Bird flu-What it's really all about

Dr. Sherri Tenpenny is an osteopathic physician from Middleburg Heights near Cleveland, Ohio. She is widely known for her work regarding the dangers and health risks associated with vaccines in her two DVD presentations, "Vaccines: What CDC Documents and Science Reveal" and "Vaccines: The Risks, the Benefits, the Choices." Dr. Tenpenny's research makes it clear that, according to government documents and published medical literature, many of the nation's leading public health officials know that vaccines are neither safe, nor do they prevent infectious diseases. In fact, the opposite has been demonstrated to be true: Vaccines are unsafe and have been linked to epidemics of chronic illnesses and developmental anomalies currently plaguing Americans.

About a year ago, Dr. Tenpenny turned her attention to reports that an outbreak of "avian flu" could suddenly jump species into humans and quickly spread around the world, possibly killing millions. She became suspicious of the pharmaceutical industry and government agencies developing vaccines to "protect" people from bird flu. Taking into consideration her knowledge of communicable diseases and the self-evident failure of mandated vaccination programs to prevent diseases, Dr. Tenpenny has uncovered amazing links behind the bird flu hype not previously discussed. Her research will be published in her new book, "FOWL! Bird Flu-It's Not What You Think," which will be available in April, 2006.

At this time, the people of the world are being prepared for the inevitability of a coming avian flu pandemic and avian flu propaganda is reaching a fevered pitch. Because Dr. Tenpenny, a practicing physician, has dedicated so much time to the study of this issue, people will have the opportunity to discover what is really happening and why the sick birds of the world are being wrongly blamed for spreading the disease. The following interview by Don Harkins of The Idaho Observer with Dr. Tenpenny will give readers a heads up on how to read between the lines of bird flu hype.

Harkins: Dr. Tenpenny, I want to personally thank you for your dedication in getting this important information out to the masses and devoting the many hundreds of hours it took to get your research into book form in such a short period of time. Before getting into what you discovered about avian flu after spending months reading hundreds of scientific articles and news reports, it is important to start out by describing for our readers the bird flu theory as it's being hyped by public health officials through corporate news sources.

Tenpenny: In essence, "bird flu" is caused by a specific version of influenza type A virus thought by researchers to be particularly aggressive. Influenza A subtypes are designated as either "mildly pathogenic," meaning they cause minimal or no disease, or "highly pathogenic," meaning their presence has been associated with widespread death among birds.

Influenza A viruses are divided into subtypes based on different combinations of two surface proteins called antigens. One is called "hemagglutinin," signified by the abbreviation (H) or (HA); the other is called "neuraminidase," identified as (N) or (NA). Fifteen different H antigens (referred to as H1 to H15) and nine different N proteins (referred as to N1 to N9) are commonly known to exist; all combinations of (H) antigens and (N) antigens are known to exist in birds.

The virus of current concern is H5N1, considered to be a "highly pathogenic" type. Nearly 100 people have died worldwide, reportedly due to the inflammatory effects this virus seems to have on lung tissue.

Scientists are concerned that H5N1 will evolve into a virus capable of human-to-human transmission (a characteristic not presently associated with the H5N1 virus) and lead to an influenza pandemic.

Harkins: Are migratory birds responsible for the spread of the H5N1 virus?

Tenpenny: Because they travel over great distances and a few dead birds have tested positive for the H5N1 virus, migratory birds are being blamed as the vector for transmitting the virus far and wide. However, actual migratory patterns of bird species through the flyways are not known. The theory is not well supported as outbreaks have not coincided with the arrival of the migratory birds to specific areas. As stated succinctly by author Wendy Orent in The LA Times, "Sick birds don't fly far and dead birds don't fly at all."

Most importantly, a growing number of scientists are coming forward stating that the spread of H5N1 by migratory birds is, essentially, nonsense. In fact, claims that the recent outbreak in Nigeria was caused by migratory birds has been refuted and is now said to be caused by illegally-imported day-old chickens.

Harkins: Is the H5N1 virus a new virus or has it been around for a long time?

