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THE COMPASSIONATE MISANTHROPE    Herb Ruhs, MD
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"Don't feel bad, most species of large mammal die off ... it's just our turn."


Did lead ruin your child?

by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News      August 12, 2007

Is childhood lead exposure the bedrock of success for the prison/industrial complex?
  The research of economist Rick Nevin seems to demonstrate that this is true. Now that lead levels are dropping precipitously, along with street
crime, is the beast that we created hungry for fresh meat? Is it creating new, meaningless categories of crime (victimless for instance) to feed its cannibalistic appetite?

See what you think about these issues after reading this Washington Post article on the research.

Additionally, interested readers can access additional information at the website of the National Center for Healthy Housing.

An interesting historical parallel exists with ancient Roman times, when lead exposure was also extreme, only, in this case, the gradient of exposure was opposite of today, with the most elite portions of their society most severely exposed. The Roman elite, of course, went thoroughly mad. Rent the movie Caligula. And there is a lot of evidence it was lead -- bones with an amount of lead that would have had seriously consequences.
   
Research links lead exposure
to criminal activity

Washington Post   Aug. 7, 2007

Excerpt: The theory offered by the economist, Rick Nevin, is that lead poisoning accounts for much of the variation in violent crime in the United States. It offers a unifying new neurochemical theory for fluctuations in the crime rate, and it is based on studies linking children's exposure to lead with violent behavior later in their lives.

What makes Nevin's work persuasive is that he has shown an identical, decades-long association between lead poisoning and crime rates in nine countries.

"It is stunning how strong the association is," Nevin said in an interview. "Sixty-five to ninety percent or more of the substantial variation in violent crime in all these countries was explained by lead." ...
Of course, at the time, from people writing then, there is no evidence, but that is what denial is for, isn't it? Same thing now.

Is street crime analogous to suite crime? It would be very interesting to assess bone lead levels (serum levels subside, tooth and bone tend to persist) on some of our class of corporate criminals.

I would also like to acknowledge pediatrician Dr. Herbert Needleman, and old friend and tireless activist on childhood lead exposure, for his groundbreaking work that led to much of the reforms that have seen a marked drop of exposure to lead in the US and elsewhere. He unfortunately had to undergo scurrilous personal attacks sponsored by the lead industry in their attempts to discredit his groundbreaking research.

Also unfortunately, I fail to see researchers of his degree of courage and integrity working in the field of environmental health these days.

Industrial polluters lose some battles but are always winning their depraved war against we the people. They have succeeded in decimating the ranks of scientists able and willing to shed the light of truth on the horrors of industrial pollution.

© by the author.

 
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