It's all Trew: Old magazine shows of changing times

Recently I added an October 1918 Popular Mechanics magazine to my old magazine collection. At this age I am no longer legally bound to give any reasons why I collect this stuff. I think it is because it shows our continually changing times. For example, in 1918, a year's subscription of 12 issues cost only $2. That's 4½ regular postage stamps today. Each issue included 165 pages chock-full of information, advice, illustrations and meaningful ads with no side effects promised. Hundreds of ads, designed to catch the eyes of returning World War I veterans, tout the advantages of learning a trade or acquiring more education in many fields. The locations of the schools and prices of this timely knowledge were plainly exhibited promising $250 per month and up to $10,000 per year income. Many articles pertained to the new-fangled gadget called the automobile. One page showed and told of a device to help you align your tires so they would not wear. My first thought was that it's hard to imagine a tire wearing down at 25 mph on a dirt road. Another ad showed a foot warmer you heated on your wood stove before entering the unheated car. Pure wood alcohol was used as radiator fluid. Simple improvements are drawn in detail, like how to make a glue pot out of tin cans and a candle, how to build a jack handle with more leverage and how to keep belts from slipping when driving a machine...AmarilloGlobeNews

Song Of The Day #082

I'm ready for some early Buck Owens.

I missed yesterday so today we'll have a double dose of Buck.

The two selections are the 1956 recording of Down On The Corner, plus There Goes My Love.

Both are available on the 21 track Young Buck: The Complete Pre-Capitol Recordings

Is Your Utility Pocket Knife a Homeland Security Threat? Senate Takes Action

A little-reported action by the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) branch of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) threatens to criminalize the purchase of utility knives now in common use across the United States.A little-reported action by the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) branch of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) threatens to criminalize the purchase of utility knives now in common use across the United States. The pocket knives CBP is attempting to reclassify as switchblades under the Switchblade Knife Act of 1958 include a spring to assist opening. They are not the stiletto switchblades of West Side Story that flick open with the press of a button. These pocket knives have thumb studs near the base of the blade that must be pushed open 30 degrees before a spring completes the opening action. The blades, however, are clearly designed for utility. Such knives are used by farmers, ranchers, tradesmen, sportsmen, hobbyists, and many others whose work make the ability to open a knife with one hand while the other hand is occupied a significant convenience, if not an outright necessity. In addition to the response by House lawmakers, a July 8 amendment by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and 12 colleagues to the Switchblade Knife Act passed the Senate by unanimous consent and was approved as part of the DHS Appropriations bill the Senate passed on July 9. The amendment clarifies the definition of switchblade knives, effectively nullifying CBP’s attempted revocation of the Bush administration letters. The DHS appropriations bill now goes to conference committee. If the Switchblade Knife Act amendment survives there, the episode will be over...HumanEvents

For more info, see my June 15th post here.

NM landowners battle state over hungry elk

The elk in New Mexico are big and beautiful - a hunter's dream, a landowner's nightmare. Property owners across the state long have complained about wildlife overrunning their private land and destroying crops. But the problem is boiling over in the Cuba area, where ranchers say they're being ignored and wildlife managers aren't doing enough to curb the damage or compensate them. Starting tomorrow, the state Game and Fish Department is holding a series of public meetings. The department will consider proposals that would change the area's hunting unit boundaries and how hunting tags are allocated to landowners who allow elk on their property. Currently, the formula doesn't take into account agricultural damage. Another proposal calls for giving more tags to private landowners as a form of compensation for elk damage. AP

Environment Department issues San Miguel fire advisory

The New Mexico Environment Department issued a health advisory for areas of north and central New Mexico affected by smoke from the San Miguel fire in the Bandelier Wilderness and Santa Fe National Forest. The department will place an air monitor downwind of the fire Tuesday to ensure the smoke poses no harm to residents. That’s in response to concerns raised by the public about the fire’s proximity to Los Alamos National Laboratory. NMED officials said they do not expect to find anything out of the ordinary in the smoke. The fire is in a remote area of the Bandelier Wilderness at Bandelier National Monument and the Dome Wilderness in the Santa Fe National Forest...NMBusinessWeekly

