Category Archives: Big Pharma

Minamata Convention on Mercury

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This is good news–finally a recognition of the devastating effects of mercury amalgams.    Of course, the United States was right there to sign on….oh, wait….

 

From the letter posted to our group:

Dear friends,

I have returned from Minamata, Japan where I was honored to witness more than 90 nations sign the new mercury treaty, now formally known as the Minamata Convention on Mercury.

For three years, our movement worked to get amalgam included in this treaty…and we did it! Together, we have made so much progress:

Three years ago, a few scattered groups in developed countries were battling amalgam by themselves. Today, the World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry has gathered environmental organizations, dental societies, and consumer associations from every region of the globe to share experiences, pull technical expertise, and join forces on projects to phase out dental amalgam.

Three years ago, it was hard to get governments to take mercury fillings seriously. Today, the treaty recognizes amalgam as such a big problem that our mercury-free dentistry workshops in Minamata were packed with government officials; indeed about two dozen countries named amalgam as a priority in speeches at the signing ceremony.

Three years ago, amalgam was not an issue at the mercury treaty negotiations, according to the staff leader coordinating the treaty sessions. Today – as we watched nations sign a treaty that requires the phase-down of amalgam, a treaty that can be amended to set amalgam’ s phase-out date – that same staff leader told me, “You made it into an issue.”

As president of the umbrella coalition World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry, I was proud to lead our Minamata delegation of talented environmental and dental non-profit group leaders from nine nations and five continents. For us, the treaty signing was not merely ceremonial – we seized the opportunity to meet with environmental ministers, foreign ministers, and even a prime minister to discuss effective measures for transitioning to mercury-free dentistry.

How have we been able to make so much progress in just three years? Because of you. Your support has meant we could get our worldwide team to these treaty sessions. It has meant we could stand eyeball-to-eyeball with the pro-mercury World Dental Federation (FDI) – whom we outworked, out-strategized, and out-pointed. It has meant professionals from developing nations could be there to speak for themselves – and personally refute the claim that mercury fillings belong in low-income countries.

Thanks to hundreds of good folks like you, we met the matching gift goal set by Dr. Joseph Mercola during Mercury-Free Dentistry Week. Your donations totaled $75,000 – and Dr. Mercola will match your donations, dollar for dollar. Now we can start the next stage of our work: using the treaty to stop amalgam use!

With the treaty signed*, it is time to work on getting it implemented. The mercury treaty requires nations not only to phase down amalgam use, but also to take two or more phase-down measures listed in the treaty’s Annex A. But some treaty phase-down measures are effective; others are not. That’s why the World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry advocates proven treaty phase-down measures that have worked in countries like Sweden, Denmark, and Japan:

Promoting alternatives through consumer education

Changing dental school curriculum to end instruction in amalgam placement and focus on mercury-free fillings instead

Adjusting insurance policies and government programs so they fully cover mercury-free alternatives

We look forward to working with you in this exciting new stage of the campaign for mercury-free dentistry!

Charlie
18 October 2013

Charles G. Brown
National Counsel, Consumers for Dental Choice
President, World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry
316 F St. NE, Suite 210 Washington, DC 20002 USA
Phone: 202-544-6333 Fax: 202-544-6331
http://www.ToxicTeeth. org

Our mailing address is:
Consumers for Dental Choice
316 F St., N.E.
Suite 210
Washington, DC 20002

More reasons to love the Clintons

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…and their stealth gang of the dark side.  Not.

“Just months after the Kazakh pact was finalized, Mr. Clinton’s charitable foundation received its own windfall: a $31.3 million donation from Mr. Giustra,” The Times further explained.

“The gift, combined with Mr. Giustra’s more recent and public pledge to give the William J. Clinton Foundation an additional $100 million, secured Mr. Giustra a place in Mr. Clinton’s inner circle…Giustra [also] co-produced a gala 60th birthday for Mr. Clinton that featured stars like Jon Bon Jovi and raised about $21 million for the Clinton Foundation.”