Tenpenny: H5N1 has been identified in domestic fowl before. The first outbreak of an H5N1 bird flu was recorded by the WHO in 1959 in Scotland and then in 1991 in England. More recent outbreaks were identified in Hong Kong in chickens in 1997 and 2002. All of the influenza A viruses are known to exist in the intestines of wild birds symbiotically and asymptomatically. This virus, which has been around a long time, is being used to advance political and mega-corporate agendas.

Harkins: What are those "political and corporate" agendas?

Tenpenny: It appears that the lobbying power of pharmaceutical companies and the global poultry and egg-producing companies have influenced the development of the bird flu scare. The world is being convinced that the H5N1 virus will mutate so that it can spread from human-to-human. The corporate benefit to the pharmaceutical companies is selling billions of dollars worth of drugs and vaccines. The huge, multinational poultry producers will survive the costs associated with the mass killing of their factory-farmed, genetically-modified birds while most small poultry producers will be forced out of business and into servitude to multinational agribusiness. Politically, bird-flu hysteria will allow governments to grow as they develop new schemes to regulate entire industries, implement mass vaccination programs and put into operation police states as a consequence of the predicted pandemic.

Harkins: If the truth about avian flu were known, how do you think the world would respond?

Tenpenny: That is an interesting question. If people understood how illness develops and what determines the severity of symptoms, they would not have an irrational fear of bird flu. They would know how to build their immunity through diet and lifestyle and be confident they could properly treat the flu if they got sick. They would also realize that vaccines do not prevent diseases. If the prevailing belief about health and disease were based upon the comments I just made, people would begin to wonder why both migratory and factory farmed birds in certain locations throughout the world are becoming so sick. They would begin to suspect that environmental exposures to chemicals and conditions within the vertically-integrated poultry production practices may be the root cause of the avian flu.

If governments responded appropriately to the will of well-informed people, they would enforce policies intended to protect the people and birds from avian flu by placing strict regulations on the use and disposal of toxic chemicals. In addition, they would order the immediate reform of corporate poultry production practices.

Harkins: What you are saying is that the underlying cause of birds becoming sick with H5N1 is the level of chemicals present in their bodies. If the world understood the relevance of this, we would not be faced with the task of euthanizing millions of birds and vaccinating millions of adults and children. The community of nations would instead be challenged to clean up the toxic chemicals in the environment and reform poultry farming practices.

Tenpenny: That is correct.

Harkins: Those are pretty bold statements. What research have you done to support those claims?

Tenpenny: For the last year I have been on a "connect-the-dots" adventure as I have reviewed hundreds of seemingly unconnected scientific papers, medical reports and newspaper articles. It took awhile but, eventually, patterns began to emerge. My research was guided by two main questions: Who benefits the most from all the dead, rural chickens and why is this concentrated in humans living in Asia? With these two questions always in the back of my mind, the pieces began falling into place.

Harkins: The majority of reported cases of bird flu in humans has been reported from Vietnam. Is there a reason for that, or is it just a coincidence?

Tenpenny: I have been able to show that clusters of reported cases of human avian flu in Vietnam appear to fall where the U.S. military concentrated it's spraying of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. From 1964 until the war officially ended on August 15, 1973, 6.1 billion tons of explosives were detonated throughout Southeast Asia, including more than 19 million liters of herbicides containing the most toxic form of dioxin, TCDD. The chemical that received the most attention was Agent Orange, identified by the color of the stripe painted on the barrel. Little known is that the area was also sprayed with other horrific chemicals-Agent Blue, Agent White, Agent Purple and Agent Pink, all containing dioxin.

Research has confirmed that even trace amounts of TCDD-only two to three parts per trillion (ppt)-are extremely toxic in laboratory animals. More than 30 years later, dioxin continues to be persistent in the food chain, causing potentially deadly contamination of wildlife. In subsurface soil, dioxin has a great affinity for organic matter and remains unchanged, virtually forever. Its persistence in the soil of riverbanks makes it particularly toxic to waterfowl.

