Swine Flu in Japan May Trigger Pandemic(Japan has 150 patients)

WebMD ^ | 05/18/09 | Daniel J. DeNoon

[AmericanInTokyo]

Because Pandemics can take several months to grow into full scale Level 6 (we are at Level 5 worldwide)--while nobody really knows WHAT the hell is going on for sure. Particularly when the Northern Hemisphere flu virus seasons starts up in late September back there in the USA, unfortunately you may not have to be wondering about that pandemic much longer. (Remember the panic four or five years ago domestically in the USA when the flu virus vaccine ran out? We had ours (injections) done in Asia on a business trip--there was plenty of Northern Hemisphere Autumn 2004 Flu Vaccine available because the location I bought it, people practiced extreme sanitation in their daily public affairs, their diet consisted if very healthy vegetables, fruits, fish, high protein, and not US type crappy, useless, non-nutritious junk food, and the climate was warm so little survivability of the seasonal flu, and other factors). Believe me, the USA is not anywhere as filthy as Mexico, but it is rather unsanitary in public in very many ways, I see it time and again, and in unsanitary behavior of not a few Americans regarding uncovered sneezing, not hand-washing after defecating, not masking during high virus periods, bedbugs in motels, illegal aliens with tuberculosis making salads, I could go on and on etc. etc. ).....The moral of the story is that, just as some on FR have been posting the Story of the Boy Who Cried Wolf and recommend everyone stand down from this, I quite honestly take the diametrically opposed position. I say WORRY, and WORRY BIG TIME. (And not just worry, but think, plan, and prepare. In our family we have all the materials N95 respirators, Tamiflu, high alcohol content liquid hand sanitizers, food/water/medicines (weapons if allowed in one's country) stocked for the long haul (6 months), and other items for family self protection. Consider it a drill at the very least and not paranoia. Then even if a Panedemic with H1N1 does NOT hit in Fall 2009, at the very least we will have things on hand for other disasters: typhoons, earthquakes, global financial meltdown that could escalate into Obama-type martial law, or an islamofascist suitcase nuke in one or several American cities. If you read confidential US government reports, you will not dismiss "preparedness" as somehow eccentric or reactionary. It is much akin to writing out a will. At least get it done and then dont worry about it. At least WHEN and IF the big disaster strikes, you wont get this skin crawling *OH SHIT* feeling for not having prepared and starting to watch society around you flock to stores and panicking. Just a word to the wise.

And here, after popular demand (and as a counter to one Freeper's "Kid Who ried Wolf", is another old kid's story:

The Three Little Pigs Once upon a time there were three little pigs and the time came for them to leave home and seek their fortunes. Before they left, their mother told them " Whatever you do , do it the best that you can because that's the way to get along in the world. The first little pig built his house out of straw because it was the easiest thing to do. The second little pig built his house out of sticks. This was a little bit stronger than a straw house. The third little pig built his house out of bricks. One night the big bad wolf, who dearly loved to eat fat little piggies, came along and saw the first little pig in his house of straw. He said "Let me in, Let me in, little pig or I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in!" "Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin", said the little pig. But of course the wolf did blow the house in and ate the first little pig. The wolf then came to the house of sticks. "Let me in ,Let me in little pig or I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in" "Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin", said the little pig. But the wolf blew that house in too, and ate the second little pig. The wolf then came to the house of bricks. " Let me in , let me in" cried the wolf "Or I'll huff and I'll puff till I blow your house in" "Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin" said the pigs. Well, the wolf huffed and puffed but he could not blow down that brick house. But the wolf was a sly old wolf and he climbed up on the roof to look for a way into the brick house. The little pig saw the wolf climb up on the roof and lit a roaring fire in the fireplace and placed on it a large kettle of water. When the wolf finally found the hole in the chimney he crawled down and KERSPLASH right into that kettle of water and that was the end of his troubles with the big bad wolf. The next day the little pig invited his mother over . She said "You see it is just as I told you. The way to get along in the world is to do things as well as you can." Fortunately for that little pig, he learned that lesson. And he just lived happily ever after!

Check this for a somewhat dramatic, but not out of the realm of possibility, SCENARIO

[AmericanInTokyo]

Sorry, y'all, per the previous post, I meant THIS STREAMING LINK.

[AmericanInTokyo]

..not to mention, Rei Dan is a VERY pretty actress!! ;-)

[Smokin' Joe]

Panic is the reaction people have to that for which they are completely unprepared.

Preparations (food, cooking fuel, water, some extra basic supplies, means to purify more water, hygiene items, etc.) all take the 'emergency' out of all but the most direct critical problems by eliminating as many shortages as possible.

If there is no panic, the crisis cannot gain traction.

