Well, I'm still waiting. Are you? Know anyone who has swine flu? Know anyone who has died of it? No? Chances are you never will.
A week ago I offered that swine flu was just the latest in a long line of media hysteria exercises designed to boost ratings and advertising revenue and nothing more. It was, indeed, the media that started using the word pandemic, that never came from any credible medical establishment, and still hasn't as a likelihood. Nor will it, I will continue to wager.
Oh sure, the media are still running around finding medical individuals who can be led into speculating about the possibilities of unspeakable things that could possibly happen, in fact, an unnamed United States health official has told MSNBC that a pandemic could still be expected, but I've seen nothing to back that up anywhere. In fact, MSNBC also reported that the World Health Organization has stopped short of saying there will be a pandemic as the numbers to date simply don't point in that direction.
As of May 7th there have been 35 hospitalizations and 2 deaths in the U.S. Worldwide there have only been 7 deaths recorded by WHO, as opposed to the 150 being claimed by other sources. The Center for Disease Control is saying that the WHO may well raise their warning level to 6, which is the highest, and the press has had a field day with that, but what they don't tell you is that the warning level gauges how fast the flu is spreading, not how bad it's likely to be.
Let's recall here that the word pandemic, in the past at least, has only been applied in cases of a million deaths or more worldwide. There have been 7 worldwide as of May 7th. That's it. 7. And still the media continues to flog this thing, this dead horse, if you will. Last night the six o'clock news warned that we should not become complacent, because even though the flu hasn't taken off yet, it still could! Just you wait!
Yeah, right, as we like to say in New Zealand. Most people know it simply isn't going to happen. Already health authorities are saying a vaccine will be available shortly.
The press is now keeping it on the down low that this flu hits the young and strong predominantly. Hard to build a case that millions could die when it's our fittest members of society catching this thing, and recovering from it quite quickly by all accounts.
And why is the press flogging this thing so hard and refusing to let go? Anyone notice that the economic recovery seems to be under way already? Yes, there are definitely reports that it's happening. Yes, there are still layoffs happening, and other bad news, but if you take a peek at the business pages of your local paper you'll find that there is finally light at the end of the tunnel. In other words, the economic crisis, as severe as it's been in the short term, and eight months is short term in the world of economics, it's not going to be anywhere near as bad as the media led us to believe at the end of the year and the beginning of this one.
I'll say it one more time. The media can no longer be trusted. There was a time when they could, and I can't really say when the worm turned, but the media is dirty. Don't believe everything you hear. Don't even believe half of it. It's all about money. It used to be about truth, but that's gone, folks. Bet on it.
