Courtenay Bartholomew
Trinidad and Tobago Express
06/16/10
Close to over two centuries ago, the poet Lord Byron wrote: ‘Of all the horrid, hideous notes of woe/ Sadder than owl-songs or the midnight blast/ Is that portentous phrase ‘I told you so.” Look, to misquote the great bards is anathema to me and so, I had to check to make sure that I quoted him correctly as I do not always remember their exact sayings. That is for people like Sir Ellis Clarke and his elephantoid memory. However, I must crave Byron’s indulgence (just as most people have forgiven his many dalliances) for although I am fast becoming proud of my humility, I cannot resist the temptation to say: ‘I told you so.’
But since I last wrote on this topic, last week the 47-member Council of Europe now officially criticised WHO’s handling of the swine flu pandemic complaining that it caused widespread, unnecessary fear and prompted countries to waste millions of dollars. For example, WHO purported that the virus would afflict two billion people worldwide, nearly one third of the human population, but the scientific evidence leading to this conclusion remains a mystery. Moreover, seasonal flu kills about 40-50,000 people each year in the United States and the recent H1N1 flu epidemic was certainly no worse there and elsewhere.
Read the rest of the article.