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The Black Death and Its Descendents - (dangers & costs of environmental extremism)
CHRONWATCH.COM ^ | APRIL 10, 2005 | ALAN CARUBA

Posted on 04/10/2005 2:47:29 PM PDT by CHARLITE

This month, the New Jersey Pest Management Association issued a news release to warn against the prospect of billions of mosquitoes and threat of West Nile Fever they pose. West Nile Fever arrived in New York City in 1999 and, within three years, it had spread to California.

In Washington, an executive order was signed recently to insure that avian flu does not reach these shores and, when a single case of Mad Cow Disease was discovered, the border was shut to Canadian beef. When SAARS broke out in Red China a few years ago, it too was quickly quarantined. Like the Black Death that originated in inner Asia, many of the plagues that threaten us today begin there as well. We, however, live in an era of global communication in which these forms of pestilence can be identified and steps taken to thwart their spread.

That wasn’t the case in 1347 when Yersina pestis, the Black Death, arrived in Europe, having made its way there from trading outposts in the Crimea. In a fascinating new book, “The Great Mortality” by John Kelly ($25.95, HarperCollins), the story of how this plague bacillus would transform history is told as it moved from nation to nation. It is estimated to have killed a third of the entire population of Europe.

“The medieval plague is the second greatest catastrophe in the human record,” writes Kelly. “Only World War II produced more death.” Though distant in time from us, such massive death is not unusual in our times.

Every year, millions die of Malaria in Africa simply because the environmental movement, sparked by a book written by Rachel Carson in the 1950s, has done everything in its power to eliminate the use of DDT and every other pesticide that might otherwise protect our lives.

That is murder on a grand scale. Malaria is spread by mosquitoes. If DDT had not been banned by a United Nations protocol, those millions would have been spared an early death. Its favorite victims continue to be women and children.

The Black Death was spread from infected rats to humans by fleas. Anyone who does not credit Nature with the capacity to wipe out vast numbers of humans does not know history. I can recall being on Fox News Channel in 1999 to rebut somebody from the Audubon Society who was opposed to spraying to kill the mosquito population in and around New York City. Ironically, West Nile Fever kills birds by the thousands. That year there were 62 human cases and West Nile killed seven people. Within a year, the crow population was decimated.

Conditions in New York City in 1999 and today were quite different from the cities of medieval Europe where the Black Plague thrived. People did not bathe. Rats were everywhere. Rivers were used as sewers. Human offal was tossed into the streets. There was no sanitation. At best, life expectancy was in the thirties. An estimated 25 million died from the Black Plague.

There is a reason we are not overwhelmed by a population of rats. A legion of people, descendents of medieval rat catchers, work to protect human life and billions in property. They are the members of the modern pest management industry. It used to be called the pest control industry until the incessant anti-pesticide propaganda of the environmentalists convinced them to change the name. There was a not-to-distant time when they proudly called themselves “exterminators.”

It forced a change in the way pest control was practiced. Now “Integrated Pest Management” is the style of the times with a heavy emphasis on inspections and recommendations of ways to interdict insect and rodent pests before they gain access to a home or any other structure. Under Integrated Pest Management, pesticide application is the last measure used when all others fail.

Pesticides, all of which undergo an Environmental Protection Agency registration process that can cost up to $50 million dollars for a single new product, has seen the loss of many excellent products withdrawn from the marketplace despite years of successful and effective use against a wide range of insect or rodent pests. There is little incentive to introduce new ones. Too many people remained convinced the pesticides will kill them, not the pests.

Are we safer now? I don’t know, but I am inclined to think we’re not.

We can pardon the ignorant masses of Europe and Asia who did not know how disease was spread for being party to their own decimation. When the Black Death subsided in about four years, having spread throughout Europe to England, it was followed by another in 1361 that was known as the “Children’s Plague” taking the lives of those born after the first plague. Other plagues would follow, but they would not have the profound affect on history as the Black Death.

The philosopher, George Santayana, warned that those who are ignorant of the past are condemned to repeat it. It is folly to think that some new plague could not occur. Meanwhile we worry that Islamic radicals will use “bio-warfare”, but it is Nature about whom we must worry most. Nature with its rats, mice, fleas, ticks and mosquitoes.

It is not for nothing that the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are War, Famine, Disease and Death.

About the Writer: Alan Caruba writes "Warning Signs," a weekly commentary posted on http://www.anxietycenter.com, the website of The National Anxiety Center.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; Philosophy; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: birdflu; blackdeath; ddt; environment; environmental; epa; europe; extremism; health; malaria; modern; outbreak; pesticides; pests; plagues; saars; virus; westnile; westnilefever
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1 posted on 04/10/2005 2:47:34 PM PDT by CHARLITE
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To: CHARLITE
Every year, millions die of Malaria in Africa simply because the environmental movement, sparked by a book written by Rachel Carson in the 1950s, has done everything in its power to eliminate the use of DDT and every other pesticide that might otherwise protect our lives.