McDonald's Hits Africa

When Dad Rides the Rodeo Circuit, Many Families Saddle Up

Cowboys have a reputation as hard-living tough guys, men who have foresworn wives and children for a life riding bulls and wrestling steers. And although many rodeo competitors work hard to live up to the image, a number of them take their families on the road. Some travel with children only in the summer, when school is out and the rodeo season is at its peak. Others, like Ray and his wife, Robbin, spend much of the year on the circuit. As a result, the Ray girls are home schooled by their mother. Although there are no statistics on how many rodeo competitors travel with their families, children are a part of rodeo life, said Karl Stressman, the commissioner of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, the sport’s governing body. “I think we’re probably the largest professional sport that does travel with families,” Stressman said. “Our sport is a young man’s sport, so there’s a lot of young families that do travel with them.” Children often occupy the dusty lots behind any major rodeo. Boys toss ropes at hay-bale dummies and tip back their cowboy hats when they talk to strangers. Girls borrow their fathers’ horses between events. Cowboys ride to the rodeo arena with babies tucked into the saddle in front of them...NYTimes

Enviros back Sotomayor for Supreme Court

More than 60 environmental and Native American groups—including the Sierra Club, Earthjustice, Greenpeace USA, the League of Conservation Voters, and the Center for Biological Diversity—have sent a letter [PDF] to leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee offering unqualified support for her nomination. The Senate Judiciary Committee will be holding confirmation hearings on Sotomayor this week. Sotomayor’s most significant environmental ruling was in the case Riverkeeper, Inc. v. EPA, heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 2007. As Kate Sheppard explains in an examination of Sotomayor’s green record, the case centered on whether the U.S. EPA should be allowed to consider the cost-effectiveness of measures to protect fish and other aquatic life in rivers and lakes near power plants. Sotomayor sided with the enviros, writing what Earthjustice calls “a careful 80-page opinion upholding critical Clean Water Act safeguards.” The Supreme Court later reversed that ruling. Environmental issues are not expected to figure prominently, if at all, in Sotomayor’s confirmation hearings. But if she’s confirmed, she’ll play a major part in shaping environmental law. “As recent, closely divided decisions demonstrate, the Supreme Court is playing a crucial role in environmental protections,” says Glenn Sugameli, senior policy counsel at Earthjustice...Grist

GAO Reports & Testimony

Energy and Water: Preliminary Observations on the Links between Water and Biofuels and Electricity Production, by Anu Mittal, director, natural resources and environment, before the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, House Committee on Science and Technology. GAO-09-862T, July 9.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-09-862T

Clean Air Act: Preliminary Observations on the Effectiveness and Costs of Mercury Control Technologies at Coal-Fired Power Plants, by John B. Stephenson, director, natural resources and environment, before the Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety, Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. GAO-09-860T, July 9
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-09-860T

Climate Change Trade Measures: Considerations for U.S. Policy Makers. GAO-09-724R, July 8.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-09-724R

Climate Change Trade Measures: Estimating Industry Effects, by Loren Yager, director, international affairs and trade, before the Senate Committee on Finance. GAO-09-875T, July 8.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-09-875T

'Time to ditch climate policies'

An international group of academics is urging world leaders to abandon their current policies on climate change. The authors of How to Get Climate Policy Back on Course say the strategy based on overall emissions cuts has failed and will continue to fail. They want G8 nations and emerging economies to focus on an approach based on improving energy efficiency and decarbonising energy supply. The report is published by the London School of Economics' (LSE) Mackinder Programme and the University of Oxford's Institute for Science, Innovation & Society. The report has drawn an angry response from some environmentalists, who acknowledge the problems it highlights but fear that the solutions it proposes will not work...BBC

A Handbook for Deniers

Of course, the debate is not primarily between scientists even though such debates do exist. The literature in peer-reviewed journals in the relevant scientific disciplines have since long disproved the politicized Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scenarios. It has even been established that the global warming according to reliable data sources ended in 2001, despite the fact that CO2 emissions are greater than ever and continue to increase...One way of doing so is to be ready for and engage in the discussion – and do so wisely. This is the purpose, I believe, of Joanne Nova’s comic-book-style The Skeptic’s Handbook (PDF), in which she describes how to "[r]ise above the mud-slinging of the Global Warming debate." The book shows how to use the existing and scientific facts properly and how not to accept non-answers such as referring to authority or cheap ad hominems. It also supplies the facts and the only points that matter. It is a short manual for constructively pursuing debates with AGWers and in that sense it is truly a "skeptic’s handbook."...LewRockwell.com

