August 26, 2008

Cell Phone Dangers & Children

Filed under: Parenthood — Phillip Holmes @ 11:37 am

What the industry doesn’t want you to see.
Video below:

July 31, 2008

Gas Stations Cited For Ripping Customers Off

Filed under: News — Phillip Holmes @ 10:57 am

The following gas stations have be fined for rigging their pumps to dispense less gas than you’re paying for:

7 ELEVEN #33696
8127 S COOPER
ARLINGTON
76001

7 ELEVEN STORE #24261
1501 N COOPER ST
ARLINGTON
76011

BALLPARK BEVERAGE
2100 E LAMAR BLVD
ARLINGTON
76006

BIG DIAMOND INC #1210
1800 NE GREEN OAKS BLVD
ARLINGTON
76006

BIG DIAMOND INC #722
4600 S COLLINS ST
ARLINGTON
76018

CITGO FOOD MART
1223 E PIONEER PKWY
ARLINGTON
76010

COLONIAL CAR WASH 3
5780 W PLEASANT RIDGE RD
ARLINGTON
76016

EXXON R/S #60443
1461 W GREEN OAKS BLVD
ARLINGTON
76013

EZ MART #483
1901 E ARBROOK BLVD
ARLINGTON
76014

LUCKY MART
1125 W ARKANSAS LN
ARLINGTON
76013

MH MART CONOCO
1600 W PIONEER PKWY
ARLINGTON
76013

MIKE’S STOP N GO INC
1725 W PARK ROW
ARLINGTON
76013

QUICK TRACK
1508 W MAYFIELD
ARLINGTON
76015

QUIKTRIP #857
2425 W DIVISION ST
ARLINGTON
76012

SHELL #101034
2101 BROWN BLVD
ARLINGTON
76006

TEXACO FOOD MART
763 W LAMAR BLVD
ARLINGTON
76012

TEXAS FOOD
1101 CALIFORNIA LN
ARLINGTON
76015

VALERO CORNER STORE #4487
2700 E ABRAM
ARLINGTON
76010

WHIP IN #104
3400 S WATSON RD
ARLINGTON
76014

WHIP IN #118
1601 W PARK ROW DR
ARLINGTON
76013

JT HORNETS NEST
1101 BOYD RD
AZLE
76020

JT LUCKY LADY
1100 SANDY BEACH RD
AZLE
76020

SANDY BEACH MART
1850 BOYD RD
AZLE
76020

5 POINTS GROCERY
3000 S BELT LINE RD
BALCH SPRINGS
75181

COUNTRY BOY STORE
10956 ELAM RD
BALCH SPRINGS
75180

LAKE JUNE FINA
12600 LAKE JUNE RD
BALCH SPRINGS
75180

VALERO CORNER STORE #4488
13105 SEAGOVILLE RD
BALCH SPRINGS
75180

7 ELEVEN STORE #30455
2900 BROWN TRL
BEDFORD
76021

HEB MART
200 MURPHY DR
BEDFORD
76021

KAN BEDFORD FOOD MART
429 BEDFORD RD
BEDFORD
76022

QUIKTRIP #863
2201 CENTRAL DR
BEDFORD
76021

TETCO #416
1200 AIRPORT FWY
BEDFORD
76022

QUIKWAY #3 FOOD STORE
9501 HWY 377 S
BENBROOK
76126

X PRESS STOP
9301 WESTPARK DR
BENBROOK
76126

7 ELEVEN STORE #33612
3003 E ILLINOIS AVE
BONNIEVIEW
75216

BIG DIAMOND INC #942
100 W RENDON CROWLEY RD
BURLESON
76028

BIG WILLY’S #1
12400 SOUTH FWY
BURLESON
76028

RENDON SHELL
12201 RENDON RD
BURLESON
76028

ALBERTSON’S EXPRESS #4107
1009 W HEBRON PKWY
CARROLLTON
75010

TETCO #628
1010 W TRINITY MILLS RD
CARROLLTON
75006

DIAMOND SHAMROCK #798
210 E FM 1382
CEDAR HILL
75104

LUCKY LADY FOOD STORE
928 S BELT LINE RD
COPPELL
75019

VINTAGE CAR WASH
720 S MACARTHUR BLVD
COPPELL
75019

7 ELEVEN STORE #21972
8902 GARLAND RD
DALLAS
75218

7 ELEVEN STORE #25511
9820 WALNUT ST
DALLAS
75243

7 ELEVEN STORE #33321
5712 SKILLMAN
DALLAS
75206

ADAM GAS STOP FINA
11038 HARRY HINES BLVD
DALLAS
75229

ALADDIN CAR WASH-INWOOD
1449 INWOOD RD
DALLAS
75247

BCE MART
300 S MARSALIS AVE
DALLAS
75203

BEER PAYLESS
6930 HARRY HINES BLVD
DALLAS
75235

BOB EXXON #63593
2170 W NORTHWEST HWY
DALLAS
75220

BONNIEVIEW SHELL
7410 BONNIEVIEW RD
DALLAS
75241

BRUSHBUSTERS, INC.
7909 BELT LINE RD
DALLAS
75254

BUY AND RIDE FOOD STORES
8505 LAKE JUNE RD
DALLAS
75217

BUY LOW DISCOUNT FOOD MART
4825 ROSS AVE
DALLAS
75204

CHEVRON STATION #105953
9455 FOREST LN
DALLAS
75243

DEE`S GROCERY
3525 W LEDBETTER DR
DALLAS
75233

DIAMOND SHAMROCK AT COIT
12950 COIT RD
DALLAS
75251

DUNLAP SWAIN #1
2607 SAN JACINTO ST
DALLAS
75201

EMPIRE CENTRAL TEXACO
8405 N STEMMONS FRWY
DALLAS
75247

EXXON #64857
10804 PRESTON / ROYAL LANE
DALLAS
75230

EXXON CORPORATION #64579
3040 W MOCKINGBIRD LN
DALLAS
75235

FOOD PLUS #2
9206 BRUTON RD
DALLAS
75217

FRIENDLYS
10025 HARRY HINES BLVD
DALLAS
75220

FUEL STOP
5816 KEENELAND PKWY
DALLAS
75211

GATEWAY #1
102 S BELTLINE RD
DALLAS
75253

GOOD LUCK
332 W COMMERCE ST
DALLAS
75208

GOODY’S FOOD STORE
756 N SAINT AUGUSTINE
DALLAS
75217

HERTZ CORP
7212 CEDAR SPRINGS RD
DALLAS
75235

JUNCTION VI
9606 CF HAWN FRWY
DALLAS
75217

K KORNER
2502 ROYAL LN #101
DALLAS
75229

K N STORES INC
951 S BELT LINE RD
DALLAS
75253

KHAN`S FOOD MART
9199 BRUTON RD
DALLAS
75217

KIEST CITGO
4411 W KIEST BLVD
DALLAS
75236

KNOX FUEL STOP #2301
2221 IRVING BLVD
DALLAS
75207

KWICK MART
8300 LA PRADA DR STE 130
DALLAS
75228

KWIK MART CHURCHS
10201 C F HAWN FWY
DALLAS
75217

KWIK STOP BEER AND WINE #1
1602 MARTIN LUTHER KING JR BLV
DALLAS
75215

KWIK STOP CENTER
339 S INDUSTRIAL BLVD
DALLAS
75207

LAKE JUNE CITGO
6808 LAKE JUNE RD
DALLAS
75217

LAKEWOOD TEXACO
1701 SKILLMAN ST
DALLAS
75206

LOCHWOOD MOBIL
11115 GARLAND RD
DALLAS
75218

MOTION #7
3305 GRAND AVE
DALLAS
75210

MOTION CONVENIENCE STORE #3
2995 S WESTMORELAND
DALLAS
75233

OAKLAWN TEXACO
3439 OAK LAWN AVE
DALLAS
75219

OVERTON TEXACO
3926 E OVERTON RD
DALLAS
75216

PHILLIPS 66
3022 INWOOD RD
DALLAS
75235

PILOT TRAVEL CENTER #433
8787 S LANCASTER RD
DALLAS
75241

R J FINA
9790 WALNUT ST
DALLAS
75243

RACEWAY #967
8130 E RL THORNTON EXPWY
DALLAS
75228

RACEWAY #969
6011 W DAVIS ST
DALLAS
75211

RYLIE ONE STOP
10146 RYLIE RD
DALLAS
75217

SEAGO PANTRY #3224
15130 SEAGOVILLE RD
DALLAS
75253

SHAZEB’S EXXON #2
9049 FOREST LN
DALLAS
75243

SHELL #101004
14040 COIT RD
DALLAS
75240

SHELL GAS STATION
11237 HARRY HINES BLVD
DALLAS
75229

SKILLMAN DIAMOND SHAMROCK
6666 SKILLMAN ST
DALLAS
75231

SPEED MAX #6
9531 C F HAWN FWY
DALLAS
75217

