How To Read An Anti Pesticide Article If You Absolutely Must
I have stated for years that there are 3 things that have contributed greatly to the great advancement of mankind. #1- Advances in the medical field, #2, Plumbing and #3, Pest Control. Yes that’s right! I said ‘pest control.”
Now in case your saying that’s just little ol Jerry spouting off to prove a point.. Please consider that this list is presented as FACT by none other than the CDC as well as other sources, but this one by far being the most powerful. Did you know that the CDC’s original mission was to eradicate malaria and to do so they sprayed over 6.5 million homes for mosquitos?
Man has virtually never been without pest control. Since 2500 BC it’s documented that sulfur was used to control pests and some references go back as far as 8000 BC when agriculture first began.
For centuries pest control has been applauded and encouraged throughout the civilized world and has literally saved 10’s of millions, perhaps 100’s of millions of lives. It has also been longed for and desperately needed in 3rd world countries that still need relief from pest borne diseases and plagues. (it’s 2014 for Pete’s sake-REALLY?)
However, in just the most recent of years pest control has come under major assault. There are many who’d like to ban pesticide use altogether and indeed have accomplished many of their stated goals along these lines. Whole towns are being pushed to this degree and not just public but private use has also been outlawed.
So What Has Happened?
Most say that the work of Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring was the launching point back in 1962. Her work spurred an entire anti pesticide movement even though her conclusions have largely been debunked. Follow that link & it’ll amaze you. You’ll find many learned opinions like;
In the words of Professor Robert H. White-Stevens, an agriculturist and biology professor at Rutgers University, “If man were to follow the teachings of Miss Carson, we would return to the Dark Ages, and the insects and diseases and vermin would once again inherit the earth.”
But facts seem to just be a pesky little matter for the fast growing movement. Fear still predominates their presentation of their ideology. Fear is very powerful to those who don’t arm themselves with truth and to arm yourself– it takes just a bit of work and perhaps even a lesser amount of common sense.
With that, let’s take a look at their presentation and then you decide for yourself. I have simply chosen a few random words to google and then followed some links. Words like pesticide, poisoning, death, you get the idea. Your search may take you to different sites but all in all that hardly matters. The techniques are the same. Simply by reading with open eyes, you’ll no doubt come to the same conclusions with each.
Lets Read This A Different Way
To start – I pulled a couple quotes from the anti pesticide sites which on the surface sound extremely menacing. Things in anti pesticide sites are always worded in such a way that LEADS you to believe their conclusion and yet there is never any definitive proof. Oh sure they link to other articles, quote studies and scientists but the wording is all the same. It’s just one big circle and the average person ends up taking this as gospel.
For this example I simply changed a key word or two so you can see how this works. See what conclusions you come to verses what you’re asked to believe.
Of 30 lottery tickets bought by Jim, 17 are possible winners. 18 have the potential for winning numbers.
Did Jim win the lottery? The answer is no- well perhaps until he checks into it some more, but there is absolutely no way you can say by this information that Jim has the or a winning ticket.
Of the 30 most commonly used lawn pesticides, 17 are possible carcinogens,18 have the potential to disrupt the endocrine (hormonal) system.
Same logic, are these definite carcinogens? No, they are possible, they have thepotential! Yet from this and with no other definitive proof, we are asked (told) to believe that lawn pesticides will kill you or give you cancer. I say don’t cash in your tickets yet.
Another Pull Quote Example And How You’re LEAD To Their Conclusions
Bifenthrin is identified as an endocrine disruptor by the European Union, and is considered a possible carcinogen by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)……..agricultural exposure shows a possible impact of bifenthrin on the occurrence of autism….
Again, scary words and terrible consequences are waved about. But “a possible impact” –is that what you want to base an entire movement on? Is that what I’m suppose to believe? Again no proof but lots of fear.
Then just when you’re almost hooked they throw in a fact;
Bifenthrin is also toxic to birds, fish, and bees.
Well la di da! No one has denied this and this language been on pesticide labels and in training programs for decades. But what does a fish have to do with Autism? Hey, gas pumps warn about fire hazards- Are people bursting in flames every time they fill up? You see, it’s all about fear and where facts or truths do come in even though they are not relevant…then that truth is also exploited.
and having launched that grenade the next paragraph starts with…
Not only has bifenthrin been shown to be a highly toxic pesticide,,,,,,,did you catch that? Is that statement true? Sure it is, but instead of definitive proof regarding the subject, remember “possible impact”, this truth about bees and fish is thrown in the mix as if it’s all one and the same. Pretty slick.
The Article Goes On which then leads to a highly reputable link of….
In fact, a study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)….
Funny however, If you do follow the information, I think the editor missed this little gem just below their vaunted proclamation…
Despite this, the CDC website still recommends pesticide spraying…
Further in this same article about the deadly ramifications of using pesticides we’re told the virtues of pine tar soap.
There are many alternative ways of reducing one’s exposure to ticks. One effective way to avoid them is to only use unscented deodorant, soap, and shampoo. An exception is Packers Tar Soap, which has a natural pine scent that can keep ticks from biting once they have been picked up.
