Blog by Author Ben Goldacre
It’s amazing the London Olympics 2012 are taking money from Dow, the Bhopal people:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-15924828
If you’ve never read up on what happened, and how Union Carbide (and, crucially, then, Dow) dodged responsibility, then I strongly recommend starting here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal_disaster
So anyway: here’s a blast from the past. The Yes Men pulled a staggering hoax on the BBC in 2004. It was the 20th anniversary of the disaster, and posing as Dow, they went on live television for 6 minutes, did the right thing, and accepted full responsibility.
Bhopal people sponsoring Olympics. Amazing Yes Men hoax on BBC. It’s amazing the London Olympics 2012 are taking money from Dow, the Bhopal people:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-15924828
If you’ve never read up on what happened, and how Union Carbide (and, crucially, then, Dow) dodged responsibility, then I strongly recommend starting here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal_disaster
So anyway: here’s a blast from the past. The Yes Men pulled a staggering hoax on the BBC in 2004. It was the 20th anniversary of the disaster, and posing as Dow, they went on live television for 6 minutes, did the right thing, and accepted full responsibility. See the video here:
It is nothing short of magnificent. More background here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Yes_Men#Dow_Chemical
Incidentally, despite what sporty types might try to tell you, there is NO evidence that hosting major sporting events like the Olympics results in positive social or health benefits for the host nation, as shown in this systematic review in the BMJ:
http://www.bmj.com/content/340/bmj.c2369.full
They are, however, extremely expensive, so it’s interesting to note that we pulled out all the stops and beat wealthy oil nation Doha to hosting the 2017 World Athletics Championships. I’m sure it was a proud moment for all the politicians involved, and I hope you’re very much looking forward to paying for it.
Source: Secondary Blog
Ben Goldacre’s book BAD SCIENCE is published by Harper Perennial 2009.
Book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bad-Science-Ben-Goldacre/dp/000728487X/?tag=bs0b-21
Blog: www.badscience.net/
Tweet: www.twitter.com/bengoldacre
TED talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/ben_goldacre_battling_bad_science.html
