OMG! On the third rock from the sun, a planet of billions where malaria alone still kills 3000 people every day, and 36,000 die of influenza every year in the U.S., less than a hundred have died from "Swine Flu" (now mutated to a human influenza virus that causes sore throats, coughs, fever, and runny poop), President Obama asks Congress for another billion or so to help prevent the ONCOMING GLOBAL PANDEMIC THAT WILL POTENTIALLY KILL MILLIONS! Oh, yes, the mainstream media is running hours of flu scare 24 hours a day, ratings are skyrocketing while swine flu masks, gloves, and $49.00 Swine Flu Kits are flying off the shelves faster than drug stores can stock them. Megatons of Tamiflu are on the way to save America (half a billion in sales at least?) and shares of Roche and GlaxoSmithKline are rising on the stock market. In this recession, at least someone is making money off of scaring the shit out of people. The American way!Oh, echoes of BIRD FLU! Remember? The weeks of scare tactics by CNN, Fox, and everyone else? The millions of bird flu products sold, the circulating video of bird flu killing millions, etc. etc. Now the media marketing types are at it again and now America is falling into the abyss of fear again. How many times can we be fooled?
Indefinitely?
Swine Flu Hoaxers on Internet - More Scare and Phony Cures
ReplyDeleteI couldn't resist posting this
from http://salem-news.com/articles/april282009/bbb_swine_scams_4-28-09.php
:
Relying on reports from online security experts, Better Business Bureau is warning consumers to be on the lookout for fraudulent emails and Web sites trying to take advantage of the current swine flu outbreak.
“Scammers read newspapers, watch TV and surf the Internet and they know that by using a hook from the day’s top headlines, that they’ll be able to catch lots of fish,” said Robert W.G. Andrew, CEO of BBB serving Alaska, Oregon, and Western Washington.
“Right now, issues associated with swine flu and a potential pandemic are of global interest and that means scammers have a very large pond to go phishing in.”
According to McAfee Avert Labs, an online security company, spammers began pumping out e-mails as soon as the first accounts of swine flu were being reported in the news, accounting for two percent of all spam messages. The messages include such subject lines as, “Madonna caught swine flu!” and “Swine flu in Hollywood!” The company reports that the e-mails do not contain malware but often link to online pharmacies.
According to F-Secure Corp., another online security company, more than 250 Web sites with the term “swine flu” have been registered within the first few days following the announcement of the outbreak and predict that the scams artists are preparing to use such Web sites in a variety of different online scams. F-Secure also reports that one Web site is already selling a “Swine Flu Survival Guide” PDF for $19.95.
Have to agree with you wholeheartedly here. Of course we have to sit up and take notice when there is the fear of a pandemic, but... you quite rightly put it into perspective.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with you.In mexico they said 100 people died. then later they changed the figure to 20 confirmed cases. in a city of more than 20 million people thats nothing.Every day in the world thousands of people die from aids,cancer,diabeties,heart attacks,hunger.Are the goverments causing a panic about these concerns.
ReplyDeletePeople with regular exposure to pigs are at increased risk of swine flu. More than 1100 people worldwide have died from swine flu since it emerged in Mexico and the US in April, according to the latest figures from the World.
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