July 6, 2009

From Louise Kuo Habakus

Happy birthday, America. It's the season of BBQs, pool parties and fireworks. Should we focus on the swine flu vaccine now? Yes. I'll tell you why. Mainstream press headlines are filled with pandemic flu updates. Maybe the news is falling on deaf ears as you plan for a trip to the beach or mountains. But the siren call of summer is brief. As we soak up the sunshine, there's a frenzy of activity beneath the surface. Public health officials, medical personnel, school nurses, superintendents and others are all gearing up for the biggest vaccination program in history. "Back to school" always comes around more quickly than we want. I'm hoping you'll give this subject a bit of thought now so you aren't caught flat-footed come this fall.

Please watch NVIC's 7-minute swine flu video clip released on July 4. Barbara Loe Fisher tells you what you need to know.

Swine flu has been deemed a threat to national security, akin to a 9/11 level terrorist attack. If you're a patriot and you love this country, pay close attention.

SWINE FLU… WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Have you stopped to wonder why our authorities call it swine flu? I'll tell you why. Because it sounds bad. Pigs seem like dirty animals. Who on earth would want a pig disease? In fact, swine flu sounds so darn undesirable that it could make you run out and take steps to avoid it. Get vaccinated, for example.

Here's something interesting. Why don't we call seasonal flu swine flu? We should. Let me explain. Flu comes from birds. Waterfowl, to be precise. Humans rarely contract flu from the natural animal reservoir (wild birds) and bird flu doesn't spread between humans. Domesticated birds are needed as a stepping stone. From domestic poultry, flu then spreads to mammals who live in close proximity to humans. This would be livestock, primarily of the piggy variety. The virus can go back and forth many times between birds and pigs before it jumps to humans. The type of influenza which originally hopped to pigs from birds is almost always mild. Transit via pigs reduces its virulence. The unprecedented, unlikely mass transmission of flu directly from birds to humans is another story. That’s when virologists start using language that makes you want to batten down the hatches or run for the hills. But for today's global flu pandemic, panic is not appropriate. This one is mild.

HOW DOES SEASONAL FLU DIFFER FROM SWINE FLU?

It doesn’t!! Swine flu is regular, annual, run-of-the-mill, seasonal flu. This one just happened to occur in the spring. Otherwise, it’s the same thing. Here’s what government has to say about the differences between seasonal and swine flu. Try as they might, it just doesn’t sound scary:

§ Healthy people may be at risk.

§ Health systems may be overwhelmed.

§ Effective antivirals may be in limited supply (quick, get yours now!!).

§ Symptoms may be more severe.

Forgive the saracasm but... oh brother. And their attempt to create fear by saying “the number of deaths could be quite high” rings hollow. Predictably, they harken back to the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. But we have knowm for a long while now that the vast majority of flu deaths in 1918 were caused by secondary bacterial infection, eminently treatable with antibiotics if only they had been invented then (penicillin debuted in 1928). Not six months ago, Wikipedia’s 1918 flu entry contained a specific reference to penicillin and acknowledged that the same 1918 flu would not be as deadly today precisely because we now have antibiotics. I know it was there because I read it myself as I was doing research for the new NJ seasonal flu vaccine mandate imposed last fall. Curious that the reference has been removed… and in its place, more colorful language about bleeding from the ears and massive hemorrhages was added.

It’s your choice. Will you allow yourself to be manipulated? As I recently read somewhere, remove the “dem” from pandemic for the true endgame. When there is fear, normal rules of logic and judgment do not apply. When there is fear, people can be compelled to do things they normally would not do.

MUST WE TARGET THE CHILDREN?

The manipulation doesn’t end there. Pigs. Deadly. Mutations. The contagion could be upon us! We're being primed for the punchline. Children are a vector for disease. Targeting kids will control flu, says Medical News Today and Reuters. Our government is responding with lightning speed. HR 2596: No Child Left Unimmunized Against Influenza Act 2009 was introduced on May 21 to test the feasibility of using the Nation's primary and secondary schools as influenza vaccination centers. Do not stop to reflect. There’s time if you hurry. Run your kids over to the nearest swine flu shot clinic. Vaccinate the children, save us all!!