SUNNYVALE STATION
3621 SUNNYVALE ST
DALLAS
75216

SUPER AMIGO`S GROCERY
7002 MILITARY PARKWAY
DALLAS
75227

TETCO #625
9791 FOREST LN
DALLAS
75243

TETCO #630
13010 ABRAMS RD
DALLAS
75243

TETCO #637
4423 LIVE OAK ST
DALLAS
75204

TETCO #638
14040 MONTFORT DR
DALLAS
75240

TETCO #666
8210 S LANCASTER
DALLAS
75241

TEXACO LOOP 12
3103 S LOOP 12
DALLAS
75216

TI EQUIPMENT SERVICE CENTER
13252 TI BLVD
DALLAS
75243

TIGER MART 46
8702 POLK ST
DALLAS
75232

TRAVEL CENTERS OF AMERICA
7751 BONNIEVIEW RD
DALLAS
75241

VELERO KWIK MART
1044 S BUCKNER BLVD
DALLAS
75217

VINTAGE CAR WASH
5940 FOREST LN
DALLAS
75230

WHEATLAND SHELL
3805 W WHEATLAND RD
DALLAS
75237

WILLOW CREEK EXXON
9701 N CENTRAL EXPY
DALLAS
75231

TOM THUMB #3623
214 E PLEASANT RUN RD
DESOTO
75115

ANISHA FOOD STORE
102 S CEDAR RIDGE DR
DUNCANVILLE
75116

COSTCO GASOLINE #636
270 HWY 67 W
DUNCANVILLE
75137

DIAMOND SHAMROCK #796
1102 S COCKRELL HILL RD
DUNCANVILLE
75137

QUIKTRIP #924
102 E CAMP WISDOM
DUNCANVILLE
75116

SUNNY`S MART
607 E CAMP WISDOM RD
DUNCANVILLE
75116

7 ELEVEN STORE #26342
101 E GLADE RD
EULESS
76039

ADAMS AUTO SERVICE
1600 W EULESS BLVD
EULESS
76040

ALBERTSON’S EXPRESS #4106
200 W HARWOOD RD
EULESS
76039

QUIKTRIP #869
700 S INDUSTRIAL BLVD
EULESS
76040

TEXACO FOOD & DELI
3100 W EULESS BLVD
EULESS
76040

TEXACO GAS & FOOD MART #2
1100 N MAIN ST
EULESS
76039

TEXACO FOOD MART
200 S WICHITA ST
EVERMAN
76140

SUPERIOR MART
14051 HARRY HINES BLVD
FARMERS BRANCH
75234

CD KWIK STOP #2
2401 W SEMINARY DR
FORT WORTH
76115

INARA CONVENIENCE INC #0005590
6101 E ROSEDALE ST
FORT WORTH
76112

J AND J QUICKSTOP
4201 E LANCASTER AVE
FORT WORTH
76103

7 ELEVEN STORE #17752
700 N RIVERSIDE DR
FORT WORTH
76111

ABC FOOD MART
3301 MANSFIELD HWY
FORT WORTH
76119

ADVANCE PETROLEUM DISTRIBUTING CO. INC
2451 GREAT SOUTHWEST PKWY
FORT WORTH
76106

AL’S QUICK STOP INC
5401 SUN VALLEY DR
FORT WORTH
76119

ALBERTSON’S #4277 FUEL CENTER
3601 SYCAMORE SCHOOL RD
FORT WORTH
76133

ANV QUICK STOP #3253
3000 N MAIN ST
FORT WORTH
76106

ASA FOOD STORE
5465 RENDON RD
FORT WORTH
76140

AUTO CLINIC AND SALES
5003 TRAIL LAKE DR
FORT WORTH
76133

BROWNIES
5324 TRAIL LAKE DR
FORT WORTH
76133

CIGARETTES AND MORE FOR LESS
6753 E LANCASTER AVE
FORT WORTH
76112

DAIRY MART #7
5529 JAMES AVE
FORT WORTH
76115

DC AND JEANS MARKET
9234 TEN MILE BRIDGE RD
FORT WORTH
76135

DIAMOND FAMOUS FRIED CHICKEN
2706 LAS VEGAS TRL
FORT WORTH
76116

DRIVE IN BEER AND GROCERY
1217 TERMINAL RD
FORT WORTH
76106

EAGLE MOUNTAIN TRADING
9595 BOAT CLUB RD
FORT WORTH
76179

FORT WORTH LUCKY ONE
1101 NW 25TH ST
FORT WORTH
76106

HANSOM HANK`S
1000 NE LOOP 820 STE A
FORT WORTH
76106

JACK IN THE BOX QS #7759
3000 BASSWOOD BLVD
FORT WORTH
76137

K U FOODMART
2221 W SEMINARY DR
FORT WORTH
76115

KWIK PIK FOODMART
5304 MANSFIELD HWY
FORT WORTH
76119

LANCASTER MINI MART
3950 E LANCASTER AVE
FORT WORTH
76103

LIBBY FOOD STORE
3419 N MAIN ST
FORT WORTH
76106

LIL’S GENERAL FOOD STORE
8801 S NORMANDELE
FORT WORTH
76116

LUCKY 7 BEER AND WINE #3255
7401 JOHN T WHITE RD
FORT WORTH
76120

MEADLIN SERVICE CENTER INC
5200 CAMP BOWIE BLVD
FORT WORTH
76107

NOWELS MASON INC
7401 N BEACH ST
FORT WORTH
76137

OAK GROVE FOOD MART
1104 OAK GROVE RD
FORT WORTH
76134

ON THE GO FOOD MARKET
5300 BRENTWOOD STAIR RD
FORT WORTH
76112

PRINCE FOOD MART
6601 MEADOWBROOK DR
FORT WORTH
76112

QUICK N SAVE
5549 E LANCASTER AVE
FORT WORTH
76112

QUIK STOP
2413 NE 28TH ST
FORT WORTH
76106

QUIKTRIP #881
3229 ALTA MERE DR
FORT WORTH
76155

RACEWAY #6761
6300 E LANCASTER AVE
FORT WORTH
76112

RENDON MINI MART
5595 FM 1187
FORT WORTH
76140

SAM’S CLUB #6244
8351 ANDERSON BLVD
FORT WORTH
76120

SAVE WAY FOOD MART
6620 BRENTWOOD STAIR RD
FORT WORTH
76112

SEMINARY CORNER STOP
300 E SEMINARY DR
FORT WORTH
76115

STAR STOP #2
1541 S UNIVERSITY DR
FORT WORTH
76107

STOP N GO #2132
101 LONGHORN RD
FORT WORTH
76179

STOP N GO #2326
9101 MEADOWBROOK BLVD
FORT WORTH
76120

STOP N GO FOOD MART
824 E BERRY ST
FORT WORTH
76110

TRI GAZ 4
1050 N UNIVERSITY DR
FORT WORTH
76114

U S FOOD STORE #18 CITGO GAS STATION
4304 HEMPHILL ST
FORT WORTH
76115

VO’S BP AUTOMOTIVE SERVICE CENTER
6705 MEADOWBROOK DR
FORT WORTH
76112

ZOOM IN MARKET #2
1500 EVERMAN PKWY
FORT WORTH
76140

ZOOM IN MARKET #4 (#766)/PUMPS
700 W SEMINARY DR
FORT WORTH
76115

ANF CORP
5032 PRESTON RD
FRISCO
75034

COLONIAL CAR WASH 7
8880 HWY 80 W
FT WORTH
76116

GLAD MART
4400 S WEST BLVD
FT WORTH
76116

7 ELEVEN STORE #22324
232 W CENTERVILLE RD
GARLAND
75041

BENSMART
1921 PLANO RD
GARLAND
75042

CONOCO #2706594
3321 S GARLAND AVE
GARLAND
75041

CRYSTAL CAR WASH
646 E CENTERVILLE RD
GARLAND
75041

EXXON #60444
2509 NE PKWY/PLEASANT VALLEY
GARLAND
75040

FOREST CORNER CONOCO
4555 FOREST LN
GARLAND
75042

GOLDEN EXPRESS #3
801 IH 30
GARLAND
75043

JS QUICK STOP
3464 W CAMPBELL RD
GARLAND
75044

M & M JUPITER FOOD MART
3080 S JUPITER RD
GARLAND
75041

MILLER FINA
1330 W MILLER RD
GARLAND
75041

QUIKTRIP #901
220 W CENTERVILLE RD
GARLAND
75041

RACETRAC #582
2602 LAVON DR
GARLAND
75040

TETCO #659
2535 W MILLER RD
GARLAND
75041

TETCO #673
3310 LAVON DR
GARLAND
75040

7 ELEVEN STORE #17858
1325 E JEFFERSON ST
GRAND PRAIRIE
75051

ALBERTSON’S EXPRESS #4231
115 N CARRIER PKWY
GRAND PRAIRIE
75050

B AND D PETRO
3705 S CARRIER PKWY
GRAND PRAIRIE
75052

CARRIER PARKWAY SHELL
1746 S CARRIER PKWY
GRAND PRAIRIE
75051

