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FLUORIDE ACTION
NETWORK
http://www.FluorideAlert.org
FAN Bulletin 937:
Networking success in NZ
March 4, 2008
Dear Supporter,
First, some heartening news:
over 21,000 people have now
watched the
Bill
Osmunson video
(over 3,000 in
the last three days alone),
which probably explains why
since Feb 26, we have
obtained another 50 signers
to the Professionals'
Statement (current total
1552). Also, may I urge any
one who knows a Vet to send
them a link to David
Kennedy's
"Poisoned Horses"
video and recommend that
they sign the
Professionals' Statement to
End Fluoridation.
Networking success in NZ.
The Thursday Feb 28 edition
of The Dunedin Star
(Dunedin, NZ) did us (and
themselves) proud. They
carried a 5-page article on
a local fluoridation battle
which started on the front
page and carried over to
pages 9 -13. In all the
article featured 12 sections
and each section can be
accessed via the
Latest
News
section on the FAN website.
The original articles (with
photos) can be accessed
here.
Shortly after the 5-page
article appeared we received
emails from Mary Byrne
(Wellington) and Yvonne
McDonald (Christchurch)
giving us more details about
the articles and the meeting
which gave rise to them.
All in all it is a very good
example of the excellent
networking being stimulated
by FAN New Zealand (or FANNZ).
Everyone is helping everyone
else - especially on the
South Island - either via
email or actually going to
each others' meetings. In my
view this is a winning
strategy and we are seeing
the same kind of thing in
Australia, particularly with
the residents of Warrnambool,
Ballarat and Geelong joining
forces in several different
ways to fight forced
fluoridation in the state of
Victoria.
Here are the emails from
Mary and Yvonne:
Dear Paul,
Thought I'd share this
with you since it's not
often we get into the
main stream media,
particularly with
unbiased reporting.
"The Star" is the
community paper for the
whole of Dunedin (on the
South Island of New
Zealand) which has a
population of 114,000.
See
here.
Would be good for people
to write to the editor
(editor@star-times.co.nz)
to voice some opinion.
For those who don't know
- the background is that
there are some small
communities north of
Dunedin, Waitati and
Warrington, that are
losing their bore water
as a pipeline from
Dunedin is being built
to supply these areas.
These communities were
consulted about the
pipeline (they said "no"
but the council is doing
it anyway) but weren't
consulted at all about
the fluoride. Olive
McRae has picked up the
fight and has organised
a petition, a local
meeting and is taking
the case to the
Community Board and then
the Dunedin City
Council.
Waitati and Warrington
communities are opposing
the fluoride and going
by the front page of the
community paper, Olive
has obviously won some
support from the greater
Dunedin area too. The
article appeared in this
week's paper after the
local meeting.
Mary Byrne,
Wellington, NZ
There is a nice photo (on
page 10) of the five FAN New
Zealand members who went to
the meeting. From left to
right, Olive McRae (Waitaki,
local organizer), Don Church
(Ashburton), Imelda
Hitchcock (Timaru), Dr.
Bruce Spittle (Dunedin) and
Yvonne McDonald
(Christchurch).
According to Yvonne, the
five "put the case against
fluoridation very
convincingly" and
"At the end of the
presentation to about
45+ locals, only one was
game enough to say he
still favoured
fluoridation, with I
think one or two sitting
on the fence.
The one person for,
stated he was from a
pro-fluoride family, and
was the son of the ex
Mayor of Dunedin, in
office when Dunedin was
fluoridated in 1967.
Olive is a gutsy young
lady, with a big fight
on her hands but is
gaining tremendous
support from both the
locals and the wider
Dunedin community.
This is the biggest
anti-fluoridation stir
Dunedin has seen for
quite some time and it
can only go from
strength to strength
with help from us all."
This battle has a large
significance for the whole
of New Zealand, because
Dunedin is the bastion of
fluoridation promotion in
NZ. It is home to the
University of Otago, which
has both a Medical and a
Dental School - in fact,
this is the only dental
school in the whole country.
There is little evidence
that the dental professors
there treat this issue with
an open mind. When I visited
New Zealand in 2000, Dr
Bruce Spittle tried to get
someone from the medical or
dental school to debate me.
Not one person was willing
to do so. In 2003, Dr.
Spittle organized a
symposium for the
International Society for
Fluoride Research (ISFR) in
Dunedin. Again he invited
people from the Medical and
Dental school to debate me -
no one would do so. In fact,
very few members of either
school even bothered to
attend. Ironically, the
motto of the school is "Sapere
aude." I am told that can be
translated as "Dare to be
wise, have the courage to
think for yourself rather
than blindly accepting the
opinions of authorities."
On page 9 in the Star, Dr.
Spittle, gives some of the
the arguments against
fluoridation. Bruce is the
Managing Editor of
Fluoride, the journal for
ISFR. He has recently
circulated an expanded
version of his booklet
"Fluoride Poisoning" (an
abridged version of this is
available entitled "Fluoride
Fatigue"). The book has
received two reviews in the
latest issue of Fluoride,
one by Peter Meiers from
Germany and the other from
FAN's research director
Chris Neurath (See
http://www.fluorideresearch.org
).
If you would like to order
either of these booklets
here are the details
supplied to us by Dr.
Spittle:
For orders placed
directly with me, by FAN
members and others, the
revised 2nd printings of
my books are available,
including shipping, for:
Fluoride Poisoning (78 +
vi pages) US$9.99m
CAN$9.99, AUS$10.99,
NZ$11.99, Euro6.99,
GBP4.99, JapanYEN1099
and the abridged
version, Fluoride
Fatigue (62 + vi pages)
US$5.99, CAN$5.99,
AUS$6.99, NZ$7.99,
Euro4.99, GBP3.99,
JapanYEN599. Payment may
be made by cash or check
made out to B Spittle or
by PayPal to
spittle@es.co.nz
after registering at
PayPal
www.paypal.com.
My address for orders is
Email:
spittle@es.co.nz
or Bruce Spittle, 727
Brighton Road, Ocean
View, Dunedin 9035, New
Zealand.
Commenting on the articles
in the Star, Dr. Albert
Burgstahler wrote to Bruce
Spittle, "What struck me in
the articles is the
persistence of the mistaken
belief held by so many
people that there really is
no solid or hard evidence to
question the claim for the
safety of water
fluoridation. How much more
than what you and others
have assembled do they need?
They can certainly find it
in abundance in your new
book Fluoride Poisoning
and the abridged version
Fluoride Fatigue."
I endorse Mary Byrnes'
suggestion that some of us
write to the Star
congratulating the editor
and Bruce Munro on their
coverage of this issue and
perhaps throwing in your
favorite argument at the
same time. You may email the
editor at
editor@star-times.co.nz
Paul Connett
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