Shut Up & Take Yer Poison!

There's seemingly no end to the jaw-dropping developments dealt us every day by this current governmental regime, but even in a daily news cycle that would wipe the smile off the Cheshire cat's face, this headline in today's Washington Post caused a sharp intake of breath:

Pesticide Testing on Humans Is Ethical, Science Panel Says

Reading is believing:

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It is ethical to test pesticides and pollutants on human volunteers in order to determine whether environmental safety standards can be lowered, a top panel of scientists said yesterday in an opinion that is expected to strongly influence government policy.

Many scientists and ethicists have argued that such research is never justified, and yesterday's unprecedented verdict by the National Academy of Sciences took environmentalists by surprise.

The pesticide industry has vehemently supported such tests for years, arguing that current regulatory limits on exposure to environmental toxins are overly cautious. Manufacturers of pesticides and companies that produce pollutants say human studies will demonstrate that higher levels of toxins in the air and water are not harmful....

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No mention that I can find that the chemical corporations have yet persuaded the Bush administration that involuntary testing is also all right. But that's bound to be coming, no? In the meantime, they'll take what they can get: that is, we're inevitably going to be poisoned at a faster rate, folks. I posted a piece yesterday ("Bush Responsible for Global Smarming") reporting on the protests of a group of scientists that the Bush administration is systematically distorting scientific fact for political gain. Add that evidence to this. And have a fine day!