What Caught My Eye Today

Influenza - What's in a name? Turns out quite a bit. On Wednesday, U.S. officials started calling the virus 2009 H1N1 after two of its genetic markers. Then on Thursday, the World Health Organization said it would stop using the name swine flu because it was misleading and triggering the slaughter of pigs in some countries. Should you be wondering, our Egyptian brethren decides to off 300,000 pigs in an asinine attempt to curb the virus. Another reason the U.S. government wants to ditch the swine label is that many people are afraid to eat pork, hurting the $97 billion U.S. pork industry. Even the experts who point to the swine genetic origins of the virus agree that people can't get the disease from food or handling pork, even raw. Salmonella, yes; but the flu, evidently not. Mexico's Health Secretary said it's wrong to call it "North American flu" and flatly rejects the idea of calling it "Mexican flu." Go figure. Whatever happened to the adage, "there is no such thing as bad publicity"?

Saudi Arabia - Some of you may remember a couple of weeks back when I posted a story about this poor 8-year old girl that got married off to a guy old enough to be her grandfather. An 8-year-old Saudi girl has divorced her middle-aged husband after her father forced her to marry him last year in exchange for about $13,000. There are no laws in Saudi Arabia defining the minimum age for marriage. Though a woman's consent is legally required, some marriage officials don't seek it. Naturally. It's one thing to say that women have rights; but it is altogether different to actually expect those rights to be honored. Saudi Arabia has come under increasing criticism at home and abroad for permitting child marriages. The United States, a close ally of the conservative Muslim kingdom, has called child marriage a "clear and unacceptable" violation of human rights. Imagine the language we would have used if they weren't a "close ally." Lucky for them we turn a blind eye to transgressions perpetrated by those that have stuff that we want.

Iraq - The Iraq war formally ended for British forces as America's main battlefield ally handed control of the oil-rich Basra area to U.S. commanders and prepared to ship out most of its remaining 4,000 troops. At the height of combat operations in the months after the U.S.-led invasion, Britain had 46,000 troops in Iraq. Washington still has about 130,000 troops in Iraq and has shifted units south ahead of the British pullout. British commanders have been gradually handing over responsibility of the Basra region to the U.S. military since March and have been withdrawing troops from the country in phasesSo that's how it's done. All you have to do is find some patsy to take your place. Sounds simple enough. Now where can we find a patsy? There must be one around here someplace. Oh, dear God. There's no one left. We're the last patsy. DOH!!!

Netherlands - A Dutch driver careened through police barriers and plowed into a crowd of merrymakers cheering their popular queen in a premeditated assault on the royal family that killed five bystanders and injured 12. The speeding car, already dented apparently from catapulting bystanders into the air, passed within a yards of the open-topped bus carrying Queen Beatrix and her family down a parade route, then smashed into a stone monument. The motive for the attack was unclear. Dutch media, citing neighbors, said the assailant recently was fired from his job and was to be evicted from his home. The driver apparently acted alone and was not linked to any terrorist or ideological group. I'm sympathetic to anyone who loses their job in this economic downturn. I'm sure this guy didn't ask for any of this to happen to him. That being said, what gives this selfish jerk the right to vent his frustrations in such a manner that five innocent people--probably very much like this guy--had to lose their lives. And another thing. What is the obsession with lashing out at royalty. I doubt they are worried about where their next meals are coming from, but I'm pretty sure, their lives are any less complicated than us commoners. Throw this schmuck in the clink and throw away the key. Better yet, how about we ram a car into him and see how he likes it.