Why is no one talking about 60 Minutes NUKE drug story?

[serryjw]

Should we spend billions on a anti-radiation drug? Would you take it if a nuke went off in your city?

I found this on the net explaining the problem in detail
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45973

60 Minutes story
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/27/60minutes/main1245714.shtml

[Nicole]

1. I didn't watch it

Thanks for the link, will go read about what I missed.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

23. good story here...

:kick:

[KyuzoGator]

2. If we're going to form up a resistance on Caprica and fight the Cylons...

...we're gonna need those anti-radiation meds.

Oh, this is reality. I can't really tell anymore.

[skids]

20. It we need them, we're fracked anyway. :-) n/t

[KyuzoGator]

22. I actually use "frack" in my daily language.

I'm such a dork.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

26. NO one is talking because messageslike yours won't stay up

long enough :kick:

[wryter2000]

25. Thanks

That's exactly what I meant to say. :yourock:

[Erika]

3. It shows how misguided W is in "protecting" us.

He claims to have this great concern but refuses to invest and allow a self-use injection that would allow us to recover from radiation poisoning in the case of a nuclear attack.

As the company man brought up, the government showed how unprepared we were to deal with emergencies when Katrina happened.

To W, "protect" is a word, not an action. The show was very unsettling.

[fooj]

4. I watched it...

Making sure the top 100,000 citizens are taken care of. the rest can go to hell.

Peace.

[hopeisaplace]

5. I watched it, and the first things that popped into my head

...millions to be made by a real nuc scare?
...they don't want alot of people to survive a nuc attack
(economic cleansing?)
...or the people who make the vaccine (or whatever it is)
aren't paying off the right people, or the "right people"
will be coming up with their own vaccine or whatever to sell...

[Appalachian_American]

6. I only saw about half of that,

but from the bit that I saw it made me wonder why, if as the republicans that are in control keep insisting, times have changed since 911 and they are the only ones that can keep us safe, then why drag their feet over something like that.

Why not pass out one of those little injectors to everyone in the country and lord over all the hate-America-first crowd that they are aggressively and innovatively protecting us in ways that Dems and the like would never even dream of?

[serryjw]

7. I agree with your political logic

It was Bushit's idea in the first place. He budgeted BILLIONS for it. I would think this would go a long way with fear lovers.

Personally, I doubt if I would take it. IF a nuke went off in $%%^ I would either die immediately or take something so I would. Radiation poisoning is a terrible way to go. I would have little faith that the vaccine would work....and thanks to * I have no healthcare insurance/

[Ilsa]

8. Shocking story.

And that Bush had appointed someone who knows nothing about what he is doing (Simonson?) doesn't surprise me.

[Igel]

9. Isn't the usual wisdom that a radiologic bomb (aka

"dirty bomb") is more likely than an actual nuclear warhead?

Granted, North Korea could plausibly get one or more actual warheads smuggled in to major ports, but is that one of the more likely scenarios? There's not going to be enough Neumune available to keep it stockpiled for the entire populations of LA, Seattle, Houston, etc. (And even then, much would depend on the blast radius and the fallout pattern/wind direction. If a blast goes off in San Pedro, while Santa Monica would be screaming for the drug it most likely wouldn't need it.)

The cynic in me says this is engaging in scare tactics. Nothing like a good scare to stir up outrage and get people coming back to watch again, the circus part of 'bread and circus'. If the gov spent the money on millions of doses, there'd be experts on the show with fall-out patterns and likely rates of radiation sickness showing that it's highly unlikely that millions of people would be affected, and the drug will simply pass its expiration date, unused, in some warehouse while some more pressing and likely need went unmet. And somehow some administration official or his third cousin wound up owning shares of the stock that was thereby inflated in value.

The pragmatist and critical thinker in me wonders exactly what they're considering the most likely scenarios, how they're coming up with their probabilities, and what the budget trade-offs are. After all, the money for Neumune would, or should, come at the expense of some other allocation.

[dweller]

10. perhaps the tax cuts?

wishful thinking on my part.
dp

[lpbk2713]

11. Sounds like they're looking for a doomsday guarantee

for the survival of the rich and powerful. If they had a limited supply of dosages, I can't see them giving it to a truck driver or a grocery cashier, or someone who is unemployed or elderly.

