Swine flu

[DC Tom]

The scary thing is how it's taking out healthy people in their 20s, 30s, etc. That's not good.

 

But only in Mexico, which is weird.

 

That's what the 1918 flu did, though...which is fundamentally a bad, bad thing.

[DC Tom]

I'm glad you ask. It seems thanks to the republicans... we're short about 900 Million in funding to fight this.

 

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/430261?rel=hp_picks

 

And yet, the Obama administration has specifically said that the Bush administration has done a good job laying the groundwork for this since 2005.

 

This isn't anyone's fault. And thanks to the Mexicans recognizing it early enough, we're more ahead of events than we normally would be right now.

[Gene Frenkle]

No wonder liberals hide under the bed sheets.

Wow that's funny.

 

Positive personality traits associated with liberalism (self-reliant, resilient, dominating and energetic) and negative ones attributed to conservatism (easily victimized or offended, indecisive, fearful and rigid) appear as young as nursery school–age kids—and correlate with those children's political beliefs in adulthood, according to a 20-year study published in 2006 in the Journal of Research in Personality. More recently, scientists linked the strength of a person's startle response to their political leanings: conservatives tended to scare easier, blinking harder than liberals when they heard a loud noise.

 

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=organi...itical-leanings

[blzrul]

This is just overhyped media bull sh--.

 

There are about 308m people in the US. 50 have swine flu, supposedly. No-one's died. In fact it's described as mild.

 

36,000 people die annually in the US of flu. Did you all forget to panic?

 

Everything I've seen and read makes it clear that this is a curable disease if caught early. So with the declaration Sunday by the feds, releasing the stores of Tamiflu, we're ready. I hope those 50 people with swine flu leave us some.

 

I can't believe what a nation of cowards we've become. You people probably all freaked out over bird flu. And anyone old enough to remember Legionnaires Disease in Philadelphia in the 70s probably thought the world was ending then too.

 

I'd be more worried about the new deadly strains of malaria...because you can quarantine people but will never wipe out mosquitos.

 

Well at least all these folks in the "home of the brave" who have leftover plastic and duct tape from a few years ago have a use for it. I'll worry when I start to see red x's on my neighbors' doors.

[IDBillzFan]

I can't believe what a nation of cowards we've become.

That's gold, Jerry. Absolute, positive 100% comic gold.

[DC Tom]

This is just overhyped media bull sh--.

 

There are about 308m people in the US. 50 have swine flu, supposedly. No-one's died. In fact it's described as mild.

 

36,000 people die annually in the US of flu. Did you all forget to panic?

 

Everything I've seen and read makes it clear that this is a curable disease if caught early. So with the declaration Sunday by the feds, releasing the stores of Tamiflu, we're ready. I hope those 50 people with swine flu leave us some.

 

I can't believe what a nation of cowards we've become. You people probably all freaked out over bird flu. And anyone old enough to remember Legionnaires Disease in Philadelphia in the 70s probably thought the world was ending then too.

 

I'd be more worried about the new deadly strains of malaria...because you can quarantine people but will never wipe out mosquitos.

 

Well at least all these folks in the "home of the brave" who have leftover plastic and duct tape from a few years ago have a use for it. I'll worry when I start to see red x's on my neighbors' doors.

 

Most of this is media over-reaction (people in Chicago pulling their kids out of school because people are dying in Mexico City? People are dumb, panicky animals.)

 

But there's a legitimate epidemic in Mexico City with a case mortality rate of - last I heard - 7%, and killing otherwise healthy people in the 20-40 year old range that usually don't die of the flu. That's a strain of the flu acting like the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic. That would be a Very Bad Thing.

 

That's why there's cause for concern. For medical professionals, who's track this sh-- for a living. Until someone dies outside of Mexico, I'll just remain curious as to why the illness seems so much worse in that country than others.

[Dwight Drane]

This is unfolding very quickly, and it is impossible to get real time news. The thing about a weapon like this is it will mutate on it's own once released, and the infected and dead will start to multiply exponentially and not linear.

