WRAPUP 1-Mexico orders economic shutdown; pandemic imminent

Reuters ^ | Thu Apr 30, 2009 | Catherine Bremer and Laura MacInnis

[penelopesire]

MEXICO CITY/GENEVA, April 30 (Reuters) - Mexico's president told citizens to stay home from Friday for a five-day partial shutdown of the economy, after the World Health Organisation raised its alert level and said a swine flu pandemic was imminent.

In his first televised address since the crisis erupted last week, President Felipe Calderon told Mexicans to stay home with their families. The country will suspend non-essential work and services, including some government ministries, from May 1-5.

"There is no safer place than your own home to avoid being infected with the flu virus," Calderon said.

[The Pack Knight]

I generally agree. While, from what I've seen and heard, there's no cause for real alarm or panic just yet, as so far the effects have been relatively mild. We don't know enough, though, to disregard it as "nothing", and it certainly holds the potential to become a more serious problem.

I certainly don't think this has been manufactured or exaggerated by the Obama Administration, though I'm certain it will be used as political football by both liberals (to promote government medicine) and conservatives (to promote closing the borders). It's entirely unnecessary for the President to "manufacture" a crisis out of this; the media will do that for him, and not for any political reason. With respect to an earlier poster on this thread, it's ludicrous to suggest that the media are fudging the numbers in order to downplay the seriousness of this outbreak; they have every incentive to exaggerate the crisis in the minds of the public in order to boost ratings and sell more newspapers.

So absolutely, don't panic, but don't disregard this as meaningless, either. Go about your life, but take precautions. Besides, many of the most effective precautions are things you should be doing anyway, like washing your hands! I strongly suspect that the disparity in the number of deaths and infections between the United States and Mexico has much more to do with hygiene than medical care.

[4woodenboats]

Funny, but your post is a dead ringer for what I just heard out of Nappin J just 20 minutes ago.

[Quix]

Quite plausible.

[The Pack Knight]

Not to mention the fact that I’m not sure I completely trust diagnoses made in Mexican hospitals. Definitely not in the middle of a panic like this. A lot of diseases have flu-like symptoms, after all, so I suspect there’s potential for misdiagnoses going both ways.

[Quix]

Dimitru Duduman had dreams and visions of . . .

your residency aiding in the attack on the USA . . . and receiving Hawaii as thanks . . . though I realize they already essentially own it. LOL.

[Fresh Wind]

Free medical care in the USA!!

Come on up, amigos!

[Quix]

Somewhat better awake late

than never.

. . . depending . . .

[Quix]

You are sincerely welcome

. . . Eagles . . .

and

. . . sanity . . .

. . . !!!!UP!!!!. . .

DOWN with treason, duplicity, tyranny, evil, Godlessness.

[Quix]

I’m not convinced about the original origins . . .

Thought initially that the 3 components were highly unlikely to come together naturally.

That’s still my bias. I’m just not AS convinced of that as I initially was.

[LibertyRocks]

I’m thinking Texas’ Governor might have the guts required. He was the one causing all the stir over the 10th Amendment...

They might not be able to close the federal borders (at the interstates and such), but would it be legal to call out the Texas National Guard to assist border agents to “seal” to the best of our ability the “illegal immigration” routes?

I don’t know Texas law at all, but I’d bet there may be some law on the books down there that might even permit County sheriffs and such to deputize citizens to guard the border...

Again though — I honestly don’t know how much good this would do at this point. Containment between Mexico to America seems to me (at this point) perhaps an unnecessary use of resources that could be better employed in other ways...

I’m very much Anti-Illegal Immigration, so these steps to close at least the “non-legal” routes wouldn’t bother me one bit, and I think it should’ve been done YEARS ago. Just not sure how effective closing our borders, or these illegal “routes” would be at controlling spread of this disease.

I could be totally wrong on that. I admit I’m thinking right now of either a CDC or WHO spokesperson who said something to the effect of “containment is futile” at this point... That it is already worldwide.

[The Pack Knight]

I don’t think there’s any reason a state couldn’t do that. They’d have to stop and check everyone though, citizens and aliens alike, or risk running afoul of both the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and the Rule of Naturalization Clause of Article I, Section 8.

Now, if, in addition to screening everyone for the flu, they arrested those who they had probable cause to believe were committing a crime, such as being in the country illegally, then they’d be acting within their legal authority.

[AmericanInTokyo]

That is certainly something every Freeper would be able to agree with, regardless of some of our differing takes on general matters.

[4woodenboats]

Are US hospitals doing this yet?

According to "round up the rednecks" Nappin Janet, it's a waste to do anything now that it's on continent.

