Oinkmagedon
The topic du jour is definitely the impending swine flu virus. Minnesota just had their first confirmed case in Cold Springs, MN (small town near St. Cloud). People just need to calm down. According to the WHO, 36,000 Americans died last year of flu complications. The swine flu has claimed one American death so far. People just need to be cautious, take extra sanitation precautions, and go on with their normal days. It appears that the swine flu started in a pig farm in Veracruz, Mexico where some flies feasted on contaminated fecal matter and then spread the disease. It's pretty gross stuff. Note to Egypt... it was outrageous for your government to order that all pigs be immediately slaughtered; especially considering that not one case of swine flu has been reported there. Prepare for the PETA onslaught. In this rare case, I will agree with PETA.
1. Last night, Mike and I went to a MN Twins game. Wednesday nights are college nights and Wednesday nights are $1 hot dog nights. With my student ID, my ticket cost $4. The whole evening cost under $10 to see the Twins crush the Tampa Bay Rays. By the way Cubs fans, not every baseball game should cost you $40 a game. The cheapest Twins ticket on any non Wednesday night is $10. Also, the upper deck cheap seats were full of college students which made the game even more entertaining as the drinking started, beach balls were thrown out, and the night ended with lots of awkward Caucasians dancing to Journey.
2. When I got home last night I watched a replay of the Obama press conference. Did anybody have any thoughts on it? Obama did fine but contradicted himself. During one question he said that he believes what happened to the suspected terrorists involving waterboarding, sleep deprivation for up to eleven days, beating up prisoners, putting prisoners in small boxes with insects, and other gems was indeed torture. On the next question, when asked specifically about the Bush administration's role, he said that they made many mistakes. No President Obama, I respectfully disagree. Speeding is a mistake. Cheating at golf is a mistake. Authorizing torture is a crime. Here is what Obama should have said, "The Bush administration was responsible for horrendous war crimes. It is important for the truth to be known so we can learn from it and move on. I don't think we should prosecute the previous administration because that will be an enormous distraction and take away time and energy needed to win multiple wars, correct our broken health care system, and turn around the economy." No, he simply referred to it as a mistake.
posted by cyclonejohn @ 10:12 AM
6 Comments:
When completely healthy people die from the flu, we should be worried. Schools should be closing, since it effects children more than adults. When this flu is spreading fast but we wont have a vaccine for months, we should worry. But we shouldn't panic. There is no reason to. People, as always, are being stupid and ridiculous.
People need to calm the hell down. The people who have the flu should just do what any normal person would do: stay at home. No need to shut down schools or other public gatherings, just keep the sick away.
And the Bush administration must be prosecuted. It's too bad Obama closed Guantanamo because Bush and all his dreaded crew of miscreants should be sent there and experience torture themselves.
I think we agree on the issue Andrew. People should take extra precautions, wash their hands more, and be aware of the swine flu. But I think the fear mongereres are in full force right now and it doesn't help anyone.
Then maybe it's a deeper problem than the flu. Combine 24 hour news and political big-shots, who all know that the best way to get a response (ratings, campaign dollars) is to make people afraid of something. Maybe these factors are making every paranoid.
If torture is a crime then it should be charged as such. It would have been contradictory of Obama to say the Bush administration committed crimes and then not prosecute.
Solid post, Fid :)
I had the same opinion about the flu. But after a discussion with my editor, I came to the conclusion that it's really a no-win situation.
Under report: People don't take it seriously and don't take any precaution.
Over report: You add to the necessary evil that is the crying wolf game.
As for Egypt, well, what can I say? It's not like its government has a history of making poor decisions, amirite!??!
Any repercussions from PETA would be like a fart in a hurricane to Egyptian citizens--they have considerably more things to worry about than PETA's opinion.
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