When you hear the word swine - it's generally not used to describe something in a nice way.  It's been used to describe the Republican party so much over the last few years that I thought they were switching their mascot from an elephant to a giant pig laying in it's own filth.  It is more fitting after all.  But this post isn't about their transgressions.  This post is about the fact that the American meat consumer might just be the swine after all.

With the swine flu epidemic reaching the "I just shit my pants" level, I'm glad to know that the government has put our resources to good work today in combatting this epidemic.

Today I learned that we are trying to change the name of swine flu to the H1N1 Virus. The reason for the name change is to try to save the pork industry from further losses because people believe that they can catch this disease from eating pork.   HAVE WE LOST OUR FUCKING MINDS?

STOP WASTING YOUR ENERGY ON A RENAMING CAMPAIGN!  WTF!  Based on the worst case estimates reported by the NY daily news and broadcast on Yahoo, if we experience a full scale pandemic - the outbreak could be expected to claim the lives of about 2% of those infected - approximately 2 million people in the US.  That's going from "shit your pants" - to "voided your bowels while you are puking your guts out because you have the god damed swine flu". 

The Obama administration is doing a very good job in dealing with this crisis.  The decision to act as if it were a level 6 threat - even before it was a level 4 was a great decision and if anything can protect us - it will be that quick thinking that saves us.  But why would we expend any energy on trying to change the name because the fucking pork industry is taking a hit on this? 

I know there is no definitive proof that this virus came from the hellish conditions of large US owned pork farms.  But based on the multiple lawsuits filed against US Corporation Smithfield Foods for their abhorrent clean up processes (or lack thereof) - I wouldn't bet against it. 

So what do we do?  Expend our valuable time and resources in order to make sure people are still ordering their bacon croissant-wich every morning.   No - we wouldn't want people to even consider the possibility that maybe our insatiable desire to consume the muscle tissue and flesh of other animals in mass quantities, and having absolutely ZERO concern for how that animal was treated during it's life.  Believe me - it's not a good life.  Think small cramped and overcrowded cages that are extremely dirty with piss and shit.  I'm not going to go into the slaughtering process.  If you have the stomach and a conscience - take a look at it online.  It's quite disturbing.

These are not small family farms that raise animals for the local communities.  No - that would make our sweet precious meat much too costly.  We are Americans - we have the RIGHT to walk into an air conditioned supermarket and and purchase pre cut sections of meat conveniently wrapped in plastic, but probably still dripping a bit of that delicious pig or chicken or cow or ... blood from the bottom of the package.  Thank God for the plastic bags conveniently hung above the meat section!!

Here's the problem.  We're not going to change unless we are forced to change.  I'm not even a vegetarian.  I actually wish I was.  I just wish that the animals weren't so fucking tasty!  I am reducing the amount of meat I eat - and I believe I will convert soon.  I'm saying this as a meat eater though.   We have to start looking at the real cost to our planet of our selfish decisions.  

Again - there is no proof this disease came from the giant filthy disgusting US owned hog farm (oh - did I mention the fantastic life the "breeders" get? - I would compare it to getting raped with a metal fuck-rod and having the finest pig-jizz inseminating you, only to have you sit in a small cage all day until you give birth to your litter of babies - who's only purpose in life is to deliciously adorn the dinner plate of some fat Texan and his overweight wife and fat little kids.  Oh - and that process will be repeated over and over for the rest of your fertile life. What's great for us is that those breeders can be inseminated again almost three times per year.  The average breeder pops out 22 honey baked hams per year.    I don't actually know what happens to you after you can no longer service our need for cheap meat.  Maybe you get lucky enough to get a painless death and drift off into oblivion.   It's good for us that animals don't have souls (a shot at our Christian friends and their wacky beliefs)- that might make it harder to chomp the huge piles of meat we put on our plates. 

If it really was our gluttony that caused this epidemic - the rest of the World may just say enough is enough.  We have caused a global financial crisis heading towards a huge depression just so our rich could siphon off as much wealth as possible before the bubble they created burst.  When do they say enough.  When do they say that the "city on a hill" needs to be torn down and replaced with a society that respects all life - and who isn't a constant danger to the survival of mankind.  At least we can brag to the World about our record of not torturing or of not  manufacturing faulty intelligence to lie us into an illegal war costing hundreds of thousands of lives.   Oh - ya - we can't do that either.