If you needed turf grass, would you buy it from someone who doesn’t know beans about pesticides and ecosystems? Shouldn’t a turf grass provider know a bit more about ecology?
“Fairy ring” in turf grass — created by the pattern of spores dropping out of the mushrooms, not by fairies. Don’t tell the Saskatchewan Turfgrass Association. They appear to believe in fairies. (No, DDT won’t cure ’em.) Photo from Wikipedia, from Brisbane, Australia
Found this in the on-line newsletter of the Saskatchewan Turfgrass Association:
“State of Fear” written around 2006 by author Michael Crichton had interesting things to say about the once popular insecticide DDT. He wrote that arguably the greatest tragedy of the 20th Century was the removal of DDT for control of mosquitoes. DDT was the best insecticide on the market. Despite reviews to the contrary, no other products were as efficient, or as safe. Since the removal of DDT, it has been estimated that 30 to 50 million people have died unnecessarily. Before the removal of DDT, malaria had become almost a minor illness with only 50,000 deaths per year throughout the world. Remember the figures above are from 2006.
Nope. Crichton’s still wrong; he hasn’t corrected his errors since he died.
Malaria deaths are at historic lows, probably the lowest they’ve been in human history — thanks to Rachel Carson‘s integrated vector management methods and hard work by African malaria fighters working without DDT, mostly.
So, after the lie gets around the world before the truth gets its boots on, does the lie ever stop? Probably not.
We’re coming up on World Malaria Day on April 25. Corporately-funded hoaxsters will be spreading a lot of disinformation about malaria, about DDT, and about Rachel Carson, over the next month or so. And, probably for years beyond that.
More:
- DDT Linked to High Blood Pressure in Women (scientificamerican.com)
- Steven Milloy, campaigning to be the greatest DDT/malaria hoaxster in history, even bleeds his hoax over into his anti-warming hoax: “Michael Mann now a DDT expert; Defends indefensible Rachel Carson – Rachel lied, millions died (and are still dying)” (junkscience.com) (Not a single claim in Milloy’s piece has any passing acquaintance with truth.)
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 
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