"Am I therefore become your enemy,because I TELL YOU THE TRUTH...?"
(Galatians 4:16)

The Illuminati Are Making Their Move....!!!

http://www.cuttingthroughthematrix.com

Health Officials in US Warn Migrants About Flu

As migrant workers from Mexico come to the U.S. for seasonal work, public health officials and others are trying to intercept them at food lines and churches in hopes of stemming the spread of deadly swine flu...

SWINE FLU UPDATE

Lower Mexico death toll heartens nervous world...

SWINE FLU WATCH:Hotel Quarantine in Hong Kong

Travellers quarantined in a Hong Kong hotel for a week after a Mexican guest tested positive for the H1N1 flu expressed dismay on Saturday at the tough steps, while an infectious disease expert said the authorities had over-reacted. Police wearing surgical masks sealed off the Metropark hotel on Friday night after test results on the 25-year-old Mexican man were confirmed, ordering approximately 200 guests and 100 staff to stay in the hotel for the next seven days...

Amnesty outraged at Iran execution

Iranian authorities on Friday morning executed a woman convicted of a crime she was alleged to have committed while still under 18, Amnesty International revealed.Delara Darabi was put to death in Rasht Central Prison, becoming the second woman to be executed in the Islamic republic this year....

A GLOBALIST DELUSION....:"Berlusconi says he is the world's most popular leader..."

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who has compared himself to Jesus Christ and Napoleon, boasted on Friday that he was the world's most popular leader.The conservative premier, in his third term in office, said opinion poll findings in his possession showed his popularity at just over 75 percent, making him far more popular than U.S. President Barack Obama-or any other head of government...
PS:Sorry...but I thought BHO was "the man"..."the president of the world..."
As in the days of Noah...

Democrat Congresswoman Admits Obama Health Care Plan Will Destroy Private Health Insurance Industry

“I know many of you here today are single payer advocates and so am I … and those of us who are pushing for a public health insurance don’t disagree with this goal. This is not a principled fight. This is a fight about strategy for getting there and I believe we will,” Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) told a group of government-run health care supporters on April 18.

France confirms 2 cases of new influenza,1st in country

France has confirmed its first two cases of infection by a new strain of influenza A virus, French Health Minister Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin said Friday.The infections by the H1N1 flu virus were detected in a 49-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman, both of whom had been to Mexico, Bachelot-Narquin told a private TV broadcaster, TF1.

LOVE WAXING COLD:"Man Eaten by Mice in Australian Nursing Home..."

SIGN of the TIMES:Australia orders probe into mouse plague

Australia ordered an investigation into a nursing home where elderly and bed-ridden residents were gnawed by a swarming plague of mice.An 89-year-old war veteran was found bleeding from bites to his ears, neck, head and hands after being attacked by the mice as he lay in bed at the facility in the northeastern state of Queensland.The old man was so distressed that doctors had to sedate him with morphine, said Ray Hopper, the local member of parliament....

May Day turns violent in Turkey,Germany,Greece...

May Day protesters clashed with riot police in Germany, Turkey and Greece on Friday while thousands angry at the government's responses to the global financial crisis took to the streets in France.Rising unemployment across Europe and beyond has added intensity to May Day marches as last year's market crash and banking meltdown rolls into the real economy. There were early morning clashes in Germany and protests in Istanbul swiftly turned violent. Greek police clashed with self-styled anarchists....

U.S. regulatory czar nominee wants Net "Fairness Doctrine":Cass Sunstein sees Web as anti-democratic,proposed 24-hour delay on sending e-mail

Barack Obama's nominee for "regulatory czar" has advocated a "Fairness Doctrine" for the Internet that would require opposing opinions be linked and also has suggested angry e-mails should be prevented from being sent by technology that would require a 24-hour cooling off period.The revelations about Cass Sunstein(picture left),Obama's friend from the University of Chicago Law School and nominee to head the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, come in a new book by Brad O'Leary, "Shut Up, America! The End of Free Speech." OIRA will oversee regulation throughout the U.S. government. Sunstein also has argued in his prolific literary works that the Internet is anti-democratic because of the way users can filter out information of their own choosing...

