There's no shortage of photo-ops, what with people walking around like jackasses in their Michael Jackson masks, trying to avoid the seething pestilence emanating from their fellow human beings. Although a determined virus could probably get through one of those low-tech masks if it really wanted to. People would actually be better off wearing sunglasses, because (little-known fact) the virus is more likely to infect you through your eyes (nice moist surface, no natural barrier) than your nose or mouth. And you'd still get to look like Michael Jackson. Only not as creepy.
The first figures I heard on the subject estimated almost 2000 cases in Mexico, with 150 suspected deaths. If that's not cause for alarm, I don't know what is (except maybe George's being closed when you're dying for a mushroom cheese deluxe). China and Russia were alarmed, and banned import of pork from Mexico and even some parts of the U.S. I have no idea why - what self-respecting flu virus is going to hang around in a piece of dead pork? Egypt even ordered the slaughter of 300,000 pigs, even though they haven't had one case there.
The latest figures are far less scary: there have been no deaths outside Mexico with the exception of one child who had just arrived in the States from there, and most patients outside the country have only had mild symptoms. Of the original suspected deaths in Mexico, 58 were found to have died from other causes, 16 deaths are confirmed, and the rest are still being looked into. So this big scary flu epidemic is looking about par for the course as far as flu outbreaks go. In that case, why discourage flying to Mexico? Why ban their pork? Is someone pissed off at Mexico for some reason that I don't know about?
Not one to miss a spending opportunity, President Obama has asked Congress for 1.5 billion (yes, that's billion) dollars to fight the swine flu problem. Man, this guy has some serious money management issues. After all the spending on climate change, fighting terrorism, going green, handing out bail-outs and flying in pizza, he's got to be getting a little short. Maybe what he should be fighting is his urge to spend taxpayers money on nonexistent problems. Of course, part of this money would go to developing a new flu vaccine, which should be ready by about the time this has all blown over. Not that I'd rush out and get a flu shot anyway, the only benefit I can see from a flu vaccine is to make money for some drug company.
And let's not forget the previous swine flu scare of the seventies - predictions of a dire health emergency led to a massive vaccination campaign, resulting in hundreds of people suffering severe side effects including paralysis and death. In fact, there were more adverse effects from the vaccinations than from the great pandemic that never materialized. But hey, if you can declare co2 a dangerous substance and use it to justify taxes, maybe you can declare a run-of-the-mill flu outbreak a major health emergency and justify mandatory flu shots. It wouldn't surprise me.
Everything's a crisis these days - we must ACT NOW and, more importantly, we must spend money on averting the current catastrophe. People have become desensitized to the fear-mongering and instead of going into panic mode over the latest lurid headline, they are more apt to yawn and turn to the sports section. Biased reporting and sensationalism have caused a lot of folks to be skeptical of what they hear in the news, and many of us dismiss alarming headlines until we've checked it out on the internet. This mistrust of the mainstream media's habit of crying wolf has it's own repercussions - it creates the very real possibility that, in the event of a genuine emergency, people might not be inclined to take it seriously. And that could lead to a REAL crisis.
