((((lolo!))))

too much typing – just saw your comment now.

EMS is such a burden – so wish that weren’t in your life (or anyone else’s).

Thank you.

too much typing – just saw your comment now.

EMS is such a burden – so wish that weren’t in your life (or anyone else’s).

hi mods – thaks for tip – how many links should the (non-delay limit) be?

[I am in pre mod but some say 5 max]

Oh they do, do they? Lots of great stuff Kirk. Thanks!

[I am in pre mod but some say 5 max]

angie @
101

OT– for pups concerned with the declining honeybees– house hearing on cspan3.

Extensive research being done by local beekeepers has concluded tha ‘Gaucho 480 FL’ seems highly suspect in declining bee populations in the West. A product of Bayer this product is dynamite when synthesized with other pesticides. University of Toronto professor has not been able to get Bayer to pony up 50% of their share of environmental impact study as required by law. In the U.S. it would be easier. In Oregon one beekeeper has lost 1000 of 1400 hives. Time for a class-action!

*ilbo –

Great catch!

And what a tragic illustration of the precautionary principle – or – more precisely – the lack thereof.

Scientific uncertainty is a fact of life even in the most obvious environmental problems, such as the disappearance of species, and in the most potentially devastating trends, such as climate change. We seldom know for sure what will happen until it happens, and we seldom have all the answers about causes until well after the fact, if ever. Nevertheless, scientific knowledge, as incomplete as it may be, provides important clues to all of these conditions and what to do about them. When lives and the future of the planet are at stake, we must learn to act on these clues and prevent as much harm as possible, despite our imperfect knowledge and even ignorance. That is the essence of the Precautionary Principle.

[Nancy Myers and Carolyn Raffensperger, eds., Precautionary Tools for Reshaping Environmental Policy. (Cambridge, MA, MIT Press), Introduction.]

Our current (dys-)regulatory system for new chemicals allows the molecules out of the lab and into the world as though we were patting little collections of atoms on the head and ushering them off into the world.

We citizens – we living beings – have to somehow “prove” the lifeless toxins harmed us before we can get them out of our food and water.

Actually, most new chemicals (those containing carbon) never leave our food and water. Our or bodies. On the rare occasions a new chemical is banned, the chemical persists in the air and water – and in our bodies – for decades, slowly dwindling.

New chemicals containing carbon and chlorine (chlorinated hydrocarbons) last in our bodies a very long time. Very low concentraions of these chemicals act just like our bodies’ own hormones, and control our bodies development and activity in the same way our own hormones can.

This fact appears to be the cause of the ever-ealier start to sexual development in young women in North America.

The precautionary priniciple ends our (and our daughters’) role as test subjects for the petrochemical industries.

The precautionary principle – already adopted as the basis for EU policy – forces new chemicals to be evaluated before they ae ever relased.

No more waiting around for body counts (deaths, cancers, birth defects, reproductive disorders) for decades while we are slowly poisoned and the manufacturers use the same play book to stall change.

No more “unexpected” catastrophes from hasty introduction of toxins into our bodies, children, and wild creatures.

Disclosure:

In 1999 the LA Unified School District adopted the Precautionary Principle as a basis for a new pesticide policy that radically reduced pesticide exposure for 750,000 students, and yet tens of thousands more educators and staff.

Monsanto saw the threat. The new policy came after a well-publicized incident in which a studen was enveloped in acloud of pseticide as his mother watched.

The mother – Robina Suwol – embarrassed the LAUSD into holding small public meetings on the policy. Monsanto showed up – until activists’ publicity drove the Monsanto reps to stop coming.

Robina Suwol reached out to Pesticide Watch, Pesticide Watch reached out to Physicians For Social Responsibility-LA, and PSR-LA sent a board member off to the LAUSD meetings.

The PSR-LA rep introduced the precautionary principle in the LAUSD’s pesticide policy “task force”meetings in August, 1998 and ultimately ensured the pp was included in the policy submitted to the LAUSD Board. The citizens on the “task force” insisted the Precautionary Principle be directly submitted to the LAUSD School Board for inclusion in the final policy.

The LAUSD Board adopted the policy in March, and their example was cited and used by other groups forcing the principle upon public authorities in the US.

Who knew an EarthFirst!er could have such fun on a PSR-LA board?

[Mod Note: Please limit links and avoid delays, thanks.]

Bustednuckles @ 214

LHP,
A knee to the nads would have been appropriate.

I was tryingto act like a lady, not a rugby player.

Oh, I don’t know. A knee to the nads would be perfectly appropriate from a lady rugby player.

Hey punaise–did you do last Sunday’s NYT crossword? The title was Oooh! You can guess the theme.

thanks! I missed it.

I can just see Waxman Leahy in super hero suits with SM (subpoena man) posted on the front. Such a shame that the Republican controlled congress did not do justice to their party by practicing congressional oversight…… except in the case of calling a President out over lying under oath about a B.J.

Hi Kathleen, something in your last few comments has triggered the spam filters. I’m really not sure why that is happening but it may be the length of the url that was included in your profile. Please try removing it to see if that helps avoid getting trapped by mistake.

Sorry about the inconvenience.

And he did a bang-up job training police in Iraq.

Amongst other bang-up jobs (cf his Ground Zero lovenest).