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The Fowl Flu's Fleecing Opportunity So that chicken flu has gone abroad to roost. The avian flu has spread from Asia to Europe and is expected to eventually make its way to America. Whether it will actually mutate into the feared human pandemic virus is anyone's guess, but many smart people around the world are scared, very scared. Of course no crises, or soon-to-be crisis or could-become-a-crisis is complete without one or more NGOs alerting the public and government to imminent dangers – and collecting donations along the way. Trust for America's Health (TFAH) is an NGO that is "dedicated to saving lives by protecting the health of every community and working to make disease prevention a national priority." The health watchdog goes on to explain that "From anthrax to asthma, from chemical terrorism to cancer, America is facing a crisis of epidemics." Winston didn't realize that the country was facing an anthrax epidemic or a "chemical terrorism" epidemic for that matter. If TFAH is aware of impending terrorist threats, they should contact federal authorities immediately. If not, they should stop fear mongering. Right below the all important "Donate Now" button on TFAH website is a link that allows you to send e-mail messages to Congress. The suggested text contains the requisite number of exclamation points and, no surprise, a demand for money. TFAH, along with a number of labor unions and other NGOs, has taken out ads in The Washington Post under the umbrella name of the Working Group On Pandemic Influenza Preparedness. The ads express the sort of deep doomsday dread that can only be assuaged by large quantities of federal funds. Winston is an old dog, he remembers the great swine flu scare of ‘76. He also knows that the threat from avian flu is serious; too serious for government preparedness decisions to be based on opportunistic fear-based media campaigns.
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