The train engineer of the Lac-Megantic disaster investigation is emotionally "devastated" by the tragic event, his lawyer says.

MONTREAL - The train engineer at the centre of the Lac-Megantic disaster investigation is emotionally "devastated" by the tragic event, his lawyer says.

Tom Harding has vanished from public sight and his lawyer's comments Tuesday shed some light on how he has responded to the tragedy.

Lawyer Thomas Walsh said his client has been staying at an undisclosed location in the province, on his advice, to avoid the constant barrage of journalists at his Eastern Townships home.

Walsh said he's hoping to get Harding some psychological help.

He said the last 10 days have been difficult for everyone affected by the train derailment — including his client, who was at the helm of the train hours before it destroyed part of Lac-Megantic.

"I used the word 'devastated' and I think that's one word that's applicable, but he's very, very low," Walsh said from his Sherbrooke, Que. offices.

"We're looking to organize something to see if he can meet with someone more professional."

Harding's role is a central question in ongoing investigations into the tragedy; his own company called him a hero one day, then announced the next that he had been suspended amid concerns about his role in the disaster.

He is also named as one of the defendants in an attempted class-action suit.

One key question is whether the veteran railman applied the appropriate number of hand-brakes before ending his shift for the night.

Walsh said Harding has been co-operating fully with authorities and has given his version to authorities investigating the event.

"He was interviewed for a long period of time by the Surete du Quebec (police) and by the safety investigators from Transport Canada last week," Walsh said.

The lawyer said Harding has not been arrested and hasn't been charged with any crime stemming from the accident.

As such, there are no legal conditions placed on his client.

Edward Burkhardt, the head of the rail company, had told reporters last week that his engineer was under "police control" as the subject of a criminal investigation.

"Nothing (of the sort)," Walsh said Tuesday in response to that statement.  I think the remedies in my pocket pack can go a long way to healing this man; helping him come to terms with it all.  He is not a drinker and has done the run many times.  They think a small oil problem dripping caused the fire that the firemen put out.  Some of the spitting oil may have gotten on the track.  One inch of movement can start the whole thing moving as it was on a grade.  I enclose my magazine and the contents of the Pocket Pack.  In the magazine Homeopathy and us are testimonials and understandings of each of the remedies.  In the content of the Pocket Pack Index there is much information about each remedy and first of all clear technical information written by a Homeopath; Delia Pettit.

www.homeopathyandus.com

WWW.Hollywoodsurvivalkit.com    Go to Products and then Pocket Pack.

Ill with Cancer and dealing with it.

Food - all organic, no bread, no dairy, little fruit(cancer loves sugar) no sugar.
Diet- Make almond milk drink with cacao and Xyla (Xylytol chemical sweetener)
Smoothie - make in the morning and drink all day.  Made with parsley, apple, bee pollen,
propolis, left over rice with quinoa, amarenth, bok choy, celery, chard, almond pulp, walnuts,
hazelnuts, Flax Oil, omega 3 oil  or variations of above.  Make about 4 cups and it gives me great energy and seems to keep me balanced.
Evening meal - fish or venison or moose or beef plus potato, carrot, mushrooms and onion with garlic.
Supplements - Vit Bs,B12 plus Folic acid C, D, E.  Magnesium and baking soda.
Homeopathy - Hyoscyamus Niger 1M, Rhopakraus 30C
Flower remedy - Pine, hornbeam, Elm, Gentian

I am about to embark on a regimin of Cannabis juice high in CBD and not THC taken an ounce or so three times a day.  Cannabinoids are in all of us and it is a system that becomes dysfunctional in some.  Every cancer cell has receptors for cannabinoids and if they enter they kill the cell.  I will see if that is true.  Great advantage having the offending lymph nodes under my arm and every morning when I shower I can feel them and the area around and tell if it is larger or smaller, more swollen or not.

My Supper last night

I am so proud of getting in touch with vegetables and juicing. It is so easy but difficult to make taste worthy. I even got to make some humus with my juicer. Great fun and I ate it all.And of course had my vitamins and antioxidants which I do now without thinking. Having cancer is not the most fun in the world but it makes me pay attention to what I am doing in so many ways, It is teaching me about me. Life is good.

