22. juli 2003

Do-it-yourself news story "Another US soldier was killed in Iraq today, increasing the pressure on Washington to withdraw its troops." If you're a news editor, just copy the above into your newspaper and you have a free news story every day. At least that's how I think they do it. 5:13:44 AM    comment []

Expert calls male menopause "a myth" Professor John McKinlay, a well-renowed authority on men's health, says that male menopause does not exist. When men complain about various problems in the middle of life, it is typically the result of bad lifestyle choices earlier. The problems associated with 'male menopause,' like declining hormone levels and sexual functioning, was caused by bad habits like smoking, alcohol abuse and too little exercise. He blames the pharmaceutical industry for creating the myth of male menopause to sell their solutions, arguing that testosterone replacement drugs is a cure "in search of a disease." In other words: If you don't get it up, don't blame your age. You've been a lazy boy, and this is the punishment. 2:07:58 AM    comment []

Study: GM poses very low risk A British scientific study into the risks of genetically modified (GM) crops concludes that they pose a "very low" risk to public health (report in PDF). The panel, comprising 25 scientists, says there is no scientific basis for ruling out all GM crops, but stresses that every product has to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Naturally, since GM crops are not fundamentally different from "normal" crops. However, the luddites are already crying foul. Pete Riley, GM campaigner for Friends of the Earth, said: "Far from giving GM crops the green light, this report admits that there are gaps in our scientific knowledge and significant uncertainties about the long-term impacts of GM food and crops on our health and environment." Greenpeace chief scientist Dr Doug Parr said: "This committee was deliberately stacked with GM flag-wavers, but its so-called findings still come nowhere near justifying the risks." In reality, scientists can never prove anything is 100% safe. There will by logical necessity always remain a vestige of doubt and uncertainty, and it's a well-used tactic from pseudo-scientific propagandists and scaremongers to use this to their advantage. We recognize the same tactic from the depleted uranium scare. 12:28:40 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2003 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.08.2003; 01:52:06.