Terrorist Insects and the Poisoning of Western Kentucky

If you live in Western Kentucky, get the fuck out of there this weekend, and take all your animals with you, while waiving bye-bye to your vegetable garden. I mean it. Ag Commissioner Jaime Comer has declared mosquitos a terrorist threat beside which Al Qaeda pales in comparison, and he's gonna poison those motherfuckers to death.

No matter how many human beings get poisoned, too.

How do I know he's using a poison that will harm people? Because he's refusing to name it.

From the press release:

Agriculture Commissioner James Comer said the Kentucky Department of Agriculture will commit resources to conduct aerial mosquito control applications around Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley in an effort to knock down a significant infestation caused by heavy rains in the area. Department officials met with representatives of Gov. Steve Beshear’s administration last week, and the group put together a plan to address the problem.

“This infestation is beyond the capability of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture to control from the ground,” Comer said. “This is a serious problem for our friends in western Kentucky, and we want them to know that help is on the way.”

SNIP

As a result of the entomologist’s report, the Department of Agriculture will work with private contractors — Clarke, a global environmental products and services company based in Roselle, Ill., and Dynamic Aviation of Bridgewater, Va. — to spray an area within two miles around the lakes between the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers to the north and U.S. 68 to the south. The total area to be treated is approximately 133,249 acres. Product will be applied at a rate of 0.8 ounce per acre.

"Product." Might we know the name of this "product." No. Its active ingredients? No.  The information on its Material Data Sheet supplied to emergency response teams regarding its toxicity and danger of exposure? NO.

No special precautions are necessary during the application, according to Clarke, but the company encourages residents with individual health concerns to contact their healthcare providers.

Like I said, Get. Out. Of. There.

SNIP

Comer will appear at a town hall meeting in Trigg County next week to discuss the department’s plan and answer questions from the public. Roger Thomas with the Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy and numerous other state and local officials also will attend. The meeting will take place on July 2 at 9 a.m. CDT at the Renaissance Center in Cadiz.

HAHAHAHAHA. The spraying begins Jun 29!  Day after tomorrow! Three days BEFORE this meeting, at which the public will have no questions because it will be Too. Fucking. Late.

Wonder why in 10 grafs Comer found plenty of room for specious claims about the pesticide's safety, but not room for a single word - the name of the pesticide.  Could it be because it's this one?

In our focus on energy, let’s not forget the joy of pesticides. Certainly people in Wilsonville, Oregon won’t forget:

Target shoppers in Wilsonville, Oregon found a tragedy in the parking lot as tens of thousands of of bumble bees were found dead and dying on the pavement, along with honey bees and ladybugs. Shoppers notified Rich Hatfield, a conservation biologist with the Portland-based Xerces Society of Invertebrate Conservation, who went to the scene to investigate.

Oregon officials say preliminary results point to an insecticide that was used on the nearby European Linden trees. The trees were sprayed with a pesticide called Safari to kill aphids, an insect that destroys plants and vegetation. Safari is part of a group of pesticides called neonicotinoids that are known to kill pollinators such as bumblebees, Associated Press reports. The investigation is still under way. If the pesticide is the confirmed cause and it wasn’t used according to the label instructions, civil penalties could be handed down ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 per violation for gross negligence or willful misconduct, Dale Mitchell, program manager in the Agriculture Department’s pesticide compliance and enforcement section, told AP.

Why is this pesticide even legal? But hey, I’m sure that a pesticide that kills 50,000 bees has no effect on humans. So. Much. Confidence.

Fifty years ago, Rachel Carson, the author of Silent Spring, referred to pesticides and herbicides as biocides, literally "life-killer," because they kill living things.

If you're a living thing, stay the fuck out of Western Kentucky this weekend.