I did read the whole thing. Sometimes her method becomes grating and tedious.
Don’t go changing your straight-forward, factual style of writing, Rob.
Greg - 10:03am on 03/31/2006
Hmmm....she only forgot "What kind of nation wipes out the native population by means of diseased blankets, starvation, massacres of women and children, illegal land grabs, etc. etc.?"
Style should never blind us from thinking critically.
It was fun to find your blog. Though I’m in Iowa now, I’ll always be a child of the prairie, from up by Grand Forks.
Meryl - 04:03pm on 03/31/2006
The thing about handing out ‘diseased blankets’ in order to wipe out the indians is a complete myth.
Considering that it happened before the germ theory of infection was even discovered by Louis Pasteur in the latter half of the 19th century is complete proof of that. Not to mention that the short period of time that infectious agents can live on a blanket make planning such a thing practically impossible even if it were known.
Yet this meme gets handed around like, well, a diseased blanket.
Ken McCracken - 05:04am on 04/01/2006
Ken,
Those on the rabid left rarely let the truth get in the way of a good anti-American diatribe.
Bat One - 07:04am on 04/01/2006
Greg, this wasn’t my post...but thanks for the compliment on my writing style.
Meryl, it is always nice to meet a ND ex-pat.
Ken, you’re spot-on on the smallpox blankets thing. Beyond the things you mentioned, did the soldiers back then have the technology to isolate the disease and control in a way that would allow it to be implanted on blankets? I don’t think so.
Rob - 08:04am on 04/01/2006
Really, Mr. McCracken?
Researchers believe that the smallpox infection (if released in aerosol form, under favorable conditions, without sunlight) could remain viable for as long as 24 hours. In unfavorable conditions, the virus may only remain viable for 6 hours. There is clear evidence that shows that the virus can remain viable on bed linens and clothes for significant periods of time.
I did read the whole thing. Sometimes her method becomes grating and tedious.
Don’t go changing your straight-forward, factual style of writing, Rob.
Hmmm....she only forgot "What kind of nation wipes out the native population by means of diseased blankets, starvation, massacres of women and children, illegal land grabs, etc. etc.?"
Style should never blind us from thinking critically.
It was fun to find your blog. Though I’m in Iowa now, I’ll always be a child of the prairie, from up by Grand Forks.
The thing about handing out ‘diseased blankets’ in order to wipe out the indians is a complete myth.
Considering that it happened before the germ theory of infection was even discovered by Louis Pasteur in the latter half of the 19th century is complete proof of that. Not to mention that the short period of time that infectious agents can live on a blanket make planning such a thing practically impossible even if it were known.
Yet this meme gets handed around like, well, a diseased blanket.
Ken,
Those on the rabid left rarely let the truth get in the way of a good anti-American diatribe.
Greg, this wasn’t my post...but thanks for the compliment on my writing style.
Meryl, it is always nice to meet a ND ex-pat.
Ken, you’re spot-on on the smallpox blankets thing. Beyond the things you mentioned, did the soldiers back then have the technology to isolate the disease and control in a way that would allow it to be implanted on blankets? I don’t think so.
Really, Mr. McCracken?
What does our CDC say?
Our Library of Congress has some interesting letters Colonel Henry Bouquet and Lord Jeffrey Amherst wrote to each other about blanket and Indians
http://www.nativeweb.org/pages/legal/amherst/34_41_114_fn.jpeg
http://www.nativeweb.org/pages/legal/amherst/34_40_305_fn.jpeg
Early Bioterrorism and Native Americans
But you knew that already, didn’t you meme McCracken.