Before You Panic ... Ask Me

Modern America is driven by information coming at us from all directions. Sometimes we are dozing in front of the television and pay no attention (if we are lucky). Other times we are awake and get excited. Sometimes there is need to get excited but many times we should pay no attention.

A good example is the Swine Flu Pandemic if 2009/10. Right there you see a prime example of the, “We Have Got to Get Their Attention 24/7 News Cycle”. It could have been called the Swine Flu Outbreak but they (“they” is the same as “them”) wanted this one to be a Pandemic.

I have done my research on this bit of Foolishness...Or Is It? and I know you appreciate my efforts on your behalf...

This is a quote from an story dated September 1, 2009...

“A White House report from an expert panel suggests that from 30 percent to half the population could catch swine flu during the course of this pandemic and that from 30,000 to 90,000 could die.”

Allow me to show the results of my analysis of the above attention grabbing statistics filled quote about how many of us could have caught the Swine Flu...

• 30% of the U.S. population would mean that 93,000,000 of us could have caught the Swine Flu.
• 50% of the U.S. population would mean that 156,000,000 of us could have caught the Swine Flu.
• Using information I have gathered from the Internet I have found that there were actually 113,690 cases of Swine Flu reported in the U.S. and to get to that number Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, U.S. Virgin Islands and Northern Mariana Islands were included.

Allow me to also show the results of my analysis of the above attention grabbing statistics about deaths...

• The number predicted that could die of the Swine Flu was 30,000 to 90,000.
• That actual number, again including Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, U.S. Virgin Islands and Northern Mariana Islands, that did die was 3,433.

We have often heard it said, “That’s good enough for government work”. I’m sure glad that the government does not work in the world of sports. If it did we might hear something said like, “Babe Ruth hit 3,712 home runs in 1927” (for those of you who don’t know sports, the actual number was 60).

Next time we have a pandemic on the way, contact me and I will tell you what to do to protect yourself. I could have saved us all a lot of consternation if only I had been asked. The picture below is what I would have advised about

How to Prevent Swine Flu...

Would I kid u?