Dr. Oz Exposes A Rogue's Gallery of Critics - And the 'DARK Act'

"For the first 30 minutes of his hour-long show—which celebrates its 1,000th episode on May 7—Oz took a chainsaw rather than a scalpel (metaphorically speaking) to his 10 fellow physicians who signed an open letter demanding his dismissal from the Columbia University Medical School faculty"- Commentator on 'The Daily Beast'


It was gratifying, indeed, to see Dr. Mehmet Oz taking a "chainsaw" as opposed to a "scalpel" to the rogue's gallery of A-holes that attacked him.  And as I noted in a previous blog post, I wouldn't even go so far as to call these critics physicians but rather bought out whores. They sold whatever 'souls' and self-respect they had long ago, to become shills for the corporate state and attack all those with whom they disagreed.

Readers may not be aware that a similar debacle played out some years ago but had a decidedly different outcome. This concerned the study by Dr. Arpad Pusztai in which he fed lab rats potatoes that had been genetically engineered to contain lectin (from a snowdrop bulb to make them pest resistant). When he processed the results he found that the rats which consumed these high-tech potatoes showed evidence of organ (liver, stomach) damage and poor brain development. Pusztai's study went down as the very first independent study (i.e. one not sponsored by a biotech corporation) to examine the effects of bio-engineered food on mammals.

Tragically, Pusztai’s boss, the Director of the Rowett Institute, attempted to suppress the revelations in the GMO potato study. According to a report -article from In These Times (Jan. 10, 2000);

 "He fired Pusztai, broke up his research team, halted the six other similar projects his team was then working on and seized his data"

Tragically, the action was taken after the  research became known to physician  "colleagues". Interested readers can read more on the expose of the PR muggers and their hands in the Pusztai debacle here
http://www.inthesetimes.com/issue/24/03/bleifuss2403.html

So, let's get it straight this sort of attack isn't new - only the cast changes.  Whenever the agenda of bought out  corporate whores is  challenged or criticized, in this case the drive not to label  GMO foods, they enter and try to shut up the source.....or get him fired from a top position.

Back to Dr. Oz'  Thursday show.  He immediately flashed on the screen the forlorn, guilt-ridden faces of the 10 rats that came out against him,  The gallery - with faces shown -includes:

- Henry I. Miller, Fellow in Scientific Philosophy, Hoover Institution

- Scott W. Atlas, M.D., Hoover Institution

- Jack Fisher, M.D. Prof. of Surgery, Univ. of California, San Diego

-Shelley Fleet, Anesthesiologist, Longwood, FL

-Gordon N. Gill, Dean of Translational Medicine, Univ. of California, San Diego

- Gilbert Ross, M.D.,  Acting President, American Council on Science and Health

- Samuel Schneider, Psychiatrist, Princeton, NJ

- Michael Mellon, Pediatric Allergist, San Diego, CA

- Glenn Swogger Jr., Dir. Will Menninger Center for Applied Behavioral Sciences, (retired), The Menninger Foundation, Topeka, KS

- Joe Tapper, Dept, of Radiation Oncology, Univ. of North Carolina

As noted in the expose intro, the guy who drafted the letter and whose name is in the top spot is Henry Miller, whose vita at first glance "looks impressive". But "put him under the microscope and there's more to the story". We learn, for instance, that Miller strongly supports genetically modified foods, which Dr. Oz maintains ought to be labeled.  Miller  and his ilk almost singlehandedly defeated Proposition 37 in California that would have required GMO labeling. (He was the face and voice of 'NO on 37' that brainwashed consumers to vote against their best interests)

Miller also got into hot water for making one anti-Prop 37 ad on the Stanford University campus.  The ad identified him as being with Stanford - undoubtedly to add bogus name cachet - though he is actually based at the Hoover Inst. which has nothing to do with Stanford apart from its geographical location on the campus. So no surprise the university demanded he pull the dishonest ad.

Oz' expose also presented documents on screen showing Miller was a key supporter - get this - of the freaking tobacco industry in the 1990s! Do bought out physician whores have no honor at all? Are they willing to prostitute themselves for any and everything? It seems so! Hell, this scumball  even "helped write the guiding scientific principles for a group that was assembled to fight smoking restrictions".

All this is thanks to the dedicated research of Source Watch which tracks industry ties to assorted critics and hot shots in the medical news.  According to Gary Ruskin, Executive Director of 'Right to Know':

"What Henry Miller does is speak on behalf of big corporations who have big problems and he tells big lies on their behalf."

Miller is also involved with the bogus, corporate front organization (they pop up all over the damned place now) the American Council on Science and Health. A rep from Oz' show who went to the alleged headquarters in New York City found only an empty room with some file cabinets and a copy machine (seen through the window)

While these losers sound scientific and pro-consumer, they have spoken in defense of cigarettes, pesticides, GMOs and other poisons, all "while taking money from tobacco companies, pesticide makers, and firms behind GMO foods."   This, according to documents leaked to Mother  Jones magazine. There is a "direct line", in fact, between the corporations that the ACSH solicits and the positions it takes in public. In other words you can't trust ANY of them, any more than you can trust John McAdams' take on the Kennedy assassination.

Gary Ruskin actually calls them "rent -a -scientist" - much like the fossil fuel front groups that rent other scientific prostitutes to criticize global warming science. Guys like Willie Soon.

Then there is ACSH acting President Gilbert Ross, who is also famous - but not the way you'd think! He's actually a convicted felon. As Oz' report notes, "while working as a doctor Ross was charged in a Medicaid fraud scheme that cost the state of New York $8 million. Ross was sentenced to nearly 4 years and served time in federal prison."

So why believe this jail bird when he yaps complaints about Dr. Oz?  You'd have to be a moron or a totally brainwashed dupe.

