6 ms·

This interview about the topic (Glyphosate by Monsanto) is also quite telling: http://m.canalplus.fr/?vid=1122650 http://m.canalplus.fr/?vid=1122650 (English w

This interview about the topic (Glyphosate by Monsanto) is also quite telling: http://m.canalplus.fr/?vid=1122650 http://m.canalplus.fr/?vid=1122650 (English with French subtitles) Interviewee: It is completely safe and you could even drink it Interviewer: We got a glass of it here, you want to drink some Interviewee: No, of course not, I'm not an idiot and the interview is over now.

PJDK 12y ago
In his defence, it's probably not at all nice to drink
TeMPOraL 12y ago
Yes, it's a good clip, I suggest watching it from the start to the very end and then making up your mind. The interview was apparently supposed to be about the golden rice, which is a topic that is completely unrelated to Monsanto in any way at all. Also, if I was in the shoes of the interviewee, I wouldn't drink it as well, even if I trusted it was completely safe for me - it probably doesn't taste well, and I don't feel like doing a show for a disrespectful jokester in front of me who thinks he's funny, and refuses to talk about the thing he was supposed to.
- prapam2 12y ago
  Moore tells the interviewer that one "could drink a whole quart of [Roundup]" without any harm. When Moore is offered a glass of the weedkiller, however, he refuses and says "I'm not stupid." - Why did he bring it up when he was not going to follow it through.
  - SquareWheel 12y ago
    He might have expected a modicum of respect from the interviewer, and not a gimmick to "win" an argument.
    - anon1385 12y ago
      Saying you are prepared to drink it is a gimmick. The same basic idea has been used a million times before for everything from asbestos to tobacco to coal dust to lead paint. Common enough for it to be parodied in a 25 year old episode of the Simpsons ("Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish"). Also Patrick Moore is a professional science denier. He doesn't deserve respect from anybody.
      - Dylan16807 12y ago
        "can drink" and "prepared to drink" are different things. Also I don't assume that random glasses of chemicals handed to me have been processed and handled in a food-grade manner.
        sukilot 12y ago
        Claiming you could drink a quarter of it implies you believe it is food grade. It's extreme my disingenuous to hypothesize that a Roundup bottle imparts more health hazard than the contents.
        Dylan16807 12y ago
        >Claiming you could drink a quarter of it implies you believe it is food grade. This makes no sense. Chemicals aren't inherently food grade or not. I won't drink a non-food-grade quart of water either. >It's extreme my disingenuous to hypothesize that a Roundup bottle imparts more health hazard than the contents. You've heard of agent orange, right? It wasn't the herbicides that injured people, it was small quantities of potent contaminants. It's not just the bottle, it's every container it's ever touched, every source for dirt or bad-to-ingest chemicals to get in that wouldn't bother plants at all. Edit: And to be clear, this applies just fine to things that are human-safe in small doses or for farm use. Contamination by literal dirt is a great example of something fine to spray on plants and dumb to consume directly.
cynicalkane 12y ago
Really? Company representatives are obligated to drink glassfuls of foul chemicals to prove that reasonable doses are nontoxic? Would you drink a glass of food coloring?
- TeMPOraL 12y ago
  He is not even a company representative! He's some random environmentalist who wanted to talk about golden rice. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Moore_%28environmentalist%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Moore_%28environmentali... It's sickening what passes on as journalism today.
  - anon1385 12y ago
    Environmentalist is hardly the word I'd use to describe Patrick Moore. Professional contrarian, science denier and industry shill would be more accurate. He is certainly not some 'random environmentalist'. http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Patrick_Moore http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Patrick_Moore
    - stfu 12y ago
      It is somewhat telling how certain people on HN all of the sudden start defending Moore...
      - Dylan16807 12y ago
        Did anyone defend his opinions? Insulting the journalist is not defending Moore. Using the title from his wikipedia page when calling him "some random" is not defending him either. I think you're seeing what you want to see...
  - enqk 12y ago
    http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Patrick_Moore http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Patrick_Moore Patrick Moore is an ecologist who denies that humans cause climate change, and a corporate consultant through his firm Greenspirit Strategies. Moore has consulted for the Nuclear Energy Institute, and the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition. He has worked for the mining industry, the logging industry, PVC manufacturers, the nuclear industry and has worked in defense of biotechnology. Although Moore was once (1981, 1986) a leading figure with Greenpeace Canada and subsequently with Greenpeace International, in 2008 Greenpeace issued a statement distancing itself from Moore, saying he "exploits long gone ties with Greenpeace to sell himself as a speaker and pro-corporate spokesperson, usually taking positions that Greenpeace opposes." [1]
cowsandmilk 12y ago
People can play that game: Interviewee: It is completely safe to drink urine Interviewer: I have some urine here, would you like to drink some? It is clear the interviewer is there to make a spectacle, not to meaningfully inform the public of the facts. Edit: Or... Interviewee: It is completely safe to smoke cigarettes Interviewer: I have a pack here, would you like to smoke one? Interviewee: Sure PROOF THAT CIGARETTES ARE SAFE!!!!

