Betreff: Rod Read ES-UK v Ben Goldacre |
Von: mastsicknessUK |
Datum: Mon, 2 Jul 2007 12:15:45 EDT |
|
I just
sent this to half a dozen Guardian editors, their email addresses are on
media lens website. Do circulate it if you wish, I can't be arsed as my
dirty-mouthed son says. Cruel and
unfair comment in your paper Dear Alan
Rusbridger, Cards on the
table, I have a clear interest. I am the director of the only registered
charity to support and help electrosensitives, 400 now. Our other
registered aim isâto advance the education of the general public in all
areas relating to electrosensitivityâ. Yes, this letter goes on too long,
but we have powerful feelings to vent. In this
capacity we entered in good faith into a dialogue with your Badscience
columnist Dr Ben Goldacre, sending scientific reports and personal cases
anticipating an objective and scientific, even typically Guardian response. One
with some âliberalâ leanings towards understanding the context of the
powerless, and indeed sick individual, up against powerful gung ho corporations
and a modernising government licensing this technology for huge rewards (ÂŁ25
billions for one round) . We work in a very hostile environment with
distortions of âthe scienceâ, so hoped for fairness. Far from it, he
selects only studies which suit his orientation, ignores the contributions of
Dr George Carlo, the medical specialist and man who supervised the 25 million dollar
US Cellphone Safety Research and who has spoken in the House of Commons on this
subject. I suppose
if you have read this far you think I have a case of âSour Grapesâ. Well on that
front I only ask for a fair hearing, for your readers benefit too. Ben G is
usually right about the quacks and health solution peddlers, we tell him so,
but we are different, there is a great deal of scientific evidence on our
side of this debate, else why would Sir William Stewart speak out on Panorama
(21.5.07) and set up a new Health Protection Agency committee to âhelp
develop suitable precautionary advice for the general public regarding exposure
to electromagnetic fieldsâ (press release HPA 27.04.06). Our chief
scientific advisor Alasdair Philips sits on that committee, but Ben G
excoriates his credentials and has gloried in publicising a powerful personal
animus against him, repeatedly, and in your columns. He never once mentioned
Sir William when commenting on the Panorama programme but attacked Alasdair,
who also sits on a DoH committee, SAGE, is senior science advisor and
Conference Organiser to âChildren with Leukaemiaâ and can stick up
for himself, so enough of that. But such ad hominem attacks are an abuse
of your columns and readership we feel, and have been subtly extended to myself
and ES-UK as deliberate self-interested deceivers of vulnerable ill
people. That is low, even vile. Worse. Unable to
refute, even with one-sided science, the reality of people with the
electrosensitive condition, Ben G has withdrawn into a defensive corner dancing
on his scientific pin where he grants, with hollowly effusive but genuinely
patronising, condescension, that âthe symptoms are real but sufferers of
them are deluded as to their cause being âelectrosmogââ. I paraphrase
a little, not much, ask him. Our members who
encounter this in your paper are really hurt, wounded at this dismissal of
their rational and sensible capabilities. This denial of their powers of
comprehension and common-sense damages other aspects of their lives,
relationships, work, confidence etc. It is injurious, iniquitous even,
insulting and de-humanising; they repeatedly tell me so. It is an untenable
absurdity which does not reflect compassion, as he has dared to claim, but is
cruelly arrogant, he goes so far as to suggest we as ES-UK in representing them
are instead corrupting and misleading them, preventing their chances of proper
diagnosis and treatment of whatever is âreallyâ ailing them. Other science
and technology journalists on your paper seem to congregate without exception
around this position, Dr James Randerson for instance. So your newspaperâs
line is now far and away the most dismissive of our case we have to deal with. Quite
outside your long-standing factual traditions which have had me reading it for
over forty years. Geoff Lean on the Independent has reported sympathetically on
our situation as has the Mail and The Times on WiFi in schools especially, and
the Telegraphâs Nic Fleming is always scrupulously fair. Please if you
feel it worth your time have a look at the correspondence in the BMJ website at
http://www.bmj. A readers
response would be something, I was invited, wrote one and then was disallowed. If you really
have time I enclose a sample case below, one sent to Ben G but never ever
referred to. Yours sincerely Rod Read ElectroSensitivity- Trustees:
Professor of Human Radiation Effects Dr Denis Henshaw, Dr David Dowson MD.,
ChB, Jean Philips BA. Scientific advice from: Alasdair Philips, BSc(Eng), DAgE,
MIAgE, MInstPhys., Keith Jamieson Dip.AAS. Bsc(Hons) RIBA. Inst.Ph.,
Environmental Consultant. John.Rogers. ONC: HND: FMAA., and others. This
is not a private communication and may be circulated more widely in pursuance
of our registered aims of supporting sufferers and educating the public about