Two other rogues mentioned in connection with ACSH include Glenn Swogger Jr. and Jack Fisher.  Their backgrounds led the Source Watch contact to note "this is definitely a smear campaign against Dr. Oz., driven by critics connected to big industry."

Meanwhile, a fifth critic, Scott Atlas, works with Henry Miller at the Hoover Inst. Evidently, he's more useful as a propagandist shill than acting the part of a real doctor. No surprise here since  "Hoover has taken money from producers of genetically modified foods."

Dr. Joel Fuhrman, guest physician on the show, observed:

"Number one, these doctors are not representative of the medical profession. Number two, it's an attack against all physicians - any professionals that don't adopt a standard party line. It's important we recognize this is anti-American and anti-freedom to help people in the best way possible."

Another aspect Dr. Fuhrman noted was the total irresponsibility of the corporate media, "to explode it all over the place, which is sloppy and dangerous journalism because they didn't do any background checks, they didn't know who these people were, they didn't understand their agenda".

In other words, typical kindergarten-level MSM reporting!

But we've  already seen in the past how the whore media acts, such as being cheerleaders in the run-up to the Iraq  War, and using propaganda tactics such as framing and suppression by omission as well as euphemisms (e.g. Iran-Contra scandal instead of Iran-Contra conspiracy) to deflect serious people from conspiracy thinking.  See e.g.

http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2013/11/frequently-asked-questions-on-jfk_22.html

This brings us to the DARK Act, which Oz also exposed and which, if passed, would totally disallow any future citizen referenda or state initiatives to label what's in their food.  The D-A-R-K act is an acronym for:

DENY

AMERICANS

RIGHT to

KNOW

What is in this Neoliberal attempt to poison people by the millions? As Oz explains:

"The sponsors of the bill claim that GMO labeling is not needed. The bill specifically makes mandatory labeling of GMO foods impossible and that takes away your right to vote in your state for what you and your family want to eat. "

According to guest Scott Faber, Vice President of  the Environmental Working Group:

"This is a radical, radical proposal when you think about the fact that ninety percent of Americans want to know whether their food contains GMOs, just like consumers in sixty four other countries. It's just incredible that congress would pass a law that would block all state GMO labeling laws and make it virtually impossible for the FDA to mandate labeling. The congress is saying 'we don't trust you to make those choices"

  Also, he notes if the DARK Act became law all the existing state laws that require GMO labeling would be "wiped off the books" and the 17 bills now pending in state legislatures would all be blocked, effectively forever.

But what about the Democrats, wouldn't they filibuster this bill on our behalf?

Don't count on it because the Democratic Party is as infected by the virus of Neoliberalism as the pro-market Repukes. There isn't one chance in a million the Dems would exert the energy - however minimal- to filibuster the DARK Act. So we are literally on our own, or will be if this trash passes.

If the law passes, state control of any labeling, including 'use by' and 'sell by' dates would also be in jeopardy   We need to write the congressional whores now and let them know we are on to their hidden and corrupt agenda and if they want future votes they had better conform to citizens' will- not lobbyist money.

Update: Who hired this moron as "editor" for Salon.com?

I refer to Colin Gorenstein who scribbled this piece of refuse at salon:


http://www.salon.com/2015/04/27/john_olivers_glorious_dr_oz_takedown_you_are_the_worst_person_in_scrubs_who_has_ever_been_on_television_including_katherine_heigl/

Note that while this imbecile attacks Oz, noting the "ten doctors" who criticized him, he shamefully avoids pointing out their despicable backgrounds. (As I have here). Anyone who avoids doing that is simply another shill, or better, hack. How this character got to be a salon editor is beyond me when he's not even qualified to edit comic books,

As for citing John Oliver, a comic (though a sometimes smart one) that doesn't wash because Oz has always made it abundantly clear when he mentions this or that product he: 1) isn't conveying medical advice or acting as a medical expert, and 2) he expects viewers to do their own research and learn more about it. 

Most of Oz' proffered products or solutions I ignore after doing my research as HE advises. It is appalling that Oliver (like Gorenstein) goes after Oz as opposed to the dumb people who take his advice too literally and don't follow his own cautionary statements. JEEZ!

The Physician Whores Going After Mehmet Oz - WHY Are They Doing It?

Last week a group of "doctors" (maybe whores is more like it, as I will show) dispatched a letter to Columbia University, asking them to remove Dr. Mehmet Oz from their staff. What had their panties in a twist? According to the news segment this morning, shown on CBS, the statement says in part:

"Dr. Oz has repeatedly shown disdain for science and for evidence -based medicine, as well as baseless and relentless opposition to the genetic engineering of food crops."

Pay special attention to the very last part because that is really what this asinine complaint is all about (and to a lesser extent likely Oz' maintaining that eliminating all vitamin supplements is not a good idea, see e.g.

http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2015/03/believe-anti-vitamin-scolds-and-you-may.html

And WHO is the top physician -"researcher" whore trying to get rid of Oz?  None other than Henry Miller - a pro-corporate worm ensconced at the Hoover Institution, a conservative think tank which has also harbored a bunch of lamebrains who've done numerous anti-global warming screeds. In other words, some of the biggest anti-scientific assholes on the planet.  One of these turds actually - according to an ABC News report - served 22 months in prison for Medicaid fraud. Four of the other smearing degenerates have been linked to the "American Council on Science and Health" (ACSH) and received money from companies that sell GMOs. In other words, craven sellout whores.

Oz obviously came into the target sights of Miller and his clique of knuckle dragger "physician" henchmen because of highlighting the dangers of GMO foods, which - of course -  would  mean less money for the likes of Monsanto. In one of his shows, in fact, Dr Oz noted the dangers of glyphosate used in these damned foods and the havoc it can wreak on human health.

For example, on his Sept. 19, 2014 show we beheld a "health calamity" to use Oz's expression, as non-Hodgkins lymphoma, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's and other conditions spread as the horrific weedicide Enlist entered our food supply via GMO foods.

