Slow Death by Reading This Book



The Polish book cover at least is more entertaining.

 In this next installment of Pineapple Capstone, we will be looking at this book. As you can see from the cover, Slow Death by Rubber Duck is clearly about rubber ducky-related death and its impact on the world. WRONG. This book is about how the chemicals found in everyday things (Yes, even rubber duckies) can kill you.

The reviews found on Amazon have all good things to say, and of course they do, because they're written by people dumb enough to spend $105 for a new hardcover copy. In any case, most of the reviews I saw indicated that the book was eye-opening and full of interesting and disturbing facts.

Some of the more sensible reviews however showed the book for what it really is: A big steaming pile of you-know-what. It's nothing more than a storm of facts pulled together to show how dangerous being human is. Everything from shampoo to toilet seats has something in it to kill you, and the chemical build up inside us is going to destroy us. Regardless of what you think, the book is a little eccentric.

Now here's what you've all been waiting to hear: My opinion. Contrary to what the above may have implied, I do not find the information held in this book unreliable or invalid. I believe that most of the stuff in this book is true. However, buried in each lie is a kernel of truth. There are many "kernels" hidden in this book, strung together by historical tidbits and personal experiences to lengthen the book, making it appear more professional. In short, everything is blown way out of proportion, similar to the media firestorm concerning radiation in cell phones causing cancer (in reality you'd need to spend continuous decades on a cell phone to contract enough radiation to "cause" cancer). It is a very well written book full of interesting bits of information. Is the idea worth worrying about? No. Because if we did worry about such things, we wouldn't be living as humans anymore. What are we supposed to do? Live in a bubble sealed off from everything? NO! We'd end up like the Daleks from Doctor Who, wearing ridiculous metal trash can suits destroying everything. Rather ridiculous notion, no?

Overall, starting this book made me feel like this:

Top image from the Slow Death by Rubber Duck website
Bottom image from my DeviantArt gallery, by me.

I have more pageviews than Damien.

I have more page views than the kid sitting next to me. Thank you to all my loyal fans. So now I'm forced to find a stupid article about stupid chemicals that are gonna stupid kill me. Wait, that doesn't work... Ignore that. Anywho, this lovely article describes a nasty little chemical called Bisphenol A. But don't worry, odds are you'll probably die because of something cooler, not a minute chemical that the media blows out of proportion. So anyway, enjoy!

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/b/bisphenol_a/index.html?scp=6&sq=chemical&st=cse

And here is the brief summary I was forced to write:

            Bisphenol A is a nasty, yet handy little substance that you probably have seen in your water bottle. It is used in hard plastic, and particularly good at not changing flavors and not absorbing flavors. It is light and difficult to break, which is why it is so popular. Over time however, the chemical can sometimes seep into the plastic and lead to chemical intake.

            Apparently people are worried about it. It seems to disrupt animals hormonal systems, and in humans has been linked to an increase cancer or heart disease risk.

            But then again, the media also said that cell phones will kill you with their radiation, but it’s just the media trying to get a buzz going. Don’t worry too much; we’re bound to be exposed to many chemicals in our lifetime (There’s even one in your shampoo that seeps into your skin) but it’s not worth the time it takes to worry about it. Live your life the way you want to. 

Peace out Holmes.

And lastly, a forced bibliography:

Cullotta, Karen Ann. "Bisphenol A News - The New York Times." Times Topics - The New York Times. 17 Feb. 2012. Web. 17 Feb. 2012. <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/b/bisphenol_a/index.html?scp=6>.

The Enviornmnet iz guud.

So here I am, yet again forced to blog against my will. My slavedriv-- *Ahem* I mean my wonderful Teacher has order-- er... requested our class to post on the environment. So, here I am. I think the environment is pretty fly. It does many stuffs to help our lives go more gooder. I think Global Warming is real, despite what all the voices in my head say. Soon the hole in the ozone layer will cover the planet and we will all get skin cancer and die. It is time to get through a long post about my true feelings on the environment. This will cover all of my opinions about the world we live in.

First off I think that, all kidding aside, the world is at a pretty decent place right now. Think about it. All this talk about 'Saving the planet' and 'Saving the environment' and all that, and what can we really do? Regardless of what you believe, the planet has survived all these years through dinosaurs, disasters, and now us humans. How vain are we as a race when we actually think we can save a planet that's survived all those things? We aren't trying to save the planet or the evironment. The sad truth is that we are a selfish race only after protecting ourselves. That's it. 

The planet doesn't need saving. Again, regardless of what you believe, if or when humans are dead and gone, the planet will go on fine. It will survive far longer than us. If you're a believer of evolution, a whole new species may evolve and populate the planet. Whatever happens, we need to realize that the environment is in no danger here; we are.

Also, on an unrelated side note: Happy Vday.

ELP-HAY

Help me. I'm being forced to do a long long project in my senior english class against my will. I'm being held at an undetermined location and forced to blog on blogger.com. Help me. Someone help me, you're my only hope. My... onl-.. ...-ope.