Wholesome 8===D

I wrote about Larry Brilliant's lecture on Avian Flu back in 2006. I recommend everyone watch it again. Larry Brilliant is a medical doctor and runs Google.Org, Google's non-profit arm.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4945574855615972381

For those of you who won't follow the first link, or watch the video, here's some points back I took from it back in 2006, during the Avian Flu panic, I'd imagine most it it applies to Swine Flu, but YMMV.

• Lipitor and other cholesterol lowering drugs seem to lower the chance the you'll die from Avian Flu.
• Get a Penumonia vaccine. Penumonia is the most common cause of death in influenza cases.
• Consider the benefits of getting AIDS. Cytokine storm diseases, like swine flu, work by turning your immune system against you. This would cause healthy young people to die more than old people or people with otherwise compromised immune systems. Of course, not all influenza is a cytokine storm.
• Some Avian Flu strains have been sensitive to Amantadine, an all ready available, over-the-counter, and cheap anti-viral. In other cases Relenza, and Tamiflu might work.
• fluwikie.com is pretty cool, though not mentioned in the presentation

If your doctor tries to prove you have HIV with a piece of white paper that has "HIV POSITIVE" written on it in large capital letters with black magic marker, I think you need to get a second opinion.

You should also get a second opinion on anyone including a scene depicting it in a film that's supposed to be persuasive.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4945574855615972381

That's, Larry Brilliant, giving a lecture on Avian Flu at the Googleplex. I like him, because his name is Brilliant, he says "duck shit" once (and "horse shit" five times) during the lecture, and as of early this year Google made him Executive Director of Google.org (Google's philanthropic branch) -- if you listen to this lecture you'll understand why.

The beginning of the video is a little choppy, but I think the gaps are where they were showing parts the ABC film Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America. The lecture was sort of given in the response to the movie's release.

There's too much information in Brilliant's lecture for me to summarize it here, so if you're just planning on scrolling passed this on your friends list and not watching it you should know this stuff.

• Lipitor and other cholesterol lowering drugs seem to lower the chance the you'll die from Avian Flu.
• Get a Penumonia vaccine. Penumonia is the most common cause of death in influenza cases.
• Consider the benefits of getting AIDS. Cytokine storm diseases, like swine flu, work by turning your immune system against you. This would cause healthy young people to die more than old people or people with otherwise compromised immune systems. Of course, not all influenza is a cytokine storm.
• The President has only given 90 million dollars to deal with an outbreak. Secretary of Health, Mike Leavitt, has conceeded that's not enough to find first cases (necessary to make a vaccine) and not enough for state and county prepardness.
• Some Avian Flu strains have been sensitive to Amantadine, an all ready available, over-the-counter, and cheap anti-viral. In other cases Relenza, and Tamiflu might work.
• fluwikie.com is pretty cool, though not mentioned in the presentation
.

I have to wonder what "agenda" Google has for making Larry Brilliant Executive Director of Google.org. When there is finally a pandemic outbreak of influenza will the vaccine be free and come with a Google logo on it? You are part of the mystery.

I like linux and all, but this whole experience of getting it installed and working on my laptop has reenforced how I feel about it. I was originally going to title this entry, "Linux is gay." But, I wanted to compare linux to homosexuality in very real... almost mathematical sense.

This is the first time I've used linux as a "desktop" since 1999. The installation and software written for it has come a long way. Most stuff you try to install works -- it's cool. But there are still some things that are painfully backwards, cluster-fucky, and broken.

It kind of reminds of a gay man who has been trying to pretend he's straight since 1996. Like most gay men, he's cool. But, but after 8 or 9 years of practicing the art of pussy 'preciation, he's still gay. And, you know, it's okay to be gay. Deep down inside, we really like linux because it's so gay.


http://www.goats.com/archive/000602.html


Speaking of being gay, and pussy, and... I don't know.... AIDS and drugs, eventhough I wasn't speaking of them. Check out this action: GSK-IAVI. That some crazy acronym action, huh?

GlaxoSmithKline claimed on Tuesday that the public-private partnership with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) was unprecedented.

Sections of the medical community agreed that it is the first time AIDS vaccine research had taken a giant leap between half-hearted, poorly-funded government-led endeavour and frenzied, money-soaked private initiative with a gross commercial motive.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1148835.cms

With all the bad press pharmaceutical companies have gotten over vioxx, celebrex, antidepressants, and every other prescription drug related blown out of proporition medical headline, this is the ultimate good PR.

How could you hate the drug company that cured AIDS? It would be like if I was getting washed away in a flood, and Dick Cheney happened to be in the neighborhood and tossed me a life preserver with a rope attached to tow me in, and then made-out with me for hours after I was safe. I mean, how could I not love him if he saved my life?