News Aug 23, 2012 at 4:00 am

With Council Vote on Fluoride Set, Foes Prepare for Ballot Fight

Comments

1
Here come the anti-fluoride zealots in 3, 2, 1...

The commenters below hold opinions based on paranoia and superstition, and will distort the evidence in order to further their jihad.
2
Jeez, getting alittle ahead of yourself aren't ye?

You know jambox, if the concept of different people with different opinions taking part in an open public forum erks you that much, you can always start your own blog where you alone are the sole moderator.

Or move to Russia, your choice.
3
And there was the pro-fluoride zealot setting the tone.
5
Fluoride is the main active ingredient in Prozac and was used by the NAZIS to sedate prisoners in concentration camps.

http://www.greaterthings.com/Lexicon/F/Fluoride.htm
6
~
http://www.portlandmercury.com/BlogtownPDX/archives/2011/03/15/psu-is-a-nazi-liberal-alien-conspiracy
7
This is Portland. We get more rain here than anywhere else. Even so, there is no place in the United States that does not get enough annual rainfall to make feasible the use of rain catchment systems. The exorbitant price of water is an atrocious rip off anyway. Watch. When everybody converts their roof tops for water harvesting, the City will impose a tax to relive the Water Bureau and force you to ingest Prozac.
8
How about the city just handing out fluoride drops for free to anyone of legal age who want's them? While were at it, why not give away free vitamin supplements?
9
Putting fluoride in the water to prevent tooth decay is about as useful as putting a cast on your arm for a broken leg - the shit don't work that way.
10
The article says "fluoride foes also point to more dramatic negative studies—some that purportedly link fluoride with reduced IQs (although those are disputed by nonpartisan scientists and fluoride supporters)." Two problems with this statement:

1. THe latest study didn't "purportedly" link fluoride with reduced IQ's. It was a meta-analysis that found that 25 out of 27 peer-reviewed scientific studies DID find that higher fluoride was linked with lower IQ.

2. These weren't "partisan scientists," the implication being they are some kinds of zealots. They were professionals who did this study through Harvard, were partially funded by the National Institutes of Health, and had their paper peer-reviewed and published in Environmental Health Perspectives, a highly-regarded journal.

There isn't proof that water fluoridation is lowering IQ, but there is significant data that points in that direction. There is no way we should be fluoridating Portland's (or anyone's) water until it has been determined beyond a reasonable doubt that it's safe.

Rick North
11
The fact that the totalitarians in office make the decision is secret ought to be the tip off that there is some hidden agenda. In context of the national trend towards fluoridation, against the will of the people, would seem to indicate some special vested interest of some powerful, anonymous entity.
12
Chlorine is used in water to help make it safe to drink. Comparing fluoride with that is just a red herring. It's not the same thing. Fluoride is not necessary to have safe drinking water. It's just something they want to add to help fight tooth decay. We have lots of great ways to fight tooth decay that do not involve putting more toxins in our water. You don't have to believe that fluoride will cause brain damage to agree it is a bad idea. However, that there is evidence that it can be bad for you compels the use of the precautionary principle in deciding this.

If it might be bad for you, and is not necessary for the quality of water for consumption, and it costs money, and the benefit can be obtained through means that do not have the same costs, then we should not do it. That is the case here.

Bad idea is bad.
13
Hey - there are already free fluoride tablets passed out: to every elementary school child at Portland Public Schools (if the parent so chooses). Why make it redundant?

Fundamentally, even if fuoride was completely safe, and made everyone's teeth nice and strong, I STILL wouldn't want to be forced to ingest it through my drinking water.

If Portland City Council is so concerned about people's teeth, perhaps it should take on a public education campaign about the dangers of all the sugary processed crap that so many kids eat. This could have a far greater impact, with far less risk for the rest of us.
14
Dear Mercury--this was a great article!!

The "IQ study" reviewed papers from China where the fluoridation levels go up to 11.5 ppm. It compared kids' IQs from really high fluoride areas to low fluoride areas (around 1 ppm), similar to what's in the US. Far from being conclusive, the authors said the half-point IQ difference was within the "measurement error" of IQ testing, the "actual exposures were not known," and the studies they reviewed had "deficiencies" that limited their ability to draw any conclusions.

Saying this is conclusive evidence that optimal water fluoridation--which is just 0.7 ppm-- reduces IQ is just wrong. Read the studies.

I mean, come on!!! America has used fluoridation since 1945 and the only health outcome is reduced cavities. Thanks Randy Leonard for standing up for children's health.
15
Rick North,
I respect your work and thank you for so many of the things you've championed, but I have to respectfully point out that if there were any plausible link between fluoride and IQ, we would have seen Americans' IQs plummet as fluoridation has expanded throughout the US since 1945.