That is murder on a grand scale. Malaria is spread by mosquitoes. If DDT had not been banned by a United Nations protocol, those millions would have been spared an early death. Its favorite victims continue to be women and children.

More evidence that the left is far more concerned about its radical agenda than they are about the well-being of people.

2 posted on 04/10/2005 2:50:05 PM PDT by wagglebee ("We are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom." -- President Bush, 1/20/05)
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To: CHARLITE

Does anyone know more about the above referenced executive order regarding avian flu?


3 posted on 04/10/2005 2:55:00 PM PDT by datura (Fix bayonets.)
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To: CHARLITE

Liberal-demokkkRATs = War, Famine, Disease and Death.


4 posted on 04/10/2005 2:55:54 PM PDT by Certified Horticulturist
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To: CHARLITE

read later


5 posted on 04/10/2005 3:00:45 PM PDT by Sam Cree (Democrats are herd animals)
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To: wagglebee
"sparked by a book written by Rachel Carson in the 1950s"

That was "Silent Spring," of course.

6 posted on 04/10/2005 3:02:56 PM PDT by DJ Taylor (Once again our country is at war, and once again the Democrats have sided with our enemy.)
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To: DJ Taylor

It was essentially a pack of lies.


7 posted on 04/10/2005 3:03:54 PM PDT by wagglebee ("We are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom." -- President Bush, 1/20/05)
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To: CHARLITE

DDT killed far more than mosquitoes ever will. You can see that simply by looking at how many endangered species of birds there are after DDT was used widely. Without species of birds many other organisms' populations explode causing ecological collapse. Without predator species of the mosquito. There would be as many of them as there are now and you wouldn't have birds either. Also your proposal that we stop effective testing on pesticides would mean that someone could put something on the market more deadly then the Black Plague with little to no testing. Or it could kill something else. Whats next....?


8 posted on 04/10/2005 3:18:39 PM PDT by LiberalWorker
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To: LiberalWorker

well that was quick /s

not even worth one zot


9 posted on 04/10/2005 3:24:38 PM PDT by Charlespg (Civilization and freedom are only worthy of those who defend or support defending It)
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To: CHARLITE

"Daddy, what's a crow like".


10 posted on 04/10/2005 3:30:52 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: LiberalWorker
DDT killed far more than mosquitoes ever will.

Translation: Ignorant, primitive, useless negroes in Africa are worthless. Aint it great to be progressive?

11 posted on 04/10/2005 3:31:04 PM PDT by Jacquerie (Democrats soil the institutions they control)
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To: LiberalWorker
?

We need some hard references on that one.

12 posted on 04/10/2005 3:31:55 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: CHARLITE

The author is so out of touch with reality, I give him my permission to delouse himself with a daily, liberal application of DDT. You don't need DDT to kill mosquitoes, a light vegetable oil does just fine.

I've lived for years in an area of Malaria (and dange and yellow fever) and have worked on projects to reduce just these types of mosquito breeding population. This is utter garbage.... A pathetic attempt to create a cause and effect that just does not exist.


13 posted on 04/10/2005 3:36:55 PM PDT by ndt
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To: muawiyah
We need some hard references on that one.

Sorry, my finger slipped and I hit the ZOT button. Sadly, you will not recieve a reply.

14 posted on 04/10/2005 3:37:45 PM PDT by Admin Moderator
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To: Admin Moderator

Well, I'll be doggone. That's the fastest Zot I've ever seen.


15 posted on 04/10/2005 3:38:35 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: LiberalWorker

yeah, you're right. Around my house I refuse to use bar bait control mice, instead we keep a couple of rattle snakes in the basement, I turn them out upstairs whenever I go to work.


16 posted on 04/10/2005 3:39:23 PM PDT by AlbertWang
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To: LiberalWorker
DDT killed far more than mosquitoes ever will.

Feel free to educate yourself, then get back to us:

West Nile Virus- Bring Back DDT?


17 posted on 04/10/2005 3:47:16 PM PDT by backhoe (Just an Undocumented Keyboard Cowboy, ridin' the trackball into the Sunset...)
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To: CHARLITE

bump


18 posted on 04/10/2005 4:04:58 PM PDT by lilmsdangrus (hard work musta hurt somebody, somewhere....)
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To: LiberalWorker

So you're in favor of millions dying, mostly women, children and babies in the Third World, from completely preventible diseases.

Do you hang around with the KKK?


19 posted on 04/10/2005 4:09:35 PM PDT by sergeantdave (Smart growth is Marxist insects agitating for a collective hive.)
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To: CHARLITE

Ring around the rosey,
a pocket full of poseys.
Ashes, Ashes, we all fall down.

Yes, it's about the plague.


20 posted on 04/10/2005 4:37:41 PM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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