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ok first off lets play devil advocate and precedent... Lets assume for a second that the bird flu (which has not made the crossing to reliable human to human transmission and this may happen this year, or fifty years from now or never, the nature of the beast)... millions will die. In fact the worst case analysis from the WHO is close to a billion dead world wide. This is expected to hit the US like the 1918 Pandemic, anywhere from six weeks to two months after it becomes a reliable transmittable source (personally given air travel I give it two weeks tops after the first general cases develop in the country of origin, otherwise known as patient zero)... that said... in 1918 there were no vaccines, now many countries already have them and others (Australia and New Zealand) have told their populations, worst case scenario we can't help everyone and we will have to practice pretty severe triage. Ok now that we have put the background, there are some things people must know about these rare events and their management 1.- Quarantine of the area has been standard since black flags rose over cities affected with the black death, warning people not to approach.They are effective, and do contain the disease, so is cremating bodies or mass graves... I know disgusting but. 2.- In the case of a pandemic the authority for management devolves to the Federal Government, specifically the National Health Service (yes such a critter does exist even if it has been de funded since the bushies do not in science believe) and the CDC. 3.- The Armed Forces were used in 1918 to control the pandemic... (and this is likely the precedent bush is using) Now that I have set the background... Bush is using this as an excuse, as the National Guard units that were mobilized in 1918 were mostly Military Medical Units and some Military Police. They were federalized but in a very strange case of Feds, locals and the history of medicine, they were placed under the command of the National Health Workers who were under the authority of local health directors. If this sounds jarring and strange, it should... but when all was said and done, this is the way it was done... until the pandemic passed Did they have the authority to detain people against their will? Absolutely. Did they exercise it in 1918? Yes, absolutely... will the bush people use this to cancel the Constitution, can I have an Amen? Now the bird flu is a real threat, but it is, like everything else the bushes do, being quite honestly blown out of proportion. If they were taking it seriously the money for research and vaccines would be there. as is this year we are gonna be short of flu vaccine again... so if you are in a high risk group get it fast.
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