Conferences attended this year included

Fall 2004 – Democratizing the United Nations by including the presence of women and women’s issues, New York City. A paper prepared by Dr. Bertell was presented by Marion Odell.

Summer 2005 – Reunion of the Alternative Peace Prize Awardees attended by Dr. Bertell and Marion Odell who participated in workshops and other events.

Fall 2005 – ENERGY-VISION in Toronto. IICPH was a co-sponsor of this event and presented a workshop on educating the general public about the health effects of low level radiation and its connection to nuclear electric power generation. The power-point/overhead presentation will be available on our website in early January with hints on how to use it.

Fall 2005 – Ontario Environment Network Conference which concentrated on nuclear power, health effects and renewable sources and their ability along with conservation to replace coal-fired and nuclear power.

From:Lynn Jones

Sent: Friday, November 25, 2005 4:27 PM
To: Rosalie Bertell
Subject: Something incredible has happened!

Hi Rosalie:

The CSNS hearing for SRBT is next Wednesday, November 30th. We just received the CNSC staff’s supplementary CMD. (…) They are actually recommending to the Commissioners that SRBT’s license NOT be renewed!

Of course it’s not over yet, and there is lots of work to be done, even if the commissioners accept the recommendation, (…) but anyway it is very good news.

We are asking the Sisters to pray for a positive outcome for all concerned, and for community healing physical, emotional, spiritual and interpersonal.

I will keep you posted. As ever, thank you for your incredible leadership, courage, support and prayers!

Love,
Lynn

RUSSIAN STUDY AN INDICTMENT of LOW LEVEL RADIATION

Cold War leaks from a weapons plant in the Ural Mountains and chronic exposures to low levels of ionizing radiation 50 years ago lead to excess cancers in exposed workers, a landmark study by Russian and U.S. scientists disclosed.

The study is the latest blow to the notion that there is a threshold of exposure below which there is no health threat, and there might even be a benefit. This will be a blow to those who cling to the hormesis theory. The results add weight to the report of the U.S. National Research Council released summer which backed the hypothesis that radiation is risky at even the lowest doses. (Science, July 8, 2005 p.233)

www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/309/5732/233

FLUORIDE FRIEND OR FOE?

Fluoridation of water has been practiced in many industrialized countries for many years including the U.S. and Canada. Our intrepid Aliss Terpstra has joined in the campaign to ban fluoridation of drinking water. Water fluoridation was presented as an effective and inexpensive way to reduce dental decay in mass populations in the 1940s. Data collected from the very beginning failed to support this position. Government, military and private industry colluded to promote water fluoridation and even scientists like Linus Pauling fell for it. “Scientific” calculations established that a concentration of “one part per million” in drinking water is safe and effective. Peer reviewed dental research shows that benefits are topical not from ingestion. Excess ingested fluoride causes a reduction in mineralization of enamel and dentin. Children in fluoridated cities have similar dental decay problems to children in nonfluoridated cities.

For more information check our website at http://www.iicph.org.

OUR BUSY YEAR

Rosalie has been so busy this year, she has not had time to tell us of all her numerous activities. Some of the issues we have espoused have come to the fore in a manner unprecedented before. More and more of the younger generation are becoming interested in Dr. Bertell’s work around low level ionizing radiation, peace and militarism.

Numerous radio interviews have been given by phone, two film interviews, trips to Europe and to New York about UN matters. Writings of various types and answering hundreds of email enquiries have filled a considerable amount of her time. A fuller report will be sent in our next newsletter. IICPH has also experienced a very full year, exciting and filling us with a renewed sense that the time is ripe for change. So many bright young people are becoming concerned about environmental health issues that it is very heartening for those of us who have been working for a break-through all these years.

GOOD NEWS FROM GERMANY

Germany is STILL phasing out nuclear power. The Conservatives were pushing for nuclear power but the SPD has won the day and are staying the course on phaseout and renewables. The German wind power lobby, BWE, expects huge investment in alternative energy expansion in wind, solar, biomass, hydro and geothermal.

NUKE ENERGY NO SOLUTION TO CLIMATE CHANGE

Recently nuclear energy is increasingly mentioned as a way to combat climate change. Around the world the nuclear industry and others are touting nuclear as “clean” energy that could replace fossil fuels. To counter their arguments it is worth visiting one of the Heinrich Boll Foundation website:“www.kyotoplus.org”:http://www.kyotoplus.org.

DR. BERTELL NOMINATED

Dr. Bertell was nominated for the NOBEL PEACE PRIZE along with 999 other women (1000 Women for Peace). An organization in Europe sponsored this initiative to get women in the peace movement the recognition they deserve. Unfortunately none of them were chosen. It was a good idea whose time had definitely come. We are hoping it will be repeated.