Curious George has the "Goods" on the Flu/Pandemic

No, not Obama. I meant George at Urban Survival. (Okay, yup, I am still really "schnuffy", tired and achey - but not so much that I can't be a little snotty. Dr. Happy says it is a rhinovirus, dropped some cans of chicken soup on the counter - high-tailed it to the desert to work for a few days. *b'rack, b'rack* Alright, truthfully, he made a fresh pot of lemon green tea before he left, too.)

While I was hepped up on antihistamines, decongestants and Advil trying to achieve "Claratin Clear" nirvana, George was doing his darndest to provide credible links that I meant to have yesterday about the Mexican Flu being a "man-created disaster". (Naw, we all know women wouldn't be doing crap like that, now, don't we? *INSERT EVIL HILLARY CACKLE HERE*)

George also posted the practical things to have on hand to get through the pandemic and, luckily, I do have most of that stuff. (Food, water, bleach, latril gloves and meds - no smart aleckey comments from the Peanut Gallery, Folks!) You have plenty of time to gather your supplies. George's crystal ball says it will be really crappy in the autumn.

One thing that George dug up from Reuters-UK:

Here are some facts about the virus and flu viruses in general:

* The World Health Organization has confirmed at least some of the cases are a never-before-seen strain of influenza A virus, carrying the designation H1N1.

* Although it's called swine flu, this new strain is not infecting pigs and has never been seen in pigs. The threat is person to person transmission.

* It is genetically different from the fully human H1N1 seasonal influenza virus that has been circulating globally for the past few years. The new flu virus contains DNA typical to avian, swine and human viruses, including elements from European and Asian swine viruses.

Of course, this was the PERFECT situation to get Congress to approve Kathleen Sebalius as the Head of HHS. Yup, like we need a enthusiastic euthanist in charge of Health and Human Services. My eldest son in Kansas said that now that she is out of the state, they are building a fence 200 miles high to keep her from getting back in. No hope of getting her to leave DC, I suppose. We can only hope the Mexican flu will blanket Capitol Hill and slow down the fascist assault. *sigh*

Back to my regularly scheduled gripe sessions soon. Until then, AmericanThinker.com has some great fill-ins. Like this: How 'Bout that Boy-Genius in the White House? Didn't think New Yorkers would be worried about "Low-Flying Jets" near Manhattan...and The One knew and threatened NYPD if they told the greater population of NYC...Enjoy.

Oh, and don't breath in. It will keep you from getting any "bugs". And it will make Al Gore and the Wanna-be Hippies-types Happy. I know all of us Right Wing Extremists LIVE to make those folks do the Happy Dance (TM).

:-)

Mexico Flu, Pandemics and Fear-mongering

Yup. I believe that this one was a "man-created disaster", to quote our "favorite" DHS Director.

Obama declares Swine Flu emergency; plays golf. He can play golf because Bush prepared for a pandemic and Obama can breath a sigh of relief.

And look at this from David Brown of the Washington Post:

U.S. public health officials did not know about a growing outbreak of swine flu in Mexico until nearly a week after that country started invoking protective measures, and didn't learn that the deaths were caused by a rare strain of the influenza until after Canadian officials did...
Whether delayed communication among the countries has had a practical consequence is unknown. However, it seems that U.S. public health officials are still largely in the dark about what's happening in Mexico two weeks after the outbreak was recognized...
The earliest case found in Mexico was a 39-year-old woman who died April 12 of severe viral pneumonia in San Luis Potosi, a city of about 700,000 in central Mexico.

Here are some links to keep you amused while I fight off a minor rhinovirus (common cold).

Before the Storm Hits - practical things to do in case of prolonged isolation issues.
Preparing for No Power
Map of the Swine Flu Outbreak in North America

Vinny wrote a great flu transmission path and the most LOGICAL description of the current flu's current course:

With that in mind, I want to reflect on the infamous 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic. This virus was also a swine-flu virus, and it led to widespread human-human transmission. It is estimated to have killed 20-100 million world-wide and 500-675 thousand in the US. It typically killed about 5% of those infected, while this current outbreak in Mexico may have a kill rate of 0.5%. Yearly flu epidemics in America might lead to death 0.002% of the time.

Why was the Spanish flu of 1918 so deadly? One should remember that the world had just emerged from a world war, many were starved and in poor health even prior to contracting the flu. When pathologists examined lung samples of those 1918 flu victims, most deaths were attributed to secondary bacterial pneumonia. It is theorised that that particular flu strain was very effective at destroying the respiratory epithelium and preventing the self cleaning function of our airways I described above. This way, the affected individuals became very susceptible to bacterial infections. Although such pneumonia is now easily treated with antibiotics, these drugs were not available at that time. Penicillin was only discovered in 1928.

A side note on that guy (not covered my Mexico's National Health Care) that shook hands with D'uhbama and died of the flu:

Jose Isaac Cepeda, who has had fever, diarrhea and joint pains since Friday, said he was turned away from two hospitals — the first because he isn’t registered in the public health system, and the second “because they say they’re too busy.

Oh yeah, that's what WE want in America, PERFECT Health Plan to limit the number of people NEEDING health care....and this "pandemic" will probably just be another "crisis" for Obamessiah & Co. to exploit for their own nefarious plots and schemes...Perhaps, if you STILL want Obama's Health "Care" Plan implemented, you might take a gander at this opinion based on Obama Administrative statements by John Lott at FOX...

Mexican National Health Officials have now ordered all people in affected areas to get immunized against the flu. They will be administering shots of this wonder elixer in announced locations. The name of the flu shots: Tequila.