Swine Flu

While the flu and other maladies rarely see the light of day on this blog (here we try to focus on the pleasanter side of life...chocolates, baked goodies, all things yummy), the name of this new pandemic has caught my eye.

In recent news the deputy health minister, Yakov Litzman, of United Torah Judaism is protesting the name "swine flu" as it refers to a forbidden and unkosher animal in the Jewish faith. He suggested we change the name to "Mexican flu" which met with equal resistance. As of last week Israel's stance was to ignore Litzman and continue to call the flu by its orignal name.

(This picture was taken on a recent trip to the zoo. Joel and I visited the farmyard exhibit to see the baby animals. It was also a chance to take a peek at our tasty animal the pig. I think the guy in the middle drew the short straw.)