EZ MART #502
1555 W NORTH CARRIER PKWY
GRAND PRAIRIE
75050

FINA MART #1
1612 E MAIN ST
GRAND PRAIRIE
75050

KWIK PIK FOOD STORE
2605 S E 14TH ST
GRAND PRAIRIE
75051

LONE STAR CHEVRON
1510 N BELT LINE RD
GRAND PRAIRIE
75050

STARCITY
401 S BELTLINE RD
GRAND PRAIRIE
75051

STOP N GO #2078
1610 NW 19TH ST
GRAND PRAIRIE
75050

TETCO #454
3915 GREAT SOUTHWEST PKWY
GRAND PRAIRIE
75052

TRADERS VILLAGE RV PARK
2602 MAYFIELD RD
GRAND PRAIRIE
75052

WESTCHESTER FOOD MART
4155 S CARRIER PKWY
GRAND PRAIRIE
75052

C STORE #1
101 BALL ST
GRAPEVINE
76051

CIRCLE S FOOD STOP #3
2713 MUSTANG DR
GRAPEVINE
76051

MACS CORNER
1098 E NORTHWEST HWY
GRAPEVINE
76051

MAGIC MIKE’S #6
3501 GRAPEVINE MILLS PKWY
GRAPEVINE
76051

MAGIC MIKE’S CONVENIENCE STORE
3500 GRAPEVINE MILLS PKWY
GRAPEVINE
76051

SHELL #101017
2001 W WALL ST
GRAPEVINE
76051

DISCOUNT SELF SERVICE
5109 BROADWAY AVE
HALTOM CITY
76117

DOC’S FOOD STORE #7
1718 HALTOM RD
HALTOM CITY
76117

HALTOM CITY CONOCO
5101 AIRPORT FWY
HALTOM CITY
76117

LARRY’S 7-10 DRIVE INN
1901 N BEACH ST
HALTOM CITY
76111

N AND S FOOD MART
4000 DENTON HWY
HALTOM CITY
76117

NORTH BEACH CHEVRON
5300 N BEACH ST
HALTOM CITY
76117

QUIKTRIP #888
4601 DENTON HWY
HALTOM CITY
76117

TEXACO FOOD MART
5709 DENTON HWY
HALTOM CITY
76148

TEXACO FOOD MART
4636 DENTON HWY STE 100
HALTOM CITY
76117

TL CONVENIENCE STORE
4101 NE 28TH ST
HALTOM CITY
76111

HURST PATRIOT
844 W PIPELINE RD
HURST
76053

NORTHEAST MALL CONOCO
8401 W BEDFORD
HURST
76053

TEXACO MOONS FOOD MART
1900 NORWOOD SR
HURST
76054

LOVE’S TRAVEL STOP #331
2500 S IH 45
HUTCHINS
75141

7 ELEVEN STORE #24634
4163 NORTHGATE RD
IRVING
75062

7 ELEVEN STORE #32918
1025 AIRPORT FRWY
IRVING
75061

AIRPORT FREEWAY FUEL CENTER
1016 W AIRPORT FRWY
IRVING
75062

COMMUNITY FUELS
2312 E GRAVWYLER
IRVING
75062

EXXON R/S #60031
5420 N MACARTHUR
IRVING
75038

FINAMART OF VALLEY RANCH
8600 N MACARTHUR BLVD STE 160
IRVING
75063

LEE’S FOOD MART
601 W SHADY GROVE RD
IRVING
75060

ROCHELLE FUEL CENTER
1101 W ROCHELLE
IRVING
75062

SHELL #100989
1215 S LOOP 12
IRVING
75060

SHELL #139708
777 IH 635 MCARTHUR
IRVING
75063

STOP N GO #2413
1401 N BELTLINE RD
IRVING
75061

UNION BOWER MART CHEVRON
1901 E UNION BOWER RD
IRVING
75061

VALLEY RANCH DIAMOND SHAMROCK
9975 N MACARTHUR BLVD
IRVING
75063

VALLEY RANCH MOBIL
10025 N MACARTHUR BLVD
IRVING
75063

MILES AUTOMOTIVE
3700 GOLDEN TRIANGLE BLVD
KELLER
76248

KENNEDALE SERVICE STATION
105B W MANSFIELD HWY
KENNEDALE
76060

P AND P MART N GRILL FINA
317 W MANSFIELD HWY
KENNEDALE
76060

BIG Z #2
6597 AZLE AVE
LAKE WORTH
76135

SHELL #101027
6051 LAKE WORTH BLVD
LAKE WORTH
76135

LANCASTER CONOCO
3160 W PLEASANT RUN RD
LANCASTER
75146

PLEASANT RUN CONOCO
3160 W PLEASANT RUN RD
LANCASTER
75146

TRIPLE A #206
1360 N I35 E
LANCASTER
75134

WHIP IN #114
2601 N DALLAS AVE
LANCASTER
75134

DIAMOND SHAMROCK #1208
1260 FM 1187
MANSFIELD
76063

KOLD SPOT #4
7350 RENDON
MANSFIELD
76063

TEXACO DELI AND GAS
7414 RENDON BLOODWORTH RD
MANSFIELD
76063

ALBERTSON’S FUEL CENTER #4187
1503 S BELT LINE RD
MESQUITE
75149

EXPRESSWAY FOOD STORE
704 GROSS RD
MESQUITE
75149

GALLOWAY FOOD MART
2031 N GALLOWAY AVE
MESQUITE
75149

JK MART
1919 W SCYENE RD
MESQUITE
75149

KWIKWAY FOOD STORE
1745 N BELT LINE RD
MESQUITE
75149

OASIS FOOD MART
4751 N BELT LINE RD
MESQUITE
75149

ONE STOP SHOPPE
1220 E DAVIS ST
MESQUITE
75149

QUIK AND EASY
1320 GROSS RD
MESQUITE
75149

SAM’S GAS AND GROCERY
4503 GUS THOMASSAN RD
MESQUITE
75150

STAR MART
6500 NORTHWEST DR STE 101
MESQUITE
75150

STOP AND SHOP
4401 N GALLOWAY AVE #100
MESQUITE
75150

SWIF T #23
2033 MILITARY PKWY STE 106A
MESQUITE
75149

SWIFT STORE NO 22
801 W KEARNEY ST STE 100
MESQUITE
75149

TOWN EAST 80 CHEVRON
3828 E HWY 80
MESQUITE
75149

VANESSA’S PHILLIPS 66
1430 N GALLOWAY
MESQUITE
75149

MURPHY USA #6517
146 FM 544 W
MURPHY
75094

7 ELEVEN STORE #23859
5901 DAVIS BLVD
NORTH RICHLAND HILLS
76180

HIRANI ENTERPRISES INC
4100 RUFE SNOW DR STE A
NORTH RICHLAND HILLS
76180

RACETRAC #563
5640 RUFE SNOW DR
NORTH RICHLAND HILLS
76180

ARAPAHO FINA
555 W ARAPAHO RD
RICHARDSON
75080

DIAMOND SHAMROCK CORNER STORE #1199
102 E ARAPAHO RD
RICHARDSON
75081

MAIN STREET TEXACO
100 S GREENVILLE AVE
RICHARDSON
75081

JJ’S FAST TRAC #295
7401 BAKER BLVD
RICHLAND HILLS
76118

TETCO #463
7451 DAVIS BLVD
RICHLAND HILLS
76180

ROWLETT SHELL
3501 ROWLETT RD
ROWLETT
75088

SPEEDY FOOD MART
7410 HWY 78
SACHSE
75048

ALBERTSON’S EXPRESS #4102
1201 N SAGINAW BLVD #A
SAGINAW
76179

CIRCLE Q #2
5724 JACKSBORO HWY
SANSOM PARK
76114

DIAMOND SHAMROCK CORNER STORE #4529
531 E MALLOY BRIDGE RD
SEAGOVILLE
75159

KINGS FOOD MART
602 N HALL ST
SEAGOVILLE
75159

SEAGOVILLE MART
601 E MALLOY BRIDGE RD
SEAGOVILLE
75159

TOTAL #4529
531 E MALLOY BRIDGE RD
SEAGOVILLE
75159

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July 3, 2008

Anatomy of a Well Formed LART

Filed under: Fun Stuff!, Music — Phillip Holmes @ 7:38 pm

dsc_1311.jpg

“Anatomy of a Well Formed LART”
by Phillip B. Holmes

