SAY NO TO FLUORIDE AND FLUORIDATION

RICK SANTORUM, WHAT A PIECE OF SHITE HE IS

2012-01-04T09:51:00.000-08:00

This presidential contender said today that it was the UK NHS which prevented Thatcher from doing to the UK what Reagan did to the USA. Clearly a complete and conceited twat. I hope on behalf of the American lower and middle classes that he never becomes the US president. People in the US are suffering more than enough because of Senator Sanctimonious and his ilk, may he never take power, hes a real piece of ordure which we can all do without. Its amazing just how much shite people will spout just to take power and further exploit people who have so little in the first place, Fuck off back to Uncle Sams land of exploitersl and i hope his boat sinks with all hands if they are the people who are seeking power over there. What a bunch of shitheads they are.

FLUORIDE, THE NEVER ENDING STORY

2011-12-27T00:46:00.000-08:00

Monday, December 26, 2011

FLUORIDE, THE NEVER ENDING STORY

This week, an Official in France has warned against their breast implants. Poly Implant Prothese made by a defunct company in France is known to leak cancer-causing silicon, Health Ministry says. Dubai: The Ministry of Health yesterday advised doctors and hospitals against using silicon breast implants made by a French company which reportedly leak and cause cancer.

A senior official said the advice is a precautionary measure since the implants are not available in the UAE as they are not registered with the Ministry. But he said the advice is if they have been imported here "through other means". This is believed to refer to industrial silicon products not subject to the high quality standards normally required for medical products and thus avoiding meeting the high quality standards. This may remind followers of the pro fluoride shenanigins that the allegedly "safe and effective " monosodium fluoride, used in toothpastes and other dental products that this is very different from the toxic waste which supposedly helps prevent tooth decay when its added to drinking water supplies. this is a fine example of the dangers which can result from failure to maintain standards when corners are cut to save money. And this is a good way of allowing a misunderstanding to cloak deliberate misbehaviour and cover a multitude of sins and as a result allow the majority of people to continue to live in ignorance of the true state of affairs.

Precedent-Setting Fluoride Personal Injury Case Filed

2011-09-21T20:57:00.000-07:00

~~EXCELLENT NEWS FROM GEORGE GLASSER~~

~~Precedent-Setting Fluoride Personal Injury Case Filed~~

~~Dental Fluorosis Complaint Is First In an Expected Flood of Public & Private Sector Claims~~

Ellijay, GA – Dental industry representatives have long fretted in their professional journals that fluoride providers could one day face legal actions for harm caused by ingested fluorides.The fear was that the citizens with a permanent staining and disfigurement of teeth called "dental fluorosis" would bring legal actions upon learning that fluorides they had swallowed had caused the damage to their teeth.

Now, after this year’s admission by federal officials that fluorides are causing increasing amounts of fluorosis, an era of fluoride personal injury and toxic tort litigation appears poised to begin with the recent filing of a precedent-setting case in the Federal District Court in Maryland.The legal action was filed against corporate giants Nestle USA Inc., Nestle Waters North America, Inc., and Gerber Products Company on behalf of a teenage girl with multiple permanent teeth disfigured by dental fluorosis.

The complaint notes that as a baby and young child, around 90% of the water the girl consumed was fluoridated bottled water sold by the Nestle defendants. The girl’s parents had purchased the water based on its advertised dental benefit for children.According to the lead attorney on the case, Washington D.C.-based Chris Nidel, the young woman’s family now faces significant costs for damage-covering dental veneers.The financial impact of the teen’s fluorosis is even greater over the long term. The veneers will need to be replaced four or five times, resulting in a lifetime potential cost of more than $100,000 in dental expenses.

Attorney Nidel points to a photo of his client’s teeth. "In this case, a photo really is worth a thousand words," he states. "The water providers had a responsibility to warn their customers about fluorosis, but they did not."He says the girl’s mother told him, "I thought I was doing the right thing for my daughter when she was a child, by giving her bottled water that contained fluoride. Her teeth have now been permanently damaged by fluorosis. She is extremely self-conscious about her smile. Her friends ask her about her teeth. And now we’re faced with extensive cosmetic restorations. It’s not simple, and it’s expensive."

Seeking compensation for the teen’s teeth damage and its impacts, the complaint lists counts of strict liability, negligence, breach of implied warranty, fraud, and negligent infliction of emotional distress.Public health professional Daniel G. Stockin of The Lillie Center Inc., a firm working to end water fluoridation, says, "I believe water utilities will note that the bottled waters that are the focus of this complaint contained around 0.8 parts per million of fluoride, which is right near the amount that public utilities add to their water. We know that millions of people have dental fluorosis, and that minority populations are disproportionately harmed by it. People are not being openly told what fluorosis really is or how it can impact their lives. I think it will be very interesting to see the revelations that come out now, as fluoride product sellers and fluoridated water endorsers begin to be placed under oath in all sorts of fluoride-related legal actions."

Stockin adds, "There were also warnings in dental and other publications that fluorides could potentially cause bone disorders, kidney harm, and thyroid impairment. I believe we’ll quickly see fluoride lawsuits grow way beyond fluorosis cases."Attorney Nidel says, "We’re at the beginning of what looks to be an absolutely enormous wave of new fluoride litigation. There are so many harmed teenagers with fluorosis. We have the government’s own data to prove that. Potentially millions with fluorosis will want to talk to an attorney, and believe me, plaintiff attorneys and the plaintiffs’ bar are beginning to educate themselves about all this."

"The National Research Council’s 2006 fluoride report raised concerns about possible harm that goes well beyond dental fluorosis," he continues. "It appears that millions of kidney patients and diabetics were not told about their increased susceptibility to harm from fluorides by their water providers or healthcare professionals," he says.

~~Reference Links / Sources:~~

* Full text of filed complaint and client teeth photo: see two links at: ~~http://www.nidellaw.com/blog/?p=66~~

* Example of dental journal discussing potential litigation related to fluorosis: "It is only a matter of time until a case is brought that gets public attention. The risk is that noticeable fluorosis will be perceived by the public as a toxic consequence of fluoride ingestion – which, arguably, it is (57) – and there will be a reaction against all uses of fluoride…" Riordan, PJ: Fluoride supplements for young children: an analysis of the literature focusing on benefits and risks. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 1999; 27: p.81.

* Other photos of dental fluorosis: ~~www.SpotsOnMyTeeth.com~~ ; ~~www.fluoridealert.org~~

* CDC’s data showing minorities with disproportionate amounts of dental fluorosis (see table 23): ~~http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/ss/ss5403.pdf~~

* National Research Council report on fluorides: see "Susceptible Subpopulations section" pp. 350-51:

~~http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11571&page=350~~ ~~& "sensitive populations" info, p. 30:~~ ~~http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11571&page=30~~

* EPA and HHS press release on lowered fluoride level in water in response to increase in dental fluorosis: ~~http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2011pres/01/20110107a.html~~

~~NEWS RELEASE CONTACT:~~

~~Daniel G. Stockin, MPH The Lillie Center, Inc. P.O. Box 839 Ellijay GA 30540~~

~~Ph: 706-669-0786 email:~~ ~~stockin2@yahoo.com~~ ~~web:~~ ~~http://www.SpotsOnMyTeeth.com~~

~~==================================================================~~

Hi Brian, Thanks for a wonderful newsletter, Hope now that this is truly the beginning of the end for that TOXIC MUCK, I dont even like saying the name, in this and all other countries in the world, Thanks again for all your and other peoples efforts to make our wishes come true,

~~Frank, Wigan.~~

It may not yet be the end but yes the beginning of the end is mofe likely. and we must keep an eye on smaller and third world countries. Like Tobacco, those who market fluoride will extend their market to any nation gullible enought to spread their lies.

~~Brian Jackson~~

Flouridation axe pleases Greens
The Bolton News
"People can use fluoride toothpaste if they want. The real problem is a lack of NHS dentists." The aim of fluoridation is to strengthen people's teeth and its implementation in the North West would have cost £200 million over six years. ...
See all stories on this topic »

~~D. Mail 17.9.11 "PAEDIOPHILE’S PARK BAN LIFTED BY JUDGE BECAUSE OF HIS HUMAN RIGHT TO KEEP FIT" (By~~ ~~j.narain@dailymail.co.uk~~)

A convicted paediophile banned from a local park because of a horrific attack on a boy, has been allowed back to the park because Judge Woolman said he has a human right to keep fit. Williams of Carlisle had appealed at Hyndburn Magistrates’ Court against the ban, claiming he had health problems & needed regular exercise. Professionals said "…They mention his human rights, but the welfare of children is paramount in English law, so we fail to understand how the court could overwrite the Children Act 1989.."

(My comment: it’s interesting that the Children Act can be overridden because of his human right to exercise. Could the fluoridation act be overridden because of a person’s human right not to have their health damaged by fluoride? Maybe this case could be used as a precident.

~~Ann~~

~~DELAYED IS GOOD BUT ONLY CANCELLED WILL SUFFICE!~~

North West Fluoride Plans Delayed
Cosmetic Dentistry Guide (press release)
NHS North West, which is due to be abolished in the near future, assessed the cost of a fluoridation scheme between 2008 and 2009 and came to the conclusion that the scheme would be too expensive. There were also concerns about the management of the ...
See all stories on this topic »

North West health authority pours cold water on fluoride scheme
Lancashire Telegraph
By Neil Docking » Reporter NHS North West said it was too expensive and time-consuming to pursue a programme of fluoridation or consultation exercise. The strategic health authority assessed the feasibility and affordability of a regional scheme from ...
See all stories on this topic »

Southampton City Council votes against water fluoridation ...
The decision as to whether to fluoridate water in Southampton is up to the South Central Strategic Health Authority who decided in a unanimous vote that "the ...
en.wikinews.org/.../Southampton_City_Council_votes_against...

~~BUSINESS AS USUAL FOR ANDREW LANSLEY~~

the tap: Fluoridation To Be Ordained By Andrew Lansley Secretary ...
As soon as this new Bill comes into effect, it will pass the decision of 'water fluoridation' to local authorities, such as county or district councils, since they have to ...
the-tap.blogspot.com/.../fluoridation-to-be-ordained-by-andre...

MANY DENTISTS STILL LIVING IN THE PAST == RACHELS STORY

2011-09-15T06:55:00.000-07:00

NO FLUORIDATION IN THE NORTH WEST AND MAYBE ALSO SOUTHAMPTON

2011-09-14T10:59:00.000-07:00

FLUORIDE CAMPAIGN

NEWSLETTER

14th SEPTEMBER, 2011

UNITED KINGDOM

FRIENDS OF THE EARTH welcomes and joins the call to cancel fluoridation for the Southampton and Hampshire areas following on from the admission that fluoridating water in Manchester and the North West is now deemed to be too expensive.

Of course the DoH has not mentioned that its also illegal, and contravenes both medical ethics and human rights legislation. (civil servants and Government Ministers are not Doctors and cannot legally prescribe to individuals let alone entire populations)

Friends of the Earth and associated groups call for the total abandonment of all existing fluoride schemes in the UK, most notably, Birmingham, Coventry, West Cumbria, Newcastle , North Tyneside and Gateshead as well as pockets of fluoridated water in several other areas caused by the eccentricities of the pipe network. This cessation should also include any proposed schemes such as Yorkshire and Teeside. We believe that there is no place or reason for fluoride in the food chain and we need tighter controls over emissions of fluoride from industrial processes. Furthermore we may also need adjustment downards of levels of naturally occuring (but still dangerous fluoride in areas already containing levels of fluoride in excess of the latest US recommendation of 0.7 parts per million.
Civil Servants at the Department of Health (sic) should be reprimanded for promoting fluoride and leading Politicians of all parties by the nose.

At a time when the entire country, not just the NHS is in serious financial difficulties, utilising £400K of the taxpayers money to fight the taxpayers of Southampton who called for a Judicial Review which they would probably never have won without this disgraceful injection of cash.from the public purse. Its little wonder that the NHS is in such financial straightts and badly in need of change when such feeble, undemocratic and wasteful procedures are persued with impunity. Shame on the civil servants at the DOH, and we call on MPs currently debating the Health and Social Care bill to carefully scrutinize the way NHS money is being squandered in order to force contaminated water down the publics throats despite overwhelming and vociferous public opposition.
If individuals really do wish to have fluoride, let doctors and dentists, recommend topical rather than systemic applications of fluoride via toothpaste rather than a pointless and dangerous and unmeasured indiscriminate dosing of the entire population and the natural environment.

Some civil servants have clearly been at it too long and I Suggest they are well passed their Sell-By date. Parliament should take notice of the way that their laws have been unfairly and undemocratically influenced by these grey nonentities amongst the mandarins. MPs and Minister must reclaim democracy on behalf of the people. After all, this is what they were elected for. Mandarins are not elected at all. Nuff Said?

EXCELLENT CAMPAIGNING IN AUSTIN TEXAS -- VIDEO

2011-09-05T08:06:00.000-07:00

HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE BILL

2011-09-04T09:25:00.000-07:00

FRIENDS OF THE EARTH, FLUORIDE NEWSLETTER, 4TH SEPTEMBER 2011Sunday

FRIENDS OF THE EARTH, FLUORIDE NEWSLETTER, 4TH SEPTEMBER 2011Sunday, 4
　
A New Sense of Urgency .... HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE BILL
PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE NEXT WEEK. After very many years of active and detailed campaigning against fluoridation, there have recently been some slight signs of commonsense and improvement particularly in the USA where many towns are rejecting and pulling out of fluoridating their water supplies. In addition the US Center for Disease Control (CDC) has reduced the ・recommended・ maximum levels for fluoride in water supplies. I would go much further than this and agree with Dr Griffin Cole, a dentist in Austin, Texas, who said in response, "I still don't think it's enough, honestly, I don't think there should be fluoride in the water at all. As a veteran FoE water and toxics campaigner, I strongly believe that fluoride in all its forms and combinations, should be kept well clear of the food chain for humans and animals. I make little distinction between the so-called "naturally occuring" fluoride or the even worse industrial waste so beloved of water companies. Fluoride is in our food and drink both accidentally and on purpose and is now coming at us from all directions such as water, milk, salt, processed foods etc. Indeed if this muck can eat its way through glass should not its most avid proponents amongst private dentists and the usual suspects at the Department of Health spend some quality time on the couch of Mr Sigmund Freud?"
The latest UK Government fluoride proposals are rapidly becoming what could be called a 'Hard Hat' area. The USA spear-headed and promoted fluoride in the USA and across the world and the UK Gov., as usual, has eagerly supported the idea in the UK. Some great ideas have come from the USA, but, sadly this is not one of them. Perhaps it's now well past the time for the UK Gov. to call a complete halt to all future plans to fluoridate in the UK and call a halt to existing schemes in the West Midlands and the North East. There is no point in arguing the toss with them over the hotly disputed science and medical qualities and values. Even a cursory look at fluoride leads us to rule it out as a useful medical product and bearing in mind the Precautionary Principle, take much greater care with all other industrial and technological uses of this stuff. We could go on rearranging the deck-chairs on the Titanic for ever-and-a-day but this is a total waste of time. Governments don't actually make many useful decisions: they are usually made by high-ranking and apparently quasi-immortal civil servants who are not democratically elected but who are merely appointed, and once appointed seem to become eternal. Even Margaret Thatcher occasionally said something sensible and, in particular, once remarked that ・advisers advise and ministers decide.・ Many civil servants, however, seem to think that they should make the decisions as well. In a situation where MPs and Ministers think they are elected to rule rather than to serve by representing the views and opinions of the electorate, it's about time that Civil Servants in the Department of Health realised that they dwell much further down the food chain.
Clearly they need to be made to remember that the unelected members of our government possess even fewer privileges than their political bosses and can be called on to give testimony to 'M'learned friends'. It is only then that proper expert scientific and medical opinion can be placed before the Courts so that a well-informed verdict and policy can be determined. The tiny number of scientifically trained MPs can be counted on one or two fingers so it's not surprising that our scientific discourse has fallen on deaf ears. The fact is they just don't understand the importance or significance of this evidence, and in some cases, may simply not even care. The Department of Health's civil servants listen only to their favourite and trusted lobbyists and advise Ministers accordingly. No wonder the NHS is such an unhappy place nowadays;
Dame Sally Davies, the Government's leading advisor, has just now criticised medical staff in the NHS, calling them "selfish・ because many of the staff had not taken her advice to get the swine flu jab. Perhaps this is because they, like many others, had little faith in the judgement of the said Dame and probably like me, they would rather listen to the advice of medical professionals whom they could trust rather than to the advice of politicians and their appointees, no matter how elevated they may be. When the recommended medication may be full of fluoride or mercury, perhaps this is not so surprising.
The time for legal challenges may now be drawing closer. It has dawned on many that despite the scientific and medical tennis and attempts to reinvent the wheel over facts and figures of fluoride and its effects, the only figures that ultimately matter are the number of votes received for the various MPs and their parties. This is just one of the reasons why many of us are eager for voting reform and voted for change in the referendum which the main political parties spent so much time and money on destroying. We need a far more representative lower house which is truly representative and not stuffed with the usual 'yes men' and cronies.
Now you can read underneath just how dishonest and clannish the politicians really are. Before the last election, as many of you know, MPs and leaders of all the parties were lobbied and polled by FoE Members, This included Clegg, Cameron, Brown et al. They assured us that there would be no compulsion over fluoride against public wishes. Suddenly we learn that once the new Health and Social Care Bill becomes an Act after a hurried debate next week, the parachuting in of fluoride henchmen from the PCTs and SHAs will ensure that unwilling anti-fluoridation Councils will toe the Department of Health line. The most galling part of this is that the cost of this exercise in the further erosion of democracy will be paid for by all of us, via our Council Tax. As this tax cannot be increased, if Cameron is to be believed, some other Council services will have to be axed to pay for it. The cost of this is believed to run into hundreds of millions of pounds. In short, as per usual, Undemocratic, Unethical, Unacceptable and Illegal. No wonder, as one comic remarked, ... "nappies and politicians should be changed frequently.".... and for the same reason.
Brian Jackson
Pendle Friends of the Earth
Fluoride Campaign
01282 860985PS.
Dont give up act now. Phone your MP at his constituency office or buy calling the House of Commons on 0207-219 3000. Ask the switchboard for your MPs office and either talk to him or her or their assistant and if they are not in the office, Leave a message on their ansafone with your number and contact details and ask them to call you back. Remember they do work for you if you force their hand.
You can also call your local councillors especially those on the exec commitee or scrutiny committee, Explain the urgency of recent developments and remind them that they are likly to be sidelined by the Government and have to further cut services to make up even greater Council Tax cuts. You can also remind your councillors that unlike water companies, they may not be insurable against damage or accidents caused by fluoridation. You should also advise your local press and media about the local implications of the New Government Home and Social Care Bill.
Finally there is a guide to making more effective Press Releases for your group or organisation. The template shown is of course for Friends of the Earth but the tips shown apply to anyone trying to make an easy to read Press Release. You can find the information at this link.... http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/how_tos/cyw_64_press_release.pdf
Brian Jackson
Pendle FoE
01282-860985
FROM JONATHAN EYRE
LEEDS FRIENDS OF THE EARTH

Dear Greg Mulholland MP

Greg, thank you for the letter you wrote to Yorkshire Water on my behalf regarding Fluoridation of the regions drinking water.

Things have therefore gone up a notch, and NEXT week Parliament will be debating a bill 'The Health and Social Care Bill' which effectively change everything, putting a Government hack in all Councils to secure fluoridation of all our drinking water with the demise of the Strategic Health Authorities!

Doug Cross of United Kingdom Councils Against Fluoridation (UKCAF) http://www.ukcaf.org/index.html has worked very hard reading the 460 pages of the Bill before working on his professional assessment which is attached to this email.

I advise you and your team to read this attachment through as a matter of urgency. The apparent changes to how Fluoridation will be rolled out is worrying and of grave importance.

As I am sure you are aware, any medical treatment should only be given with consent, should be appropriate for the individual and for their underlying health condition and should have a set limit on the dosage they receive. Dilution of Fluoride compounds into drinking water allow individuals to receive varying amounts of the toxic substance depending on the amount of water they drink, and their size and age and with NO reference to their underlying health condition!

Fluoridation is an attack on all Individuals rights and their health status!

I would hope that you will oppose the sections in the Health Bill next week that relate to Fluoridation of the Public water supply, and perhaps could also ask some questions about this to the Government Ministers, such as
・E 'why is Fluoridation put into this Health bill, it seems out of place here being the only medical intervention covered in considerable operational detail'
・E 'will the Government extend the protection of prosecution extended to all water companies (in the 2003 Water Act) to all Council's, as this would seem to place Councillors under legal threat of encouraging the medication of the public with a non-registered medical drug (Fluoride) and against their will'
・E 'what cost is estimated for the forced medication of public drinking water by the Government, and will the Government meet this cost fully to all Councils?'
・E 'will local authorises be entitled to increase council tax to pay for this medication of the public practise above any Government set tax threshold, if not how will authorities afford to pay for this?
　
　
FROM LIZ VAUGHAN AT UKCAF
URGENT
The issue of water fluoridation included in the 'Health and Social Care Bill due to be debated in the House of Commons on Sept 6th and 7th as soon as Parliament returns hence the urgent nature of this email.We have studied this Bill very carefully and its implications for councils. Please circulate to your councillors and officials as soon as possible. 1 We are advising councils to seek a Judical Review about the incompatibility of fluoridation provisions in the Bill with European and English law on medicines, food and protection of human rights
2. The Bill will force councils to employ the NHS Directors of public health, who are all known advocates of fluoridation. These will be required to force councils to implement Government public health policies regardless of public opposition.
3. Fluoridation always causes substantial damage to children. Councils will be required to repay the cost of fluoridation projects to the Secretary of State from their own income, meaning that the public will be paying for the privilage of poisoning their children
4. We have checked with the head of local government insurance at Zurich and this cannot come under normal council insurance and would be seen as an uninsursable 'foreseeable risk'.
. .
We have contacted the LGA to ensure that councils are protected from excessive or unlawful government policies they need to consider urgently the implications of this Bill both for member councils and the wider public for whom they are responsible.
We have had a long and successful experience of working with councils on fluoridation issues What we think people should do besides protest to their local councillor and make sure their MP is very aware of their opinions and feelings before Tuesday Sept 6th.is to also ensure their local media are aware that this is happening next week. Doug has worked very hard reading the 460 pages of the Bill before working on his professional assessment which is attached to this email.
If you have a website please put all of this on your site so everyone is aware that the fluoride pushers and their trade union the BDA have managed to convince Government of the need to fluoridate.
Yours sincerely,
Cllr Liz Vaughan UKCAF.
　
URGENT
The issue of water fluoridation included in the 'Health and Social Care Bill due to be debated in the House of Commons on Sept 6th and 7th as soon as Parliament returns hence the urgent nature of this email.We have studied this Bill very carefully and its implications for councils. Please circulate to your councillors and officials as soon as possible.
1 We are advising councils to seek a Judical Review about the incompatibility of fluoridation provisions in the Bill with European and English law on medicines, food and protection of human rights
2. The Bill will force councils to employ the NHS Directors of public health, who are all known advocates of fluoridation. These will be required to force councils to implement Government public health policies regardless of public opposition.
3. Fluoridation always causes substantial damage to children. Councils will be required to repay the cost of fluoridation projects to the Secretary of State from their own income, meaning that the public will be paying for the privilage of poisoning their children
4. We have checked with the head of local government insurance at Zurich and this cannot come under normal council insurance and would be seen as an uninsursable 'foreseeable risk'.
. .
We have contacted the LGA to ensure that councils are protected from excessive or unlawful government policies they need to consider urgently the implications of this Bill both for member councils and the wider public for whom they are responsible.
We have had a long and successful experience of working with councils on fluoridation issues What we think people should do besides protest to their local councillor and make sure their MP is very aware of their opinions and feelings before Tuesday Sept 6th.is to also ensure their local media are aware that this is happening next week. Doug has worked very hard reading the 460 pages of the Bill before working on his professional assessment which is attached to this email.
If you have a website please put all of this on your site so everyone is aware that the fluoride pushers and their trade union the BDA have managed to convince Government of the need to fluoridate.
Yours sincerely,
Cllr Liz Vaughan UKCAF. 　
From:
"Joy Warren" <wmaf@live.co.uk>Add sender to Contacts
To:
"Brian Jackson" <brianjackson77@btinternet.com>

A really useful database - right-hand pane
http://www.epa.gov/ncct/toxcast/files/summit/48P%20Mundy%20TDAS.pdfJoy
FOI REQUEST FROM JOY WARREN
1a. Is the DH aware of the database maintained by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the US: HYPERLINK "http://www.epa.gov/ncct/toxcast/files/summit/48P%20Mundy%20TDAS.pdf" http://www.epa.gov/ncct/toxcast/files/summit/48P%20Mundy%20TDAS.pdf
Fluoride is listed as a developmental neurotoxin in the middle column of the right-hand-pane.
1b. What steps have been taken to add fluoride to similar databases in the UK?
1c. If no steps have been taken, why not?
2a. Is the DH aware of the ARCPOH statistics received by the Australian Government relating to dental decay in Australia collected during 2003 which shows that fluoridated Australian children experience a delay in tooth eruption due to the presence of fluoride in their water and food? Fluoride-induced delayed eruption of teeth has been supported by research by Komarek et al. in 2005. (A Bayesian analysis of multivariate doubly-interval-censored dental data. Biostatistics (2005), 6, 1, pp. 145–155 doi: 10.1093/biostatistics/kxh023 )
2b. If the DH is aware of these statistics and Komarek’s research, please explain why the DH has chosen to ignore the serious implications of fluoride causing a delay in children’s dental development.
2c. Since fluoride is a developmental neurotoxin, please also explain why the DH has failed to realise that delayed eruption of teeth also means disruption to other physical development.
3a. Is the DH aware that the Centers for Disease Control in the US has recommended that the concentration of fluoride in public drinking water be reduced to 0.7ppm?
3b. If the DH is aware, what steps has the DH taken to follow suite?
3c. If no steps have been taken, why not?
4a. Is the DH aware that the reason why the CDC has recommended a reduction in concentration of fluoride is because more than 40% of people born after water fluoridation began in the US have dental fluorosis. Instead of regarding dental fluorosis as being a cosmetic issue, the US Government Department has noted that dental fluorosis is undesirable and has accordingly recommended a reduction in the concentration of fluoride. Likewise, The Republic of Ireland and Hong Kong have reduced the concentration of fluoride.
4b. Why has the DH not told the Secretary of State that a downward variation in fluoride concentration is advisable?
5a. Why has the DH refused to acknowledge research (mainly from China) which points to a reduction in intelligence in communities where drinking water contains natural calcium fluoride? (Note that the Newcastle University research (Maguire et al (2005). Bioavailability of Fluoride in Drinking Water: A Human Experimental Study, J. Dent RES 2005:84; 989) showed that both artificial and natural fluoride are equally bio-available.)
5b. Even if the DH dismisses the validity of Chinese research, please explain why the DH has failed to apply the Precautionary Principle.
6a. Fluoride crosses the placenta so that the unborn child is poisoned with a developmental neurotoxin. Please explain why the DH recommends that pregnant women refrain from alcohol and cigarettes prior to and during pregnancy but has failed to advise them to refrain from drinking and eating fluoride.
I look forward to receiving a full reply and hope that you will observe the statutory 20 working days condition.

