WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION A PACK OF LIARS

A Deltoid reader discovers the de facto DDT ban:

In the media release from WHO of 15 Sept 2006 they very clearly state that 'WHO actively promoted indoor residual spraying for malaria control until the early 1980s when increased health and environmental concerns surrounding DDT caused the organization to stop promoting its use and to focus instead on other means of prevention. Extensive research and testing has since demonstrated that well-managed indoor residual spraying programmes using DDT pose no harm to wildlife or to humans'. There are a number of other statements on the who website (which I am having trouble pasting in) where WHO recognises its mistake in this area in not promoting DDT for indoor residual spraying.

DDT ban denier Tim Lambert has a simple explanation for the WHO press release:

Yes, that's what the media release says. It's not true. See my link.

The Lambert link is to an earlier Deltoid post on former WHO official Allan Schapira, who apparently has DDT issues:

I resigned my post as coordinator, vector control and prevention, of the Global Malaria Programme, WHO, on Sept 6, 2006, because of disagreements with the director of the programme about policy issues.

Naturally, Schapira is determined to undermine the new pro-DDT head of the Global Malaria Programme, Dr. Arata Kochi, whose initial statement on DDT is devastating -- the importance of the statement can be seen in the fact that it is the first link on the Global Malaria Programme homepage.

The consensus holds the DDT ban to be real yet Lambert continues to deny it. Shame.

GLOBAL WARMING THREAT OVERPLAYED?

Without mentioning Al Gore two global warming believers undermine his message:

Professors Paul Hardaker and Chris Collier were speaking ahead of a conference on the issue in Britain.

The two men say warnings without clear evidence could undermine awareness of the real risks of climate change.

The latest example is from one of America's foremost science body's which, in a strongly worded statement, suggested that global warming was already responsible for more severe floods, storms and droughts which could lead to irreversible damage.
According to professors Hardaker and Collier this may well turn out to be true.

I don't get it, if global warming is real and the science sound, how is anything being exaggerated?

In tangentially related news, Chris Reed comments on the left's not unexpected reaction to William J. Broad's New York Times article critical of An Inconvenient Truth:

Sure enough, the executire director of the Sierra Club is peeved at the NYT for going off-message. Incredibly enough, a New Republic pundit compared the NYT to National Review, home to the world's loudest global warming skeptics.

What a churlish bunch. They got upset with the New York Times for running one skeptical article under the fold on the cover of the weekly Science section and forget about the 318 stories that have mentioned global warming on the NYT's front page -- few of which did anything to throw water on the contentions of political environmentalists that global warming is the moral/political/scientific crisis of modern times.

I wonder how many times the MSM will have to tell us anthropogenic global warming is real before we all believe it?

POMPOUS, DULL AND PRETENTIOUS, OH YEAH

In the course of introducing a radio interview with P. J. O'Rourke, Phillip Adams says O'Rouke is an exception to the rule that conservatives are "pompous, dull, pretentious, or all three". Adams obviously isn't into self-reflection. Regardless, the rare hour-long O'Rourke interview is not be missed, so click it.

Am I the only one for whom Adams's speaking voice and delivery conjures up a mental image of Jabba the Hutt?


Link shamelessly stolen from Ingolf at Club Troppo.

BLOGGER SLIPS A COG

Tigttog, one of the man-hating females at Larvatus Prodeo, theorizes that grouped males often behave badly due to "the common voluntary male subjection to the homosocial phenomenon whereby men who don’t 'go along' with 'the blokes' are ostracised". This male herding instinct apparently explains every bad male behaviour from the My Lai massacre to gay hating, to gang rape and vandalism. She knows this to be true because she saw just such male conformity on Ricky Gervais' Extras. Worst of all, she's worried her autistic son is in danger of being corrupted by a desire to be one of the blokes.

I'm not the only one thinking this post is nutty and hateful:

This post segues from My Lai to the “homosocial phenomenon whereby men who don’t “go along” with “the blokes” are ostracised”. It makes Janet Albrechtsen seem like a model of logic and intellectual rigour. Look up “non sequitur” in the dictionary, and you’ll see a picture of tigtog.

What particularly bugs me is that if I wrote a post about Lindy England, and then went on to make sweeping negative generalisations about female social behaviour, people would — quite rightly — denounce me as a misogynist and an idiot. But apparently it’s fine to do this sort of thing when your target is male.

Life can't be easy for women who think all men are jerks, or worse.

RWDB PREDICTS "ELECTION" RESULT

It appears Fidel's on the mend and in no mood to give up power:

The speaker of the Cuban National Assembly says President Fidel Castro is making a significant recovery from illness and may even stand for a new term in elections next year.

If he does stand, he'll "probably" "win".

NUCLEAR NON-EXPERT DOESN'T KNOW SHIT ABOUT TURTLES, EITHER

Over the past two days I've twice expressed disapproval (see here and here) of the MSM coverage crediting anti-nuclear activist Kevin Kamps as a "nuclear expert". Now that I have a bit of time, let's take a closer look at some of his remarks to the media:

A study has identified cities such as Townsville, Mackay and Brisbane as potential sites for nuclear reactors because of the coastal cities' proximity to power and water.

