Show me the peer-reviewed research which supports any of the claims against DDT. That should settle any argument.

Silent Spring focused on the environment, and pesticides in particular. It was known as Carson’s crusade, and she worked on this book till death. Carson explored the subject of environmental connectedness: although a pesticide is aimed at eliminating one organism, its effects are felt throughout the food chain, and what was intended to poison an insect ends up poisoning larger animals and humans.

The four-year task of writing Silent Spring began with a letter from a close friend of Carson’s. It was from a New Englander, Olga Owens Huckins, who owned a bird sanctuary. According to the letter, the sanctuary had been sprayed unmercifully by the government. The letter asked Carson to immediately use her influence with government authorities to begin an investigation into pesticide use. Carson decided it would be more effective to raise the issue in a popular magazine; however, publishers were uninterested, and eventually the project became a book instead.

Now, as a renowned author, she was able to ask for (and receive) the aid of prominent biologists, chemists, pathologists, and entomologists. She used Silent Spring to create a mental association in the public’s mind between wildlife mortality and over-use of pesticides like dieldrin, toxaphene, and heptachlor. Her cautions regarding the previously little-remarked practices of introducing an enormous variety of industrial products and wastes into wilderness, waterways, and human habitats with little concern for possible toxicity struck the general public as common sense, as much as good science; “We are subjecting whole populations to exposure to chemicals which animal experiments have proved to be extremely poisonous and in many cases cumulative in their effects. These exposures now begin at or before birth and - unless we change our methods - will continue through the lifetime of those now living.”

Even before Silent Spring was published by Houghton Mifflin in 1962, there was strong opposition to it. As Time Magazine recounted in 1999:

Carson was violently assailed by threats of lawsuits and derision, including suggestions that this meticulous scientist was a “hysterical woman” unqualified to write such a book. A huge counterattack was organized and led by Monsanto, Velsicol, American Cyanamid - indeed, the whole chemical industry - duly supported by the Agriculture Department as well as the more cautious in the media.

Scientists such as American Cyanamid’s Robert White-Stevens (who wrote “If man were to follow the teachings of Miss Carson, we would return to the Dark Ages, and the insects and diseases and vermin would once again inherit the earth.”[1]), chemical companies, and other critics attacked the data and interpretation in the book. Some went further to attack Carson’s scientific credentials because her speciality was marine biology and zoology, not the field of biochemistry. Some went as far as characterizing her as a mere birdwatcher with more spare time than scientific background, calling her unprofessional. A fringe of her critics even accused her of being a communist.

In addition, many critics repeatedly asserted that she was calling for the elimination of all pesticides despite the fact that Carson had made it clear she was not advocating the banning or complete withdrawal of helpful pesticides, but was instead encouraging responsible and carefully managed use with an awareness of the chemicals’ impact on the entire ecosystem. In fact, she concludes her section on DDT in Silent Spring not by urging a total ban, but with Practical advice should be “Spray as little as you possibly can” rather than “Spray to the limit of your capacity.” [2]

Houghton Mifflin was pressured to suppress the book, but did not succumb. Silent Spring was positively reviewed by many outside of the agricultural and chemical science fields, and it became a runaway best seller both in the USA and overseas. Again, Time Magazine claimed that, within a year or so of publication, “all but the most self-serving of Carson’s attackers were backing rapidly toward safer ground. In their ugly campaign to reduce a brave scientist’s protest to a matter of public relations, the chemical interests had only increased public awareness.” [3]

Pesticide use became a major public issue, helped by Carson’s April 1963 appearance on a CBS TV special in debate with a chemical company spokesman. Later that year she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and received many other honors and awards, including the Audubon Medal and the Cullen Medal of the American Geographical Society.

Carson received hundreds of speaking invitations, but was unable to accept the great majority of them. Her health had been steadily declining since she had been diagnosed with breast cancer halfway through the writing of Silent Spring. In one of her last public appearances, Carson testified before President Kennedy’s Science Advisory Committee, which issued a report on May 15 1963 largely backing Carson’s scientific claims(http://www.nwhp.org/tlp/biographies/carson/carson-bio.html). However, she never did live to see the banning of DDT in U.S. She died on 14 April 1964, at the age of 56. In 1980, she was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the USA.
============================================

She was a scientist, her book was based on research, not “pure emotion”.

