Welcome to part 2 of my special seven-part series on Things In Life That Annoy Me. This will be the final installment of my seven part special blog-event and I am happy that we have taken this journey together. I hope that my previous six parts have caused you to take pause and examine what it is in life that truly annoys you.

Today we will be discussing the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, and specifically the American reaction to it. This is a thing in life that truly annoys me. According to the Los Angeles Times, multiple cities across the United States are seeing over a 50% increase in the amount of patients showing up to emergency rooms, complaining of flu-like symptoms. Most people have barely more than a sniffle, and are summarily sent on their way, unless of course, they are truly sick and require medical attention. So why the droves flcoking to the hospital because of a sore throat or runny nose? Because the media loves to scare the ever living daylights out of us. First, they throw around terms like "global pandemic", interspersed with grainy photos of past flu pandemics, only to cut to sound bites of World Health Organization officials predicting worst case scenarios. If that's not enough, their morbid lead-in music and swine-flu graphics suggest we are on the brink of total influenza annihilation. Then they write pieces, wrought with surprise and incredulity, about the explosion in ER visits across the US. It's a media created story that feeds on itself.

Let's look at some very simple facts which took me about 4 minutes to obtain from the government's Center for Disease Control website.

*200,000 Americans require hospitalization every year due to influenza related symptoms

*Most people who are hospitalized are admitted due to respiratory or heart problems

*36,000 Americans die every year from influenza

*5% to 20% of Americans get influenza every year, 15-60 million Americans

*This means the average death rate for influenza is .24% as a worst case scenario. That is less than one quarter of one percent

*Currently, according to the CDC, there are 5,469 cases of confirmed swine flu cases in the US.

*6 Deaths have been confirmed linked to swine flu

*That means the death rate is .1%. One tenth of one percent.

Now I'm not saying that swine flu doesn't pose a health problem for some people. I just think the whole issue is overblown and that many in the media irresponsibly perpetutate a panic atmosphere.

In addition, I myself have come down with a nasty bout of influenza, I guess that's why it's on my mind. But it's no worse than what I've had in previous years and it's actually allowed me to get in touch with old friends from the past, like Jerry Springer, who continues to teach me not to find romance with a hermaphrodite hooker from Honolulu. Thanks Jerry.

And thanks to all of you, for engaging with me in this seven-part blog series on Things In Life That Annoy Me.