That 2-4 weeks applies to everyone, not the obese. Almost anyone who is physically fit should be able to go for 2 weeks without food. they will be very unhappy; but, they will be alive.
When was the Department of Defense put in charge of health matters?
They're not. if you read the report, it discusses how they handle the loss of manpower and resources necessary to maintain force. It's normal for them to periodically assess what would happen if... and how they would continue to function in those scenarios. The discussion assumes they have to support civilian population because of the mass casualties and because they are so very, very dependent upon the civilian population and manufacturing base for their support.
Why was the country's response to the flu classified in the first place?
First, this is a military response plan to a pandemic. Some aspects of a military response would, of course, be classified. Second, they don't want to induce panic. Or engender complaints. A simple example... They might leave out the lines that read: "Mass casualties are to be placed in pits, the bodies burned, and then buried using available backfill material."
I'm not saying they are always right. Iraq was a huge intel. failure. The psychopath running the country might have needed to go; but, In my opinion, as long as they kept to themselves, we had no reason to go there.
I should have been more clear. No one, iregardless of weight can go "a long time" without eating. a couple of weeks to a month, I believe, is the safe limit. There are plenty of studies... Beyond that, well... go too long and a person begins to suffer organ damage as your body begins to break down tissues in search of proteins; or can't make the proteins necessary to keep the organs healthy. It's not a matter of how much fat reserve a person has... although having fat reserve does allow a person to last somewhat longer. However, a person with fat reserves can tap that reserve in times of famine and go much longer on a much reduced caloric intake. There has to be some intake of proteins and amino acids that the body just can't make or you go right back to my previous statement, ending in organ failure.
because the body begins to break down muscle tissue, including the heart, when there is a deficit of protein. Obese people would not be immune to this. They would last longer on a much reduced caloric intake; but, if there is no food, they would succumb to organ failure almost as fast as a person of normal weight.
Nah, we want to share. we'll get it one way or another. It's possible that the 1918 flu pandemic started here, in the U.S., in Kansas (it's one of the proposed origination points.)
obese and overweight can't go without food... but they can go a lot longer on a much reduced caloric input. They would need fewer calories than "normal" weight persons and could last a lot longer.
Trying to get people to consider preparation for a never to happen zombie apocalypse is effective in getting some people to incidentally prepare for a pandemic outbreak. If it works, then let it go; more people prepared for the inevitable emergency, the better -- it doesn't matter whether it's zombies, flu, or hurricanes.
DoD always does their own projections. They have to plan for a disaster's affect on their strength and resources. They also have to consider what might happen if another country tries to attack a weakened U.S. -- perhaps because they themselves are desperate for resources. It's a thought experiment they run periodically internally.
The 2% number assumes only 30% of the population gets the flu. With the Spanish Flu pandemic, it appears to have ended only once the flu had passed around the world and everyone who could get the illness did so. So, it did not end until every man woman and child had had been infected by the flu, in one form or another.
We're stubborn. We (as a country) started out as groups of outcasts, explorers and adventurers. When the King got carried away with taxation, we made ourselves into a country full of outcasts, fighting to separate ourselves from the British Empire, and then separated the western parts of the country from the Spain and Mexico. We tend to do things our own way and ignore the suggestions of others. Sometimes we even fight among ourselves... It's just the way we are.
I don't have that conversion factor in my books; however, if you are willing to provide me with the information, then YES, I'd be happy to calibrate your sensors in units of "fires of a thousand suns".
I work for a sensor company. If you want Kelvin, then I'll use Kelvin. I don't really care if it's Celsius, Rankine, or frequency of cricket chirps. Our environmental chambers happen to be set up in Fahrenheit, because our production staff is comfortable with those units; and I used degF because it's what the U.S. centric audience would know. You might be surprised to know that in the real world, people might not use the scale you expect them to, even if it's a standard.
ok, here's a challenge for you... design a flywheel based guidance system. make it redundant. make it work in the most inhospitable environment known to man -- space. hard vacuum. reactive ions (free ionic oxygen). radiation. operating temperature range -200 degF to 200 degF. The only cooling option for your motors and electronics is via a liquid loop and a large radiator. power is limited to a few tens of watts from a solar panel. You have to design it so it works for a decade without maintenance or repairs. good luck.
The U.S can orbit stuff, they just don't have a vehicle approved for use to orbit people right now. 2015 or 2016 timeframe, that will be fixed -- there should be commercial options care of SpaceX and Boeing (NASA will not get Constellation or SLS or whatever they call it done, due to budgetary constraints that will eventually kill it. Again.)
But if you follow the money... the Chinese and Russians have the funds and the political willpower so they will be there too.
It's very costly. You have to carry all that weight out of the gravity well and into orbit, up to orbital speeds (~17,000 mph), then get it back down safely (requiring a very expensive thermal protection system). It's why the Shuttle was so expensive to operate and why no one else is doing it that way.
Of course it's not coincidence. The test may have been planned for months but Israel would have pushed up the deadline on any such testing. They would be rightfully concerned about what may happen in the next few weeks, since they are on the front lines. If they can do anything to prepare for retaliatory attacks launched from Syria (or Iran), they will be doing it. I suspect Turkey is doing the same, as is everyone else in the region who happens to be affiliated, in any way, with U.S. interests.
One of the reason they closed the schools and consolidated was lack of funding. What makes anyone think that the city will want to pay to keep the building open?
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That 2-4 weeks applies to everyone, not the obese. Almost anyone who is physically fit should be able to go for 2 weeks without food. they will be very unhappy; but, they will be alive.
The fatal pandemic will happen, eventually. It's a matter of time and statistics. As for the response to an alien invasion, that's a different report.
When was the Department of Defense put in charge of health matters?
