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OT: World Politics

Someone got screened at an airport in Australia.

This shit needs to be stamped out fast, especially before lunar new year travel.
 
I kinda love how the media freaks out about these things.

Swine flu

Avian flu

Mad cow

SARS

Ebola

Then these things kill a few hundred or a few thousand and fizzle out.

God forbid there was 24 hour news networks trying to scare people for ratings in 1919 or 1347.

But I guess that also explains how the death of a dozen people is a massacre these days, compared to things like Rwanda.
 
I kinda love how the media freaks out about these things.

Swine flu

Avian flu

Mad cow

SARS

Ebola

Then these things kill a few hundred or a few thousand and fizzle out.

God forbid there was 24 hour news networks trying to scare people for ratings in 1919 or 1347.

But I guess that also explains how the death of a dozen people is a massacre these days, compared to things like Rwanda.

*black people need not apply
 
How many dying people constitute a massacre for you?
100.

Minimum.

The worst massacres in history are numbered in the hundreds of thousands dead, the worst massacres post ww2 numbered in the ten of thousands, the worst since 1990 numbered in the hundreds.

The only massacre to me in recent memory is probably the Bataclan attack in Paris, and even that, in the context of what the french have historically been through is on the mild side.

But to call every mass murder a massacre kind of cheapens the term.
 
Serious vigilance is not the same as freaking out.

We now have a seemingly unknown virus emerging from the world’s most populous country, run by an irresponsible dictatorship known for burying it’s responsibility and bungling management of these events, just as they are about to experience their biggest holiday travel season. Only 4 fatalities in China so far, but look at how quickly we have confirmed cases in Australia and the US. That should be a signal of it’s potential to cause harm (unlike Ebola).

No one one needs to freak out. Just don’t f*ck around until it’s too late.
 
Serious vigilance is not the same as freaking out.

We now have a seemingly unknown virus emerging from the world’s most populous country, run by an irresponsible dictatorship known for burying it’s responsibility and bungling management of these events, just as they are about to experience their biggest holiday travel season. Only 4 fatalities in China so far, but look at how quickly we have confirmed cases in Australia and the US. That should be a signal of it’s potential to cause harm (unlike Ebola).

No one one needs to freak out. Just don’t f*ck around until it’s too late.
I have no problems with serious vigilance. Have border agents do additional screening, have health care professionals prepared to quarantine people.

My issue lies with the media and how they present this, and how they have presented avian flu, swine flu, mad cow, SARS and yes, Ebola, in the past.

I think everyone knows that baring some serious mutation, this thing won't harm a lot of people. Its in China, as you said, the most populous country on the planet, 1.4 billion, with very dense population centers and it has killed 9 people. That is unimaginably small. The common flu has likely killed more people in Canada than this virus has killed people in China.

Yet, as always, news networks live off trying to scare the shit out of people, panels of experts, 24 hour news coverage, as if this is the Spanish flu of 100 years ago. Its blatantly dishonest journalism, creating a narrative to hook people in, have them follow the progress of this "deadly" illness for fear of the worst when, again, baring some sort of crazy mutation will likely flame out in a few weeks to a few months with minimal fatalities worldwide.

One day people will grow very cynical (if that hasn't happened already) and when there is a very serious virus out there that wants to actually murder us all, people will have tuned out these "experts" because nobody is going to believe its worst than swine flu, avian flu, SARS, whatever until scores of people start dropping dead in the streets at which point it might be too late.
 
Yep, US was behind the coup in Brazil too.

Here's Lula talking about that and much more. Very interesting ...

 
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