A derogatory email or publicly displayed post to groups, lists or forums on the Internet are often referred to as a flame or a LART (Loser Attitude Readjustment Tool). It is hyper-critical that said communications be correct in grammar, punctuation and spelling , as the reciprocating individual(s) may be given more ‘ammunition’ for future mockery and criticism. It is highly recommended by more experienced LARTers (which are often hackers / computer engineers) that less experienced LARTers employ a spell and grammar checker prior to replying to their intended audience AND that all facts used in said content are free of factual discrepancies. Typing in all caps (especially the subject lines) is an immediate flag for all to review and are often the most malformed LARTs on the Internet. If needed, many examples of well formed LARTs can be found all over the web. However, copying another LARTer’s LARTs is often looked down upon by senior LARTers.

Often LARTers are overcome by emotions at the moment of sending the LART or flame, giving hours of fun filled enjoyment for ‘lurkers’ in the public forum or group. Lurkers are readers or subscribers of public forums or groups that do not contribute to said forum, only follow it’s content. Lurker’s will often ’sit on the side lines’ with a buttery bowl of popcorn, ready to munch upon, whilst the engaging hours of remedial dialog between the said ‘open mouth heavy breather LARTers’ (individuals that seem to enjoy embarrassing themselves in front of the entire planet) continues.

As you can imagine, if you choose to participate in this type of mutual abuse, the ‘anatomy of a LART’ is an important topic to review. In conclusion, following correct LARTer form will save you hours of ‘red faced’ moments in the future.

Hope This Helps,

Phillip B. Holmes
http://myspace.com/phillipholmes
p.s.

I need gigs!

June 30, 2008

Kristie’s Bar & Grill - 3950 Rosemeade Parkway Dallas 75287

Filed under: Music — Phillip Holmes @ 4:01 pm

On May 23rd, the band Truebone was scheduled to play at Kristie’s Bar and Grill (Midway at Rosemeade, Dallas). At the end of the show, despite a good crowd, the general manager left early giving no instructions to the staff as to how the band was to be paid. Subsequent phone calls to the manager and the owner have resulted in no return calls. In short, the band got screwed. If you’re in the band business to make money, we’d suggest you find another venue.

–Update - As of June 30th–
After a month of empty promises to send a check, visits met by blank stares and excuses, Kristie’s has still not paid us the amount that they claimed we brought in the door.

May 17, 2008

Deadly Immunity

Filed under: Autism, Environmental News — Phillip Holmes @ 10:25 pm

Deadly Immunity
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. investigates the government cover-up of a mercury/autism scandal

Deadly Immunity

In June 2000, a group of top government scientists and health officials gathered for a meeting at the isolated Simpsonwood conference center in Norcross, Georgia. Convened by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the meeting was held at this Methodist retreat center, nestled in wooded farmland next to the Chattahoochee River, to ensure complete secrecy. The agency had issued no public announcement of the session — only private invitations to fifty-two attendees. There were high-level officials from the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration, the top vaccine specialist from the World Health Organization in Geneva and representatives of every major vaccine manufacturer, including GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Wyeth and Aventis Pasteur. All of the scientific data under discussion, CDC officials repeatedly reminded the participants, was strictly “embargoed.” There would be no making photocopies of documents, no taking papers with them when they left.
The federal officials and industry representatives had assembled to discuss a disturbing new study that raised alarming questions about the safety of a host of common childhood vaccines administered to infants and young children. According to a CDC epidemiologist named Tom Verstraeten, who had analyzed the agency’s massive database containing the medical records of 100,000 children, a mercury-based preservative in the vaccines — thimerosal — appeared to be responsible for a dramatic increase in autism and a host of other neurological disorders among children. “I was actually stunned by what I saw,” Verstraeten told those assembled at Simpsonwood, citing the staggering number of earlier studies that indicate a link between thimerosal and speech delays, attention-deficit disorder, hyperactivity and autism. Since 1991, when the CDC and the FDA had recommended that three additional vaccines laced with the preservative be given to extremely young infants — in one case, within hours of birth — the estimated number of cases of autism had increased fifteenfold, from one in every 2,500 children to one in 166 children.

Even for scientists and doctors accustomed to confronting issues of life and death, the findings were frightening. “You can play with this all you want,” Dr. Bill Weil, a consultant for the American Academy of Pediatrics, told the group. The results “are statistically significant.” Dr. Richard Johnston, an immunologist and pediatrician from the University of Colorado whose grandson had been born early on the morning of the meeting’s first day, was even more alarmed. “My gut feeling?” he said. “Forgive this personal comment — I do not want my grandson to get a thimerosal-containing vaccine until we know better what is going on.”

