Article #2: Killer Mosquitoes!

Killer Mosquitoes: Run for your lives!
It’s now 2004. Thank GOD I’m still alive. Last year was intense, I’m so glad it’s over. For one thing we had a large scale terrorist attack in our country. Well, OK, we didn’t, but I was still all shook up about the last one. The fact remains that we Americans were still in danger. Mosquitoes were carrying the deadly West Nile Virus (WNV) all over our country, including our very own state, New Mexico! My friend Jesses’ mother made the right decision when she forbade her daughter to go to Colorado with some friends. Colorado was swarming with West Nile harboring mosquitoes. Now it hasn’t been proven that these mosquitoes were sent here by terrorists, but who else would be responsible? Now for those of us who are lucky enough to survive the mosquito attacks, I think we can all agree it’s a story for the grandkids.
You may be thinking that we all have much reason for fear in this insect war zone we call America, and I couldn’t agree more, but it gets worse! That’s right, that’s not all we had to deal with last year. We also were hit hard with the possibility of obtaining the deadly Asian virus known as SARS. You may not live in Asia, or even remotely near Asia, but the fact remains, that you were in danger! Yet another tale for the kiddies.
Ok, so what if the West Nile Virus has killed only a few hundred people in the last two years (about half the amount of vehicle related deaths every week in the US). That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be afraid! Bugs are scary! Who cars if SARS has only killed less than 200 people globally? I for one don’t! We live in America, that means that we have the freedom to be scared whenever we damn well please! If I want to be scared of hamburgers, I’m gonna be scared of hamburgers! If I want to be scared of mosquitoes, damn it, I’m gonna stock up on bug spray and there ain’t nothing anybody can do about it!
We are constantly told by the media to be scared of new things that only kill a few hundred people annually for a good reason. CNN is not “entertainment”! It’s the news, and you can’t argue with the news! It’s not like they have some crazy incentive to scare people into watching their program so they can keep making money. NO! It’s all about our well being. And correct me if I’m wrong, but when we live in a country of TWO HUNDRED AND NINETY MILLION people and three hundred or so die from something over the course of a year, the logical thought to come to one’s mind should be: “I could be next!”.