Still think it's me not letting facts get in the way of prejudices?

I thought you might enjoy some more mad moments from the interweb, showing how wide of the mark ALGORE was when he wrote that Polish children were taken down the mines to breathe clean air. The article is from the website of the Foundation for Economic Education, which says its mission is "to offer the most consistent case for the "first principles" of freedom: the sanctity of private property, individual liberty, the rule of law, the free market, and the moral superiority of individual choice and responsibility over coercion."

"The air is so polluted in Katowice that there are underground "clinics" in uranium mines where the chronically ill can go to breathe clean air."

http://www.fee.org/publications/the-freeman/article.asp?aid=1909

""According to the Polish Academy of Sciences, "a third of the nation's 38 million people live "in areas of ecological disaster." In the heavily industrialized Katowice region of Poland, the people suffer 15 percent more circulatory disease, 30 percent more tumors, and 47 percent more respiratory disease than other Poles. Physicians and scientists believe pollution is a major contributor to these health problems.

"Acid rain has so corroded railroad tracks that trains are not allowed to exceed 24 miles an hour. The air is so polluted in Katowice that there are underground "clinics" in uranium mines where the chronically ill can go to breathe clean air.

"Continuous pumping of water from coal mines has caused so much land to subside that over 300,000 apartments were destroyed as buildings collapsed. The mine sludge has been pumped into rivers and streams along with untreated sewage which has made 95 percent of the water unfit for human consumption. More than 65 percent of the nation's water is even unfit for industrial use because it is so toxic that it would destroy heavy metals used by industry. In Cracow, Poland's ancient capital, acid rain "dissolved so much of the gold roof of the 16th century Sigismund Chapel that it recently hd to be replaced."

"Industrial dust rains down on towns, depositing cadmium, lead, zinc, and iron. The dust is so heavy that huge trucks drive through city streets daily spraying water to reduce it. By some accounts eight tons of dust fall on each square mile in and around Cracow each year. The mayor of Cracow recently stated that the Vistula River -- the largest river in Poland -- is "nothing but a sewage canal." The river has mercury levels that are three times what researchers say is safe, while lead levels are 25 times higher than deemed safe.

"Half of Poland's cities, including Warsaw, don't even treat their wastes, and 41 animal species have reportedly become extinct in Poland in recent years. While health statistics are spotty -- they were not a priority of the Communist government--available data are alarming. A recent study of the Katowice region found that 21 percent of the children up to 4 years old are sick almost constantly, while 41 percent of the children under 6 have serious health problems.

"Life expectancy for men is lower than it was 20 years ago. In Upper Silesia, which is considered one of the most heavily industrialized regions in the world, circulatory disease levels are 15 percent higher, respiratory disease is 47 percent higher, and there has been "an appalling increase in the number of retarded children," according to the Polish Academy of Sciences. Although pollution cannot be blamed for all these health problems, physicians and scientists attach much of the blame to this source."

http://tinyurl.com/29ag84

"The Katowice Province, located in Upper Silesia, is the most densely populated province in Poland. It contains approximately 1,250,000 people below age 18; in at least 43 towns and 10 small cities in an area of approximately 1,000 square miles. Katowice (approximately 600,000) people, is the largest city in the area. The province has 10 per cent of Poland's nearly 40 million people on 2.1 per cent of the land. About 3,000 industrial plants and mines are concentrated in Upper Silesia, mainly in the Katowice Province. For the past 200 years, most recently the communists and earlier the Germans, most of Poland's industry has been located in this area because of the rich coal deposits. Current heavy industry in Katowice Province includes chemical plants, over 150 coke plants, iron smelters and steel mills, coal mines (65), heat and power plants, cement factories and non ferrous ore mines and smelters (Celinski, 1992).

"According to Osuch-Jaczewska & Baczynska-Szymocha (1992), the main environmental factors affecting the people in Katowice Province, are air pollution, water pollution and soil contamination. Recent research by Perera, (1996) indicates that Upper Silesia is one of the most polluted areas in the world and has a high death rate from cancer.

"Katowice Province, is known to have some of the most severe air pollution of any area in Europe and the rate of asthma and other breathing disorders is the highest in Poland. According to Chorazy (1992), at least three million of the four million people in Katowice Province are exposed to air pollution that poses a particular health hazard.

...

"During the Winter months the rate of respiratory problems in children increases significantly and parents often keep their children indoors during especially polluted periods. The relatively high ranking given by students to Human Health and Disease may also be partly related to the respiratory problems many children and adults have. The air pollution is caused mainly by the burning of coal which is greatest in the Winter."