www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, November 2, 2011 · 6 OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5571 Classified Advertising: 632-4440 Circulation: 845-9742 --Open 9-5 weekdays, 5-7 for calls only Wed. to Friday, Closed weekends Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: C Canadian Circulation Audit Board Member A THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Newspapers Association S Suburban Newspapers of America o Canadian Community Newspapers Association ATHENA Award NEIL OLIVER Vice President and Group Publisher of Metroland West The Oakville Beaver is a division of DAVID HARVEY Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director ANGELA BLACKBURN Managing Editor RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution SARAH MCSWEENEY Circ. Manager Try a little kindness It pays to be nice. It makes you feel good -- and most of us daily seek the means to improve our lifestyle, health and positive mental outlook. We may seek it at the gym, spa, mall, in a good book, online, at the local pub, a new diet, the hair salon or the electronics shop, among many other venues. Maybe we haven't looked within. Did you know that you can't feel stress if you smile or laugh? We all know the health value of eliminating or reducing stress. In case we missed the good advice from our parents, in school or at our place of worship...in case our experiences have jaded our outlook, the Oakville Community Foundation (OCF) is here to remind us. If you want to try a new positive approach, go for it anytime. If you need structure, mark Nov. 4 on your calendar. That's when the OCF's Random Acts of Kindness Day will take place. All over the community, people will be performing random acts of kindness -- some pre-planned, others spontaneous. It's an awareness campaign to show people how good it feels to do something positive for someone else. Behind it, is the hope that the `feel good' results experienced by those who give, and receive, will inspire them to get involved. For some, showing kindness to another, may best fit their busy schedule on a spontaneous and random basis. For others, who can afford the time, volunteering is easy. There are many organizations in the community, struggling with tough times, that could use a helping hand. All deliver a valued service to those in need -- helping those who are ill, coping with the downside of their senior years, making ends meet in a difficult economy. All can use donations of money, but just as important, a helping hand. Volunteering can fill time, forge new acquaintances and friendships, can be a life's lesson, can inspire you through getting to know your neighbour or provide the knowledge to appreciate what's right in your life. Whether it be a simple thing like taking a deep breath and remembering what it's really all about, taking a few extra seconds to do something that not only feels good for someone else, but for yourself, too, or volunteering on a larger scale, stay tuned for Random Acts of Kindness Day. The Oakville Beaver r will be covering what it's all about, how you can get involved and recording how the day unfolds. For more information, visit www.ocf.org. More importantly, remember... it feels better to give than receive -- and try it out if you haven't recently. You may be surprised at the benefits. The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Letter to the editor Fluoridation critic responds In his letter to The h Oakville k ll Beaver r, Ivor Davies asked: is there anything more to be said on water fluoridation? The answer is clearly yes. Davies puts great store in the fact that fluoride occurs `naturally' in some groundwater (the average is about 0.1 ppm in North America) and in the sea at 1.3 ppm, but just because something occurs naturally does not make it safe. Arsenic also appears naturally in some groundwater. What Davies fails to mention is the natural levels in mothers' milk. These are extremely low. In a non-fluoridated community, the level is 0.004 ppm and rises slightly to 0.011 ppm in a fluoridated community (NRC, 2006, p.40). This means that parents that bottle feed their babies in Halton will be giving them over 100 times the dose a breast-fed baby gets. That's not a wise thing to do. Nor does Davies mention the fact that nearly every dental researcher now concedes that fluoride -- if it works at all -- works topically, i.e. on the surface of the teeth. Why on earth force systemic risks on the baby's delicate developing tissues before its teeth have emerged? Needless to say, Davies also ignores -- along with every other piece of scientific information presented in our book The Case Against Fluoride e (Chelsea Green 2010) -- the fact there have now been 25 studies that have found an association between moderate exposure to fluoride and lowered IQ. Is Davies happy that no health agency in Canada has attempted to investigate this serious matter for itself? Or does he believe that saving a minimal amount of tooth decay (0.6 of one permanent tooth surface, according to the largest survey conducted in the U.S.) could possibly justify damaging a child's mental development? Or our bones or our endocrine system (NRC, 2006)? Davies claims opponents engage in "disinformation" and "misinformation," but does not give a single instance of f such. See Author page 11 Letters to the editor The Oakville Beaver r welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, ON, L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver r reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. Helping l sharks, h k but b what h of f salmon? l Slaughter for roe can be witnessed every autumn There is a lot being said lately about the issue of shark fin soup and the inhumane way sharks are being treated by having their fins removed and being set free to die without them. The issue is so hot that many municipalities have banned the sale of the soup in order to protest against the harvesting of shark fins. I find it ironic that another fish story right here at home gets no attention whatsoever. Each fall thousands of salmon enter our local rivers to spawn and complete their life cycle. Thousands of unethical people show up at the same time to harvest eggs from the salmon, eggs that they can use for chum or bait. The salmon are clubbed, snagged, speared and netted -- all of these acts are illegal. Worse, they are slit open while alive and the eggs are ripped out. Carcasses are thrown back in the river or into the bushes. Even the male fish are not safe as the people that do this are not fishermen and do not know the difference. Salmon roe is sold in tackle shops, vending machines and at roadside stands. You can witness this slaughter at any creek or river during the fall months. Gerhard Schuetz, Oakville Editor`s Note: See Province investigating dead d salmon in Bronte, Oakville Beaver story, Oct. 19, 2011.