The biggest news of the last week or so has to be the “swine flu pandemic” (yes, it was only a matter of time until I got my two cents in).
The best quote I’ve seen yet (from something I read in the last week, I can’t remember where) was that the swine flu is the “biggest global health crisis since the SARS pandemic failed to actualize.” Hmm, that may say it all right there, especially with headlines like the one in today’s Globe and Mail: Mexico lowers flu death toll. Maybe it isn’t as freaky as we first thought?
Completely independent of each other, I read two complementary analyzes of the situation:
From Mike:
Our Hierarchy of Concerns
I think I’ve figure this out:
AIDS = The poor. Therefore, who cares?
Malaria = The poor. Therefore, who cares?
SwineFlu = Could be us. Better get on this one!
The WHO, for 2004, summarized that in Africa:
405,000 died from TB
182,000 died from measles
69,000 died from tetanus
1,417,000 died from respiratory infections
27,000 died from iron-deficiencyAnd yet, somehow, we are in a state of emergency over a flu that has killed no one in Canada yet. The lesson is learned: all you have to do is threaten a white, affluent North American and every precaution will be taken. Threaten to kill thousands of Africans and the world sits on their hands.
Puts things into perspective and makes one think, does it not?
On a lighter note, this is from the 1970s:
gillian's island 