26 replies to this topic

[vastman]

Currently there are several new initiatives in Congress being pushed which will overturn our rights to compounds we talk about and use daily... Big pharm is making a big push to strip away our access to low priced life extension products.... Please check out the link

http://www.saveoursu...r_policies.html

and spend an hour writing letters, sending them off and check back for new attacks on that which we all hold dear.... THIS AIN'T NO JOKE, FOLKS... the Europeans just got mega restraints rammed up their you know whats and while there is a challenge going on, the plain fact is that tooo many people sat on their duffs while the fight was being waged by the big pharm guys who are now doing it here....

A summary from the above site is appended below:

Congress is now considering legislation that would take away your access to safe, effective and affordable dietary supplements.

The Dietary Supplement Access and Awareness Act (H.R. 3156), introduced by Representatives Davis (D-CA), Waxman (D-CA), and Dingell (D-MI), this month, would place trusted vitamins, minerals, and herbs under unprecedented and unwarranted scrutiny.

The legislation would:

* Regulate supplements in ways similar to prescription drugs

* Require adverse event reports to be turned over to the FDA, even though other foods – including those with identical ingredients – do not have the same requirements

* Order supplement companies to demonstrate that a vitamin or mineral is not adulterated – in other words, disproving a negative

* Allow the Health and Human Services Secretary to declare that a supplement presents an unreasonable risk to the public, even if he/she cannot prove that the substance has actually caused harm in particular cases.

If H.R. 3156 becomes law, 70 percent of dietary supplements currently on the market would become subject to burdensome new regulations – some equivalent to those required for prescription drugs – driving up supplement prices for everyone and forcing well known dietary supplements to disappear from store shelves. Take action to tell your elected officials to oppose H.R. 3156.

The Senate is considering S. 1137, a bill to include dehydroepiandrosterone or DHEA, as an anabolic steroid. This legislation would add DHEA to the list of controlled substances, causing it to be immediately removed from the market when the bill becomes law. S. 1137 has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. We expect that similar legislation will be introduced in the House very soon.
DHEA is not an anabolic steroid. It is a naturally occurring hormone that has a wide range of benefits, including maintaining muscle strength and strong bones, boosting immunity, and improving mood and sleep patterns. Further studies suggest that DHEA may be helpful for such conditions as obesity, cancer and Alzheimer's disease. DHEA dietary supplements, which have been on the market for over 20 years, are derived from a plant in the wild yam family. Tell Congress you oppose S. 1137.


I understand there are a couple more such initiatives in the works and unless we get involved, I really fear we may find many of our life inhancement products ripped out from under us....

SNOOZE.......WE LOOSE.....


Note: in this regard, this month's issue of LE magazine also urged action, noting how much costly basic supplements are when regulated:

LE Magazine July 2005
image
What Do “Regulated” Supplements Cost?
by William Faloon

Some curious events are occurring in Washington, DC. Despite record-breaking numbers of adverse reactions to prescription drugs, the federal government is calling for tougher regulation of dietary supplements.1,2

As was the case when the FDA pretended that imported prescription drugs are “dangerous,” the government is issuing deceptive reports questioning the safety and reliability of supplements.3 No new findings of health problems are cited; instead, the government has compiled data collected over several decades. Based on isolated events such as the problem with contaminated tryptophan in 1989, some in the federal government now proclaim that dietary supplements should be regulated in a manner similar to prescription drugs.

As Life Extension members are well aware, the FDA has egregiously failed to protect Americans from lethal prescription drugs. Yet that simple fact does not deter bureaucrats from attributing imaginary risks to supplements, thereby creating a fictitious basis for enacting new regulations.

As I pointed out four months ago in an article titled “Death by Regulation” (Life Extension, March 2005), the FDA’s umbrella of consumer protection is a charade.4 The fact is that more than 100,000 Americans die each year by taking prescription drugs that the FDA has declared “safe.”5-7 In most years, no deaths or even serious injuries are reported because of someone taking a dietary supplement.8 Yet some politicians and bureaucrats are determined to make dietary supplements conform to the same standards as prescription drugs.

