Sunday 20 May 2012

GMO film project

By the Globonsomeday

I decided to share the video trailer to an upcoming film, GMO Film Project, which shows a father's discovery of GMOs via the symbolic act of Haitian farmers burning seeds in defiance of Monsanto's "gift" of 430 t of hybrid corn and vegetable seeds after the devastating earthquake of January 2010.


The film description notes that after a journey to Haiti to find out why hungry farmers would burn seeds, the real awakening of what has happened to food in the United States and what is at stake at the global food supply.

The dangers of unknown health and environmental risks, takeover of seeds, toxins, and food monopoly meets with a growing resistance of organic farmers, concerned citizens, and a movement to take back what has been lost.

Multinational agrochemical companies such as Monsanto (known for Agent Orange, rBGH, PCBs and Roundup) and Dow (known for Napalm) are contributing towards producing genetically modified food that have never been fully labelled or fully tested.  Indeed Monsanto has resisted attempts at requiring labelling.

The small handful of corporations are attempting to control everything we eat worldwide - through buying, genetically modifying, and patenting seeds.

Furthermore, there were 148 600 000 ha of GM crops worldwide in 2010 (of which 66 800 000 ha were grown in the United States alone). One can find the full statistics, as well as which GM crops are grown country-by-country, here.

However, there is still time to save our planet and protect our food supply. As mentioned in previous articles in this blog, we can also take action ourselves. In addition to demanding full labelling of food, boycott anything from big agribusiness, stick to local, organic, natural and ideally fresh produce. Avoid anything with GMO, anything resulting from factory farming or intensive farming as well as also harmful chemicals (including pesticides and herbicides).

Further information

Friday 18 May 2012

VANDANA SHIVA: Traditional Knowledge, Biodiversity and Sustainable Living


An Interview with Dr Vandana Shiva, one of the world's foremost environmentalist, anti-GM activist and an advocate of ecological farming and sustainable agriculture as a solution to climate change, food security, hunger and peace. The interview was taken on 16th March 2011, during "Grandmonther's University" a three day course at Navdanya Biodiversity Farm at Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India which Dr. Vandana Shiva founded in 1987 to help save traditional seeds. The farm also undertakes research and training, along with the important role of distributing native seeds to farmers in the region. 


The interview was conducted by Geraldine, Emiliano and Bhavani. Bhavani Prakash is the Founder of http://www.ecowalkthetalk.com





Thursday 17 May 2012

Vermont Becomes First State to Ban Natural Gas Fracking

Vermont has become the first U.S. state to ban the natural gas drilling practice of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. On Wednesday, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin signed the measure into law at a ceremony attended by environmentalists and a group of high school students who pushed for the ban.

Gov. Peter Shumlin: "This bill will ensure we do not inject chemicals into groundwater in a desperate pursuit for energy. It is a big moment. I hope other states will follow us. The science on fracking is uncertain at best. Let the other states be the guinea pigs. Let the Green Mountain State preserve its clean water, its lakes, its rivers and its quality of life."

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Plastics chemical in diabetes link

By WC Douglass MD

I've warned you plenty about the risks of phthalate exposure for kids: These hormone-like chemicals used in plastics, cosmetics, scented candles, and more cause everything from bad behavior to developmental problems. 

And if you have a boy but wish "he" was a "she," just light the candles and let him inhale -- because phthalates mimic estrogen in the body. It's one of the main reasons boys are growing up to be sissies, complete with their own set of breasts. 

But forget the kids, because today I want to talk about how these chemicals can ruin YOU, starting with a dramatic boost in your risk of diabetes. 

I'm sure most people don't need much help in that department, thanks to the one-two punch of the modern diet and sedentary lifestyle. 

But if you're teetering on the brink of disease, phthalates can push you right over the edge -- because a new study on 1,000 senior Swedish women finds that high blood levels of these chemicals will DOUBLE your risk. 

This isn't exactly a stunner since phthalates have been linked in studies to insulin resistance, high blood glucose, weight gain, increased abdominal fat, and all the other usual suspects that work in cahoots with diabetes. 

But it's one thing to know all that. It's quite another to actually do something about it, because avoiding phthalates is practically a full-time job. 

Most personal items with fragrance of any kind contain them, including candles and air fresheners. They're also in shower curtains, vinyl flooring, upholstery, sealants, inks, and more. 

Phthalate fumes are even responsible for the so-called "new car smell." 

Like I said, it's not easy -- but do the best you can here for yourself and the rest of your family. Everyone's health is on the line. 

