On September 17, 2021, the conservative-liberal majority in the EU Parliament voted against a ban on reserve antibiotics in factory farming. Reserve antibiotics are antibiotics that are used for humans when other antibiotics no longer take effect due to resistance. Every year there are around 33,000 deaths due to multi-resistant germs in Europe. Although it was possible to reduce the use of antibiotics by vaccinating the livestock, their use has recently increased again. The main evils are overcrowded, huge stalls that encourage the spread of germs. Reserve antibiotics make up 40% of the total consumption of antibiotics there. Turkey meat is said to be particularly polluted. At the discount store Lidl, 35% of the samples were contaminated with resistant germs, at Aldi 26%. You can get infected during preparation and by consumption. Large amounts of germs enter the environment via the manure (see previous message). The problem is that antibiotics are always administered to the entire animal population instead of taking sick animals out for individual treatment.
Chancellor Kurz has announced his resignation, but rejects any guilt. — … are ahead. Can't we turn this around? Yes we can. — In view of what we know from the chat logs, an apology without exclusive reference to wording would likely have been appropriate. That there was nothing with reference to his white vest is likely not true, even if the accusations should not be substantiated under criminal law. After all, he has cleared the way for a continuation of the black-green coalition.
The biotech industry is waging an ongoing lobby battle to exclude new GMOs from current European safety checks, monitoring, or consumer labelling. The European Commission has just launched a public consultation, which will only run until 22 October 2021. So far, the process has been highly biased in favour of the biotech industry. It's important to have your voice heard now! In 2018 the EU’s highest court ruled that that the current regulations must be applied to new GMOs. Now politicians want to alter the rules so that they do not apply for new gene manipulation methods any more.
Neues Video des Youtubers Rezo zu Korruption und Lobbyismus. Recherchiert dazu hat unter anderem auch abgeordnetenwatch.de. Eigentlich hätten wir das Video schon vor den Wahlen in Deutschland posten sollen. Es enthält auch interessante Informationen zu Olaf Scholz.
Paid surveys, which show good values for Kurz, have been processed as bogus invoices via the Ministry of Finance. This leads to the charge of infidelity. In addition, between mid-2016 and the first quarter of 2018, a total of 1.3 million euros was paid to the media through advertisements for compliant reporting (see the electronic subscription edition of the SN from 2021-10-07). The allegation of bribery and corruption is derived from this. Did Federal Chancellor Kurz rise from Foreign Minister to Chancellor only on the basis of bad polls? The allegations weigh heavily: They are determined against the Chancellor, his team, two media makers and two pollsters. A piquant detail on the side is that the judge who, at the urging of the ÖVP, questioned Kurz instead of the economic and corruption prosecutor on the allegation of false testimony before the Ibiza investigative committee, approved the house searches at the ÖVP headquarters and at Kurz's confidants. In addition, the ORF (Austrian state television) has now sent out unmistakable chat messages about the cause in the main news.
It would be desirable for the ÖVP as a party to acknowledge responsibility and draw conclusions and propose a successor candidate for Chancellor Kurz. Because of the serious allegations and their clarity, that would also be in the interests of the ÖVP voters. The Greens, who stood up as the party for clean environment and clean politics, cannot go on like this. Without the ÖVP there will be new elections sooner or later, because a majority in parliament is not possible without the FPÖ. With a party of corona deniers who rail against the vaccination (allegedly with the support of ServusTV), a responsible policy is probably not feasible in the long term. But what would the result of new elections be? A strengthened FPÖ, which then makes finding a majority even more difficult. One can only wish that the coalition between the ÖVP and the Greens can continue. That both parties can work together well, constructively and fruitfully, was just lately shown by the eco-social tax reform a few days ago (although a few environmentally-political horsefeet remain). The ÖVP must confess its responsibility and cannot rely on blackmailing the Greens or a cover-up by the media. It is quite possible that many media will boil up the allegations against Kurz for months without ever specifying what he is accused of; however, relying on souped-up reporting alone does not seem to be expedient in the long term to me.