But the US experience had been that marine life was seriously affected by coast-based nuclear plants, Mr Kamps said.

"Even large animals like endangered sea turtles are sucked into these cooling systems," he said.

"In one year, 933 endangered sea turtles were sucked into a reactor in Florida.

"Sixteen of these were killed and many of the others were injured or traumatised, so it's having very serious impacts on endangered species on the sea coasts."

All very vague coming from an expert: neither the year nor the name of the Florida nuclear plant are cited. Fortunately, Kamps' parent organization, Nuclear Information and Resource Service (an official sounding environmental pressure group) links the 933 "entrainments" to 1995. The figure is old because the report it's sourced from was produced in 1999. (Entrainments are actually on the increase.)

A contemporaneous report (1998) is available in the Maritime Turtle Newsletter (produced by the corporate-shilling right-wing group, SeaTurtle.org). Here's what it says about sea turtles being sucked into the St Lucie power station:

From March of 1976, when the power plant began operation, to April 1998, 5727 sea turtles were captured at the plant's intake canal. This total includes 3357 loggerhead (Caretta caretta), 2297 green (Chelonia mydas), 34 Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii), 20 leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) and 19 hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) turtle captures. The vast majority of turtles entering the canal are in good condition and are not affected adversely by their rapid entrainment. Although some mortalities have occurred ([less than] 3.3%overall; [less than] 1.2% since 1990), constant evaluation and modification of capture technique has minimized these incidents

Being sucked into the plant's cooling system either isn't all that traumatic or sea turtles are exceptionally stupid:

From July 1994 to April 1998, 1673 green turtles were captured at the power plant's intake canal; 210 juvenile green turtles accounted for 614 of these capture events. Many of these juvenile turtles were captured numerous times, with one individual being captured 13 times in a three year period. All recaptured juvenile green turtles were recaptured at the canal an average of two times after initial capture. The number of recaptures found at the intake canal might actually be much higher as many turtles have been observed with obvious tag scars.

When a turtle is vacuumed-up 13 times and is not killed or seriously injured, the process sounds more fun than dangerous. Regardless, the newsletter does not make a big deal about turtle deaths and neither does the University of Florida Veterinary News (2005):

University of Florida scientists and their collaborators have stumbled on a sea turtle treasure trove that will help them better assess the endangered animals’ health. Researchers are creating a database of unprecedented size that will chart blood profiles of turtles entering the intake canal of a nuclear power plant in Port St. Lucie.

I'm sure the University of Florida researchers would tell us if there is a turtle-mangling problem at the St Lucie nuclear power station.

Kevin Kamps is no expert: he's an anti-nuclear propagandist who's here in Australia to pitch the environmental line and should be ignored.

EUROPE'S BOTTLED WATER EXPLOSION

Despite tap water being essentially free, Europeans can't get enough of the expensive bottled variety:

Europeans are drinking more and more bottled water amid preoccupation with weight loss and cravings for emotional experiences like "naturalness"...

This selfishness is not without its costs, however:

Europe's bottled water sector uses close to 1 million tonnes a year of oil-derived polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic. Some is recycled. But a lot is dumped in landfills or shipped to China to be dumped in landfills, with PET taking up to 1,000 years to biodegrade.

The environmental footprint of the bottled water industry is made even bigger by export markets - up to 60 percent of brands like Evian and Volvic are shipped out of Europe to chic restaurants round the world.

The bottled water fad is even killing carbon sequestering trees:

In two cases - documented by the BBC in 2005 - in Pedro Paulo Aina in Brazil and Michigan in the US Nestle's exploitation of natural springs saw natural water resources dry up or drop in quality, damaging local tourism and killing trees.

Next time you're thirsty, head for the nearest tap.

MSM SMITTEN BY NUCLEAR NON-EXPERT

Yesterday I noted the media coverage touting anti-nuclear activist Kevin Kamps as a "nuclear waste specialist" and "nuclear waste expert". Well, the MSM coverage of Kamps Wilderness Society sponsored speaking tour of Australia has since exploded, with The Australian, The Herald Sun, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and many other outlets giving his views space under headlines such as "Don't go nuclear, US expert warns".

This is absurd. As his bios indicate (available here and here) Kamps is at best a well informed layman; he has no stated nuclear credentials whatever. The MSM should not advertise the guy as an "expert"; in doing so the MSM is giving Kamps anti-nuclear views a cachet they clearly do not deserve. Pathetic.

WALKING EXPERT NO NUCLEAR EXPERT

Kevin Kamps is currently on a Wilderness Society sponsored tour, warning Australians about the dangers of nuclear energy. Here's his description of his "professional background":

Before joining [Nuclear Information & Resource Service], I founded and directed the World Tree Multi-Cultural Community Center for Peace, Justice and Mother Earth in Kalamazoo, Michigan from 1996 to 1999. My main work there was the Chernobyl Children’s Project, which brought groups of visually impaired children from the former Soviet Union to the U.S. for medical attention and recreation.

