Wednesday 11 August '04

Democrats Support Call For Fluoridation Moratorium

The Democratic Party fully supports Fluoride Action Network (NZ)'s call for a moratorium on fluoridation of public water supplies.

Latest research showing serious harm from fluoridation reinforces the basic right of New Zealander's to choose not to be subjected to mass medication.

The fluoridation of public water supplies precludes the public's right to choose and contrary to Ministry of Health claims, it is impossible in practice to completely avoid fluoridated water.

Fluoridation is within the Ministry of Health's own definition of "medication", was held to be medication by the Privy Council, and equally comes within such scope under World Health Organisation and International Convention definitions. Even as mineral supplementations, as proponents insist, fluoridation would be a "medical intervention" and subject to the same civil rights and medical ethics principles.

To say that such medication of free citizens without their informed consent is acceptable, because committed psychiatric patients are medicated, is an unacceptable attitude in a free and democratic society as the Human Rights Commission held in 1980.

The current unrelenting, tax-funded push for fluoridation, ignoring the vast weight of scientific evidence and world opinion, is symptomatic of an undercurrent of the Governments disregard and disdain for the New Zealand public's rights and views, as has been seen recently with other issues such as GE.

At the Democrats annual conference in Christchurch last weekend, delegates congratulated FAN (NZ) National Co-ordinator, Mark Atkin, for his group's initiative and undertook to support the call for a moratorium.

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>