Slog
News & ArtsSunday, April 26, 2009
Life I Swear I'm Not Superstitious...
Posted by Paul Constant on Sun, Apr 26, 2009 at 10:36 AM
...but it feels to me like this swine flu thing is some sort of cosmic retribution for the blogosphere's relentless fetishization of bacon.
1
Laugh now. Shit's not gonna seem so funny in a couple of days. Nobody's died yet in the US? Big fucking deal. 80/1300 x 20= 1, hardly a statistically significant sample. This disease is likely to kill a lot of people. Perhaps you should hold off on the jokes for a little while? Or how about in deference to the people of Mexico, who have lost 80 already and are scared out of their minds?
5
Sven, you're usually very logical and enjoyable, but relax for a few. We don't know anything about this flu. Who knows what will happen with it? There's a difference between being vigilant and panicked, it's a fine line to tread too.
8
Leslie@5: respectfully, we do know quite a bit about this flu. We know (a) that it spreads easily from human to human, and (b) that it's killing otherwise healthy young adults. These two facts together make it the most serious epidemic to come along in decades (since AIDS or potentially longer.) This is in form the outbreak the SARS folks were worried about 5-6 years ago.
I agree that there is a fine line between vigilant and panicked, but sometimes a crisis comes along that demands quick, decisive action. This may be one of those times.
I agree that there is a fine line between vigilant and panicked, but sometimes a crisis comes along that demands quick, decisive action. This may be one of those times.
9
@8, true, true. I have a morbid interest in medicine, so I've been following it pretty closely and the 'killing otherwise healthy young adults' is worrisome to me (especially as a healthy 19 year old). WHO has been warning about this potential for awhile, too. It has potential and quick decisive action is what's needed.
I find my way around the internet and it's interesting that quite a few people have already started to be concerned, even panicked, about this. People in Scotland, England, Norway, Netherlands, Germany, Canada, and here in the States are wondering what's going to happen.
I'm just worried that undue panic won't be translated well into proper vigilance that could be productive against a potential pandemic. People will either be vigilant and productive or wallow in panic that has no place.
I find my way around the internet and it's interesting that quite a few people have already started to be concerned, even panicked, about this. People in Scotland, England, Norway, Netherlands, Germany, Canada, and here in the States are wondering what's going to happen.
I'm just worried that undue panic won't be translated well into proper vigilance that could be productive against a potential pandemic. People will either be vigilant and productive or wallow in panic that has no place.
10
I think cosmic retribution for our collective pork fetish would be more like a sudden case of explosive diarrhea every time we smelled cooking bacon.
I'm also not in the panicked camp about this flu bug. There are already a million ways to die, and now it appears that there are a million and one.
I'm also not in the panicked camp about this flu bug. There are already a million ways to die, and now it appears that there are a million and one.
11
If the pigs could organize and give a little payback, it wouldn't come in the form of swine flu. Instead, they'd chew all your faces off.
12
Paul, I think you meant to say "a handful of the Stranger's staffers" when you accidentally wrote "the blogosphere."
13
@12
I'm afraid the bacon thing goes way beyond the Stranger.
And yeah, we should probably be worried about this flu.
But never so worried that we can't make jokes! Jokes are good! :D
I'm afraid the bacon thing goes way beyond the Stranger.
And yeah, we should probably be worried about this flu.
But never so worried that we can't make jokes! Jokes are good! :D
14
Aaaaaaand the latest kicker: my local Walgreens is already out of face masks. Teh Internets still have a few, though...
15
Paul's joke is at least a joke with a point to make about the true price of our bacon/meat fixation in general.
For instance, on the subject of meat related pathogens, if it wasn't the various strains of influenza we're facing now, it could just as well have been E. Coli, MRSA or Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis, all of which are spread through contact with livestock and fowl populations.
And then there is antibiotic resistance which occurs because the same antibiotic formulations used to fight human disease are preventively dosed to livestock and fowl to boost yields, resulting in the creation of antibiotic resistant strains of deadly bacteria.
Yet the incubation of killer epidemics is just the icing on the cake of the social cost of large scale meat production. Consider the energy inefficiency of beef production, which requires some 40 parts input energy for each part of food energy produced. Pork is somewhat more efficient, costing only 17 units of energy per unit of produced food energy. Compare this with the 1 to 3.2 ratio of energy input to food energy output for soybeans, a major plant-protein source.
Another thing, which may seem irrelevant now, but is slated to become a well known issue as population continues to outgrow limited supplies, is water consumption.
Beef uses some 100,000 liters of water for every kilogram of food. Compare this to Soybeans, which, though a relatively water hungry crop, use 1/50th of the water per kilogram of food.
Epidemics, global warming, petrol wars and water shortages suggest that mass produced meat isn't such a good idea.
Sources:
www.organicagcentre.ca/Docs/OrganicCente…
http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/aug…
More...
For instance, on the subject of meat related pathogens, if it wasn't the various strains of influenza we're facing now, it could just as well have been E. Coli, MRSA or Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis, all of which are spread through contact with livestock and fowl populations.
And then there is antibiotic resistance which occurs because the same antibiotic formulations used to fight human disease are preventively dosed to livestock and fowl to boost yields, resulting in the creation of antibiotic resistant strains of deadly bacteria.
Yet the incubation of killer epidemics is just the icing on the cake of the social cost of large scale meat production. Consider the energy inefficiency of beef production, which requires some 40 parts input energy for each part of food energy produced. Pork is somewhat more efficient, costing only 17 units of energy per unit of produced food energy. Compare this with the 1 to 3.2 ratio of energy input to food energy output for soybeans, a major plant-protein source.
Another thing, which may seem irrelevant now, but is slated to become a well known issue as population continues to outgrow limited supplies, is water consumption.
Beef uses some 100,000 liters of water for every kilogram of food. Compare this to Soybeans, which, though a relatively water hungry crop, use 1/50th of the water per kilogram of food.
Epidemics, global warming, petrol wars and water shortages suggest that mass produced meat isn't such a good idea.
Sources:
www.organicagcentre.ca/Docs/OrganicCente…
http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/aug…
16
It's far more profitable to make genetically engineered pigs in cramped living spaces, this minor hiccup will be magically fixed by the free market.
Advertisement
Most Commented on Slog
-
Hating People Doesn't Make Them Thinner by Jen Graves
-
Los Angeles Gay Bar Bans Bachelorette Parties Until Marriage Equality Is Attained by David Schmader
-
Fill in the Blank by Grant Brissey
-
This Reminds Me of the Great Calculator Scare of the Late '70s/Early '80s by David Schmader
-
Idiot Tries to Defend Bigoted Anti-Gay-Marriage Preacher on Anderson Cooper by Paul Constant
-
SL Letter of the Day: Putting It In by Dan Savage
-
Six Moms with Too Much Time on Their Hands and a Shitty Website Decide to Fight Gay Superheroes by Paul Constant
-
Why Mayor McGinn's Wife Canceled Her Family's Seattle Times Subscription by Eli Sanders
-
What the Hell Is Wrong With Seattle's Pride Parade? by Dominic Holden
-
Meet the UW "Swagga Suit" by David Schmader
RSS
Facebook
Twitter
Comments (18) RSS