Lobby Groups ** FDA Control of CAM ?? ** The Sweaky Wheel Gets The Grease

[Guest guest]

Hey y'all,

 

This one is kinda long .. but I wanna explain my reasoning for the

conclusions at the end of the post. Those who don't wanna know why I

came to those conclusions oughta just skip directly to them now. ;-)

 

I'm not yet ready to back off from my comments on one non profit that

lobbies for Health Freedom. Its not the mission that I criticize ..

its the intent. There are many independent non profit lobby groups

against many things and they generally make a good living doing what

they do. If they were willing to consolidate they could do a better

job but getting them to work together and speak with one very loud

voice is difficult because they would have to give up personal power

and their high salaries. So I question the sincerity of many of them

and that translates to questioning the effectiveness of many of them.

 

Of course .. those who understand what NAHA is 'Supposed' to be doing

might ask why they are not lobbying for Health Freedom .. they don't

even do anything about Aromatherapy so asking them to go further than

that is a losing proposition. NAHA is an example of the non profits I

discussed in the first paragraph (above).

 

Gummits listen to those who can affect the outcome of elections!

 

When I entered the military in 1960, there had been no pay raises

since the mid-50s .. there were some military lobby groups then ..

like the Reserve Officers Association (founded in 1922) but there was

no war and we had a Draft (till 1973) so why pay attention to the

soldier? My base pay was $68 .. take home was around $50. Then came

the Vietnam War and the Draft gave us soldiers but not leaders so the

gummit decided they had to pay soldiers more if they wanted them to go

in harm's way and eventually become the upper leadership elements.

Back then we had no real lobby groups supporting us and it was illegal

for military folks to protest pay, etc. As time passed the gummit

started using some of the military elements as a tail to wag the

country's foreign policy dawg .. Army Special Forces and Navy SEALs

(which needed to be career folks) were doing much to solve problems

that diplomacy couldn't touch .. and some folks realized that the

military was more than a " servant " of the gummit and it required a

dedicated and professional cadre. New lobby groups started coming out

of the woodwork. The VFW, American Legion, Disabled Vets Association

and dozens of other lobby groups .. to include 5 USAF Associations, 8

Navy Associations, 3 USMC Association and 3 US Army Associations began

to become more active. The Military Officers Association of America

absorbed the Retired Officers Association) and upped their membership

to around 400,000 members), Retired Military Officers Association ..

focused on minorities .. became larger. My point is .. all told the

military associations began to speak with a voice of over 7 million

members .. and the gummit listened.

 

Some lobby groups have been strong since Day One .. like the National

Rifle Association .. created in 1871 by a Colonel and a General .. now

there are millions of members and the NRA speaks for them .. elected

officials do NOT disregard the NRA. It would be foolish to do so.

 

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) has done more to affect changes

in laws for DUI/DWI than all individual protests in the USA .. MADD

has 2 + million members and it was kicked off by ONE person .. Candy

Lightner, in 1980. The gummit listens when 2 + million folks speak.

 

All of us could come up with laundry lists of special interest groups

that lobby for their members .. and we know that the groups with the

largest number of members gets the most attention from the gummit.

 

Where is the organized opposition and representation for those of us

who don't want to see our Health Freedoms waste away? There are a

bunch of these " professional " lobby groups .. but I think the main

difference between them and the organizations that represent Mothers,

Soldiers, Police Officers, Weapons Owners, etc., is that they have to

drum up business whereas the latter have a legitimate mission without

looking for Bugger Bears in the Woods .. and the latter have a large

number of members and potential members .. but not all that many folks

give a crap what happens to Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

 

Gummit interference with the life, liberty and property of citizens is

a primary mission of gummits .. worldwide I think. Forcing a million

admin actions to preclude one or two events that might fall through

the crack and cause embarrassment or criticism is a foundation of the

CYA mentality of all elected/appointed folks and their staffs.

