"...In the government's first detailed look at the potential effects on public health and U.S. society as a whole, the report said a full-blown pandemic could lead to travel restrictions, mandatory quarantines, massive absenteeism, an economic slowdown 'and civil disturbances and breakdowns in public order.'"

This is good stuff, real good. Almost beyond the administration's wildest dreams. Locking down whole cities, going around and injecting the people with, uh, whatever, sending Marines into the streets to quell those expected 'civil disturbances'- it sounds like the worst kind of action/sci-fi thriller. Unfortunately, such movies always have some renegade hero who saves the people from the machinations of a scheming government gone berserk. There are no such heroes in real life.

Probably such a pandemic will not happen. But the fact that the same people who are milking the hysteria and also cashing in on it are the ones who've consistently shown the most excitement about absconding with the citizenry's civil liberties- the disclosing of these fantasies should be chilling enough for anyone. And this sort of "disaster planning" reaction can easily be used as an analogy in any other similar event- a terrorist attack, hurricane or what have you. Brr.