"The Anthropocene": Are We Living in a New Geological Era? Experts Say "Yes"

No one can realistically argue that humans haven’t dramatically transformed the face of the planet. But now scientists, who love naming things, propose that humankind has so altered the Earth that that we have brought about an end to one epoch and entered a new age, as different from our recent ancestors' time as the Jurassic was from the Cambrian. Nobel laureate Paul Crutzen calls it the Anthropocene, with "anthro" signifying humanity's biospheric impact. They suggest humans have so changed the Earth that it’s time the Holocene epoch was officially ended. Geologists from the University of Leicester, Jan Zalasiewicz and Mark Williams, and their colleagues on the Stratigraphy Commission of the Geological Society of London say that humankind has entered a phase where we are so rapidly transforming the planet that a new era has started. Duke University soil scientist Daniel Richter agrees. He says the dirt under our feet is being so changed by humans that it is now appropriate to call this epoch the Anthropocene. “With more than half of all soils on Earth now being cultivated for food crops, grazed, or periodically logged for wood, how to sustain Earth’s soils is becoming a major scientific and policy issue,” Richter said...DailyGalaxy

Ranchers: Politics have become part of industry

There once were just cowboys, cattle and wide open space, rambling across an eastern Oregon landscape too hot for most humans, too dry to grow much other than sagebrush. Now, Oregon steaks are served in South Korea and ranchers fret over cattle damage to streams. To hear rancher Ken Holliday tell it, the romance of ranching has long been gone. But the constant roller coaster ride that sapped the thrill is on a downhill run with the recession, leaving ranchers feeling beaten. "It's never been easy to make a living," says Holliday, who runs a 10,000-acre ranch near John Day. "But now, you kind of wonder why you even do it." Summer is supposed to be beef's best-selling season. But for many ranchers, the recession heaps pressure on an Old World industry trying to find a place in a new age. Cyclical downturns are the norm in agriculture. But this one exacerbates a fundamental shift unfolding in the beef cattle industry, moving toward tightened regulations, choosier consumers and heightened environmental concerns. "There are many issues affecting the industry today," says Brent Searle, an Oregon Department of Agriculture economist. "Some are environmental and social, some are microbial. ... There are clear agendas and influences now on how food is produced and distributed."...AP

Ranchers split on use of microchips in cattle

For generations, ranchers have tracked their cattle by their brand. Every year, they corral and rope the calves, and burn the ranch's mark onto them. Now the federal government would like to add a step to the process. Agriculture officials want ranchers to start tracking their animals electronically, using microchips. The National Animal Identification System, which is currently a voluntary program, would follow a cow's every move. But for people like 64-year-old Culver rancher Marilyn Kasch, tracking cattle by their brand, the way she does it and the way her grandparents did it, works. The federal program, she said, would be a logistical nightmare. State Veterinarian Don Hansen said he's heard concerns from ranchers about the identification system, but his priority is finding the most efficient way to control disease. "We're talking about contagious disease, and that is one of the major points of the NAIS system," Hansen said. "It's a system designed to curtail the spread of a contagious disease. It's never been designed to be a food safety tool. It's how do we know where the animals are in case we have a horribly contagious disease that's flying around the country." Bill Moore, the president of the Oregon Cattlemen's Association, said he's hoping there will be a financial incentive to participating in the program. If cattle tracked by the system become more valuable and ranchers get paid to track them federally, then it makes more sense. "We maintain it should be voluntary and market driven, instead of something made mandatory by the federal government," he said. "The big difference is, with a voluntary system, the market can drive it. You get paid for adding value, for doing the animal ID or tracking ... In a mandatory system, the government isn't going to come up with money, so the entire cost is borne by the cow-calf producer with no help or compensation by the market."...RapidCityJournal