LIFE IS FULL OF INTERESTING JOBS!!!

I am amazed at how many blooms there were in my Garden on October the 6th and now I can count them to find out who won a Hollywood Survival Kit Pocket Pack. You can see the pack and its contents at http://www.hollywoodsurvivalkit.com

It is slow work counting...LOL

For the people who wonder does Homeopathy work

HPathy is the largest on line magazine for homeopathy. It has many areas of concern. In the September issue a homeopath interested in wild birds and animals has documented several illness recoveries using Homeopathy. They are worth reading to see how effective Homeopathy can be with wildlife even in extreme cases. Most of these cases were brought about by pesticides sprayed on golf courses, lawns and gardens. Lots of signs telling humans about what was going on but no way for animals or birds could know. It is nice to read how we as people can save our wild friends.

http://hpathy.com/veterinary-homeopathy/cases/homeopathic-success-in-treating-poisoned-wildlife/

My life has changed now…..

There was a time at night all alone where if I was too tired I would just turn off the light, climb into bed and go to sleep. It did not matter that I had not brushed my teeth. A sinful idea.

Now the ritual is much longer and ends with me brushing my teeth and my partial dentures. Such joy.

Before that though I go down to the kitchen and get a capsule of my Magnesium supplement and the baking soda. I spill the contents of the capsule into a fruit juice glass and an equal part of the baking soda. I turn on the kettle for about a minute to generate some heat and then half fill the glass and it froths and I drink it.

My life has changed now…

John Board at the beginning of March

Life has its turns and so we change or not and try to understand and try to make things as whole as possible.

My second CT scan was the same as the first and my blood good as well. I am dedicated to my health right
now as best I can be. I am close except in smoking but even there I am smoking 50% of what I used to.

We have an appointment in three months to see if proper living (sorta) with some thoughtful supplements and Homeopathic care can cure me.

My energy went down just after Christmas until I was sleeping 10 hours a night but I did not fight that at all.
Slowly I have improved. I fine cut the feature Oriental Pearls - 7 love stories, exquisitely shot, well directed and acted by 7 of Vietnam's finest female stars. Each story now shaped and a pleasure to enjoy.

Now I am on Manitoulin Island at the Weengushk Film Institute. Heaven and pergotory all at once. Heaven just to be here and meet another culture for the first time and feel what quiet enthusiasm is all about. Pergotory because I have to make up my own call sheets and I have never had to do the mechanics of it on a computer; just not a good sectetary.

We go out on Monday and the schedule is good now and the actors rehearsed and the 4 directors as ready as can be and we shall see how the 11 days of shooting unfold. 4 10 minute stories the first of a seriies. Light and fun. It will be challanging for me to eat enough and think enough and act enough to be a great asset in the process but I will do my best. I am excited.

Life at 76 is getting more and more fulfilling in every way. Even in paying attention to myself so I will get better.

Today's nature

The houses along the street are covered in snow.
A foot high winter wonderland created in an hour.
Now the shovelers come all bundled up and eager,
for the wind is low and the light as clear as the air is fresh.

Snow flies and techniques are varied; a pleasant sight…
How wonderful to have eyes that can see what is…

And now the sidewalks are wet from the heat of the day;
dark brushstrokes separating snow filled yards and snow deep streets.

The passing of Doug Dales

Too steep he paid a price poor prince
now dead and gone beyond us far.
How much I miss your honesty and love.
The twinkle in your eye meant much more.

But you are gone now away for ever and a day
into places we have yet to see or feel or know.
I'm not so far behind so it will not be too long
till we put our heads together and sing another song

I cannot seem to catch my breath
winds blowing hard against my every leaf.
There is not place outside to find a niche.
What should I feel when pummeled toward my death.

Five months ago I rose and saw a great adventure
before my eyes. An energy I love awoken
A goal to reach, a new rider to strut his stuff;
A dear friend, with really such a lively brain.