More regulations mean higher supplement costs, less innovation, and certainly no more consumer protection, since there is no safety problem to begin with.
Cost of Supplements in Europe

Rather than speculate on what would happen if new laws were enacted in the United States, one has only to look at what supplements cost in Europe to understand the risks posed by regulations.

Many of the supplements that Americans freely access here are banned outright in Europe. Potencies of European supplements are often very low. What stands out most, however, are the high costs that Europeans pay for their regulated supplements.

Earlier this year, Life Extension asked its European correspondent to conduct a meticulous review of dietary supplement prices in Europe, based on national pharmaceutical databases. It turns out that while supplement prices differ greatly between different European countries, our correspondent felt that German prices represent somewhat of a European average. On the following page is a table showing German and Swiss supplement prices that illustrates how much more Europeans pay for their “regulated” supplements than Americans do in our deregulated marketplace. It is important to note that most of the supplements listed on this table are considered pharmaceuticals in Europe.

PRICES IN SWITZERLAND COMPARED TO THE UNITED STATES

PRODUCT / STRENGTH
COUNT
SWISS/GERMAN
EQUIVALENT PRICE

US PRICE*
% SAVED
BY AMERICANS

Swiss Price: Acetyl-L-Carnitine, 1000 mg
30
$175
76%

US Price*: Acetyl-L-Carnitine, 500 mg
100
$42

Swiss Price: Boswella, 400 mg
100
$45.75
38%

US Price*: Boswella, 300 mg
100
$28.50

Swiss Price: CLA, 750 mg
120
$39.33
60%

US Price*: CLA, 500 mg
120
$15.75

Swiss Price: Creatine Powder
500 grams
$37.50
42%

US Price*: Creatine Powder
500 grams
$21.75

Swiss Price: Ginkgo, 120 mg
50
$104
79%

US Price*: Ginkgo, 120 mg
100
$21.75

Swiss Price: Methylcobalamin, 1 mg
100
$23.40
68%

US Price*: Methylcobalamin, 1 mg
60
$7.46

Swiss Price: Methylcobalamin, 5 mg
60
$66.30
64%

US Price*: Methylcobalamin, 5 mg
60
$24
Swiss Price: Saw Palmetto, 160 mg
60
$65
68%
US Price*: Saw Palmetto, 160 mg
60
$21
Swiss Price: Vinpocetine, 30 mg
20
$22.50
40%
US Price*: Vinpocetine, 5 mg
100
$13.50

PRICES IN GERMANY COMPARED TO THE UNITED STATES

German Price: Acetyl-L-Carnitine, 500 mg
100
$78
46%

US Price*: Acetyl-L-Carnitine, 500 mg
100
$42
German Price: Lipoic Acid, 200 mg
100
$37.50
26%
US Price*: Lipoic Acid, 250 mg
60
$27.75
German Price: Boswella, 400 mg
100
$58.50
51%
US Price*: Boswella, 300 mg
100
$28.50
German Price: CLA, 1000 mg
90
$19.00
17%
US Price*: CLA, 500 mg
120
$15.75
German Price: Creatine Powder
500 grams
$26.50
18%
US Price*: Creatine Powder
500 grams
$21.75
German Price: Ginkgo, 120 mg
120
$90.83
76%
US Price*: Ginkgo, 120 mg
100
$21.75
German Price: Methylcobalamin, 1 mg
100
$23.40
68%
US Price*: Methylcobalamin, 1 mg
60
$7.46
German Price: Methylcobalamin, 5 mg
60
$66.30
64%
US Price*: Methylcobalamin, 5 mg
60
$24
German Price: PectaSol® (Citrus Pectin Powder)
500 grams
$146.19
49%
US Price*: PectaSol® (Citrus Pectin Powder)
454 grams
$74.25
German Price: NADH, 5 mg
30
$30
10%
US Price*: NADH, 5 mg
30
$26.96
German Price: SAMe, 200 mg
30
$118.33
71%
US Price*: SAMe, 200 mg
50
$33.75
German Price: Tocotrienols, 50 mg
60
$58.50
30%
US Price*: Tocotrienols, 50 mg
90
$37.43

Sorry for the editing, but you should see what this info looked like when I imported it! LEF also has a legislative link which is

http://www.lef.org/lac/

Edited by vastman, 31 July 2005 - 07:59 AM.

