tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7552277881796273856.post8928403780186383208..comments2021-10-12T22:38:41.417-04:00Comments on Eternal Optimist: WORLD ONE STEP FROM SWINE FLU PANDEMICraehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10808097290710098393noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7552277881796273856.post-57691422198646129482009-05-14T10:29:00.000-04:002009-05-14T10:29:00.000-04:00Unlike that last guy who posted I think the pandem...Unlike that last guy who posted I think the pandemic panic was a lot of hooey. But unlike EO I don't think the problem lies with the CDC or WHO. I agree with that guy up there --it's their job to be alarmists. That's what we pay them for. I don't blame smoke alarms for making a lot of noise. <br /><br />I do object to volunteer firefighters getting drunk and riding around town blaring sirens, and then defending the destruction and mayhem by asserting it's their right and duty to drive firetrucks with sirens. That would be the press' role in this.jennygirltherathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11901499815238309934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7552277881796273856.post-88102658753977180472009-05-13T23:18:00.000-04:002009-05-13T23:18:00.000-04:00Is it the idea of pandemics in general that you fi...Is it the idea of pandemics in general that you find silly or just the hoopla over the swine flu? Because let's see... what would an actual pandemic look like when it started? <br /><br />You'd probably have a few people getting sick with an unfamiliar strain of virus in a nondescript area of a nondescript country. A few of them would die but not too many, because if everybody died quickly it couldn't turn into a pandemic could it? It has to sicken people reasonably slowly to allow transmission. So there wouldn't be waves of people dying right away. Then someone would travel from the nondescript location to a larger city, and to an airport, and at some point a relatively few people would have died in the first country, and then one or two people would die in a second country and if we were lucky the CDC or world health organizations would be aware of it and start raising flags and talking about vaccinations and possible quarantining and.... wait, what was I talking about? <br /><br />Yes, it seems silly if it doesn't turn out to be The Big One. "Look at the blowhards wasting the money and it wasn't anything serious. It never is." But isn't that the same as "There won't be an earthquake. There hasn't been an earthquake around here in 100 years." <br /><br />Surely a pandemic is a lot more likely than it was in 1918... we've been awash in antibiotics and other drugs for almost a century, breeding more and more resistant bugs; long distance travel is nearly instantaneous; agricultural practices crowd animals together like never before. Just because something hasn't happened before doesn't mean it won't. And when it HAS happened before -- many times-- it doesn't seem as though it would be wise to pooh-pooh it. <br /><br />Or are you suggesting that there be higher standards for raising alarms? So in Mexico, 42 deaths per 100 million people... obviously you think .4 deaths per million is too low. Where would you put it? 40? 400? 4000? <br /><br />Or am I just being silly?Chandlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09676084144752470680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7552277881796273856.post-28484230371472394662009-05-01T10:49:00.000-04:002009-05-01T10:49:00.000-04:00I thought of starting a protest group against the ...I thought of starting a protest group against the Swine Flu. It would probably be as effective as all those warnings. We could stage rallies and walk in circles saying "Alas, alas." That might be even more effective.Dorismaynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7552277881796273856.post-32508984556676197382009-05-01T01:49:00.000-04:002009-05-01T01:49:00.000-04:00What??? Let a perfectly good crisis go to waste???...What??? Let a perfectly good crisis go to waste???Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13624383212440919351noreply@blogger.com