Zeitgeist Zephyr

Spirit of the Westward Wind

Archive for April, 2009

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The Swine Cure

Published April 29th, 2009 in A Global Perspective, Economy, Pandemic | No Comments »

Swine Flu: The Facts

  •  Number of deaths (April 29) - 150+
  • Number Infected in U.S. - 91
  • Mortality Rate - Approx. 7.5% (150 deaths/2,000 cases in Mexico)
  • U.S. Mortality Rate - 0% (1% if you include the Mexican baby that died in Houston)
  • Cause of most deaths - complications with pneumonia and other preexisting conditions

Regular Flu: The Facts

  • Number of annual deaths in U.S. - 36,000
  • Number of annual deaths worldwide - 500,000
  • Number of annual cases worldwide - 3 to 5 million
  • Mortality rate - 10% (500,000/5 million)
  • Cause of most deaths - complications with pneumonia and other preexisting conditions

Why is this being hyped up? 

I have a couple of theories why.  Number one, the United States hasn’t ever tested its modern pandemic response system, so this is a way of seeing how people respond, how fast resources can be moved, and how things can be improved in the future.  I find it quite surprising that the U.S., being as close to Mexico as it is, has not ordered the border to be closed or to all out restrict travel to our neighbor to the south until the crisis passes, while in the meantime EU nations are strongly discouraging travel to the America’s, period and Russia has introduced a pork ban on the United States (mind you the infected pigs are in Mexico). 

It’s a test of the system and since the virus, while still frightening in the speed with which it is spreading, isn’t as deadly as say the Bird Flu that still packs a mortality rate of at least 25%, the economy hasn’t shut down and air travel is continuing as normal. Which brings me to an interesting conclusion: if people are taking this seriously enough, it might, just might stimulate the economy with people rushing out to stock pile on foods and other goods.  It won’t be a long term solution to our economic woes, but there could be an uptick in sales of food stuffs and other household items. What else do you do when you can’t go to school or work except sit at home and watch some new DVD’s while tapping in to your stockpile of tomato soup? 

I do applaud the government’s response and once things settle down a little, we can start evaluating how the response was overall and how things can be improved in the future.  I’m still keeping those who are being afflicted with the flu in my prayers and I hope that it’s not as bad as even I’m making it out to be here.   

Facts:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/28/regular.flu/index.html

Swine flu facts - Various news sources. Check Drudge - the “tolls” are constantly updated in the headlines.

Swine Humor

Published April 28th, 2009 in A Global Perspective, Pandemic | 1 Comment »

While still having the utmost most concern for those who are suffering through the new strain of the swine flu, I’d like to take a quick pause and take a look at where this all got started.  

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But seriously folks, I keep hearing people expressing concern over this, and while I might not be a health expert by any stretch, the media and government are overhyping the severity of the crisis.  Most of the people who have died in Mexico, while tragic and shocking, have died as a result of flu-related pneumonia complications, a condition that is easily treatable in the United States.  Plus, most here have a more mild strain that while still virulent, can be treated and cured much as the common flu is.  The only risk is that since our bodies haven’t experienced anything like this before, the risk of the disease having more serious consequences becomes a concern.  

Just wash your hands and cover your coughs and you’ll be fine.  God bless all who have been affected by this virus, you’ve all been in my prayers. 

What were they thinking?

Published April 28th, 2009 in Uncategorized | No Comments »

What were they thinking when they decided to do a photo shoot of Air Force One over New York City?  There’s no reason to be pleased with this and share the anger that many New Yorkers are feeling about this.  Number one, even if they still wanted to do the photo shoot, they could have let the public know in advance, in which case it could have been a time for people to celebrate and peer out the window not in fear but in awe of a Boeing 747 presidential airplane with an F-16 in chase.

