The word of the day for April 3, 2007 is “chemical” — noun 1 : a substance obtained by a chemical process or producing a chemical effect. 2 : DRUG.
The news readers this morning did a piece on the federal legislation to protect our chemical plants from terrorists. Some of the states say that the federal regulations will undermine the states’ more stringent rulings. There will be court battles over this. Granted, “concentrations of chemical in proximity to concentrations of people” sounds bad. Certainly, things should be done to keep people from gaining access to plants that produce chemicals for illicit purposes. Most companies that produce dangerous compounds know this and at least pay lip service to keeping their products out of the air, water and soil. Still we remember Bhopal.
It is odd that the advertisers have decided that “chemicals” are bad things. Every other food ad mentions natural, as though that were somehow inherently better. One of the pizza chains used to castigate their rivals for using casein instead of real cheese. Apparently, they thought that the general public wouldn’t know that cheese is made up primarily of casein. Rye smut (ergot) is natural, but it caused epidemics of St. Vitus Dance during the middle ages. It has only been recently that we have found that a refined version of ergot is good for migraines.
The quote for today is from F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940), U.S. author. John, in The Diamond as Big as the Ritz, ch. 11 (1922):
Everybody’s youth is a dream, a form of chemical madness.
;^) Jan
1 comment:
I read recently that flies don't even want to bother landing on margarine as they don't see it as food. They have to put chemicals into it to make it nutritious. Its next door but one to being plastic. What damage do these chemicals do in the long run I wonder? I reckon I would rather have butter than margarine and not a spread of chemicals on my toast. (Whether I grow fat on it or not. Lol!) Jeanie
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