THE SHOW SO FAR Notes from the Fringes of Late Capitalism / The Propagation of Rare Trees

I guess we are what we eat. May 3rd’s Globe and Mail ran a story about how vegetables from California are contaminated with a rocket fuel component which has leached into the irrigation water from weapons facilities. The contaminant, (perchlorate) was found in iceberg lettuces irrigated with water from the Colorado river, (see May 4th’s post re: this) Perchlorate impairs the ability of the thyroid to produce the hormones needed for proper fetal and infant brain development. There are concerns that high childhood exposure to perchlorate could lead to lower IQ scores, mental retardation and motor-skills deficits. So there it is. . . The military industrial complex is actually making us stupid. Somehow it doesn’t come as much of a surprise.