[Quix]

Thanks.

Glad of that.

I sure hope FREEPERS are still that sane and unbrainwashed! LOL.

It’s still a bit strange to have so many more awake now . . . after struggling so many years as a screaming mimi alarm clock! LOL.

[happinesswithoutpeace]

Evening bro.

[The Pack Knight]

Like I mentioned in post 111, as long as Texas authorities don't discriminate between citizens and aliens in checking people crossing the border for swine flue, then they're probably fine.

I don't know of any reason why they couldn't call out the Texas National Guard - certainly not the Posse Comitatus Act, which doesn't apply at all to National Guard units acting on state rather than federal authority. In "sealing" illegal immigration routes, though, they could not prevent legal aliens from crossing just because they're aliens.

Also, while I think I know what you mean about Perry, I should point out that the 10th Amendment has little to do with this. The power to determine who may enter the United States is one "delegated to the United States by the Constitution", and the power to deny equal protection of the laws is "prohibited by it to the States."

[AmericanInTokyo]

Japan is not accepting the fait d' accompli that "the barn door is open and it is futile to contain" and other such WHO and Obama poppycock. They may get some cases at the end of the day, but they are going to to do their level best to a) first make sure it does not arrive on their shores; b) if it does, take a no nonsense attitude toward it. Central in this is border and immigration control. I see other nations in Asia acting, too, as we speak. The example the United States if giving is reprehensible and a joke. That video of US border agents just waving through Mexican after Mexican down at the border turnstiles said it all for me, many without masks; consider the situation of those going unauthorized routes with a coyote. You can do this, i.e protect your sovereign Nation and People, when unfettered from the nonsense of political correctness but steeped in both a) common sense; and b) can-do attitude.

PS General open question to the late night FR crowd. The little foreign fellow (RIP) who died horribly in Houston at a Children's Hospital? They said he and his parents were in the USA as "visitors" from Mexico. This news broke almost 24 hours ago. We are talking a possible pandemic here. Has ANYONE, any enterprising journalist or government official with candor, ascertained and reported what their precise "visitor status" was? What travel documents were they on? What kind of visa (work? tourist?) If this is not clear, how could such a serious situation touching on their border integrity and national security, not be known by the American people 24 hours later?

[AmericanInTokyo]

Good g*d you must be joking. Serious? Sheesh, its worse than I thought!

[Quix]

Many years ago, I read of a study of the mixing of the atmosphere . . .

The study made the incredible assertion that the air we breathe, the atmosphere above us . . . which we walk about in . . .

IS SOOOOOOOOO THOROUGHLY MIXED

that every person alive . . . has breathed at least some molecules of air that every other person who has ever lived UP TO THAT TIME has breathed.

I’ve often thought that the demonized bio-warfare satists probably have not thought about such things or are so suicidally arrogant that they don’t have the capacity to think sanely about such things . . . or are insanely hell bound regardless.

Who in any hint of a right mind would create a pathogen that would be air borne and the least bit durable?

Eric Fromm was right in THE SAN SOCIETY.

In an insane society, only the insane are “sane.”

[LibertyRocks]

Good point...

I’m honestly still leaning to the theory of some kind of terrorist action that “went wrong” [This was too “quick” of a mutation that skipped steps, and the involvement of the pig farm makes sense as being a “lab” for this as pigs could be described as a “perfect incubator” and way for these strains to have combined. Plus, terrorists, and the drug cartels down there are KNOWN to work together - drugs, arms, money, transport into the US, etc...]

There is even a remote POSSIBILITY that something genetically within people of Mexican descent may make them more susceptible to getting a “worse” case (kind of like how blacks are prone to sickle-cell anemia, or that disease I can’t remember the name of that effects those of Jewish descent). WHO KNOWS REALLY?

I also know there’s a pretty decent theory out there about a known contaminated vaccine, and BAXTER Pharmaceuticals being involved in this as well. I would hate to think that would end up being the real explanation, but again, so many evil things that happen in this world all go back to GREED, and ARROGANCE.

Regardless of HOW, everyone I’ve spoken to that has what I recognize as WAY more education on how viruses mutate (and can explain it with all the proper scientific terms and such) have confirmed my suspicion that there is NO WAY this “evolved” naturally and that makes the “mad scientist” theories some of the only plausible ones out there...

The one thing I’m leaving out — which I perhaps shouldn’t — is that GOD Himself has warned of plagues... There sure are a lot of those signs in the Bible lining up right now! And, as we’ve discussed it’s like on hyper-drive right now... Still no reason to panic though! At least not if you know you’re “right” with God to the best of your ability! :)