Fuming over fumes, 

William Campbell Douglass II, M.D.

High-fructose corn syrup linked to autism

By WC Douglass MD

The feds want you to believe the dramatic 78 percent rise in autism cases over the past decade is nothing more than a bookkeeping trick. There aren't more autistic kids -- just more docs who've learned to recognize the condition. 

Baloney! 

I'm sure more diagnoses -- and even OVER-diagnoses -- is part of that increase, but I'm just as sure that more kids are autistic than ever before. And a big part of the reason is the dramatic rise in exposure to toxic heavy metals. 

Now, one new study shows how the junkiest of all junk ingredients -- the high-fructose corn syrup used in… well… just about everything these days -- can cause your mercury levels to shoot so high you might reach the planet that shares its name. 

Former FDA toxicologist -- and noted agency whistleblower -- Renee Dufault says HFCS depletes the body of zinc… and zinc is needed to chase out mercury. 

Ms. Dufault is the same researcher who found low levels of mercury in HFCS several years ago -- so if you put two and two together here, you get more toxic heavy metals and less ability to rid the body of them, all in one convenient package. 

On paper anyway, it sounds like a recipe for autism. Out in the real world, it's just a small piece of the puzzle -- because HFCS is hardly the biggest source of mercury. 

This dangerous metal is in dental fillings, vaccines (especially flu shots), seafood, CFL light bulbs, and more. It's even turning up in the water supply, so you could be poisoning your family every time you open the tap (one more reason to make sure you have a reverse osmosis water filter protecting your home). 

And mercury itself is only a piece of the autism puzzle -- because other toxins, lousy eating habits, and hormonal problems can all play a role. 

I can't give you a one-size-fits-all answer on this. But if you suspect a little one in the family might be the next autism statistic, get the kid to a naturopathic physician ASAP. 

Early diagnosis and proper drug-free treatment can make all the difference in the world.

Saturday 12 May 2012

Nein Danke. German Government to Oppose Fracking

By Der Spiegel Online International

Berlin is opposed to plans to use the controversial fracking process to extract natural gas in Germany, SPIEGEL has learned. Government ministers are "very skeptical" about the technology, which environmentalists claim can pollute groundwater. 

Germany has put the brakes on plans to use hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, to extract natural gas in places where it is difficult to access, such as shale or coal beds. Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen and Economy Minister Philipp Rösler have agreed to oppose the controversial process for the time being, SPIEGEL has learned.

Sources in the German government said that the ministers were "very skeptical" about fracking, which injects chemicals as well as sand and water into the ground to release natural gas. "There are many open questions which we will first have to carefully examine," Rösler told close associates.

With their stance, the two ministers are opposing plans by energy companies to use the fracking process to tap into deposits of natural gas in shale, especially in northern and eastern Germany. In order to access the gas, the shale needs to be fractured using a mixture of hot water, sand and chemical additives, some of which are poisonous. Environmental groups reject the use of the technology, saying that the chemicals used can contaminate drinking water.

Local Protests

Last week, the energy giant ExxonMobil presented a study by the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research, in which researchers expressed their support for test drilling in the states of Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia.

Local environmental groups in the affected regions have already got into gear, setting up citizens' initiatives to collect signatures for petitions and organize protests in a bid to block the fracking plans. Activists fear that the chemicals could pollute the local groundwater.

Fracking has been widely used in the US, where production of natural gas has sharply increased in recent years as the use of hydraulic fracturing becomes more widespread. Earlier this month, President Barack Obama's administration unveiled new regulations to improve transparency on the chemicals used during fracking on public land.

spiegel/jas

Wednesday 9 May 2012

States ending free parent whooping vaccine

By news.com.au

PARENTS across Australia will no longer receive free whooping cough vaccinations because it is not effective in protecting newborns from the potentially deadly illness, a parliamentary committee has heard.

Since 2009 all states and territories except Tasmania have at some stage introduced the free parental vaccination program in an effort to shield infants from the illness.

Whooping cough, a highly infectious airborne bacterial disease, can kill if complications cause lack of oxygen to the brain.

It is most serious in babies under a year old, with newborns susceptible as they are unable to be vaccinated until they are at least four months old.

But at a Victorian Parliamentary Accounts and Estimates Committee hearing on Tuesday, Department of Health divisional executive director Chris Brook said states were abandoning the "cocooning" program from June 30.

He said the national Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) had determined vaccinating parents was not effective in protecting newborns, after two pharmaceutical manufacturers made submissions to the PBAC.