SWINE FLU UPDATE

PLANE DIVERTED FOR 'RUNNY NOSE'

U.S. sovereignty on swap block:Obama negotiating for seat on UN comission

The Obama administration is preparing to swap U.S. sovereignty for a higher level of U.S. presence at the United Nations, a plan that has alarmed officials working to protect the rights of Americans, specifically the parental rights that traditionally have been recognized across the nation's history. Michael Farris, founder of the Home School Legal Defense Association and chancellor of Patrick Henry College, said, "The move is little more than another attempt at political correctness by an administration frantic for acceptance by the international community."Farris also is a dedicated leader behind the effort to change the U.S. Constitution through the amendment process to restore and protect parental rights....

Government says 'swine flu' no longer exists

First it was use of the term "war on terror" that was banned by the government.Then it was "terrorist attacks" that became "man-caused disasters."Now it's "swine flu" that is verboten.Despite the history of "swine flu" in the United States and the current alarm being raised over what has been estimated so far as a few hundred possible cases, the real danger appears to be what the problem is called, according to a federal report.

JUSTICE SOUTER RETIREMENT WATCH

JUSTICE SOUTER RETIRING... DEVELOPING...

"Beloved" Michelle Outshines Obama,Speaks to Youth

Nine months ago, The New Yorker lampooned the political frenzy over Michelle Obama by portraying her as a camouflage-clad, fist-bumping radical. Now, 100 days into her tenure as first lady, she has emerged as the most popular figure in her husband’s administration.
PS:She is still a "camouflage-clad,fist bumping radical"that "for the first time in her life is proud of her country"...but she also knows that portraying herself as she really is can be a problem,so she decided to play her part well,and she is sticking to the plan and doing so...She is still the same....it doesn't matter how they dress her or clad her in...MO is still the same she was at inauguration day and 6 months ago.She doesn't fool conservatives,christians and those who can put two and two together....

RECESSION WEAR WATCH:"First Lady Michelle Obama steps out in Lanvin sneakers and they're only $540...!!!"

Michelle Obama has taken casual to a haute new level.While volunteering Wednesday at a D.C. food bank, the First Lady sported her usual J.Crew cardigan, a pair of utilitarian capri pants and, on her feet, a sneaky splurge: trainers that go for $540. That's right: These sneakers - suede, with grosgrain ribbon laces and metallic pink toe caps - are made by French design house Lanvin, one of fashion's hottest labels. They come in denim and satin versions, and have been a brisk seller all spring...
PS:BHO's first lady could feed quite a few people with what she paid for these shoes...Another typical liberal thing...Talk about sacrifice for other folks on "behalf of the nation"BUT "we(The BAMAS....) are still drinking champagne and eating caviar and flying in our private jets..."Wonderful...isn't it...?More of the Obama's hypocrisy...More of the "we are working for you"LIE...what a bunch of frauds....
As in the days of Noah....

Al Qaeda's 'Vanity Fair' Targets Americans for Jihad Training

In a PR move designed to target American readers, Al Qaeda launches what's been called its 'Vanity Fair,' a new Web magazine that focuses on how to commit jihad.It's been called Al Qaeda's "Vanity Fair," a new English-language Internet magazine called "Jihad Recollections" that focuses on the terrorist group, its founder, Usama Bin Laden, and how to commit jihad. It also predicts the demise of the United States. “This is designed for Americans,” says noted terrorism expert Steven Emerson, founder of the Investigative Project on Terrorism in Washington, D.C., and author of the book "American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us."

White House Aide’s Family Likely Has Swine Flu

Politico: The individual – an advance security staffer for Energy Secretary Steven Chu –appears to have spread the flu to his wife, son and nephew. All three have tested probable for swine flu, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Thursday. Gibbs, who did not name the security aide, said he did not work closely with Obama, didn’t fly on Air Force One and is back at work at the Energy Department.

Gibbs Tap Dances Around Biden Question: ‘I’m Telling You What He Meant to Say’

"I sympathize with you trying to explain the Vice President's comments, but that's not even remotely close to what he said," ABC News' Jake Tapper said.

