Sandra Finley

2011-02-11 Census Lockheed Martin, email to new head of StatsCan, Wayne Smith

 Lockheed Martin, War Economy (includes Cdn Census & Trials)  No Responses »
Feb 122011
 

It’s time for the responsible parties to start hearing from us.  The census is a couple months away!

I’m sending the following to everyone in my address book.  Also to all the police and RCMP contacts I have.  (I wish I knew some people in the military.)  

The point of sharing this information with the police and military? – –   their role in Canadian society is related to law and order.   As so clearly emerged from the efforts to get George Bush arrested when he came to Canada,  we do not have democracy if we do not have the rule of law.   If you understand the connection and the consequences of losing the rule of law, you will stand up and fight for it.

We do not have the rule of law if Lockheed Martin Corp is rewarded by our tax dollars:  any one of us with a record of court convictions like Lockheed Martin’s would be in jail for the rest of our life. 

We can give our tax dollars to Lockheed Martin, sitting down, or we can refuse to co-operate with giving our money to them.   As I see it, it is an act of solidarity with the police and RCMP.

It is difficult for the police, RCMP and military to uphold the law, if there is little support from citizens to do so.  The crimes committed by Clifford Olson, Paul Bernardo, etc. are pale in comparison to the human suffering, death and destruction perpetrated through lies and swindling, brought about by Lockheed Martin Corp.   View their indiscriminate weapons of mass destruction in contravention of Canadian and International law, and their role in the illegal war on Iraq, Abu Ghraib, etc..   There is more than one way to bring them to trial and justice.

People in the police and military need to know that we are working side-by-side with them.  The rule of law is critical.  No one, not even Lockheed Martin or George Bush is above the law.  In situations where those responsible for law and order have no avenue open to them for enforcement,  responsibility falls to us.  It is OUR democracy, after all.

Removing Lockheed Martin from involvement in the Canadian census is a battle for democracy and decency in the world.   I needn’t remind you of the other motivations for keeping the American military (Lockheed Martin) out of the census data base.

/Sandra 

CONTENTS

  1. EMAIL TO WAYNE SMITH,  NEW CHIEF STATISTICIAN
  2. GLOBE & MAIL, FEB 11,  CHIEF STATISTICIAN ASKED TO RE-THINK CENSUS FOR 2016

= = = = = == = = == = = == = ==

  1. EMAIL TO WAYNE SMITH,  NEW CHIEF STATISTICIAN

SUBJECT:  An absolute NO to Lockheed Martin Corporation in the Canadian census.  An absolute YES to “the new economy”.

SENT:

  • TO   Public Works Canada,  Deputy Minister Responsible François Guimont
  • TO   Clerk of the Privy Council Office,  Wayne Wouters
  • TO   Chief Statistician, Wayne Smith
  • TO   Minister Responsible for Public Works, Rona Ambrose
  • TO   Minister Responsible for StatsCan, Tony Clement

(INSERT:  For email addresses and phone numbers,  click on officials responsible for census contracts with Lockheed Martin Corporation.)

Dear Wayne Smith,

I hope it will be helpful to you, in your administration of the duties of Chief Statistician, to receive input from Canadian citizens.   I am of the view that Civil Servants are in the employ of citizens.  It is therefore the responsibility of citizens to engage in dialogue when/as circumstances dictate. 

Public Works Canada, in concert with the Privy Council Office, working with Statistics Canada, out-sourced work on the Canadian census to Lockheed Martin Corporation.  

The mainstream media has been lax in explaining the role of Lockheed Martin in the Canadian census  (reference recent example – appended article from the Globe & Mail, Feb 11). 

I cannot expect you to understand the resistance of Canadians to the census, if your information is restricted to:

  • the mainstream media
  • inside Government sources
  • people with a vested interest
  • people who, because of the information deficit, are unaware of the Lockheed Martin issue.

I invite you to consider the RATIONAL  and MORAL arguments through which I understand that it is necessary for Canadians to refuse to be complicit in anything to do with Lockheed Martin Corporation.   Perhaps you will understand the same thing, but not be in a position to do anything about it. 

Alternately, knowing that you have the support of Canadians for an ethical Canada, you may be able to help bring an end to census contracts for Lockheed Martin.  The information supplied to you through this email will acquaint you with what is widely known about Lockheed Martin.  I believe that you will have the same motivations and values as other Canadians, and will be like us, antagonistic to the collusion of Civil Servants who negotiated and agreed to the contracts in the first place. 

There is an emerging consideration in addition to the RATIONAL AND MORAL arguments  – –  “THE TIMES” in which we live.  I understand it thus:

This is an exciting time to be alive.  The decades-long work of people like David Korten (Agenda for a New Economy, 2nd Edition), Jeremy Rifkin (The Empathic Economy) and thousands of other people around the Earth is in the process of bringing about a revolution in the behaviour of human societies.   I’m sure you are aware of this, the events in Egypt and other countries are examples of the turning tide.   I just posted to my blog the example of people coming together for change, a million singing youngsters from Thailand.  

Another significant development in the progress of resistance to the corporate (Lockheed Martin) agenda:

“On the anniversary of the Citizens United decision, Vermont politicians are moving to deny corporations the rights that humans enjoy.  . . .   

(Resolution Calling to Amend the Constitution Banning Corporate Personhood Introduced in Vermont

http://www.alternet.org/story/149620/resolution_calling_to_amend_the_constitution_banning_corporate_personhood_introduced_in_vermont?page=entire )    

As I say, the times are exciting – millions of people mobilizing in a thousand different ways for the benefit of everyone.   They are not motivated by money or greed or personal power and control. 

This most recent political action by citizens in the U.S. is another part of the fast-developing new political economy.  The old economy is based on exploitation; its values are utilitarian, it is bringing us to the brink of world-wide destruction.  The emerging economy is based on humanitarian values – caring not only for humans but for the Earth upon which we are dependent for survival.

Lockheed Martin has no place in the new economy.  Nor in Canadian political economy.  The Egyptians said “NO” to a repressive regime.  Millions of people around the world, including Canadians, are in solidarity with the Egyptians.   

Lockheed Martin will be overthrown because we refuse to be complicit with the use of death and destruction as a means for the appropriation of resources that belong to other people.   We are in solidarity with the people of Iraq and Afghanistan.   Lockheed Martin is an obstacle – it is in the business of creating hatred in the world. 

Million and billion-dollar contracts for Lockheed Martin Corporation are turning the Canadian economy into one that is dependent upon the waging of war, precisely the same as the American economy is dependent upon making war.   Please see the “Canada First Defence Strategy”.   Ironically, Lockheed Martin exists only because of tax-payer complicity. 

You can find detailed background on Lockheed Martin on the blog, www.sandrafinley.ca  (- you’ll see Lockheed Martin in the buttons at the top of the page). 

After reading the RATIONAL, MORAL and LEGAL arguments, if you can see any reason why Canadians should be complicit with the Census (so long as Lockheed Martin is involved), please tell me what those are.  Your predecessors, going back to 2003, have only responded to legitimate citizen input with reassurances that all is well.  All is clearly not well;  StatsCan is out-of-synch with on-going political processes.  

I wish you well in the daunting task you have taken on. 

I hope the input below regarding Lockheed Martin and the census, which is the work of many individual Canadians, will be useful to you.

The bottom-line message:   get Lockheed Martin Corporation out of the Canadian census. 

Best wishes,

Sandra Finley

– – – –  – – – – – – —

EXCERPT from www.sandrafinley.ca,     “Lockheed Martin“)

Understand the census contracts for Lockheed Martin Corporation IN CONTEXT.   

  • The American military-industrial-congressional complex is in the process of being duplicated in Canada.  See the “Canada First Defence Strategy” and “offset agreements“.  It is financed by citizens (tax dollars), the same as in the U.S.
  • Quislings in Government are giving away Canadian sovereignty and have been for many years.
  • There is increasing militarization. 
  •  This is all in an era of resource depletion, especially of water in the American southwest.  Click on sub-category “Resource Depletion (water in USA) under the category “Peace or Violence”.  (My apologies that the information isn’t presented in better form.)

Do not take my word.  

Understand what Lockheed Martin Corporation does in the world.   See the video, an interview with William Hartung, author of “Prophets of War, Lockheed Martin and the Making of the Military Industrial Complex“, book launched in Janaury 2011.   

Make your own determination using the chronological index below.  

Click on Summary arguments OR  go straight to the index:

INDEX:   DETAILS OF THE LARGER PICTURE INTO WHICH  THE LOCKHEED MARTIN CENSUS CONTRACTS FIT, IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER  (go to the blog …).

– – – –  – – – – – – —

APPENDED, GLOBE & MAIL, FEB 11, 2011   

STEVEN CHASE AND TAVIA GRANT

Chief statistician asked to rethink census for 2016

STEVEN CHASE AND TAVIA GRANT

OTTAWA AND TORONTO— From Saturday’s Globe and Mail
Published Friday, Feb. 11, 2011 10:11PM EST   Last updated Friday, Feb. 11, 2011 10:14PM EST 

Wayne Smith already has a tough job as the new head of Canada’s world-renowned statistics agency: picking up the pieces after the census controversy that claimed his predecessor.

Chances are, however, he may be overseeing even bigger changes at Statistics Canada – not for the 2011 census, already under way – but for the next one, in 2016.

MORE RELATED TO THIS STORY

MEDIA

Mourning the long-form census

The Harper government, which last year scrapped the mandatory long-form census on the grounds it was wrong to coerce Canadians into answering intrusive questions, has asked Statistics Canada to rethink the way it collects population data.

Mr. Smith, who took over from embattled chief statistician Munir Sheikh last summer and was appointed permanently in January, has been asked to study how other countries gather information and report with options that could shape the 2016 census.

Examples range from a register-based census, where governments dip into their records on their citizens, to surveying a different part of the country every year.

“The government wants to step back and say okay, ‘Let’s look at those other models: what is possible in Canada,’” the new chief statistician said.

“People have suggested that if we could make a register[-based] census work in Canada, we could save buckets of money and avoid annoying a whole bunch of Canadians in asking them to fill out forms.”

Register-based surveys appeal to statisticians – because they could pull together all sorts of information – but could generate huge privacy concerns, he said.

The chief statistician, who will work with his advisory committee on the matter, said while no decision has been made, everything is on the table.

When it comes to the 2011 census, however, Mr. Smith said he is sure about one thing: there’s no justification for critics to say that moving to a voluntary long-form survey will wreck the quality of the data.

