Said water pollution has been well documented even as early as in the 1960’s, but where is this ground water, a chemcial time-bomb sitting in the aquafer, such as Waldemar describes, gonna go? “Although the sudden death of thousands of fish or crustaceans in some stream or pond as the direct and visible effect of insect control is dramatic and alarming, these unseen and as yet largely unknown and unmeasureable effects of pesticides reaching estuaries indrectly in streams and rivers may in the end be more disastrous. . . . We know that pesticies contained in runoff from farms and forests are now being carried to the sea in the waters of many and perhaps all of the major rivers. But we do not know the identity of all the chemicals or their total quantity, and we do not presently have any dependable tests for identifying them in highly diluted state once they have reached the sea. Although we know that the chemicals have almost certanly undergone change during the long period of transit, we do not know whether the altered chemical is more toxic than the original or less” (Silent Spring;151-2). “The whole process of sprayinhg seems caught up in an endless spiral. Since DDT [We have sprayed stuff far far far worse than DDT now] was released for civilian use, a process of escalation has been going on in which ever more toxic materials must be found. This has happened because insects, in a triumphant vindication of Darwin’s principle of the survivial of the fisttest, have evloved super races imune to the particular insecticide used, hence, a deadlier one has always to be developed—and then a deadlier one tha that . . . because destructive insects often under go a ‘flareback,’ or resurgence, after spraying, in numbers greater than before. Thus chemcial war is never won, and all life is caught in its violent crossfire.” (Silent Spring; 8) “Violent Crossfire,” such as being unable to concevie a young; although our intended target was a “bug,” the intricate web of life must also deal with the consequences of a few industrial farmers who too must bring bread to the table no matter what. The bullet, alas, boomeranged and backfired at us, the humans, the control freak. Let's not talk about the incrased risks of cancer here. The Dutch Elm disease was the direct result of planting one species (monocrop) all over the US, on the streets, on the campuses, and in the backyard, offering an endless buffet for the fungus to explode, riding on the back of elm bark beetles—all, thanks to us. ****************************************************** * Full guidelines for BEE-L posting are at: * * http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm * ******************************************************