Mexico Sneezes and the Whole World Catches a Cold

The end is nigh, and it came from a pigsty.

So the dreaded 'swine flu' has spread to the sacred shores of Great Britain, cue the fear-mongers. We're all going to catch a cold, cough a few times and spend the day in bed. Spare a thought for the male population as we all know the men are going to be hit worse from this horrible outbreak.

I can't really take this 'pandemic' that serious at this moment in time. Its not the first time we've been told we're all doomed. Bird flu seems to have flown away and SARS, BSE and Foot-and-mouth never really got going.

In fact, I can't help but think about the timing of this 'crisis'. It couldn't have come at a better time for Gordon Brown and his withering Labour party. What better way to get the collapse of Labour off the front pages than to go into full crisis mode?

My thoughts were shared in yesterday's Sun. Columnist Fergus Shanahan wrote an article entitled 'Epidemic...or Porkies?' where he discussed the timing and over exaggeration of the whole disease.

One particular paragraph struck me as highly relevant:

"Swine flu may escalate here, but it is unlikely to kill as many as the
NHS bumps off on dirty wars."

Remember the awful 'good time to bury bad news' email in the wake of 9/11? Seems like this attitude is being adopted again.

I'm probably just scared about catching a cold...