Arthur Dent once said, "I knew it. I always felt there was something sinister going on beneath my nose but I just couldn't place it." Only to be replied to by Slartibartfast "No that's just regular paranoia. Everyone has that."
I didn't get the quote right, but I'm betting that I'll go back and find the actual quote and insert it later if I remember it.
I, like Arthur, have a healthy sense of paranoia. Too much seems to not make sense to not have some deeper story that what's on the surface. If I was more ambitious this could definitely make me a really good (or dead) investigative journalist. But, since I'm not, coming up with conspiracy theories seems like a better use of my time.
The latest theory is that there's a certain non-story 'going around' that every journalist is 'catching' hold of. It's 'spreading' faster than a wild fire, and personally I 'wash my hands' of the whole thing. Ok that last attempt at a pun was a little weak. But while you 'rub your eyes' (no don't) and shake your head, think about it.
How many people are there in the world. A billion, give or take a few hundred million. How many people have become infected, in the last week. Less than a thousand. How many have died? About 150 I think the count is. If the statistics are to be believed, about 10,000 have died from cancer in the same time period, in the US alone. But because of the hype that is being put on this, Egyptians have started killing all their 'swine'. When the outbreak is over, they're just not going to have any bacon for a while, and have to import some more. Probably from Mexico.
I can't help but wonder what's really going on, that our attention should be on. Now that everyone knows that we should be washing our hands regularly, and not coughing in other people's faces, I say it's time that reporters go back to covering things that matter.
Oh and here's the real quote.
Arthur: All my life I've had this strange feeling that there's something big and sinister going on in the world.
Slartibartfast: No, that's perfectly normal paranoia. Everyone in the universe gets that.
9:20 AM
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Here's my two cents worth. The reason why this is getting so much play is probably because Swine Flu is an aberration from the normal situation. In both real and relative terms I agree that very few people have actually died from the disease. But it makes a great story. We expect 10,000 people to die of cancer. It happens every year. But Swine flu? Now that's got pizzaz.
The issue of killing pigs in Egypt is seen by many to be an extension of internal sectarian conflict rather than a hysterical over reaction. Only the Christian mionority is effected by the slaughter of pigs, as muslims won't own such animals. I'm not sure if there's any truth to this, but honestly, it wouldn't suprise me.
Beware of conspiratorial thinking. That stuff is brain poison. It kills the ability to reason and creates paranoia. There are no grand secret conspiracies.
Last of all, there are more than 7 billion people on Earth.
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