Canadian researchers have found dioxin levels in soil collected throughout different regions of southern Vietnam to be as high as 898 ppt. But the most extreme levels of dioxin contamination were found in the area of Bien Hung Lake, formerly Saigon, where dioxin levels were measured to be greater than 1.1 million ppt.

It has long been presumed that death due to influenza is a result of rampant proliferation of viruses that overwhelm the capacity of the body to respond. In other words, the immune system is so significantly compromised that the virus "takes over," rampantly replicating and killing the host. Interestingly, studies have determined that this is not the case. For an influenza illness to result in death requires the presence of additional components. Pertinent to our discussion here, a study in mice conducted by Luebke (2002) examined fluid extracted directly from the lungs of deceased mice. The results proved that the increased mortality seen in TCDD-exposed mice was due to the intense inflammatory action of dioxin.

In other words, the combination of an influenza infection and dioxin caused so much inflammation in the lungs-that even normal lung tissue was destroyed, leading to the death of the mice.

Considering that food for waterfowl-which includes shore grasses, algae, and other aquatic plants, small fish, tadpoles, and insects-readily absorbs chemicals from the environment, dioxin and other persistent organic pollutants, or "POPs" (such as dibenzofurans, hexachlorobenzine, DDT and polychlorinated biphenyls) can progress through the food chain and accumulate in the fat of birds. A reasonable assumption can be made that migratory birds have bioaccumulated dioxin in concentrations similar to those measured in the fat of domestic ducks where dioxin levels have been tested to be between 276 ppt and 331 ppt.

Harkins: Would you say that the concentration of dioxin and possibly other POPs in the tissues of migratory birds and waterfowl is the most decisive factor that will determine which birds will die of H5N1?

Tenpenny: Yes. Even though "safe" levels in animal muscle should be less than 0.1 ppt, dioxin has been shown to disrupt the immune system at concentrations as low as 1.0 ppt. The research is clear: If migratory birds-as well as domestic chickens and ducks-are sickened by H5N1, then their mortality rate due to their dioxin-laden tissues doubles. That's based on several research articles published over the last several years in the Journal of Toxicological Sciences.

Harkins: Does that also mean that the levels of toxic chemicals in the tissues of humans could determine the severity of symptoms they will experience when they get sick?

Tenpenny: There are many variables, of course, such as lifestyles, diets, genetic strengths and weaknesses and the type of care one receives when he is ill, but the research suggests that the greater the toxic burden being carried by people, the more likely the symptoms of an illness will be severe or even fatal. I am in the process of investigating where people can have their chemical burden levels tested at a reasonable cost. Hopefully, this information will be available in the next several months.

Harkins: Besides toxic chemicals, are there any other environmental contaminants associated with bird flu?

Tenpenny: The Tibetan Plateau is the planet's largest and highest plateau. It is home to the 14 highest peaks in the world, all over 26,000 feet and the ten major rivers flowing from its glaciers, sustaining 85 percent of Asia's population-47 percent of the world's population. With Asia so heavily dependent upon Tibet for its water, nuclear-related pollutants dumped into its lakes have massive implications for nations downstream. Lake Kokonor, a 135,000 square acre lake on the plateau, is a watershed that eventually becomes the Yellow River, one of the two largest rivers in all of China. A survey completed in 1994 found that only 32 percent of China's river water met the national standards for drinking water. The health of these water systems determines the survival of most inhabitants-human, animal, and bird-throughout China and Southeast Asia.

Adding to the menu of toxic chemicals that weaken the immune systems of birds, particularly migratory birds, is exposure to radioactive particles. Like dioxin, radiation-in the form of radionuclides-can pass up the food chain from sediments into wild birds. Weeds and other algae have a remarkable capacity to concentrate radionuclides up to 100,000 times the levels found in the water. Large populations of migratory birds have died at Lake Kokonor, quite possibly due to its waters being contaminated with radionuclides from nuclear weapons production facilities located on its shores. Couple this with the toxic chemicals the birds consume during the summer in Southeast Asia and it is no wonder that the birds are sick.

