In Which A Red State Contributor is Asinine, Surprise, Surprise

Mark Impomeni over at Red State doesn’t seem to have gotten the memo, re: World War II is over. Apparently laboring under the notion  that we are still at war with Japan, Impomeni will not brook the leader of our proud nation making a gesture of respect to the leader of a foreign nation with whom we were once at war, unless it is by giving them the uncomfortablest back rub ever.

Then again, Impomeni writes at Red State – if the President had visited Japan for the express purpose dropping a nuclear bomb on something, Impemoni would have still found a way to call it unpatriotic. And just wait until the Obama visits China, where people sell t-shirts of the President in hats worn by history’s most famous communist. Allow me to channel Impomeni from about one day from now:

Blarrg! Socialism, socialism, the t-shirt proves it! And also, why are we not killing more asians, which is the only right and proper thing for America to do? Blargh!

 

Big In Japan

It would appear that reports of the demise of the swine flu have been rather greatly exaggerated.

On the heels of the new H1N1 strain being confirmed in mainland China last week, more than 2,000 schools throughout Japan have closed their doors in hopes of stemming the spread of the virus. The worse news is that unlike previous cases found in Japan, this outbreak of flu has no clear connection to international travel, suggesting that the virus has already become self sustaining in the densely populated nation.

So what’s to be worried about? Probably nothing for the moment, as the A/H1N1 virus seems to be remaining highly contagious, but infrequently lethal. But it’s arrival in Asia carries with it the potential of what can only be described as a nightmare scenario.

The continuing spread of A/H1N1 throughout the world, even after the end of the traditional flu season, means that there may simply be very little we can do to prevent the continuing spread of this highly contagious strain, especially when a fresh flu season begins in earnest later this year.

Which isn’t the bad news.

The bad news is that the presence of the virus in Asia, especially in self perpetuation, means that an eventual meeting of the minds between swine flu and avian flu that remains endemic in parts of Asia is more or less a foregone conclusion. When that happens, there’s a chance for the two strains to hybridize, resulting in a new flu that combines the high human to human transmissibility of the swine flu and the staggering (60% +) human fatality rates of avian flu. Just how great that chance is is anyone’s guess. But World Health Organization Director – General Margaret Chan had this to say on the current flu situation, which she described as “the calm before the storm.”

“For the first time in humanity, we are seeing, or we may be seeing, pandemic influenza evolving in front of our eyes.”

 Now whether we can do anything effectively to prevent it is another matter.