Popular herbicide more deadly to liver cells than its active chemical alone.

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Flawed “Science” By Doctors Not Scientists

Monday, August 17, 2009

Japan Study: Vaccines Do Cause Autism

Japanese Data Show Vaccines Cause Autism

Posted on June 3, 2009 by childhealthsafety

Just months following the US Court of Federal Claims rejection of the claim that the MMR vaccine causes autism, here you will see data from formal peer refereed medical papers showing that vaccines caused autism in Japanese children and will be doing the same to children around the world. The number of Japanese children developing autism rose and fell in direct proportion to the number of children vaccinated each year [click image for larger graph in new window]:-

[See end of page for alternative version of this graph normalised by annual % of children receiving MMR vaccination - but also showing the same correspondence as above graph.]

The Invalid Claims of Honda and Rutter

The Vaccination Data Honda/Rutter Omitted

Japanese Autism Numbers Rose & Fell With Vaccinations

The Power of Rechallenge

Professor Sir Michael Rutter & The Drug Industry Connections

What You Can Do

[larger graph in new window]

Introduction & Peer Review

The “science” from medical journals presented to courts is not reliable. The medical “science” evidence-base has become institutionally and systemically corrupt since Ronald Reagan introduced the Bayh-Dole Act in the 1980’s : ["Doctors Without Borders - Why you can't trust medical journals anymore" by Shannon Brownlee, Washington Monthly].

Mainstream medical journals live off drug company advertising. Government health officials, drug company lobbyists and medical professionals tell us: it is “science” and “proof” when it is not.

Covert lobbying is endemic:-

‘The use of PR to counter negative publicity’

‘221. ………. Considerable resources are invested into building long-term, sustainable relationships with stakeholders and ‘key opinion leaders‘ and journalists. These relationships are used to promote the use of certain brands and counter concerns relating to safety. Efforts to undermine critical voices in particular were identified, under terms of “issues management”. In later evidence, in response to the ISM’s memorandum, Pfizer stated that PR is entirely legitimate and can “help to educate and inform”. According to the PMCPA, PR activities may include “placing articles in the lay press, TV documentaries, soap operas etc“.’ [p60 'The Influence of the Pharmaceutical industry' 2004 - English Parliamentary Health Select Committee report [emphasis added]]

Peer Review of Data

The data and analysis shown here has been through a process of peer review. Publication is responsible to bring it to public attention.

The peer review process included presenting this information to:-

Professor Sir Michael Rutter, author of the main paper which this analysis critiques. Result: – no comment, rebuttal or answer [although correspondence sent was received] – Main paper “No effect of MMR withdrawal on the incidence of autism: a total population study.” Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (2005)]

Hideo Honda correspondent author of the main paper. Result – no comment, rebuttal or answer [correspondence twice sent to address for correspondence on the paper];

Professor Tony Charman, Editor of the publishing journal. Result:- refusal to comment, rebut, answer or publish a correction or retraction [although correspondence sent was received];

UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, Chairman Professor Andy Hall. Result: no comment, rebuttal or answer [although correspondence sent was received];

Head of UK Health Protection Agency. Result: no comment rebuttal or answer [although correspondence sent was received];

the publishers Blackwell Publishing. Result: no comment, rebuttal or answer [although correspondence sent was received].

It has also been presented to others including an expert in the assessment of adverse drug reactions who confirmed data showing such a close correspondence is remarkable in post marketing surveillance and rarely if ever seen – probably unique.

To Contents

Flawed “Science” By Doctors Not Scientists

In 2005 a paper by two Japanese psychiatrists, Hideo Honda and Yasuo Shimizu, was published in an English psychiatric journal with English psychiatrist Professor Sir Michael Rutter also named as an author. The paper was claimed to be proof MMR vaccine could not cause autistic spectrum disorders: [“No effect of MMR withdrawal on the incidence of autism: a total population study.” Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (2005)].

These three psychiatrists failed to provide the full picture. They made invalid claims [See more below The Invalid Claims]. Those claims were based on inadequate research containing basic flaws. Psychiatrists are not usually also trained scientists and normally lack scientific qualifications. When the flaws in their paper are identified and corrected, the paper provides unusually strong evidence, not normally seen, showing vaccines as a cause of Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD).

The paper shows, when corrected with the missing data, Autistic Spectrum Disorder numbers increased and decreased in direct proportion to the total number of children vaccinated. We see here not just evidence of dechallenges and rechallenges but a “dose-response” relationship on a population level.

A dose-response relationship on a population level is rare if not unprecedented. The close numerical correspondence seen here is usually not found. This is conclusive evidence of a causal association.

The Honda/Rutter paper claimed that new cases of autism in Japan fell for children born in 1991-92 (as the confidence of Japanese parents fell in the dangerous Japanese MMR vaccine withdrawn on safety grounds in 1992) but then rose sharply again and especially for children who were born in 1993-94. Here is the graph from the Honda/Rutter paper:-

The authors summarised their results (emphasis added):-

The MMR vaccination rate in the city of Yokohama declined significantly in the birth cohorts of years 1988 through 1992, and not a single vaccination was administered in 1993 or thereafter. In contrast, cumulative incidence of ASD up to age seven increased significantly in the birth cohorts of years 1988 through 1996 and most notably rose dramatically beginning with the birth cohort of 1993.”

The authors wrongly claimed this meant it was unlikely MMR vaccine caused autism spectrum disorders. They made this claim without any “control” – a scientific fundamental – something to compare against MMR – a scientific benchmark or yardstick to see if there was any difference compared with something else.

As can be seen from the above Honda/Rutter graph, in 93-94 and after, the autism rate was double that in the period up to 1992 [when the MMR vaccine was withdrawn]. The authors were duty bound to consider this before going into print. Their data put them on notice that withdrawing the proven dangerous Japanese MMR vaccine was associated with a marked drop in new cases of autism. That is clear from their graphs. Autism cases fell for those born in 1991-92 as uptake of the Japanese MMR vaccine fell and was withdrawn in 1992.

