Holy shit, bird flu is real. Apparently it's referred to as avian flu, but Carlin wasn't just making it up. This bitch mentions it.

I don't know about this curttailing civil liberties business for containing disease outbreaks. I could go either way. I just get nervous these days when anyone starts talking about limiting civil liberties. It seems like a good idea when it comes to not spreading highly infectious diseases, though. And its not like with the PATRIOT act where its so prone to abuse. On the other hand, we don't really nead to be panicking like this, because it can easily get out of control. Why not just fight SARS with duct tape and plastic sheeting if it gets bad here?