To the contrary, "Recent data from 12 pairs of tests representing eight standardization samples show that American IQ gains have occurred at a rate of 0.308 points per year from 1972 to 2002. Linked with earlier IQ gains, Americans have gained about 22 points over the 70 years between 1932 and 2002"

I realize this was not a study of fluoridation, but considering that over 70% of Americans on public water systems receive optimally fluoridated water--that's over 200,000,000 people--I think it would be pretty tough to argue that their IQs are lower than the 30% of us not on fluoridated water systems (and btw, Bull Run already has fluoride, just not enough to reduce cavities).

http://www.iapsych.com/iqmr/fe/LinkedDocuments/flynn2007c.pdf
16
The best nutrition for strong bones and teeth is calcium with magnesium in near equal proportion. Calcium taken without magnesium will actually leach calcium out of bones. Fluoride works well as a rinse, but should never be swallowed.
17
The meta analysis at the fore of the discussion about IQ was falsely promulgated as a news story on Reuters.

Evaluations of both the scientific and political aspects of this issue are available at the following sites:

http://www.ilikemyteeth.org/fluoridation/f…

http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.p…

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.…

http://doubtfulnews.com/2012/07/anatomy-of…

http://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/fluorid…

Additionally, the only Chinese study to compare high, low & optimal fluoride levels found the BEST IQ associated with the optimal level. IQ was lower at both high & low fluoride drinking water

"By testing of the intellectual ability of 447 elementary school students ranging in age from 9 to 10 1/2, it was discovered that both high & low fluoride had an effect on child intelligence. Fluoride levels greater than 2.0 mg/L or less than 0.2 mg/L can disrupt intellectual development."

Qin LS et al The influence of drinking water fluoride on pupils IQ. Chinese J Control of Endemic Diseases 5:203-204,1990

The European Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks (2011): SCHER agrees that there is not enough evidence to conclude that fluoride in drinking water at concentrations permitted in the EU may impair the IQ of children. SCHER also agrees that a biological plausibility for the link between fluoridated water and IQ has not been established.

More systematic reviews of the IQ concern can easily be given: Australian Government, the US National Review Council, the Bazian Independent Review of the NRC report and others.

No mainstream medical, dental or public health entities have called for and end of fluoridation because of these egregiously poor quality overseas studies.

CWF is safe, effective and inexpensive. The science which justifies this position is the reason organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics endorse CWF. Clearly their only goal is better health for children.
18
Whether it helps your teeth (or affects your IQ) or not is irrelevant. Putting it in the water is not the most effective way to get it in or on your teeth. News flash: when you drink water, it circulates through your whole body, of which your teeth are only a small (and probably decaying, given the way most people eat) fraction.

Brief chemistry lesson: Fluorine is a highly reactive element that can affect lots of other things besides your teeth. Iodine, chlorine and fluorine are are halogens, but fluorine is the most electronegative (and thus most reactive) of all. It's also physically the smallest of the halogens, which makes it difficult to filter out if you don't want it in your water--Britta and PUR filters, for instance, will not remove fluorine compounds from H2O, though they will remove most of the chlorine.

Back to iodine - Ever hear of the connection between your thyroid and iodine? Iodine is essential to thyroid function. Fluorine, however, interferes with this and suppresses thyroid function, which is great if you happen to have an overactive thyroid (but shouldn't you be taking carefully prescribed doses for that medical condition of yours)?

Mr. Leonard's comparison or fluorine to chlorine is a ridiculous argument. Chlorine is added to improve water quality (and it can be easily filtered out if it concerns you). Fluorine has nothing to do with water quality. And costly reverse-osmosis filters would be required to remove it from your water. YOUR DELICIOUS PURE PORTLAND WATER--probably the best municipal water in the world. You really shouldn't fuck with it.

They are proposing adding fluorine compounds to our water as a form of medication. There is no other medication that is essentially forced on the American population. Besides, how much you get is completely uncontrolled--if you drink twice as much water as I do, you get twice as much fluorine. Does that sound like a reasonable medical treatment plan?!! What if you "needed" only half as much fluorine as I did? IT MAKES NO SENSE to deliver fluorine this way.

As others have said, schoolchildren are already offered (MEASURED) doses of fluorine if they/their parents choose to have it. There are plenty of other ways to treat your teeth with fluorine.

ME, I DON'T WANT IT. SO WHAT RIGHT DO YOU HAVE TO PUT IT IN MY WATER, MR. LEONARD?
19
Hydrogen is a necessary ingredient in NUCLEAR BOMBS.

Hydrogen was used by the Nazis to make Zyclon B, one of the gases they put in the GAS CHAMBERS to murder jews.

Hydrogen also makes up 50% of Hydrochloric Acid, which will DISSOLVE YOUR INSIDES if consumed.

Hydrogen is the INDUSTRIAL WASTE created during chlorine production.

And yet, those sneaky government officials keep telling us to drink water, WHICH IS 66% HYDROGEN!!! So, every glass of water you have is 66% INDUSTRIAL WASTE and POISON!

I demand that the City get all of that hydrogen crap out of our water supply, RIGHT NOW! We can't go another day with any more hydrogen in our water supply!
20
“The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.”
-- Harlan Ellison

The human body is approximately 60% water and water is 11.1% Hydrogen. The human body is naturally, 0% Fluorine.

