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[TheDarkStar]

Yeah :/
People don't just overdose on carbomb for no reason. Interestingly, it doesn't seem like it was the Maltese government that did it, given the investigations that BBC reports they started. That doesn't mean it wasn't some slightly lower-ranking official acting alone, though.

[scriver]

In other news, time for a refresher on why you should all buy Swedish meat and dairy:

The chart details how much mg antibiotica is sold per animal, corrected for animal population of each country (mg/PCU, Population Correction Unit". The chart is from a biased site (Swedish farming organisation) but the original data can ne found on the European Medicine Agency (direct link to pdf here), but they order their charts alphabetically and not from best to worst so and I wanted Sweden to be in front. Sorry for the shitty resolution, I blame internet unqualified farmers with tractors for fingers.

For reference, the top five on the charts are Sweden, Finland, Slovenia (unexpected?!), Luxembourg and Lithuania. The bottom worst are Belgium (gotta keep those Belgian Blue monstrosities crimes against nature alive somehow I guess), Hungary, Italy, Spain, and last but certainly not least Cyprus.

[smjjames]

How come Spain, Italy, and Cyprus are so freaking high on that? Climate in southern Europe maybe? Wouldn't explain Greece and Portugal though.

[ChairmanPoo]

I dunno man. For the record, when at home I tend to buy beef with Basque Denomination of Origin (Euskolabel) which is supposed to be of higher quality, but I dont really know.

Could conceivably be weather related I'm guessing, in so far southern Europe is concerned

I can also tell you that beef in Ireland is surprisingly good.

[scriver]

I can only tell you why the Nordic countries (or rather, just Sweden I suppose) is so low: a culture of focusing on preventing injury and disease rather than just treating it once it happens.

Also less livestock industry, but let's ignore that and let me have this.

[Sheb]

Part of the reason is the mix of animal raised (intensive pig farming is an antibiotic hog). But still huge differences between practices.

[Loud Whispers]

Dang UK 1 short of top 10

[RedKing]

Just needs a marketing spin on it.

"Buy Cypriot chicken! Not only good, but good for you! Pre-medicated!"

pig farming is an antibiotic hog. 

What you did there, I see it.

Climate may have a lot to do with it -- warmer climates, more disease vectors. I can't imagine that Cyprus is awash in factory farms.

[scriver]

Just needs a marketing spin on it.

"Buy Cypriot chicken! Not only good, but good for you! Pre-medicated!"

pig farming is an antibiotic hog. 

What you did there, I see it.

Climate may have a lot to do with it -- warmer climates, more disease vectors. I can't imagine that Cyprus is awash in factory farms.

Why not? It's not like they have vast meadows for their critters to graze on. It's a pretty well-inhabited place.

[Sheb]

Apparently they reached self-sufficiency in pork and poultry so that might be a factor. I wonder how those levels compare to US/OECD/rest of the world.

[ChairmanPoo]

Alfonso Dastis, Spanish foreign affairs minister, on the BBC: "it has been proven that those pictures are fake"  interviewer "so you're saying that those pictures of spanish police violently entering he polling stations are false?"
"..eeh no, I'm not saying that all of them are false... but many are!"

This is one of the standard PP goverment arguments to whatever is afflicting them.  Two years ago, about a corruption scheme, the president went on air to say "It's all a lie... barring some things".

As an addenum, at least the foreign minister can actually speak a foteign language.  That might be a first

[ChairmanPoo]

"Catalonia finds no friends among EU leaders. Looks like they took the "forget Catalonia" video literally.

I kind of wonder what the Spanish goverment intends to achieve with article 155. Because... a couple of scenarios

A: They repeat elections in 3 to 6 months. Likely outcome: Nationalist supermajority

B: They repeat elections in 3 to 6 months AFTER banning ALL nationalist parties in Catalonia. Eeh... this one would get very ugly very soon. Unlikely to provide them with an electoral victory either.

C: They suspend Catalonian autonomy indefinitedly. They can do this because the PP has absolute majority in the Senate thanks to fucked up election laws. This scenario would get very ugly very soon as well.


My theory: at this point the PP doesn't give a shit about what happens in Catalonia, or whether everything goes down into a spiral of violence. They've managed to get the Socialist Party to support them with Catalonia. Now, it's actually convenient for them to take the PSOE into a fascist rollercoaster ride, because in the process they'll likely alienate a good chunk of their voters and they wont be a threat to the PP in general elections

[Loud Whispers]

Wew lads looks like the die are cast

[smjjames]

Yeah, I don't see a fresh election leading anywhere since to be absolutely sure that none of the current Catalonian politicians get re-elected, they'd have to bar all of them from running again and that'd just make people angry. Plus it wouldn't guarantee that the new Catalonian parliament would agree to not do independence.

The only way out of this that I see that wouldn't end in potential violence would be to have both sides calm down and (Madrid in particular) agree to negotiate and talk about things. However, they seem to be headed in the opposite direction.

Also, the Catalonian Parliament (and some newspapers) are calling the whole thing a coup, while the foriegn minister says that it's the Catalonians that pulled a coup. It's a war of words atm.

Meanwhile, two Italian provinces Lombardy and Veneto (capitols are Milan and Venice respectively) are doing a non binding referendum asking for more autonomy. Though the Northern League (sounds like the name of an actual alliance of Italian city states doesn't it?) wiki page says that they're for federalizing Italy rather than going more autonomous. Italian politics really.

[Loud Whispers]

The Empire long divided, must unite, long united, must divide.