"The PBAC, which is totally independent and very expert, has determined that there is no clinical effectiveness of this strategy," Professor Brook said.
He said this had made it clear the cocooning strategy should not be continued.

"So all jurisdictions who have been in this program will be effectively ceasing the cocooning strategy as of the end of June this year."

In the same hearing, Victorian Health Minister David Davis said the initial decision to fund free parental vaccination was made "in light of the best evidence that we had at that time".

But asked by Labor MP Jill Hennessy if the government was "taking a massive gamble" withdrawing the free parental vaccine, given that whooping cough can kill babies, Mr Davis supported the decision to now withdraw it.

"I make decisions of this type on the basis of the evidence that's put to me by the department and by clinical experts," Mr Davis said.

"There has been a national committee meet to look at this and to make decisions on the basis of the best scientific evidence available ... the evidence is that the strategy has not been effective."


Why you need cholesterol

Monday 7 May 2012

An In-depth Report on the Effects of Mercury Poisoning Toxicity

By Dr Thomas Nissen 

MERCURY: What kinds of symptoms does mercury cause?

Symptoms of mercury toxicity are many and varied, since mercury can both reach and affect nearly every cell in the body! Systemic (overall) effects can occur for this reason. The particular symptoms you experience first depend on your own genetic weakest links and on other toxic suppressors. The answers to the following questions below address the type of symptoms that can occur.

How does mercury toxicity affect the reproductive system?

Reproductive effects can occur, such as infertility, miscarriage and prematurity. Mercury lowers zinc levels, which then lowers progesterone levels. Progesterone is needed to bring a pregnancy to term. Birth defects, especially involving the brain and learning ability, can be caused by mercury, as the metal can pass through both the placental barrier and the blood-brain barrier contrary to prior belief. Low libido (sex drive) and premenstrual syndrome (PMS) are examples of a downward spiral of problems whose root cause is mercury toxicity.

Lowered progesterone levels can lead to infertility. PMS and infertility are common among many young female dental workers due at least in part to their mercury exposure. Male dental workers also suffer from infertility. Mercury lowers zinc levels, which in turn leads to lower testosterone (male hormone) levels.

Can babies absorb mercury from their mothers?

Mercury can cross the placental barrier, which screens out many harmful substances. This has been shown in both human and animal studies. Mercury is in fact, stored in the fetus before the mother. Mercury will also be transmitted to the infant via breast milk. Mercury from amalgam is stored in the breast milk and in the fetus at levels up to eight times that in the mother’s tissues.

How is the immune system affected?

It has been shown that mercury rapidly depletes the immune system. Mercury has been shown to induce auto-immune diseases. Mercury can cause an increase in the number and severity of allergies.

What other types of symptoms are caused by mercury?

Candida (yeast) overgrowth that is difficult to get rid of is also associated with mercury in the mouth. Mercury acts as an antibiotic, and, like medicinal antibiotics, it kills the friendly bacteria which help control yeast overgrowth.

Any of these symptoms can affect almost anyone with amalgam fillings. Some people, however, are especially sensitive, or allergic.

Replacement reactions, also called fight for site, occur when mercury (usually with a +2 charge) grabs the biological spaces which should be filled by necessary minerals. Symptoms that can be caused by a deficiency of minerals displaced by mercury include:
  • Magnesium: irregular heartbeat, receding gums
  • Iron: anemia
  • Copper: anemia, thyroid dysfunction, impaired digestion
  • Zinc: anorexia nervosa, loss of taste and smell, loss of appetite, low libido, PMS
  • Iodine: thyroid dysfunction
Some digestive problems can be caused by parasite or bacterial infection such as helicobacter secondary to immune system suppression by mercury. Mercury, in effect, opens the door like the Trojan horse so that undesirables can come in.

Mercury combines with bile and can cause bile from the gallbladder to become more alkaline, providing a favorable environment for parasites. These parasites can plug up the hepatic or bile duct so that needed digestive and other enzymes from the gallbladder, liver, and pancreas are not released. Gallbladder function then suffers.

Mercury acts as an antibiotic, and was used in some medicines until safer alternatives came along for this purpose. In the body mercury also acts as an antibiotic, and like medicinal antibiotics it kills off the beneficial bacteria which repel parasites and aid in digestion.

Yeast overgrowth with its attendant symptoms of fatigue, sweets cravings and vaginal infections is often traced to the antibiotic effect of dental mercury. Suspect this as a root cause when yeast is a continuing problem in spite of repeated treatment. The symptom (yeast overgrowth) will not likely go away until the root cause (mercury) is dealt with. The effect of dental mercury on normal gut flora is well documented.

