Was Biden’s Remark Designed To Stir More Fear?
May 2, 2009 Political
The Obama administration runs on fear which might sound strange considering Democrats made this charge about President Bush for anything he did after 9/11. Time and again Democrats said Bush used fear to get what he wanted done. Interestingly, the first 100 days of the Obama administration have been marked by one incitement of fear after another.
Rahm Emanuel said that they could not let a good crisis go to waste and the Obamabots are certainly taking advantage of every opportunity during this economic crisis to get what they want. Obama himself gave us all the dire warnings and incited a great deal of fear when he was working to get his outrageous stimulus package approved.
Now a new “crisis” has emerged and it is the H1N1 Swine Flu scare. I will not rehash the way this has been overblown but suffice it to say that they have sounded the dire warnings from the start. As it starts to get more clear that the flu is not as bad as first thought and that the spread is not as bad the fear factor is starting to lose effect. Without the fear “emergency” spending worth billions of dollars will be hard to get passed and drug companies might not be allowed near the trough.
In steps Joe Biden to help with the situation. Biden has never been known to say much that is based in reality though I honestly believe he thinks what he says makes sense. The truth is that his ego is so big and he has such an elevated opinion of himself that he believes what he spews. However, it is possible that his latest words or wisdom were calculated (or given to him). On television, Joe stated:
Biden told NBC’s “Today” show on Thursday that he had urged family members to avoid airplanes and subways for fear of contracting the H1N1 flu virus.
“I wouldn’t go anywhere in confined places now,” Biden said. My Way News
After saying he would not go in confined spaces Joe took the train home.
Since this is Joe Biden it is hard to figure if he was just talking on the Today Show or if he said it to rile people up.
One would think Biden would not be so dense as to say something like this and then get on a train but this is Joe Biden and he generally says things that make no sense or that he figures people want to hear so it is really hard to tell.
Pretty soon there will be another “crisis” so this one will soon be forgotten.
At least we can still count on Biden to be the gaffe machine. Let’s face it, a blithering moron like Biden makes Obama look good and keeps America praying that nothing happens to the sainted won lest we be cursed with Biden at the helm.
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Where Is OSHA For Border Patrol Agents?
May 1, 2009 Political
I have stated several times that I think the whole swine flu issue is being blown out of proportion but that does not mean there is no threat of getting sick from the virus especially if one visits Mexico or has contact with someone who did. There is still a need to protect ourselves and the most efficient way of doing this is to wash our hands often.
Another method, for those who have constant contact, is to wear masks. The masks, if properly worn, prevent airborne droplets from being inspired and causing infection.
However, Janet Napolitano and the DHS have decided that border patrol agents who are in contact with people crossing the Mexican/American border every day are not allowed to wear masks and if they do they will face disciplinary action. An ABC News 10 report indicates that border patrol agents have requested to wear a mask while performing her duties and this request was denied. Over 80 agents asked to wear the masks but they were told they may not. ABC News 10 reports they have copies of the denied requests and those copies indicate that the agents may not wear the masks because of how it looks and because of the potential for public panic.
The DHS is putting politics ahead of the safety of the workers.
The DHS denies that it ever told agents that they may not wear the masks which directly contradicts the report from ABC News 10 and the memos presented in the report. DHS states that the science does not indicate that wearing the masks is appropriate.
Employers are required to provide respiratory protective equipment when required by the work environment (OSHA 29 CFR 1910.134):
A respirator shall be provided to each employee when such equipment is necessary to protect the health of such employee. The employer shall provide the respirators which are applicable and suitable for the purpose intended. The employer shall be responsible for the establishment and maintenance of a respiratory protection program, which shall include the requirements outlined in paragraph (c) of this section. The program shall cover each employee required by this section to use a respirator.
The employer must provide it when the equipment is necessary to protect the health of the employee. DHS is getting around this by stating that the science does not support the wear of a mask (which is a respirator under the standard).
Has the DHS done any air monitoring to determine the potential for contamination? The outbreak started in Mexico and that country has been the hardest hit. People in Mexico are wearing masks to prevent spread of the disease and a lot of them cross the border each day. In the absence of monitoring data the atmosphere becomes and unknown and it makes sense to protect workers from the potential of exposure to a flu that will take them from their duties.
Does it make sense to make a politically correct decision and risk a large number of workers becoming ill and therefore unable to do their jobs?