 

I get upset when some elected dude/dudess starts messing with my right

to bear arms .. and I still have that mentality that, " You can have my

gun after you pry my cold, dead fingers off'n it " . But I believe that

if the gummit can pass laws restricting my ownership it will be very

easy to enforce those laws. On the other hand, I believe that if the

FDA attempts to control natural products they will find that they have

created a situation that neither they (nor any other agency) can

police. Even today the FDA can't police rogues like Young Living.

 

What is violation of law is often determined by intent. Was a time US

Military was not allowed to conduct official visits to North Cyprus ..

couldn't enter North Cyprus via air or ship. So with permission of

some folk, I left my Dip Passport at home, and traveled on a Tourist

Passport on personal vacation time (sorta) to Southern Cyprus ..

rented a car and drove up to North Cyprus, did what I had to do and

came out the way I came in. Did I violate any laws? Technically .. I

was as clean as a new born baby's heart. I expect any actions the FDA

can take to restrict use of natural products is gonna generate so many

exceptional cases that courts are not gonna wanna look at'em. Folks

who are in jail are normally dumb folks or greedy folks .. or both!

 

While I am rambling .. I wanna point out that when I started writing

on News Groups (back in 1995) I was surprised to see so many folks

wanting to embrace the ideals of the non democratic EU ... like

globalization and standardization and such. I had been an opponent of

the entire EU scene since the middle 1980s and I let it be known on

the News Groups that what these folks were praising was someday gonna

bite Americans in the butt just like it was already biting European

butt. Being as most of the folks into CAM and such lean a bit left of

the center line, I was condemned .. damn Conservative Redneck I was.

I'm not the kinda feller who likes to say " I Told Y'all So " , so I'm

not gonna say it. ;-)

 

Gummits like to control their citizens .. but gummits are smart enough

to know who they can buck and who they better let alone. Whoever that

smart person whut came up with, " Gummits is like 2 wolves and a rabbit

voting on what's fer supper .. and Democracy is a well armed rabbit

protesting the outcome, " hit the nail on the head.

 

Big Pharma likes to control gummits .. they've done a purty gud job of

doing this in both Capitalist and Socialist gummits. Its not an easy

job to wrestle that control away from them .. but its not impossible.

 

Health Freedom is one of the freedoms we have long taken for granted,

and as the cancers of CODEX and the Socialist EU Regulations spread,

we are finding challenges to those freedoms. A lot of this regulation

is probably intended to create new bureaucracies (as I believe is the

case in the EU) and for those bureaucracies already in place (like the

FDA) it is probably an attempt to look good .. to cover their butt as

if they are on top of all the potential problems .. they have been

recognized and listed and coordinated and guidance from other agencies

has been requested. But the FDA moves like molasses in January in

Montana in a snow storm .. plus the list of Dockets they have on their

plate now is overwhelming and (unless Congress some day tightens the

purse strings) sufficient to justify a healthy budget and lots of

workers continue to staff the administration.

 

Below are the specific comments on the proposed/possible regulation.

Draft Guidance for Industry on Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Products and Their Regulation by the Food and Drug Administration.

http://www.elequity.com/contego/apr07/april07-11a.pdf

 

And below is a list of the Dockets the FDA has on their wish list now.

Dockets Available for Comment .. FDA .. IT AIN'T SHORT !!

Docket # 2006D-0480

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/oc/dockets/comments/Getreport.cfm?AGENCY=F\

DA

 

That list of dockets is not all inclusive .. its just the latest ..

there are many more in line waiting for action to be taken.

 

Those of us who have worked for the US gummit (or any gummit?) know

that sometimes its more important to tell folks what you are gonna do

than it is to tell them what you have done and what you are doing now.

What you have done is history .. what you are doing now is either

getting done or not getting done and if its getting done then your

budget and staffing is sufficient .. else you wouldn't be able to list

it as an ongoing project and give progress reports when tasked to do

same .. a director is not gonna get by saying something like .. we

been working this for a long time but we're not getting anywhere fast

due to budget constraints.

