These three related postings affect our survival on this planet. They were all written during the election period:
- 2011-04-23 ONE disease, different manifestations. Proposal: “Disease” organizations form a coalition against poisons.
- 2011-04-23 Science and logic. Depression is DETERMINANT of heart disease?… Depression and heart disease are also both SYMPTOMS of poisoning. You have one, you may have the other.
- 2011-04-20 MS, Parkinson’s, Autism, Fibromyalgia, Cancers, Mental unhealth = one disease?
– – – – – – – – – – – – – — – — – – – – – – –
The cries for help
But don’t you see
Your dis-ease is the
Same as my dis-ease
In different form
Poisons maim
Contort and kill life
One dis-ease, different manifestations
Come out of your dis-ease silo
Join us
Our cause is the same
Same foe – the poisoners
And their collaborators inside Government
Inside the Universities.
The cries for help echo and re-echo
Unite and sing.
NOTE: I include “mental unhealth” in “one disease”. The literature and the experience of people who suffer from mercury poisoning establishes a clear link with brain functioning, including states-of-mind. Refer to Heavy metals in vaccinations, Mercury in dental amalgams. Mental unhealth is not addressed in the following which was written to people whose advocacy work is related to Multiple Sclerosis (MS). It certainly COULD have been included.
(I have added to the original of this email.)
Dear Sandy, Stan, Michelle, and Bernadette,
I sincerely appreciate your efforts around Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
My home town of Luseland, SK is said to have the highest incidence of MS, but so are other communities in the province said to have this distinction. My Father fought a very long battle with Parkinson’s disease, as did other people from that relatively small community. Cancer rates are also high in the area. MS, Parkinson’s, cancer. One place.
The high incidence of MS was mentioned in casual conversation in Humboldt just yesterday. A large family in Luseland whose children went to school with my younger siblings: I believe all but one developed MS. A fellow Girl Guide, a year younger than me, developed MS. A friend at my Halifax workplace when I was in my mid-twenties, was diagnosed with MS – I think that was the first I ever heard about MS. I have friends whose family members have MS. I believe that I myself had the onset of MS. (Through good fortune I was able to identify and remove the particular culprit poison for me (it’s not the same for everyone)).
Something is wrong with the picture. We have “normalized” disease and developmental problems when they are not normal at all.
I have done a fair amount of work in the area of disease and the poisons we are putting into our bodies and into the environment. (I’ve run an activist email network for more than ten years – when people pool information we all learn much more than any one of us can learn working alone.)
From my blog, www.sandrafinley.ca “We have come to a better understanding of how our immune systems work. Is there a direct causal relationship between a poison and developmental problems or a particular disease? … No, the same poisons in various combinations with other poisons (stresses on the immune system) will have different health outcomes for different people.
Immune systems
- have different strengths and weaknesses
- in different people,
- affected by their life experience and
- affected by the DNA that gets passed down from generation-to-generation. At least some of the time, DNA that has been damaged by poisons is passed down, in its damaged form.
Scientists most often research DIRECT causal relationships between poisons and a particular disease. They draw the wrong conclusions because they do not take into account the nature of our immune systems.
The situation SHOULD be simple: do not put known, unnecessary poisons into the environment or into our bodies.
We know from fish in the Arctic, for example, that poisons disperse widely in the environment and have lasting toxic effects inside the bodies of living beings who live far from the production sites of the poisons. The cellular life of human beings is basically the same as the cellular life of fish and other species. What we are doing to them we are doing to ourselves.
We KNOW that mercury from unregulated industry in China (or any other country) is carried by the wind and affects our health here in North America. European countries have banned dental amalgams; others require that the water from dental offices cannot “go down the drain” into the “waste-water” or sewer system. Health Canada recently put forward legislation to ban the import of most products that contain mercury. (We petitioned to ban dental amalgams, too.)
The problematic poisons are most often colourless and odourless. You most often do not know that you are ingesting the poison – – chemicals, radioactive wind-borne particles, various heavy metals (mercury, lead, aluminum, etc). We put poisons directly into our water supplies. I tried for four years to get the City to stop using a chemical combo called vaporooter to dissolve tree roots in sewer lines. In defending its actions, the City (and I) discovered that for one of the chemical ingredients, there isn’t a laboratory in all of Canada that knows how to test for the presence of that chemical in water. For the chemical ingredient that they COULD test for, one test cost $3,000. So you know how often they are testing for the presence of that chemical. Unfortunately, upstream communities like Calgary and Medicine Hat (and I believe Outlook), etc. also decided to use vaporooter instead of good, old-fashioned augering to remove roots in sewer lines.
We are very stupidly poisoning ourselves. Some people develop MS, some develop cancer, children are autistic (a word I had not heard until I was in my 40’s. Today, very few people have not heard of autism.)
I told you that I believe I had the onset of MS. My particular symptoms were, among other things, chronic pins-and-needle sensations in my left upper arm and shoulder and a vertical pain in the left backside of my neck. I worked for more than a year on it, with no success. The neck pain at night often interfered with sleep.
