I was welcomed to Monday morning by a daily newspaper featuring three articles about the latest fashion in communicable diseases: the Swine Flu. Generally, this particular daily newspaper doesn't feature more than one article on a particular subject, so this must be a really big deal.
As I began reading through the articles, whose fear-inducing titles proudly proclaimed that the "Swine Flu's Course [is] Unpredictable" and letting us all know that "Fear Over Swine Flu Grows" throughout the world. Apparently, we should all be really, really scared.
For some reason, be it my natural aversion to all that is trendy or maybe just my common sense, as I read through these articles, I began a silent protest against any type of irrational fear of this "epidemic"--which, I must point out, isn't even guarenteed to become an epidemic quite yet. This point is really the heart of my protest. While I certainly feel for those who have been afflicted by this sickness and their families, and I carry some amount of healty fear of it, as I do any other serious sickness, I don't see what the point is of freaking out about this, especially if we don't even know if it will become our next plague yet. And even if it does become so, what can I do about it? How can I stop a plague from infecting millions of people--myself having the potential of infection as well? And why should I spend my time worrying about it? In my opinion, worry leads to stress, which makes people much more suceptable to infection.
Additionally, I am refusing to allow the media to control me by scaring the crap out of me. I highly suspect the media's motive to be to get everyone hanging off of their every words, fighting each other to get to the newspaper stands first to see just how safe or unsafe they may be. People need to make sure that the 'epidemic' is close enough to them that they can feel rightfully frightened but far away enough that they have dramatic tales to read about families being quarantined in Mexico. And the media is more than happy to give them just that for the right amount. I refuse to buy into it.
And then comes the irony, forever present if you keep your eyes open. Sitting right beside the major article about the swine flu is a much smaller article about a group of doctors stating that men over 50 do not necessarily need to screen for prostate cancer. The kicker?? Within the article, a figure is quoted that 28,000 men were killed last year by prostate cancer. Why are we advising against screening for a deadly disease that killed 28,000 people in one year while simultaneously spreading word that the Black Plague, Part Deux is on its way without even knowing how much of a 'pandemic' the recent outbreak of swine flu will even be?
This is my protest, and I'm sticking to it! Until, as irony would have it, I contract swine flu and proceed to stick my foot in my mouth, where it probably belongs anyway.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Oh, The Irony
As our nation's economy continues to....I won't use the word 'crumble' here...that is just too pessimistic of a word and I always prefer to err on the side of optimism. Besides, stating that our economy is crumbling would be somewhat of a stretch of the truth. So I will put it this way: As a portion of our nation's once successful industries continue to make declines in their prosperity (better than crumbling economy??) it's interesting to see how the international markets are doing, and why.
Having said that, I'd like to take a moment to reflect on the latest hot-spot for the auto industry, one of America's industries that we all know is sadly struggling in our current recession. Americans seem to have the idea that if American business is doing badly, then all the world's business must be following suit. And in many cases, this statement holds true However, there is one place on Earth where the auto industry is actually booming--and here's the kicker--not only despite America's policies, but also because of them!
With that, I'd like to propose GM, Ford and the rest of them consider a new headquarters where the auto industry is steadily doing better...Baghdad! According to the April 4 edition of The Washington Post's Express newspaper, "Business, not bombs, is booming at Baghdad car dealerships, as well-heeled Iraqis are indulging in a passion long out of reach--spiffy new cars...This may make Baghdad one of the few cities where the auto industry is doing relatively well."
OK so this is great, but where, exactly, does the bitter irony set in? Right about the following sentence in the article, which states, "With its limited banking system, Iraq has laregly avoided the global finanical meltdown. And unlike elsewhere in the world, gas prices--about $1.52 a gallon--aren't much of a deterrent to those Iraqis eager and able to catch up with teh good life behind the wheel."
Through years of economic sanctioning and warfare against Iraq, the United States, along with a portion of the rest of the 'developed' world has actually created a country that the global financial meltdown may just bypass, or at least jsut not hit as hard. Of course, this is only one small advantage of the carnage amassed on this country over the past few....decades. And a very expensive one, as well. I would imagine (and the article supports) that there is only a very small percentage of Iraqis who can afford luxury cars and the gas needed to power them. But it will be very interesting to see what other, more affordable 'glitches' in the global financial breakdown will turn up, both in Iraq and the rest of the 'under-developed' world.
Having said that, I'd like to take a moment to reflect on the latest hot-spot for the auto industry, one of America's industries that we all know is sadly struggling in our current recession. Americans seem to have the idea that if American business is doing badly, then all the world's business must be following suit. And in many cases, this statement holds true However, there is one place on Earth where the auto industry is actually booming--and here's the kicker--not only despite America's policies, but also because of them!
With that, I'd like to propose GM, Ford and the rest of them consider a new headquarters where the auto industry is steadily doing better...Baghdad! According to the April 4 edition of The Washington Post's Express newspaper, "Business, not bombs, is booming at Baghdad car dealerships, as well-heeled Iraqis are indulging in a passion long out of reach--spiffy new cars...This may make Baghdad one of the few cities where the auto industry is doing relatively well."
OK so this is great, but where, exactly, does the bitter irony set in? Right about the following sentence in the article, which states, "With its limited banking system, Iraq has laregly avoided the global finanical meltdown. And unlike elsewhere in the world, gas prices--about $1.52 a gallon--aren't much of a deterrent to those Iraqis eager and able to catch up with teh good life behind the wheel."
Through years of economic sanctioning and warfare against Iraq, the United States, along with a portion of the rest of the 'developed' world has actually created a country that the global financial meltdown may just bypass, or at least jsut not hit as hard. Of course, this is only one small advantage of the carnage amassed on this country over the past few....decades. And a very expensive one, as well. I would imagine (and the article supports) that there is only a very small percentage of Iraqis who can afford luxury cars and the gas needed to power them. But it will be very interesting to see what other, more affordable 'glitches' in the global financial breakdown will turn up, both in Iraq and the rest of the 'under-developed' world.
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