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WarOtter
April 30, 2009 12:38 PM
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That picture is definitely FTW. Been a long time since I actually LOLed

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PersonalBest
April 30, 2009 12:46 PM
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What makes the photo especially gag-worthy is that maybe the little kid didn't know any better, but the adult taking the photo happily snapped away.

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6 replies
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orlo
April 30, 2009 6:46 PM
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@PersonalBest: This kid is probably one of less than 100000 worldwide who built up immunity by licking a pig's snout in the last few years. The parents should be proud that their child will be one of the few left to rebuild our civilization.

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humphrmi
April 30, 2009 2:23 PM
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@PersonalBest: Except for the current swine flu (correction: 2009 H1N1 Flu) issue, pigs are extrememly clean and a kid licking a pig would be more likely to infect the pig than the kid. So assuming the pic was snapped before H1N1, the parents were probably not being stupid.

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nakedscience
April 30, 2009 3:24 PM
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@humphrmi: Well, since pigs don't carry H1N1, then the parents were not being stupid at all.

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satindevil
April 30, 2009 4:41 PM
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@nakedscience: I wouldn't be as worried about the kid getting swine flu as I would about him getting something like this.

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nakedscience
April 30, 2009 4:47 PM
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@satindevil: And your kid is more likely to lick the bottom of your shoe, after tou stepped in dog poop and get sick.

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nakedscience
April 30, 2009 4:48 PM
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@Shadowman615: Uh. Yeah. I am.


All you did was read the wiki article title (lol, wiki as a source) and see \"Swine flu\" and assume it was the same thing. Without actually reading the rest.


e 2009 flu outbreak in humans that is widely known as \"swine flu\" technically is not swine flu. It is due to a new strain of influenza A virus subtype H1N1 that derives from one strain of human influenza, one strain of avian influenza, and two separate strains of swine influenza.


So um. Yeah.

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Shadowman615
April 30, 2009 6:49 PM
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@nakedscience: I also read the part where it said:
In swine, three influenza A virus subtypes (H1N1, H3N2, and H1N2) are circulating throughout the world.

You said \"pigs don't carry H1N1.\" I'm saying that's false -- a separate issue from your quote.

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nakedscience
April 30, 2009 2:04 PM
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@PersonalBest: LMAO. I'm sorry, but kids get into far worse.

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Rectilinear Propagation
April 30, 2009 12:54 PM
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@PersonalBest: I'm hoping the adult didn't realize the kid was going to lick the pig until it was too late.

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PersonalBest
April 30, 2009 1:02 PM
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@Rectilinear Propagation: You, sir, are more of an optimist than I.

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WiglyWorm must cease and decist
April 30, 2009 1:38 PM
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@PersonalBest: Do any of you actually have kids?

Nothing will desensitize you to a little bit of mud and pig snot quicker than having a kid. They get in to everything and you quickly just become glad they're not doing anything potentially fatal.

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TechnoDestructo
April 30, 2009 8:40 PM
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@WiglyWorm:

That kid's immune system is a fortress with walls 100 feet high and 30 feet thick, bristling with guard towers full of sharpshooters, with searchlights constantly playing about the periphery.

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rioja951 - Why, oh why must I be assigned to the vehicle maintenance when my specialty is demolitions?
April 30, 2009 5:26 PM
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@WiglyWorm: Potentially fatal?
I will be the first to admit that I don't put to much on god or religion, but my little nephew and nieces have validated a saying by dear old grandma.

God will always protect the insane, the child and the terminally stupid from themselves.

I now believe in that as true as all of the rules made by Mr. Murphy.

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PersonalBest
April 30, 2009 2:09 PM
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@WiglyWorm: @nakedscience: No, no kids. But I'm looking forward to seeing what could be far worse than this. And as always, invite graphic stories to prove me wrong.

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the_wiggle
May 1, 2009 3:52 AM
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@PersonalBest: reaching into their diaper to poo paint the walls. kid i baby sat once, woke up early from nap & was quietly painting away.

quiet - the warning sign that a kid is up to something you likely don't want to know about. . . .

