Once again...and forgive me because I hate to be a doom and gloom party pooper but unbeknownst to most people there is something called logistics.

You get off of work at 5PM have to pick up the kids at Daycare at 5:30PM, stop by the grocers on the way home to fix a meal to be prepared and on the table by no later than 6:30PM so you can get little Suzie to Soccer Practice by 7:15PM.

Multimply those 2.25 hours into 24, then multiply it by 7, then multiply it by 365 and then multiply it by 600 million and you could run the government.

FEMA gearing up for a possible emergency? Oh no...we all know we prefer it when they show up a few days later like in Hurrican Katrina...

Hospitals gearing up for a possible mass medical emergency...oh no...we all would much rather be told to come back after setting an appointment for a week from now because they don't have the supplies on hand to test or treat people for this or that at the moment.

Meanwhile none of us who didn't create our accounts yesterday with a grand total of 152 ATS points personally know of anyone who died or has a confirmed case of this flu at this moment beyond those relatively small numbers being reported every 5 minutes by the media.

Schools closing as a precautionary measure...yes it hurts single and dual working parents who might not have childcare alternatives who might have to miss a few days work off the clock unpaid to watch their kids. They are your kids! You had them...surprise surprise you got them.

Though many of you stressed out waiting for the big one for months and in some cases years might be as anxious as the longterm criminal finally happy to be caught who promptly falls asleep in his interogation chair now that all the stress is off of him that he is caught...none of this as of yet...adds up to anything more than basic common sense precautionary and logistical planning to deal with a potential crisis.

CNN, FOX, MSNBC and the like are going to drag out an endless parade of molecular biologists, doctors, historians, editorialists, assorted researchers, and government officials to keep you tuned in for sheer ratings alone that always equate to advertising dollars.

Yes the mainstream media is a political tool of the establishment but it is first and foremost a for profit business and business from what advertising slots can sell for increase right along with ratings.

"Relax would you Sidney, have a sandwich, go down to the Casino, get laid or do some bleep thing, your going to give yourself an ulcer" The movie -Midnight Run -

Time tells all...that and gypsy fortune tellers from the boardwalk at Atlantic City!

Decreasing economic activity to indulge these by and large baseless fears is going to have a horrendous effect on the fragile economy far beyond what most of you are considering or imagining.

I appeal once again to everyone to remain calm, remain rational, report only what is real, and utilize some common sense in how you editorialize it, understanding as you do that our governments do have a real duty which we pay for in taxes to logistically prepare for all eventualities when an ellement of risk and uncertainty exists regarding our health, safety and welfare...lets not kill ourselves or our fragile economy with needless, purely speculative, and likely very counterproductive, over inflated worry.

Please people, pretty please?????

Thanks



[edit on 3/5/09 by ProtoplasmicTraveler]

I live in Southern NH (USA) and to date we have had no confirmed cases of the Flu. I believe there is one confirmed case about an hour north of here and two other suspected cases further. Two of the confirmed cases in MASS are about 30 minutes to our south.

So, thus far, we have been spared.

If you read my past posts, you will see that I am somewhat of a skeptic. I've been called a "disinfo agent," on more than one occasion. That said, something happened this morning that I found a bit startling.

During Mass this morning, our Pastor announced that for the time being, the following changes were going to take place per order of the NH Diocese (based on directives from state Health officials):

- During the Our Father prayer, the practice of joining hands is to be discontinued (it is a long standing tradition in our parish to join hands with the person next to you during this prayer).

- There would be longer be a "sign of peace," offered to one another. This is a point in the Mass when we generally shake hands with everyone around us while wishing them, "Peace."

- There would no longer be an offering of wine during confirmation.


Now these may seem trivial but if you knew our Pastor and his belief that Mass be a Communally shared experience, not to mention his willingness to ignore diocesean directives on matters of ceremony, you know how unusual this was.

Again, maybe all of this uncertainty has sharpened my awareness of what is going on around me but I can tell you that other long time parishoners had the same reaction as I.

The reports we are getting do not seem to match up with actions being taken around us...that is very unsettling.

In an effort to get "inside" info I emailed my sister who is an RN at a large urban hospital in eastern PA and she wrote back saying there are no confirmed cases in her hospital and the staff were just re-instructed about the protocol for epidemics. She said the hospital admin. is MORE concerned with the staff interacting with the media in the event they have a confirmed case !! So negative publicity is their REAL concern.

So there you have it.

[edit on 3-5-2009 by venividivici]

I have a .PDF of the updates from Thompson Reuters (MICROMEDEX) I can upload if anyone wants to look it over. No real info, but there are quite a few links I have not seen on this site about the whole thing.