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Making Kids Eco-Crazy It’s back to school time for kids and, of course, for the environmental crazies that means creating a huge mythology of things that will kill them the minute they venture into the jungle of hazards and horrors that await them in school. The biggest hazard I encountered was a kid named Mario who, not surprisingly, ended up in jail. I did not worry about what my clothes were made from, if the acrylic paints would poison me, or the importance of using both sides of the piece of paper. Let’s understand that, for years now, children have been taught that the Earth is virtually on its last legs and that Global Warming is sufficient for them to abandon all hope of ever being as old as their grandparents, most of whom are probably already dead from inhaling asbestos, having their lungs destroyed by radon, or being slowly poisoned from having used pesticides to kill bugs in their bedroom. Plus, those old people all ate fast foods, drank soda, and probably smoked. If they aren’t dead, they are obviously just a freak of nature. So you can imagine how thrilled I was to receive an email from something called "EcoMall.com" described as "one of the oldest and largest portals for environmental shopping." According to the folks at EcoMall.com, back-to-school time is also the perfect time to "start introducing earth-friendly concepts into their children’s everyday lives." Or, to put it another way, time to start scaring the living daylights out of them by ruining what fun they might have in the few, short years of their childhood. One hardly knows where to begin in the long list of life-threatening things the mere act of going to school involves. For example, "Petroleum oil, a non-renewable resource, is used in the manufacture of chemicals and plastic commonly found in most school supplies. Environmentally speaking, using supplies made from natural ingredients is always preferable."
For the environmentally demented, recycling is as much a religious duty as facing Mecca five times a day is for Muslims. "Schools should remember to use both sides of the paper, save and reused paper clips, thumbtacks, rubber bands, etc., and recycle newspapers, cans, and bottles." Suffice it to say, recycling is expensive, requires a lot of power, and many states and cities have concluded it is a huge waste of money and manpower. It has no practical value other than to make people feel bad about using stuff. EcoMall.com is determined to warn parents to dress their children only in "organic cotton and hemp" because "conventional cotton cultivation uses 25% of the world’s pesticides." It is also one of the most popular cloths in the world and under attack from a wide range of insect predators such as the famed Boll Weevil. You want cotton? You have to kill the bugs. EcoMall.com actually says that their cotton products "do not contain toxic pesticides." What do you want to bet that ordinary cotton clothing doesn’t either? It is important, too, to make sure the school only provides "organic food and juice, as well as rBGH-free milk." Have you checked the cost of organic food versus the food that all the rest of us buy at the supermarket? Perhaps most important of all is to "Make your school a toxin-free zone." Parents should storm the local school board and demand the use of non-toxic cleaners "which can impact indoor air quality." Whatever else is going on in school, it is essential that "toxic pesticides" are not used "in or around the school" because of the "significant health risks to your children if exposed." Oddly, I know something about pest control, having worked with the industry for several decades. None of the pest control professionals I have known are bent on killing every child in every school in America. Quite the contrary, they are concerned with killing the legions of cockroaches, mice, rats, and other disease-spreading pests that routinely invade school cafeterias and anywhere else food can be found such as desks, lockers, and the teacher’s lounge! They fend off pigeons whose droppings degrade school structures and, universally these days, they do this work at night when schools are empty. Despite being around pesticides all day, these people actually have families of their own and their children are as healthy as yours. Many go into the business! Here are just a few of the school items EcoMall.com warns against: magic markers, disposable pens, plastic folders and notebooks, acrylic paints and scented art products, epoxy or instant bonding glues, artist’s pastel crayons, and glossy paper used for art projects. You have been warned! Somewhere in this great land of ours, some eco-scientists are conducting experiments that will conclusively prove that your children are in more danger in school than if they lived in downtown Baghdad. It’s all foolishness, of course, but it is a dangerous, malign and evil foolishness. It adds levels of anxiety to the daunting challenge of learning anything in today’s horrid schools that routinely fail to teach the basic knowledge children will need to survive in a world where the competition will be truly global. Have you purchased your copy of Alan Caruba’s new book, "Right Answers", a collection of his best commentaries from 2003 to 2005? You can get your very own, autographed copy when you click here.
Despite its small size, Israelis working in Motorola’s largest research and development center came up with the basic elements of the modern cell phone. At Microsoft-Israel, Israelis developed most of the Windows NT and XP operating systems. And the Pentium MMX Chip technology was designed in Israel at the Intel operation there. In fact, both the Pentium-4 microprocessor and Centrino processor were entirely designed, developed, and produced in Israel. Both Microsoft and Cisco built their only research and development facilities outside of the United States in Israel. Wouldn’t it be a shame if a Hezbollah or Iranian missile destroyed them? It should come as no surprise that Israel has the highest percentage of home computers per capita or that Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to the population of any nation in the world. Israel, in fact, produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation, about 109 per 10,000 people, and has one of the highest per capital rates of patents filed. Apart from the Silicon Valley in the U.S.A., Israel has the highest concentration of hi-tech companies in the world with more than 3,000, not including the highest rate of start-up companies, so there are probably more as this is being written. These are the same people that Hezbollah and Hamas have promised to kill, but let’s be fair to the Arabs, they have led the world in suicide bombers and the development of Improvised Explosive Devices. They excel at fighting wars without putting on uniforms and hiding among civilians. By comparison with any other Middle Eastern nation, Israel has the highest average living standards with a per capita income in 2000 that exceeded the United Kingdom. Compared with the rest of the world, it has the third highest rate of entrepreneurs and the highest rate among women and people over 55. This is the nation that Iran’s president wants to "wipe off the map." Israeli scientists developed the first fully computerized, non-radiation, diagnostic instrumentation for breast cancer. An Israeli company developed a computerized system to ensure the proper administration of medications, removing human error from medical treatment in hospitals that use the system. It has done all this while fighting the wars perpetrated against it by its Arab "neighbors" since the day it declared its independence in 1948. It has done this while being under constant attack for years from Lebanon that flared yet again into another full-scale war and while enduring the Intifada by the PLO followed by continued rocketing by Hamas from what is now called the Palestine territory. Ironically, the Middle East that has been growing date palms for centuries has never been able to come up with a tree that yields more than about 38 pounds a year. They usually grow 18 to 20 feet tall. In Israel, however, comparable date palms yield about 400 pounds annually and are short enough to be harvested from the ground or from a small ladder. When the Israelis withdrew from the Gaza strip, they left behind greenhouses that had employed hundreds of Palestinians and produced an abundance of foods. The greenhouses were destroyed within days. Meanwhile Hamas and the Palestine Liberation Organization are at each other’s throats. After 18 years of occupation, the Israelis withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000. Hezbollah used the following six years to build bunkers and stockpile weapons. The rocketing of Israel never stopped. Last question. If you had to move to any nation in the Middle East, which one would you choose? We are told we are involved in a clash of civilizations between the developed West and the tyranny, poverty, and backwardness of the Middle Eastern version of Islam. To grasp what that means, review the facts stated above and then project a future for this nation and others if the Islamic Revolution succeeds in conquering Europe and the United Kingdom? Think about life in America if it succeeds. Then, maybe, you will understand why America has always striven to support Israel. |
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Wait a minute! Are these loonies telling me that oil is not a "natural" substance produced by the Earth? Are they suggesting that all chemicals are automatically a hazard? That plastic is a bad thing? Yes, they are. And they are telling your children this as well. 
Let’s take a Middle East quiz. Name a major medical breakthrough generated in a Middle Eastern nation other than Israel? Got to think about that one? Let’s narrow it down. Name a Middle Eastern nation that has produced extraordinary technological breakthroughs that power and operate millions of computers?