There may be a hidden agenda behind the avian flu epidemic, besides pushing needless and potentially harmful drugs that don't work anyway, according to this awesome front-page article in this morning's USA Today. A CDC plan would empower airlines and cruise ship operators to enact a quarantine in the event of a flu pandemic.
If this frightens you, believe me, you're not alone. Health experts, including me, airline personnel and the American Civil Liberties Union feel the same way about the various provisions of this plan, one of which would require airlines to ask their passengers for detailed contact information, with whom they may be traveling and the extent of their travel plans.
Moreover, airlines would be required to store this information for a minimum of 60 days and hand it over to the CDC within 12 hours if asked by the government to do so.
Besides being morally wrong, creating a database capable of storing this information would cost the industry more than $100 million to create and maintain it, a "luxury" none of them can afford.
So, if you can't frighten people with a flu epidemic that never happened, limit the rights of travelers and collect private information anyway for the sake of nothing.
Unbelievable...
USA Today April 25, 2006