Napolitano Tries to Explain Away Biden’s Flu Blunder

"I think the vice president if he had, if he could say that over again he would say if they’re feeling sick they should stay off of public transit or confined spaces because that is indeed the advice that we’re giving."

SWINE FLU UPDATE

Deadlier Flu Strain Would Overwhelm Systems...
WHO: 236 CASES CONFIRMED WORLDWIDE...
First Pandemic Since 1968...
Drastic steps to contain...
'All of humanity under threat'...
Mexico closes federal government; urges businesses shut...
Egypt starts pig slaughter, some farmers resist...
WHITE HOUSE ISSUES HEALTH ADVISORY FOR OBAMA'S MEXICO TRIP...
State labs: US swine flu cases likely higher...
Mexico shuts down...
Scientists see flu strain as 'relatively mild'...
Source spawns wild theories...
BIDEN SOUNDS THE ALARM!...
VP SAYS HE WOULD AVOID PLANES, SUBWAYS...

Swine Flu Will Not Close U.S. Borders

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Wednesday that the spread of swine flu does not merit closing any of the nation's borders

Homeland Security: No Orders to Border, Airport Agents Forbidding Surgical Masks...

The Department of Homeland Security on Thursday refuted reports that it had told agents at U.S. airports and border checkpoints that they could not wear masks to protect from exposure to swine flu.
"The Department of Homeland Security has not issued an order saying our employees cannot wear masks. The health of our employees is of utmost importance to us. And today we are issuing department-wide guidance to our workforce,"...

ISLAMIC CRAZE WATCH:8-year-old Saudi girl divorces 50-year-old husband

An 8-year-old Saudi girl has divorced her middle-aged husband after her father forced her to marry him last year in exchange for about $13,000, her lawyer said Thursday.Saudi Arabia has come under increasing criticism at home and abroad for permitting child marriages. The United States, a close ally of the conservative Muslim kingdom, has called child marriage a "clear and unacceptable" violation of human rights.

Non-Chinese Citizens Are Banned From New Spy Museum

A new Chinese spy museum exhibits guns disguised as lipstick, hollowed-out coins used to conceal documents and maps hidden as a deck of cards.What you won't find there, however, are foreigners.A sign outside the Jiangsu National Security Education Museum in a park in the eastern city of Nanjing states that only Chinese citizens are allowed inside, a policy designed to keep the communist regime's cloak and dagger methods secret — no matter how timeworn they may be...

17 With Links to Hezbollah Arrested on Drug Trafficking Charges

Seventeen people were arrested in Curacao for alleged involvement in a drug trafficking ring with connections to Hezbollah, police on the Dutch Caribbean island said Wednesday.
The suspects detained Tuesday include four people from Lebanon and others from Curacao, Cuba, Venezuela and Colombia, police chief Carlos Casseres said at a news conference.

Zimbabweans still groaning as aid remains elusive

A Zimbabwean government plan to rescue the shattered economy hasn't made life any easier for many people who are losing patience with no Western aid in sight.The credibility of the unity government between President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai depends largely on its ability to persuade Western donors and foreign investors to pour billions of dollars into the country...

Al Qaeda's roars back in Iraq against double target: US and Iranians

Hillary Clinton said on arrival in Baghdad Saturday, April 25, for her first visit as US secretary of State that the wave of suicide killings which accounted for more than 250 lives this month were "a tragic signal that Iraq was on the right path." She made it clear that the pullout of US troops from Iraq's main cities in nine weeks was still on track...

A year on, Myanmar cyclone survivors struggle to rebuild

A year after Cyclone Nargis battered army-ruled Myanmar, killing nearly 140,000 people, paddy fields remain bare and tens of thousands of survivors live in makeshift shelters. "Everybody lives on food handouts and most of us don't have decent shelter or a job," Ba Thin, 72, said, pointing to the bamboo, thatch and tarpaulin huts lining the road through his village near Bogalay,an area devastated by the May 2-3 storm.

French nuclear power plant evacuated in bomb alert

A nuclear power station at Chinon in central France was evacuated on Thursday after a phone call warning of a bomb, power supplier EDF said.
EDF said the anonymous phone call was made at 0355 GMT and that, while searches continued, the core areas of the plant had been secured.
The nuclear plant was still functioning, EDF added...

