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Thread: About Africa...

  1. #1
    Rat Faced's Avatar Broken
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    Due to the large influx of illegal immigrants who, of course, are not tested for disease, as are legal immigrants, mosquito-caused diseases are re-emerging as a U.S. health problem.
    That lost it for me...

    It implies that malaria is contagious, which it isnt.

    Unless those illegal immigrants are mosquito's of course....



    DDT is still widely used in the Developing countries anyway, so to encourage its use when its already being used seems a little pointless.

    Unless they're just trying to get it used in the USA again and so spread the disinformation that its banned worldwide to get noticed.

    An It Harm None, Do What You Will

  2. The Drawing Room   -   #2
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    Mosquitos, even U.S. based mosquitos, can bite an infected person and then transfer the disease to the next person it bites. So it is contagious, albeit by proxy.

    I'm not sure of the validity of all the points in the piece, it does seem to make sense, however.

    Did DDT really wipe out Malaria in N. America and Europe?
    Last edited by manker; 07-02-2005 at 11:26 AM.
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  3. The Drawing Room   -   #3
    bigboab's Avatar Poster BT Rep: +1
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    There was a bit of an uproar in the 60's about the side effects of DDT, especially on pregnant women. Cant remember the details. But they stopped using it in this country for a while. Probably till after everybody had forgotten about the side effects.
    The best way to keep a secret:- Tell everyone not to tell anyone.

  4. The Drawing Room   -   #4
    Snee's Avatar Error xɐʇuʎs BT Rep: +1
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    I'm no expert on this, but from what I can tell when looking around on google and elsewhere, it's very very bad for some if not all species of fish that come into contact with it. And seeing as it takes ages to break down that's not exactly great.

    And then there's allegedly evidence of it being carcinogenic and damaging to the liver and so forth.


    Having said that, malaria isn't desirable either, so it's a bugger of a choice and not really something I know enough about to have a concrete opinion of.

    Not sure that Phyllis-lady does either, though.


    EDit: I do know that if you identify where the bugs spend their larval stage you can get them by making it less marshy. Maybe some good old-fashioned development is in order.

    Pave everything over, I say.
    Last edited by Snee; 07-02-2005 at 11:51 AM.

  5. The Drawing Room   -   #5
    manker's Avatar effendi
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    Quote Originally Posted by j2k4
    Quote Originally Posted by manker
    Did DDT really wipe out Malaria in N. American and Europe?
    Yes.

    It actually did what Ms. Schlafly says it did.

    Brother Rat sees a profit motive behind the prospect of DDT use, however, and this smacks of blatant U.S. capitalism (which is, of course, really bad, especially if the beneficiary is an underdeveloped state/country).

    Such solutions are only to be administered by the U.N., in order that they might be kept free of corruption and profiteering.
    In that case, and presupposing that the rest of the article is free from error; who cares if someone makes a profit out of helping rid Africa from Malaria.

    If it's an American company that gets it's tender approved, then it will be because it can maufacture, ship and administer the DDT more cheaply than anyone else. Good for them.

    That may be a little idealistic but so long as transparancy is maintained and accountability is paramount, I don't see a problem.


    As I mentioned, I'm presuming for this post, because of the article, that DDT isn't actually harmful to humans nor wildlife. I know little about the subject, apart from a few horror stories heard in school about it building up in the food chain and what have you.
    I plan on beating him to death with his kids. I'll use them as a bludgeon on his face. -

    --Good for them if they survive.

  6. The Drawing Room   -   #6
    Rat Faced's Avatar Broken
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    They never stopped using DDT in Africa though.

    The reason for the increase in Malaria has nothing to do with the use of DDT.

    Unfortunately, malaria has been on the rise since the 1970’s. Mosquitoes have been developing resistance to DDT. Plasmodium, the parasite responsible for causing malaria, began to develop resistance against chloroquine. Armed conflicts changed the conditions in countries to promote malaria transmission. Creation of dams and reservoirs provided potential mosquito breeding grounds. The success of commercial air travel meant that more travelers could be exposed to malaria when visiting endemic areas. All these factors contribute to the growing opinion that malaria is a disease that requires the world’s attention once again.
    Source

    In order to develope a resistance.. you have to be using the chemical

    As i said... this guy is implying a world wide ban that was never there.

    If he wants DDT to be used in the USA again, he should just say so instead of saying "In Africa"... its already used there, and is no longer effective.
    Last edited by Rat Faced; 07-02-2005 at 12:06 PM.

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  7. The Drawing Room   -   #7
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    Phyllis Schlafly is on the board of the Ave Maria Growth Fund..

    This fund is so Right Wing that they dumped Pepsi shares because Pepsi started offering benefits to their empoyee's unmarried partners.

    They avoids companies that are associated with abortion or pornography, as well as corporations that support Planned Parenthood or provide health-care benefits to nonmarried partners of employees. However are quite happy to invest in pharmacutical and weapons/defence companies.



    No.. i wouldn't be at all surprised if Ave Maria or Phyllis Schlafly has shares in the Lobel Chemical Corporation, the makers of DDT in the USA.

    Call me cynical if you like, but "Follow the money" does seem to be true more often than its false

    An It Harm None, Do What You Will

  8. The Drawing Room   -   #8
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    South Africa is one of the few African Nations that stopped using DDT long ago.

    It use has been re-introduced there on a small scale since 2001.

    South Africa is not Africa as a whole, its comparitivly small and the malaria problem there is also comparitivly small compared to the nations further north (which never stopped using DDT).

    It is also in no way going to get any Debt Relief as its nowhere near the poorest 18 nations of the world.

    Basically... the poorer the nation, the more likely it is to have never stopped using DDT..
    Last edited by Rat Faced; 07-02-2005 at 01:19 PM.

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  9. The Drawing Room   -   #9
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    I thought that Quinine was the answer to Malaria. Rather than destroying half the vegetation etc and still not getting rid of the carriers.

    I actually made this post because I am too old and lazy to lok up the side effects of Quinine. hopefully someone will come back with some answers. Over to you J2 you can be relied upon.
    Last edited by bigboab; 07-02-2005 at 01:09 PM.
    The best way to keep a secret:- Tell everyone not to tell anyone.

  10. The Drawing Room   -   #10
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    Quinine



    You'll have to save the Rain Forests then Boab



    Edit:

    J2,

    notice i am in no way arguing for or against DDT... just the way that article was written.

    I was once in a Growth Fund that specialised in "Fair Trade" etc and had strict policies...

    As corporations are now so inter-mixed, its very hard to actually invest in companies on any type of "Moral" criteria and make a profit without trying to influence the share prices of those few companies you have invested in.

    I caught people with an interest in the fund i was in making extraordinarily unfair claims to try and do just this and dumped the fund myself.

    I therefore take anything written by people with interests in "Ethical Funds" of any type with a pinch of salt, if its somethng that can influence interest in a company thats in that fund.

    If they were on the Board of a normal Growth Fund... i wouldnt be nearly so sceptical.
    Last edited by Rat Faced; 07-02-2005 at 01:28 PM.

    An It Harm None, Do What You Will

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