21
Water is one part Hydrogen and two parts Oxygen. Water is not comprised of Fluorine.
22
Nurse Goodbody, you may missed my point just a little bit. Please fell free to read my post with your numbers (Which I believe are correct). Note that my argument is still specious no matter how much hydrogen is in water.
23
I personally am more than willing to sacrifice a half point of IQ for a significant decrease in tooth decay. Being smart is totally over-rated.=) On the other hand, I don't believe that having 0.7 ppm of fluoride in my water will lower my IQ because if someone with a high IQ actually read the study, they would realize that the negative effects would only occur (if they even do occur) for VERY high levels of fluoride, much higher than is allowed by law. Now, let's just for fun make a list of all the essential nutrients that are dangerous in large quantities: iodine, salt, vitamin d, beta-carotene, and on and on. All the fat soluble vitamins and most of the essential minerals. Yes, fluoride is bad if you get too much. You won't get too much from your water. Don't eat a tube of toothpaste. Thank goodness for the vitamin D in our milk, the iodine in our salt and the folic acid in our bread - all major public health breakthroughs contributing to longer lives for all of us. Yeah for public health initiatives.
24
Portland is probably already buying Willamete River water from Wilsonville by now any how.
25
With all that Hydrogen in the human body, it's no wonder that spontaneous human combustion occurs sometimes. The real question is, 'what's to stop it?"

Fluorine is not a component of water.
26
Why is it illegal for Aluminum smelters to dump Fluorine into rivers?
27
"A Chemist" - hay pal, look at study after study after study.
The science clearly falls in the flouridating our water.
I hate any sort of additional reasons to tax us more, nor do I even have children - the most whom are affected by this - the really poor kids - but this makes such complete sense to most sane Americans that you seem to be the Ostrich with his head in a hole.
28
A few additional comments on the IQ discussion:
1. I don't think raising of IQ points over the years can be used as evidence of fluoride's effects on intelligence one way or the other. First, the IQ scores were going up at about the same rate before and after fluoridation started, so there must be other factors involved. Second, you'd have to compare IQ rates in fluoridated and non-fluoridated areas, which the study didn't do. Third, tests have changed over the years which could skew the results. It's a little hard to believe people are that much more intelligent now - it doesn't seem to be showing up on SAT scores or other kind of tests.
2. Regarding the Choi meta-analysis, which found that 25 out of 27 studies correlated higher fluoride levels with lower IQ - I looked on the five blogs provided by another responder and wasn't very impressed - they had many errors or misinterpretations. Most were making a big mistake on the .45 difference in IQ on the standard deviation, thinking that was a .45 difference in IQ itself between high and low flouride areas. That's an incorrect reading of the data - most studies showed a difference of 5-10 IQ points between high-F and low-F areas.

Another common mistake was thinking that because a high fluoride area had a level of say, 3 parts per million, that it wasn't applicable to U.S. fluoridation levels of 0.7 ppm. Actually, it is, because standard toxicology tells us that you have to figure in a factor of 10 to build in a safety factor because different people react in different ways to drugs. You also have to figure that some people are going to drink a lot more water than others - the dose factor is huge.

Finally, the writer cites The European Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks (2011): SCHER report as downplaying the risks of fluoride. Unfortunately, SCHER wasn't very well regarded since they weren't considering a sizeable body of scientific data. For an excellent analysis, see http://www.fluoridealert.org/scher-fan-review-2011.html.

The Harvard Choi meta-analysis, funded by the National Institutes of Health, was excellent, and the authors were right on target when they said research on fluoride negatively affecting kids' IQ's "should be a high research priority."

There isn't 100% proof that water fluoridation is lowering kids' IQ's. But there is a significant body of data pointing in that direction. Unless we're sure beyond a reasonable doubt that this isn't happening, we should never fluoridate the water. Better safe than sorry - issues don't get much more important than affecting our ability to think and reason.

I hope everyone contacts the five city council members to vote against fluoridation.

Rick North


29
Personally, rather than dosing us with Prozac, I'd rather have some pure Sandoz acid.
30
Why does the dandy Mayor and Randy Dandy want to contaminate the water so badly that they insist upon doing it against the will of the people?
31
Mr. North . .

You didn't comment on the Qin study which showed the best IQ at optimized fluoride levels.

It was the only Chinese study to compare high, low & optimal fluoride levels. IQ was lower at both high & low fluoride drinking water

This finding is very analogous to that for bone fractures.

Hardy Limeback, the famous Toronto anti-fluoridationist, co-authored a paper which found that fluoridated water taken over 35 years does not affect either the mechanical properties or the architecture of the bone. They observed that for epidemiological studies of fractures "the results are generally inconclusive, with the exception of a study which found increased rates of fracture only for very low or very high exposure (Li et al., 2001).

Many of the Chinese studies included in the Harvard metanalysis evaluated fluoride exposures which are simply not allowed in the USA because water quality standards as well as laws prohibiting industrial air & water pollution. Readers should be reminded that the meta-analysis found LESS THAN HALF AN IQ difference between "exposed & reference" populations. That the reference populations included water fluoride considered optimal in the USA.

Because the difference in IQ is so small, much smaller than the variation in scores for a single person tested repeatedly, these results, like the fracture studies, are at the edge of what epidemiological science can discern.

The Qin's study finding the BEST IQ at water fluoridation fluoride is more likely to be valid that the larger group which found only 0.45 IQ difference.