The people pulling the strings here won't waste a crisis--they view it as an opportunity to usurp more power.

If people are prepared, there is no justification for that usurpation and it will be resisted. If they are not prepared, the people will panic and demand it.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Very wise. Well said, Freeper.

These idiotic, one liner-type "The Sky is Falling!" comments and "Oh No, We are going to die!" comedic graphics, posted or said in somewhat mocking tones on FR of late may well be regretted by those very same folks who said those things either out of ignorance or stubborness. I hope I am wrong and have to eat crow come Spring 2010. To caution individual responsibility and vigiligence and urge preparation is IN FACT ANTI~OBAMA IN NATURE, because it will deny them the crisis they slobber over.

I would say all Americans should have been prepared since September 12th 2001 with pandemic/WMD attack kits and stockpiles. If they had done so, the US government would not perceive their vulnerability. With this new, anti-Constitutional, elitist, Obama crowd firmly in power in D.C., it is best Freepers prepare cooly, calmly, and quickly in each and every household across the land, and also tell their family members and friends. This particularly is true Second Ammendment related materials, but also foodstuffs, medicines, lighting sources, heating, and other resources.

Once you do do it, and get it over with, you do away with all the PANIC.

Those that did nothing will be the ones to Panic. I think that if something does come down, strangely it will be a lot of liberals and Obama supporters rushing the stores and panicking, while generally conservative and religious people (I think Utah for example) will be just sitting back feeling protected and secure.

Katrina should have taught us NOT TO RELY ON BIG BROTHER. I would say every one look toward being prepared on this H1N1 business, well before August if possible.

[Cyropaedia]

Thanks for the advice, AIT. I think I'll collecting various provisions for this fall.

Most of my relatives live in Mexico and I don't trust the Mexican government for sh*t when they say that they have the Swine flu "under control" and the number of cases has already peaked.

[cartan]

I remember earlier reports about how Japan was trying hard to prevent this disease from entering their country, from the beginning (screening people on airports, cancelling trips to Mexico etc). Looks like it didn’t work :-(

[AmericanInTokyo]

I was one of the main reporters of that situation, and they are still doing it, which is prudent in my mind.

You either have a zero tolerance attitude on The Pandemic (in the run up to full scale explosion) and try your best level effort and try to limit the damage and spread, or you take an Obama/USA laissez-faire approach of "what the hell, its already in here, and so what if 100 or 1000 people die, no biggie, we have more die of that during seasonal flu." I think those are the two starkly different, prevailing sentiments based on two very different national characteristics, general attitude toward sanitation, etc. it is just a different way of looking at things. I am sure Japan will mobilize at a finger snap across the board if necessary; we will have to see. They certainly do not have any kind of loose, politically correct, liberal's wet-dream policy of just letting into the archipelago any foreigners with all kinds of diseases through uncontrolled immigration, as is the Democrat/Republican policy for years in the United States--although I am sure some unauthorized foreigners--sick or otherwise--slip in under the wire over here some how, but the number must be in the tens or maybe hundreds at best, certainly not hundreds of thousands nor millions in our poor Republic, or what's becoming left of it.

[cartan]

I agree: At least they’re trying. Hey, they may even quarantine infected people. I bet Western countries are too PC to do even that nowadays.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Some ACLU lawyer in the West would spring the afflicted, so they could leave quarantine and thus infect many more people, all in the name of “fairness” and “sensitivity” and “human rights”.

[DTogo]

“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste,” Rahm Emanuel, Mr. Obama’s new chief of staff, told a Wall Street Journal conference of top corporate chief executives this week.

He elaborated: “Things that we had postponed for too long, that were long-term, are now immediate and must be dealt with. This crisis provides the opportunity for us to do things that you could not do before.”

[AmericanInTokyo]

De-crisis-ize it, then, by being much more prepared than the Government currently recommends (including increasing one's weapons and ammunition ownership), then when the Department of Know-it-All's come to "assist" after they announce on CNN the "Emergency", tell them to F' off, that we are just fine enough as it is ON OUR OWN at the grassroots thanks to our own prudence and planning and lack of panic well in advance.

[DTogo]

That’s my plan!

[ViLaLuz]

“AIDS hysteria is politically incorrect. Who’s gonna take the heat for quarantining the demographic that has most of the cases? “

The government could at least stop promoting the behavior that spreads it and start telling the truth, instead of wasting their time on swine flu.

[ViLaLuz]

“The CDC says there are nearly 40,000 new cases of HIV annually in the USA. Where is the hysteria over this?”

“You don’t catch AIDS from doorknobs...”

LOL, OK, then let me change my post to “The CDC says there are nearly 40,000 new cases of HIV anally.”