UK's Sunday Times Advocates Video Game Tax

To combat the problem [of obesity] before it spirals out of control, the Sunday Express today urges the Government to plough the huge amount of tax generated from video games revenue into developing sports ­facilities for children.

This is a rather hilarious article that once again places the blame of obesity in children on video games. They encourage a tax to games so that the money can be used to advocate outdoor activities for children.

Personal responsibility or taxing unhealthy foods? Naaaaah. We don't need that around there.

Swine Flu Shampoo!

The FDA is telling you not to buy Swine Flu shampoo and dietary supplements.

One of these online orders resulted in delivery to FDA of an unmarked envelope postmarked from India. Inside were unlabeled, white tablets taped between two pieces of paper that were found to contain talc and acetaminophen, an active ingredient found in many medicines to help relieve pain and reduce fever. Not found was oseltamivir, the active ingredient of Tamiflu.

PANIC!

OMG Swine Flu; More at 10

Today, the World Health Organization upgraded H1N1 to a pandemic.

This will no doubt bring a new wave of panic across the world because the media will take quotes out of context and reporting just the facts is now left to a few boring news outlets. You get more hits, more traffic, and more viewership if your news story is more dramatic and potentially dangerous. For example, WHO chief Margaret Chan made the following statements in the AP article:

"The world is moving into the early days of its first influenza pandemic in the 21st century," Chan told reporters. "The virus is now unstoppable."

"However, we do not expect to see a sudden and dramatic jump in the number of severe and fatal infections," she added.

On Thursday, WHO said 74 countries had reported 28,774 cases of swine flu, including 144 deaths. Chan described the danger posed by the virus as "moderate."

Guess which of those statements the media will use out of context? Yes, that's right, you'll be hearing all about "SWINE FLU UNSTOPPABLE?! More at 10!".

Just from that article, which most people won't read fully, here are some facts:

• The last pandemic, the 1968 Hong Kong flu killed 1 million people. This is only 2-4 times worse than normal flus in a year.
• Out of a reported 28,744 cases worldwide, there have been 144 deaths, or a 0.5% fatality rate. No doubt, the number is somewhat higher than this, but we are not talking about stereotypical Middle Ages bubonic plague levels of lethality.
• Similarly, in the United States, there have been 27 confirmed deaths in 13,000 reported cases (0.2%); in Mexico, there have been 108 confirmed deaths in 6,337 cases (1.7%).

I'm not saying you shouldn't take precautions. I'm not saying we should dismiss the categorization of "pandemic". Everything will be fine. YOU, statistically speaking, will be fine. (Well, not you; you're a Mediocre Minds reader... so there's already something wrong with you.) For all that is good in this world... STOP PANICKING.

June 11th, 2009 / paladinz / Tags: health, biology, statistics / Trackback / Comments

And Now, Ridiculous Quotes + Mild Social Commentary

An Israeli official finds the term "swine flu" to be offensive. This really is to be expected, given how ridiculously sensitive some people are. However, the quote itself brings up a number of other hilarious racist issues:

The outbreak of swine flu should be renamed "Mexican" influenza in deference to Muslim and Jewish sensitivities over pork, said an Israeli health official Monday.

<sarcasm>

First of all, it should be clear to everyone here that calling a potentially lethal virus outbreak by a nationality is NOT offensive to anybody, least of all the millions of people in Mexico. After all, it originated there. We should name it by geography and not the animal where it most likely originated. Because, seriously, everyone knows that the location on a map is much more important than arbitrary animal where the virus originated.

Second, this really shows that the Israeli government DOES care about Muslims! I mean, why else would they mention the Muslim religion here!? This flu outbreak is bringing the world together!

</sarcasm>