But instead of taking immediate steps to alert the public and rid the vaccine supply of thimerosal, the officials and executives at Simpsonwood spent most of the next two days discussing how to cover up the damaging data. According to transcripts obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, many at the meeting were concerned about how the damaging revelations about thimerosal would affect the vaccine industry’s bottom line. “We are in a bad position from the standpoint of defending any lawsuits,” said Dr. Robert Brent, a pediatrician at the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Delaware. “This will be a resource to our very busy plaintiff attorneys in this country.” Dr. Bob Chen, head of vaccine safety for the CDC, expressed relief that “given the sensitivity of the information, we have been able to keep it out of the hands of, let’s say, less responsible hands.” Dr. John Clements, vaccines advisor at the World Health Organization, declared that “perhaps this study should not have been done at all.” He added that “the research results have to be handled,” warning that the study “will be taken by others and will be used in other ways beyond the control of this group.”

In fact, the government has proved to be far more adept at handling the damage than at protecting children’s health. The CDC paid the Institute of Medicine to conduct a new study to whitewash the risks of thimerosal, ordering researchers to “rule out” the chemical’s link to autism. It withheld Verstraeten’s findings, even though they had been slated for immediate publication, and told other scientists that his original data had been “lost” and could not be replicated. And to thwart the Freedom of Information Act, it handed its giant database of vaccine records over to a private company, declaring it off-limits to researchers. By the time Verstraeten finally published his study in 2003, he had gone to work for GlaxoSmithKline and reworked his data to bury the link between thimerosal and autism.

Vaccine manufacturers had already begun to phase thimerosal out of injections given to American infants — but they continued to sell off their mercury-based supplies of vaccines until last year. The CDC and FDA gave them a hand, buying up the tainted vaccines for export to developing countries and allowing drug companies to continue using the preservative in some American vaccines — including several pediatric flu shots as well as tetanus boosters routinely given to eleven-year-olds.

The drug companies are also getting help from powerful lawmakers in Washington. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who has received $873,000 in contributions from the pharmaceutical industry, has been working to immunize vaccine makers from liability in 4,200 lawsuits that have been filed by the parents of injured children. On five separate occasions, Frist has tried to seal all of the government’s vaccine-related documents — including the Simpsonwood transcripts — and shield Eli Lilly, the developer of thimerosal, from subpoenas. In 2002, the day after Frist quietly slipped a rider known as the “Eli Lilly Protection Act” into a homeland security bill, the company contributed $10,000 to his campaign and bought 5,000 copies of his book on bioterrorism. The measure was repealed by Congress in 2003 — but earlier this year, Frist slipped another provision into an anti-terrorism bill that would deny compensation to children suffering from vaccine-related brain disorders. “The lawsuits are of such magnitude that they could put vaccine producers out of business and limit our capacity to deal with a biological attack by terrorists,” says Dean Rosen, health policy adviser to Frist.

Even many conservatives are shocked by the government’s effort to cover up the dangers of thimerosal. Rep. Dan Burton, a Republican from Indiana, oversaw a three-year investigation of thimerosal after his grandson was diagnosed with autism. “Thimerosal used as a preservative in vaccines is directly related to the autism epidemic,” his House Government Reform Committee concluded in its final report. “This epidemic in all probability may have been prevented or curtailed had the FDA not been asleep at the switch regarding a lack of safety data regarding injected thimerosal, a known neurotoxin.” The FDA and other public-health agencies failed to act, the committee added, out of “institutional malfeasance for self protection” and “misplaced protectionism of the pharmaceutical industry.”

The story of how government health agencies colluded with Big Pharma to hide the risks of thimerosal from the public is a chilling case study of institutional arrogance, power and greed. I was drawn into the controversy only reluctantly. As an attorney and environmentalist who has spent years working on issues of mercury toxicity, I frequently met mothers of autistic children who were absolutely convinced that their kids had been injured by vaccines. Privately, I was skeptical.

I doubted that autism could be blamed on a single source, and I certainly understood the government’s need to reassure parents that vaccinations are safe; the eradication of deadly childhood diseases depends on it. I tended to agree with skeptics like Rep. Henry Waxman, a Democrat from California, who criticized his colleagues on the House Government Reform Committee for leaping to conclusions about autism and vaccinations. “Why should we scare people about immunization,” Waxman pointed out at one hearing, “until we know the facts?”

It was only after reading the Simpsonwood transcripts, studying the leading scientific research and talking with many of the nation’s pre-eminent authorities on mercury that I became convinced that the link between thimerosal and the epidemic of childhood neurological disorders is real. Five of my own children are members of the Thimerosal Generation — those born between 1989 and 2003 — who received heavy doses of mercury from vaccines. “The elementary grades are overwhelmed with children who have symptoms of neurological or immune-system damage,” Patti White, a school nurse, told the House Government Reform Committee in 1999. “Vaccines are supposed to be making us healthier; however, in twenty-five years of nursing I have never seen so many damaged, sick kids. Something very, very wrong is happening to our children.”

More than 500,000 kids currently suffer from autism, and pediatricians diagnose more than 40,000 new cases every year. The disease was unknown until 1943, when it was identified and diagnosed among eleven children born in the months after thimerosal was first added to baby vaccines in 1931.

Some skeptics dispute that the rise in autism is caused by thimerosal-tainted vaccinations. They argue that the increase is a result of better diagnosis — a theory that seems questionable at best, given that most of the new cases of autism are clustered within a single generation of children. “If the epidemic is truly an artifact of poor diagnosis,” scoffs Dr. Boyd Haley, one of the world’s authorities on mercury toxicity, “then where are all the twenty-year-old autistics?” Other researchers point out that Americans are exposed to a greater cumulative “load” of mercury than ever before, from contaminated fish to dental fillings, and suggest that thimerosal in vaccines may be only part of a much larger problem. It’s a concern that certainly deserves far more attention than it has received — but it overlooks the fact that the mercury concentrations in vaccines dwarf other sources of exposure to our children.

What is most striking is the lengths to which many of the leading detectives have gone to ignore — and cover up — the evidence against thimerosal. From the very beginning, the scientific case against the mercury additive has been overwhelming. The preservative, which is used to stem fungi and bacterial growth in vaccines, contains ethylmercury, a potent neurotoxin. Truckloads of studies have shown that mercury tends to accumulate in the brains of primates and other animals after they are injected with vaccines — and that the developing brains of infants are particularly susceptible. In 1977, a Russian study found that adults exposed to much lower concentrations of ethylmercury than those given to American children still suffered brain damage years later. Russia banned thimerosal from children’s vaccines twenty years ago, and Denmark, Austria, Japan, Great Britain and all the Scandinavian countries have since followed suit.

“You couldn’t even construct a study that shows thimerosal is safe,” says Haley, who heads the chemistry department at the University of Kentucky. “It’s just too darn toxic. If you inject thimerosal into an animal, its brain will sicken. If you apply it to living tissue, the cells die. If you put it in a petri dish, the culture dies. Knowing these things, it would be shocking if one could inject it into an infant without causing damage.”

Internal documents reveal that Eli Lilly, which first developed thimerosal, knew from the start that its product could cause damage — and even death — in both animals and humans. In 1930, the company tested thimerosal by administering it to twenty-two patients with terminal meningitis, all of whom died within weeks of being injected — a fact Lilly didn’t bother to report in its study declaring thimerosal safe. In 1935, researchers at another vaccine manufacturer, Pittman-Moore, warned Lilly that its claims about thimerosal’s safety “did not check with ours.” Half the dogs Pittman injected with thimerosal-based vaccines became sick, leading researchers there to declare the preservative “unsatisfactory as a serum intended for use on dogs.”

