> Are you the stand-in for Russell ?

I can't deny it. A position I aspire to

> Copper compounds cause dioxin ?

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg16321930.500-red-white-and-dioxin.html

"Americans and Canadians could be celebrating the Fourth of July
and Canada Day in a fog of dioxins after their usual fireworks
displays this weekend. Researchers at the Technical University of
Braunschweig in Germany have found high levels of the toxic
chemicals in fireworks. In the latest issue of Chemosphere (vol 39,
p 925), they say that blue fireworks release the most dioxins. This
is because the copper responsible for their colour catalyses the
formation of the poisons when chlorinated chemicals in the fireworks
burn"

The comparitive term "high" isn't defined in that article though. May
not necessarily be dangerous

> Note that what they claim might actually be true, but this kind of
> sloppy presentation does not help the cause

I've had a couple of weeks of someone banging on to me about
"New Age" issues. And last night saw the Penn & Teller Bullshit
episode about protesters. What they presented was a lot of people
who have no idea what they're talking about and merely re-spout
others opinions and loose-fitting "facts"

As you say, the message is probably valid, to a greater or lesser
degree, but the language and wide-eyed dilettante presentation is
a real turn-off for anyone who's done even a little research

For example, Penn & Teller's assistant got hundreds of signatures
on a "Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide" petition at a hippy-esque rally.
No fraud or coersion was involved. The assistant told the truth.
"It's in our rivers, the water table, weapons and food manufacturers
use it, it's everywhere in our environment..." etc etc, putting a really
scary PC spin on it. P&T said that not one person actually asked
what dihydrogen monoxide is, but all were eager to sign up to ban
it

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