2009-04-28

3 Social Questions About Swine Flu

First it was the Mad Cow Disease. Then we had the Bird Flu or Aviar Influenza. Now it's the pigs who're getting us back? Isn't it interesting how all of these, the last epidemics known to man, are all rooted in the most exploited farm animals?

1. Shouldn't we think about the way we use farm animals for food and products, mostly due to extreme and unjustified consumerism, trying to find smarter ways to minimize this exploitation?

It has been well known (for decades) that around 95% of the agricultural production in the world is used to feed farm animals. It's also known that the human body does not require eating meat more than once a day and that it's actually unhealthy to do so in most cases. How about simply eating less meat? Less animal slaughter, less need for farming fields, more forests, better diets: It's a no-brainer.

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2. Why has swine flu only killed Mexicans? Swine H1N1 Influenza has been reported in many countries but only has it taken lives in Mexico. I think it's obvious that the reason for this fact is not the behavior of the virus but the incapacity of the Mexican public health system to treat the disease.

All of the deaths are related to poverty, people who can afford private hospitals have all been cured. The Mexican public health system is well known for its ineffectiveness, it's workers for their negligence and its infrastructure for its obsoleteness. Public money in Mexico always finds its way into politicians and private pockets, tax money that never helps the people who provided it.

In fact I wouldn't be surprised if the Mexican government was hiding the true numbers about this disease. I believe many more have died than those officially reported. When this epidemic is finally controlled, it will be obvious, and worlwide known, how the Mexican govenrment and health system are to blame for many of the deaths.

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3. How come worldwide governments have acted so swiftly in view of this possible pandemic while ignoring other very alarming sanitary conditions? Isn’t AIDS worth taking extreme measures? For how many centuries has hunger cursed 3rd world countries, particularly Africa, without countries declaring any state of emergency?

This health crisis proves the capacity of the governments to act. Why do they only do so on specific ocasions? Maybe only when the population is scared do they feel any pressure to take measures, fearing for their public image, which is really all that keeps them in power.

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A very complete analysis of swife flu from Nathan Wolfe@TED: http://blog.ted.com/2009/04/qa_with_virus_h.php

2009-04-23

Mapa del Metrobus en Google Maps

Update: Post más actual: Mapa del Metrobus de la Ciudad de México

Update: Ahora con línea 4, ambas rutas. Además cambié los iconos de estaciones de cada ruta por viñetas correspondientes a cada color de las líneas. Pero voy a hacr un nuevo post al respecto de hecho.

Post original: Estoy haciendo la chamba del gobierno y tratando de gererar un mapa de todo el metrobus y algunas rutas de RTP (autobus público) sobre la ciudad de Mexico en Google Maps. Ayuda será bien recibida!


Ver Transporte Público México D.F. en un mapa más grande

El mapa oficial está en http://www.metrobus.df.gob.mx/mapa2.pdf y http://www.metrobus.df.gob.mx/mapa.html

Simple server load test with cron and ab (Linux)

Load testing "refers to the practice of modeling the expected usage of a software program by simulating multiple users accessing the p...