“I’m asking Canadians to suspend judgment because there’s no scientific basis for saying this is going to be fundamentally flawed.”

The Harper government faced a broad chorus of critics when it scrapped the mandatory long-form census. While the short-form census with about 10 basic questions is still compulsory, the longer questionnaire of more than 40 questions about home, work and ethnicity has been transformed into the optional National Household Survey.

Those who have relied on the treasure trove of data generated by the census, from social scientists to health researchers to businesses, warn this change will hinder StatsCan’s ability to generate an accurate picture of small groups, such as new immigrants, who may ignore a voluntary form.

The money expended on the new national survey “is a complete and total waste,” economist Paul Jacobson, vice-president of the Canadian Association for Business Economics, said.

He is chiefly concerned that the results of the survey will not be comparable with previous census data. “When we make a big change, we have irrevocably lost something. It doesn’t matter how good the survey is, we’ve lost it and that’s something we can never recover.”

Mr. Smith is adamant, however, that critics cannot know for sure that the results from the optional long form, even for smaller sub-groups of the population, will be inferior to what was collected via the mandatory approach in 2006.

“There is no scientific reason why you would say before it even starts, before I see results, that there’s going to necessarily be a significant problem with the count of Inuit or Métis or immigrants beyond the levels we’ve seen in the 2006 census.”

Ottawa is mailing the optional long form to one-third of households in an attempt to boost the response rate. In the past, the long form went only to one-fifth of residences.

Mr. Smith said StatsCan will not publish data that it decides is too flawed for use.

“The only areas where StatsCan will not proactively publish information is where we know beyond the shadow of a doubt there is a problem that makes the data unusable.”

MORE RELATED TO THIS STORY

2011-02-10 Respected Canadian negotiator removed from disarmament talks, resigns. Canada can’t serve two masters at the same time, Lockheed Martin manufacturer of cluster munitions and International Humanitarian Law.

 Lockheed Martin, War Economy (includes Cdn Census & Trials), Peace or Violence  No Responses »
Feb 102011
 

http://www.ceasefire.ca/?p=7220&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ceasefire%2FycPl+%28Ceasefire.ca%29

Respected Canadian negotiator removed from disarmament talks, resigns

Thu, Feb 10, 2011

Respected Canadian disarmament negotiator Earl Turcotte has been removed from his post following American complaints that his stance on the international Convention on Cluster Munitions was too aggressive. Turcotte has since informed his colleagues that he will be resigning from the Department of Foreign Affairs in order to independently advocate for the Convention, which he helped draft in 2008 (Chris Cobb, “Lead Canadian negotiator dropped from disarmament talks,” Postmedia News, 7 February 2011).

Cluster bombs are “inaccurate and indiscriminate” weapons that scatter hundreds of bomblets over the area they are detonated. These bomblets can remain live for years, making them extremely dangerous for civilians. Sadly, they have maimed and killed a large number of children. The treaty makes cluster munitions illegal according to international law.

Canada has signed the treaty, but parliament has been slow to ratify it due to controversy over its Article 21, which pertains to joint military operations between countries that have ratified the treaty and those that refuse to do so, which include the United States:

Although Canada does not produce, use or stockpile clusters, the sticking point for DND has been its relationship with the United States military and joint operations with U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

The United States, along with other major manufacturers and users of landmines and cluster munitions, refuses to sign the treaty and under the George W. Bush administration actively discouraged allies from doing so. U.S. diplomats say a better option is to develop a cluster weapon that doesn’t leave a residue of unexploded bomblets.

Turcotte’s unhappiness with what he calls in the email “Canadian interpretation of one of the critical elements” of the treaty could be an ominous sign for pro-ban advocacy groups because it seems likely he is referring to the controversial Article 21, a clause he and others on the Canadian negotiating team in Dublin fought for against bitter opposition from advocacy groups.

While the clause was key for countries involved with the United States in Afghanistan and in any future joint operations, it was mutually agreed that any interpretation should be within the spirit of the entire treaty — that joint operations are allowed but only if cluster bombs are not used and are not, in any way, part of the joint military scenario.

Human rights and pro-ban activists have expressed disappointment in the Canadian government for Turcotte’s removal and subsequent resignation:

Mary Wareham, a senior arms advocate with Human Rights Watch in Washington, said diplomats and advocates alike will “miss him dearly” and claimed Turcotte’s removal is symptomatic of “Canada’s recent foreign policy setbacks in multilateral diplomacy and the demise of Canada’s strong moral voice on some key international issues.

“We expect Canada to implement the Convention on Cluster Munitions in a strong manner that is consistent with the goal of the convention,” she said. “And that is to eliminate cluster munitions and the harm they cause to civilians. We hope that Canada’s domestic legislation preserves the absolute and comprehensive prohibitions of the treaty, even during joint military operations with its allies that aren’t party to the treaty.”

– – – – – – – – – – – — – – – –

I SENT COMMENT TO THE WEBSITE:

Lockheed Martin Corp (American military-industrial complex) is/has been a manufacturer of land mines and cluster munitions.  They removed most of the evidence of the latter from their website when the International Treaty on Cluster Munitions was signed.  Lockheed Martin is influential in the Pentagon (stating it mildly).  They are increasingly influential in Canada, with more lobbyists in Ottawa than oil and gas.  Through the “Canada First Defence Strategy” (2008) Canadian tax-payers are funding the duplication of the American military-industrial complex in Canada, with Lockheed Martin the key player. We need to extend solidarity and support to Earl Turcotte.  Canadian foreign policy is being dictated by Lockheed Martin Corp. “President of the Americas” for Lockheed Martin (that’s his real title) is Ron Covais. The most recent gift to humanity of Lockheed Martin is unmanned drones.  (Update, 2015:  they were also the number one contract interrogator in the torture at American offshore prisons.)

2011-02-10 UK Census March 27. Boycotting because of Lockheed Martin Corp.

 Lockheed Martin, War Economy (includes Cdn Census & Trials)  No Responses »
Feb 102011
 
There are many youtube videos that document the resistance in the U.S. to their 2010 census.
Some of the videos are newscasts; there’s a large number of home-made videos. 
Every one of the videos I sampled was motivated by a refusal to supply the amount of personal information the Government was seeking to collect. 
There is no indication that American citizens are aware of Lockheed Martin’s role in their census. 
The protests in the U.K., as in Canada, exhibit an awareness of Lockheed Martin’s role. 
By staff writers
10 Feb 2011
The Green Party of England and Wales has opposed a boycott of this year’s UK census, despite support for a boycott from within its own ranks. The contract for co-ordinating the census has been awarded to Lockheed Martin, a US-based multinational arms company.

Lockheed’s role in the census has triggered calls from peace activists for a boycott. The Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) have condemned Lockheed’s involvement. While not calling on all their supporters to boycott the census, CAAT have made clear that they respect those who choose to do so.

The census, which is conducted in the UK every ten years, will be carried out on 27 March.

The Green Party were at the forefront of the 2008 campaign against awarding the contract to Lockheed Martin. But a spokesperson for the party told the Friend, an independent weekly Quaker magazine, that they are encouraging participation in the census because “the census is extremely important and needs to be accurate”.

But the geographer Geoff Meaden, who recently retired from the University of Kent, has strongly urged support for people who refuse to participate in the census. Meaden has twice been a Green Party parliamentary candidate.

Lockheed are frequently criticised for arming oppressive regimes and for their central role in supplying the US armed forces. Their bid for the census contract arose from their work on intelligence and data collection.

Meaden said, “There will be a range of ethical reasons why people may not wish to comply, from concerns about the security of their personal data to not wishing to boost the profits of a weapons manufacturer”.

He rejected assurances from the Office for National Statistics, who insist that there are “stringent operational and contractual processes and safeguards in place to maintain data security and confidentiality”. Meaden said, “We have no legal precedents as to whether, under the pretext of national security, this census information can be acquired by the US government”.

One activist, Lili Kathleen Bright, told Ekklesia that she had only recently heard about Lockheed’s involvement and has chosen to boycott the census.

“I don’t want government money, which is the people’s money, to go towards the arms trade,” she explained, “It’s important not to be complicit in supporting the arms trade and I can’t in good conscience participate, knowing what I know”.

Others are considering protesting about Lockheed without boycotting the census. Quaker activist Simon Beard said “the census is a very important way to help decision-makers obtain the information they need” but he does not want to “assist an arms dealer to make money”.

He explained, “I think I will fill in the form and make sure that I submit it eventually, but I will not do so at the first time of asking. Instead I shall be deliberately and obviously obstructive”.

Amongst those who object to Lockheed Martin are some who are also prepared to boycott the census for other reasons. The anarchist pacifist Albert Beale told Ekklesia that he has been boycotting the census since 1981.

He said he would not object to a basic count of the population but that the census goes beyond this in the questions it asks. “One of the reasons that I would at least refuse to co-operate fully is the race question, which makes me feel as if I’m in apartheid South Africa or Nazi Germany,” he said.

When asked if collecting information about race would help to develop projects that tackle racism, Beale insisted, “It’s because people classify one another by such an illogical and unscientific category as ‘race’ that we have racism”.

Completing the census is a legal requirement for people living in the UK on the date in question. In practice, very few people are prosecuted for failing to do so. Some estimates suggest that over a million people went uncounted in the last census in 2001.

2011-02-09 Data intelligence firms proposed a systematic attack against WikiLeaks

 Corporatocracy or Democracy or Administrative State or WHAT?, Julian Assange, Wikileaks, Chelsea (Bradley) Manning, Arjen Kamphuis  No Responses »
Feb 092011
 

by Steve Ragan – Feb 9 2011, 20:28

Data intelligence firms proposed a systematic attack against WikiLeaks. (IMG: WikiLeaks)Data intelligence firms proposed a systematic attack against WikiLeaks. (IMG: WikiLeaks)

 

Note: There were several drafts of the proposal created before the sixth and final version was delivered. The emails released by Anonymous contain each of them. Most of the changes are formatting related and minor corrections.

The proposal starts with an overview of WikiLeaks, including some history and employee statistics. From there it moves into a profile of Julian Assange and an organizational chart. The chart lists several people, including volunteers and actual staff.

One of those listed as a volunteer, Salon.com columnist, Glenn Greenwald, was singled out by the proposal. Greenwald, previously a constitutional law and civil rights litigator in New York, has been a vocal supporter of Bradley Manning, who is alleged to have given diplomatic cables and other government information to WikiLeaks. He has yet to be charged in the matter.

