Posted on 09/10/2005 10:50:09 AM PDT by DoughtyOne
FoxNews - on the Record w/Greta Van Susteren
September 9th, 2005
Transcript of an interview with Michael Baden, renowned Forensic Pathologist.
Van Susteren / Baden
Officials say the grim job of collecting and identifying the dead could take months. Are the dead bodies dangerous to those now collecting them? And how do you give the person dignity in death under these circumstances? And what about disease or even mosquitoes? Joining us live in New York is Forensic Pathologist Doctor Michael Baden.
Hi Gretta. Doc...
Good evening Doctor Baden.
Doctor Baden, earlier in the show Trace Gallager my colleague talked about the mosquitoes that have now descended upon New Orleans once again having been swept away by the storm. What's the problem with mosquitoes pose?
The mosquitoes can carry West Nile Virus and some of the encephalitis diseases, but that's the reason they should have been spraying for mosquitoes days ago. I think it's an outrage that they haven't started aerial spraying for mosquitoes, which is something that is commonly done even when there aren't hurricanes in New Orleans because of the breading grounds there.
I think that the the focus on toxic water is is misinformed. That water isn't toxic unless you drink it. People walking through water, the worst they can get is a rash or something, and dragging people out of their homes because of toxic water ah I think is is wrong and squandering manpower. I have a number of doctor friends, ah including the former Health Commissioner in a New Orleans, who moved back into their homes in a New Orleans. Ah so ah getting people out is just a waste of time and it's based on misinformation.
Unintelligible word you say that the mosquitoes can carry West Nile, ah can meaning like one in a billion or common, I mean like how serious a problem is this?
Oh it can... remember they sprayed New York city a couple of years ago for West... the whole city of New York was sprayed because of ah ah ah the mosquitoes carrying West Nile. What has to happen is it has to be a conjunction between the mosquitoes and birds and the viruses ah can cause a serious problem ah in ah ah ah...
When you say serious, ten being the most serious like Oh my God we've got to got to do something right now and one being like do ya know well it's not that important unintelligible...
Oh no, the easiest thing now is have the Army go out, they have helicopters and they can very rapidly spray the city at very ah ah little cost and a it's an ideal time to spray. There's nobody there even though the sprays themselves don't harm people and I think they they can be dozens or ah you know ah hundreds of cases depending on the circumstances. It won't be thousands of cases. But ah, it's a serious condition, other cities have been sprayed with less of ah a ah ah potential for danger.
Alright, we only have thirty seconds left Doctor Baden. If ah people are going down to New Orleans they need shots?
No, they don't... they don't have Tetanus in New Orleans. Tetanus ah and Hepatitis if they don't treat the water... ah I've been advised by my colleagues in New Orleans that ah ah at this time Tetanus and Hepatitis ah immunizations are unnecessary even though they're being given out and all that ah... and Typhoid is unnecessary also. It gives you a sore arm.
Alright Doctor Baden, thank you sir.
Thank you.
Transcribed by D1
So this Doctor is saying tetanus isn't an issue? Seems to me there's quite a bit of debris that can cause cuts and such. If tetanus isn't an issue then why was I given one a couple of years ago when my dog bit me after he'd been hit by a car.
Sounds to me like someone's trying to play down some of the dangers that could be found in NO.
Thanks for transcribing this and starting this thread.
I'm not crazy about Baden, but he seems to make a pretty good case here.
I believe the National Guard is spraying the area with C130s.
co-co-co-co-contrails!!!
chemtrails!
Bush is trying to kill the black peoples.
The emphasis recently has been focused on the danger to those who stay in their homes, due to the condition of the water. This interview reveals that those who stay in their homes are in very little danger from the water.
The public is being sold a bill of goods, to justify the forced removal of citizens from their homes. If this interview is to be taken at face value, that is clearly wrong.
You're welcome.
One reason everyone has to be out of New Orleans is to get the shooters looters and anarchists out. It's all or nothing. Can't be letting responsible citizens stay when you're really trying to get out the irresponsible and the senior citizens and the criminals.
Saturday, September 10, 2005 · Last updated 6:07 a.m. PT
La. to spray to stop spread of mosquitos
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BATON ROUGE, La. -- State health officials said Friday they will begin a spraying program to curb the hatching and spread of mosquitos and flies in the stagnant flood waters left behind in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
The program's main goal is to prevent the spread of mosquito-borne illnesses, which include West Nile virus. Aerial spraying is set to begin Sunday in New Orleans and surrounding areas and will take place in the last two hours of daylight, state health officials said.
The U.S. Air Force will conduct the aerial application of the pesticide Naled to help mosquito control activities normally conducted by parishes and cities. Naled is routinely used by mosquito control districts in Louisiana.
"The timely initiation of preventive measures to control mosquitoes and flies is necessary to reduce the risk of vector-borne diseases" said Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Dr. Fred Cerise.
I believe he provided enough information for folks to be able to question the need for using force to removed citizens from their homes. With regard to that, I think he did make a good case.
Thank you. I hope you're right.
Good question...
If that was a contrail joke, it went right over my head. LOL
From reading on the forum, it's obvious Bush hates the Vietnamese also...
I agree. If 40% of NO is dry, it certainly seems like over-kill to remove everyone.
I don't think so. Underground tanks are leaking gasoline all over NO. It'll be a looooong time before it gets rebuilt. It will be like a huge Love Canal superfund site.
"And how do you give the person dignity in death "
Sorry - in emergencies with massive deaths - dignity is a mass funeral pyre. The only medically sound choice.
