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Welcome
to REASON Express, the weekly e-newsletter from REASON magazine.
REASON Express is written by Washington-based journalist Jeff A. Taylor
and draws on the ideas and resources of the REASON editorial staff. For
more information on REASON, visit our Web site at www.reason.com.
Send your comments about REASON Express to Jeff A. Taylor (jtaylor@reason.com)
and REASON Editor-in-Chief Nick Gillespie (gillespie@reason.com).
REASON Express
July 31, 2001
Vol. 4 No. 31
1) StarLink Deep-Sixed by EPA
2) Can New Tire Sensors Save Lives?
3) Net Filter Case Goes to Court
4) Quick Hits
- - Psychotic Reaction - -
The experts convened by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have
ruled that genetically modified (GM) corn poses too much of a threat
to humans to be approved for human consumption. At least based on the
current evidence. Which they say isn't enough to go by.
Here's hoping that the EPA is just in the beginning stages of working out
a real, rational plan for approving crops like StarLink and not resorting
to endless tail-chasing based on a precautionary principle designed to
protect the status quo.
The panel found that months of study "do not eliminate the
possibility of such (an allergic) reaction" to the protein found in
StarLink. Taken at face value, it sounds like all that is needed is more
time to complete the study.
But that would overlook the heavy lobbying EPA has received from anti-GM
and green groups who recognize that once one highly publicized GM crop
enters the food chain, it will be increasingly hard to stop more of them.
The EPA also appears willing to give great credence to anecdotal reports
of
reactions to StarLink. This is a dangerous path. Psychosomatic reactions
are not a good basis for public policy, as Gulf War Syndrome has shown.
The EPA should have objective standards for approval of GM crops and it
may take a while to arrive at them. Shrugs and guesses should not count.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/a
rticles/A62091-2001Jul27.html
**************************************************
- - Tired Rules - -
Well, the great Firestone-Explorer tempest will wind up costing each
driver at least $50 per car while adding a new annoyance to their
vehicles. That is how
the feds improve safety.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has ruled that
vehicles made after November 2003 must be equipped with tire pressure
warning systems visible to a driver too stupid to notice when his or her
tires are
underinflated.
NHTSA proposed a similar system in 1981 but dropped it because of the
expense and technical problems.
The agency is suggesting that an icon illuminate with a yellow light on
the dashboard display within 10 minutes after a tire reaches the
underinflation
limit set in the rule.
Implicit in the rule is the conclusion, apparent to anyone with a passing
acquaintance with physics, that the Firestone-Explorer issue--whatever the
contributory faults of either product--was primarily a matter of driver
error.
NHTSA investigators found that the Firestone tire failures involved
underinflated tires carrying excessive loads. No sensor or rule can change
that.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/
articles/A45710-2001Jul24.html
*************************************************
- - Filtered for Your Protection - -
Net filtering will at least get a day in court. A three-judge panel of the
U.S. District Court in Philadelphia rejected the Justice Department's
request to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the law that requires publicly
funded libraries to use Net filters.
The Children's Internet Protection Act requires libraries that get federal
money, i.e., all of them, to install filters to weed out objectionable
material. Problem is, the filters do not work, as a number of tests have
demonstrated. The filters have a nasty habit of blocking access to sites
on breast cancer, or to "hate" groups--defined as anyone with
strong opinions.
The American Library Association and the American Civil Liberties Union
filed
suit to overturn the law on First Amendment grounds. The trial is set to
start February 14.
The same court nuked bits of the Communications Decency Act in 1996.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/1684
04.html
**************************************************
QUICK HITS
- - Quote of the Week - -
"Let me tell you something. I'm glad we did what was right in 1993,
and I'll
do it again because I believe in being fiscally responsible with the
taxpayers' money." House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.)
referring to the '93 tax hike and what a Democrat-controlled House would
do if confronted with budget deficits.
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20010
724-98885729.htm
- - Deputy Geek - -
Lawmakers in South Carolina approved a provision effectively deputizing
"any
computer technician working with a computer" in the fight against
kiddie porn.
The new regulation will now include computer techs within an existing
statute
requiring photo finishers to report to police if they find sexual images
of
children.
http://www.nando.net/technology/story/51
347p-764653c.html
- - As Night Follows Day - -
Record companies and Hollywood studios are putting new pressure on ISPs to
monitor and stop their users from trading copyrighted material. ISPs
are
being asked to disconnect subscribers who are using file-trading software
such
as Gnutella or iMesh.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/
0,4586,2798789,00.html?chkpt=zdhpne
ws01
- - Ring Off - -
Fresh look at the nightmare that is digital subscriber line deployment:
http://www.redherring.com/index.asp?layo
ut=story&channel=10000001&doc_id=17
001
- - Back Page - -
Hundreds of Macedonians attacked the U.S. Embassy and other Western
missions and businesses. About 200 protesters approached the U.S. Embassy
throwing stones that broke a few windows. The British and German missions,
McDonald's, and British Airways were also targets.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/a
rticles/A44706-2001Jul24.html
################################
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