Swedish officials announced that they have at least one case of the deadly e.coli that can not be connected to Germany or France. Sweden does have 53 cases where a link has been established.
The problem with this latest case is that they can’t trace it. The Swedish Institute for Communicable Disease Control says there are no signs that the infected individual got the e.coli from Germany or France.
So far 47 people have died in Germany, and one in Sweden. There are almost 4,000 cases in Germany.
Efforts to find the origins of a deadly e.coli strain (that some scientist say was engineered in a lab) continues, as more people get sick.
France has eight people in the hospital. Seven of them ate sprouts at an open house party. The sprouts were not grown in Germany, but in France. The seeds for those sprouts came from a company in the United Kingdom, a company called Thompson & Morgan.
Understanding how e.coli works makes it difficult to suspect seeds, however, if this strain of e.coli was engineered in a lab, then anything is possible.
“Now we have the proof that in this case a human passed on the germ to the vegetables and then it was passed to other humans.”-Daniel Bahr, Germany’s health minister
German health officials are saying they have proof a kitchen worker passed on the deadly strain of e.coli. Officials say at least 20 of the e.coli cases can be traced to an infected woman who works for a catering company. The woman claims to have eaten sprouts, which might be one of the sources for the bacteria. Check my June 9 posting.
Local officials are now investigating a sewage treatment plant near Frankfurt. They say a stream running nearby has a high level of e.coli. Local residents have long complained of intestinal problems, and routinely seek medical treatment.
In France, officials are now worried because several cases have shown up there. One boy became infected after eating a partially cooked hamburger, made with frozen beef. In Europe, it’s actually normal to eat ground beef raw. The frozen beef comes from France, but is sold by a grocery chain store owned by a German company. The beef sold at the Lidl supermarkets is being recalled.
So far 40 people have died, and thousands are in hospitals.
French environment minister, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, declared a “crisis situation” because of the ongoing drought. She explained that current water levels are the same as if it was July, instead of May.
She has ordered a third of all French administrative departments to cut back on water use. Two-thirds of the country’s groundwater reserves are reported to be below normal.
One of the things pushed through by President Sarkozy, at the beginning of his term, was tax breaks for the French Elites. Four years later those breaks have proven to be an economic failure. Now Sarkozy’s own UMP political party wants to stop it: “This government has a tax policy which benefits only a minority, and tries to tax the larger sections of the society. I am against such taxes.”- Herve Mariton, UMP Ruling Party
The French elites got huge tax breaks and exemptions, while the average taxpayer saw their taxes increased. The French pay more taxes than taxpayers in Korea, or the United States, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
One of the breaks for the rich is a cap on the percentage of tax they pay, no more than 50%. The average French taxpayer pays more than that. On top of that, the French elites were actually paid by the government, a kind of Earned Income Credit for the rich: “While 8 million French live on less than 10,000 Euros per year, the Law was helping the rich. Not only their taxes were reduced, but each of them, all 1,700 of them in total, each one was given 30,000 Euros as tax compensation.”-Roland Muzeau, Communist Opposition Party.
President Sarkozy sold his tax plan to the French people, as a way of energizing the French economy. It didn’t happen. Pro-elitists, and pro-corporationists here in the United States don’t think Sarkozy did enough. They actually accuse him of being too socialist!
French officials say they will reform the tax laws by the end of this year, but critics point out that the rich will still end up paying less than the average worker. Is it time for another “French Revolution”?
In another sign of who’s got the money, for the second year Chinese tourists have topped the list of biggest spenders in France.
The study was done by the UN World Tourism Organization. Recently the Japanese, in their own study, found that Chinese tourist were the biggest spenders there.
The study showed a 60% increase in Chinese visiting France, from 2009 to 2010. Spending also went up by 35%.
Russian tourists are the second biggest with number of visitors, and spending, in France.
“This outrageous use of violence to quell protests must come to an end now.”-President Barack Obama, referring to Syria, April 22, 2011
Compare that to what Obama said to Libya before attacking them.
“The suffering and bloodshed is outrageous and it is unacceptable. So are threats and orders to shoot peaceful protesters and further punish the people of Libya. These actions violate international norms and every standard of common decency. This violence must stop.”-President Barack Obama, referring to Libya, February 23, 2011
Basically Obama’s statement to Syria is just a condensed version of what he said to Libya.
The United Nations is already calling for investigations of protesters being killed in Syria. France is expressing concern, and remember, they were the ones that did all the dirty work to get the United Nations to approve war with Libya. President Obama is also accusing Iran of taking part in the violence in Syria.
Germany has agreed to provide Iran with the latest technology and training, to take advantage of the South Pars natural gas fields in Iran.
Iran is also working with several European countries for similar deals: “We are in talks with many foreign companies to attract U.S.$20 billion of investment.”-Mahmoud Zirakchianzadeh, Managing-Director of the National Iranian Offshore Oil Company
Iran has already signed a deal with South Korea.
Iran had signed a deal with the French, but said the French failed to live up to their end of the bargain.
Iran hopes to push production of the South Pars gas fields up to 1.1 billion cubic meters per day.
The French company Areva SA is increasing the number of nuclear experts they’ve sent to Japan, to help deal with the Fukushima Daiichi crisis.
Areva SA now has 15 technicians in Japan. Some of the technicians specialize in removing contaminated water, and dismantling nuclear power plants.
France based Areva is also trying to get a uranium enrichment operation built in Idaho, U.S.A.
In a move that smacks of guilt after passing the UNSCR 1973 against Libya, the UN has imposed sanctions against the Ivory Coast, and Laurent Gbagbo.
The civil war in Cote d’Ivore (Ivory Coast, a former French colony, or is it now?) has been raging on for much longer than in Libya, yet NOW the UN takes action?
And guess who was pushing for such action, why the same guys as in Libya, the French. It also helps that the African Union has been asking for UN action for a while now. So, when does the bombing start?