasters.

I work in a research lab, and we have plans appropriate for the dangers we face, mainly flooding, tornadoes and earthquakes. Most of these plans generally call for the destruction of hazardous materials in a quite speedy fashion. I imagine that those labs on the Gulf Coast had the same type of plans, and with days worth of warning, I'm sure that they successfully implemented them.

This is simply another attempt to keep the public scared and fearful, don't buy into it.

[Atman]

12. "If you knew anything about real research labs,..."

"...Instead of relying on fictionalized TV shows for your information,"

And a polite "FU" to you, too.

[MadHound]

17. Excuse me

Didn't mean to ruffle your feathers or anything. All I was doing was trying to do was inject some reality into a thread that was going off the deep end all over a fictional TV show. If you want to give yourself a good scare and get worked up about nothing, knock yourself out. But I think that it is irresponsible to take a bunch of other folks with you.

And there is no need to get rude simply because I ruined your tin foil moment. Most people believe that it is a good thing to know the reality of a situation, which is what I was imparting.

[Atman]

20. You didn't ruin anything. You didn't ruffle my feathers.

I am not worked up about anything.

I do, however, take issue with your "if you knew anything" tone.

I SAID this was just a possibility I thought of. Did you see anywhere in my post that I advocated we all panic and run and hide because of it? Did the tin foil reference clue you in that maybe I realize it really is just a random thought that does indeed sound a bit wacky?

You're absolutely right about one thing, though...no need to be rude, right back atcha. You could have made every point you made without the personal asides. You and Walt should team up, and maybe you can just insult everyone into seeing everything your way.

[MadHound]

21. Again, excuse me

For even fucking writing this goddamn post!!! Have you ever thought that we're on a goddamn chat board, and that emotional and vocal sublties don't go over well in such a forum? Has it fucking occurred to you that this might be one of those instances? Or are you just flaming me because you like to get offended when no offense is intended?

I got your post, I got your points, I was trying to provide some reality based information for you and the rest of the folks out here. I'm sorry I stepped on your poor gentle feelings there, but as it says in the rules around here one needs to grow a thick skin. I suggest that you do so.

Jesus fucking Christ, why in the hell would I want to flame you? Back the fuck off, get a clue and stop slamming me OK. It was neither warranted nor deserved.

[Atman]

25. Uh...okay.

"If you knew anything about real research labs, instead of relying on fictionalized TV shows for your information,"

Yeah, I can see how this could simply have been a case of mistaken emotional and vocal subtleties. :eyes:


Peace brother.

[MadHound]

27. Let's see here

You're sparring with Walt, you're sparring with me, simply because we brought reality into the mix. Sounds like it isn't Walt or I who has a problem. Think about it.:shrug:

[Atman]

28. Peace, dude.

I acknowledge to directly referencing Walt's legendary demeanor. I'm not trying to pass it off as being just mistaken tone, though. And I'm not sparring with him at all...see any other posts down there?

I would have loved to have stayed on-topic, and in fact, have several other on-topic replies elsewhere in the thread, mostly on posts that didn't suppose me to be an idiot simply because I suggested a premise you find faulty.

Back on topic, and to reiterate a point made in another post, since one of my closest friends is a bio-engineer, the subject creeps into our conversations way more than I'd like sometimes. But, my wife also has a masters in a related area, so "shop talk" means that I know quite a bit more about both medicine and lab research than I ever thought possible, me being a lowly teevee watcher and all.

There isn't any point in continuing this, Mad. You don't feel you insulted me, yet I feel I was insulted. What is the point of any more back-n-forth on this? Niether of us is quitting DU over it, so let's move on.

[Walt Starr]

8. Actually, it's a bullshit possibility

I distinctly recall the person who remained behind being interviewed. They did not suffer any damage whatsoever (hardened facility capable of withstanding a direct hit from teh strongest possible winds from a Category five hurricane) and they never lost power (backup power capability for over a month).

There was never any danger whatsoever.

[Atman]

16. "THE" person left behind? He guarded all of the labs at once?

Oh, I forgot to read who posted this...our resident angry nay-saying curmudgeon, Walt Starr.

Never mind.

[Walt Starr]

19. There was more than one

There was a staff on site all throughout the storm.

What you watched was drama for the effect of drama that has no basis in reality.

Sorry if revealing the reality blows your fear away and makes me a curmudgeon, but reality is reality. There was never any danger.

[Spazito]

9. There was at least one thread on DU during the immediate aftermath

of Katrina discussing the labs in NO and what may have happened to them and the 'products' in them. To see this issue crop up on Law & Order SVU was positively creepy to me.

[formerrepuke]

13. Sensational news items usually show up a few months later on one

of the Law & Order programs.. It's all been there -in fictionalized, slightly altered form: The Michael Jackson trial; that missing white girl; the Schiavo case.. etc. Just wait.. pretty soon the Pennsylvania teenager who killed his girlfriend's parents will be a story line sometime in the Spring.

[converted_democrat]

14. I watched it too, and I didn't like it either...

The thing that stuck with me though is about the labs being secure. After Katrina hit, the news reports say that all the labs were secured, and the animals were destroyed before the storm hit. I'm having a hard time buying it now. What are the chances that a researcher would just throw away a lifetimes work? I just don't buy it.

[Atman]

18. That point was brought up in the episode

Some researched supposedely took their work with them to other labs, in the Northeast and elsewhere. I agree with you...being a close friend of a Ph.D. who is into cloning, her life is her work. It doesn't matter where we are or what we're doing, she'll drop everything to call in to her lab assistant to check progress of cells; she goes into the lab literally every single day to check her work. She's worked for years on this (she successfully cloned a cow with human DNA a few years ago -- the research company named the first cow after her!). I cannot imagine her just walking away from the last ten years of her life like that.

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. This is why Law and Order is consistently one of the top rated TV shows

"Stripped From the Headlines" - not a bad strategy, eh?

[ohio_liberal]

22. Wasn't Iraq's version of the CDC left totally unguarded?

If I remember correctly, and that's not always a sure thing :D, Iraq's version of the CDC was left completely unguarded and was looted after Baghdad fell. I think I'd be more worried about the biological hazards from that than the labs in NOLA.

That said, I love Law & Order. All of them. I know the plots are loosely based on current events, but they are often thought-provoking. The producers do a good job with it.

[Bridget Burke]

23. All the Law & Order shows watch the headlines....

But they're just looking for plot devices. Research labs DO have contingency plans.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

24. As I understand it,

the writers at L&O tend to get their ideas from what is really going on-"ripped from the headlines" is the term L&O fans used. So this could just be some fanciful thinking by a writer-or it could be more sinister. Fred Dalton Thompson, former US Senator with close ties to the Bush Administration, does work on the show, both in front and behind the camera.

[rinsd]

26. Ya know I was watching Family Guy the other day.....

...and they had a relevant show where a guy vicitmized as a child seeing his mother have sex with Jackie Gleason becomes a serial killers that strikes overweight men.

[Atman]

29. If you knew anything about having sex with Jackie Gleason...

...instead of relying on cartoons for your information, you'd know....

Oh, never mind.

:P

[Lars39]

30. Subject line of the day!!!

:rofl:

[rinsd]

31. Sorry...just felt like having a little fun ;-)