Veggies and Hepatitis and Cholera and Politicians

[Guest guest]

Hi y'all,

 

I'm not surprised to hear of the hepatitis outbreaks and tracing them to

veggies from Mexico. I am a bit surprised to hear that many American

restaurant chains are importing veggies from Mexico .. I've lived a bit

of a sheltered life here in Turkey the past few years and don't keep up

with American news unless its on CNN or reported in the Turkish papers.

 

Hepatitis and cholera are often caused by consumption of food or water

that has been contaminated with feces and in many Third World countries

(Mexico certainly is one) we don't have to look far to find food and

water contaminated by feces.

 

Aside from Japan and Taiwan, most of the countries in SW Asia have water

that is daily contaminated .. people bath in it .. they irrigate crops

with it .. and in some countries, they fertilize their crops with human

feces. I've not known of an American soldier to fall ill due to cholera

and during my tours in the 'Nam we would eat the local food .. even from

soup wagons on the street .. just for the change from the combat rations

we often consumed. And many times this would go down in the middle of a

cholera epidemic .. folks would be dropping like flies but the American

GIs kept humming along without effect.

 

I've visited and/or worked in most of the Middle Eastern countries and

can testify that more than half of them are disease ridden rat holes.

 

Africa above the Sahara is FAR better off than the African countries

below the Sahara .. there, you can count on becoming sick quickly. Of

them all, Somalia is the funkiest .. Vietnamese health standards are

heads and shoulders above that of the Somalis. But Vietnam does have a

government in place .. Somalia doesn't.

 

Other Third World and Emerging Market countries have tried to do what

they could with means available to separate sewerage and drinking water

and even replace ancient pipes that had microscopic holes large enough

to allow blending of the two. They have much room for improvement yet.

 

Hepatitis is another matter. Though GIs have taken the Gamma Globulin

shots (and DAMN .. do they hurt) they merely provide (MAYBE) temporary

protection from Hepatitis A .. and GIs still fall ill with hepatitis

with some frequency.

 

Avoiding hepatitis is a matter of luck .. unless one eats only at home

and grows their own vegetables in their own garden. If we purchase our

vegetables commercially then the only half butt way to ensure avoidance

of hepatitis is to soak them in Clorox (which many embassy nurses still

recommend as a matter of CYA) or don't eat fresh salads or any other

uncooked vegetables.

 

Buying Organic and Certified Organic is a step in the right direction

but still, the dude that handled the products could have come from the

toilet without washing his hands .. and I think there is as much of that

kind of behavior in the USA as there is in any other country.

 

I've never become ill with hepatitis or cholera .. or with any of the

other off-the-wall diseases that kill folks by the millions in countries

most folks haven't visited or wouldn't really want to visit .. save two

times. I caught malaria in 1964 in the 'Nam .. and I was religiously

taking my malaria Horse Pill every Monday .. but later Uncle Sugar found

out that we needed a different pill .. every day. And in 1986 I caught

something the Docs were never able to identify .. probably the commonly

called " sleeping sickness " from a Tsetse Fly bite in Somalia.

 

I never took the " cure " for malaria .. simply because it was not even

diagnosed properly until five years or so after I caught it .. and I've

not had any symptoms since 1975 .. plus there are no ill effects now

from whatever kicked me in the butt in Somalia. But I've always had an

immune system something like that of a Great White or a Cockroach.

 

Some folks say my immune system is abnormally strong due to the totally

irregular lifestyle I live .. and they might be right. Others say I'm

not really human and if they do an autopsy on me when I kick-off they

are likely to find I'm an alien of some sort. Me .. I think its maybe

heredity and a lotta luck. I figure I'll kick off and go under snakes

without warning .. and folks passing by my coffin gonna remark that I

was the healthiest looking corpse they ever done seen. ;-p

 

Got kinda away from the subject I did. Seems to me the US Big Brother

gummit is sorta responsible on the hepatitis incidents in that they know

for sure how conditions are in Mexico .. once you step in and want to

act like the " protector " you accept great responsibility for taking the

correct actions to ensure health of citizens and for not taking action

in that regard. Just like NAFTA is a political ballgame, so is willful

disregard of highway safety standards of Mexican vehicles entering the

USA as well as safety of fruits and vegetables and other foodstuffs.

 

I'll not forget an interview I saw on Fox TV while in the USA .. they

were talking about Arnold the Governater's chances of winning in CA.

Ex-Governors from both the Democratic and Republican parties admitted

that the Spanish speaking populations of California were in support of

relaxing standards on imports, etc., from Mexico .. as well as increased

benefits for illegal aliens. Said it would take a feller with balls

bigger than his political aspirations to go on record against the issues

a fairly large part of the voting population wanted to see go down.

 

Y'all keep smiling. :-) Butch http://www.AV-AT.com

[Guest guest]

> I'm not surprised to hear of the hepatitis outbreaks and tracing

them to

veggies from Mexico. I am a bit surprised to hear that many American

restaurant chains are importing veggies from Mexico ..

 

Hey There Butch

 

There was a lot in that post, but I only have a few moments right now to

comment on this ... I've noticed in the produce section of grocery

stores here in the US a LOT of fruits and veggies imported from Mexico.

Maybe it has to do with the NAFTA thing that passed a few years ago?

Seems to be more than it used to be, but I could be wrong about that.

 

<HEAVILY snipped>

> the dude that handled the products could have come from the

toilet without washing his hands .. and I think there is as much of that

kind of behavior in the USA as there is in any other country.

 

And yes, not too long ago they had somebody stand in the washroom part

of public toilets all over the country and they found that FAR too many

folks so NOT wash their hands after going potty - yucky ;-p

 

> Y'all keep smiling. :-) Butch <http://www.av-at.com/>

http://www.AV-AT.com

 

*Smile*

Chris (list mom)

 

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