There's science...

Then there’s junk science…
And finally, there is Government science.

We all studied the scientific method in school. We were taught the rigors of using a control group, taking careful measurements, and making sure you can repeat your experiment and get the same results. That was science.

Then came junk science. Ah yes. Studies that revealed that 50% of people getting married were men, thus explaining the male-dominant society.

But today I have exposed Government science. It has to do with tomatoes. Remember my recent blog about the FDA and tomatoes? Well, they are finally using the M word.

An AP story in my daily paper says this:
Headline: U.S. clears tomatoes from 28 of 31 Mexican states
And this:
"MEXICO CITY -- The U.S. has cleared tomatoes in 28 of 31 Mexican states from suspicion in a recent salmonella outbreak, a move that drew praise from Mexican officials Saturday.

"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration now appears to be narrowing its investigation into the outbreak, which has sickened more than 550 people, to some counties in Florida and three Mexican states: Jalisco, Coahuila and Sinaloa."

Here comes the Government science part:
"The decision represents "important progress" and was the result of "a day of intense negotiations between (Mexican) federal authorities and the FDA," Mexico's Agriculture Department said in a press statement."

I know a little about public health and if I recall food poisoning investigations they involved identifying the food or foods that made people sick, looking at the preparation area and workers, finding the source of the product itself, inspecting the chain of custody of the product, and finally the place where it was grown and packed.

Government science uses “intense negotiations” instead. (I guess it helps explain global warming.)

But the AP injects a thin slice of truth with this line about one of the three remain suspect states in Mexico: “While Sinaloa is Mexico's most important tomato-growing state and remains on the warning list, it has ended its tomato-growing season for the year.”

On another note, the Mexican Consulate is opening an office in Idaho, bringing the total in the United States to 50. Now listen here, I can take my Big Mac without a tomato but it will not be a Happy Meal without FRIES. You crap on my spuds and I’ll take to the streets!