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nakedscience
April 30, 2009 3:25 PM
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@PersonalBest: \"far worse than this\" ... hyperbole much? Pigs aren't dirty animals. That's a myth.

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WiglyWorm must cease and decist
April 30, 2009 3:22 PM
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@PersonalBest: My daughter is only 1, so she hasn't gotten in to too much. Licking shoes and eating leaves/loose dog fur, giving open mouth kisses to the dogs. I do stop her from licking my shoes because I work at a hospital. Anyone elses shoes (or my non dress shoes), whatever (the wife doesn't like it because she's OCD with a fear of spiders and is worried that someone may have stepped on a spider and then our daughter might lick it).

The worst she's done so far is, during a dirty diaper change stick her hand \"down there\" and immediately try to put it in her mouth... I did definitely stop her from doing that. Mostly because I didn't want to clean up vomit (hers and mine) moreso than any concern for her health.

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Vanilla5
April 30, 2009 2:39 PM
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@PersonalBest: Hm, let's see:

My brother (now 27) drank lighter fluid when he was 2. Dad was busy with an arm full or burgers going on the grill.

I touched my tongue to a plugged-up power cord (y'know - kind that plugs into the wall and then into the radio).

My cousin ate a cockroach.

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Nicole Glynn
April 30, 2009 6:31 PM
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@Vanilla5: My cousin ate a gypsy moth caterpillar. He was 21.

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CaptZ
April 30, 2009 12:56 PM
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Parents....stupid stupid parents.


They more than likely told the child to kiss the pig for the sake of a good picture.

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DoubleBaconVeggieBurger
April 30, 2009 1:01 PM
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I have the perfect picture of my dog and my friend's kid if there's an outbreak of Chihuahua flu.

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dorianh49
April 30, 2009 3:55 PM
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@Ayarkay: Or just if they rename it from Swine Flu to Mexico Flu.

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bishophicks
April 30, 2009 1:13 PM
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That picture is awesome.


I don't see a problem with a company selling something by honestly pointing out that their product can help a business keep running normally if there is a flu outbreak and people need to work from home and avoid gathering in groups. There may be a very real need for this kind of thing and they are pointing that out. They may be pointing it out a little early, but they're not being dishonest.


They're not creating a need that didn't exist before and then filling it. For example selling people on the idea that their houses need to be germ free and selling them a ridiculous number of expensive cleaning agents.


They're not selling them something that doesn't work.


They're not exaggerating the benefits/drawbacks of using/not using their product - they're not saying that using the product will keep their employees safe from the flu or that not using it will kill them.


They're also not making up words (my advertising pet peeve), like claiming a new skin cream has \"smoothening agents\" or that a snack has \"crunchability.\"

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veg-o-matic
April 30, 2009 1:26 PM
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@bishophicks:

\"There has been alot of concern over the global disaster inflicted by the swine flu.\"

I'd call that some exaggeration.

And the fact that they sent out that email strongly implies that \"using the product will keep people safe from the flu.\"

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bohemian
April 30, 2009 1:23 PM
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@bishophicks: Or new special yogurt cultures. Now with bifiduspoopsalotis!

Companies should have been more proactive about telecommuting options, even if just for a fall back plan for situations like this. It was pointed out on the morning news that a bigger problem was schools closing and parents not having anywhere to keep kids during work hours leading to lost productivity and lost income. Schools could have planned better by having more online classroom options set up so kids can do at least some of their work from home.

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Rectilinear Propagation
April 30, 2009 1:42 PM
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@bohemian: The schools back in my hometown can't afford it. That county is so broke it's not even funny. The schools were overcrowded the entire time I was in grade school and they still are.

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pecan 3.14159265
April 30, 2009 1:25 PM
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Words cannot express how much I dislike pigs. I love bacon, but I just don't think piglets are cute, and their grown counterparts aren't either.

That said... you in the black jacket and blue shirt I spotted on the Metro stuffing your used and nasty snot tissues into the back of the seat, I saw you. You better hope you don't have the swine flu. If you do, there will be a manhunt.

