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Da Bun



Last Updated: 12/5/2009

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Gender: Male
Status: In a Relationship
Age: 39
Sign: Virgo

State: CALIFORNIA
Country: US
Signup Date: 9/14/2003
Wednesday, April 29, 2009 

Current mood:Porky
Category: News and Politics
Recently posted as a reply to an outcry regarding the current "media panic" surrounding the Swine Flu outbreak:
I dunno about "panic," but the thing is, Influenza killed somewhere in the neighborhood of 70 MILLION people in the 1918 pandemic, and we're obviously looking to avoid a repeat. There was an outbreak of swine flu in 1976 that resulted in about 30% of the entire U.S. population being vaccinated. (which at least gives evidence of the govt's fear level, if not entirely justifying it) 
Also, in stark contrast to the "36,000 people who die of flu every year," of the flu, strains like Swine Flu can cause death in healthy young adults (most routine flu deaths are infants/​children,​ and the elderly) 
Granted, the media has a definite interest in "scare tactics" since stories like this bring in viewers, readers, etc. And I'm certainly not one to subscribe to the "better safe than sorry" philosophy (which in my mind would create a nation of Howard Hughes's) But considering the worldwide, global effect that infectious diseases have historically enjoyed, it's at least worthy of our notice. 

And, in defense of the "​panic/​paranoia"​ reporting, so long as it's accurate, it literally is our best way of avoiding a huge mess. If only the media hadn't already sullied its name through decades of unfounded scare tactics, more people might take it seriously. 
But obviously, the current situation reads like "the boy who cried wolf." Ever notice how you never hear about "Avian Flu" or "Hantavirus" deaths any more? The media's in a win-win situation. If all their hype amounts to nothing, they can pat themselves on the back and say "see? we helped stop the spread!" (even if the original threat was much lower than reported) 
It's the old "This rock prevents tiger attacks!" argument (see: "The Simpsons: episode 3F20) Anyway, no time to chat, I'm off to Mexico! WOOOOOHOOO-​cough-​-​cough-​OOOO!​
2:49 AM
 
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