all aspects of electrosensitivity. For more information go to: http://www.electros http://www.radiatio The Old Mill, Beeston, Nottingham Brian Stein is the Chief Executive of Samworth
Brothers. A ÂŁ500 million pa. turnover chilled food manufacturer based in
the Midlands manufacturing quality chilled foods for all the major
retailers. MBA from the Open University. Chairs Leicestershire Cares and Leicester Common
Purpose. Married with 3 children A sports fanatic, bridge player and keen Liverpool
supporter. As a result of his job, a very heavy mobile phone user
for 15 years who became ES at the end of 2000. He runs the very large
business with an electricity free office and a highly efficient secretary he
says. Originally an email to the Guardian newspaper, Dr Ben
Goldacre âBadscienceâ columnist. This is commonsense not ârocket
scienceâ. âSirs, Having been copied in
on some of the emails bouncing around between yourselves, Rod Read and Alasdair
Philips, I thought I might add my two penny worth. Your arguments on the
face of it are very sound but I think lacking some Common Sense and certainly
lacking any serious investigation into the subject. Over ten years ago Dr
George Carlo discovered while working for the cell phone industry that
microwaves damaged cells, damaged DNA and damaged the blood brain
barrier. He carried out the experiments on cell cultures and repeated
them on rats. Thatâs when the cell phone industry pulled the plug on
his research. What did the media say about this? Almost no
comments. Why? The first serious investigation into wireless
technology and the industry gets away with stopping the research when it tells
it something it didnât want to know. A dozen years later, we
finally get around to repeating these experiments officially and what do we
find. Exactly the same (The Reflex Project sponsored by the EU at
Universities in Berlin, Vienna, Stuk, Bologna, Milan, Hanover). Microwaves
are damaging cells in cultures. What does the cell phone industry say to
these experiments? 1.
Itâs only in âcellâ cultures! So it doesnât mean anything. 2.
No âpeopleâ are affected. Now this is when it
requires some Common Sense. Experimentation is showing we have a
problem. Damaging cells. The industry and the scientists have been
saying for years this is not possible. Common Sense â the
scientists are Wrong, Wrong, Wrong. What is the consequence for this
science if they are wrong? There are thousands if
not millions of people across all the countries that have developed wireless
technology that are now becoming electrically hypersensitive. Common Sense. Damage being done to cells and people becoming ES. Maybe
there is a connection. This ES condition has only been around for 20/30
years, approximately the length of time that wireless technology has been
around. I work in the food
industry. Approximately one year ago a food scandal hit the headlines,
Sudan 1 in ready meals. The company I work for had to throw ÂŁ1/4 M of
ready meals away because a scientist had shown that rats eating tons of Sudan 1
developed cancer. Common Sense. Microwaves, at many times less than the legal limit are
destroying cells in rats. The mobile phone industry says itâs not a
problem. Guardian agrees not a problem. Sudan 1 damages rats at
thousands of times above the permitted level. Problem.
Recall all the product. Headlines in newspapers - Ready Meals cause
cancer alert. If I as a food
manufacturer had used the argument that the mobile phone industry had used, I
think that I would have hit the headlines. If I had refused to destroy
stock with Sudan 1 in it, what would you have thought of me? What would
your headlines have said? Why are you applying double standards for the
mobile phone industry? Why do âyouâ let them get away with their
deceit? Might âyouâ be being influenced, like the Government, without
even realising it, that they spend a lot of money with you? Common Sense Multiple Schlerosis. Chronic fatigue syndrome. Fibromyalgia. Multiple Chemical
Sensitivity. Light Sensitivity. Hyper Acusis. Pea Nut Allergy. All started off
according to our medical and scientific community being psychosomatic. They
were wrong, wrong, wrong. Common Sense You could write a book
on all the things that human beings can be sensitive to. Pollen,
chemicals, medicines, light, dark, pea nuts. This list is almost endless. So, pea nuts can kill
us but the one thing that no one can be sensitive to, is putting microwaves to
your head for 20 years. This does not even sound logical. All these things
devised by god or nature can kill you but microwaves devised by man, at these
extraordinary levels, canât do you any harm????? Isnât that what they
said about Radiation, X Rays, and Pylons? Do you not have any
Common Sense? Newspapers have been
the scourge of establishment. Forcing scientists to admit the truth about
food scares, BSE, Global Warming, the âcover upsâ, you know better than me,
are too numerous to mention. But microwaves to the head, and all these
people having their lives ruined, no cover up. Whiter than white, all
these people are deluded. Mass hysteria. FACT I used a mobile phone
for 15 years. 14 years not a problem, no issues. 15th
year. Severe pain in my head and ear, only when I put the mobile to my
head. Why is my pain, psychosomatic? Put the phone to my
head. Instant pain, take it away and pain goes away. Problem.
