A German friend of mine recently mentioned she was sick and hoped that she didn't have the "asiatische Vogelgrippe" (Asian bird flu, more or less). Perplexed, I asked her just what that was supposed to be. I thought it might be a joke. Turns out it is much more serious.
She forwarded me a link to this article: EU stoppt Geflügelimporte aus Thailand (EU Bars Fowl Imports from Thailand). Apparently there is a virus that is carried by poultry that can infect humans. The EU has banned all poultry imports from Thailand, which is the 4th largest poultry market in the world.
The worst part is that it seems to affect children the easiest - two Thai kids have died, and four out of the five that have died from it in Vietnam were children. Apparently there have also been victims in Japan and South Korea.
So we can't eat American beef, still probably shouldn't eat European beef and we can't eat chicken, at least if it's from Asia. What's next on the list, I wonder?
(Thanks to Almut for the info)
An interesting article from the Deutsche Welle:
Germany set to Abolish Draft
Compulsory military service has been a part of German life that nearly all of my male friends from across the pond had to go through. I think that some of them would be very happy if the draft disappeared. I know a lot of people that opted out and went for a community service function instead of serving in the military. As it's pointed out, though, Germany might lose a huge number of community service workers if the draft disappears, which could be more detrimental to the country than the loss of a guaranteed fighting force.
One of my friends did join the military for his service, though, and managed to land a coveted position in one of the orchestras. He was happy about that, of course, but I don't think that he was philosophically opposed to the draft. This will be an interesting issue to follow.