Donald Trump and the Mexican Nightmare

He launched his campaign like an angry orange Hitler on steroids, by calling Mexicans drug dealers and rapists, vowing to immediately deport 11 million undocumented immigrants.

Build a great wall along the southern border, and make Mexico pay for it.

But when Donald Trump realized he was alienating moderate Republicans and his polls were starting to resemble a rapidly deflating piñata, he decided he should moderate his image.

So off to Mexico he went...

Stephen Harper and the Con Klown Tour of Mexico

When I saw this picture of Stephen Harper in Mexico City, and saw all those soldiers firing their guns in his general direction, for a moment I thought his Three Amigos Summit was going to be even more disastrous than I had imagined.

But no it wasn't a firing squad. It was the only 21-gun salute the Mexicans were willing to give Lord Harper, so little respect do they have for him.

And it's all downhill from here eh? Because the trip is shaping as an unmitigated disaster. 

Swine Flu: Some Good News at Last

It's too soon to let our guard down. Complacency can still be fatal. Millions of people could still die.

But it looks as if the new influenza virus isn't the killer of 1918.

And more good news if you can call it that. It also looks like many people in Mexico might have died because they didn't receive proper medical attention in time. Or self medicated themselves.

There may well be other factors to explain why patients like Mrs. Gutiérrez, whose medical records show a desperate, belated scramble by doctors to keep her alive, are dying in Mexico at a higher rate than flu patients elsewhere. Mexicans may have been hit by a different, deadlier strain, or the flu may have infected more people who had other health problems, researchers speculate.

But one important factor may be the eclectic approach to health care in Mexico, where large numbers of people self-prescribe antibiotics, take only homeopathic medicine, or seek out mysterious vitamin injections. For many, only when all else fails do they go to a doctor, who may or may not be well prepared.

And the danger is that the same thing could happen in other parts of the world.

As the outbreak spreads, and so does panic. And people try to get their hands on anti-viral drugs like Tamiflu.

Because along with a drug called Relenza it's the main weapon in our arsenal to fight a pandemic. Misusing one or the other could cause resistance to spread.

And a new study suggests that if a pandemic breaks out we will need both of them.

What they learned was that the best possible way to stop a pandemic from spreading was for every country to have stockpiles of two different antiviral drugs to treat flu: A primary stockpile and a secondary one. The first wave of cases should be treated with the secondary drug until it runs out, then the next wave should be treated with the primary drug. This knocks out the first wave of virus, and then just as it begins to evolve resistance hits it with a new drug.

Apparently in scenarios where public health officials respond like this, using what's called "sequential drug multitherapy" or SMC, the spread of the virus is reduced significantly. "Monotherapy," or the treatment with just one drug, created a lot of drug-resistant flu strains and did not significantly impair the spread of the epidemic.

And since many countries don't even have enough of ONE drug, you can imagine what could happen.

Today was a good day.

But the battle is far from over....

Pandemic Alert: What does it Really Mean?

Well I see the World Health Organization has kicked up it's Pandemic Alert from stage four to stage five.

But what does it really mean?

Answer: Not much. Especially if you live in a developed country like Canada where pandemic preparations are well advanced.

It's really aimed at the developing countries where millions of poor people are vulnerable to any kind of flu. And their governments need to assess their emergency response capabilities...and ask for help if necessary.

Instead of doing stupid things like this.

And so people everywhere can be encouraged to do the simple things that can make a difference. Like washing their hands. Or staying home if they get sick.

Instead of just freaking out.

What it also means is that it probably won't be long before we move from level five to level six...the Pandemic Phase. Because the difference between the two is minimal.

But that only means the bug is spreading widely, and it doesn't mean we're all going to DIE.

Because we still don't know how deadly this bug really is. And there is room for optimism.

The virus could still turn out to be relatively harmless. Just a few days of discomfort....or a another good reason to call in sick.

Which is why I'm not panicking yet.

And the only thing I'm worried about right now is how the hell am I supposed to look cool and sexy this summer ?

Dressed like this....














And what about my poor dog? He LOVES pork chops.

You know I think I once read that every time you laugh you boost your immune system.

So my advice to everyone right now is don't panic. Prepare for the worst. Wash your hands. Laugh like your life depended on it.

And let your health professionals do the worrying...

Swine Flu: Are Travel Bans Necessary?

I see the World Health Organization has raised the pandemic alert to four.

Which only tells us that this new virus travels easily from human to human. Instead of raising it to five which would among other things trigger all kind of travel bans.

But who can blame them?

A decision about travel restrictions or advisories, for example, could affect trade and finances at a time of economic chaos. If the public health emergency declared by the W.H.O. and the Obama administration turns out to be a false alarm, officials will be ridiculed for unnecessarily worrying millions of people — perhaps even for creating fear to justify their budgets.

Especially when they can't be sure how lethal this virus really is:

Occasionally, alerts of a new virus, or a mutation of an old one, come from a laboratory. More often, fatalities are the first clue.

But high initial death rates often fall as officials find that the causative microbe also causes mild, even symptomless cases. Officials may learn that the outbreak has gone on silently for weeks, even months.

And Mexico isn't providing enough answers.

A portrait is emerging of a slow and confused response by Mexico to the gathering swine flu epidemic. And that could mean the world is flying blind into a global health storm.

It remained unclear where and how the epidemic began, how it has spread, who it has killed or how fast it is growing. And the government has yet to take some basic steps critical to containing any outbreak, such as quick treatment of people who had contact with the victims.

But who can blame the Mexicans when the real problem is poverty?

Or blame the WHO for taking that into account...and understanding what a complete travel ban could do to Mexico's shattered economy?














Especially since the virus cannot be contained. Not a single person has died anywhere else in the world. And the global economic crisis has already forced 50 million people in the developing countries into extreme poverty.

The kind of poverty that KILLS.

The WHO had to choose between the outbreak and the recession, and they came down in the middle.

Which at this point doesn't really change anything anyway. Once an influenza bug starts spreading NOTHING can stop it. It'll find you in Acapulco..... it'll find you in Chibougamou.

Until we determine whether the virus is a killer...or has mutated into something less lethal...we can't really determine the right response.

And kicking up the alert a notch could cause mass panic...for nothing.

Not that anything can help the WHO. Even if they're right they'll be criticized.

If they're wrong they'll be damned. And there is only one message we need right now.

Don't panic...be PREPARED.