WSU to Study Iraq Toxins' Effect
Spokesman-Review
by Bert Caldwell
Research to examine how exposure might damage offspring of soldiers
Washington State University scientists will use a $1.7 million grant to study what multi-generation genetic damage might be done by toxins U.S. troops could encounter in Iraq.
The research using laboratory rats, not humans, will be the first for the military to examine the epigenetic effects of pesticides, herbicides and other compounds, said lead scientist Michael Skinner, director of the university's Center for Reproductive Biology.
Previous studies have looked at the health effects of other substances, notably the Agent Orange used to defoliate jungles in Vietnam, on the soldiers directly exposed, he said, not on their children or grandchildren.
"The science really had not caught up with the trans-generational stuff," said Skinner, one of several WSU pioneers in the field of epigenetic, or multi-generational, inheritance.
Besides herbicides and pesticides – which and in what combinations has not been determined – the study also will look at the effects of explosives residues, he said.
The four-year study will allow researchers to see how any changes in genetic chemistry that develop are passed along through two subsequent generations of rats, he said, noting that only the first two years of research have been funded.
Among the problems that might develop are kidney disease, or changes in the male and female reproductive organs, he said.
If any genetic markers are identified in rats, Skinner said, follow-up research could look at whether they might show up among members of the military as well.
That would be of particular interest to Dave Holmes, interim chief operating officer of the Institute for Systems Medicine, which was awarded the U.S. Department of Defense grant passed through to Skinner.
Holmes' son, Tim Hammond, did two tours in Iraq with the U.S. Marine Corps.
"They sprayed all kinds of stuff on them," Holmes said.
Although the grant money, the first awarded ISM, will fund work in Pullman, he said the organization's supporters hope any subsequent clinical studies will be done in Spokane.
"There's a lot of excitement about making it happen," he said.
"Fighting for Our Veterans-Supporting Our Troops"
Proudly Serving All Branches & All Eras Since 1999
Self-determination
by Dick Wells, Thompson Falls
Self-determination is fundamental to our constitutional republican form of government. It presumes that the people are, primarily, moral; and that we are personally able to control and defend ourselves, while pursuing normal everyday activities at liberty, knowing our government protects us from aggressors. We expect everyone to realize that we can have no greater dominion than over ourselves; and that we can neither diminish nor transfer that limitation on others and ourselves if we are to be free.
Thomas Jefferson insisted that we are equal, equal as kings and queens. We are as kings and queens only to the extent that we treat each
other equally with a universal sense of propriety. We are the stewards of our own domain, which can only survive among others of the same character. It is up to each individual to exercise self-determination to protect himself and look to his own affairs. Local government embodies that self-determination, as it extends outward, from the individual to his immediate society.
Our society finds its merit, its strength, in its protection of the individual’s Rights. A communist society (or a democracy), insists that the individual’s Rights must take back seat to the good of the whole. This constitutes the gulf between the two systems of government. In the former,
our young men and women volunteer to go in harm’s way to protect our way of life; in the latter, they are conscripted.
When a candidate campaigns for public office, ask him if he sees protecting you from government as his first obligation. Does he understand, and will he honor, his oath of office? Will he insist that nothing government does will infringe on your God-given Rights? Will he endeavor to limit government to only those things required by the
constitution? Will he resist all efforts in government to place prior restraints on your Rights?
Gun control laws are examples of prior restraint laws; they do nothing to prevent crime but they can cause law-abiding citizens, who are unwilling to forfeit their God-given Rights, to become outlaws. Prior restraint laws do not punish criminals; they punish people who would not commit crimes and obstruct their self-determination. This kind of law is mainly in Admiralty jurisdiction, the jurisdiction where the Captain of a ship makes laws for the safety of his command. Prior restraint laws anticipate crimes before they can be committed. A scriptural precept states that the law is for the one who would break it (1 Timothy 1:9); that truth holds today, and that is how our crime laws should always perform: to punish the wrong-doer.
Love and Liberty are very similar. Neither can flourish unless one accepts that others must be free to make their own choices. Neither Love nor Liberty will ever initiate harm or place limits on others. One’s Rights end where those belonging to others begin. All else is control.
With that in mind, I propose that the reason we have legislatures is to make the laws to operate government. No one should ever face penalty, fine or imprisonment, because of anything the legislature does, unless the violator is within government. Frequently, a bill states in its opening paragraph: “A bill creating the crime of…” We do not need our legislature creating crimes for the people. Common law crimes need no declaration in statute law, only penalty.
To say that we have self-determination is to say that we are self-governing.
Search Veterans' Voice Site Below
Entire web
