Let me preface this by saying that I’m old and survived the first wave of swine flu that hit in the late 50’s. I also survived the Hong Kong flu in the late 60’s and pretty much all the regular influenza epidemics that happen every winter, either by not getting it (the usual for me) or getting it and not dying. What did almost kill me was the measles, but that’s a different story.
anyway…
Forgive me for not being properly terrified by this current pandemic. In fact, forgive me for being highly amused by the media hype and government published guidelines on how to wash my hands and take my vitamins. But really, I just can’t help it. Let me relay two examples that I found exceedingly silly.
Last week the evening news reported on many school closings. In one story it was reported that an entire school district shut down because one student in one of the schools was diagnosed with swine flu. Tucked in with these stories was one where a family was quarantined in their house because it was confirmed that three of them had swine flu. While cameras took dramatic footage of the family’s front door, the reporter read a statement issued by the father, reassuring his neighbors that they were all okay. He said their symptoms had been mild with only slight fever, mild sore throats, dry cough and minor muscle aches. After three days they were all feeling much better.
Yes, this made the evening news–three people are all better.
But it gets even better. A friend of mine, a vegan with a good heart, forwarded me an announcement regarding the swine flu telling me to read it through carefully, even though the content was quite technical. Uh, ok….I’ll try.
Here’s the beginning of the forwarded email:
Dear Friend,
Although everything is possible, the emergence of the swine flu pandemic can only happen if this is a genetically engineered virus. As in the past with the avian flu pandemic in limiting serious amounts of the population, we pray this will also fail.
There is one of the 72 names pronounced: nun lamed kaf, which is specific for nullifying plagues. Gabriel encourages all people who get this to spend a little bit of time each day repeating this mantra with visualizations of this virus dying out and their attempt at creating a pandemic failing and visualizing the whole world being healthy and happy.
The previous protocol for protecting against the viral flu that the Tree of Life has put out in the past is very effective against this human bird swine flu and for protecting the immune system combined with adequate sleep, live food, good hydration, and a loving attitude. This protocol applies to building the immune system against all flus.
Previous vaccination programs have been between 0 and 14% effective according to the CDC and 1% effective according to Israli research. Israeli research has also shown that vaccinations compromise the immune system. Research at John’s Hopkins over a 10-year period showed that 5 consecutive flu vaccinations resulted in 10 times greater amounts of Alzheimer’s Disease, which fits with research by Russell Blaylock M.D. Neuro Surgeon, which suggests that one single vaccination can cause brain inflammation that can last up to 2 years.
Gabriel recommends people have some level of preparedness and in advance an overall flu protocol. Gabriel also recommends getting a bio-photon machine, which neutralizes viruses and vaccinations. These are available through the Tree of Life Dispensary.
The very first sentence sent my coffee right out my nose. After I’d wiped the monitor off, I read on, realizing that not only is this an amazing conspiracy theory, but this dude can sell me everything I need to survive the flu! The protocol that he’s come up goes something like this…
Eat 80-100% raw foods with periodic fasting. Drink “green drinks” and eat 16 cacao beans a day. He goes on to list 26 supplements (all available from his “dispensary”) all of which have different dosage requirements. One of the supplements is “rectal ozone” which you must take once a day.
I gagged this last one out to Brni between fits of hysterical laughter and he said, “hmmm…so you have to blow smoke up your ass?”
Croneswood Art 
4 responses to “a conspiracy of pigs and men”
mm, yes. rectal ozone. good stuff, that.
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Haha, thank goodness I’d finished my coffee before reading this!
My understanding, which is limited–I’m not a pathologist, and my biology expertise is most definitely not microbiology of any sort, other than a few required classes in the course of pursuing ecology/comparative anatomy–is that there is a slightly higher-than-normal chance of this strain of flue mutating due to having human, swine, and avian flu genes. Now, all flu viruses mutate rapidly, but in this case the chance of cross-species transmission is higher. In fact, this has already happened: a farmer in Canada is believed to have transmitted the flu to his herd of pigs.
The interesting things about pigs is that they have receptors exploited by both human influenzas and avian influenzas. That’s why it’s thought that the H5N5 “avian flu” passed through pigs at some point, combined with another flu virus with human-compatible proteins, and then went back into birds, where it could then spread directly from birds to humans.
So, by having something that can go back and forth, like the current strain of H1N1, you have an increased likelihood that it will not just combine with flu viruses that humans are already carrying around, but with viruses that humans have never been exposed to before (but will now be able to infect humans having picked up the human-compatible proteins during their piggy sojourn). This is thought to be what happened in the 1918 pandemic–there was a milder form that circled much of the globe, it went back into pigs, and from there came roaring back and went on to decimate human populations.
Of course, mutation being random, combining with new viruses may render it untransmissable to humans (Ebola Reston, anyone?). Or it may stay mild, or it may turn into something truly ugly, like in 1918. The precautions being suggested now by the CDC–staying home if you’re sick, washing your hands, etc.–are merely sensible precautions to head off a worst-case scenario. I just wish the media would take a slightly more sensible approach, or at least try to explain -why- this strain is a little more worrisome than the normal seasonal flu.
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Thank you for that very clear explanation of what is going on with this strain of influenza. I know I’ve been a bit flip about it, but I find it saves me from screaming when I read things like rectal ozone…
It’s a shame that the TV “news” is so stuck on sensationalizing stories instead of reporting and imparting useful information. If they had taken the opportunity to educate as you say above, maybe the parents that organized play dates would have known what a truly stupid idea that was and kept their kids home.
One thing I find problematic and would love to find out more about, is what role the conditions of the huge industrial pig farms (Smithfield apparently has a plant in Mexico near where the flu started) has in all this and how their farming practices contribute to the spread of disease. At least, there’s no media coverage on it except for one humorous story I heard stating that the pig industry wants people to stop calling it swine flu and use some other term for it.
Our CSA raises a small herd of pigs each year. I’ll be very curious as to how they are handling this. The farm is associated with an intentional community, Camp Hill in Kimberton. They follow the Rudolph Steiner/biodynamic model of farming. They also have a dairy farm, some poultry and run a Waldorf school, and they are home to many challenged kids and adults (mostly down’s syndrome). Our season starts at the end of this month, so I’ll be sure to find out if they’ve had any trouble.
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This is America … there’s a buck to be made!
–Barbara
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