Would it be so wrong...

[thomas]

Or 'Protect and Survive'. How to survive a direct nuclear hit using a matres and two bits of wet string!

Haha. What the government didn't realise was that on the website for it you could order extra copies, in extra languages. Well, what seemed like a good idea at the time (now seems like a massive waste of tax money, but never mind) was to put friend's addresses in and order them a few in most languages under the sun. I'm surprised none of us got raided by immigration.

The video they made was quite funny though, they had to cater for every type of person, so one family had a deaf person, a blind neighbour, a family friend who didn't speak English and so on, and they were all best of friends. I don't think they actually hired actors for the video either.

Imagine the poor sods who've booked honeymoons etc in Cancún etc. They must be really peed off etc.

I'd imagine some people will still go.

 

[Arch]

Wasn't it to do with the black death? Same thing as a some nursery rhymes.

I think I've heard that story debunked. Not sure sneezing is a sympton of bubonic plague.

I'm not sure I feel your "I wouldn't do it in Mexico" excuse is valid. Would you (oh dear, what's it called, Godwin's law?) make light of the Holocaust over here, just because it didn't happen in the UK? If it's not funny in Mexico, why is is funny here?

Here's the thing I don't get. Latest news is that a kid somewhere in the SouthWest has it (just back from Mexico), so they've closed the school, and are offering Tamiflu to all pupils. Reporter on the news said oyther parents were saying they hadn't been told enough info. For god's sake, I feel moderately well informed, and all I've done is listen to the news. How can you not be informed by now - presumably they all either don't pay attention, or are to thick to understand basic news level information? What else is there to know? Typical mass public whining..

 

[thomas]

I'm not sure I feel your "I wouldn't do it in Mexico" excuse is valid. Would you (oh dear, what's it called, Godwin's law?) make light of the Holocaust over here, just because it didn't happen in the UK? If it's not funny in Mexico, why is is funny here?

So far around 150 people have died from Swine Flu. There were 11 million and 17 million holocaust victims - slightly different! For all the fuss about it, a relatively small amount of people that have died from it.

As for making light of the Holocaust, really depends what you mean by that and who I was with. I'm pretty sure I've received jokes on the holocaust and laughed. Judge me for that if you like.

As for not doing it in Mexico...well, have you seen the news story on the plane going over New York and people assuming the worst? There is a funny side to it, but not really for the people it affected.

 

[Black Sheep]

Well, we're all going to be getting leaflets about swine flu through the post now.

Probably be as useful as 'preparing for emergencies' was.

i never got that one, the government don't care about me

 

[Black Sheep]

I think I've heard that story debunked. Not sure sneezing is a sympton of bubonic plague.

I'm not sure I feel your "I wouldn't do it in Mexico" excuse is valid. Would you (oh dear, what's it called, Godwin's law?) make light of the Holocaust over here, just because it didn't happen in the UK? If it's not funny in Mexico, why is is funny here?

Godwin's Law (also known as Godwin's Rule of Nazi Analogies)[1] is an informal adage created by Mike Godwin in 1990. The adage states: "As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches."
Godwin's Law is often cited in online discussions as a deterrent against the use of arguments in the reductio ad Hitlerum form.
The rule does not make any statement about whether any particular reference or comparison to Adolf Hitler or the Nazis might be appropriate, but only asserts that the likelihood of such a reference or comparison arising increases in direct proportion to the length of the discussion. It is precisely because such a comparison or reference may sometimes be appropriate, Godwin has argued, that overuse of Nazi and Hitler comparisons should be avoided, because it robs the valid comparisons of their impact. Although in one of its early forms Godwin's Law referred specifically to Usenet newsgroup discussions, the law is now applied to any threaded online discussion: electronic mailing lists, message boards, chat rooms, and more recently blog comment threads and wiki talk pages.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law just incase your as bored as i am

 

[buggi]

load of media hype over nothing. flu kills thousands each year, usually old, young and already ill people. people at my mom's work are panicing and using anti bacteria hand washes, which won't work because flu is a virus anyway.

what you really need to be worried about is when the swine flu mutates and everyone starts dying and coming back as zombies. i mean, you have seen Shaun of the Dead haven't you???

 

[Arch]

load of media hype over nothing. flu kills thousands each year, usually old, young and already ill people. people at my mom's work are panicing and using anti bacteria hand washes, which won't work because flu is a virus anyway.

Well, that'll at least stop all the bacteria anyway...

The media can't win. If they didn't cover it, there would be outrage the minute someone in the UK dies of it: "why weren't we told!?". Since the media are also covering pretty well what people should do (use tissues, ring the doctor if in doubt, debunking efiicacy of facemasks), I don't see a problem. I feel fairly well informed because of the news I hear (BBC TV and radio), and don't feel the need to panic. People who panic based on that coverage would probably panic at anything. Or are getting their news from crap media.

Thomas, I'm aware of the relative scale of swine flu and the Holocaust, thanks. My point is, you implied that it was fine to joke about it here, because, so far, it's not a big problem here, but you wouldn't joke about it in Mexico. So it's ok to joke about something people are dying of overseas, as long as you don't make the joke in their country?