I had a brief email exchange with Jock Murray from Halifax, a retired doctor who has headed up an MS centre at Dalhousie University. (click on http://sandrafinley.ca/?p=1110 – for that and more info.)
Here’s the problem if we accept the usual cause-and-effect direct relationship worldview:
– I say: poison X contributed to my likely symptoms of MS
– Someone else (Peggy) says: the likely cause of my MS was poison Y that was sprayed on corn which we frolicking young people snitched out of a market garden at midnight for a corn roast.
– The scientist says: there is no causal relationship between X and MS. Nor is there a causal relationship between Y and MS.
– Someone else says: the same poison X is the likely cause of my fibromyalgia
– And someone else says: it was poison Y that caused my cancer.
– The scientists says: there is no causal relationship between X and fibromyalgia; nor between Y and cancer.
The statements regarding poisons X, Y and Z and a causal relationship with diseases A and B are not contradictory, but science treats them as though they ARE contradictory. The hypothesis about cause-and-effect fails because they do not take into consideration how the immune system works.
The chemical Y freshly-sprayed on the cornfield probably played a causal role in Peggy’s MS. AND the very slow, almost continuous, release of small amounts of mercury (X) that I kept swallowing because it was in my saliva from my dental amalgams probably played a causal role in the onset of MS symptoms for me. I had a series of health problems, the mercury poisoning caused different symptoms at different times. I battled to address a symptom, in time a different symptom would present itself. It is not an easy, single expression of the poisoning. In many cases the immune system can keep the poisonous effects under control for a long time. It can take 10 to 15 years before some cancers reach a stage where they are identified. They are slow-acting, but nonetheless lethal. The experience of people whose immune systems are struggling with the overload of poisons is often the same: one health problem after another TREATED as though they are separate and unrelated. It is in hindsight, if the source of the poison is removed BEFORE IT DOES PERMANENT DAMAGE, that the sick person typically sees that the disease is one and the same, complex manifestations as the body, mind and spirit struggled against the poison(s).
For 50 years the Cancer Societies have been collecting millions and millions of dollars to “find a cure”. I remember reading a small book in the late 1970’s. The author documented then: we KNOW the causes of cancer. We are not going to find a “cure”. Remove the CAUSES of the disease. Unfortunately, there is a lot of money to be made by the pharmaceutical industry in the “find a cure” approach. That approach says “it’s okay for you to get the disease because we’re going to find a cure and in the meantime you can take all these drugs.” It is an extremely inhumane approach, not to mention costly and inane. The corporations that are allowed to put their poisons into the environment are not the ones who pay the price.
In order to fight disease, you need to build your immune system. In many cases the drugs are another assault on the immune system. They may offer temporary relief. In time, in many cases, the “side effects” of the drugs become another set of health problems.
The Green Party of course, works to protect the environment. “Preventative healthcare” is, to me, the same thing. You can have unhealthy people in a healthy environment; you do not have healthy people in an unhealthy environment.
It may be a decade ago: the canvasser for MS came to my door. I asked her to show me in the brochure what the MS Society was doing for “remove the causes” of MS. There was nothing. I told her I would phone the national office and have a discussion, which I did. The Executive Director at the time told me they had 20,000 items in their data base. There was nothing to suggest a link between MS and exposure to chemicals. I hung up and phoned a data base maintained by a group of doctors in Florida. They keep track of all the research that is done on chemicals. I asked them about a possible link between chemicals and MS. Their answer was: given A, B, and C (which I have forgotten) it is definitely PLAUSIBLE that there is a connection. I sent the information to the MS Society. Nothing happened. No research into possible connections between MS and synthetic chemicals.
Today, there is a further barrier: a criterion for funding of health research (and now for most projects) is that the project have the “potential for commercialization”. But there is no potential for corporate profits in the removal of the causes of disease. We have lost funding for the public interest.
We are in a sorry state of affairs. Hopefully more people are becoming aware. The incidence of things like autism, MS, childhood cancers, asthma, learning disabilities, – – the list is long – – Good Grief! Can we not see what we are doing? These diseases and developmental problems are not separate; they are different manifestations of the same basic problem. The problem is that we are poisoning ourselves and our children, our water supplies, the food we eat . . . indeed, all creatures and all of creation. The Earth will be happy when we, as a species, are gone!!
So what do we do about today? And the people with MS, Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, asperger’s syndrome, depression, high blood pressure, prostate cancer, gastro-intestinal problems, auto-immune disease, learning disabilities . . . ?
Number one we get the corporate interests out of Government, the Universities, and the medi-care system.
Number two, remove the poisons. We know that mercury is a neuro toxin. So you do not put it into human beings, whether in the form of dental amalgams, or as a preservative in vaccinations. Do not take flu shots. They contain thimerasol which is mercury. Some vaccinastions contain aluminum, another neuro toxin … there’s a whole long list of poisons that need to be eradicated.
