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Swine Flu a ‘National Emergency’

So, President Barack Obama (D) has declared that the ‘H1N1’ virus, known colloquially as ‘swine flu’, is a national health emergency (in addition to already being a pandemic). I kid you not.

More than 1,000 people have died in the United States from the flu so far, which is about 1/36th the number of people who die from the regular flu in a regular year. Some early indications are that this flu season is a bit worse than usual, but I have seen no evidence whatsoever that this flu warrants half the attention it’s gotten. In fact, I have yet to see any facts presented by anybody that might indicate this flu is any worse than the regular old flu.

And guess what, regular flu ain’t that bad. It’s a virus, and it’s unpleasant, but unless you have a weakened immune system or are very young or old it’s pretty harmless.

I said it before: the government owes us an explanation. Why all the hysteria over a virus that, by all accounts, is just a minor variant of the regular flu and poses no serious risk to most people?

Scott Bradford is a writer and technologist who has been putting his opinions online since 1995. He believes in three inviolable human rights: life, liberty, and property. He is a Catholic Christian who worships the trinitarian God described in the Nicene Creed. Scott is a husband, nerd, pet lover, and AMC/Jeep enthusiast with a B.S. degree in public administration from George Mason University.