[vastman]

I should also note that the latest issue of LifeEnhancement magazines' editorial titled "THE ROAD TO THE CONCENTRATION CAMP" points out how Sen. Durbin, who introduced S722, the latest attack on supplements is in effect working with others to push through a "Nazi-like crackdown"on our ability to acquire supplements and turn control over to the FDA! Everyone should read the article at

http://www.life-enha...ate.asp?ID=1103.

It provides a scary look at what's going on outside these forums which will impact us all....For those of you not wishing to read the entire article, I've included the most critical part below:

In fact, Sen. Durbin is known for his stance for greater health education and reform, which presumably grows out of his “concern” for human beings. As the introducer of S. 722, the so-called Dietary Supplement Safety Act, Durbin is promoting a bill that carries a number of substantial initiatives aimed at counteracting certain freedom-of-choice safeguards contained in the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA), while opening the door to future FDA regulations and bans (can we say verboten?). Durbin has said, “It is impossible for anyone to calculate exactly how many people have had their lives ended or their health ruined by dangerous supplements since I first began working on this issue three years ago, but whether it was 500 or five, it was too many.” Seriously … is five too many? Is Durbin willing to push nutritional suppl
ements into the pharmaceutical abyss of regulation and “protection” where, during the same three years, an estimated 390,000 people may have died as a direct result of regulated and protected drugs, and as many as 2,310,000 may have suffered injury?1 One thing is clear: Durbin is willing to jettison the right of the American public to choose among nutritional products—and to determine what they should and should not ingest—because as few as five people may have been injured.

The fascists were “concerned” for the health and welfare of human beings too. In the 25 “Guiding Principles” of the budding Nazi Party in 1920, the exuberant Adolf Hitler delared (Mein Kampf, Volume II, Chapter V) that: “We demand the creation and maintenance of a healthy middle class …” (Principle #16); “The State must ensure that the nation’s health standards are raised by protecting mothers and infants …” (Principle #21); and “… our nation can achieve permanent health only from within on the basis of the principle, The common interest before self-interest.” (Principle #24). [emphases added]

While the Nazis called for the nationalization of healthcare, the Communists called for the institutionalization of health. They too were “concerned” for the welfare of human beings. Said Stalin, “The death of one man is a tragedy; the death of millions is a statistic.” Yet this was the man who provided all Soviet citizens with “free” health care. No health system then or now has set goals as “high” as those of the USSR, and these goals were heartily endorsed. Said Stalin in 1936 in his Constitution speech, “Now we have a large, prosperous, internationalist state—it is so strong that many capitalist states can only dream of offering … guaranteed new rights: jobs, recreation, free education, and healthcare.” [emphasis added] Can anyone really believe for one minute that either Hitler or Stalin wanted his followers to be able to choose for themselves? Neither, apparently, does Durbin. He believes that if only five people were harmed in three years, a Nazi-like crackdown is justified. The Reichstag fire redux!

Durbin is also concerned about a high “quality” of healthcare and is convinced that only the state can provide these benefits. He voted “yes” on $40 billion per year for limited Medicare prescription drug benefits, “yes” on allowing patients to sue HMOs and collect punitive damages, and “yes” on including prescription drugs under Medicare. Moreover, Durbin is rated 100% by the APHA (American Public Health Association), the oldest and largest organization of public health professionals in the world, indicating a fanatical pro-public health record, something that both Hitler and Stalin would have cheerfully claimed for themselves.

Oh, yes: Durbin is a proponent of the World Health Organization, the food and drug regulatory body controlled by big drug companies. This is the group that has worked hard, with its Codex initiative, to classify all but the smallest amounts of vitamins or other nutritional supplements as drugs (presumably so that we can reduce the risks to zero). Fortunately, its effort to make nutrients verboten has been temporarily derailed by a decision that Codex, as it is now drawn, infringes the principle of proportionality, because basic principles of E.U. law—such as the requirements of legal protection, of legal certainty, and of sound administration—were not taken into account. Yet, sadly, there appears to be no principle for the right to choose.