No easy task I undertook for age and confused temperament :
best just to say both are old and certainly I have a bent.
Some tinged with barbs as hard as barbs can be
but not with malice but with love laid where not all see

Not all saw that and so I grieve far more than most
My health has disappeared and cancers found me tasty
The rider now like me is fighting but far more risky.
The adventure taken back for others to be host.

And that is only part of all that tilts my bowler.
I struggle now to find the path to bring back health.
Years now I know good healing with herbs and homeopathy
That stand out in my mind gainst Chemo and XRay killer.

I listen to the folks I trust and place down all the questions
and sit with doctors who have figures to their benefit.
So I’ve changed my food and take supplements too
And mix up things that look like goo.

My last big chore is to give up the weed.
Addiction is a potent greedy freak
I’m coming close to the devil now
And soon I'll regain my strong know how.

And I sit alone in my dark third floor
With my solitaire and my mind out the door’
I can’t seem to find my feet on the floor
Just a mind caught nowhere and nowhere to go.

It’s the lot of my life to live in between
A mind in the wind with the leaves all akilter
But I try my best to stand up in the storm
I’m not much for quitting. I can take lots more.

TIme tells all!!!

Lymphoma! Hodgkin’s! the gentle worried woman said
And followed with, “But you are far from dead.”
She waited calmly to feel my first reply
It was not news to me, not really, I know not why.

Encouraged by my tranquil unaltered state
She went on to describe my newfound fate
Chemo, radiation, who knows what for sure
She has a friend who’s studied, knows the cure

Relax and wait until this new sage can examine
There is much time for this woe is not like famine
It sits inside my right armpit that finds me
A royal cushion ready to move throughout its sea.

The news has passed to all who counsel this happy soul
And I, the keeper, shuttered eyes like some forest troll
Will wait to hear the sure fire paths
Of all the pundits who can kill this wrath.

Soon, quite soon I’ll choose the allies in this game
Will I choose right or wrong? Will I ever be the same.
Time is time and moves at its own pace.
There is always an end in the human race.

Karma plays its hand and always will
Tomorrow is day one of our fine film
Hello October is all ready, the first shot due.
My work some done, will now begin anew.

I am inundated with life!!!

I am inundated with life and its all encompassing needs
I am just another ear but my mouth just feeds
Oracles have an easier time and are more sublime
But I do my best and try to live in rhyme

So the tests were done and my arm now waits
Perhaps its how life lives with the fates
What is time but a passing self born fantasy
For in each second all life takes its eternity

A week to go and the film starts shooting
And now the urgency of weeks ago are real
And those who did not understand the minutes
Now have seconds to discover my realities

I rise to all the questions from others and myself
For is not life just a parade of waiting on a shelf
Karma plays loud and answers are revealed
Was it ever otherwise? We are all the same breed.

Britain's Parliament has struck for Peoples right to choose

Government defends right to homeopathy on the NHS

26 July 2010

By Ian Quinn (Pulse Today)

The Government has strongly rejected demands by MPs for the funding of homeopathy on the NHS to be withdrawn, claiming it would fly in the face of patient choice and local decision-making.

In its response to a report from the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, which issued a damning verdict on the practice and called for GPs to be barred from referring patients under the NHS, the Department of Heath said it would not be stepping in - despite MPs' concerns over the lack of evidence and regulation of homeopathic treatments.

MPs had called not only for doctors to be barred from referring patients to homeopathic hospitals or homeopaths, but for the MHRA to intervene and to apply the same standards of regulation as for medicines, which they said would remove any medical claim supporters of homeopathy had.

But in its response today the DH said: ‘It is not appropriate for the Department of Health to remove the right of PCTs to make these decisions on a case-by-case basis.'

‘Capital investment decisions in the NHS are planned and decided at local level. The commissioning plans of local PCTs set out the type of services that need to be provided and therefore drive decisions about the nature of new facilities needed, or the need to maintain, update or replace existing facilities.’

The committee had also called for an investigation into the cost of homeopathy to the NHS and for new research into the evidence-base for homeopathy, but this too was rejected.