 

Beaurocrats have a tough time dealing with fast moving, subjective, substantial problems. They have to refer to their doctrines as what to do. Unfortunately in this case, their books tell them to do something pretty drastic, which is locking down areas and forcing innoculations on the public. They will want to delay that as long as possible. It looks as if they will be raising their alert level to 5 if not 6 over the next few days. That is when they give the public an excuse to panic.

 

Give this a week and we will know where it is headed in the public. If it is as bad as it looks, the media isn't doing enough panicing. If it fizzles out, which doesn't look like it is......you just have to wait and see if a second wave starts soon after.

 

And this isn't God's wrath....this is a bioweapon. And the timing is right on the money.

[John Adams]

This is unfolding very quickly, and it is impossible to get real time news. The thing about a weapon like this is it will mutate on it's own once released, and the infected and dead will start to multiply exponentially and not linear.

 

Beaurocrats have a tough time dealing with fast moving, subjective, substantial problems. They have to refer to their doctrines as what to do. Unfortunately in this case, their books tell them to do something pretty drastic, which is locking down areas and forcing innoculations on the public. They will want to delay that as long as possible. It looks as if they will be raising their alert level to 5 if not 6 over the next few days. That is when they give the public an excuse to panic.

 

Give this a week and we will know where it is headed in the public. If it is as bad as it looks, the media isn't doing enough panicing. If it fizzles out, which doesn't look like it is......you just have to wait and see if a second wave starts soon after.

 

And this isn't God's wrath....this is a bioweapon. And the timing is right on the money.

 

Panicking has a "K."

[erynthered]

And this isn't God's wrath....this is a bioweapon. And the timing is right on the money.

 

 

What?

 

The birds and the pigs living in sin?

[DC Tom]

Panicking has a "K."

 

...and there's no "eauro" in "bureaucrats".

 

And...bioweapon?

[GG]

This is unfolding very quickly, and it is impossible to get real time news. The thing about a weapon like this is it will mutate on it's own once released, and the infected and dead will start to multiply exponentially and not linear.

 

Beaurocrats have a tough time dealing with fast moving, subjective, substantial problems. They have to refer to their doctrines as what to do. Unfortunately in this case, their books tell them to do something pretty drastic, which is locking down areas and forcing innoculations on the public. They will want to delay that as long as possible. It looks as if they will be raising their alert level to 5 if not 6 over the next few days. That is when they give the public an excuse to panic.

 

Give this a week and we will know where it is headed in the public. If it is as bad as it looks, the media isn't doing enough panicing. If it fizzles out, which doesn't look like it is......you just have to wait and see if a second wave starts soon after.

 

And this isn't God's wrath....this is a bioweapon. And the timing is right on the money.

 

Don't tell me, the Air Force One fly-over and the Mexico earthquake are also part of the grand event theory?

[DC Tom]

Don't tell me, the Air Force One fly-over and the Mexico earthquake are also part of the grand event theory?

 

And this. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8022917.stm

 

Exploding stars, earthquakes, low-flying planes, GM and Chrysler facing bankruptcy, Specter switching teams. Clearly, the Rapture is at hand, as Revelations predicted. Don't be surprised if the Patriots game is delayed or cancelled.

 

 

But influenza...not a sign of God's wrath, no. The Bible never said anything about plagues.

[Ramius]

This is unfolding very quickly, and it is impossible to get real time news. The thing about a weapon like this is it will mutate on it's own once released, and the infected and dead will start to multiply exponentially and not linear.

 

Beaurocrats have a tough time dealing with fast moving, subjective, substantial problems. They have to refer to their doctrines as what to do. Unfortunately in this case, their books tell them to do something pretty drastic, which is locking down areas and forcing innoculations on the public. They will want to delay that as long as possible. It looks as if they will be raising their alert level to 5 if not 6 over the next few days. That is when they give the public an excuse to panic.

