Holocaust of the elderly: death toll in French heatwave rises to 10,000

The Independent UK ^ | August 22, 2003 | John Lichfield

[Kay Soze]

WOW!

So much for French liberal compassion.

So much for socialized health care.

the French spend more energy on being anti American than they do on aiding their own parents.

[ex-Texan]

*BUMP* !

[MEG33]

This is a terrible toll. The numbers are difficult to believe.

[mvonfr]

WOW!

French found a way to solve social security budget problems!

[YaYa123]

Very well put!

[MediaMole]

It's all the fault of George W. Bush. If he had signed Kyoto, this never would have happened. It just goes to show that Bush is a greater terrorist than Bin Ladin. Bush killed 10,000 French citizens while Bin Ladin only killed 3000 Americans. < /French idiocy >

[claritas]

"the French spend more energy on being anti American than they do on aiding their own parents"

Don't forget the energy spent on all those vacations.

[gr8eman]

The summer of 2003 will be remembered as the year of the holocaust of the French elderly.

Are they implying that A/C would have saved the Jews? How Reeeeeeeeetarded!

[steve86]

French found a way to solve social security budget problems!

I nominate that for most inappropriate post of 2003

[O.C. - Old Cracker]

Just confirms what a bunch of wussies the Frogs are.

Oooo la-la! Le heat is too much for my delicate person!

[gr8eman]

"GIMME AN "A"...GIMME A "C"..." What's that spell you frickin morons?

[fourdeuce82d]

10,000?????

okay, so where are they storing the extra 10,000 bodies? That's at least 1,200,000 pounds of meat... are they stacking them in the streets?

Much as I enjoy bashing the frogs- this number seems a little suspect- kind of like "one billion wives beaten during the Super Bowl"

[Hoosier-Daddy]

Once again, I must ask, if the French are not used to hot air, who in the hell is?

[F.J. Mitchell]

Liberals may be singing a different tune about global warming, after seeing how a mere heatwave is so benefical in reducing the cost of maintaining a socialist state.

[Cold Heat]

Not to sure how to take that kind of humor.

[mtbopfuyn]

I don't know what's true and what's not in this article. The numbers keep multipying daily so can we trust the French that the deaths are all from the heat? How many elderly die in France every month? Are the French such scum as not to check on their elderly relatives? Are the nursing homes and hospitals so bad they lock the doors or ignore thousands of patients? I'll give him that probably 80 of all deaths are of elderly and over 75, and that many people (especially the elderly) die in nursing homes and hospitals. But I don't buy it all.

Hey, wrap up in a wet towel and lounge in front of an opened fridge or is that too close to bathing?

[McGavin999]

Does anyone want to explain to me how you justify going off on vacation knowing there is nobody there to take your place? Or how about leaving your parents behind, alone, during a heat wave?

Didn't any of the neighbors even think about calling on their elderly neighbors to make sure they were OK? Where were the volunteers at the hospitals and old age homes who could have given these people spounge baths or cooled them down with alcohol?

[blam]

Chirac Goes On TV To Quell Heatwave Anger

[TheWriterInTexas]

My boss just came back from a tour of the Mediterranian. She had a short stop-over in France and even she could not believe how insufferably hot it was. Oppressively hot, to be exact.

Texans are used to the heat, believe me. We've had 100+ days for several weeks now, but somehow it still seemed hotter than that to her.

She couldn't take it for long periods of time; it wouldn't surprise me that elderly people would succumb to it.

[Kay Soze]

I live in La Quinta CA next to Palm Springs.

You know what the elderly do here when it it hits 100?

They play gold before noon and drink fewer martinis to reduce their dehydration!

And when it hits 118 they stay inside and drink at the cafes and country clubs.

But that the diff between a capitalist nation with great health care and a soicliaist nation with very poor health care.