More on the peculiarities of priorities

You've probably already heard about the new study in Pediatrics that finds a link between urinary levels of metabolites of organophosphate pesticides and diagnosis of ADHD in children. I've been saying forever that there is plenty of evidence that chronic exposure to low levels of organophosphates causes neurological harm with behavioral symptoms in humans. We've known this for more than 20 years, but malathion and its cousins are still sprayed all over our crops. (In case you didn't know, these are just somewhat weaker versions of the "nerve gas" invented by Nazi scientists in WWII.)

However, on the very same day, another study came out, in the very same journal, that has been completely ignored. Mothers' Spanking of 3-Year-Old Children is associated with aggressive behavior at age 5. Aggressive behavior means whether "the child argues a lot; is cruel, bullies and shows meanness to others; destroys . . . things; . . . gets in many fights; physically attacks people . . ." You know, the kind of stuff Christians endorse since non-Catholic Christian mothers, as you might expect, are more likely to hit their children. By the way, we aren't necessarily talking a lot of spanking -- 2 or more times a month is enough to do it.

And the association is about the same strength as the association between organophosphate exposure and ADHD.

I wonder why this study wasn't in the news? Oh yeah - the Family Research Council would freak out and accuse the reporters of being commies if they wrote about it.

Do not hit your kids.