Though it is too early to know for sure, we can predict that the U.S. military machine will be connected to increasing the risk of bird flu by its exploding tons of depleted uranium-coated munitions in former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq. This horrific avenue of investigation was extremely enlightening and I have detailed these revelations in my book.

Harkins: We have been hearing about hundreds of thousands of domestic fowl being euthanized to prevent the spread of avian flu. What could be causing avian influenza among birds being raised for their meat and eggs?

Tenpenny: Until conducting research for this topic, I had never considered what happens to these creatures during their short, genetically-modified lifespan. There are no words to express the horror that modern poultry production factories really are. These genetically-modified birds are packed in tiny cages where they are scientifically manipulated for accelerated growth. A report from the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture puts the rapid growth rate of today's chickens into perspective: "If a [human] grew as fast as a [genetically-modified] chicken, you would weigh 349 pounds at age two."

They are in pain because their muscles (meat) grow so fast their skeletons and internal organs cannot keep up. Under natural conditions in the 1950s, it took 84 days to raise a five-pound chicken. Today, due to genetic engineering and growth-enhancement drugs, a chicken can reach market weight in as little as 45 days. During their short lives, they are repeatedly vaccinated, given hormones and fed chemically-treated food in houses where the lights never go out. The air they breathe is saturated with ammonia from their accumulated feces.

Since bird flu is a respiratory illness and; since the air these GM chickens are forced to breathe is so loaded with ammonia, is it any wonder that modern factory chicken farms are breeding grounds for highly-pathogenic influenza viruses? One thing is for sure-a cut and wrapped package of chicken looks a lot different once you understand how they got to the grocery store. If agribusiness has its way, all the chickens available for consumption will be patented organisms raised in vertically-integrated industrial farms and the supply of poultry products people consume will be their intellectual property.

Harkins: And all this is cited and referenced in your book?

Tenpenny: Yes-in great detail. Once you piece all this together you find that the true causes and real effects can be readily illustrated. But the truth is far different than what we are being told about bird flu. I have carefully-and painstakingly-documented every important point so others may duplicate the data to determine for themselves if my observations and interpretations are accurate.

Harkins: If the truth is in plain sight, do you think that people will continue to believe the bird flu hype?

Tenpenny: The global bird flu scare is not simply a natural reaction to reports that a virus can "jump species" and infect humans. The world is being conditioned to expect the worst. So they will be ready to accept mass vaccinations as the most "responsible" means of protecting public health. Everything we are being told about bird flu and every element of the campaign is designed to frighten people. I call this the "New Playbook."

Harkins: The new playbook?

Tenpenny: Yes. In 2004 the CDC devised a plan for ramping up sales of the flu shot. The plan was referred to as the "Seven Step Recipe for Generating Interest In and Demand For Flu (or any other) Vaccination." The plan is designed to promote the economic success of the season's flu campaign by using major media to convince people that the flu is deadly and to believe that getting a flu shot is the only way to survive. The plan has been used so effectively that the masses have demanded flu shots and have demanded that government makes sure that industry produces sufficient supplies of flu vaccine.

The plan has not been as effective this year. Sales of flu vaccine were down in 2005 and people were not standing in line to make sure they got their shot like they did in 2004. When the plan was initiated in early 2005 to hype the bird flu, people just didn't get very excited. Perhaps they remembered the SARS hype in 2003 and reasoned that there is no cause for alarm since the social, political and economic consequences of preparing for a SARS pandemic that never happened were too costly.

The CDC needed a "new plan" to make people take the threat of bird flu more seriously and to compel government officials to appropriate massive amounts of money to develop an entire spectrum of pandemic preparedness activities. Enter "risk communication" and the new playbook.