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Trai_Dep
April 30, 2009 3:34 PM
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@pecan 3.14159265: So you're that kid in second-grade class who quietly muttered, \"Fail Charlotte, FAIL!\" :P

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pecan 3.14159265
April 30, 2009 7:35 PM
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@Trai_Dep: I hate spiders too. So it's very possible I was that kid.

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snowburnt
April 30, 2009 1:50 PM
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Mexico @pecan 3.14159265: The average pig is as smart as a 3 year old child. They are also very clean animals, but can't sweat which is why they roll around in the mud, to keep cool. They only \"wallow in their own waste\" because they're forced to by their handlers, given the space they wouldn't.

They are horribly mistreated by pork producers, being kept in cages where they can't move, are constantly prodded and beaten.

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marsneedsrabbits
May 1, 2009 4:41 PM
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@snowburnt:

In all fairness, though, they are delicious.

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WOPDingo
April 30, 2009 2:11 PM
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@snowburnt: That is NOT true. I've raised pigs. Yes, I was a 4-H'er during my formative years. Despite HUGE pens (roughly 40' x 40') for two pigs, they still shat in their food trough, pissed where they slept, and would eat ANYTHING that somehow made its way into the pen. Yeah, a three-year-old might stick random off-the-floor objects in his/her mouth, but I can't let you claim pigs are either clean OR as smart as young children.

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the_wiggle
May 1, 2009 3:55 AM
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@WOPDingo: sounds like they're about as smart & clean as the average society. . . .

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veg-o-matic
April 30, 2009 1:56 PM
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@snowburnt: Yeah, it's the whole being kept in cages for ever and ever around their own filth that causes things like H1N1 to blow up in the first place.

And now, in deference to the pork producers, my pathetic home state has stopped referring to H1N1 as Swine Flu.
[www.newsnetnebraska.org]

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pecan 3.14159265
April 30, 2009 1:53 PM
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@snowburnt: Thanks for the documentary lesson! It's not the dirtiness that bothers me...I just don't think they're cute, adorable creatures. I think it's the snouts...and that they're not fuzzy.

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Wants A CU Labcoat_GitEmSteveDave
April 30, 2009 1:45 PM
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@pecan 3.14159265: What about that terrific Wilbur(and I mean the book version, not the one from the movie with ::shudders:: Dakota Fanning)?

Or Babe?

Pecan-ewe
Pecan-ewe
To your followers be true
Pecan-ewe!

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pecan 3.14159265
April 30, 2009 1:52 PM
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@Wants A CU Labcoat_GitEmSteveDave: I actually liked Charlotte's Web, but that was because it was a book and I didn't have to see a pig talk. And I read it when I was kid, before the aversion to pigs began.

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Tightlines
April 30, 2009 1:47 PM
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You know how else you can avoid swince flu? Never leave your house. Don't talk to anyone. Keep your lights off, do not answer the doorbell or the telephone. Shower at least ten times a day. Wear a surgical mask at all times. Wear rubber gloves. Don't touch anything, even with the rubber gloves. If you have a family, kill them all, then burn the bodies in the furnace, if you're lucky enough to have one. Otherwise, bury them in the backyard, but only after donning a radiation suit and a gas-mask to avoid exposure. Then come back inside and bathe yourself in a mixture of bleach and Comet. After some time has passed, venture back out into the world and seek one of the last uninfected humans to procreate with, thus guaranteeing the survival of the species.

You shall prevail.

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Rectilinear Propagation
April 30, 2009 2:03 PM
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Wear a surgical mask at all times.

@Tightlines: That doesn't actually help much if you're trying not to catch it. If you're trying not to spread disease have at it but it's a waste if you're healthy.

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nybiker
April 30, 2009 2:25 PM
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@Rectilinear Propagation: Out of all Tightlines' suggestions, you comment on the non-funny one. Granted, though, you are correct.

