Perchoutofwater Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Gitmo detainees set to receive swine flu vaccine By DAVID McFADDEN (AP) – 1 day ago SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Terrorism suspects held at the Guantanamo Bay naval base will soon get swine flu vaccines, despite complaints that American civilians should have priority, a military spokesman said Sunday. Army Maj. James Crabtree, a spokesman for the U.S. jail facility in southeast Cuba, said the doses should start arriving this month, with guards and then inmates scheduled for inoculations. He acknowledged there may be an "emotional response" from critics who argue that terror suspects should not be allocated swine-flu medications while members of the U.S. public are still waiting due to a vaccine shortage. But he said U.S. military officials are "responsible for the health and care of the detainee population." Medical personnel at Guantanamo requested the doses, but Crabtree said he did not know how many. Detainees will be vaccinated "entirely on a voluntary basis," he said. "There is always going to be a segment of the population that is going to refuse," either due to anxiety about a shot or to "distrust of our motivations." The top House Republican, Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, told CNN's "State of the Union" show on Sunday that he does not agree with the H1N1 vaccination plans for detainees at Guantanamo. "I don't think it's a good idea. The administration probably didn't think it would be very popular either; that's why they announced it on Friday night," Boehner said. The Miami Herald first reported about the vaccination plans on Wednesday. Health officials have recommended that people in high-risk groups receive the swine flu vaccination first. There has been heated debate in several U.S. states about where prisoners should fall in the pecking order of vaccine recipients. A spokesman for Physicians For Human Rights, an international medical group, said there are "certain basic obligations the U.S. has to its prisoners," and that vaccinations for influenza fall into that category. "The fact that many prisoners within the U.S. don't get timely access to basic health care doesn't change the obligation of the U.S. to prisoners at Guantanamo," Dr. Scott A. Allen of the rights group said in an e-mail from Rhode Island. "We should work towards securing H1N1 vaccine for all at-risk populations, and not towards lowering a public health standard for certain unpopular groups." Following Saturday's transfer of six Chinese Muslims from Guantanamo to the tiny Pacific nation of Palau, roughly 215 detainees remain at the detention center. The Obama administration plans to prosecute some in U.S. courts and turn over others to nations willing to rehabilitate or free them. The administration also is grappling with how to keep in prison a handful of remaining detainees who are considered too dangerous to release or put on trial. Link This really pisses me off! Frankly it doesn't make sense on so many levels. These people are detained, and isolated from society. What is the likelihood they would contract the virus anyway! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savage Beatings Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 (edited) Is anyone really waiting for the Swine Flu vaccination at this point? I'm sure we've pretty much all been exposed in some way. The vaccination is way too late this season to do any real good so why even bother?* Edited to add disclaimer: *This is only my opinion. I am not a doctor. I apologize to any doctors whom I may have annoyed with this opinion. I am also not a really super smart Economics Professor who went to Germany and who gets interviewed all the time and who is sympathetic to the lowly common man in stuggling urban cesspools like Detroit and who can't stand to read differeing opinions on economics that challenge my elitist Hippie world-view. Seriously I'm not. So take my uneducated opinion with a grain of salt because I clearly don't "measure up" to someone of that stature. Edited November 3, 2009 by Savage Beatings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egret Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 The administration also is grappling with how to keep in prison a handful of remaining detainees who are considered too dangerous to release or put on trial. So you can be too dangerous to put on trial? I've heard lots of reason against putting Gitmo detainees on trial, but I don't remember hearing "too dangerous". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westvirginia Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 So you can be too dangerous to put on trial? I've heard lots of reason against putting Gitmo detainees on trial, but I don't remember hearing "too dangerous". Really. I think just killing these people would be less cruel than what we're doing to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Is anyone really waiting for the Swine Flu vaccination at this point? I'm sure we've pretty much all been exposed in some way. The vaccination is way too late this season to do any real good so why even bother? My thoughts exactly. Flu shots in general. Every year we make such a big freaking deal about the shortages of something many experts argue are basically worthless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmarc117 Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 just use them to test out the new vaccines. free the poor test monkeys!