Animal-rights advocates hopeful Gov. OKs horse tripping bill

Horse tripping, a sport in which a galloping horse is roped to the ground, will be illegal in Arizona if Gov. Jan Brewer signs a bill that recently cleared the Legislature. Phoenix Councilwoman Thelda Williams was an advocate for Senate Bill 1115, saying she considered the activity "barbaric." "Few horses survive and it usually results in broken legs, internal damage, and death," Williams said. "Arizona allowing horse tripping was of great concern to animal-rescue and care agencies." Two animal-welfare measures were packaged together under SB 1115. The other bill, introduced by Rep. Nancy Young Wright, D-Tucson, would give county officials authority to inspect privately owned dog kennels anytime once a written complaint is filed, Wright said...ArizonaRepublic

Activists tackle 'brutal' Calgary Stampede

The Calgary Stampede is being called a “brutal violent spectacle” of animal cruelty by the Humane Society of Canada, which has filed a complaint with Canada’s broadcasting regulator over the airing of the world’s largest outdoor rodeo. The push to have broadcasters phase out the Stampede — which kicks off on Thursday — from their programming is sparking renewed debate over the controversial Canadian event, which in the past decade has been linked to more than two dozen animal deaths. “It’s a form of violent entertainment [in which] animals are abused and exploited,” said Sinikka Crosland, president of the Responsible Animal Care Society in B.C. and executive director of Canadian Horse Defence Coalition. “But because it’s an accepted thing, people don’t tend to look at rodeo with a critical eye.” Rodeo scholar Tamara Palmer Seiler acknowledges this disconnect, describing the Stampede as “a kind of carnival where the world is turned upside down.”...Canada.com

Chips in official IDs raise privacy fears

Climbing into his Volvo, outfitted with a Matrics antenna and a Motorola reader he'd bought on eBay for $190, Chris Paget cruised the streets of San Francisco with this objective: To read the identity cards of strangers, wirelessly, without ever leaving his car. It took him 20 minutes. Zipping past Fisherman's Wharf, his scanner downloaded to his laptop the unique serial numbers of two pedestrians' electronic U.S. passport cards embedded with radio-frequency identification, or RFID, tags. Within an hour, he'd "skimmed" four more of the new, microchipped PASS cards from a distance of 20 feet. Increasingly, government officials are promoting the chipping of identity documents as a 21st-century application of technology that will help speed border crossings, safeguard credentials against counterfeiters, and keep terrorists from sneaking into the country. But Paget's February experiment demonstrated something privacy advocates had feared for years: That RFID, coupled with other technologies, could make people trackable without their knowledge...AP

Gun rights leaders join in opposition to Sotomayor confirmation

Several of the nation’s leading gun rights activists, including the heads of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and Second Amendment Foundation, today joined to oppose the confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor as an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. “It is extremely important that a Supreme Court justice understand and appreciate the origin and meaning of the Second Amendment, a constitutional guarantee permanently enshrined in the Bill of Rights,” said a letter from the group, which was hand-delivered to every member of the U.S. Senate. “Judge Sotomayor’s record on the Second Amendment causes us grave concern about her treatment of this enumerated Constitutional right.” Included among the signators were Sandra S. Froman, former president of the National Rifle Association; Alan M. Gottlieb, CCRKBA chairman; Joseph Tartaro, SAF president; Gene Hoffman, chairman of the CalGUNS Foundation; several current or former NRA directors; Robert Corbin, former Arizona attorney general and past NRA president; former Congressman Bob Barr...PressRelease

Cowgirl Sass & Savvy

Swappin' recipes

Julie Carter

Common cowboy cooking is widely acclaimed to be the very best, spiciest, most original and filling of all cuisines of the world. At least that's what the cowboys will tell you.

For the rest of us mere mortals, skepticism is a healthy recommendation.
However, in the spirit of fun, I want to share with you a couple of cowboy recipes provided by the already famous for his cooking, Dan the Team Roper and his roping partner Jess.

Speed in preparation is the first priority for Dan, a confirmed bachelor. Second on the list of importance would be a meal that can be shared with his trusty cow dog, who also helps him cook.

Dan and his dog had been on a steady diet of burritos made of Spam, Velveeta and mayo.

His preferred delicacy had always been pig-lip baloney, but he had not been able to find the delicacy anywhere this side of the Mississippi. He was heartbroke about that.