Vaccinate the children? Are we sure? We can debate the reasons why but precious few will argue the fact that American kids aren't well. The CDC recently announced that children under age 9 will require four shots.

China, which expects to have its vaccines ready by September, recently disclosed that its swine flu vaccines will be offered to the following high risks groups:

§ Children ages 6 months to 6 years of age

§ Senior citizens aged 65 and above

§ Patients suffering from chronic diseases

§ Pregnant women

China is making these vaccines available on a voluntary basis. Will we seek to mandate ours?

FLU VACCINES ARE A CRAPSHOOT

Flu vaccines change every year because the flu changes every year. We never quite know if the vaccine we develop will be a homerun. It’s a crapshoot. And more often than not, the shot is not effective.

Read what Tom Jefferson, MD has to say about the flu vaccine in the British Medical Journal:

§ Because the virus and vaccine change every year, nonrandomized studies predominate (studies are severely limited)

§ Systematic reviews of large datasets over several decades, a superior approach, shows that vaccines have little or no effect (the shots don't work!)

§ Studies used to justify flu vaccine policies are of poor methodological quality and the impact of confounders is high (bad studies, bad conclusions)

§ Little comparative evidence exists on flu vaccine safety (are flu shots safe?)

§ Re-evaluation should be urgently undertaken (flu vaccines may not be a good idea)

Today’s pandemic is your ordinary, garden variety flu that had its transit through pigs. Again, it’s mild. If it were to somehow spontaneously mutate into something else, that would take time and we’d know it was happening. Do we need a crapshoot swine flu vaccine to add to the normal crapshoot seasonal flu vaccine this fall?

If I were in charge, I’d severely question the wisdom of spending precious scarce resources to develop an unheard of 600 million vaccine doses for run-of-the-mill flu. Especially if we were in the middle of a recession with so many pressing health care and other priorities. But I’m not in charge. So fine, make the vaccine if you must. But don't mandate it. And here’s why. Dr. Jefferson tells us very clearly. As it is with flu vaccines every single year, there's inadequate to non-existent science demonstrating efficacy and safety. If you can't offer good proof that the shots are safe and effective, you have no business mandating them. Now there's an ironic choice of words: business mandating them. Indeed.

THE INTERNATIONAL SWINE FLU CONFERENCE - AUGUST 2009

"Shaping the debate." Top leaders and key decision-makers of major companies representing a broad range of industries will meet with distinguished scientists, public health officials, law enforcers, first responders, and other experts to discuss pandemic prevention, preparedness, response and recovery. Conference topics include:

§ Mass fatality management planning

§ Protection of police and law enforcement during social unrest and public disorder

§ Airlines, travel, airport, quarantine and border health services

I wasn't invited. Were you? I guess we're not being asked to shape the debate. We're just meant to roll up our kids' sleeves.

I'm also left wondering why our authorities refuse to engage with the significant and growing community of credentialed scientists, medical doctors, lawyers and other professionals whose work on vaccination safety, efficacy and ethics is raising serious questions about public health policy and the laws we've passed to facilitate its implementation. NVIC is convening the world's leading advocates and experts in Washington DC on October 2-4 for a public conference on vaccination. We're headed down an ill-advised path driven by panic and corporate greed. These speakers call for real dialogue and moderation. Shouldn't the full complement of views be acknowledged? Don't you want our authorities to at least listen? I thought this was America, the last bastion of freedom and democracy in the world. Am I missing something?

PHARMA CONTINUES TO LEAD CORPORATE LOBBYING SPEND

Does this have anything to do with lobying perhaps?

What is lobbying? Here are some excerpts from Infoplease. The practice of influencing decisions made by government, carried out by agents who present the concerns of special interests to legislators and specifically seek to to influence the passage or defeat of legislation. Lobbyists supply technical information, make political threats or promises, supply friendship, entertainment and other favors (are you kidding?). The potential for corruption has given lobbying an unsavory connotation. While federal and state legislators spend much of their time with lobbyists, and can be said at times to be responding to interest groups rather than to their constituents. Legislation drafted by lobbyists is sometimes introduced.