Strange, no link supplied. hmmmm? So I provided it for you since it must’ve slipped their minds. Just how great is pine tar soap? It must be all the rage, after all why would an all natural organic loving web site recommend it? Maybe this will clear it up.
A 2003 study by the Scientific Committee on Cosmetic Products and Non-Food Products found that “wood tar and wood tar preparations do pose a health risk when used in used in cosmetic products.”
Hey, make sure to get behind and maybe inside your ears…could clean em out if you’re having any trouble up to this point seeing the hypocrisy and out and out misleading going on. Just another example of misinformation or lack of information when it doesn’t serve the cause. Either one can be just as devastating. But…. You decide once you’ve read what they didn’t tell you;
Double Standards
And No Anti Pesticide Activist would be worth their salt if they didn’t decry the evils, illegalities and big time money, law evading pesticide industry. But what they have cried foul on is also what they vaunt as a huge achievement. By any and all means necessary I believe is a famous quote. Long before Malcom X used it btw.
The phrase is translation of a sentence used in French intellectual Jean-Paul Sartre’s play Dirty Hands:
I was not the one to invent lies: they were created in a society divided by class and each of us inherited lies when we were born. It is not by refusing to lie that we will abolish lies: it is by eradicating class by any means necessary.
—Jean-Paul Sartre, Dirty Hands: act 5, scene 3. 1963[1]
Example;
Despite the ordinance’s passage by a majority of the town’s voters, a procedural glitch has created a slight setback. Because the town did not contact the Maine Board of Pesticides Control seven days prior to the vote, the ordinance is “out in limbo,” according Chairman Horn. Although the state has no intention to negate a town’s rules and regulations, Ogunquit plans to come up with a way forward later this week to ensure that the ordinance can take effective, as intended by the voters, on January 1, 2015.
A procedural glitch??? In other words, this new law is not lawful. It was not passed by the rules in which were set up before hand. They snuck it in!!!!! Is that right?— well, they as much admit it and are proud about it…albeit the flowery language makes it seem like nothing more than a insignificant typo.
But this is how it’s viewed when it works not in their favor; (same link)
Prior to the election, a pesticide industry group called RISE (Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment) launched, by many accounts, an illegitimate and unlawful campaign to distribute flyers to homes of Ogunquit residents.
Wow!!! Suddenly the rule of law is pretty important. However they did not cite what law or that it indeed was illegal. Just that many (didn’t tell us who) think so… But no worries…the ultimate goal is all that matters.
And How Bout Those Headlines?
New Research Links Pesticide Exposure to Adverse Effects Three Generations Later
This age old tactic is used by saint and sinner alike. Most of us rarely even read an entire article anymore and this is often times exploited. We get our information by skimming, looking at bullet point or reading captions under a picture. Still, even more people won’t go that far and simply read the title, assume that since it’s in a newspaper or on an official sounding web site- it must be true. Sad …
So with that, many many folks who happen on to the headline above will take this to be gospel, scientific proof even. They will even spout it off to a neighbor or colleague or at the very least, have that doubt lodged in their minds already when the truth is presented and so resistance is ‘pre built’ in their logic and there the tactic has served its purpose.
Now to this sites credit, a link is supplied to the skeptical side of this headline but,,,, you guessed it! It’s buried all the way at the bottom of the page where few will ever get to. Also, it’s surrounded by several other scary and official looking blue words (links) and ohhh looky looky, a video! Everybody loves video’s!
However, if you were to click on that little blue link this is what you’d read.
But skeptics—and there are many—point out that Skinner’s original experiments have not been replicated, despite several attempts. They find unconvincing his evidence that specific epigenetic changes to DNA are transferred through the germ line. “People will find it hard to believe until there are defined mechanisms,” says reproductive biologist Cheryl Rosenfeld of the University of Missouri, Columbia.
Not been replicated! That’s science talk for it hasn’t been proven. Scientist have this funny proof thing going on where if Scientist Joe Blow across town can’t replicate your findings in his lab–well then that dog don’t hunt. It seems here also to be the case but you’d never know it now. Especially since you’re so engrossed watching the perpetuation of this deception full screen on you tube.
They Won’t Stop
If you get mad about this writing and vehemently oppose what’s going on great! But realize this…. they won’t stop. Their stated goal is also pretty obvious and you can find it in many if not ALL of their works.
“We actually expected a lot more negativity because no one else had done this in the state.” Similar statements were made about Takoma Park’s law; Councilwoman Kay Daniels-Cohen urged activists, “You can take this to the next level. You can take it to the county, and keep going all the way through the state of Maryland…I think there are more people out there than you realize who are in your court.”
If on the other hand you’re mad about this writing because you oppose my point of view! Great- but I won’t stop either, and there is a HUGE majority of people who feel the same way and see through these tactics. Just to clue you in, these folks do have proof and a real track record on their side and though it may take time, truth always wins and this no scientist could ever disagree with because it’s been proven over and over time and again.
You may have the ball, but eventually people get tired of playing a rigged game.