 

But .. what is listed as future projects is the meat and taters for

annual budget submission .. it is a basis for justification of all

requests for a slice of the pie.

 

The above paragraph is the way it is .. but .. that laundry list of

projects gets juggled a lot .. priorities change based on the amount

of embarrassment generated by the news media .. or by bills pushed by

congress folks to feather the nests of their constituents or to make

themselves look progressive and wise and really concerned about the

sheeple of their District or the United States.

 

The below article is " Hollering Wolf " and some of the translations of

FDA proposals are taken to the extreme.

 

http://www.newstarget.com/021789.html

 

The claim: " ...if a person decides to produce and sell raw vegetable

juice for use in juice therapy to promote optimal health... [and] if

the juice therapy is intended for use as part of a disease treatment

regimen instead of for the general wellness, the vegetable juice would

also be subject to regulation as a drug under the Act. "

 

Translation: Raw vegetable juice will be regulated as a drug and must

be FDA approved as a drug if it has any health effect whatsoever.

Handing a cup of raw vegetable juice to someone and telling them it's

good for the detoxification of their liver will get you arrested for

practicing medicine without a license and promoting an " unapproved drug. "

 

I don't see it that way .. but its a good scare tactic. Smart folks

can sell juice and avoid terms like " therapy to promote optimal

health " and " disease treatment " .. and say that the juice is intended

to assist the human body in maintaining general wellness. " I been

writing for 13 + years that folks should avoid terms " Therapeutic " and

" Medicinal Grade " and such .. it doesn't take a rocket scientist to

see that use of such terms is walking on the edge of practicing

medicine w/o a license.

 

I expect that most of you will not agree with many of the other

" translations " at that link.

 

Its easy to paint the FDA as the Bad Guy cause they do a lotta stupid

stuff that makes them appear as Bad Guys .. so its easy to hang

warning signs on anything the FDA puts their finger on. But a lot of

what they want to do can be justified by them due to some of the crazy

things and claims made in this industry .. they don't need to look

hard to find examples of this. This industry is into self-destruct!

Since 1995 I have heard folks say we gotta self regulate .. and it has

not been done .. nor will it be done without some form of control.

 

When there is some enforcement of various regs .. its easy to say the

gummit is acting like Big Brother and terrorizing the little folks ..

tyranny it is. But it ain't possible to have tyranny unless one has

gummit .. there is no tyranny when one lives where daily life is

controlled by various War Lords.

 

On the other hand, there is no progress when on lives where daily life

is controlled by War Lords. Countries that managed to bring all of

the War Lords under one Banner .. like Saudi Arabia and some others

who did well then went by the wayside .. like Yugoslavia and Hawaii ..

learned that power was more effective when consolidated. We can look

at these many independent lobby groups out and about as we look at War

Lords .. if they are brought under one banner where the group can

speak with one LOUD voice there might be some progress. In the

meantime, I think the gummit is not gonna listen to folks screaming

about loss of Health Freedoms .. the noise just ain't loud enough ..

which means the threat to elected officials is not very serious.

 

A recap to my rambling would be:

 

1. I don't think we should do nothing .. but I don't think we should

get our hopes too high that we will win on this one.

 

2. I don't think it is wise to support lobby groups that piss off the

gummit .. activists are not very good at lobbying .. successful lobby

groups know how to get what they want from the gummit without making

themselves appear as enemies. Funny it is that activists are the

first to demand negotiation and diplomacy before war with foreign

countries but they will choose war before negotiation or diplomacy

when dealing with their own gummit.

 

3. I don't think we should be gnashing our teeth or losing any sleep

over the " possible " FDA proposals because ..

 

4. Gummits can not effectively enforce most bans they put into place.

The EU (Martin will confirm this) has done a terrible job of enforcing

the ridiculous rules they have put in place .. they and the US gummit

can't even enforce the anti drug laws we have now. Generally, honest

folks don't abide by laws they don't respect and dishonest folks don't

abide by laws that interfere with their making illegal profits.

