2009 Pandemic of Stupidity

Regardless of the big picture, we can testify that here in the DFW area, people are freaking out on a major scale.

The Ft. Worth school system canceled school for about a week because three students came down with the virus. They have now canceled Mayfest, an annual festival.

A friend tells me that an acquaintance of hers was fretting last night because "if they close the borders then how are we going to get produce?" This sent others off on emergency runs to the store where they found that masks are all sold out.

I hope the authorities and the media are happy ... our national freak-out is on schedule and progressing well.

Now I see, via Neatorama, that scientists are saying that this flu strain is milder than the regular winter flu.

"Let's not lose track of the fact that the normal seasonal influenza is a huge public health problem that kills tens of thousands of people in the U.S. alone and hundreds of thousands around the world," said Dr. Christopher Olsen, a molecular virologist who studies swine flu at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine in Madison.

His remarks Wednesday came the same day Texas authorities announced that a nearly 2-year-old boy with the virus had died in a Houston hospital Monday.

"Any time someone dies, it's heartbreaking for their families and friends," Olsen said. "But we do need to keep this in perspective."

There is much more. Go read it all. Please.