Greenwald became a household name in December when he reported on the “inhumane conditions” of Bradley Manning’s confinement at the Marine brig in Quantico, Virginia. Since that report, Greenwald has reported on WikiLeaks and Manning several times.

“Glenn was critical in the Amazon to OVH transition,” the proposal says, referencing the hosting switch WikiLeaks was forced to make after political pressure caused Amazon to drop their domain.

[Earlier drafts of the proposal and an email from Aaron Barr used the word “attacked” over “disrupted” when discussing the level of support.]

The proposal continues by listing the strengths and weaknesses of WikiLeaks. For the strong points, there is the global WikiLeaks following and volunteers. Outlining the weaknesses, the proposal lists financial pressure – due to the companies refusing to process WikiLeaks’ donations at the time – and discord among some of the WikiLeaks members.

“Despite the publicity, WikiLeaks is NOT in a healthy position right now,” an early draft of the proposal noted. “Their weakness [sic] are causing great stress in the organization which can be capitalized on.”

Some of the things mentioned as potential proactive tactics include feeding the fuel between the feuding groups, disinformation, creating messages around actions to sabotage or discredit the opposing organization, and submitting fake documents to WikiLeaks and then calling out the error.

“Create concern over the security of the infrastructure. Create exposure stories. If the process is believed to not be secure they are done. Cyber attacks against the infrastructure to get data on document submitters. This would kill the project. Since the servers are now in Sweden and France putting a team together to get access is more straightforward.”

After the tactics are discussed, the proposal outlines the highlights for each of the three data intelligence firms. From there, it concludes that in the new age of mass social media, the insider threat represents an ongoing and persistent threat “even if WikiLeaks is shut down.”

“Traditional responses will fail; we must employ the best investigative team, currently employed by the most sensitive of national security agencies.”

The emails released by Anonymous make no mention of the proposal’s success or failure. Aside from a single meeting confirmation with Booz Allen Hamilton, and an email that expressed hope that HBGary was going to “close the BOA deal”, there is no other data available.

2011-02-08 CETA plus Harper signs new security perimeter deal without consultation

 Genetically Modified, Trade Deals, PPPs, Integration Canada-U.S.  No Responses »
Feb 082011
 

Remain centred, calm!  Then fight like hell.  CETA (it doesn’t get much worse) and now the perimeter deal.

Thanks to the Council of Canadians and the National Farmers Union (NFU) for keeping us informed.

If I say CETA do you know what I’m talking about?  Some of you do, for sure.  But ALL of us should know because of the ramifications for Canadians.  CETA is the Canada-European Union Economic and Trade Agreement.  Maude Barlow does a nice job of explaining it below.

Terry Boehm, President of the NFU, is just back from Europe where the negotiations are taking place.  The NFU got together with people in Saskatoon tonite to explain CETA.  Terry explains it as  “not a trade agreement”, but as a “template to alter governance”.

It is an “enclosure of what Government can do.”  They “no longer act for citizens.  Their function is to provide services for corporations.”

European corporations are “interested in penetrating Canadian society down to the municipal level.”  (In CETA language,  “sub-national governments”).  All sub-national governments will be bound by CETA.   Which I take to mean, for example, that municipal by-laws on pesticide use would not stand.

When I first read about CETA, a strong and repulsive impression formed that remains in my mind.  Terry validated it.  “European corporations are interested in opening up Government procurement.”  They want access to hospitals, universities, etc.  Maude talks about this below, too.  Local suppliers cannot be favored.

There are “thresholds”.  People in Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C. should be aware that their Governments are in favour of reducing the thresholds “across the board” to $25,000 for CETA criterion for competition in providing goods, services and construction contracts.  The thresholds otherwise are being negotiated at $135,000 for federal level goods and services; and $5 million for construction projects.  The Western Premiers would just like to give it all away.

WHAT”S IT ALL ABOUT?   A big part of it is biotech agriculture and biotech pharma, no surprise.  The Western premiers’ strategy is to give away everything in exchange for the Europeans opening up their markets to biotech food.   We’ll give them access to Government contracts (procurement) to get them to open up to GMOs.

Terry told of how he pointed out to European Parliamentarians that Appendix 1B of CETA would nullify European GM (genetically modified) regulations.  Their response was to laugh.  “You don’t know the politics of Europe.  It ain’t going to happen.”   Europeans are too dead set against GM food.  So Canadian negotiators are selling us out completely and for nothing in return.  (Not that we want Europe to open their markets to GM food anyway.)

CETA would change intellectual property rights (patents on biotech products for example).   You don’t even want to hear this.  There are “precautionary enforcement provisions”.  “The courts are no longer a vehicle of Government.”  They would enforce intellectual property rights for ALLEGED infringement.   Translated:  in the case of alleged infringement of intellectual property rights (think Percy Schmeiser and patent on Monsanto’s GM canola),  there would be “precautionary” potential seizure of bank accounts, land, machinery, by the corporations before even going to court.  Intellectual property rights would supersede all other property rights.

In addition, any alleged person who assisted in the infringement would also be subject to the “precautionary enforcement provisions”.   There are draconian provisions.  The farmer’s crop can be destroyed before it goes to market if there is alleged infringement of patents (GM crops), also injunctions to prevent the farmer from seeding.   There are no defined levels of contamination (GM plants in a farmer’s crop) to determine infringement of a patent that may be held on GM seeds.

Terry:  “Bizarre, but with the effect that farmers will comply.  It creates a culture of fear for farmers doing what they have always done.  In the end, there is total control over the food supply.”

The patenting of drugs is changed to serve the interests of the pharma corporations.  I won’t go into that detail.

Under CETA neither Canada nor European countries could restrict the import or export of goods.  That’s as with NAFTA.  If we are running out of a resource that we are exporting to the U.S., we cannot cut back on the proportion that we send to the U.S.  So now we would have the same agreement with Europe. As the Council of Canadians and the NFU say, “It’s NAFTA on steroids.”

You may know that “Chapter 11” in NAFTA is the agreement whereby Canadian tax-payers compensate American corporations if they might suffer a loss of revenue because of our regulations.  CETA has “Chapter 11” provisions that make your hair stand on end.  “In the event of civil strife or war”  we Canadian tax-payers get to compensate European corporations for loss of profits.  Which means that if there is a strike in Canada we will pay the European corporations.

As Terry concluded, “CETA goes after the heart of our societies.”  Government is solely in service of the large transnational corporations.

A question was asked about dispute resolution mechanisms.  There would be a tribunal for that, it’s the WTO model, “completely opaque”.  Closed to citizens.

“Consistently (in CETA) it is the responsibility of Governments to compensate the corporations.  It is not about trade.”

To date, trade between Canada and Europe has been conducted under minimum tariffs (4%).   “We have always been able to market our non-hormone beef to them”.   Trade arrangements are fine, as they are.

The Harper Government has been pre-empting the provisions of CETA (slowly, under the radar, already putting the provisions into place).

March 2010 “thresholds” put in place.   Changes to copyright laws to comply with CETA.

Terry recommended the Trade Justice Network as another good place to go for information (in addition to the NFU and the C of C).

I brought home copies of a petition to the Federal Government and will collect signatures.  Please consider downloading a copy and doing the same.  It’s on the homepage at  www.nfu.ca

You heard that Harper signed the perimeter agreement with the U.S. ?   (see appended from the C of C.)

It is looking once again, but more likely this time, that a federal election is a month away.   We are from different political parties.  Most of you know that I joined the Green Party in support of Elizabeth May who I came to know in activist circles when she was the Executive Director of the Sierra Club of Canada.

The Green Party is grass roots.  We have 3 federal organizers for all of Canada.  Which means that everyone has to pitch in to help put a candidate in every riding.  Is there a candidate in your riding?  Click on  http://greenparty.ca/find-your-riding

Please get in touch with me if you have questions I might be able to help with.  I am running in Saskatoon-Humboldt.  If  I could just find time for campaigning it would be helpful!

Many thanks to the Council of Canadians for the appended excellent information.

Cheers!

online version –

 

Harper signs new security perimeter deal without consulting Canadians or Parliament

Late Friday afternoon, Prime Minster Stephen Harper announced he had unilaterally signed a deal with the United States government that some pundits have said is larger in scope than NAFTA.

The security perimeter deal, which Harper touted as being needed to further ease trade restrictions between the two countries, states that Canadian and U.S. governments will work “together within, at, and away from the borders of our two countries” to toughen security and promote trade.

In his comments following the announcement, Prime Minister Harper said the border plan is intended to “keep out terrorists and criminals,” “simplify regulations that hinder trade,” create “consistent inspection measures,” and to have “better management of our border” but not eliminate it.

The Council of Canadians has spoken out against this deal, which was reportedly negotiated in secret for six months with involvement from business groups, but not Parliament or public interest groups. While concrete details about the deal have been sparse, many concerns have already been raised about the implications of sharing security information with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the loss of sovereignty and trade-offs made to come to this agreement, and the degree to which any of the common measures being discussed will address the so-called “thickening” of the border.

“We’ve gone down this road before – it was called the Security and Prosperity Partnership – and North Americans rejected it,” said Stuart Trew, Trade Justice Campaigner with the Council of Canadians. “The Harper government must disclose what terms it is negotiating with the Americans and open it to public and parliamentary scrutiny.”

Take action!

(Links no longer valid)

Contact Prime Minister Stephen Harper today and tell him he shouldn’t sign away Canada’s sovereignty by making backroom deals without public debate or scrutiny. The security perimeter deal was signed by Prime Minster Harper without permission from the Canadian public and without approval from Parliament even though it could result in major changes to how our borders are monitored, unfair immigration policies, and the sharing of Canadians’ personal information with U.S. Homeland Security.

Go here to send your message to Prime Minister Harper today.


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Nuclear Safety Commission approves shipment of radioactive materials through the Great Lakes

On Friday afternoon the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission has given its permission to Bruce Power to ship 16 decommissioned nuclear steam generators from southwestern Ontario, across the Great Lakes, and then onto Sweden for recycling.

The Council of Canadians has joined Canadian and U.S. groups opposing these transports, arguing the results of a mishap would be ecologically devastating for the lakes. The Great Lakes hold one-fifth of the world’s freshwater and supply one out of three Canadians and one out of seven Americans – 45 million people – with their daily water use.

“It is unconscionable the commission would approve these shipments, said Emma Lui, National Water Campaigner for the Council of Canadians. “The Great Lakes are a vital source of water for millions. We cannot risk their further contamination.”

We need a different future for the Great Lakes. This is why the Council of Canadians, as part of a new network of Canadian, American and First Nations communities around the Great Lakes, is determined to have these lakes named a Commons, a public trust and a protected bioregion.

