My post on DDT being brought back to combat malaria pissed off a couple of people who complained over the Facebook page. I am clear that DDT is not without dangers, but as with everything in life, you have to figure out if the reward outweighs the risks.
I know there is a boatload of studies that “suggest” and “appear to link” or “seems to associate” DDT from low sperm count to Global Warming and cancer, but amazingly I am yet to see one that directly relates a specific amount of deaths or consequences to its use. which leads me to believe no true and sincere research has been made but just seeking to confirm Carson’s book rather than clear the chaff.
But the top was this comment that left me amazed for its callousness:
I am sure that the average people in the deep of Africa just have to make up their minds one day, call Century 21 in Kampala or ReMax Botswana and see what properties are available in Norway or Monaco.
Apparently Silent Spring must be defended no matter how many hundred of thousands of deaths a year it causes. And as for the poor people, fuck them for living in poor countries.
<smh>
When evil is good and all that…
Sheesh
It’s not just Malaria, it’s a whole host of diseases that were at bay in the third word and eradicated int he first world that are re-remerging including trypanosomiasis in Africa, Chegas’ disease in the Western Hemisphere. Female Anopheles mosquitoes exist in far more areas than just swampy stagnant water conditions.
But you don’t understand! We must keep the sperm count high!
Yeah even if it was doing some harm to other species, we should have kept at it to wipe out the mosquitoes, we just don’t need them. Far too many human lives are at risk, but most people don’t give a damn.
Why can’t poor people just buy more money?
Hexachlorobenzene was the prototype miracle pesticide that poisoned thousands and started the witch hunt. I’ll let you read the story from CDC, EPA, or a reputable site, but briefly: animal testing was done indoors, low exposures safe, US treated grain sent to Turkey during a family had too much – humans exposed to sunlight developed porphyria, loss of pregnancy, massive blisters. It was promptly banned, so the outrage police needed more targets.
I want to draw attention to another part of that quote, as well- the idea that people should be willing to accept the risk of living in a malaria hellhole, but accept the low risk of slightly reduced sperm count or fractional increase in carcinogen level? Nope- we can’t let them take that chance… Save them from cancer and reduced fertility by letting them die young, of malaria. A true battle in the war on poor people. I mean, poverty! War on poverty!
So….did anyone ELSE ride their bikes behind the mosquito truck when they were kids in the 60’s?
We had gas trucks drive up and down the neighborhoods, spraying anti-mosquito gas into the air willy nilly. We all liked to ride in the “smoke screen.”
Bring back DDT and use in in massive amounts to wipe out as much of the mosquito population as possible. Then STOP…and change back to the other poisons. Repeat as necessary. Don’t let them build a resistance.
I wonder what John’s take on hormonal birth control is, considering it literally involves eating high levels of estrogen — some of which ends up in the water supply.
“Not afraid to put his mouth where his moxie was, Edwards took to swallowing a tablespoon of DDT on stage before every lecture on the subject. In September 1971, Esquire magazine pictured Edwards doing just that. The accompanying text explained that Edwards had “eaten 200 times the normal human intake of DDT.” He did not even consider this gesture risky. In the one year of 1959, for instance, unprotected workmen had applied 60,000 tons of DDT to the inside walls of 100 million houses. Neither the 130,000 workmen or the 535 million people living in the sprayed houses had experienced any adverse effects.”
My place – on Earf day. All the links.
Not to be too tacky by referring back to my place. Sorry if it was over the line.
nope… refer away.
Do you really think the oh-so-special, caring, environmentally conscious, beautiful people give a rat’s backside about the poor?
They were perfectly willing to send Fast and Furious guns to Mexico to kill 300+ Mexican men, women and children in the cartel controlled provinces. And our elites continue to delay, obfuscate and cover it up. But do not worry, their buddies, the Mexican elites are safe behind their guards and walls in Mexico City.
They are perfectly willing to kill 400+ people in Chicago every year, year after year. Chicago has the strictest gun laws in the nation and is the murder capital of the US. The Chicago elites say they need more gun laws, because too many are murdered. They really do not care, as 90% of the dead are blacks and hispanics, and the Chicago City government will accept a 25% clearance rate on murders. But that is OK, as long as they keep the killings to the Black Neighborhoods South of Chicago Ave and East of Cicero Street, and out of THEIR neighborhoods on the North Shore.
So, No, I really do not expect them to care about black people in Africa. They do not care about most blacks or whites in the US. We are not important to the elites. After all, we never attended school with Teddy and Emma, much less read the NYT Book Review.
Hey, for a lot of the progressives the death count is a plus; they think there’re too many humans, so doing anything to prevent deaths is a Bad Thing. They made that quite plain when some of the big ‘environmental’ groups were formed.