We're All Gonna Die

[erika]

I've been planning for a zombie holocaust for some years now. Just like every other red blooded American man.

Am I the only one that doesn't get the whole "zombie/robot/ninja" thing that every 20-something seems to be obsessed over?

Yup. The rest of us are completely obsessed with it.

[ericluxury]

After bird flu, madcow, ebola and SARS, its hard to take any of this seriously.

The media does love pumping up stories like this. BUT - past warnings of threats that haven't materialized are not evidence that the swine flu is not a serious danger.

It really is the government's and media's job to warn us about stuff like this, and warnings, by their nature, have a large degree of uncertainty.

Thats true but its the most frustrating part. This shit could happen, so constantly hitting the panic button is completely useless. Also the way they cover these things is useless. There is no actual information to the panic, just info on where the cases are and long lists of measures various places are taking. Measures informed by people that are most likely just as badly informed as anyone else.

Lets say the epidemic doesn't materialize the way it hasn't for any of the other diseases that we've been told to go apeshit about (avian flu and west nile could be added to my previous list). Do you think any measures will be taken to stop pigs from being pumped full of anti-biotics so that they can be bred so closely to one another. The exact conditions that will make a super-flu that could threaten everyone.

[Pidgeon]

I've been planning for a zombie holocaust for some years now. Just like every other red blooded American man.

Am I the only one that doesn't get the whole "zombie/robot/ninja" thing that every 20-something seems to be obsessed over?

Yup. The rest of us are completely obsessed with it.

I know.

[TacoSmith]

I've been planning for a zombie holocaust for some years now. Just like every other red blooded American man.

Am I the only one that doesn't get the whole "zombie/robot/ninja" thing that every 20-something seems to be obsessed over?

Wait, have you seen the blueprints for my robo-ninjombie?

[erika]

I just realized I turn 30 this year. Does that mean I have to find a new obsession? Sasquatch, perhaps?

[Bryan]

I just realized I turn 30 this year. Does that mean I have to find a new obsession? Sasquatch, perhaps?

I've found that death by natural causes is a good obsession for us 30-somethings.

[yesno]

I just realized I turn 30 this year. Does that mean I have to find a new obsession? Sasquatch, perhaps?

I think Jesse Thune did a podcast about this.  World War I Flying Ace is a good contender.

[Pidgeon]

I just realized I turn 30 this year. Does that mean I have to find a new obsession? Sasquatch, perhaps?

Not trendy enough, sorry.

[JonFromMaplewood]

I'm just waiting for the methane burp that ends all life on this planet.

[sushi cowboy]

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-sci-swine-reality30-2009apr30,0,3606923.story

Turns out, maybe, um, might have, erm, hit the alarm a bit quick. Who knew 36,000 people die of the flu every year in the U.S. alone? I mean, besides the experts and google.

[Sarah]

I did.  Bunch of damn hysterics.  And, in the case of the media, hysterics desperate to fill too many hours of programming.

[ericluxury]

It's crazy to think that in light of all the reaction to swine flu, that not that long ago it took 8 years for a reaction to AIDS. I was totally against the hysterics, but once I remembered that I realized that maybe the hysterics are okay.

[iAmBaronVonTito]

I've been planning for a zombie holocaust for some years now. Just like every other red blooded American man.

I read the Zombie Survival Guide and I have to admit, I started sizing up my apartment. I had a realty check at a hardware store when I passed a counter with machete's and I wondered "if I get one for each of my roommates, should I get a larger one for the biggest guy I live with."

THANKS, MEL BROOKS' SON. You've started me on my first steps towards forming a militia.

since reading that book, similarly, ive had the same thought process; although, it usually involves, "does this place have roof access?" true story.

I've been planning for a zombie holocaust for some years now. Just like every other red blooded American man.

Am I the only one that doesn't get the whole "zombie/robot/ninja" thing that every 20-something seems to be obsessed over?

These same people seem to like George Carlin too, who I also "don't get."

i can admit im not obssessed, but it really comes down to the movies.  ninja movies, eh.  robot movies, probably not.  but people coming back from the dead, their muscles and motor functions working without any further decomposition, maybe?

not to mention, zombie movies still keep me on the edge of my seat: "run!  just fucking run!"

[Sarah]

It's crazy to think that in light of all the reaction to swine flu, that not that long ago it took 8 years for a reaction to AIDS. I was totally against the hysterics, but once I remembered that I realized that maybe the hysterics are okay.

It has been known from the start that this is just a flu.  Hysterics were never justified.  They are almost entirely a result of news organizations' frantic need never to stop nattering on and on and on and on.

As for AIDS, it didn't take eight years for people to figure out that it was a hell of a lot more serious than a flu.  They just didn't care at first because they thought only the four H's were vulnerable to it.

[Pidgeon]

@ iAmBaronVonTito:

I have to say, I'm way more interested in raptor-proofing my house than zombie-proofing. Ever since Jurassic Park came out in '93, I've always imagined what I would do in that situation.