U.S. hands oil terminal to Iraqi navy in first step

U.S. and British forces handed over to the Iraqi navy Thursday responsibility for protecting one of the country's crucial floating oil export terminals.In a ceremony on the rusting Khor al-Amaya platform, which handles 10 percent of oil exports from the southern oil hub of Basra, the commander of Task Force Iraqi Maritime, Admiral Tom Cropper, lauded a "breakthrough" in Iraqi military independence.The Khor al-Amaya floating oil terminal is by far the smaller of the two platforms serving Basra, and Cropper acknowledged that the decision to hand its security over first meant Thursday's ceremony marked a small, initial step...

Gaza still waiting for pledged aid: U.N. official

None of a $4.5 billion package of reconstruction aid recently pledged for the Gaza Strip has got through because of border restrictions, a top U.N. official said on Thursday.International donors pledged the aid money in March to help the Palestinian economy and rebuild Gaza after a three-week Israeli military offensive.But John Ging, head of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency in Gaza, said Gaza had still not benefited from any of the aid because of restrictions on the flow of goods into the territory...

Venezuela,Iran Agree to Strengthen Military Ties

President Hugo Chavez's government has agreed to strengthen military ties with Iran.Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar met with Chavez for an hour late Wednesday and said they discussed defense cooperation to "protect peace and tranquility in the region," Venezuela's Information Ministry said in a statement.

NATO expels 2 Russian envoys, raps pact on Georgia

NATO has expelled two Russian diplomats over a spy scandal, a move Moscow's ambassador said was intended to set back efforts by Russia and the United States to repair relations. Tensions between the former Cold War foes also rose on Thursday over agreements which Moscow said gave it control over the borders of two rebel regions in Georgia.

Villagers flee battle zone in Pakistani valley

Hundreds of families fled Pakistan's Buner valley on Thursday as security forces battled through mountain passes to evict Taliban fighters, whose advance toward Islamabad had sown alarm.The military mounted an offensive on Tuesday after the Taliban had crept from their stronghold in the adjoining Swat valley into Buner, 100 km (60 miles) northwest of the capital.The Taliban's proximity to Islamabad had heightened fears among Western allies that nuclear-armed Pakistan was becoming more unstable.People had initially resisted the Taliban intruders, until a local political administrator persuaded them to submit.The administrator has since been removed...

Al Qaeda figure urges Pakistanis to rebel against government

A top al Qaeda commander has called on Pakistanis to rise up against the government of the nuclear-armed power where Taliban militants are fighting the army, according to a message on Islamist websites on Thursday.The 29-page article by Abu Yahya al-Libi, who is thought to be in Afghanistan and Pakistan, was dated mid-March.Pakistan's army has been trying to fight back al Qaeda's Taliban allies who have taken control of areas close to the capital Islamabad in north Pakistan....

Pakistan's Wake up Call

Pakistan army pushes Taliban back

The Pakistan army battled through mountain passes on Thursday in a third day of fighting to evict Taliban fighters from a strategic valley, after U.S. President Barack Obama welcomed its newfound resolve.The militants were still controlling parts of Buner valley, just 100 km (60 miles) northwest of the capital, Islamabad, though troops had secured the main town of Daggar on Wednesday after helicopters dropped them behind enemy lines.....

Islamic Scholars Wrestle With Death-For-Apostasy Issue

An international Islamic body has appointed a committee of six religious scholars to study one of the most contentious issues in Islam today – whether “apostates” should face the death penalty. The decision was taken Wednesday at a conference in the United Arab Emirates hosted by the International Islamic Fiqh Academy, an organ of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) that is responsible for interpreting shari’a, or Islamic law....

Petraeus: Next Two Weeks Critical to Pakistan's Survival

Gen. David Petraeus said he is looking for concrete action by the Pakistani government to destroy the Taliban in the next two weeks before determining the United States' next course of action."The Pakistanis have run out of excuses" and are "finally getting serious" about combating the threat from Taliban and Al Qaeda extremists operating out of Northwest Pakistan, the general added.

