Funny you should mention. I'm finding that I have some trouble taking this panic seriously because I associate the phrase "Swine Flu" almost entirely with the Ford administration.

It reminds me of my mom, and Pigs in Space.

CLEARLY the swine flu pandemic is a Socialist plot to trick us into accepting universal healthcare.

I don't know how I didn't see it before. Four years of Obama and we'll be Sweden. Could be worse for us men folk, but women folk are going to have to learn to be blonder and taller.

I'm waiting with bated breath to find out precisely how this is Obama's fault.

Actually, there is an interesting political connection. During the debate over the stimulus package, Susan Collins and Arlen Specter got $900 million for pandemic flue preparations dropped from the final bill. It was part of the whole "laughing over silly-sounding programs" that ended up biting Jindal in the butt when Mt. Redoubt blew.

Oh...maybe the swine flu jokes were on Veternarian's Hospital?

xkcd takes on the swine flu panic on twitter: [link]

I love the Questionable Content reference....

Gudanov, The Daily Show had a two-part series with Wyatt Cenac in Sweden investigating just that!

I have stopped watching TDS because I've been too busy with other things. I'll have to catch that on video, it sounds good.

for me it is hand sanitizers. most of them are alcohol based. Which drys my hands. and cause cracks , where germs can get in....

I've been using hand sanitizers three times a day -- I have one from Rite-Aid with little shea beads in it, and it surprisingly works well to keep hands from drying out.

geez, like Mexico needs anything else - earthquake just hit.

Go Emaryn! Three goals out of six would earn her Emmett's highest commendation: "Emaryn is beast mode!"

Sample conversation:

Emmett: "Kitara is beast mode. Who do you think is most beast mode on Avatar? I think it's Iroh."
Me: "Iroh is definitely beast mode. You almost overlook him because he's the title character but Aang is pretty beast mode."
Emmett: I think Roku's second after Iroh. What do you think?"
Me: "Hmmm. Probably Toph. After all she did invent metal bending."
Emmett: "Yeah. Toph is totally beast mode."

What's the song most likely to make you burst in tears.

When I first separated from EM I made several mix tapes of saddest songs designed entirely to pull tears out of the well. Lots of incredibly sad songs there, including Mary Black's heartbreaking version of the anti-war "My Youngest Son Came Home Today" and Alison Krause's "Jesus Help Me To Stand."

But I think the cryingest song for me had nothing to do with romantic heartbreak, but "Scarborough Settler's Lament" by the late great Canadian folk singer Stan Rogers (one of the prettiest male voices I've ever hard. A burnished baritone.) The song's about a Scotsman in Canada missing the home country, knowing he'll never see it again. And it's so detailed and novelistic in its conjuring of memory, and the melody is so yearning and Rogers' voice and performance are so gorgeous and sad that it always cracks me open.

This isn't Stan Rogers, but this guy does a great version.