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When you join the Council of Canadians you are adding your voice to one of Canada’s largest public advocacy organizations and speaking up for the progressive values and actions that will help build a better Canada and a better world.

When we band together with a common passion and purpose, we are stronger and better able to fight for and win important victories. As we move into our 26th year of acting for social justice here in Canada and around the world, we will be working hard on the issues that matter to you: protecting our fresh water, strengthening public health care, fighting for climate justice and fair trade deals, as well as the values that make us distinctly Canadian.

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Council speaks out against CETA

Council of Canadians National Chairperson Maude Barlow spoke to a full auditorium in Guelph, Ontario late last month to tell people about the Canada-European Union Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and the threats it poses to democracy, public services and locally-created social and economic policies.

“It’s a very aggressive trade agreement that most people haven’t heard about,” she said at the event. “It’s a much bigger agreement than even NAFTA because it includes sub-national procurement, which means provinces, municipalities, schools, hospitals, water systems – all of the money that we spend at the lower levels of government. It’s really an agreement that will give the big service corporations in Europe (and then American because under NAFTA you can’t give to one without giving to the other) access to these contracts at the lower levels.”

CETA’s benefits were also questioned in a recent letter to the editor in the Halifax Chronicle-Herald by Council of Canadians’Atlantic Regional Organizer Angela Giles and CUPE Nova Scotia President Danny Cavanagh. Questioning Canada’s involvement in a trade deal that will limit provincial and municipal opportunities to set their own social and economic policies, they outlined the threats CETA poses to procurement, fisheries, health care, farmers, and democracy. “The EU also wants water utilities and water-treatment services included in the deal, which would put pressure on municipalities to privatize water systems and give favourable treatment to large EU-based private water firms such as Veolia and Suez. Combined with the procurement chapter, it will be impossible for Nova Scotia communities to get the most employment and environmental benefits out of water system upgrades,” they wrote.

 

Win! Kalahari Bushmen’s right to water recognized by court

Botswana’s Court of Appeal has quashed a ruling that denied the Kalahari Bushmen access to water on their ancestral lands. This decision is the first major test of the United Nations’ recognition of the human right to water.

In August 2010 Council of Canadians National Chairperson Maude Barlow condemned the Botswana government’s failure to allow Bushmen to access water. In a media report she stated, “(T)he UN General Assembly declared that everyone, everywhere, has the right to water. But now the world witnesses one of Africa’s most prosperous countries denying its first inhabitants the right to sink a well, while promoting mining and safari camps just a few miles away. It’s hard to imagine a more cruel and inhuman way to treat people. One can only conclude Botswana’s authorities view Bushmen as less important than wildlife. Many people around the world will be horrified.”

The Bushmen, who returned to their lands in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve after a previous court victory, were appealing a 2010 High Court ruling that denied their right to access a well in the reserve they had used for decades. Without the well, the Bushmen are forced to make arduous journeys by foot or donkey to get water from outside the reserve and resort to collecting rainwater, melons and roots for drinking water.

“This is a major victory. It’s the first test case of our right to water resolution at the United Nations. People should not be denied the right to water – it is essential to life.” said Barlow.

To read our media release on this go here.

Council Vice-Chair attends World Social Forum

Council of Canadians Vice-Chair Leo Broderick is in Darkar, Senegal at the World Social Forum on behalf of the Council of Canadians.

The forum, which has happened yearly since 2001, is “an open meeting place where social movements, networks, NGOs and other civil society organizations opposed to neo-liberalism and a world dominated by capital or by any form of imperialism come together to pursue their thinking, to debate ideas democratically, to formulate proposals, share their experiences freely and network for effective action.”

The World Social Forum runs from February 6-11, 2011.

Buzz about a Spring election grows louder

The political posturing continues leading up to the Conservative government’s federal budget release, which is expected in March.

The Liberal Party has indicated it will vote against the budget, and the NDP and Bloc Québécois have both placed requirements on budget spending and programs in order to earn their approval. If either party votes against the budget, the government will fall and Canadians will once again be heading to the polls.

The Council of Canadians continues to track election developments. As in past elections, we will raise key issues of concern for our members. Our positioning in the last several elections has been to focus on issues as they relate to our campaigns, and to strongly call for a fairer voting system through proportional representation.

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2011-02-08 Lockheed Martin in Schools AND The Twisted Path From Cairo to Burlington by Laurie Essig. We are all fighting the same battle.

 Lockheed Martin, War Economy (includes Cdn Census & Trials)  No Responses »
Feb 082011
 

Dear Laurie,

I left a message on your phone.

I want to thank you for speaking out about Lockheed Martin’s involvement  in your schools, which then was quoted in a superb article by Jonathan Leavitt.   The excerpt about the schools is appended.

I found your article (also appended) which links

  • what is happening in Egypt to
  • what is happening in Burlington, VT.

You end with “we increasingly understand we’re fighting the same battle everywhere”.

If you require any reinforcement for your statement (!?)   I refer you to www.sandrafinley.ca.  Under “pages” you will find “Lockheed Martin” on the drop-down list.   The actions by citizens in Burlington is the most recent addition to the file on Lockheed Martin.  Just prior to that is the people in the U.K.

I have been on trial because I refused to fill in my 2006 census form; census work was out-sourced to LM.  The recent judge’s decision (guilty) is under appeal.

And, horror!  Lockheed has moved into my home city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada,  bribing its way through First Nations people, to set up what is most likely training and servicing related to its unmanned aerial vehicles,  subsidized by both the Federal and Provincial Governments (by us).   Familiar story?

Your efforts to get rid of Lockheed Martin in your City serve as a motivator to us.  Just as the Egyptians are an example for us to follow.  We can make the world a better place.  And yes, we are all fighting the same battle.  Again my thanks – your appended article makes it clear.

Best wishes to you and the people in Vermont.  (I lived in Nova Scotia for 15 years and have fond memories of visits to Vermont.)

Sandra Finley

= = = = = = = = =  = = = = ==

APPENDED  #1    RE:  LOCKHEED MARTIN IN SCHOOLS

From    2011-02-23 Greenwashing War: Vermont Mayor Signs Deal With Lockheed Martin  (Climate Change)

” . . .  Excerpt from the article by Jonathan Leavitt.  I phoned and talked with one of the ladies quoted:  Meg Brooke, Chair of Chittenden County Progressives.  Just a voice of support and solidarity and to let them know that others are fighting Lockheed, too.

“  Perhaps even more immediate and inflammatory is the planned interaction between Burlington’s school children and Lockheed Martin engineers.

“Are We For Bomb Makers?”

One of the controversial aspects of the deal would allow Lockheed engineers to work inside Burlington schools with schoolchildren. In the past five years Burlington parents’ and students’ outrage boiled over when war profiteer General Dynamics’ program of giving away pencils, bookmarks and books stamped with their corporate logo came to light. When a nine year-old student at Burlington’s Champlain Elementary was faced with going to an assembly during the school day to listen to General Dynamics employees, her mom Laurie Essig says her daughter Willa asked, “‘Are we for bomb-makers? Do we think it’s right to kill people? Her basic question was, ‘Why are we treating these people like heroes?’” Due to a perception on Willa’s teacher’s part, that nine year-old Willa might offend the weapons manufacturers’ employees, the teacher, “brought all the other students down to get their free books and left my daughter sitting alone in the classroom.” Essig says. Longtime Vermont peace activist, Joseph Gainza said, during an interview, “I would hope that the City of Burlington and the Burlington School District wouldn’t let a corporate member of the military industrial complex take credit for solving the climate change problems it helps everyday to perpetuate.”

Meg Brooke, Chair of Chittenden County Progressives says of Lockheed’s slated involvement with school kids:

I’ve been trained by the National Interreligious Service Board for Conscientious Objectors (NISBCO) and given many hours to council students how to avoid war. I’ve fought to remove military recruiters from our schools. I regularly taught classes in non-violent conflict resolution in Vermont high schools. I am deeply concerned by the way we normalize violence and war and desensitize our young to the horror our military perpetrates, especially on the young, women, and the elderly. Welcoming one of the leaders of this military industrial complex into our schools goes against all I, and many others, believe. I do not want young Vermonters to see the Lockheed logo on TV and have a positive thought about what that business might have done in their school.  . . .  ”

= = = = = =  = = = ==

APPENDED  #2:   LAURIE ESSIG EXPLAINS “WE ARE ALL FIGHTING THE SAME BATTLE”

http://chronicle.com/blogs/brainstorm/the-twisted-path-from-cairo-to-burlington/31932

The Twisted Path From Cairo to Burlington

February 8, 2011, 1:10 pm

By Laurie Essig

I know very little about life in Egypt and yet it is increasingly clear that the world is a small place. Coorporate greed and military aggression have created an environmental crisis that could end life as we know it and so the fate of all people is intertwined. Environmental degradation and the military have built a twisted path from a global city like Cairo, Egypt to the provincial town of Burlington, Vermont. Sometimes the path is traversed through social media like Facebook and Twitter and sometimes we must follow the twists and turns of the world’s largest war profiteers.

In the past 24 hours, the twisted path between Egypt and Vermont became more visible.  On Facebook, a former student sends me a letter written from Cairo. The letter writer sees Mubarak as a complicated figure, neither evil nor good, but one whose police

responded to (demonstrations) with water cannons, beatings, and more tear gas than most of the international press had ever seen used anywhere.

The tear gas, as we now know, had “made in the USA” written all over it and was, like all the weapons used against the Egyptian people, approved for sale to Egypt by the Department of Defense.

In fact, lots and lots of weapons are sold to Egypt with the DoD’s approval. Egypt is the 2nd largest recipient of U.S. military aid (right behind Israel). Tens of billions of dollars are given to Egypt, but then funneled back to U.S. military corporations like General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin, a sort of corporate welfare. These taxpayer dollars are not just given to some of the most profitable corporations in the world, but because the weapons—tanks, helicopters, even tear-gas canisters—are being used against the peaceful protesters in Cairo, they are helping to keep Mubarak in power and destroy democracy.

As Lockheed Martin’s F-16′s flew low over the millions of peaceful citizens in Cairo, making the threat of more violence against them and against Egyptian democracy clear, a much smaller crowd of about 100 gathered in Burlington to stand up against Lockheed Martin and the threat it poses to American democracy. Here in Burlington, Lockheed Martin is trying to place their F-35′s at the local airport. These huge bombers use something like 2,000 to 4,000 gallons of fuel an hour and are therefore an environmental nightmare. Lockheed Martin’s thinking is apparently something like this:

Gee they have awfully clean air up there in Vermont so if we spew a bunch of pollution in a relatively clean place, it will be better than in other places where the air is already unfit for human consumption.

