# And now Plague. With a 50% chance of pestilence and famine coming out of the Southwest at twelve miles per hour **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 18, 2020, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-plague-with-a-50-chance-of-pestilence-and-famine-coming-out-of-the-southwest-at-twelve-miles-per-hour/918422 "2020-08-18T16:14:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2020, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-plague-with-a-50-chance-of-pestilence-and-famine-coming-out-of-the-southwest-at-twelve-miles-per-hour/918422/21 "2020-08-19T13:12:49Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Two of those viruses ( _virii_ ?) being watched are the plague and rabies. Yeah, 2020 seems to have decided that the list of plagues and other disasters is not a vocabulary list, but rather a buffet menu. Hadn’t heard about rabies. Did know about plague (now in my state, only a county or two away. I’m also keeping a wary eye on reports of G4 swine flu and SFTS (aka bandavirus, charming little tick-borne item that CAN move between humans on body fluids), the latter having recently killed people in China. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2020, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-plague-with-a-50-chance-of-pestilence-and-famine-coming-out-of-the-southwest-at-twelve-miles-per-hour/918422/22 "2020-08-19T13:21:24Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > Hadn’t heard about rabies. Rabies is endemic here in China. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2020, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-plague-with-a-50-chance-of-pestilence-and-famine-coming-out-of-the-southwest-at-twelve-miles-per-hour/918422/23 "2020-08-19T14:15:31Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > > [@Jackmannii](#): > > > > This is the same guy who in earlier books assured us that vaccines are responsible for autoimmune diseases, the heart is not a pump, \ > > What does Cowan think the heart is? And how, does he believe the blood gets ~~pumped~~ moved through the body? Here’s a sample of Cowan’s “thinking” on the subject of why the heart is not a pump: “Now, what I pointed out in my book, after 30-some years of looking into this, is that first of all, there’s a lot of blood. With the amount of blood vessels in a human body, if you put them end to end, it would be enough to encircle the Earth three times. If you put them next to each other, they would cover a football field, so that’s a lot of blood and a lot of blood vessels, and we’re talking about very viscous, sticky fluid, with stuff floating inside.” “And so, to think that you’re going to take this one pound organ, and squeeze really hard, and push this sticky fluid three times around the Earth, just on the face of it, is a little bit incredible. That can’t be.” > **[17-How-to-Create-Foundational-Health-\_-Dr.-Thomas-Cowan\_PDF.pdf](https://www.drchristineschaffner.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/17-How-to-Create-Foundational-Health-_-Dr.-Thomas-Cowan_PDF.pdf)** > > 185.07 KB This is a good example of argument from incredulity a.k.a. stupidity. Cowan thinks whatever gets the blood moving starts in the capillaries because of a mistaken belief that blood is not flowing at all by the time it gets there. He is astonishingly ignorant about forces that help propel blood back to the heart (which include skeletal muscle contractions, the action of smooth muscle in the walls of veins etc.). Sorry for the hijack, but I thought it was an amusing example of nimroddery, or it would be funny if people didn’t believe this nutbag on subjects including how viruses allegedly don’t cause disease. The man, incredibly, still has a medical license. \*the “Dr.” interviewing him is a naturopath, because of course she is. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2020, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-plague-with-a-50-chance-of-pestilence-and-famine-coming-out-of-the-southwest-at-twelve-miles-per-hour/918422/24 "2020-08-19T22:51:36Z")
We just caught a plague squirrel about 10 miles from my house earlier this year. > **[Squirrel in Colorado tests positive for the bubonic plague](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bubonic-plague-colorado-squirrels-test-positive/)** > > The news comes about one week after officials in China announced​ a suspected bubonic plague case. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-plague-with-a-50-chance-of-pestilence-and-famine-coming-out-of-the-southwest-at-twelve-miles-per-hour/918422/25 "2020-08-20T01:56:41Z")
