Yeah, Right, Whatever

Daphne Zuniga, actress and moonbat extraordinaire, is upset with the media for not reporting the real news- that endangered forests are being slaughtered... to make toilet paper.

"I think there is a dummy-down bias (in the media) frankly," said Daphne Zuniga, who starred in the television series "Melrose Place."

Well, Daphne, I'll have to agree with you there. The media does tend to dumb things down, but that's so that all the kids' who graduate from high school with a third-grade reading level can understand. Wouldn't help to use the really big words and confuse them, now, would it?

"The press is reporting things that are absolutely irrelevant to any of our lives and they are sensationalistic and it is damaging," Zuniga told Cybercast News Service.... "We start to think that these things are important, like [the rape trial of NBA star] Kobe Bryant and [the molestation trial of] Michael Jackson and yada, yada..."

Dagnabit. I really hate it when I get this far into a Fisking and can't say that I disagree with the Fiskee. I despise the tabloid mentality of the press. Did they really have to take Don Henley's "Dirty Laundry" as an anthem to be idolized? The nightly news, at times, is nothing more than the Jerry Springer Show with better wardrobe.

"...and meanwhile, you know, endangered forests are being slaughtered for toilet paper, you know, sequoias -- whatever it is," Zuniga told Cybercast News Service.

Woohoo! Here we go. Daphne, you know, if you're going to make accusations like that, you should really think about getting your facts straight (or at least know what you're talking about - "whatever it is"???). Sequoias are not used to make paper of any kind. Softwood trees on tree farms are used, and for every tree cut down, up to 5 more are planted. (There are more trees in the continental United States now than there was when the Pilgrims landed.) And toilet paper companies are also using recycled paper in the production of T.P. We are not killing off endangered forests for our creature comforts.

According to Zuniga, "One out of six women are toxic with mercury. Mercury comes out of coal plants and chlorine plants. I am toxic, I deal with symptoms, children are born with, you know, autism -- there is an epidemic in this country. This is like, the air that we breath," Zuniga said.

This is, like, a crock. Yes, mercury is deadly, and there is a link between mercury poisoning and autism. But, what Daphne really wants is to close all the coal-fire power plants. The problem with that? DoE estimates that by doing that, you would cut world-wide mercury levels by a couple of percentage points at best. And then there is the fact that Daphne doesn't actually believe facts when presented to her.

When asked about a series of new scientific studies showing that U.S. coal-fired power plants emit less than one percent of the world's mercury output, Zuniga responded, "That is false, it is not one percent.

"We (the U.S.) have a large percentage of the pollution...We have to be more responsible, we have more resources, and we use more and more," she added.

Yeah, yeah... I know... the big bad US of A has made the world all dirty. We use up all the goodies. (Uh... just wondering... if we hadn't used those resources, would someone else?) Everyone knows we use a lot of resources. Everyone knows we pollute. Everyone who studies science knows that we are not the cause of all the world's ills.

Oh, wait! What's that? Some scientific study that Daphne hasn't bothered reading (or, if she read it, either didn't understand it or didn't believe it)?

The studies by the Center for Science and Public Policy (CSPP) also revealed that mercury emissions from Yellowstone National Park and other natural sources are significantly higher than the amount coming from the 1,100 coal-fired power plants in the U.S.

In addition, mercury levels in the atmosphere may have been higher before the advent of coal fired power plants.

"This hypothesis appears supported by the presence of higher levels of mercury in 550-year-old Alaskan mummies than levels in a recent sample of pregnant native Alaskan women," said Robert Ferguson, in an interview with Cybercast News Service . Ferguson is the executive director of the CSPP, a public policy research group based in Washington, D.C.

If she's truly toxic, maybe she should go to the dentist. Some studies show that by removing amalgam filling you can cut mercury poisoning symptoms by up to 80%.

But, you know what? She's just another moonbat. I could have just blown her off, like I do most other celebrities. But, then, she had to say this:

"I met a congressperson today and I am getting interested in coming to the hill to express my issues, which are environmental mostly, but also [First] Amendment," Zuniga said. She said mercury emissions were her key environmental concern.

You have no idea how much that upsets me. Just because she's a celebrity, she thinks she has the right to just march up to the Hill and express her issues. And what makes me even madder is that, because of her celebrity status, she just might get up there. But we Average Joes don't usually get that opportunity. She's a total airhead flake, and she can go up there, whereas us normal folks can only make phone calls and send letters. I'm not saying that phone calls and letter writing is a bad thing- I'm saying that it makes Congress look like a bunch of dunces to have all these celebrities, who probably only know what they've been told by some special interest group, come to Committee meetings for testimony. Why can't they get "normal citizens"... like, me, maybe... who actually take the time to do a little research to come up and give testimony?

OK... granted, all celebrities who "testify before Congress" or become spokespersons for this or that aren't completely clueless. They take time to learn their subject matter... or they've gone through it themselves. Names like Christopher Reeve, Bob Dole, Lance Armstrong, Robert Urich come to mind. And Fran Drescher.

Drescher, who has been treated for uterine cancer, also promoted her efforts to increase public awareness of gynecological cancers.

"Johanna's Law is coming up for vote [in Congress]. It is an education bill for informing women and their doctors about gynecological cancers, the early warning symptoms and the tests that are available," Drescher said. "It took me two years and eight doctors to get diagnosed," she added.

If you've gone through what Ms. Drescher has gone through, then you have the "expertise" to talk about it. If you've done the research, asked questions and received informed answers, then you can talk about it. (I wish Ms. Drescher the best of luck with her cancer treatment/ recovery.)

If it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy and important to spout off about things you obviously know little or nothing about, do us all a favor, and don't.