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Putting Things In Perspective!!! Given the importance of autistic children to, potentially, so many areas of study, in my view, it was critical these children, first and foremost be protected. Society could learn a great deal from these children and their parents, but, the potential for abuse of these children – to make them “lab rats” – was now greater than ever. Unfortunately, given the incredible resistance, in the past, to any independent research by both the pharmaceuticals and government agencies, parents, surely would have reservations about having their children studied by those they, all too often, believed had caused this disorder in the first place – those behind the potential autism-vaccination link – a link that now spanned a much, much greater area in terms of its implications to mankind! Autism had long - wrongly - been viewed as simply an issue for the families of the autistic. Many vaccinations given to teenagers, young adults and the elderly also contained thimerosal and other toxic substances (i.e., flu shots, tetanus shots, etc.). Autism - in actuality – had never been simply an issue for families of the autistic. It had simply been as a result of society’s lack of awareness and understanding that this “wrong perception” had for so long existed. Perhaps with a greater understanding of the devastating effects of autism and the keys this disorder, indeed held for so many other issues – perhaps now – society would finally now stand behind parents of the autistic in requiring subpoenas for the CDC and the pharmaceuticals in order to finally get to the bottom of the potential link between autism and vaccinations! The CDC had long hidden behind “issues of confidentiality” in its reluctance to make public documents related to vaccination research. Surely, names could be omitted from these documents in order to maintain “confidentiality”. The statistics, after all, were really what parents were after – what society needed to know! There was no doubt in my mind that independent audits could get to the bottom of this issue. The CDC could simply no longer be allowed to hide behind what was a very lame excuse when it came to making public these records. Were issues of “confidentiality” greater than matters of national and international security and of public safety? It was also a fact that the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System or VAERS database containing information as it related to vaccine injury reporting was also not available to the public for research. Why was that? Did the government honestly believe that only they could maintain a database? Nothing would prevent parents of the autistic or a “for profit” organization from starting a database of its own. Indeed such an independent database, from a purely research perspective, was long overdue! This dilemma certainly was an interesting one! Autistic children now held within them the keys to so much, yet, their parents – parents who had so greatly suffered as a result of autism, now had to make the decision as to whether or not their children would indeed help in providing so many valuable keys to a society that, in the past, had been all too happy to cast their children aside or put them in understaffed institutions! The need for independent research for society, was now, greater than ever – and perhaps, now, society, in coming to truly understand the autistic mind and how completely devastated these children had become, would once and for all, make the decision to stand united behind them, in finally getting to he bottom of the possible autism-vaccination link, because now, the issue was not simply one of “autism” – it was one that touched absolutely all men, women and children around the world. Research into these issues would now be needed on many fronts, on many shores. Yet, even universities that were state run had big pharmaceutical dollars behind them. Parents should not assume that because a university was a public institution it had the public’s (or your child’s) best interest at heart. That was simply not the case. Unfortunately, too often, it was the pharmaceuticals that were behind the research... attempting to prove "great results" for their newest drugs. Global pharmaceutical sales had gone from 22 billion in 1980 to 260 billion by the mid 1990s. Yet health conditions around the world continued to deteriorate. There was more cancer, more diabetes, more of everything it seemed – everywhere. Sure, there had been a few diseases that we apparently had almost eradicated, but, there were now many more to replace them – and quite often – they were much more deadly With this phenomenal growth in terms of financial and political power, the mighty and powerful hand of the pharmaceuticals was stronger than ever and all too willing to share its wealth with those in government positions who were willing to support the agenda of the pharmaceutical industry. Cries by the pharmaceuticals that lawsuits against them by parents of the autistic, for children possibly been so devastated as a result of vaccination injury – lawsuits that were estimated to total close to 30B – were a joke indeed! Even $100B could not possibly begin to compensate these families if it could indeed be proven that there did exist a vaccination-autism link – a link, in my heart, I did believe existed! Given the incredible wealth of the pharmaceuticals and the fact that they spent close to 12 billion per year marketing to doctors, providing what many in the trade show