To Kill a Moth

Ten Reasons to Stop the Spray for Light Brown Apple Moth in the Bay Area

Link: 10 Reasons to Oppose the LBAM Spray - San Francisco - Ten Reasons to Stop the Spray for Light Brown Apple Moth in the Bay Area.

I just found 10 great talking points on About.com, about the LBAM madness. Here are the cliff notes:

1. The Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM) is Not an Emergency - No Crop Damage
2. The Light Brown Apple Moth Has Likely Been in California For Years
3. The Light Brown Apple Moth Can Be Safely Managed
4. Aerial Spraying is an Experiment Without Our Consent
5. It's Not Simply a Pheromone - It's a Chemical Mix
6. The Delivery System: A Tiny Plastic Microcapsule That Can Be Inhaled
7. Long-Term Health, Environmental & Wildlife Effects Are Unknown
8. Years of Aerial Spraying May Damage Local Economy
9. Effects on Other Moths, Butterflies and Bees are Unknown
10. Opposition to the Aerial Spraying is Not an Isolated Group of "Activists"

A Bird and a Plane in the Sky

Link: A Bird and a Plane in the Sky.

They both can fly, but one burns fossil fuels and the other burns food.  One is capable of dropping pesticides on the entire San Francisco Bay Area, and the other capable of eating moths.  (Click the image to magnify.) For more on the topic of planned monthly aerial sprays of checkmate pesticide, visit:

www.stopthespray.org

Come to the Bay Area for Your Monthly Pesticide Showers

Link: LBAM Petition: Stop the Spray, Demand Safe Alternatives to Aerial Pesticide Spraying!.

If you don't like the idea of airplanes flying over your house every month for several years showering you with pesticides, I'd suggest you visit Stop The Spray and sign their petition, write to Governor Shwarzahoweveryouspellit, call and email everybody you care about, and study up on the subject and do something about it.

The spray, Checkmate, targets the light brown apple moth, known affectionately as "LBAM", an enemy combatant that has no access to due process as the DHS, in voluntary cooperation with the USDA, the CDFA (California Dept. of Food and Agriculture), and the Governor of California, has been classified under terror threat level "A" for the actions of a few bad apples among their population that have been seen nibbling on leaves.

This terrorist moth is an "invasive species", like carrots, tomatoes, cows, and most of the food and animals grown commercially in California. The difference is, it is only located in San Francisco, Marin, Berkeley, Santa Cruz, and Monterey. And before it gets to Atherton, Hillsborough, Sacramento, and our central valley farms, we need to eradicate it completely.

The CDFA argues the pesticide is not a pesticide, but more like a cologne that makes the male moths get confused and mate with everything that gets sprayed with it. It hasn't been tested for long term health effects and special effects on children and others who like to eat dirt and frolic in gardens and playgrounds after the showers. But, don't worry, they assure us it is much safer than DDT and Malathion and the other solutions of the past that were also supposed to be good for us. Just because the American Lung Association is worried about the particulate matter getting lodged in your deep lung tissue doesn't mean you should worry.

And don't believe any of the conspiracy theories. It is only a coincidence that Stewart Resnick donated $144K to Arnold's campaign, and just happens to be the owner of Suterra, the company making the Checkmate spray that will be bought with our millions of tax dollars.

Sure, Arnold said on August 31, 2003 "Any of those kinds of real big, powerful special interests, if you take money from them, you owe them something.” But he was talking about the other politicians at the time...