MPs had wanted regulators to ‘remove any medical claim and any implied endorsement of efficacy by the MHRA’ by ensuring the same evidence of efficacy used to assess conventional medicines was used, but the Government said this would potentially deal a fatal blow to the homeopathy market and limit consumer choice.

‘Homeopathy has a long tradition in Europe and is a recognised and widely used system of medicine across the EU,’ it said.

‘The Government takes the view that consumers who choose to use homeopathic medicines should be fully informed about their purpose and assured that standards of quality and safety are maintained. If homeopathic medicines were not subject to any kind of regulatory control consumers would not have access to such information or assurances.'

'Conversely, if regulation was applied to homeopathic medicines as understood in the context of conventional pharmaceutical medicines, these products would have to be withdrawn from the market as medicines. This would constrain consumer choice and, more importantly, risk the introduction of unregulated, poor quality and potentially unsafe products on the market to satisfy consumer demand.’

However the campaign group Sense About Science hit out at the Department of Health's ruling.

'The Government has ignored the Committee’s detailed consideration of the licensing of homeopathic products as medicines,' it said in a statement.

'It has acknowledged that “there will be an assumption that if the NHS is offering homeopathic treatments then they will be efficacious” and that homeopathic products can be licensed with no requirement for evidence that they treat any condition at all. However, the Government has put forward a weak point about ‘patient choice’ instead of considering what to do about these problems. At a time when PCTs are reviewing expenditure on ineffective treatments, this is perverse.'

'We urge them to go back and give proper consideration to this part of the Committee’s report. In the meantime, we recommend a warning on the label of homeopathic products telling people that the product is licensed without any evidence that it works.'

Edzard Ernst | 26 Jul 10

So much for evidence-based government and healthcare decisions!

Brian Kaplan - London | 26 Jul 10

This is truly marvellous news - simply the most heartening thing I've read in PULSE for years.

The government's decision is a victory for liberty and democracy in this country and a slap in the face for those who would seek to thwart the rights of GPs to send patients to fully qualified doctors on the NHS who use homeopathic medicine.

http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=35&storycode=4126664&c=2

U.S. exempted BP's Gulf of Mexico drilling from environmental impact study

The citizens and the country are not being protected by our Governments.


By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 5, 2010

The Interior Department exempted BP's calamitous Gulf of Mexico drilling operation from a detailed environmental impact analysis last year, according to government documents, after three reviews of the area concluded that a massive oil spill was unlikely.
This Story

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BP caps one of three oil leaks in gulf
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Environmental groups seize oil spill as momentum for pushing changes
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U.S. exempted BP rigs from impact analysis
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Scientists envision devastation for gulf
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Oil slick brings big business for booms
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Deepwater Horizon explosion in Gulf of Mexico sends oil slick toward U.S. coastline
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By any measure, Gulf oil spill is big
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Oil slick arrives in Chandeleur Sound

View All Items in This Story
View Only Top Items in This Story

The decision by the department's Minerals Management Service (MMS) to give BP's lease at Deepwater Horizon a "categorical exclusion" from the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) on April 6, 2009 -- and BP's lobbying efforts just 11 days before the explosion to expand those exemptions -- show that neither federal regulators nor the company anticipated an accident of the scale of the one unfolding in the gulf.

Rethinking the rules

Now, environmentalists and some key senators are calling for a reassessment of safety requirements for offshore drilling.

Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), who has supported offshore oil drilling in the past, said, "I suspect you're going to see an entirely different regime once people have a chance to sit back and take a look at how do we anticipate and clean up these potential environmental consequences" from drilling.

BP spokesman Toby Odone said the company's appeal for NEPA waivers in the past "was based on the spill and incident-response history in the Gulf of Mexico." Once the various investigations of the new spill have been completed, he added, "the causes of this incident can be applied to determine any changes in the regulatory regime that are required to protect the environment."

"I'm of the opinion that boosterism breeds complacency and complacency breeds disaster," said Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) on Tuesday. "That, in my opinion, is what happened."

