Re: US citizens in HK told to stockpile for [poss] bird flu outbreak
From a U.S. expat in Hong Kong. Hat-tip, ukmum!
The politics of survival
Thursday, November 09, 2006
"Pandemic Influenza: Preparing for Possible Shelter-In-Place" read the subject line. Another dratted spam message that got through my e-mail filter, I thought initially. After trying unsuccessfully for years to convince me that my wife felt dissatisfied with my performance or that nature had left me under-endowed in certain critical male capacities, they had given up targeting sexual insecurities and tried a new tactic.
Panic.
I started to delete, then noticed the "From" box said US consulate. That is a different disguise for a spammer. They usually say John or Dr Jones or your wife's girlfriend. That one used to always get me.
But this was the first claiming to be from a diplomatic arm of government. Spammers and phishers have tried every disguise - banks, eBay, even the Internal Revenue Service - but never the State Department.
No one would ever mistake a message from such a source as requiring immediate attention. Not even the president takes the State Department seriously. The dumbest spammer should know better than to try the US consulate as a compelling con. So I opened it.
However, it was genuinely from the consulate, informing US citizens that the State Department had sent them a cable of the same title. They were passing on tips and directing us to the pandemicflu.gov Web site.
I got it as one of 60,000 Americans in Hong Kong on the consulate's e-mail list.
Americans, unlike nearly every other nationality, are taxed on all income derived from all sources earned anywhere. The government aggressively puts resources into checking out whether citizens overseas comply with these rules. As a consequence, reporting requirements for Americans investing or banking abroad are such a pain to comply with that many overseas banks and investment firms refuse to take Americans as customers.
Getting official services as an American abroad is another matter altogether.
Regular consular e-mails usually makes me feel somewhat better about my annual check for taxes. But once I read it, I did not feel quite so warm and fuzzy.
The message basically implies that if a bird flu pandemic hits, you're on your own.
One thing Americans abroad once considered comforting was having a big naval fleet in case of major emergencies. In the past, Americans in jeopardy through civil disturbances or war overseas have been rescued by air and naval forces.
Then earlier this year in the Lebanon-Israel conflict, Americans abroad found out how much they could count on their government in times of real need.
None at all.
While other nations promptly sent ships and aircraft to rescue their citizens, the US government sent notices that Americans had to find their own way out. Then, embarrassed by the contrast between that callous indifference versus quick action by European states, the United States offered assistance in leaving - with costs of the emergency travel to be billed to the refugee later.
That differs little from the fire department sending a bill for rescue services to a family that lost everything it owned in a fire.
Stung by criticism, the Bush regime finally relented on charging its taxpaying citizens for the protection it owes them and finally, after much delay, sent them.
But the administration that revealed depths of indifference for its citizens even at home with Hurricane Katrina is up to its old tricks. If you live abroad when a pandemic flu hits, prepare to survive on your own for up to 12 weeks, said the e-mail. In contrast, the pandemicflu.gov Web site tells stateside Americans to prepare to shelter-in- place for up to two weeks.
That is a 10-week difference before help arrives if you are an American overseas.
I started calculating the space needed to store the 12 weeks of water, food, toilet paper, batteries, cooking fuel and so on the e-mail said my wife and I should set aside. At eight liters of water a day, that alone amounts to more than 30 of the big Watsons Water bottles. All up, 12 weeks of supplies take up around 40 cubic meters.
That is a third of a normal-sized Hong Kong flat.
You're going to need a bigger place, according to this official US government notice.
However, since the former Republican-dominated Congress drastically cut the tax break for overseas housing costs, that means you will have to pay for this out of your tax-reduced paycheck.
You survive, maybe, if you can afford it.
The anti-evolution Republicans consign Americans abroad to a Darwinian struggle for survival if a flu pandemic hits. If you live here and voted Republican in this week's election, those are the real values you voted for.
Hope the Democrats do better.
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=15&art_id=31354&sid=10752514&con_type=1#
