Thursday, May 14, 2009

Not Welcome in Egypt

I left the States just as the Swine Flu story broke around the world. My initial reaction to the media-driven frenzy was to roll my eyes and take bets on when the H1N1 fervor would die down. Between CNN, BBC, and the Internet, I thought I had seen the worst of the hysteria and then Egypt involved itself. The solution to stopping the tide of Swine Flu here, you see, was to slaughter every single pig in the country.

In the immortal words of our good friend Antin (he’s all about the econ), “That there’s crazy talk!”

It makes me wonder what they will do when the normal everyday human flu hits Egypt. *eek*

15 comments:

MaricrisG said...

*eeks* INDEED! It's a bloody shame. This swine flu has definitely created a lot of hysteria everywhere.
Anyway, how have u been?

illahee said...

such unneeded waste. *sigh* at least it hasn't been that silly in japan. well, it HAS, but at least there wasn't wasteful slaughter here....

Zuzana said...

I have stopped watching the news, as it is just hype and craziness all the time. I always get so depressed, and I am tired of the way media works these days.
Wanted to tell you that I saw a documentary about the A380 yesterday, got to think about your post;))
Have a lovely "flue free" Friday.;)

LadyFi said...

Incredible! I don't think that will stop swine flu spreading though ... they will have to close down the airports etc. as it is airborne and can spread very easily...

Anonymous said...

After SARS, anything goes. Although going to the hospital during this latest outbreak was (somewhat) scary.
But all the pigs...as you say, what next?
merthyrmum

Ginger said...

I rolled my eyes about the media hype over the "Swine" flu too! What is the theory of killing all the pigs. I know that you can't get the Swine flu from eating pork! Can you get it just by being close to a pig? Your trip sounds amazing.

Betty said...

That just shows you how the press can make even a whole government go "nuts"!! That is awful!

Caution/Lisa said...

And here we think we've evolved into such an advanced society. In our neighborhood, entire schools closed for days when they suspected they MIGHT have one case of the flu.

Unknown said...

I second that..EEEEK. Lets hope this all passes quickly! Have a super weekend. Look forward to hearing your thoughts on Oslo... : )

Unknown said...

Umm. never mind.. I AM losing my mind..

Gutsy Living said...

So glad the us MEDIA HAS QUIT talking about the swine flu. I am happy to get to other matters again. Panic spreads so quickly and the media thrives on this, despite what they say.

Katherine Roberts Aucoin said...

I think the media hype was just to get our mind off the economy. What a shame panic was spread this way.

Nicki said...

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog yesterday on my SITS day!! Cannot believe you're currently in Egypt... that is amazing!! Best of luck for safe travels and good health... stay away swine flu!

Unknown said...

Hubby told me about that.
Insanity rules!

Jemma said...

this drove me nuts and is so silly- I dont even think doctors can really discern between swine flu and a bad regular flu. Here in the UAE we have spe cial pork shops and they were all closed down for about two weeks. All is back to normal now though.