Jack Gerard, president of the American Petroleum Institute, said it is important to learn the cause of the accident before pursuing a major policy change. "While the conversation has shifted, the energy reality has not," Gerard said. "The American economy still relies on oil and gas."

While the MMS assessed the environmental impact of drilling in the central and western Gulf of Mexico on three occasions in 2007 -- including a specific evaluation of BP's Lease 206 at Deepwater Horizon -- in each case it played down the prospect of a major blowout.

In one assessment, the agency estimated that "a large oil spill" from a platform would not exceed a total of 1,500 barrels and that a "deepwater spill," occurring "offshore of the inner Continental shelf," would not reach the coast. In another assessment, it defined the most likely large spill as totaling 4,600 barrels and forecast that it would largely dissipate within 10 days and would be unlikely to make landfall.

"They never did an analysis that took into account what turns out to be the very real possibility of a serious spill," said Holly Doremus, a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley who has reviewed the documents.

The MMS mandates that companies drilling in some areas identify under NEPA what could reduce a project's environmental impact. But Interior Department spokesman Matt Lee-Ashley said the service grants between 250 and 400 waivers a year for Gulf of Mexico projects. He added that Interior has now established the "first ever" board to examine safety procedures for offshore drilling. It will report back within 30 days on BP's oil spill and will conduct "a broader review of safety issues," Lee-Ashley said.

BP's exploration plan for Lease 206, which calls the prospect of an oil spill "unlikely," stated that "no mitigation measures other than those required by regulation and BP policy will be employed to avoid, diminish or eliminate potential impacts on environmental resources."

While the plan included a 13-page environmental impact analysis, it minimized the prospect of any serious damage associated with a spill, saying there would be only "sub-lethal" effects on fish and marine mammals, and "birds could become oiled. However it is unlikely that an accidental oil spill would occur from the proposed activities."

Kierán Suckling, executive director of the environmental group Center for Biological Diversity, said the federal waiver "put BP entirely in control" of the way it conducted its drilling.

Agency a 'rubber stamp'

"The agency's oversight role has devolved to little more than rubber-stamping British Petroleum's self-serving drilling plans," Suckling said.

BP has lobbied the White House Council on Environmental Quality -- which provides NEPA guidance for all federal agencies-- to provide categorical exemptions more often. In an April 9 letter, BP America's senior federal affairs director, Margaret D. Laney, wrote to the council that such exemptions should be used in situations where environmental damage is likely to be "minimal or non-existent." An expansion in these waivers would help "avoid unnecessary paperwork and time delays," she added.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill were talking Tuesday about curtailing offshore oil exploration rather than making it easier. In addition to traditional foes of offshore drilling such as Democratic Sens. Robert Menendez (N.J.) and Bill Nelson (Fla.), Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and centrists such as Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.) said they are taking a second look at such methods.

"It's time to push the pause button," Baucus told reporters.

Staff writer Steven Mufson contributed to this report.

This safety concern bypassed leaves us vulnerable just as forgiving the Pharmaceuticals of any legal responsibility for their vaccines is truly criminal. Instead the Government has funds for this. What is going on???

Think about it - The environmental impact of the spill and its impact on lives in the area will last for years and cost billions. We pay the bill and live with the consequences of bad Government.

It is no different for a child who reacts badly to a vaccine impact on families who are thrown into medical interventions, constant care and sometimes both hospitalization and institutional care plus a lifelong suffering of the damaged person. We pay for that through a Government fund so we pay all that for pharmaceuticals forgiven mistakes.

A bit of truth.

" We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force.” - Ayn Rand

Sites worth reading.

Canadians for Health Freedom.

http://canadiansforhealthfreedom.wordpress.com/

For Canadians this is a must site. It will keep you abreast of what is happening through efforts by our present government to limit the rights of freedom of choice with regards to health care. The reporting about bill C6 is clear as to how dangerous the bill is to all Canadians. They also are doing excellent reporting on the EU probe into the Pandemic of last year and the allegations that it was rigged. The information is startling.