Oz began by putting up on the screen a section of a letter put out by dozens of worried scientists, physicians. The letter began by stating:

"We the undersigned scientists, medical professionals, and researchers are writing to urge the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency not to register a double herbicide mix of 2,4- D and glyphosate - the 'Enlist DUO weed killer"

In the letter all the probable health risks were detailed, as noted in the first paragraph. In terms of the horrors of glyphosate and how it wreaks havoc on foods, I already discussed this in a previous post, e.g.   http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2014/03/alzheimers-epidemic-fro-eating-gmo.html

In that post I quoted Barbadian biogenetic researcher John Phillips:

"Among other toxins and other health-disrupting contaminants, GMO foods contain glyphosate, a horrifically destructive chemical that saps nutrients from foods and quite literally makes them toxic to consume."

The worst part is that GMO foods are everywhere…if something is not explicitly labeled as organic and GMO-free, you should assume that it contains glyphosate. The most damnable shame is that our own Neoliberal government refuses to justify labeling these foods - so consumers have no way of knowing.






















John Phillips: Bio-geneticist and nutrition specialist, has found new links between GMO foods and Alzheimer's

Experts like Mr. Phillips now believe that glyphosate is even worse than DDT. It decimates beneficial bacteria in the gut, disrupts immune function, and has been correlated with shocking precision to the rise in autism and other cognitive diseases and conditions.  The moral of the story is that you should stop eating GMO foods at all costs. Do not consume anything (especially soy and corn) that isn’t specifically labeled as non-GMO.  Wonder why Alzheimer's keeps ramping up - blame the GMO foods, and now - with Entry DUO - the potential to add on other diseases like Parkinson's.

In his opening segment  on 9/19/14  Dr. Oz set out the facts as we know them:

1- Seventy to Eighty percent of the foods we eat today contain GMOs.

2- There are 1.1 billion pounds of pesticides used per year, used on GMO crops - because those crops are designed to survive the poisons.

3- 70 - 170 million pounds of additional highly toxic pesticides will be used if the FDA approves Enlist.

One of the worst scourges is how glyphosate is now in the blood of many kids, and triggering outbreaks of autism (which too many blame on vaccines). As one mom featured on Oz's show observed, her son showed all the symptoms and when she had his blood tested she found inordinate levels of glyphosate. She then went totally organic and the symptoms subsided.

One claim made by the GMO makers (like Monsanto) and promoters is GMOs are crucial to feed a hungry world - by offering higher yields. But as Oz's other guest, Mark Bittman (Food columnist for the NY Times) noted, "Yields are not up and pesticide use is not down. So when you talk about feeding a hungry world, GMOs have not moved us in that direction."

Indeed, it is precisely because of the widespread pesticide-herbicide use connected with GMO foods, that a more powerful toxin has been demanded - by agri-business, and farmers in the maw of the GMO giants. This is because the herbicide overuse has led to the invasive weeds becoming adapted to the toxins and being more difficult to put down. The bottom line: glyphosate alone isn't enough to do the job.

2,4 - D, let us bear in mind, was also used in Agent Orange - the dastardly chemical used to devastate millions of acres of crops in South Vietnam and which left thousands of U.S. military personnel with debilitating conditions,  and tens of thousands of Vietnamese infants with hideous birth defects the country is still dealing with today.

One of the other worrisome effects Oz presented was the dispersive and diffusive potential from GMO crops - say in the proximity of schools, other public places. Oz demonstrated this dispersal as when winds blow to drive it off onto bordering areas - schools, homes, towns. He stated: "It's just hard to put a fence around it. The Environmental Working Group found that over 5500 schools within 200 feet of these pesticides drift range and GMO farms, potentially putting thousands of children and their families at risk of serious health problems.."

This drift and dispersal scenario is also one with which John Phillips concurs - which is why he's vigorously argued against the use of GMO crops in Barbados.

The corporate whore kingdom often cites the FDA or other government agencies to bestow benediction on GMO foods, i.e. that they are "safe" - but of course these federal agencies have already been bought out long ago and become de facto PR- whore extensions for the corporatocracy. This is why they incessantly fight to keep labels off GMO foods.

And while anti-GMO folks are lampooned by the Neoliberal governmental -business estate and its lackeys, let's bear in mind 64 countries already require labeling of GMO foods or ban them outright. Why is the U.S. different? Or better, why is the U.S. the exceptional dumb nation here? Could it be the corporate state has our gov't by the balls, lock, stock and barrel? Maybe! As Heather White observed on Oz' s 9/19/14 show, they are only willing to "rubber stamp" what the corporations want and most of our agencies are in their maw. That makes them corporate whores!

Meanwhile, kudos to Columbia University for showing support of Dr. Mehmet Oz so he can continue his position there while also speaking out against the rampant poison of GMOs. In a statement released yesterday the university wrote:

"Columbia is committed to the principle of academic freedom and to upholding faculty members' freedom of expression for statements they make in public discussion."


As for Oz complainer Henry Miller: he needs to remove his brain from the corporate propaganda axis, stop emulating tools like John McAdams, and try to learn about the real dangers of GMO foods - minus all the BS and tomfoolery.

Is the Ebola Quarantine Period of 21 Days Too Short? Dr. Oz Weighs In With New Research

"We have only sixty days to contain this epidemic or we face an unprecedented situation for which we have no plan" - World Health Organization

Dallas County Court Judge Clay Jenkins boldly asserted yesterday that the dozens released from quarantine in Dallas over the weekend posed "absolutely no risk" to the community. All of them had contact at some point with Thomas Eric Duncan, "Patient Zero", in the recent Ebola incident at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital.

