Epidemic Priority

  • Comments posted to this topic are about the item Epidemic Priority

  • That's a very thought provoking editorial. I would hazard a guess and say that it would probably cover IT personnel in the hospitals, military, telcos and government. I am not in any of those industries so the only way I would make the list would be if I was pregnant and I certainly wouldn't want to be included for that reason. Being pregnant during that type of crisis would be far too stressful.

    I really enjoy movies like Outbreak but hope that if life imitates art that it does so in a country far, far away! Australia is quite isolated so that does help a bit.

    Nicole Bowman

    Nothing is forever.

  • I'm toast.

  • I enjoy these types of movies too. Although I rank low on the list as well, I don't live in a huge city. Even still, if there were a crisis and you really wanted a vaccine, the great thing is that if it is non-military health workers administering the vaccines, you could always bribe them. If it is military ones, just kind of get in line with the rest of the military folks and pretend you're one of them. If you're convincing enough, they'll jab you with a needle.

  • Nicole Bowman (8/18/2008)


    That's a very thought provoking editorial....

    I really enjoy movies like Outbreak but hope that if life imitates art that it does so in a country far, far away! Australia is quite isolated so that does help a bit.

    ;)...

    It's OK for it to happen any where else as long as its not here right?

    Funny how some of us think...

  • I think DBAs should be high on the list...

  • “The US is preparing plans for such a pandemic and deciding how best to distribute the limited supplies of vaccines that may be available.”

    Would this be the same US that spent 300 million dollars to ship towels from the US to Iraq, and then ship them back to America because they were not embroidered with the KBR logo? It’s true! YOU and I paid for a few C-130’s to ferry these towels back to the US, monogram them, and send them back so our beloved soldiers could dry themselves knowing KBR was providing the towels. YOUR (and my) tax dollars paid for that.

    Would this be the same US who after 9/11 funded upgrades to emergency services such as the rural town in New Jersey that got a huge new hook and ladder fire vehicle that can reach the top of a 5 story building – when the tallest building in the town is 2 stories? YOUR (and my) tax dollars paid for that.

    Would this be the same US whose response to hurricane Katrina was as bad as it was, and then to boot, we placed thousands of our own citizens in mobile homes laced with formaldehyde, now creating yet another disaster atop the one we already bungled? YOUR (and my) tax dollars paid for that too.

    Sure, nice to imagine that should the worst befall us there is a “plan” and this might mean that various IT staff would be invaluable. But based on our track record to date, I would be more ready to believe that this “plan” calls for vaccinating the parking garage attendants, landscaping crews, and lunch cooks long before any IT people would be considered.

    If you’re an American, GET INVOLVED! Write your congress person and ask where YOUR money is really going and if you like, ask to see a copy of that “plan” – it’s yours, you paid for it! You might just be surprised (or not) to see what they really have in mind.

    There's no such thing as dumb questions, only poorly thought-out answers...
  • The editorial mentioned there is an article describing this already maligned plan; could someone post a link?

    P.S. damn straight blandry. we should all be terrified.

  • Richard Gardner (8/19/2008)


    I'm toast.

    Me, too.

    Thank you Steve, for another though-provoking article.

    Blandry - I regularly find myself starting comments by saying, "I wonder if I can find a diplomatic way to say this?" We've had very interesting discussions on this forum about how IT people have things in common like interests in artistic pursuits such as music (apparently photography is in there, too) and sports such as the martial arts. At some point we may have to add that there is a strange vulnerability in IT people to conspiratorial views of the world. Maybe it's because deep down, we realize that we wouldn't be high on the list for vaccines if the epidemic broke out and we don't like that feeling. If I can give you a word of advice: There are no doubt very powerful people and forces in the world who sometimes work publicly and sometimes work secretly. I don't know about you, but none of them are talking to me. There are lots of people who make a lot of money pretending that the powerful people talk to them, or that have the "inside scoop" on what's really happening out there. A lot of otherwise decent and intelligent (and I might add likeable) people fall for it. It makes for heated discussions at cocktail parties and off-beat blogs, but nothing ever really gets changed. Most often, people will listen to what you say and nod their heads, and then walk away thinking "It's time to go home now". Or they'll log out of the forum for that day. That's a shame, because discussion about real, workable solutions to the challenges we all face in the world get shut down. Be careful about what you read...

