Tainted Saints

It should come as no surprise that those at the top of the food chain get preferential treatment on all levels. But this still stinks to high heaven. Employees of the Goldman, the Fed, Citigroup, and other banks are getting H1N1 vaccine allotments out of proportion to what can be justified from a public health standpoint. In particular, Goldman has gotten more than Lenox HIll hospital, which needs it not just for the sick but more important, for workers (not only does the public need to keep front-line health care workers in as good shape as possible, but if they get the infection, they become disease vectors fast, given the number of people they see). [more...]

The tall woman with dyed reddish blond hair coughed loudly without covering her mouth. The shorter woman with a slicked-back bun wasn’t happy about it. They were riding the southbound D train near Rockefeller Center during morning rush hour in New York City this week. A single cough quickly turned into an argument. “You need to cover your mouth,” bun-woman reportedly said. “I don’t want swine flu.”

The war of words flared up quickly, according to a reporter for The Business Insider (who witnessed the altercation). Eventually, coughing-woman spit on bun-woman. Then someone threw a punch. In the end, coughing-woman tried to get off the train at 42nd Street, but bun-woman pulled her down to the ground by the hair.

“I could have decked her too,” said a male witness. “That swine flu is treacherous.” ^*****

Treacherous, indeed. In fact, if more people were aware of the contagion of single sneeze (or cough), there would probably be a lot more fistfights around the world.

One single sneeze propels 100,000 droplets into the air at around 90 mph, landing on subway strap handles, door knobs, ATM keypads, elevator buttons, escalator railings, and grocery carts. [more...]

If you can’t find any swine flu vaccine for your kids, it won’t be for a lack of positive thinking. In fact, the whole flu snafu is being blamed on “undue optimism” on the part of both the Obama administration and Big Pharma.

Optimism is supposed to be good for our health. According to the academic “positive psychologists,” as well as legions of unlicensed life coaches and inspirational speakers, optimism wards off common illnesses, contributes to recovery from cancer, and extends longevity. To its promoters, optimism is practically a miracle vaccine, so essential that we need to start inoculating Americans with it in the public schools — in the form of “optimism training.”

But optimism turns out to be less than salubrious when it comes to public health. In July, the federal government promised to have 160 million doses of H1N1 vaccine ready for distribution by the end of October. Instead, only 28 million doses are now ready to go, and optimism is the obvious culprit. [more...]

[Since I seem to have it, and have yet to hear or read anything consistent about it, I figured I'd go to the source. Why is this important? Because even though odds are that most people will have a mild reaction to the H1N1 virus, they can still pass it on, and if someone old enough, young enough, etc. gets it, it may be a different story, altogether... -Ed.]

President Barack Obama has declared 2009 H1N1 swine flu a national emergency, the White House said on Saturday.

The declaration will make it easier for U.S. medical facilities to handle a surge in flu patients by allowing the waiver of some requirements of Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health insurance programs as needed, the White House said in a statement.

…Less vaccine than expected will be ready by month’s end, federal health officials said Friday.

Of the 86 children who have died since the new swine flu arose last spring, 43 deaths have been reported in September and early October alone, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. That’s a startling number because in some past winters, the CDC has counted 40 or 50 child deaths for the entire flu season — and no one knows how long this swine flu outbreak will last.

Read entire article here…