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Clinton on XL.

Hillary’s connection to XL.

Seeing the artist drawing of her astride the pipeline brought a flashback to Jane Fonda on the Vietnam tank.  I wish people were as outraged at Hillary “riding” the pipeline.    And one has to wonder at the Clinton ties to the Kochs after reading the article. …

I put my two cents on Clinton in another blog here. 

Meanwhile, Stephen Colbert, who otherwise is intelligent person who asks questions….has drunk the Clinton koolaid and continues to promote the creep.  Why??  Yeah, he’s over in Uganda?  Probably there to rape them for their resources….funny how nobody brings up the utter failure of his “help” in Haiti. 

The reality of austerity

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This will be coming our way if something isn’t done.

It’s not Obamacare….it’s Social Security they’re after

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Center for Media and Democracy has this up on what the Koch Brothers and Pete Petersen and their toady Paul Ryan are really after–what they’ve been after all along—Social Security and other “entitlement” programs.  I still hate that term”entitlement”  as it alludes to a giveaway when folks pay into these programs all their lives.

Here’s the video by Mark Fiore:

 

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Also from CMD–

Profiting off the poor.  With Indiana being All Republican, All the Time in the Legislature, I rather doubt that they have slayed this dragon.  I suspect that privatization will be back…probably by backdoor deals.

Also, Indiana will be dropping ISTEP (Indiana Statewide Testing Educational Progress)next year BY FEDERAL REQUIREMENT.

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…and profiting off of our children-–and ultimately, our Democracy. (Just a refresher of the Charter school scams and hedge fund managers/Wall Street making a profit off of schools.)

From the report:

In recent years, there has been an explosion of full-time “virtual” charter schools paid for by the taxpayer. From 2008 to 2012, 157 bills passed in 39 states and territories (including the District of Columbia) that expand online schooling or modify existing regulations. Many of these bills are attributable to American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) politicians.

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I was thinking about this other day while teaching–online is such a ripoff in that you don’t get human interaction.  Granted, the Wall St. types probably loathe human interaction…but I really wonder if they’re human to begin with….the rest of us,however, actually want to be around other humans.

Anyway, a teacher can often pick up on cues to help a student “get” a subject that a stupid computer could never do.

A teacher can give encouragement when a student wants to give up.  This is especially important for students who are having difficulty–I thought of myself  and my daughter being dyslexic.  If I hadn’t tried to teach my daughter through Phonics and patiently sitting down with her every night to read, she most likely would not have reached her potential.  Again–computers cannot help when there is a learning disability.

Lastly, a teacher is going to lay the hammer down if a student comes in without homework done or starts goofing off during class instead of doing the work they’re supposed to be doing…online courses cannot do that, either.  And a teacher is also a sounding board for a student who may be dealing with issues at home…

As I’ve noted before, there is something lost when the classroom lacks discussion and interchange of ideas or more in-depth on the subject.

And, of course, a computer can’t teach art or music the way that it should be done.

The article makes note that the virtual schools enroll kids that never take courses, never answer emails, and so on, but still take tax dollars for them.  One had to reimburse the state $800k for “ghost” students.  This is a huge red flag in that while the neocons are so very worried about voter ID to “prove” who someone is so they don’t vote twice….well, I don’t see the same concern with these “ghost” students who may or may not even be real persons.  Who is checking on them?

And this just made my heart sing:

Affidavits from former K12 Inc. teachers that were incorporated into the complaint paint a devastating picture of an enrollment-driven, profit-driven corporate culture that leaves kids in the dust. (Note to Wall Street: If you want to exploit children, don’t hire a bunch of teachers who actually care about kids.)

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Sadly, I think Wall St. will actually take that advice and will screen teachers who don’t give a rip.  Or Wall Streeters will make a construct that they “can’t find any good teachers” so they will be “forced” to plead for the ability to hire non-teachers to….teach.

