- When/If the dioxin issue is resolved, what will become of the divided community? Are we divided? I think not. My neighbor is a Democrat; I am a Republican. Same with some family members... we get along just fine! We accept our differences just like other areas of our lives!
- Don't you know dioxin is a seriously toxic chemical? Of course dioxin is toxic... but in what quantities? Now that we finally have a study begun by the University of Michigan to find a correlation between dioxin in the soil and that in our bodies, let's get it done. Then, if there is a problem it will be defined and the culprit (Dow Chemical) should do whatever has to be done to fix the problem, if any.
- Aren't you worried about how your backyard dioxin will affect your health in the future? What!???!! I've been around for 68 years, 43 of them in this house situated on the Tittabawassee River floodplain. We've experienced anywhere from one to four floods every single year, including the 100 year flood in 1986 that invaded the lower level of our home reaching a height of five feet! Before it got that high we waded in knee-deep river water to retrieve as many items as we could even as the river was rising! Our water pump was under water so we flushed our toilet with river water, scooping it up in pails from our back deck - which is located on the upper level of the house. We were without electricity throughout the event but didn't have to shut off power from the pole because the river finally quit rising just below the meter.
The river stayed for two weeks before we could even go downstairs and walk in it. We encountered snakes and frogs, but strangely enough saw no fish as the river receded and slowly began to leave our home. When it was over, family members joined us in removing all the destroyed furniture, photographs and documents that were all in a jumble in various corners of the first floor where they had floated during the invasion. We scrubbed and cleaned and tore down paneling and floors and replaced it with new... all at our own expense of course, although the government and our former place of employment gave us loans with no interest.
Even IRS documents were destroyed, which brought on another type of invasion... by federal government bureaucrats that charged us taxes we had already paid... just because they could... and further tortured us for the next two years! Did I mention this was our first year of retirement?
Oooops! Forgot the question... no I'm not worried about my health in the future. If dioxin was gonna kill me it would have done it by now! Even with all the stress of a major flood we washed our hands before cooking or eating. I doubt we ingested any dioxin. However, if it could enter our bodies through the skin we must have been full of it! - Don't you think Dow should clean up their mess? Of course I do. I'm just not sure how bad that mess really is! It seems there are people who have taken a situation and bent it all out of proportion. I do not understand their rationale because such behavior is not within my scope of understanding. I cannot understand why... no matter what that company proposes to do, it is not enough for a certain segment of our society.
- Why don't you want to be included in a class action lawsuit against Dow? Hmmm! Beyond reasons already discussed I would have to say... because I have no desire to fatten the pocketbooks of tort lawyers.
I believe because of those lawyers our society has become overly litigious. I think it's a pretty sorry state of affairs where, for instance, a person can clumsily spill hot coffee in their lap and say it was the restaurant's fault for serving hot coffee! Wouldn't they be equally complaining if the coffee was NOT hot enough?
When you are asked to participate in the University of Michigan study on the correlation between dioxin in your body and your surrounding environment, please do so. This is a very important study... well planned and set up with all sorts of oversight (see who is on the Scientific Advisory Board) to make sure it's done correctly.
I wrote a totally different set of 'Musing' yesterday but decided to mail it in as a letter to the editor. I sent it to all three local newspapers... The Saginaw News, Midland Daily News, and The Bay City Times. Let us see if they print it. If/after it is printed, I will publish a copy of it here... actually on our Links page.
P.S. I have a few more news articles to post as well. Soon, I promise!