The problem is that this may not be accurate, given viruses change - in potency, as well as mortality rate and incubation period. This point was brought up two days ago by Fordham  Infectious Disease specialist Alexander van Tulleken, in a live interview with Dr. Mehmet Oz - on his Monday show. In his preface to the interview, Oz noted the "magic number being 21 days" for being safe,  but in the last week new research has emerged to controvert that. In other words, 21 days may not be a long enough period for those who've been exposed to the virus and they should be quarantined longer.

Dr. van Tulleken pointed out that we were "originally getting our ideas of what the incubation period should be from research done in the 1970s".  But recently a researcher, Dr. Charles Haas-  from Drexel University - has reviewed all the data from recent epidemics and found the actual incubation period is longer - with an average incubation period of 12 days (not 8 or 10) and the maximum being up to 30 days. So "if we want to catch everyone we need to probably extend it to thirty -one days" according to Dr. van Tulleken.

Thus, to have erred on the side of actual safety the Texas individuals should have been quarantined at least another ten days. The chance they may spread the disease to others while being infectious is admittedly small (about 12.5% of exposed persons are symptomatic after 21 days) but it is assuredly not "zero".  Thus, new cases could pop up in Big D and we shouldn't be surprised if that occurs and is traced to those released prematurely - based on this new research.

When asked about the WHO statement (top of post) van Tulleken observed that the response for stopping Ebola in West Africa is totally "inadequate" and he remains convinced this is the number one threat to global health at the moment - all the soothesayers babble to the contrary.

Oz then went on to give one of his trademark demonstrations to show why too many are not being serious enough (or humble enough) about Ebola.  He used a wall graphic depicting the spread of the virus in a body from 12 days after incubation -when symptoms begin- and also a 3D model of fluid expulsion and waste contamination. The first few days are when the virus just begins accompanied by a slight fever (e.g. 99.5- 100.4F) and muscle aches and pains. The problem with these symptoms is that most of us won't be able to tell the difference between what is happening and the flu. Thus, the Ebola virus is hiding in plain sight based on flu-like symptoms and causing too many to dismiss it as "just the flu" - meantime the virus is slowing down the body's immune response.

By day 6 or day 7 after the initial symptoms the virus is "exploding" in the organs: By a week out, blood pressure is dramatically dropping while there is highly infectious projectile vomiting, explosive bloody diarrhea and profuse bleeding from body cavities.

Oz observes that while a projectile bloody sneeze, for example, can travel far in the air (say from a passenger on a plane) that is not the primary fear, because it doesn't linger there. You'd have to have the sneeze droplets shot directly onto you.  It is thus "a weakling in the air".

The problems arise when the virus begins to overwhelm the immune system and the projectile vomit-diarrhea phase is underway.  Then, if the virus-laden fluids are ejected or expelled onto a surface - it can remain there "for up to three weeks" - according to Oz. In effect, it affects not only the nurses, doctors taking care of the patients, but also the janitor who has to clean the floors where the patient had problems. Even gloves may be inadequate because in pulling them off with even a couple drops of waste and getting it on the skin "could pose a major problem"

The huge issue then emerges as the VOLUME of this waste expelled and which then contaminates an area. Since each Ebola patient will generate 55 gallons of toxic waste PER DAY by the time of the immune system breakdown and fluid expulsion - that means any hospital purporting to treat Ebola patients must be prepared to deal with it. For example, if they take in two patients they will need to know how to eliminate up to 770 gallons of highly infectious waste each week. Where do they put it? They can't put it in regular trash. (For reference, one hundred and forty 55 gallon tanks of material were removed from Thomas Eric Duncan's apartment in Dallas, as noted yesterday morning on CBS News Early Show. This was incinerated at a facility in Galveston, Texas).

It must either be incinerated using specially designed medical incineration units, or it must be sterilized in an autoclave (which few hospitals have because they can't afford them). The medical waste incinerators are also rare - given many states have outlawed them on account of pollution. To make matters worse, neighboring states with specialized incinerators have refused to accept the waste from  other states.

As Sen. Barbara Boxer has aptly put it: "Storage, transportation and disposal of the waste will be a major problem".

She was referring to the two formidable aspects of the Ebola waste problem: 1) the highly contagious nature of the waste generated, and 2) the sheer volume of it.  Hardly any U.S. hospitals are prepared to cope with this no matter what they say, or the CDC says. They are, in fact, under-trained to the task and under-funded (no thanks to many state budget cuts) so have less than adequate resources.

Oz' other guest, Darriah Gillespie, M.D.,  pointed out that Emory "trained for years" before the first Ebola patients ever arrived. They made sure they already had state of the art isolation wards, the right sterilizing equipment and positive pressure suits and knew how to use them - especially in the arduous decontamination procedure. Only four special centers in the U.S. have such wherewithal, so let's not kid ourselves.

 This is why I totally agree with Mehmet Oz' recommendations for being proactive in view of the risks. These include:

- Four specialized hospitals and 11 beds is not enough if there is an Ebola outbreak of large magnitude so regional centers must be found - this means all funding taken away in earlier budget cuts must be reinstated.

- Training can't be done in a day or an hour. Weeks of training are needed - as Dr. Oz noted- merely to get "gowned up" for a regular hospital procedure. Ebola may require even more and can't be done "on the fly" (which likely happened in Dallas)

- As it is the focus of infections is to ensure only that doctors don't infect patients, not the reverse (more likely in the case of Ebola) so many more resources need to be provided which currently aren't there. "Providers should be protected with every resource possible" in the words of Darriah Gillespie.

- While no airport procedure will definitely,  100 percent stop an Ebola -infected person from coming to the U.S. and a total travel ban may not be practical (they can slip over into Mali, and obtain travel from there etc.)  we can still (Oz recommendation) limit the visas of those from the affected nations - especially Liberia - who want to come here to visit.

His reason is sound: Because these "put us at risk", while health care workers "have to be able to get in there."