 

 

 

The importance of Education **edited

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If anyone ever doubted the significance of an education, perhaps Malala’s story and her passion can cast all doubt aside that fighting for the United States public education system is worth it.  It’s for the poor. It’s for the middle class.  And, as Malala so aptly points out–an education is what keeps women from being imprisoned (either emotionally or physically).

**edited to put just the clip of Malala on here.  I messed up with putting the entire Daily Show clip.  Sorry for the graphic  — I missed that one.

Stealing from the poor

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This mother in Saskatoon had apples stolen from her trees.  She said in the story that her son cannot digest food easily, so she was planning on making applesauce with them, when someone came and cleaned her out.  Luckily, there were some good hearted people who gave her not only apples, but other food, as well. …one could say that she was made whole.

That’s what Law was originally about–someone does something wrong to another and is made to do something for that person to make up for it–that’s what they called “making one whole” .

Now it seems the Law—looking at the person stealing as a corporation– is saying that the corporation had a right to take everything. 

Or –she was at fault for not having a guard dog protect her assets.

Or –she should have had a hot fence up. 

I’m thinking of corporate anti-union sentiment; of bankers/finance; of insurance (both health and home); of pretty much anything in this country where the less well-connected or less wealthy are not being treated in a just manner.

Our apples have been stolen and we haven’t enough folks with good hearts and enough resources themselves to come and make us whole again.

The story behind Miriam Carey

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Miriam Carey was a dental hygienist.  And you all know what I’m going to ask–is she being autopsied?  and will they look for mercury poisoning?  Because her actions are textbook mercury poisoning—she had instances of delusions, she obviously had over the top aggression, and she was depressed.

I would want to know the history of where she grew up–was she in a neighborhood subject to toxins?  Were chemtrails being sprayed over her home in the days leading up to her doing this?  Was she eating GMO’s and undiagnosed Celiac?  Something tells me these questions won’t be asked…and they need to be.

One report said that friends who knew her before she became a dental hygienist said she had no mental issues at that time—so….if this occurred after becoming exposed to mercury in a dental practice—then it is a definite possibility.  Arsenic may also be a factor.

Also, the events surrounding pregnancy and giving birth need to be looked at since the sister says she was having issues afterward.  Did she have a Rho-Gam shot?  Even though mercury was supposed to have been removed in 2001, it reportedly still contains mercury.  And knowing what I know about the other vaccines, it probably has other issues.

During my research, it popped up that there were questions of a link between Rho-Gam and autism.  I found this disputing the biased research saying there was no link.   Others are bringing up the issue that the shot can sensitize a woman’s system.

Was she required to have annual flu shots to work in the dental practice?  They also contain mercury and other toxins.  This, plus accumulation from the mercury exposure in a dental practice, arsenic, and pesticide toxicity could have sent her over the edge.

Here’s the safeminds.org brochure on vaccines.

(And a side note here: current legislation regarding vaccination in different states.)

Here’s a paper disputing the value of the Rho-Gam shot.

 

A trojan horse…and another part of a horse…on DN

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Democracy Now had a couple of noteworthy segments up this morning–

Another *cough* fair trade deal that is characterized as NAFTA on steroids.  Great.  /snark

…because Clinton’s NAFTA didn’t do enough to destroy this country….one can only wonder at the forced GMO seeds  upon these countries–forced vaccination–and other unconstitutional actions that will affect us, as well.  We don’t live in a vacuum–what goes around comes around…

See previous post on how much influence corporations have on our government, and the ramifications of that influence.  The public loses its representation….and yet, we’re still taxed.

Max Blumenthal has written an insider’s view of Israel.   Prime Minister Netanyahu asserts he has the U.S. where he wants us.  He is still trying to drum up fear of the Iranians having a nuclear weapon…but methinks it’s more a fear that if the U.S. no longer sees Iran as a threat, they won’t be giving the bucks to Israel.

