I'LL FLU AWAY

My column on bird flu last week garnered some interesting responses from the medical community, who confirmed that WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE! (Paraphrase.) Actually, I heard from one researcher who shared my amazement that the media has all but ignored the impending pandemic, apparently because it doesn't want anyone to panic (the media being the model of restraint that it is); I also heard from someone at a California pharmaceutical company who said they're getting a bird flu vaccine ready, and could I write about it in the newspaper? My answer of course being, you send a case of those babies my way and I'll write that one dose will turn you into George Clooney.