Norman Borlaug’s Legacy, Junk Food Science and ACORN’s Shame
Plant scientist Norman Borlaug – Nobel Prize winner and father of the “Green Revolution” – dies at age 95.
The Environmental Working Group issues a “dirty dozen” list of allegedly contaminated produce.
Scandal rocks “community organizing” group ACORN.
Listen to LibertyWeek, the CEI podcast, here.
1. SCIENCE
Plant scientist Norman Borlaug – Nobel Prize winner and father of the “Green Revolution” – dies at age 95.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Gregory Conko on Borlaug’s legacy:
“He may have saved a billion people from starvation, but, if you asked a random sample of reasonably well educated Americans who Norman Borlaug was, they’d probably answer, ‘Norman who?’ I’ll tell you Norman who. His biographer, Leon Hesser, called him the Man Who Fed the World. Science reporter Gregg Easterbrook called him the Forgotten Benefactor of Humanity. I’ve called him a Modern Prometheus. And comedians Penn and Teller said (well, mostly Penn said) that he was the greatest human being who ever lived. Norman Borlaug was an American agricultural scientist and plant breeder whose work sparked what is now known as the Green Revolution. He was recognized with countless scientific and humanitarian awards, including, in 1970, the Nobel Peace Prize.”
2. HEALTH
The Environmental Working Group issues a “dirty dozen” list of allegedly contaminated produce.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Director of Risk and Environmental Policy Angela Logomasini on why we shouldn’t surrender to chemical hysteria:
“Recently featured on Good Morning America, the Environmental Working Group identified a ‘dirty dozen’ list for the most contaminated produce that includes: peaches, apples, bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, kale, lettuce, grapes, carrots, and pears. Eat fewer of these and you will live longer, they suggest. The EWG’s suggestion is seriously wrongheaded. First, there is a considerable body of evidence showing that consuming relatively large amounts of fruits and vegetables has tremendous public health benefits. Second, there is scant evidence that the traces of pesticides found on these products poses any health problem whatsoever.”
3. LEGAL
Scandal rocks “community organizing” group ACORN.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Attorney Hans Bader on how a government prosecutor is trying to censor the evidence:
“ACORN, the group that helped launch Barack Obama’s career as a community organizer was recently caught in undercover stings advising about how to set up a brothel that would bring ‘minor girls into the country for purposes of prostitution,’ reports the Washington Post. (ACORN receives taxpayer money despite a long history of financial fraud and vote fraud). Now, Patricia Coats Jessamy, the Baltimore City State’s Attorney, is trying to silence those who have broadcast the video footage, relying on a Maryland law that violates the First Amendment. She is not interested in prosecuting the crimes recorded on the video. Instead, Jessamy, an ardent Obama supporter, wants to prosecute the makers of the undercover video — and those citizens, bloggers, and journalists who broadcast it or ‘use’ or ‘disclose its content.’”
Listen to LibertyWeek, the CEI podcast, here.