Surfin' the net for references to "herbicide roundup" yielded more than
11,000 hits!  Most are pro-Roundup pages put up by, you guessed it,
MONSANTO!  I'm reluctant to wish Roundup TM a happy 25th anniversary.
 
Other less propagandous (is that a word?) pages can be found too.  I
urge readers to review the pros and cons to become as educated as
possible to make their own decision.  Quoting freely from one of the
pages: "The desired outcome of the educational process is for youth
and adults to understand the decisions that must be made when
considering the use of herbicide(s)...." (Robert G. Hartzler, Iowa
State University).
 
When you come down to brass tacks, it's a personal choice whether or
not one will use the herbicide.  Unfortunately, those who will use
the herbicide have a de facto veto over those who will not.  It's like
smoking.  The smoke from ones' cigarette does not respect the
boundaries imposed by a smoker or nonsmoker, smoke just diffuses.
Those who smoke impact everyone in the closed system, whether it's a
train or an office or a restaurant or even outdoors.  No judgment, no
evaluation, just fact.  It's the universal gas law, it's physics,
it's nature.
 
And it's the same with Roundup.  Whether ingredients in Roundup, are
inert and harmless, active and hazardous, safe today or deadly fifty
years from now, they will diffuse in our environment following the
laws of nature impacting both target organism and passive bystanders.
Is it safe?  Monsanto and others say yes, "greenies" say no.
Who's right and who's wrong?  I doubt we'll know in our lifetime, but
if one asks if it's ok, and can be assured enough that they decide it's
"all right" to use the product, then they have exercised their right to
make a choice against their better judgment when they know deep in
their soul that they are fooling with mother nature.  Some day, maybe
not today, and maybe not tomorrow, perhaps not in my lifetime, but
SOMEDAY, there will be a price to pay.  Perhaps that price will only be
$16.95 for a pint of Roundup concentrate or perhaps that price will be
the lives of many in our global village.  Who knows, it's a matter of
conscience.
 
This is Aaron Morris returning you to our regularly scheduled program
on bees!