Risk communication is a field that has evolved from several different fields of study such as health education, public relations, and psychology. A plan for communicating the "international risk" of bird flu has led to the development of a new 10-step "recipe" crafted by Princeton-based risk communication experts Peter M. Sandman, Ph.D, and his spouse, Jody Lanard, MD, a psychiatrist. In brief, the 10 steps, which can be found online at www.psandman.com, are:

1) Start where your audience is. In other words, turn the public's lack of concern into serious concern by first bonding with it. Do not tell them answers, lead them to conclusions and then talk about how much more serious the next flu pandemic may be compared with the annual flu.

2) Don't be afraid to frighten people. The plan acknowledges that ".we cannot frighten people enough about H5N1" and "the research evidence that [fear appeals] work is overwhelming."

3) Acknowledge uncertainty. Uncertainty feeds fear. Admitting that there is so much about bird flu that is still a mystery will help encourage fear for the unknown.

4) Share dilemmas. In crisis communication, the goal is to humanize organizations and create empathetic bonds with the public. This way, a feeling that "we are all on the same team" is fostered and, the playbook states, ".dilemma sharing reduces the outrage if you turn out to be wrong."

5) Give people something to do. Fear is not enough-people's energies must be directed so they have a physical, as well as emotional, investment in the avian flu scare. This step was recently employed by Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt-with humorous results. Leavitt advised people to prepare for the avian flu by buying extra cans of tuna and powdered milk and storing them under their beds. This was similar to the silly suggestion that we should go out and purchase quantities of plastic and duct tape in case of an anthrax attack.

6) Be willing to speculate-responsibly. Floating ideas of what could happen helps to feed imaginations already running away with fear.

7) Don't get caught in the numbers game. This is an interesting concept intended to help spokespersons avoid making statements that dissidents can use to damage the credibility of their claims. It is analogous to boxer Muhammed Ali's "rope-a-dope" strategy.

8) Stress magnitude more than probability. An emphasis of step 6, fueling people's imaginations so they can hype their own irrational fears is good for the bird flu business.

9) Guide the adjustment reaction. Steps 6-9 are used to facilitate step 2. Step 9 is designed to take the worried masses, compound their fear and compel them to take actions such as storing food and water. Another priority of the plan is to encourage the public to demand the stockpiling of drugs and vaccines and to convince people that preparing for a pandemic is a civic duty.

10) Aim for total candor and transparency. Again, an emphasis on making people feel like they are part of the team; the government is made up of humans who make mistakes and that we all must work together if we are to survive the coming disaster. We really have to wonder if the government, backed by special interest money, can really be candid and transparent.

Harkins: That is a very comprehensive plan. Now that it has been spelled out for us, we can look and listen to bird flu hype and understand what the government is saying and the media is reporting.

Tenpenny: That is true. This is not objective reporting of avian flu news as it develops, but part of a methodical process to get people to accept the "official" explanation for bird flu. The government's pandemic preparedness activities (and expenditures) and its plans to deal with the emergency when it arrives-including quite possibly mandatory vaccinations-are being implemented with the anticipation of minimal resistance.

Harkins: In June, 2004, the city of Sandpoint, Idaho, hosted a live smallpox epidemic rehearsal and members of the public who participated were treated to a free bag lunch. Witnesses reported that the police powers of the state were also rehearsing that day. The Bonner Daily Bee, the daily newspaper in Sandpoint, explained that dress rehearsals of this kind were being staged all over the country. Have you heard about them?

Tenpenny: Yes. It's this concept of practicing for disaster that is embodied in step 5 of the new playbook. Practicing for disaster is meant to give a "sense of empowerment," to the people though it may have little practical value. The images of school children hiding under their desks during nuclear drills and their parents' building bomb shelters in the 1950s comes to mind.

Harkins: But it also appears that these drills do have practical value-they help police to prepare for a state of martial law while helping people become used to the idea that they will have no civil rights if and when the government declares such a medical emergency.

Let's talk about the issue central to the new playbook's goals: Getting people to accept that mandatory vaccination will be the only way to stop a pandemic once it begins. Current flu vaccines are grown in chicken eggs and contain mercury as a preservative. Do you know how this pandemic vaccine will be made and what will be in it?

