What's an "AIDS dissident?"Who are these people and what is the controversy about?
Table of Contents
- Isn't HIV and AIDS the same thing?
- Who are the "AIDS dissidents?"
- What do the dissidents want?
- Isn't this a big story? Why haven't I heard about this stuff before?
- I'm a dissident and I'd like to spread the word, but I don't want to join a group. What can I do?
- I would like to join an AIDS dissident group! Where do I get started?
Isn't HIV and AIDS the same thing?
No. One can be labelled "HIV-positive" and remain in good health for many years, without antiretroviral drugs. Being "HIV-positive" means that a person has reacted to an antibody test. Just like any other group of people, "HIV positive" people may be healthy or they may be ill, depending on many factors unrelated to their HIV status.AIDS is a group of unrelated illnesses, so the health problems of people diagnosed with AIDS varies a great deal. That is why it is important to find out specifically what health problems a person who is AIDS-diagnosed has, instead of immediately bombarding him or her with experimental pharmaceutical drugs. Often a person can regain health simply by changing diet or lifestyle, sometimes people don't get well and they die. To attribute the deaths of people to HIV and AIDS is lazy health care. Also, I have to point out that "HIV disease" is a PHARMACEUTICAL term and doesn't mean anything. Be on alert! Being "HIV positive" doesn't mean you are sick or that you are more likely to become sick.
The HIV test insert reads... " THIS TEST SHOULD NOT BE USED TO DIAGNOSE ILLNESS"... yet doctors use them every day. If blood drawn for an "ELISA" HIV test is not diluted 400 times, everyone would react positively. On a "Western Blot" test, blood needs to be diluted 51 times for the same reason. There are over 60 factors that can cause people to react positively to an antibody test. It is possible that eating spoiled meat could cause a person to react positively on a test - this is because foreign proteins cause our bodies to form antibodies, and meat certainly contains foreign protein. These are helpful in every other illness - except for HIV. Suddenly negative is good, positive is bad, antibodies are suddenly our enemy instead of being a sign that we have fought off an invading disease. Just the fact that everything about HIV and AIDS is so contrary should set off alarms for most reasonable people.
However, for many AIDS has become a career. Certain writers, virologists who couldn't find a viral cause for cancer throughout the 1960's and '70's, researchers who still can't isolate HIV, the multinational pharmaceutical industry and AIDS service organizations are interested in keeping things the way they are. There is not room for discussion of tests or funding or any other irregularities, and those who raise questions about any aspect of AIDS will be ostracized, jailed or somehow silenced.
Who are the "AIDS dissidents?"
Anyone who, through investigation or life experience has come to the conclusion that there are problems with the relationship between HIV and AIDS can consider themselves a "dissident." Many of us in our forties, fifties and sixties (and older!) have observed the "epidemic" from a personal point of view, and have concluded from exhaustive research that sex itself does not kill you, even if you have had partners in "high-risk groups," who did get sick and die from their lifestyles, not from sex. Many of us have seen our dear friends, robust for years, suddenly fall ill and die when given HIV medications. Many people are simply not aware that there is a growing movement of rethinkers throughout the world, and just believe that they are lucky or extra-healthy. Dissidents come from every social circle, every occupation. Extraordinary vocalist Nina Hagen has questioned AIDS since 1993, when she interviewed Peter Duesberg. She has written a song about the HIV lie, called "Hand Grenade," which you can find on her album, "Return of the Mother." When this song was performed in San Francisco recently her fans were screaming and cheering in support. The Foo Fighters have joined AIDS rethinkers and feature Alive and Well's banner ad on their own popular web page. I expect more luminaries to join the struggle as they become aware that AIDS is a colossal medical mistake. However, it is not popular to question AIDS, so it probably won't become trendy - for now. With all the fooling around going on in Hollywood you'd think more people would have figured it all out by now.Back to Top
What do the dissidents want?
That is hard to answer, because the "dissident" AIDS movement is comprised of many individuals. Some want to see proper health care and housing for all persons, regardless of their HIV status. Others are angry about the way money is being spent by our government so that some patients don't get enough food or a place to live, but San Francisco patients can get "flirting classes," forums on how to masturbate or parties with clowns and giant phallus-shaped mascots. One fundraiser I attended in San Francisco included an Elvis impersonator who urinated on the floor as part of his act (wish I was kidding). Some people are calling for a re-evaluation of all infectious diseases and demand research for non-toxic nutritional therapies, other people apparently just want to have sex again...(and that's okay!)The gay community has been blamed for the supposed spread of AIDS, as have people in Africa. I believe that most dissidents would like for that misinformation to be corrected.
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Isn't this a big story? Why haven't I heard about this stuff before?
There are a lot of reasons that this is not front-page news. The message is being discounted and made to seem ridiculous by scientists, multinational pharmaceutical corporations, researchers and service organizations.Professor Peter Duesberg was ridiculed and had his funding cut when he raised questions about the causes of the illnesses we call AIDS.