I’m glad he was on DN–because we get a picture of the rightwingers of Israel who are racist against not only the Palestinians, but Africans as well.  It’s chilling how they think of the Africans as a cancer on their society.   No wonder the rightwingers in America like Israel so much–they have so much in common.

Funny how we don’t hear that from the mainstream media, eh?

A picture flashed in my head when he said the youth march through the streets.  It’s unnerving how much that is like the Nazis.

I’m also glad that Blumenthal makes the point that there are peacemakers amongst the warhawks, as well, who are against what is happening, but perhaps feel powerless to do anything about it.  (sounds familiar, eh?)  I think this is true of every nation–that there are many unheard voices that are against violence and war but never get to speak out.

 

A ruling as damaging as Citizens United?

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Public Citizen has this up on a case before the U.S. Supreme court that could be as damaging as Citizens United, which made the inane ruling that corporations were people.

Good Grief, we already have the Kochs and Gates of the world whom are buying their kingdoms through crooks masquerading as politicians….and now we have another case of allowing mindboggling sums to campaigns:

In the case, the justices will consider whether to eliminate the limit on the total sum that people can give directly to candidates and political parties in a single election. The current overall limit for an individual making direct contributions to parties, political action committees (PACs) and federal candidates is $123,200 per two-year election cycle, but a win for the challengers in McCutcheon could allow total contributions above $7 million.

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A thought just popped in my mind–and this is in general, not just this lawsuit– what if we made it a rule that for every $7.50 (minimum wage) that a politician accepts in donations, they must work an hour in a soup kitchen/homeless shelter.   This would serve two purposes:  the politicians could no longer pretend they don’t know how bad things are for the poor, and they would see how low $7.50 an hour is…and perhaps raise it to $15.

Additionally, the politician would be less likely to accept the mega bucks in donations….they would think twice before allowing corporations to buy them.

Again, I’m wondering how far that money would go if given to more worthy causes–buying food for the hungry, putting up earthships, creating jobs, etc.

I posed that question towards my political science professor and he shrugged his shoulders and said “It’s really not that much…”

Tell that to someone who skips meals, has no home, no job.  Their perspective might be a little different….but they’re poor and don’t have a voice if campaign contributions are the gauge.

This just made me crack up laughing:

A relatively small number of people use contributions to maximize their leverage over elected officials.

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…not where I come from….the whole point of giving to campaigns is to wield influence over politicians.  I know of people who give to BOTH sides so they have an edge with whomever is elected.

 

Education under fire

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It is really hard to read all the news on Education.  It is depressing to no end.

Some of the bad news:

Disability scandal involving a charter school, with a scheme diverting $$$ towards their own pockets.  What is really sad is these mentally challenged children are viewed by these people with $$ in their eyes–just like the medical profession.  These children will receive the minimal of instruction to optimize the profit margin.

The moral and spiritual bankruptcy of corporate reformers.

The magical Michelle Rhee.

Arne Duncan blasts “armchair pundits”….just like John Kerry…a politician that thinks the public’s opinion doesn’t matter.  Duncan degrades the public as no-nothings not worth his time.  He ignores that educators are among the public who are speaking out against corporate profiteering of public schools.

Here’s a post disputing Bill Gates’ *cough* facts.  (hat tip Diane Ravitch)

Does anybody else see the irony of Gates, a college dropout, deliberately being deceptive on the numbers of college graduates in the U.S.?  Not only is he a hypocrite, but a lying one at that….

And again, it bears repeating over and over that a college degree is no guarantee of a job.  And there are those who do not want a degree but still need to be paid a living wage.

Gates’ money torpedoing public education through devious means.  $173 MILLION.   What a creep.

Heckuva job, reformers!

Indianapolis schools ground zero.  Yep.

This is just too, too ridiculous.  We have no toilet paper, but gee whiz, we have a shiny new sports arena!!