Al Qaeda Sleeper Agent Pleads Guilty to Terror Charges

A man who was locked up without charges for years pleaded guilty Thursday to training in Al Qaeda camps and coming to the United States on a mission for the terrorist group the day before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

CIA's Waterboarding "Experts"...?

ABC News reports that former military officers Bruce Jessen and Jim Mitchell were paid by the CIA to oversee the waterboarding techniques used against high-profile detainees to extract information in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York City and the Pentagon. Jessen and Mitchell were previously involved in the U.S. military program to train pilots how to resist brutal tactics if captured-but Col. Steven Kleinman, an Air Force interrogator, told ABC News that the two never had experience conducting actual interrogations before the CIA hired them....

U.S. government injecting veterans with cocaine for drug addiction research...

Drug-addicted veterans are being injected with cocaine by researchers at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in taxpayer-funded studies, The Examiner has learned.The study subjects are being given the injections as part of a search for medicines that researchers hope will block cocaine absorption in the body, said Timothy O’Leary, the VA’s acting director of research and development.All the subjects were recruited because they were addicted to cocaine, O’Leary said. About 40 volunteers-most of them veterans-are being given injections at VA labs in Kansas City and San Antonio, he added.Hundreds of veterans have apparently been used as human subjects in the past decade, according to records and interviews with officials...

Congress Pressed for More War Money

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates are urging Congress for fast action on a spending bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

British forces end combat operations in Iraq

The Iraq war formally ended for British forces on Thursday as America's main battlefield ally handed control of the oil-rich Basra area to U.S. commanders and prepared to ship out most of its remaining 4,000 troops.A U.S. flag was raised over the British base outside the southern city of Basra in a ceremony held after a memorial for the 179 British military personnel who died in more than six years of warfare."Today marks the closing chapter of the combat mission in Iraq," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in London after meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Israel warns EU to tone down its criticism

Israel warned the European Union on Thursday to tone down its criticism of the new Israeli government or risk forfeiting the bloc's role as broker in Mideast peace efforts. The warning came after EU's commissioner for external relations, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, this week criticized Israel's refusal to endorse a Palestinian state. She said an upgrade in Israeli-EU relations would depend on Israel's commitment to the "two-state solution."

GUANTANAMO WATCH:Gitmo Detainees Released to Hotels...?

The United States and its allies must make sacrifices to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday in a high-profile appeal for Europe's help.Holder spoke to the American Academy in Berlin, not long after telling reporters that the United States had approved the release of about 30 Guantanamo detainees. "We must all make sacrifices and we must all be willing to make unpopular choices," said Holder."The United States is ready to do its part, and we hope that Europe will join us — not out of a sense of responsibility, but from a commitment to work with one of its oldest allies to confront one of the world's most pressing challenges," he said.

FEMA Yanks Images of Burning World Trade Center From Coloring Book for Kids

A page showing fire, severe weather, and flooding, all disasters that can have an impact on a family, especially children. All of these disasters were featured in a coloring book on the Federal Emergency Management Agency's website, designed to help children cope with disasters.But one page has parents taking the colors away. It's an illustration of the World Trade Center Towers in New York. One of the towers has smoke coming out of it while a plane looks to be heading towards the other.

Russia insists it won't militarise the Arctic

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov insisted Wednesday Moscow had no plans to boost its military presence in the Arctic, saying existing laws could resolve disputes in the much-courted region."We are not planning to increase our armed forces presence in the Arctic," Lavrov told reporters at the close of an Arctic Council meeting in the northern Norwegian town of Tromsoe."The decisions taken provide for strengthening the potential of the coast guard," a move needed because the melting ice cap is leading to more human activity in the region, he said.

North Korea Threatens Nuclear Missile Tests

North Korea threatened Wednesday to conduct nuclear and missile tests and start an uranium-enrichment program in addition to its existing plutonium-based one, unless the U.N. apologizes for criticizing its recent rocket launch, dramatically raising its stake in the worsening standoff over its atomic programs.Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry said in a statement the country "will be compelled to take additional self-defensive measures" unless the U.N. Security Council apologizes immediately. "The measures will include nuclear tests and test-firings of intercontinental ballistic missiles."

