Don't believe the hype, muhahahaha.

Title inspired by Public Enemy.

Arg! I am constantly feeling insulted by the media anymore. This whole swine flu thing is driving me nuts. After a bit of research, it turns out that the swine flu is not as potent as the annual human flu. In fact, I read that an average of about 36,000 people die each year from the usual human flu and that they don't expect the swine flu to be nearly that bad.

I also happened to go to the doctor yesterday for a check up and asked him a few things too. He was saying that the typical over the couter masks would not be able to stop a virus, even if it is a form fitting one, although usually the masks are not that tight. They might help a bit from just avoiding someone's sneezing spray (by the way, you should cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze whether there is a "potential" pandemic or not, as shown below):



but unless you buy a $50-$70 special anti-viral mask, you're still pretty susceptible.

But my friend was looking for masks the evening before since he was going to Mexico, and every store in my area was sold out. And if the regular flu season is worse, why don't we hear all these warnings and see people donning masks for the annual human flu outbreak? Sigh. I really hate the media sometimes. And what makes matters worse is that apparently they are going to stop calling it "swine" flu because the WHO and CDC are getting the impression that by calling it swine flu people are thinking that you get it by doing this:


It's amazing that in such a supposedly educated world, people have such blind faith in the media.

I think the band Biohazard said it best:

"Believe half of what you read, and half of what you see,
put two and two together and you'll have reality."
-"Black and White and Red All Over"

P.S. No, I'm not a conspiracy theorist. I just see that the media has a great business model. The more they fear monger, the more you'll have to need them to get the latest "news" to keep you posted on the newest threat. So, the more you watch, the more they can get from adverstising, and so on. News, is no longer journalism, it's just a business, and they'll do whatever it takes to get you to tune in.)

RS