Swine flu outbreak

[MartinHarper]

Anyhoo whatver it was the pain has stopped and all I have now is a minor cough.

NHS Direct 1 BigD 0

More of a win-win scenario, surely?

[Twirly]

Heard on the news last night that some kids from Alleyn's (private school) in Dulwich have got swine flu - apparenlty caught from a fellow student who was in the US at Easter. Wealth is clearly no protector.

[Gojive]

If anyone knows someone suffering with swine flu, I can recommend a great place to get tailor made get well soon cards - www.moonpig.com

[Barry Shnikov]

Wealth is clearly no protector.

Oh yes it is. It's just not 100% effective.

[Barry Shnikov]

Bear in mind that vast tracks of land are dustbowls in the USA where cattle have been driven in the past by cowboys.

Howdy, ma'am. Just mosie'd on over to point out that them thar vast tracTs of land in the good ol' US of A what bin turned into dustbowls were got that way bah the sharecroppers - ain't nuthin to do with us cowboys. Ain't you read The grapes a' rath, by that there Steinbeck feller?

The land will never recover to grow any food on.

Could end up at the bottom of the ocean in a few million years, then raised up again with a 100 foot coating of fertile ooze.
More predictably, if and when it becomes financially viable, the land will be fertilised and put back into production. Could take as little as five years.

[Astro]

Howdy, ma'am. Just mosie'd on over to point out that them thar vast tracTs of land in the good ol' US of A what bin turned into dustbowls were got that way bah the sharecroppers - ain't nuthin to do with us cowboys. Ain't you read The grapes a' rath, by that there Steinbeck feller?

Ain't ya seen Oklahoma! All about farmers hating cowboys. Why?

Could end up at the bottom of the ocean in a few million years, then raised up again with a 100 foot coating of fertile ooze.

True.
That reminds me, did you know that there are about 50 unaccounted for nulear warheads lounging on various sea beds?

More predictably, if and when it becomes financially viable, the land will be fertilised and put back into production. Could take as little as five years.

Can it though?

[Agente Secreto]

Bear in mind that vast tracks of land are dustbowls in the USA where cattle have been driven in the past by cowboys.

Howdy, ma'am. Just mosie'd on over to point out that them thar vast tracTs of land in the good ol' US of A what bin turned into dustbowls were got that way bah the sharecroppers - ain't nuthin to do with us cowboys. Ain't you read The grapes a' rath, by that there Steinbeck feller?

Ain't ya seen Oklahoma! All about farmers hating cowboys. Why?

Astro, the good stuff you comment on is being lost amongst the random inaccurate information. You've provided good information in this thread about the amount of grain needed to produce beef but you're wrong that cattle were to blame for the erosion of the fertile land and the dust-bowl effect in the 30s. As Barry says this was caused by intensive agriculture combined with several years of drought.

That reminds me, did you know that there are about 50 unaccounted for nulear warheads lounging on various sea beds?

Nothing to do with swine flu of course but aircraft have generated approximately 8-10 weapons lost at sea, several of which had no fissile cores and therefore could not really be called lost nukes. It's still not good but not quite as alarmist as your number. You are probably meaning that there have been 60 or more nuclear accidents/incidents over the years some of which have been far more worrying than jettisoned weapons.

On a lighter note - swine flu has even reached the level of worrying Winnie the Pooh............

Agent 000
Licensed to Dance

[Barry Shnikov]

Ain't ya seen Oklahoma! All about farmers hating cowboys.

Oh, the rancher and the cowman should be friends...
Yes, the rancher and the cowman should be friends!
One man likes to push a plough
The other likes to rope a cow
But that's no reason why they cain't be friends....

Territory folks should stick together
Territory folks should all be pals
Cowmen dance with the rancher's daughters
Ranchers dance with the cowmen's gals...

...yee har!

[Astro]

Astro, the good stuff you comment on is being lost amongst the random inaccurate information. You've provided good information in this thread about the amount of grain needed to produce beef

I can information on sheep too:-

A single sheep can eat a hundreweight of greenstuff in a week, as much as a dozen people.

but you're wrong that cattle were to blame for the erosion of the fertile land and the dust-bowl effect in the 30s. As Barry says this was caused by intensive agriculture combined with several years of drought.

I don't think we are talking about the same area of the USA, because I remember that the cattle had turned the land where they used the same cattle trail/s for years, into a desert. I think the cattle were heading to stockyards somewhere in California, but not sure of the route or of where the other end is.

On an up to date note, logging companies are chopping down rainforest in South America then the land is being used to graze cattle on. Mc Donald's are involved. Not sure if it is true or an Anti McDonnalds rumour.

[Barry Shnikov]

*Blink*

You see, those of us who have a higher retention threshold than you, Astro sweetie, get worried when you say things like 'stockyards in California'.

The stockyards were in CHICAGO, where at one time you could stand on property owned by one or other of the meat processing companies and as far as you could see in any direction was more meat processing.