The masks are inexpensive and the Mexicans are already wearing them so it is not like they don’t know what is going on. The idea that DHS is creating an atmosphere where its workers are potentially exposed to a virus that leads to illness is unconscionable. The CDC discusses the use of masks in settings where contact with potentially infected persons cannot be avoided (such as on the border with the country where it originated):
When crowded settings or close contact with others cannot be avoided, the use of facemasks1 or respirators2 in areas where transmission of swine influenza A (H1N1) virus has been confirmed should be considered as follows:
1. Whenever possible, rather than relying on the use of facemasks or respirators, close contact with people who might be ill and being in crowded settings should be avoided.
2. Facemasks should be considered for use by individuals who enter crowded settings, both to protect their nose and mouth from other people’s coughs and to reduce the wearers’ likelihood of coughing on others; the time spent in crowded settings should be as short as possible.
3. Respirators should be considered for use by individuals for whom close contact with an infectious person is unavoidable. This can include selected individuals who must care for a sick person (e.g., family member with a respiratory infection) at home.
The masks might help even if the science does not indicate they should be used. More importantly, the employees want to wear them. If wearing them will give them peace of mind and allow them to do their jobs more efficiently, why not let them?
There is no reason and no excuse for denying employees a method to protect themselves from infection.
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Tags: border patrol, dhs, infection, masks, swine flu
Who Benefits From Swine Flu Hysteria?
May 1, 2009 Opinion
Influenza type A H1N1 (Swine Flu) has affected fewer than 300 people worldwide and according to the World Health Organization there have been fewer than 10 deaths associated with that virus and yet the world is going nuts. Joe Biden is telling people not to travel by air or subway and there are all kinds of Swine Flu emergency operation centers popping up in states. Why are we going through all of this for a flu outbreak that is way smaller than the seasonal flu episodes and for a flu that seems to be rather mild when it runs its course?
Why is all this happening and who stands to gain from it?
For the past few years the scientists and the government folks have been looking at the Avian or Bird Flu. This has been the one they figured would be spreading among humans and killing lots of folks and it still might do that.
The Swine Flu popped up and they were not expecting it. This flu is a combination of human, avian, and swine viruses that got together in a pig host and replicated in RNA to become something different and something that could be transmitted from the animal host to the human and from human to human. The process where viruses get together and something new is created is known as an antigenic shift and the virus is sometimes referred to as a novel virus.
This caught people by surprise and the reaction (or over reaction) was because people were not expecting this and worried that it could lead to a huge number of deaths like those that occurred in 1918. But why the hype? Who benefits from all this?
The drug companies that make antivirals and vaccines stand to benefit. The research scientists who work on this stuff stand to get more work. The drug companies that will have to make more medicine to replace stockpiles stand to benefit.
The hype seems to be driven toward over reaction in order to gin up a huge response. Of course, Obama had to spend another billion dollars on this problem.
Keep in mind that only about 109 people in the US are confirmed as having the virus and many of them have already recovered. The course of the illness seems to be mild and it is not particularly debilitating. Nearly all of the people in the US had some contact with Mexico in that they either visited there, met up with someone who visited there or were exposed to someone who came from there. Mexico figures into nearly all the exposures in the US and even though the reports were that over 150 had died in Mexico the WHO says that the confirmed number is 7.
There is a belief that a lot of Mexicans got the flu but never sought medical care and they recovered without difficulty.
Still, the world is going nuts over fewer than 300 cases world wide. Some places are culling pigs, and some are restricting travel. People are afraid.
During the regular flu season we don’t close schools when one kid gets the flu and we don’t stand up flu emergency operations centers when 109 have been confirmed as having the virus (though no doubt more people have gotten sick). It usually takes quite a few before we become concerned. Keep in mind that 36,000 people die from the flu in the US each year and 200,000 are hospitalized. So I think we are going overboard on this flu.
I think that many companies will make money during another crisis we can’t let go to waste. I understand the scramble. They all had their eyes on avian flu and this one showed up out of nowhere.
When you see all the hype just keep in mind that this is a huge industry and flu is a big money maker. A lot of people make money in a “billions of dollars” business.
This is not to say we don’t need to be careful but I think we are getting all spun up over nothing.
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We Need A Flu To Close The Border?
Apr 28, 2009 General, Immigration, Political
I have been wondering what the open borders crowd is saying now that swine flu is affecting a few folks and it seems to be heavily concentrated in Mexico. You see, all the ILLEGALS who walk across our border could be sick with about any disease and no one would know. They did not have to prove they were healthy to get here, they just walked in. There were cases of TB being brought in and now there is a good possibility that any ILLEGAL showing up in the US will be carrying the swine flu and that it will be transmitted to Americans.
I am not saying that we should be all worried about the flu, not yet anyway, but this is a clear example of how ILLEGAL immigration can harm us.
