Makes my brain hurt.

Watch, listen, and weep for humanity. I guarantee that this one is a breeder. Lucky us.

http://www.todaysbigthing.com/2009/07/23

I wonder what is the largest order of chlorine I can place for a gene pool…

Swine Flu Panic

It’s difficult to reason with idiots, especially when the media has them in a panic. Here is a wonderful statement from the Drew Curtis Blog (of fark.com fame):

Why Swine Flu Isn’t Going to Kill Us All, Part II
Posted by Drew at 2009-04-30 03:09:13 PM, edited 2009-04-30 03:31:45 PM (374 comments) | Permalink

Here’s what’s happened since I wrote my original article, “Why Swine Flu Isn’t Going to Kill Us All”.

– A toddler in Texas has died of the swine flu
– Mexico’s infection and death estimates continue to climb
– The World Health Organization has raised it’s pandemic warning from 5 to 6, the top of the scale

These three items have ruled headlines for the past 24 hours. However here are a few other things that are going on that you may not have heard.

– 36,000 people die every year from the regular flu.
– Since I wrote my article on Monday, 1 person in the United States has died from swine flu.
– The tally in the last three days: Swine Flu: 1, Real Flu: 295.

I mentioned in my last update that only 18 deaths had been confirmed to have been from Swine Flu, and that the other figures were estimates. That confirmed total has since been revised downward to 7. To quote Stratfor’s reaction to this data:
“There is still a lack of information regarding the particulars about this new pathogen; but if it has killed only seven people after two months of spreading in a country with somewhat limited health care services, perhaps its virulence is not so harsh after all, even if its communicability is impressive.”

The WHO’s alert level reflects communicability not lethality also

The incubation period for swine flu is thought to be 2-3 days. And since Monday there has been 1 death.

There are hundreds of interviews with people who have Swine Flu. They all have the following things in common: generally the symptoms are mild, no one needs hospitalization, and recovers on their own in a few days.

Once again, I have to say it: Don’t Panic.

Fucking-Amen. When backed into a corner by panicked idiocy, apply a thorough beating with the 2×4 of reason, and a liberal sprinkling of fact.