CNN Breaking News says Obama declared a national emergency

[kestrel91316]

because of Swine flu, but I don't see a LBN post about it yet. And the CNN website doesn't have it. It was just on the CNN BN box with feed on my Dell home page.

[HereSince1628]

1. Here's a link

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114132895

[kestrel91316]

4. Ok, thx. It's pretty much a bureaucratic yawner.

[msongs]

2. lou dobbs was pimping flu hysteria big time on tv the other day - the flu rapture nt

[Skip Intro]

3. Maybe I shouldn't think this way, but...

Every now and then I ask myself, how would I react to a given action by the Obama admin were it instead the bush admin taking the same action. That seems fair. I would be all tin foil hatty (tm) were bush declaring any emergency, just like I was about the threat levels etc. Felt that way when he was warning of the bird flu a few years back. I'm less inclined to feel that way now, with a Democrat apparently running things, but not 100% at ease either...

[PatSeg]

7. Interesting

I find myself doing that now and then. If Bush had ever told the truth, I wouldn't have believed him, whereas I tend to trust this administration for the most part. I'm still skeptical about some things, but nothing like the eight years of Bush.

[Flabbergasted]

17. Yeah I look at things the same way. nt

[msallied]

5. I saw the story on my NYT feed on Facebook.

My kids' pediatrician's office doesn't have the vaccine yet. WTF.

[kickysnana]

6. Perahps because the economy is tanking. n/t

[kestrel91316]

13. If you read the actual declaration, you will see that it is bureaucratic

boilerplate. Your comment is patently absurd.

And the economy tanked starting nearly three years ago, where I am.

[kickysnana]

19. Only seems so if one is ignorant of current events.

Morgan Stanley is worth half of what it was last year.
The stimulus money that went to banks went into a rat hole most are still bankrupt.
Commercial real estate is now ramping up to massive defaults.
The Stock Market Run up is known to be a bubble.
The Chinese and the rest of the world has pulled the plug on the dollar.
Banks are taking much discounted cash prices for properties other people are willing to finance at market prices. They only do that when they known that the economy is sure to tank (again) and soon.
Gold and Oil are staying up.

(See recent Stock Market Watch threads for links)

Since 1999 pharmaceutical companies have employed former CIA people to go as far as infiltrating patient groups and doctors (Quackwatch is part of that) and disrupting them in person and online. Targeting doctors by falsely reporting to medical boards causing them hundreds of thousands to defend themselves.

Former MN epidemiologist Mike Osterholm's book "Living Terrors" (published Sept 11 2000 exactly one year to the day before 911) advocates using access and control of health care to control the population. Including withholding medications and health dollars to populations that do not toe the political line. He currently runs a huge lab at the U of MN.

http://www.amazon.com/Living-Terrors-America-Bioterrorist-Catastrophe/dp/0385334818/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256443491&sr=1-2

[ind_thinker2]

8. Faux is making a big deal abt it n/t

[spiritual_gunfighter]

9. This is hysteria

I had H1N1 in September, I will say it is not at all fun, it was the worst flu I ever had and I cant remember ever feeling weaker. I know people are

dying from it but people are dying from regular everyday flu as well. When I went to my doctor and she told me I had it, I got really worried and

scared. She assured me that I would get through it and I did. She told me that the hysteria around H1N1 is just that "hysteria". I understand people are

scared but the media is fueling this unwarranted hysteria. I would suggest people get the vaccine because it is a horrible experience. But a media fueled

hysteria is basically what this is.

[msallied]

10. I think if you aren't a young kid or a pregnant woman, your risk isn't as high.

But this thing seems to really be taking the kiddos down. :(

[spiritual_gunfighter]

11. Yeah that is the reason it is different

It is killing people that conventional flu doesnt. Which is obviously concerning, I am mostly referring to the "H1N1 pandemic sweeping the world" that is

leading the news everyday. Believe me I was concerned too especially when I learned I had it, but it was reassuring to hear my doctor and a nurse both

tell me that it is being blown out of proportion and if I took care of myself I would get through it.


I am a 37 year old healthy man but even I was scared because of it being on the news everyday and being billed as the next "black plague". I think it is

a bit irresponsible.

[msallied]

12. I do agree about that. I hate how our media pounces on these things

and incites panic, all in the name of good ratings. Sickens me, really.

[stray cat]

16. if you are under 60 - H1N1 is more likely to kill you than is seasonal flu

its the reverse if you are over 60

[kestrel91316]

14. Obama is not hysterical, and his declaration, if you READ IT,

is a bureaucratic maneuver to assist in Medicare and Medicaid administration.