The cattle trails, in any event, didn't go to Chicago or California - they went to the railhead. This is what made towns like Dodge City and Deadwood and Tombstone the places of legend - they were railheads. The cowboys would turn up with several thousand head, driven up from the ranches; the cattle would be herded onto the trains and the trains would take them to Chicago. It would take a few days for the drovers to be restocked and supplied for the trip back to the ranches, where they would collect more cattle and turn right around. During those several days, they would act very much like English football fans in European cities 125 years later. Except the football fans didn't have Colt revolvers and horses on which to race about. Saloons would sell booze, gambling and women to the cowboys, and the hotels would sell them a bath and a shave. If the whores were lucky, the men would go to the hotel before the saloon...

So, the cattle drives were not thousands of miles long, and in any case the cattle kept to rather narrow paths. They weren't responsible for the dustbowls; this was sharecropping.

[Astro]

*Blink*

You see, those of us who have a higher retention threshold than you, Astro sweetie, get worried when you say things like 'stockyards in California'.

The stockyards were in CHICAGO, where at one time you could stand on property owned by one or other of the meat processing companies and as far as you could see in any direction was more meat processing.

I've just rode in from the Windy City,
and the Windy City is mighty pretty,

The cattle trails, in any event, didn't go to Chicago or California - they went to the railhead. This is what made towns like Dodge City and Deadwood and Tombstone the places of legend - they were railheads. The cowboys would turn up with several thousand head, driven up from the ranches; the cattle would be herded onto the trains and the trains would take them to Chicago.

Are you seriously suggesting that in the whole of the USA, Chicago was the only place with stockyards?

The Fort Worth Stockyards at Dallas in Texas were designated a national historic landmark in 1976. They are now a popular tourist destination.

So, the cattle drives were not thousands of miles long, and in any case the cattle kept to rather narrow paths.

The animals walked two abreast, in a tidy crocodile line, did they?

[bigdjiver]

The major cause was drought. Share croppers clearing long rooted indigenous plants meant that the soil was not anchored so well, but the main thing was the prolonged drought.

[Astro]

The major cause was drought. Share croppers clearing long rooted indigenous plants meant that the soil was not anchored so well, but the main thing was the prolonged drought.

But I'm not talking about the Mid West (Grapes of Wrath area, read the book years ago), I'm talking about furthur south.

I know I was the first to mention the word 'dustbowls', but it was the wrong word to use - everyone has automatically assumed I meant OKlahoma.

for dustbowls read desert.

[AussieJ]

I have just received an official email notifying that there have been 3 confirmed cases of swine flu amongst three individuals that happen to work in the same office building that I do



This is news I could have done without, whilst trying to organise my transportation to Skeggy this weekend...

[Dreadful Scathe]

I can information on sheep too:-

I was expecting a picture of a cat with this for some reason. lolz.

A single sheep can eat a hundreweight of greenstuff in a week, as much as a dozen people.

greenstuff? you mean grass? Is this any 12 people rather than a specific 12 ? Where do they buy the grass and why arent they eating pot noodles, which are marginally better? Also, how do you know this sheep is unattached ?

I don't think we are talking about the same area of the USA, because I remember that the cattle had turned the land where they used the same cattle trail/s for years, into a desert. I think the cattle were heading to stockyards somewhere in California, but not sure of the route or of where the other end is.

I remember a loony tunes cartoon with sheep and cows travelling across the states. Is that what you were thinking of ?

[batnurse]

I have just received an official email notifying that there have been 3 confirmed cases of swine flu amongst three individuals that happen to work in the same office building that I do

Would you like to come to Dundee and cough over a few people then? I'm bored testing swine flu samples and getting no positives, it makes science very dull

[Brian Doolan]

Would you like to come to Dundee and cough over a few people then? I'm bored testing swine flu samples and getting no positives, it makes science very dull

Wait til Autumn/Winter, you'll overwhelmed with positives, oh and so may undertakers.

[Double Trouble]

Wait til Autumn/Winter, you'll overwhelmed with positives, oh and so may undertakers.

Keep taking the happy pills Brian...clearly they're having the desired effect.

[Brian Doolan]

Keep taking the happy pills Brian...clearly they're having the desired effect.

I do hope your humour will be justified and we can all laugh it off; time will tell but even the "Experts" are talking of mutation. I'm no front line biologist so can only go by what the media says.

[Dreadful Scathe]

well if it is anything like the spanish flu of 1918 it may last for 2 years and kill up to 100 million people out of 500 million infected (1/3rd of the worlds population at the time). see here - don't let that get you down though, we have far batter medical facilities and better knowledge.

The second wave of the 1918 pandemic was much deadlier than the first. During the first wave, which began in early March, the epidemic resembled typical flu epidemics. Those at the most risk were the sick and elderly, and younger, healthier people recovered easily. But in August, when the second wave began in France, Sierra Leone and the United States, the virus had mutated to a much more deadly form

oh well, if I owe money to anyone, i promise i'll pay you back next year Although taking the "deadly mutation" into account and the fact that "it was the same flu, in that those who recovered from first-wave infections were immune, but it was far more deadly", maybe we'll get lucky by catching it early. Unless you are a small child or elderly. Bugger.