UK Against Fluoridation: Southampton fluoride meeting with Prof ...
Southampton fluoride meeting with Prof Connett. A public talk and question time with one of the world's leading experts on fluoridation Professor Paul Connett ...
ukagainstfluoride.blogspot.com/.../southampton-fluoride-meet...

2011-09-02T04:27:00.001-07:00

Water Fluoridation by the back door -

Council Tax to pay for poisoned water

Local Authorities in England are about to be dragged into a minefield of public anger and litigation over the controversial practice of water fluoridation. Environmental analyst Doug Cross is warning Councils that in the coming months they will be dragged into a storm of protests from the public that will dwarf all past battles over the dental profession’s irrational obsession with fluoride.

The dental profession has long wanted to force Councils to support this discredited practice, that a recent European Commission Scientific Committee has damned as 'A crude measure of systemic fluoride treatment . . . without a detectable threshold for dental and bone damage’.

If the Health and Social Care Bill due to be nodded through Parliament next week is approved, then promoters of fluoridation will at last have convinced a gullible Parliament to force Councils to pander to their senseless fixation. Dentists claim to this is a legitimate public health trade-off, but Doug argues that there can be no justification for compulsory medication that damages many children for life, on the spurious pretext that it might reduce tooth decay in a few.

Regardless of the public’s overwhelming rejection of fluoridation, the government appears determined to force this bill through Parliament, obliging Councils to take responsibility for this deeply resented practice. Cross is calling for Councils to collaborate on mounting a Judicial Review of all fluoridation legislation in the UK. He claims that it is incompatible with both EC and the English legislation on medicinal products and food. He says that the disfiguration caused by dental fluorosis amounts to degrading treatment, and is in violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

If he is right, then a Court decision supporting his challenge here in the UK would have enormous influence in the world-wide movement to abolish what he describes as ‘State-sponsored child abuse’.

His call to Councils for action can be downloaded from

http://www.xproexperts.co.uk/expertarticles/3422-1314877370_Fluoridation,%20Health%20and%20Social%20Care%20Bill,%20and%20Councils..pdf

Doug has written widely on the incompatibilities of fluoridation law with the principles of medicinal law, medical ethics and human rights, and his analyses are available from

http://www.ukcaf.org/commentaries.html

Note for Editors

Doug is a Director of UK Councils Against Fluoridation Ltd, a not-for-profit company providing information and advice to Local Authorities in the UK, Australia, Canada, and the USA. UKCAF was founded by his partner, professional artist Liz Vaughan, in 1988, and has been a leading influence with councils in preventing the imposition of fluoridation in the North West and Northern Ireland. At present around 74 Councils are affiliated to UKCAF.

Doug has a long record of international successes as a senior Environmental Analyst and Mission Leader for International Development Agencies and Consultancy consortia. For the past ten years he has been a member of the Lowermoor Sub-Group of the government’s Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (CoT), investigating the effects of the 1988 Camelford Poisoning, in which the water supply to 20,000 people in North Cornwall was contaminated by aluminium sulphate. He has campaigned for the recognition of the need for appropriate medical monitoring of the North Cornwall community for the past 23 years. He was elected as a Fellow of the Society of Biology in December 2009.

Doug Cross

Address for contact - Croft End, Lowick Bridge, Ulverston, Cumbria LA12 8EE

Tel 01229 885420

Email doug@ukcaf.org

THE FIRST 1,000 DAYS

2011-08-17T09:22:00.000-07:00

The First Thousand Days was the title of an excellent BBC Radio Four programme which looked at the effects of the environment and Diet on infants and their development. The seeds of illnesses are apparently planted and nurtured both in the womb and during infant development which may not show for many decades.

Dr Mark Porter talks

ed to the scientists who now believe that this 'lifecourse' approach, will find the cause of many adult diseases. "Chronic disease is going up in leaps and bounds, this is not a genetic change" says Kent Thornburg, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine in Oregon, America "it's because the environment in the womb is getting worse. We know now that the first 1000 days of life is the most sensitive period for determining lifelong health'. Our diet and environment are undoubtedly increasingly full of crap and toxins and this toxic cocktail of influences.

Fluoride is undoubtedly one of the most toxic of chemicals and just as breast milk appears to filter out a great deal of fluoride, then the placenta should also be shielded from as much fluoride as it can. The effects of such chemicals may not show fully untill the adults 50s or 60s. Of course if an adult leads a moderate lifestyle he or she may still live to a good age but continuing to take dangerous chemicals into the adult system can only do yet more damage. Of course if adults choose to take fluoride, that is their business but infants and young people are not given such choices or properly educated about the real dangers of fluoride. It seems like only common sense to me that expectent mothers and fathers, and infants should steer well clear of these poisons. Fluorides, whether naturally occuring or manufactured as the result of various industrial processes are both poisonous and they should have no place in the human diet, rather than wasting money on this dangerous. unethical and illegal poisoning of people adding fluorides to people should be replaced by spending money on removing such chemicals at source.

YOU WANT DEMOCRACY ? THEN VOTE YES FOR AV AND PR

2011-04-20T03:38:00.000-07:00

YOU WANT DEMOCRACY ? THEN VOTE YES FOR AV AND PR

The "NO" vote campaign is yet another disgraceful attempt by the two main parties and their paymasters, to cling on to power. We really need Proportional Representation and though not perfect a YES vote to AV is a major step in the right direction. No simply allows MPs and political manipulators to carry on with business as usual, ie. bad lawmaking and poor debate. together with the usual fiddles and scams and cronyism. . Yes to AV on May 5th and full PR at the next General Election will not endanger democracy, it will strengthen it. We cannot lecture and dictate to other countries when we dont even have democracy here. Jonathan Eyre on his facebook page also makes it pretty clear.

"AV, it's just too difficult to understand, therefore vote No?!!, yeah, like don't worry your poor little heads about the Environment, industrial pollution and its chemistry and how it affects animals, aquatic life, humans; like the Economy,... like it's best left to those who know and make profit from you and drop you in the shit; like the NHS, its soo complicated that its too hard for us to defend?

We are living in a time of 3 debts, the Economy, The Environment, and Fossil fuels. Vote yes to Britain’s natural progressive majority, Vote Yes for AV "

THE FLUORIDE FAIRGROUND

2011-03-12T09:24:00.000-08:00

Roll up, roll up, for the Fabulous Fluoride Fairground! Once you visit this crazy carnival, and allow Health Minister Andrew Lansley's Departmental roustabouts to put you on the fluoride merry-go-round, you won't be able to get off! So here's the inside story on the crazy experimental fluoridation circus they want your kids to join.

Suppose fluoridation starts in Southampton by the end of this year. If http://www.ukcaf.org/your kids are under around seven years old, up to half of them will probably get fluorosis by the time they are about twelve. But you won't know if they are going to get fluoride-damaged teeth for at least another five years, and more if they're younger. The fluoride pushers' sickening 'experiment' won't come up with any results for at least that long, but when the results do start to roll in, it'll be too late for you to pull your kids out.

Even if the Health Police do decide to stop fluoridating when they see the results (and how likely is that?), your new-born infants could develop fluorosis as teenagers until at least 2030, as yet more of your little 'guinea pigs' are fed into the mindless research machine until it eventually grinds to a halt.

Of course, the Health Police will deny that it's all down to them, and will want yet more 'research', until they at last forced to admit that, once again, there really is a problem with fluoridation, and finally shut down their obscene experiment. But that will still take another ten years - after all, reseach grants could be at risk, and we can't have that, can we?

Once you get on the fluorosis merry-go-round, you can't get off it until it stops, and that won't be until 2030 at the earliest. And if you get dragged onto the lethal bone cancer roundabout spinning alongside in this Alice-in-Wonderland fantasy fairground of excruciating experimentation, that one doesn't stop until 2040! More realistically, because this is a rare disease, the lunatics will demand even more 'research' before they're convinced. So Southampton's boy children will not be certain that they're finally clear until around the middle of the century.

Once you visit the Fluoridation Fairground, you're locked in. You'll be whirled around for at least twenty years, waiting for your kids' teeth to go brown. But if you've got young boys in the family, you'll be put onto the bone cancer one as well, and that will spin you along on a 40 year ride!

Is that what they really mean when they claim that fluoridation is 'cost-effective'? Just walk through the gate and you can stay as long as you like!

Doug Cross

DONT GIVE FLUORIDE TO YOUR DOG, GIVE IT TO YOUR CHILDREN.

2011-03-12T06:56:00.000-08:00

Whilst watching Crufts Dog Show on More Four TV to catch up on my friend who is entering a couple of dogs there, I was heartened to hear a training and welfare expert, whilst demonstrating the cleaning of dogs teeth. Perhaps not unsurprisingly, say that it was essential to use only toothpaste containing no fluoride. So here we have something not fit for a dog which is nevertheless highly recommended by brain donees in the BDA et al for your children. How can numptys like this hold such positions of authority. I think i would rather take advice on health from a couple of stand up comedians. Now before you say, lots of dentists and so-called health pros, clearly are stand up comedians I can only counter by saying they are sadly far from the best of humourists. Perhaps we should go to Frankie Boyle for a check up. I think we should be told.

NEW VIDEO -- THE FLUORIDE DECEPTION

2011-03-08T08:20:00.000-08:00

HOW DO YOU CAMPAIGN IN A BORED AND BOURGOISE TOWN ?

2011-02-17T09:24:00.000-08:00

It doesn't get any easier campaigning on fluoride. There was a time when friends of the earth could call up a local paper or radio station, outline a pollution issue or a new campaign and in no time at all there was an article in the paper or you were on the phone doing a down the line interview or even doing it live. Now there are fewer and fewer investigative journalists and those who still remain have more than enough to do.

BBC Local radio stations were once a vital component of any Friends of the Earth campaigners strategy and more than willing to involve themselves or invite you into the studio as an expert witness. Since Jonathan Ross and his cohorts did so much damage to the BBC with their ill advised and childishly obscene prank phone calls, ordinary presenters are no longer trusted. Consequently, what was once a virtually free or at least very low cost hours programming now has to have a couple of trusted producers and costs a couple of thousand quid. Sad Sad Sad.

Even Friends of the Earth have not always helped. Since the loss of people like Andrew Lees and his team in London, FoE have increasingly become a centralised organisation. Formerly local groups campaigned mostly on local issues some of which grew organically and even became national or even international campaigns with wide networks. Now with Underwood Streets apparent fixation with Carbon Emissions, lots of local campaiging groups find getting their message out increasingly difficult.

I would be the last person to say that human created carbon emissions are not important, but so are a lot of other pollution issues which dont seem to even get a look int any more. Chlorine is used with gay abandon, petrol engines are replaced with small diesel engines, which were wrongly believed to be less polluting as they didnt emit benzine but meanwhile Nox and Sox go through the roof in many areas, and even here in Pendle.

Amidst all this gloom there are at least SOME blessings. The internet and its communications media such as Messenger and Skype do afford the opportunity to reach many people quickly and cheaply and facilitate sharing of information, documents, and audio/video media. Mobile phones text messaging have evolved into a plague of Twitterers and no one is anyone who hasnt got a Facebook account (and probably lots of spam Junk Mail and computer viruses. Personally i preferring blogging which at least gives enough space to cover all the angles without interference or the constant need to add "friends" and other detritus to an already crowded schedule. ........................ TBC.

FLUORIDE -- COSMETIC EFFECTS

2011-02-09T08:06:00.000-08:00

Rupert Murdoch admits to being thousands of years out of date.

2011-01-16T18:55:00.000-08:00

UNITED FUTILITIES AND FLUORIDATION.

2010-10-05T05:47:00.000-07:00

I can only sympathise with anyone who has tried to talk to United Utilities Water (it used to be called North West Water until it discovered the financial delights of going Global) If you visit their web site and try any contact numbers you will of course get a Call Centre. Its even worse than it sounds however, The call centre is completely obsessed with Accounts and Billing to the exclusion of practically all else. Even if i phoned in to warn them of a bomb alert, i would suggest they would still ask me for an account number. After I had finally managed to talk to a human, i found that other than being obsessed with Post or Zip Codes there was no access access whatsoever to any technical or scientific staff.

Its been heading in this direction for years and United utilities is by no means alone but in recent timess they have became totally inaccible. After eight days of trying to get a mildly technicl answer,having named the issue and the officer in charge I finally saw red and contacted the Consumer council for water and made an official complaint. This was my first effective decision. The consumer council were very good and within 48 hours both then and and a representative from UU had written to me. Sadly however it wsa soon back to normal. I am at the time of writing still waiting to hear from United Utilities to actually hear a technical response to me question.

WAKE UP uu SOME OF US DO ACTUALLY HAVE OTHER THINGS TO DO.

BOY WHO SWALLOWED COCKROACH POISON TURNED AWAY FROM LOCAL HOSPITAL BECAUSE IT WAS DUE TO CLOSE FOR THE NIGHT.

2010-09-13T23:34:00.000-07:00

One of my regualr correspondents on the continent, sends me an interesting report from the Daily Mail 12.9.2010

The parents of 3 year old Todd Thomas of Chepstow were directed to a hospital an hours dive away after he sprayed some cockroach poison in his mouth.

Before they reached the hospital he started suffering blisters in his mouth and vomiting. The symptoms mostly subsided after a few days.

My comments: .......

Cockroach poison is documented to contain fluoride and the symptoms Todd suffered, burns and vomiting are exactly those of cases reported from poison units worldwide after fluoride poisoning. The article does not mention what chemicals were in the pesticide of course.

Edward

FLUORIDATION -- THE FIRST BROKEN PROMISE OF THE COALITION GOVERNMENT

2010-08-22T05:53:00.000-07:00

Fluoride: 'Tell us what is happening'
SOUTHAMPTON MP John Denham is calling on the Government to spell out its policy on fluoridation, once and for all.
Mr Denham has written to Tory Health Secretary Andrew Lansley, asking him to explain whether the coalition is going to intervene in the controversial scheme to add the chemical to tap water supplies in Hampshire.
The Labour MP, who says he supports fluoridation in principle but has called on South Central Strategic Health Authority to put its plans on hold in the face of public opposition, said the Conservatives have gone quiet on their election pledges to scrap it.
As revealed in the Daily Echo, anti-fluoride campaigners in Hampshire " have already , expressed disappointment at the lack of action since the More than 10,000 people took part in the consultation, with 72 per cent of those living in the affected area - covering parts of Southampton, Eastleigh, Totton, Netley and Rownhams saying they were against it. The scheme is currently on hold while a judicial review into the way the scheme was approved is fought in the ,, High Court. The SHA, which has consistently
t argued it met or exceeded all of its legal requirements during the consultation, has set aside £400,000 to fight the legal bid, which may not be fully heard until next year. Mr Denham, MP for Southampton Itchen, said in his letter it is still unclear if the Government supports the SHA in its decision to proceed with fluoridation. He said: "In my judgement, a full consultation process failed to produce the necessary levels of support, even for a beneficial act of mass medication.
"Prior to the election there were a number of statements made by Conservative spokesmen who led people to believe that plans would be dropped if the Conservatives came to power. "It is now urgent that you clarify the position and, in particular, if you would require a greater level of public support before this policy is implemented.
"If fluoridation is not to proceed then it is important that attention is focused on other ways of ensuring child oral health."
Mr Denham's intervention comes after Tory Hampshire MPs Julian Lewis and Caroline Nokes both called on their party to honour their pre-election pledges on fluoride. Despite those promises, the Leader of the House of Commons, Sir George Young, said earlier this year the Government had "no immediate plans" to change the law surrounding fluoridation schemes.

Posted By Bill to UK Against Fluoridation at 8/17/2010 09:40:00 AM

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES IN A COALITION

2010-08-09T03:53:00.000-07:00

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES IN A COALITION

Only yesterday we saw some typical fence sitting from Junior Health minister Milton over the free milk for under fives (with no mention from her about fluoride in milk of course) but even before the pubs closed, Cameron had stepped in and overturnd her proposal. Well thanks for that Mr Cameron, but could you also end fluoridated milk in schools as well please. Like water there is little proof of any usefulness but a lot of health concerns about dosage and side effects.

When my father died my mother had to bring me up on a tiny Widows pension. Consequently I frequently went to school with no breakfast and the hunger pangs were assuaged by drinking the free milk. As the bottles provided were small I and others used to drink two or three of them. Fortunately no government loonies like Andy Burnham had thought up fluoridated milk, otherwise I would have received two or three times the expected dose. Luckily our water was not fluoridated or we might otherwise have received extremely large overdoses of fluoride as is undoubtedly the case with many people in Birmingham and the West Midlands.

Now lets hope that PM Cameron sticks to his guns which he loaded before the General Election and abandons any milk fluoridation and water fluoridation without consent. People can easily overdose on fluoride as it is if they wish with only toothpaste and tea as sources of the poison so come on Cameron, lets make things better not worse and lets collectively stop listening to the pseud=scientific twaddle emanating from the pro fluoride lobby still inhabiting the past and hoping to keep us all living there. End Fluoridation now, not next week or next year.....Now !!!

END OF FREE MILK FOR KIDS, CURSE OR BLESSING??

2010-08-08T01:42:00.000-07:00

The main news on this rather grey and damp Sunday morning is that the government is considering ending free milk for under-fives as part of the spending cuts.

According to my AOL news page and most of the Sunday Newspapers, "Ministers said there was no evidence the nursery milk scheme improved health and, at a cost of around £50 million a year, was too expensive to run. Health minister Anne Milton admitted the move - which would echo the Conservative Party's removal of free school milk in 1971 - would be "highly controversial" and affect children in low income families.

Whether this is a curse of a blessing remains to be seen however. from the point of view of an anti-fluoride campaigner. Milk has already been poisoned with fluoride for several years in Sheffield and parts of Liverpool and God knows where else, and most people don't seem to know about this. Most fluoride campaigners however most see the milk supply to kids as a particularly evil way of distributing this industrial waste

There is little if any evidence to show that fluoride works either systemically or topically and recent research has raised growing health fears about the increasing intake of fluoride from many foods and drinks, especially in areas where water is already fluoridated such as Birmingham and the west Midlands. There are even differences of opinion about whether the calcium in the milk reduces the danger from fluoride or whether the fluoride blocks the the calcium intake. but as a long term anti-pollution campaigner with Friends of the Earth, i always adopt and recommend the Precautionary Principle. And we should be particularly careful when using young children as Guinea Pigs.

If health ministers really wish to save money in these straightened times, they should start by removing fluoride from the kids milk supplies and immediately follow this by removing it from the drinking water supplies and discontinuing all plans to extend fluoridation any further. Surely it cannot be right to be squandering vast sums on fighting its own electorate who have already made it clear to councils and Government that they don't want it. I would even suggest that they go the whole nine yards and scrap the SHAs and PCTs who are both little better than chocolate tea pots and who don't seem to represent anyone but themselvs and their cronies. Perhpas then we might have enough money to keep the free milk supply to young kids and even have some money left over for proper dentistry. This would be a "safe and effective" way of strengthening our finances and our democracy.

Of course this would assume that our new Coalition is a little more enlightened than the previous bunch of neredowells and as one of my more cynical friends put it, "if they had had a brain, they would have been really dangerous. However Having already received answers from Junior Health Minister Milton I dont hold out much hope of radical changes and will expect business as usual. After all, there are still many fences to be sat upon and lots of new bums ready and willing to accept the challenge. Meanwhile, I can best encapsulate the solution as... " keep the milk and Bin the fluoride." Sadly there are less than a handful of MPs and ministers who have even a rudimentary science degree but they still seem to believe they are equipped to make law on our behalf.

THEY QUACK FOR YOU

2010-07-30T00:06:00.000-07:00

THEY QUACK FOR YOU
ANN MILTON, UNDERSE-CRETARY OF HEALTH

A visit to Wikipedia to find out more about Ann Milton is quite revealing and certainly much more so than visiting her apparently official Web site which appears to be full of figures and mumbo jumbo demonstrating her generosity. Wikipedia, which could be wrong of course, tells us that she was a nurse trained at St Barts in London and that she is married to a doctor. It frankly appalls me that an alleged Doctor and Nurse can be completly ignorant of medical ethics which proscribe a doctor from forcibly medicating or prescribing any medication to an indivisual without their consent, even one of their own patients. This is especially heinous when they are doing it or even advocating or sanctioning it en mass without any prior knowledge of a person or persons, medical history and other medication.

Milton's assertion that the cost of fluoridation only works out at 80 pence per person is of course ludicrously wrong. As usual its not backed by any facts and proper costings. For starters it not effective at all on anyone who is not a child, assuming of course that its effective at all which in itself has not been proven. It should never be given to infants and young children and by the time they are old enough, whatever that really means, it doesn't work anyway. It would of course be nice to get some figures on the cost of treating fluorosis, of dental coatings, varnishes etc. but as these things are not available on the NHS its not surprising that they don't want the figures published.

Of course there is no mention of the possible costs of treatment NHS or otherwise for various other complaints which may be caused or complicated by the intrusion of fluorides. Presumably because this is "perfectly safe and effective," optimal, "comparison with non fluoridated areas," " pain and suffering of poor little children, trouble etc etc waffle blather. continued page 94.

Sorry Ms Milton but we refuse to be drawn into this kind of junk science. They haven't produced any reasonable stats on fluoride in donkeys years yet still hold with the old mythology and dogma and I for one will not be dragged any further into that swamp. Ms Milton must be prepared to discuss the details and not make sweeping statements without adequate proof of povenance. Fluorides in all their forms are unnecessary poisonous crap and we will not tolerate them or pay for them.

Ms Milton in backing fluoridation is being suckered by people such as Andy Burnham, and Alan Johnson MP and their cohorts in the apparently Labour controlled and partially or wholy financed, ( at least until recent parliamentary changes occured ) pro-fluoride organisation aka, the British Fluoridation Society. It is sad to see the same old junk science and quackery being perpetrated yet again and this time by a new gang of suckers that have apparently not studied any up to date research or even the statements of their leaders. My ex-MP Gordon Prentice had the ordacity to claim that he had read all the data but in discussion with him it quickly became clear that this was probably not the case. But i digress....

In the run up to the General Election, Friends of the Earth wrote to all the party leaders and asked them for their views on fluoridation and expressed concern that the Labour Government had produced legislation (the Water Act 2003 and its amendments) which was clearly produced to satisfy the whims of the Pro-Fluoride lobby which apparently holds sway in the Department of Health. It pretended to support full public consultation of the public before any decision was made but in actuality enshrined the ability of the SHAs to promote fluoridation, spending tens of millions on it of course, and then to compel the Water companies to fluoridate even if 100% of the public strongly objected to it. Not surprisingly, the responses we received were generally warmly welcomed and widely publicised.

David Cameron was opposed to compulsion without consultation and consent, Nick Clegg was totally opposed to fluoridation and even Gordon Brown said that people would not be compelled to accept water fluoridation without their consent. Sadly it would appear that a lack of scientific and medical training amongst the majority of Politicians of all persuasions, (who do not understand the science of fluoride, or the varied dangers it presents to our population and the natural environment, and which leads them to believe outdated dogma and orthodoxy, dating from a time when even asbestos, lead and even cigarettes were thought to be harmless or even beneficial. This can only damage the reputation and credibility of the recently formed coilition government when they appear like so many flat-earthers.