industry often referred to as “trinkets and trash, and party money”, 30 billion was but a drop in the bucket. As with everything else, a figure without reference points, like a study without comparative measures had the potential to greatly distort the truth! Once “reference points” were provided, however, a much more accurate picture was provided indeed! And, if this much was spent on doctors, how much was spent lining the pockets of politicians? Although government officials may like us to believe that funds flowed only through political action committees, surely, the voting public was not that naive. If politicians could be bought and paid for in smaller towns they could just as easily be bought and paid for in the most powerful offices too! In my opinion, cries of the of the pharmaceutical industry in terms of the “irreparable damage” any judgments in favor of families who could prove an autism-vaccination link existed, were bogus cries indeed when the facts were known! As such, I truly hoped that given the utter devastation in these children, their families would be allowed their day in court and the unwarranted cries of the pharmaceuticals would fall on deaf ears worldwide! There were more than the pharmaceutical cries, however, that had to be put into perspective. There were also the cries of our government itself. Did American taxpayers not find it rather odd that given both parties (Republican and Democrats) portrayed themselves as wanting to pass a national prescription plan, that this had not yet been done? When the Democrats were in office, the Republicans opposed what had been put forth. Now that the Republicans were in office, the Democrats were said to be “blocking” the move forward on this issue. Really? Given both parties truly “wanted” such legislation, I found it odd that if this was “truly” in America’s interest, that such a plan had not yet been passed. But, what was really blocking this issue? Was it “opposing parties” or was it perhaps something in the background – political contributions to each party by the pharmaceuticals, ensuring such plans would never be passed! Truly, one could not help but wonder! It was time that America took a good hard look at the influence of special interests like the pharmaceuticals in Washington. The following link (http://www.nihcom.org/spending2001.pdf) indicated prescription costs as provided by the NIH in a report dated May 2002, entitled Prescription Drug Expenditures in 2001. This report showed escalating costs in retail spending on prescription drugs. In 1997, retail spending on prescription drugs hit 78.9 billion – by 2001, that figure had hit 154.5 billion – nearly doubling in just 4 short years! Retail prescription costs increase approximately 18% per year. How much longer could America afford this? And note – these figures were for retail prescription drugs only. This did not even begin to include all those “$20.00 per capsule over-the-counter pain killers” patients were charged for in hospitals, or the huge over-the-counter non-prescription market, etc. And now, the pharmaceuticals were pushing to have vitamins and over- the-counter supplements prescription only too (already happening in EU, surely the US would be next)! It was time America awoke to the harsh realities of the influence of the pharmaceutical industry on this nation via its political “partners”. The “complementary and alternative medicine” industry by 2001 had grown to a $35 billion dollar industry – IN THE US ALONE - and the pharmaceuticals obviously now wanted that loophole closed arguing that “herbs” were drugs and as such, they had to be made available only via prescription. Wake up America! These “herbs” or “drugs” had never been made prescription only in the past – the only reason for doing so now was due to the fact that this had become such a huge industry worldwide. Once vitamins and other supplements were made prescription only, surely, their costs would increase drastically too! If America thought it had healthcare cost issues now – just wait – you ain’t seen nothing yet! One, truly, could not help but ask who legislators were really working for - the pharmaceuticals or the American public? Given the close ties of the pharmaceutical industry and its government allies in Washington, the NIH, the CDC and so many other health related organizations, it was a sad reality that what was good for the pharmaceuticals (i.e., increased spending on prescription drugs) was good for Washington and its agencies too – as much as Washington and its agencies may try to say that this was not the case. The close relationship of the pharmaceutical industry to Washington and its agencies, a relationship involving hundreds of billions of dollars, in terms of pro-pharmaceutical legislation, health related research, grants, special health programs, etc., and the ever-loud cry for “more money” and “more tax dollars” for all these areas simply indicated otherwise, in my opinion! If both political parties truly wanted to pass a meaningful prescription drug bill, they would have done so a long time ago, in my opinion. So, when the elderly and America continued to be frustrated at the rise of escalating health care costs, the answer to why such legislation had not yet passed, surely had to be because it truly was not in the interest of government agencies to do so because such a bill would take too much money away from their pharmaceutical “partners”. There were many “bad laws” on the books across America – and apparently many more “bad laws” on the way when it