The authors failed to do what any scientist would have done. They failed to ask themselves “why?“. Why did autism rapidly increase for children born in 1993-94 and thereafter?

And there was something to compare against the MMR. Honda/Rutter did not use it.

The MMR was replaced with single measles and single rubella vaccines. These were given at or about at the same time. And also at the same time the overall vaccination rate in Japan was increased by 150%.

When this happened the autism rate increased in step.

The only thing Honda/Rutter teaches us is that MMR cannot be the only cause – and not that it is not a cause of autism.

Professor Rutter has close associations with the drug industry including GlaxoSmithKline. He was a paid expert witness on their behalf in the UK MMR vaccine damage litigation. That was not declared in the Honda/Rutter paper nor were any other potential conflicts of interest or statements of funding (about which see more below).

Professor Rutter is also one of the main prosecution witnesses in the witchhunt in the British General Medical Council against medical doctors Andrew Wakefield, Simon Murch and Professor Walker-Smith.

The Invalid Claims

The Honda/Rutter paper when corrected provides not only strong evidence that MMR and single measles vaccines are causes of ASD but it also implicates as causes of ASD the rubella vaccine and JE (Japanese Encephalitis) vaccine containing Thiomersal [Thimerosal in the USA]. Thiomersal is a known toxic mercury containing neurotoxin and also causes allergies. It is toxic in parts per billion.

Japanese Encephalitis vaccine was given in three separate vaccinations and each one contained the poisonous mercury based neurotoxin thiomersal. So JE vaccine is just like DTP given to children in the USA and UK up until very recently in that it contained that neurotoxin and was given in three jabs to infants or toddlers.

That the practice in Japan was to give the measles and rubella vaccines at the same time was the boast of The British Department of Health. That was to bolster official claims that whistle blower medical doctor Andrew Wakefield’s concerns about the MMR vaccine were wrong. The Honda/Rutter paper was announced in the usual blaze of publicity. And as usual, the truth has not been. No one can argue validly that scientifically the Honda/Rutter paper is not deeply flawed.

The Vaccination Data Honda/Rutter Omitted

In Japan when MMR was introduced, single measles vaccine was still being used side-by-side with MMR. Professor Rutter and his colleagues failed to take that into account. They also failed to look to two peer refereed papers published only three years earlier in 2002 which provide some of the missing ..-

the “Nakatani paper” after the lead author, Hiroki Nakatani: Development of Vaccination Policy in Japan: Current Issues and Policy Directions, Hiroki Nakatani,Tadashi Sanoand Tsutomu Iuchi Jpn J Infect Dis 55 101-111 2002.

the “Terada paper“, after the lead author Kihei Terada: Alterations in epidemics and vaccination for measles during a 20 year period and a strategy for elimination in Kurashiki City, Japan: Terada K, Niizuma T, Ogita S, Kataoka N. Kansenshogaku Zasshi: Department of Pediatrics, Kawasaki Medical School 2002 Mar;76(3):180-4

The Nakatani and Terada papers provide a more complete picture. The Terada paper sets out the annual Japanese vaccination data for the annual numbers of vaccinations for measles and MMR vaccines combined in Kurashiki City, Japan. The Nakatani paper sets out the overall national Japanese vaccination data for all regions including Yokohama. Its data includes vaccine uptake in Japan for measles, rubella and the mercury containing Japanese Encephalitis vaccine.

In addition Honda/Rutter missed another Japanese paper from 2003 – Takahashi – claiming the risk of autism could be between 5 and 9 times greater from single measles and rubella vaccines, so Honda/Rutter have no excuses for not considering this possibility and including the single vaccines as a control or comparison group:

An Epidemiological Study on Japanese Autism concerning Routine Childhood Immunization History – Hiroshi Takahashi*, Syunsuke Suzumura, Fumiko Shirakizawa, Noriyuki Wada, Keiko Tanaka-Taya, Satoru Arai, Nobuhiko Okabe, Hironobu Ichikawa and Taizo Sato

Jpn. J. Infect. Dis., 56, 114-117, 2003

The Takahashi paper is further direct evidence of a link between vaccines and autism – despite repeated denials by health officials, “expert” panels, medical professionals and journalists that there is no evidence of such a causal link.

Grateful thanks for generously making his library facilities available pro bono publico without condition or hesitation, and especially so for enabling the key Terada paper to be located are due to Professor Jeff Bradstreet MD, MD(H) FAAFP, Adjunct Professor of Pediatrics, Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine, International Child Development Research Centre, Melbourne, FL 32934, USA. It is certain some children and their families could be saved from a lifetime of autism if the information here becomes more widely available to parents, independently minded physicians and other medical practitioners.

[larger graph in new window]

Japanese Autism Numbers Rose & Fell With Vaccinations

When Honda/Rutter is compared to Terada it can be seen that ASD numbers rose and fell in direct proportion to the total number of children vaccinated in any year. In other words, the number of Japanese children who developed autism was directly related to the number who received MMR, single measles, rubella and Japanese Encephalitis vaccines. Here is a combined graph showing this:-

This is a dose-response relationship – the extent of the effect of a drug is related to the amount of the drug administered. Unusually, we see a dose-response relationship on a “population level” in a large sample of the child population of Japan, and as such, this is conclusive evidence of a causal association between vaccination and Autistic Spectrum Disorders in children.

Immediately below is the data from the Terada and Honda/Rutter papers shown separately in the graphs, from the original papers as published:-

[larger Terada graph in new window]

[larger Honda/Rutter graph in new window]

Terada Paper: Fig. 4 Numbers of measles vaccinations and births in Kurashiki City from 1980 to 2000

Red Line joins tops of bars. It shows the total of MMR and Measles vaccinations each year in Kurashiki City from 1980 to 2000.