Personally, I believe that disease-support organizations should recognize the extent to which they are connected. A win for the Lung Association on removing air-borne poisons is a win for the other disease organizations. A win by the parents of autistic children is a win for people with MS. Think of how powerful the force to stop the poisoning would be, if the organizations are united!
- You may want to check out “Health”, a category you’ll find in the right-hand sidebar of the blog, www.sandrafinley.ca Also, at the top of the page “Heavy metals in vaccinations, Mercury in dental amalgams.”
In my experience, it is not elected officials who drive the change. It is citizens themselves.
We need to work together. It is most likely that we are back into an era where our tax dollars will be used for little more than paying down debt (and buying stealth bombers to the tune of $30 billion dollars, more debt). You may remember that the Mulroney Government ran up the debt to the point where 37 cents out of every tax dollar went to the banks for debt servicing. Preston Manning created the single-issue Reform Party to challenge Government debt. Paul Martin’s Government cut social programmes, we spent years paying off debt, to the point where 14 cents out of every tax dollar was spent on debt servicing. Not bad! BUT in the last three years, the Harper Government has out-done Mulroney. They racked up the highest-ever deficit. Three years of deficits and we now have more than $110 billion dollars of debt to re-pay.
The Parties will tell you the wonderful things they will do for you. No – we are back into an era where the banks will pay great dividends to the wealthy and to their CEO’s, because of the public debt. Especially with the $6 billion in tax-cuts to corporations if the Conservatives have their way. It is quite frustrating.
HOWEVER! Hopefully, your lobby joined with other lobbies joined to efforts by the Green Party will secure programmes that provide care and assistance. These are exciting times with more and more people mobilizing to create a new economy based on caring and sharing, for the Earth and for others.
I fully support your work. I hope that my on-going efforts are a contribution. You may want to take a stroll around www.sandrafinlcy.ca
Best wishes,
Sandra Finley (candidate, etc.)
———- ———-
Date: Tue, Apr 19, 2011 at 12:52 PM
Subject: Better caregiver supports, income security and research benefit people with MS
Ms. Sandra Finley
Green Party Saskatoon-Humboldt
Saskatchewan
I am writing to ask you to support issues that are of real importance to people affected by multiple sclerosis (MS). MS is an often disabling disease of the brain and spinal cord. Unfortunately, Canada has one of the highest rates of MS in the world, with an estimated 55,000 to 75,000 people living with the disease across the country.
People with MS need your commitment right now.
– People with MS need answers. It’s time to set aside funds for a clinical trial of the CCSVI procedure. Earmarking funds ensures there won’t be a delay, if and when the scientific evidence shows a clinical trial should proceed.
– Caregivers need support. It’s time to help family caregivers by providing a range of supports including tax credits and benefits and other programs to ease the daily load for all caregivers.
– People with MS need secure incomes. It’s time to ensure people with MS have the incomes they need. This means making Employment Insurance sickness benefits more flexible so people can work part-time and receive partial benefits. It also means making the disability tax credit refundable – to actually put money in people’s pockets.
– All people with brain conditions need a national brain strategy. Regardless of diagnosis, people living with brain conditions share similar needs and challenges. It’s time for a national brain strategy to accelerate research and improve the quality of life for millions of Canadians.
Multiple sclerosis has a profound impact on the ability to earn a living. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 15 and 40, just when they are finishing school, starting careers and beginning families. MS progresses in unpredictable ways. For many people, unexpected periods of worsening are followed by equally unpredictable periods of improvement – and then more worsening. This takes a devastating toll on people with MS and their families.
I urge you to support these issues to help people with MS and their families. It would be great if you would become a champion during this campaign – and in Parliament if you are elected. I will look forward to hearing how you will support action on MS.
Yours sincerely,
= = = = = == = = == = =
Date: Tue, Apr 19, 2011 at 10:46 AM
Subject: We need more action on mental health and mental illness~
I am a constituent in your riding and a mental health professional/person with lived experience of mental illness. Polls consistently rank health care as the number one concern of voters in this election. Mental illness and poor mental health have a profound impact on Canadian society. Mental illness affects individual Canadians of all ages and in all segments of the population, and is prevalent in all regions, including rural and urban areas. It is estimated that each year, at least 1 in 5 Canadians will develop a mental illness. The economic costs associated with poor mental health and mental illnesses are also significant, both in terms of their impact on business and on the health care system. I am seeking your views on the following important issues.
1) Does your party platform contain
anything related to mental health or mental illness?
2) Do you support
parity between resources made available for treatment of mental and
physical health problems?
3) Less than one-third of persons with mental
health problems receive needed services. What will your party do to enhance
access to mental health services and address the shortage of mental health
professionals in Canada? And in this riding?
4) Will your party commit
to increasing funding to mental health and mental illness research?
5) What will your party do to support individuals, families, the workplace and
communities when it comes to mental health and mental illness?