Homeopathy Heals

http://www.homeopathyheals.me.uk/site/

This site is following the pharmaceutical? Natural Health care fight in Britain where vasts amounts of money are going to groups to fight Homeopathy and the health care system that allows other kinds of healing to be officially recognized and paid for inside the system. It contains as well many fine articles about Homeopathy, including understanding how it works and its great successful history.

Obama condemns Graft but America runs on Lobby money

It is always strange to read about how the banks, pharmaceutical and chemical industries and all the major industries use money power to influence the outcome of what is happening in the USA. The Health Care issue and how much medicines will cost under it reflects this. The moves but the pharmaceutical industry to influence the outcome was clear and documented and the moneys and support given to the Democrats changed as the deals between the administration and the industry were worked out. Is this so much different to the graft Hamid Karzai seems to be accused of fostering in Afghanistan? Who steals and who is paid off is the way of the present.

Obama visits Afghanistan and tells his troops they will defeat the Taliban but also with his advisers is considering if the Taliban should be coaxed to the table and into the current government there. What is the deal that will make this happen and will we call it graft or just the price of new friends. Without graft there would be no government in Afghanistan and there is clear evidence that in America government is bought and controlled by vested interests. In the end both are the same.

Our ethics in America and worldwide are in shambles and it is no use calling the kettle black when greed is the underlying credo of both governments and money abounds from the powers who want to get their way. In Afghanistan it flows from Government and Obama's administration carps about it because it is their money and their embarrassment. In the USA it flows from the multinational corporations to the bureaucracy and downward to the contractors. In both cases it is the ordinary folks, you and I, who suffer. Under the name of democracy we are led to believe that the vote gives us power but at this point in the venture that does not seem to be true.

The world at large is being badly served by both democracy and the capitalistic system. Whether Capitalism will ever really be the way to a stable and fair system of business is a real question. Its object is money in the pocket and we have come to a time when most people agree that the multinational Corporations are running the world and use persuasion money to enhance their power. Whether it is money for campaigns to persuade people to vote for a candidate or money to moderate how much the health care plan will affect the pharmaceutical corporation's profits it matters little. In the end the people suffer the consequences.

As governments privatize more and more of what we always thought belonged to the people and were essential to the people is gone. What has happened is more cost to us with less security. The governments have become just money collectors for others and we get no real governing at all.

It seems clear that the idea of one world is a splendid one but for the major players like the banks and the large corporations it is optimal for it reduces the table to one player and a bunch of pawns to be played as they wish. The citizens of the world are being decimated from my perspective. Our welfare is really on the back burner and profit at any cost is where it is at today. Can we change this?

Only revolution seems to be able to change these things unfortunately. I neither advocate or embrace this but if real reform of our ethics is not forthcoming then revolution is all that is left to exact change.

Homeopathic use world wide.

I just got this article from HPathy which is the largest Homeopathic magazine in the world. I am surprised how well Homeopathy is doing in the world at present. What is most encouraging is the Pharmaceutical schools and some Medical schools are beginning to teach it and many doctors are embracing it in their practices. Read on
March 15, 2010 by Robert Medhurst



It might be useful for you to know the extent to which homoeopathic medicines are used around the world. Globally, homoeopathy is an extremely popular modality and to reflect this, in 1999 the World Health Organisation (WHO) called for closer incorporation of homoeopathy into “western medical systems”1 and a ranking of the world’s top healing systems (including pharmaceutical drug therapy) carried out in 2003 had homoeopathy second only in popularity to Traditional Chinese Medicine2.

In Germany, 20% of medical practitioners prescribe homoeopathic medicines for their patients 3, 4, 5 and they’re used by 90% of German veterinarians6. It’s interesting that given the fact that homeopathy was originally developed by Dr Samuel Hahnemann in Germany, there isn’t a higher level of use by medical practitioners.