Honda/Rutter Fig. 1: Numbers of ASD diagnoses in children up to 7 years of age by year of birth

These graphs compare data for children born in two different areas: Kurashiki City with Kohoku Ward, Yokohama. The correspondence is remarkable. [Note when comparing the first graph, Japanese children were vaccinated when 15-18 months old - so the comparison of ASD rates by year of birth is with the vaccination rates approximately two years later. The first graph is 15-18 months “ahead” of the second.]

Further, the Nakatani paper indicates this similarity in the data is unlikely to be coincidence: [Development of Vaccination Policy in Japan: Current Issues and Policy Directions, Hiroki Nakatani,Tadashi Sanoand Tsutomu Iuchi Jpn J Infect Dis 55 101-111 2002]. The Nakatani paper shows the national vaccination rates in Japan. These are closely similar in profile to that shown for Kurashiki City. It is also reasonable to expect that the national vaccination rates would be similar for Kohoku Ward (data in the Honda/Rutter paper).

It is the Nakatani paper which implicates rubella vaccine and the thiomersal/thimerosal mercury containing JE (Japanese Encephalitis) vaccines along with MMR and Japanese Encephalitis vaccine. The Nakatani paper shows that in 1995 there was a sharp rise (150%) in single measles and single rubella vaccinations. Many of the children getting those vaccines in 1995 would have been those born in 1993-4. This rise was also coupled with a doubling in Japanese Encephalitis vaccinations (200%) between 1993 and 1995.

Here is the graph from the Nakatani paper showing the increases in single measles, rubella and JE vaccine vaccination rates by 1995 in Japan – the vertical blue line has been added to highlight the year and the legend ringed in blue to pick out the measles, rubella and JE vaccine lines of the graph:-

[larger Nakatani graph in new window]

And after the 150% increase in measles and rubella vaccinations and the doubling in the JE vaccine uptake, the graph shows that autism incidence doubled.

Incidence rose from 60 in 10,000 (1991-92 births) to 120 in 10,000 (1995-96 births). The same applies to the peaks in the graph in 1990 and 1994. The 1990 peak was 80 in 10,000 and the 1994 peak was double that at 160 in 10,000.

Grateful thanks to to Dr F E Yazbak of Boston Massachusetts, USA for drawing attention to the Nakatani paper and so assisting to identify this population level rechallenge proof of autism causation of the MMR and mercury containing vaccines.

This shows that not only did the authors of the Honda/Rutter paper have before them evidence of a “population level” dechallenge, they also had evidence of a “population level” rechallenge. Had they carried out their researches properly, they would also have had the evidence of the Nakatani and Terada papers to show the powerful evidence of a dose-response relationship on a population level.

How Comparable Are These Two Cities?

The graph below demonstrates how comparable Kurashiki City and Yokohama are for MMR vaccination uptake. This is in addition to the national figures for Japan from the Nakatani paper which apply to both cities. The Nakatani figures show [for the second autism peak in the Honda/Rutter paper for children born in 1994] there was 150% increase in single vaccine uptake throughout Japan and a 200% increase for Thiomersal containing Japanese Encephalitis vaccine. [These increases followed the change in the national Japanese vaccination law in 1994. Children born that year would have been vaccinated 15-18 months later with MMR and 12-24 months later with JE vaccine].

[Click graph for larger version in new window].

The Power of Rechallenge

Just one well documented spontaneous report of a rechallenge is sufficient to prove a drug causes a harmful adverse drug reaction. Only three well documented cases of dechallenge are sufficient proof.

But here we see these numerous dechallenges and rechallenges combining into a continuous dose-response relationship on a population level. This is unusual and powerful proof of a causal association.

“Dechallenge” is the withdrawal of the administration of a drug from a person after they have been taking it. If adverse symptoms suffered by the person diminish with withdrawal of the drug, that is evidence the reaction is caused by the drug. “Rechallenge” is where the same drug is reintroduced and the adverse reactions start again. This is standard well-known and well-accepted pharmacological science. “Spontaneous” means you do not have to carry out a drug trial. If it happens to an ordinary patient at any time anywhere but is well documented, that can be sufficient proof.

Here, we see the Honda/Rutter paper in conjunction with the Nakatani paper providing us with a large number of examples of dechallenges and rechallenges. This is not in a few individuals but in large samples of the child population of Japan. And the dechallenges and rechallenges are well documented in published peer refereed papers.

The Terada paper also shows us that in this sample Japanese population (hence the term “population level”) the dechallenges and rechallenges combine to show us a population level dose-response relationship. That means we see the adverse effects increasing and decreasing in proportion to the quantity of the pharmaceutical (here vaccines) administered to the sample population. That is powerful as proof of a causal association between the vaccines and autistic spectrum disorders. You can read further about the power of dechallenge and rechallenge evidence in this peer refereed medico-legal paper by Professor Donald Miller MD, professor of surgery at the University of Washington and published in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons:-

On Evidence, Medical and Legal

The Honda/Rutter graph shows that autism incidence was rising over the entire period from 1988 to 1996. Thus this is more evidence to confirm the world autism pandemic, and which is other evidence the Honda/Rutter authors had before them which they did not deal with.

Wellcome Trust Limited Annual Report and Financial Statements 2003

Professor Sir Michael Rutter & The Drug Industry Connections

It is appropriate to ask:

“who is Professor Sir Michael Rutter?”

“might he at least subconsciously suffer from author bias?“

“does he have any potentially conflicting interests?”

