The powers that be trying to kick things up another notch… more hype and B.S. to panic us world full of lemmings over the edge… Already A MILLION infected, and a whopping 189 dead, translating to a whopping 0.0189% of those infected (so far at least)…  To whatever extent this is real, so far it sounds like another great way to “persuade” us all to get a dozen pricey flu shot vaccines that will likely make us much more ill than just taking our chances with the flu strains themselves…

Translation: Bartender, another beer please! Oink, oink! Photo art by Michelle.

As I was standing in a ridiculously long, “fast” check-out line at the grocery store yesterday evening, an impatient gentleman shouted out to everyone waiting, “We can’t have a line like this! After all, it’s the Swine Flu Pandemic!”.

Perhaps in this man’s mind he thought his plea would be a ploy to speed up the line (Wait time a total of seven minutes, not that bad and you only have three items in your basket sir, some stockpile. And Mister, the cashiers making ten bucks an hour don’t give a flying **** what you shout!). Or sadly, this man is a fine example of what happens to someone who buys into the mainstream media’s “panic-demic” proportioned pandemonium. They become oafish Lemmings.

Seriously, is it just me or doesn’t it seem like there’s a new designer, potentially pandemic virus or disease that becomes a hot topic in the news every couple of years? Let’s revisit JUST the early 2000′s briefly, shall we? Off the top of my head… hmmm…SARS rings a bell, and there was that post(al) 9/11 Anthrax scare, for us East Coasters West Nile Virus was a bitch, ughh….with those nasty spray trucks spritzing all of Manhattan….what else, what else….oh, an Ebola outbreak in 2004 and something about a flesh-eating virus if I recall correctly. I’m sure I’m leaving something out…ah, the Avian flu!

And now we can add the Swine Flu outbreak of 2009 to that list! However, this isn’t the first swine influenza outbreak, add the Spanish flu of 1918, and the swine influenza of 1976 to that list. The 1918 – 1919 flu pandemic may have resulted from swine to humans (like what we have now) or the reverse. The evidence available at that time was unable to substantiate the matter. The Spanish influenza infected approximately one third of the world’s populace, killing about fifty million people. It sucked big time.

The 1976 U.S. outbreak claimed only one death from the flu and forty million U.S. citizens vaccinated. Conversely, the immunizations may have been the cause of 500 cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome claiming 25 deaths from severe pulmonary complications.

The 2009 swine flu is a new strain of H1N1 swine influenza that can adapt to humans and “spread more efficiently than previously known swine flu strains”. Latest reports say that it has infected 2,770 people globally resulting with 152 dead in Mexico and possible two here in the States. This new strain may be able to spread faster, however, according to this article & the CDC, about 36,000 people die EVERY year in the U.S from influenza. Other stats claim a higher number of 56,000 (quite a discrepancy, right?).

So to put this whole swine flu hysteria in perspective, it’s the flu and will most likely target the elderly, young children or people who are chronically ill. People, please use some freakin’ common sense AND manners. Don’t sneeze or cough on others, wash your hands regularly (like you always should!), clean busy surface areas in your home with chlorinated bleach (diluted please, and don’t drink it, duh) and keep bottled water on hand in case of an emergency.

Like everyone else I have no idea (pay attention, this is my disclaimer) what the future may bring, and this may become a pandemic. But unlike 1918, we have advanced medical and communications advantages. It pisses me off when you come across an article like this beauty that paints the swine flu like it’s the coming of the next black plague!

With Mexico’s tourism already hit hard by drug wars and the Atlantic Hurricane season just around the corner, it may be a fine time to start looking for cheap Mexican travel deals after this outbreak (and maybe a hurricane or two) blows over. Or even better yet – cheaper beachfront real estate!

For giggles I had to include this from Yahoo! Answers.  It’s always helpful when twelve-year-olds give their perspectives.  Not that mine’s much better.  Anyway here’s the question:

Should I cancel my Mexico vacation?

My famliy is going on vacation to Mexico in a month. How serious is the swine flu outbreak? Should I cancel my vacation to Mexico (Cancun) and go somewhere else. What would you do?

Thanx

Favorite Reply:

No, you can always bring masks and wash your hands very often.

It’s gonna spread to America, anyways, so why not have some fun before you die?

Another year, and another pandemic-potential flu virus outbreak. This year’s hoopla is over the swine influenza (H1N1) virus (swine flu) outbreaks in pigs which has also traversed to humans. Granted, this is frightening stuff. Perhaps what’s more frightening about this outbreak than other recent avian flu outbreaks is that not only are these closer to home, but that there have already been confirmed cases in humans from California to New York City. The outbreak seems to have spread from Mexico outward, as eight students at a New York Catholic high school that contracted swine flu had been to Mexico over spring break just two weeks ago.

Grounding ourselves back to reality, with so many protective measures now being taken, it’s likely that this outbreak will eventually fizzle out like those in previous years. Already many of the students are recovering, and with the heightening level of awareness people will be extra cautious. For those who want extra protection, I’ve heard that Sambucol (black elderberry extract) may be helpful in warding off flu virus attacks.

In the meantime, with all the hype around this outbreak (#swineflu is the top tweeted phrase on Twitter today!) is there some way to Pass Me The Pork on this crazy PIG FLU?!

Already Friday, several of the top flu vaccine “penny stocks” began moving sharply higher, and there’s likely more potential opportunity for greater moves higher on Monday. The current leader is NASD:NVAX (Novavax, Inc.), already up 75% on Friday alone. Scientists at Novavax have successfully developed the first multi-strain flu vaccine, though it may not be FDA approved in time to help with the current flu outbreak. As these stocks will already likely gap even higher pre-market Monday morning, you better watch the price action closely, don’t chase, and consider scaling in as higher bases form. If it’s too wild, stay away and wait until they calm down.

Some of these stocks may also turn out to be great shorts later this week. For disclosure purposes, I already managed to pick up some shares in a few of these stocks on Friday so I already have a nice little cushion, and will watch closely Monday for the opportunity to add more (or begin unloading if one of these stocks just goes completely berserk).  But remember… Don’t stick around too long, hit and run baby! Well, enough rambling…

Here’s the list of stocks to consider (NVAX – Novavax, BCRX – Biocryst, GNBT – Generex, SVA – Sinovax, and MYL – Mylan/Roche/Tamiflu/oseltamivir). From the charts and data below, you’ll also notice a few of them have built up a significant short interest for some seriously whopping short-squeeze potential. Do your due diligence, don’t blink, and you just may be able to turn these pigs into some of your own PORK!

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