FAN Bulletin 952
   
April 14, 2008

Dear Supporter,

This coming August 7-11 there will be a very special double-event in Toronto. The first part of this event is the 28th international conference of the International Society for Fluoride Research (ISFR) that will run from August 7-10. Overlapping with this will be the third Citizens Conference on Fluoride organized by ourselves ? the Fluoride Action Network, which will run from Sunday am (August 10) to Monday lunchtime August 11. Both events will be taking place at the same location: the beautiful campus of the University of Toronto at Mississauga. FAN is calling this ISFR28-FAN3 for short. The theme of the ISFR meeting is “Fluoride: bone and brain effects’ although some other health effects will also be discussed.

Dr. Hardy Limeback will be coordinating the program and logistics for the ISFR conference and FAN will be coordinating some of the logistics (Ellen) and the program (Paul) for the FAN conference.

Here are 10 reasons why you should move heaven and earth to get to this double event:

1) It could well be the turning point in ending fluoridation in North America.

2) You will get a chance to meet and hear from some of the world’s leading fluoride researchers (Dr. Susheela from India, three members of the NRC Subcommittee on Fluoride in Drinking Water (Dr. Hardy Limeback, Dr. Kathleen Thiessen, and Dr. Robert Isaacson), Dr. Pam den Besten (co-author of the seminal Phyllis Mullenix  paper on fluoride and damage to the animal brain), and Dr. James Simmer (a molecular biology expert from University of Michigan).

3) You will get a chance to meet and hear from Dr. Vyvyan Howard, Professor of Infant and fetal pathology from the University of Belfast. Vyvyan is one of the brightest people I have ever met: he plays the cello, conducts a small orchestra; owned his own computer company, was President of the Royal Microscopy Society and is the newly elected President of the International Society of Doctors fro the Environment (ISDE). He is a brilliant speaker and has often appeared on British TV programs. On top of all that he has a great sense of humor.

4) You will get a chance to meet in person Dr. Bill Osmunson (West Coast spokesperson for FAN) and an incredibly important addition to the forces fighting fluoridation. (See his short vignette on our home page, now watched by over 44,000 people). Bill will be presenting the evidence that water fluoridation does not work.

5) You will get a chance to meet another dentist who has recently come out against fluoridation: Dr. Andrew Harms. Andrew was the former president of the South Australian Dental Association. You can get an idea of what a powerful message he has to deliver from a recent TV program which can be accessed from our home page or directly from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRVYXLBqHV4

6) You will get a chance to meet and hear from Dr. Bruce Spittle from New Zealand who recently published a short booklet on the symptoms of those sensitive to fluoride. This fluoride sensitivity has long been denied by promoters of fluoride ? and never studied by any government promoting fluoridation. Bruce will also lead us in a sing along of old favorites on Sunday evening.

7) You will get a chance to meet activists fighting fluoridation from around Canada: from Quebec, from Alberta and from all over Ontario. These include the folks who have kept fluoridation out of Montreal for years and have helped to end it in Quebec City on April 1 of this year. It will also include some remarkable folks from Ontario (Cindy Mayer; Diana Sprules, Carole Clinch, Aliss Terpstra and Karen Buck) who have helped end it in the Niagara region; and are fighting it hard in Hamilton, Oakville, Waterloo, and Toronto. Your presence could help all of these Ontario battles, and theirs could help us. We draw some of our energy from the victories of others.

8) You will also get a chance to meet and strategize with some of the many activists from the US fighting fluoridation ? and even some as far away as Australia, where much is going on.

9) Those who attended either FAN 1 or FAN 2 or both will know what a lot of fun it is to meet in person the people you have only seen on video or communicated with via email. We all need that shot of adrenalin to keep going.

10) In Toronto you may well hear the sound of dominos falling!

COSTS.

As conferences go this will be very reasonable in terms of costs, convenience and comfort. Dr. Limeback, by using the campus facilities of the U. Toronto at Missasauga, has been able to keep food and accommodation to a very reasonable level. The full details of these can be obtained from http://www.fluorideresearch.org/404/files/FJ2007_v40_n4_p207-213.pdf  Hardy has kept the registration fee down to a remarkably low figure of $125 for the whole double event and if you opt only to go to the FAN3 the registration fee will only be $50. We will also be doing some fundraising to see if we can help some of our activists who are on a low budget  to attend (see below, if you wish to help here).

However, I urge you to combine the best science on fluoride with the best strategizing to end fluoridation by attending both events.

If you wish to attend both events please send your pre-registration fee by June 30 for $125 to Hardy Limeback
 
Payment: Payment in Canadian dollars is preferred, as conference accounts will
be paid in CAN$, but US dollars will also be acceptable. Please send a bank draft
or cheque made out to “Dr Hardy Limeback, ISFRXXVIII Conference Organizer”
by registered mail to: Associate Professor Hardy Limeback, 1060 Springhill
Drive, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, L5H 1M9, accompanied by the Conference
Registration Form or a letter containing the information. If advance notice is given
to Professor Limeback, participants may also pay the registration fee by cash or
travellers cheques at the registration desk at the time of registration.

Please indicate that you are a member of FAN as I have committed to get 30 FAN people to come to the ISFR conference. Please e-mail Dr. Limeback (hardy.limeback@dentistry.utoronto.ca)  soon as possible to indicate your intentions of attending ISFR so that Dr. Hardy Limeback can stop worrying that he is going to have dig deep into his own pocket to finance this conference ? he has done so much for this cause already - he should not have to do that.

If you wish to attend just the FAN 3 conference please send $50 ($25 will go to ISFR and $25 to FAN) to FAN, 82 Judson Street, Canton, NY 13617 (address the check to AEHSP- FAN3 conference).

If you cannot attend but would like to make this event as successful as possible (we still have to raise the money for Dr. Vyvyan Howard’s air fare) and also help others to go, who need some financial assistance, please send your donation to FAN at FAN, 82 Judson Street, Canton, NY 13617 (address the check to AEHSP- FAN conference donation). This donation is tax-deductible.

In a later bulletin I will be sending out a full schedule of events for the FAN 3 conference which will run from 9:00 am on Sunday August 10, though lunch time Monday August 11. For now be aware that  you will be hearing:

Presentations from Dr. Bill Osmunson (Fluoridation doesn’t work) and Dr. Vyvyan Howard (Fluoride and the fetal and infant brain).
Latest developments on our case against the use of sulfuryl fluoride as fumigant on food (Ellen Connett).
A run down on latest developments in FAN’s communications from Kevin Hurley and Michael Connett. Kevin is producing our videotaped vignettes from professionals and will show us clips from those in the works (there is some really exciting stuff here) and Michael will be giving a rundown on what by then will be a re-vamped website. For Michael this will be his FAN swansong as in September he will be going to law school. He is going into Public Interest Law. Our loss will be others gain.
A lot of time for some relaxed strategizing on many fronts.
Sunday evening we will have some FAN “fun and games” with another crazy auction and a sing along with Dr. Bruce Spittle.

If you are an American flying from into Canada you will need a passport. If you are driving from America you will need either a birth certificate or a passport. See http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2223.html
 
Please don’t miss this event ? and please get those registrations in early.

Paul Connett

PS Toronto is a beautiful and exciting city, especially in August.