The historical parallels are clear. Durbin is leery of provisions of healthcare that fall outside the state monopoly on health wisdom. So were Hitler and Stalin. The strange truth is that we do not yet have concentration camps in this country, but with dedicated politicians such as Durbin, we have the makings of the “guiding principles” that will make them inevitable if this goes on.


Take Action!

Oppose S. 722 now, by contacting your Congresscritters and expressing your opinion (politely). And while you’re at it, take the time to oppose The Dietary Supplement Access and Awareness Act (H.R. 3377), a much less visible but more diabolical bill introduced by Rep. Susan A. Davis (D-CA). Her bill calls for drug-like regulation of any and all products not classified as either a vitamin or a mineral. All herbs or other botanicals, as well as amino acids and any other dietary substances except vitamins and minerals, would be verboten. And don’t forget The DSHEA Full Implementation & Enforcement Act of 2003 (S. 1538), introduced by Sens. Tom Harken (D-IA) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT). Even though Sen. Hatch was instrumental in the passage of DSHEA, he is not opposed to making DSHEA enforcement more “efficient” by giving the FDA $100 million, spread out over several years. The $100 million will not reform the FDA—we’ve all been around too long to be taken in by this—but it will in all likelihood serve to encourage them in their pursuit of creating a drug monarchy that embraces supplements as if they were drugs.



It provides a scary picture of what is to come unless people get off their duffs and do more than just talk on this forum.... While emailing is better than nothing, LETTERS ARE PHYSICAL, ARE GENERALLY READ, AND MUCH MORE EFFECTIVE...

[lemon]

I just emailed my House Rep. Everyone should email them. They know that for every letter they get telling them to vote a certain way their are many, many more who feel the same.

[lemon]

I know this isn't the politics forum but a handy little site to subcribe to is Congress.Org's "Mega-Vote". About once a week you will receive a short email on what your specific representative and senators voted on. Very effective way to keep dibs on those who represent your interests (or should, at least).

[thumb]

[Chip]

I just emailed the following to my four reps.

Subject: Consumer Freedom: No on HR 3156 & S 1137

Please stop this flagrant corporatism.  If you value your political positions, value the integrity of the US itself, please help stop the destruction of self-determination for the furtherance of corporate profit.

Sincerely,

Thomas S. Loeber, jr.

I see that S. 722 and H.R. 3377 are challenges to consumer freedom. I will write physical letters to my four reps including all four pending legislative acts of corporate greed protection besides the email I already sent.

Thanks for the heads up vastman.

[scottl]

Chip,

Perhaps you missed:

"introduced by Representatives Davis (D-CA), Waxman (D-CA), and Dingell (D-MI)"

2 dems.

And this certainly ain't to protect....why do I bother....

[eternaltraveler]

I just emailed my House Rep. Everyone should email them. They know that for every letter they get telling them to vote a certain way their are many, many more who feel the same.

You're much better off sending physical letters than email. I'd be very surprised if email got read by anyone.

[vastman]

Boy, am I glad you folks are getting involved.... after the first 24 hours I was kinda getting worried.... Hopefully many more reading this thread will take a few moments to mail a couple letters as this assault on our freedom is real and nothing to ignore.... Was just reading a full page article in the Wall Street Journal about mercury poisening and tuna and how FDA has totally watered down their warnings, ignoring EPA's own toxicity standards, due to industry pressure.... Can you imagine what will happen if Big Pharm takes over the supplement business under the guise of FDA protecting us????

[REGIMEN]

Was just reading a full page article in the Wall Street Journal about mercury poisening and tuna and how FDA has totally watered down their warnings, ignoring EPA's own toxicity standards, due to industry pressure....

There was a similar frontpage article in the same paper this past week about the how the EPA "safety level" of some ubiquitous industrial chemicals found in the water supply of many a large city are set at levels above the hormonal modification ceiling. The safety levels were set in a region where the human body becomes overtaxed and shows no DNA or hormonal affecting symptoms and then basically just poops out your internal systems in slower developing biological avenues. The standards did not take into consideration the bigger picture which is that these chemicals are most often found concurrently with many others which compounds their effects.