Thyroid problems or mercury toxicity?

Endocrine problems such as low body temperature often improve rapidly when amalgam is removed, a sure sign that the amalgam was causing the problem in the first place. Normal body temperature is about 98.6 F orally.

People reacting to amalgam components often have a temperature range of 96.2 to 97.6 degrees, which can rise to 98.2 in as little as one day after amalgam removal and to 98.6 soon afterward. A low body temperature is a sign of low thyroid function, and many people have mistakenly been given thyroid hormone to remedy a symptom caused by amalgam fillings.

Synthetic thyroid hormone (thyroxin) can shut down the natural feedback cycle of the pituitary gland and its production of Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH). This shutdown then adversely affects the rest of the endocrine system. It would be far better to correct the cause of the apparent thyroid malfunction by removing the fillings that are responsible for the low body temperature, rather than prescribing supplemental thyroid hormone.

What are the mental symptoms of mercury toxicity?

Since mercury is so soluble, it can be easily absorbed through the roof of the mouth, which is less than an inch from the posterior pituitary gland. Mental symptoms of toxicity affecting the posterior pituitary include:

Depression, Timidity, Rage, Phobias, Anxiety, Lowered libido, Indecisiveness, Lack of self confidence, Compulsions, Mood swings

Mercury tends to accumulate in all tisues, but especially in the brain. Within the brain, mercury is stored prefentially in the pituitary gland and hypothalamus.

Accumulation in the brain leads to mental and nervous system effects such as brain fog, depression, vision difficulties, and others as listed above. Mental effects are among the most common due to mercury's special affinity for the brain. Mercury inhibits the effects of certain neurotransmitters:
  • Dopamine: controls pain, well-being
  • Serotonin: relaxation, sleep, well-being
  • Adrenaline: energy and stamina
  • Noradrenaline, melatonin: sleep cycles 
Inhibition of these neurotransmitters by mercury can account in part for the feelings of depression and loss of motivation.

Other mental/neurological symptoms include:
  • General neurological symptoms
  • Mental illness
  • Demyelinization, which can lead to such diseases as multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Developmental problems
  • Cerebral palsy
  • ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease)
  • Alzheimer's disease
  • Psychological problems, including loss of function and memory, anger and emotionality, and timidity
How does mercury cause fatigue and lack of energy?

Mercury binds to nitrogen and sulfur in proteins, oxygen from the lungs, sulfur from the liver's detoxification systems, and selenium from the colon. Lower levels of body tissue oxygen due to mercury's binding it may lead to:
  • Fatigue caused by low blood sugar secondary to low blood oxygen
  • Parasite infestation by setting up an anaerobic (less oxygen) environment, and by lowering the level of the good bacteria which fight off parasites
  • An anaerobic environment also favors the development of yeast infections and cancer, since yeast is a fermenting spore and cancer is a fermenting cell rather than a normal respiratory (oxygen using) cell
Mercury binds with hemoglobin, which is responsible for oxygen transport to the tissues. This results in less oxygen reaching the tissues. The body attempts to compensate for this by increasing the amount of hemoglobin in the blood.

A normal or increased hemoglobin (oxygen carrying) level combined with symptoms usually associated with low hemoglobin such as anemia are often indicative of mercury toxicity. Copper is also required to prevent anemia, and mercury can compete for copper's binding sites. A lowered hematocrit (red blood cell count) can be indicative of lowered blood copper levels.

The terms hematocrit and hemoglobin, found routinely on blood test printouts, can be confusing. If blood is compared to a train carrying oxygen to where it is needed, hematocrit is a measure of the number of boxcars on the train (red blood cells), while hemoglobin is a measure of the carrying capacity of each boxcar, or red blood cell.

Other mineral levels can be lowered by mercury's tendency to fight for site. A deficiency of any of these minerals can lead to fatigue and other symptoms:
Cobalt, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium are all required for energy.
  • Zinc is needed for the manufacture of adrenaline
  • A deficiency of zinc, copper, or potassium can lower adrenal activity
  • Cobalt, usually obtained from vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin) prevents pernicious anemia, a cause of fatigue
  • Mercury blocks magnesium and manganese transport required for memory, resulting in lowered ability to concentrate
These mineral deficiencies may be primarily due to dietary deficiencies. However, deficiencies may also be secondary. The mineral may be in the body but cannot get to where it is needed because mercury has blocked the way. This is like putting a too-large battery in a toy - it won't fit in the slot made for a smaller battery, both denying power to the toy and blocking the slot from receiving the correct size battery.

