Talk about yer knee-jerk reactions!
 

The state governing body of all public school competition in Texas, the University Interscholastic League(UIL), has decided to suspend all inter-school competition until at least May 11 because of the pig flu scare! I was scheduled to work a playoff series between two of the top ten ranked 4A schools this weekend. Talk about your buzzkills!

This hysteria is quite idiotic.

I keep hearing that the medical experts saying that this flu is really no more dangerous than the regular strains, yet the media keeps hyping the crap out of it. Texas has canceled all high school sports, AZ has shut down an entire school for 7 days after a single student tested positive for it 2 weeks ago and they were saying on the radio yesterday that some countries were pulling pork products off the shelf because of the swine flu scare.

Arent they slaughtering like 350K pigs in Egypt?

This does seem to be a fairly mild strain of flu. The difference with the swine flu is:

1) We have no vaccine (which is normal for the initial outbreak of a new strain, so see #2)
2) The initial outbreak was in North America instead of the usual Asia, which means
a) American media is going nuts about it, as is their normal practice with anything they can make into a crisis, real or imagined,
b) The WHO and CDC are more concerned than they are about the usual Asia initial outbreaks due to the much higher global mobility of North Americans that your typical rural Asian.

So far, we have suffered through a devastating first week or so here in the USA and have see a total of 0.00003% of the normal annual deaths from the normal flu outbreak in the USA, and the normal death rate happens when we have vaccines available...

The flu vaccine is another big joke. They have no idea what strain of flu will hit for that year, so they just make a big guess and produce a vaccine for what they think will hit. If they guess wrong all those flu shots they gave have absolutely no effect.

My DD's high school is closed today because about a score of students (of four-score who just came back from a band trip to WDW) are now showing flu-like symptoms and a few of these have had a postive test for some influenza. They are supposedly disinfecting the whole school, while awaiting a response from SC DHEC as to whether it was swine flu or not.

This has, so far, had the side effect of delaying the first play off game for softball by one day, until tomorrow, because you can't have any activities if the school is closed.

So, Texas is not alone.

WhatWhats the big deal with the flu?
 

I kinda like the flu. You take a few days off work, lose a few pounds, clean out the system a bit. What's not to like?

South America (particularly Argentina) is going absolutely ape-spit over this swine flu (gripe de porcina). It's amazing just how much they cover the goings-on in America down here. My wife's sister suggested we get some of those surgical masks. Are you kidding me?

But hey, what can you do? Wife and I are scheduled to fly from Buenos Aires to JFK and back down to RDU on Saturday, arriving Sunday. Hopefully, things won't be too insane by the time we get there...

Dave,

Que diablos hace en Buenos Aires?

Personaaly I fear that they are being overly dramatic with canceling events here in New York and other effected areas. Until there is evidence of mass people with this strain normal precautions(hand washing,covering your mouth when coughing)should be adequate.

Alabama has cancelled as well, but is shooting for a May 5th restart.

We have the first confirmed case in Georgia in my city (LaGrange) but are still living life as best as we can. Only difference I've seen is all the news trucks from Atlanta parked around the hospital!

I think you'll be all right as long as you keep your tongue out of the pigs nose.. which its no wonder they are cancelling games in Alabama and Texas

:eek: :D

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/7981/swine.png

First Question:
 

qui bono?

I guess for their own! I am really not sure. Maybe to feed the paranoia! :rolleyes:

The press needs something at this time to feed the public frenzy. They don't have a President who misspeaks and sounds like an idiot to pick on anymore. :D

You have a point!

Coulda left off the "knee" part...

Well, there was that fly-by of AF1 and a fighter jet by the Statue of Liberty.

If I was in NYC then, I probably would have been freaking out, too.

Some things are over-reported but that was one thing that should have been much more publicized.

They can't do that... gotta keep the man hidden behind the curtain for as long as possible.

Since only two schools have closed in SC so far because of this, and the other schools are continuing to play... there is even talk of them having to forfeit playoff games because they can't play when the school is closed.

