Pandemic Videos

# 487

The news over the past 24 hours has been relatively slow.

The Russians are repeating the same old Mantra, everything is under control. Indonesia is dealing with thousands of Dengue patients, and we've heard virtually nothing about bird flu out of Jakarta in nearly two weeks. Villages in Turkey appear to remain quarantined, but little news has come out. And Egypt has declared some state of emergency over bird flu, based on Arabic newspaper accounts, but exactly why, and what that means, remains unclear.

So, since there is no breaking news, I thought today would be a good day to introduce some of you to a few of the pandemic videos available on the web. You'll need a relatively fast connection to the Internet to view these. DSL or cable recommended.

Youtube.com is a major repository of all things video on the net. People make their own videos, or upload videos they've captured from other sources. There you'll find everything from home made films, to news reports from the Ukraine, to clips from your favorite TV show.

Over the past couple of weeks Goju, one of our better known, and more active flubies has produced a series of short pandemic videos called the `Pandemic Chronicles'. Each runs between 2 and 5 minutes in length.

Before you click these videos, be warned. These are stark warnings of what might be. They assume a pretty near worst-case scenario. But they are not over-the-top, either. Simply done, but highly effective.

A hat tip to Goju for his work on these films.

Note: You should watch these in order. And check back over time, as I expect there will be more installments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8b2gJBOE3o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTH5EBParCE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHtxvnbGwLk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoKBQfuAhLs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0f3sQVLCEE

Now that you've seen a fictionalized version of what a pandemic might bring, before you scoff, and say it would never happen, a word or two from the experts.

Dr. Gregory Poland of the Mayo Clinic on Influenza Mutations

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSRO3GX0jy4

HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt on a Pandemic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX9710rc8KE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6Ni9I9sKUw

And from the CDC, how families should be preparing NOW for a pandemic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcCfzvYBo2c

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