Observations From the Back Row: 4-28-11

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“De Omnibus Dubitandum”

The environmental movement I helped found has lost its objectivity, morality and humanity. The pain and suffering it is inflicting on families in developing countries must no longer be tolerated. Eco-Imperialism is the first book I’ve seen that tells the truth and lays it on the line. It’s a must-read for anyone who cares about people, progress and our planet. – Patrick Moore, Greenpeace co-founder

Dog lovers and baby killers 

A couple months ago, when its dog-sledding business lost customers, a Canadian company had a hundred of its dogs killed. The incident "shocked" and "angered" people. The employee who shot the dogs said he suffered "post traumatic stress" from killing them and wants compensation.

Animal activists used the incident in campaigns against dog sled rides. "I don't think society is willing to accept that animals should be killed just because they are surplus or don't suit the purpose they were born for," said one. "The magnitude of this atrocity is so shocking—our heads are reeling," another said……….

My wife Fiona Kobusingye lost her son, two sisters and four cousins to malaria. Her nephew is permanently brain-damaged because of it. Almost everyone I know has lost at least one child or sibling to this killer disease. Despite millions of bednets, malaria still kills more African children than any other disease. I cannot help thinking it would really be nice if, just once in awhile, animal lovers, environmentalists, journalists and other people would care half as much about African babies, children and families, as about dogs.

A hundred dogs are killed, and activists and newspapers make it a huge story. Last year, almost one hundred thousand Ugandan children and adults were killed by malaria. And yet, nobody seemed to care—certainly not enough to write a story about it, or get outraged that callous anti-pesticide activists lie about DDT risks and prevent the use of DDT and other insecticides that could prevent malaria, yellow fever and other diseases that cause so much suffering, poverty and death on our continent……….

Michael Mann may have something to hide Over the weekend on “The Score” radio show, we followed-up on the story of how Chris Horner, working with the American Tradition Institute, had filed a freedom of information request with the University of Virginia for emails and materials former UVA Prof. Michael Mann generated during his time at the school. What we learned from our interview with Horner is jaw-dropping……..So why are they fighting so hard? Horner said, referring to UVA’s legal bill. “they’ve given us half a million reasons to believe there’s something [in Mann’s emails] to hide.” Horner has been told that Mann’s own lawyer has contacted UVA asking whether the school intended to release the records, indicating that he is worried about what they may reveal if they are made public. We may know soon enough.

Mike Fox with some rational I-131 coverage - Media Hysteria and Radioactivity BY MICHAEL R. FOX PHD – The US media continues to issue 40 year old hysterical scary one-liners about radioactivity, especially as they relate to the Fukushima reactor failures in Japan. It is as if the media have yet to discover natural and man-made radioactivity and that many of these are a natural part of our environment.

Organic Valley identified as secret funder of ‘FrogTV’ pesticide scare campaign Is American agriculture facing yet another major attack on food safety similar to the 1989 Alar scare? At JunkScience.com, we take notice when certain tactics by activists and unscrupulous marketing interests repeat themselves. That is certainly the case right now vis-à-vis conventional crop protection products used by farmers and growing online advocacy and marketing campaigns seeking to tie these products to various human diseases and harms to our ecosystem

Stink Bugs Destroy Crops At Germantown Farm GERMANTOWN, Md. (WUSA) -- The Red Wiggler Community Farm in Germantown is infested with stink bugs. Founder Woody Woodroof says the stink bugs cause discoloration, changes the texture, and make crops inedible. He says his farm has lost 15 percent of its crops to the bug. It's a loss for the farm and for the people that work there. "We grow and sell vegetables as a framework for training adults with developmental disabilities," Woodroof says. He says they are using a floating row cover to protect crops from stink bugs. "We're a certified organic farm," Woodroof says, "What that means is we don't spray chemical based pesticides or herbicides." Woodroof says nothing else has worked, nor have any other insects prayed on the stink bug. He says other farms are seeing the same thing. Congressman Roscoe Bartlett says he will asking for $3 Million to help fund research to protect crops from the the stink bug.

My Take – Another three million wasted. There may be an upside to this though. Maybe as this problem expands we won’t hear as many pretentious attitudes of moral superiority and general horsepucky from this lot.

"The time has come," the Walrus said,

"To talk of many things:

Of shoes, and ships, and sealing wax -

Of cabbages and kings,

And why the sea is boiling hot,

And whether pigs have wings."

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