It can help to follow the money. In the money connections, you don’t get any bigger than Rutter. Psychiatrist Professor Sir Michael Rutter is a former (recent) Deputy Chairman of the immensely wealthy Wellcome Trust (founded by the Wellcome Foundation which is now Glaxo). For confirmation of his status, see the 4th page of :-

The Wellcome Trust has assets of over £14 billion:-

Wellcome Trust Limited Annual Report and Financial Statements 2007

The Trust hands out millions every year and has far more substantial reserves to enable it to do that. And it can dictate a great deal of what research is carried out around the world. See here for details:-

Wellcome Trust Funding

So Rutter is very influential. You do not get to be in that position if you are not “in favour with pharma”. He is also one of the expert witnesses for Glaxo in the MMR litigation (something he did not declare, for example, in the Honda/Rutter paper denying MMR has any association with autism, but I do not see him before the GMC over that). Professor Rutter is also one of the main prosecution witnesses in the witchhunt in the British General Medical Council against medical doctors Andrew Wakefield, Simon Murch and Professor Walker-Smith. Here is a biographical note on Professor Sir Michael Rutter from the Academy of Medical Sciences which says:-

Professor Sir Michael Rutter is Professor of Developmental Psychopathology at the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College, London. He has been a consultant psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital since 1966, and was Professor of Child Psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry from 1973 to 1998. He set up the Medical Research Council Child Psychiatry Research Unit in 1984 and the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre 10 years later, being honorary director of both until October 1998. His research has included the genetics of autism; the study of both school and family influences on children’s behaviour; the links between mental disorders in childhood and adult life; epidemiological approaches to test causal hypotheses; and gene-environment interplay. He was Deputy Chairman of the Wellcome Trust from 1999 to 2004, and has been a Trustee of the Nuffield Foundation since 1992. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1987 and an honorary member of the British Academy in 2002. He was a Founding Fellow of the Academia Europaea and the Academy of Medical Sciences, of which he is currently Clinical Vice-President. He has received numerous international honours and has published some 40 books and over 400 scientific papers and chapters.

Professor Sir Michael Rutter along with a troupe of psychiatrists now or formerly associated with The Maudsley Hospital and The Institute of Psychiatry at Kings College, London University, have been working hard at telling the public autism is solely genetic and denying there is a world autism pandemic. If a condition is genetic, you also do not suddenly get spontaneous mutation of large numbers of individuals. That suggestion is counter logical and non science. Genetics cannot account for the large rise we are seeing in autism since the mid 1980s. So instead what we see are efforts by Rutter and the King’s Institute of Psychiatry other autism denialists to claim there is no real rise in the prevalence of autism. This claim is unscientific and runs counter to the facts documented in the formal literature.

The Institute of Psychiatry has been an embarrassing place to be because of this April 2008 news item:-

BBC psychiatrist Tonmoy Sharma is struck off By Lucy Cockcroft The Telegraph 01 April /2008A psychiatrist who regularly appeared as an expert on the BBC has been struck off the medical register after he lied about his academic qualifications and performed unethical drugs tests on mentally ill patients.

The Institute of Psychiatry has or is home to more than its fair share of doctors (psychiatrists mostly) who publish papers claiming autism is genetic and denying there is an autism epidemic (the correct word is pandemic – epidemics have far fewer victims). These doctors include Rutter, Eric Fombonne (now expert witness in the US in the thiomersal/autism litigation when he had previously published nothing about it) and Professor Simon Baron Cohen.

It is also home to controversial “Gulf War Syndrome” psychiatrist Simon Wessley, director of the Centre for Military Health Research at King’s College London and who had been claiming ME/CFS is not a physical condition but a mental one contrary to the definition used around the world. Sophia Wilson is an example of an ME/CFS sufferer who died following this approach to diagnosis, albeit there is no evidence available to this author she was ever a patient of any of the psychiatrists or institutions name here.

Also associated with The Institute of Psychiatry and the Maudsley is Dr Ben Goldacre, who constantly attacks alternative medicine in The Guardian [a UK national newspaper] whilst writing the “Badscience” column – yet Goldacre has no scientific qualifications and avoids disclosing that he practises psychiatry. Psychiatry is the least successful branch of medicine in history and is notorious for a lack of scientific bases to support the theories some of its proponents put out. Goldacre works with Wessley.

Goldacre and Wessley have close professional and personal connections to King’s Mobile Phones Research Unit. Goldacre has made public attacks, backed by the industry funded lobby group, The Science Media Centre, on a BBC Panorama documentary about mobile phone hazards, which hazards were raised by the current head of the UK’s Health Protection Agency, before taking up that post. Ben Goldacre and The Science Media Centre attacked the programme and its journalists.

Professor Rutter is also a friend of the editor of the journal which printed the Honda/Rutter MMR paper. Here is his endorsement of the Journal:-

JCPP is clearly the world’s No. 1 child psychology and psychiatry journal. It integrates clinical and developmental perspectives, it is truly international, and interdisciplinary, and it combines high scientific standards with attention to clinical relevance.” Prof. Sir Michael Rutter“

http://www.blackwellpublishing.comjournal.asp?ref=0021-9630&site=1

Editor Charman is a contributor to Rutter’s book:-

“Rutter’s Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Fifth Edition“

Rutter was also an expert witness in Malmo, Sweden in an MMR autism case where the key question was whether autism was solely genetic and not environmental. Rutter’s expert evidence was that it was genetic [not possible - Autism Not Genetic – Says Expert Professor Simon Baron Cohen].

And this could go on and on and on ………………….

When confronted with the above evidence on Rutter’s Japanese autism paper Charman refused to have the Honda/Rutter paper retracted or to publish a correction or rebuttal. The publishing group Blackwell which published the Honda/Rutter paper have provided no comment.

____________________________________

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http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/456664/Crude/trail...

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Movies: Trailers and Clips for Crude

Trailers for the latest releases, movies on DVD and movies coming soon.

F**K Big Oil!

