Article

2007-02-02 Science & Technology

In daylong drill, U.S. agency prepares for avian flu

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Posted by Anonymoose 2007-02-02 13:35|| || Front Page|| [4 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Asked whether the human race survives, Taylor gave only a hint: the exercise never really ends.

Wrong question. Of course homo sapians survives. The question is whether our industrialized economy does... and Western Civilization. Although personally I believe that both will, as they did following the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic. And, that it's the Muslim world and Africa that will be left prostrate; what odds Saudi Arabia has its own Patient Zero during the haj, given that Indonesia has a sizable Muslim population?

Posted by trailing wife 2007-02-02 14:27|| 2007-02-02 14:27|| Front Page Top

#2 "Of course homo sapians survivesf course homo sapians survives"

Of course. Eventually pop densities decrease, the survivors are selected for immunity, etc and the disease burns itself out. Would create social disruption, but markets are resilient - skills in short supply will be rationed where theyre needed, mainly by price.

Black death only killed off a third, and that was actually over a sequence of epidemics, in much worse healt and economic conditions.

BTW, though, theres so much international travel now of all kinds, not sure the Haj would be THAT big a factor.

Posted by liberalhawk 2007-02-02 14:33|| 2007-02-02 14:33|| Front Page Top

#3 Actually, strident Muslims are at a severe disadvantage because they have to cluster together four or five times a day to pray. It's been noted through history that there is a marked decline in religion after epidemics, for similar reasons.

Posted by Anonymoose 2007-02-02 15:32|| 2007-02-02 15:32|| Front Page Top

#4 Dont most muslims pray on their own most of the time, not at a gathering (without a minyan,if I may so put it)

We Jews only have to pray with a minyan on Shabbos, and when reciting kaddish (the prayer for the dead, that you say for a year after a close relation dies) (and of course the command to save lives is so important, Im sure during an epidemic even that requirement is dropped) Dont know the answer for muslims.

Posted by liberalhawk 2007-02-02 15:36|| 2007-02-02 15:36|| Front Page Top

#5 Actually, it ended early, due to a severe ice storm in Atlanta.

Posted by Chuck Simmins">Chuck Simmins 2007-02-02 16:17|| http://northshorejournal.org]">[http://northshorejournal.org] 2007-02-02 16:17|| Front Page Top

#6 But the radicals do prefer to pray in self-reinforcing groups, liberalhawk, preferably with a prayer leader they've forced on a less radical congregation -- to help lead them into the right path. It's not a matter of need, because Muslims can pray wherever they might be at the moment, else that caravan thingy never would have worked back in the day. ;-)

Posted by trailing wife 2007-02-02 16:20|| 2007-02-02 16:20|| Front Page Top

#7 when they go to mosques on Friday, they pray together, and yeah, they do have internal disagreements about who should lead, and Im sure intramosque politics gets very vicious. Ive seen intrashul politics get vicious, though there its usually on issues like "should we get a rabbi who recognizes patrilineal descent" not "should we get an Imam who sermonizes about suicide bombing" :)

But what I meant was that the 5X a day every day of the week prayers seem to me to be doable anywhere, without a quorom (much like observant jews 3X a day) AFAICT muslims in general will be in pretty much the same situation as churchgoing Christians, and shul going Jews.

Posted by liberalhawk 2007-02-02 16:25|| 2007-02-02 16:25|| Front Page Top

#8 and it has not mutated into a pandemic strain

The last couple of weeks in Indo indicate it may have.

Posted by phil_b 2007-02-02 17:09|| 2007-02-02 17:09|| Front Page Top

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