Fluoride conspiracists at it again ~ By Phil Elmore

This study, like those before it, is weak. The correlation found between fluoride and IQ levels is not causation. The study's gross flaws are evident even in the raw data it presents, much less the unwarranted conclusions true believers have made from it. Reporting this study uncritically or, worse, as grounds to sound alarm, is nothing but more fluoride fear-mongering. If water fluoridation truly does have long-term health benefits, no one is served by making the case using "evidence" as poor as this.

Once again, Phil Elmore felt the need to debunk another fluoride-in-the-water conspiracy theory, thanks to a column in WorldNetDaily.com by Michael Carl (the article is linked below). And knowing Phil, he's surely prepared to be deluged in email that will probably not be very kind. Conspiracy theorists tend to not take it very well when people debunk their theories. Neither do people that believe in global warming, but that is a whole other story.

Fluoride conspiracists at it again

PHIL ELMORE

By Phil Elmore

January 06, 2011 ~ 1:00 am Eastern

© 2011

I did not want to address this topic again. I really didn't. When a reader e-mailed me a link to Michael Carl's recent article in WorldNetDaily, however, I knew I would have to march once more unto the breach. Specifically, I must once again address the topic of fluoride conspiracy theories, about which I have written twice previously in Technocracy.

I first debunked popular conspiracies concerning the fluoride in Americans' drinking water in July of last year. In that column I forwarded the apparently bold notion that fluoride is not, in fact, a Nazi-era, brain-softening, mind-control industrial waste toxin poured indiscriminately into our water supplies by New World Order operatives bent on controlling the masses. Mail exhorting me to swallow large quantities of concentrated poison began to pour in (no doubt illustrating the devotion of conspiracy theorists to science, reason and logic). I addressed this and a conspiracy website's "open letter" to me in a follow-up article in August, entitled "Fluoride fear-mongers."

In that column, I spoke of the mission statement of Technocracy, a column devoted to identifying the many ways in which technology affects your life and especially your liberty. To this end, I frequently advise you of technology whose application or misuse may be cause for concern. For such warnings to have meaning, however, it is my responsibility to tell you when I believe a given technology or technological application is being vilified – being marketed as a consumable product by conspiracy theorists, who package fear in order to profit from its sale. This was my conclusion, again, regarding fluoride fear-mongering. While we may debate whether it is the appropriate role of government to add, remove, or regulate any chemical in public water supplies (my columns have not addressed this), the alarmism peddled over water fluoridation is nothing less than hysteria. This hysteria is groundless, yet it is girded by junk science and heralded falsely as scientific fact.

Michael Carl reported on Monday that "Research shows fluoride is IQ-killer for children." He based this conclusion on a Chinese study, touted as the strongest of a series of studies from "China, India, Iran and Mexico," of 512 children in two Chinese cities. Commentary on the study, as recounted in Carl's piece, came primarily from Paul Connett, Ph.D., director of the Fluoride Action Network (an agitator group devoted to conspiracy theories about fluoride). Carl also quoted Dr. Vyvyan Howard, an environmental activist who sits on the advisory board of the very same organization. Setting aside this biased presentation, there are very serious flaws in the study itself – flaws which should preclude definitive conclusions of causality as Carl has made in his article.

READ FULL STORY at WorldNetDaily.com

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Fluoride fear-mongers ~ By Phil Elmore

Phil wrote more about the fluoride-in-the-drinking-water fear-mongers in this column. There are several things to learn from this column. The conspiracy theory communities will always claim that evidence that disproves their theories is suspect, and the lack of evidence proving their theories is being suppressed. Secondly, as in this case, the peddling of fear is an industry, and is the one and only industry that prospers from the sale of their conspiracy theory.

For the rest of us, it is as basic as learning to look both ways before crossing the railroad tracks. It is important to know that while governments sometimes do things covertly that are not always in our best interest, always be aware that there will be people that will make claims that they know will play on your imagination and concerns, with or without any honest evidence. Look both ways, but don't be afraid to cross the railroad tracks if you don't see the train coming. Just sayin'...

Proponents of the deadly fluoride myth claim that a vast conspiracy both promotes false safety results while suppressing genuine evidence of the harm supposedly caused by fluoridated drinking water. This is very convenient for true believers in this myth – because, by definition, such shadowy conspiracy theories and cabals of globalist operatives can neither be proved nor disproved. Any evidence that refutes such theories is automatically suspect, while any evidence the conspiracy theorists cannot produce is presumed to have been "suppressed" by the very cabal that is supposedly working so hard to poison you.