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A9_xj77rcQ

Thursday, July 09, 2009

Obama on Mt Rushmore? Greenpeace Banner Calls for Global Warming Leadership

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http://www.eyeonpalin.org/news/press_releases/0706...

Thursday, July 09, 2009

Palin's Resignation Leaves Wake of Wildlife Devastation - Eye On Palin - Defenders of Wildl

Palin's Resignation Leaves Wake of Wildlife Devastation - Eye On Palin - Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund

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The new governor of Alaska needs to stop the Native species slaughter

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Monday, July 06, 2009

GREAT NEWS! tHE SF8 CASE IS DROPPED!

........................

....

Monday, July 6, 2009....

Charges dropped - Jalil pleads no contest – Cisco's case continues ....

Finally, after years of unified resistance by the brothers and a the building of massive support, California State prosecutors were forced to admit that they have insufficient evidence against the San Francisco 8.

Charges against four of the defendants were dropped and Jalil Muntaqim pled no contest to conspiracy to commit voluntary manslaughter. The State prosecutor asked the court to sentence him to 12 months calling it "a drop in the bucket." Judge Moscone replied "unless you're the one doing the time." Jalil received credit for time served (close to 2 1/2 years in County Jail) and 3 years probation. He will return to New York to fight for parole.

The charges were dismissed today against Ray Boudreaux, Richard Brown, Hank Jones, and Harold Taylor.

The courtroom at 850 Bryant Street was packed with SF 8 supporters after a rally of hundreds and a huge Free SF 8 banner was displayed on the hillside of Bernal Heights to be seen from all over the city. (see the photo above)

"This is finally the disposition of a case that should never have been brought in the first place," announced attorney Soffiyah Elijah.

Francisco Torres still faces a court hearing on August 10th. Francisco steadfastly maintains his innocence according to his attorney Charles Bourdon who intends to file a motion to dismiss the charges against his client.

Herman Bell entered a plea a week ago.....

Herman Bell Pleads Guilty to Reduced Charge of Manslaughter – No Prison Sentence ....

Herman Bell was supported by a courtroom of supporters June 29th as he entered a plea in the SF 8 case. After legal formalities he left the courtroom raising a clenched fist to the crowd.

Herman Bell pled guilty to the reduced charge of voluntary manslaughter for his role in the killing of San Francisco police officer John Young in 1971.

Part of the plea agreement is that Herman will not be a witness against his comrades and friends and cannot be called to any hearing as a witness by the prosecution.

His sentence is that he will be placed on informal probation for five years and will be allowed to immediately return to New York. He will receive absolutely no additional prison time for his actions.

Herman and his co-defendants have always maintained that because of the torture used by the New Orleans Police Department to gain alleged confessions and the lack of new evidence, these charges should never have been brought.

Herman's letter to supporters and friends follows.
***************************************
7/2/09

Dear friends

Your strong showing of support at my plea/sentencing hearing this past Monday was truly heartening. For me, removing the possibility of going to trial when a proposal (though unpalatable) is offered that would leave open a future chance at parole in another jurisdiction was something I could not pass up. So I accepted the AG’s proposal. There is no disunity here, just a tactical legal decision having been made. I could never be at peace with myself if I sat in a prison cell for the rest of my days knowing that I rejected a proposal that left open possible freedom one day. You expect me to think and act responsibly and to make responsible decisions. I expect no less of myself or of you.

I am so proud of you and all the work you’ve done in our behalf and in waking our movement from its lethargyproud of your speaking, proud of your fund-raising, proud of your organizing (the Labor Council, the City Supervisors, the Caravan to Sacramentosuch a sweet piece of “main stream” organizing, and the tribute to Panther women). So very proud that you were in court to smile your greetings whenever we appeared; proud that you made bail for those of us who could bail-out, and that you routinely visited those of us who could not. I shall miss your frequent visits, so how could I not go forward in this without a heavy heart. I do so thanking you for being true to yourselves and thanking you for the love and righteous support you gave and are giving the SF8.

I love you all.

Herman.

10:51 PM

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Sunday, July 05, 2009

Industrial Poisons: The Fate of Our Children if We Don't Stand Up to the Guilty

Coping with a toxic world

Jul. 4, 2009
Judy Siegel-Itzkovich , THE JERUSALEM POST

There are some 80,000 man-made chemicals in the industrial environment, but only a handful of them - lead, mercury manganese, acrylamide, organophosphates, heavy metals and organic solvents - have been fully tested for potential health risks.

The realization that chemicals can damage the central nervous system is not very old, so there are not many specialists with extensive knowledge of both neurology and toxicology. Eighty of these interdisciplinary experts from 16 countries, including the US, Israel, Nigeria, Japan, Estonia, Poland, Spain, Italy, the UK, India and France met last month at the Kibbutz Ma'aleh Hahamisha Guest House outside Jerusalem to discuss the latest discoveries in the field. Few of the foreign participants had ever been here.

The five-day biennial meeting of the International Neurotoxicology Association (INA) focused on Gene-Environment Interactions in Neurotoxicology and was co-chaired by Prof. Yoram Finkelstein, director of the unit of neurology & toxicology at Jerusalem's Shaare Zedek Medical Center, and by Dr. William Boyes, INA's president. The chairman of the scientific advisory committee was Prof. Donald Fox, an expert in vision science, biology, biochemistry and pharmacology at the University of Houston in Texas.

The INA, with 300 paying members - including fewer than 10 Israelis - aims to promote science and communications among countries and foster the education of medical students. It was the 12th biennial conference, and the first outside the US or Europe.

The aim of the conference was to promote greater awareness of chemicals' adverse effects on the nervous system, update experts on the latest research and provide information to regulators. Over 70 papers were delivered on subjects ranging from how children's exposure to agricultural pesticides may be responsible for the increase in attention deficit to how chronic exposure to organic solvents can lead to schizophrenia and depression. They looked at interactions between genetic inheritance and exposure to toxins, policies to reduce exposure, and how to prevent damage to health.