I can understand the first part about the hormone/DNA misunderstanding, but I can't understand how this concept of additive exposures was missed by what should be an academically rigorous agency with such power as the EPA. It's information like this that really makes me question why I pay so much in taxes; am I just an enabler of such "bumbling" like these chemical/water-safety levels? These engineered chemicals are extremely caustic and produced in massive volumes every day and the issues involving them are nothing to shrug off because you feel you aren't yet physically effected. Having taken some environmental engineering courses has made me realize just how easy and perceptibly undetectable the common practice of "safe"-chemical dumping (underground plumes that flow under and into other people's land and agiufers) can be for those companies that choose to ignore proper disposal protocol. Ignoring protocol isn't even necessary most times because it almost looks like many of these chemicals safety levels were based on annual industrial dumping volumes. The telling part in the story, at least to me, was that the general concensus from industry was that these safety levels were too high which implies(to me) that they really just don't want to have a cut in their profits by having to retool and move in new equipment to handle safer alternatives. "Market pressures..." Even using fields of well placed plants as chemical sponges seems like ajoke when you realize that those plants need to removed from the environment just like the hundreds of volatile barrels that need disposing of; it's a delaying tactic so don't buy it...unless the chemical(s) are broken down into harmless effluents. [thumb]
Hopefully it's something that can be remediated without too much trouble. I'm really getting tired of hearing myself bash corporate America, it's a weakness I know, prepare yourself for more, but I hope that, based on what I can assume is corp/govt collusion (or just budget-bolstered ignorance), it is worth it to all those that inflate their bottomline to fatten their monthly bonuses by poisoning the soil and water that sustain them and us. "Don't piss in the boat", is an adage these people seem to not hear over the rising din of cash tinkling into their own bank accounts. But I guess they'll all be fine living on their padded retirement funds in cleaner locales; let's pray they stole enough for their children to live in immunity to their "contributions" up in the Swiss Alps. I'm really going on here. Better than not at all. I'll soon be writing to some of our misguided Representatives. I will try to tone it down to researched practicality and not accusations of corporate collusion. Educated people don't respond to alarmist sensationalisms any more favorably than they would to the annoyance of an accidentally triggered car alarm next to their bedroom window at night. Your intentions are noble, but that letter, Chip, will make no impression other than one of instigated annoyance. You didn't even state what it was you were telling them not to discreetly partake in. It seems there must be a better angle to approach these people without assuming(or paling next to the benefits of) their involvement in backroom dealings. hmm...

[scottl]

Liplex,

"It seems there must be a better angle to approach these people without assuming(or paling next to the benefits of) their involvement in backroom dealings. hmm... "

Could you tell us what this refers to?

[cheyenne]

I believe this is nothing but a scare and political issue brought about by extreme liberals. Reminds me of Y2K. Not worried about this issue in the least...guess we shall see...if it comes down to that, there will be a lot of supplement boot leggers.

[REGIMEN]

Scottl,

It refers to the assumption put forth in Chip's letter: that such a move to limit supplements is somehow a collusive pandering for corporate handouts.

The composition of an angle from which to approach our Representatives would be best to *not* be impregnated with such snide assumptions.

Mainly because letters of that quality will only be thrown out with all the other annoying "junk" mail. You want some hippy or hobo to come up to you while you're parked at a red light to tell you how economically and environmentally unsustainable your present choice of transportation is? "You're killing the earth, man!!! QUIT DRIVING!!! TAKE PUBLIC TRANS, YOU CARPETBAGGER!!!" Not something you would even entertain, is it?

The whole statement you addressed would also include the possibility of things we cannot prove yet still can assume from what information there is available on related topics; it would be naive to not at least consider such foul plays takes place. So now to choose a method and tone for speaking to them by letting them know our concerns without lambasting them with hot-topped accusations while still cutting through their *possible* corporate bias by sounding more knowledgable than emotional.

I guess it comes to a fore, that if we feel our Representatives are bought off then we see them as against us, not for us. People play for their own team and once you voice your bias to them of being on the wrong team they might just join up against you. That would be Fear that creates your future then, not Growth & Understanding.

Edited by liplex, 04 August 2005 - 12:57 AM.