[spiritual_gunfighter]

15. Oh if Obama does it it's not hysteria nt

[vaberella]

23. What is your deal? For many people this life or death...

And you're blowing it off as though it's nonsense. My mum was hospitalized over the flu.

[spiritual_gunfighter]

26. I am not blowing it off at all

I had H1N1, it was horrible, people should get vaccinated. I just think it is being blown out of proportion and so did my doctor who had to calm me down after I found out I had it. Because of the hysteria surrounding it I was lead to believe there was a good chance I might lose my life, after my own research and with help from my doctor (who also agreed this was being blown out of proportion) I realized that it is a bit irresposible for the media to feed this hysteria.

I have no problem with the President doing what needs to be done as far as making it easier for people with Medicare to get treatment (I have Medicare as well).

[spiritual_gunfighter]

27. I am not blowing it off at all

I had H1N1, it was horrible, people should get vaccinated. I just think it is being blown out of proportion and so did my doctor who had to calm me down after I found out I had it. Because of the hysteria surrounding it I was lead to believe there was a good chance I might lose my life, after my own research and with help from my doctor (who also agreed this was being blown out of proportion) I realized that it is a bit irresposible for the media to feed this hysteria.

I have no problem with the President doing what needs to be done as far as making it easier for people with Medicare to get treatment (I have Medicare as well).

[kickysnana]

20. I am sure that is what he was told. n/t

[Dappleganger]

21. As an asthmatic this is very serious.

And one of our sons as well as myself is still struggling even today (we were diagnosed with type A last Sunday, having taken Tamiflu for 5 days already).

It is HIGHLY contagious, apparently far more so than other recent strains of flu. It is affecting young people more seriously than normal strains, as those tend to affect the very young and elderly the worst.

I think the fact that it is so much more contagious with far more affected people (especially school-aged children) warrants a national medical emergency. There are protocols in place now which will help health care professionals do their jobs more effectively.

[Dappleganger]

22. BTW, H1N1 is why I never went to sleep tonight...

It's really hard to sleep when you're wheezing, sweating buckets yet have ice cold feet and hands and continue to ache all over. I've had several flu episodes before but this one has been the worst even w/Tamiflu!

[windbreeze]

18. I'm going to post a link to something I received just today.

Listen/read...make your own decisions...personally, I can't believe this is being declared a national emergency at this time...where I live, they need to declare a national emergency for the amount of people dying from cancer...forget the friggin flu...wb

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/10/24/CBS-Reveals-that-Swine-Flu-Cases-Seriously-Overestimated.aspx

[hokies]

24. OH NOES!!!!!

:rofl:

[joeycola]

25. Swine Flu Is Widespread in 46 States as Vaccines Lag... its peaking

now.


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/25/us/politics/25flu.html?_r=1&hp



October 25, 2009
Swine Flu Is Widespread in 46 States as Vaccines Lag

By JACKIE CALMES and DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.

WASHINGTON — President Obama has declared the swine flu outbreak a national emergency, allowing hospitals and local governments to speedily set up alternate sites for treatment and triage procedures if needed to handle any surge of patients, the White House said on Saturday.

The declaration came as thousands of people lined up in cities across the country to receive vaccinations, and as federal officials acknowledged that their ambitious vaccination program has gotten off to a slow start. Only 16 million doses of the vaccine were available now, and about 30 million were expected by the end of the month. Some states have requested 10 times the amount they have been allotted.

Flu activity — virtually all of it the swine flu — is now widespread in 46 states, a level that federal officials say equals the peak of a typical winter flu season. Millions of people in the United States have had swine flu, known as H1N1, either in the first wave in the spring or the current wave.

Although there has been no exact count, officials said the H1N1 virus has killed more than 1,000 Americans and hospitalized over 20,000. The emergency declaration, which Mr. Obama signed Friday night, has to do only with hospital treatment, not with the vaccine. Government officials emphasized that Mr. Obama’s declaration was largely an administrative move that did not signify any unanticipated worsening of the outbreak of the H1N1 flu nationwide. Nor, they said, did it have anything to do with the reports of vaccine shortages.

“This is not a response to any new developments,” said Reid Cherlin, a White House spokesman. “It’s an important tool in our kit going forward.”

Mr. Obama’s declaration was necessary to empower Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of Health and Human Services, to issue waivers that allow hospitals in danger of being overwhelmed with swine flu patients to execute disaster operation plans that include transferring patients off-site to satellite facilities or other hospitals. ......................