I've decided to stop writing about bird flu. Why? because it's become passe. There are other bloggers out there that are doing a fine job of "scaremonggering". I'll just say this as a final comment: Will it happen? Probably. Is there anything I can do about it? Very little. I've checked out aperobot.com and have garnered some inspiration from the mediocre poetry section and here is my ode to bird flu in the same vein:

Bird flu, bird flu
Straight outta Jakarta came, WHO knew?!
Flying round the globe on a wing-ed migration
You sparked a world-wide population deflation
Not enough respirators to do the trick
Too many sick chicks, can't use my dick
Wish I could stop you before you get started
Be like you paid a dime and only farted
150 million deaths is lookin' quite likely
It don't care if you're black, yellow or whitey
No known vaccine to stop the spread
Makes my lungs bleed and inflates my head
There will be a run on Tamiflu to be sure
Makin' Roche Pharma the stock pick du jour

Lowbar is like Wu-Tang. I have just dropped a solo album. And a deuce.

I would like to formally announce the launch of ApeRobot.com, a new INTER NET WEB SITE!!!

There are Lowbar Films (including Curbed Enthusiasm and Das Rok Aeps) and projects and all manner of mediocre shit there that will help you pass the time.

Use the Internet-browsing software on your computer to access it, you fucking douchebag.

While Hurricane Rita may pose a more immediate threat, I still contend that the BIG story of the century could very well be playing out in areas such as Indonesia. There 17 people have contracted the bird flu after visiting a zoo which contains infected birds. Those 17 are likely to die and there are reports that 115 people may be infected there. These people were complaining of fever (the onset of the flu) and went to the hospital but were turned away since their conditions were not serious. As it stands now, nothing is being done to quarantine the infected humans and birds are not being culled in any widespread manner. There is no vaccine (the media has erroneously stated that there is one) and the World Health Organization role seems to be one of quelling fear rather than raising concern, therefore their press releases say that this is not the onset of the pandemic, which flies in the face of thier own classifications for pandemics, placing the recent events in Indonesia (and elsewhere) solidly in the Phase Five of a six phase evolution of a pandemic. Those who study virus all say it's just a matter of time, not a question of "if" but "when". And where we are seeing these clusters of cases cropping up in area of the world that are ill equipped to deal in any organized way with an outbreak then I feel compelled to write silly posts like this that sound alarmist. Let me clarify, I am not worried (I'm passed that), I am however keenly interested in the story. This is a fascinating one to me. It is amazing to think that something so small could, under the right conditions, completly change life on Earth. The last big pandemic was 1918, called the Spanish Flu. It killed millions. Conditions on the Earth are much different than they were back then. Our cities are more densely populated, our airplanes are able to travel the globe in a day, and air travel is more common. What took a year to spread across the globe in 1918 could travel in a week. And from the looks of it, H5N1 (the current bird flu) has a much higher morbidity rate than the Spanish Flu did.

I've also thought a lot about how to prepare for such an event. After having done some research on the subject basically it comes down to staying at home and riding it out since the hospitals are going to be overrun and healthcare workers are going to be slim. So if at home it's important to have water and fever reducing pills like Tylenol and Ibuprophen. Staying hydrated is the most important thing. Your chances of death with this virus are extremely high (due to the fact that it necrotizes lung cells) so it may not matter anyway. About the only people I see surviving this are those that live in communities that can shut off the road and live in isolation.

So I say let's enjoy our potential last days on Earth. Raise a glass and give thanks to Jah for your days here. Treat your neighbor kindly and buy a gun in case he doesn't reciprocate.

The good news:: If you survive real estate is going to be really, really cheap (free) and that pesky problem of paying for the Baby Boomers Social Security will vanish.

This is amusing. The Indonesians are admitting that they have a bird flu epidemic in the capital of Jakarta but that it hasn't reached the "frightening epidemic" stage. Non-existent : Epidemic : Frightening Epidemic : Oh Holy Shit!

limitedmodel23: hey who is this
AepRokbot: who this?
limitedmodel23: who ths
AepRokbot: me
limitedmodel23: oh same here
AepRokbot: nice
AepRokbot: how are the wife and kids?
limitedmodel23: great
AepRokbot: that's good to hear
AepRokbot: and geoff?
AepRokbot: things are good here. bought a new shirt last week.
AepRokbot: it's got stripes on it
AepRokbot: and by that i mean the shirt projects the film "stripes," starring bill murray and john candy
AepRokbot: it was expensive
AepRokbot: this guy i know likes horses
AepRokbot: he draws pictures of horses
AepRokbot: they're ok
limitedmodel23: omg shut the fuck up
limitedmodel23 signed off at 1:26:22 PM

Some stories from the hurricane are very tragic like the Snowball the Dog story. Others make me laugh. They're just as tragic but reading this story about errant casinos on the Mississippu caused me to laugh and laugh. I'm a cold, heartless bastard. Maybe I'm just sleep deprived.