> Some have tried to compare the U.K neonic issue to the U.S. Important differences. Pointed out many times on BEE-L.

Good grief, Bob. What is it, another planet? When bees were dying in France, people accepted that there may be a problem with neonics. But when bees survive on neonic treated canola in Canada and UK, you say -- well that's different. 

Or when they tested collapsing colonies and did NOT find neonics, as was the case in Spain, would you say: They didn't test bees from Missouri, so it doesn't mean a thing -- foreign country.

DEFRA: "suggests that effects on bees do not occur under normal circumstances". It doesn't say "applies only to the UK, and Canada. Results in the US are most likely completely different."

The same people that are quick to condemn scientific studies that they don't agree with (pesticides OK when used correctly) are quick to latch on to scientific studies that they do agree with (pesticides always bad).

One moment scientists are the evil bad guys and the next, they are brave heroes for going against the tide of accepted wisdom. Whereas, in the real world, some folks read more carefully the stuff they don't agree with. Why? Because you might be wrong.

And, if I am wrong about a thing, I want to be the first one to know, not the last one.

NY TIMES:  Of the "environmentalist" label, Mr. Adee said: "I would have been insulted if you had called me that a few years ago. But what you would have called extreme — a light comes on, and you think, 'These guys really have something. Maybe they were just ahead of the bell curve.'"

I have been an "environmentalist" since the 1960s. Never stopped being one. To disregard the environment is suicidal, since the environment is not separate from us; we are the environment. However, Johnny come latelies like Bob and Brett only seem to listen to the people that are shouting, not the quiet voices that say troubling things like "it's more complicated than that." 

Oh, and what is this bell curve? Is that like a wave which rises and falls, as the news cycle moves on? After the news moves on to something else, we will still be working on these problems.

Pete

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