This thread is like a gift to us all. A real debate about the merits of a live BSE test.
Since May 20, 2007 (in Canada) there has never been a public debate/discussion about BSE. All the meetings held were to TELL us the way the government was going to handle things.
One of the best comments on this thread was:
that the facts don't matter; the only thing that matters is what the public thinks
! (rough quote)
Whether you are a rancher, a grain farmer, a BSE test kit developer, a family member of a deceased or ill individual - you have to live in the real world and accept that "the truth doesn't matter". Public opinion rules our culture and society will flounder down the path that fear and ignorance breeds. That's the blue pill!
Ron stated:
If BSE or in other words, the Bovine form of Prion Disease (PrPsc) is, as you state, NOT INFECTIOUS - why is that all testing facilities for the disease and for all other TSE's must be done in a lab that has at least a "Level 3 Containment" ranking????
A most excellent question, Ron. At the prion meeting in Calgary last year, this very question was brought up by virtually all the TSE researchers at the Wednesday discussion. Again, virtually all of the researchers were using the hand signal for "quote - unquote" when they used the term "infectious". What this means, in my opinion, is that they do not believe the disease merits the Level 3 laboratory requirements, especially when they are dealing with recombinated fragments coming from yeast or E. coli. They are not convinced that this disease is easily transmitted.
Researchers live in a very different world than the rancher. Scientists, in general, (sorry for a "general" statement).... but those I've heard speak, or read books of, are for the most part atheists who believe humans evolved from the first protozoa that lived on Earth. They do not believe in Intelligent Design, or a God. Life is simple, it has no "force" that drives it. Life is just the survival of chance genetic mutations.
Ron, I'm not saying what you personally believe; but, this is my impression of a large number of scientists. Anyways, I've taken us down this path to point out an anomoly. Science is about debate and proof of concepts.... yet with BSE/CWD/TSEs.... we have had no "public debate". We are to accept the science presented to us, no questions asked.
Yet questions exist. My lack of confidence in the "authorities" can best be demonstrated by the
Gabriel Horne Report, which was extensively utilized by the Harvaard report and the AB Government reports on TSEs....
The Horne report states: the mandatory warble eradication program in the UK
ended in 1982.
When the fact IS: The UK mandatory warble eradication program
STARTED in 1982; and the most common chemical used was Phosmet, an organophosphate which was later proven to "up-regulate" the production of the prion protein.
Such a simple, basic error of fact! And yet, to this day no government will make the necessary correction to their "official" documents.
Why? Maybe we should ask why did the op Phosmet up-regulate the production of PrPC? did it cause oxidative stress? did it chelate the copper from the brain? Did it make the animals suceptible to other contaminates? It is pretty hard to study its usage, when the manufacturer, Zeneca, conveniently LOST all their records on Phosmet.
These questions are ignored by researchers because: in a laboratory, they are able to take diseased brain tissue, homogenate it (breaking down proteins and aggregates), and reseed the disease in the brains of other unfortunate lab creatures..... This is the basis for 'transmission'. Yet, the researchers have no idea what they are injecting or drenching into the laboratory/research animals...... for the last 25 years they have never (allowed) the CHARACTERIZATION of the homogenate.
More recently some science has been showing the connection to various metals (not just depleted uranium) in causing the misfolding of proteins - the time for debate is NOW. This thread is a good start!
The hypothesis of Dr. Vitaly Vodyanoy of Auburne University in Alabama, has shown to be the closest to Mark Purdey's hypothesis. Time will tell! Dr. Vodyanoy's hypothesis is not limited to prion diseases; he has intimated a direct connection between these metal nucleating clusters and CANCER.
In the meantime, governments will not allow BSE testing - until they can develop
their own test kits so that they may profit and control the flow of money and information.
We know that THE PEOPLE don't control the government - they have long since stopped listening to their citizens, unless you have some major campaign donations. BIG BUSINESS runs our society... and we let them.
Mrs. Greg, you stated that you knew an individual who may be suffering from chemical poisoning due to open cab spraying,
I have heard of a gentleman, who is from East Central AB who has been striken by "West Nile Virus" supposedly, and this man is now in a wheel chair, so I am told. When I spoke with, and attended meetings, for the Special Areas Advisory Council, back in the grasshopper infestation years, this same now wheelchair bound man openly commented on how he had sprayed his crop with pesticides (for the grasshopper infestation) multiple times in one year.
I would hope that this pesticide toxicity would not go unresearched, as a potential cause of his debilitation. Organophosphates and other chemicals (which farmers rely far too heavily on), are damaging our immune systems and central nervous systems. I want nothing more than for all possible hypotheses to be examined.
I fight for Mark Purdey, now in his absence, because I have done alot of reading and made some great contacts - and the research supports his findings. The "authorities" dismissed his work without any investigation. Thankfully, he is not alone in his journey.