came to possibly making all vitamins and supplements available by prescription only. Another such “bad law” - still in the works – and before our legislators, was the Frist Bill. If passed, this bill would prevent anyone from suing any pharmaceutical for any vaccine injury. What had happened to “just laws” in this nation? Was this “just”? Was this “fair”? What had happened to common sense? The pharmaceuticals were arguing that they were in a “high risk” business. Really? I think that being a voiceless child being injected with up to 50 times the acceptable safe level of mercury was a lot riskier business than was being a pharmaceutical executive in a plush chair. Surely all parents had to understand that injecting children with viruses based on very limited time duration studies was a lot riskier than being at the other end of the vaccine issue. Was it not easier to quickly pump out these vaccines and collect money from their sale than to possibly have to actually live with a very defective brain as a result of likely vaccine injury? And what about all those serial killers and rapists on death row? What if even one was an undiagnosed case of autism or mercury related brain injury resulting in brain dysfunction? Was it not the ultimate risk to have to die as a result of a possible vaccine injury – perhaps for reasons beyond one’s control? Who was truly at risk? The executives in our plush government and pharmaceutical offices enjoying the best life had to offer and perhaps making untold sums of money from these products - or our innocent children - potentially injured for life - who could perhaps end up in mental or criminal institutions? Who really faced the greater risk here? Truly? There was a very false assumption by many in America that once a law was passed, the people of this land had no option but to “go along” with that law. Finally, one state was starting to see the light on this issue – South Dakota. The people of South Dakota were now looking to start removing some of these “bad laws” from their books by voting on something called “jury nullification” in their next election. Jury nullification was a concept addressed by both Jefferson and Madison. Basically, what it boiled down to was that in deciding whether or not someone was “guilty” of breaking the law, the jury could also decide whether or not the law itself was “just”! If the Frist Bill did pass, jury nullification certainly did have interesting implications! Certainly, given everything involved in the issue of vaccinations, I had no doubt that the government would try to make this an “irrevocable law” somehow. But, again, were we a government “by the people, for the people” or were we a government run by the elite few. Those in government had to be sent a very strong message when it came to “toilet paper legislationã” like the Frist Bill! The concept of jury nullification, certainly, could help us return to a government “By the people - for the people” instead of what had become a government “by special interest – for special interest”! This was truly, an interesting concept. Although many would argue against this, saying that “the average man” could not possibly make such decisions, that the average public was not “informed enough” – I would strongly argue otherwise. We were, after all, a government “by the people – for the people”. I suspect “the people” still had a little more common sense than many in Washington and that “the people” could actually better determine what was “just” given there would be no “financial interests” to “fog” one’s judgment! I certainly hoped that legislators truly considered how insane the argument would be to tell the people of this nation they were not “smart enough” to judge whether a law was “just”? And before that message was sent to the American public by any legislator, they had better think long and hard about taking that position. If the people were not “smart enough” to decide whether or not a law was “just”, surely, they were not “smart enough” to decide whether or not, based on that law, someone should be sent to jail or sentenced to death! And thus, to say that the American public was not “smart enough” to decide whether or not a specific law “was just” would also be putting the entire jury process in question – and indeed, the very foundations of this nation! So, to any politician who would want to “protect the people from themselves”, I encouraged you to think long and hard before making that argument in any scenario. The simple fact was that, this nation, had been founded by colonists – simple, everyday people had made this nation great then, and were quite capable to continue to do so! Some politicians were of the opinion that “parents of the autistic needed to be protected from their bad judgment when it came to vaccines and their children”. Really? Was it bad judgment on the part of parents not to want their children exposed to up to 50 or even 100 times the safe level of mercury as determined by government standards? Or – was it perhaps bad judgment on the part of the government to have not more closely monitored exactly how much mercury was being injected into our children? If anyone was guilty of “bad judgment” as it related to vaccinations, surely, it had to be the administrators who were apparently asleep at the switch - for decades! Given the fact that by the age of two, children could have potentially been exposed to over 100 times safe levels of mercury based on government standards, if children needed to be protected from anyone, it was from persons