The only other choice would to give some practical use to the Kennedy/Kerry "Big Dig" in Boston.
Place all the bodies in there and seal it. Save money!
It does doesn't it.
If they're concerned about disease, remove the bodies and leave folks in their homes alone.
That is one strange and unsettling story.
While the water is filthy, and that cannot be denied, the idea that it's so bad that folks must evacuate is a stretch of the facts IMO.
I don't think it's going to take months to get the area dry. It will take months and likely years to get things back to normal. Folks will be able to live there if they wish. Again, that's my opinion.
None of them are, unless someone left the caps off which is extremely doubtful.
Why are they forcing people from there homes when the home's are not even near the water? I heard they are confiscating ALL firearm's from the people of NO. Did they never read the second amendment?
Like I said, underground tanks are leaking gasoline.
In times of natural disaster, dignity is a luxury that doesn't exist. "Dignity"? It's an absurdity to even raise the issue.
As much as possible the bodies should be treated with prudent respect, and identified if possible. Beyond that, the living should be the focus of concern.
If you knew anything about them, you would not be saying that. You are simply repeating a lie you heard.
yeah, I got it wrong but I guess that goes to show that Big Time hasn't briefed me in on the chemtrail program. Why just the other day Karl said ... whoops, mustn't let the cat out of the bag ...
Bttt!
" And how do you give the person dignity in death under these circumstances ? "
For starters, you don't allow CNN to broadcast their images.
Not enough dead guys or disease to impeach Bush. MSM will be deeply saddened.
Where I fault CNN is their spin against Bush and their failure to address the lack of state and local leadership.
I don't honestly know if it's truly respectful to allow all these people to die, yet show none of them on televison.
What is a funeral viewing other than showing a dead corpse to people, albeit they are generally family and friends. I think we may be shortchanging the people who died.
These people suffered terrible circumstances and died, yet we fail to show what happend to them, where they came to rest. I have mixed emotions about sanitizing this too much.
If you struggled for your life, you fought tenatiously to live on, were injured and suffered the ultimate indignity, would you really rather nobody knew of what you went through and where you finally wound up.
I see that as a part of honoring those people. It's acknowledging them and for a brief moment reaching out to them with our attention and condolences. Without seeing that, how can I say that I identify with their deaths individually, not just as a big stat in someone's ledger.
I understand where you're coming from, I'm just not convinced that's the only concern here.
True...
" Where I fault CNN is their spin against Bush and their failure to address the lack of state and local leadership.
I don't honestly know if it's truly respectful to allow all these people to die, yet show none of them on televison."
Agree with first sentiment and diverge slightly with the second.
If the media wants to show the dead, with the family's permission, at their funeral service- that would be ok.
The fireman after 9/11 covered the remains of the fallen with the flag, as they were brought out of Ground Zero.
That was appropriate and respectful.
But, CNN wants to show the uncovered corpses as they lay-which is morbid and disrespectful to the dead and their family members.
Anyone who has lost a loved one knows that the mortuary generally prefers to make the dead presentable for viewing, especially if time has elapsed since death, before allowing the family to see them.
Because the image of a loved one in disarray, covered in blood, in rigor ,discolored and in many cases now, bloated -will never be erased from their memory and shouldn't be broadcast nationwide.
Course we can't spray them with DDT which really kills them and their spawn. But hey, if you lose a relative to malaria or something you can hug an environmental whacko or something.
" think that the the focus on toxic water is is misinformed. That water isn't toxic unless you drink it. People walking through water, the worst they can get is a rash or something,"
...
Is this Doctor a quack? Many people got and get cuts easily wading through all the debri which leaves a person exposed to the contaminated water and assorted bacteria which can lead to other things. And rashes if not treated fast and appropriately can turn into open sores, etc.,
What utter nonsense. Had the authorities NOT taken away the guns from the good citizens, the looters and shooters would not be such a danger. Getting the good citizens out of their houses (at gunpoint!) only serves to give the looters and shooters more to loot. It certainly doesn't guarantee that they'll catch them--or that they'll even try.
Thanks for the comments.
While I understand your desire to have the bodies presentable, it's so far removed from the tragedy they experienced that I still object.
Tell me ten thousand people died and it's just a number. It doesn't reveal a foot sticking out from under, over there. It doesn't reveal a corpse on it's stomach across the way. It doesn't show an arm by itself up the street. You don't see the body recovered from the mud that had been under 20 feet of water. It doesn't show the person whose bloated body was lodged in an attic.
Some will see this as a morbid desire to see, but I see it as truly recognizing what these people went through. Seeing those bodies would remind us like nothing else what we should be fighting to avoid when there's a call to evacuate or prepare for the next one.
I really do understand where you are coming from, but on a number of levels, I think showing the bodies is important. Show them late at night so the kids can miss it, but show the adults what the reality of this situation truly is.
Thanks again for the discussion.
Pay attention to the news. They're saying the French Quarter will be "up and running" in a couple of months. Your assumption is a little off target.
Point well taken, but are you sure you didn't own DDT stock? Heh heh heh...
Which is not to say that a tetanus shot wouldn't be in order if your were exposed. Right? If you step on a nail what do you do? If you have a cut and go into the water, what do you do.
A preemptive shot is not indicated, as least according to Baden.
One estimate mentioned on Fox earlier today was that the place will be drained in under a month. Quite a difference from the 6 or more months they mentioned originally, perhaps because they got more pumps to work than they thought they could.
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