Doing it so wrong
Oct. 28th, 2009 09:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
megwritesDear Person Who Is Spamming Me With Their Petition,
You sent me
Hi Meg,
Astoundingly, of the 82,000 chemicals available for use in the U.S., only about 200 have been required to be tested for safety.
Protect against toxic chemicals.
The 33 year-old law that is supposed to protect Americans from exposure to toxic chemicals is so outdated that China legally exports toxic materials into the U.S. that are not only banned in Japan and Europe, but can't even be used domestically in China.
The burden placed on the Environmental Protection Agency under this law, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), is so onerous that they have only succeeded in banning one group of chemicals, PCBs, from the marketplace.
It's time to reform and strengthen TSCA -- support legislation to protect against dangerous toxic chemicals. ยป
Thanks for taking action!
[Name Redacted]
ThePetitionSite
Starting your petition with the headline "We Get the Toxic Chemicals Even China Doesn't Want" is actually a way to show me that you're more concerned with making the Chinese look like dirty, morally corrupt people who are foisting their trash on us hardworking, upright, clean (read: white) Americans (I'm surprised you didn't mention those grubby Chinese stealing our jobs!) than being concerned about toxic chemicals. It's amazing how you took an entire range of bigotry, prejudice, and historical mistrust of the Chinese and managed to squeeze it into one perfectly atrocious sentence.
Furthermore, why it is that you're so concerned about these "toxic chemicals" - which you leave conveniently unnamed and unspecified - are coming from China? So, if the chemicals come from England or Canada or France, then that's okay?
If American laws concerning environmental safety are weak and allowing the importation from ANYWHERE of dangerous substances, that's a perfectly legitimate cause. Saying, "The Government Is Not Doing Enough to Protect Its Citizens!" is not only fair, but completely true. Starting a petition to get the government to enforce existing laws and allow the EPA more power to arrest, fine, and punish offenders is completely a good idea.
But pointing fingers at other countries, especially countries that you know have a bad reputation -- fueled by very lopsided media coverage -- is out and out racism. You've just sent out an email to hundreds, maybe thousands, giving them just a little more help in thinking of China as being dirty and weird and full of scary brown people.
The only thing you're raising awareness of right now is your bigotry. And your appalling lack of scientific knowledge with this gem of a sidebar:
It's gotten to the point that every American alive today, including newborn babies, has hundreds of chemicals flowing through their blood.
That is the single stupidest statement that I've ever heard. Of course everyone, even newborn babies, has chemicals flowing through them. If you had no chemicals in your blood, you'd be dead, dumbass. They're called nutrients and hormones and vitamins and minerals and antibodies. Milk, for instance, is so chemically complex a substance that scientists still don't understand it. It hasn't been tested, so far as I know, for safety in any lab. Should we ban babies from drinking milk until the proper studies have been done?
Using the phrase "toxic chemicals" without being specific is stupid. Any chemical in the right level is toxic to a human being. Oxygen at too high a saturation in the blood can kill you. H20, our friend water, has killed many a human being. It's called drowning. And yes, water is a chemical.
I don't know if anyone has tested water or oxygen for their safety in a lab and determined if Americans should still be breathing and drinking. Do you think we should impose a respiration ban until the necessary tests have done?
On behalf of science and humanity in general, I would like to request that you cease and desist sending these emails and, in fact, cease and desist opening your big mouth until you have something intelligent to say.
All My Disgust and Disapproval,
Meg
You sent me
Hi Meg,
Astoundingly, of the 82,000 chemicals available for use in the U.S., only about 200 have been required to be tested for safety.
Protect against toxic chemicals.
The 33 year-old law that is supposed to protect Americans from exposure to toxic chemicals is so outdated that China legally exports toxic materials into the U.S. that are not only banned in Japan and Europe, but can't even be used domestically in China.
The burden placed on the Environmental Protection Agency under this law, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), is so onerous that they have only succeeded in banning one group of chemicals, PCBs, from the marketplace.
It's time to reform and strengthen TSCA -- support legislation to protect against dangerous toxic chemicals. ยป
Thanks for taking action!
[Name Redacted]
ThePetitionSite
Starting your petition with the headline "We Get the Toxic Chemicals Even China Doesn't Want" is actually a way to show me that you're more concerned with making the Chinese look like dirty, morally corrupt people who are foisting their trash on us hardworking, upright, clean (read: white) Americans (I'm surprised you didn't mention those grubby Chinese stealing our jobs!) than being concerned about toxic chemicals. It's amazing how you took an entire range of bigotry, prejudice, and historical mistrust of the Chinese and managed to squeeze it into one perfectly atrocious sentence.
Furthermore, why it is that you're so concerned about these "toxic chemicals" - which you leave conveniently unnamed and unspecified - are coming from China? So, if the chemicals come from England or Canada or France, then that's okay?
If American laws concerning environmental safety are weak and allowing the importation from ANYWHERE of dangerous substances, that's a perfectly legitimate cause. Saying, "The Government Is Not Doing Enough to Protect Its Citizens!" is not only fair, but completely true. Starting a petition to get the government to enforce existing laws and allow the EPA more power to arrest, fine, and punish offenders is completely a good idea.
But pointing fingers at other countries, especially countries that you know have a bad reputation -- fueled by very lopsided media coverage -- is out and out racism. You've just sent out an email to hundreds, maybe thousands, giving them just a little more help in thinking of China as being dirty and weird and full of scary brown people.
The only thing you're raising awareness of right now is your bigotry. And your appalling lack of scientific knowledge with this gem of a sidebar:
It's gotten to the point that every American alive today, including newborn babies, has hundreds of chemicals flowing through their blood.
That is the single stupidest statement that I've ever heard. Of course everyone, even newborn babies, has chemicals flowing through them. If you had no chemicals in your blood, you'd be dead, dumbass. They're called nutrients and hormones and vitamins and minerals and antibodies. Milk, for instance, is so chemically complex a substance that scientists still don't understand it. It hasn't been tested, so far as I know, for safety in any lab. Should we ban babies from drinking milk until the proper studies have been done?
Using the phrase "toxic chemicals" without being specific is stupid. Any chemical in the right level is toxic to a human being. Oxygen at too high a saturation in the blood can kill you. H20, our friend water, has killed many a human being. It's called drowning. And yes, water is a chemical.
I don't know if anyone has tested water or oxygen for their safety in a lab and determined if Americans should still be breathing and drinking. Do you think we should impose a respiration ban until the necessary tests have done?
On behalf of science and humanity in general, I would like to request that you cease and desist sending these emails and, in fact, cease and desist opening your big mouth until you have something intelligent to say.
All My Disgust and Disapproval,
Meg
