Friday, July 17, 2009

Oink oink oink...

I ain't even down with this whole swine flu panic.

One of my co-teachers is going to Canada for a training course and she's totally worried about 돼지 프루 (um, pig flu).

So, I showed her this just to be an asshole about it.

Media goes hog wild over swine flu: Millions die

June 18, 2009, 1:00 am · 0 comments

You cannot protect yourself from Media Flu simply by covering your mouth. You must also cover your eyes and ears.

You cannot protect yourself from Media Flu simply by covering your mouth. You must also cover your eyes and ears.

In the two months since the first case of swine flu popped up in Mexico on April 13, we’ve been inundated with media reports regarding our imminent demise.

They said we’re all going to get it. We’re all going to die. Borders were closed. People were quarantined. Trade was halted. We desperately need billions of dollars in research grants. We need a vaccine to keep us from going the way of the dinosaurs. It’s the greatest health disaster since 20,000,000 people died of the Spanish Flu of 1918. Oh, the humanity.

Let’s get back to reality now. Do you know how many people have actually died of swine flu worldwide in the last two months (according to the World Health Organization)?

A. 1,440,000
B. 144,000
C. 14,400
D. 1440
E. 144

ANSWER: If you chose E, you are correct. A grand total of just 144 people have died of Swine Flu worldwide. In contrast, WHO says the three main strains of flu cause somewhere between 250,000 to 500,000 deaths a year globally. That’s somewhere between 685 and 1370 per day.

Obviously, it’s much easier to fall victim to Media Flu than Swine Flu. But Swine Flu is easier to cure and much less deadly.

http://www.ihatethemedia.com/media-goes-hog-wild-over-swine-flu-millions-die


Then she said "But it is a pandemic!!"

I can't find the link now but apparently the definition of pandemic used to include something like "...kills a shitload of people...", like a million or something, but now it doesn't..

Ah, found it...

The WHO Finally Gets Its Pandemic!
By Michael Fumento

For the last several years, the World Health Organization (WHO) has been claiming another flu pandemic is a "when not an if." Of course, it was talking about avian flu. But avian flu refused to comply, for reasons I've given in numerous articles beginning in 2005. So now they've seized upon swine flu to declare their pandemic.

Never mind that the mildest pandemic of the 20th century killed at least a million people worldwide and so far swine flu has killed far fewer people since it began in early April than die each day from old-fashioned seasonal flu. (144 total swine flu deaths compared to 685-1,370 daily seasonal flu deaths).

Further, in the country where the outbreak began, Mexico, swine flu peaked way back in late April. The worldwide crest can't be far behind.

So how could the WHO do it? Simple. In 2005 it rewrote the definition of "influenza pandemic," which formerly required "enormous numbers of deaths and illness." Under its new definition, a handful of cases and zero deaths can nonetheless constitute a "pandemic." And that's pretty much what we've seen. The term "influenza pandemic" has simply lost any truly useful meaning.

Thanks, WHO, for putting politics and self-interest above the interests of public health.
June 11, 2009 01:26 PM ·

http://www.fumento.com/weblog/archives/ ... nally.html


I'm not sure if it's true (read the writers bio and seems he may know what he's talking about) but I don't care. I just wanted to make her stop freaking out about it and she did, at least to me.