FINKELSTEIN has worked a great deal on the effects of chemicals on the retina and brain, especially in animals during gestation and shortly after birth. Neurotoxicology, he said in an interview, "is a combination of two very different fields, so there aren't many who specialize in it. As far as I know, I am the only physician in Israel who deals with it."

He studied neurology at Haifa's Technion-Israel Institute of Technology's Rappaport Medical School, and went on to the Weizmann Instite of Science in Rehovot to study neurochemistry. Moving to the Rambam Medical Center, he worked at its National Poison Control Center, where experts receive calls from doctors and the general public - especially parents - who fear that someone was poisoned. Finkelstein later moved to Jerusalem and joined Shaare Zedek, where he has been for two decades.

Fox, who was born in Cleveland, went to California for his postdoctoral work, and then to Texas to conduct research. Unlike other foreigners at the conference, he has visited Israel four times.

Although pulverized asbestos in the air and other pollutants can cause disease in the lungs and other organs, Fox specializes in substances from chemical and pharmaceutical industries, and chronic damage rather than acute injury. "Half of all long-term, low-level toxicity is related to the body's neurological system, because it is much more complex and has more cell types, with every part of the system susceptible, but at even lower concentrations."

Fox said 900,000 inner-city children in Washington, DC were affected by lead. The use of lead paints in the US was prohibited in 1959, so lead poisoning of US slum children from paints on furniture and peeling walls is much less common now, but low-level lead poisoning from lead water pipes, industrial air pollution and other sources "is most insidious. About 80% of learning disabilities result from levels of lead the US government say are safe."

The element, which has a sweet taste and thus is happily chewed by children, doesn't decay. "It remains in the dust, in the air, in the water - especially in poor areas. It accumulates in the bones. And children who were exposed to lead have grown up and are having children now, and they too can be affected," Fox explained.

Fox also noted that for many years, there were toys painted with or containing lead. "It doesn't kill children, but it can cause irreversible sensory, motor and cognitive deficits. Acute toxicity of a variety of chemicals can cause death, but we are mostly interested in the effects of long-term low levels."

The trigger for damage can appear in the fetus if the mother is exposed to toxic chemicals, but the effect can also appear decades later, said Finkelstein.

Harmful heavy metals are mostly found in factories, he said, but can also be found in nature. Volcanoes such as Krakatoa in Indonesia spread toxic heavy metals by air currents. Yet man-made chemicals that can damage health go back to the beginning of human history. "In the time of the pharoahs, lead was used for making ceramics, and was also put into makeup," said Finkelstein.

Toxic chemicals can cause symptoms that usually occur in chronic disease, such as parkinsonian tremors. Fox notes that there were very few cases of Parkinson's before 1817, when it was named - largely because people died at much younger ages from pre-antibiotic infections. But exposure to manganese or chemical solvents can create Parkinson-like symptoms. The condition called "Gulf War syndrome" suffered by US soldiers in Iraq was due to chemical exposure there, he continued.

The expert from Texas said he would not bar the use of very toxic chemicals but regulate them to prevent exposure to at-risk populations such as pregnant women, young children, the elderly and people with chronic disease or weak immune systems.

"Individuals with such disorders have to be supervised and treated differently when exposed to pollutants."

Fox, who lives two kilometers from downtown Houston, said he was well aware of pollution's toll in most city centers. "Although gasoline is cleaner today, cars still produce sulphur dioxides, nitric oxides and other dangerous particles. When water hits them, it becomes a source of acid rain. The US authorities allow 50 parts per million of arsenic in the water, but legislators are working to bring it down."

POLLUTION in China and India, with their huge populations, increased industrialization and growth in gas-powered vehicles, is growing daily, Fox continued. "India's city of Bangalore alone has 20 million people, with 3,000 new cars registered daily and no pollution controls. Environments are usually not protected during the initial stages of capitalism, so developing countries do not require catalytic converters."

Both Finkelstein and Fox use animals for research, and the animals are "brainier" species like cats or dogs. Instead, neurotoxicologists often use flies, worms, rats and zebrafish - which are commonly found in aquariums and have black and white stripes. "The brain and eyes of this little fish and man's surprisingly have a very similar biology," said Fox. "We have a lot of data on zebrafish."

Finkelstein continued that neurotoxicologists do their best to test without animal models. "We have a very good relationship with anti-vivisectionist organizations, as we are on their side. Cosmetics are quite safe in Israel, and are no longer tested for toxins because risky substances in the industry are gone."

The effects of chemicals on people are not uniform, Fox continued. "African Americans metabolize certain drugs differently than Caucasians. Diet also influences interaction with chemicals. Low-level lead exposure produces delayed-onset obesity only in male animals, so reaching conclusions about the effects of chemicals is very complicated."

In Israel, pesticides were a serious problem. The Health Ministry used to issue bulletins regularly when bug killers were used in excessive doses for strawberries. But today, pesticide use has declined somewhat due to natural enemies of bugs, as well as increasing public demand for low levels of pesticides and more organic products. Knesset members are also more aware of the dangers, said Finkelstein.

In the US, concluded Fox, "there are federal laws that set priorities for the testing of chemicals. Everybody wants to be protected, but politics and big money often interfere with the legislative process."

Fox concluded that the INA is "pleased to have its conference in Israel for the first time. We want to collaborate with our Israeli counterparts to develop the field. We hope that more legislation to protect the public from chemicals will be passed and that individuals and institutions will become more aware of the long-term effects of low-level exposure."

