Desktop nightmare!

Here's a scary sight, from my desk yesterday:Not only is that the nastiest soup in the world, there's a (gasp) empty plastic water bottle in the background! Been a lot of discussion on plastic bottles lately. From The Onion, to knitting bloggers and NPR. Forgive me for being a little fatalistic, but before I go throwing the baby out with the bath water (and also the blue plastic bath, I guess), I'd like to hear a few facts. That's why I was so annoyed with the quality of the interview given by Dr. Michael Shelby, head of the research study that led to this scare, to All Things Considered April 16th last. So much so, that I even sent in a listener comment:

Date : 4/17/2008 1:58:13 PM

I was disappointed in the interview with Dr. Shelby on the safety of Bisphenol A.

The news that everyday items like plastic bottle and baby food containers could be a cause of cancer, early puberty etc. is a headline grabber, but this piece only increased my confusion.

Dr. Shelby may have been the brains behind the study, but needs to learn the importance of risk communication. He provided no useful information on the applicability of the findings from the study, and seemed to be unsure even as to their significance to the average consumer. The obvious question "should I throw away my baby formula?" seemed to stump him - what did he imagine National Public Radio listeners (i.e. members of the *public*) would want to know?

All I learned from this study was that I now have one more thing to worry about. Maybe...

They didn't play it the next day, but they played others in the same vein. Then yesterday I got this response from Kate at NPR:

Dear Denise,

Thank you for contacting NPR's All Things Considered. We regret if our programming has not met your expectations. We strive to offer the highest quality of news and information available. Listener feedback helps us to accomplish this goal. We welcome praise, as well as criticism, and your thoughts will be taken into consideration.

Thank you for listening to All Things Considered, and for your continued support of public broadcasting. For the latest news and information, visit NPR.org. Sincerely, etc.

I realize it's a form letter - but I certainly didn't mean to imply that it was their programming that didn't meet my expectations - And I'm still unsure what to do about all the plastic in my life...

Let's go smell the roses. And pansies.

Grumperina socks coming along slowly but surely. Great colours aren't they? Finally a sock pattern that is interesting to do and let's a pattern show thru a variegated colourway - yay!