I may regret posing the question … but why are you trying to catch plague squirrels? Is this a regular activity? What do you do with the once caught? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-plague-with-a-50-chance-of-pestilence-and-famine-coming-out-of-the-southwest-at-twelve-miles-per-hour/918422/26 "2020-08-20T02:16:18Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > but why are you trying to catch plague squirrels Just vernacular for “there was” a squirrel with plague. There has only been one reported, so far as I’m aware. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-plague-with-a-50-chance-of-pestilence-and-famine-coming-out-of-the-southwest-at-twelve-miles-per-hour/918422/27 "2020-08-20T02:42:00Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Two of those viruses ( _virii_ ?) being watched are the plague and rabies. Yeah, 2020 seems to have decided that the list of plagues and other disasters is not a vocabulary list, but rather a buffet menu. Nitpick–_Yersenia pestis,_ which causes the plague, is a bacteria. This is why I’m so much less concerned about plague, because if you catch it early antibiotics will fix you right up. Not so much with the rabies. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-plague-with-a-50-chance-of-pestilence-and-famine-coming-out-of-the-southwest-at-twelve-miles-per-hour/918422/28 "2020-08-20T03:17:33Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > Nitpick– _Yersenia pestis,_ which causes the plague, is a bacteria. This is why I’m so much less concerned about plague, because if you catch it early antibiotics will fix you right up. Not so much with the rabies. This assessment of the relative risk is not really accurate. The CDC estimates a fatality rate of 11% for plague _with anitibiotic treatment_, as I linked upthread. The only caveat to that is that there are now so few cases in developed countries that this average may not reflect the best modern medical care in (say) the U.S. On the other hand, there was an outbreak of antibiotic-resistant plague in Madagascar in 2017. As for rabies, although it’s frightening that it’s nearly 100% fatal once infection becomes established, it’s also true that if you have immediate access to good medical treatment after a bite from a suspect animal, postexposure prophylaxis (immune globulin + vaccine) is almost 100% effective in preventing infection. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-plague-with-a-50-chance-of-pestilence-and-famine-coming-out-of-the-southwest-at-twelve-miles-per-hour/918422/29 "2020-08-20T03:18:27Z")
You are correct. I should have said _infections_ or _diseases_. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-plague-with-a-50-chance-of-pestilence-and-famine-coming-out-of-the-southwest-at-twelve-miles-per-hour/918422/30 "2020-08-20T12:35:45Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > I may regret posing the question … but why are you trying to catch plague squirrels? > Is this a regular activity? What do you do with the once caught? I belive it was part of a regular trapping and monitoring program by the state. I assume once they realized it was infected it was put down rather than released. > [@Riemann](#): > > Just vernacular for “there was” a squirrel with plague. There has only been one reported, so far as I’m aware. I believe the state actually caught it. There was another on about [10 miles](https://www.google.com/amp/s/denver.cbslocal.com/2015/07/25/plague-confirmed-in-squirrel-in-golden/amp/) away 5 years ago. So there seems to be a program. I did use a colloquial we as in residents of the state not myself and others. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-plague-with-a-50-chance-of-pestilence-and-famine-coming-out-of-the-southwest-at-twelve-miles-per-hour/918422/31 "2020-08-20T13:46:28Z")
> [@Oredigger77](#): > > part of a regular trapping and monitoring program by the state Good. For a moment there I had an image of some Yosemite Sam wannabe going out hunting for some plaguey varmints, and telling them to say their prayers before blastin’ 'em. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2020, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-plague-with-a-50-chance-of-pestilence-and-famine-coming-out-of-the-southwest-at-twelve-miles-per-hour/918422/32 "2020-08-21T01:56:38Z")
Wow! His reasoning is trumpian in its ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2020, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-plague-with-a-50-chance-of-pestilence-and-famine-coming-out-of-the-southwest-at-twelve-miles-per-hour/918422/33 "2020-08-21T14:30:02Z")
Please tell me he is not a practicing doctor. How in hell did he manage to pass the boards and qualify as an MD with these beliefs? ETA: read the rest of the thread. Holy Og, he’s still a doctor. 🤯 🤯 🤯 ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2020, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-plague-with-a-50-chance-of-pestilence-and-famine-coming-out-of-the-southwest-at-twelve-miles-per-hour/918422/34 "2020-08-21T22:08:57Z")
What is a spooky coincidence is that the comedy sketch ends with the 2020 year going off camera and an explosion is heard. The Beirut explosion was in August 4, 2020, this video came out July 9, 2020. 🤯 ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2020, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-plague-with-a-50-chance-of-pestilence-and-famine-coming-out-of-the-southwest-at-twelve-miles-per-hour/918422/35 "2020-08-22T01:57:05Z")
Waitwaitwait! The blood ends up in capillaries because it THINKS it is moving? Your blood is being tricked into circulating? I’d like to ask this individual to explains spurting blood when an artery is cut. Actually, if I happened to meet this individual, I’d check to see if his shoes are on the right feet. ~VOW [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-plague-with-a-50-chance-of-pestilence-and-famine-coming-out-of-the-southwest-at-twelve-miles-per-hour/918422.md?page=1)