The Organic Consumers Organization reports on the amount of money spent on lobbying in the first quarter of 2009. Pharma and the health care industry outrank every other category including oil and war.

While lobbying is technically for any special interest, including public interest and social issues groups, the ante is high and this is not a game for the financially underprivileged. The top 100 spenders were all major corporations... Exxon Mobil, Lockheed Martin, Pfizer, Monsanto. In this great country called America, the business of getting your needs advanced and protected is for the very wealthy.

THINGS YOU CAN DO NOW

The flu is definitely making the rounds. The New York Post recently reported the CDC's estimate that 500,000 New Yorkers may be infected with the swine flu, and nationwide, there's probably 50 times more cases of swine flu than the one million that have been officially reported. By my count, that's about 50 million people.

1. Support your immune system. Swine flu is not deadly. But it's also not fun. There are many things you can do. You can strengthen your defenses, so you don't get it. You can support your body to dispatch the virus more efficiently from your body, if you do get it. None of these options need involve prescription drugs or vaccines. Investigate transfer factors, herbs and homeopathy. Did you know homeopathy was very successful in treating the 1918 flu? Read what Dr. Joseph Mercola and Mike Adams from Natural News have to say about building natural immunity against the swine flu. What you learn will serve you well during non-pandemic times, too.

2. Check your titers first. If you or your children are among the 50 million who already contracted and survived swine flu, you are now immune. Yup. Your body made the antibodies and fought the disease. You now have memory cells that will remember and efficiently combat the disease in the event you encounter it again in the future. So if someone wants to give you a vaccine for a disease to which you are already immune, I hope you will find some choice words to craft the perfect response. It goes without saying that we must be permitted to prove immunity before being forced to get the shot.

3. Know the law. Do you know what your government can do in the event a state of emergency is declared? Can they force you to get vaccinated? If you refuse, can they quarantine you? Send you to a camp? It has been nearly 8 years since 9/11/01, an event that galvanized and shaped the landscape of this country. Shortly thereafter, Congress passed laws granting unprecedented powers to government that severely limit our personal freedoms in the event of imminent terrorist attack. If you remember the mood of our country, you can understand why it happened. Depending on the version of the Model States Emergency Health Powers Act that your state passed, a number of individual rights and civil liberties can be legally violated. Here's the state Legislative Surveillance Table. Did you know that the current pandemic level 6 warning recently announced by the World Health Organization is the equivalent of a Code Red warning issued by the Department of Homeland Security? Did you know that the FDA is now not required to enforce its already severely limited efficacy and safety requirements for products deemed vital to protect national security?

4. Make a plan. How would you describe your gameplan? "Maybe it will go away?" That's not a strategy. I recommend: plan for the worst, hope for the best. Your response may yield a lot of complicated issues. But it's a simple question. What will you do if you or your children are required to get the swine flu vaccines? Will you get the shots? Or... if it came to that, would you leave?

5. Consider your chess game. I'm not much of a chess player. But I know enough to remember the cardinal rules of chess. Plan your strategy several moves ahead. Anticipate your opponent's actions. Preserve your options. It's no different here. Today, right now, you have more options than you will in September. Wouldn't it be easier to create change now? E-mail President Obama and Secretary Sebelius. Contact all your federal and state elected officials. I'm thinking up the details of our next campaign. But don't wait for me. Send your letters and e-mails now and I'm sure they'll love to hear from you again later, too. Remind them that they serve at the pleasure of the people. And the people aren't pleased.

6. Who loves you now? The entire NJ Assembly is up for re-election (or dismissal) this November. There will be many elections across the country this fall. Talk with the incumbents and challengers now. Ask them where they stand. Let them know how you plan to vote. They won't love you any better than they do now, when they're courting your vote. Use your leverage.

7. Find your community. It's easier to do this work with a friend or two or five thousand. Tell your people about Life Health Choices. Attend seminars and movie screenings. Check out some webinars. And go to a conference so you can learn, network and brainstorm with other passionate people. I recommend USAAA's International Conference which starts this week in Los Angeles, Saving Our Kids Healing Our Planet's expo in New Jersey in September and NVIC's International Public Conference in Virginia in October.