Learning by experience, Dan recommended using the genuine Velveeta because in his vast experience with cheeses, the cheap substitutes would not work.

After roping practice, he and Jess were comparing notes from the long-ago time when Jess had also been a bachelor.

Chili and eggs was Jess's masterpiece, but both agreed that only Wolf Brand Chili would qualify for the main ingredient.

The number of eggs to be added was dictated by the number currently in the icebox.

Optional ingredients would include ranch style beans, pork and beans, potatoes, if any were cooked, onions, the occasional stray sock or whatever else got in the way.

It was especially critical that the chili be put in an iron skillet, thoroughly cooked down to the burrito-fold stage before adding the eggs. This would result in a scrambled look. If added too soon, the eggs would vanish.

Several likely pointers of this nature were passed on.

The next evening Dan reported that both he and the dog gave this meal a five-star rating.

Encouraged that Dan appreciated his culinary achievements, Jess imparted his recipe for fried deer meat, instant mashed potatoes and gravy thick enough to make everything stick together.

It was understood that it, also, would all be wrapped in a flour tortilla.

As the roping practice progressed, the cooking lessons kept pace, and then the subject of milk came up.

Dan had tried powdered milk with no luck. The dog was pretty picky, and so was he.

Once again, he was adamant it was necessary to buy the good brand and possibly, even necessary, to mix it according to the directions. That depended on the available time.

On those days when it was a good idea to start out with actual food for breakfast instead of an adult beverage, milk was a essential.

Jess was a planner and a logical, organized man. Willingly, he shared his secret time-saving breakfast method with Dan.

It was necessary that perhaps some female had left behind a collection of small Tupperware dishes for this efficiency. Then one could put a measured portion of Grape-Nuts, powdered milk and sugar in each of the containers, seal them and stack.

Then the only additional ingredient would be water.

The major drawback to this gourmet meal was it was not one to eat while driving, and the dog didn't like Grape-Nuts.

However, it was noted by Jess's wife that he had somehow quickly overcome his bachelorhood eating habits and adapted quite nicely to her cooking.

Although on stressful days, he still preferred Wolf Brand chili and eggs.

Julie can be reached for comment at www.julie-carter.com.

She suggests sticking with canned peaches.

NFI - An Open Letter to Journalists

Some good examples on how special interest groups and the compliant media distort science. Also a good example on how one organization combats the distortions.

An Open Letter to Journalists from the Seafood Community on
Errors and Distortions in News Coverage

Over the last several years, the public has been hearing false messages about mercury levels in fish communicated through the mass media. These messages largely come from environmental groups pressing for stronger mercury emission standards and falsely claim women of childbearing age may have unsafe levels of mercury in their blood, putting their unborn babies and young children are at risk for neurological impairment. At the National Fisheries Institute (NFI), we agree discussions about eating fish should be central to our national discourse on nutrition. However, the way this subject is being covered raises troubling issues about the objectivity, accuracy, balance and sourcing of this specialized nutrition issue.

What's worse, it's not just journalism standards that have suffered - there is disturbing evidence that readers and viewers are acting on the distorted information in ways that are harmful to their health. Here are just a few examples of how the news media has played into the hands of agenda-driven environmental activists and presented distorted reporting as fact:

* In November 2007, USA Today's Larry Wheeler wrote: "As many as 600,000 babies may be born in the USA each year with irreversible brain damage because pregnant mothers ate mercury-contaminated fish, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says." What Wheeler failed to mention was that EPA never made that claim, but that it was simply an extrapolation made by an agency employee whose questionable methodology and conclusions have been challenged by other scientists. A correction soon followed. Further, Wheeler made the above assertion despite the fact that science shows mothers who eat the most fish have babies with the highest cognitive outcomes.

* In January 2008, New York Times reporter Marian Burros conducted her own analysis of mercury in sushi that included remarkably similar methodology and conclusions to a report from environmental activist group Oceana that was released on the very same day her story was printed. Burros' story contained multiple errors, distortions and omissions; most critically, misinterpretations of the EPA "reference dose" and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) "action level" for mercury, ignoring the fact that both standards contain a ten-fold cushion of safety. The paper's public editor was forced to admit that the story "required careful judgment ... and missed." He added: "I thought the package was less balanced than it should have been, given the state of existing research. James Gorman, an editor in the science department who reviewed the article before publication, said he had raised several specific questions but that in retrospect, ‘I should have raised more questions about the general presentation.'"

