Mad Cow/Bird Flu or, If You Don’t Pray, You Ought to Start…
February 11, 2006
After reading a New York Times article about the origins of Mad Cow disease in Britain, and possibly in the United States, I’ve been thinking about coming epidemics in general. Because “the incubation for the human disease is 7 to 30 years” and “only 15 cases of human disease have been confirmed, many experts fear a latent epidemic.” Basically, experts
suggest the disease is silently waiting in millions of unknowing human brains for just the right time to outbreak and cause a “28 Days Later”-type scenario. Check out the details of “animal rendering” from the More Information pull-down link, “Where does waste vegetable oil usually go?” on the greasenotgas.com home page. Another Times article about the quickly progressing Avian Flu in Europe and in Asia, which has killed up to 89 humans and sparked mass killings of hundreds of millions of domesticated birds, gives more reason to worry. In reading these articles, this omenous statement must be said, “WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE!”
It’s true, we’re all going to die. If not the avian flu and mad cow, global warming, nuclear winter, or aliens…
But honestly, it is a sobering thought. Just think about what smallpox did.
Here’s the thing, there will always be some entity out there trying to kill you- whether it be cancer, the avian flu, or some crazy ass cab driver at 3am (long story, ask me about it sometime, lol), and I agree with Tim, it is a sobering thought. So if we know we’re going to die eventually, why not push the envelope while we’re still here? Take risks, make mistakes, learn from everything and take nothing for granted. Do that, and at least you’ll know you at least LIVED while you were alive. I do not intend to tip-toe through life so that I may arrive safely at death. Ok, now that my inner philosopher is satisfied, I am off to go sledding in this blizzard.
Erica is deep. That’s all I can say. But in this situation, if this does evolve into a pandemic, then we, ourselves, are not only in danger, but our families and loved ones are facing the same risk. I am not going to walk in fear for myself, but I will walk in fear for the weak, and for the ones I love. Interesting thought though…
Jared is so wise! For me, family and friends is the most important part of life, that is why, when faced with such a dilemma, all we can do is be there for those we love and never take them for granted (who knows when we’ll see them again?) We can’t let the little spats and stupid arguments get in the way of what matters the most(God, I sound like such a cliche)But hey, to each their own