I saw in a few youtube woodworking videos quite a while ago that people were using something called "mineral spirits." Seemed innocent enough, I figured it was some kind of vegetable oil or alcohol because of how they were using it. A few months later I saw another person using the same item so I decided to look it up; turns out "mineral spirits" is paint thinner by a different name.

Paint thinner has a known carcinogen and carries with it strong, industrial-type connotations. Mineral spirits, imo, has almost the opposite feeling to it (based only on the name).

Its nothing new to put a spin on something by giving it a flashy name, but I think in this case--because paint thinner is dangerous to your health if not used properly--I think people should stop calling it mineral spirits. I also think that someone could argue that referring to it as such is unethical because of the harm that is likely to be done to an unknowing individual who thinks that the product is 'safe' based on the name (I wouldn't fault a teenager for assuming that "fresh-squeezed flower oil" was safe to use even though it turns out it is just what people are now calling used motor oil ).

Also, "natural gas" instead of fossil-fuel gas. I'm not sure how these names get started or why they continue as they seem to be good for the industry and bad for the consumer.

All containers have warning labels on them that explain the dangerous and health hazards/risks of exposure. Many also have 1-800 numbers to call for additional information. As required by law(s), both state and federal, and labelling is standard for all chemical and material substances that have a potential for harm to human health.

Of course it is a tangled issue and also depends on the intended user.

LegallyAdequateWarningLabelsAConundrumforEveryManu facturer


Also see OSHA standards and standard warning labels.

In the states the warning labels have gotten too long to be of any value imo. It would take 30 minutes to read the warnings on a battery-powered hand drill; I doubt anyone does. Not that that is a valid excuse, though.

I track reframing attempts the best I can. Among my favorites this week was a news paper naming clearly intentional persistent lying as 'inaccurate insisting'.
What are denial's synonyms anyway?

https://www.popsci.com/california-coffee-cancer-warning

Proposition 65 has been a pet peeve of mine for years. I used to help write/edit risk-based chapters in large scientific studies. But now being retired, I no longer care. And prop. 65 is just further proof that the idiot state of California should be fumigated with nerve gas.

Warning: Nerve gas may contain chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.

Unnatural is a silly word when you think about it long enough.

'Tender prisons' are so quaint and folksy I want to stitch one on a quilt and have tea (or the appropriate culturally relevant beverage) with the owners.

More on the moronic California Prop. 65 (which by the way was passed by rubbished-brained Voters, 99% having no cognitive understanding of science). See the pic below; you now see this sign/text by the cash register counter at many convenience stores in California. I was recently in California for more than two weeks. For reasons of my own.

Anyway, if any additional proof is needed that the entire state should be Nuke Raped*, this proves it. Death to California.








* I love this term I just made up on the fly.

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What, no worries about the actual Diet Mountain Dew inside the bottle?!? How can soda even be legal in California? Oh, I forgot that all the EBT has to be spent somehow.

Decrypting... ... ...

Survey says:
Not the poverty, it's the poor!

Mineral spirits is not the same thing as paint thinner. They are both petroleum-based paint solvents, but mineral spirits have been refined more than paint thinner. In fact, this further refining process removes the toxins in paint thinner, so basically directly counter to the concern in your OP.

Furthermore, "mineral spirits" is, according to OED, the older term.

EDIT: I don't want to imply that there are not also safety precautions needed for handling mineral spirits as well as paint thinner.

Additional follow up. I took a photo of this notice posted on the outside of a downtown Hotel in Fresno, California. It illustrates succinctly the ridiculousness of Prop 65 and the measures businesses will take. Note that the Hotel is just precluding itself from individual labelling by the simple decreed that just about everything and anything within the bounds of the hotel is potentially dangerous to your health.

The chemicals that replaced BPA are at least as bad and probably worse, so when something says "BPA-Free" that's not even a good thing, just pure marketing. I'll try to find the article I read that from a year or two ago.

We pollute: is that propaganda?

Be afraid we pollute: is that propaganda?

Be careful, we pollute: is that propaganda?

*silently polluting* : is that propaganda.

Communication can’t be propaganda while propaganda is a subversion of communication. Assuming that-
Did I communicate or is this like propaganda?

More follow up - My brother purchased a new pair of work boots. They came in a box and stamped (rather poorly stamped but legible) on the inside lid/cover was that same standard Prop 65 warning. The boots were made of leather, canvas material, and some form of "rubber" sole.

I think people should be stamped on their foreheads also. I know I should; I contain chemicals that could potentially cause reproductive harm. And that's the least of the dangerous substances I exude.

The most tilting thing is 'known in the State of California' like they have some secret, esoteric scientific knowledge of which the rest of the world is somehow ignorant.

Meh -- It doesn't feel that way to me. But maybe I see "known" as reading more like "recognizes" or "acknowledges." I think there's maybe a little bit of value given the history of entities denying that tobacco can cause harm.

Caveat emptor

You answered youre own query. The point of propaganda is to serve the interests of a particular group often but not always at the expense of another group. In a capitalist society the most pervasive and often insidious form of propaganda is that which serves the interests of industry (the owning classes) at the expense of the consumer (the general population).

My favorite Orwellianism is refined grains. Of course there's nothing refined about them. Theyre actually severely degraded grains. Virtually all the nutritious parts of a healthy whole grain have been taken out to create a low grade poison, disease causing frankenfood we call a "refined" grain.

Good example. This short video brings up what youre talking about.