A Flu, By Any Other Name...

Since everyone still seems to be taking the swine flu thing seriously despite there being no evidence of those it has killed rising from their graves to feast on the flesh of the living, I figured I'd address one more bit here. Apparently, there are those who feel that the actual moniker "swine flu" is offensive. Yes, according to the associated press, an Israeli health official says the name is offensive to those of the Jewish and Muslim faith, and should thus be renamed. And what, do you suppose, has he proposed for the new name?

Mexican flu.

Okay, now as much as I enjoy people who go about looking for things to be arbitrarily offended by, I think this may be a bit off sides. Maybe there really is a subset of these religions groups that may be offended. I'm not sure why, as the offense seems to be based on the fact that they consider a pig a filthy animal, and filthy things tend to make us sick, so it seems like a logical thing to associate. As someone who's part Mexican (albeit a small part - don't go there) I'm going to go out on a limb here, however, and say that while some of the billion or so people who are Jewish or Muslim may be offended, you're going to get a higher percentage of Mexicans offended with the new name. Probably even the Jewish ones.

Besides, the suggested name is completely impractical. I mean, what do a lot of us think of when we think of illnesses from Mexico? Why, we think of the defeated Moctezuma II, who has been credited with making sure that tourists who forget to go with bottled water (or the much safer and more practical tequila) get a lot of reading done on their travels. So the suggested name may very well cause people to mistake stomach virus symptoms for the actual symptoms of swine flu. People with the swine flu wouldn't worry about it while some shmoe who picked up a bad egg salad sandwich would be terrified for his life. Hell, as many antibiotics as I'm on right now, I might be terrified for my life.

As it is, I will simply continue to not nuzzle pigs, and find out if a person can actually read War and Peace in a single day.

**UPDATE**
Apparently, it is now officially known as the H1N1 Virus, not so much for the sake of the religious groups, but rather to reduce the fear of eating bacon. The lesson: religious power can be finite, but never underestimate the power of bacon.