The other thing is that computer technology is amazing these days.  Why couldn’t they have taken a picture of Air Force One, while still in flight, and then super-impose the image over New York City with a view of the Statue of Liberty?  I’ve seen it done before with planes in the past, at least we’ll ALL know these pictures are real.  I’d like to see how they turned out, make it worth everyone’s trouble.

On Obama’s Poll Margin

Published April 5th, 2009 in President Obama | No Comments »

I’m tackling this because since it’s the headline on Drudge it’s bound to start making its rounds through the conservative talk show and blog cycle this week, so I’ll make my own preemptive strike on the issue so I don’t have to worry about complaining about it this week.

Pew released a new poll that indicates a 61% difference between Democrats and Republicans in terms of how he is handling his job.  A similar poll for Bush in 2001 had a 51% difference, Clinton had a 45% difference in 1993, and the first Bush had a 38% difference in 1989.  Going back further for Reagan, Carter, and Nixon, the numbers are 46%, 25%, and 29% respectively.  Written out in a list form so they’re easier to see

  •  61
  • 51
  • 45
  • 38
  • 46
  • 25
  • 29

will show that just as a general trend, politics have been becoming more partisan since the late 1960’s during a president’s first term according to polls in the March-April timeframe.  This is as much Obama’s doing as it is W. Bush’s, Clinton’s, Bush’s, Reagan’s, etc.  I encourage you to try to place all the blame on Obama.  

Every politician says they’ll try to work with the other side better to create fairer legislation.  It’s hardly Obama’s fault that there are differences on how to handle an economic crisis, mind you that’s been really the only thing that’s been seriously dealt with since his presidency started.  If it hasn’t been the economy, there’s been a way to tie it into the issue if he’s already tackled it. 

Let’s also not lose sight that politicians have an agenda.  President Obama has an all Democrat Congress.  If he requests a piece of legislation that has x,y and z components, he’ll more than likely get it.  Compared to Bush, who was so conservative we really don’t know what he was, he had a Democrat controlled Senate and Republican controlled House in 2001.  Think anything could get passed in that environment very easily? Clinton had Democrats in both houses of Congress, so his difference was high, but HW Bush had to put up with Democrats in both houses during his first year too, so he had to be more bi-partisan, hence a lower difference.  I could go on for hours, but for the purposes of pleasing my conservative readership, Reagan had to deal with a Democratically controlled House his first year in office, so, again, not a lot got accomplished, and the numbers are eerily similar to W. Bush’s in a similar situation.   

My point?  It’s all a matter of what a president is faced with and their ability to get things passed.  Clinton’s first term was an all Democratic government much as it is now, the numbers being virtually the same in the House and Senate.  I’m sure that if he were dealing with an economic crisis much like this at that time, he would be responding in similar fashion with a similar public response.  This is by no means a reflection on Obama himself, just a reflection of how the Democrats are choosing to handle the crisis and that America is still America and not everyone agrees with their chosen strategy. 

Sources: 

Party Politics from 1945 to 2009: http://uspolitics.about.com/od/usgovernment/l/bl_party_division_2.htm

Pew Research Center Article: http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1178/polarized-partisan-gap-in-obama-approval-historic    

Space Station Alpha Nears Completion

Published April 2nd, 2009 in Space Update | No Comments »

n1195081123_30163401_9511.jpg

With the completion of the STS-119 shuttle mission, the ISS is nearing completion and now for the first time appears (almost completely) as artists have been depicting it since the 1990’s.  A few budget cuts have been made since and with the Columbia accident some components had to be cut due to the inability of the remaining shuttle missions to completely deliver components.

As some who know me are aware, I built a scale model of the International Space Station from scratch a few years back spanning from 2004-2006, putting in over 175 hours into the project.  I made sure that in representing the station, it would mimic its final form and for the first time since I finished the model two and half years ago, it nearly represents reality (at least as far as the station’s solar panels are concerned.)

Here’s a comparison of my model and the ISS as it appeared from the shuttle as it left station last week. (Note the space shuttle in my model is built to the same scale as the space station).

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