* In many cases, reporters will uncritically pass along charges from activists, yet at the same time apply great skepticism to experts, including independent scientists, who take a pro-seafood stance. In July 2008, the Winston-Salem Journal reported on a study that questioned the health benefits of tilapia. Reporter Richard Craver claimed NFI officials took issue with the research "because of its potential for affecting sales." However, no official with or employee of NFI ever made such a statement and the assertion itself is false. Craver went on to write that NFI issued a public letter criticizing the tilapia related research, when in fact the letter was from 16 independent, international scientists. In response, the paper was forced to issue a correction on both points.

* The wild stocks of Alaska pollock are generally acknowledged to be some of the best managed in the world. Despite this, in October 2008, Reuters reporter Jasmin Melvin passed along a report from Greenpeace that Alaska pollock was on the verge of collapse. The Greenpeace report was based on its own incomplete analysis of the National Marine Fisheries Service's stock survey. What Greenpeace didn't say in its press release was that due to lower water temperatures, much of the Pollock had been driven to a lower ocean depth. The complete analysis found the bulk of the stock closer to the bottom of the ocean, a phenomenon that has been common in recent years. When confronted with the error by NFI, Reuters initially refused to acknowledge the additional information, but eventually relented, moving an updated story on its wires.

* In January 2009, an Associated Press article on tuna and mercury included the erroneous claim that the EPA and FDA advise women who are pregnant or may become pregnant, nursing mothers and young children to avoid eating tuna because of its "high levels of mercury that can cause brain damage in babies," - a demonstrable falsehood. In the very first paragraph of the federal seafood consumption advice it is clearly stated, "women and young children in particular should include fish or shellfish in their diets due to the many nutritional benefits." The advice then urges this sensitive subpopulation to avoid just four fish during pregnancy: shark, tilefish, swordfish, and king mackerel. Tuna is not included on the list of 4 species to avoid. The advice clearly states that it is safe and healthful for women and children to eat 12 ounces of light tuna per week or 6 ounces of white albacore per week. When confronted with the error, the AP was forced to issue a correction.

* At times, it can be hard to tell the difference between a press release from an environmental activist and what passes as mainstream reporting. One such example is the work of Michael Hawthorne, a reporter at the Chicago Tribune who has regularly conflated industrial emissions of mercury with traces of mercury in commercial seafood. Most recently, Hawthorne's reporting has mischaracterized the latest science used by FDA to illustrate the overwhelming benefits of eating more seafood for optimal brain and heart health as a last-minute attempt by the Bush Administration to foil the efforts of EPA and environmental activists, rather than what it was - the culmination of years of scientific study and research.

* Another example of a reporter repeating activist charges about tuna and mercury came in February 2009, when an AP report concerning international efforts to stem mercury emissions from industrial sources contained claims that tuna is regularly contaminated with industrial mercury. Peer-reviewed science shows the vast majority of the mercury that accumulates in commercial seafood is produced by underwater volcanic activity - a critical piece of science that was recently the centerpiece of a court case rejecting an appeal by the State of California that would have required tuna to carry warning labels under the state's Prop. 65 statute. The California courts ruled against the State Attorney General for the second time on the grounds that traces of "methylmercury in tuna is naturally occurring." In a subsequent communication with NFI, AP refused to issue a correction, even as they agreed that activists may be "targeting" canned tuna as part of their larger efforts.

* Most recently, America's top fashion magazine, Vogue, showed why it shouldn't stray too far from its primary area of expertise when it ran a feature on fish consumption and mercury. Entitled, "Mercury Rising," the story was written by sometime Hollywood screenwriter Bronwyn Garrity, who admits a "Google-fueled freakout" spurred fears that generated the story rather than discussions with her own doctor or other health experts. Besides relying almost exclusively on activist sources like Oceana and the Environmental Defense Fund, Garrity, while interviewing an official of the EPA, neglected to consult an official of the FDA, the government agency responsible for dispensing nutritional advice to Americans. She also failed to mention the new, landmark FDA draft report on fish consumption that reported cognitive benefits for 99.9% of babies and young children, as well as its role in preventing 50,000 deaths a year from heart disease and stroke. Also ignored: years of positive studies and reports on the benefits of increased fish consumption by The Lancet, the Journal of the American Medical Association and the Institute of Medicine.

