So much for the next pandemic…
From CNN, Swine flu no worse than regular flu:
The swine flu virus that has sparked fear and precautions worldwide appears to be no more dangerous than the regular flu virus that makes its rounds each year, U.S. officials said Monday.
And this after weeks of frenzied, apocalyptic, predictions. For instance, the World Health Organization (WHO) noted that the 1918 pandemic killed 40-50 million people and that a “likely” new pandemic would kill around a half-million people in industrial nations alone. Compound this with reports of school closures, pics of pedestrians in medical masks, and the VP admonishing us to avoid subways and planes, and you’ve got the makings of 
mass hysteria.
In addition, the Department of Homeland Security established an outline of how the FBI, BATF, and U.S. Marshals will impose mandatory quarantines in the event of a widespread swine flu outbreak in the U.S. Under executive order 13375, if citizens attempt to resist “involuntary isolation” they will be subject to a $250,000 fine and one year in jail. For more information about security services online, checkout www.securityinfo.com/home-security-systems for more details.
Ominous, aint it?
And then, the backpedaling. Flu epidemic wanes, says one. It’s not as severe as once feared, says another. And in a matter of days, the Top Story goes from Civilization Teeters on Brink of Extinction to How to Survive the Recession.
If anything, the recent swine flu scare is a reminder of how frighteningly influential the American media is. Despite the virus killing just one 23-month-old toddler in the U.S., the colossal fearmongering engaged in by western governments is just an inkling of what we can expect to see when the next outbreak occurs (something officials are already predicting will be later this year).
Don’t be mistaken, one day there will be a pandemic. But just how much of the hysteria will be fueled by an unchecked, sensationalistic press, is another story. Which leads me to ask, What’s more deadly, the American media or the swine flu?
The American Media hands down. This was absurd. Fear-mongering at its most ridiculous. Bizarre even.
There is an upside to not having TV and not getting newspapers and not going to news sites on the Internet. I still get in on the news via blogs, but I don't it nearly as much as most.
Speaking of dangerous media–Have you seen this?
They're prepping us for what's coming to be sure. LOL
I, the conspiracy theorist, think it has something to do with the economy. First the beef and mad cow, let's destroy the cattle. Then poultry and the bird flu, destroy the birds. Now pork, swine flu. Destroy the pigs. Awful fishy. (Ha!)
You are totally right. The media, for better or for worse, have immense power in our society. The irony about the media is that as much as they try to break their own stories, they're lemmings to some extent; if one outlet goes with a big story the others seem to follow suit and perpetuate a news cycle for days, weeks, beyond the relevance of said story…as for which is more deadly, I'm pleading the fifth. I still think the media can serve a valuable purpose in our society…but this swine flu new cycle of the past few weeks just sunk Mexico's economy into the dark ages…
First time poster here, but I've been reading your blog for a few weeks; enjoy it.
I totally agree. The accusation against Christians is often, 'you just believe what ever the Bible says and never questions its claims'. And I would agree, a lot (maybe most) Christian's don’t question what their pastor says, but to follow is human nature, not a Christian characteristics. For the most part all humans are followers. The problem with most liberals is that they are not honest about that fact. They see themselves as liberated thinkers, when in fact they wouldn’t know a how to determine the truthfulness of a claim if the title to their Prius depended on it. Most of them would deny there is even such a thing as truth. Liberalism just replaced the Church with Government and their apostles are main stream media.
The place the media should play in a free society has been eroded by greed and a lust for power. I'm generally NOT a conspiracy theorist, but I thought just what Michelle did–this pandemic talk is nothing more than foreshadowing so we'll be ready when they want to spring the next one on us.
Let's face it, we are becoming a society that is easily manipulated. We don't take time to check out the scary emails our friends send us and we repeat as gospel truth what we hear on Oprah. The news side of media? Even though we know they have a liberal bias, we somehow still think they won't slant the truth to further their own agenda.
And we worry about Christian fiction being propaganda! 😮
Christian fiction? propaganda? Nice dig, Becky!