Retired Wonder Woman

FYI, John Tierney is a right-wing shill who shouldn't be trusted when it comes to scientific studies that bother conservatives and libertarians (e.g. global warming, health risks from chemicals, etc.).

Also note the New York Times is no longer a valid source for accurate news.

"... Hotdogs! You know what they're made of, Chet? Huh? Lips and assholes!" (Dan Ackroyd, 'The Great Outdoors')

That's why I don't eat hotdogs.;)

Hmm..true. These things may not kill you, but that doesn't mean that they are harmful to you. The whole plastics thing really got me...there have been a lot of studies on the negative effects of bisphenol-a, like in Japan there was a study liking high levels of BPA to infertility. Just like how lead in old paint & in old pipes doesn't kill you, but can negatively effect your health. BLah blah blah....just had to say something about how much I didn't like the list.

Re: hot dogs, a friend of mine saw a small boy choke on a hot dog and die. Apparently, because of the size of the hot dog, it is impossible to extract a choking piece from a young child's airway without specialized tools - and in many cases, kids don't survive the trip to the emergency room.

Hot dog is the one thing I won't feed my children without cutting the meat into very small pieces.

Death by hot dog? Darwin Awards anyone?

Didn't George Carlin point out that the whole purpose of human existence was to design and manufacture plastic for mother nature? That mother nature NEEDED plastics so she's allowed us to inhabit just long enough get the plastic production up to speed just before we annihilate ourselves? He's got a video on this somewhere on youtube.com -- oh yeah, here it is -- about 5 min 18 sec. into this video Carlin lectures on the importance of "plastic" :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eScDfYzMEEw&feature=related

"[Plastic bags] take up much less space in landfills [than paper bags]."
How can you take up less space than 0? Paper bags rot and turn into compost, which is not something plastic is known for.
His whole list reads like a really, really stupid person refuting ecological talking points: polar ice melting? It's not record-breaking this year, so we're safe for all eternity! Poison in your food? Well, if you didn't consume so much you wouldn't get ill! He has never encountered a worm hole in person, so we can stop worrying about climate change, poisonous chemicals and climate change (his _actual_ argument)! Laugh, it's funny!

Jimbo: The New York Times was never a valid source for accurate news.

"Blah blah blah isn't a source of valid info."

Nor, dear monkeys, is the peanut gallery, from which you so humbly throw poop.

I think the entire "Global Warming caused by Man" thing should be added to the list.

The Earth has been warming and cooling regularly over it's entire life history. Change is the only constant. I'm glad we are in a warming trend now, because in the last ice age, the area I live in was deeply covered by glaciers. That would have made it difficult for me to get to and from work each day. :)

I'm with Sammy here.

Sammy, I sure hope you don't live near the sea because death by drowning would also prevent you from getting to work each day.

Just because global warming doesn't affect /you/ badly, doesn't mean it won't affect others.

(Sorry for off topic, but self-centered comments like that get to me).

Well, Kirkburn, if it's any consolation to you, the Earth has cooled over the last ten years. Sammy may still get his glaciers!

Brachinus: Maybe that's another thing you should scratch from your worry list. Right-wingers aren't as bad as you've been led to believe.

Kirkburn: Perhaps you should visit a seashore sometime and look for evidence of how the sea levels have varied over time.

This reminds me of George Carlin's "Things to Watch Out For". They forgot: the contraction of the Universe, paper cuts, the wrath of God, and Paranoia!

Oh God, I'd forgotten about the contraction of the Universe!

I'm feeling claustrophobic now ...

link

LOL.

One thing to scratch from your worry list is death.

According to Ray Kurzweil we is all gunna live to be 10,000. If'n u make it to 2030AD.

I think this is reason enough to worry about plastic bags.

Despite all the worry about plastic vs paper bags, "global warming" (soon to be followed by worry about "global cooling"), phthalates in toys, or any others of the myriad of things to worry about, WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!!!

Interesting read there. But I can't believe any of that...considering the news today about a gigantic chunk of the ice shelf just broke off.

Alex,

Thanks for sharing our piece: http://www.neatorama.com/2008/07/29/10-things-to-scratch-from-your-worry-list/

We think we have some decent points regarding a couple of the issues. We don't touch on the hot dog, worm holes or sharks, but a few of his points were so far from accurate that we had to address them.

Thanks,
Chris

Evil Pundit: you mean 1998 was a huge spike? Sure. That doesn't mean there's been a 10-year cooling trend since then.

Dave: I spend way too much time arguing politics on a forum where half of the righties still think Obama's a Muslim, so don't tell me I'm out of touch with how not-bad they are. And BTW, maybe try visiting a climatologist (not a chemist or TV weatherman) and asking about global climate change, what's almost certainly causing it and what's probably going to happen as a result. The answer won't be as reassuring as the industry shills you've been hearing from.

Brachinus, climate change fearmongering is a huge industry. Why should I believe their shills?

Evil Pundit,

Because they're significantly less well paid than the oil/energy companies?

They debunked the myth of driving with your windows uses more gas versus using a/c on MythBusters. The truck driving with the a/c on ran out of gas much more quickly than the truck driving with the windows down. Both of my cars go quite a bit farther on a tank when I don't use a/c as well so I don't think their experiment was a fluke.

6. Toxic plastic bottles. "Dose makes the poison."

OK, so I guess the Coke can have cocaine again...

whew!!!!
I was really worried about #7
;)