All the latest studies have shown that any benefits from fluoridation are minimal if at all, and are well outweighed by the dangers of exposure to fluorine productsl which include dangers to the kidneys, the teeth and bones, the thyroid and pineal gland, weight control and obesity, and childrens IQ. As for compulsory mass medication, it does not seem to be treated as a serious issue at all which must really lead us to question, sincerity, and competence.

All this creates the impression that Government health policy is being led by quacks and snake oil salespersons who would not be supporting such pseudo-science without an ulterior motive. Lots of money has swilled from the fluoride producing industries and much of it seemingly handled by few Labour MPs as mentioned earlier. For the benefit of democracy, the economy, stability and restoration of trust The Coilitions' best policy is to avoid suspect and useless, wasted money. They must honour their collective pledges to protect and nurture the priceless NHS and concentrate on spending money on point of need dentistry rather than squandering it on dodgy data, fighting the wishes of its own democratically elected majority in the courts, illegal and unethical medical practice and embellishing the pockets of vested self interest and a good start would be for junior ministers to at least get behind their leaders and present a united and coherent front. Pure drinking water is becoming an increasingly rare and of course expensive commodoty and arguably the most vital in many parts of the world including the UK. We need to use water carefully and efficiently. Only a nut case would advocate adding toxic industrial waste to something so precious. Only by such careful and concerted action then can they bring stability and trust back into our so-called democracy.

BRIAN JACKSON

PCT AND SHA QUANGOS, REPENT, THE END IS NIGH

2010-07-12T05:51:00.000-07:00

THUNDERBIRDS ARE ER...... GOING!

Listening to the news over the weekend, I was very pleased to hear that the coilition Government is now apparently preparing to dramatically reduce the duties of the PCTs and SHAs. Personally i would not even trust them with a vending machine let alone key services at the point of need. It cannot happen soon enough for me.

What cheered me up in particular was to hear Andy (Virgil) Burnhams response. He is now a very unhappy man, no doubt under pressure from his friends in these Quangos especially the Pro-Fluoridation Lobby who he has supported so loyally,. I will be listening for the sounds of weeping and wailing, and of course, the gnashing of teeth.

2010-07-01T08:34:00.001-07:00

TIME TO WRITE TO NICK CLEGG DEPUTY PM AND REMIND HIM OF HIS STRONG OPPOSITION TO FLUORIDATION

2010-07-01T08:11:00.000-07:00

Thursday, July 01, 2010　

LAUNCH OF "YOUR FREEDOM" -- GOVERNMENT WEB SITE

Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg has launched the 'Your Freedom' website seeking our views on which laws need to be repealed:

We're working to create a more open and less intrusive society through our Programme for Government. We want to restore Britain’s traditions of freedom and fairness, and free our society of unnecessary laws and regulations – both for individuals and businesses.

This site gives you the chance to submit, comment on, or vote for ideas about how we can do this. Your ideas will inform government policy and some of your proposals could end up making it into bills we bring before Parliament to change the law.

So if there are any laws or regulations you'd like us to do away with, then submit your idea. If you see ideas here already that you like the look of, then rate them and get them moved up the list. And if there’s more you’d like to say, then talk to others in the comments section for each proposal.

It’s time to have your say. After all – it’s your freedom. There is also a video of Nick Clegg explaining the purpose of the web site.

This is a very useful opportunity to remind Mr Clegg that we wrote to him about water fluoridation in the run up to the General Election and his reply was one of categorical opposition to compulsory fluoridation.

This is a golden opportunity to write to Nick Clegg and remind him of his reply to our enquiry about water fluoridation dates March 8th, 2010 in which he said

...."In General terms, Liberal Democrats believe that people and local communities should have the ability to make their own decisions as to whether or not they they should take forms of medication, which according to the stated purpose, fluoridation would effectively constitute. Obviously, there is no such thing as absolute certainty when it comes to health safety -- but in normal circumstances, patients can weigh up the pros and cons of receiving potentially risky treatment and choose whether to undertake it. Mass fluoridation of water would leave people with no choice, and we believe that it should not be imposed by Whitehall diktat."

Signed by Douglas Dowell

Office of Nick Clegg MP

The more letters the Deputy PM receives on this subject now, the more likely we are to have success in getting the provisions of the Water Act 2003 removed along with any form or threat of compulsion. We should also ask for a full review of current water fluoridation in the West Midlands, the North East and elsewhere with a view to ending this practice as quickly as possible. . We cannot end expansion fluoridation without removing exisiting schemes as this would be unacceptable.

Brian Jackson
Friends of the Earth, Fluoride Campaign.

FLUORIDE CAMPAIGN UPDATE. WHERE NEXT?

2010-06-29T19:33:00.000-07:00

FRIENDS OF THE EARTH..........

FLUORIDE CAMPAIGN UPDATE. WHERE NEXT?

Having discussed this week the progress of the campaign so far with other campaigners. I am inclined to say that we may well be winning the war against the cult of fluoride, although there are several battles yet to be fought and the Judicial Review in Southampton is probably the most important component for now. The fact that the SHA there has managed to find £400K of public money, IE our money which will be employed to fight us in the Review is not just a disgraceful misuse of badly needed NHS funds, its a disgraceful abuse of so called democratic power as well as desperately needed cash. If full and open public consultation was anything more than hollow words, why were we not given some of it to make our own case?

One thing is for sure, it shows just how desperate the Fluorinaders have become. Clearly they know they are in real danger of losing out to public pressure. We must keep up the political pressure and call for an enquiry into how this state of affairs can be allowed. How can there be an unbiased Consultation when the government stumps up money to ensure any decisions fall to them and their policy?

But, we are where we are so we must press on regardless and concentrate on the next issue, ie; the recommendations from the EC about infant formula and fluoridated water. If the latest findings indicate that fluoride can cause problems at levels as low as 0.7 PPM how come fluoridating water up to 1.2 PPM is considered OK. New Zealand for example is concentrating on this as as a major part of their strategy to get the whole fluoridation scheme abandoned. In this we must wish them all success. In the UK we are allegedly Democratic but the facts seem to indicate otherwise. We cannot claim to be a democracy when we are still apparently subject to a soviet style command economy led from the center. The proclamation is made by the PM or the Health Minister who at the time was Andy (virgil) Burnham, the SHAs MUST obey, the water companies are then INSTRUCTED to add fluoride to the water and all decision making and choice for the consumer is lost.

We do not believe this is acceptable. Local decisions must be taken locally after due consultation and deliberation not just theoretically, but in reality. Currently there is NO CHOICE when even the consultation is just a smoke screen. Even Gordon Brown agreed to local decision making earlier this year when things were getting hot for him and even his Lap Dog Burnham was forced to stand in line with him. When we wrote to the leaders of the political parties earlier this year we received similar answers rejecting central compulsion from the Tories and the Libdems, UKIP, the Green Party etc etc.

Meanwhile, back on planet Earth, The NHS needs money badly if we are closing A and E and childrens units and tens of thousands of people still cannot find an NHS dentist. Strangely however our previous Labour government could not even be bothered to respond to our letters although they could continue to throw hundreds of thousands at a campaign to force water fluoridation on us, despite having no proper up to date scientific evidence to justify such a policy. Even the latest reseach into topical applications of fluoride could find no conclusive evidence that fluoride prevented tooth decay but sadly much evidence that dental fluorosis was becoming more rampant. This mad cap policy which we did not vote for and for which they have no mandate to persue has no sscienticic back. In the run up to the General Election, the new Coilition Government of Conservatives and Lib Dems inherited this pathetic legislation and if it does not address the issue quickly, it is also likely to inherit the blame. More policy U- Turns will not look good.

Another issue is the toxicity and action of fluorine in its many forms. Obviously even without help, fluorine is more than toxic enough to do serious damage and as it accumulates in the body, its in no great hurry and can cause serious damage over a prolonged period. Many campaigners are increasingly concerned about its synergistic effects when it reacts or bonds with other chemicals. Clearly it activates and intensifies many chemicals and may even be causing normally harmless substances to punch well above their weight. These can have drastic and and as yet unknown effects on the immune system via the bone marrow. We know that certain groups are particularly sensitive to fluoride and other chemicals, notably kidney patients on dialysis and there can be no control of dosage via the public water supply. We all consume different amounts of water so the allegedly safe "dosage" of 1 PPM in the water supply has no basis in reality and its simply wishful thinking. Additional at risk groups will be people who already receive more than enough fluoride compounds via tea, grape juice and foods processed in already fluoridated areas.

If the new government decides to continue the work of New Labour and press on with fluoridation, the fluorinaders will probably act surprised and shocked when they have to start allocating even more funds from the NHS pocket to pay, unpaid water bills to keep the Water Industry happy or defend legal actions provide security for toxic tankers and isolated water treatment plants which become terrorist targets. Neither the companies nor the Government can pretend to be shocked however. Many thousands of consumers have already pledged to refuse to pay for toxic waste contaminated tap water and rightly so. And the numbers are set to grow exponentially if consumers find themselves compelled to self medicate via contaminated tap water for no good reason and this at a time when the fluoride budget is already exhausted.

I am not aware of any contract between the water companies or the government or the people for such a practice and if the coilition continue with this discredited and illegal New Labour policy, they will bring about their own demise much sooner than they think. The UK public are now acutely aware that we will all have to go through difficult times whether as tax payers or benefits claimants and are prepared for that, but i dont think they are prepared to lie down and be poisoned as well.

I received written confirmation only yesterday from the Scottish Parliament that fluoridated salt, which is now available via LIDL Supermarkets in Scotland is not a licensed medicine anywhere in the UK. In that case why is it being sold at all and why is it being put in the public water supply or the salt under the pretense that it is a medicine??. Presumably the fluorinaders are increasingly alarmed at the prospect of England and Wales following Scotlands lead and refusing to allow any fluoridation and salt will be their fall back position for this waste disposal exercise. Could it be that those prescribing it who are not doctors and have no right to prescribe, let alone force it upon any of us sense not just prohibition in the wind but possible court actions against all perpetrators. After all evidence is already being collected in the USA for major Class Actions against all involved in fluoridation and given the increasing communications across the pond, such actions could happen here sooner than they think. After all, Irrespective of the results of any Judicial Review, we should consider the possibility and necessity of legal action against quack doctors and quack quangos for medical malpractice and impersonation of doctors. The government could possibly forestall this by winding up the SHAs and PCTs and reinstalling the locally elected, Local Health Authorities which at least represented local people and local thinking.

Despite all this we still regularly read out and out twaddle from journalists who should know better but really dont. Only last year on a phone in on BBC radio Lancashire, I was pulled up by a programme presenter for using the word poison, when I challenged him it was clear that he did not even know that a toxin and a poison were the same thing. BBC local radio used to be fairly reliable and checked its facts. Now under the post Jonathan Ross regime of ultra paranoia, everything has to be double-checked and signed by at least two producers for broadcast purposes but how can this be done when the staff are so poorly educated. The same even applies in parliament where according to some scientifically interested MPs, only about 10% of MPs actually have any scientific training or qualifications at all, so its very hard to get out a clear message when even the messengers dont understand it. In such a climate of corruption and ignorance, lies can easily take on the mantle of truth and even the good guys and the innocent bystanders are villified.

So what do we want? We want not only the abandonement of all future fluoridation projects and wasteful PR and we also want the abandonment of existing fluoridation projects in the North East, and the Midlands. We want proper dentistry provided by the NHS at the point of need for this is where the money wasted on fluoride should really be spent. And perhaps we need and want most of all, a Government of whatever persuasion that listens to the electorate and especially its own independent advisors and does not hatch policies on the hoof with no scientific basis which it uses to dictate to science. First science and then policy. This is the way of common sense. Finally we want to see the end of the Water Act 2003, A useless and hipocritical piece of legislation reminiscent of the notorious and failed Dangerous Dogs Act. With a fluoride policy, The tail must not be allowed to wag the dog.

BRIAN JACKSON

28th June, 2010

PRO-FLUORIDE PUNDITS ON THE ROPES RESORT TO DIRTY TACTICS.

2010-06-22T16:34:00.000-07:00

Acccording to the Fluoride Action Network in the USA, their scientists and supporters strongly object to recent mischaracterizations of fluoridation opponents by political pundits Rachel Maddow, Keith Olbermann and others in conjunction with Senator Harry Reid's Nevada re-election campaign.

"Fluoridation opposition is science-based and growing," says Paul Connett, PhD, FAN Executive Director, who has co-authored the upcoming book, "The Case Against Fluoride: How Hazardous Waste Ended Up in Our Drinking Water and the Bad Science and Powerful Politics that Keep it There." Co-authors are James Beck, MD, PhD, professor emeritus of medical physics at the University of Alberta in Calgary; and Spedding Micklem, DPhil, professor emeritus at Edinburgh University.

"We have spent many years investigating water fluoridation and the toxicity of fluoride and we are dismayed that commentators are willing to repeat, without verification, pro-fluoridation statements that disparage scientists and citizens who oppose the practice," says Connett.

"FAN's website http://www.FluorideAlert.org has a wealth of scientific information indicating that water fluoridation is neither safe nor effective," says Connett. "In fact, mounting evidence shows that it is harmful to large segments of the population and has helped to create an epidemic of dental fluorosis in children." On April 12, 2010, Time magazine listed fluoride as one of the "Top Ten Common Household Toxins" and described fluoride as both "neurotoxic and potentially tumorigenic if swallowed."

"The majority of countries do not fluoridate or have ended the practice, including 98% of Western Europe, and yet, according to WHO statistics, their tooth decay rates are no different than those in fluoridated countries," Connett states.

The FAN website has an online DVD of 15 scientists explaining why fluoridation is a risky and inappropriate medical practice. These scientists include one Nobel Prize winner, three members of a National Research Council committee that published a groundbreaking report on fluoride's toxicity in 2006, and two former EPA scientists.

According to Nobel laureate Arvid Carlsson, fluoridation is an "obsolete" practice that "is against all principles of modern pharmacology." FAN's site also has a listing of over 2800 scientists and professionals who are calling for an end to fluoridation worldwide.

The Centers for Disease Control and the American Dental Association now concede that fluoride's predominant action on the tooth is topical, not systemic, as it works on the outside of the tooth, not from inside the body. Both groups admit that using fluoridated water to prepare infant formula elevates the risk of dental fluorosis and they advise using very low or non-fluoridated water to lessen the risk. Pediatricians rarely inform parents of this advice.

"Topical treatments like fluoridated toothpaste are readily available. It makes no sense to expose the whole body to this toxic substance or force it on people who do not want it," says Connett.

According to Connett and other scientists, "Fluoridation is reckless as there is clear science indicating that fluoride has the potential to damage human bones, kidneys, thyroid and to lower children's IQs."

Connett concludes, "Fluoridation promoters have painted themselves into a corner and cannot find a face-saving way out. But citizen awareness and opposition is growing rapidly and instead of ridiculing those who oppose fluoridation, responsible commentators should educate themselves about this 60 year controversy and urge a more rational discussion of the issue."

SOURCE Fluoride Action Network

Brian Jackson of the Friends of the Earth Fluoride Network concurs that the same bad mouthing, combined with bad science and political hipocrisy applies equally in the UK where even Government ministers spout nonesence about the "benefits of fluoride" regularly but somehow seem to be unable to respond to any scientific queries about it. Perhaps this is simply because these people either dont understand the science or more likely are terrified of beinf drawn into a proper discusion about it because they know they have litttle or no evidence to support their regularly repeated claims that it is "safe and effective" The only medical side effect that they will admit to is Dental Fluorosis, a mottling and discolouration and this they describe as "cosmetic". Its certainly not cosmetic to people who suffer from it and are too embarassed to smile.

If they didnt understand it there might be some excuse for their behaviour but the previous Government of New Labour even appointed Health minister Andy (Virgil) Burnham despite the fact that he was actually employed to represent the British Fluoridation Society. What a wonderful example of science and impartiality that was. Virgil only resigned from his position when we grassed him up to the press but of course this should not have been necessary. Amazingly, this was not the most glaring example of duplicity however. At an earlier stage, the Government appointed a research team at York University headed by Professor Sheldon. The stated aim was to examin the merits of fluoride with a view to rolling out fluoridation right across the UK. After careful consideration of all the available evidence and papers on fluoride and fluoridation, its summary indicated a lack of good quality evidence in this country and found that it could not recommend the expansion of fluoridation in the UK. Our wonderful Government however, not liking this result found it necessary to deliberately rewrite the summary and conclusions to make it look like Professor Sheldons team supported expansion of water fluoridation.

There is nothing new in this of course, its very typical of the pro-fluoride lobby and our Governments general attitude towards science, which it seems to believe is a tool to be used by the politicians to support any policy that they think will win them votes and keep them in power. Professor Nutt who was appointed to examine the current drug regulations but they also rubbished his findings and then removed him from his position. Government policy cannot be allowed to dictate to science or facts it has to be the other way round and any government which is prepared to stoop to such low and dishonest methods to support the unsupportable is simply not fit to be in power and cannot be trusted. A look at the recent history of MPs of all persuasions bears witness to this dishonesty. In the USA, the puppets of the regime or the corporations bad mouth opponents of fluoride, whilst here in the UK they just make up any old crap and lie through their teeth. "Oh brave new world that has such people in it!"

FLUORIDE... HERE'S THE NEW BOSS, SAME AS THE OLD BOSS.

2010-06-18T01:33:00.000-07:00

JUDICIAL REVIEW DUE THIS AUTUMN..... OR IS IT?

The judicial review of fluoridation of water supplies in Southampton is expected to be heard in the autumn. That's according to health minister, ...

Its important to remember that in all polls on fluoridation its been rejected by a large majoority of the Population but Southamption only proved that there is little point in having a consultation when the SHAs can blithely do as they want and ignore all wishes and the proceed with a decision to fluoridate. This unscrupulous bit of double cross is enshrined in the so called fluoridation consultation legislation. If proof were needed the Southamption decision to fluoridate went ahead despite even a contrary statement from Gordon Brown and echoed by Health Minister that it should not be imposed upon people if they did not want it.

Sadly in the run up to the recent General Election, the then Shadow Minister Andrew Lansley agreed that fluoridadtion should not be imposed on people but seemed strangely unaware that the Water Act 2003 supported fluoridation irrespective of any overwhelming opposition. And, despite being asked since to clarify the Tory and coilition position, the legislation. has neith been amended or rescinded, leaving open the doors to fluoridation in future when the fuss has died down. This is a common methodology used by governments of all persuasions in the past.

Only complete abandonmend of illegal and antidemoncratic imposition of fluoridated water supples will satisfy anti-fluoride campaigners, many of whom have flatly refused to pay for water they consider poisoned or contaminated by toxic waste. In view of the double talke and hipocrisy of the pro fluoride lobby in the government and industry, this is both an understandable and reasonable position. Water companies should not be forced to contaminate what should be clean and potable drinking water, the majority of which will only enters the sewage system and then our streams and rivers. They have no contract with the general public to do such a thing have actively rejected it and refused to vote for those politicians of any party who chose to advocate such disgraceful, unscientific and and undemocratic action.

Of course this is the kind of blind and pig-headed attitude which we should all be well acquainted with. by now. Labour always seemed to ignore even the best expert advice, even from its own appointed advisors as in the York Report which could not recommend a further expansion of water fluoridation pending serious research. The government even re-wrote the summary to excuse their lies and ignored all protest from the York Committee. The same happend to Professor Nutt over their recommended changes in drug legislislation. and although this was perpetrated by the last Labour Government, the fact that the new Coilition Government is still refusing to examine the latest evidence and leave the 2003 Water Act on the books does not fill us with much confidence that they will be eventually much different from the previous mob. The credibility of the Coilition is therefore already under question.

one of our campaigners, Ann Willis alerts me to a piece in the Guardian on the 17th June

headed "CURB NHS SPENDING PLEDGE TO SAVE OTHER SERVICES, SAYS BURNHAM"

Andy Burnham, (pro-fluoridationist MP) is calling for money to be cut from the NHS budget, so that cash is available to spend on Social Services etc.

(My comment: I wonder if he wants a cut in the money which is spent on funding fluoridation schemes!)

Ann

Brian Jackson Comments. .......

Its interesting to note that Yesterdays Man, Burnham the origianl proposer and lobbyist for fluoridation, after Gordon Browns statement of alleged opposition to compulsory fluoridation himself came out against compulsion, presumably not because he really agreed with Brown but simply because he wished to appear to be behind brown in the run up to the election. This is typical of Burnham and many other career politicians.

Since the Blair intake the party has been stuffed with these lightweight chancers and opportunists who always turns up when there is an opportunity to be seen to be doing their masters work. For this reason if for no other, his decision to join the Labour Party leadership competition should be treated with the suspicion and derision which it truly deserves. If such people float to the top in the Labour Party, Labour will increasingly be seen for the disgraceful sham it now really is and there should be little surprise if it should fade to black in future electoral competitions as the electorate find them both unrepresentative and truly untrustworthy. Just as we have learned to distrust MPs over expenses claims we are also learning to be suspicious of their stated policies when their only real agenda is one of power seeking, just look at the uproar about the threat of electoral reform and coilition. It may be the MPs loss but it will certainly be democracy's gain.

Compulsory fluoridation, ID Cards, Databases etc are all merely symptoms of the paranoid Nanny State which does not trust the electorate and thinks they are elected to rule and dominate. They must now learn the real lesson of the last couple of years that their real task is to represent the electorate and carry out the wishes of the democratic majority without recourse to manipulaton of statistics, expenses or anything else. As a first major step in this direction, the New Coilition Government should take a firm hold of the Water Act 2003 and fluoridation and stick em both where the Sun dont shine.

ANDREW JOHN LEES, ( ENVIRONMENTALIST)

2010-06-08T03:01:00.000-07:00

born 8th June, 1949, ---- died 31st December, 1994

I first met Andrew when I was in London to see my partner who worked at Reuters, and remembered to visit Friends of the Earths old HQ, mainly to pick up some leaflets and find out more about starting a Local Group here in Pendle. Though clearly busy he and Chris Church found time to make a cup of tea and talk to me about what a Local Group entailed. He was at once interested in the environment and eco-systems of Pendle and the Pennines and became very excited when i told him how I first encountered an Otter at close range and sad when he admitted he had never seen one in the wild. I came home and immediately Started Pendle Friends of the Earth. More than anyone else at FoE, he taught and inspired me and eventually when i was causing heaps of problems for polluters and their political apologists, he even deputised me to do media work for him when things got hectic. I learned things about the natural world and myself i would have never guessed and to this day feel guided by his wisdom and determination. As long as Friends of the Earth in the UK, remembers him, it will not go far wrong. Thank you for inspiring me Andrew, I will not forget.

HOME DIALYSIS PATIENTS DO NOT GET EXTRA PURE WATER

2010-05-26T05:56:00.000-07:00

FROM THE WEST MIDLANDS AGAINST FLUORIDATION WEB SITE

Home dialysis patients do NOT get extra pure water. Severn Trent guarantees continuity of supply but does not provide these
customers with de-fluoridated water. Customers with CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease) retain 70% of the fluoride in their bodies because the kidneys are less efficient than the kidneys of people who do not have kidney failure. In effect, this means that fluoride has a more
damaging effect on teeth and bones when ingested by a patient with
CKD because bio-accumulation is greater. The fluoride also
accumulates in the kidneys, making them less efficient. And what happened to home dialysis patients during July and August 2008 when they received 2ppm F due to dosing plant 'breakdown' at Dimmingsdale WTW. This issue has been referred to the five British Kidney Associations for an assessment of the danger presented by fluoridated water during dialysis. Their replies will be posted to this page.

TO STAMP OUT TRUTH DECAY WE MUST KEEP ON STAMPING.

2010-05-25T15:50:00.000-07:00

FRIENDS OF THE EARTH FLUORIDE CAMPAIGN -- ELECTORAL REFORM

The first of many announcements of cuts in Government spending start today. Amongst this first package will be the ending of a variety of Quangos. Lets hope therefore, that the Government quickly deal with the PCTs and SHAs ..... ASAP. These unelected and autocratic bodies replaced the locally appointed health committees and rapidly became a mechanism for virtually automating the process of imposing water fluoridation and other unwelcome changes in the NHS and in the process, spent millions on promotion of fluoridation and threaten to spend hundreds of millions more on implementation.

This dangerous, unscientific, undemocratic and ineffective process, and the cynical " consultation " process and Water Act 2003 which enabled it, embody some of the worst excesses of the Nanny State. It soils New Labours reputation as a democratic party and the UK as a whole as a democratic system. It has damaged its reputation for sound parliamentary management of the UKs finances and perhaps most sadly of all, New Labour has damaged its own baby, the NHS. The 2003 Act, enshrined in Law the SHAs power to both call for and to ignore the results of all public consultation creating a very dangerous precedent for legalising the dismissal of future consultations whether these be over NHS changes and closures but also closures of Post Offices and a wide variety of planning decisions. Consultation no longer means consultation in the minds of many people but rather an indication that the outcome of future public consultations and subsequent decisions are now foregone conclusion beyond the reach of the electorate.