In the decades that followed, the evidence against thimerosal continued to mount. During the Second World War, when the Department of Defense used the preservative in vaccines on soldiers, it required Lilly to label it “poison.” In 1967, a study in Applied Microbiology found that thimerosal killed mice when added to injected vaccines. Four years later, Lilly’s own studies discerned that thimerosal was “toxic to tissue cells” in concentrations as low as one part per million — 100 times weaker than the concentration in a typical vaccine. Even so, the company continued to promote thimerosal as “nontoxic” and also incorporated it into topical disinfectants. In 1977, ten babies at a Toronto hospital died when an antiseptic preserved with thimerosal was dabbed onto their umbilical cords.

In 1982, the FDA proposed a ban on over-the-counter products that contained thimerosal, and in 1991 the agency considered banning it from animal vaccines. But tragically, that same year, the CDC recommended that infants be injected with a series of mercury-laced vaccines. Newborns would be vaccinated for hepatitis B within twenty-four hours of birth, and two-month-old infants would be immunized for haemophilus influenzae B and diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis.

The drug industry knew the additional vaccines posed a danger. The same year that the CDC approved the new vaccines, Dr. Maurice Hilleman, one of the fathers of Merck’s vaccine programs, warned the company that six-month-olds who were administered the shots would suffer dangerous exposure to mercury. He recommended that thimerosal be discontinued, “especially when used on infants and children,” noting that the industry knew of nontoxic alternatives. “The best way to go,” he added, “is to switch to dispensing the actual vaccines without adding preservatives.”

For Merck and other drug companies, however, the obstacle was money. Thimerosal enables the pharmaceutical industry to package vaccines in vials that contain multiple doses, which require additional protection because they are more easily contaminated by multiple needle entries. The larger vials cost half as much to produce as smaller, single-dose vials, making it cheaper for international agencies to distribute them to impoverished regions at risk of epidemics. Faced with this “cost consideration,” Merck ignored Hilleman’s warnings, and government officials continued to push more and more thimerosal-based vaccines for children. Before 1989, American preschoolers received eleven vaccinations — for polio, diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis and measles-mumps-rubella. A decade later, thanks to federal recommendations, children were receiving a total of twenty-two immunizations by the time they reached first grade.

As the number of vaccines increased, the rate of autism among children exploded. During the 1990s, 40 million children were injected with thimerosal-based vaccines, receiving unprecedented levels of mercury during a period critical for brain development. Despite the well-documented dangers of thimerosal, it appears that no one bothered to add up the cumulative dose of mercury that children would receive from the mandated vaccines. “What took the FDA so long to do the calculations?” Peter Patriarca, director of viral products for the agency, asked in an e-mail to the CDC in 1999. “Why didn’t CDC and the advisory bodies do these calculations when they rapidly expanded the childhood immunization schedule?”

But by that time, the damage was done. At two months, when the infant brain is still at a critical stage of development, infants routinely received three inoculations that contained a total of 62.5 micrograms of ethylmercury — a level 99 times greater than the EPA’s limit for daily exposure to methylmercury, a related neurotoxin. Although the vaccine industry insists that ethylmercury poses little danger because it breaks down rapidly and is removed by the body, several studies — including one published in April by the National Institutes of Health — suggest that ethylmercury is actually more toxic to developing brains and stays in the brain longer than methylmercury.

Officials responsible for childhood immunizations insist that the additional vaccines were necessary to protect infants from disease and that thimerosal is still essential in developing nations, which, they often claim, cannot afford the single-dose vials that don’t require a preservative. Dr. Paul Offit, one of CDC’s top vaccine advisers, told me, “I think if we really have an influenza pandemic — and certainly we will in the next twenty years, because we always do — there’s no way on God’s earth that we immunize 280 million people with single-dose vials. There has to be multidose vials.”

But while public-health officials may have been well-intentioned, many of those on the CDC advisory committee who backed the additional vaccines had close ties to the industry. Dr. Sam Katz, the committee’s chair, was a paid consultant for most of the major vaccine makers and was part of a team that developed the measles vaccine and brought it to licensure in 1963. Dr. Neal Halsey, another committee member, worked as a researcher for the vaccine companies and received honoraria from Abbott Labs for his research on the hepatitis B vaccine.

Indeed, in the tight circle of scientists who work on vaccines, such conflicts of interest are common. Rep. Burton says that the CDC “routinely allows scientists with blatant conflicts of interest to serve on intellectual advisory committees that make recommendations on new vaccines,” even though they have “interests in the products and companies for which they are supposed to be providing unbiased oversight.” The House Government Reform Committee discovered that four of the eight CDC advisers who approved guidelines for a rotavirus vaccine “had financial ties to the pharmaceutical companies that were developing different versions of the vaccine.”

Offit, who shares a patent on one of the vaccines, acknowledged to me that he “would make money” if his vote eventually leads to a marketable product. But he dismissed my suggestion that a scientist’s direct financial stake in CDC approval might bias his judgment. “It provides no conflict for me,” he insists. “I have simply been informed by the process, not corrupted by it. When I sat around that table, my sole intent was trying to make recommendations that best benefited the children in this country. It’s offensive to say that physicians and public-health people are in the pocket of industry and thus are making decisions that they know are unsafe for children. It’s just not the way it works.”

Other vaccine scientists and regulators gave me similar assurances. Like Offit, they view themselves as enlightened guardians of children’s health, proud of their “partnerships” with pharmaceutical companies, immune to the seductions of personal profit, besieged by irrational activists whose anti-vaccine campaigns are endangering children’s health. They are often resentful of questioning. “Science,” says Offit, “is best left to scientists.”

Still, some government officials were alarmed by the apparent conflicts of interest. In his e-mail to CDC administrators in 1999, Paul Patriarca of the FDA blasted federal regulators for failing to adequately scrutinize the danger posed by the added baby vaccines. “I’m not sure there will be an easy way out of the potential perception that the FDA, CDC and immunization-policy bodies may have been asleep at the switch re: thimerosal until now,” Patriarca wrote. The close ties between regulatory officials and the pharmaceutical industry, he added, “will also raise questions about various advisory bodies regarding aggressive recommendations for use” of thimerosal in child vaccines.

If federal regulators and government scientists failed to grasp the potential risks of thimerosal over the years, no one could claim ignorance after the secret meeting at Simpsonwood. But rather than conduct more studies to test the link to autism and other forms of brain damage, the CDC placed politics over science. The agency turned its database on childhood vaccines — which had been developed largely at taxpayer expense — over to a private agency, America’s Health Insurance Plans, ensuring that it could not be used for additional research. It also instructed the Institute of Medicine, an advisory organization that is part of the National Academy of Sciences, to produce a study debunking the link between thimerosal and brain disorders. The CDC “wants us to declare, well, that these things are pretty safe,” Dr. Marie McCormick, who chaired the IOM’s Immunization Safety Review Committee, told her fellow researchers when they first met in January 2001. “We are not ever going to come down that [autism] is a true side effect” of thimerosal exposure. According to transcripts of the meeting, the committee’s chief staffer, Kathleen Stratton, predicted that the IOM would conclude that the evidence was “inadequate to accept or reject a causal relation” between thimerosal and autism. That, she added, was the result “Walt wants” — a reference to Dr. Walter Orenstein, director of the National Immunization Program for the CDC.

For those who had devoted their lives to promoting vaccination, the revelations about thimerosal threatened to undermine everything they had worked for. “We’ve got a dragon by the tail here,” said Dr. Michael Kaback, another committee member. “The more negative that [our] presentation is, the less likely people are to use vaccination, immunization — and we know what the results of that will be. We are kind of caught in a trap. How we work our way out of the trap, I think is the charge.”