7:18 PM

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Thursday, July 02, 2009

Environmental Health News: PLASTICS

The environmental toll of plastics

From cell phones and computers to bicycle helmets and hospital IV bags, plastic has molded society in many ways that make life both easier and safer. But the synthetic material also has left harmful imprints on the environment and perhaps human health, according to a new compilation of articles authored by more than 60 scientists from around the world. Evidence is mounting that the chemical building blocks that make plastics so versatile are the same components that might harm people and the environment. And its production and disposal contribute to an array of environmental problems, too. Green solutions, however, are becoming available, the scientists say.

By Jessica A. Knoblauch
Environmental Health News
July 2, 2009

avrenim_acceber/flickr

Plastic water bottles.

More than 60 scientists contributed to the new report, which aims to present the first comprehensive review of the impact of plastics on the environment and human health, and offer possible solutions.

“One of the most ubiquitous and long-lasting recent changes to the surface of our planet is the accumulation and fragmentation of plastics,” wrote David Barnes, a lead author and researcher for the British Antarctic Survey. The report was published this month in a theme issue of Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society B, a scientific journal.

As the scrutiny of the environmental toll of plastic increases, so has its usage, the scientists reported.

The amount of plastic manufactured in the first ten years of this century will approach the total produced in the entire last century Since its mass production began in the 1940s, plastic’s wide range of unique properties has propelled it to an essential status in society. Next year, more than 300 million tons will be produced worldwide. The amount of plastic manufactured in the first ten years of this century will approach the total produced in the entire last century, according to the report.

“Plastics are very long-lived products that could potentially have service over decades, and yet our main use of these lightweight, inexpensive materials are as single-use items that will go to the garbage dump within a year, where they’ll persist for centuries,” Richard Thompson, lead editor of the report, said in an interview.

Evidence is mounting that the chemical building blocks that make plastics so versatile are the same components that might harm people and the environment. And its production and disposal contribute to an array of environmental problems, too. For example:

• Chemicals added to plastics are absorbed by human bodies. Some of these compounds have been found to alter hormones or have other potential human health effects.
• Plastic debris, laced with chemicals and often ingested by marine animals, can injure or poison wildlife.
• Floating plastic waste, which can survive for thousands of years in water, serves as mini transportation devices for invasive species, disrupting habitats.
• Plastic buried deep in landfills can leach harmful chemicals that spread into groundwater.
• Around 4 percent of world oil production is used as a feedstock to make plastics, and a similar amount is consumed as energy in the process.

People are exposed to chemicals from plastic multiple times per day through the air, dust, water, food and use of consumer products.

For example, phthalates are used as plasticizers in the manufacture of vinyl flooring and wall coverings, food packaging and medical devices. Eight out of every ten babies, and nearly all adults, have measurable levels of phthalates in their bodies.

In addition, bisphenol A (BPA), found in polycarbonate bottles and the linings of food and beverage cans, can leach into food and drinks. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 93 percent of people had detectable levels of BPA in their urine.

The report noted that the high exposure of premature infants in neonatal intensive care units to both BPA and phthalates is of “great concern.”

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers or PBDEs, which are flame-retardants added to polyurethane foam furniture cushions, mattresses, carpet pads and automobile seats, also are widespread.

The plastics industry maintains that its products are safe after decades of testing.

“Every additive that we use is very carefully evaluated, not just by the industry, but also independently by government agencies to look at all the materials we use in plastics,” said Mike Neal, a consumer and environmental affairs specialist at PlasticsEurope, an industry trade association, and a co-author of the report.

But some of these chemicals have been shown to affect reproduction and development in animal studies, according to the report. Some studies also have linked these chemicals with adverse effects in people, including reproductive abnormalities.

“We have animal literature, which shows direct links between exposure and adverse health outcomes, the limited human studies, and the fact that 90 to 100 percent of the population has measurable levels of these compounds in their bodies,” said John Meeker, an assistant professor of environmental health sciences at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and a lead author. “You take the whole picture and it does raise concerns, but more research is needed.”

Shanna Swan, director of the University of Rochester's Center for Reproductive Epidemiology, conducted studies that found an association between pregnant women’s exposure to phthalates and altered genital development in their baby boys.

Also, people with the highest exposure to BPA have an increased rate of heart disease and diabetes, according to one recent study. Animal tests studies of PBDEs have revealed the potential for damaging the developing brain and the reproductive system.

Yet the effects on human health remain largely unknown. To help shed more light on the issue, the report recommends more sophisticated human studies.

“It’s tough to have a smoking gun with a single animal study or observational human study,” Meeker said. “We need to have different types of studies indicating a consistent pattern to more definitively determine health effects resulting from these chemicals.”

But testing humans for endocrine disruptors can be tricky because phthalates and BPA pass through the body so quickly. In addition, tests for each chemical cost about $100 a pop.

Deciding which chemicals to test and at what dose is also an issue. To date, most studies have addressed single chemicals, and there are limited data on the interactions between chemicals. Compounding the problem is the discovery that endocrine disrupting chemicals may have effects at doses lower than those used in the Environmental Protection Agency’s standard toxicity tests.

Swan said the old model of testing should be thrown out and that the new goal should be tests that mimic real human exposure.

“It’s a very complicated picture and the laboratory model of just taking one isolated chemical and giving it to a genetically pure strain of rats in clean cages, clean air and clean water and seeing what it does just doesn’t come close to mimicking the human situation,” she said.

Many researchers recommend studies that test pregnant women as well as their children. The National Children’s Study will do just that by examining environmental influences on more than 100,000 children across the United States, following them from before birth until age 21.

“There are so many questions now with these chemicals in relation to cardiovascular disease, age and puberty, obesity, developmental disorders,” said Swan. “We don’t know what’s causing it, only hints, so the beauty of the National Children’s Study is that we can look at all of these endpoints and it should reveal a lot of answers.”

Plastic’s problems extend beyond the human body, according to the report. More than one-third of all plastic is disposable packaging like bottles and bags, many of which end up littering the environment.