1993 Nobel prize winner Kary Mullis, has been belittled in the press. He invented the Polymerase Chain Reaction. PCR is a technique used in certain AIDS tests to try to multiply the "virus" to see how sick a person is. Mullis says that this application of the technology, called the "viral load" test, should never be used as a diagnostic tool. The test was created to assist in multiplying tiny pieces of things, like for examining evidence.
Another man, Charles Geshekter, has spent years of his life in Africa studying what is making many people there sick, and he has concluded that there is no new things making people sick there, unless it is the toxic by-products of western oil refineries and other manufacturing industries, especially in South Africa, poor people who get sick from living in asbestos-roofed shacks, or the inability for many to get clean drinking water or nutritious fresh food. However, few people have even heard of Geshekter, because he doesn't announce: "These people are dying of AIDS!" There is widespread cancer, malaria, tuberculosis and even measles that make many people sick, yet it is nearly impossible to get relief funding for those maladies. AIDS, however, grabs the attention of Westerners and there's an outcry for AIDS medicines for Africa. Yet David Rasnick, who helped develop protease inhibitors, says they shouldn't be used for people with AIDS.
The AIDS fraud is a huge story. Yet the media is controlled by multinational corporations, and stories questioning AIDS would be devastating to many who rely on the status quo - hospitals would lose funding, AIDS service organizations would collapse, reputations would be sullied. Who knew what, when? I have faith that the public will soon begin to demand accountability from the government and the pharmaceutical industry. Many small media outlets are afraid of reprisal - if you go up against a huge entity you can find yourself in a lot of trouble. Remember Oprah Winfrey's battle with the beef industry? Ms. Winfrey had some powerful attorneys to fight for her rights, but few small groups or individuals are able to sustain a fight against multinational industry. So new stories are sporadic, but fortunately, more common these days as the media flirts with the "dangerous information" of the dissidents. It is impossible to know how many editors are sitting on their BIG AIDS story, waiting for the right moment to publish it. Some editors, like the former editor of SPIN magazine took huge chances and ran pieces by Celia Farber, a very vocal dissident journalist. Gear Magazine has picked up the momentum by running a devastating article - also by Ms Farber, about David Ho, leading AIDS "researcher" and charlatan. The press, especially in San Francisco, has caught on that AIDS dissidents are a "hot topic" right now, and run stories about them whenever they can jusify it. It should be noticed that these stories mention the dissident messages again and again, but with disclaimers. Nevertheless, thousands of new readers are introduced to alternative ideas about AIDS each time a story is published.
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I think I'm a dissident and I'd like to spread the word, but I'd rather not join a group. What can I do?
What you should do should correspond with your desire to become involved in a very controversial movement. If you want limited involvement, read your local papers and write letters to the editor when you read something that seems wrong to you. Know that even doing that can sometimes cause problems with co-workers and friends. Use a false name when writing letters to the editor if you don't want to be recognised. Questioning AIDS is not a popular thing. Be prepared to have conflicts with people, because the HIV/AIDS connection is gospel for most people these days. Watch for TV and radio shows about HIV and AIDS that have call-in segments and don't be afraid to ask questions. Call AIDS "service organizations" and find out what kind of services they actually provide.If you want more involvement, talk with people in your local city government, such as a board of supervisors and find out what's going on with funding. If the money seems to be going nowhere, find out if there is a public forum to discuss these matters and speak out.
The best thing to do is to read as much as you can. Talk to people who have never taken AIDS drugs. Educate yourself about the tests. Most people believe that all this information is too complicated to understand, but it isn't. Doctors aren't magical beings with super-intelligence. The terminology used with AIDS is deliberately made confusing, so don't give up. Investigate, study, learn. AIDS is presented as a mysterious disease, but when the facts are taken into consideration, none of it makes any sense..
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I would like to join an AIDS dissident group! Where do I get started?
Look in your area for a HEAL chapter (Health Education AIDS Liaison). Try looking online for groups that hold alternative health beliefs. If you can't find a group that's AIDS-specific, you might find other organizations that might be receptive to dissident ideas, such as a raw-food group, or maybe a group that opposes mandatory vaccinations. If you can't locate one, see if there are other people in your area interested in forming your own rethinkers group. Make and post fliers at campuses, in laundry rooms, in bars, anywhere there's a bulletin board. A hand-written note the size of a business card can be still hold a lot of information and can be made on scrap paper. The response might surprise you. Even a tiny group can be very effective in educating people. Small meetings or forums can be held in church basements, back yards or coffee shops. Have a meeting in a park.Most of the time I find people to be hungry for this information and they seem compelled to find out more for themselves.
Look for people online. The "AIDS dissident" movement is a huge community and there are many of us who post in online bulletin boards. I've made many friends in this way, by responding to other people's posts and by responding to their websites.
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