SIRC Media Watch Archive
The Pick – August 2001
Is this a food scare or should I stop eating lamb? "One can be forgiven for a feeling of déjà vu over the continued doubts about whether sheep have been infected with "mad cow" disease. After all, the theoretical possibility was first raised publicly as long ago as 1996, when the Government admitted that bovine spongiform encephalopathy can pass from cattle to humans … I have occasionally eaten lamb and will do so again, not because I think it is totally safe but, considering all the risks in life we face, this is one I can live with. Whatever the risk today, it was much, much bigger in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and it's too late to worry about that now." Steve Connor in the Independent.
Biotech Panderers. Given the promise of biotechnology, you might think that the world would accept the manageable risks associated with it. So far, after all, not a single genetically modified product has been shown to harm human health; on the other hand, the more abundant and cheaper food that biotechnology promises could make a huge difference to consumers, especially in poor nations with extensive malnourishment. Yet consumer groups are up in arms against so-called Frankenfoods. And the European Union recently proposed rules on food labeling that would greatly discourage the advance of science in this area. Washington Post.
Is low cholesterol always a good thing? According to received medical wisdom, low blood cholesterol is key in reducing cardiovascular disease. But that opinion has now been challenged by data from the Honolulu Heart Program, a large epidemiological study of cardiovascular disease. Lancet.
How eating disorders are being promoted on the Net. Anorexia nervosa is an illness. Everyone knows that. And there are support groups for people who are ill. Everyone knows that, too. What is not common knowledge is the fact that an increasing number of internet-based groups are being set up in support of anorexia itself. They come in the form of what are known as "pro-ana" websites. Here, those with eating disorders can learn new starvation tactics, while keeping up to date with how their anorexic and bulimic counterparts all over the world are getting on with theirs. Independent.
The best place to smoke cigars, pick your nose and play Dylan. We're a hopeless, unregenerate lot, are we not? Despite the urgings of Greenpeace, Critical Mass (the cycling fanatics), the Total(itarian) Environment Centre, and numerous other greenie outfits, it turns out that we are using our cars more than ever … Some of today's most developed car engines release lower levels of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides than will be found in the surrounding atmosphere of a major city – they clean the air – but don't expect this to soften the attitude of the greenies: their opposition to cars is part of a condition, not a position. And as the controversy over GM food demonstrates, the last thing they want is for capitalism to solve its own problems through progress. Sydney Morning Herald.
GM: past, present and future. "There is no unequivocal evidence that genetically modified crops harm our health or the environment – yet there is an intense debate about their value and safety. Such concerns about the risks of GM technology must be balanced against its enormous benefits – far from causing any new food safety problems, biotechnology has already demonstrated its potential in enhancing the nutritional quality of our food and in reducing harmful toxic compounds that exist in our food." Channapatna S Prakash in Spiked.
Crowd trouble. Perhaps the most startling thing about the National Criminal Intelligence Service's annual report into football-related violence is how little there is of it at the grounds these days. Of course, any thuggery is to be deplored, but the outstanding feature of football today is the way that most of what trouble there is takes place away from the venues. Indeed, it is tempting to wonder if much of the drink-related incidents that weigh heavily in the statistics are simply a reflection of the British tradition of rowdy binge-boozing, a persistent problem among young men on a Saturday night, whether they happen to be wearing a football shirt at the time or not. Hooligans are said by the NCIS to use mobile phones and the internet - but then, so do the rest of us. The inclusion of such observations in the report may have more to do with the NCIS's need to squeeze more money out of government than a genuine desire to represent the real state of the game. Independent.
Yes, it looks bad, but… We are cooking our own planet, driving thousands of species to extinction and filling our skies and rivers with poison. Right? Not according to Bjorn Lomborg. In the first of three exclusive essays for the Guardian, Europe's most controversial environmental thinker argues that reports of the earth's imminent death are much exaggerated. Guardian.
Poor need cheap food, says Blair rural aide. "Who do they represent? It is proper for the public to question the democratic legitimacy of pressure groups as well as business," he asserts as he champions cheap food. "It's facetious to say we can all afford to spend more on our food. Cheap food is vital to millions of poor people in Britain who spend a big proportion of their income on it." Guardian.
The Organic Café Grill and Bar – review by A A Gill. "I can't think of anything as chronically hypocritical as the queues outside First World, urban, organic health-nutter shops, where young, rich folk, in awe of some fairy-tale Third World way, spend fortunes trying to eke another couple of years out of lives that are already twice as long as the global average. The multinational green business is more totalitarianly prescriptive, deaf, blind and self-righteous than any industrial conglomerate. While you seek out organic, fair-trade bikinis for some poorer beach this year, remember that your absolute belief that progress is a bad thing will actually starve a lot of people to death. Opposition to GM isn't caring scepticism, it's fashionable colonialism. It keeps them where they are, so you can continue to choose to be where you are." Sunday Times.
Mumps outbreak blamed on jab fears. A mumps outbreak is spreading alarmingly across the UK as parents shun the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine for children. The outbreak follows a drop of 12 per cent in the number of children being immunised with the MMR vaccine amid fears that it triggers autism and bowel disease. Independent.
Is this a food scare or should I stop eating lamb? "One can be forgiven for a feeling of déjà vu over the continued doubts about whether sheep have been infected with "mad cow" disease. After all, the theoretical possibility was first raised publicly as long ago as 1996, when the Government admitted that bovine spongiform encephalopathy can pass from cattle to humans … I have occasionally eaten lamb and will do so again, not because I think it is totally safe but, considering all the risks in life we face, this is one I can live with. Whatever the risk today, it was much, much bigger in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and it's too late to worry about that now." Steve Connor in the Independent.
Biotech Panderers. Given the promise of biotechnology, you might think that the world would accept the manageable risks associated with it. So far, after all, not a single genetically modified product has been shown to harm human health; on the other hand, the more abundant and cheaper food that biotechnology promises could make a huge difference to consumers, especially in poor nations with extensive malnourishment. Yet consumer groups are up in arms against so-called Frankenfoods. And the European Union recently proposed rules on food labeling that would greatly discourage the advance of science in this area. Washington Post.
Is low cholesterol always a good thing? According to received medical wisdom, low blood cholesterol is key in reducing cardiovascular disease. But that opinion has now been challenged by data from the Honolulu Heart Program, a large epidemiological study of cardiovascular disease. Lancet.
How eating disorders are being promoted on the Net. Anorexia nervosa is an illness. Everyone knows that. And there are support groups for people who are ill. Everyone knows that, too. What is not common knowledge is the fact that an increasing number of internet-based groups are being set up in support of anorexia itself. They come in the form of what are known as "pro-ana" websites. Here, those with eating disorders can learn new starvation tactics, while keeping up to date with how their anorexic and bulimic counterparts all over the world are getting on with theirs. Independent.
The best place to smoke cigars, pick your nose and play Dylan. We're a hopeless, unregenerate lot, are we not? Despite the urgings of Greenpeace, Critical Mass (the cycling fanatics), the Total(itarian) Environment Centre, and numerous other greenie outfits, it turns out that we are using our cars more than ever … Some of today's most developed car engines release lower levels of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides than will be found in the surrounding atmosphere of a major city – they clean the air – but don't expect this to soften the attitude of the greenies: their opposition to cars is part of a condition, not a position. And as the controversy over GM food demonstrates, the last thing they want is for capitalism to solve its own problems through progress. Sydney Morning Herald.
