How long has the "ban dihydrogen monoxide" campaign been around, anyway? I remember its predecessor, back in the late 70s. Someone's syndicated newspaper column asserted that water would surely never be approved for sale in this country, if it were put on the market today, because the swarming panic lobbyists (in Tim Blair's phrase) would never abide water's many hazards.
Yet here is this New Zealand MP apparently falling for the hoary old gag. I guess it's a good sign, that she has a life too full and busy to bother keeping up with internet pranks. But, I hope she's not on any science committees in the kiwi parliament!
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI was one of the perpetrators of this. And the whole reason we chose her was that she is the opposition spokesperson on drugs, and was trying to ban a substance, BZP, with very little evidence.
We know she hasn't done her research on BZP, and thought she wouldn't do it on water. We were right. Whats worse is she was interviewed ont he radio, claimed her assistant googled it and found nothing (the hoax is #3 on a google search) and then claimed I was a lefty (quite the opposite).
Anyways, for full info on it, check my blog.
http://mikeenz.blogspot.com/2007/09/jacqui-dean-and-dhmo-full-story.html
I'm just in the process of writing my submission for the Health Select Committee on the ban now.