[Dane]

Many bodies are still unclaimed and have been buried in temporary graves by the authoritie.

I guess some frenchies are still on their beloved August vacation.

[samtheman]

The government came under criticism? That's bullsh*t. It's the PEOPLE who should come under criticism. They went on their silly vacations and left the old folks at home in wretched apartments.

French == Scum

[aardvark1]

They had "extra" deaths? Did they have a quota? They should just tell those who were scheduled to die in September they can wait awhile if they want.

[Dudoight]

I think this is a general reflection on the French National Character. What can explain this? The post revolution secularism? I don't think there was even much of a humanist movement intellecutally, in France. Where are the French History majors who can give a clue as to the evolution of the mind of the French as a nation. It sure looks egocentric, arrogant, and altruistically bleak.

[Loyal Buckeye]

France has a population of 61 million and had approximately 11,000 heat-related deaths. That would be the equivalent of having 55,000 heat-related deaths in the U.S. if we were to follow the same pattern.

[Jumper]

Thank God that this it was only 11,000 French citizens in their peaceful nation.... Had any number of Iraqi citizens died for any reason, Bush and the USA would never hear the end of the French Commendation!

I understand this loss of French live is more acceptable to the French that the loss of life in Iraq!

[2timothy3.16]

Interesting, more frenchmen died from the heat in a week than died in all of world war two fighting the nazis.

[najida]

The more I read about this, the more disgusted I become.

[Paul C. Jesup]

I guess I am going to be the first person here to say this.

The French are guilty of crimes against humanity. Someone call the World Court.(sacasm)

[ladtx]

...11,000 extra deaths in France

I hate extra deaths.

[CaptainK]

A reader of the NY Times pinpoints the real culprit:

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/23/opinion/L23FRAN.html?n=Top%2fOpinion%2fEditorials%20and%20Op%2dEd%2fLetters

[Tacis]

They brought this on themselves! These deaths are the fault of the French. Their arrogance, refusal to act decisively when circumstances require, and obsession with communal action caused all these deaths. French hubris!

[MissAmericanPie]

I rented a movie the other night starring John Travolta called "Basic". In intro was relating how the French are the ones who began to build the Panama Canal.

They were losing about 500 workers a week to milaria and didn't really want the new arriving workers to know this.
So they shipped in thousands of kegs of vinegar and salt, stuffed bodies in the kegs and sold them to medical schools all over Europe.

The French are different.

[Always Right]

Of course the French will blame this on America for global warming.

[Consort]

France has a death surplus.

[E Rocc]

Was this due to the heat or the corresponding increase in BO?

-Eric

[schaketo]

Burn baby burn!

[INSENSITIVE GUY]

The french are of course too stupid to understand but there is a great invention called the air conditioner!

[Atlas Sneezed]

I don't believe these numbers. It reeks of junk science. The only numbers that really would be compelling is an annual spike (possibly within in a given demographic), that can be explained by spikes wihtin the year during the heatwave.

Otherwise, it is merely the heat picking off those who would have died soon anyway.

[randog]

Americans are surely to blame for this. If we hadn't gone to war with Iraq we would be sending air conditioners to the frogs instead of our troops in Iraq. Then they'd complain about our cultural insensitivity for not changing the power plugs to fit their wall receptacles.

[Uncle Miltie]

More than died in Iraq this spring.