In the UK a study carried out in 1994 found that 10 out of the 16 university pharmacy schools taught homoeopathy as an undergraduate subject and in 1999, 66% of pharmacies sold homoeopathic medicines7, 8, 9 with some particular pharmacy groups such as Boots producing their own range of homoeopathic medicines10 . Still in the UK, there are 5 homoeopathic hospitals run by the British National Health Service (NHS), as well as 2 private homoeopathic hospitals and homoeopathy has been supported by the NHS since it’s inception in 194811, 12. A 1992 study found that 42% of British doctors refer their patients for homoeopathic treatment13 . By 2001 20% of Scottish GPs had been trained in homoeopathy 14 and by 2003, 86% of Scottish GPs surveyed were found to be in favour of homoeopathy 15 . Currently, homoeopathy is the second most popular complementary medicine in the UK 16, 17.

The situation in France is also interesting. Most French pharmacies carry these products18, 19 and in 1999 the French Medical Association called for homeopathy to be included in all medical degree training20. A 1998 study concluded that people using prescribed homoeopathic medicine cost the French government half of that for patients who used pharmaceutical treatments21, 22 .

Around the rest of Europe, 45% of doctors in the Netherlands use homoeopathy (40% of GPs in the Netherlands use homoeopathy23, 85% of Belgian medical practitioners provide homoeopathic treatment for their patients24, 25, 47% of Dutch doctors use homoeopathy26 and in the 10 years to 2002, interest in homoeopathy in Switzerland had risen by 300%27 and homoeopathy is rebatable by most health insurance providers27. In 1997, 37% of Norwegians who were surveyed had visited a homoeopath 28 and homoeopathy is the most frequently used system of veterinary medicine in Norway29.

In Europe generally, a 2003 survey found that 20-25% of all Europeans used homoeopathic medicines30, 31 and homoeopathy was the most frequently used complementary medicine in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Italy and Switzerland32. In 1999 The European Parliament called for homoeopathy to be integrated into medical practice33 and the EU recommended that homoeopathy and herbs be used as first line treatments in veterinary medicine34

Pakistan appears to have a high level of interest in homoeopathy. Last year, the Pakistani Government established homoeopathic dispensaries in Pakistani hospitals35 and there are 165 government recognised homoeopathic medicine colleges operating throughout the country36. For the last few years the Pakistan government has set up homoeopathic medicine camps to treat the pilgrims who travel on the Haj to Mecca. Last year, 50,000 people were treated in these camps37. In India, 54% of medical practitioners prescribe homoeopathic medicines38 .They are widely used in Indian hospitals and homoeopathy is the most commonly used complementary medicine in this country39, 40, 41.

In 2003 in Sri Lanka, construction began on a government-funded homoeopathic hospital at Welisara42 and Columbian President, Alvaro Uribe, uses homoeopathic medicines to “stay in mental shape”43. It’s estimated that there are 15,000 homoeopathic doctors practising in Brazil44 and it’s a government requirement that homoeopathy is taught as an undergraduate subject in all pharmacy courses at Brazilian universities45. In the USA, 58% of US medical schools teach homoeopathy46. In Australia, the level of use of these medicines is a little difficult to determine. One relatively recent study said that around 12% of Australians use homoeopathic medicines but this figure has yet to be verified47. However, 78% of pharmacies here carry products made from homoeopathic ingredients and many of the larger pharmacy groups recommend these products as a core range, i.e. it’s mandatory for anyone setting up one of these stores to have them on their shelves 48. In New Zealand49 and South Africa50, homoeopathy forms part of the undergraduate program in pharmacy courses in some universities.

1. Poitevin B, Integrating Homoepathy in Health Systems, WHO Bulletin, 1999, 77, 2, 160-166.

2. Kemper KJ, Jacobs J, Homeopathy in Pediatrics- No harm likely but how much good? Contemporary Pediatrics, May, 2003, 20, 97-111.

3. Ludtke R et al, Forsch Komplementarmed Klass Natureheilkd, 2001, 8, 4, 213-8.

4. BMJ 2 November 2002;325:990.

5. WHO Bulletin op cit.

6. HomInt R&D Newsletter, Glasgow Homoeopathic Hospital, 1998.

7. Jain, A, “Does Homeopathy reduce the cost of drug prescribing?” Homeopathy, 2003, 92, 71-6.

8. Barnes J, Uncovering Potential Problems with Complementary Remedies: A Survey of Community Pharmacies, Royal Pharmaceutical Society, Report on Complementary and Alternative Medicines, Response to the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, Sob-Committee III, October, 1999, Appendix 2.

