The great flu scare of '09

[sauerkraut]

They are now saying that the flu may be overblown, and maybe it's nothing to get excited about. The regular flu kills more people each year than this thing. I figured as much. A bunch of over hype. 

[Hoss]

Yeah, Glenn Beck, Laura Ingrham, Sean Hannity, Mark Lavein, Mike Savage and the king of 'em all Rush L. I keep well informed..

Have you learned the 'Glenn Beck technique of forcibly crying' yet?

[cannon_fodder]

The old thread on this disappeared, just like the hype around the swine flu.

Hospitals are saying the hysteria caused by people hyping the swine flu has killed many times the number of people that the flu has.  Some hospitals had to stop accepting paramedics because they were full with the "walking well."  Too many people shouting panic.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/05/02/worried.well.hospitals/index.html

[YoungTulsan]

The regular flu kills 36,000 Americans a year, so saying the regular flu kills more people than this is an understatement.

This is overblown to the extreme.

[sauerkraut]

Have you learned the 'Glenn Beck technique of forcibly crying' yet?

That is strange. I don't understand why he crys. Men should never cry...Glenn Beck is also very emotional. Most of the time Glenn Beck is very level headed and talks common sense- But when he weeps- something is wrong there, he is also against cap. punishment and that makes no sense to me at all. 

[nathanm]

he is also against cap. punishment and that makes no sense to me at all. 

Yes, if you're against capital punishment, something must be wrong with you. After all, what's wrong with accidentally executing a few innocent people along the way? Think of all the money we save! 

[Hoss]

That is strange. I don't understand why he crys. Men should never cry...Glenn Beck is also very emotional. Most of the time Glenn Beck is very level headed and talks common sense- But when he weeps- something is wrong there, he is also against cap. punishment and that makes no sense to me at all. 

Level headed?  Wow.  This is the same guy that says of Boss Limbaugh:

His consistency, insight and honesty have earned him a level of trust with his listeners that politicians can only dream of.

He needs to pass the bong.

[Conan71]

This whole "pandemic" has been a hype job from the start.  I promise, there is a power grab or money distribution scheme to be issued yet... just wait.

[Gaspar]

This whole "pandemic" has been a hype job from the start.  I promise, there is a power grab or money distribution scheme to be issued yet... just wait.

I heard this morning on one of the talking head shows that the 100 or more people who have died in Mexico is actually 22 people.

[sauerkraut]

I heard this morning on one of the talking head shows that the 100 or more people who have died in Mexico is actually 22 people.

Yeah, something is very weird about this whole flu thing. The regular flu kills more people than this one did. Remember that "Bird Flu" scare and that "Sars" flu scare of past years? How could they  mistake  100 flu deaths for 22 flu deaths in 2009?

[cannon_fodder]

News Story:  Swine Flu, EVERYONE PANIC!

New Story:  Everyone Panicked because of the Swine Flu.

Coming Story:  Did the media over hyper Swine Flu?

Soon After:  Swine Flu might come back, everyone panic!

Rinse, repeat.

SARS, West Nile, Avian Flu, blah blah blah blah blah.


Drew Curtis hit this on the head years ago in his book:

It's Not News, it's Fark:  How Mass Media Tries to Pass Crap Off as News.

Step 1:  Story

Step 2: Retracting

Step 3: Talk it to death:  mostly opinionated diatribes (not news)

Step 4: Report sidebar issues (ie. the panic cause by the Swine Flu.  Hospitals overwhelmed by walking wounded)

Step 5: Report on "has the media gone too far?"

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

[Gaspar]

Does this mean we get to see Joe take the subway again?

[Conan71]

If you aren't tired of this coverage email Nancy Grace something along the lines of Natalie Holloway was abducted to Mexico and she was a carrier of the Swine Flu.  That will get beaten into the ground for another three weeks.

Talk about pedantic.

[Townsend]

If you aren't tired of this coverage email Nancy Grace something along the lines of Natalie Holloway was abducted to Mexico and she was a carrier of the Swine Flu.  That will get beaten into the ground for another three weeks.

Talk about pedantic.

Just like her meatloaf

[sauerkraut]

The real problem is all this "crying wolf"- byrd flu, swine flu, that flu, & this flu, then when a serious flu hits the warnings get ignored. The people are burnt out.. It's clear to me this swine thing was all hype. This is like TV weather stations going nuts when a rain cloud floats overhead. They bust into TV shows and have split screens warning about serious weather, crawlers, and then nothing happens. Then when a real tornado hits people ignore it..