PJDK 12y ago

In his defence, it's probably not at all nice to drink

TeMPOraL 12y ago

Yes, it's a good clip, I suggest watching it from the start to the very end and then making up your mind. The interview was apparently supposed to be about the golden rice, which is a topic that is completely unrelated to Monsanto in any way at all. Also, if I was in the shoes of the interviewee, I wouldn't drink it as well, even if I trusted it was completely safe for me - it probably doesn't taste well, and I don't feel like doing a show for a disrespectful jokester in front of me who thinks he's funny, and refuses to talk about the thing he was supposed to.

prapam2 12y ago
Moore tells the interviewer that one "could drink a whole quart of [Roundup]" without any harm. When Moore is offered a glass of the weedkiller, however, he refuses and says "I'm not stupid." - Why did he bring it up when he was not going to follow it through.
- SquareWheel 12y ago
  He might have expected a modicum of respect from the interviewer, and not a gimmick to "win" an argument.
  - anon1385 12y ago
    Saying you are prepared to drink it is a gimmick. The same basic idea has been used a million times before for everything from asbestos to tobacco to coal dust to lead paint. Common enough for it to be parodied in a 25 year old episode of the Simpsons ("Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish"). Also Patrick Moore is a professional science denier. He doesn't deserve respect from anybody.
    - Dylan16807 12y ago
      "can drink" and "prepared to drink" are different things. Also I don't assume that random glasses of chemicals handed to me have been processed and handled in a food-grade manner.
      - sukilot 12y ago
        Claiming you could drink a quarter of it implies you believe it is food grade. It's extreme my disingenuous to hypothesize that a Roundup bottle imparts more health hazard than the contents.
        Dylan16807 12y ago
        >Claiming you could drink a quarter of it implies you believe it is food grade. This makes no sense. Chemicals aren't inherently food grade or not. I won't drink a non-food-grade quart of water either. >It's extreme my disingenuous to hypothesize that a Roundup bottle imparts more health hazard than the contents. You've heard of agent orange, right? It wasn't the herbicides that injured people, it was small quantities of potent contaminants. It's not just the bottle, it's every container it's ever touched, every source for dirt or bad-to-ingest chemicals to get in that wouldn't bother plants at all. Edit: And to be clear, this applies just fine to things that are human-safe in small doses or for farm use. Contamination by literal dirt is a great example of something fine to spray on plants and dumb to consume directly.

cynicalkane 12y ago

Really? Company representatives are obligated to drink glassfuls of foul chemicals to prove that reasonable doses are nontoxic? Would you drink a glass of food coloring?

TeMPOraL 12y ago
He is not even a company representative! He's some random environmentalist who wanted to talk about golden rice. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Moore_%28environmentalist%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Moore_%28environmentali... It's sickening what passes on as journalism today.
- anon1385 12y ago
  Environmentalist is hardly the word I'd use to describe Patrick Moore. Professional contrarian, science denier and industry shill would be more accurate. He is certainly not some 'random environmentalist'. http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Patrick_Moore http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Patrick_Moore
  - stfu 12y ago
    It is somewhat telling how certain people on HN all of the sudden start defending Moore...
    - Dylan16807 12y ago
      Did anyone defend his opinions? Insulting the journalist is not defending Moore. Using the title from his wikipedia page when calling him "some random" is not defending him either. I think you're seeing what you want to see...
- enqk 12y ago
  http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Patrick_Moore http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Patrick_Moore Patrick Moore is an ecologist who denies that humans cause climate change, and a corporate consultant through his firm Greenspirit Strategies. Moore has consulted for the Nuclear Energy Institute, and the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition. He has worked for the mining industry, the logging industry, PVC manufacturers, the nuclear industry and has worked in defense of biotechnology. Although Moore was once (1981, 1986) a leading figure with Greenpeace Canada and subsequently with Greenpeace International, in 2008 Greenpeace issued a statement distancing itself from Moore, saying he "exploits long gone ties with Greenpeace to sell himself as a speaker and pro-corporate spokesperson, usually taking positions that Greenpeace opposes." [1]

cowsandmilk 12y ago

People can play that game: Interviewee: It is completely safe to drink urine Interviewer: I have some urine here, would you like to drink some? It is clear the interviewer is there to make a spectacle, not to meaningfully inform the public of the facts. Edit: Or... Interviewee: It is completely safe to smoke cigarettes Interviewer: I have a pack here, would you like to smoke one? Interviewee: Sure PROOF THAT CIGARETTES ARE SAFE!!!!