Another wingnut argument to keep women barefoot and pregnant

I saw an opinion piece in the York Dispatch by National Review Online editor Kathryn Lopez, "The Pill--and the law of unintended consequences." Lopez noted that male fish have been turning up possessing certain female characteristics, such as development of eggs, and this phenomenon can be traced to disturbances of the fish's hormonal effects by estrogen present as a contaminant in the water. But this piece was no article presenting information about the environment; it quickly released the fetid odor of a Right-Wing rant.

This was not a call to protect the environment. Lopez quickly pointed the finger of blame at "Estrogen pollution from contraceptive and abortion pills" which she refers to as "the two holiest of holies for the left..."

Ah, yes, of course. It's all the fault of the Evil Left and their preoccupation with SEX, SEX, SEX. Like the Discombobulatory Institute protesting that Intelligent Design is science, not religion, Lopez cites the peer-reviewed scientific publishing house, Regnery Press (yes, that's sarcasm. Regnery is a WingNut outlet that only pretends to publish science), an anti-liberal, anti-environment screed by Iain Murray.And for more scientific backing, Lopez says:

And because its introduction came 40 years ago, at a time when American culture was enamored with Woodstock, feminism and free love, presient warning and cautions--most notably from Pope Paul VI in his encyclical "Humanae Vitae" in the summer of 1968--went unheeded.

Yes, I'm sure the Pope was speaking out of his concern for water quality.

Lopez seems to think we can solve the problem of gender-bending fish by banning birth control (and those "abortion pills" everyone is using). But here's a clear clue that this is an anti-liberal, anti-sex, wingnut rant: Contraceptives are not the only source of these contaminants in our waters. According to Raj Raman of the University of Tennessee, author of one study on animal sources,

Our best estimate is that the amount of estrogen coming out of pigs and cows is over an order of magnitude higher than what the human population puts out.

Think about that next time you sit down for a ham sandwich and a glass of milk, Ms Lopez.

Furthermore, the active contaminant is not just estrogen--various hormones, as well as pesticides, surfactants, and heavy metals are also known endocrine disruptors, being capable of mimicking estrogen (for example. Dennis McQuillan and others, presented at the 7th Annual New Mexico Environmental Health Conference, October 28-30, 2002, Albuquerque). Another source is Bisphenol A (BPA), used in the production of certain plastics, which was in the news recently as a potential hazard. BPA has been found in drinking water supplies and in wastewater (Z. Yang, "Analysis of Phenolic Estrogen Mimics in River Water by Negative Ion Electrospray LC/MS/MS").

Reminds me of the specious claim by Creationists that they only want to "teach the controversy" in order to encourage "critical thinking."

World Nut Daily reveals age of the Earth!

In breaking news last Thursday the celebrated wingnut tabloid revealed that the Earth was created by God on October 23, 4004 BC. This announcement was based on a new English translation of a book nearly 350 years old: The Annals of the World, by Bishop James Ussher.

Many people have been aware of Ussher's calculation ever since it was published in 1658, and the book has been frequently cited over the years. Rather than describing this book as being of interest for its cultural impact or its relation to the study of history, WND's story (well, it's an advertisement really) suggests its historical and Biblical accuracy have made it second only to the Bible itself in literary importance. It does acknowledge

Of course, there will be those who disagree with Ussher's calculations of time - especially evolutionists who need billions of years to explain their theory of how life sprang from non-life and mutated from one-celled animals into human beings.

but I guess we can find an explanation elsewhere on the site from Herr Professor Doktor Pat Boone why many years of subsequent research into geology, biology, and astronomy are all mistaken and should be ignored.

And just in case you were drunk enough to think this was a legitimate news story, the key line may be found at Answers in Genesis:

Donate $350 for the Creation Museum (by using the cart button above) and receive this amazing piece of historical literature, the Annals of the World--a genuine leather-bound limited edition!

And when you read that site, compare with the WND site, and wonder who wrote it.

Ground-Water Awareness Week begins today

I'd like you to give some thought to an under-appreciated resource in celebration of Ground-Water Awareness Week. People with wells having low or marginal yields supplying their daily needs are keenly aware of ground water, but many others seem to have adopted the "out of sight, out of mind" point of view. After all, surface-water reservoirs are easy to see, and often serve multiple purposes including fishing, boating, and flood control.

Not only is ground water often ignored, but many people who do give it some thought commonly misunderstand it. The Dover, Pennsylvania, school board and Intelligent Design Creationism affair received a lot of coverage in the local papers. The papers tended to do a pretty good job presenting the issues. Unfortunately, several times they have missed opportunities to educate their readers in certain other matters, including occurrence and movement of ground-water.

One of the local papers did a story on dowsing, apparently impressed with this supernatural method of ground-water location. I did not agree that we needed a "Shucks, ain't we a quaint bunch of hillbillies" story in the paper, and sent a letter to the editor to say so. My letter also queried whether the "reporter" (one Robert Reilly) checked if the dowser in the story was a licensed professional geologist, a requirement for engaging in the practice of geology, which includes exploration for ground water.

The gentleman in the lower photo has also engaged in exploration for ground water. Like the Intelligent Design proponents, he has argued that his method is "scientific"--not by publishing results of a study in a peer-reviewed journal, but by writing a letter to the editor that contained as much geologic misinformation as any Creationist argument, ending with the assertion "Thank God for a rotating earth. As long as tides ebb and flow, there should be no depletion of underground, potable water supply." Well, at least his theory is amenable to testing, even if it is a load of cobblers.

See also Professor Pupdog's take on dowsing from a few years back. Since Pupdog mentioned the classic movie, I've placed a shot of Dave (Michael Landon), the albino in God's Little Acre, at the top of this post. As Pluto (Buddy Hackett) explained, it's not magic, it's science; albinos can see right through the Earth, "like looking through a glass of water." His explanation is just as convincing as the many explanations given by dowsing believers.