This seems to me a balanced solution, midway between a total travel ban and simply allowing any and all non-essential travel from the hot zone. Given the obvious difficulty associated with hospital capacity to deal with a significant Ebola outbreak - including management and disposal of the infectious waste  - it is better to have a plan in place apart from simply checking people for fevers at selected airports.

Let me make it abundantly clear here, that I am not trying to spread "Ebola fear" or "Fear-bola" as some liberal websites have called it. I am not part of the whacky Right's memetic entourage, i.e. i using this in the mid-terms or against Obama. BUT... I do believe our officials aren't leveling with us or doing enough, and though the confirmed cases (3)  of the disease are so far rare- we need to be more proactive as Oz has said. If we want to quell the fear and panic then the gov't needs to be proactive and first show it's competent to deal with the crisis as it exists now - and that means adequately funding our gutted health care -medical system. Or let me put it this way, putting back in place the funding already cut. Until that happens, and our hospitals undergo specialized training to deal with this disease, fear and hysteria will reign. It is a natural outcome, flowing from the lack of political will to do anything substantive to show we can handle the worst IF it arrives!

See also:
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/ted-rall/59328/the-governments-ebola-cover-up-never-let-you-see-them-sweat

and

http://www.denverpost.com/News/Local/ci_26755507/Ebola-is-one-of-many-lethal-infections-threatening-US-hospitals

Anti-GMO Labelers Wage Massive Disinformation Campaign in Colorado

How much money does it take – most from outside interests – to take down an effort to label GMO-based foods? Better perhaps, how much disinformation does it take to alter voters’ minds to force them to subvert their own nutrition –food choices?  It turns out the answers may be much more than we believed for the first ($9.7m vs. $330,000 for proponents), and much less for the second. The latter since now the Denver Post has tossed its hat into the GMO labeling ring and given a rousing endorsement to vote down Proposition 105 in its Sunday editorial.

But then we already knew the Denver Post – while allowing a few liberal memes – did staunchly also wage a brief for unlimited fracking over a year ago – arguing it was critical for the state’s economy. Can we call ‘bollocks’ on that too? I believe so, especially after surreal gloating and smug satisfaction fairly oozed from the paper’s pages after Jared Polis removed from the Nov. ballot  the initiatives to give local control of fracking to Colorado communities.

The image attached was taken from a flyer delivered in the mail. The flyer included canards that have been repeated in assorted ads on TV and also by the Denver Post in its editorial.  Some of the more prominent include:

1) Farmers and food producers would be required to separate, repackage and re-label ingredients from throughout the country – just for our state.

2) Proposition 105 would cost Colorado taxpayers millions by requiring a new state bureaucracy to enforce its Colorado-only regulations for tens of thousands of products.

3) Proposition is so full of exemptions it would not tell consumers which foods are produced with GMOs.

Responses:

The first is overblown fear mongering. Most of Colorado’s foods are locally grown as people have become more aware of the advantages. Many places (e.g. Whole Foods) already have GMO labeling which conforms with the law. Any residual issues are not as huge a problem as portrayed as Vermont has already found out, as well as Switzerland – not exactly a backwater nation! (See my posts on it from last month). The Swiss have the sense to use a threshold for labeling GMO which is that samples tested contain less than 0.9 percent GMO products. We can do the same!

The Second complaint  is more hype and the regulatory body needed can be modeled again after Vermont – after mandating their own GMO labeling law, or after Switzerland. “Enforcement” is another bugbear as consumers will basically do the “enforcing” with their food purchase choices.  No special “police” or “code violation” body will be needed.

As for (3),  yes, there are exemptions, because over-ambitious labeling demands would not have gotten the signatures needed and likely invited even more lawsuits than the ones planned. As progressives always harp on in elections: “You cannot make the perfect the enemy of the good!” 

Given the progressives' clarion call, of course meat and dairy aren’t forced to be labeled since the animals are only raised on GMO foods, they are not themselves genetically re-configured animals (e.g. cows actually being engineered from rat, skunk or vampire bat DNA).  Restaurants also don’t need GMO labeling because many (e.g. Chipotle) are already doing it and finding a competitive edge because of it. As for Alcoholic beverages, these also need no special GMO labels. For one thing, most everyone conscious knows it is a drug and also the ill effects, including on the liver and brain. Whether in fact GMOs play any role in alcoholic beverages is therefore akin to worrying about whether the cancer sticks you’re smoking have bisphenol –A filters.

Other objections to Proposition 105 are even more ludicrous, such as Colorado commissioner of agriculture Don Ament arguing (Denver Post, Sept. 28) that genetic engineering has been going on for thousands of years – actually referring to hybridization, e.g. of cattle. In this way, many have been led to believe voting for the Proposition is ridiculous and redundant because – hey!  - those things have been with us like forever.

But there’s a huge difference. In hybridization, similar species can be cross-bred because they share similar genetic traits. (Such as two types of cow being mammals and ungulates).  Hybrids can occur naturally or they can be created by grafting and cross-pollination.

By contrast, genetic engineering involves splicing of two distinct species (e.g. cows and alligators, or tomatoes and mice) that would never occur naturally in a million years – or ten million. Since the GMOs are not natural – they don’t represent natural creatures that would have evolved, or plants, and we simply don’t know what the health consequences might be.

We do know there were some earlier studies, such as  Arpad Pusztai’s in Britain. This study processed the results over several years and found that the rats which consumed GMO potatoes showed evidence of organ (liver, stomach) damage and poor brain development. Pusztai's study went down as the very first independent study (i.e. one not sponsored by a biotech corporation) to examine the effects of bio-engineered food on mammals. Alas, after he tried to publish the results he lost his job  - see:

http://www.inthesetimes.com/issue/24/03/bleifuss2403.html

More recently, families have been made aware of glyphosate in these foods and how it reduces their nutritive value and also raises the specter of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease  and non-Hodgkins lymphoma. This will be particularly pronounced if the new Enlist DUO Weedicide is approved for use with GMO crops, as Dr. Oz Mehmet already exposed – as well as others, see e.g.

 http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2014/09/more-powerful-toxins-associated-with.html

For Colorado's premium newspaper, The Denver Post gets many things wrong as well in its Anti-105 editorial. Thus, the issue of “cost” is again carped about despite the fact David Byrne – former European commissioner for health and consumer protection - declared that GMO labeling “did not result in increased costs despite the horrifying predictions of some interests.”