Tenpenny: Egg-based influenza vaccine manufacture has been around for more than 50 years. But it is a slow process, taking about eight months per batch.

To increase the amount of vaccine that can be made quickly, a new "cell line" technology is being developed. The candidates in the running include PER.C6T, made from the retina of aborted human fetal tissue; FluBlok®, made from caterpillars; and MDCK cells, extracted from dog kidneys. The FDA [Food and Drug Administration] has admitted through an internal memo that these tissues could contain viral contaminants that could cause cancer.

Even worse, the FDA admits that these cell lines could theoretically be contaminated with "TSE agents (transmissible spongiform encephalopathy)" the equivalent of mad cow disease in humans. In a study published in 2004, researchers found that any cell line could potentially support the propagation of TSE agents.

Harkins: That's incredible. So our own FDA is fully aware of the potential ramifications of forcing the entire population to be injected with a new flu vaccine that has been rushed to market prior to being thoroughly tested. And, yet, our government agencies are moving forward with their "playbook." But how concerned should we be about the potential of contracting the H5N1 virus? Is there a possibility of this virus overwhelming the immune system?

Tenpenny: Actually, the H5N1 virus doesn't seem to stimulate a very strong response from the immune system. It takes 12 times the normal "dose" of the virus to generate the same type of antibody response induced by the annual flu shot. To boost the response, manufacturers are planning to add an adjuvant. The most likely candidate is MF59, the squalene-based adjuvant found in the anthrax vaccine given to our military. Many researchers such as Pam Asa, MD, and Gary Matsumoto have attributed the debilitating autoimmune diseases seen in Gulf War I and II veterans to the varying levels of squalene found in the anthrax vaccines administered to our troops. Research has shown that when only 10 to 20 parts per billion of squalene are injected into humans, destructive immune responses, such as autoimmune arthritis and lupus, occur.

Harkins: Among the immune system-compromising toxins you mentioned was radiation. The western world is subjecting itself to unprecedented daily doses of radiation in the use of wireless computers, cellular telephones and the sudden proliferation of radio frequency ID chips. Would you say that the bodies of those living in the west and the Middle East are being prepped for becoming suitable hosts for pandemic illness?

Tenpenny: Though I have my own opinions, I have not found any data to support a claim that "governments of the western world are chemically-contaminating and irradiating people to prepare them for becoming bird flu statistics." But, the relationship between chemical burdens, radiation exposure and the severity of symptoms when exposed to influenza has already been documented. We also know that the truth about bird flu is being withheld from people so they will remain ignorant, fearful and misinformed about how they can decrease their vulnerability to severe illness should they become sick. If chemical and radiation exposures are not "intentional prep work", then they can be considered an unintended consequence.

Harkins: If environmental toxicity and contamination is the problem, what is the solution?

Tenpenny: The first Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), held in Argentina in May, 2001, was convened to address POPs that are (1) intentionally produced, such as pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides; (2) intentionally produced but restricted in use, such as DDT for control of malaria; and (3) unintentionally produced and released, such as dioxins from herbicides and from burning plastics. An international treaty, which went into force in May 2004, was developed to reduce and eventually eliminate a group of chemicals coined as the "Dirty Dozen" by the United Nations Environmental Program. As consumers of these toxic chemicals we must encourage the enforcement of this treaty and other such laws by minimizing and, eventually, eliminating our use of these substances.

Harkins: Dr. Tenpenny, I believe we have gotten the attention of our readers and see the logic of your reasoning, but we are now more concerned about the apocalyptic implications of what bird flu really is: The chemical age coming home to roost on a wireless perch. Aside from encouraging people to seek out the book when it's released in mid-April, what thoughts would you like to leave them with, keeping in mind that many of our readers have a solid understanding of health and the human frame?

