Three Little Pigs

It's a story that can't be true - it more of a fairy tale than a news report but from Denise Grady of the no less than the New York Times wrote: "Three pigs at the Minnesota State Fair tested positive in late August for H1N1, the flu virus that is causing the current pandemic, the Agriculture Department reported Friday." The little is our addition but you understand how we couldn't help ourselves.

It's not quite a biblical pronouncement but it's a sign that hard to ignore. So we revisit the story for you. OK maybe that's going too far. To continue the story from only the New York Times and Monica Davey from Chicago will make us contact the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. We'll keep you informed.

"Infected pigs have been found in eight other countries. The virus does not seem to make pigs very sick. Of 103 pigs tested at the Minnesota fair, in St Paul, only three were found to be carrying the virus, and all appeared healthy. They probably caught the virus from infected people, researchers said." Follow the link and read the story.

From the Associated Press (AP) this bit of info: "In a conference call with reporters Friday, Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner Gene Hugoson said officials don't know what happened to the three pigs, but that they probably were sent to slaughter soon after they were shown at the fair, which ended on Labor Day."

It's not what you know - it's what you can prove in a court of law. Maybe that's true as a defense for charges against the "balloon boy" family. When it comes to the health of you and your family that might not be necessarily so true. We heard the story of the three (3) little pigs and thought we'd heard it or knew the story until we did the researched. Whether this story is true or not the original and the current can still serve as a cautionary tale for us all. What we knew or rather thought we knew of the original story is indeed the basis of the many variation that race to get to the end of the story and leave out much of the story. However the original tale as shown by "A Ladybird 'easy-reading' book" illustrated on the web is probably the best method for a healthy survivable pandemic season - if we like the first pig accept the first available treatment available. While others might think themselves smarter by waiting until other options are exhausted what happens in real life might not emulate what happens in fairy tales.

In the tale the first pig took the first offer, the second big took the second offer and the third pig took the last and historically speaking best offer. In real life the wolf is no longer one (1) huffing and puffing creature but an institution that has no time for press or publication. In the tale the wolf died, boiled alive in the third pigs pot - or did it?

Not according to the follow-up as told by on A. Wolf in his trail transcripts in defense of his actions in the "Defendant Testifies."

In reality all three (3) pigs were sent to slaughter, we contacted the Department of Agriculture (DOA) for verification of the "three (3)" pigs story after finding the press release on their site about the outbreak. We followed up our telephone call with an email to their contact person. In actuality the individual who answered the telephone was not allowed to answer our question: "Were there really three (3) pigs?" They were NOT permitted to do anything other than answer the telephone and take our information for a return call from the appropriate individual.

We understand the need to manage the media. We aren't media. Are we? We report but that doesn't make us reporters. Does it? We seek to understand. Our understanding of all things government is that it doesn't matter who is in office. Governments operate in secret. Secrets get people killed. Transparency by our leaders - whom ever they are does not nor ever has existed. Hence our raison d'etre. That's no fairy tale.

Get the vaccine - don't wait. If ill you MAY pull through without hospitalization. You may even show improvement but if you don't receive the proper treatment you can die. Not will die - but your death is "no skin off their nose." Protect yourself and protect your family. Trust but verify!