 

Give this a week and we will know where it is headed in the public. If it is as bad as it looks, the media isn't doing enough panicing. If it fizzles out, which doesn't look like it is......you just have to wait and see if a second wave starts soon after.

 

And this isn't God's wrath....this is a bioweapon. And the timing is right on the money.

 

I understand. I am headed home right now to eat my emergency supply of Frank's Red Hot, as per your instructions. That will keep the swine flu away.

[drnykterstein]

And yet, the Obama administration has specifically said that the Bush administration has done a good job laying the groundwork for this since 2005.

 

This isn't anyone's fault. And thanks to the Mexicans recognizing it early enough, we're more ahead of events than we normally would be right now.

 

Wasn't blaming anyone.. just laughing at them for how wrong they consistently are.

[DC Tom]

Wasn't blaming anyone.. just laughing at them for how wrong they consistently are.

 

I wasn't saying you blamed anyone. I was speaking to that bull sh-- article. It would be just as easy to rebut it with "Obama's HHS department is still missing a slew of appointments, 100 days into his administration."

 

Not that any of it matters now. Didn't you hear? Bioweapon...

[blzrul]

Most of this is media over-reaction (people in Chicago pulling their kids out of school because people are dying in Mexico City? People are dumb, panicky animals.)

 

But there's a legitimate epidemic in Mexico City with a case mortality rate of - last I heard - 7%, and killing otherwise healthy people in the 20-40 year old range that usually don't die of the flu. That's a strain of the flu acting like the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic. That would be a Very Bad Thing.

 

That's why there's cause for concern. For medical professionals, who's track this sh-- for a living. Until someone dies outside of Mexico, I'll just remain curious as to why the illness seems so much worse in that country than others.

There are 20 million people in Mexico city. 103 deaths isn't great but...

 

Yes it is concerning that the young and healthy are being taken and as you say only in Mexico, so far.

 

But I still think it's all bull sh--.

[stuckincincy]

Not that any of it matters now. Didn't you hear? Bioweapon...

 

It seems that the early reports of it being some sort of combination of swine, human, and avian flu have somehow quickly dropped out of the news.

[DC Tom]

There are 20 million people in Mexico city. 103 deaths isn't great but...

 

Yes it is concerning that the young and healthy are being taken and as you say only in Mexico, so far.

 

But I still think it's all bull sh--.

 

140 as of this morning. Out of 20 million, not much. But out of 2000 cases...that's a hell of a lot, worse than some really, really bad viruses like dengue.

 

But there's also a lot of caveats to that: are there really only 2000 cases, or just 2000 identified cases. Are there more people infected that aren't being counted because they're just ill enough to see a doctor? Is there something about Mexico City making the infection more deadly (e.g. pollution causing lung problems causing increased susceptibility to the virus)?

 

The real eyebrow-raising thing, though, is the similarity to the 1918 pandemic. That, and the reportedly novel structure of the virus, AND the likelihood of our country not surviving a pandemic on the 1918 scale (Philly shut down in 1918, not because so many died as much as so many were sick that public services came to a screeching halt. Modern American cities are much more fragile), are enough to have scientists focused and the media in a frenzy - which it no doubt is. There's no earthly reason for hand sanitizer to be sold out at every store I've seen, for God's sake.

[blzrul]

It's in WNY.

 

Here you go.

 

Still "mild". Odd that so far only Mexicans are dying.

[DC Tom]

It seems that the early reports of it being some sort of combination of swine, human, and avian flu have somehow quickly dropped out of the news.

 

Probably because those reports were 1) redundant, every human flu virus is some combination of pig and bird virius, 2) ignorant, as they never went beyond "Like, OMG, this is so TOTALLY a combination of, LIKE, different stuff!" without explaining why that should even be important, an 3) stupid, as there's only so many ways you can say "Like, OMG, this is so TOTALLY a combination of, LIKE, different stuff!" and make it sound like news.

 

Even so, I'm still seeing reports. But I'm probably plugged in to better sources (and no, you can't have them. They're mine. )