    Oh well, I have to get back to work. :doze:

    ___________________________________________________
    “Politicians are like diapers. They both need changing regularly and for the same reason.”

  • Might be in here, not sure I want to read 100 pages this morning

    http://www.whitehouse.gov/homeland/nspi_implementation.pdf

  • Someguy - Blandry - I regularly find myself starting comments by saying, "I wonder if I can find a diplomatic way to say this?" …If I can give you a word of advice: There are no doubt very powerful people and forces in the world who sometimes work publicly and sometimes work secretly. I don't know about you, but none of them are talking to me.

    Someguy - You spoke very diplomatically – thank you – and I intend the same here. I do not adhere to conspiracy theories; I like to deal with facts. Indeed, the facts I stated in my original post are available to you and all Americans if you take the time to look at them. I guess the sadness for me in that is that I am in my mid-50’s, grew up through Vietnam, Watergate, Iran-Contra, etc. era, when many of us directly questioned our government only to find out yeah, there was some conspiracy, but more an abundance of lies and a presumption that the American public was, well, stupid. Or at the least didn’t care.

    For the record, yes I am an IT guy – almost 30 years at it – though these days I am in an executive role and less hands-on IT. But before I am an IT guy, I am an involved American citizen and though I have always been idealistic, maybe too much so at times, I would rather be that than ignorant, uninvolved and unconcerned - not suggesting or implying you are.

    But, think of it this way… Do you own a house? Ever had work done on it? Do you pay for that work? Presuming “yes” to all of these – would you let someone work on your house, not do what you asked, do a sloppy job at that, lie about what was done, never finish the job, and then expect that you gratefully pay them? I am going to presume the answer here to be “No!”.

    Well, your taxes pay for work – do you investigate what was done with that? Ever seen a copy of your local healthcare institutions disaster plan? Ever look at the itemized details of the billions America has spent in Iraq and where it went? Ever look at who got Homeland Security funds and what they did with them? Ever file a FOIA request? Ever join a local tax revenue tracking organization? Ever write to your congress person? Ever take up a local cause? Do you go to your town/city meetings to have a voice in where your local taxes are going?

    I do, always have – it was the way I was raised – to be involved. So yeah, those “forces” you mention might not be speaking to you – but YOU are paying their salary – go out and make them earn it by making them speak to you!

    As my dear old Dad used to say to me and my brothers, "The wheel that squeaks the loudest is the one that gets the grease!"

    When it comes to your tax dollars, you children's future - be a squeaky wheel!

    There's no such thing as dumb questions, only poorly thought-out answers...
  • Blandry- Thanks for your civil reply.

    There is a nice feature on this forum, the "personal message" (PM button), so if you'd like to continue this discussion offline, I'd be happy to discuss further. I'm a little concerned that normally you'd see more replies to an interesting article like this; it may be because people are logging on and noticing a heavy (and getting long as well as off topic) discussion and getting scared off.

    Perhaps the word "conspiratorial" was a bad choice. For the record let me say that I'm not accusing you of being into aliens taking over the government and such. However, I do want to encourage you (and maybe a few others who wander through sites like this) to realize that your strongly held views are controversial; be careful of going into a public place or forum and assuming that everyone will agree with your conclusions and how you arrived at them. That you have the views is understandable, and that you want to share them also; just realize that there are intelligent, also informed people who may (and in my case do) disagree. It would take too much of our fellow reader's time to explain why here.

    ___________________________________________________
    “Politicians are like diapers. They both need changing regularly and for the same reason.”

  • Someguy (8/19/2008)


    I do want to encourage you (and maybe a few others who wander through sites like this) to realize that your strongly held views are controversial; be careful of going into a public place or forum and assuming that everyone will agree with your conclusions and how you arrived at them. That you have the views is understandable, and that you want to share them also; just realize that there are intelligent, also informed people who may (and in my case do) disagree.

    I don't know whether or not I agree with what blandry says - but I will defend his right to say it, even if it is at a slight tangent and even if some may find it controversial.

    John

  • Heh... I'm thinking this is strong justification for tele-commuting. 😛 Let's all become agoraphobic and avoid the epidemic, conspiracys, and a modicum of common sense. 😉

    --Jeff Moden


    RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
    First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
    ________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

    Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.


    Helpful Links:
    How to post code problems
    How to Post Performance Problems
    Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

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