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isleseeya Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Is anyone really waiting for the Swine Flu vaccination at this point? I'm sure we've pretty much all been exposed in some way. The vaccination is way too late this season to do any real good so why even bother? Swine Flu is year round ...its not seasonal like the regular Flu It may spike up during the Flu Season and as fall turns to winter but its also still active in spring and summer People were getting Swine Flu in the summer just not at the rate we are hearing now With that said this story really infuriates me as i personally know one person who has a compromised immune system and would benefit from Swine Flu vaccine and she cant find a place that has them to administer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiegie Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Is anyone really waiting for the Swine Flu vaccination at this point? I'm sure we've pretty much all been exposed in some way. The vaccination is way too late this season to do any real good so why even bother? My thoughts exactly. Flu shots in general. Every year we make such a big freaking deal about the shortages of something many experts argue are basically worthless. I wonder if Chargerz gets as annoyed by armchair doctors as I do with armchair economists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaP'N GRuNGe Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 That guy that developed the polio vaccine wasted all of our times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeeR Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 just use them to test out the new vaccines. free the poor test monkeys!!!! racist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savage Beatings Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 I wonder if Chargerz gets as annoyed by armchair doctors as I do with armchair economists. I'm an armchair doctor because I'm not scrambling like a lemming to get this vaccine? Whatever Napoleon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiegie Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 I'm an armchair doctor because I'm not scrambling like a lemming to get this vaccine? no, you are an armchair doctor because you write stuff like this: I'm sure we've pretty much all been exposed in some way. The vaccination is way too late this season to do any real good so why even bother? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaP'N GRuNGe Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Why do I have that God sending the boat proverb in my head? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbimm Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Wait... I thought the bitch was that this vaccine wasn't tested enough and therefore unsafe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big John Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Wait... I thought the bitch was that this vaccine wasn't tested enough and therefore unsafe? from 10g_DBA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEC=UGA Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 (edited) I wonder if Chargerz gets as annoyed by armchair doctors as I do with armchair economists. Chargerz is a real doctor, though... Edited November 3, 2009 by SEC=UGA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billay Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 I just figured we were trying to give all the detainees Guillain-Barré syndrome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiegie Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 I just figured we were trying to give all the detainees Guillain-Barré syndrome. my actual expectation is that the government is trying to save itself money (as it is a lot cheaper to give someone a vaccine that to treat the flu itself) (Doesn't mean that I am happy at ALL that they will get their shots before law-abiding people.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billay Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 my actual expectation is that the government is trying to save itself money (as it is a lot cheaper to give someone a vaccine that to treat the flu itself) (Doesn't mean that I am happy at ALL that they will get their shots before law-abiding people.) Probably trying to avoid liability in case one of them dies of the flu in US custody Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 I wonder if Chargerz gets as annoyed by armchair doctors as I do with armchair economists. No more or less annoyed than we do when an "expert" here on one side of a topic tries to play a trump card in a topic when we've read or heard conflicting arguments from other experts in the same field. So, ouija. Does the fact that you're an econ professor that happens to post here mean that I should value your opinion on the subject more than I do another authority on the subject? Should I not present arguments that I've heard that are contrary to yours, even if I qualify that argument by saying "Some experts have said..."? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiegie Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 No more or less annoyed than we do when an "expert" here on one side of a topic tries to play a trump card in a topic when we've read or heard conflicting arguments from other experts in the same field. So, ouija. Does the fact that you're an econ professor that happens to post here mean that I should value your opinion on the subject more than I do another authority on the subject? Should I not present arguments that I've heard that are contrary to yours, even if I qualify that argument by saying "Some experts have said..."? link to your experts instead of just posting hearsay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savage Beatings Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 no, you are an armchair doctor because you write stuff like this: Ok. I've fixed it. Thanks for your constructive criticism. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiegie Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Ok. I've fixed it. Thanks for your constructive criticism. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiegie Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 And for the record, I apologize for my super-Megan Foxeyness. (Now that my wife got the shot, I am back to being in my normal average-Megan Foxey mood.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westvirginia Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 And for the record, I apologize for my super-Megan Foxeyness. (Now that my wife got the shot, I am back to being in my normal average-Megan Foxey mood.) There's nothing average about your Megan Foxeyness... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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