Of course there is a lot of local opposition to polluting the air and so Lockheed has been scrambling to calm the people down. But how to calm them down without canisters of tear gas and threatening flyovers from fighter jets? Well, as mule trainers everywhere know, if you can’t beat ‘em with a stick, you better try and lure ‘em with a carrot. The carrot is to provide expertise and funding for environmental sustainability projects, an increasingly necessary carrot in these days of budget deficits and decreasing tax revenues.

Too bad for Lockheed that the people of Burlington, like the people of Cairo, understand that the needs of the corporations and the military contractors are not the same as the needs of the people. Too bad for the residents of both places that the politicians don’t care about the people, unless you consider Lockheed Martin and other corporations”people” the way the Supreme Court now does.

Who knows whether democracy will prevail in either place given the odds. But it’s a hopeful sign that with increased communication, we increasingly understand we’re fighting the same battle everywhere.

2011-02-05 Bush Cancels February 12th Geneva trip amidst charges of torture and calls for his arrest

 George Bush war criminal  No Responses »
Feb 052011
 

Yeeeeay!   This is so exciting!  especially given earlier efforts by Canadians to get Bush arrested when he visited Canada.   He’s planning to visit Canada again, in October 2011.   We can do what the people of Switzerland have done   – –

The Washington Post and Cleveland Leader coverage of the cancelation of Bush’s Geneva engagement appears below.  There are numerous on-line reports to choose from.

Amidst calls for Bush’s arrest and plans by the Center for Constitutional Rights and the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights to file torture charges, Bush has canceled his Feb. 12/11 trip to Geneva. Many groups including LAW supported the move to lay charges and arrest Bush.

HISTORY OF EFFORTS TO GET BUSH ARRESTED:  Click on  George Bush War Criminal  (from the drop-down list of “PAGES” on the www.sandrafinley.ca blog).   George W Bush is going to be brought to justice eventually.  I am very happy that we did our part when he visited Canada in 2009.  Now the Swiss have taken their turn.   If they can force a cancelation of his visit, so can we.  We’ll just ramp up the 2009 efforts and use some new strategies!

– – – – – – — – — – —  — – –

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/05/AR2011020502822.html 

Bush trip to Switzerland called off amid threats of protests, legal action

 
 
 
 

Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, February 5, 2011; 3:34 PM  

A planned trip to Switzerland next week by George W. Bush was canceled after human rights activists called for demonstrations and threatened legal action over allegations that the former president sanctioned the torture of terrorism suspects.

The New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights and several European human rights groups said they were planning to file a complaint against Bush and wanted Swiss prosecutors to open a criminal case against him once he arrived in the country.

In what would have been his first European trip since leaving the presidency, Bush was scheduled to speak in Geneva on Feb. 12 at a dinner in honor of the United Israel Appeal. A lawyer for the organization said Bush’s appearance was canceled because of the risk of violence, and that the threat of legal action was not an issue.

“The calls to demonstrate were sliding into dangerous terrain,” the lawyer, Robert Equey, told the Swiss daily Tribune de Geneve.

A spokesman for Bush said the former president regretted that his speech was canceled.

“President Bush was looking forward to speaking about freedom and offering reflections from his time in office,” David Sherzer said in an e-mailed statement.

Sherzer said that Bush has traveled to Canada, Brazil, China, Japan, South Korea and the Middle East since leaving office.

Organizers of a rally outside the Hotel Wilson, where the speech was scheduled to take place, had called on demonstrators to each bring a shoe, an effort to echo the assault on Bush during a news conference in Baghdad in 2008 when an Iraqi journalist threw a shoe at him.

The Center for Constitutional Rights said in a statement that they had planned to bring the complaint under the Convention Against Torture on behalf of two of men, Majid Khan, who remains at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Sami al-Hajj, a former Al Jazeera cameraman who was released in May 2008. The 2,500-page complaint will not be filed in court, but will be released Monday at a media event in Switzerland.

“Whatever Bush or his hosts say, we have no doubt he canceled his trip to avoid our case,” the Center’s statement said. “The message from civil society is clear: If you’re a torturer, be careful in your travel plans. It’s a slow process for accountability, but we keep going.”

A Swiss Foreign Ministry spokesman told the Associated Press that the country’s Justice Ministry had concluded that Bush would have immunity from prosecution for any alleged actions while in office. The Center for Constitutional Rights disputed that interpretation, arguing there is no such immunity under the Convention Against Torture.

The Center, and its European partners, earlier filed suits against former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other Bush administration officials in Germany and France.  Those cases were dismissed.

– – – – –  —  – – –

FROM THE CLEVELAND LEADER:

George W. Bush Cancels Appearance in Switzerland Because He Could be Arrested on War Crimes

By Julie Kent. Published on 02/05/2011 – 5:10pm

Former U.S. president George W. Bush was due to address a Jewish charity gala in Switzerland, but canceled his appearance due to the risk of legal action against him for alleged torture.

Bush was set to be the keynote speaker at Kere Hayesod’s annual dinner on February 12 in Geneva. However, pressure has been mounting on the Swiss government to arrest Bush and open a criminal investigation if he entered the country.

Court officials have said that criminal complaints against Bush alleging torture have been lodged in Geneva. Human rights groups also said that they intended to submit a 2,500-page case against Bush on Monday for alleged mistreatment of suspected militants at Guantanamo Bay.

Bush’s visit would have also likely been greeted by protests. Leftist groups had called for a protest next Saturday. The gala’s organizers then announced that they were canceling his participation because of security concerns, not criminal complaints.

However, the International Federation of Human Rights and Human Rights Watch said that the cancellation was actually linked to growing pressure to hold Bush accountable for torture, including waterboarding.

In his memoirs and television interviews, Bush has admitted to ordering use of waterboarding, which simulated drowning, as an interrogation technique.

The human rights groups said that the actions taken in Switzerland show that Bush has reason to fear traveling to countries that have ratified an international treaty banning torture because legal complaints could be filed against him.

Reed Brody, counsel for Human Rights Watch, said:

“President Bush has admitted he ordered waterboarding which everyone considers to be a form of torture under international law. Under the Convention against Torture, authorities would have been obliged to open an investigation and either prosecute or extradite George Bush.”

Waterboarding is considered a form of torture by most human rights experts, which is banned by the Convention on Torture, an international pact prohibiting torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment. Switzerland and the United States are among 147 countries to have ratified the 1987 treaty.

2011-02-02 Important update re vaccinations. Aluminum.

 Vaccinations (incl corruption of science & govt)  No Responses »
Feb 012011
 

The input below from VRAN (Vaccine Risk Awareness Network) (name changed to Vaccine Choice Canada) is extremely helpful in defining the actual problem.   Anyone with children will want to read it, I think.

Edda West from VRAN  expands our understanding:

Dear Sandra,

Thank you for taking the time to respond to CBC’s The Current and for the phone message you left on our voice mail yesterday (Monday).  It’s always inspiring to hear from other Canadians who are concerned about environmental toxicity issues vis a vis mercury, and the vaccine issue.

It wasn’t clear however from reading your material below whether you are aware that MMR vaccine does not contain thimerosal.  The issue around Wakefield does not focus on thimerosal, but rather on the fact that MMR vaccine contains 3 live virus vaccines which can cause neuroimmune injuries in susceptible children.  Since there is no testing to pre-determine which children are potentially susceptible to injury, it’s a given there will be “collateral” damage in unidentified vulnerable children.

In Canada, with the advent of Pentacel in 1997 (5 vaccines contained in one shot), thimerosal was no longer used as a preservative.  Influenza vaccine which wasn’t introduced into the infant schedule until recently is the exception and does contain thimerosal.

While background levels of mercury are increasing in the environment, the thimerosal issue in vaccines I believe takes a back seat to the neurodestructive role of aluminum adjuvants still used in many vaccines. See

  •   2011-02-01   The Impact of Vaccines on the First Two Years of Life, by Edda West, VRAN
  •   2011-02-01   Aluminum and Vaccine Ingredients: What Do We Know? What Don’t We Know?

A case in point are the 8 vaccines recommended in the Canadian Immunization Guide given to infants starting at two months of age, some of which contain aluminum adjuvants and are injected simultaneously into the baby. Starting in 1997, Pentacel which contains diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis, Hib and Polio, was the first vaccine to contain five vaccines in one shot, is given to nearly all two month old babies in this country and does not contain thimerosal. It does contain aluminum.

Prevnar (7valent pneumococcal vaccine) is also started at two months and contains aluminum adjuvant but not thimerosal.

Menactra – Meningococcal vaccine does not contain aluminum, but is also injected starting at two months.

Hepatitis B vaccine, also started in many provinces at the two month mark is supposed to be thimerosal free for infant application, while adult multi-dose vials still contain thimerosal – this vaccine also contains aluminum adjuvant.

A pressing concern is the amount of aluminum adjuvant contained in the above 8 vaccines, and equally pressing is the concern that infants are exposed to this quantity of vaccine antigens so early in life when the immune system and brain are still so immature. See attached Editorial addressing this issue.  No adequate safety testing has been done on this practice of combining so many vaccines together, and lays the ground for a cascade of damaging neuroimmune events to happen in vulnerable infants. And no one can assess which infants are more vulnerable than others.  http://mothering.com/health/is-aluminum-the-new-thimerosal

The schedule is repeated at 4 and 6 months, then topped off with MMR and Varicella (chickenpox vaccine) at 12 months.  The injection of four live virus vaccines at 12 months seems to create a tipping point of toxicity or intolerance in susceptible babies, which is why so many thousands of families report their child began to regress after the MMR shot.   As well, the measles component of MMR is known to suppress the immune system at a critical juncture when the infant’s own cross placental immunity derived from its mother begins to wane.

Combine all this with the potential of this bolus of vaccines to disrupt the critical “windows of susceptibility” which mark specific milestones in brain development in the first two years of life and the die is cast for the kind of disaster we are witnessing in children’s health today.

We invite you to become a member of VRAN and join the many concerned families in Canada who support our work.  We publish an acclaimed newsletter which our members receive and are happy to send you a sample issue if you wish – just let me know.

