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The Risk-Monger
Personal blog · risk-monger.comsciencepolitics
The Risk-Monger is a personal blog at risk-monger.com about science and politics. Since 2016, 10 different Hacker News readers have linked it 13 times. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-09-08, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (5) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
Linked for contrarian takes on pesticides, glyphosate and the IARC, and an essay on why the author doesn't publish in peer-reviewed journals. Commenters mostly cite its posts as sources in debates.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 5 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
This site is meant to challenge simplistic solutions to hard problems on environmental-health risks. Pro-science, anti-dogma, I am open to being challenged. But I am not open to zealots preaching ad hominem intolerance. Things to check out The Risk-Monger’s Blog-siteSee the most recent articles Risk
What Hacker News says?
Here's a list of 12 chemicals approved for use in organic farming: https://risk-monger.com/2016/04/13/the-risk-mongers-dirty-do...
Comment linking /2016/04/13/the-risk-mongers-dirty-dozen-12-highly-toxic-pesticides-approved-for-use-in-organic-farming/
on “De Beers admits defeat over man-made diamonds”Submitted The Surprisingly Sudden Demise of the Anti-GMO Movement as a story · 11 points
HN discussionYou get the same when people cry "peer-review" without actually understanding what peer-review actually means. Once you dig into it, you find it is far from the last word in validation in a modern world and very often an argumentum ad verecundiam As explained, in depth, in "Why I don't publish in Peer-Reviewed Journals". https://risk-monger.com/2020/07/31/why-i-dont-publish-in-pee... Please read the article before c…
Comment linking /2020/07/31/why-i-dont-publish-in-peer-reviewed-journals/
on “Please read the paper before you comment”Submitted The Green Death: How the EU's Farm2Famine Strategy Affects a Post-Ukraine World as a story · 4 points
HN discussionI won't defend Monsanto's behavior here, but this is all arising as a response from the IARC's determination that glyphosate is a potential carcinogen. As a cell-biologist/biophysicist, this determination seemed primarily politically motivated by anti-GMO crusaders - existing evidence really doesn't seem to support it. Glyphosate isn't at all like known mutagens. Longer-format critique: https://risk-monger.com/2016/…
Comment linking /2016/07/06/iarcs-disgrace-how-low-can-activist-science-go/
on “Unsealed Documents Raise Questions on Monsanto Weed Killer”Submitted Time to ban coffee? How values dictate our use of precaution as a story · 4 points
HN discussionActually, here's the real story behind how the ban came about. The guidelines were manipulated so that all the realistic field studies had to be discounted. The lab studies basically amounted to "We fed insecticide to bees and it killed them." https://risk-monger.com/issues/agriculture/beegate/ As for that Plos One study, take a look at who the authors are and where they work. They're all members of the pesticides a…
Comment linking /issues/agriculture/beegate/
on “Neonicotinoids disrupt aquatic food webs and decrease fishery yields”Submitted The EU’s Food Security Crisis Strategy as a story · 2 points
HN discussionThis has been coming for quite a while. The IARC seems to have its own agenda and it isn't always based on scientific integrity. Good start for those who want to know what's been going on should check out David Zaruk's site. He's been following the machinations at the IARC (NGO activist engagement) for quite a while. https://risk-monger.com He also microblogs at his facebook site https://www.facebook.com/riskmonger/…
Comment linking /
on “WHO Cancer Agency Asked Experts to Withhold Weed-Killer Documents”Submitted How the Green Left Is Choking Mother Nature as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted How to Starve Africa: Ask the European Green Party as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Reasonable People – Towards a New Age of Lobbying as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Dreamer’s Disease: How Agroecology Will Starve Millions as a story · 1 points
HN discussion