[windbreeze]

12. Let's face it.....

shall we???
* doesn't care about anyone except himself...period!!(* & cheney have fall out shelters)

After the way Katrina was handled, do we still have any doubts about how any type of local, let alone national, emergency in the future will be handled????Does this gov't have the ability to get any type of medication dispensed nationwide, when they couldn't even save one city, or it's people??? So if you can't get it to where it's needed, then why have it? It's still rendered useless...

Does anyone think it strange that binladen would plan to attack cities, such as LA, that have a very high muslim population..???...orrr...(is it that certain people want us to believe binladen is making these plans?)

I would rather have seen the billions get spent, securing our borders...seaports...nuclear facilities...then perhaps we wouldn't have had to worry about having to develop drugs to take against radiation or bio/chem attacks...uh huh.....
windbreeze

[Bigmack]

13. Saw it...shit, the Dr. Strangeloves....

.. in this country never intended to evacuate the cities... or help them... or treat the wounded... in the event of a nuke strike during the Cold War. Too expensive and time consuming.

This is just a continuation of that policy.

Why bother to help survivors stay alive if they'll just be a drain on the country... without homes or jobs?

Think nobody could be such Cold Mutherfuckers? Think Wolfowitz.. think Perle.

[radfringe]

14. Looking out from a bubble

One of the most disturbing aspects about the story is the bubble view held by HHS. ( see: The Worst-Case Scenario - 1/29/06 CBS - 60 minutes
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/27/60minutes/mai... )

HHS is under the impression that in the event of a nuclear terrorist attack on a major city - the hospitals will be able to handle the casualties. It's apparent it hasn't occurred to them that such an attack would also cause considerable damage to the hospital buildings themselves as well as medical personnel.

Raub seemed to shrug off the "worst case scenario" with a "gee, it would be a catastrophe, but everyone will help out...."

This view from a bubble is exactly what led to the Katrina aftermath debacle. Do we want to continue with a bubble policy when we could be facing an event 100 times worse than Katrina?

After September 11 - the official administration's excuse was "who knew terrorists would fly planes into buildings."

After Katrina - the official administration's excuse was "who knew the levees would fail."

Do we want to wait for the next official administration excuse of "who knew a nuclear detonation in a major city would be so bad....who knew hospitals would also be blown up"?

[jbnow]

16. You are right about the glee at "catastrophe"

He also said Asked if he thinks hospitals would be able to handle the load of patients in such an event, Simonson’s deputy, Raub, says, "There would be hospital capacity that would be able to treat a substantial portion of that load. By no means would there be the ability to treat all of it, and therefore that’s what makes it a catastrophe."

"and therefore that’s what makes it a catastrophe."???
So the problem is that if we distributed enough of this drug that people can give themselves, a drug that seems to work...it would not be such a catastrophe?

We are trying to make sure it IS a catastrophe?

We are led to war with talk of this mushroom cloud and we could prepare for it but ...we decided not to? It would ruin the catastrophe?

[SSX]

15. The top 1% will receive their free injector w/ their tax refund check

compliments of the Bushco "Cleaning America Up To Invest in the Republicans Inititative"

[katinmn]

17. Another TV show prepping us for getting nuked

This is creepy, ghastly stuff taking place here in Amerika. Meanwhile, nuclear drills are taking place in Texas and South Carolina.

They also did drills just before 9/11 and Katrina. :-(

(CBS) We can no longer ignore the worst-case scenario of a nuclear terrorist attack on an American city. Osama bin Laden has made it clear he wants to obtain nuclear weapons and use them against us.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/27/60minutes/main1245714.shtml

[OzarkDem]

18. My problem with it

The drug hasn't made its way yet to a Phase I clinical trial - being tested in humans. That's a big step to take and there's no guarantee it would work in humans the way its worked in animals, or that it wouldn't be toxic in some way.

Its a big risk for the government to order a lot of vaccinations if the human trials end up showing the drug isn't useful or is harmful to humans.

[AnneD]

19. I think this points out the major difference between DEM's anf GOP's

DEM's don't trust the government to protect them but they try anyway. GOP's not only trust the gov to protect them, but really believe the sales pitch the lobbiest gives.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

21. what a pathetic way to feed defense contractors and big drug companies

Your Military Industrial Complex hard at work to serve all us future burned to a crisp idiots.

[wryter2000]

24. Not sure the story helps us

I loved the pictures of that arrogant bastard smirking, but I'm sick to death of "what if the terra-ists ended the world TOMORROW?" stories.

[Beaverhausen]

27. K&R This should be front page news

I'm sorry but seriously...there are crazies out there with nukes and this crony of Bushs who is in charge of our safety needs to go...NOW!