Fatigue associated with mercury toxicity can be due to several of mercury's effects, including reducing adrenaline and neurotransmitter effects, reducing oxygen to tissues, and interfering with coenzyme A, which converts sugar to energy.

How can mercury increase the toxicity of other poisons?

Mercuric ion (Hg+2) binds to sulfhydryl groups (-SH) in proteins and disulfide groups (-SS) in amino acids. These sulfur containing groups have an important detoxification function in the body. Increased toxicity from chemicals and metals other than mercury can result from mercury binding these sulfur groups and preventing them from detoxifying the chemicals.

Mercury binding the bile lowers the ability of the body to absorb fat, leading to increased absorption of toxic oil-soluble chemicals such as solvents and pesticides like a dry sponge.

Selenium is an antioxidant which binds in place of oxygen and which protects against free radical damage from chemicals which can lead to cancer. Mercury can bind to selenium, making it useless for this protective purpose.

What else can mercury do?

Mercurous ion (Hg+1) pushes out Na+1 (sodium), K+1 (potassium), and Li+1 (lithium). Sodium and potassium are part of the cellular sodium/potassium pump which causes muscle movement. Interference with sodium and potassium can lead to muscle weakness for this reason. Leg and muscle cramps may be due to potassium deficiency.

Lithium is sometimes given as lithium carbonate to patients suffering from bipolar depression (manic depressive illness) since lack of lithium is one of the causes of the disease. Lack of lithium may itself be caused by mercury preventing lithium from working as it should in the brain. 

Mercury is like the 200 pound bully attacking a 7 pound baby; the small baby doesn't have much of a chance. 200 and 7 are the molecular weights of mercury (the bully) and lithium (the baby) respectively. If you have been diagnosed with bipolar depression, maybe what you need is less mercury, not more lithium pills.

Mercury fights for binding sites in the kidney, another organ for which it has a special affinity. A mineral and electrolyte balance is needed in order for the kidney to perform its functions, and a poorly functioning kidney can lead to edema (fluid buildup in the body). These minerals are prevented from entering into their reactions when mercury is there to interfere. 

Suppression of potassium by mercury also affects the kidneys which takes you from making adrenaline to maintaining electrolyte balance, and the lowered adrenaline level can lead to lower energy.

Detoxification systems such as metallothionein, cytochrome P-450, and bile are adversely affected by mercury. Metallothionein binds toxic metals in the body to prepare them for excretion. Mercury ties up this material so it cannot clear out other metals such as lead, cadmium, and aluminum.

Mercury from amalgam binds to -SH (sulfhydryl) groups, which are used in almost every enzymatic process in the body. Mercury therefore has the potential to disturb all metabolic processes.

Some people appear to be allergic to whatever food they eat. No matter what they eat, at least one thing in common is ingested - mercury (or nickel). Mercury released from amalgam during chewing may be the cause of most of the symptoms which seem to be caused by the food.

If a mercury vapor test, described later in this chapter, is done, it may show a low to moderate level of mercury initially, but a sharply increased level after chewing gum. This is also what happens when food is chewed. Such a test result combined with apparent allergy to most food points to mercury as a probable culprit. Nickel, which may also be contributing to the problem, is in stainless steel posts and braces.


Saturday 5 May 2012

How chemicals affect us

By Nicholas D. Kristof
The New York Times

Scientists are observing with increasing alarm that some very common hormone-mimicking chemicals can have grotesque effects. 

A widely used herbicide acts as a female hormone and feminizes male animals in the wild. Thus male frogs can have female organs, and some male fish actually produce eggs. In a Florida lake contaminated by these chemicals, male alligators have tiny penises.

These days there is also growing evidence linking this class of chemicals to problems in humans. These include breast cancer, infertility, low sperm counts, genital deformities, early menstruation and even diabetes and obesity.

Philip Landrigan, a professor of pediatrics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, says that a congenital defect called hypospadias — a misplacement of the urethra — is now twice as common among newborn boys as it used to be. He suspects endocrine disruptors, so called because they can wreak havoc with the endocrine system that governs hormones.

Endocrine disruptors are everywhere. They’re in thermal receipts that come out of gas pumps and A.T.M.’s. They’re in canned foods, cosmetics, plastics and food packaging. Test your blood or urine, and you’ll surely find them there, as well as in human breast milk and in cord blood of newborn babies.