Tenpenny: I would like to encourage people to seek out food suppliers who do not engage in factory or chemical farming practices or raise genetically-modified food-plant or animal. It is my opinion that plants and animals need natural environments. The food we raise has always required natural environments in which to thrive. Since our planet is being poisoned, plants and animals are no longer able to thrive and are becoming commercially unviable. So, rather than remove the poisons, plants and animals are being altered genetically in order to survive in chemically-contaminated environments. Commercially-grown, inorganic GM fruits and vegetables may look good, but they are becoming increasingly devoid of nutritional value. Even migrating birds and deer will not forage in fields of genetically modified food crops. What this means is that our food supply is being altered in ways that will not sustain us and the corporate monoliths we are allowing to take control our food will reap tremendous short-term profits that will begin to sag when the "marketplace" simply dies.

In the meantime, eat as healthy as you can-including organic fresh fruits and veggies and work to keep your body's pH between 7.0 and 7.5. Avoid white sugar, white flour, polished white rice and all processed foods and beverages. I advise my patients to "shop around the edges" of a grocery store Drink lots of purified water, take supplements that contain vitamin C. Influenza viruses are very susceptible to soap; wash your hands before touching your face. Probably the easiest and most effective support to your immune system is to get plenty of rest.

Most importantly, do not buy into the fear mongering about the bird flu. You will have nothing to fear from the avian flu or any other illness if you adopt a holistic approach to your life and learn the basics on how to take good care of yourself and your family-in sickness and in health.

Harkins: Well, that certainly sounds like practical advice although this may require major lifestyle adjustments for many Americans. However, for most of us, once we have assimilated the incredible repercussions of the chemical/nuclear age on the viability of all life on our planet, we feel somewhat powerless to avert this looming disaster. What do you suggest that we, as individuals, do to reverse the direction our corporate-backed governments are taking us?

Tenpenny: We need to recognize that pharmaceutical companies, chemical companies and agribusinesses are not separate industries but function more as sister enterprises working together for their mutual benefit, profit and accumulation of power. They are not competitors, but synergists, creating massive wealth through designing drugs as solutions for the health problems caused by their products.

The quest for power and profit among these synergists is causing the nature of the food supply to change to the detriment of all life on Earth. It is obvious that we must reverse this process and bring our food and the environment back into a sense of balance that promotes health and vitality.

The question is, what can we do? My suggestion is to get involved. Find an issue that grabs you-GM foods, childhood vaccination, factory farming, animal rights, environmental cleanup projects-and go out there and give it your all. If you have a passion for a particular issue, there are groups out there who need your support, your financial contributions and, most importantly, your time. It is going to take all of us, following our passion to heal this world and restore the environment.

The time has come for everyone to participate. There is no time left for passivity. Each person must step outside his or her comfort zone and get involved. What is happening is both a temporal and spiritual battle. If you can't get motivated enough through your own self-interest, then do it for your children and grandchildren.

Select a form of healing for yourself and your family that is outside the western paradigm of using chemicals called "drugs" for something called "medicine." Although occasionally necessary for critical health problems, prescription drugs given for chronic conditions do nothing to correct the underlying cause of the problem. Health is defined as being well in the absence of pharmaceuticals; health is not defined as the absence of symptoms in the presence of drugs.

The amount of work we are able to accomplish today to clean up the environment and find environmentally-sustainable alternatives to toxic technologies, I believe, will determine whether or not our children and grandchildren will have the opportunity to lead happy, healthy lives. It is up to each and every one of us to get intimately involved in disseminating this important information and get active politically. I wrote Fowl! As a means to both educate people on these issues and stimulate their participation in turning the tide of current events.

Harkins: Well, we have certainly covered a lot of ground today and given our readers much food for thought as well as, hopefully, stimulating their active participation in changing the current direction our governments have been leading us. There is a saying, "if the people will lead, the leaders will follow."

Dr. Tenpenny, thank you so much for your willingness to be interviewed and your obvious love for life and humanity that is evidenced by your dedication in getting this information out in book form.

Tenpenny: And thank you for the opportunity to share this vital information to your readers.

Note: FOWL! will be available from The Idaho Observer when it becomes available in early April, 2006. Individual copies will be $30 (shipping included). Call for quantity discounts.

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