Despite their puerile reasoning and wide-eyed hysteria, my critics are correct about one thing: The only winners in this debate about fluoride are indeed part of an industry. In this case, that industry is fear. The product is conspiracy theory, and the snake oil salesmen are those peddling baseless accusations to demonize a technology that, while it may indeed be a government overreach, is still not the diabolical plot they wish you to buy.

By Phil Elmore

Posted: August 05, 2010 ~ 1:00 am Eastern

© 2010

Two weeks ago in Technocracy, I set out to debunk some of the most glaring conspiracy theories surrounding fluoride – the levels of which are regulated to roughly one part per million in the drinking water of 170 million Americans. From the outset, my column, "Is fluoride part of globalist plot?" made no attempt to determine whether your government should regulate drinking water fluoride levels. Part of the mission of Technocracy, however, is to identify ways in which technology affects your life and especially your liberty. Very frequently, we identify a given technology and warn you about it. We explain to you why you should be concerned about the use and abuse of this technology by your government and by your fellow citizens.

If this is true, it stands to reason that when a technology is not necessarily dangerous or worrisome to you, we should inform you of this. It was my conclusion, in the July 22, 2010, installment of Technocracy, that the fears commonly cited regarding fluoride are baseless. They are unfounded conspiracy theories whose propagation serves no one. I did not say this for any other reason than because it is true. To assess the purpose and place of technology in your life requires reasoned, rational thought. It requires judgment. It requires a dedication to what is true, regardless of wishful thinking and regardless of political affiliation.

I am blessed to write for a site whose editors permit dissent. When previously I spoke out against the myth of vaccine-caused autism, WND ran a guest column by Cynthia Cournoyer. Her intent was to refute my piece. I later, on one of my own sites, posted a lengthy rebuttal to her attempt. Other than permitting me to participate in this free exchange of ideas, WND's management made no attempt to dissuade me, censure me, discourage me, or pressure me to change my opinion. I believe this is the mark of a news and opinion source whose staff believe in truth and reason above agenda and advocacy. I believe this even when I disagree with the prevailing editorial sentiment of this site – although I agree with that cumulative opinion far more often than I don't.

With none of this dedication to truth over argument, a certain conspiracy-theory website ran a column last week blithely accusing me of saying that "fluoride is good for you." The article's authors claim they are motivated to "correct" my "misconceptions." The piece is a childish, sensational, hysterical appeal to emotion that is typical of conspiracy theorists' inability – or unwillingness – to reason.

While the nature of and the most accurate means to determine toxicity is still debated, my critics completely ignore one of the most basic concepts in science. They obsessively and hysterically share excerpts from MSDS sheets for hydrofluosilicic acid and sodium silicofluoride to impress on the reader just how ... sciencey ... is their argument that these are deadly POISONS. Why, how could anyone want to put them in water? In so doing they ignore the very obvious concept that the dose of any substance determines its toxicity. Concentrated chemicals that are deadly to human beings, once properly diluted, can have many benign and even beneficial applications. My critics are so busy pointing at dangerous-looking labels that they deliberately overlook this point.

Cornell University's Nancy Trautmann points out that the caffeine in a normal person's diet does not make one sick – but only 50 times that amount could kill a human being. Nicotine, taken by countless smokers, is not itself immediately fatal – but concentrated it is a deadly assassin's poison. Spinach contains oxalic acid; if you ate 10 or 20 pounds of it in one sitting, it would damage your kidneys and probably kill you. Vitamin D, which is added to milk, will in high doses cause high blood pressure, kidney stones and even deafness and death.

That's right – even Vitamin D, in the concentrations my critics believe they can know to be harmful simply by eyeballing them in a water treatment facility, is highly toxic. How, oh how, can we justify adding this lethal chemical to our children's milk? I'll pause now to wring my hands dramatically.

READ FULL STORY at WorldNetDaily.com

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Is fluoride part of globalist plot? ~ By Phil Elmore

Well, it was a nice relief to read a column for a change that didn't have to do with racism, immigration, Shirley Sherrod, the NAACP, and all of the accusations against the Tea Party Movement for being racist.

Instead, Phil writes a column debunking the claim that fluoride in a water is part of a globalist plot to dumb down the masses. Phil discusses the long-held conspiracy theory that fluoride being put in the water was being used for mind control.

However, before you read the column, please allow me to steer this discussion toward a different destination, though a very similar one. Last week, Pat Buchanan mentioned this: "As longshoreman-philosopher Eric Hoffer observed, every great movement begins as a cause, eventually becomes a business, then degenerates into a racket." That observation applies to conspiracy theories as well as debatable theories such as "anthropogenic global warming." I am sure it applies to the claim of fluoride being a part of a globalist plot, as well. Now, as far as the global warming racket goes, yes, that's definitley a case where we're talking globalist plot!  "... except in the minds of those so firmly convinced of" (INSERT: Global Warming) "that no evidence, no logic and no reason will ever dissuade or discourage them." Just sayin'...

Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral, not a deadly industrial waste. It was not used by the Nazis or the Soviets. It does prevent tooth decay. It doesn't cause cancer. It doesn't soften your brain. It doesn't control your mind. It isn't a conspiracy ... except in the minds of those so firmly convinced of fluoride's evils that no evidence, no logic and no reason will ever dissuade or discourage them.

By Phil Elmore

Posted: July 22, 2010 ~ 1:00 am Eastern

© 2010

Is fluoride a Nazi-era, brain-softening, mind-control industrial waste toxin poured indiscriminately into our water supplies by New World Order operatives bent on controlling the masses?

Well, no.

Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral found in most drinking-water supplies. The process of fluoridation adjusts the level of fluoride in that water either up or down. This means, obviously, that in some drinking water, fluoride is removed from the water to bring it to the level believed to best promote the prevention of cavities (about one part per million). In 1928, after decades of research, Dr. Frederick McCay identified naturally occurring fluoride as the mineral that was causing a condition called "Texas teeth," which results in stained teeth that are also remarkably resistant to decay. (Too much fluoride – which those affected did not even know was in their water – causes the staining effect.) In 1943, a Dr. H. Trendley Dean concluded that one part per million was the ideal concentration to prevent cavities without staining the teeth.

Subsequently, the drinking water of millions of Americans has been artificially treated with this low level of fluoridation, resulting in decreased incidence of "dental caries" in the population. According to Bob Sprague, Mary Bernhardt and Dr. Stephen Barrett, the benefits have not been universally embraced despite the numbers:

In recent years, fluoridation has been reducing the incidence of cavities 20 percent to 40 percent in children and 15 percent to 35 percent in adults. The reduction is less than it used to be, probably due to improved dental hygiene and widespread use of fluoride toothpaste. Currently, more than 140 million Americans live in fluoridated communities. But 80 million others receive public water supplies that are not fluoridated – thanks largely to the efforts of poisonmongers.

"Poisonmongers" refers to the anti-fluoridation conspiracy theorists, whose alarmist websites and printed matter railing against the supposed dangers of fluoride in drinking water far outnumber the pages explaining, reasonably and logically, why fluoride in your tap water is not dangerous to you. According to the conspiracy theorists, fluoride was first added to water by the Nazis. It is, they say, one of the primary or active ingredients in Prozac, which means it is a mind-control drug used to make you more malleable in the face of external government control. For that matter, they claim, fluoride is an industrial waste product – a poison so deadly that it causes cancer, Alzheimer's, Attention Deficit Disorder, arthritis, heart disease, kidney disease and, yes, even autism.

Except that it wasn't, it isn't, and it doesn't.

Five years ago, the leading dental researcher at Australia's Adelaide University decried the misinterpretation of Australian research into tooth decay. Conspiracy theorists such as Paul Connett (of the quack-group "Fluoride Action Network") were, you see, falsely claiming that the Australians' work had shown no benefit from water fluoridation.

"Dr Connett misrepresents the study as an analysis of the benefits of water fluoridation, which it was not," Spencer explained. "[Connett] also misinterprets the study's indirect evidence on the benefits of water fluoridation on decay. ... [O]ur work has repeatedly found support for the benefits of water fluoridation."

Jason Armfield, writing in June of 2005, cited multiple studies that establish the safety of water fluoridation programs. No link to cancer or any of the other diseases or conditions alleged to be the results of water fluoridation has ever been established. There is absolutely no credible evidence of this. It hasn't happened. It doesn't happen. It isn't true.

It also isn't true that the Nazis first used fluoride in their concentration camps. Let me repeat that: THE NAZIS DID NOT USE FLOURIDE. This claim is a favorite of the fluoride conspiracy theorists, but it simply never happened. One of the sources cited for this historical "fact" is Charles E. Perkins, who wrote a book called "The Truth about Water Fluoridation." Perkins, who thought fluoridation of drinking water was a communist plot, never mentions the Nazis in his book.

Conspiracy theorists claim Perkins wrote a letter to the Lee Foundation for Nutritional Research in 1954. In the letter, he is supposed to have said that German chemists "worked out a very ingenious and far-reaching plan of mass-control ... through mass medication of drinking water supplies. … In this scheme of mass-control, sodium fluoride occupied a prominent place."

READ FULL STORY at WorldNetDaily.com

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