We have been calling for the border to be closed for a long time. Ted Kennedy pushed for amnesty two times in the past and each time he promised that ILLEGAL immigration would stop and we would not need another amnesty. He was part of the crowd that tried to pass amnesty last year
Now, a Democrat from New York is calling for the border between Mexico and the US to be closed during the flu outbreak.
Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) said the border should be closed until the threat is resolved.
“The public needs to be aware of the serious threat of swine flu, and we need to close our borders to Mexico immediately and completely until this is resolved,” Massa said in a statement.
“I am making this announcement because I see this as a serious threat to the health of the American public and I do not believe this issue is receiving the attention it needs to have in the news,” Massa said. The Hill
He is only half right. We need to close the border but we do not need to reopen it except at designated crossings where border patrol agents are stationed. We need to shut down the border NOW and we need to keep it shut down because swine flu is not the only thing ILLEGALS can bring into this country. They can bring in TB, AIDS, hepatitis, and any number of pathogens that can do us harm.
And yes, I know these diseases exist without the ILLEGALS but ILLEGALS live in the shadows which means they are less likely to be treated. This means more diseases being spread.
It should not take a flu outbreak to get our government to do its job and secure our borders.
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Tags: border closing, border patrol, illegal immigrants, swine flu
Swine Flu Diverts Attention
Apr 28, 2009 Opinion, Political
A great deal of attention has been given to the newest outbreak of the flu mostly because this is a strain that is not commonly associated with transmission among humans and there is no vaccine. While it is well and good to pay some attention to it one must wonder why all the CDC warnings and the elevations of threat levels. I certainly understand the travel restrictions but the reality is that there are only 40 confirmed US cases and no one in the US has died (as of this writing). Mexico has handled the issue fairly well and there have been just over 140 deaths in that country.
In the US each year about 36,000 people die from the flu and about 200,000 require hospitalization.
I think that the fervor over the flu is designed to take our attention away from the bad news that has come out lately. GM is getting rid of Pontiac (if you have a low mileage one put it away) and that will result in the loss of 21,000 manufacturing jobs. GM and Chrysler are preparing to file for bankruptcy and this will cause a lot of turmoil in the automotive industry. Ironically, Ford, the only one of the big three not to take bailout money, is doing OK, not great, but better than the others.
The Swine Flu scare is also a great cover for Congress who can work on passing more and more spending packages and enact things designed to give us universal health care coverage without the public debate. They can take advantage of this emergency to pass even more items to drive us ever closer to Socialism.
The Obama Administration has shown that it is a smoke and mirrors operation. They manufacture one crisis after another in order to tire people and wear them down. Then they can keep passing stuff unnoticed and before you know it, BAM, we have all these expensive things and even greater tax burdens. The economy was a crisis that we had to act upon immediately or we might not recover. Then it was not as bad as he thought. Of course, he came to that conclusion after spending a couple of TRILLION dollars to fix the spiraling economy. The stimulus will not kick in for some time. We are seeing some signs of working out of the economic downturn now. This means that things are turning around before the stimulus has had a chance to affect things. If we had done very little or nothing we would be turning around and we would have saved a couple of TRILLION dollars.
But Democrats had an “emergency” to exploit. Let us not forget that George Bush helped put this in motion. I did not agree with it then and I don’t agree with it now. I think the difference is Bush was making an honest attempt to fix things and not taking advantage of the situation. Obama is taking advantage of the problem to nationalize the banks and take over companies.
The Swine Flu, as of right now, is not a cause for alarm (just as Obama said). It is something we should keep an eye on and we should take the basic steps to prevent transmission of the disease. The number one way to do that is to wash your hands. Wash them frequently and the transmission of disease will be drastically reduced. Your mother told you to wash your hands for a reason.
The flu comes each year and makes a lot of people sick and it kills quite a few. These Swine flu reports might be sentinel events indicating a larger problem ahead. We need to keep track but we also need not lose sight of what is going on around us with regard to our politicians.
They will use this “emergency” to their advantage as long as we let them get away with it.
The CDC is tracking the outbreak and has a sign up for Swine Flu updates. There is also good information about the disease and what you can do to reduce your risk. Take the time to read it but don’t let the flu take your focus away. We can worry when it looks like this will become more widespread. Let’s keep an eye on it but let’s keep in mind that thousands get sick from the flu at any one time during flu season and they don’t go bananas like they are right now. This could certainly get worse but as it stands right now, it is a minor outbreak.
The sleight of hand artist The Amazing Obama wants you to look away.
How do the open borders folks feel now? ILLEGALS with swine flu could walk into this country at anytime undetected and spread the disease. This is what you get when you don’t uphold the law.
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