Although the image of a bird tangled in a plastic necklace is by now burned into the public’s eye, ingestion of plastic fragments is much more common. Once inside, plastic can pack a one-two punch by both clogging an animal’s stomach and poisoning it with chemicals that have concentrated in the plastic. Some chemicals are then transferred to the food web when animals eat them.

More than 180 species of animals have been documented to ingest plastic debris, including birds, fish, turtles and marine mammals, according to the report.

Unfortunately, collecting data on plasticizers’ impacts on wildlife suffers the same pitfalls as studying human health. Still, there is already evidence that chemicals associated plastics might harm wildlife.

For example, laboratory studies have shown that phthalates and BPA affect reproduction in all studied animal groups and impair development in crustaceans and amphibians.

“While there is clear evidence that these chemicals have adverse effects at environmentally relevant concentrations in laboratory studies, there is a need for further research to establish population-level effects in the natural environment,” according to the report.

Charles Tyler, a professor at the University of Exeter School of Biosciences in the United Kingdom and a senior author of the report, said that scientists have shown that “some of these chemical compounds are getting into the environment and are in some environments at concentrations where they can produce biological effects in a range of wildlife species.”

Traveling from coast to coast, plastic can endure for thousands of years due to the reduced UV exposure and lower temperatures of aquatic habitats.

Barnes demonstrates plastic’s mobility with his account of a plastic sighting during an expedition to the Amundsen Sea where he took biological samples, the first there ever. The Amundsen, located in the Pacific Sector of Antarctica, is the only sea in Antarctica with no research station on its coast and the nearest urban center thousands of miles away.

“Even for us, getting in was a challenge because there’s so much ice and it’s so difficult to get there,” said Barnes. “But even in that remotest of environments, there was plastic floating on the sea surface.

Plastic also serves as a floating transportation device that allows alien species to hitchhike to unfamiliar parts of the world, threatening biodiversity. Global warming further aids the process by making previously inhospitable areas like the Arctic livable for invasive species, which can be detrimental to local species.

For example, plastic items are commonly colonized by barnacles, tubeworms and algae. Along the shore of Adelaide Island, west of the Antarctic Peninsula, ten species of invertebrates were found attached to plastic strapping that was littering the ice.

“Raising the temperature just one degree can make the difference between getting to someplace and actually surviving once you get there,” said Barnes.

Plastic is so resilient that even burying it deep within the earth doesn’t keep it from impacting the environment. Currently it accounts for approximately 10 percent of generated waste, most of which is landfilled. But, as the report notes, placing plastics in a landfill may simply be storing a problem for the future, as plastic’s chemicals often sink into nearby land, contaminating groundwater.

In addition, production of plastics is a major user of fossil fuels. Eight percent of world oil production goes to manufacturing plastics.

As plastics grow in volume at a rate of about nine percent each year, the authors emphasize that tackling its problems means addressing its sustainability.

One solution is to treat plastic as a reusable material rather than as a disposable commodity that’s quickly discarded. That means making plastic more easily recyclable from the get-go by using fewer materials in the manufacturing process and increasing recycling facility availability.

“The recycling message is simple; both industry and society need to regard end-of-life items, including plastics, as raw materials rather than waste,” stated the report.

Increasing the availability of biodegradable plastic, which can be made from renewable materials from plants such as corn and soy, is another option.

“Biodegradable plastics have the potential to solve a number of waste-management issues, especially for disposable packaging that cannot be easily separated from organic waste in catering or from agricultural applications,” according to the report.

However, currently production capacity for biodegradable plastics worldwide is around only 350,000 tons, representing less than 0.2 percent of petrochemical-based plastic. In addition, “most of these materials are unlikely to degrade quickly in natural habitats, and there is concern that degradable, oil-based polymers could merely disintegrate into small pieces that are not in themselves any more degradable than conventional plastic,” stated the report.

To help mitigate the potentially harmful chemicals in plastics, the authors recommend that more studies be conducted on the biological mechanisms that may be affected by plastic additives and in particular, low-dose chronic exposures.

In the meantime, the report recommends reducing the use of these chemicals and developing safer alternatives, a strategy known as green chemistry.

“Had this approach been in place 50 years ago it would probably have prevented the development of chemicals that are recognized as likely endocrine disruptors,” the report said.

The report also suggests that plastic waste can be reduced by using labels that allow consumers to choose packaging based on a lifecycle analysis that includes all components of the manufacturing process. For example, if the product were made of mostly recycled materials, used minimal packaging and could be easily recycled, it would get a green dot. If the product were made of excessive packaging that used a lot of virgin materials, it would get a red dot.

“Personally, I feel that’s the way to do it, rather than a knee jerk reaction where legislation says we can’t use certain types of plastic,” said Thompson. “Having that information will help drive the system because I think consumers are keen to make the right choice when provided with all the information.”

Paul L. Nettles/flickr

Plastic pellets often spill during transportation to manufacturing plants. These are from a spill near Pineville LA.

Neal of PlasticsEurope said consumers, not the industry, are responsible for making sure plastics don’t wind up littering the environment.

“In my view the responsibility is fairly and squarely on the consumer,” he said. “People tend to pick on plastics because perhaps it’s the most visible form of litter and because it’s lightweight so it can move around a bit, but actually it’s only a small part of the litter problem.”

The authors said that if plastics are made and used responsibly, they can help solve some environmental problems.

For example, one study found that packaging beverages in PET (a type of plastic) versus glass or metal reduces energy use by 52 percent and greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent. And, solar water heaters containing plastics can provide up to two-thirds of a household’s annual hot water demand, reducing energy consumption.

Plastics, if used wisely, “have the potential to reduce mankind’s footprint on the Earth,” Thompson said.

2:57 PM

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