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The swine flu continues to spread, and the world is on high alert. The disease has been confirmed in Mexico, United States, Canada, Spain, Israel, New Zealand, Scotland, and health officials across the world are working to keep it from spreading further.

Swine influenza is a common respiratory disease that affects pigs. Humans can catch the swine flu, but usually only through contact with infected pigs. However, the current strain - a variation of an H1N1 virus - is a mixture of human and swine flu viruses, and is spreading from human to human. Because the virus is a new development, the human population has no immunity built up against it yet. It can therefore be very dangerous, but so far the cases that have appeared around the world have been milder than the cases in Mexico.

The symptoms of the new virus are the same as general human flu symptoms – runny nose, fever, cough, weakness, vomiting and diarrhea. The virus can be passed along by water droplets in the air after infected people cough or sneeze, and can be contracted by touching contaminated surfaces and then touching eyes, noses or mouths. The disease is not spread by eating pork products. People can be contagious for one to four days before showing any symptoms, and may remain contagious for up to a week afterwards. Children may remain contagious even longer.

A variety of countries have either confirmed cases of the swine flu or are concerned that their citizens may have been infected.

Mexico:
The swine flu made its jump to humanity in Mexico, where over 2000 cases have been reported and at least 150 people have died. A four-year-old boy living near a large pig farm in Veracruz state seems to be the first case in this 2009 outbreak.  Neighbors complained about the clouds of flies drawn to the pig manure lagoons on the mega-farm, and many locals were hospitalized from a respiratory infection earlier this month.  Mexico City has been hit hard by the virus, and over 770 people remained hospitalized Monday. The disease is even killing young, healthy people, which has health officials deeply concerned. Mexico authorities have closed all schools until May 6 at the earliest.

The United States:
As of Tuesday, at least 68 cases had been confirmed in the US, primarily in New York City and California. On Sunday the US government declared a public health emergency in order to free up money to control spread of the disease.

• Texas: Governor Perry requested 37,430 courses of antiviral drugs on Saturday in anticipation of an outbreak there. The state has closed 14 schools near San Antonio after three area students were confirmed to have the swine flu. Another three people in Dallas have the virus, and officials are tracking four possible cases near Corpus Christi. 
• California: A Claremont school cancelled school for Tuesday after it was known a student had contracted the virus while on a trip to Mexico. As of Tuesday, 13 cases of the swine flu had been confirmed in the state, mostly in counties bordering Mexico. More cases are expected to surface as the week progresses. On Tuesday, the California Department of Public Health labs in Richmond started testing for the virus. Previously, only labs in Atlanta had the necessary chemical agents. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta is shipping stockpiles of antiviral medication to California so that the drugs are available to anybody who needs them.
• New York: At least 45 students at St. Francis Preparatory School in NYC have been confirmed to have the swine flu. Over 100 students at and their relatives have complained of flu-like symptoms. Those with confirmed cases of the swine flu seem to have a milder strain of the disease than what has been found in Mexico. All are recovering.

Two cases have also been confirmed in Kansas, one in Ohio and, most recently, Indiana has confirmed one instance of the illness.

To the relief of many, the cases in the US do not seem as vicious as those in Mexico. "Scientists can't tell us right now why this is presenting so severely in Mexico City and not as severely up here," said US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. People experiencing flu-like symptoms in a variety of other states have tested negative for the virus, but most states are taking precautions in case the swine flu pops up in their areas.

New Zealand:
Three cases of swine flu have been confirmed in New Zealand, and another eight people in the same group are believed to have the virus. Those who are ill recently returned home from a school trip to Mexico, but like in America, the cases seem relatively mild. In all 11 cases, the patients are responding to treatment and recovering at home. Forty-three more people are under observation.

Canada, Israel, Scotland, and Spain all have citizens who tested positive for the swine flu.  Many countries are tightening their borders to protect their citizens.  The World Health Organization raised its warning level from 3 to 4 on Monday, which means there are sustained human-to-human transmissions of the virus, and containment is no longer possible.

