"Fear is a tried and true political strategy..." -- Rachel Maddow.
It would seem I ruffled a few feathers today over something that seems a bit silly. What can I say? Blatant misinformation really annoys me. Especially when you can see the facts staring at you right in the face. So today, I got into a bit of an "argument" with some people on Care2 over an article one woman posted about the FDA's new Food Safety bill S.510. It's one thing if it's a news article from a reputable source, and contained factual information about the bill and it's effects on the general public. Here's the problem-- the "article" was written by Alex Jones, a well-known paleoconservative conspiracy theorist. It's a mess of lies, horribly deceptive and hysterically exaggerated; and these Care2 members have apparently fallen for it, and think I'm crazy for doubting. "...I could care less for those who do not want to listen." It's that kind of sentiment that keeps people divided, you know. I'm trying to understand what the bloody hell you're talking about!!! (-_-" They can be quite stubborn & paranoid... This is a very mild example, but you'll see. [See? I was polite... for the most part
] I run into the same people fairly often, and I sometimes give them a link or 2 to something debunking their conspiracy. One of these days, maybe it'll click. Mind you, these are the "extremist fringe" members I'm talking about here, some of them Tea Party extremists, and they've posted on my articles too. I can usually predict exactly what this group will post and rant about, & it's usually pretty far out there. Death panels at the dentist's & Obama's secret government healthcare armies coming for you in your sleep kind of out there.) The "article" basically states that the government is trying to make growing your own food illegal. Uh, what?? That has nothing to do with what the bill actually says.So what is S.510? Exactly what I just said it is. A Food Safety upgrade bill for facilities that grow or manufacture food that is sent to commercial retailers for public consumption. And what's so different about this bill from all of the other food safety bills we have? Eh. Not much. It (like most other bills) is pretty vague, but it has no effect whatsoever on your own personal garden, or most small farms either. Know what it does? Permits an agency to inspect your records if there is reasonable probability that use or exposure to your product will cause serious adverse health effects or death. Regulates food and drug testing. (Remember all of those spinach & PB recalls? The bagged salad & salmonella/fecal matter issue? This is to control that and fix it so that people are safer.) Anyone have a problem with this? No? Thought so. But as usual, there's a group of people screaming about the world coming to an end because of a few little safety regulations... (I got a bit irked when she suggested I "do some research and go read the bill" [to paraphrase], when I had just quoted directly from it, and provided a link to the exact same thing she thought she'd show me... Clearly she must've missed my link and quote... I also asked her to show me exactly what line she was referring to-- what was so alarming? (She had said it was "sugarcoated.") Really, I want to know what line says the government is going to come and confiscate my organic broccoli & arrest me for harboring illegal strawberries. As you can see, I have yet to receive an answer... [yawn] Really? Give me a challenge, why don't you.
Don't mind me, I must think I'm so smart because I read & analyze everything I see instead of believing a well-known liar lol...)Oh look an UPDATE: She flat out ignored my request & the other girl who told her that the "article" is misleading & a conspiracy theory & not fact. Seriously? Seems it's been proven that it's all a bunch of unsubstantiated lies, but she continued with her "end of the world" rant. Oh well, we tried. Crazy ideas in this crazy world... Light's already on, hun. I'd check yours, though...
I'm going to watch Olbermann... He's so very amusing...
12 pm: UPDATE: I made one last post... I'm pretty riled up tonight. I know, I can be such a bitch sometimes... Could've just let it end with them talking shit about us... But I figured, why not clarify what I was talking about and call it a night... I've said my piece & my peace, I'm done with this. I've defended my argument. Bedtime! ^^"
10 am next day: ok, one last update - checked to see what happened after i left... the other girl came on & backed me up, etc. (& then everyone else called us brainwashed idiots & then went on to say that there is a special pill with just enough nutrition to keep them alive for a little while since there won't be any food left. (? what like a magic vitamin?) It's times like these when I seriously hope that most of the people in this country are just role-playing or something...)
They're entitled to their beliefs and such, but the level of imagination it takes to come up with this is just astounding...
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