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chrisjames
April 30, 2009 1:53 PM
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That's it! I'm moving to Solaria.

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TheGuinnessTooth
April 30, 2009 1:54 PM
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That kid really loves bacon.

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carolynkline
April 30, 2009 1:57 PM
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I LOL'ed quite hard at that pic.

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Etoiles
April 30, 2009 2:09 PM
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My company actually does have a satellite office in Mexico City, so they had to send out a company-wide e-mail clamping down on travel and encouraging us all to use our digital alternatives.

Then again, I think the Mexico City office has about six people in it (the largest of several US offices has about 1200) so I doubt many folks were on their way there anyway.

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FuryOfFirestorm
April 30, 2009 2:26 PM
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So...is this a bad time to market my line of condoms made from bacon?

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Segador
April 30, 2009 2:27 PM
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That picture is amazing.

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nybiker
April 30, 2009 2:27 PM
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I am waiting for the telepresence companies to start promoting their products as well. If I have to mention any names, then you aren't watching enough tv shows where they have taken product placement to a new high.

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John
April 30, 2009 2:30 PM
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Nice fear mongering in the statement. Using \"disaster\" boarders on irresponsible.

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econobiker
April 30, 2009 2:33 PM
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Maybe companies will realize that they can save money too...

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Rachacha
April 30, 2009 2:39 PM
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The key thing to remember is that this E-mail was sent to their SUBSCRIBERS, people who have already shown interest in the product. The other thing to remember is that Mikogo is free, so they are not really selling anything, they are simply using the flu outbreak to try to gain exposure in a legitamate way.

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tbonekatz
April 30, 2009 2:43 PM
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This photo was being sent around at my job several days ago. I have kids, and I know they do nasty stuff, but eeewwww!
Also, my company has worldwide business units and is encouraging interweb conferencing.
Some of the school districts nearby have closed til at least May 11. And they're encouraging parents not to take their kids to daycare centers. My kids are grown, but I feel for the people who have young kids that need supervision but cannot afford to take time off from work.

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OneTrickPony
April 30, 2009 2:44 PM
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I thought you were supposed to put the lipstick on the pig first...

But seriously, I don't find it distasteful for the company to promote its services in conjunction with the outbreak. Corporate teleconferencing is such a better alternative in terms of cutting corporate bloat and environmental friendliness.

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pecan 3.14159265
April 30, 2009 3:27 PM
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I bet the guys who invented bacon salt are seeing a slowdown.

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Trai_Dep
April 30, 2009 3:58 PM
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Geez, kid, show some initiative: slip her some tongue!
Oops, spoke too soon!

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Cattivella
April 30, 2009 5:52 PM
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Can someone please tell me why people are freaking out over this? Because I don't see it as anything more than media hype and over-reaction.

Roughly 35,000 people die in the U.S. every year from the regular flu. The U.S. currently has ONE swine flu death and that was an infant from Mexico who was already very sick by the time he/she got here. The deaths in Mexico, while tragic and unfortunate, are pretty low in number and easily attributed to their crap health care system.

So ... what am I missing? This is an honest question. I just don't see it.

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pecan 3.14159265
April 30, 2009 7:41 PM
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@Cattivella: It's also because the regular flu is predictable and treatable through vaccination. The swine flu strain the CDC is seeing is not. There is no vaccine developed for it. It is very treatable, but if it spreads so far, there will be people who have problems if they can't get access to health care.

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orlo
April 30, 2009 6:19 PM
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@Cattivella: There's little information available at this time about the lethality of the illness. If 5% of the infected die like in Mexico, and let's say 100million in the USA become infected, that's 5 million dead, which is significant. If the disease is treatable, it's still going to be an enormous hassle. Almost everyone gets the flu in the course of a year, so now they'll have to go to the hospital to make sure they don't drop dead.

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synergy
May 4, 2009 3:55 AM
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This is in poor taste.

On the other hand, something that promotes web conferencing so I don't have to leave my computer for a meeting for which I have no real input and where I'd have to HIDE my doodling... Well, I'm all for that! :-p

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