OK, I'm stealing this

... from Caminante.

Some perspective
From a thread on Facebook:

Deaths from Swine Flu = 200
Deaths from Malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa = 41 million

and

A mere $10 can provide insecticide-treated nets to protect people. Episcopal Relief and Development has raised nearly $3M for distribution of nets through NetsforLife in Sub-Saharan Africa.

I believe H1N1 is serious. I also believe we are being hysterical about it.

Here is more information for perspective:

Regular flu in the United States kills about 30,000 people in an average year. 90% of those are people 65 and older who are already not in the best of health. There have been 820-987 deaths each week from the regular flu in the 122 cities that are in the center for disease control tracking system. In the USA there are about 2.5 million deaths in a year.

[Emphasis mine]
[source]

That is an average of 82 deaths a day in the United States. From regular flu.

Again, I'm not saying H1N1 is not dangerous with huge potential for infection and death. I believe it is all of those. We should take precautions, be prudent, have all manner of emergency plans in place. But for heaven's sake, people, let's get a grip. (No, not the grippe.)

-the BB

Speaking of shocking news

Not only gambling at Rick's but now this:

The Bush administration on Friday urged a federal appeals court to stop meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease, but a skeptical judge questioned whether the government has that authority. The government seeks to reverse a lower court ruling that allowed Kansas-based Creekstone Farms Premium Beef to conduct more comprehensive testing to satisfy demand from overseas customers in Japan and elsewhere.

After all, we wouldn't want to catch all that mad cow disease. It might cut down on people who vote Republican.

Yes, a totally tasteless joke vis-à-vis those who suffer the horrendous consequences of this debilitating disease. A disease, near as I have learned, that resulted when we started feeding animal byproducts to vegetarian animals. It's not nice to fool Mother Nature.

Or, as a bumper sticker I saw in Berkeley a few years back puts it:
Nature bats last!

But the Bushies have yet to consider the long-term consequences of their actions.

h/t to John Amato at Crooks and Liars

--the BB