So does the Stranger get a fax or e-mail every morning detailing how to hype the day's phony, media-created "panic?"

I guess you could always run stories on shark attacks, wildfires, missing white women and annual floods that somehow still seem to shock the shit outta everyone.

This is interesting:

Seattle Times Mum On Swine Flu Deception
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xa57Am0wS…

The only swine I've seen in Seattle sits in the mayor's office.

Meanwhile, as we speak, my relatives houses are burning in Santa Barbara, but this swine flu keeps the media from paying attention.

Darn you, swine flu fanatics!

Our thanks to The Stranger for keeping people updated on the H1N1 virus (swine flu). We share their interest in getting readers timely information to prepare and protect themselves.

Critiques of our information response are welcome -- there's always room to get better -- but I think a clarification is in order.

Daily, we broke the news about local cases at live briefings almost immediately after we learned about them from the state lab, and shared our latest knowledge about the spread and severity of the virus. We held a total of nine briefings between April 27 and May 6, with our experts available to answer every question of the day. All were heavily attended, with most carried live by at least one TV station. These in-person briefings were followed up by news releases later in the afternoon. The Stranger has always been welcome to attend these briefings.

Please keep up the coverage -- we're not out of the woods, yet -- and we'll continue to work hard to keep everyone up-to-date.

James Apa
Communications Manager
Public Health - Seattle & King County

I have family in SB too. But I kind of doubt media coverage will put the fires out for them.

As a "stupid vegan" I find your comments ("Nevertheless, pork is still delicious and should be eaten regularly to punish those stupid animals for spreading disease") disheartening. It seems that many a reasonably informed person knows that factory farming is horrible, but rather than face up to seriously examining food choices its easier to make a joke out of it. Pretty lame.

I'm a vegan too,Grex.Just chill its the Stranger, they made a joke.Don't take Everything so dang cereal.The need to always put our idea out there makes us look bad.

"• Your stupid vegan friends were probably right: ... Nothing good can come from the mass industrialization of food.

• Nevertheless, pork is still delicious and should be eaten regularly to punish those stupid animals for spreading disease."

Got it: how humans farm is to blame. Blame the pigs.
There's a problem with eating/farming pigs. Keep eating pigs.
War is peace? (Just kidding, for the humor impaired/people who can't see me).

And eating pigs just leads to breeding more pigs. It'd be better punishment to stop breeding them and say bye to their entire domestic population - preferably not Egypt style.

I'd whine about the "stupid vegans" comment but that's par for the course at the Stranger. And I don't whine.