and..super bug redux

[Guest guest]

In the Age of the Superbugs: What is the Remedy?

by Danny Schechter | Oct 23 2007 - 8:59am |

 

article tools: email | print | read more Danny Schechter

 

Nineteen thousand Americans died in hospitals and nursing homes in

2005. They were victims of a scary " superbug " - a bacterial staph

infection for which there is no known cure. Experts warn that we are

facing a " medical typhoon " unless we act to contain this menace of

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA.

 

When I grew up, " superbug " was a colloquial term used as shorthand for

certain Volkswagen cars. Not any more. Now we have a deadly threat

considered worse than SARS, AIDS and Bird Flu. The invasion of the

Superbugs has moved from the Science Fiction channel to page one. It

is a spectre that may yet define our era.

 

Especially frightening is that we only learned of this deadly epidemic

involving a horrific flesh-eating disease two years after its serial

killing spree began. Nineteen thousand people dead, maybe more, and

'nobody knew nothin.' No doubt they didn't want to alarm us.

 

More disturbing is that all these people died in hospitals and nursing

homes, places where they expected to get care and cures-not contract a

life ending superbug.

 

And this is not the only medical super problem. Doctor Paul Farmer

warned in l999 of the spread of multidrug-resistant TB in the prisons

of the former Soviet Union. Now this is a major problem in Africa. Did

you know that, " One-third of the world's population, 1.7 billion

people, have TB in Latent form; a person infected with the organism

has a 10 percent risk of developing active TB sometime in his or her

life. "

 

Has the concept of the " superbug " become a metaphor for our times, a

sign that our institutions set up to solve problems are making them

worse, and that our press is hopelessly behind in telling us about

other superbugs and calamities threatening our world?

 

A superbug of big bully WARITIS seems endemic in high places where

talk of World War 3 and attacking Iran follows the same pattern from

the Iraq playbook of well-orchestrated message points A compliant

media seems willing to disseminate, as if there are no dots to connect

or context to offer.

 

Last Sunday, a 60 Minutes report showed millions of acres burning in

the American West. Firefighters said these forest fires have been

getting worse for ten years.

 

Why are we only finding out about the 'superbug " of forest destruction

now?

 

Oil is another issue. For years, the Administration scoffed at

suggestions that the Iraq war was motivated by the need to control

more oil reserves. The media scoffed at critics who chanted " no blood

for oil " while politicians were in denial. And then, none other than

former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan asserted that oil was

always a main motivator. At that, the media and the government went

silent, as if attacked by a superbug of amnesia.

 

Ditto for the suggestion that oil production was peaking. Nonsense

said the oil companies when the suggestion was made. They seemed

gripped by a superbug of certainty. The Peak Oil argument was

dismissed by insiders as doom and gloom conspiracy speculation. And

then, just this week, the Guardian cited a new report to confirm a

fear that had repeatedly been dismissed by the cognoscenti:

 

" World oil production has already peaked and will fall by half as soon

as 2030, according to a report that also warns that extreme shortages

of fossil fuels will lead to wars and social breakdown. "

 

Let's blame this information lag on the superbug of deception.

 

An Inconvenient Truth, the award-winning film featuring the award-

winning politician Al Gore, showed us icebergs melting. Why did it

take an independent documentary to graphically show us the " superbug

of climate change? " Where was the news media? Perhaps " reporting "

on

Britney or OJ Simpson.

 

In 2004 and earlier, the wizards of Wall Street started underwriting

subprime loans and SIVS--Structured Investment Vehicles--to transfer

billions of dollars from poorer Americans to wealthier ones.

 

A superbug of greed invaded the world of finance.

 

Few journalists warned of the danger to the borrowers who are now

facing foreclosures by the tens of thousands. The regulators and

ratings agencies and commissars of business ethics were silent. The

media pumped up the myth of a buoyant economy rather than expose the

scams that would in a few short years unravel the markets and deepen

inequality.

 

Writes Holly Sklar: " Until 2005, multimillionaires could still make

the Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans. In 2006, the Forbes 400

went billionaires only. When the Forbes 400 began in 1982, it was

dominated by oil and manufacturing fortunes. Today, says Forbes, 'Wall

Street is king.' "

 

And what are the consequences? She writes:

 

" The 25th anniversary of the Forbes 400 isn't party time for America.

We have a record 482 billionaires -- and record foreclosures.

 

We have a record 482 billionaires -- and a record 47 million people

without any health insurance.

 

Since 2000, we have added 184 billionaires -- and 5 million more

people living below the poverty line. "

 

This superbug of greed went largely undetected by the TV channels and

business news outlets. Now, as a crisis ripens with parallels to 1929

on the lips of sober pundits, we have a new superbug on the horizon:

the superbug of mindless " news " designed to divert our attention from

what is really happening.

 

In the guise of reporting on business, we have Fox's new fusion of

porn and partriotism pumped out by a bimbocracy of chatter and well-

calculated false optimism, as Jim Nocera observed in the New York

Times:

 

One minute Fox was doing a segment that included a $1 million diamond;

the next it was giving tips on how to avoid foreclosure. It would home

in on the stock market and then report on the death of a teenager in

Virginia from a staph infection, reports that included several truly

silly efforts to frame the tragedy as a business story. On Tuesday

afternoon, while CNBC was dissecting Intel's earnings, Fox was running

its 'Happy Hour' show, which is set in a bar. A co-host named Cody, a

dude so hip he doesn't tuck his shirt in, was interviewing a random

customer about his plans for Christmas spending. 'Expensive

chocolates,' was the man's reply.

 

So what superbug is at work here? Perhaps a superbug of bullshit. But

it doesn't seem to matter as more money is invested in more ways to

spend money and divert attention from the dangers we face. Ads and

promos legitimize this information abortion.

 

Clearly we need antidotes to all of these superbugs. And they have to

go beyond washing your hands and/or allowing your brain to be washed.

Cure-all product won't help either, writes Mike Adams on

NewsTarget.com:

 

" I think this antibacterial products sham has gone way too far.

Yesterday I was shopping at Office Depot, and guess what I found?

Antibacterial pencils. Yes, it's true. I found some mechanical pencils

made by PaperMate that have an antibacterial coating... We've seen

antibacterial hand soaps and dish soaps, shampoos and all sorts of

other personal care and cleaning products. And we've seen all the bad

news about this, as well, including the fact that they are completely

and utterly useless at actually protecting people from germs, viruses

or contagious disease. "

 

So where should we start in combating these many superbug menaces?

 

Truthful disclosure might be a good beginning. More vigilant

journalism would help, along with a clearer appreciation that there

are often unanticipated consequences of programs launched with the

best of intentions.

 

But most of all, we need a national outcry to move the masses, push

the media and press the politicians to speak out before some new

bacteria turns you and I into breakfast.

 

 

 

 

Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance.

Confucius