Swine flu... the beginning
It's not news anymore. Swine flu broke out in a big way in Mexico City. Something like over 1000 people were diagnosed with it. Then they found it in New York City and in Ohio.
Yet... somehow, I'm not worried in the least. I feel terrible for anyone that has suffered from it in any way, but within two days of the first outbreak they were tossing around the word "epidemic" like it was Halloween candy. Fuck the fear-mongering news agencies. Why don't any of them give us any real perspective or context to these problems that keep coming up and then just moving on from? I'll tell you why, it's because the media outlets need one big story after another to keep peoples' attention to keep ratings up. Before this, the pirates were the big story. Before that was Obama releasing torture memos. It's a vicious, sadistic cycle.
Here's some stuff you should know. Swine flu is anything but new. There have been several outbreaks in the last 100 years, but nothing anywhere close to an "epidemic." You know how many people have died from this particular strain of swine flu?--Sixteen confirmed. Others are being tested, but only 16 confirmed. Do you know how many people die from the regular flu each year, the kind that we deal with every year?--According to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention it's 36,000. You heard me, 36000 every year. Do they call that an epidemic?--Hell no, because no one would swallow it. But this has just the right elements of urgency and rapid fire action that they can use it like we're living in an episode of the show 24.
You want some perspective on the swine flu?--We've survived some of the other big national threats to our country including but not limited to Y2K; anthrax in the mail; SARS; West Nile Virus; killer bees; all of Al Queda's supposed plans to attack us again; and Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction that he might have used on us by attaching them to toy airplanes made out of balsa wood, duct tape, and a weed wacker engine.
Am I worried?--Not at all.
Yet... somehow, I'm not worried in the least. I feel terrible for anyone that has suffered from it in any way, but within two days of the first outbreak they were tossing around the word "epidemic" like it was Halloween candy. Fuck the fear-mongering news agencies. Why don't any of them give us any real perspective or context to these problems that keep coming up and then just moving on from? I'll tell you why, it's because the media outlets need one big story after another to keep peoples' attention to keep ratings up. Before this, the pirates were the big story. Before that was Obama releasing torture memos. It's a vicious, sadistic cycle.
Here's some stuff you should know. Swine flu is anything but new. There have been several outbreaks in the last 100 years, but nothing anywhere close to an "epidemic." You know how many people have died from this particular strain of swine flu?--Sixteen confirmed. Others are being tested, but only 16 confirmed. Do you know how many people die from the regular flu each year, the kind that we deal with every year?--According to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention it's 36,000. You heard me, 36000 every year. Do they call that an epidemic?--Hell no, because no one would swallow it. But this has just the right elements of urgency and rapid fire action that they can use it like we're living in an episode of the show 24.
You want some perspective on the swine flu?--We've survived some of the other big national threats to our country including but not limited to Y2K; anthrax in the mail; SARS; West Nile Virus; killer bees; all of Al Queda's supposed plans to attack us again; and Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction that he might have used on us by attaching them to toy airplanes made out of balsa wood, duct tape, and a weed wacker engine.
Am I worried?--Not at all.