The Post also complained that some would ban GMOs which “ironically have resulted in a large decrease in the use of insecticides etc.”

But as Mehmet Oz  observed:

-        There are 1.1 billion pounds of pesticides used per year, used on GMO crops - because those crops are designed to survive the poisons.

 70 - 170 million pounds of additional highly toxic pesticides will be used if the FDA approves Enlist.

Oz then flatly skewered the notion that “less” toxins are being used, and in fact the very design of GMO crops encourages the use of MORE toxins because they are designed to survive them.  As Oz’ guest, journalist Mark Bittman  also noted:

“Yields are not up and pesticide use is not down. So when you talk about feeding a hungry world, GMOs have not moved us in that direction."

Do you really want the residues of 2,4 –D, the chemical used in Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, splotched all over your food if Enlist is approved by the multinational-compromised EPA?

The bottom line here is one of buyer choice: Do you deserve to know if that tomato you’re purchasing is the product of the natural tomato being spliced with mouse genes, or not?  (The aim being to increase its shelf life).  Sixty four European nations already have a ban or moratorium and strict regulation of GMO foods including labeling.

Switzerland, probably a European nation more advanced than many:

“ funded thirty projects to investigate the risks and benefits of GMOs. These projects concluded that there were no clear health or environmental dangers associated with planting GMOs. However, they also concluded that there was little economic incentive for farmers to adopt GMOs in Switzerland.” (Wikipedia)

Our Swiss friend Rolf told us that the main concern of farmers in Switzerland is the accidental dispersion of GMOs (from areas dedicated to their cultivation)  to outside farms and crops – thereby contaminating them. The worries he cites are well worth noting, but he also averred no Swiss citizen wished to be kept in the dark over what he’s eating.

As he asked me while we were staying in Appenzell,

“If it’s good enough for we Swiss, why isn’t it good enough for Americans to have your food labeled?”

Indeed!

 See also:

http://www.salon.com/chromeo/article/the_real_dangers_of_gmos_dow_chemical_doesnt_want_you_to_know_about_partner/

 

The Harsh Truth: Too Many U.S. Hospitals Unprepared to Deal With Ebola

Most U.S. Hospitals lack positive pressure suits, or don't know how best to use them especially in disposing of fluid waste.

Contrary to the PR piffle we’ve been fed the past two weeks, it now is clear U.S. hospitals have not been prepared to deal with the emergence of Ebola in the U.S. In fact, had it not been for the incident in Dallas with Thomas Eric Duncan, we’d likely never have learned how pathetically unprepared our hospitals are. All this after the brainiacs at the CDC have been assuring us that ‘oh yes, we are prepared to meet any challenge’.

Let me make it clear that I’ve always detested PR, or public relations. I believe it cripples a country and makes it believe it’s pursuing truth and objective reality when in fact it is encouraging rampant delusion. But the lack of reality and appreciation of it is exactly what can bring a nation down because it obscures the search for real solutions to its problems. The primary fear then is not so much ISIS, or even Ebola, but the uniform incapacity to accept and deal with reality! After all, it was author Chris Hedges in his ‘Empire of Illusion’ who observed that a nation that does not deal with reality will end up in the dustbin of history for all intents.

Let’s take the case of the codswallop we’ve been fed by the CDC about U.S. hospital preparedness for an Ebola outbreak. First, I never bought into this bunkum. Probably because I 've been well aware how far behind the curve most American hospitals and medical centers are,  especially in terms of medical mistakes – basic ones! Look no further than the recent death of Joan Rivers, which as Dr. Mehmet Oz reported on one of his recent shows (Sept. 19th), was due to carelessness and lack of accountability during a basic outpatient procedure called an endoscopy.

This is a procedure I also had some four years ago. It entails introducing an endoscope down the patient’s throat to examine it for any evidence of lesions or cancerous growths. In my case none were found but in Rivers’ case a small tumor was observed on the vocal cords.  At that point Rivers’ own physician – a non-specialist who had no business even being there -  proceeded to take a biopsy and created a critical situation..

As Oz noted, the problem with this was twofold: 1) Rivers signed NO consent form to allow a biopsy to be done at the same time, and 2) when a biopsy is performed on the vocal cords a breathing tube  must have already been inserted into the airway before the procedure because – if not- the excision will cause the cords to swell up and block the throat – preventing air from getting in. This is exactly what happened with Rivers but few people are aware of it.  Thus, the idiot dr. that performed this on the fly, and despite no consent form,  caused Rivers’ passageway to be blocked and an inability to breathe. She went into a coma even as they tried desperate measures to revive her but it was already too late.

It is geniuses like this on whom we are supposed to rely in the case of an Ebola outbreak  - when the most direct and serious solution would be to prevent all non-essential passengers from traveling to the U.S. from the Ebola-affected regions. But oh no, our Neoliberal government, the State Dept. and CDC doesn’t want to send any negative signals out regarding free trade and free travel!  Denver Post Op-Ed columnist Michael S. Woodson wrote yesterday (Perspective, p. 1D, 'U.S. Has Left Itself Open to Ebola Outbreak'):

 

"A plethora of journalists and the government have emphasized the fact that Ebola is not as contagious as flu viruses to mute justifiable outrage at their policy for leaving such a wide preventable loophole."

