I hear diseased urine is delivered directly into the Great Lakes!

March 31, 2003 12:54 PM

With an increase in the number of cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndromeat the Toronto Hospital for Sick Children, Canada now poses more of a direct threat to the American way of life than all of the weapons in Iraq combined. As the relationship between these two North American real estate holders continues to deteriorate, are we Canadians to expect border closings and escalated hostility due to this?
posted by jon_kill (17 comments total)

No.
posted by linux at 1:02 PM on March 31, 2003

Luckily, I think we have enough duct tape left over to seal the Canadian Border.
posted by stifford at 1:02 PM on March 31, 2003

Yes, the US HATES Canada, all of us, but to speed up the invasion process we are just going to unleash all of our nuclear arsenal and take out all of our cold war pent up aggression and our latent homosexuality on you.

What deteriorating relationship? We are the worlds leading trade partners, have been for a while, still are. The US fuels its SUV's on Canadian oil, not Iraqi, need I remind you. Besides that I've ALWAYS been far more harassed entering Canada then exiting before and since 9-11. Its terrible that those children are sick and that many are dying, isn't that enough without using their suffering for an IraqFilter troll?
posted by Pollomacho at 1:04 PM on March 31, 2003

The only Canadians who need to worry are French Canadians.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 1:05 PM on March 31, 2003

You could always whip yourself into a panicked frenzy :) I am sure that would help.

I can't tell if this is meant to be genuine or a sort of sideways shot at an anti-war posting. I suppose the latter but who knows? I could be wrong.

Lets take it at face value:

1) If Canadian/US tourism flow presents a significant health problem then I would think temporary border closings make sense.

2) Any hostility you may experience is likely to be a reaction to hostility coming down from the North. I doubt (as you imply) that you'll be invaded any time soon.

3) It is HIGHLY suspect to declare that the flu like disease is more of a threat than Iraq. Obviously it makes for good rhetoric - but it is only that.

All in all not a bad post - it paints US policies as paranoid, tries to paint the US itself as dangerously aggressive and simultaneously downplays any Iraqi threat.

As anti war postings go it is among the more subtle... which gives you an idea how bad the other ones are.
posted by soulhuntre at 1:10 PM on March 31, 2003

I for one think we need to pass anti-SARS legislation. I'm tired of entering bars and having to drink with SARS infected persons.
posted by shepd at 1:18 PM on March 31, 2003

The country to be pissed off at over SARS is China. They have kept the spread of the disease in a media blackout since November and still haven't allowed the WHO to visit the area where the disease first appeared.
posted by homunculus at 1:42 PM on March 31, 2003

Listen up, Sparky. We'll invade Canada when we're damned good and ready, and not before. Enjoy your Socialist way of life while you can, Comrade. Freedom is coming.
posted by Captain Ligntning at 1:51 PM on March 31, 2003

Oh no! Saddam set us up the SARS. No bickering between Canada and the States. Only people who have nothing to do than to complain 'bout France, Germany, Iraq... well, everything 'xcept for the US. But God bless America... and God bless Canada for putting up with them :).
posted by freakystyley at 1:52 PM on March 31, 2003

Border closings as a result of SARS? Not even mentioned in the article. Nice troll.
posted by mcwetboy at 2:14 PM on March 31, 2003

"At this writing, SARS appears to have killed 49 people out of 1323 afflicted according to the World Health Organization, a death rate of less than four percent. In Hong Kong, that alleged "worst medical disaster" has killed ten people out of 316 known victims. But since this only takes into account those ill enough to seek medical help, the actual ratio of deaths to infections is certainly far less.

In contrast, the 1918-1919 flu pandemic killed approximately a third of the 60 million afflicted.

Further, virtually all of the deaths have been in countries with horrendous health care, primarily mainland China. In the U.S., 40 people have been hospitalized with SARS. Deaths? Zero.

Conversely, other forms of pneumonia kill about 40,000 Americans yearly. "

I hear that shark attacks are up as well...
posted by toothless joe at 3:25 PM on March 31, 2003

Deaths reported in Canada, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. (WHO) Not sure we can use the label "horrendous" on some of these countries.
posted by applesurf at 5:25 PM on March 31, 2003

toothless joe lines up at the plate... the troll-ball is hurled... he swings ....
~ *SMACK!* ~... folks, that one's going, going... it's outta the park... it may have crossed the Canadian border....
posted by namespan at 6:25 PM on March 31, 2003

What a steaming hot pile of post! Granted, Canadians have the right to be angry - the INS has done some fairly odious things to its citizens. But, remember, this is a temporary abberation. Once our electoral process has had a chance to work, it'll fix the primary issue.
Besides, we can just jack up the softwood lumber tariffs to cover the increase in medical expenses. (And now, to win some friends...)
posted by FormlessOne at 8:33 PM on March 31, 2003

There are currently more cases of suspected SARS in the US than in Canada.

It is HIGHLY suspect to declare that the flu like disease is more of a threat than Iraq. Obviously it makes for good rhetoric - but it is only that.

Okay, I'll step up to the plate. I'm more worried about SARS than I am about Iraq.

Yes, there haven't been many deaths, yet. But we don't know the true death rate, because the first wave of cases (outside of inland China) hasn't completed its natural history yet. Many of the deaths (again, outside of inland China) have been in areas such as Hong Kong and Toronto with excellent health-care systems.

Yes, a lot of people die of pneumonia; but they tend to be very old and have other diseases (end-stage cancer, for example). Pneumonia is simply a terminal event, in a body that is failing for other reasons. SARS deaths are in previously healthy individuals. That's scary. Although middle-aged people tend to be most severely affected, even young people can become very ill: one of the patients on ventilators in Hong Kong is a medical student!

The other really scary thing about SARS is that it seems to be transmitted very easily. The thinking now is that it might be a coronavirus, one family of viruses that causes the common cold. Think how easy it is to catch a cold from someone. Hell, most people get colds once or twice a year. Now, imagine that instead of being a trivial illness, that cold can kill you...

The public health authorities, IMO, seriously underestimated the transmissibility of this bug in the early stages, and I said so, here, two weeks ago. Cases in Hong Kong are still rising rapidly; cases in the US are still rising, but more slowly. This outbreak has not yet been contained.

We may have to undergo some draconian measures to contain this thing: mass home quarantines; locked-down hospitals.

I don't think we can predict right now whether the toll of SARS is going to be worse than that of the Iraq war. But it definitely has the potential to be. This is one bad, bad, BAD bug. Don't underestimate it.
posted by Slithy_Tove at 10:27 PM on March 31, 2003

Yeah! SARS & Stripes forever! (Sorry, couldn't resist.)
posted by chandy72 at 7:38 AM on April 1, 2003

Interesting note from toothless Joe's article:

>Laurie Garrett rode Ebola onto the bestseller list and talk show circuit with her book The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World out of Balance.<

Our beloved Laurie Garrett of Davos Letter fuck up fame? Never!
posted by Pollomacho at 11:22 AM on April 1, 2003