BOOK REVIEW
by Margie Miller, RN, ARNP
By Anonymous and edited by Zoey O’Toole & Mary Holland
(ISBN-13: 978-9655981469, The Turtles Team; 2022, hardback, 518 pages, $44.58)
Besides the peculiar title and cover design, what piqued my interest most when I came across this book was the absence of listed author(s). The rationale for this is revealed in the Foreword written by Mary Holland. This book was first published in Israel in 2019. A positive review of it was published in a prestigious leading Israeli medical journal later that year by Nati Ronel and Eti Elisha, senior academic criminologists. In the years since its publication, no medical-science professional has demonstrated that the book or the book review contained any errors.
One senior faculty member in Tel Aviv, Daniel Mishori, Ph.D., was so incensed by the lack of discussion regarding the book itself, he offered $4,000 (donated to the hospital ward of choice) to anyone who could refute the arguments laid forth in the book. To date, nobody has taken the “Turtles challenge.” Instead, the medical establishment chose to target the review’s authors with personal attacks for merely critiquing the book. Historically and currently, dedicated scientists in numerous countries have lost their careers for challenging the vaccine dogma. For this reason, the authors of Turtles All the Way Down have chosen to remain anonymous. Character assassination and smear campaigns have no place with regard to real science; rather, the validity of the argument is what’s important. The reader is encouraged to challenge the material in the book by scanning the QR code of over 1,200 references (plus footnotes) and to access each one as presented while reading through Turtles.
The Introduction to Turtles makes it clear that vaccine research, vaccine funding, vaccine manufacturing, licensing, regulation, and marketing are all carried out by governmental entities influenced by both political and financial interests. Vaccine research published in scientific and medical journals has become nothing but a commercial enterprise with the goal of maximizing profits.
COVID-19 misinformation fed to the public during the past few years – not to even mention the clumsy mishandling of the pandemic – has resulted in the United States faring worse in handling that pandemic than any other country in the World except for Brazil. United States citizens are becoming more aware of the lies each day, but how many of us extend our critical analysis to vaccines in general, particularly childhood vaccines and the vaccine schedule?
Beyond the Introduction, this 518-page book leaves the COVID-19 controversy behind and delves into the deceitful methodology used in developing and testing vaccines (after reading this, the reader will understand the meaning behind the title of this book), the deficiency of the unsubstantiated vaccine guidelines, the real reasons for the decline in infectious diseases, herd immunity, theories, and examples of why the incidence of polio has declined – contrary to the polio-vaccine myth propagated for decades (all in 124 pages!). The book also covers the institutionalized fraud regarding official vaccine safety and efficacy. Each chapter ends with a summary; and included in the last chapter, “The Vaccine Hoax,” is a book summary.
Selected highlights (among many) from each chapter are as follows:
Chapter One – Every vaccine on the U.S. CDC-recommended childhood schedule has not been tested against a placebo; rather, they are tested against another vaccine that has a similar scope of side effects. Not one has been tested against a true placebo.
Chapter Two – Funds are rarely allocated to basic research on vaccine side effects and safety. Manufacturers are not required to perform such studies.
Chapter Three – Currently, vaccine adverse reporting systems by medical staff are voluntary (yet reporting of infectious diseases in the U.S. is mandatory) and health authorities discourage initiatives aimed at improving reporting accuracy and completeness; as a consequence, there is severe underreporting of vaccine-related adverse reactions.
Chapter Four – In the exact sciences, determination of causation in medicine differs from causation due to too many variables (i.e., differences in individual biological processes). Correlation must be relied upon despite the fact that it may be uncertain. An example is the “Back to Sleep” (now known as the “Safe to Sleep”) campaign that recommends laying infants on their backs in order to reduce the risk of “crib death.” Medical science still does not know why back sleeping appears to be safer for babies other than that there is a correlation between crib death and a baby sleeping on his or her side or stomach. This chapter goes on to give clear and concise definitions of, and indications for, the varied classes of epidemiological studies.
Chapter Five – Scientists use a myriad of techniques to skew the outcomes of epidemiological studies to align with a pre-determined outcome. Research bias is a result of how medical science is funded. Flawed studies in medical journals are often overlooked by the peer-review process and the public is unable to detect the flaws of published vaccine-safety studies.
Chapter Six – The medical establishment refuses to conduct vaccinated vs. unvaccinated studies, because these studies could reveal whether there is a correlation with the dramatic increase in chronic disease in the past few decades.
Chapter Seven – Despite the fact that the effects of administration of multiple injections given simultaneously have also never been tested, the authorities claim that this practice poses no additional risk.
Chapter Eight – Improvements in living standards (hygiene, nutrition, clean water, sanitation) led to a reduction in mortality from infectious diseases from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century. This decrease in mortality occurred before vaccines came into wide use.
Chapter Nine – Of the numerous vaccines listed on the CDC-recommended childhood vaccine schedule, only five provide herd immunity.
Chapter Ten – So much information is packed into this one chapter. Of particular interest to me was the list of compelling theories behind the cause of polio. An in-depth examination of the onset, sequela, and eradication of polio in other countries or populations raises additional questions in addition to the alarming revelation that polio-like paralysis has soared to more than three times the paralysis rate reported since the polio vaccination campaign began.
Chapter Eleven is titled, “The Vaccine Hoax.” As aptly stated there, “Clinical trials are ‘cooked,’ adverse reporting systems are rudimentary by design, biomedical research into vaccine injury is virtually nonexistent; health authorities sponsor biased epidemiological studies conducted by researchers with huge conflicts of interest; studies evaluating the true benefit of the vaccination program are never done and neither are studies comparing vaccinated and unvaccinated populations.” At the very least, vaccinated vs. unvaccinated studies would confirm the safety of vaccines. These studies would require funding and direction from truly independent public agencies, if such a thing even exists. They would be conducted by objective scientists with no conflicts of interest. And, yet, for decades, the medical establishment has deliberately refrained from making these studies.
Until approximately fifteen years ago, public confrontations over the vaccine debate were allowed for vaccine critics. The pro-vaccine expert could successfully assert that any link between vaccination and a child’s condition was unequivocally refuted by science. Over time, a new breed of parents began to participate in these debates, parents who had spent years studying vaccine science. Those who spoke on behalf of the vaccine establishment began losing the debates. The pro-vaccine solution? Squelch the discussion! Vaccine-critical discussions disappeared from the mainstream media and an era of witch-hunting began. In 1976, CBS aired a 60 Minutes show on the fabricated “swine flu” epidemic. Only one person died from the flu while millions received a rushed vaccine. More than 450 vaccinated people developed the paralyzing Guillain-Barré syndrome and at least 25 died. This type of program can no longer be found on U.S. television.
The authors of Turtles All the Way Down state that the medical establishment uses one of two excuses to avoid debates with the public. They claim that they are either too busy or that they don’t want to give the anti-vaxxers a platform to spread misinformation.The authors end the book with a reminder for all of us: there is no science without open and free discussion. Science does not preclude discussion – it encourages it. True scientists are not afraid of discussion, they are eager for it. A one-sided discussion is a feature of dark historical periods and totalitarian regimes. Science belongs to the people.
I highly recommend this book to parents and grandparents, to physicians and nurses, to teachers and students – to anyone who has an interest in medical justice, freedom, and vaccine truth.
Nicole Gardner says
Thanks for sharing, I am a NP as well, I worked in Pediatrics, and have seen the atrocities of over vaccination. Damage begins at birth with the Hep b vaccine.