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California To Drop State Rock Over Asbestos Concerns
Diamonddavej writes "The LA Times reports that Californian legislators are close to dropping the translucent green rock Serpentine as the state rock of California because of its tenuous association with chrysotile asbestos. Sen. Gloria Romero declares in her bill (SB 624) that Serpentine should be dropped as California's state rock because it 'contains the deadly mineral chrysotile asbestos, a known carcinogen, exposure to which increases the risk of the cancer mesothelioma.' The bill has backing from mesothelioma support groups. Critics point out that Serpentine is a group of 20 different minerals, and Californian Serpentine rarely contains much chrysotile, never mind its dangerous fibrous asbestos form. Its is suspected that lawyers involved in asbestos compensation claims and cleanup companies will profit from the bill. Vast tracts of California where bedrock is made of Serpentine could be declared hazardous to health... even if it contains no crysotile at all! It looks like SB 624 will be passed; it won unanimous bi-partisan support from an Assembly committee last week."
Rock on.
There's a spot in User Info for World of Warcraft account names? Really?
Beaten by my iPhone 3G. Can you feel the burn? Oh yes.
And I even snuck in a PUN! FP with humor!
There's a spot in User Info for World of Warcraft account names? Really?
California has a State rock.
Even their state rock is known by the state of California to cause cancer.
If California ever decided to do some research like the New England Journal of Medicine they would find articles all the back to the late 1980's showing that this type of asbestos is not cancerious. The other funny thing is the "doctor" in the 1960's who said that cancer was bad wasn't even a doctor but researching someone's background is a lot harder than just gining into some idiot. If they are banning this rock maybe we should ban dihydrogen monoxide I hear that kills thousnads of people every year.
I had a pet rock. It wasn't as maintenance-free as you'd expect.
Also, is this part of the Daily Mail's efforts to categorise all known substances/things/ideas into those that cause and those that cure cancer?
I find it amusing that a state rock even exists, let alone the fact that it's causing such a ruckus! You Americans!
*ruffles hair*
Why is it that every time I read the words "Unanimous bi-partisan support", the result is always and without exception... Trouble?
Isn't ALL rock hazardous to your health if you breathe it?
crazy dynamite monkey
Maybe they should just put warning labels on all the rocks. "Serpentine, the state rock of California, contains substances known to the state of California to cause cancer".
I thought California was bankrupt or something. But I guess this is the biggest problem.
The problem is that the voters tend to reward such stupid things. Sort of like in 2006, when the Feds were debating same sex marriage and abortion rather than the federal budget and the ongoing wars.
Maybe I'm missing something here, but how does designating something as the state rock cause it to give people cancer? PS: The state rock of Utah is coal which has led to more than 100000 deaths and injuries due to mining (never mind the air pollution issue...).
Sorry, but gray text on gray background is making my eyes bleed.
There's been a lot of fraud around asbestos. Recently it's also transferred to silica dust somewhat. It is based in truth, because asbestosis and silicosis are real dangers, but lawyers have committed real fraud with it. In some lawsuits, the same people who were made sick and diagnosed with asbestosis were later diagnosed by the same doctors with silicosis for a different lawsuit. Here is that story. Here are some other lawyers who were recently convicted for fraud with asbestos cases.
Lawyers are one of the biggest areas of fraud and corruption the US right now. In a lot of states, the attorney general sets up a pay-to-play system where they get kickbacks to let certain law firms handle certain legal issues (or even pursue cases that normally would be ignored). In other cases, lawyer lobby organizations try to get laws written in vague ways that will require extra legal work, or as in this case, create potential lawsuits where there doesn't seem to even be danger.
Qxe4
Well, I guess the CA legislature needs some distraction from their complete and utter incompetence and stupidity with regards to the budget, spending, and tax revenue for their state.
RIP America
July 4, 1776 - September 11, 2001
...is this really a matter of pressing urgency in California? Wouldn't working towards plugging the state budget gap be a better use of the CA Legislation's time?
I know what you're thinking. Did I forward 65,535 packets or 65,536 packets?
Fools Gold seems appropriate for California these days.
To anyone wondering why the state is in so much financial trouble perhaps this story will explain why. Most state legislatures have their heads up their own asses. In California they can see daylight and teeth.
Who exactly was drunk enough to come up with the idea of a state rock in the first place?
"The people who run California are doing a terrible job."
The public of California are doing a terrible job. The price of freedom is vigilance.
Inaction is consent to incompetence, tyranny, and incompetent tyranny.
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
Hey, I left after moving there as a kid and living there for over 20 years. California is a beautiful place for the most part but the government really sucks. So I'll make you a deal. We'll all leave, but when you state goes bankrupt and cannot pay it's bills, don't ask us for any money - suck it up and fix your own problems. Deal?
I still cannot find the droids I am looking for...
Oh yeah?
Highlights:
Bear wrestling matches are prohibited.
Incestuous marriages are legal.
Boogers may not be flicked into the wind.
Well, OK, I sort of agree with that last one.
I thought everything caused cancer in California.
I have a suggestion for an alternative all natural, eco-friendly solution: Coprolite
It even fits well given the politics of California.
Any sufficiently advanced influence is indistinguishable from control.
Wikipedia forgot 'question.'
Yes, New Mexico has a State question.
Seems like a large part of the problem has been the prevalence of referendums, rather than laws passed by the legislature. No one votes to raise taxes and everyone votes to create a new program to save the rattlesnakes or whatever. There is a reason we have a representative democracy, we can't all be expected to be informed on every issue or bill. We aren't even supposed to worry so much about whether we agree with the positions a politician takes, but rather whether we think they are keeping themselves informed and are honest and difficult to corrupt. If we all voted for honest and intelligent people that have the talent of spotting when they are being BSed, then we would see change. Instead we let ourselves be manipulated by dishonest and intelligent people, who use issues we don't fully understand to convince us to vote for them or their bill that reaches into our pockets. The problem is scale. How can you tell if that guy on TV is honest using sound bytes? The only solution I can think of is a hierarchical vote sort of like super voters at party conventions, but that still isn't a very good one.
refactor the law, its bloated, confusing and unmaintainable.
why so cancerious..?
(1.21 gigawatts) / (88 miles per hour) = 30 757 874 newtons