9. BBC News, 20 Aril 2003.

10. Authors personal observations, London 1995.

11. Owen DK et al, “Can doctors respond to patient’s increasing interest in complementary and alternative medicine?”, ”, British Medical Journal, 20 January, 2001, 322, 154-8.

12. Natural Medicine Society News, 21, June 1992.

13. Natural Medicine Society News, op cit.

14. Reilly D, The Puzzle of Homoeopathy, J Alt Compl Med, 2001, 7, Suppl 1, S103-9.

15. Hamilton E, Exploring General Practitioners attitudes to homeopathy in Dumfries and Galloway, Homeopathy, 2003, 92, 190-194.

16. “New research in the Times Body and Soul reveals disenchanted Britons turning to complementary therapy”, PRNewswire, London Jan 9, 2004.

17. The Independent, 17 November, 2003.

18. Author, personal observations, Paris, 1993, 1995.

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36. www.paknews.com, 21.6.03

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Evolution

The Evolution of ideas and how we got here is only significant to understand where we are. To alter the course is also part of an ongoing evolution. We are past the crossroads of man's dominance on earth and we will adjust downwards as we are able to alter the evolution of ideas that have brought us here. If we do not share appropriately with the earth then it will devour us and starve us to death.

Big Pharma and Oxycontin abuse

From an article by Steve Hayes of Novus Medical Detox Centre in Florida http://www.novusdetox.com/faq.php
They do wonderful work with addicts of all sorts and press the government whenever possible to get dangerous drugs off the market---

We know this about Big Pharma:

* They have a philosophy that they make very clear-"if you want to receive our money then you better not do anything that interferes with our making money".

* They spend millions of dollars a year trying to ensure that their legislative agenda is protected.

* In this year alone, lobbying records show that they have contributed over $7.5 million to Members of Congress.

* They don't care how many are killed or injured as long as they make profits.


HOW OXYCONTIN IS ABUSED

OxyContin is oxycodone, legal heroin, that is coated and, if swallowed whole, will release the oxycodone over a six to ten hour period. However, if it is chewed or crushed, then all of the oxycodone is immediately available.

Many of our patients who come to Novus Medical Detox Center to withdraw from heroin started their path to addiction by taking OxyContin and switched to heroin because it was cheaper and the same type of high.

WHAT YOU EXPECT FROM A CRIMINAL COMPANY

Since OxyContin's release, Purdue has known:

* OxyContin could easily be converted to oxycodone.

* OxyContin was being abused and was causing addictions and deaths.

* OxyContin was largely responsible for creating a new opium epidemic.

* OxyContin being abused just meant more OxyContin sales.

* OxyContin sales, even if to addicts, just meant more profits.


LATEST OXYCONTIN SCAM FROM PURDUE PHARMA

Purdue is surprised, but people are actually starting to get upset about the abuse of OxyContin. Purdue has proposed to the FDA a new formulation that they say is not as easy to abuse.

Typical of Purdue, they "neglected" to see what would happen if you simply put their new OxyContin on a cookie sheet and baked it in the oven for a time. Would it become easily abused oxycodone?

When confronted at the FDA hearing with this allegation by Larry Golbom of Prescription Addiction Radio, Purdue was forced to notify the FDA that they had "forgotten" to test this way of defeating their new formulation.

CONGRESSWOMAN MARY BONO MACK

In 1998, Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack was first elected to serve the people of California's 45th District through a special election held to fill the seat left vacant by her late husband, Congressman Sonny Bono. Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack is now married to U.S. Congressman Connie Mack.

ACT OF COURAGE

Congresswoman Bono Mack has seen the growing problem of prescription drug abuse and addiction among Americans young and old and has been vitally interested in how she can help. She signed the Ban OxyContin petition.