Quoting the Harvard paper: "each of the articles reviewed had deficiencies, in some cases rather serious, which limit the conclusions that can be drawn." These studies certainly are no reason to change America's fluoridation policy.

2/3rds of the operations for terrible cavities in kids are avoided with community water fluoridation (CWF). In that Louisiana study 50% of the dental bills for the kids studied were avoided. If this were the only benefit 150% CWF returns in lower dental bills

Under anesthesia procedures include extractions root canals & stainless steel crowns & cost up to $15,000 & happen more often in Portland without CWF. Data presented to the Ore Legislature showed 75% prevention of these operations in The Dalles, fluoridated since 1956

Economic modeling of all the alternative public health intervention for this problem shows CWF far & away the most effective & cheapest.

Common oral health problems are significantly improved. No practical alternatives exist. The judgement of expert public health opinion is overwhelmingly supportive.

Fluoridation is just the right thing to do .
32
Portland State University sits right on top of the West Hills Fault. The athletic field at PSU is the designated landing site for Life Flight helicopter for when the big, over due Earthquake finally hits. Trouble is, there is likely to be a great, big, cavernous crevice there, then. Wouldn't all that money planned to be spent on poisoning Portland's water supply, be better spent promoting Portland State University as a safe place to be?
33
Mr. North and his fellow anti-fluoronistas have jumped on the IQ review like flies "jump" onto a meadow muffin.
If you want to understand how a bogus press release on Reuters and eventually goes viral thanks to folks like Mr. North and the Fluoride Action Network, please go to:


B.S. Headline of the Week on bogus Reuter's Press Release

www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/fluoride-lowers-your-iq-b.s.-headline-week/
34
We must get 29,786 signatures from Portlanders in order to attempt to get a public vote on our Fluoridation of our water supply !!!
We must end the common misconceptions that Fluoride is "safe and effective" and we must bring the information about what "Fluoride" really is to the public!
Fluorosilic Acid, the chemical they intend to add to our water, is a very harmful environmental pollutant (more toxic than lead, and just slightly less toxic than arsenic) created by industry that is very expensive to dispose of due to its toxic nature! People have been duped to believe that this "Fluoride" helps their teeth, because dentists and doctors endorsed it. (Once upon a time doctors did cigarette commercials too!) ... The substance then was added to municipal water systems around the country so that they may dispose of their toxic waste and get around the astronomical disposal fees. We are and our environment is, intended to be, and a dump site for poison,and that's not something I would placidly accept....

We already receive Fluoride by consuming food/beverage products that are made in areas where the water is Fluoridated! We are ALREADY well over the "recommended" dose of the chemical! see this link for details:
http://www.nofluoride.com/consumption.cfm

read some facts for you to look into, supported by scientific journals and experts in the area of Fluoridation:
http://www.fluoridealert.org/50-reasons.htm
http://www.nofluoride.com/Science%26Ethics.cfm
http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11571
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/features/features/fluoride-childrens-health-grandjean-choi.html
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/10/11/dr-bill-osmunson-on-fluoride.aspx
http://www.nofluoride.com/gov_reports_overview.cfm#BMJ
http://www.fluoride-history.de/


in the news:
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2012/08/anti-fluoride_fight_portlands.html
http://www.naturalnews.com/001807_fluoride_fluoridation.html


and if your not into reading so much today, watch one or all of these:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEZ15m-D_n8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SISKeNXAl5Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wCjgfhT9Yw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkuHo2xFJr0&feature=related
www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_829931&feature=iv&src_vid=9wCjgfhT9Yw&v=FH_y3Cw8MVg


Let's get a 5th public vote that we may decline Fluoridation!!!!
we must collect signatures and support!
35
There is just so much wrong with the fight AGAINST adding a safe, naturally-occurring salt to our water to make it healthier! Fluoride has been added to toothpaste and to the water of over 70% of the US population.

There is NO difference in the health of people who live in Beaverton or Vancouver who do fluoridate and those in Portland who do not.

A quick chemistry review: sodium fluoride is very closely related to sodium chloride and sodium iodide, all salts that have important health benefits. Chlorine is a very poisonous gas that has killed thousands of people during World War I, BUT if you mix it with sodium, it becomes table salt - essential for health. Most table salt also has very small amounts of sodium iodide added to prevent a thyroid disease called goiter. Sea salt is full of impurities that are actually essential minerals, like iodine and fluoride, that are healthy in small amounts.
Sodium fluoride (the fluoride added to water) is a naturally occurring salt that makes teeth stronger and is much more natural that filling cavities with plastic or metal!