[treonsverdery]

at house.gov house.gov I Wrote to my representative:
I oppose The Dietary Supplement Access and Awareness Act (H.R. 3156) I believe, as is supported with published medical studies, that wider supplement usage reduces the mortality rates associated with tobacco as well as various chemical physiological environmental factors.

I also believe that there are religious groups like wiccans that value herb knowledge with practice as a part of their faith. I am not a wiccan, but I support their right to religiously flavored medicine.

I'm a political moderate, supporting democrats or republicans at different times. I recently spoke with a family member saying that I voted Bush but due to Kerry's better progenitor cyte policy I'd have preferred to vote Kerry.

Progenitor cyte politics are pushing moderate republicans towards the democratic pary, an item like HR 3156 pushes me back towards a republican, regulation minimizing, vote.

I urge the democrats to support supplements. I urge the democrats to win elections away from restrictive republicans. Treon Verdery

Edited by treonsverdery, 02 November 2006 - 05:52 AM.

[REGIMEN]

That's a good angle: Continued Employment and Party Power.

[vastman]

I wholeheartedly agree that letters stressing the value supplements have in our lives and the importance we place on retaining our present system is the best way to go. Inflamitory language is generally ignored whereas personal stories engender an emotional reaction that is more positive. Economics is also an important issue, as well.

The more informed and articulate the letters, the better. Short and sweet, under a page is ideal. coming up with a letter in a word processor and sending it is most important and then copying it into an email, and sending it also covers two basis, although letters are definately viewed as far more effective.

I like your comments liplex. Also, the issue with EPA watering down standards over the past decade is a function of the political powerstructure which has existed as of late. I worked for GAO for 13 years and during the CARTER administration both sound energy and environmental standards/research were just getting started. Many people have bailed from these agencies during the republican regimes as of late because of the political pressures exerted by the "rape pillage and plunder" mentality which has largely gone on unabated since Reagan. The agency is a shell of it's former self and there are a lot of depressed people trying to survive this trend.

It's truely a scary trend we've been on for quite awhile... but to do nothing is to give up and let them win. Which is exactly what they'd like...

We live in a world dominated by short range thinking... another voice is direly needed. Sorry.for the moment of therapy...but I have to keep remninding myself how easily we can loose the freedoms we have if we continue to sit on our asses.

My cynical side would say that mercury laden tuna is another means of dumbing down the general population.... And controling/reducing our access to supplements....Gee, SOUNDS LIKE THE SAME THING TO ME!!! YIKES!!! I'VE GOT TO STOP!

BOTTOM LINE< anyone reading this thread PLEASE WRITE AN ARTICULATE PERSONALIZED LETTER REGARDING THE PROPOSED LEGISLATION.... THIS IS THE TRUE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE... IF YOU DON'T WRITE, WE WILL ALL LOOSE...

[scottl]

. I urge the democrats to win elections away from restrictive republicans. Treon Verdery

Heh. Nonsense with the patriot act aside, if you think the democrats are the party of person freedom, you might want to check into that before assuming:

http://www.geocities...upplements.html

"Is there no end to the details of our personal lives that Democrats wish to regulate? Apparently, as evidenced in a little-known bill pending in the United States Senate, the answer is no. There is no limit to the level of control the government wants over us.

Senate Bill 722, introduced by Illinois Senator Dick Durbin (D) and co-sponsored by Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York (D), Diane Feinstein of California (D) and Hillary Clinton of New York (D), is misleadingly named the "Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2003". In reality, this bill has the potential to harm the lives and health of millions of Americans as it delivers a significant blow to our personal freedom.

SB 722 would essentially re-classify dietary and nutritional supplements into the same category the government puts prescription drugs in. "

Gee..Durbin, Schumer and Feinstein 3 libs want to reduce our freedoms....what a shock (not).

[johnmk]

Sadly, neither democrats nor republicans are the answer my friends. Democrats will let me marry another man, Republicans will let me keep a little bit more money. Either way they're all control freaks about something.

[scottl]

Sadly, neither democrats nor republicans are the answer my friends. Democrats will let me marry another man, Republicans will let me keep a little bit more money. Either way they're all control freaks about something.