Readers and viewers deserve the truth. When activists are cherry picking science or not using science at all to meet their rhetorical needs, they should be exposed, not showcased.

Contrary to some reports in the activist press, NFI wants an open dialogue with journalists. We believe such a dialogue will support the balanced and objective reporting that journalists seek generally and is particularly important when informing the public about their diet and health. Despite these past errors, allow us to offer some specifics and a few suggestions when approaching coverage about the seafood industry:

* Reporters should seek out opposing views when an issue is in dispute. Failing to contact independent scientists and/or subject experts from the seafood community to respond to unproven claims of the activist community should be seen as what it is, a basic violation of American journalism standards;

* Despite being advised on multiple occasions, reporters continue to make the same mistakes about fish consumption and mercury. Below, find a table that contains the most common mistakes journalists make when reporting about fish consumption and mercury:


Distortion


Straight Fact

Representing the EPA's "reference dose" as a per piece of fish limit or a per meal maximum. And characterizing the FDA's "action level" as a number above which harm to consumers will occur.


The "reference dose" refers to mercury consumption determined to have no negative effects over the course of a lifetime. Exceeding these safety measures does not indicate harm; both safety measures offer protection at levels 10 times or 1000% higher than the federal limits.

Conflating industrial emissions of mercury with mercury that naturally occurs in the ocean.


The vast majority of mercury found in the ocean and ocean fish are the result of underwater volcanic activity and thermal vent releases.

Misrepresenting FDA guidance on seafood consumption as being applied to the general population.


The current advice is exclusively for pregnant or nursing women, women who want to become pregnant and young children only. Pregnant women are eating less than 2 ounces of seafood weekly versus the 12 ounces recommended for optimum fetal brain and eye development.

Suggesting that the type and amount of mercury found in commercial seafood introduces a neurotoxin that is casing harm.


The amount of mercury equated with overt brain damage has only been seen in industrial accidents and poisonings and not in normal fish consumption. The levels present in those instances are on a scale dramatically different than the levels seen in commercial seafood. Research shows missing out on the omega-3 and other nutrients in fish is a bigger risk to brain development than trace amounts of mercury.

Citing tuna as a fish to avoid during pregnancy.


The FDA guidance recommends pregnant women avoid only four species during pregnancy: shark, swordfish, tilefish and king mackerel.

Sourcing the EPA in stories about eating seafood almost exclusive of comment from the FDA.


FDA has the statutory responsibility for commercial fish and the expertise to give nutritional advice.

Consumers need to choose their fish carefully and avoid high mercury fish.


Pregnant and nursing women, women who want to become pregnant, and young children are the only group guidance exists. For them, there are only four species they are asked to avoid. No restrictions exist for anyone else. The ten most commonly eaten fish in the U.S. represent 90% of the fish Americans eat and all are naturally low in mercury.

Stores should post mercury warning signs.


Studies suggest signs have a negative impact on pregnant women and consumers broadly because consumers may react by reducing or eliminating fish from their diet. FDA believes that seafood advice should be discussed with the targeted population for whom it is intended via physicians.



* Reporters need to know that the independent scientific community has reached a consensus on the clear and significant net benefits of eating fish for prevention of stroke, sudden cardiac death (heart attack) and brain development during and after pregnancy. For years there has been tremendous independent data that refutes the basic claims made by environmental activists who attempt to hijack a public health issue for use in environmental health propaganda;

* Reporters need to be aware of the effect that reporting has on readers - negatively impacting public health - in this case by encouraging readers to limit fish consumption and deny them the proven health benefits of increasing the amount of seafood in their diet.

We encourage any and all responsible feedback on this issue, but we also want to let reporters know that we will be vigilant about confronting distortions and errors - and will do so publicly.

Mary Anne Hansan
Vice President
National Fisheries Institute