possible government responses to swine flu issue according to Discover Magazine.
3. Turning the Name Into a Religious DebateGranted, the name "swine flu" is inherently misleading, since the disease has origins among birds and humans as well as pigs. But that didn't stop one Israeli official from inferring religious significance from the title. Earlier this week, Israel's deputy health minister, Yakov Litzman, a member of an ultra-Orthodox party, declared that "swine flu" should not be used because it contains the name of an animal banned by Judaism. His proposed alternative? "Mexican flu."
Needless to say, this suggestion didn't go over too well with the Mexican ambassador to Israel, or the Israeli envoy to Mexico, both of whom lodged protests with the foreign ministry over the name change. Meanwhile, The New York Times reports that Litzman’s semantic argument hasn’t gained popularity in the rest of the world, with the exception of Thailand. discovermagazine
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3 comments:
Following on from fears over the swine flu virus, it has been revealed that Britain wont be affected! Apparently the Government will not be letting it in in case it will offend MUSLIMS!!
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This is not meant as a racist joke....... tiz just someone someone texted me....
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Good one Marmi-
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