Ah, the media love their scares.
I love how the word 'epidemic' is old hat now. It's not alarmist enough. It's 'pandemic' now. I'm sure someone will jump on and tell me how it's appropriate because of the spread and so on but, firstly, 'epidemic' was good enough in similar situations in the past and also includes being widespread as part of its defininition and, secondly, the media were using the term 'pandemic' before this actually was one.
I love how the word 'epidemic' is old hat now. It's not alarmist enough. It's 'pandemic' now. I'm sure someone will jump on and tell me how it's appropriate because of the spread and so on but, firstly, 'epidemic' was good enough in similar situations in the past and also includes being widespread as part of its defininition and, secondly, the media were using the term 'pandemic' before this actually was one.
I'm voting for globademic next. Then galactademic. And unidemic. And possibly infinidemic after that. It depends just how scared the media wants us to be.
We never seem to get tired of them. Bird flu, SARS, mad cow disease, ebola monkey virus, salmonella, and so on and so on. And that doesn't even get into the terrorism, millennium bug and god knows what else. Whip the people up into a frenzy to take their minds off the shit that people are doing in the world. Who is going to care about what crimes are being commited by their government in their name when they're spending every waking moment worrying about the next flu epidemic? Sorry, pandemic. Globademic.
We live in the Age of Distraction.
And yet this swine flu has hit a serious amount of people. One of the symptoms of our Distraction is the short attention span. There could be people dying in six months time from this and nobody will give a shit because we've moved on to the next scare. Emu flu or something. I hope my good net buddy from the Daily Grail, Red Pill Junkie, is doing well and hasn't been hit with it or had family hit with it.
I have to wonder though. The pharmaceuticals industry is too huge, worth too much money, and has proven itself to be without morals and, in some cases, totally criminal. And I wonder about computer viruses. I don't believe in most computer viruses. I can't help feeling those anti-virus companies meeting the supply, are also creating the demand. And if it came to light that the pharmaceuticals industry was doing the same thing, I wouldn't be remotely surprised. Money overrides morality and the more money to be made, the easier it is.
And you can be damn sure that, right now, there are people in the pharmaceuticals industry cracking open the champagne bottles.
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Usually if it kills a couple of old people, it's some new panda flu or some such shit - old people die all the time after having dumb shit happen to them, but you don't sell many papers claiming "falling down stairs flu".
Thank you for the concern, Bitter. My family & I are doing fine; although I'm afraid that by the time this thing ends, we'll all end up contracting a nasty and permanent case of OCD —can you imagine how many times I'm washing my hands?? they are so wrinkled right now that I'm confined to a life of celibacy, because masurbation feels like an old nasty bugger is molesting me!! :-P
Sorry to contradict you sephim, but the majority of the people that have died in Mexico are neither young children —in fact the first case, a 5-year-old, survived and is doing well—nor old people, but men and women in their 20s, 30s, 40s & 50s—the first confirmed death was a 47-year-old woman, who worked as a tax inspector making *gulp* door-to-door visits.
So why does that happen? I dunno... considering this virus is very similar (some say the same oralmost identical, but I don't think that's correct) to the H1N1 virus that killed so many people in 1918, it could be related to this:
"Scientists have used tissue samples from frozen victims to reproduce the virus for study. Given the strain's extreme virulence there has been controversy regarding the wisdom of such research. Among the conclusions of this research is that the virus kills via a cytokine storm (overreaction of the body's immune system) which explains its unusually severe nature and the concentrated age profile of its victims. The strong immune systems of young adults ravaged the body, whereas the weaker immune systems of children and middle-aged adults caused fewer deaths."Taken from the "1918 Flu Wikipedia" page.
So now the WHO has raised the threat level from 4 to 5 (out of 6), which doesn't mean the virus has become nastier and it's now hitting people with a baseball bat on dark street corners; in fact, being on level 5 does not mean shit to all of us here; what it means is that the contagion is spreading consistently fom person to person, and it's found in more than 2 areas or countries.
It does not mean we are doomed to get to level 6 (Globademic as Bitter calls, it, or Shitademic as I would); and even if we did, we have to remind ourselves that we've lived with a level 6 threat for 2 decades now: it's called AIDS, and as you probably now... people are still having sex :-P
That's fine Red, but the only reason I picked old people is because the whole "people falling down stairs" routine is funnier than anything I could have come up for an example of young children - maybe "thumb flu" because you know kids love to suck their thumbs.
See? "falling down stairs flu" is much funnier.
Cooties Flu? Yeah, I've got nothing.
In that cae sephim, I hope that in about 30 years we get a new outbreak of elephant flu, that could counter the nasty memory-loss effects of Alzheimer :-D
Glad to hear you're doing okay, RPJ.
This is yet another reason to hate public transport. Who knows what filth people are carrying?
The media here in the states is on this like you wouldn't believe- all comparing to the 1918 flu and juxtaposing pictures of victims from 1918 with live footage today.
The part of me who hates Big Pharma, wonders if this is happening so Big Pharma can sell Tamilflu.
I think after Globademic, the next words would be solar system demic - or galaxy demic.......like you suggested.
Speaking of galaxies and solar systems, to lighten up a Sunday- when oh when are we going to get flying cars like George Jetson?
And did you see the piece on the BBC about lithium carbonate being deliberately put in the drinking water???
To me the saddest thing about all this is that Mexicans have turned into the new lepers of the world. In China they literally kidnapped the Mexican tourists that had just arrived and secluded them in a hospital without their consent, and they haven't said when they'll release them.
All kind of jokes are being made now at the expense of the Mexicans. "Mexicans are as dirty as pigs" "don't say 'Mexico' or I'll catch a cold" "do you think it's safe to hear Mariachi music without a face mask?". That kind of shit.
PS: Flying cars are technically already here susan. Ever heard of the Terrafugia?
Not quite what The Jetsons promised, eh? ;-)
Red Pill Junkie,
A flying bug like Herbie???? That trumps a Jetson flying car any day- all it needs is a hatch to dump the wife/husband when she wants shopping money!
Just kidding.
You are right when you said about the Mexicans. People are ignorant and they are always looking for someone to blame.
I have been to Tijuana and found it to be quite charming.
I've never gone to Tijuana: it scares me :-P
I didn't see that piece about lithium carbonate in the water. Oddly, I'm not massively surprised. I think it's hideous. But the idea of medicating a whole population to keep them placid and happy doesn't surprise me all that much. But I haven't seen it. I must look into it more.
Hope you Mexicans don't have to take too much shit, RPJ.
RPJ- It's a great place to visit when you are about 23, 24, with a bunch of your girlfriends, visiting LA for the first time, deciding to rent a Mustang convertible to drive down to San Diego, and on the way, change your mind to go to Tijuana to have some Tequila and eat the worm of course! And all the while you are thinking, "My mother is going to kill me if she knew".
Bitter- I am working on putting the story up, I can email you on your public email when it's up if you want to take a looksie. I am still trying to find out if it's just in Britain, or the entire UK, or other countries as well. It just makes me think of that 3 eyed fish from "the Simpsons".
susan,
Tequila does not have a worm.
That would be Mezcal ;-)
And I was only half-joking about the scare part. Right now it really isn't a safe place to go. With all the drug-related violence & all that.
Of course, maybe people from Tijuana think exacly the same thing about Mexico city! —where I live. Humans are incredibly adaptable to the harshest of environments.
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