Oh agreed. Lets throw them all out and start over.

[cheyenne]

This country would be much better if we got rid of the "party" system, so we can quit being so extremely separated by politics...but not going to happen. Everything I have looked into concerning the "codex" issue has had a political slant to it. By the way, for the record I am NOT a Republican or a Democrat, I am a "proud" registered Independent...and I have looked into this topic very seriously because I am a supplement user. You can go directly to the codex site and read information concerning supplement regulation. If a person comes to the point where they think they cannot believe ANY branch of our government, then it's time to move out of this country. Here are some sites to go search the information out on your own.

http://www.codexalimentarius.net
http://www.cfsan.fda...ms/dscodex.html
http://www.fsis.usda...arius/index.asp
http://www.ahpa.org/update_05_0413.htm

[REGIMEN]

Party Pride is just an excuse.

For too many things.

[vastman]

The recent thread about vitamin controls back in force in Europe should bring home to all of us in the states of what we risk loosing if we don't write letters objecting to efforts being pushed to do the same thing here....

[emerson]

Sadly, neither democrats nor republicans are the answer my friends. Democrats will let me marry another man, Republicans will let me keep a little bit more money. Either way they're all control freaks about something.

Will they even go that far on either count? It seemed like the democrats are simply less against gay marriage, not really for it. The "war on drugs" would appear to be a similar situation, the Democrats seem to drift by on the image that they're against it when the reality is something quite different. Personally I find both parties equally corrupt, and loath to do anything which might alienate them from their respective cliques. The democrats vote one way, so the republicans vote the other to spite them, and the other way around. And of course that's not even counting the piles of money both groups are beholden to before staking out policy.

[wannafulfill]

I sent a letter and I received a hand-signed response from my senator.

[lemon]

I sent an email and I received a signed letter. Somebody is determining where you stand on the issue. They bin you... send the yays and nays into a calculation and determine constituency impact. If you send a letter through the mail your position will be binned with a greater weight. It's all calculated out. They pay people for this.

If it's overwelming on one side of an issue it will get consideration from your Senator or Hosue Rep. After all... if they get X amount more letters for or against an issue they would be wise to consider this in liu of their next term election.

[treonsverdery]

DHEA is a near chemical relative of Neumune a new product that protects first responders from nuclear catastrophe illness. It appears that while DHEA is being discussed with the bill S. 1137 a DHEA metabolite is being promoted to the government as a terrorism civil defense drug.

I believe that having millions of dosages of DHEA at places like Walmart is a thoughtful way to hedge against nuclear threat. As a civil defense chemical DHEA the supplement is widely distributed at this time. If there were a nuclear catastrophe this predeployment of the legal supplement DHEA has the capacity to save many millions of lives. When one compares the cost or merit of keeping DHEA legal as compared to or complemented with an antiballistic missile system capable of saving millions of lives we note:
Legal DHEA: nothing
ABM defense: hundreds of billions of dollars

Published as Radioprotective are melatonin, vitamins C, E As legal supplements these are also predeployed at this time. Opposition to H.R. 3156 maintains the predeployment of these radioprotective legal supplements

I urge congress to keep supplements legal as a form of terrorism defense that perhaps equals the benefit of nuclear response technology.

Neumune patent
Inventor: ROGER LORIA
Abstract of JP2002330753

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a medicine capable of promoting the regulation of immunological protection without causing undesirable side effects recognized when DHEA is administered to make the improvement especially advantageous to host tolerance to infection, and to enable the regulation of the immune protection to cause the effects by the small dosage of a chemotherapeutic to provide the immediately effective response accompanying a wide-range protection. SOLUTION: This improved method for regulating immune response, ameliorating the influence of stress, and evading unwanted influence of the chemotherapeutic or radiation irradiation comprises administering androstenediol(AED) and androstenetriol(AET). The improved method for regulating the immune response can be used for the therapy of immunological disease [e.g. diabetic and chronic fatigue syndrome (both diseases are recently considered as the syndrome associated with the immune response)].

Edited by treonsverdery, 02 November 2006 - 05:53 AM.

[lemon]

"Acts of terrorism have never abolished a democracy. Acts of parliament have closed a few".