Andy Burnham who helped push fluoridation through parliament and also the man who introduced such undemocratic and expensive items as the ID Cards and assorted Databases has now joined the race for the leadership of the Labour Party. Not only does he have a penchant for foisting upon us unwelcome control freakery but he cheerfully accepted a position as Health Minister in the Labour Government without bothering to resign from his BFS position. He only accepted the charges of conflict of interest when his activities were made public by campaigners and the media.

This is not the kind of behaviour one would expect from a Government Minister and certainly not, heaven forbid, a future Prime Minister although for Mr Burnham, its perfectly in character. It actually gets even worse, Burnham said only this week that it was important the Labour Party listened to the electorate. Burnham appears to suffer from severe attention deficit disorder and should immediately himself lobby to rectify the contradictions in the Water Act 2003. Even if he did, its unlikely that anyone would ever believe or trust him again.

The last couple of years has demonstrated the desperate need for electoral reform which Friends of the Earth across the UK, fully endorses. As FoEs Director Andy Atkins said recently... " Friends of the Earth is backing the Take Back Parliament campaign for electoral reform, as part of a coalition which believes that our 'winner takes all' first-past-the-post voting system is bust beyond repair, and is calling for a fairer system of representation where seats in Parliament are allocated according to the number of votes parties receive.

Andy Atkins has said: "The current electoral system means parties focus on winning over small numbers of voters rather than grasping the long-term challenges and opportunities our country faces – such as climate change and green jobs.

"First-past-the-post is biased towards the two big parties and doesn’t represent the real views of UK voters.

"We need a fairer way of voting to restore public confidence and ensure peoples’ concerns are properly represented by the politicians that win seats."

Friends of the Earth does not support any particular voting system, but believes the electoral system our country chooses should be decided by the public. Citizens should be involved in determining the options, with the final choice made in a referendum. Our voting system has to have public backing. There are important principles – MPs should be voted for individually so they can be held to account, for example – but this can be delivered by a number of electoral systems.

ANDY BURNHAM MP, NOT FIT TO LEAD THE LABOUR PARTY

2010-05-14T07:17:00.000-07:00

Only a couple of days ago i wrote what is below for the Friends of the Earth campaign to stop water fluoridation. Amongst other things i warned of the danger of the return of Andy Burnham MP. Now we learn that he has thrown his hat into the ring for the Labour Leadership contest.

THE WAR ON FLUORIDE MAY BE SEEM TO BE OVER BUT THE SKIRMISHES WILL HAVE TO CONTINUE.

With the departure of the Labour Party into the wastelands of opposition, its nice to think that they have taken their fluoride with them. Sadly the fluoridistas can be found in many places and there are many mugs of all political persuasions who can be seduced into wicked ways. Consequently we must remain vigilant, continue the work of opposition and spreading the word about the dangers of fluoride and fluoridaiton.

Having said this however, its important not to continually duplicate our work or reinvent the wheel by passing on the same old details. Its not just the fluoridistas with their "safe, effective and Optimal" twaddle that become victims of pedantry. The anti movement can easily fall victim to this in their zeal to publicise the truth. At such times, opinion and fact can easily become confused.

Now that the Labour Party are debating who will be the next leader one should be cautioned that besides the Millibands, and Ed Balls, our old " friend" Andy Burnham has already had a couple of mentions in interviews about leadership. Some of my fellow campaigners have reassured me that Burnham is strictly lightweight. I hope they are right and leave you to decide whether he is a fact or merely an opinion. . But he does have a way of popping up where he is least expected or wanted.

We must continue to target not just the Burnhams but also newly elected MPs and Councillors, especially those who have not expressed any opinion so far. We can save ourselves a lot of work now and reduce the size and complexity of our letters and press releases 30by concentrating on the most obvious and self evident aspects of water fluoridation and only reiterate the more detailed material if challenged or when more details are requested. Some of these key points are as follows.

Fluoride is toxic in all its forms to humans and animals and toxicity depends on both dosage and the time scale.

Fluoride is even worse when containing trace elements of other toxic chemical.

In the vast majority of cases, it has little or no value although it is good at killing rats and roaches.

A patient can only be prescribed medicine by a doctor on a one to one basis having obtained the individuals consent and considered his general health and medication.

A politician, elected or otherwise is not your GP and has no right whatsoever to prescribe this muck to you.

Since writing the above we have learned today, 14th May that Andy Burnham has of course changed his mind from his original statements about the Labour Leadership in which he seemed to rule himself out of the contest. Now he intends to stand as a potential leader. Its important that we dont underestimate this change.

Many of our number tend to not only dislike Burnham but actively dislike him . I am pleased to count myself amongs these dissenters. His performances always looked nervous to me and many consider him a lightweight.. one friend said he reminded him of a rabbit caught in car headlights. He is certainly always on hand and more than willing to help, when the Labour Government needed someone to do a dirty job. Its bad enough that he helped push the thoroughly nasty piece of legislation known as the Water Act 2003 through a virtually somnambulent House of Commons. This Bill was a nasty Piece of junk full of weasel words which actually empowered the SHAs to order the the Water Companies to add the toxic fluoride waste to our drinking water. And this even if every living soul in a community actively opposed it, including the Local Councils. Thus the act was a sneaky piece of work designed to hoodwink anyone unwise enough to assume that our MPs were intelligent and selfless people, concerned only with the betterment of their faithful electorate. Come the day, come the man as they say and of course Andy Burnham and his cronies at the British Fluoridation society were ever willing and able to do their damnedest to see the Bill went through.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Burnham was rewarded by advancement into the ranks of minister and became Secretary of State for Health.(sic) Naturally it was not until we pointed out that he was working for the Fluoridistas when he became a minister (and therefore batting for both sides with potential financial gain to the members of the press,) that he suddenly found it necessary to resign from the BFS due to the rather obvious conflict of interest. We know now that many MPs were tweaking their income via expenses but to do this when one is a Minister of the Crown does seem to be pushing the boat out a bit.

It was Burnham of course that also brought us such unwelcome and far from benign legislation as ID Cards and databases, yet another fine example of the decreasing importance of Democracy and Human Rights. Clearly there is little Burnham won't do to further his interests and now its payback time. After days of denying any interest in the leadership contest, today he changed his mind and was ready to take part. Possibly this was fueled by resentment that two of his babies, ID cards and the databases had gone down the tubes when the new Coalition Government abandoned them. Its also true that Fluoride has lost its champions in the Labour Government, Little wonder that he wants to get even. Now via the leadership he could gain control and at some time in the future lead a new Labour Government into an Andy Burnham style Police State, replete with ID Cards, Public Order laws Databases and all the other paraphernalia of the proto-fascist state.

People have short attention spans and easily forget the prior activities of Burnham so its important that we remind our friends and neighbours what a piece of work Burnham really is. I have said in my blog on several occasions that someone who spends all his time pushing fluoride onto an unwilling audience and environment is really not fit to be an MP and if we add to this the other activities and shenanigens of Burnham, he is definitely not fit to be a minister let alone the Prime Minister. I think we should all be told.

THE POWER IS OVER BUT THE MALADY LINGERS ON.

2010-05-09T11:32:00.000-07:00

WILL THE POLITICIANS MISS THIS GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY FOR ELECTORAL REFORM?

Few people can have missed the fact that none of the main parties in the General election bothered to discus Environmental issues. The exception being the Lib Dems who even replied to our enquiries about fluoridation with a strong rejection of any such policy and its to be sincerely hoped that they will continue to raise this issue whatever roller coaster ride they are now committed to.. The Conservatives did at least reply to the first enquiry but although theorectically opposed to fluoridation they seemed unaware of the legislation already in place which enables the Government to bulldoze such a policy through any public opposition should they choose to. they did not reply to our request for clarification however.

The now discredited New Labour Project did not apparently feel the issue of fluoridation, important enough for them to bother themselves with and far to pre-occupied with everything else to even bother to reply to our second request at all. One must remember that the Labour Government never did have a policy or a mandate for fluoridation but passed it hurriedly into Law in 2003. This seems fairly typical of New Labour. They didnt have a mandate for ID Cards, or massive data bases and displayed a contempt for science and scientists, even those they had appointed themselves. Nor did they feel any restraint to stop them passing fluoridation legislation which all the other parties had given the cold shoulder. In short, the Labour Government have never had a mandate for water fluoridation, dont have a mandate now and were not elected to carry out such a policy. Now that they have little chance of forming a Government and the country is broke, the prospect of fluoridation is further away then ever and the best thing we as opponents can do is to continue to make it difficult and expensive for the pro-fluoride lobby to promote or advertise fluoridation let alone bring it into operation.

All the parties need to seriously discuss and tackle the problems of pollution, depletion of resources and generation of hazardous waste. by increasing efficiency, waste reduction, alternative energies (not including nuclear), and sustainable transport, and, no party that claims to be "greening" itself or its policies can be taken seriously if at the same time it is advocating the addition of highly toxic industrial waste to something as rare and vital as fresh drinking water. In that direction lies not just hipocrisy but actual madness.

If the results of the General Election are saying anyting positive and I for one believe they are, it is that the public now expect politicians of various persuasions to work together for the good of the country, not the party or the individual politicians themselves but for all of us. The parties now have a golden opportunity to introduce PR in some workable form so that massive majorities and political excess will never again allow governments like the New Labour regime (still clinging to power in desperation at the time of writing,) or the conservatives as in the time of Thatcher and Reagan, to blithely play fast and loose with the electorate and its wishes and introduce any old policy simply because they can.

Financially, times are going to get a lot tougher before they get better and in such a climate, any party advocating such a useless and expensive policy as fluoridation is unlikely to get very far and history will not deal kindkly with them. We also have the distinct possibility if the parties cannot agree to work in harmony, of yet another election next Spring or as some say, maybe even this Autumn so this is not the time to relax our pressure on political parties but probably the time to increase it.

Electoral Reform should at the very least make governments more representative and democratic and not make individuals who are tempted to vote for the smaller parties feel they are wasting their time or votes. This has frequently been the most common reason people give for not voting for the Lib Dems or the Greens. Every vote should count and all views and opinions should be heard and debated. Despite the strong rise in popularity for the Lib Dems this time round, when push came to shove the support did not translate into votes and the only reason anyone can suggest is that there was a last minute loss of confidence which made people bottle out.

Our Commisserations go to our campaigners in Liverpool who will probably not be pleased to note that in the local elections, the Lib Dems have lost control of Liverpool Council to the Labour group. Better news from Brighton however who have elected the countrys first Green Party Member of Parliament.. Our sitting MP here in Pendle has also been displaced. He always reckoned that fluoride was a good idea and claimed to have read of its valuable properties yet sadly was never ever able to recommend to me, any of this pro-fluoride nonesense literature or even engage in a debate about it. He has been replaced by a Conservative who told me several months ago when he first came canvassing that he did not like the idea of fluoride.

We dont care what Party anyone belongs to (within reason) because anyone can be green or at least greener, and anyone can oppose water pollution and fluoridatioN and learn to embrace the experience as a steep but necessary learning curve on the road to environmental enlightenment. The first step towards this goal is cross party co-operation and the psychic step even before this must be electoral reform. If the Tory and Labour Party do not embrace this philosophy, there is really not much hope for them. PR must be the default position and the Lib Dems really really must listen to their own members calling loudly for electoral reform. Without it there can be no further progress and the death knell for the Lib Dems will be heard rining across the land. They will never again get a chance like this, a chance which people have waited a couple of generations to realise. All that this really requires is a functioning brain and a conscience two qualities collectively usually known as common sense, a quality which has not been apparent in the recent regime which has seemed overly concerned the the minutae of peoples private lives whilst in other areas change for the sake of change was the order of the day combiuned with an apparent joy in throwing its weight about. Perhaps its time for politicians of all persuasions to truly remember that they are elected to serve, not to rule and heeding the words of Confusious might help them concentrate more clearly on the real issues and the ways and means. As the ancient Chinese Book of Changes says. "The Inferior Person acts through power, the Superior Person does not act this way!"

Brian Jackson.... Pendle FoE

WHAT WILL GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS MEAN FOR THE FLUORIDE CAMPAIGN.

2010-05-06T08:20:00.000-07:00

If by some miracle, Labour were to be re-elected with a big majority it would be business as usual. They would persist if they could with their mindless policy. They didn't get a mandate for fluoridation at the last two elections so its daft to think that they would stop now. Of course finances may intervene. If Labour get in with a small majority they will get stiff opposition from the Lib Dems who have only recently woken up to the threat from fluoridation. The Tories would probably join in two, they are good at U Turns despite the famous Thatcher quote and there will probably be the prospect of savage cuts to front line services despite what they have said.

If the Lib Dems hold the balance with a Hung Parliament they will probably be joined by the Greens who also strongly oppose fluoridation and even UKIP oppose it. So even now on polling day i have my fingers, eyes and legs crossed for a dead heat Whatever else should happen, we will probably have to continue fighting the Fluoride Campaign on all fronts until its finally banished and no long a part of policy. Otherwise, like bypass and runway proposals, they have a habit of suddenly re-appearing at some time in the future when they hope that we have all forgotten the dangers and uselessness of fluoride and fluoridation.

ITS TIME THE PARTY LEADERS DEBATED FLUORIDE OPENLY

2010-04-29T09:21:00.000-07:00

Discussion of fluoridation by the main party leaders is well overdue mostly because A... The Labour party are afraid to get into a discussion about it because it would just mean further embarassment and B... the Conservatives dont even understand it or the laws that were forced through parliament by the Government in 2003. Consequently the NPWA, UKCAF, WMAF have all been working their fingers to the bone to alert the public to how they are being bamboozled.

Jonathan Eyre at Leeds FoE has been doing sterling work in recent weeks, not least when he covered for me on this Campaign when my computer was knocked out by a DOS attack. Currently he is following on from the good work initiated by Pauline Johnson also of Leeds and is writing to candidates across the city and asking their views on water fluoridation etc. the idea being that those who support or promote fluoride use whether in Water supplies, childrens school milk or even supermarkets selling fluoridated salt are not to be recommended as potential MPs, Councillors etc etc.

So far we know from replies that the Lib Dems object strongly to fluoridation along with the Green Party and UKIP. The Conservatives object in principle to mass medication although they dont seem too clear about the Water Act 2003 which gave power to the SHA/PCTs to compel water companies to add this muck. They will need to be watched. We wrote to them a couple of weeks back asking for clarification of their position but so far only silence.

Labour did not bother to reply at all and like most of the pro-fluoride lobby, they dont wish to get involved in arguments that they cannot scienticall justify. One might expect Labour candidates to be more gung ho about this policy but i notice that they are not even mentioning it in their manifesto as far as I am aware at the time of writing. but one would suppose they would start promoting it strongly if they are re-elected and there are a still a few pence left in the NHS piggy bank. Available cash of course does seem to be increasingly unlikely who ever should become the government and the promotion of fluoride will take a great deal more cash than its already absorbed. The unscrupulous and misleading rubbish circulated by the SHA's and PCTs has been exemplified by the sham consultation in Southampton where the Advertising Standards Authority upheld complaints brought by HAF and UKCAF and will be keeping a close eye on them in future.

Peter Poole in Brighton FoE however received a very promising rebuttal of any attempt to fluoridate his town. and this from their own Labour Candidate. Well done Brighton who were luckier than my fellow constituents here in Pendle. I was rather dismayed when I learned that our own sitting Labour MP actually thought water fluoridation was a good idea although on what ground i do not know. I have asked a few times about this but all he would ever say was that he had read the evidence. Clearly he must be privvy to evidence the rest of us do not have as he has never produced any.

At least the lack of funds promises to delay any further Labour Party expansion of fluoridation and a Hung or Balanced Parliament should also slow it all down even more or at least long enough for us to ring the death knell on the whole sorry, immoral, pointless and expensive waste that we have endured so long. Lets hope that this outbreak of common sense in Brighton is sustained, virulent and spreads like wildfire amongst Labour's ranks.

Its also very sad that in a land with an allegedly Free Press, we should have to wait for the Press in Iceland, Scandinavia and Russia to tell us the truth about the fluoride ash from the Icelandic volcano. So safe is this "Naturally Occuring" fluoride that all the farm animals have had to be taken indoors to live on last years dwindling hay and silage and water drawn from wells because surface water and snow melt is heavily contaminated. OK the levels of deposition here in the UK are not inches deep as they are in Parts of Iceland but that is no reason why we should have to endure a government willing to force this poison upon us when even its own specially convened committee who produced the York Report were completly ignored (as usual).

Fluoride is so safe in fact, that it softens the animals bones to the extent that the poor creatures cannot even stand up and of course all their teeth fall out. Its true to say that the dosage is the important thing but its a bit rich when such a defence emanates from the pro-fluoride lobby and its sycophants who have absolutely no idea how much fluoride we are already getting from our diet but are ever eager to give us more and more whether in drinking water, table salt or even childrens school milk.

As the election draws ever nearer, there is no better time to write, email or phone your local candidates and ask them for their position, and if you find writing letters to these people to be difficult or tedius, you can at least copy and if necessary, adapt the letters sent out by Jonathan and see what replies you get. You could also try sending copies to your local and regional Press and Media, you can reach a lot of people that way and a lot of people is what we need in a country with a voting system that ensures that the party with the lowest vote, still gets elected with a stonking great majority. No Wonder the power hungry candidates are so afraid of a Hung or Balanced Parliament, that would really spoil their fun and force them to enter into proper debate and take notice of expert opinion etc etc but i digress just a tad.

The message to get over to candidates the media and the electorate is actually quite a simple one Namely, that fluoride is a very nasty toxic substance whatever its source, it doesnt even protect peoples teeth but actually damages them and much else besides. And finally of course that any friend of fluoridation is no friend of ours or the environment. And, if MPs etc really want to find favour with the electorate, in the hopefully sustainable future, they will have to abandon Junk Science and the too cosy relationships with vested intrests and those not too particular about how they dispose of toxic waste. They can start by opening their minds a little and meditating on the idea of the precautionary principle. In the meantime hang in there everybody. Good Luck in all your Campaigning.

Brian Jackson

SOUTHAMPTON PRIMARY CARE TRUST CLAIMS CRITICISED BY ADVERTISING STANDARDS AUTHORITY

2010-04-23T21:38:00.000-07:00

SOUTHAMPTON PCT CLAIMS CRITICISED BY ADVERTISING STANDARDS AUTHORITY

Southampton PCT has now been instructed by the Advertising Standards Authority to remove all references from its published material to one of the claims made during the water fluoridation consultation.

This follows official complaints made by three members of Hampshire Against Fluoridation and UK Councils Against Fluoridation about misleading claims in advertisements by the PCT to promote water fluoridation.

During the consultation, the PCT claimed in their advertisements that "By topping it up to one part of fluoride per one million parts of water, it would be possible to make a major difference to the teeth of adults and children locally, and for future generations"

consult with the CAP Copy Advice team on future claims relating to fluoride.

HAF Chairman Stephen Peckham said "We have always argued that the PCT and SHA made exaggerated claims about water fluoridation

The ASA’s scientific experts ruled that there was no good quality evidence to support this statement. Consequently, the PCT have agreed not to repeat these claims and have also agreed to that were not based on good evidence. The fact that the PCT have now had to promise the ASA not to repeat these statements about making a major difference to adults removes one of the key arguments made by the PCT and SHA for imposing the scheme."

During the consultation PCT staff repeatedly said that water fluoridation would help "everyone" and the SHA in its consultation document also stated that water fluoridation benefits adults - despite the lack of evidence to support such statements.

Stephen Peckham added "It is likely that many people were influenced by these claims during the consultation and may have given support to the scheme thinking it would benefit them. The truth is that there are no such benefits. The fact that the PCT willingly withdrew this claim must also raise serious questions about other statements they made to promote water fluoridation to local people."

Following the PCT’s assurance not to repeat this claim, the ASA have dropped this particular clause from their final ruling which is published today (21 April 2010).
HAF Chairman: Stephen Peckham.
　

Brian Jackson writes,

Full marks and congratulations go out to HAF and to UKCAF for challenging the PCT statements. It is also probably worth checking carefully any other statements from your local PCT or SHA for similar gaffs. and then referring them to the findings by the ASA. The menace of fluoride although not yet destroyed is now becoming increasingly remote.

Open Letter on the British Dental Association Manifesto from John Spottiswoode

Dear Madam,

I received the British Dental Association letter to Candidates for the General Election, forwarded from Green Party Headquarters. I need to make it clear to you that I cannot support your manifesto, particularly point 5 on the promotion of fluoride. In fact I very strongly oppose the use of fluoride as it is:

Ineffective (the supposed benefits are more than outweighed by the dis-benefits, even if the flawed and biased data for five year olds is to be accepted);

Unethical (it is wrong to force everyone to take 'medication' via their tap water);

Unsafe (there is a mass of peer-reviewed and published scientific data giving grave concerns over the health effects of fluoride

Uneconomic (the supposed savings from fewer fillings is more than outweighed by the costs of delivery and the 'externality' costs of dental fluorosis. Even assuming no more serious side effects for which there is a mass of evidence.)

The addition of fluoride to the water supply has been a massive local issue in Southampton and after a thoroughly disgraceful and biased Public Consultation the population were not fooled and have voted repeatedly AGAINST adding fluoride. Every serious candidate in the parliamentary elections in Southampton now opposes the introduction of fluoride against the wishes of the population.

The BDA need to look at the science with a properly open mind and realise that fluoride affects much more than the teeth. Introducing it to the water supply leads to systemic fluoride poisoning. The data on benefits to five year old children's teeth is biased as in fact that result comes from the systemic poisoning of our children, as those in fluoridated areas have their teeth erupt around a year later (more than 50 studies have shown this).

With teeth erupting later it means that the teeth have been exposed for less time, meaning fewer cavities. If you look at the difference later in life there is NO statistically significant difference in cavities (if you want to quote to me the recent meta-study please read it properly before misinterpreting the findings).

So I call on the BDA to do some proper scientific homework and stop promoting fluoride. I will certainly oppose water fluoridation at this election and wherever I can.

Yours faithfully,
John Spottiswoode, BSc, BA, PMP
Green Party Candidate for Southampton Itchen.

From: Peter Poole, Brighton at Brighton FoE

Following my mention of candidates' election surveys, I received the following note by mail this week. I hope it might be helpful in lobbying other Labour candidates:

Dear Mr. Poole,

Thank you for taking the trouble to return one of my survey forms the contents of which I always read and are very useful to me in gauging local people's views on a variety of issues.

Personally I do not believe that Fluoridation will be put forward as a possibility in Brighton and Hove and it is clear to me that this is an area where people do not want it. I would support local residents in their opposition, if it is put forward for this area. Yours sincerely,

Simon Burgess

Labour & Co-operative Party candidate

for Brighton & Kemptown & Peacehaven

PLEASE KEEP SENDING ANY REPLIES YOU RECEIVE FROM POLITICIANS AND WANNABEES TO THIS ADDRESS. fluoride@foe.co.uk SO WE CAN PUBLISH THEM. ..... MANY THANKS.

Friends in Most High Places

It was very good to see that God apparently joined in the fight against fluoridation over the last week or so. He demonstrated that widespread fluoridation was not as advertised and dumped a lot of it across Europe using the Icelandic volcano which only a madmen would try to spell correctly let alone pronouce. Foreign Toxicologists, Epidemiologists and Vulcanologists lined up in the Foreign press and media (but of course not the British Media) to explain the real dangers from the "deadly" ash cloud containing very high dozes of fluoride. This rather took the gloss off the usual lies and misinformation put out by the fluoridistas about how "safe and effective" fluoride really is. Back into your swamp you guys unless you want a good slapping which i think the British electorate are going to give you anyway. And once again we give thanks parises to the Big Man or Woman, up there at Heaven.com for the help and Pelease don't let the other bigger Volcano off its lead. Many of us still remember just how bad it got last time that happened as you can see at this url ....

DONT SQUANDER WATER OR VOTES!

2010-04-20T15:08:00.000-07:00

CLEAN WATER IS BEING SQUANDERED.

According to the BBC's Environment correspondent on the BBC World Service last night. The amount of water used in the developing countries to produce and supply the West with food is totally unsustainable. For example, to make one cup of coffee, it takes 140 litres of water. Is this a time for any sane government to be poisoning this fast declining and vital resource? Ask, Brown, and Cameron if you get the chance and send their replies to this forum at fluoride@foe.co.uk and we will publish them.

Its also worth remembering that the politicians and wannabees who normally take absolutely no notice of anything that we the electorate say, are suddenly very interested and they are totally paranoid about the threat from the Lib Dems or the Scots Nats of having what they call a Hung Parliament and what the Lib Dems and the Scots Nats call a Balanced Parliament. The reason is a simple explanation of their typical hidden agenda. The New Labour gang and the Conservatives don't really want to be merely elected, they want a stonking great majority so that they can wield power, which is very different from the situation in a Hung Parliament.