Best wishes,

Edda West

VRAN – Vaccination Risk Awareness Network

info  AT  vran.org

www.vran.org

—– Original Message —–

From: Sandra Finley

To: tjames4  AT  shaw.ca ; info  AT  vran.org

Sent: Monday, January 31, 2011 9:10 AM

Subject: Rebuttal. Slow poisoning by mercury (dental amalgams & vaccinations). Corrupt Big Pharma.

Hello Edda and Mary,

As per messages left for you, if you can use any part of the following please do.

I sent an email to The Current:  the science they are using to back-up their position on vaccinations was sent to me.  There are flaws in it.   The flaws are discussed in the appended.

Best wishes,

See  2011-01-28     I am like a fish; I store mercury in my body.  

2011-02-01 Aluminum and Vaccine Ingredients: What Do We Know? What Don’t We Know?

 Vaccinations (incl corruption of science & govt)  No Responses »
Feb 012011
 

Aluminum is a heavy metal with known neurotoxic effects   …   If we’re going to do justice to the topic of vaccine ingredients, we need to look at the potential harm of all the vaccine ingredients at once, and examine their individual effects on our children’s immune and nervous systems…

The Doctor’s Corner
National Vaccine Information Center

Aluminum and Vaccine Ingredients:
What Do We Know? What Don’t We Know?

by Lawrence B. Palevsky, MD, FAAP

Thimerosal, which contains the organic compound ethyl mercury, is a known neurotoxin and used to be a major ingredient in childhood vaccines. There are over 15,000 articles in the medical literature describing the adverse health effects on the human body with exposure to varying amounts and forms of mercury.

In 1999 the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) urged government agencies to work rapidly toward reducing children’s exposure to mercury from all sources. Because any potential risk was of concern, the AAP and the USPHS (United States Public Health Service) agreed that the use of thimerosal-containing vaccines should be reduced or eliminated.[1] The AAP recommended that it would be a good idea to remove thimerosal from vaccines, even though according to them, there was no evidence linking childhood health issues to thimerosal exposure from vaccines. In 2008, children are still being injected with thimerosal-containing vaccines, and old stocks of thimerosal-containing vaccines manufactured by 1999 continued to be administered to children up to 2003.

However, a growing number of physicians, scientists and parents maintain that thimerosal has played, and continues to play a large role in contributing to the emergence of multiple chronic illnesses in children and adults, including the neurological spectrum disorders. Aluminum, which is present in the environment and in many childhood vaccines, may be affecting the health of our children in ways that we have yet to understand.

Aluminum is a heavy metal with known neurotoxic effects on human and animal nervous systems. It can be found in the following childhood vaccines – DTaP, Pediarix (DTaP-Hepatitis B-Polio combination), Pentacel (DTaP-HIB-Polio combination), Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae B (HIB), Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), and Pneumococcal vaccines.[2]

In 1996, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a position paper on Aluminum Toxicity in Infants and Children which stated in the first paragraph, “Aluminum is now being implicated as interfering with a variety of cellular and metabolic processes in the nervous system and in other tissues.[3]

A review of the medical literature on aluminum reveals a surprising lack of scientific evidence that injected aluminum is safe. There is limited understanding of what happens to children when aluminum is injected into their bodies, including whether or not it accumulates in tissues and organs or is properly eliminated from the body. It is also unknown if genetic factors affect long term adverse health outcomes for those injected with aluminum containing vaccines.

One in 6 children under the age of 18 in this country has developmental/learning disabilities, although the numbers may be higher since this 1994 report was published.[4] Ten percent of all children have asthma.[5] Growing numbers of children are living with different types of allergies. That means they have impairment, or even irreversible damage to their nervous and immune systems. Isn’t it possible that injected aluminum plays a role in affecting the health of our children’s nervous and immune systems, as the science we do have seems to suggest?

What is even more concerning is the lack of accepted scientific data explaining whether injected aluminum interacts with other vaccine ingredients to cause harm to our children. Boyd Haley, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at the University of Kentucky completed lab experiments showing the damaging effects on nerve cells when he exposed them to aluminum, especially in the presence of other vaccine ingredients like mercury, formaldehyde, and the antibiotic neomycin.[6] [7] His data, however, have been ignored by the scientific, medical and governmental institutions making vaccine policies.[8] The scientific community needs to be doing these experiments in the lab before shooting kids with these ingredients and declaring unequivocal vaccine safety for all children.

Aluminum is added to vaccines as an adjuvant so vaccines will produce a stronger antibody response and be more protective. It is this role as an adjuvant that may reveal to us the most significant relationship between aluminum in vaccines and the damage it imparts on the long term health of our children’s nervous and immune systems.

A Little Science Review

Children are born with a cellular mediated immune system (TH1 cells – T-helper 1), a humoral immune system (TH2 cells – T-helper 2), and a regulator immune system (TH3 cells – T-helper 3) as major pieces of their overall immune systems. These three arms are immature when babies are born, and begin to mature as children are exposed to their environments through their nervous systems, skin, airways and intestines. Antibiotics, poor nutrition, stress, exposure to heavy metals and other environmental toxins, and the use of vaccines, may interfere with the proper maturing process of these three arms of children’s immune systems. In theory, if the TH system is allowed to mature, and is not interfered with, children will develop a mature, balanced TH1, TH2 and TH3 immune system by age three.

TH1 and TH2 develop to protect children from the outside world, producing inflammation and anti-inflammation responses to foreign particles from the natural environment. TH3 immune cells develop to keep the TH1/TH2 arms of the immune system in check so the body only produces the amount of inflammation and anti-inflammation that is needed to protect itself from exposures in the natural environment.

When TH2 cells are activated properly, either directly via the natural environment, or through a direct signal from the TH1 system, the B cell arm of the immune system is then stimulated, leading to the production of the desired protective antibodies.[9] [10]

It’s important for the reader to know that the hallmark of a healthy, mature immune system in children is demonstrated by an equal and balanced TH1, TH2 and TH3 immune response to the natural environment. TH1, TH2 & TH3 do not work independently, and require a very important synergistic relationship to function properly in our bodies. As soon as one or more of these three arms begins to over or under work in relation to the other, chronic illness begins to express itself.

More on Aluminum

Aluminum is placed in the vaccines to selectively target the up-regulation of the humoral arm (TH2 cells) of children’s immune systems, to drive the production of antibodies. The medical community leads us to believe that this production of antibodies is what imparts for children a protective nature against vaccine-preventable illnesses. Yet, this outcome may come at a cost.

There are multiple articles in the medical literature demonstrating how chronic illnesses like allergies,[11] [12] asthma, [13] [14] [15] eczema,[16] lupus, [17] inflammatory bowel disease, [18] ADD/ADHD[19] and autism[20] all exhibit a skewed production and over-activity of the TH2 arm of the immune system.

Similarly, chronic illnesses like juvenile diabetes mellitus[21] [22] and rheumatoid arthritis,[23] multiple sclerosis,[24] uveits,[25] inflammatory bowel disease,[26] and autism[27] [28] all exhibit skewed production and over-activity of the TH1 arm of the immune system.

While aluminum in the vaccines is specifically targeting the over-activation of TH2 to encourage the body to produce antibodies, any direct or indirect effect of aluminum on the health or maturation of the TH1 or TH3 system is unknown. Yet, in many of these TH2 dominant chronic illnesses, TH1 and TH3 have also been shown to exhibit an impaired immune response to the environment.[29]

Any direct or indirect effect on the health or maturation of the TH1, TH2 and TH3 arms of children’s immune systems from any of the injected vaccine ingredients, either due to their individual action, or due to their combined interaction, is unknown as well.

The important synergistic, balanced activity of TH1, TH2 and TH3, in response to the environment is dysfunctional and impaired in all chronic illnesses. Children are not necessarily born with this dysfunction or impairment, although they may inherit the susceptibility from their parents. How then, do children develop the expression of these TH1, TH2, TH3 impairments, into what we describe as chronic illness?

What is clear is aluminum pushes the TH2 immune system to over perform, and multiple chronic illnesses in children show immune systems where the TH2 immune response over performs, while TH1 and TH3 responses are also impaired. Is there a connection? By having this type of effect on the TH2 system, is aluminum in any way contributing to the development of these chronic illnesses in children; especially in those children from families with a genetic history of the above mentioned chronic illnesses?

Does aluminum also affect the TH1 immune response, unbeknownst to scientists, clinicians and parents? Does aluminum play a role in impairing the overall synergistic, balanced activity of TH1, TH2 and TH3, which is a requirement for a healthy immune system response to the natural environment? There is no scientific evidence to clarify our understanding one way or the other, but the evidence may be right in front of us to conclude otherwise.

Aluminum forces the undeveloped and immature immune system of infants and children to produce greater amounts of humoral immune cells (TH2) and antibodies, before their immune systems have a chance to adapt to the world in which they’ve barely had a chance to live in.

Under these circumstances, the activity of aluminum appears to play a vital role in disrupting the maturation of the immune system in infants and children through its effects on TH2 and therefore, on TH1 and TH3.  

What effect this has on their overall health in the short or long term is unknown, but this model appears to help us understand how we may be contributing to the development of chronic illness in infants and children with the use of aluminum in vaccines. We also have little understanding of what might happen to the overall health of their immune systems if parents wait until later in life to expose them to vaccines containing aluminum, or if they’re exposed in smaller doses one at a time.

How much of a role does injected aluminum play, either acting alone, or in conjunction with other vaccine ingredients and environmental toxins, in the selection and subsequent development of chronic illnesses, in a susceptible population of children, through the disruption of TH1, TH2, TH3? There is no science to answer this question because no one has investigated this issue.

We have no scientific studies in infants, children or adults to help us understand the nature of the progression of TH1, TH2 and TH3 immune responses to any of the injected materials in vaccines.

You cannot do research on questions that enough people don’t believe is worth asking, or are afraid of what the answers might show if the proper studies were done.

It is unfortunate that we continue to drag out this dialogue by singling out each individual vaccine ingredient as a detriment to the health of our children. First thimerosal needed to be removed, despite contentions from the medical community that there were any real medical reasons to do so, and now aluminum. According to Environmental Defense[30] (formerly known as the Environmental Defense fund), all the vaccine ingredients are poisonous, carcinogenic or potentially harmful to the skin, gastrointestinal, pulmonary, immune and neurological systems in our bodies.

What about formaldehyde? Are we going to wait until another brave physician or scientist writes about the damaging effects of injected vaccine-containing formaldehyde on our children’s brains before we are called to demand that formaldehyde be removed? Or about the problems associated with having Polysorbate-80 in the vaccines?