Some believable, honest, scientific links:
I like my teeth: Fluoride Questions
I like my teeth: Why opponents are wrong
I like my teeth: Fluoride Myths and facts
I like my teeth: Savings from water Fluoridation

Support safe, healthy fluoridated water in Portland!
36
Do fish piss in Bull Run?
37
Urophagia is the consumption of urine. There are various reasons that humans may consume urine. Urine was used in several ancient cultures for various health, healing, and cosmetic purposes, practices which are still used by some people of these cultures today. In Euro-American culture, these practices are known as urine therapy, a form of alternative medicine. Urine is high in sodium and mineral content. The high sodium content usually does not pose a problem if the urine is sufficiently diluted, as when fish piss in Bull Run.
38
So then by dumping sewage into Portland's water supply, this could not only be a way of saving tax payers money for treatment plants, but it would also be a free source of mineral supplements which everybody should be forced to have to take anyway.
39
The Qin IQ study was particularly weak in design - it did not try to identify confounders such as educational level of parents, financial status, presence of heavy metals such as arsenic in certain villages, etc. that could skew the results. It was not even accepted for inclusion in the Choi meta-analysis. But even if it was a strong study, it's just one that showed these odd results. Compared to 25 out of 27 that found the higher the fluoride, the lower the IQ, it carries very little weight.

It's true most Chinese studies don't split into three categories, high, middle and low, although I'm not sure that's a weakness. However, one Mexican study did (Rocha-Amador) and it found the typical pattern of higher fluoride/lower IQ. It is considered quite well-designed.

I'm not sure why a press release is automatically bogus. As long as Reuters identifies it as a press release, which they did, it's fine with me. But when a news organization takes a press release and reports it as straight news, that bothers me a lot.

Rick North
40
Mr. North.

The Rocha-Amador study did not include a low fluoride group.

Quoting from the paper abstract re the three locales studied:

"Three rural communities in Mexico with contrasting levels of F and As in drinking water were studied: Moctezuma (F 0.8+/-1.4 mg/L; As 5.8+/-1.3 microg/L); Salitral (F 5.3+/-0.9 mg/L; As 169+/-0.9 microg/L) and 5 de Febrero (F 9.4+/-0.9 mg/L; As 194+/-1.3 microg/L). "

So as was very common in all these papers the "reference" to which the IQ's were compared was the same as the optimized fluoridation level in the USA.

This Mexico study then is totally consistent with Qin in that the better IQ was associated with 0.8-1.4 ppm. As you well know the proposed target for PDX is 0.7 ppm.

To repeat the reality of the meta-analysis is that the individual studies were of poor quality, the difference found between the "reference" and high, often very high fluoride exposures was less than one IQ point.

The enormous exaggeration which those who oppose fluoridation attach to the Harvard is just beginning to come to the attention of the larger epidemiologic and public health community.

We will follow the judgement of other scientists with interest.
41
In April, 2010, I met Mr. North when he was still with PSR, and I had an opportunity to present to the PSR board and book club on the benefits of fluoridation with the opponents of Kim Kaminsky of Oregon Citizens for Safe Drinking Water and local cosmetic dentist, Bill Osmunson, of the Fluoride Action Network.

PSR was considering taking a position against fluoridation, and Mr. North was pushing very hard to make this happen. However, make no mistake: There are as many supporters for fluoridation within the PSR membership as there are against. One of those members supporting fluoridation is Dr. Ginny Feldman, a retired pediatrician, who has done an extensive review of the Chinese IQ studies. One of the studies by Qin found the highest IQ level in communities with fluoride water levels at 1.0 parts per million (ppm), what the optimal level was until the HHS suggested lowering it to 0.7 ppm late last year. (the previous recommended range was 0.7-1.2 ppm). Billy Budd has eloquently described this study.

However, these studies are from some of the most polluted countries in the World, and experts have all stated that they studies were poorly designed and did not control for confounders. For more information on how opponents like Mr. North are distorting this Harvard review, please go to: www.ilikemyteeth.org/blog/ . Since fluoridation began in 1945 and up to the 1990's, the average IQ in the United States has increased an average of 15 points. Some brain drain, Mr. North.

And by the way, Mr. North did not get his way, and PSR has not taken an official position against water fluoridation. I have two other very good friends who are physicians and members of PSR, and they keep me in the loop on anything that sounds like fluoridation sabre rattling is starting up within PSR.

Lastly, the Precautionary Principle: I would like you to read the 18 page introduction of a book, "RISK a practical guide for deciding what's really safe and what's really dangerous in the World around you". by David Ropeik and George Gray. In part the authors state, "...opponents of a sweeping Precautionary Principle would deny society many of the benefits of new technologies for years, even decades until thorough scientific study can be completed...almost anything carries 'some' risk. Under the most rigorous application of the PP, it would be hard to approve such things as motor vehicles, prescription drugs, or vaccines. While it makes sense to err on the side of caution, we should assess risks on a case-by-case basis, rationally weighing them against the benefits. A blanket PP might deny society a public health advance that could save lives before all the scientific answers are in." A perfect example would be the Salk vaccine. If the PP was applied, thousands of people if not millions might have become crippled by polio.

Lastly, lastly, Google Quackwatch and Fluoride Action Network, Mr. North's main website that he seeks his anti-fluoridation propaganda.
42
Fluoridationist are very very quick to punch holes in any study that dares show any negative effects of fluoride. Clearly the precautionary principle means nothing them. If they were truly objective, they would be reviewing the studies that launched fluoridation. The first and only study to research fluoride's adverse health effects to a newly artificially fluoridated population is the Kingston/Newburgh

In 1945 dentists set out to prove that fluoridation safely prevented children’s tooth decay, not IF it did. The studies failed; but early fluoridationists ignored this inconvenient truth and forged ahead.

