Schwelmo's Welt

I am happy not to live in the states. For a lot of reasons. I think there are actually quite a few reasons, why it could be fun to live in the States. At least for a white, non-moslem with a interest in rock music, who is also a vegan. It doesn’t need to be Texas. But right now the US facing a epidemic. There is a fear of spinach, prepacked and looking healthy, but it might be deadly. Poeple die because of eating spinach (Somehow I think it is funny). The spinach is full of E. coli O157:H7. This is a nasty bug. It makes you shitting blood and causes liver failure. Popeye wouldn’t be able to take a fight after eating some of this, I guess (but he wasn’t eating fresh spinach, instead it came out of a can. Have you ever seen spinach in cans?? Its bad enough they do it to beer.). Anyway now you shouldn’t eat spinach in the US. But the very interesting thing is E. coli O157:H7 is a bacteria living in the guts of animals. The main problem with it until now was contamination of meat, undercooked mince etc. If you were unlucky you could get it even as a vegetarien from handshaking with your meat eating friend (not washing his/her hands) or using MacDonalds toilets. Eric Schlosser tells a very interesting story about O157:H7 and the meat industry in “Fast Food Nation” (recommended read, but for people to lazy, they just made a movie out of it). So how did it get onto spinach? I haven’t heard anything about that, but I suggest using pee and poo from animals to fertilize the spinach fields has something to do with it. Or it comes from the flooding of ..maybe New Orleans, I am sure they still haven’t cleaned it up. Anyway, dear meat eater, eat what you want but don’t mess up our food as well. Please!

Meanwhile in New Zealand:

A study showed 1 in 5 New Zealanders has some sort of mental illness. That actually did not surprise me. There are quite a few people I know of how taking anti-depressives and similar things. I would like to know the figures of other countries. Not really mentally straight are the doings of New Zealand politics. First Don Brash (National Party leader and conservative Sexgott) got blamed of having an affair with a business women, who benefits from some funding, tax money, I don’t know. It shouldn’t be surprising that conservatives have a closer relation to the business world than others. And they might even sleep with them. So be it! That’s what you do if you like each other (at least sometimes). Well, to fight back the National Party (not officially I think) accused Helen Clarks husband to be gay. Well, who cares? Does it matter for the country? Is it maybe even better if the prime minister doesn’t get distracted when she comes home and can concentrate on her work? Anyway, being gay is apparently the heaviest insult you can get in New Zealand. …. Grow up!

# posted by Schwelmo @ Saturday, September 23, 2006