who were not exactly competent when it came to protecting them in the first place – administrators in the NIH, CDC and pharmaceuticals who had failed to recognize they were injecting infants and young children with doses of mercury that far surpassed safe standard as determined by the government. Again, who exactly did these children need to be protected from – concerned parents sounding alarm bells around the world, or administrators who had so miserably failed in their role to ensure the wellbeing of children in the first place? For any politician who would try to make parents seem “uninformed” or “lacking in judgment” when it came to such issues, again, I encouraged those politicians to take a very strong look at the facts before making any such claim. I must honestly say, that, I, personally took great offense in such comments – as I was sure would many others in this country and around the world. Parents, overall, loved their children enough to do what was in their best interest. Parents of the autistic, especially, had waged a very long battle in fighting for their children. Just whom did these government representatives think they were to make such statements that we had to be protected from ourselves? In my opinion, the answer to that question was becoming clearer every day – these politicians had become the business partners of the pharmaceuticals and had turned their backs on the American public in doing so! It was now more than evident that special interests had taken over Washington to the detriment of American children and indeed - children worldwide. Bill Frist, the man behind the Frist Bill was in Washington to use his title of doctor only in advancing his personal business interests. Although he himself stated he wore many hats, the suit he now wore was not that of a doctor, but of a businessman – make no mistake about it. As the son and heir of one of the founders of perhaps the nation’s largest FOR-PROFIT healthcare conglomerate, Columbia/HCA, Bill Frist has a personal fortune very much tied to the well being of the pharmaceutical industry. It is not surprising that not only is he behind the Frist Bill to shield the pharmaceuticals of any liability resulting from vaccine injury, he is also very much in Washington to pass legislation capping damages against HMOs. Bill Frist – putting FRIST FIRST in Washington. Indeed perhaps the only first aid being given by this doctor in Washington was “Frist FIRST” Aid. Likewise, Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr, once a Senior VP at Eli Lilly was now on the Homeland Security and National Security Council. One could not help but wonder about Mr. Daniels’ financial interests, too and how his ties to Eli Lilly impacted his judgment on matters such as vaccination safety and the well being of our children. Under the guise of homeland security, provisions for the shielding of pharmaceuticals from any vaccine injury liability were also currently being proposed… and if they failed to pass there, Executive Orders by the President himself would pass what had failed elsewhere. The question all Americans and indeed all persons worldwide should now ask themselves was this: How would shielding the pharmaceuticals from any liability for vaccinations protect us from terrorists given there was no thimerosal in either the smallpox or anthrax vaccine? This provision, as stated by Dan Burton himself, clearly did not belong in the Homeland Security bill. To those in political offices who kept eroding the rights of America’s citizens by attempting to pass “toilet paper legislationã” such as the Frist Bill in order to absolve all pharmaceuticals of any liability for vaccine injury whatsoever or who would vote yes on making vitamins and over the counter supplements prescription only, further strengthening the strong arm of the pharmaceuticals in this country – for you who had no morals or values – for you and you only, I had but a very special wish:
If I Had A Wish… If I had a wish, oh, yes – it would be, That God grant me this miracle for – just a few – to see,
For those who sit in their office, standing for nothing… To defend our values – they are not willing. The Bible, The Constitution, The Bill of Rights – For none of these things, they are willing to fight!
And, so, here’s my wish, my wish just for you –A daily reminder – I wish, God would do!For those destroying our values, oh, let - them only - see, How of our foundations - they’ve made a mockery!
So, send them “a message”, dear Lord – let it be told, On the scrolls – in their restrooms – let it unfold! The words of our Constitution – on a new type of paper, So worthless, so porous – once destroyed – gone forever!
So, grant me this wish, God – that these persons may think, Before they take to their pens – to modify the ink!That perpetrators to this blasphemy, not further create, Words destroying our Constitution - what made this nation - so great!
Religion and morality, yes – these are our pillars! Those who wave the flag, yet destroy these are liars - Not patriots! So, to our leaders, as you lay down to rest… Consider reading George Washington’s Farewell Address!
The full text of this poem is provided in the Appendix to these materials. Indeed, there is no denying that the two pillars of this nation, spoken of by George Washington in his Farewell Address appear to be quickly crumbling in America… and without these pillars, where was this nation heading – without its key supports and its ever eroding foundations! |
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