In this campaign year, we are bound to hear endless complaints about excessive government regulation. But here’s an area where scientists are increasingly critical of our government for its failure to tackle Big Chem and regulate endocrine disruptors adequately.

Last month, the Endocrine Society, the leading association of hormone experts, scolded the Food and Drug Administration for its failure to ban bisphenol-A, a common endocrine disruptor known as BPA, from food packaging. Last year, eight medical organizations representing genetics, gynecology, urology and other fields made a joint call in Science magazine for tighter regulation of endocrine disruptors.

Shouldn’t our government be as vigilant about threats in our grocery stores as in the mountains of Afghanistan?

Researchers warn that endocrine disruptors can trigger hormonal changes in the body that may not show up for decades. One called DES, a synthetic form of estrogen, was once routinely given to pregnant women to prevent miscarriage or morning sickness, and it did little harm to the women themselves. But it turned out to cause vaginal cancer and breast cancer decades later in their daughters, so it is now banned.

Scientists have long known the tiniest variations in hormone levels influence fetal development. For example, a female twin is very slightly masculinized if the other twin is a male, because she is exposed to some of his hormones. Studies have found that these female twins, on average, end up slightly more aggressive and sensation-seeking as adults but have lower rates of eating disorders.

Now experts worry that endocrine disruptors have similar effects, acting as hormones and swamping the delicate balance for fetuses in particular. The latest initiative by scholars is a landmark 78-page analysis to be published next month in Endocrine Reviews, the leading publication in the field.

“Fundamental changes in chemical testing and safety determination are needed to protect human health,” the analysis declares. Linda S. Birnbaum, the nation’s chief environmental scientist and toxicologist, endorsed the findings.

The article was written by a 12-member panel that spent three years reviewing the evidence. It concluded that the nation’s safety system for endocrine disruptors is broken.

“For several well-studied endocrine disruptors, I think it is fair to say that we have enough data to conclude that these chemicals are not safe for human populations,” said Laura Vandenberg, a Tufts University developmental biologist who was the lead writer for the panel.

Worrying new research on the long-term effects of these chemicals is constantly being published. One study found that pregnant women who have higher levels of a common endocrine disruptor, PFOA, are three times as likely to have daughters who grow up to be overweight. Yet PFOA is unavoidable. It is in everything from microwave popcorn bags to carpet-cleaning solutions.

Big Chem says all this is sensationalist science. So far, it has blocked strict regulation in the United States, even as Europe and Canada have adopted tighter controls on endocrine disruptors.

Yes, there are uncertainties. But the scientists who know endocrine disruptors best overwhelmingly are already taking steps to protect their families. John Peterson Myers, chief scientist at Environmental Health Sciences and a co-author of the new analysis, said that his family had stopped buying canned food.

“We don’t microwave in plastic,” he added. “We don’t use pesticides in our house. I refuse receipts whenever I can. My default request at the A.T.M., known to my bank, is ‘no receipt.’ I never ask for a receipt from a gas station.”

I’m taking my cue from the experts, and I wish the Obama administration would as well.


I invite you to visit my blog, On the Ground. Please also join me on Facebook andGoogle+, watch my YouTube videos and follow me on Twitter.

Tuesday 1 May 2012

‎90 ailments scientifically linked to vaccines, so far...