That's just downright stupid. The kids' health concerns are no more important than a freaking sports contest??? :mad: Some state associations need more frequent proctologist appointments to find their heads.

Well, I guess he was hidden, then. The Prez wasn't on the plane, although technically if he's not on it, it's not considered "Air Force 1".

Just flew in today from Buenos Aires to JFK (and BOY, are my arms tired!). Saw a bunch of knuckleheads running around with those flimsy little masks that wouldn't stop a fly, much less a pesky, little, microbial virus. Hell, half of those nitwits either had their masks on so infrequently or so loosely, they would've served no purpose at all.

Gotta love J.Q. Public.

And the "Q" stands for "Quite Obviously a Dumb@$$."

There are two ways to look at this situation:

1) The government does too little (in the opinion of some people), a pandemic breaks out, and people complain that the government did not do enough to prevent the pandemic; think Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans).

2) The government over-reacts (in the opinion of some people) and a pandemic does not break out.

When situations like the H1N1 flu presents itself, it is difficult to chart the perfect course. We as sports officials are taught to always error on the side of safety when it pertains to the participants. And over-reacting in response to a possible health crisis is no different when we, as sports officials err on the side of cautioin with regard to the safety of the participants.

MTD, Sr.

In our case, fewer than 20 students had flu symptoms. They had not been to Mexico. Two of them did have a positive test for "some flu." I remember very few school closings from the outbreaks of flu every winter that kill thousands.

Anyway, the full tests came back late Friday, no Swine Flu. Game played Saturday night. School open today.

OTOH, in a county 80 miles away, 15 people actually DO have confirmed cases of Swine Flu (most of them had been to Mexico, and the others by contact with them). They're shutting down contests for all the schools in the county.

News flash:

The UIL rescinded its ban on inter-school competition. (Apparently their pig flu fears have subsided.) As of yesterday, the state's softball and baseball playoffs were allowed to resume.

The primary responsibility of the federal government is NOT to protect us from all risks of living on this planet.

The "blame the feds" game was shamefully played during the aftermath of Katrina, leaving the true culprit here, and the ones who actually DID have the responsibility of protecting the citizens, to get away scot-free. Did FEMA share some blame? Sure, but that goof-ball mayor was 10X more responsible. Yet, he was re-elected.

Actually, it was more the governor. Yes, Nagin can be an oaf at times and definitely puts his foot in his mouth, but he was re-elected because his opposition was the Lt. Governor backed by the governor and a lot of old LA money.

Some believe the governor intentionally withheld support to embarass Nagin to aid her Lt Gov win the office. According to Spike Lee's documentary when Bush visited NOLA, he spoke to the governor first and then Nagin. Supposedly, the governor told the president there was no need for Federal aid. (Say what?) When talking to Nagin, the president told him in spite of the governor's comment, NOLA would get the aid necessary.

Definitely an objective, trustworthy source right there. :rolleyes:

I stand by my original statement. It does not have anything to with the federal government protecting us for all possible risks, but U.S. government has the means to analyze situations such as the H1N1 virus and can and should take appropriate measures to protect the health and welfare of the citizens for our country.

MTD, Sr.

Yeah, no surprise there.

Actually, the fact that it was Spike Lee and the slanted negative angle just gives the comments that much more credence.

There are some who believe that this was actually a test run of our response systems. The H1N1 virus is proving itself to be less deadly than the average flu.

Since the swine flu hasn't been the lead story on CNN for a few days, it must be over:rolleyes::rolleyes:

Well get ready for more fear mongering...I heard on the local news this morning that "scientists" somewhere are concerned that the H1N1 could combine with the Avian flu to "become both highly contagious AND deadly [original emphasis]". Oh boy. :rolleyes:

Wow... I wasn't aware that viruses had sex...

Oh indeed they can, though I hear there is a ballot initiative to make it illegal in California.

And the Iowa Supreme Court will have to amend their ruling to allow it. :D

Pigs are finally gonna fly!

They better hope their wings will be big and strong enough to let them fly. :D