Series of Letters to the Editor

This first one is below:

Sunday, February 01, 2009

Letter to Editor - Science

Finally, I have a new article. This is a letter to the editor I sent but has not been printed yet.

Tribune-Star contributor, Saul Rosenthal, lent me a book critical of milk. It changed my mind on the "goodness" of dairy and meat products. Science backs this conclusion. Thanks Saul.

The Center for Disease Control, since 2006, wants to test the entire U.S. population for HIV. The false positive result for the HIV antibody tests (tests not approved by the FDA with the disclaimer, do not use results to diagnose AIDS) is very high. Healthy women in their third trimester and newborns will be mandated by state laws to take deadly drugs.

In 1990 I checked my Mechanical Engineer's Handbook for the energy contents of gasoline and ethanol. Ethanol has lower energy content. Testing my 1978 Aspen , my results gave over an eight percent advantage to gasoline. I asked my friend Scott to run the same test on his fleet of cars. Scott reported about a ten percent difference. Two years ago, Consumer Reports tested E-85 and the ethanol blend. They also reported about a ten percent disadvantage with the ethanol blend. (This would be an excellent project for children in elementary school - test mpg ethanol blend/mpg gasoline.)

Science needs to be questioned. The dairy and meat industries along with the medical profession, the pharmaceutical industry, and Big Oil have proved they cannot be trusted. Perhaps the worst secret learned is that education professionals do not have to disclose payment from companies whose products they are testing.

Here is a response from Jim Hughes:

Letter contained false statement

In a recent letter (Feb. 8, Tribune-Star), Ed Gluck stated “Perhaps the worst secret learned is that education professionals do not have to disclose payment from companies whose products they are testing.” Wrong, Ed.

“Education professionals” have to disclose affiliations at virtually every step. Universities require blanket disclosure statements. Disclosure statements are required before one can present at meetings. Disclosure statements are required before one can publish in most journals.

The primary journal in my area is Endocrinology. Every paper published in the journal is accompanied by a disclosure statement. Researchers report consultant activities, lecture fees, stock options, patents, royalties, and other affiliations. In addition, researchers report all grant support, including support from the government, because they must demonstrate what was accomplished with the money.

Perhaps the worst secret learned is that some statements in letters to the editor have no basis in fact.

— Jim Hughes

Terre Haute


Finally, my response not printed yet:

I appreciate Jim Hughes responding to my letter printed February 8. Before answering, I will explain my letter in which I related three shocking discoveries.

First, ethanol in gasoline acts as if it has an energy content of zero. We have all seen alcohol on fire or a flambeyd food and know it must have some energy. Readers may question Consumer Reports on their results.

Secondly, I mentioned the test for HIV has a very high false positive rate. (Now, I do not even believe there is an HIV virus but we all know the test "they" say "they" perform is for the HIV antibodies. They test for twenty proteins and if three are positive, "they" have a positive HIV test. That's U.S., in some European countries the criterion is four positive proteins. Four positive proteins needed would, I guess, produce less false positives.) To many readers it may be shocking to hear of state legislators forcing many healthy persons to take possibly harmful treatment.

A third discovery was that the exalted positions of dairy and meat were found to be sacred cows (yes, pun intended). More vegetables in our diet seem to be called for. This is shocking for some.

Mr. Hughes has problems with my stating perhaps a fourth shocking fact. This is that "...education professionals do not have to disclose payment from companies whose products they are testing." I do not dispute the assertions by Mr. Hughes that universities and his journal require disclosure statements. One source in the food question, T. Colin Campbell, author of The China Study, has found problems with research and disclosures. I believe Mr. Campbell is alive and retired.

If I implied education professionals don't ever have to disclose payment, I apologize.


I hope people understand why I wrote about these shocking facts.