In 1955, ten years into the experiment, researchers reported more bone defects, anemia and earlier female menstruation in Newburth's children purposely dosed with sodium fluoride-laced drinking water (1956. Journal of the American Dental Association).

Kingston and fluoride-dosed Newburgh are thirty-five miles apart on the Hudson River in New York State and in 1940 had populations of 31,956 and 28,817, respectively. In Newburgh, 500 children were examined after ten years and 405 in Kingston. Adults and pre-schoolers were ignored. Children sick two weeks before examination were not included, in effect excluding the very children who could have been fluoride-harmed.

Although planned to last ten years, due to political pressure, the Newburgh/Kingston study was declared a success after five years which caused many U.S. cities to start fluoridation prematurely and before the permanent teeth erupted in Newburgh's test population born into the experiment.

Newburgh's children were given complete physicals and x-rays, over the course of the study, from birth to age nine in the first year and up to age eighteen in the final year.

“(R)outine laboratory studies were omitted in the control group during most of the study, they were included in the final examination,” according to Schlesinger and colleagues, in “Newburgh-Kingston caries-fluorine study XIII. Pediatric findings after ten years.”

The researchers report after ten years of fluoridation in Newburgh New York:

-- “The average age at the menarche was 12 years among the girls studied in Newburgh and 12 years 5 months among the girls in Kingston.”

--Hemoglobin (iron-containing part of a red blood cell): “a few more children in the range below 12.9 grams per hundred milliliters in Newburgh”

--“…a slightly higher proportion of children in Newburgh were found to have a total erythrocyte (red blood cell) count below 4,400,000 per milliliter”

--Knee X-rays of Newburgh children reveals more cortical bone defects, and irregular mineralization of the thigh bone.

Only twenty-five Newburgh children had eye and ear exams. Two had hearing loss; eight had abnormal vision. Even though researchers discovered more adult cataracts in surveys conducted before 1944 in communities with naturally high water fluoride concentrations Newburg and Kingston adults were never checked for this defect.

Only two groups of twelve-year-old boys were tested for fluoride’s toxic kidney effects.

In a statewide survey conducted in 1954, J. A. Forst, M.D a New York public health official reported observing one-third more dental defects, including malposition of teeth, in fluoridated Newburgh, New York, than in the non-fluoridated control city of Kingston.

The 2004 book "The Fluoride Deception," by Christopher Bryson, reveals that in addition to NYS Dep't of Health examinations “the University of Rochester conducted its own studies, measuring how much fluoride Newburgh citizens retained in their blood and tissues. Health Department personnel cooperated, shipping blood and placenta samples to the Rochester scientists,” writes Bryson. Three times as much fluoride was found in the placentas and blood samples gathered from Newburgh as from non-fluoridated Rochester, reports Bryson.

Following back the scientific references in all current fluoridation safety literature will invariably lead back to the Newburgh/Kingston study which actually failed to prove fluoridation is safe for all who drink it although public health officials and dentists tell a different story..

In 1998, the New York Department of Health reported that fluoridated Newburgh NY children have more cavities and more fluorosis than never fluoridated Kingston NY children.(Figure 1, Page 41, "Recommendations for Fluoride Use in children"
NYS Dental Journal, February 1998 (NYS Department of Health).

43
When I was a kid back in the late '50s through early '60s, my dentist gave me citrus flavored fluoride tablets to chew well, SPIT OUT, and then rinse.
44
Advocate the brushing of teeth and flossing, not the polluting of our water.
45
I was stunned by the arrogance of comments attributed to Commissioner Leonard to the effect that "we did not vote on chlorination and we will not vote on this". That is not how we are accustomed to doing things in Portland.

I resent this being presented as a way to help poor people, as if it is some feel-good thing we can do to help the disadvantaged and then ignore the fact that people need dental check-ups and hygiene. It is a scatter gun approach to a problem that does not weigh other health and environmental consequences. It also raises the question of what else may be easily slipped into the water system without public input. Proponents have been effective at painting opponents of fluoridation as anti-science kooks, which is dishonest and unfair. If individuals need fluoride, that is something to be distributed by pharmacies, not the city water bureau.

This issue raise all kinds of concerns about what Mr. Adams and Mr. Leonard stand to gain by this action when they leave office in January. While I am generally happy with our city government, this issue has ignited my outrage.
Say no to fluoride in our water.
46
They got rid of the all American sport of baseball, in feeble attempt to make the international sport of soccer more popular, too.
47
Mayor Sam Adams says Portland Beavers beloved, but he can't find home for team
Published: Wednesday, August 11, 2010, 10:24 AM Updated: Thursday, August 12, 2010, 11:25 AM

Portland Mayor Sam Adams has posted a letter on his website that pretty much says sorry, he tried but there's no feasible spot for a new triple-A baseball stadium in the city.

The news comes as talk mounts of the Portland Beavers looking for a new home. This is the team's last season at PGE Park, which is being renovated for soccer and other uses, but not baseball. Razing Memorial Coliseum was one option for a new baseball stadium, but the mayor has committed to keeping the coliseum as is.