Even in public, federal officials made it clear that their primary goal in studying thimerosal was to dispel doubts about vaccines. “Four current studies are taking place to rule out the proposed link between autism and thimerosal,” Dr. Gordon Douglas, then-director of strategic planning for vaccine research at the National Institutes of Health, assured a Princeton University gathering in May 2001. “In order to undo the harmful effects of research claiming to link the [measles] vaccine to an elevated risk of autism, we need to conduct and publicize additional studies to assure parents of safety.” Douglas formerly served as president of vaccinations for Merck, where he ignored warnings about thimerosal’s risks.

In May of last year, the Institute of Medicine issued its final report. Its conclusion: There is no proven link between autism and thimerosal in vaccines. Rather than reviewing the large body of literature describing the toxicity of thimerosal, the report relied on four disastrously flawed epidemiological studies examining European countries, where children received much smaller doses of thimerosal than American kids. It also cited a new version of the Verstraeten study, published in the journal Pediatrics, that had been reworked to reduce the link between thimerosal and autism. The new study included children too young to have been diagnosed with autism and overlooked others who showed signs of the disease. The IOM declared the case closed and — in a startling position for a scientific body — recommended that no further research be conducted.

The report may have satisfied the CDC, but it convinced no one. Rep. David Weldon, a Republican physician from Florida who serves on the House Government Reform Committee, attacked the Institute of Medicine, saying it relied on a handful of studies that were “fatally flawed” by “poor design” and failed to represent “all the available scientific and medical research.” CDC officials are not interested in an honest search for the truth, Weldon told me, because “an association between vaccines and autism would force them to admit that their policies irreparably damaged thousands of children. Who would want to make that conclusion about themselves?”

Under pressure from Congress and parents, the Institute of Medicine convened another panel to address continuing concerns about the Vaccine Safety Datalink Data Sharing program. In February, the new panel, composed of different scientists, criticized the way the VSD had been used in the Verstraeten study, and urged the CDC to make its vaccine database available to the public.

So far, though, only two scientists have managed to gain access. Dr. Mark Geier, president of the Genetics Center of America, and his son, David, spent a year battling to obtain the medical records from the CDC. Since August 2002, when members of Congress pressured the agency to turn over the data, the Geiers have completed six studies that demonstrate a powerful correlation between thimerosal and neurological damage in children. One study, which compares the cumulative dose of mercury received by children born between 1981 and 1985 with those born between 1990 and 1996, found a “very significant relationship” between autism and vaccines. Another study of educational performance found that kids who received higher doses of thimerosal in vaccines were nearly three times as likely to be diagnosed with autism and more than three times as likely to suffer from speech disorders and mental retardation. Another soon-to-be published study shows that autism rates are in decline following the recent elimination of thimerosal from most vaccines.

As the federal government worked to prevent scientists from studying vaccines, others have stepped in to study the link to autism. In April, reporter Dan Olmsted of UPI undertook one of the more interesting studies himself. Searching for children who had not been exposed to mercury in vaccines — the kind of population that scientists typically use as a “control” in experiments — Olmsted scoured the Amish of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, who refuse to immunize their infants. Given the national rate of autism, Olmsted calculated that there should be 130 autistics among the Amish. He found only four. One had been exposed to high levels of mercury from a power plant. The other three — including one child adopted from outside the Amish community — had received their vaccines.

At the state level, many officials have also conducted in-depth reviews of thimerosal. While the Institute of Medicine was busy whitewashing the risks, the Iowa legislature was carefully combing through all of the available scientific and biological data. “After three years of review, I became convinced there was sufficient credible research to show a link between mercury and the increased incidences in autism,” says state Sen. Ken Veenstra, a Republican who oversaw the investigation. “The fact that Iowa’s 700 percent increase in autism began in the 1990s, right after more and more vaccines were added to the children’s vaccine schedules, is solid evidence alone.” Last year, Iowa became the first state to ban mercury in vaccines, followed by California. Similar bans are now under consideration in thirty-two other states.

But instead of following suit, the FDA continues to allow manufacturers to include thimerosal in scores of over-the-counter medications as well as steroids and injected collagen. Even more alarming, the government continues to ship vaccines preserved with thimerosal to developing countries — some of which are now experiencing a sudden explosion in autism rates. In China, where the disease was virtually unknown prior to the introduction of thimerosal by U.S. drug manufacturers in 1999, news reports indicate that there are now more than 1.8 million autistics. Although reliable numbers are hard to come by, autistic disorders also appear to be soaring in India, Argentina, Nicaragua and other developing countries that are now using thimerosal-laced vaccines. The World Health Organization continues to insist thimerosal is safe, but it promises to keep the possibility that it is linked to neurological disorders “under review.”

I devoted time to study this issue because I believe that this is a moral crisis that must be addressed. If, as the evidence suggests, our public-health authorities knowingly allowed the pharmaceutical industry to poison an entire generation of American children, their actions arguably constitute one of the biggest scandals in the annals of American medicine. “The CDC is guilty of incompetence and gross negligence,” says Mark Blaxill, vice president of Safe Minds, a nonprofit organization concerned about the role of mercury in medicines. “The damage caused by vaccine exposure is massive. It’s bigger than asbestos, bigger than tobacco, bigger than anything you’ve ever seen.”

It’s hard to calculate the damage to our country — and to the international efforts to eradicate epidemic diseases — if Third World nations come to believe that America’s most heralded foreign-aid initiative is poisoning their children. It’s not difficult to predict how this scenario will be interpreted by America’s enemies abroad. The scientists and researchers — many of them sincere, even idealistic — who are participating in efforts to hide the science on thimerosal claim that they are trying to advance the lofty goal of protecting children in developing nations from disease pandemics. They are badly misguided. Their failure to come clean on thimerosal will come back horribly to haunt our country and the world’s poorest populations.

NOTE: This story has been updated to correct several inaccuracies in the original, published version. As originally reported, American preschoolers received only three vaccinations before 1989, but the article failed to note that they were innoculated a total of eleven times with those vaccines, including boosters. The article also misstated the level of ethylmercury received by infants injected with all their shots by the age of six months. It was 187 micrograms - an amount forty percent, not 187 times, greater than the EPA’s limit for daily exposure to methylmercury. Finally, because of an editing error, the article misstated the contents of the rotavirus vaccine approved by the CDC. It did not contain thimerosal. Salon and Rolling Stone regret the errors.

An earlier version of this story stated that the Institute of Medicine convened a second panel to review the work of the Immunization Safety Review Committee that had found no evidence of a link between thimerosal and autism. In fact, the IOM convened the second panel to address continuing concerns about the Vaccine Safety Datalink Data Sharing program, including those raised by critics of the IOM’s earlier work. But the panel was not charged with reviewing the committee’s findings. The story also inadvertently omitted a word and transposed two sentences in a quote by Dr. John Clements, and incorrectly stated that Dr. Sam Katz held a patent with Merck on the measles vaccine. In fact, Dr. Katz was part of a team that developed the vaccine and brought it to licensure, but he never held the patent. Salon and Rolling Stone regret the errors.

CLARIFICATION: After publication of this story, Salon and Rolling Stone corrected an error that misstated the level of ethylmercury received by infants injected with all their shots by the age of six months. It was 187 micrograms ? an amount forty percent, not 187 times, greater than the EPA’s limit for daily exposure to methylmercury. At the time of the correction, we were aware that the comparison itself was flawed, but as journalists we considered it more appropriate to state the correct figure rather than replace it with another number entirely.