What is happening??? This canât happen! Although I cut down on
using my mobile I did not stop completely. Why, good question. I
was assured by all it was only temporary and like a fool I believed the
scientists, the medics, the media. Then, one day putting
the mobile to my head an explosion in my ear. So much pain I could not
bear the mobile to my head. This canât happen! Thereafter, the
weird experience I had over the twelve months earlier using a mobile phone, I
started to experience in front of my computer, in front of my TV and in my car. This developed over
time to an ordinary phone, video, washing machine, dish washer etc. Whatever
damage the mobile phones/microwaves, can do had been done to me. When you become
hypersensitive to something, it is not confusing, it is not a case of I donât
feel well, I wonder what it is, can it be my microwave!!! Its use a phone
for 5 minutes â pain in ear and head. Donât use the phone â no
pain. Use the phone â pain. Donât use the phone â no pain.
After you have done this experiment on yourself a few hundred times, it becomes
more than a coincidence. I have been studying ES for 5 years. Every
hour, of every day, of every month for 5 years. Believe me it is not
confusing. Wishing to prove my
condition I signed up for the tests at Kings College and had to pull out when I
found what they wanted to do to me. I did suggest a less invasive way of
proving this but was ignored. Last year I signed up for the test at Essex
University and attended the first of three sessions to prove this
condition. I ignored my cynicism because the questionnaire seemed to be
only concerned with my financial state and levels of stress. I ignored
the fact that the people were psychologists, not scientists. I ignored
the fact that they couldnât tell me the level of strength of the mast. I
ignored the fact that they had not consulted anyone ES when devising the tests
and I went ahead with the first one hour session. THE RESULT I have been made
permanently worse; I had to pull out of the remaining tests. Although
double blind I knew that the mast was on. How, I bled internally for two
weeks. That is what happens to me when I get too close to a mast for too
long. Bleeding internally, can this be psychosomatic I ask myself. Perhaps
my gut has decided to join in on this misinformation. Maybe my gut is in
league with my brain in deluding me. I went to my doctor when I first
bled. He referred me to a Specialist. The Specialist was very
chatting and friendly until I told him why I was bleeding. I then became
the enemy. A lunatic. I had a barium enema and a
colonoscopy. All clear. When I asked therefore
why I could be bleeding (I was bleeding before and after the investigation) I
was told by the Specialist in a very aggressive voice âTHERE IS NO REASON WHY
YOU SHOULD BE BLEEDINGâ. He didnât want to see my stool, didnât
want to check the most obvious way of telling if I was being truthful or
not. End of Examination, Go Home! That is what it is like
being ES. The tests have been devised so that the people who are best
able to prove this condition are precluded. People find it inconvenient
to be more thorough. Donât ask the obvious questions, simply dismiss it
and trust the scientists investigating this, sponsored by the mobile phone
industry. No reason to be concerned. In theory, this should
not happen. If damaged by a drug, I
donât think the drug industry saying we didnât do any research into this
drug because in theory it should be safe, would be good enough. The mobile
phone industry gets away with it. They are not required to do any safety
research because the NRPB (HPA) are responsible for this and of course they are
totally independent and impartial like the newspaper industry. Who do not
want to rock the boat. When I challenge
scientists, politicians, health industry, NRPB, Media, that this is not
difficult to prove I can prove it. They change the subject. I
could go on for hours but why bother. Sadly, you and your
family have to become affected to rock the boat. I hope you have the good
grace to apologise in a few years time when your collective incompetence
results in millions of people being affected because that is what will happen. Correction,
this is what is happening while you donât use your common sense or
investigate this seriously. If the research is
correct, that it causes geno-toxin effects, single and double stranded DNA
breaks, damage to chromosomes and reductions in melatonin, how will this be
detected in humans when doctors, specialists, scientists etc refuse to examine
us seriously. The best any ES person has had is a two minute examination
and the assurances we are perfectly OK. If these things are
happening, what symptoms are we allowed to have? Please advise me. What
symptoms am I allowed to have if I am suffering from the above!!! Meanwhile, incidents of
brain tumours, mouth tumours, ear tumours, eye tumours, once very rare, are all
suddenly appearing and increasing. Probably psychosomatic. Wake up.â Brian Stein 17.5.06 ElectroSensitivity-UK (registered
charity 1103018) Rod Read M.Phil.,(Cantab) ES-UK
Office, Bury Lane, Sutton, Ely, Cambs, CB6 2BB. Tel: 01353-778151 or at www.electrosensitiv