They're not. if you read the report, it discusses how they handle the loss of manpower and resources necessary to maintain force. It's normal for them to periodically assess what would happen if... and how they would continue to function in those scenarios. The discussion assumes they have to support civilian population because of the mass casualties and because they are so very, very dependent upon the civilian population and manufacturing base for their support.
Why was the country's response to the flu classified in the first place?
First, this is a military response plan to a pandemic. Some aspects of a military response would, of course, be classified. Second, they don't want to induce panic. Or engender complaints. A simple example... They might leave out the lines that read: "Mass casualties are to be placed in pits, the bodies burned, and then buried using available backfill material."
I'm not saying they are always right. Iraq was a huge intel. failure. The psychopath running the country might have needed to go; but, In my opinion, as long as they kept to themselves, we had no reason to go there.
I should have been more clear. No one, iregardless of weight can go "a long time" without eating. a couple of weeks to a month, I believe, is the safe limit. There are plenty of studies... Beyond that, well... go too long and a person begins to suffer organ damage as your body begins to break down tissues in search of proteins; or can't make the proteins necessary to keep the organs healthy. It's not a matter of how much fat reserve a person has... although having fat reserve does allow a person to last somewhat longer. However, a person with fat reserves can tap that reserve in times of famine and go much longer on a much reduced caloric intake. There has to be some intake of proteins and amino acids that the body just can't make or you go right back to my previous statement, ending in organ failure.
because the body begins to break down muscle tissue, including the heart, when there is a deficit of protein. Obese people would not be immune to this. They would last longer on a much reduced caloric intake; but, if there is no food, they would succumb to organ failure almost as fast as a person of normal weight.
The 400+ page paper, which I admit scanning through, indicates they expect 30% of the population to become infected.
Nah, we want to share. we'll get it one way or another. It's possible that the 1918 flu pandemic started here, in the U.S., in Kansas (it's one of the proposed origination points.)
obese and overweight can't go without food... but they can go a lot longer on a much reduced caloric input. They would need fewer calories than "normal" weight persons and could last a lot longer.
Flu pandemic of 1918 was spread by the soldiers who contracted it. They were fairly mobile, more so than the typical person.
Trying to get people to consider preparation for a never to happen zombie apocalypse is effective in getting some people to incidentally prepare for a pandemic outbreak. If it works, then let it go; more people prepared for the inevitable emergency, the better -- it doesn't matter whether it's zombies, flu, or hurricanes.
DoD always does their own projections. They have to plan for a disaster's affect on their strength and resources. They also have to consider what might happen if another country tries to attack a weakened U.S. -- perhaps because they themselves are desperate for resources. It's a thought experiment they run periodically internally.
The 2% number assumes only 30% of the population gets the flu. With the Spanish Flu pandemic, it appears to have ended only once the flu had passed around the world and everyone who could get the illness did so. So, it did not end until every man woman and child had had been infected by the flu, in one form or another.
They're assuming only 30% of the population gets the flu; and, only 2% of those succumb.
We're stubborn. We (as a country) started out as groups of outcasts, explorers and adventurers. When the King got carried away with taxation, we made ourselves into a country full of outcasts, fighting to separate ourselves from the British Empire, and then separated the western parts of the country from the Spain and Mexico. We tend to do things our own way and ignore the suggestions of others. Sometimes we even fight among ourselves... It's just the way we are.
I don't have that conversion factor in my books; however, if you are willing to provide me with the information, then YES, I'd be happy to calibrate your sensors in units of "fires of a thousand suns".
someone forgot to do the conversions before sending data to the customer.
I work for a sensor company. If you want Kelvin, then I'll use Kelvin. I don't really care if it's Celsius, Rankine, or frequency of cricket chirps. Our environmental chambers happen to be set up in Fahrenheit, because our production staff is comfortable with those units; and I used degF because it's what the U.S. centric audience would know. You might be surprised to know that in the real world, people might not use the scale you expect them to, even if it's a standard.
ok, here's a challenge for you... design a flywheel based guidance system. make it redundant. make it work in the most inhospitable environment known to man -- space. hard vacuum. reactive ions (free ionic oxygen). radiation. operating temperature range -200 degF to 200 degF. The only cooling option for your motors and electronics is via a liquid loop and a large radiator. power is limited to a few tens of watts from a solar panel. You have to design it so it works for a decade without maintenance or repairs. good luck.
The U.S can orbit stuff, they just don't have a vehicle approved for use to orbit people right now. 2015 or 2016 timeframe, that will be fixed -- there should be commercial options care of SpaceX and Boeing (NASA will not get Constellation or SLS or whatever they call it done, due to budgetary constraints that will eventually kill it. Again.)
But if you follow the money... the Chinese and Russians have the funds and the political willpower so they will be there too.
Soon, the only good neighborhood will be the orbiting city. The entire surface of the planet will be one big ghetto.
It's a tourist trap. They're not entering orbit, not even close. Wake me when SpaceX and Boeing get manned commercial orbital flights off the ground.
It's very costly. You have to carry all that weight out of the gravity well and into orbit, up to orbital speeds (~17,000 mph), then get it back down safely (requiring a very expensive thermal protection system). It's why the Shuttle was so expensive to operate and why no one else is doing it that way.
Of course it's not coincidence. The test may have been planned for months but Israel would have pushed up the deadline on any such testing. They would be rightfully concerned about what may happen in the next few weeks, since they are on the front lines. If they can do anything to prepare for retaliatory attacks launched from Syria (or Iran), they will be doing it. I suspect Turkey is doing the same, as is everyone else in the region who happens to be affiliated, in any way, with U.S. interests.
One of the reason they closed the schools and consolidated was lack of funding. What makes anyone think that the city will want to pay to keep the building open?