"Ben Hiel" wrote in
:

"Salty Thumb" wrote in message
...
"Ben Hiel" wrote in
:

There are over 5 billion people in the world, and you were able to
produce a whopping 2 people who died from ingesting oleander in
recent years. Notice that they didn't die an instant after touching
an oleander leaf - they died after repeatedly ingesting oleander
over a period of days. This hardly represents a dangerous health
menace to humanity.

You asked for a credible news story. I gave you one.

The operative word is ONE. Out of millions of yards and gardens with
oleander, you were able to produce precisely ONE incident - and this
incident occured after eating a lot of it over a period of days. It
also sounds very suspicious to me. If anyone knows what the outcome of
the criminal investigation was I would like to read it.

tsk tsk, why don't you quantify exactly how many death accounts will be
sufficent to warrant your scrutiny? You asked for 'a' news story, that's
what you got. Guess how many I looked for before I stopped?

From another news story about these two deaths:
-----------------------------------------
"Normal children don't go out and eat oleander," said Dr. Richard
Clark, a medical toxicologist and executive director of the California
Poison
Control Center. And even if they did, Clark added, they would either
gag on the
bitter plant or vomit it.

"There is not a single other case in the American literature that I
know of of people eating oleander leaves and dying," he said.
-----------------------------------------

Obviously normal children of rich hoity-toity bureaucrats don't eat
oleander, but for all we know, the dead kids could have been your long lost
cousins trying to impress their new American friends by showing them how
non-toxic oleander is.

So impress us and have a bite and confirm what you've so faithfully
reported. If it's spitable, you'll have made a case. If it's not, the
world will have lost a great genius. And don't pick one of those crap
herbal plants, get one that's been in full sun and brushed by dogs. Give a
leaf to a loved one as well, in case you've become resistant due to
repeated exposure.

Did you want it
notarized by the Pope or your local Rabbi? Currently, you are the
only person characterizing oleander as a weapon of mass destruction.
The original replier said it was poisonous. Are you disputing that?
The best you can offer is third hand knowledge of what it might taste
like.

What I am disputing is his advice: "The first thing I will tell you is
toss it in the trash." If you like oleander but hear the paranoid
fables (like the infamous hot dog skewer urban legend), his advice is
stupid.

Some people like their house immaculate, others don't mind a mess or two.
Some people can eat peanuts, others get anaphylaxis and die.

btw, what did he say after giving the advice you just quoted? Was that the
advice of a fearful oleander lunatic?

Millions of people have oleander in close proximity to their their
homes and somehow they manage to stay alive. Meanwhile, people who
live in fear of the Dreaded Oleander unknowingly have yards filled
with DEADLY TOXIC PLANTS READY TO KILL. Hydrangea is toxic.
Poinsettia is toxic. English ivy is toxic. Caladium is toxic.
Foxglove is toxic. Philodendron is toxic. So are azaleas and
rhododendrons.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...ieve&db=PubMed
&do pt=Abstract&list_uids=90376391 Hide in fear from the lovely
philodendron - it's a killer!

Somehow, human beings have existed with these plants for thousands
of years. Should people be fearful of these plants like you fear
the Dreaded Oleander?

I'm more afraid of becoming one of those people who make unwarranted
characterizations. Like yourself. You can turn the soap opera music
off now.

Should people be fearful of these other toxic plants like some fear
the Dreaded Oleander?

If the plants you listed are as toxic or more toxic than oleander, then "I
challenge you to produce a credible news story that shows" your choice of
6 plant genera has commensurate or greater toxicity than the already low
(by your standard) oleander. You have a 5 billion people to work with.
And you won't mind if I leave out foxglove as one of the choices. In case
you have the wherewithal to find one, then I change my mind, show me *13*
dead people. Don't worry, I won't hold my breathe.

Maybe you should try chewing a couple of leaves and let us know
(or not) how it goes.

Maybe you should try getting a grasp of the genuine health dangers
you should be concerned with.

Maybe you should let people decide for themselves what that they are
wont to do. And save the drama for somebody who might be impressed.

Maybe you should admit that the fear of oleander is vastly overblown,
and allow people with a reasonable view of risk to explain why.

Maybe you should realize I'm not the least bit afraid of oleander and that
people with reasonable views don't generally start their arguments with the
phrase "(sigh) Not this crap again."