Out Break!

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

Anyone remember The Hills Have Eyes when the deformed mountainers were drinking that thick green water?

Exaggerated social commentary mixed with "horror." But gross nonetheless.

I thought that was from inbreeding..but then I never really watched that flick to pay attention to the story.....heh

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

I thought that was from inbreeding..but then I never really watched that flick to pay attention to the story.....heh

It seems to be a disgusting combination. I believe it was the original where Big Brain discussed the background of what happened with the nuclear testing and the drinking water. This movie made some people paranoid about people who live in the mountains and stuff like government testing.

Sidebar: I never saw the 1977 original The Hills Have Eyes. If I can ever find it, I heard it was good. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hil...yes_(1977_film)

[DSTCHAOS]

I agree with cheerfulgreek about AIDS. That's what my "Eh..." response to Daemonseid's mention of AIDS was about.

I know what you're getting at, Daemonseid, and AIDS is a pandemic in many areas. It is correlated to a number of social variables including living conditions. However, AIDS isn't airborne as cheerfulgreek said and you can't get it through drinking water or touching someone on the elbow. So, it's similar but different than what cheerfulgreek and AKAMonet were getting at.

[macallan25]

Speaking of Ebola. Y'all should read some of Richard Preston's books. The Hot Zone is really good. All about the 1989 Ebola scare and the secret/covert military operations associated with it.

The Demon in the Freezer is damn good too. All about Smallpox and the threat of biological warfare. Talks all about the virus being eradicated, two stock piles of it being kept for research purposes at the CDC and in Siberia, Iraq and North Korea gaining access to the strains......just really good and frightening.

[couggirl]

I agree with others that state that AIDS is a pandemic, but I want to also agree with what the OP is saying when comparing AIDS and a virus such as one would find in the movie Outbreak. For me the difference is a matter of time. AIDS is horrible and is having and will continue to be having a major impact on our world dynamics and culture for years to come. But it is also something that one can live with (as of right now) for many years. Thus causing the ability for our culture to better deal with it. The virus in the Outbreak movie is a different time frame than AIDS in that the spread of the virus happened very rapidly. I think that is the major difference in the fictionall pandemic virus (or a more real pandemic such as a small pox outbreak) and AIDS. Movies like Outbreak scare me. I know it is fictional, but the though of something spreading so fast and we as a society have so little control over what is going on just plain freaks me out.


On another side. i have a good friend in the Army and she knows that I like my weird conspiracy theories and what if thoughts. her and I have talked about a number of situations like this and she is convinced that the military has means to prevent a total collapse of the government. That is not to say that millions of people would not die, but according to her the government would be able to protect itself.

The conspiracy theorist in me responds to her and says that just because the government could survive does not mean that there would not be major curruption (see the TV Show Jerico) and that the survivors of this virus pandemic would go back to leading our normal lives just like before, but maybe this is where i start to loose people cause I admit it does sound a little crazy to talk about such things.

[PeppyGPhiB]

Originally Posted by couggirl

The conspiracy theorist in me responds to her and says that just because the government could survive does not mean that there would not be major curruption (see the TV Show Jerico) and that the survivors of this virus pandemic would go back to leading our normal lives just like before, but maybe this is where i start to loose people cause I admit it does sound a little crazy to talk about such things.

Ah, Jericho, I will miss thee. Twas a good show.

[cheerfulgreek]

Originally Posted by couggirl

IMovies like Outbreak scare me. I know it is fictional, but the though of something spreading so fast and we as a society have so little control over what is going on just plain freaks me out.

I agree, but I think people would be more freaked about the virus itself. What would totally freak me out is how it would effect our everyday living. See, I'm thinking about how all the companies that provide the critical infrastucture of modern society like energy, transport, food, water, telecoms ect. that would face serious problems if key workers fail to show up for work because of the virus. The fact is the best way for people to avoid the virus will be to stay home. But if everyone does this, or if too many people try to stockpile supplies after a crisis begins, like I was saying before, the impact of a relatively minor pandemic could quickly multiply.

I think what the biggest problem is that planners for pandemics tend to overlook the fact that modern societies are becoming ever more tightly connected, which means any disturbance can cascade rapidly through many sectors. For example. Like, what if the power goes off? This is where I think the complex interdependencies could prove extreme total drama. Refineries make diesel fuel not only for trucks but also for trains that deliver coal to electricity generators, which I'm sure don't have a high reserve supply. The coal mines need electricity to keep working. Also pumping oil through pipelines and water through mains also requires electricity. I don't know that much about it, but I do know that making electricity depends largely on coal, and getting coal depends on electricity. On top of that, they all need refineries and key people, and people need transportation, food and clean water. If one part of the system starts to fail, the whole thing could go. If something like this were to happen, we could switch to hydro and nuclear power but we would still have to depend on highly trained staff.