Category Archives: International

Government Incompetence: Europeans now blaming Egypt for deadly E Coli, no real proof, are GMOs to blame?

First the Germans blamed Spanish cucumbers.  Then they blamed sprouts, from a northern German farm.  Then the French blamed a German owned grocery store selling French grown sprouts.  Then the French blamed a U.K. seed company which supplied the seeds to grow the sprouts.   Then the Swedish blamed the Germans, then backed off when they began having e.coli cases in people who’d never been to Germany, or eaten sprouts.  Now the Europeans are blaming Egyptian fenugreek seeds for the deadly e.coli.  Fenugreek is used as an herb and a spice.

The Europeans have gone so far as to ban any more imports of Egyptian fenugreek.  On top of that they’re banning other Egyptian agricultural products, until they can be proven safe.

Here’s the problem; no one has proven conclusively where the deadly e.coli strain is coming from!

Fact: German health officials traced some of the e.coli cases back to a typhoid Mary suspect, a woman who worked for a catering company.  The woman seems to be a carrier.  She thinks she might have eaten sprouts.

Fact: E.coli comes from humans, not plants.  The only way plants could get infected is if they came into contact with humans waste.

So far at least 49 people have died, and more than 4,000 are sick.  Knowing the facts about the case, how can European officials now blame Egyptian fenugreek?  Of course they claim the seeds were used to grow the sprouts that made people sick.  But up ’till now the claim has been that “bean” sprouts are the culprits. Now suddenly it’s fenugreek sprouts?

Seeds get contaminated when they come into contact with the bacteria.  This could be at anytime in the planting, growing and harvesting process.  It only takes a tiny bit of the bacteria, once the seeds are planted not only does the plant grow, but some does the e.coli, and it spreads.  That’s the traditional way.

Here’s a new way: In an earlier posting I wrote how some scientists say it looks like the deadly e.coli strain was engineered in a lab.  If you understand the way genetic engineering of plants works, then it actually makes sense.  In order for scientist to make their genetic modifications ‘stick’, they must use a bacteria that is resistant to almost all forms of self preservation by the original plant genes.  Yes, e.coli is one of those deadly bacterias that agricultural giants like Monsanto could be using to create GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms).

They also want their newly modified plants to be super resistant to natural diseases, and man made chemicals.  Again, that’s where the deadly bacterias come into play.  GMOs contain bacteria that are intentionally made to be super resistant.

Are we looking at the first cases of deadly results from genetically modified plants?

Australian study says hypoallergenic baby formula doesn’t work

The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Epidemiology reports a study done by Australian researchers, into the effects of hypoallergenic whey based infant formula.

620 babies were divided into three groups. One group got the whey formula, another group got cow’s milk, and the third got soy milk.

Two years later the babies were checked.  Surprise!  More than half the 620 babies developed allergies regardless of what type of formula, or milk they drank.

Further more, when researchers looked at just the babies who drank the hypoallergenic whey formula, they discovered that the incident rate for developing allergies, was no different than for the cow’s milk or soy milk.

French study says drinking more water could reduce chances of getting Type 2 Diabetes

A study in France followed more than 3,000 people and the amount of water they drank over a nine year period.

Over the nine years it was discovered that people who drank at least 1 liter (34 ounces) of water per day, had 21% less blood sugar, than those who drank less water.

Researchers admit there are other factors that could account for the results, and they want to do more studies.

No more open borders in Europe, no thanks to the U.S. & European wars in the Middle East & North Africa

Denmark announced that starting July 5, no more open borders.  They blame drug trafficking and illegal immigrants.

Since the U.S. led invasion of Afghanistan drug trafficking has skyrocketed across Central Asia and into Europe.  Many of the drugs come from U.S. occupied Afghanistan.

The NATO attacks on Libya have greatly increased what European governments are calling illegal immigration (most of whom are actually war refugees, no thanks to the European/U.S./NATO war on Libya).

Denmark is not the first EU member to close its borders.  France and Italy closed their borders with each other, for the same reasons as Denmark.  In the case of France and Italy, French officials discovered that Italy was giving refugees (I mean illegal immigrants), mainly from Tunis and Libya, EU visas then putting them on trains bound for France.

Other EU members are complaining about the violation of the European Union’s “open borders” policy, but Denmark claims their border closure will not affect commerce.

Saudi Prince tells U.S. led NATO to invade Iran or give Saudi Arabia nuclear weapons

A British newspaper reports that a secret meeting was held between NATO and Saudi Prince Turki al-Faisal.  The subject was nuclear weapons, and how Saudi Arabia could get some.

The Guardian quoted an unnamed Saudi official as saying: “We cannot live in a situation where Iran has nuclear weapons and we don’t.”

The meeting concerned Saudi fears that Iran will develop nuclear weapons.