ATTENTION VOTERS: CAROLYN MALONEY (D-NY) AND CHRIS SMITH (R-NJ)

We all must become educated voters. You're going to hear this a lot from me because, in my opinion, it's all on us. At the end of the day, we will get the leadership we deserve. We must find and support those rare candidates brave enough to break through and do the right thing. And once again, this is not about partisan politics. Blue, red, green, pink... let's talk about and vote on issues and character.

Many state legislators, bombarded with letters from constituents expressing concerns about vaccines, take their cue from the feds. Largely radio silence at the federal level. Until recently.

Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Chris Smith (R-NJ) are courageous enough to introduce legislation (HR 3069) for a real, no kidding comparative study of vaccinated versus unvaccinated populations (here's their letter to Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius). We've been mass vaccinating for decades in ever increasing numbers. We've observed the childhood vaccination program dogged by rancorous controversy for decades, a debate that just won't go away despite fierce assertions from government, doctors and industry. And yet we've never seen fit to devote the funds to do this type of study?

Maloney and Smith have also introduced legislation (HR 2618) that would improve the current system for vaccine safety monitoring in this country by assigning responsibility for the nation’s vaccine safety to an independent agency within the Department of Health and Human Services; and another (HR 2617) that puts in statute definite timelines for the elimination of mercury from vaccines.

Shockingly flawed studies. Woefully inadequate safety monitoring. Mercury in vaccines... still? The bills introduced by Maloney and Smith shouldn't be so unusual in a government of the people, by the people, for the people. It's 2009 and we're still slogging through this? You don't need me to tell you what's going on.

Maloney is also gutsy enough to defy party bosses and allow the voters to decide who should prevail.

Thank you Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Chris Smith (R-NJ). Will you reward their courage and integrity by giving them your vote?

UPCOMING EVENTS:

7/9-7/12: Los Angeles, CA – USAAA International Conference. Check out the great speakers and this great deal. I’ll be speaking with Dr. Ken Stoller on 7/11.

7/10: Boca Raton, FL - Are Vaccines Safe & Effective? Board-certified pediatrician, Dr. Larry Palevsky offers this opportunity for parents and practitioners to understand vaccine choices from a physician who practices holistic medicine.

7/13: Radio interview with Ellen Kamhi, RN, PhD, 7:00-7:30pm ET, airs live on 90.3 FM WHPC, Garden City, NY.

7/16: Radio interview with Giorgio Repeti, 8:10-9:00pm ET, listen live or download the archive.

7/22: Colts Neck, NJ – 7:00-9:30pm, Colts Neck Reformed Church, 72 Highway 537 West. Movie screening – Autism: Made in the USA. Suggested donation $5. PROUD members no charge. Refreshments, limited seating, e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

9/11: Radio interview on Natural Alternatives, airs 6-7pm ET on 90.1FM, WUSB Stony Brook, NY and simulcast where it is archived for one week.

9/12-9/13: Newark, NJ – Saving Our Kids Healing Our Planet expo. UMDNJ and the Newark Mayor’s office are sponsors. I’ve been invited to speak about empowered parenting and Life Health Choices.

9/15: Monroe, NY - 7:00-10:00pm (time to be confirmed), Sacred Heart Church (St. Theresa Room, lower level), 26 Still Road. Vaccine choices seminar. Refreshments, limited seating, e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to register.

10/1-10/4: Reston, VA – NVIC’s Fourth International Public Conference on Vaccination, Hyatt Regency Hotel. I’ll be closing out the conference on 10/4, the day before we descend on Capitol Hill. Grab a friend, road trip, share a hotel room. Trust me, this will be a timely issue.

10/17: Basking Ridge, NJ – Holistic Moms Network Natural Living Conference, 8:30am-4:30pm, Dolce Conference Center. HMN is a fun, low pressure way to to meet likeminded people and learn more.

10/25: Freehold, NJ – 1:15-3:00pm, IZFNA Bait-ul-Wali-Asr, 235 Georgia Road. Vaccine choices seminar. Refreshments, no charge, limited seating, mosque rules must be followed, see flyer for details. E-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to register.