With a big majority they can do exactly what they want and pass any old law they please, no matter how repressive and undemocratic it is. Both Thatcher and Blair's governments exhibited this tendency. Once elected any inconvenient mandate from their manifestos were forgotten and ridiculous privatisations were the rule of the day along with ID Cards, Biometric Passports, and a huge medical database, finger printing of children and compulsory DNA sampling for all and last but not least, compulsory mass medication of our dwindling fresh drinking water with the highly toxic and acidic crap currently vomiting from the Icelandic Volcano with the Unpronounceable name. (Its safe and effective you know! that's why they have also been putting it into children's milk and sanctioning Supermarkets such as LIDL as they add it to table salt. and if you look up into the gas cloud you will see yet another formation of flying pigs )

Its vitally important that we don't let them set a precedent by getting away with this and consequently, none of us should waste our votes by not voting, and never more so than at this coming election when the polls are so close. So, even if you totally despise the major parties, voting for the Welsh or Scots Nats or the Lib Dems, Independents or Greens will carry much more power than usual whilst at the same time robbing the big party megalomaniacs of their plans for domination and total control. For once we have a chance of being decisive and preventing the dinosaur parties of trampling all over us as they stampede for the latest expenses cheque.

Andy Atkins the Director of Friends of the Earth has this last week written to all members to point out that this time round the Environment has been virtually ignored. We have a chance to get our varied and justified environmental concerns and campaigns onto the political agenda and into the press so Please, Please don't waste this opportunity, put all candidates on the spot, demand coherent answers to our questions and a pledge to replacing just talking the talk with walking the walk and get all the major polluters whether in industry or Government on the Run.

CLARIFICATION OF CONSERVATIVE REPLY TO OUR FLUORIDATION QUERY.

2010-04-10T23:31:00.000-07:00

FAO
Leader of the Conservative Party
Mr David Cameron MP
and
Shadow Secretary of State for Health
Mr.Andrew Lansley CBE MP
Email lansley@parliament.uk
Website www.andrewlansley.co.uk

Dear Sirs,
CLARIFICATION OF REPLY TO OUR FLUORIDATION QUERY.
We thank you for your reply to Miss Pauline Johnson from Leeds and hope that you can furnish us with some important and urgent clarifications.
In your reply, you stated the following... "The amendments made to the water Act 2003 allow an SHA to direct a water company to fluoridate the water supply in an area, where it is in the interest of public health. The SHA must first consult with the local community and businesses in the affected area, to ensure that there is sufficient support. " This is not actually the case as a study of both the 2003 legislation and its effect on Local Communities and the consultation process shows.
When the legislation is studied, it will be seen that it not only gives the right to the Strategic Health Authorities to overule even a 100 percent local objection to fluoridation, but actually compells the Water Companies to add fluoride. This can be shown by looking at the results of polls and consultations in Hampshire and Southampton and elsewhere across the UK. You also say in your letter that you " have no objection to Strategic health Authorities initiating water fluoridation if that is what their local communities are calling for, but I do not see why the Government should seek to press them to do so. I believe the strategic Health Authorities should consult their local communities about these issues, if and when it is deemed appropriate.
Friends of the Earth would agree with the latter part of your reply, but we go further, we too do not see why any Government should seek to press or compell the SHAs to behave in this way but we are fully aware that this is exactly what the current government is doing. Only a qualified medical practitioner can legally prescribe medication to an individual, having first established the patients general state of health and any medication which the patient may already be receiving and of course who also consents to this action. Only then can a doctor prescribe a carefully and scientifically planned dosage program which he must continually monitor.
Mass medication quite clearly fails to meet all these criteria and is thus an abandonment of long established medical and scienfic good practice as it takes no heed of dosage variations, caused by varying water consumtion and additional fluoride in the diet from other sources. It also opens the Government to the possibility of Legal Action which is already being considered in additon to the Southampton Judicial Review currently underway.
Despite this clear abandonment of normal practice, the Current Government has spent tens of millions of pounds promoting this via the recently abandoned British Fluoridaton Society formerly under the chairmanship of Mr Andy Burnham MP. Mr Burnham was promoted to Health Minister but had to be reminded by our campaigners of his conflict of interest and was forced to resign his Chair. If all this was not bad enough, the current Government has at the same time frightened away thousands of experienced dentists leaving dental services in many rural areas and some urban areas, in a pitiful state and the number of NHS dentists badly depleted.
Our members and other organisations in our network indicate massive and sustained objection to the dangerous and discredited use of fluoride and the unacceptable practive of mass medication. Furthermore a growing number have already or are prepared in future to refuse to pay for water contaminated with what is actually toxic industrial waste.
Friends of the Earth Nationally and its Local Groups Network are not alligned with any political party and we guard our independence carefully. We do however respect the precautionary principle and examples of good practice, frequently naming and shaming polluters in both the Public and Private sectors. We are consequently recommending that all our members and supporters carefully vet all candidates in all Local and National Elections with particular emphasis on their views of fluoridation via mass medication and refuse to either support, recommend or vote for any of these, who are not prepared to reject the practice of fluoridation and the allegedly legal methods of forcing this upon the public, irrespective of their Political affiliation.
For all the reasons mentioned above, we are hoping to persuade those who seek Government or public office to abandon all support for wastefull and discredited practices in the NHS such as fluoridation. In the meantime, we thank you for your time and consideration in thismattter and look forward to your reply.
Yours faithfully
Brian Jackson
Friends of the Earth Local Groups
Fluoridation campaign.

Many hands can make light work of course so we would be very graeful if other Campaigners on this network can also help by phoning or writing to individual candidates in their areas to ask for their views on fluoride and fluoridation. and by forwarding the responses they receive back to us so we can add them to the list. This will not only help us to avoid reinventing the wheel and give us ammunition with which to confront successful election candidates in the coming months and help us to focus them upon their election pledges.
Southampton candidates oppose flouride plans
BBC News
... Southampton have said they opposed plans to add fluoride to the city's tap water. ... Campaign group Hampshire Against Fluoridation and other supporters ...
Friends of the Earth would disagree with the statement made by the Conservative Candidate about a Referendum. How can it be possible for a group of people who support fluoridation to impose it upon all the people via the water supply. Even if friends of the Earth thought that fluoride was a good idea which we certainly and definitely do not, how could we impose it upon all other people. All medication should be a private matter between a doctor and an individual patient. and of course with the consent of the patient. I occasionally take an aspirin if i have a headache but it would be absurd for me to insist that readers of this should also take an aspirin, absurd and totally unacceptable. Consequenltly a referendum with binding results is completely unacceptable. If people wish to have fluoride, its widely accessible from toothpaste, tablets or even tea and individuals have every right to self administer, under medical supervision if necessary but they have no right to decide the matter for others. Similarly the PCTs, the SHA. the Council, the BDA and Uncle Tom Cobley also have no rights of imposition on the public. A Majority is not a Medical Qualification
Brian Jackson Friends of the Earth Local Groups Fluoride Campaign

CHECK OUT THE VOICE OF THE NEW ZEALAND LUNATIC FRINGE

2010-04-10T22:34:00.000-07:00

The lunatic fringe returns

By Paul Thomas View as one page

4:00 AM Saturday Apr 10, 2010

Paul Thomas writes that there's a widespread assumption of American ignorance, particularly in the heartland.

Who would have guessed? The Antichrist is an Ivy League-educated lawyer, a president of the Harvard Law Review, no less, whom many of his fellow Americans found so compelling they put him in the White House.

But that's the considered view of 22 per cent of the Republican voters who took part in a Harris poll last month.

And while they're on the subject, 51 per cent of them believe Barack Obama wants to turn the sovereignty of the USA over to a global government, 45 per cent think he's the "domestic enemy" referred to in the US constitution, 38 per cent are convinced he's doing many of the things Hitler did, and 22 per cent reckon he wants the terrorists to win.

What should we make of this? Bruce Bartlett, who worked for two Republican Presidents, draws the conclusion that between 20 and 50 per cent of the party "are either insane or mind-numbingly stupid".

John Avlon, author of Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America, thinks it demonstrates that "Obama Derangement Syndrome - pathological hatred of the President posing as patriotism - has infected the Republican Party".

Casting his net a little wider, writer Neal Gabler puts the rabid right's rise down to "the transformation of conservatism from a political movement, with all the limitations, hedges and forbearances of politics, into a kind of fundamentalist religious movement with the absolute certainty of religious belief.

What we have in America today is political fundamentalism."

It's a far cry from the days when movie star, American icon, and rock-ribbed conservative John Wayne could say of John F. Kennedy, "I didn't vote for him but he's my President and I hope he does a good job."

A decade and a half later, Wayne attended Jimmy Carter's inauguration ball as "a member of the loyal opposition".

Yet Wayne bought into the conservative narrative of frontier individualism and self-reliance to such an extent that he denounced the classic western High Noon as "un-American" because the beleaguered marshal (Gary Cooper) asks the townspeople for help in confronting an outlaw gang. (He doesn't get any.)

Wayne's and director Howard Hawks' response was the also classic Rio Bravo, in which a marshal rejects offers of help from unqualified civilians when faced with a similar threat.

Wayne was also a member of the far-right John Birch Society. (They parted company over the society's conviction that fluoridation was a communist plot. Some things are too hard to swallow.)

In their heyday in the 1950s and 60s the Birchers were a force to be reckoned with. Among other strange things, they believed that the US and Soviet governments were controlled by a conspiracy of the usual suspects - Jews, bankers, Freemasons - whose ultimate goal was "a collectivist New World Order managed by a one-world socialist government".

COWARDLY LABOUR and CONFUSED CONSERVATIVES HIDE FROM FLUORIDATION DEBATE

2010-04-02T13:01:00.000-07:00

YES -- NO -- DOH"

One of our most experienced campaigners recently wrote to the three major political party leaders and asked them for their position on fluoridation of water supplies. We now have replies from the LibDems and the Conservatives but perhaps predictably NOT from the New Labour in Government, they are probably far to busy trying to find some way of staying in power.

They may also be be unwilling to reply because they have been rumbled on a few too many issues already and know that they cannot win unless they lie and cheat. It was after all they who introduced the very snide legislation which not only gave power to the SHAs and their Lackeys in the PCTs to compel the water companies to add fluoride to drinking water, but which also enabled them to ignore all local dissent and objections, to force the water companies to add fluoride to our water supplies whether we liked it or not. This is enshrined in the Water Bill 2003.

We don't like it at all, all polls on this poison give highly negative pro-fluoride votes, the results of the falsely called "Consultation" process in Hampshire and Southampton carve this in stone and have even promoted a forced Judicial Review which could delay any further expansion of fluoride for a couple of years or more. People right across the UK have similar views. They don't want this poison, they don't see why they should be compelled to have it in what is laughingly often called a democracy. New Labour of course has a different view of Democracy to the rest of us. It believes in the Nanny State, and a very severe Nanny at that. One who likes to know who and where you are at all times, what you eat and drink, who your friends are ad infinitum. Worse still, they feel they have the right to make all our choices for us, whether this be smoking, drinking, hunting, live music etc etc. So we are constantly watched on ever increasing numbers of CCTV cameras. We must accept biometric passports, ID Cards and all the other mechanisms of the control freaks Police State. the latesf of which is the new one from the Prince of Darkness aka. Mandelson, whose Digital Copyright Bill seeks to undo all the already limited freedom and creativity the Internet has brought us and at the same time ensure that control or artistry and music and its proceeds remains in the hands of a few, right wing and extremely rich Bastards, but I digress. (Come on, dont be shy, tell us what your really think. Ed")

So in Executive Summary stylee, what do we mean by YES - NO- DOH ???

YES to Fluoridation.

Yes refers to the Labour Party who once in government without a mandate, policy or any proper debate, forced state sanctioned, er... I mean state enforced fluoridation through a mostly empty house. Led of course by the then Chief of Toadies and now Head of Demolition at the NHS Andy Burnham. Our campaigner wrote to them via her constituency MP, Hilary Benn. who we thought was likely to be the Mr Nice of the present crop of Labour neredowells. Sadly no response what so ever.

Maybe he could not comment and has had to wait till his masters decide whether they dare answer or not. Perhaps its still in his in tray or the Brown Wonders In tray (shurely shome mishtake. Ed!) due to the pressure of trying to come up with something which might sort out the current and likely to be lasting financial and political crisis or. most likely of all. Browns bunch are terrified of being drawn into a debate on the morality, legality and democracy of compulsory medication with fluoride in our water. A debate which they know they cannot win on scientific grounds ethical grounds and as countless polls on fluoridation have shown, Democratic grounds. They are certain to be terrified of losing power at a time when they are most desirous of increasing or at the very least maintaining it. New labours campaign colour used to be Red, but now its the same colour as the skid marks on its underwear.

NO to Fluoridation

Here in the Good News section we find the Liberal Democrats with a straightforward and clear message indicating zero tolerance of fluoride and compulsory medication....

"In general terms, Liberal Democrats believe that people and local communities should have the ability to make their own decisions as to whether or not they should take forms of medicine, which – according to the stated purpose – fluoridation would effectively constitute. Obviously, there is no such thing as absolute certainty when it comes to health safety – but in normal circumstances patients can weigh up the pros and cons or receiving potentially risky treatment and choose whether to undertake it. Mass fluoridation of water would leave people with no choice, and we believe that it should not be imposed by Whitehall diktat.

Thank you once again for writing to us; please do rest assured that all comments have been taken on board.

Thus the LibDems demonstrate how easy it is to give a straight answer if you really try. But of course if you are the type of politician or party member that desires membership of the Westminster club at any cost, there is little or no room for honesty. For most of them, power is the goal and even if you don't have any coherent policies you can always think some up once you get control. An equally honourable mention must also be made for the Greens who have consistently made no secret of their opposition to fluoridation and helped Scotland maintain its drinking water quality.

DOH! -- What is this fluoridation thingy all about anyway ?

The saddest reply was from Andrew Landsley the Conservative Shadow Health Secretary on behalf of David Cameron. At first sight the reply looks promising. It uses the some of the right words such as consultation and explains the 2003 act as follows. "the water Act 2003 allow an SHA to direct a water company to fluoridate the water supply in an area, where it is in the interest of public health. The SHA must first consult with the local community and businesses in the affected area, to ensure that there is sufficient support. Apparently Mr Landsley does not appear to understand that according to the legislation which he quotes, even if there is a 101% local opposition to water fluoridation, the SHA can still ask the water company to add fluoride and worst of all, the water company MUST COMPLY.

The so called consultation is therefore a complete waste of time and money and merely a cynical cosmetic exercise designed to add a veneer of democracy to what is otherwise little more than an East European style diktat. At a time when the NHS is about to be tightly squeezed to save money for its core services, it should not be contemplating spending hundreds of millions on water fluoridation, in the North West alone which does not even do what it says on the tin and creates the very problems which it has been in the past, alleged.

Even worse is the threat posed by additional costs not apparently covered in the figures posted so far. Fluoride is an extremely dangerous and potentially deadly chemical. For health and safety reasons, the traditional dirt track roads which lead to most of our outlying drinking water plants will need to be strenthenged, widened and surfaced to prevent accidents and spillages. And even more worrying is the prospect of tankers full of this crap, trundling through our towns, villages and country lanes. In the USA in some areas the tankers are accompanied by armed police escorts to prevent hijacks for terrorist purposes. Heaven knows how much all this will cost and apparently this will have to come out of the NHS budget as its not covered in the general fluoridation fund. Oh well, they can always close another A and E Unit or a Childrens Ward here or there.

If Mr Landsleys view represents a true picture of the Conservative Party grasp of some of the technicalities of the costs, and legalisms associated then all of us, and not just the NHS is safe in their hands. Friends of the Earth can therefore not recommend either of the two main parties as candidates and if they really want to lead the UK through the dangerous environmental and financial minefield which stretches well into the next decade they will really need to swat up on a few things and get their collective and individual acts together. Re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic didn't do it and now painting those chairs wont do it either. Its time for politicians to begine to grasp the scope and technicalities whether they be scientific, medical, financial or social and look for genuine consensus to tackle the problems we face.

The MPs expenses scandal has shown us that the MPs and candidates are nowhere near as clever as they thought they were, and also that the electorate are not as daft as they thought we were. The attempts to dumb us all down has not yet succeeded and to ensure that it doesn't in the future we need politicians who are prepared to use some commons sense. and allow science to dictate to policy and not allow highly trained and qualified to be overruled by incompetent power hungry hypocritical numpties.

House of Commons paper
8th March 2010

Our Ref: NC/100210_02/HvK
Dear Miss Johnson,

Many thanks for your letter to Nick Clegg MP. Nick has asked me to reply to you on his behalf. I am sorry for the delay in responding and I hope you will understand that, due to the sheer volume of correspondence which Nick receives, it can take some time for us to reply.

In general terms, Liberal Democrats believe that people and local communities should have the ability to make their own decisions as to whether or not they should take forms of medicine, which – according to the stated purpose – fluoridation would effectively constitute. Obviously, there is no such thing as absolute certainty when it comes to health safety – but in normal circumstances patients can weigh up the pros and cons or receiving potentially risky treatment and choose whether to undertake it. Mass fluoridation of water would leave people with no choice, and we believe that it should not be imposed by Whitehall diktat.

Thank you once again for writing to us; please do rest assured that all comments have been taken on board

Yours sincerely

Douglas Dowell
Office of Nick Clegg MP

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
House of Commons paper
2nd March

Dear Miss Johnson

David Cameron’s office recently passed me a copy of your letter regarding water fluoridation

In 2003 parliament voted to allow water fluoridation to take place if a water authority has been asked to do so by the local Strategic Health Authority (SHA). The amendments made to the water Act 2003 allow an SHA to direct a water company to fluoridate the water supply in an area, where it is in the interest of public health. The SHA must first consult with the local community and businesses in the affected area, to ensure that there is sufficient support.

I understand that there is some concern about fluoridation of the water supply. I have no objection to Strategic health Authorities initiating water fluoridation if that is what their local communities are calling for, but I do not see why the Government should seek to press them to do so. I believe the strategic Health Authorities should consult their local communities about these issues, if and when it is deemed appropriate.

Thank you for taking the time to write

Yours Sincerely

Andrew Lansley CBE MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Health
Email lansley@parliament.uk
Website www.andrewlansley.co.uk

DOCTOR FLUORIDE LEAVES EAST LANCS PCT

2010-04-01T15:09:00.000-07:00

LETTER FROM QUANGOLAND

I recently received the letter below from a fellow fluoride campaigner who will remain anonymous.

Hi Brian

Dr Ellis Friedman, Director of Public Health (East Lancs PCT) attended his last Board meeting on 25th March and is moving on and has now taken up his new post in Hillingdon, London. http://www.hillingdon.nhs.uk/Board.html

If you recall, Dr Friedman was a strong advocate of introducing fluoride to drinking water and attended an overview & scrutiny meeting in Pendle (Nelson) giving a presentation on water fluoridation.

Dr Friedman wrongly contested that fluoridation of water didn't need a product licence. Yet when a new vaccine came on the market he recommended GP's do not prescribe the vaccine [see attached] since this would not be in accordance with the product licence for Gardasil® which states “The use of Gardasil should be in accordance with official recommendations”.

It was proposed to add fluoride to water for medicinal purposes (prevent dental caries) and as such requires a product licence, something Dr Friedman contested when he was questioned about the product licence number at the scrutiny meeting.

I can vouch for this as i also attended one of his fluoride meetings and i feel it encombent to say that everyone seemed totally underwhelmed by the childishly unscientific tosh the Doctor displayed via the (yawn yawn) Powerpoint presentation. Powerpoint is often a victory of packaging over content but Freidman still managed to plumb new depths.

After a ten minute waffle about the labyrinthine nature of the beurocracy involved in the compulsory "consultation" process, ( a thinly disguised exercise in state bulldozing of the democratic process) we reached the High Spot of the presentation wherin the not so good doctor produced a diagram of a classic Molar. On the left it had labels and arrows pointing to decay and its causes, namely rapidly degrading carbs and sugar. On the right a similarly labelled explaination of what prevents such decay and caries, namely Salt and Fluoride. Sadly, at this exciting moment on the verge of his scientific abyss, the doc turned off his projector and stood confidently waiting for questions.

Needless to say, no-one was impressed and my first question was simply, "Is that all there is?" perhaps predictably he seemed reluctant to answer this and turned to others hoping for easier questions. Fortunately all of us had heard more than enought to convince us that the whole thing was a sham and rapidly showed both fluoride and the Doc, the door. We only got the same, "safe and effective" bollocks, and i think i heard a "proven "or two. When my turn came to speak against Fluoridation in the area, it did not take long to make a mockery of him when he insisted that dental fluorosis was merely "cosmetic"

My condolences go out to the poor citizens of Hillingdon, in London who will shortly see the benefit of entertaining Ellis Freidman.

cheers

Launch of Fluoride Analysis and Database Service (FADS)

2010-03-24T02:48:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered if there's fluoride in your favourite bottled water, wine, tea, beer, cider, etc? A new Fluoride Testing Service for the UK and Ireland which is hosted by West Midlands Against Fluoridation begins this month (March 2010).

With best wishes

Joy Warren

Co-ordinator,
West Midlands Against Fluoridation

www.wmaf.org.uk

ENDS -------------------------------------------------------------------------

STOP THE BBC RADIO AND WEB SITE CUTS. write or sign now

2010-03-05T13:51:00.001-08:00

The BBC may have many faults but it is usually fairly well balanced and thus more than worthy of retaining. If the BBC TV yields to the pressure from Government and the likes of Rupert (Dirty Digger) Murdoch we will be left with little more than a pay per view website and the most trivial of contents. There is a huge campaign currently running within and outside of the BBC to save Radio Six and the Asian Network which are both facing the chop and to stop the Beeb cutting the BBC Web Site, arguably one of the best Websites on the World Wide Web. You can help by adding your name to the petitions and write in campaigns.

RADIO FOUR "FEEDBACK." http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/feedback/contact/
You can email them at feedback@bbc.co.uk or call them at 03 333 444 544, Contact them by post at Feedback, PO Box 2100, London W1A 1QT. or you can sign the BBC internal petition here..... http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/BBCcuts?source=homepage#petition

STOP THE BBC RADIO AND WEB SITE CUTS. write or sign now

2010-03-05T13:51:00.000-08:00

Stop the BBC cuts to Radio Networks and the BBC Web Site Now in "Consultation period"
It difficult at the best of times to get media coverage of the Fluoridation issue and even harder to get it covered by Radio or TV. I have over the last couple of years however managed to get on four BBC Local radio or regional stations which did items on fluoride, BBC Radio Leeds, BBC TV Manchester, BBC Manx Radio and BBC Radio Wales. Suffice it to say that Independent radio and TV have never once covered it and trying to get it mentioned is probably impossible.

The BBC may have many faults but it is usually fairly well balanced and thus more than worthy of retaining. If the BBC TV yields to the pressure from Government and the likes of Rupert (Dirty Digger) Murdoch we will be left with little more than a pay per view website and the most trivial of contents. There is a huge campaign currently running within and outside of the BBC to save Radio Six and the Asian Network which are both facing the chop and to stop the Beeb cutting the BBC Web Site, arguably one of the best Websites on the World Wide Web. You can help by adding your name to the petitions and write in campaigns.

RADIO FOUR "FEEDBACK." http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/feedback/contact/
You can email them at feedback@bbc.co.uk or call them at 03 333 444 544, Contact them by post at Feedback, PO Box 2100, London W1A 1QT. or you can sign the BBC internal petition here..... http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/BBCcuts?source=homepage#petition

BRING BACK HANGING (PARLIAMENTS)

2010-02-28T19:02:00.000-08:00

COMPULSORY FLUORIDE IS TYPICAL OF GOVERNMENTS WITH TOO MUCH POWER

As the General Election draws closer one cannot help but wonder how this is likely to affect the fluoridation issue. Although hurried through parliament, the legislation to speed up fluoridation does not at this stage appear any closer and the legal challenges from Hampshire Against Fluoride is only delaying it further. Even if Labour gets in again with a working majority, the main demands on the NHS and the growing debt mountain in the UK are going to make it increasingly difficult to promote or install the infrastructure required for implementation.

If the Tories get in i think fluoridation would be even less likely, they are always much more ready to cut expenditure and costs whether its needed or not and the last thing they will want is to get of to a bad start involving arguments about fluoride and its costs which of course include legal costs. There is also much debate and concern about the possibility of a "Hung Parliament" which occurs when neither of the main parties is elected with a large majority.

I for one believe that a Hung Parliament is exactly what the doctor ordered for our stuttering democracy. The two main parties are terrified of such an occurrence and cite many reasons why its such a bad thing. they say for instance that it allows minority parties to hold the country to ransom and exert power above and beyond their real influence. But surely in a real democracy smaller parties and independents is exactly what the doctor ordered.

A wider range of issues gets represented and there is a much better quality of debate when no party has such a huge majority that it can force outrageous laws onto the books. Look for example at the dreadful damage done to the industry in this country by combination of Reagonomics and Thatcherism. Thatcher was able to say the most ludicrous things and be taken seriously whilst paving the way for the excesses of the Neocons. Who can forget such environmentally absurd statements as "the great car economy" or "there's no such thing as society" and dreadfully unsustainable policies as the "dash for gas". This latter assisted by the forcible closure of the coal mines ensured that our north sea gas and oil reserves would be used up in record time. Now we have to depend on that nice Mr Putin for our future gas and energy supplies.

Thatcher also brought us the City of Londons "big Bang" in 1986. This essentially computerised and automated much of the big money transactions whilst at the same time removing much of the regulation and control, thus enabling the banks to run up huge debts at the expense of the depositor and the tax payer whilst a few big banks could live off funny money and grotesque bonus schemes.