 

5. If the FDA does manage to put bans in place .. that is the time

for all the lobby groups to get together .. stop whining and crying

because the gummit won't listen .. and challenge the decisions in a

court of law. Many gummit decisions are overturned by the courts. In

many cases its the courts that are the only honest brokers in gummit.

 

6. Idealism has little chance of swaying gummit decisions. It is the

people that make changes .. and the majority of the people are realist

types so they must be approached in that manner. The rights American

minorities and women and other groups have now .. rights once denied

to them, were not won by idealists, though the leaders of some of the

movements have been described as being idealists. Those rights were

won by pure, hard, cold logic and truths .. not opinions. Its hard to

deny truth but its easy to deny flowery dreams or expectations of how

things oughta be under ideal conditions. Martin Luther King and

Mohatma Ghandi have been described by some historians as being

idealists .. I am convinced that both were perfect realists. They

sought something they could see and explain and folks could feel in

their hearts .. they had a quest for truth and justice and it couldn't

be denied by anyone who had a brain.

 

Y'all keep smiling. :-) butch http://www.AV-AT.com

[Guest guest]

Butch said:-

>4. Gummits can not effectively enforce most bans they put into place.

>The EU (Martin will confirm this) has done a terrible job of >enforcing

>the ridiculous rules they have put in place

 

Yes, I confirm that. The antidemocratic EEC is hopeless at policing a

fraction of the crazy laws they enact. The whole institution is geared

to big companies and producers. After all that is what the common

market policy is all about, ie. mass marketing by big companies

thoughout the whole of the EEC. The big problem is that in the

essential oils and cosmetics trade the big companies will comply for

fear of upsetting the Mandarins that run the unelected commission.

That is how the policing has an effect. Certainly many businesses do

ignore the regulations and will continue to so with little come back.

Unfortunately that often tends to be the unscrupulous scam artists in

our midst, particularly those in countries other than Britain!

 

Martin Watt

http://www.aromamedical.com

 

, " Butch Owen " <butchbsi wrote:

>

> Hey y'all,

>

> This one is kinda long .. but I wanna explain my reasoning for the

> conclusions at the end of the post. Those who don't wanna know why I

> came to those conclusions oughta just skip directly to them now. ;-)

>

> I'm not yet ready to back off from my comments on one non profit that

> lobbies for Health Freedom. Its not the mission that I criticize ..

> its the intent. There are many independent non profit lobby groups

> against many things and they generally make a good living doing what

> they do. If they were willing to consolidate they could do a better

> job but getting them to work together and speak with one very loud

> voice is difficult because they would have to give up personal power

> and their high salaries. So I question the sincerity of many of them

SNIPPED

[Guest guest]

>

> Where is the organized opposition and representation for those of us

> who don't want to see our Health Freedoms waste away?

>

> A recap to my rambling would be:

>

> 1. I don't think we should do nothing .. but I don't think we should

> get our hopes too high that we will win on this one.

>

> 2. I don't think it is wise to support lobby groups that piss off the

> gummit .. activists are not very good at lobbying .. successful lobby

> groups know how to get what they want from the gummit without making

> themselves appear as enemies. Funny it is that activists are the

> first to demand negotiation and diplomacy before war with foreign

> countries but they will choose war before negotiation or diplomacy

> when dealing with their own gummit.

>

> 3. I don't think we should be gnashing our teeth or losing any sleep

> over the " possible " FDA proposals because ..

>

Martin Luther King and

> Mohatma Ghandi have been described by some historians as being

> idealists .. I am convinced that both were perfect realists. They

> sought something they could see and explain and folks could feel in

> their hearts .. they had a quest for truth and justice and it couldn't

> be denied by anyone who had a brain.

>

> Y'all keep smiling. :-) butch http://www.AV-AT.com

 

response:

Butch, what should we do? Who's bandwagon can we jump on? How can the

little guy get in there and fight this?

 

Susan

www.triorganics.com

>