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Friday, October 07, 2005

Flotsam and Jetsam

I'm never quite sure which is which, however. Which do we consider flotsam, which jetsam? Ah well, you decide. Interesting bits for weekend amusement, anyway.

,The first is a game, from the Union of Concerned Scientists, called The Great Green Web Game, it's based on questions and answers from this book: The Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices, Practical Advice from the Union of Concerned Scientists, by Michael Brower, PhD, and Warren Leon, PhD, Three Rivers Press, 1999. 304 pages. ISBN 0-609-80281-X. Interesting facts to be learned, and a profile of how your personal choices are affecting the environment.

,Bruce and I have both mentioned Chris Mooney's book, The Republican War on Science, in previous posts. I finally have the book in my possession, although it's at the bottom of a largish pile. Here, from Mother Jones, is Chris being interviewed about his book, by Erik Kancler. From the intro to the interview:

Though no previous U.S. government can match the current one for sheer brazenness, other Republican administrations have proved willing, on occasion, to subordinate science to politics. As Chris Mooney argues in his book, The Republican War on Science, disregard for scientists and the scientific method has grown and ripened with the modern conservative movement. From Barry Goldwater's anti-intellectualism, through Ronald Reagan’s sympathy for creationism and Newt Gingrich's passion for science "skeptics," on through the present day, Republicans have shown a marked preference for politically inspired fringe theories over the findings of long-established and world-renowned scientific bodies.

In his conversation with Mother Jones, Mooney discusses the impact this approach to science has on public policy and the public good, and on the very health of American democracy.

,Last is something I am finding indispensable when I'm unable to get to Whole Foods to shop, and need to make choices among arrays of non-organic fruits and veggies. FoodNews.org gives you an array of information to help choose those with the least accumulation of pesticides on their skins and in their fibres. To my sorrow, nectarines, peaches and raspberries are the highest ranking of the Do Not Buy fruits, they are loaded with pesticide residue. And, to add to the despondency, red peppers and spinach are in the top tier for veggies. Full of multiple pesticides. The site has a wallet guide to pesticides in produce, a report card of the best and worst foods for pesticides, a report on the methodology used in the process of preparing the report card. The wallet guide can be downloaded, printed out and carried with you to the market. Don't leave home without it

posted at 11:15:00 PM by marigolds2

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