This get rich quick, loads-a-money economy has given rise to an ongoing dumbing down of the last two generations who think of nothing but becoming celebrities of the most trivial kind on a diet of junk fast food, binge drinking, and the most dreadful and formulaic music onc can imagine. Best of all was the Tories privitasation of the water companiess, which placed our most precious resource in the hands of a few multinationals and their shareholders. From film i have seen even the K Factor which allowed the water companies to increase prices by something like 5 percent above inflation seems to have disappeared into the pockets of shareholders whilst the infrastructure continues to rot.

And what of New Labour and its fabulous landslide elections.? I actually raised the question of Landslides and they damage they could cause with Tony Blair on live national radio a couple of days before the election of 2000 AD. It caught him off guard at first but he soon settled into the familiar arguments about minority parties, etc etc. If truth be told however, Labour has been every bit as damaging to our democracy as was its predecessor, although it has taken a different tack.

Once Blair and his ilk realised they could pass new laws easily they quickly acquired the habit of doing so. Change for the sake of change has been the only game in their lexicon and the terrorist outrages on both sides of the big pond have furnished them with all the excuses they ever needed. Now we have bio-passports, retinal scans, compulsory (sooner or later) ID Cards, ASBOs and lots of other increased police powers and CCTV cams beyond counting. Our privacy and our democracy has been severely damaged and the government does not seem minded to give up this masturbatory fantasy of a world power with international domination rights it has contracted from the USA.

Our first past the post system enables a minority of the electorate to elect governments with gigantic majorities which can do anything they damn well like and the opposition is rendered completely impotent. The majority of people genuinely do not feel represented. Fluoridation of drinking water is a major case in point. A very dangerous, untested bi-product of industries such as pesticides, aluminium and even the nuclear weapons industry is not just given to people under some junk science pretext but its actually forced upon them via the drinking water. Its bad enough that clean and potable water is a shrinking resource due to population growth and squandering, we now have governments prepared to make it compulsory to have remaining stocks poisoned along with the wider environment.

The nut cases who promote this filthy crap are not satisfied with this however, they are alaready putting it in the schoolkids milk in parts of Sheffied and Derbyshire and have advised LIDL supermarkets to add it to salt. Clearly they are hell bent on forcing as much of this stuff down our throats with or without our consent or co-operation. If this is not bad enough their are even, as predicted by campaigners, calls for the addition of Statins or Lithium Salts to our drinking water. So we get a few crackpots in our current government who have swallowed all the junk science and even give money to organisations promoting it. Many of these have no relevent medical or scientific skills and certainly no right to prescribe.

A hung parliament would not end all of this of course, but it would at least force a more rigorous and detailed debate and with a bit of luck only measures and laws deemed scientifically credible and just would be passed. Lets put an end to vote catching scams and yielding to the interests of corporations and concentrate on genuine health care and diets and the first step towards this will be to cut down on fat landslides, and make our system more fair and proportional. The fact that the money markets are worried by the prospect of a hung parliament only gives me more confidence that this is the correct way to proceed. I have seen over the last thirty years, Landslide governts of both the right and the left but these labels no long fit, they are both the same and cannot be trusted with unlimited power. So, Lets not give these power hungry and greedy retards the means to compel and bully ordinary people, vote for debate, vote for sensible laws made by sensible governments.... vote for proportional representation, and minorities and independence and remind all those who seek election that they are being elected to serve and definitely not to rule and just like most ordinary folks, there is no job for life with a cherry on the top. They are neither fit nor competent to do so. If they want our respect, they will have to earn it and if they want to medicate us in any way against our wishes via the water and food supplies, just tell them No Thanks.

MORE THINGS THAT OUR MPs JUST DONT GET

2010-02-08T02:12:00.000-08:00

Fresh Water, a Dwindling Resource

The World including our own little island, is now running short of clean drinking water due to growing population and profligate use. Remaining surface and ground water resources are also increasingly polluted from a wide variety of sources, be they industrial, agricultural or domestic. Many modern and commonly used chemicals are virtually impossible or at least prohibitively expensive to remove once they have contaminated our water and although the amounts remaining after treatment and filtration may seem small, their scope must be a matter of growing concern. There are now a vast array of contaminants. Very many of them have not received any long term testing whether in exclusion or in combination and many of these have not been tested at all. The effects of this toxic cocktail upon humans and wildlife are little known. We do know however that there are many carcinogens and mutagens amongst them which we should not be ingesting at all.

The only sane approach to protect our fresh water resources and our health therefore must be to employ the precautionary principle and whenever possible restrict and control usage and disposal of potentially dangerous substances.

Fluoride in its many forms has been around longer than most chemicals in common usage but amazingly despite much hype on its "safeness and effectiveness" has never been properly tested and such research that has been carried out has caused increasing concern amongstenvironmentalists, toxicologists and epidemiologists. In view of all this, it beggars belief that we have a government, which not only ignores all the latest research and as usual, the advice of its own expert scientists but then replaces democracy, debate, consultation, science, and reason with compulsion, by giving the unelected and arguably incompetent SHAs and PCTs decision making powers above and beyond all local decision making.

In the last year there has been much debate and anger among the public about how out of touch our Elected Members or whatever party have become with the real world and their electorate. Even when found out in their borderline legal expenses claims they still wriggle and whinge. Pulling all the above together, I can think of no more glaring example of this failure in competence, trust and democracy than their desire to impose compulsory mass medication on the public by fluoridation of the water supply. Even the most out of touch MP cannot truly be unaware of the impending environmental crisis and that the UK is not somehow immune from this. Pollution comes in many forms, not just CO2 emissions but only the very most stupid and ignorant of governments could respond to the growing crisis of shrinking drinking water resources by not only advocating compulsory pollution of these resources with fluoride but also using it as political football and compounding their dishonesty by fiddling and rejecting their own experts advice in favour of junk science, out of date by several decades, and high-handed bullying .

Just as MPs of all parties have fiddled with their expenses claims we have current low calibre Government Ministers such as Home Secretary Johnson and Health Minister Andy Burnham(sic) who have fiddled the evidence on fluoride to support their quackery and for why? Put simply, to further their shabby short term political goals and justify and disguise their stupidity. Fortunately the public are wising up to their duplicity and rejecting their campaign goals as selfish, unworkable and undemocratic. The public don't want fluoridation and even its advocates often change their mind when confronted by reliable facts and figures.. In countless surveys and polls across the UK, they have soundly rejected water fluoridation in favour of better education and dentistry services, the latter of which have suffered badly under the current regime. Thanks to the coming General and Local Elections, we now have the chance to lobby and vet the candidates of all parties and give the boot to those who persist in meddling with and damaging our health services and our democracy. Confront your candidates and ask them whether they support this nonesense before you make any decisions or choices. Say No To Fluoride and Fluoridation and say it loud.

STEM CELL RESEARCH STORY SOUNDS FAMILIAR TO FLUORIDE CAMPAIGNERS

2010-02-01T23:27:00.000-08:00

According to the BBC News Web Site this morning, "Stem cell experts say they believe a small group of scientists is effectively vetoing high quality science from publication in journals. It has also emerged that 14 leading stem cell researchers have written an open letter to journal editors in order to highlight their dissatisfaction. In the case of stem cell research, there are billions of pounds of money for research at stake and the implication is that this research is being cherry picked with only mediocre research which fits the accepted profile getting the major publicity.

Obviously the problems of getting fluoride research properly peer-reviewed are not exactly the same and the sums of cash at stake are smaller but nevertheless, the parallels are clear. Companies eager to get rid of silica fluorides certainly gain by maintaining the absurd and pathetic allegiance to fluoride and a blind belief in its safety and clearly the number of private dentists has not declined in line with the decline in dental caries whether or not this is attributable to fluoride or the general improvement in dental health since world war 2.

It is galling however to anyone concerned to get the real facts about fluoride and its dangers into the media to constantly see limp-wristed pro-fluoride rubbish with very poor science constantly quoted whilst good peer reviewed warnings about fluoride disappear by slight of hand. The same old quotes and terminology such as "optimal fluoride" or "safe and effective" are clear examples that the pro-fluoride science(sic) is not only weak, but was also out of date when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Sadly it would seem that these dinosaurs still roam the earth to this day.

Fluoridation Status in the UK

2010-01-16T17:38:00.000-08:00

Fluoridation Status in the UK

DAVID ROSE, VETERAN CAMPAIGNER DIES SUDDENLY

2010-01-08T06:44:00.000-08:00

It is with very great sadness that I have to announce the death of my friend and co-campaigner Mr David Rose, of Colne in Lancashire. He was founder and Chairman of the Millennium Green Trust. a long term member of Friends of the Earth at both the National and Local Group levels, and A tireless campaigner against pollution in its many forms, for wildlife habitats, and against planning outrages, and the red tape which often protected polluters. It goes without saying that he was a reader and contributor to this blog and our mailing list at ( fluoride@foe.co.uk )

When FoE and local groups and residents halted the building of the M65 extension through Colne, it was his inspiration and hard work which led to the transformation of motorway-blighted land in the town, into the Colne Millennium Green which now provides a green lung and excellent community amenity. I and many others here and on various campaign networks will miss his creative energy, his wit and his companionship and we send all our condolences and blessings to his wife and his daughter.

BRIAN JACKSON

FRIENDS OF THE EARTH

A NEW YEAR DAWNS BUT THE OLD FIGHT CONTINUES

2009-12-22T20:40:00.000-08:00

As 2010 appears over the Eastern Horizon it would be nice to think that this is the year that fluoride and fluoridation is finally destroyed. Even a cursory glance at the information on fluoride tells us that its extremely toxic, whether natural or man-made, and it simply does not work to protect teeth but damges them and many other vital parts of the human body. We know its never been thoroughly tested and that idiots such as the British and American Governments and their paymasters in major industries mare in complete denial. it would be nice to think that they are just misguided and well-meaning but clearly in most cases other than the most niave and blinkered dentists still living in the past, this is not the case.

The pro-fluoride movement is driven by a bunch of materialistic and greedy industries and their puppets who will say anything to increase their profits and clearly dont really care at all. A good example is the latest development with LIDL Supermarkets in Scotland. The Scottish Assembly of MSPs and the Scottish National Party Aided by the Green Party rejected clearly any attempts to add fluoride to the water supply North of the Border but the chief dental officer in Scotland, alarmed that it might harm his reputation or possibly his pocket has lobbied LIDL and convinced them that they should now sell fluoridated salt. One would think that salt was not already a problem without making it toxic as well.

I strongly urge LIDL customers and would be customers to avoid ChanteSel salt with added fluoride. Cutting down on salt is a good idea, cutting down on this muck is a very good idea> People can of course buy the stuff if they want and to be fair, LIDL are also selling un corrupted salt so the element of consumer choice is still in tact but sadly salt is one of those things deemed essential by many and most people dont look clearly at the labels. Most Scottish friends of mine enjoy a nice cup of tea or indeed several as much as I do and arguably are already receiving more than enough fluoride from that source. Add to this processed meals and junk foods, especially processed foods manufactured and processed in areas with water fluoridation such as the West Midlands and Newcastle and its probable that many are already ingesting too much. As a result there is no control of of the total dosage and individual or a group of individuals actually receives daily, weekly etc. A little from a wide variety of sources can add up to a lot and as up to 50% of ingested fluoride is not eliminated from the body, high and potentially dangerous levels of fluoride can accumulate over time.

With the current cold weather and snow and ice, i have purchased much more salt than i would normally ever use to reduce the lethal nature of my footpaths and steps. I did however check carefully that none of it contained fluoride because our outside drains flow directly into our local river and according to one Canadian study discovered, even levels of fluoride well below the alleged safe dose of 1 part per million were capable of halting salmon and salmonids such as trout incapable of breeding As a veteran water pollution campaigner with Friends of the Earth i would be neglecting my duties if i poured crap into my or anyone else's rivers.

Next year is General Election Year so when prospective candidates of ANY PARTY come knocking on your door or sending you letters and leaflets asking for you votes whether for local or National election. Question them carefully about how they stand on water fluoridation or the adulteration of foods and milk with this crap. And if they cannot give you their assurance that they are actively against the practice, just give them the bums rush. In the meantime tell all your friends and neighours of the dangers this chemical poses and if you can join one of the groups or organisations dedicated to eradicating this poison from the human diet and the wider environemtn. There are more than enough toxins in our food and water as it is without adding more and as for those who advocate the addition of fluoride to childrens milk i regard it as a form of child abuse and the perpetrators should lose their jobs immediatley for the good of all.

In the meantime i wish you all a Happy Solstice, a Merry Christmas and a Happy and healthy New Year, 2010.

TIME TO DUMP THE DEADLY DOC

2009-12-10T03:17:00.000-08:00

TIME TO DUMP THE DEADLY DOC

FLUORIDE ACTION NETWORK http://www.FluorideAlert.Org
FAN Bulletin 2000: Mildura, 'the little town that roared' needs your helpDecember 2009Mildura, 'the little town that roared'In a press release issued yesterday fluoridation fighters in Mildura, Australia sent a letter signed by fluoridation activists and several scientists from around the world, calling for the resignation of Dr. John Carnie, the Chief Health Officer for Victoria. Dr Carnie continues to force fluoridation on communities without giving them any opportunity to vote on the matter; without willing to debate the issue in public and without answering basic questions submitted to him in writing by 20 professionals. This is how you can help this effort. We want authorities in Victoria to know that the whole world is watching how they deal with this situation, so please consider adding your name to the letter sent to the Victorian Health Minister yesterday, details below. He will keep receiving copies of this letter with the new names added.

HOW YOU CAN HELP.....

To sign on to this letter please send your name, town/city and country and a one sentence description of who you are to me at pconnett@gmail.com and afam.daniel@gmail.com also state in the email that you want to be a signee of the letter. Daniel will be forwarding your names to the Victorian Health Minister and I will be keeping count this end so that I can share progress reports with you.

Updates showing the number of signees can be found on http://fluoridealert.org/australia.carnie.letter.html
Thank you in anticipation of your support.
Paul Connett-------------------------------Demand for Dr. Carnie's resignation

Press Release - Friday, December 4, 2009
The Anti-Fluoridation Association of Mildura, along with other Victorian safe water groups, and a number of health and scientific professionals, are calling for the resignation of Dr. John Carnie, Victoria's Chief Health Officer. The call comes as community discontent with the Government's mandatory fluoridation policy grows.Today, the following letter was sent to Victoria's Health Minister, Daniel Andrews.

Dear Minister Andrews,
We are outraged by your government's continued efforts to force fluoridation on communities without giving citizens a chance to vote on the matter. In this matter the behaviour of Dr. John Carnie has gone beyond anything one would expect or should tolerate from a civil servant. Let us explain.Most recently Dr. Carnie's refusal to respond to the basic questions put to him by a number of Australian and international health and scientific professionals, in line with his "no debate policy," has outraged many in Mildura and around the world.While Dr. Carnie may truly and honestly believe that fluoridation is safe and effective, public health policy needs to be more than a belief system. It needs to be supported by honest and accurate science that can be defended when challenged.

Dr. Carnie has:a) made statements to the public which are inaccurate as well as others which are biased and misleading (see attachment 1)b) refused to defend his beliefs in public debate (see attachment 2)c) failed to answer direct questions addressed to him by Australian and international experts (see attachment 3).Despite this he is still prepared to force this measure on communities, even when a sizeable number of people in those communities, who have researched this issue for themselves, have made it clear that they do not want to be forced to drink fluoridated water. The only way to determine whether such resistance to this measure is coming from a minority of the population or a majority is to give the electorate of each community the chance to vote on the matter. But this opportunity has again been denied to them by Dr. Carnie.

This is a blatant example of the "arrogance of power."When politicians behave in this way, at least the electorate has a chance to make their feelings known at the next election, but Dr. Carnie is not a politician but a civil servant making his arrogance immune from normal democratic processes.

The only alternative for those who believe that Dr. Carnie is failing in his job to protect the health of the people, as exemplified by his unwillingness to answer basic questions on a practice he is prepared to force on them, is to seek his resignation. What other recourse do citizens have when their democratic rights are denied?Thus, we call upon the Minister to set in motion proceedings which will examine this complaint and if he feels that it has merits to remove Dr. Carnie from his position forthwith.We would add that this issue goes well beyond the dangers posed by fluoridation. If it becomes clear - as it has in this case - that public health policies are not based on sound science that can be defended in public and in writing -it will erode the public's trust in the institutions set up - at their expense - to protect their health and the environment.

The loss of that trust threatens our society in many ways and should not be taken lightly by the politicians running Victoria.As you will note from the signatures below, this issue is receiving attention well beyond Victoria and the shores of Australia. We expect the worldwide attention to grow as the shocking behaviour of Dr. Carnie is revealed to a larger audience. As Martin Luther King Jr once said, "injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere."We look forward to hearing your swift response to this complaint.Sincerely,

BHOPAL DISASTER IN INDIA, 25th ANNIVERSARY

2009-12-03T17:20:00.000-08:00

Its 25 years since the Bhopal disaster killed 4,000 people in the first day where they lived and worked. . The death toll ultimately stood at over 9,000 within three years. The survivors'children are being born with terrible disabilities. One 22 year old is only the size of a ten year old. Despite orders from the Supreme Court for removal of all waste from the site, the ruin still stands and well water contaminated by the site hss levels tens of thousands of times the safe level of carbon tetrachloride which is known to damage the kidneys and cause cancer.

Thousands of people are still affected or afflicted by this monstrosity yet amazingly no one has been successfully prosecuted for what happened. There have been demos, marches, and countless calls for resignations of leading figures involved directly or indirectly with the disaster but to no avail. The Bhopal disaster is a terrible example of how super rich western companies operating in the third world can literally walk away from any problems they cause leaving the shit behind them. To call Union Carbide a disgusting nest of scumbags is to be charitable. If there is such a place as hell, i feel pretty sure they are headed for it.

For those who think I have exaggerated the scale and repercussions of the disaster, why not Google Bhopal Disaster and you will be amazed and appalled by what you read. A good start would be to visit this site. http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1203/p06s04-wosc.html

VOLUNTARY I D CARDS IN MANCHESTER = TURKEYS VOTE FOR CHRISTMAS.

2009-11-30T12:08:00.000-08:00

Our stupid Government who always thinks it knows best and listens to nobody unless there is money it in for them initiated the "Voluntary" ID Card scheme in Manchester today and of course whenever there is a Christmas, there is always a Turkey to vote for it. Up steps a "reporter" from the Manchester Evening News, the paper that appears to support fluoride and any other old tosh that the Government comes up with.

Its been like this in Manchester for many years. Back in the day when a Council Leader Graham Stringer and his gang The Stringalongs was busy removing demonstrators who like most sane people were objecting to the Manchester Ringway Airports latest runway, nailed his colours to the mast and decided a runway was much better than boring old fuddy duddy villages like Styal. Or good air quality or integrated transport with real trains, Of such common sense and resolve are future ministers made.

Remember the congestion charges fiasco. It was going to bring lots of dosh into the city and reduce traffic, congestion and the terrible emissions which were killing us all. Best of all, all this dosh would be invested in super-duper new public transport. Perhaps the good folks of Manchester (and here i can reveail i was born and bred there)remembered the pledges and promises of proper and fully integrated transport nationwide which Johnny Presscot was going to bring. He even said we were to hold him to it. Surprise surprise, it just didnt happen, he didnt even do diddly squat. Result Manchester with its ring roads and motorways is more congested than ever. But the good folks of Manchester remembered the broken promises and gave the congestion charge the bums rush.

Naturally the toadies jumped at the chance when Fluoridation of the water was announced. Step forward the Manchester Evening News which even orchestrated an anti-bottled water campaign. Even United Utilities joined in the fun attempting to rubbish bottled water on grounds of expense and pollution. Naturally they hadnt bothered with anything so trivial as research which could have shown them that with all its weaknesses and pollution problems bottle water would always win out over tap water with fluoride in it. In fact any old bucket of crap would. Even the plastic bottles could be recycled and new sources of oil to make them with could actually be sustainable if they were made from corn oil or hemp.

They overlooked another little thing too in their haste to do their masters bidding. United Utilities were also purveyors of water of course, a monopolistic legacy of the dark days of Thatcherism. but even she knew that compettition and choice are important to consumers and and governments who need votes and, though it may be permissable to advertise that your water is better than the oppositions, its not permissable to claim that the compettitors water is a pile of crap. Imagine for example, ASDA producing adverts saying dont shop at Sainsburys. When me learned friends were tipped off and a few phone calls were received, the bottled water hate campaign evaporated faster than the water itself in a heatwave.

So here they are again. the MEN has found a bimbo reporter to appear on the BBC and say how wonderful ID Cards really are, even despite in the nightfall of New Labour project the Card scheme voluntary or otherwise will be scrapped whether the Tories or the Lib Dems take power and believe me, it cannot happen fast enough. Would i like to get rid of New Labour, yes i would most certainly, I could handle a dose of Real Labour though with public services not stuffed with quangos and PCTs and assorted suits and seat pollishers serving their time and waiting for their gongs.

And no ministers like the incompetent Jack (i am against fluoridation but not enough to ever dare say anything against it now I am in government) and his bully boys. And certainly we dont need toadies like Andy Gis'a Job Burnham who will do anything say anything and go anywhere to further his ignominious career and bank account and of course, lets not forget the Home Sec, Alan Johnson who no doubt thinks that ID Cards will be very popular once the population have swallowed enough fluoride. Bad news guys, we dont want ID Cards and wont be turning ourselves in at the police station voluntarily on the off chance we may have inadvertently broken some petty new law the government thought up because it might be a vote winner. And of course last but not least Fluoride itself, seeing as you like it so much guys, why dont you drink it yourself, all of it and as soon as possible and then jump into a bin bag or wheelie bin. Dont worry, it will be collected in a fortnight or so and no one will ever know you were there.

FLUORIDE? CLIMATE CHANGE?. GM FOODS? IT'S ALL THE SAME RULES TO INDUSTRY AND GOVERNMENT

2009-11-29T20:30:00.000-08:00

PROFESSOR NUTT LOCKS ANTLERS WITH GORDON BROWN

2009-10-31T03:21:00.000-07:00

The row between Professor Nutt the chair of the Brown Governments Drugs Advisory Committee intensified on BBC radio four this morning and i make no secret of my support for the Professor. I do however differ over one point he made about the government. He said that Browns Government was the first to ignore scienfic advice of its own appointed experts. In their conclusions the York Revew noted a dearth of detailed and reliable studies in the past and could not categorically recommend an expansion of water fluoridation in the UK and said much needed to be done to establish safety and efficacy.

Despite this the Tony Blair Government decided to push new legislation through parliament to make it possible to force water providers to add fluoride to water supplies. The York Review had not recommended this. Therefore the Brown Governement was at least the second government to think it knew better than its experts.

The issues of assorted drugs most notably cannabis have been studied closely but never the less the government has ignored the science or medical advice except where it was convenient to do so and has thus politicised what should have been a science bassed decision in law making. Drug use and health issues should not be enshrined in law by politicians who are for the most part rather stupid on such matters. The Governments record on disasterous IT decisions is a glaring example and untill Brown intellectually challenged and scientificall illiterate bunch of plonkers learns to discriminated between science and politics, we wil all be at the mercy of blinkered and vested intrests who will continue to tell us what we can and cannot ingest and worst of all, will continue to force us to take substances which we never wanted and certainly never voted for. Fluoride being the most toxic example to date.

So professor Nutt, you are correct in practically every detail except one. Browns Government really is not the first to talk through its arse and then formulate law from its own flatulence.

FAREWELL PROFESSOR NUTT

2009-10-30T15:14:00.000-07:00

It seems like only yesterday and in fact it was only yesterday that I posted about another outburst of common sense from Professor David Nutt, the chair of the Governments drug advisory panel. He was yet again desperately trying to hammer home the message that the Government had got it all wrong yet again. They had completely failed to get the drug problem in perspective by first reducing the classification of cannabis and then only months later re-classifying it. He had simply reminded them that the real enemies were alcohol and tobacco which were killing of tens of thousands of people every year. He dared to go further and famously said that horse riding was more dangerous than taking LSD.

Of course the government knew better. It didnt care for mind expanding substances because its minds, or what passed for them in the cabinet, were as usual, closed to all except more expenses claims and sucking up to big business because of the tax benefits this yielded. For example, It had only recently relaxed alcohol licensing laws to allow 24 hour drinking and did nothing to stem the endless supply of cheap plonk available in the supermarkets. It then began a long process of hand wringing about "binge drinking" which a cursory glance at real life policing in our towns would convince anyone that we now had a plonk pandemic. True it may be that the tax proceeds from the sale of alcohol were huge, but they were soon whittled down when the real costs of police and courts man hours, the overflowing A and E units of hospitals at weekends, the carnage on the roads and crimes of violence were taken into consideration.