Polysorbate-80 is used in pharmacology to assist in the delivery of certain drugs or chemotherapeutic agents across the blood-brain-barrier. What viral, bacterial, yeast, heavy metal or other vaccine containing ingredient need to pass into the brains of our children? Do they belong in the brain? Is that part of the needed immune response to protect our children from disease? Do vaccine materials pass across the blood-brain barrier with the help of Polysorbate-80? If so, are there complications from being in the brains of our children? Is this another connection to help us get an understanding of why 1 in 150[31] children have autism, or 1 in 6 children has developmental/learning disabilities?

If we’re going to do justice to the topic of vaccine ingredients, we need to look at the potential harm of all the vaccine ingredients at once, and examine their individual effects on our children’s immune and nervous systems. Then, we can examine the interactive effects of the vaccine ingredients on human tissue, and evaluate the potential for harm, as Dr. Haley has already successfully done.

How many more children need to be potentially harmed before we invoke the precautionary principle and the Hippocratic Oath – First, Do No Harm? If there’s no adequate science, and we have positive evidence of toxicity from aluminum, injected alone or in conjunction with other ingredients, and we have a potential model to understand why certain chronic conditions may be developing in a susceptible population of children, then injecting aluminum containing vaccines into anyone should stop right now until we have the proper scientific proof we need to say otherwise. We need the same scientific proof of safety for all vaccine ingredients and their interactions, and we need parents, scientists and practitioners to stand up and demand nothing less before we make matters worse.

Lawrence B. Palevsky, MD, FAAP
Pediatrician

_______________________________________________________________________

1 PEDIATRICS Vol. 104 No. 3, September 1999, pp. 570-574 [Return]
2 MOTHERING No. 146, January-February 2008, pp. 46-53 [Return]
3 PEDIATRICS Vol. 97, 1996, pp. 413-416 [Return]
4 PEDIATRICS, Vol. 93 No. 3, 1994, pp 399-403 [Return]
5 AMA, Vol. 297, No. 24, June 27, 2007,pp. 2755-2759 [Return]
6 General Vaccine Issues: Mercury, Thimerosal and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes: Affidavit of Boyd E. Haley, PhD, Professor and Chair, University of Kentucky [Return]
7 http://www.whale.to/m/haley.html [Return]
8 http://www.safeminds.org/pressroom/press_releases/2005-07-01-Haley-IOM-Response.pdf [Return]
9 IMMUNOLOGY RESEARCH, Vol. 20, 1999, pp.147-161 [Return]
10 ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE REVIEW, Vol. 8, No. 3, August 2003, pp. 223-246 [Return]
11 CLINICAL OPINION IN CLINICAL ALLERGY and IMMUNOLOGY, Vol. 3, No. 3, 2003, pp.199-203 [Return]
12 JOURNAL of ALLERGY and CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY, Vol. 113, No. 3, 2004, pp. 395-400 [Return]
13 JOURNAL of ALLERGY and CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY, Vol. 111, 2003, pp. 450-463 [Return]
14 ANNUAL REVIEW OF MEDICINE, Vol. 53, 2002, pp. 477-498 [Return]
15 RESPIRATORY RESEARCH, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2001, pp. 80-84 [Return]
16 CLINICAL and EXPERIMENTAL ALLERGY, Vol. 32, No. 5, 2002, pp. 796-802 [Return]
17 SCANDANAVIAN JOURNAL of RHEUMATOLOGY, Vol. 27, No. 3, 1998, pp. 219-224 [Return]
18 WORLD JOURNAL of SURGERY, Vol. 22, No. 4, 1998, pp. 382-389 [Return]
19 ANNALS of ASTHMA, ALLERGY and IMMUNOLOGY, Vol. 6, No. 6 Suppl 3, 2003, pp. 71-76 [Return]
20 INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF NEUROBIOLOGY, Vol. 71, 2005, pp. 317-341 [Return]
21 JOURNAL of AUTOIMMUNITY, Vol. 11, No. 6, 1998, pp. 635-642 [Return]
22 JOURNAL of IMMUNOLOGY, Vol. 162, No. 5, 1999, pp.2511-2520 [Return]
23 BAILLERE’S BEST PRACTICE & RESEARCH. CLINICAL RHEUMATOLOGY, Vol. 15, No. 5, 2001, pp. 677-691 [Return]
24 BRAZILIAN JOURNAL of MEDICAL and BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH, Vol. 31, No. 1, 1998, pp. 55-60 [Return]
25 IMMUNOLOGIC RESEARCH, Vol. 23, No. 1, 2001, pp. 59-74 [Return]
26 INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE, Vol. 12, Suppl 1, 2006, pp. S3-9 [Return]
27 JOURNAL of NEUROIMMUNOLOGY, Vol. 172, No. 1-2, 2006, pp. 198-205 [Return]
28 JOURNAL of PEDIATRICS, Vol. 146, No. 5, 2005, pp. 605-610 [Return]
29 CRITICAL REVIEWS in IMMUNOLOGY, Vol. 25, No. 2, 2005, pp. 75-102 [Return]
30 http://www.environmentaldefense.org [Return]
31 http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/documents/AutismCommunityReport.pdf [Return]

http://www.nvic.org/doctors_corner/lawrence_palevsky_aluminum_and_vaccine_ingredients.htm#TOP

2011-02-01 The Impact of Vaccines on the First Two Years of Life by Edda West, VRAN

 Vaccinations (incl corruption of science & govt)  No Responses »
Feb 012011
 

The Impact of Vaccines on the First Two Years of Life

By Edda West – VRAN Newsletter, 2011 

The first two years are the most vulnerable in a young child’s life. It is the time of most rapid brain growth, from the last trimester of pregnancy to two years of age.  During this time, critical windows of brain development occur, and the immune system begins to mature. 

It is during the first few months of life that the majority of vaccines are injected into the child. Today a child in Canada can receive up to 44 doses of 14 vaccines in the first 18 months of life.  Long term studies comparing the overall health outcome of vaccinated and unvaccinated children have not been done.  

Nor has it been proven safe to inject the infant with complex viral/bacterial particles, foreign proteins & DNA along with harsh chemical adjuvants which artificially “turn on” and manipulate immune response.  Growing numbers of researchers are concluding that environmental toxins and multiple vaccines are likely at the root of the current epidemic of neurodevelopmental disorders in children. 

While mainstream medicine aggressively promotes vaccination as the most important disease preventive measure, it fails to inform parents that vaccines are a class of drugs which carry both a risk of injury and death. Vaccines can trigger a range of neurological and immunological injuries which often don’t become apparent until weeks or months later. 

Parents are not told that these injuries have increased dramatically in the last twenty years along with the huge increase in the number of vaccines that have been added to the early childhood vaccine schedule. 

Parents are not told that the explosion of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), ADHD & behavioural disorders, the epidemic of allergic diseases which include asthma, allergies, eczema and life threatening anaphylaxis, diabetes and other degenerative diseases have also increased dramatically as the number of vaccines has increased. Allergic diseases, including asthma are the endpoint of a malfunctioning immune system.  They don’t tell you that there has been a precipitous decline in children’s health – that children are less healthy today than in previous generations. 

The doctors and nurses who routinely vaccinate children don’t mention that the medical profession has little understanding of how the infant immune system works in the first six months of life. Nor do they tell you that multiple vaccines given too early in life may interfere with the normal development of the brain and immune system. 

The infant immune system and brain are uniquely different from that of an older child or adult, and are particularly vulnerable to toxic assault.  A pressing concern that has not been adequately addressed by science is whether multiple vaccines injected during critical developmental phases of the brain and immune system, alter normal development – the first two years of life being a unique time of accelerated brain growth and immune system maturation. 

Brain Development and “Windows of Susceptibility” 

“Windows of susceptibility” are critical phases in brain development which occur during the first two years. 

The Institute of Child Health cautions that, “Exposures at critical periods of development – notably during embryogenesis, fetal life and infancy – can result in irreversible damage to growing nervous systems and affect emerging behaviour patterns, cause immune dysfunction, and have serious reproductive effects.  If a toxic exposure occurs during critical growth stages, the system affected can sustain permanent damage.”  These critical periods of development are thought of as ‘windows of susceptibility’.

The ‘windows of susceptibility’ are specific periods of vulnerability to neurotoxic effects. They occur over a broad time frame because age-related development of the brain and nervous system extends from fetal stage into adolescence. Damage to the “wiring” process of the brain is thought to underlie such permanent adverse effects as cognitive disability, developmental language disorders, learning disabilities, motor disorders, effects on intelligence and behavioural disorders, attention deficits and sensory abnormalities.” 

We know that cellular structures change so rapidly during embryonic and fetal growth that a toxic exposure at the wrong moment can permanently damage further development.  Small doses of neurotoxins during critical periods of brain development can alter those crucial neural pathways –“one mistake early on, and the brain may be forever changed in subtle or serious ways”, warns Dr. Landrigan, Chairman, Preventive Medicine, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine.  

Canada’s Institute of Child Health in Ottawa, stresses that the environment must be viewed as the “ultimate health determinant”. “The fact that the endocrine and immune systems and the developing brain are susceptible to these ubiquitous pollutants [lead, PCBs and methylmercury, etc.] must be viewed with major concern.” 

But curiously, child health experts limit their focus to toxic substances children are exposed to from the external environment, i.e. from food, air, water. They fail to take into account the impact of the most obvious and common source of chemical/biological stressors the baby’s neurological system must deal with – multiple (and increasing) vaccines containing lab altered pathogens, chemical adjuvants which manipulate immune response and various foreign proteins & DNA particles, injected into the child’s sensitive internal micro-environment during critical phases of brain and immune system development. 

Aluminum is Hazardous to Normal Brain Development 

          “It should be of high concern that we know nothing about the potential hazards of   aluminum adjuvants in children despite the fact that worldwide, preschool children  are regularly exposed to the highest amounts of aluminum from vaccines through  [mandatory] immunization programmes.” (C.Shaw & L. Tomljenovic)                                              

A close examination of vaccine ingredients leaves little doubt that we are exposing our children to substances that have the potential to damage the brain and impair immune function.  A case in point is aluminum – an important vaccine ingredient.  Aluminum is used as a vaccine adjuvant to ramp up immune response to vaccine antigens. Without the aluminum adjuvant, the body fails to mount an adequate immune response, with the exception of live and attenuated vaccines. Aluminum is a heavy metal and a well established neurotoxin. 