BREAKING NEWS AND SOME OLDER STORIES, TOO

3/13 Blinders won’t reduce autism, thank you, Dr. Jon Poling
3/19 Medical care for children with autism using complementary alternative medicine
3/19 Mock pandemic response drill a full month before we knew about the Mexican swine flu
4/8 Charges filed vs Baxter, Avir for developing biological weapons of mass destruction
5/17 Switzerland inserts complementary medicine into constitution (I'm jealous!)
5/31 Gluten intolerance becoming more commonplace
6/1 Offit pockets at least $29 million promoting vaccines
6/1 Corn = new source of swine flu vaccine
6/1 Autism – an environmental health issue after all?
6/2 SSRIs not effective for repetitive behavior: teens, children with autism
6/8 Another case compensated in Hep B Omnibus
6/8 Roiling the waters, NJ and the mandated fluoride bill
6/12 Stanford drive through experiment - do you want a vaccine with that?
6/15 NJ‘s first swine flu death had multiple underlying health conditions
6/15 1322 families have won vaccine-induced brain damage cases since 1988
6/16 UGA to train more teachers for autistic children
6/16 No compulsory MMR in UK, could damage trust in health professionals
6/16 Sanofi to donate millions of doses of swine flu vax to WHO
6/16 “The FDA Protects Your Pets from Mercury But Not You - Until Now,” Charlie Brown, JD
6/17 Schools as mass vaccination clinics
6/17 Children suffer as states cut health budgets (WSJ)
6/17 FDA green light to expand marketing license of 3 toxic antipsychotics for use in children
6/17 Teen girls develop degenerative muscle diseases after Gardasil
6/17 The long road of autism diagnosis (Bittersweet Farms, one of a kind)
6/18 Targeting children effective to control spread of flu
6/18 FDA to seize natural products that mention swine flu, click HERE
6/18 Nat'l Meningitis Assn: save lives give a shot, Snyderman/Offit honored (scroll to middle)
6/18 Clifford Miller responds to Offit fearmongering, children to die
6/20 Robert Scott Bell on school flu shooters, healthcare disaster
6/20 Brazil begins annual polio shot campaign: "The shots don't have side-effects."
6/21 To vaccinate or not to vaccinate? The situation in NJ.
6/21 Certified Organic may not be 100% organic
6/22 MRSA transmission between pets and humans
6/22 Listen to the archived webinar with me, Dr. Mayer Eisenstein and Claudine Liss
6/24 UN treaty could result in the end of homeschooling and state vaccine exemptions
6/25 CDC recommends 4th dose of polio vaccine for 4 to 6 year olds
6/25 US swine flu cases may have hit 1 million
6/26 CDC: children under 9 will need 4 shots
6/26 Adults with asthma skipping flu shots (guess why)
6/26 600 million swine flu doses?!
6/26 Arkansas says mandatory shots constitutional, cites 1905 Supreme Court case
6/28 Huge rise in autistic adults, see chart
6/29 47 deaths caused by HPV 4 in 1 vaccine “Gardasil” since 2006
6/29 Government recommends Japanese encephalitis vaccine to US travelers
6/29 Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Chris Smith (R-NJ) intro 1st vax/unvax health outcomes study
6/30 Ban on 2 pain relief drugs shines spotlight on dangers of acetaminophen
7/1 Majority of food at Whole Foods is not certified organic, "natural" is a myth, take action
7/1 American med schools require no training in geriatric medicine
7/2 WNBA star forward Candace Parker's new baby agitated by first round of shots
7/2 States cut summer school (not all is lost, at least we'll have free shots this fall)
7/2 British Medical Association: boys should get HPV 4 in 1 quadrivalent vaccine "Gardasil"
7/2 New flu inefficient in attacking people
7/3 Around the world, more and more parents are shaking their babies to death (yeah, right)
7/5 Time for businesses to draw up plans to cope with pandemic
7/5 GlaxoSmithKline admits girls used as guinea pigs in HPV vaccine trials

June 2009 Dear NJ Parents, Don't forget the new vaccine mandates, Love, Jon and Heather (no mention of legitimate exemptions)
July 2009 Are there more bowel problems in children with autism? (yes)

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Louise Kuo Habakus