–JJR

As y’all know…anything like blood tests, X-ray procedures, etc. are VERY expensive out of pocket costs. Yada, yada…
And I’m sure you’re well aware of how your local hospitals end up passing on the high cost bill for emergency room care for the ‘indigent’.
So, without a more RATIONAL approach…
health care costs keep sky-rocketing; with an additional “for profit” Insurance Industry middleman to help accelerate the ‘fucking everyone over’.
["WHAT?...RATIONAL?...in THIS DELUDED, BELIEVER (by the crotch) WORLD??? ChuckA...Are you some kind of Freethinking atheist swine, or something?"]…

Here’s my brief look at the current (U.S.) Multi-level, Greedy formula (with each element having its own, private, bureaucracy (paperwork)!):
Doctors, Nurses, Taxes(?), Private Insurance Companies, Ever-expanding hospitals, Medical Equipment Suppliers, Profiteering Drug Companies, [_______ = your additions?]
Yeah…kinda like George Carlin’s:…
“Bend over while we service your account!”
OR…
“Oh?…you DON’T have insurance?…erm…pull your panties (or pants) up!”
“Nice ass, though!…As far as you know…you have no sexual diseases, right?…
so…what’s your phone number? I just might be able to service YOUR account…
privately!”

OK…I was being naughty…I’ll revise that: ;( overall!

I couldnt agree more! Even being military my dental bills are through the roof! I am having a LOT of dental work done due to having TMJ. MY whole jaw has to be realigned. And even the simple stuff is costing hundrends per tooth. Unfucking believable! I cant imagine how many poor people who have the same problems(cause it is a very common problem)are going to manage to get a very painful problem and if left unfixed, a problem that can cause teeth decay and loss, treated!?!

I know a lot of people cringe at the thought of socialist, but I am a socialist when it comes to medical! Medical care is NOT a luxury and shouldnt be only for the rich! EVERY CHILD DESERVES GOOD MEDICAL CARE!!

Naomi

Thanks for the new updates with a sense of humor.

Vast left…Thanks for the interesting link!
Unfortunately, there’s no help for adults, either…regarding dental access. Everyone, for that matter, needs dental care; and if you don’t have BIG bucks these days…you’re essentially…fucked. [More debt?] Dental care is extremely expensive, and in Illinois, where I live, there’s practically NOTHING covered under Medicare or Medicaid. Even the University of Illinois’ Dental School charges half of what the average dentist charges; and one has to pay up-front for any work done…IF you’re accepted as a patient! We USED to have Northwestern U.; where I had quite a bit of dental work done[ some 30 years ago!] for about 1/3 of regular dentist’s charges.
Of course, with increasing age, it all compounds for poor people and those on Social Security, etc.
In my opinion, ACCESS to health care in the U.S. is a disgrace. Due to the ever-increasing gap between the Rich and Poor, more and more people are falling through the ‘cracks’ regarding medical and dental care.
It has nothing to do with the technology.. in my opinion, it has to do, at least in part, with MULTI-LEVEL GREED, for one…and the country being run by the so-called “Compassionate Conservative” hypocrites. Bush, for example, wouldn’t really know “Compassion”, if it bit him on his ‘Testament’!
People who NEVER ONCE in their life, ever had to really worry about whether they could AFFORD to pay a Health and/or Dental Insurance premium, are not really going to understand what poorer people face on a daily basis…all through their lives.
[It's just another reason, I'm cynical about the human race!]
Tooth DESIGN?…fuck!…we should be growing NEW teeth every ‘X’ number of years!
Hmmm…another challenge for stem cell research?
Yeah: “Why I oughta!”

I wonder, now, about how many in poverty are drinking unfluoridated well water?

Similarly, dental problems cause more than just teeth loss:

A growing body of research suggests that periodontal disease may exacerbate a variety of health problems as wide-ranging as diabetes, heart disease, respiratory disease — even premature births, experts say.

Also mentioned in the article, but not listed in the above quote, are bone diseases.

Did you floss today?

Excuse me, I’ll be right back…

I mean, I would never sleep with my sister (not even if she were a man), but if two responsible, educated adults, who know what they are doing, who have options, free-willingly decide to sleep together and not make a baby, that is none of my business.