Quite obviously David Nutt was a real thorn in their side. A government that believes it knows everything and is never wrong, hates to be reminded publicly that it frequently is. A good first step would be for the Government to simply stop referring to "Drink and Drugs" as though there was some kind of difference when any fuel doth know that there is none, Alcohol and tobacco are drugs, and very clearly some of the most dangerous and injurious to health and o f course very addictive. An artist friend of mine developed a heroine addiction, living and working with it for more than fifteen years. At last tired of the expense, the poor quality of the drug which was frequently cut by all kinds of dangerous white powders and his consequent physical and mental decline, decided to go Cold Turkey. He stopped literally overnight and never looked back. When i next saw him i congratulated him on his resolve and strength of character to be able to do this when so many were unable to do so. He grinned and shook his head and said, if was as you say such a strong character i would also be able to give up cigarettes. Not only have i not managed to stop smoking, I am a chain smoker and cannot even cut down let alone stop. Tobacco, he said was much worse than heroine.

So today Professor Nutt was given the bums rush. This will prove to be a pyrrhic victory however and as one pundit on TV only a couple of hours ago yet again pointed out, this will come back and bite them in the lower cheeks. However did we manage to elect idiots like Home Sec, Alan Brown and Health Minister (sic) Andy Burnham whose collective intellectual stature does not even come up to the shoulders of a garden gnome?? Saddest of all is the worrying fact that waiting in the wings is yet another bunch of intellectual dwarves and self-seekers. As the Hippies used to say apparently with some justification, "whoever you vote for, the Government gets in !"

PS..... SORRY ABOUT THE LACK OF PARAGRAPHS BUT BLOGGER SEEMS TO HAVE FORGOTTEN HOW TO DO THEM.

HOW STUPID IS THE UK GOVERNMENT ?

2009-10-29T02:24:00.000-07:00

The words associated with stupidity in the Thesaurus include absurdity, apathy, asininity, battiness, brainlessness, doltishness, fatuity, fatuousness, feeble-mindedness, idiocy, ignorance, imbecility, imprudence, incapacity, ineptitude, injudiciousness, insensibility, lunacy, nitwittedness, nonsense, obtuseness, puerility, shallowness, silliness, simplicity, slowness. It is of course difficult to quantify stupidity as such a definition would depend on the time and the place. At an early stage of human development when humans first climbed down from the trees, stupidity would be obvious to the humans of today due to the accidents caused by trial and error ending in disappointment, today and here in the technical and scientific vastness of the future it is less easy to determine. It can be disguised by various forms of artifice to appear as wisdom when in fact its a load of bollocks.

This reaches a pinnacle when it becomes enshrined in orthodoxy and appears as dogma. The Governments attitude to water fluoridation exhibits this very clearly and can therefore be seen for the stupidity it really is. But this is nothing new and today's news from the Governments own chief drug advisor demonstrates all of the above rather well.

Professor David Nutt (Nutt by name but clearly not by nature) today again condemned the Governments re-classification of Cannabis as a class B drug when it had originally determined that it was in fact a class C substance and therefore comparatively innocuous when compared with the evils of alcohol, tobacco, LSD Heroine and crack cocaine. Professor Nutt, chairman of the Governments Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs and his colleagues, must be getting pretty sick and tired of being ignored and rubbished by Government front benchers who appear to know little about anything of importance.

The Brown Gov sets up the Advisory Council to look at drug classification then of course because it does not like the councils findings, first implements them then at the behest of the hyenas and snakes in the Tabloids, decides to do a U turn, creating confusion amongst the minds of young users and of course making it more desirable. It behaved in a similar cavalier fashion over its York Review on Fluoride which recommended no further expansion of water fluoridation because research was poor and their were too many dangerous unknowns. The Government even rewrote the conclusion to make it appear that the York panel were in favour when of course they were not. When Governments behave in such a dishonest way, is it any wonder that no one trusts them any more about anything.

To emphasis this lets briefly look at the MP expenses. Not only have they been milking the system en masse for many years, they behave as though they are amazed that anyone else is amazed let alone annoyed. Now they are wondering why they are being forced to pay it all back and why the British public have no sympathy for their plight. Perhaps they have merely demonstrated publicly that the crap always floats to the top as a quick listing of the current cabinet seems to prove. Both New Labour and the Conservatives should remember that opposition parties DO NOT WIN ELECTIONS but GOVERNMENTS DO LOSE THEM.

As a child of the 60's I am not unacquainted with drugs of various kinds. Alcohol made me sick and made me think i was brilliant as i fell on my face in public. Intelligent and sophisticated friends and colleagues turned into slobbering animals in front of me and when cannabis came on the scene i found it a blessed relief to remain coherent whilst intoxicated. I used it regularly and even passed two driving tests whilst under its influence. This was at a time when the Police broke down doors, wrecked homes and stole property whilst searching for only a roach. Looking back on it dope smokers or eaters were seemingly treated with the same hatred as we today save for paedophiles.

For the Love Generation this was Tough Love indeed. Even today when Pot smoking or growing a plant for personal use should elicit only a caution from the Bill, we find a local Plod breaking down doors to do just this. Ignorance seems to start at the top and work its way down until it manifests as arrogant assumptions based on little other than personal bias and ignorance.

Fluorine is undoubtedly a very dangerous and toxic substance and cannabis comparatively harmless but when you have a government and ministers of the appalling standard currently in power and who think exactly the opposite, its little wonder that many of my friends ask when why I even bother to try to explain the true facts on fluoride. Clearly There are none so blind as those who will not see. I recall what the late great and sadly missed DJ John Peel said to me when i was campaigning to stop the damage being done to the BBC by the John Birt media terrorists. He read out my letters on his program and then wrote back to me privately wishing me well with my campaigns and i clearly remember his parting shot. "The best of luck with your campaigns but don't ever forget that you are battling dickheads." We still are John, we still are.

REFERENDA ON FLUORIDE ARE NOT THE ANSWER

2009-10-17T09:02:00.000-07:00

I strongly agree with Elizabeth McDonagh's comments about Referenda and i know that i am not alone. Its ok to make a statement and generate publicity by demonstrating the strength of public opinon against fluoridation but this has already been done countless times across the UK. A referendum fails to tackle the central fact that mass medication is the imposition of medication on a group or even an individual without their consent. This would be the case even if it was "safe and effective" and actually worked. The idea of fluoridation ignores and punishes those who in a democracy should not only have a right to refuse and vote against an idea but also to refuse medical treatment.except possibly in a case where an individual becomes a danger to others. As far as i am aware, tooth decay is not contagious.

Compulsory Fluoridation is a betrayal of democracy for which our parents and grand parents fought in world wars to uphold. Flawed it may be but its probably the best of the options currently available and it should therefore be strengthened rather than weakened. . Even now our sons and daughters are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan to uphold and protect the principles and freedoms of democracy yet seemingly our own government does not see fit to allow its own citizens here in the UK to experience the benefits.

Not one single person should be forced to take fluoride without their individual consent, not even by a doctor and very certainly not by an elected MP or Government Minister with absolutely no medical qualifications and in many cases, little evidence of common sense or self preservation as recent events have demonstrated.. If i want to purchase a house i go to an estate agent not a politician, if i want to go on Holiday i visit a travel agent not an MP and if i want a medical examination or a prescription i visit a doctor and certainly not a government minister who one would expect to be busy with affairs of state or indeed a personal expenses claim. Even then I reserve the right to consider a doctors opinion and if i wish, refuse to accept the proffered medidation. A referendum on fluoride would give credibility to fluoride when we all know there is none and this would merely act as a distraction from the central issue.

The judicial review is a useful and important way of highlighting the illegality, and the lack of democracy and genuine consultation processes of fluoridation, but this should not even be necessary in a democracy just as unsafe and ineffective or uneconomic practices should not be used by a Government agency or public water supplier. It is high time that our elected representatives and their agents, realised that they are spending and in many cases, wasting OUR time and OUR money and that we as a nation can no longer afford this. Politicians are elected by all of us who vote, to carry our our wishes and they constantly must be reminded that they are not ordained by God. If you have a toothache and I am forced to take a painkiller, it not only sets a precedent for even more tampering with what should be pure and unadulterated water, it will not help your toothache and may even make me ill. Therefore we must be prepared to say NO to fluoride at the local and National level, not only online but also in the media, the courts of law, and the ballot box.

THE ELECTION SEASON BEGINS -- SOME CAUTIONARY WORDS

2009-10-02T09:08:00.000-07:00

THE ELECTION SEASON BEGINS -- SOME CAUTIONARY WORDS

For at least the next six months and probably longer, we will be bombarded by various kinds of election propaganda from all the expected and usual sources and of course from some less likely ones who have somthing to gain. It is therefore very important that we lobby ALL candidates whether for local elections or for the looming General Election and remind them that the majority of the public in this country and across Europe are opposed to water Fluoridation and will not be voting for or recommending those who say they are in favour of this redundant, wasteful and dangerous practice.

Friends of the Earth are not affilliated with any political party although there are undoubted sympathies with some of the aims of The Green Party and some LIb Dems at the Local Level from some of our members. We cannot as an organisation therfore be seen to be be publicly recommending any political party lest the Government use it as another excuse to saddle charitable groups and organisations with even more draconian controls which limit groups powers to actually be useful. This does not mean that when we see environmental stupidity we should not name and shame the offenders, whosoever they may be. If we did not we would be failing in our aims and duties.

This method was referred to by the late and certainly great Andrew Lees as the "the carrot and stick approach." ie. If someone wishes to or better still actually does, something environmentally usefull like for example standing up against fluoridation we get out the carrots and distribute them, on the other hand of course if we encounter those who seek to defend and continue this barbaric and outmoded practice its clearly stick time.

In the Thatcher era its true that the Tories did pass some useful legislation on water quality for rivers and drinking water etc but usually only after much local and national pressure from a wide range of green groups and also leaving large holes which smart lawyers and polluters could drive a coach and horses through. New Labour made many large promises in the run up to 1997 most notably to be "the Greenest Government ever" but other than joining in the clamour about Global Warming and CO2 emissions has done even less than the Tories did. If the Conservatives "rearranged the deck chairs on the Titanic," New Labour "repainted them." Sadly, i dont seem to get many canvassers knocking on my door nowadays, do you think it could have been something that I said?

I will leave you with some wise words in a quotation by Noah Webster of American dictionary fame, sent to me by a campaigner in the USA. "If the citizens neglect their Duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted; laws will be made, not for the public good so much as for selfish or local purposes; corrupt or incompetent men will be appointed to execute the Laws; the public revenues will be squandered on unworthy men; and the rights of the citizen will be violated or disregarded.": Noah Webster - (1758-1843) American patriot and scholar, author of the 1806 edition of the dictionary that bears his name, the first dictionary of American English usage."

SLAYING THE DRAGON THAT IS FLUORIDE

2009-09-27T06:01:00.000-07:00

If fluoride were indeed a Dragon, killing it would be comparatively easy, assuming that there were only one of course. But how would St George have faired if the Dragon had turned up with some mates, all of them itching for a fight.? At this point the analogy of fluoride as a Dragon begins to fail. It is in fact more like a Hydra.

According to legend, the Hydra possessed at least 9 heads and the poets go even further saying there were more heads than the vase-painters could paint. The Local Campaigner and Hero at the time was a guy called Hercules, noted for taking on very difficult tasks. Smoking the Hydra out of the cave was the easy bit, the trouble started when he began cutting off its heads. Each time he managed to remove one, two more grew back in its place. If this was not bad enough, he must have realised that one of the heads was also immortal. Although he probably began to wish he had stayed in bed that morning, our over muscled hero was not entirely devoid of brains and About this time he must have realised that he needed reinforcements and called on his nephew Lolaus for help.

Lolaus appears to have been something of a smart cookie who quickly realised that bravery and muscles were indeed not everything. He came up with the idea of using a burning firebrand to scorch the neck stumps after each decapitation. So, Hercules cut off each head and Iolaus cauterized the open stumps thus preventing them from growing back. In one fell swoop, Hercules and his Nephew had not only rid the populace of a deadly menace but had also invented division of labour which put the Greek Clock forwards thousands of years.

There is an alternative version that talks about dipping his sword in the venomous blood to burn each head but this doesnt really make much sense and is probably the work of his publicists or agents.

Although the Dragons may have gone, the Hydra that is Fluoride which can take on many shapes and forms, is still rampaging through our western society. poisoning not just our bodies and the environment but even the minds of those one would have thought had more intelligence.

To defeat the evil menace that is fluoride will take much more than one over muscled hero and a smart nephew, it will take many of both. Not only this but they will have to work in tandem, together, regardless of all other differences and cut off all the Hydras heads. We must defeat the poisonous pseudo-science used to promote fluoride and denounce the poisonous pseudo-scientists who try to excuse and promote it. We must expose and cut off the heads of publicists and apologists in business and industry and of course Government and its PR machine which spread this discredited and dangerous nonesense. We will need to use the very tools which the Fluoridistas use to defeat them and yet remain uncontaminated by they poison which we confront which underlies fluoride, ie; financial gain. We will need to work together and share our knowledge and skills.

Negaativity is not enough though, we will not just need to campaign AGAINST fluoride but also FOR a clean environment, pure drinking water and an unpolluted food chain. The campaign to end fluoridation is a moral, ethical and spiritual campaign and only by recognising this can we inspire and win the support and the supporters to defeat fluoride. Together individually and collectively, we can defeat fluoride and its supporters not just for our own vanity but for the Planet and the People.

MUSICIANS AND GROUPS, HELP NEEDED TO ARRANGE FLUORIDE PROTEST SONG

2009-09-22T06:14:00.000-07:00

Dear All

I've written an anti-fluoride protest song (lyrics and tune) with a really strong marching chorus and some pithy verses. Although I used to be able to play the guitar and sing folk songs in my youth, this, I feel, is beyond me now. I'd like to have the song arranged and recorded/videoed and put on a blog for free distribution so that all anti-fluoride groups worldwide could take it up as their anthem.

Do any of you have any contacts in the music world who would be willing to take on this project? I can put it on a sound file a capella for onward transmission to any interested musician.

With best wishes

Joy

West Midlands Against Fluoridation
www.wmaf.org.uk (website due to go live 4th October)

Water Fluoridation: The propaganda and public relations game.

2009-09-22T05:42:00.000-07:00

At the onset of selling fluoride to the public as protective measure against tooth decay in the late 1940s, the companies involved brought in the mastermind and father of modern public relations, Edward Bernays. Alcoa Aluminium needed to get rid of toxic fluoride waste, and like any other giant corporation that had a big public relations and marketing problem – they called in Bernays to solve it.

Bernays was to perform some PR alchemy – turn rat poison into a publicly accepted cavity fighter. He succeeded with successfully selling fluoride to the public in toothpaste for his old client Proctor and Gamble.
Edward Bernays wasn’t just any backslapping public relations huckster running around glad-handing people at parties or someone pumping out fliers at the water company; he was THE public relations advisor to presidents, the US government, and multinational corporations. Among his many monumental achievements of PR hucksterism, he orchestrated and implemented a successful US Government hate campaign against Germans during the First World War. It was designed to incite a reticent American public to enter into the European fray.

However, ironically, Hitler's propaganda chief, Joseph Goebbels, was one of Bernays biggest fans and used the same precepts from his 1923 book “Crystallizing Public Opinion” to orchestrate the hate campaign against the German Jews which resulted in the holocaust – “The final solution.” Curiously, Bernays’ approach to getting rid of toxic waste was ‘The solution to pollution is dilution in the public water supply.’
Bernays moulded public opinion and manipulated the masses by the use of visual symbols and words that have and will continue to impact every person in the world well into the future. His basic rules are still applied to advertising and public relations today.

To Bernays, people were “The masses” and referred to them as a “Herd” to, more or less, drive like dairy cattle from pasture to pasture, told what to eat and drink, and even what clothes to wear and cars to drive. He saw himself as the leader of an elite group of people (“The invisible government”) working behind the scenes to create compliant social order out of a chaotic democracy. The base and aggressive animal instincts of the population were to be satiated by consumerism and thus domesticated like a compliant herd of dairy cattle.
“We are governed, our minds molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society.” (Propaganda” – 1928, Bernays)
When I first got involved with the water fluoridation issue, I saw his name and knew that winning the fight was about public relations and propaganda. All the science and other altruistic arguments were simply distractions – ‘dog and pony shows’ staged to give the masses the illusion of participating in the democratic process, when in fact the decision to fluoridate the drinking water of a nation was predetermined by Bernays and his clients.

In 1947, fluoridation of the Nation’s drinking was government policy. The mechanisms, sales pitch, and bureaucracy to impose the new policy were in place well before they began to pitch drinking water fluoridation to the masses in the early 1950s. I would imagine a strategy to marginalise and discredit dissidents was also devised well in advance. It would have been fairly simple strategy based on Freudian concept of mans need to be part of the herd; Marginalise a dissident and their primal instinct to belong would bring them back into compliance with the group consciousness.
“Because man is by nature gregarious he feels himself to be member of a herd, even when he is alone in his room with the curtains drawn. His mind retains the patterns which have been stamped on it by the group influences.” (Propaganda).

The marginalisation and isolation tactic is still used on scientists who speak out against fluoridation. If a scientist speaks out against fluoride, they are discredited as a scientist. If one does a little research, there is a long list of scientists whose careers were ended by speaking out against water fluoridation. Essentially, they were made examples to keep the scientific community corralled like a herd of domesticated cattle. For the most part, the tactic has successfully worked.
The next thing I realised was that of all the successful PR campaigns Bernays masterminded for governments and corporations, he never actually got all of the “herd/masses” to accept water fluoridation although a majority would reluctantly acquiesce. Bernays pulled every trick out of his books on hucksterism to get everyone to accept fluoridation, and sixty-years-on, the heated battle still ensues, and today, on several continents.

People like to call it a debate about fluoride, but it’s not – fluoridation is basically a bitter battle of wills cloaked in a translucent veil of civility. Scientists, activists, and doctors argue back and forth about health issues, and at the end, they walk away politely ‘agreeing to disagree.’
Nothing much has changed in the basic rhetoric or tactics over the past sixty years. For every study that says fluoride is bad, the pros pump out ten studies trashing the study and the scientist, and the people who oppose fluoridation are still labelled as ‘kooks and crackpots.’
Sixty years later, it’s more than evident that Bernays’ tried and true PR strategies didn’t work. There were too many dissidents among the bovine ‘masses’ – So, I asked myself, “Why?”

In revisiting his 1928 ‘bible’ of public relations, “Propaganda,” it became evident that he violated one of his cardinal principles:
“The public has its own standards and demands and habits.
You may modify them, but you dare not run counter to them.”
His strategy to sell fluoridation was contrary to what people are led to believe about democracy and their freedom of choice – the very foundations upon which Bernays based his PR concepts – ‘give the masses the illusion that they have a choice.’ Strip away all the superficial reasons and arguments people offer for opposing fluoridation and what remains is person’s need to feel that he/she has a choice. Violate that somewhat delusional belief, and you’re in trouble.

Marketing fluoride in toothpaste was successful because people felt as if they had a choice, but put fluoride into their drinking water, and you’re imposing your will upon the individual – the person’s perceived right to make a choice is taken away which elicits either a conscious or a subconscious resentment and incites a reaction.

Bernays made the fatal mistake of assuming that people below his self-perceived intellectual status were nothing more than a mindless herd relying on people like him to make decisions for them. Forcing something on someone runs contrary to that fundamental belief in ‘sense of self,’ and the reality that all humans are individuals and prefer to believe that have some control over their lives.
However, the governmental policy of fluoridating drinking water sends a demeaning message: ‘The public is too stupid to be educated about basic dental hygiene, so we have to take draconian measures to reduce tooth decay.’

In essence, fluoridating the drinking is running counter to the individual’s standards and belief that they have a choice and the ability to think for themselves because the politicians are perceived to be brutally forcing something down their throat without their consent.
However, from a psychological standpoint, fluoridation of the drinking water is much more than a simple public health program to governments. Symbolically, it’s more about dictatorial power and the subconscious and symbolic imposition of authority.
For all intents and purposes, fluoridation is the symbolic imposition of ultimate authority and dominance by politicians – ‘shoving something down my throat. – forcing me to do something against my will.’ To most individuals that is abhorrent behaviour and completely unacceptable.
While some government officials may well delude themselves into thinking that they have the best interest of the citizens at heart, in fact, they’re saying to the individual, ‘You will do what I say, and I don’t care what you think – I’m in control of your life. Take your medicine and shut up.’

The truth of the matter is that when drinking water fluoridation comes into the frame, battle lines are drawn. Beyond all the superficial, altruistic reasons someone will give for their opposition to fluoridation, the bottom-line is that it is a personal issue, and most people don’t like to have anything force-fed to them - it’s an affront to and violation of their personal dignity. While the government has the power to win, they never really win because imposing one’s will on individuals only generates seething resentment and a need to retaliate in some form.
In reality, if the government was actually concerned about tooth decay, using Bernays tried and true methods of propagandising the public with multimedia public education would be more cost effective and ultimately, much more successful than attempting to ‘make inoculate the herd.’ About 99.7% of all the fluoride added to the water goes down the drain – not in people’s bodies.
Personally, I think Bernays’ involvement in water fluoridation was another of his grand societal experiments in manipulating public opinion, as he published “The Engineering of Public Consent” the same year he became involved with marketing fluoride. Persuading the entire population to accept drinking water tainted with rat poison would be his ultimate public relations triumph – something he could brag about in another book.

He knew it was rat poison, but being a self-aggrandising megalomaniac, Bernays actually thought he could persuade everyone to believe that it was a magic elixir and they needed it in their water. However, he forgot that ‘masses/herd’ don’t like to be forced to do anything, and fluoridating drinking water is just that.
As the old adage goes, “You can take a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.”

GEORGE GLASSER

THE LAWYERS HAVE ARRIVED. ( Courtesy of UKCAF Web Site)

2009-09-21T06:35:00.000-07:00

THE LAWYERS HAVE ARRIVED.

Back in March we warned that the lawyers were about to get involved in the fluoridation controversy. Now they are here, and the Government's duplicity is under scrutiny, with a Judicial Review of the law on public consultation.

When Southampton resident Geraldine Milner was awarded State legal aid to challenge the autocratic rejection of public opinion against fluoridation in the City of Southampton, pro-fluoride advocates in the UK were brought up sharply against reality. The first legal challenge of any aspect of water fluoridation to come before a Judge since Lord Jauncy effectively banished fluoridation from Scotland twenty six years ago has shocked the pro-fluoride Establishment to its foundations.

Fluoride pushers across the country are worried. The plan to fluoridate the English North-West has stopped dead in its tracks. Even in long-fluoridated areas of the country the Water Companies are nervously waiting to see what the Judge has to say about the Government's undercover attempt to remove the hazards of uncertain public opinion from public health policy-making.

It will be several months yet before we get the verdict, but behind the scenes there are signs that the Department of Health may be preparing a face-saving exit strategy. Only a few days ago the North West Strategic Health Authority announced that it is concerned that the costs of the proposed northern scheme are likely to be rather more than it had expected - £200 million. Ouch!

But quite why this is regarded as such a shocking revelation is difficult to understand We informed the NWSHA that it would cost precisely that amount two years ago, and we got it directly from the Water Company!

Our commentary on the issues that will form the basis of the Judicial Review are published here today - you will be surprised at just what has been going on behind the scenes!

Inadmissible evidence.

The impending Judicial Review will examine whether Parliament's wish that public agreement to water fluoridation must be the deciding factor was ignored when the Consultation Regulations were drawn up.

But the evidence given to Parliament during the fluoridation debates was itself scientifically illiterate, and may have improperly influenced the Members and the provision of the secondary legislation on consultation.

So should the Judicial Review now also examine the 'cogency' of the evidence given to Parliament and used repeatedly by the Health Authority, and the Health sector's irrational rejection of reliable scientific evidence of the serious medical risks of water fluoridation?

Doug Cross, 19th September 2009

IS IT TIME TO END THE NHS QUANGOS ?

2009-09-08T15:09:00.000-07:00

How can it be right that at a time when the NHS is on its uppers and in immediate danger of having to make cuts of 10% or more, across the board it can not only completely ignore public opinion and its democratic status but also find hundreds of thousands of poundt to fight its own patients for the right to waste untold millions on their forcible medication for what is a minor problem which can be treated "safely and effectively" as they would say buy a few free toothbrushes and paste??? Persuing the unwanted and useless fluoridation is not just grotesque waste but genuinely begins to hint at fascism and totalitarianism. Is it time to hold a public enquiry into the conduct of these unelected bodies and abolish these out of date and out of control quangos that think themselves above the law before they do any more serious damage to either the NHS services or its patients. ?

FLUORIDE SONG FROM TRILLION

2009-08-24T20:22:00.000-07:00

FLUORIDE SONG FROM TRILLION

MERCURY IN YOUR FLU JAB

2009-08-18T05:59:00.000-07:00

THE SPECTATOR

Monday, 17th August 2009

The flu jab choice the Department of Health might not tell you about

Fraser Nelson 4:48pm

Which flu jab would you like this season – the one with mercury, or without? It’s a question you’re unlikely to be asked when the NHS vaccination programme gets underway in October but there actually is a choice. One swine flu vaccine ordered by the government, Panderix, contains thimerosal, a preservative which is 49.6% mercury by weight. The other swine flu jab, Celvapan, is mercury-free.