Fear of a pandemic has affected the markets. Oil dropped $1.41 a barrel on Monday, and the Dow Jones fell to 7,987. Investors have turned to currencies, causing the US dollar and Japanese yen to rise in value. Mexico's peso is down, along with the New Zealand and Australian dollars, and pharmaceutical and healthcare stocks are up. The Australian company Biota, maker of the Relenza flu vaccine, leaped up 72 percent in the wake of the swine flu scare.

The swine flu is making the news because it's a strain that can now be transmitted from human to human, but the flu is nothing new. According to the CDC, 36,000 people in the US die each year from the flu and related complications.

While the virus seems to be most deadly in Mexico, the swine flu demonstrates how easily a contagious disease can spread across the globe. In this day of speedy travel, when a flu bug can spring from Mexico to Europe, the Middle East and Asia in just a few weeks, the whole world could be infected in only a few weeks more. While future diseases might not be so kind, the swine flu seen today seems to have mushroomed out in milder forms.

Nobody wants to catch any form of influenza.  There are preventative measures people can take to avoid catching this or other bugs;

- Wash hands frequently;
- Avoid touching one's eyes, nose or mouth;
- Get plenty of restful sleep;
- Drink a lot of water and eat nutritious food;
- Avoid infected people;
- If necessary, wear a face mask;
- Get outside in the fresh air and sunshine. (Illnesses spread faster when people are in closed, confined spaces.)

No deaths from the swine flu have yet been reported outside of Mexico.

On Tuesday, Israel celebrated its Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers. Then, at sundown, celebrations began for Israel's Independence Day. The 5th of Iyyar (April 29 this year) marks the 61st anniversary of State of Israel and another year of Israel's successful survival in a hostile world.

Tuesday was a sober day in Israel as its people remembered the 22,570 men and women who have died for Israel since 1860. That was the year Jews began to leave the safety of Jerusalem to build new Jewish neighborhoods. At 8:00pm Monday night, a one-minute siren sounded in communities all across Israel. Vehicles stopped, and Israelis rose to their feet to remember their fallen countrymen. Again the sirens sounded on Tuesday morning at 11:00am. Again everybody stopped what they were doing and stood in honor of the fallen for two minutes. Forty-three military ceremonies around the country began immediately after the sirens quieted, and other ceremonies were held to honor the Victims of Terror as well as foreign volunteers from around the world who came to fight on Israel's behalf during the War of Independence.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at Mt. Herzl Military Cemetery in honor of the day. "Today I say to all of you, bereaved families and citizens of Israel, we will never abandon our fate again," he promised. "We will never lose the strength to defend ourselves. Our hands are stretched out for peace, but our enemies should make no mistake: We will never compromise on our security."

Then, at sundown Remembrance Day ended and Israel's Independence Day festivities began. The late Rabbi Shlomo Goren, the first Chief Rabbi of the IDF and the man who set the date for Remembrance Day, explained the transition between the two days in this way:

"We view the warriors who fall in battle as those who sprout forth life. The life of a nation grew out of this blood... This day must be more than mourning: We must remember, we must grieve, but it must [also] be a day of majesty and vision."

To kick off Independence Day celebrations, 12 torches were lit at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem by prominent Tel Aviv officials. Tel Aviv was honored at the ceremony because it is also celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. Shortly after the torch lighting, the real party began. Stage shows and concerts kicked off in the evening, and the celebration will continue throughout Wednesday. The army will hold air and sea displays, and a ceremony for outstanding soldiers will be held. The National Bible Quiz will take place in Jerusalem.

Israel has had a rough 61 years, from its War of Independence in 1948, to battles for its existence in 1967 and 1973, and through the constant threat of terror acts within its borders. Israel's security forces are some of the best trained in the world. At one time, every one of Israel's near neighbors was its enemy. It faced hostile armies on all borders. Now, Israel is at peace with Egypt and Jordan and maintains a relatively stable non-war with Syria. It has serious enemies in the international community and among terror groups within its territories, but it also has some very strong friends. Even then, with God's help, Israel can take care of itself.