1. Adverse Events including Deaths 
2. Neurodevelopmental Disorders
3. Allergies & Related Respiratory Problems
4. Vaccine induced Thrombocytopenia
5. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
6. High Infant Mortality Rates
7. Autism Prevalence
8. Serious Neurological Disorders
9. Autoimmune Neurological Disorder called Transverse Myelitis
10. Hemolytic Anaemia
11. Acute Necrotizing Encephalopathy
12. Autoimmunity leading to Autism
13. Birth Defects in children born to vaccinated mothers
14. Multiple Sclerosis
15. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
16. Febrile Convulsions
17. Congenital Malformation in pregnant mothers given the rubella vaccine
18. Elevated CRP levels in vaccinated children
19. Increased morbidity and poor growth
20. Recurrent Seizures
21. Preeclempsia/Premature Birth in vaccinated pregnant women
22. Evidence of increased mercury exposure
23. Autoimmune demyelinating complications
24. Hepatitis/Gastrointestinal disease/liver function test abnormalities
25. Increased risk of liver problems
26. Uveitis
27. Hepatitis C
28. Abortions in vaccinated pregnant women
29. Guillain Barre Syndrome
30. Herpes Zoster
31. Increased risk of cardiovascular events
32. Vasculitis
33. Various injection site reactions
34. Shedding of the injected virus putting unvaccinated population at risk
35. Ulcerative Colitis
36. Immune Thrombocytopenia Purpura
37. Predisposition for encephalopathy
38. Hypotonic/Hyporesponsive Episodes
39. Serious adverse respiratory and non respiratory events
40. Intestinal blockage/intussusception
41. Gastroenteritis
42. Iatrogenic vaccinia
43. Autoimmune neuropathies
44. Symptomatic Gulf War Syndrome
45. Pediatric parapneumonic empyema
46. Atopy
47. Juvenile idiopathic arthritis
48. Erythema multiforme
49. Lupus erythematosus
50. Acute/Subacute post vaccination fiber neuropathy
51. Leukemia Cutis
52. Autoimmune haemolytic anaemia
53. Deep morphia
54. Delayed focal lipoatrophy
55. Fulminate Type 1 Diabetes with thrombocytopenia
56. Anaphylactic shock & death
57. Dermatomyositis
58. Immune mediated myelitis
59. Glyphosate induced Parkinsonism
60. Optic neuritis
61. Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
62. Incontinentia pigmenti reactivation
63. Adjuvant induced arthritis
64. Chronic arthritis
65. Motor neuron death
66. Vaccine induced pyrexia
67. Altered expression of 144 genes in mouse liver, 7 of which related to inflammation and metabolism
68. Cell death in liver cells
69. Excitotoxic brain injuries
70. Neurodevelopmental delays
71. OPV induced IgA nephropathy
72. Immunosuprression & autoimmune effects in mice
73. Adjuvant induced chronic inflammation
74. Chronic Fatigue & Prostrate Cancer
75. Hydranencephaly
78. Adverse changes of cerebellum in mice
79. Lasting neuropathological changes in rat brain
80. DNA vaccines and anti-fertility 
81. Vaccine induced scrapie
82. B-cell activation and autoimmunity
83. Macrophagic Myofascitits
84. Urinary Tract Disease
85. Injection site associated sarcomas (cancers)
86. HIV-1/AIDS
87. Exposure to intended and unintended animal viruses
88. Transmissable spongiform encephalopathies
89. Atherogenesis (Heart Disease)
90. Autism like symptoms


Link to the studies:

Attorney Challenges Attack on Vaccine Religious Exemption


Post date: Saturday, April 7th 2012 at 8:00 pm by Alan Phillips, J.D.

The following pediatrician’s commentary attacking vaccine religious exemptions was published by Raleigh’s News & Observer on February 24, 2012. As the N&O failed to publish my response, I’m publishing it here, where truth is welcome, following the pediatrician’s article immediately below.

Vaccinations should be covered by mandate, Friday, February 24, 2012

As a practicing pediatrician and internist, it makes sense to me that if the government can mandate that all insurers cover contraceptives, even institutions that opposed such treatment on religious grounds, then it follows logically that government should also mandate all children be immunized regardless of the parents' stated religious convictions.

This is a significant statement because most state laws, as in North Carolina, mandate that any child attending public school must be immunized; the only way out of this is if the parents claim they are opposed to immunizations on religious grounds. But as any pediatrician will tell you, the vast majority of these parents who make this claim have no such religious conviction; for a variety of non-religious reasons, they just don't want to immunize their kids. So they intentionally mislead providers (with a wink) so that we sign off on their kids' kindergarten physical so they can get the benefit of a free public education without being immunized.

There is currently a pertussis (whooping cough) outbreak in a private school in Chapel Hill that, not surprisingly, has a large number of unimmunized kids. These infected kids, until they are diagnosed and treated, expose other children in and outside the school to whooping cough, including unprotected infants who have not yet completed their vaccine series, and it is these susceptible small children who really suffer and/or die from such diseases - ones that are preventable if only some other parents' child had been vaccinated.

Perhaps this irresponsible choice should no longer be protected as a religious exemption. But I imagine it will remain under First Amendment protection as such a change in law would lead to quite an outcry of protest, the kind of outcry perhaps also justified by the Catholic Church.

James Kurz, Pittsboro

The length limit was waived.