 

What loophole?  Allowing non-essential passenger travel from the West African Ebola outbreak zone  to the U.S. "inviting the uncontrolled exposure of Americans to the Ebola virus." As he also emphasized, Ebola has already been classified by the CDC "as a Class A, bio-terrorism agent". Some have even speculated that ISIS might use Ebola infected pawns to spread the virus - but as Woodson notes:

 

"A natural versus weaponized Ebola is a distinction without much difference".

 

In other words,  we ought to treat all those leaving  the hot zone for whatever reason (including 'holiday')  as possible carriers of the virus.  That means shutting down all non-essential air traffic from the West African hot zone - lest we make the U.S. another hot zone. In Woodson's words:

"All non-essential, untraced passenger travel from the Ebola outbreak zone should be banned. All essential relief travel must be screened, and livable, isolated  staging areas set up by the CDC and Department of Homeland Security to observe U.S. entrants until after the incubation period for the Ebola virus has passed."

Clearly, Woodson - like me - doesn't trust the medical infrastructure to do the job to keep us safe. And why the hell should we?

As reported in Saturday’s Denver Post (p.1A, p. 8A) after the Duncan Dallas episode, a CDC official affirmed that “many hospitals remain confused about how they are supposed to react when a suspected patient shows up.”

Seriously?  I thought they all had it covered given the info has been circulating, according to the CDC, since June. I thought from what the assorted CDC honchos have been yapping about on the morning and evening news we were all safe since every hospital in the land knew exactly how to screen for the disease and had the wherewithal – including isolation wards – ready. Turns out it was all bull shit.

The Post piece went on (p. 8A):

“The agency sent additional guidance to health care facilities this week, as it has numerous times in recent months, on everything from training personnel to spotting the symptoms of Ebola to using protective gear.”

The article goes on to state that Emory University Hospital (which treated the two American medical volunteers)  has already provided advice to dozens of hospitals, “many of which are struggling with a lack of awareness about safety protocols and fear among workers who feel ill –prepared.”

Oh really? Well, then imagine what the public must feel as all the truth comes out in bits and pieces that our illustrious medical- industrial establishment wasn’t really prepared after all. We are continually told there is no reason to panic and we must not panic, and yet these people have given us no reason not to. They have literally played the fool!

The Post confirmed that the usual PR is still afoot as it noted:

“At the White House on Friday, federal officials sought to reassure the public that the nation’s health care system was well equipped to treat the virus and stop it from spreading.”

 

But pardon me if I don’t buy it. The Dallas case shows this is a PR myth, promoted for expedience so the gov’t can continue to cover its hide while it allows unlimited plane traffic from the affected areas – to appease the airline industry and Neoliberal market capitalists. 

You think these capitalist money grubbers really care about you or your family's welfare? Think again!  They are all about business and profits and that is ALL they care about! They don't want to kill the golden goose never mind that goose may be a Trojan horse for Ebola. Woodson also cites (p. 6D) a White House Fact Sheet that admits more concern for disrupting West African trade than for U.S. health security. He quotes it reading as follows:

 

"The State Department also has encouraged airlines operating in the region to maintain or reinstate service while ensuring appropriate precautions.  CDC is assisting with exit screening and communications efforts in West Africa to prevent sick passengers from boarding planes. It has also issued interim guidance about Ebola virus infection for airline flight crews, cleaning personnel and cargo personnel."

 

In other words, go all out to keep those planes flying - take all conceivable precautions -  but halting them isn't on the table.  Woodson goes on NOTE:

 

"The White House and State Department  argue that flight bans hurt international efforts  to combat the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. However, they fail to distinguish between controlled, essential travel for relief and stability operations versus non-essential travel to the United States."

 

He has a point.

 

Further, the admission by numerous hospitals that they aren’t prepared and they’ve had to pick the brains of those at Emory (and now likely Texas Presbyterian too) isn’t designed to instill confidence.  That the feds can remotely make the specious claim the “nation’s health care system is well equipped” to deal with Ebola is ludicrous and they must think we’re stupid or not paying attention. Maybe they believe we’re more entranced by “Survivor” or “Amazing Race” among other diversions, like shopping for the latest tech gizmo.

According to Craig deAtley, administrator of the D.C. Emergency Healthcare Coalition, the Dallas case is now prompting health care institutions across the nation to look at their individual abilities to respond.

“Facilities might not realize, for example, how much practical planning goes into training and staffing personnel, configuring isolation rooms, and determining what to do with dirty bedsheets and other waste”,  according to deAtley.

Well the fact that “dozens” of hospitals have had to call up Emory for guidance shows there’s  no “might not” about it – they really don’t know what to do! Ok, let me rephrase that: they didn’t know what to do before they called, and there may be hundreds more that haven’t found out yet. (Maybe they will phone in for guidance after another infected Liberian arrives - say in Tampa - and this time with full blown symptoms. And btw, the case yesterday of a sick Liberian arriving at Newark Airport  - but found not to have Ebola - ought to be another shot over our bow to take action!)

Oh and here’s the real butt kicker (ibid.):

“CDC officials acknowledged that widespread hospital awareness didn’t kick in until the Dallas case.”

Right, so we have had to wait until a possible full scale outbreak before our great medical establishment and health care system had all its ducks in a row. Criminy!  And  we're supposed to believe it's now "kicked in"? I doubt it.

More comforting words from Abigail Tumpey, a CDC spokeswoman:

“We let our guard down a little bit”

Yuh think?

Keep watching as this saga unfolds, and mind whether action is finally taken to halt all non-essential flights from the hot zone if an outbreak begins in Big D!  If nothing happens, you will know the Neoliberal state places its own welfare over yours!
-------

10/7  Footnote: Supporting my contentions, on CBS this morning is the news of a Sept. 24 Nurse's protest in Las Vegas, with the RNs marching to show their fear that their hospitals are not ready for Ebola. Also, of more than 1500 nurses that responded to an online survey nearly 80 percent said that their "hospital has not communicated to them any policy regarding admission of patients infected by Ebola."   Another Nurse from San Francisco interviewed by John Blackman affirmed her hospital had none of the positive pressure suits she herself had seen on TV.

