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February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
May 1, 2009
/ 7 Iyar 5769
Swine flu should prompt closure of U.S.-Mexican border
By
Diana West
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
I don't get why "swine flu" equals worldwide pandemonium while the generic flu that kills hundreds of thousands of people every year is a non-event. But OK, the experts do, which is why I guess the Obama administration has kicked into pandemic-prevention mode, declaring a full-blown "national health emergency."
But if the administration talks up the emergency, how seriously, really, is it taking the emergency?
Let's review. Scores of deaths in Mexico are attributed to "swine flu." Check. A New York City school becomes a swine flu hotspot after students return from Mexico. Check. The United Sates declares a "national health emergency" on Sunday. Check. Also on Sunday, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano notes that travel advisories have not been issued by the State Department, nor is the United States going to screen passengers on flights arriving from Mexico.
Not check. While the U.S. government went ahead and issued a travel advisory on nonessential travel to Mexico on Monday, it has still in no way restricted travel from Mexico, not even for a day or two to assess the path and scope of the outbreak. This is why at the end of Swine Flu, Week One, the first line of flu defense at the U.S.-Mexican border are American bus drivers spraying their buses with cans of Lysol.
There is something screwy going on. It started with the unfathomable official insistence from the get-go that closing the border on a pandemic emerging in Mexico was pointless even as the same officials simultaneously declared their ignorance on the nature and potential of the contagious new bug. But why curb nonessential travel into the hot zone, as the U.S. government ultimately did, without curbing nonessential travel out of the hot zone? It didn't make sense. But this is the position that became policy. "At this point, (health officials) have not recommended a border closing," President Obama said at his Wednesday press conference: "From their perspective, it would be akin to closing the barn door after the horses are out, because we already have cases here in the United States."
Well, relatively few cases here in the United States, Mr. President, with some significant number of them having come in via Mexico. If public health is the overriding concern, why guarantee more such "horses" keep coming? If, indeed.
"Closing the border would yield only very marginal benefits," Napolitano told the Senate on Wednesday. "At the same time, closing the border has very high costs." Aha: benefits versus costs. What did Napolitano mean? Such costs, as she told NBC, include the "thousands of trucks and lots of commerce that cross that border." Does that mean that blocking the path to market for, say, Mexican-grown strawberries isn't worth the "very marginal benefits" of potentially saving American lives? Chilling thought.
The World Health Organization, as of this writing, isn't issuing travel advisories to affected areas for similar non-health reasons. "Border controls do not work. Travel restrictions do not work," WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl insisted early in the week, as reported by Fox News. Referring to the 2003 SARS outbreak, during which WHO actively discouraged nonessential travel to cities including Hong Kong, Beijing and Toronto a move, Fox notes, that world health experts say "sharply cut the spread of SARS" Hartl added: "There was much more economic disruption caused by these measures than there was public health benefit."
This is getting downright creepy. In whose opinion was there more "economic disruption" than "public health benefit" the people who didn't fall victim to SARS or the people who mourned temporarily lower profits? And why does what is ostensibly a global health organization weigh the bottom line more than, well, global health? It seems that our leaders, both domestic and global, are attaching greater importance to potentially lost revenue than to potentially lost people.
WHO Director-General Margaret Chan let it all hang out: "By definition, pandemic influenza will move around the world. ... Does that mean we are going to bring the world's economy to a standstill?" Nice bedside manner, that. Little wonder China, certainly a proponent of keeping the world's economy moving, "extended full support" when Chan was a candidate to lead WHO.
Of course, when it comes to the U.S.-Mexican border, there's probably a deeper, more psychological reason it remains open: Our government doesn't want to close it, not for anything. George W. Bush didn't want to secure the border, not even to stop terrorist incursions or illegal immigration, and Barack H. Obama doesn't want to secure the border, not even to stop terrorist incursions, illegal immigration, drug cartel violence or what is being billed as the 21st century plague. It might set a dangerous precedent. It might demonstrate to citizens of both countries that the United States is capable of controlling its borders. To the globalists and amnesty proponents of the past and present administrations, that is the scariest prospect of all, scarier even the prospect of the great flu pandemic of 2009.
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