Pigs don't kill people ...

People kill people!

Thanks to the Egyptian government's ill-advised, irrational pig-slaughter mandate, more lives may be in danger now than from a nonexistant flu strain. Read on for a portion of an email I received today from the US Embassy:

Local media are reporting that there have been demonstrations at several locations in and around Cairo in response to the Egyptian Government’s forcible culling of swine. According to media and other sources, residents and farmers involved in pork farming have assaulted health workers and security officers attempting to carry out the government’s decision to slaughter all pigs, further exacerbated by rumors about compensation for the culled animals. Protests in Giza and Moqattam included violent confrontations and rock-throwing that resulted in a number of injuries and arrests. There are a number of charitable organizations in the Moqattam area.

Gee, who could have possibly predicted that people would protest having their livelihoods taken away - and not for the greater good? While I seriously doubt that the zabaleen understand epidemiology and molecular virology, they're certainly on the right side of the fence on this one. Unlike the government - who, coincidentally, also don't understand the forces at work.