I found this out by calling the Department of Health on a hunch. When governments order vaccines, and have no intention of telling patients what’s in the mix, they tend to go for the bulk cheap ones. These often contain thimerosal. But the use of mercury in vaccines is far from uncontroversial. A few years ago, class action by American parents of autistic children was brought (unsuccessfully) against the makers of thimerosal. They suspected that mercury, a proven neurotoxin, could have impaired the mental development of their children given its presence in child vaccines. These controversies seldom kick off in Britain because parents are told nothing about the vaccines.

Andy Burnham said last week that his department intends to "target" 500,000 pregnant women when it starts its vaccination programme. Now, NHS24 has plenty to say about pregnant women and mercury. It advises them that mercury "can have a damaging effect on your baby’s developing nervous system" and that pregnant women had best avoid swordfish because it contains "a high level of mercury". By “high” it means that swordfish is a millionth mercury – one “part per million” is mercury." So why should pregnant women – who are advised to take a swine flu jab – inject themselves with the very stuff that the government considers it is prudent for them to avoid? Why not advise them to take the mercury-free jab? Or at least explain the risks and give them the choice?

The Department of Health tells me “we won't be advising against pregnant women using it as there is no reason to”. Its standard line (see it in full here) is that “there is no evidence” that mercury (at the levels that exist in thimerosal vaccines) is harmful. This is stating the obvious: if there were evidence of neurological damage – be it Alzheimer’s in the elderly or autism in children – it would be a scandal of Thalidomide proportions. But the Department of Health has for the last few years been phasing thimerosal out of the DTP baby vaccines. Why might it do that, you may ask, if it is so confident that thimerosal was doing no harm?

I suspect that the Department will have to rethink its decision not to tell pregnant women about Panderix (also called Prepandrix) and mercury. The era of the expert patient is upon us. Doctors have to explain themselves, their products, their prescriptions. They can’t really say “the man in Whitehall knows best, you may feel a little prick”. I’d argue they do have a duty to tell an inquisitive patient what’s in the mix. That patient may very well be nervous about mercury, perhaps noting that no-one in the UK government will actually say it is safe (they say there’s no evidence of harm, a crucial difference, and officials are very careful not to go any further).

The use of mercury in medicine is a deeply controversial subject, and one that may divide CoffeeHousers too. In recent years, there have been several studies into thimerosal – all of which have been unable to find evidence of harm. But the overall guidance from most Western governments is quite simple: if you can avoid mercury, do so. The NHS has two swine flu vaccines. It should give everyone, especially pregnant women, the choice of staying mercury free.

SUPPORT THE NHS, SAY NO TO FLUORIDE

2009-08-13T22:47:00.000-07:00

Whatever you political persuasion, the chances are you believe that the NHS is a good idea which should be preserved. David Cameron has just come out in favour of it and this is not surprising, the NHS is "against sin" in political terms. Of course its easy for the the American politicians to snipe at it because such a system would undoubtedly make inroads into the grotesque profiteering of the American drug empires.

The credit crunch is the latest threat to the UK health service and it's obvious that some cuts will be necessary whatever Party assumes power next year. Rather than cut the services themselves, the Government should be thinking the unthinkable. they should be cutting out the men with suits in the SHAs and the PCTs. Most of them are just political appointees with little or no health background and who are rather better at looking after the PCT etc than the Health Service or Trusts.

Many of them receive grotesquely large salaries especially the CEOs, that are not justified and are no longer affordable. The Strategic Health Authorities are a case in point. One GP doctor in Essex complained bitterly that rather than benefit from the recently improved salaries the government put in place, that he had actually been sacked and advised to live off his pension. Meanwhile, the boss of his SHA was gettting £60K more per year than even Gordon Brown. I wonder how that can be justified. and dont forget these are the very people who are ignoring public opinion and trying to force fluoride down our throats because they think they know best. Its painfully obvious that most them dont even know diddly squat.

A couple of months back during the "consultation" on fluoridation in Southamption the SHA decided to completly ignore 78% public poll results against the toxic waste plan. Even Brown publicly stated that fluoride should not be imposed on people without consent and now even Andy Burnham who normally salivates like one of Pavlovs dogs at the very mention of Fluoride has stated the same as Gordon Brown. Its strange really, i had no idea he had any plans for a Damascus trip but it seems he met someone on the road and finally saw the light. Of course we cannot really believe anything that the Vicar of Bray says but at least we can hold him to it when the time comes. Its after all a bit of a pity that he was not so gung ho about "debate" before the Consultation(sic) decided to forece everyone to have it by law.

Manchester, which has close links with the Brown regime has also shelved plans for fluoridation in the North West pending the results of the Judicial Review which the good folk of Southamption have brought against the clearly out of touch and out of control SHA. Sadly councils in West Yorkshire have not yet heard the news and even as i write are still wasting time and our money on "studies" and "consultation" Hopefully, the penny will finally drop to the East of the Pennines and the credit crunch will be taken as an opportunity to dump this evil plan in favour of better dental education and more dentists.

THE ADVENTURES OF ANDY BURNHAM - THE CLIMBDOWN KID

2009-08-11T20:38:00.000-07:00

DENTISTRY WEB SITE HEAPS DOUBT ON FUTURE OF FLUORIDATION

It seems like only yesterday that the South Central Strategic Health Authority was telling its dwindling audience that they didnt give a bugger about individual rights, Democracy or how many people objected to fluoridation: It was going to be imposed on Southampton and parts of Hampshire whether they liked it or not because it was the health "evidence" that mattered most. Indeed it said as much in the double speak of the 2003 Act which hoped to popularise mass poisoning (surely Mass Medication. Ed !) One thing you can be sure of however is that the delusional nature of the pro-fluoride loonies continues to grow

Only last week UKCAF's Web Site exposed the much trumpeted National Fluoride Information Centre as just an abandoned building lost amidst the sprawling campus of Manchester University. Even the campus security had not heard of it. It turns out that It was not a Centre of Excellence, It was certainly not National and if this was not enough, it contained no Information about Fluoride or anything else. Possibly the Fluoridistas have run out of money or at least soon will if threats of cuts to the NHS budgets because of the Credit Crunch are even half true. Or perhaps, the funding has been diverted to clean out a Moat, build a Dead Duck House or most likely, to pay the collossal salaries of the SHA's CEO,s which are even higher than those of the Prime Minister.

Perhaps this is one reason why Gordon Brown said during the Southampton "consultation process" (sic) that fluoridation would not be imposed upon people without their consent. It was a pity that this message had not filtered down to the SHAs whose determination to fluoridate us all knew no bounds. But better late than never. The good folk of Southampton have fought a valiant fight to stop this evil, expensive and totally useless imposition and the Judicial Review they have provoked, has served to concentrate the few brain cells remaining in New Labours Ship of State to a realisation that on grounds of expense and certainly electoral practicality and popularity, fluoridation is probably a no no.
Its not therefore very surprising that Burnham has now clambered down of his high horse and admitted that fluoridation will not be imposed upon anybody. Of course this might just be more weasel words, or maybe comrade Brown didnt like being contradicted by the upstart. And anyway, Should the Sec of State actually be moving the goalposts whilst the matter was before Judicial Review. If they move them anymore they will need to put castors on them.

Now we learn that the Fluoridistas in the North West have slammed on the breaks because they cannot afford to waste money on something which the review may find against if there is any Justice left in this septic Isle. Of course the wording of the 2003 legislation does say deep in the text that SHA,s do have the ultimate say, it now appears that this is being moderated by the words of both Gordon Brown and the Sec of State for health and local people will after all have the final word about any tampering with their water supplies. If this is truly the direction the government is now heading then lets encourage them to improve dental education and put in place more dentists and forget this outdated and discredited masturbatory fantasy called fluoridation once and for all. Its never too late to return to common sense and it usually proves very popular.

If this message doesnt get through however the fight will not only continue to rid us all of this madness but it will increase, We will not tolerate compulsory mass medication, we will not pay the water companies or anyone else for contaminated water and we will not pay for Trickle Meters which threaten our health and disrupt our hot water and central heating systems. The Government cannot disconnect us so now is the time to stand firm and once and for all Say No To Fluoride and fluoridation and all those politicians of whatever party who seek to impose it upon us.

The Dangers of Fluoride & Water Fluoridation

2009-08-10T22:19:00.000-07:00

NATIONAL FLUORIDE INFORMATION CENTRE DOES NOT EXIST

2009-08-06T04:10:00.001-07:00

The Government's flagship 'Information Centre' is a lonely telephone
answering machine in an abandoned building.

The UK Councils Against Fluoride website reveals that......

"The 'National Fluoride Information Centre' was set up by the British Government in 2004. It was enthusiastically promoted as a reputable 'academically independent centre', and every effort was made to raise its public profile as a new and reliable Centre of Excellence, to persuade the public and the Health Sector that it would become an authoritative official source of information on fluoride.

Five years on, we have the evidence of what we have long suspected - that this 'National Centre' is a sham. It has no full-time staff, and no office. There is no manned Help Line. Instead, it's a tiny locked room in an almost empty building, abandoned as unfit for modern science two years ago.

Unlike your local Health Centre or Tourism Centre, you can't book an appointment, or just drop in - there's no-one there. Even the maintenance staff have never heard of it! So today we show you what this prestigious National Centre of Excellence really is. Then we'll identify who is behind it, and what needs to be done to stop such political manipulation in the future."

When Health Secretary Alan Johnson attended the 2008 Annual Conference of the National Fluoride Information Centre (NFIC), he predictably echoed the familiar dogma of the pro--fluoridation lobby, urging Primary Care Trusts and Regional Health Authorities in England to "push forward with the consultation process about fluoridating water supplies". He was followed by the Deputy Chief Dental Officer, Tony Jenner, who sang the praises of Manchester University for hosting the NFIC which, he said, was "making a positive contribution to raising the public’s general awareness about the value of water fluoridation."

But were they really aware of just how empty their welcoming speeches really were? Despite all their no-doubt ernest intentions, their words were mere meaningless rhetoric. They simply reinforced the cynical propaganda that has become the foundation of one of the most offensive medical scams ever perpetrated on the public by the UK's increasingly disreputable Department of Health.For the NFIC is a charade; there is, in fact, nothing that resembles a 'National Centre' in the Coupland 3 Building of Manchester University - just a couple of (very) part-time staff and a deserted room with a telephone answering machine.

The whole set-up is a deliberate public relations scam by the Department of Health and its spin-doctors, an illusion designed to persuade the general public and, especially, health professionals across the entire country, that here is an academically respectable Centre of Excellence that provides reliable and unbiased information on which public decisions about water fluoridation can be based.For the rotten truth behind all the hype, the frenetic busy-ness of International Conferences, and the sponsored research, is that it's all nothing but a facade.

The Centre was designed to replace the Government's hopelessly ineffective propaganda outfit, the British Fluoridation Society, with more skilled professional manipulators of public opinion. A new operation, directed by professional spin-doctors, was essential to drive the Department's new programme to impose water fluoridationon almost half of the population of England. There was, inevitably, a problem. Public awareness of the dangers of water fluoridation is now far greater, since everyone has easy access to the world's scientific literature through the Internet. Resistance to ernest reassurances of the 'safety and efficacy' of fluoridation was becoming alarmingly high. So the new unit had to give at least an appearance of solid academic respectability - and where better than that hot-bed of fluoridation promotion, Manchester University's Dental Units.When the Centre was set up, the University proudly trumpeted its hosting of the NFIC:‘England’s first independent fluoride information centre has been launched using funding from the Department of Health, to meet an anticipated public demand for information after changes to the Government’s Water Bill.'

What it completely forgot is that the public is already very well aware of where it can find indepedent information on fluoridation - those sources already exist, and are not under tight Governmental control!The semblance of academic respectablity is boosted by the Centre's Annual Conference, attended by delegates from all over the world, and it channels some of its DoH funding of £125,000 a year into academic research aimed at improving knowledge about fluorides and fluoridation. The Centre's first Director, Professor Anthony Blinkhorn, enthusiastically encouraged the public to contact the Centre on its public Help Line, assuring us that "The helpline is manned Monday–Friday and incorporates an out-of-office voicemail service."The Department's dynamic new ‘Information Centre’, with its full-time high-tech ‘Help Line’, has been in operation for the past five years, so you would be justified in assuming that it is a well-established and polished operation, with a busy Reception area and cabinets full of reliable leaflets and information sheets ready for inquirers to pick up and take away to study.Health professionals across the country believe that the Centre has a substantial physical and academic presence, and its statements on fluoridation are received with appropriate gravity and respect throughout the Health Sector.

Coupland Building 3 reception - there's no-one here to direct you to the NFIC - the staff have never heard of it! The laboratories were abandoned as 'unsuited to modern science'. The safe stands open and empty!
This is where the phone rings when you call the NFIC 'Help Line'. Inside - just an answering machine.
Health and Safety would have a field day here - timber with upstanding nails strewn on the stairs.

Not exactly the image of respectability that the Dept of Health endorses. This semi-deserted, dirty and dreary building is the permanent home of the elusive 'National Fluoride Information Centre'.
The reality - an abandoned building, 'unfit for modern science'.
And that, of course, is exactly the impression that the Dept of Health's promotion and publicity has been designed to provide. It is an unfortunate fact that the most successful hoaxers rely on their victims being willing and gullible enough to deceive themselves, and there has certainly been some expert manipulation of the public's perception of this supposedly prestigious National Centre of Excellence.Government hype has persuaded lazy Health Service staff to swallow the propaganda pouring from the pro-fluoride spin machine - they don't have the time to check out the reliability of their sources, and assume that because the Department recommends the Centre, it must be kosher.But In reality, the whole exercise is a public relations illusion. There is no 'Centre' in the Coupland 3 Building, the official address of the NFIC. Although the University spent £1.3 million renovating the building ten years ago, the Shool of Pharmacy moved out in 2007, because the building was 'unfit for modern science', and the building remains virtually abandoned.When our Investigator walked in and asked a baffled receptionist and security man where the NFIC was, they were utterly confused. When he used his mobile phone to call the Help Line from the corridor, the phone in room CG117 rang; when he hung up, it stopped.So it emerges that the dynamic heart of this busy and illustrious 'National Centre' is in fact an empty, tiny, but securely locked room, in a semi-derelict building on the Manchester University campus. On its dusty desk is a telephone answering machine. Kate Tidman, the nominal 'Communications Manager' of the Oral Health Unit and (very part-time) of the NFIC and an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, visits this forgotten outpost of the University for ten minutes or so, about once a week, to collect messages left by frustrated callers to the Centre's permanently un-manned 'Help Line'.The desk drawers are empty, the cupboards bare. The building's reception, security and maintenance staff have never heard of the NFIC, and even the few researchers still inhabiting this shell are confused and vague about the NFIC's very existence.So just what is going on here? The Centre's Annual report discloses only two members of staff. The Director, Prof. Robin Davies, is head of the Oral Health Unit, based in the Williamson
Building elsewhere on the campus, and also has a senior research post with Colgate. With his many research and management roles in the University's dental faculty, he is hardly able to spend a great deal of his valuable time twiddling his thumbs in a cramped and dusty room waiting to assist casual callers on the Help Line. Ms Tidman also has a busy schedule in the Oral Health Unit - again hardly a job that would allow her to slot much of her time into a busy schedule, despite the supposed great demand for information from the NFIC that was so eagerly anticipated by the University back in 2004.And since there is no sign anywhere in the room of all the 'information' that the Centre's website says the Centre can supply - room CG117 is indeed, totally bereft of any sign of any form of printed material at all - just where does Ms Tidman squirrel away this hoard of valuable guidance material?As far as we can see, the £125,000 Department of Health grant to the NFIC goes towards maintaining a catchy web site where most of the documentation can be downloaded free of charge and, presumably, to cover the costs of running the annual Conference. The only two staff identified are both full-time employees of the Oral Health Unit, and are presumably paid out of its £2 million annual salaries budget, so just what is the DoH - sorry, our - money spent on?The NFIC channels Department of Health funds (presumably not the cash included in the direct grant to the Centre) to sponsor research into such essential dental research as 'the assessment of facial attractiveness' in cases of dental fluorosis, as perceived by students. To our suspicious minds, this sounds suspiciously like an attempt to try to find just what degree of dental fluorosis the public can be persuaded is 'attractive', a desperate claim that we have heard several times recently from promoters of the more arcane 'benefits' of fluoridation.The evidence that the NFIC is nothing more than a paper exercise exposes the depths to which this depraved Government and its autocratic Department of Health will go to mislead even health professionals that fluoridation is a viable therapeutic option, even under today's supposedly more enlightened approach to 'evidence-based' medicine. In our next issue we will discuss who is behind this scam, and how commercial interests now manipulate ingenuous politicians to over--ride ethical and prudent health care policies.

FLUORIDATION IN YORKSHIRE GIVEN THUMBS DOWN BY BBC LEEDS LISTENERS

2009-08-04T19:02:00.000-07:00

This morning, BBC Radio Leeds main story was the decision to hold the usual bullshit "consultation" and "fact finding study" on fluoridation in Yorkshire. None of this is at the behest of the public in Yorkshire of course but at the bidding of the Strategic Health Authority. and local Primary Care Trust. Neither of these are elected bodies of course, merely puppet organisations created specifically to do the bidding of the Government and ensure that Fluoridation goes ahead despite public opposition.

This time because of the pipe network, they claim that it will also have to be extended to Northumberland. This comes on the recent revelation that some 50,000 Sheffield are already getting fluoridated water from Severn Trent Water who last year cocked up fluoridation of one of their pumping stations and delivered up to twice the allegedly safe dose of one part per million. The worker responsible for the fluoridation it turns out, was untrained or qualified and when alarms went of, these too were ignored. The drinking water inspectorate, apparently part of DEFRA were not exactly quick off the mark either, Although its true that Severn Trent didnt notify the DWI until a couple of months had elapsed, this whole business only came to light when the DWI published its annual report. Surely it would have been more appropriate to notify consumers immediately in order to reduce any risk. But neither Severn Trent nor the DWI bothered to do so.

It would also have been nice to let the unlucky water consumers in Sheffield who "because of the pipe network" also get Severn Trents fluoridated water that fluoridation was already underway without consultation or notification. A few people know about this but not the general public. But of course when your the SHA or the PCT, you are a law onto yourself and don't need to trouble yourself about little details such as medical ethics or even democracy which lets face it, just gets in the way of incompetent buffoons, going about their business of doing as they damn well please, and drawing on their expenses untill they get their CBEs or Knighthoods for "Public Service" (sic) It also turns ouot that up to 32 primary schools in the Sheffield area are also getting fluoride in their milk.

Any one with a couple of braincells to rub together would be concerned that the allegedly safe level of fluoride in water is one part per million, irrespective of how much water you drink and that also supplying kids with fluoridated milk, might just take consumption over that level. Apparently however, the SHA members have been consuming their own product and no longer aspire to more than one braincell.

The presenters on BBC Radio Leeds, showed little understanding of the seriousnes of fluoride but were indeed impressed by the large volume of calls, emails and texts they received on the subject. Only a handfull of which, as they admitted were PRO fluoride. Most who contacted the station were concerned about this toxic material and its health effects, although the presenters thought poisonous was a more contentious word than Toxic. Presumably they thought Toxic was something to do with debt following on from the Credit Crunch. Most of the callers however were much better informed and complained about not just the effects on health in the long term and the fact that there is little evidence to show that fluoride even protects teeth. They also raised the issue of compulsory mass medication and the fact that the Consultation in Hampshire and Southampton had indeed been a total sham fuelled by a pack of lies about listening to the public, who were subsequently completly ignored. Now this same process is underway in Yorkshire subject to the results of the Judicial Review in Hampshire which has caused a temporary halt to the game.

The chair of the National Pure Water Association Elizabeth McDonagh was treated with little respect however, given only a little time and then challenged about whether she was medically qualified. And this despite the fact that most of the buggers on the SHA know virtually nothing about fluorides effects on the body, or profess too. As if to prove this they refused the BBC's invite to take part on the program. and this from the people charged with the fact finding and consultation process. One would thought that they would have jumped at the chance to take part to get the truth over to the public. The couldnt do this of course because it would merely highlight the real truths of fluoridation, ie; just how stupid and ignorant its proponents really are.

Of the phone calls however, One brain donee claiming to be an ex exployee of Thames Water said fluoride was a good thing because it "purified the water" Little wonder with such a knowledge base that he no longer works for Thames. And what of the poor Hygienist who obviously read directly from the propaganda sheets supplied by the fluoridistas when she claimed to have read "hundreds of reports" saying how "safe and effective" fluoride really was.

Fortunately, the large majority of the good people of West Yorkshire along with most other regions of the country are not that stupid and gave fluoridation the thumbs down and the bums rush. They dont want it. Full Stop. The presenter even spontaneously put the question to a Leeds University Research into Epilepsy who was also a guest in the studio but he made it clear that it should not be foisted upon the public without their consent. Well done that man.

Friends of the Earth should call for the sacking of the SHA' s and the PCT's who are clearly in no way representative of the public or their wishes. They have little understanding of the depth of feeling that compulsory mass medication evokes in people and apparently care even less. Maybe they are ignorant psychophants or just a pain in the arse, or most probably both. either way they should be abolished and replaced immediatley with panels of local people who really understand local needs and feelings and dont bow and scrape to Gordon Brown and his dwindling bunch of nonentities and time servers or dance to the tune of the next expenses cheque or the promise of some meaningless award for doing bugger all at great expense..... our expense!

SHEFFIELD FLUORIDATION WITHOUT PERMISSION OR CONSULTATION

2009-08-03T08:22:00.001-07:00

It now emerges that because of the water distribution network in parts of Sheffield, they already get fluoridated water, despite the fact that there has been no "consultation" or even notification of the affected people. Severn Trent is in the news again this time because they are fluoridating Parts of Sheffield. Severn Trent fluoridate their water as instructed by the Strategic Health Authority and have apparently being doing so for years. So much for the bullshit about "consultation" and public consent. Sheffield was always strongly opposed to fluoridation but is now turning into a Fluoridation Blackspot with covert or at least silent water fluoridation and perhaps more allarmingly, fluoridation of childrens milk in 32 Sheffield Primary Schools.

Even those who have given permission probably have little real knowledge of fluoride or its wide ranging side-effects and this is not surprising as even people on the SHA's andin the BDA know little or nothing of the epidemiology or toxicology of fluoride. If fluoride has any beneficial effects on teeth at all then it is through topical application directly onto the tooth as in brushing with fluoridated toothpaste but even this effect is marginal at best. 99% of all the fluoridated water goes straight to the sewers and treatment plants where it passes into the rivers without any constraint or filtering.

Wake up Sheffield, you and your children are already being poisoned and any future conssultation is only a method of bamboozling you into believing they will take any notice of your opinions. Dont vote for these lunatics and dont pay for drinking water contaminated by fluoride. You are already paying the water companies for disposal of sewage so dont pay them twice over so they can potentially damage your health. They cannot disconnect your supply as this would be illegal. Say No To Mass Medication with toxic waste, Say No To Fluoride.

Further info on fluoride from the National Pure Water Association, the UK Councils Against Fluoride and the Fluoride Action Network and Friends of the Earth.

LATEST AUSTRALIAN FLUORIDE PROTEST

2009-08-03T08:20:00.000-07:00

SEVERN TRENT DELIVERS DOUBLE THE LEGAL LIMIT OF FLUORIDE TO CONSUMERS

2009-07-30T16:21:00.000-07:00

Water tests found excess fluoride
Too much fluoride was put into the water supply after a new dosing system at Severn Trent Water failed, the watchdog said.
The Drinking Water Inspectorate said a fault happened at the pumping station which supplies 29,000 homes between Bridgnorth and Wolverhampton last June. Two tests on treated water at the station failed, with one showing fluoride at twice the target level.

Severn Trent Water apologised but said the water had still been safe to drink.
The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) said work to complete a new fluoride dosing pump and dose controller was completed at Dimmingsdale Borehole Plumping Station near Wolverhampton on 12 June 2008.
A routine sample on 1 July 2008 found treated water at the works contained 2mg of fluoride per litre of water - which is twice the target level, it said.
A further test two days later showed 1.86mg of fluoride.

'High standards'
The DWI was critical of Severn Trent Water (STW) who it said did not detect the problem for a month and then tested the supply going to the wrong homes.
The report recommended the firm reviewed its staff training and its awareness of drinking water quality standards.
STW said the elevated fluoride levels were short-lived and "did not pose a risk to health at any stage".
"While the water was still safe to drink, these samples and the way in which they arose fell short of the high standards we expect at Severn Trent," a spokesman said.
The firm said it had taken action in a number of areas to minimise the risk of it happening again, including strengthening its controls and procedures.

Brian Jackson comments...

Perhaps on the only way that such risks can actually be eliminated is by not introducing this toxic waste into the water supply in the first place.
How come it took Severn Trent a month to discover this toxic release of fluoride at twice the legal level.?
And also, how come they actually tested the wrong homes?
Its also a matter of concern that the news has only emerged now nearly a year later. As a result neither the Severn Trent Water Company nor the Drinking Water Inspectorate can be said to have treated this issue with alacrity or the degree of rigour one should expect.
People concerned about water quality in their area can request print outs of their local water supplies by Zones if they contact the Water Companies. This info should be in the public domain. Perhaps if the companies and the DWI are failing in their responsibilities we should shake them up a little.