His office provides an analysis of 20 different sites. The cost of a new baseball stadium is estimated at between $55 million and $60 million, not including the cost of new land.

He says in his letter:

"The Portland Beavers have relocated from Portland to other cities three times in the past. During the past two years, we have done our best to make sure that we have explored every possible option to keep the team from leaving Portland for a fourth time. That commitment continues: If there is a viable site we haven't we haven't analyzed, let us know, and we'll take a look."

(Updated to reflect that soccer isn't the only sport allowed at the new PGE Park, but the stadium can't accommodate baseball.)

--Janie Har

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/08/mayor_sam_adams_says_portland.html
48
Oregon's Jeld-Wen faces potential bankruptcy after plan to sell bonds fails
Published: Friday, September 02, 2011, 9:40 PM Updated: Tuesday, September 06, 2011, 9:17 AM

Jeld-Wen Inc., Oregon's largest privately held company, faces potential bankruptcy after failing to sell junk bonds needed for a rescue deal.

The Klamath Falls-based window-and-door maker, which employs 2,500 in Oregon, has closed plants, sold assets, laid off workers, cut spending and amassed debt after a body blow from the 2008 housing market crash. Now a takeover by Onex Corp., a Canadian private equity firm, appears in jeopardy because Jeld-Wen can't sell $575 million in bonds necessary for the deal.

A bankruptcy by Jeld-Wen would be a stunning turn for the family-controlled company built by Dick Wendt into a global giant that made him a billionaire long before he died last year. Managers of Jeld-Wen, led by the co-founder's son, Chief Executive Rod Wendt, were in bunker mode Friday as representatives of the company and Onex did not return repeated phone calls.

"They're faced with a good possibility there's a financial disaster in their future," said Michael Dimond, a finance expert who teaches at Portland State University's business school. "If they can't raise money and they can't get their net income high enough to cover their financial needs moving forward, then they would have to go bankrupt."

Jeld-Wen, with six corporate jets and 20,000 employees in 22 countries, was a high flier before the real estate bust, buying up companies, sponsoring sports events and launching resort developments. The elder Wendt gave millions to charities and conservative political campaigns.

But ratings agency reports triggered by the bond sale shined a light on the closely held company, whose sales slid from $3.6 billion in 2008 to $3.1 billion last year.

Earlier this year, Jeld-Wen, laboring under $1.2 billion in debt, negotiated a cash infusion from Onex, intending to give the Canadians a minority stake. Last month, however, Onex abruptly announced that it would boost its investment to $864 million and take a majority stake, ending family control of the 50-year-old company.

The Onex deal depended on Jeld-Wen selling the $575 million in bonds, according to Ron Saxton, the company's executive vice president and chief administrative officer. Saxton spoke last month before company officials stopped returning phone calls. He said Rod Wendt was leading a delegation to several cities to market the bonds.

But the offering got a lousy reception. Moody's and Standard & Poor's gave them junk ratings. Covenant Review, an independent bond reviewer in New York, issued a searing 16-page report warning of serious problems.

"The debt covenant is poorly drafted and permits a tremendous amount of incremental debt to be incurred," the Aug. 5 report said. "The restricted-payments covenant is seriously flawed."

Bond market, too, at fault

Robert Matz, the Covenant analyst who wrote the report, said Friday that the mistakes may not have killed the offering as much as the horrible U.S. bond market resulting from the stalled economy.

"Sloppiness aside," Matz said, "if a deal needs to get done and the market's there for it, it can be fixed."

Jeld-Wen executives had hoped to launch their offering earlier, but the company waited out the abysmal bond market that resulted from the Greek debt crisis and the U.S. debt-ceiling standoff. The moment Congress moved on the debt ceiling, Rod Wendt launched his roadshow.

On Friday, Bloomberg News said in a story on current bond market woes that Jeld-Wen was postponing its offering. The news service quoted Jeld-Wen spokeswoman Teri Cline: "We're just delaying it for a short period of time until we think it is more beneficial."

It's not clear how much time Jeld-Wen has left. The company has already taken drastic steps for survival.

During the past three years, the company shed 25 percent of its workers and closed 21 plants, according to Standard & Poor's. Factories are operating at half their capacity, Moody's said.

Moody's gives the company a low first-time corporate rating of B3: "The B3 corporate family rating reflects Jeld-Wen's weak end markets, elevated debt leverage, exposure to volatile raw materials costs and uncertainty with regard to divestiture of non-core assets.

"At the same time," Moody's said, "Jeld-Wen's ratings acknowledge the company's strong worldwide market positions in doors and windows, its renewed focus on core operations, equity infusion from Onex Corp., and extended maturity schedule."

S&P expects Jeld-Wen sales could modestly increase. But even if the Onex deal goes through, the agency said, "Jeld-Wen will be highly leveraged with adjusted debt of approximately $1.9 billion."

"Serious intent"

PSU's Dimond said Onex shows "some pretty serious intent" by sending Philip Orsino, a former Masonite International Corp. chief executive, to become Jeld-Wen president in place of Rod Wendt, who remains CEO. If bonds won't sell, Dimond said, Jeld-Wen could sell more assets, either as an operating company or as part of a bankruptcy reorganization.