Then a clip of CDC Honcho Thomas Friedan was shown claiming he wanted health workers to be "scared". He wants them to have a healthy respect for the consequences of any lapse". Fine, Maestro, but then make sure the hospitals are all provided with the wherewithal needed, and until then stop the PR.

Powerful Toxin 'Enlist'- If Approved By FDA For GMO Foods - Poses Serious Health Risks

John Phillips: Bio-geneticist and nutrition specialist, has found new links between GMO foods and Alzheimer's.


The warning went out loud and clear on Dr. Mehmet Oz's show on Sept. 19th. But one wonders how many are paying attention, as the potential nears to poison most of the nation - and we behold a "health calamity" to use Oz's expression, as non-Hodgkins lymphoma, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's and other conditions spread as the horrific weedicide Enlist enters our food supply via GMO foods.

Oz began by putting up on the screen a section of a letter put out by dozens of worried scientists, physicians. The letter began by stating:

"We the undersigned scientists, medical professionals, and researchers are writing to urge the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency not to register a double herbicide mix of 2,4- D and glyphosate - the 'Enlist DUO weed killer"

In the letter all the probable health risks were detailed, as noted in the first paragraph. In terms of the horrors of glyphosate and how it wreaks havoc on foods, I already discussed this in a previous post, e.g.   http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2014/03/alzheimers-epidemic-fro-eating-gmo.html

In that post I quoted Barbadian biogenetic researcher John Phillips:

"Among other toxins and other health-disrupting contaminants, GMO foods contain glyphosate, a horrifically destructive chemical that saps nutrients from foods and quite literally makes them toxic to consume."


The worst part is that GMO foods are everywhere…if something is not explicitly labeled as organic and GMO-free, you should assume that it contains glyphosate. The most damnable shame is that our own Neoliberal government refuses to justify labeling these foods - so consumers have no way of knowing.

Experts like Mr. Phillips now believe that glyphosate is even worse than DDT. It decimates beneficial bacteria in the gut, disrupts immune function, and has been correlated with shocking precision to the rise in autism and other cognitive diseases and conditions.  The moral of the story is that you should stop eating GMO foods at all costs. Do not consume anything (especially soy and corn) that isn’t specifically labeled as non-GMO.  Wonder why Alzheimer's keeps ramping up - blame the GMO foods, and now - with Entry DUO - the potential to add on other diseases like Parkinson's.

In his opening segment Oz set out the facts as we know them:

1- Seventy to Eighty percent of the foods we eat today contain GMOs.

2- There are 1.1 billion pounds of pesticides used per year, used on GMO crops - because those crops are designed to survive the poisons.

3- 70 - 170 million pounds of additional highly toxic pesticides will be used if the FDA approves Enlist.

One of the worst scourges is how glyphosate is now in the blood of many kids, and triggering outbreaks of autism (which too many blame on vaccines). As one mom featured on Oz's show observed, her son showed all the symptoms and when she had his blood tested she found inordinate levels of glyphosate. She then went totally organic and the symptoms subsided.

One claim made by the GMO makers (like Monsanto) and promoters is GMOs are crucial to feed a hungry world - by offering higher yields. But as Oz's other guest, Mark Bittman (Food columnist for the NY Times) noted, "Yields are not up and pesticide use is not down. So when you talk about feeding a hungry world, GMOs have not moved us in that direction."

Indeed, it is precisely because of the widespread pesticide-herbicide use connected with GMO foods, that a more powerful toxin has been demanded - by agri-business, and farmers in the maw of the GMO giants. This is because the herbicide overuse has led to the invasive weeds becoming adapted to the toxins and being more difficult to put down. The bottom line: glyphosate alone isn't enough to do the job.

2,4 - D, let us bear in mind, was also used in Agent Orange - the dastardly chemical used to devastate millions of acres of crops in South Vietnam and which left thousands of U.S. military personnel with debilitating conditions.

One of the other worrisome effects Oz presented was the dispersive and diffusive potential from GMO crops - say in the proximity of schools, other public places. Oz demonstrated this dispersal as when winds blow to drive it off onto bordering areas - schools, homes, towns. He stated: "It's just hard to put a fence around it. The Environmental Working Group found that over 5500 schools within 200 feet of these pesticides drift range and GMO farms, potentially putting thousands of children and their families at risk of serious health problems.."

This drift and dispersal scenario is also one with which John Phillips concurs - which is why he's vigorously argued against the use of GMO crops in Barbados.

Introducing Heather White, executive director of the  Environmental Working Group -  she made it clear that 2, 4 -D will "coat corn and soybean crops across the country, and those are the raw materials for the highly processed foods we eat." She expressed the greatest concern for school kids in the proximity of these GMO fields, and going out inhaling the stuff.

Thankfully, we in Colorado at least will have the ability come November to have control of what we eat - by knowing whether the food we buy has GMOs. This is not a "ban" as the hysterical GMO promoters insist, but merely providing the labeling identifying the basis of the food, so we know what we are purchasing.

And while anti-GMO folks are lampooned by the Neoliberal governmental -business estate and its lackeys, let's bear in mind 64 countries already require labeling of GMO foods or ban them outright. Why is the U.S. different? Or better, why is the U.S. the exceptional dumb nation here? Could it be the corporate state has our gov't by the balls, lock, stock and barrel? Maybe? As Heather White observed on Oz' show, they are only willing to "rubber stamp" what the corporations want and most of our agencies are in their maw.

Passing Colorado Proposition 105 will at least put an end to the continued food ignorance of Colorado's citizens. What we really need is a national referendum to enable all our citizens to have the same choice. No one ought to be denied information which may well determine whether Alzheimer's, Parkinson's or autism is in their future.