Israel's population has grown in the past 61 years. There are 7,411,000 Israelis on this year's Independence Day, up from just 806,000 when the nation was established. About 75.5 percent of Israelis are Jews and 20.2 are Arabs. About 154,000 babies were born in Israel during the last year, and more than 12,000 immigrants have come to live in country.

Israel is the land of the Bible, and Jerusalem is the City of David, the city in which the Messiah will take His throne. As Israel celebrates another year of its existence, it also brings us one year closer to that day when the Son of David will begin his earthly rule, and the wolf will lay down in peace with the lamb. There will be plenty of false cries of "peace" before that day, followed by great turmoil. Still, that day will come, and the Messiah will reign, praise the Lord.

Happy Birthday, Israel.

Sometimes silly, sometimes irritating, sometimes very serious, political correctness is all around us. It can scratch at a single community or it can gouge through an entire nation. Here are some forms of political correctness considered a bit out of whack:

The Starter Gun:
Of course we don't want adolescent kids bringing guns to school. Teens have enough temptations to deal with without having a 9mm readily available in their lockers. In Toronto, though, somebody decided it would be a good idea to ban even starter guns at track meets. Apparently, these noisy pistols armed with blanks are considered a bad example to the angst-ridden teens we want to keep gun-free at school. The problem with a starter gun ban isn't just that starter pistols have been used for "Go!" since Babel, and kids have consistently rejected the urge to go postal at track meets.  The problem is also that starter pistols are relatively inexpensive. It would cost a lot to replace the pistols with loud horns tied to electonic timers. Is it really that necessary to nix these big cap guns?

Spring Egg Hunts:
Earlier this month, an editorial in The Acorn of LA County, California complained about the fact that local children were going to be hunting "spring eggs" instead of "Easter eggs" because of out-of-bounds political correctness.  Correctly, the writer defended protecting religious symbols from being generalized to death because it just offends the faithful.  

"[C]onsider the revered Hannukah menorah. Because Christians light multiple candles at Christmas, too, how about a new, one-size-fits-all name: 'the holiday candelabra'?  No. It's called a menorah and it's a very important part of the Jewish religion. And yes, the little white rabbit is called an Easter bunny and it's indelibly linked to the Christian holiday this Sunday."

The irony is that the term "Easter" is rooted in ancient pagan religions and not in Christianity at all. The Easter bunny has nothing to do with the Christian faith. Yet, those who changed the children's hunt to one of "Spring eggs" certainly did so because the term "Easter" is culturally connected to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. After all, there's always that risk that children might think about God while wolfing down chocolate bunny eggs.

Terrorists No More
While some tendrils of political correctness are just silly or annoying, others can seriously endanger the lives of American citizens. When people who chop the heads off of civilians are called "militants" instead of "terrorists" and are set free to go back to the work of bringing America to its knees before Allah, we all should be deeply concerned.
Conservative writer Thomas Sowell writes:

"We have already turned loose dozens of captured terrorists, who have resumed their terrorism. Why? Because they have been given ‘rights' that exist neither in our laws nor under international law."

This is completely misguided. The President's primary concern is the safety of the American people, and letting terrorists go free cannot possibly make America safer. Sowell continues:

"Bending over backward is a very bad position from which to try to defend yourself. Nobody in those days confused bending over backward with ‘the rule of law,' as Barack Obama did recently. Bending over backward is the antithesis of the rule of law. It is depriving the people of the protection of their laws, in order to pander to mushy notions among the elite." 

The official "War on Terror" may have ended, but that does not mean that the terrorists have ceased their war against us. Political correctness on our part will not change that, and in fact may entice the enemy to attack us as they perceive us as weak, exposed, and unprotected.

People are polite and gracious in civilized societies. They treat their neighbors with decency and respect. Yet, political correctness is more than simple politeness; it is an irrational attempt to please even the basest or most picky elements of society. In the end, political correctness always offends somebody, and, in some cases, endangers everybody.