 The highest quantities of aluminum are injected into the infant’s fragile micro-environment during the most rapid brain growth in the early months of life.  “No clinical studies have been conducted to establish the safety of aluminum adjuvants in infants and children”, report neuroscientist Chris Shaw PhD and his colleague Lucija Tomljenovic PhD.  They ask the question, “Does an elevated aluminum burden from vaccine adjuvants contribute to the rising prevalence of autism?” 

Shaw and Tomljenovic remind us that, “due to their low body weight children are more susceptible to hazardous chemicals than adults.  Furthermore, the developing nervous system of a child is more vulnerable to neurotoxic insults than that of an adult.  Thus, the earlier in life a vaccine is given, the greater the potential for harming the nervous system.” 

They have calculated the amount of aluminum injected into young babies in the first 15 months of life.  In the first 2-3 months, babies receive the highest amount of aluminum per body weight from vaccines – 270 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per day (ug/kg/bw/day).  Thereafter, infants at 4, 6 and 15 months also receive very high amounts of vaccine-derived aluminum, ranging from 110.3 to 177.6 micrograms ug/kg/bw/day. 

The researchers have calculated that two month old babies in Canada, the U.K., U.S and Australia are exposed to 49 to 54 times the current safety limit for aluminum exposure.  This limit is set at 5 micrograms of aluminum per kilogram of body weight per day from parenteral sources –  i.e. by means other than through the digestive tract such as via intravenous or intramuscular injection. 

Shaw and Tomljenovic’s research has found that aluminum burden from vaccines highly correlates with increased prevalence of ASD (autism spectrum disorders) in western countries. In the U.S. the greatest annual increase of ASD “was observed in 1992, when ASD cases rose by 189%. This event was closely preceded by the addition of 6 doses of [two new] aluminum containing vaccines to the immunization schedule, 5 of which are administered in the first 4 months of life.”  The researchers report that currently, 1 in 91 children in the U.S. are diagnosed with ASD, while the current prevalence in the United Kingdom is 1 in 64 children. Canada has no clear statistics on ASD. 

Other researchers have shown that exposure to as little as 4 to 5 micrograms of aluminum per kg/bw/day has “long-term detrimental outcomes on neurologic development in preterm infants.  In adult human subjects, aluminum toxicity has been linked to a host of neurodegenerative complications and diseases”, including Parkinson’s, ALS, multiple sclerosis, Gulf War Syndrome and epilepsy. 

“It appears that the consistently rising trend in ASD prevalence should perhaps be of little surprise, given that two month old children in developed countries routinely receive 245 to 270 micrograms per kg/bw of aluminum per vaccination session – a burden equivalent to 38 standard adult-dose injections of hepatitis B vaccine”, say Shaw and Tomljenovic.  It would be naïve to assume that such an excessive burden of aluminum is safe for babies.  

It is a well known fact that male children are at a much higher risk of developing autism spectrum disorders.  Boys run a 4 X higher risk of developing ASD compared to girls.  Shaw and Tomljenovic suggest, “It would thus appear that the risks of adverse affects in children (especially young boys) as a result of multiple vaccinations, outweigh the uncertain benefits of preventing infections.”  

In addition to large doses of aluminum from injected vaccines, babies on certain soy-based formulas may ingest as much as 250 times the amount they would get from mother’s milk and three times more than the “provisional tolerable weekly intake” set by the U.S. Department of Food and Agriculture (FAO) who concluded that, “ aluminum compounds have the potential to affect the reproductive system and developing nervous system at doses lower than those previously set.”   

It is important to stress that only 0.25% of aluminum from dietary sources is absorbed into systemic circulation, whereas aluminum from vaccines is absorbed at nearly 100% efficiency!   

Shaw and Tomljenovic’s research reveals that “The sizes of most antigen-aluminum complexes are higher than the molecular weight cut-off of the glomerulus of the kidney (~18kDa) which would preclude efficient excretion of aluminum adjuvants.”  In other words, the body has difficulty eliminating the aluminum burden it receives from vaccines. “Thus, vaccine-derived aluminum would have a much greater potential to induce neurological damage than that obtained through diet”, and as already emphasized, “they are administered frequently during the most critical period of brain development.” 

Parents often find that their baby is much more susceptible to “bugs going around” after they are vaccinated with as many as 8 or 9 vaccines at the same time. Little wonder when one realizes that vaccine ingredients like aluminum skew the immune system, suppress the child’s ability to fight infections, while setting up a range of autoimmune disease possibilities.  Persistent ear infections commonly develop after vaccination prompting doctors to prescribe antibiotics which studies have shown do little to prevent ongoing ear infection, but go a long way in reducing gut health, further compromising immunity and the child’s overall health.   

“In order to fully understand the pathological effects on the developing brain and immune system of this kind of vaccination schedule, researchers would have to conduct a prospective, case controlled study comparing completely vaccinated to completely unvaccinated children. They would have to evaluate the children for at least 10 to 20 years for all morbidity and mortality outcomes, for pathological changes in immune and brain function at the cellular and molecular levels, and for changes in chromosomal integrity.  Within the first five to seven years, differences between the two groups, in terms of bilogocial integrity and rates of autism, learning disabilities, ADD/ADHD, asthma, juvenile diabetes and other brain and immune system disorders, would begin to emerge”, writes Barbara Loe Fisher in her new book, Vaccines, Autism & Chronic Inflammation: The New Epidemic. 

So far, medical science has declined to conduct the kind of comparative study proposed by Barbara Fisher and other vaccine awareness activists. Across the board, ‘public health’ institutions exhibit a willful blindness while purporting to act for the greater societal good.  By excluding a discussion of the biochemical/biomedical impact of multiple vaccines on the developing brain, and immune system, they fail in their duty to critically evaluate the entire picture of complex multifactoral toxicities contributing to the collapse of children’s health today.

Too Many Vaccines Too Close Together Too Early in Life

Professor of Neurosurgery, Russell Blaylock, MD, has written a series of articles based on extensive review of the scientific literature in which he examines in great detail the destructive effects of excessive immune stimulation often triggered by too many vaccines given too close together, too early in life  –  a problem that will worsen as more vaccines are added to the already overcrowded schedule. 

As a neurosurgeon, Dr. Blaylock has intimate knowledge of the neurological system, and brain chemistry – a background which eminently qualifies him to interpret complex studies in neurology, immunology & chemistry to present an in depth perspective of the factors that can interfere with brain function, and cause long term damage.

A key concept for parents to understand is that impact to the child’s immune system is going to affect his/her neurological system.  Dr. Russell Blaylock’s work brings this knowledge home in the most profound way.  When the immature immune system of the infant is bombarded with vaccines, it sets off the brain’s own unique immune system. The neuroscience literature indicates that “excessive and especially repeated immune stimulation can result in severe disruption of brain development and even neurodegeneration”. 

That the immune system and nervous system are intimately interconnected has been known for some time.  What effects one effects the other. “There is compelling evidence that overactivation of the brain’s key immune cells (microglia) can result in alterations in brain growth and connectivity during rapid brain growth, the so-called ‘brain growth spurt’.” 

The science is already in place which shows that excessive vaccination overstimulates the immune system, which in turn hyperstimulates the brain’s immune activity leading to an outpouring of excitotoxic substances which result in varying degrees of brain injury.  “Unfortunately, this knowledge has not yet filtered out to vaccine policy makers, pediatricians, or parents”, says Blaylock. 

Dr. Blaylock refers to a growing number of scientific studies which demonstrate “serious dangers in our present vaccine policy, including altered brain development, seizures and loss of brain cell connections, called synapses.  These studies all point to over-vaccination as a real and present danger to our children, and in certain instances, to adults.” 

Keep in mind”, writes Dr. Blaylock, “that the child by age one will already have had 20 vaccine inoculations, each spaced no more than one or two months apart.  This means, the brain microglia (immune cells) are maintained in a constant primed state.  Each vaccine increases dramatically the damage done by the previous vaccine series.  One is not surprised that so many vaccinated children develop seizures, or that we have such a high incidence of autism  I can assure the elite of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the CDC that over one million autistic children far exceeds the danger measles, mumps, diphtheria, chickenpox, tetanus, rotavirus, Hib meningitis and hepatitis pose to our youth.  Also, keep in mind that for every fully autistic child, there are ten times that many with lesser degrees of impairment.”  

A stark emblem of the arrogance of mainstream medicine is the assumption that an infant can be injected with an unlimited quantity of vaccines without deleterious effect to brain and immune system development – an assumption that has resulted in an unprecedented health disaster.

As humans, our brain is what sets us apart from other species and enables us to interact socially and participate in our complex society. Normal brain function enables us to be creative beings, to be academically or scientifically proficient, to be artistic and musical, to be able to choose our direction in life.  There are infinite ways in which we can develop our individual gifts and capabilities, thanks to a normally functioning brain. 

When the infant’s brain and immune system is protected from toxic assault and is optimally nourished, ideally through extended breastfeeding, the critical windows of brain growth are able to unfold in the species specific sequences that make us uniquely human.  Protecting and nourishing the baby’s brain is essential for the development of the child’s full potential. 

As parents, we are charged with protecting our children from accidental and environmental assault.  To do this, it is necessary to re-examine universal vaccination policies currently imposed on the global population.  We must determine whether these policies are helping or harming our children. 

Notes & References: 

-The Health of Canada’s Children, Third Edition, 2000, published by The Canadian Institute of Child Health

-.Lucija Tomljenovic,PhD & Chris Shaw, PhD – Does an Elevated Aluminum Burden From Vaccine Adjuvants Contribute to the Rising Prevalence of Autism?

– Judy Converse, MPH, RD – “Why do Pediatricians Deny the Obvious?

– Larry Palevesky, MD –  “Aluminum and Vaccine Ingredients: What Do We Know? What Don’t We Know?”

-.Russell L. Blaylock, M.D. –Vaccinations: The Hidden Dangers – The Blaylock Wellness Report: Vol.1, No.1. April 2004

– Russell L. Blaylock, MD, “Chronic Microglial Activation and Excitotoxicity Secondary to Excessive Immune Stimulation: Possible Factors in Gulf War Syndrome and Autism” – Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons Vol.9 No.2 Summer 2004.

– Russell L. Blaylock, MD, “The Central Role of Excitotoxicity in Autism Spectrum Disorders” – Journal of the American Nutraceutical Association Vol. 6, No.1, Winter, 2003.

– Russell L. Blaylock, MD,  “Interaction of Cytokines, Excitotoxins, and Reactive Notrogen and Oxygen Species in Autism Spectrum Disorders”  Journal of the American Nutraceutical Association Vol.6. No.4 Fall 2003.

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