Since that earlier correction, however, it has become clear from responses to the article that the forty-percent number, while accurate, is misleading. It measures the total mercury load an infant received from vaccines during the first six months, calculates the daily average received based on average body weight, and then compares that number to the EPA daily limit. But infants did not receive the vaccines as a ?daily average? ? they received massive doses on a single day, through multiple shots. As the story states, these single-day doses exceeded the EPA limit by as much as 99 times. Based on the misunderstanding, and to avoid further confusion, we have amended the story to eliminate the forty-percent figure.

Correction: The story misattributed a quote to Andy Olson, former legislative counsel to Senator Bill Frist. The comment was made by Dean Rosen, health policy adviser to the senator. Rolling Stone and Salon.com regret the error.

Original Source- Rolling Stone

April 15, 2008

CaTubes Sucks - Tattles on his buyers!

Filed under: Music — Phillip Holmes @ 3:13 pm

Received my 2 NOS RCA 5751 tubes via CaTubes (an eBay Power Seller).

The tubes weren’t for me and had more of a tele tone than I wanted. Now here is the rub. I contacted CaTubes and let him know I was not 100% happy with the tubes and showed him that I re-listed them on eBay. I used the photo he used figuring ‘what use could he have for a photo of tubes that he had just sold to me? Right?’.

I guess that either out of hurt feelings that I didn’t like his tubes or I was selling the tubes I bought from him at no reserve, CaTubes reported me to eBay for using the photo he took of the tubes for his listing. eBay promptly took my listing down and I lost my listing fee! I didn’t even get a return email from him that said ’sorry you didn’t dig the tubes’ or anything of that sort. Just a report to eBay that I used his picture.

So in summary, I lost my listing fees due to the fact that CaTubes didn’t have the common courtesy to simply email me and request I take my own photo.

It is my estimation that the person at CaTubes that reported me is a vindictive, petty, anally retentive, small little man that has very little to do with this time.

Do yourself a favor and don’t do business with CaTubes!

January 21, 2008

The TrueBone Band - “Foolish Pride”

Filed under: Music — Phillip Holmes @ 12:45 pm

January 9, 2008

The TrueBone Band - Lets Stay Together!

Filed under: ColdFusion — Phillip Holmes @ 11:25 pm

August 11, 2007

Clear Link Between Environmental Toxins and Autism

Filed under: Parenthood, Autism, Environmental News — Phillip Holmes @ 10:49 am

“Original post by Contra Costa Times and software by Elliott Back”

AS A physician who specializes in treating autism and the mother of an autistic child, I would like to express my opposition to the viewpoint in Dr. Rahul Parikh’s editorial, “Junk science vs. real thing in autism trial.”
Parikh implies that the research showing a link between autism and vaccines is wrong and that the vaccine preservative Thimerisol (which is about 50 percent mercury) is safe.

It is no surprise that pediatricians as a group have been slow to acknowledge the evidence that vaccines may play a role in the causation of autism in some children.

After all, it is pediatricians who administer those vaccines. Many vaccines still contain Thimerisol, although it is less now than in the peak mercury years — the decade of the ’90s.

No one questions that pregnant and nursing women should avoid mercury pollution, seafood containing mercury and should not have dental work involving amalgam silver-colored fillings, which are also about 50 percent mercury.

But some doctors still say that injecting a pregnant woman or a newborn baby with a mercury-containing vaccine is OK.

Many toxins are implicated in the causation of autism, not just mercury, but it is certainly one of the worst.

Veterinarians realized how toxic Thimerisol is and removed it from animal vaccines years ago.

There are significant differences in how people react to the same toxin. A good example is cigarette smoking.

Some people who smoke get lung cancer, but others will get emphysema or heart disease. Not everyone who is exposed to mercury and other toxins will become autistic.
Genetic predisposition, timing of exposure, amount of exposure and type of exposure all interact to produce a unique symptom complex.

Toxins also have been implicated in the causation of ADD, sensory integration problems, and language and learning disorders, among other things.

One in six children now has some sort of neurologic problem. If that is not an epidemic, I don’t know what is.

Most of the studies claiming that vaccines are not related to autism were done by researchers with financial ties to vaccine manufacturers — a clear conflict of interest.

Most of those studies are epidemiological studies done on large populations that could easily miss an issue that affects about 1 in 150 children.

Epidemiological studies are retrospective and are the easiest type of research to manipulate statistics to get the outcome you want.

The designs of those studies were extremely flawed, as the group SafeMinds has clearly shown.

The science showing direct harm on a cellular level from Thimerisol is biological, prospective science and has been done by many fine upstanding clinicians and scientists who have risked their careers to publish unpopular findings.

The link between toxic exposure and autism is clear, not only from the science that shows it, but also because the treatments that address that exposure and its many consequences improve the level of functioning of autistic children.

Unfortunately, families of autistic children are victimized twice — first from the poisonings that damaged their child, and then from the doctors who misinform their patients that there is no science behind treatments that work.

There are huge financial and political forces against this truth because the liability and the stakes are so high. What gets lost are the needs of the affected families who struggle with heartbreak every day under incredibly difficult circumstances, with very little help from the government and insurance industry, and often even their doctors.

Mielke is a physician in Pleasanton.

August 4, 2007

Glutathione and Autism - The Common Denominator

Filed under: Parenthood, Autism, Environmental News — Phillip Holmes @ 7:45 pm

Scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and Immunotec Research Ltd. have initiated a study in which a specially formulated whey protein isolate (Immunocal)will be used to raise glutathione levels in an attempt to lessen symptoms of autism.

Autism is a neurological developmental disorder that affects children’s ability to socialize normally, impairs language skills, restricts their interests and curiosity and causes other behavioral abnormalities. Most cases are diagnosed before three years of age, and there has been an alarming increase in the number of cases diagnosed over the past two decades. Currently, 1 in every 150 (1 in 96 boys) American children is being identified as having autism, and these numbers are on the rise each year. To date, medical treatment of this disorder has been minimally effective.

Although the causes of autism have not been clearly identified, research has suggested that chronic biochemical imbalance plays a role. Studies have shown that levels of the major intracellular antioxidant “Glutathione” is typically about 50% lower in children with autism. Glutathione, which is produced by every cell in the body, is responsible for a number of functions including removing or neutralizing dangerous substances that we are exposed to on a daily basis, including toxic metals. Toxins, pollution, disease, stress, and poor diet can all contribute to loss of glutathione. When glutathione levels reach a critically low degree, we are much more vulnerable to toxins and immune dysfunction.

Principal investigator for this study is Dr. Janet Kern, an adjunct assistant professor of psychiatry at UT Southwestern, which is internationally recognized for its clinical and research programs.

“Some children with autism are poor detoxifiers relative to normally developing children, and in particular, have trouble excreting toxic metals,” said Dr. Kern. “Toxic metals that are not eliminated may build up in the brain. Plasma glutathione has been found to be lower in children with autism, particularly, in children with autism who have regressed. We want to clearly establish that raising glutathione levels in these children will improve their ability to detoxify these substances and in that way improve some of their symptoms.”

Dr. Jill James, Professor of Pediatrics at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, will be a co-investigator. Dr. James is noted for her landmark studies in autism and toxicology and is among the first scientists to point out the links with low glutathione levels. ” We know that Immunocal has been used to raise glutathione in other studies very effectively in areas such as cancer and lung disease. We want to take advantage of this same technology”, stated James.

The team will be using a protein supplement produced by Immunotec Research Ltd. near Montreal, Quebec, Canada, called “Immunocal”. It is identified by the Physicians’ Desk Reference (PDR) as a glutathione precursor. Immunotec Research Ltd. has combined rigorous research and business acumen delivering natural healthcare and dietary supplements in 22 countries worldwide.

IMMUNOTEC RESEARCH LTD.
http://www.immunotec.com/

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