On the April 20th 2007 edition of Real Time with Bill Maher, in his closing monologue Maher started off with a (supposed) Einstein quote:
If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have only four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.
He then goes on to rant about Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), which is a very real phenomena effecting bees (first in North America, but later spreading to Europe and Asia) where hives suddenly are abandoned. Entire colonies are decimated and for a while they had no idea why (though many theories were suggested).
Maher then goes on to blame CCD on man:
Because although nobody really knows for sure what's killing the bees, it's not al-Qaeda, and it's not God doing some of his Old Testament shtick, and it's not Winnie the Pooh. It's us.
Maher, the non-scientist has found the source of CCD - it's "us". Thanks, Bill for doing all the research and finding the source of CCD, which he believes is (among other things)... cell phones (I'm not kidding). He goes on to assert that:
...if you think I'm being alarmist and that, "Oh, they'll figure out some way to pollinate the plants..." No, they've tried. For a lot of what we eat, only bees work.
The problem with Bill's conclusions is that they are all, every one, false. None of it is true.
Here are his lies and false assumptions:
1. The Einstein quote? Einstain never said it. Checking Snopes.com they have an article debunking the Einstein quote:
....searches of Einstein's writings and speeches and public statements, as well as of (scholarly) compilations of Einstein quotations reveal nary a reference to the "four years" phrase or any other statement mentioning bees
Check it yourself here:
http://www.snopes.com/quotes/einstein/bees.asp
2. The cause of CCD? It is not man. According to scientists studying CCD the source of the disorder has been found and it is not man, not global warming, not cell phones (good grief), it is none of that. What is it? Nature. Citing Wikipedia:
...researchers announced they had identified a co-infection of invertebrate iridescent virus type 6 (IIV-6) and Nosema ceranae in all CCD colonies sampled. These results, if confirmed, may finally offer an explanation for genuine cases of CCD... The New York Times reported the colony collapse mystery solved, quoting researcher Dr. Bromenshenk, a co-author of the study, "[The virus and fungus] are both present in all these collapsed colonies.”
IIV-6 is a virus found in nature, and Nosema ceranse is "a small, unicellular parasite", found in nature.
3. Will all plants, animals and mankind die if the honey bees die? No. It isn't true that there is "no other way" to pollinate the plants the bees pollinate. Again, from Wikipedia:
Many but not all of these plants can be (and often are) pollinated by other insects in small holdings in the U.S., including other kinds of bees (e.g., squash bees on cucurbits)...
While some farmers of a few kinds of native crops do bring in honey bees to help pollinate, none specifically need them, and when honey bees are absent from a region, there is a presumption that native pollinators may reclaim the niche, typically being better adapted to serve those plants (assuming that the plants normally occur in that specific area).
It would have a *significant* impact on agriculture, that much is very true, particularly commercial agri-biz (corporate farming). However, it wouldn't mean the end of plant life, animal life and mankind (please).
So, nothing in his entire monologue is true. Nothing. He rails on conservatives for lying and stretching the truth, and yet here is a perfect example of how Maher and his ilk spin a web of deceit using false quotes, false assumptions, alarmist propaganda and out-and-out lies to arrive at their own liberal, anti-technology, anti-mankind, self-loathing conclusions.
Maher is the ultimate hypocrite as he rails on people using cell phones and remote controls as being lazy while using a cell phone and a remote control himself. Suddenly cell phones and remote controls are evil, humans are "lazy" and "bad" for using them and they are the cause of the destruction of the bees and consequently the entire planet.
No, Bill... it isn't global warming, it isn't plastic bags, it isn't cell phones or remote controls causing CCD. It's a virus and a parasite. No, Bill... the entire human race won't disappear from the face of the earth if the honey bee dies off. Just so you know, grains don't need pollination to grow. No, Bill... Einstein did not say that if the honey bee dies we all die. One thing is true though, you lie and lie and lie to further your liberal agenda condemning technology and mankind. The question isn't if mankind is too lazy to quit using remote controls and cell phones so we don't kill the bees and the entire human race. The question is, when will you begin to be intellectually honest and quit lying and spreading propaganda to further your own alarmist, self-loathing, anti-technology, anti-mankind agenda?
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