It wasn't "experts" who figured out that when a canary stops singing and starts teetering on his perch, its time to get out of the coal mine. Not surprisingly, the "experts" claim they cannot determine conclusively why reports from all over the world describe flocks of birds dying by the thousands. The forensic sciences have improved to a point that causes of death can be accurately determined upon autopsy - if the death is not political. Recent bird kills have been reported in Idaho, Texas, New York, New Jersey, Australia, Turkey, SE Asia and Africa. Though the dead birds in SE Asia, Turkey and Africa have been blamed on "bird flu," the causes of death remain mysteries in the U.S. and Australia.

"THOUSANDS of birds have fallen from the skies over Esperance and no one knows why. Is it an illness, toxins or a natural phenomenon? A string of autopsies in Perth have shed no light on the mystery," reported The Australian Jan. 10, 2007.

Last month, IO reporter Ingri Cassel talked to Idaho Department of Fish and Game veterinarian Mark Drew who stated that the 2,500 mallard ducks found dead in southern Idaho died from ingesting grain contaminated with aspergillus fungus. Cassel described to Drew how ducks have probably been eating fungus-infected grains for eons without dying from the dining experience and how exposure to toxins, particularly synthetic chemicals, can depress immune function, leaving organisms (such as ducks) vulnerable to the development of infections that would not ordinarily be lethal.

Drew did listen to Cassel, who explained that the state of Idaho is dumping millions of gallons of herbicides into its lakes and rivers ostensibly to poison invasive aquatic plants. Cassel's theory could be proved or disproved upon autopsy. Instead it was ignored because the results would have severe political implications.

Remember the 70s when millions of fish were turning up dead in polluted lakes? Remember the 80s when it was being reported all over the world that amphibians were developing severe deformities? Remember in the 90s when it was being reported that wild bees in North America were becoming extinct due to a species of mite that was affecting their eyes and causing blindness?

Call them canaries. The corporate-compromised "experts" may not be smart enough to detect gas in our earthly mine shaft, but we are. See the Interview with Dr. Sherri Tenpenny (The IO, March, 2006) in which the relationship between toxic levels of synthetic chemicals in the tissues of plants and animals and illness is explained. If you want to see what happens when one pulls together the world's scientific literature on the subject, the bar of what us "miners" can know about toxic chemicals and sickness was established by Dr. Tenpenny in her book, "FOWL: Bird Flu - It's Not What You Think (see page 7)."