Saudi Arabia is a Semitic country.  Iran is technically Aryan (Aryans originate in Central Asia, and spread from India to Europe, the politically correct term in the West is Indo-European).  Also, most of the Saudi royal family are Wahhabi (aka Salafi) Muslims (the main stream western media incorrectly says most Saudis are Sunni Muslim).  Most Iranians are Shia Muslims.  Al Qaeda, also made up of mainly Wahhabis, declared jihad against Shia Muslims.  The dominating tribe of Saudi Arabia (the royal family) considers Iran a mortal enemy.

One analysts says what’s really happening is that Saudi Arabia is trying to push the United States closer to going to war with Iran: “I think the point is less that Saudi Arabia is really planning to make nuclear weapons, it’s about impressing on the U.S. how urgent it is to react to Iran’s nuclear program.”-Guido Steinberg, German Institute for International and Security Affairs

 


Sale of 200 German made tanks to Saudi Arabia may be illegal

The German Parliament is investigating the sale of 200 of the latest version of Germany’s Leopard 2 tank to Saudi Arabia.  It was an unnamed Saudi source that revealed the sale.

German law bans the sale of major weapons systems to countries in crisis hit regions: “Selling 200 Leopard tanks to Saudi Arabia is far from ethical foreign policy.  The country is in the middle of a regional powder keg.  You shouldn’t be giving out matches there.”-Andrea Nahles, SPD General Secretary

Der Spiegel revealed that it was Chancellor Merkel’s security council that approved the sale.

What makes this even more controversial is that Germany already gave Saudi Arabia a $93 billion ‘stimulus’ package, specifically for military/security use.  It’s rumored that Saudi Arabia needs the military help after invading the tiny island country of Bahrain, and after constant military action on their border with Yemen.

Makes you wonder where all their oil money went?

Video of Leopard 2, mostly the latest version, but some older versions of the Leo 2. The one with the pointy turret front is the newer version.

No Economic Recovery for the U.S.: German car sales explode, but not because of the United States

German car makers are scrambling to keep up with international orders.  They expect that by the end of the year they will have exported 4.15 million German made cars.  But the majority of those cars are not going to the U.S., they’re going to China, and to some extent India.

“We are seeing international markets pick up much more rapidly than many had expected.  The drivers of growth are above all Asian markets.”-Matthias Wissmann, German Car Industry Association

Audi alone saw a 64% increase in their sales to China and Hong Kong, in 2010.  But BMW is turning out to be the big money maker, just in the first six months of 2011, their sales in China exploded by 101%!

Executives for German car makers admitted they are scrambling to rethink their corporate strategy, because they never expected such high sales in China, so soon.

 

No Economic Recovery for the U.S.: Germany & China sign $3 billion deal

Germany, not the United States, is becoming China’s most important business partner.

In fact the latest deal puts to shame the recent deal signed between China and the United Kingdom, by several hundred billion dollars.  At the end of June Germany and China signed a $290+ billion deal.

The deal includes not just the purchase of products, but investments into anything from universities to medical research to environmental services.  Sounds like everything President Obama promised the people of the United States.

Currently Germany has invested $20 billion into Chinese industries, with China investing only $600 million into Germany.  This new deal greatly increases Chinese investment into Germany.

According to Rainer Gehnen, managing director of the German-Chinese Business Council, China, not the United States, is now Germany’s most important market, and will be for the long run.

 

 

 

Rare Earth Minerals the ‘oil’ of the 21st Century. Who controls the most? Same old adversaries of the 20th Century

Rare earth minerals will become the ‘oil’ of the 21st century.  That’s because they’re used in high tech electronics, and the more the world becomes reliant on electronics, the more valuable rare earth minerals become.

In fact, some analysts say some of the current wars raging on the African continent are all about control of rare earth minerals.

Here are some examples of rare earth minerals: Dysprosium is used in electric motors for vehicles, and Terbium for the latest televisions.

Who’re the biggest controllers of rare earths?  Why they’re the same major players of the Cold War in the 20th century: Russia (the boss of the Soviet Union during the Cold War), China and the United States.

However, China actually controls 90% of the production/refining of rare earths.  This is where their true power comes in.

Rare earth minerals are so important that the Japanese University of Tokyo spent a lot of money conducting a search for other sources of rare earths.  Their target search area was the Pacific Ocean.  International law would prevent any monopolization by any country, of rare earths found in the Pacific Ocean.

They found plenty.  From 2000 samples taken at 78 locations, Associate Professor Yasuhiro Kato estimates there is 800 times the rare earths at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, than there is on land.

They targeted volcanic vents on the Pacific Ocean floor.  Hawaii has a lot.  The problem is that most of the high concentrations are at depths of 3,000 to 6,000 meters (9,842 to 19,685 feet).  So there are technical limits to getting at the Pacific Ocean rare earths.

Pacific Ring of Fire: Second Indonesian volcano erupts

On July 3, Indonesia’s Mount Soputan, on the Sulawesi island chain, erupted.   An ash cloud went 5,000 meters (16,404 feet) high.  An evacuation zone of 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) was ordered.

This is the second Indonesian volcano to erupt this year. In March, Mount Karangetang, also on the Sulawesi island chain, spewed lava and gas clouds, forcing thousands to evacuate.