"Neither case is that good," Dimond said. "Bankruptcy, really it's horrifying for everyone who's involved -- the employees, the management, the owners of the company."

In its ratings review, Standard & Poor's explored the scenario of a Jeld-Wen bankruptcy in 2013 in the event of continued poor sales. S&P figured that Jeld-Wen, strained to the breaking point, would file for Chapter 11 reorganization of its domestic holdings while foreign subsidiaries continued to operate. Bondholders could go after the foreign value, S&P said, recovering perhaps 10 to 30 percent of their investment.

Backing out of the deal could cause some fallout for Onex, said Paul Holden, a CIBC World Markets Inc. analyst in Toronto. "Not being able to close the Jeld-Wen acquisition would be viewed as a setback for Onex stock," Holden said.

Onex shares fell 1.73 percent Friday on the Toronto Stock Exchange, closing at $34.15 Canadian.

-- Richard Read Twitter: @ReadOregonian



http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2011/09/oregons_jeld-wen_faces_potenti.html
49
That's what I'm talking about. Everything they touch, turns to shit.
50
xiaowuhi, please send me everything you've got cause I need more stuff!! Thanks for the fabulous links, hopefully Mercury readers don't crash your server with too much traffic!!
51
Homosexual fascists target baseball
Exclusive: Joseph Farah rips 'gay gestapo' for bullying joking player into contrition
Published: 2 hours ago

by Joseph Farah

Are Mom and apple pie next?

Those may be the next targets of the homosexual fascists – who are like the anti-American poofy sect of the Taliban.

It’s not enough to institute speech codes in colleges and universities. It’s not enough to chill free speech in the media. It’s not enough to shamelessly parade their sexuality in front of America’s children on the streets, in schools and on television.

Now the crude, vulgar, name-calling, arrogant pink-shirt gestapo is going after baseball and other American sports.

Here’s the latest example: Yunel Escobar is a native of Cuba who plays shortstop for the Toronto Blue Jays. He probably thought once he left Fidel Castro’s island paradise that he would be able to speak his mind, joke around and not fear the thought police.

Was he ever wrong.

A couple weeks ago, Escobar, like so many other sports stars, put a little message on the eye black they use to cut down on the sun’s glare. It said, “tu ere maricon.” In English, that roughly translates to “you are a faggot” – a term used, ironically, far more often by homosexuals than by heterosexuals.

By the way, the message was almost completely obscured from fans and even non-teammates by dark sunglasses throughout the game.

For his “sin,” something homosexuals claim is an archaic old notion, Escobar was suspended for three games without pay, with his salary of between $83,000 and $92,000 for those games going to two homosexual activist organizations – You Can Play, a lobby for non-heterosexual athletes, and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. By “defamation,” GLAAD means criticism.

Escobar had to grovel and apologize and, upon his return to the game last Thursday night against the New York Yankees, he was forced to catch the ceremonial first pitch from David Testo, a former professional soccer player who is openly “gay” and serves as a board member for You Can Play.

Escobar also had to endure 45 minutes of sensitivity counseling from Jose Estevez, an openly “gay” long-distance runner from Boston College, and Patick Burke, the founder of You Can Play.

“I’m sorry for the actions of the other day,” said Escobar through a translator at Yankee Stadium in his act of contrition. “It was not something I intended to be offensive. It was something I just put on the sticker on my face as a joke. There was nothing intentional directed at anyone in particular. I don’t have anything against homosexuals. I have friends who are gay. In reality, I’d like to ask for the apologies (sic) of all those who have been offended by this.”

Still that was not enough.

Escobar will be required “to participate in an outreach initiative to help educate society about insensitivity and tolerance of others,” according to an ESPN report.

Tolerance? Who’s being intolerant here? The gay gestapo – that’s who.

The news coverage of this fiasco has been a joke. Here’s the last line of an unbylined Associated Press “news story” that reads like a lecture from a member of the Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association: “Three games isn’t a lot of time, but Escobar will be forced to think about what he’s done while a strong message is sent to the league’s other players: Homophobic messages aren’t acceptable on or around the diamond.”

To put this in perspective, think of how the so-called “gay rights” activists behave themselves – the way they demean anyone who opposes their agenda of perversion.

Major League Baseball is falling right in line with this kind of “political correctness.” The National Football League and college football are going even further – banning all eye-black messages. Why? Well, it started when Tim Tebow used Bible verse messages on his eye black.

Blue Jays pitcher Varlos Villanueva learned an interesting lesson from Escobar’s experience, too: “He has to step up, especially how things are nowadays. You just have to watch what you say, or what you express out there.”

And that’s supposed to be a good thing in American society?

Should non-homosexual Americans be fined, suspended and humiliated for a remark that wouldn’t draw a second glance in most homosexual bathhouses?

Has anyone clicked on a homosexual website or picked up a “gay” newspaper lately and seen the kind of obscenity they portray and the filthy language they use?

Yes, I think Mom and apple pie, 6,000-year-old moral standards and freedom of speech are all endangered species nowadays.

http://www.wnd.com/2012/10/homosexual-fascists-target-baseball/

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