THE SARS SCARE

There's nothing funny about a disease that's killed hundreds of people, forced travel bans and threatens the economy. But the coverage of SARS is funny, because it's so off-base. Take a look at this. All the media can think of is showing people with breathing masks on; they're all just lemmings chasing a story they don't understand.

SARS is a corona virus. To the best of my knowledge (or to be more accurate, to the best of StratFor's knowledge, since they're my source here), that means it's not easily transmitted by air. It needs drops of bodily fluid for transmission from one person to another. The breathing masks are irrelevant. But there they are, gracing the covers of respectable magazines.

UPDATE: After the media and politicians, probably the third most panicky group of people in America is our educators. In Ohio, they have shut down a whole school district based on the possibility that some students may have been exposed to SARS during a recent trip to Toronto. None of the students is actually sick; none have even shown a wisp of illness. Nevertheless, the Weathersfield School District in Youngstown is out of business for the time being.