Response 

Dear Dr. Kurtz:

Thank you for your comments. I didn’t realize that NC pediatricians have psychic powers (know what all exempting North Carolinian parents’ religious beliefs are) and are legal experts (know what qualifies for a vaccine religious exemption, and therefore, can be confident that their psychic subjects don’t qualify for one). Even more amazing, though, was the lack of knowledge your comments displayed in your claimed area of expertise. To explain:

1) As for knowing others’ beliefs, that speaks for itself—you don’t; your assertion is pure conjecture that has no place in a serious discussion. To say that you are concerned that some religious exemptions may be disingenuous could be reasonable; anything more is sheer bigotry.

2) As to what qualifies legally for a religious exemption, that requires study of state and federal legal precedent, statutes and regulations, and sufficient legal training to be able to put that study into proper legal perspective. Yes, facts don’t necessarily require credentials—truth speaks for itself—but non-referenced assertions are nothing more than uninformed personal opinions, as my next section reveals.

3) As for the blame you assign to exempt children:

A. The CDC tells us that 5% – 15% of vaccinated children are not immune.[1] JAMA tells us that only 1% - 2.5% of children are exempt.[2] Unvaccinated children can develop natural immunity, and according to the CDC, may not even develop symptoms in the process.[3] So, vaccination status is not an indicator of immune status, and exempt kids are at most a negligible concern given the far greater number of non-immune, vaccinated kids. Indeed, this is why the CDC reports that most outbreaks occur in vaccinated children. If you’re worried about outbreaks caused by non-immune kids, the first step should be to test the vaccinated kids, so we can quarantine all of the non-immune ones, since outbreaks are clearly due to them most of the time.

B. Pertussis typically runs in 3-4 year cycles (for unknown reasons); exemptions don’t.[4] So, pertussis outbreaks can’t be attributed to exempt kids.

C. Well over 50% of Americans are adult baby boomers who haven’t been vaccinated in decades. Vaccine immunity lasts 2-10 years, but infectious diseases haven’t returned.[5] In fact, research has proven that vaccine antibodies do not guarantee disease immunity, and that the herd immunity theory isn’t reliable, so the entire theoretical foundation of vaccination may be flawed.[6]

The bottom line is that exempt children pose no significant health risk to anyone, and cannot reasonably be blamed for any outbreaks absent strict application of the scientific method to any given outbreak, without the use of unsupported assumptions.

Your beliefs typify those of the pediatric community not because they are correct, but because yours is a profession driven by politics, and not objective science. Few to none of the commonly held assumptions about vaccines withstand strict scientific scrutiny. I invite you to subvert professional conformity to scientific objectivity, to investigate the matter for yourself to form your own, independent conclusions. You’ll risk the condemnation of your peers for the mere act of daring to think for yourself, but that’s a small price to pay to be free of the manipulative reach of political agendas and fully within your own personal integrity. Whatever your conclusions about any given piece of the larger controversy, if you look openly and objectively, I guarantee you will never be the same. I also guarantee that you will be discouraged from questioning the status quo by most of your peers; that in and of itself speaks volumes about the need for more of you to do so.

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[1] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Vaccines and Immunizations, Misconception #2. The majority of people who get disease have been vaccinated, http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/6mishome.htm

[2] Non-medical Exemptions to School Immunization Requirements, The Journal of the American Medical Association, http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/296/14/1757.full

[3] See, e.g., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Vaccines and Immunizations, Glossary, “Asymptomatic infection: The presence of an infection without symptoms. Also known as inapparent or subclinical infection. http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/about/terms/glossary.htm

[4] See, e.g., Broutin Helene, Large-Scale Comparative Analysis of Pertussis Population Dynamics: Periodicity, Synchrony, and Impact of Vaccination, America Journal of Epidemiology, Feb. 2005,http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/161/12/1159.full; and A. Korobeinikov, Estimation of effective vaccination rate: pertussis in New Zealand as a case study, p. 272, April 2003,http://people.maths.ox.ac.uk/maini/PKM%20publications/157.pdf

[5] Is herd immunity real? Russell Blaylock, M.D., Neurosurgeon, The Epoch Times, January 28, 2010,http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/health/forced-vaccinations-government-and-the-public-interest-27045.html

[6] See, e.g., Antibodies Do Not Equal Immunity: Mumps Outbreak In 95% Vaccinated Population,http://www.vaccines.me/articles/zgduk-antibodies-do-not-equal-immunity-mumps-outbreak-in-95-vaccinated-population.cfm (citing published studies in the British Medical Journal); and Antibody Theory, http://www.whale.to/vaccines/antibody.html (citing published studies in Neurology, the New England Journal of Medicine, Proceedings of the Society of Experimental Biology and Medicine, the British Medical Council Publication, and the Journal of the American Medical Association, among others.

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