Fear spreads faster than swine flu

Yesterday I read Bob Hoffman’s amusing post about “death fatigue,” and it got me thinking about how much of the fear and fanaticism surrounding swine flu can be attributed to the name. It sounds awful. Much more unpleasant than bird flu, for example.

Then, on my 30-minute commute (plus or minus) into the office today, I heard 30 minutes (plus or minus) of NPR swine flu stories, and nothing else. I now know the status of swine flu preparedness for just about every country on Earth. A couple of the stories, both of which I found pretty amusing, were about groups that are upset about the name and the alternative names they’ve proposed.

continue reading…

Shameful: Obama’s bowling joke

Apparently President Obama’s message of hope does not extend to bowlers in the Special Olympics.

continue reading…

Infuriating comment: Congressman Joe Barton

Heard a story on NPR this morning about Obama’s “Fiscal Responsibility Summit” and was annoyed by a comment by Republican Senator Joe Barton. The congressman told the President “I think the House Republicans have shown that when we’re not included in the decision making, we’re disinclined to sign off on the solution.” According to the story, Obama called this “an important point.”

continue reading…