In 1995, I took part in the Walk Across Europe for a Nuclear-Free World, a 3,500 mile international peace march from Brussels, Belgium to Moscow, Russia concerned with nuclear weapons issues and the aftermath of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe. In 1992, I took part in the 3,500 mile Walk Across America for Mother Earth from New York City to Nevada to end nuclear weapons testing at the Nevada Test Site.

I attended Earlham College, a Society of Friends (Quaker) school in Richmond, Indiana as well as Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

In short, Kamps is nothing more than an anti-nuclear activist with no real authority to speak to the weighty matter of nuclear energy. Despite this, the ABC gives him national coverage as a "nuclear waste specialist". Even worse, the Mackay Daily Mercury bills him as a "nuclear waste expert". With the MSN propagandizing for environmentalists it's no wonder people cringe at the mere mention of "nuclear".

IAJV PETITION LATEST

Despite massive but unmerited media attention the Independent Australian Jewish Voices petition has stalled with only 435 signatures, of which 1.8% are surnamed Loewenstein, Adler and Slezak.
The main beneficiary of the petition so far is Loewenstein; his counter soaring to 395 visits a day. Anti-Zionism grows in popularity by the minute.

The alternative petition is worth signing, by the way. Drop in and send a message to Loewenstein.

Update: There has been a sign-up surge; the petition now has 438 signatures.

TOO MUCH WORK, REDUX

First Mark Bahnisch tells us he's working so hard he barely has time to blog. Now Ken Parish can't resist the urge to tell us how Club Troppo's thrice weekly Missing Link posts require a mammoth effort:

Missing Link is now into yet another manifestation. The problem is that it’s just too time-consuming for any one individual to read lots of blogs, even with the help of a feed reader, and then produce a decent human-edited digest of wortwhile posts several times a week. You could probably do it if you were being paid a full or even half salary for it, but it’s beyond most people’s capacity as a volunteer endeavour: around 20 hours per week for 3 editions.

Twenty hours effort into what are nothing more than three blog roundups? Now there's some productive use of time. And if it's such a pain, why do it?

Maybe it's just me but it seems lefty academics aren't enjoying their blogging these days.

CERTIFIED ORGANIC AND HIGHER IN FAT

The ABC's inside business gives a plug to entrepreneurial husband and wife team Monica Waters and James Meldrum, founders of Nourish, purveyor of the successful Whole Kids range of organic snack foods. Waters and Meldrum abandoned careers in corporate marketing in favour of organic snacks. Their products are apparently sold in a range of outlets, including schools, which are being pressured to stop selling "junk" through canteens.

Waters and Meldtrum discuss their motivations:

We researched the issues and found that most conventional children's snack foods were poor in nutrients and full of unnecessary food additives, preservatives and colourings. Many had high levels of sugar, fat, sodium and were often high in calories. Also, what we read about the effects of food additives on kids really disturbed us, despite many manufacturers making over-the-top claims suggesting these foods were healthy and actually good for our kids.

The order page briefly describes their Organic Apple & Sultana Fruit Bars ($7.25 for 240 grams, plus $5.00 shipping per order):

Oven-baked for a great taste and without all those artificial nasties.

Those "artificial nasties" are, of course, deemed to be safe for human consumption.

Interestingly, the nutritional profile for the organic fruit bars is not much different to a similar Kelloggs product, K-time Twists® Apple & Cinnamon Flavour ($3.89 for 222 grams but currently on special for $2.99 at the local grocery): calories are almost identical but the organic bars are lower in carbohydrates and sodium. The organic bars contain much more fat, however: 7.6 grams total fat per 100 grams of product, of which 4.7 grams is the nasty saturated variety -- they contain butter. The K-time Twists contain 3.2 grams of fat of which only 1.4 grams is saturated.

I'll leave it to readers to decide if it's worth paying extra for an organic product, especially one that has a much higher fat content than its artificially enhanced rivals.

SHORTCUT TO PARADISE

Hugo Chavez advises his fellow South Americans:

"Those who want to go directly to hell, they can follow capitalism," Mr Chavez said in the town of Trinidad in Bolivia.

"And those of us who want to build heaven here on earth, we will follow socialism," he added.

Well, that explains the queues of people clamouring to get into Cuba.

FELIS CATUS GIGANTICUS

I've owned three Rhodesian Ridgebacks over the past twenty five years and wouldn't hesitate to get another when my current dog passes -- he's doing quite well for a dog his age and size (10 and 45 kilos) but is slowing down. Being hounds, Ridgeback are natural hunters, with the ones I've owned having a pathological desire to shred cats. The first of my Ridgebacks had a unique cat catching style: rather than charge at them barking and snarling he'd turn the tables on them by crouching low to the ground cat-fashion, inching toward them until he was in range, eventually to pounce soundlessly.

But even a powerful cat-munching specialist would probably find one of these monsters too much to handle. Maybe it's time to buy two dogs.

Update: Having been accused of being continually negative I am a bit worried that this post, despite being totally positive, might be seen as negative. So, I'm including this to ensure positive balance. The kitten ate the butterfly, by the way.