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September 18, 2006
DDT saves lives -- again
DDT is coming back, and Kim Du Toit has some choice words.
Too bad it’s about 29 years too late for about 50 million people who have died unnecessarily because of the stupid Green ban on DDT.
Of course, the dead people are only Africans—had these deaths been in, say, Los Angeles, the WHO, United Nations and the U.S. Department of Health would now be involved in trillion-dollar lawsuits.
I think I’m going to go out and punch a hippie. And then I’m going to spit on Rachel Carson’s grave.
I suffered through Carson's sanctimonious bilge of a book when I was in grade school, and it's a bitter irony that the patron saint of the evironmental movement and its bible, Silent Spring, may have killed more Third World residents than every war and plague since its publication. It's great to hear that millions of poor people living in the hovels and shantytowns of Africa and South America may finally avoid the disease and pestilence spread by bloodsucking bugs.
But then, that's only if you believe that humans have a higher place on our priority list than mosquitos.
Posted by Mike Lief at September 18, 2006 08:19 AM
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Comments
The scientist's name escapes me, and he just passed away last year, but he was a reputable research scientist, a contemporary of Carson's, and at first, a supporter of her book. But, looking at her findings, and particularly her writing style with a critical, scientific eye, he began to detect many flaws in it, and researched many of her claims. He felt it went beyond purely scientific facts, and had personal bias. He disputed many of them, and even wrote his own books on the subject.
At the beginning of each of his speaking engagements he would perform the spectacular stunt of swallowing a spoonful of DDT, to prove his point. He did this for decades, in fact. He led a very active life, and if I recall correctly, he died in his eighties of causes unrelated to anything remotely related to DDT. Indeed, how many people would be alive today if not for that horrid book?
Posted by: Sonarman at September 19, 2006 06:08 PM
Yeah to all that. A steaming pile of a book. I only read portions of it.
Posted by: Vermont Neighbor at September 21, 2006 05:17 PM