National Day of Prayer

May 7, 2009 is the National Day of Prayer. This day should be no different from any other in that we seek communion with God and a deeper relationship with Him, and yet it should be completely different in that the power and number of our prayers should offer even more strength to our government, military, businesses, families, the church as a whole. The prayers of a nation are a powerful force.
Prayer and God have always been an integral part of this country -- in fact, every state's preamble mentions God or divine providence in one form or another. Prayer and God should continue to be important to our nation -- even if our president tells the rest of the world we are not a Christian nation.

In other news, an RA just stopped by my dorm to bestow a bottle of hand sanitizer upon my roommate and me, so that we may ward off the swine flu.

Pandemic Level 5!

I woke up today with stiff joints and major body aches, and I bet it's not because I went to the gym yesterday for only the second time this whole semester. I probably have the flu. And not just any flu. Swine flu. And I've also been slightly nauseous and my throat's been a bit sore. It's probably not from drainage due to allergies. It's probably swine flu.

The WHO vamped up the alert level to five, "meaning that it believes a global outbreak of the disease is imminent" (MSNBC). And, "'all countries should immediately now activate their pandemic preparedness plans,' [WHO Director General Margaret] Chan told reporters in Geneva. 'It really is all of humanity that is under threat in a pandemic.'" In a press conference, Chan said that "'it is important to take this very seriously' . . . but for the average person, the term 'pandemic' doesn't mean they're suddenly at greater risk.'"

Just how seriously have people been taking this swine flu? "Britain closed a school after a 12-year-old girl was found to have the disease. Egypt slaughtered all its pigs and the central African nation of Gabon became the latest nation to ban pork imports. . . . Cuba [is blocking] flights coming in from Mexico. And Asian nations greeted returning airport travelers with teams of medical workers and carts of disinfectants."
On a more personal level, this afternoon my college's dean sent an e-mail regarding precautionary measures and what not, and there's information about hand washing at each table in the caf. And to think that my friends and I have been joking about this all along. I do understand the need to be concerned since so many are dying and the disease has spread, but no one seems to mention the fact that many of the people who have been diagnosed are getting better. It's not as though thousands of people die from the flu every year, after all.

(By the way, I don't have swine flu.)

Whatever You Do, Don't Freak Out!

This was the homepage image that greeted me this morning when I signed on MSN. I especially love the first bullet, and the fact that it follows headlines of "alert," "outbreak spreads," "death toll rises," and "more US cases."

Epic Fail

Normally, I reserve the phrase "epic fail" for such things as taking the wrong notebook to class, tripping over flat surfaces, and running into walls or door frames. However, I do believe the above clip, originally found on HotAirPundit, is not only an epic fail, but also an example of a poor excuse for a leader. Despite the fact that George W. Bush was no great orator (or scholar of the English language), I believe that he was able to speak frankly with the people. I realize that Obama is more technically-savvy than many of his counterparts (remember Biden's question about the Internet number?) or competitors (I'll never forget the third debate between legal tablet-wielding McCain and Blackberry-brandishing Obama), but I feel that he tends to use TOTUS as more of a crutch than an assist. Maybe he'll have all of the technical difficulties worked out before everyone dies of swine flu (which is what he was addressing).