Napolitano retracts "passive surveillance" term...

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is asserting that the description she initially gave of the border swine-flu monitoring effort no longer applies.Appearing Wednesday before a Senate panel, Napolitano said that "passive surveillance" is "not an accurate picture of what is going on" at U.S. entry points. She had used that term Tuesday morning to describe the nature of the monitoring for illness...

CDC:"First U.S.Swine Flu Death in Texas"

Officials say the first confirmed death in the U.S. from swine flu was a 23-month-old Mexican child who died in Houston. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama says the government is doing "whatever is necessary" to contain the illness.

Texas Wary As Swine Flu Spreads

As the U.S. government gears up to combat the recent outbreak of swine flu, health officials in Texas are reporting six confirmed cases in the state...

Mexico City shuts down taco stands...

Tacos filled with pork, sizzling gorditas, juicy carnitas covered with salsa and gobbled down at sidewalk carts while pedestrians brush past—this is Mexico's version of a fast-food joint, but it is now in peril because of the swine flu epidemic.With Mexico City authorities urging residents to dine at home to prevent the spread of the deadly virus, vendors at the tens of thousands of taco carts that line the streets of this overcrowded capital have seen business plunge. It hasn't helped that many people mistakenly believe you can contract the flu by eating pork. Another blow came late Tuesday when the city government ordered the streetside stalls to close for at least a week.

Swine flu fashion"People decorate their face masks in a bid to stay positive..."

Swine flu's no laughing matter but here's proof that no matter how tough it gets some people will always put a brave face on a crisis.
In Mexico City people have begun decorating their swine flu face masks in a bid to raise a smile in the gloom.

Swine Flu Microbe proving too clever for technology...

Alarmed by the spread of a new swine flu virus, airports around the world have rushed to install temperature scanners to pick out the sick, but the microbe is proving too clever for modern technology.Experts say an infected person can easily pass through these heat sensors without detection as the incubation period for influenza ranges anywhere between one and three days."The scanners won't pick up everyone (with flu), especially if they are too early in the infection...People who have been infected very, very recently wouldn't show up on the scanner," Mark von Itzstein, director of the Institute for Glycomics at Griffith University in Queensland, Australia, told Reuters...

California Marine Tests Positive for Swine Flu

More than 30 Marines at a Southern California base are being confined to quarters after one tested positive for swine flu Wednesday.
The Pentagon confirmed Wednesday that the Marine at the Twentynine Palms Base has the swine flu and is under quarantine, along with his roommate.
A Marine spokesman at the Pentagon, Maj. David Nevers, said the sick Marine is doing well and his condition continues to improve.
Nevers said approximately 30 others who had been in contact with the sick Marine at the Twentynine Palms base will be held in quarantine for five days as well as to see whether they show symptoms.

ARIZONA:1 confirmed case of swine flu in Maricopa County

Federal officials on Wednesday confirmed the first swine flu case in Arizona: an unidentified person in Maricopa County.
No details about the age of the patient or where he or she lives were immediately available, partly because state health officials have yet to notify the person or his or her family.
"This is all happening so fast," said Will Humble, acting director of the Arizona Department of Health Services...

Phoenix police wearing gear to protect against flu...

Sheriff's deputies working on the streets and in the jails are being told to put on protective gear if they fear they've come in contact with someone infected with the swine flu, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office announced Tuesday.The sheriff's office will make masks, gloves and other measures available to 750 deputies working the streets and will add extra deputies trained to identify suspected illegal immigrants based on the theory that some of those inmates might have come from areas in Mexico where the infection was rampant, said Lt. Brian Lee, a sheriff's spokesman.

SWINE FLU UPDATE

World takes drastic steps to contain flu...

Egyptian Christians riot after swine flu cull

Egyptian leaders ordered the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of pigs today to help protect against swine flu, prompting angry protests from the poor Christan farmers who feed their animals with a country's food scraps. The decision was also criticised as a "real mistake" by a senior UN food expert. The Arab world's most populous nation has been been badly hit by the H5N1 bird flu virus in recent years and the move to cull up to 400,000 pigs-seen by Muslims as unclean animals-was designed to calm fears of an impending pandemic.