Subject: "Science" that cannot be trusted......
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 122937 -0600 (CST)
From: "Roy L. Beavers" <rbeavers@mail.llion.org>
To: emfguru@hotmail.com
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Hi everybody:
Not all of us have ready access to the NEW YORK TIMES, I am
therefore forwarding the following message to the group.
The theme reported here -- that U.S. governmental/Pentagon "science"
cannot be trusted to behave in a scientific "independent" fashion
on behalf of the PUBLICS INTEREST -- (as most of you know), sadly, is
one we long have had to acknowledge in the case of the EMF health hazards
issue.
The examples of "questionable" scientific performance on the part of
the U.S. governmental institutions (when politically powerful "vested
interests" are involved) are numerous: Agent Orange, the recent
disclosures about atomic bomb testing in the Western U.S. which exposed
millions of Americans to hazardous fallout while keeping it all a big
"secret," the sorry history of the tobacco, lead and innumerable
chemical toxins that have been dumped on an unsuspecting public rather
than jeopardize the commercial interests of powerful "friends" of the
government..... The list could go on and on, as you know....
[My "favorite" example of such governmental abuse is the way U.S.
military/civilian/family members were treated in the case of the Soviet
use of EMF against our embassy people in Moscow in the 1960s-70s.]
It seems to me that this sad fact -- the record of 'untrustworthiness' of
U.S. governmental "science" when the _facts_ do not suit the "politically
correct" mood of the moment -- is one to which we should be giving wide
circulation and demanding that the media (as well as the Congress) fully
inform the public......
The remarkable thing about the following example (in my mind) is that in
THIS instance ... it is the Congress that MAY lead the way to the truth!!!
That's a truly significant event, in itself!!!!!
[I offer a few short additional comments in the article below.]
Cheerio.......
Roy Beavers (EMFguru)
rbeavers@mail.llion.org.........http://www.feb.se/EMF-L/EMF-L.html
................................It is better to light a single candle ...
than to curse the darkness...............................................
12:36 AM ET 10/26/97
Congress to slam Pentagon on Gulf illness - report
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Congressional panel will soon report
that the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs' have so
mishandled their investigation into Gulf War Syndrome that they
should be stripped of their authority on the issue, the New York
Times reported Sunday.
The House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight has
written a report, obtained by the Times and expected to be
released next week, that recommends Congress create or designate
a ``more responsive'' independent agency to coordinate research
on the mysterious symptoms experienced by many Gulf War
veterans.
["...a 'more responsive' independent agency..." That is what we need
in charge of the EMF research -- with emphasis on the word "independent."
... guru]
``Having demonstrated unwillingness and inability to
overcome institutional biases and constraints, the Departments
of Defense and Veterans Affairs should no longer control the
Persian Gulf war illness research agency,'' the report said.
["...unwillingness and inability to overcome institutional biases
and constraints..." -- again, sounds like the EMF research program
_at the bureaucratic management level_. There are, of course, a FEW
courageous and scientific-minded individuals in the EMF research
community who do not deserve to be "lumped in" with the bureaucratic
management crowd. Even with these FEW individuals, though, there is the
problem that they do not speak out enough!!!!]
Rep. Christopher Shays wrote in the introduction of the
report that the agencies' investigations were ``irreparably
flawed'' and ``plagued by an arrogant incuriosity and pervasive
myopia.''
["...arrogant incuriosity and pervasive myopia..." -- wish I had said
that..... guru]
The report does not find one cause for the symptoms, but it
does contains a list of possible causes: ``Chemical and
biological warfare agents, organophosphates found in pesticides
and insect repellents, leaded diesel fuel, depleted uranium,
oil-well smoke, leaded exhaust, contaminated drinking water,
shower water and clothing, parasites, and other pyridostigmine
bromide and other drugs to protect against chemical warfare
agents.''
The Times also said that a White House panel, the
Presidential Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses,
will soon release a report that will also be highly critical of
the Pentagon. That report will say that the department had ``an
institutional culture and pervasive inclination'' to ignore
veterans' complaints and evidence they may have been exposed to
Iraqi chemical weapons, the Times said.
["...an institutional culture and pervasive inclination ... to ignore
... evidence....." Sounds like the EPA and FDA story on (in spite of)
what they know about EMF health hazards..... We have yet to hear from the
NIEHS ... though some of you have probably noticed that they have
"finessed" their responsibility to provide the public with EMF info????
They have turned it over to a 'private' company.... guru]
Congressional officials told the Times that they hope the
pair of reports will pressure President Clinton into removing
the agencies from the case. If not, they said, Congress may do
it itself, possibly by turning over responsibility to the
National Institutes of Health.
[UGH!!!! That's not so smart, Mr. Congressman. NIH is another of
those RICH health bureaucracies which has a record of kow-towing to
establishment "vested interests" rather than independently pursuing
the PUBLICS health interests.... guru]
The House report also called for
research money for treatment of the neurological problems many
of the veterans report.
The Pentagon declined comment to the Times.
The Pentagon's investigation into complaints ranging from
loss of memory to chronic headaches by some 60,000 veterans of
the 1991 Gulf War has found no common cause or concrete evidence
they were sickened by Iraqi chemical or biological agents.
^REUTERS@
References
1. http://www.infobeat.com/main/cgi/main_merc.cgi?refurl=www.fullstory.com
.-
Archive provided courtesy of WaveGuide, http://www.wave-guide.org
Reprinted with permission of Roy Beavers, http://www.feb.se/EMF-L/EMF-L.html