Let them drink rocket fuel

I usually don't read the LA Times (other than the Sports page to read about the Lakers and the Calendar section to read Get Fuzzy and Carolyn Hax). The LA Times seems to go through a new publisher every few months and just within the last year the paper has become increasingly conservative. Which is too bad because the LA Times used to be required reading -- especially for their coverage of Latin America and the Pacific Rim (which was much better than the NY Times coverage of those areas). Anyway.

But today, they had an important article that the NY Times seems to have missed -- so good for them.

Today I opened up the paper and read, "EPA May Decide Not to Limit Toxin." Perchlorate is a highly toxic ingredient in rocket fuel that has contaminated water supplies across the country -- including the Colorado River and aquifers near current and former military installations and defense contractors. Perchlorate is really bad stuff:

Scientific studies have shown that the chemical blocks iodide and suppresses thyroid hormones, which are necessary for the normal brain development of a fetus or infant.

Perchlorate is so toxic that just a few parts per billion has been shown to have an adverse effect on human health. So, of course, the corporate lobbyists who were appointed by Bush to run the Environmental Protection Agency have announced that they have decided they WILL NOT limit the allowable amount of perchlorate in our drinking water. Literally, the Bush administration EPA is saying that it is okay for Americans to drink rocket fuel.

If anybody wonders why I will NEVER EVER VOTE FOR A REPUBLICAN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE -- this is one of the reasons why.

Congratulations to Senator Barbara Boxer for taking corporate whore EPA administrator Benjamin Grumbles to task for his failure to protect American's children from being forced to drink rocket fuel. And congratulations to the State of California for setting its own standard for perchlorate because they got tired of waiting for the EPA to act (although at 6 micrograms/L the California standard is probably far too lax -- Massachusetts set its allowable limit at 2 micrograms/L.)

Needless to say, Benjamin Grumbles has been named this week's Worst Person in the World.