[CTRL] The Flu Racket

[William Shannon]

http://www.shout.net/~bigred/flu The Flu Racket (Conspiracy Nation, 12/08/01) -- Most every year, like clockwork, arrives the mysterious "flu." Whence comes this punctual visitor, so reliable that the calendar can be minutely corrected based on the predictability of its arrival? In the recent past, rhythmic flu arrivals were named, as are hurricanes. There was the "Hong Kong Flu," the "Malaysian Flu," the "Asian Flu." The names hinted that the virus originated in the inscrutable orient, land of mystery. (In a similar vein, so-called HIV/AIDS is said to have originated in the deepest darkest jungles of Africa.) "It's all very mysterious," say the men and women wearing the priestly lab coats of white. If there are mutterings of doubt, the medical high priests invoke their mystery language, comprehensible only to fellow initiates. The rattle of sacred bones. The throwing of magic dust. One layman has speculated that the yearly arrival of the latest modified version of influenza (flu) is introduced via the yearly flu shots. Those innoculated, says this heretic, while protected against the virus, also serve as unwitting carriers of the latest flu into the general population. This blasphemer also cynically states, "Someone is making a buck off of it." Please, high priests of medicine, explain in layman's terms just why the blasphemer is wrong. Address explanations to Conspiracy Nation ([EMAIL PROTECTED])