Webmaster’s Corner

Tanya Anne Crosby

A Word From DORway’s Current Webmaster …

My father was a brave man who gave his time, energy and money to educate the public. He never profited from his efforts, except through the knowledge that he served as a conduit for information to others. The sicker Dad became, the kinder and more generous he became. Where many might have been embittered by the same circumstances, dad faced each day with a positive attitude and a smile for others, taking time to give other cancer patients hope. He spoke to everyone, loved to laugh, loved his family and his country. He faced death with the same dignity and pride that carried him throughout his entire life, going so far as to shake his doctor’s hand and thanking him for trying and even apologizing “that it didn’t work out.”

This page contains David O. Rietz’ personal comments and opinions concerning aspartame as well as other random topics. If you don’t agree with dad’s views, that’s perfectly OK; don’t read them, as they have no bearing on his aspartame/activism efforts. They are simply his observations, his opinions—and, as this was his site, maintained and operated solely by him, he had the right to post them.

Please do not send e-mail raves, as they will be discarded summarily. He’s my father as much in death as in life, and while I personally may, or may not, agree with his every assertion, my respect for him is unwavering and my respect for his right to free speech is even greater. For those of you who’d like to better know the man behind DORway, read on, but be advised that Dad was passionate about his crusade, his country and his family and his commentaries reflect that fact. For those who don’t wish to be burdened with his personal philosophies, please return to the
homepage.

Circa 1967

Now, a Word From Dave …

“DORway is my WAY of paying back the Internet for the small, hard-to-find (and oblique) article that I almost didn’t read, but that, literally, saved my life. One such file was the 1996 FDA list of 92 Symptoms (Photocopy of the Official Document).

DORway consists of about 800 Web pages (approximately 12,000 printed pages) of solid documentation about aspartame. My primary concern is for the 250,000,000 clueless victims (Monsanto’s figure) all of whom are in some (guaranteed) stage of “aspartame disease,” and who, as I once did, may desperately NEED this information. Even with over four million visitors, DORway has reached but a small percentage of these folks. Please pass this FREE, health-restoring and perhaps life-saving information to everyone you care about! If applicable, the “cure” is also FREE. There can be nothing “controversial” about eliminating something from one’s diet and waking up feeling better!

How accurate is DORway’s information? DORway.com opened Searle’s Pandora’s book of facts on aspartame during September, of 1996. For over four years Monsanto (who bought Searle in 1985) and their many PR and law firms visited DORway.com many thousands of times. The FDA, CDC and other entities visited, as well. The highly litigious Monsanto was unable to find anything to use against the site in an effort to close it down and relieve the growing pressure on its dying aspartame cash-cow. Obviously, they cannot argue with the documentation (the most damning of which comes from the FDA and sworn testimony)! And, while two anti-aspartame Web sites (1996) grew to tens of thousands (as of Oct, 2001, Google.com had over 80,000), and while Nutrasweet’s 28 million pounds of aspartame sold during 1996 slipped to only 20 million pounds during 1998, Monsanto sought to counter the truth (and their negative “good growth”) with more pro-aspartame Web sites.

When the “Nancy Markle” Email appeared during December, 1998, Monsanto and friends panicked. Monsanto, FDA, ADA, IFIC, MSFacts, TIME, CNN, LA Times, and a lot more who stand to LOSE if aspartame is recalled, ALL joined hands to call our information and the facts an “Internet hoax.” Want a hint at the whole truth? Simply compare their messages, and then look for the $$$ connection. FDA? Just think future industry jobs and the fact that they are culpable of approving this cumulative toxic poison.

By mid February, 1999, when the many PRO aspartame articles seemed to be failing to turn the tide, Monsanto seemed to have made a momentous decision and they stopped visiting DORway until after July. In April they sold their Phenylalanine facilities (half of aspartame) to Great Lakes Chemical (GLC) for $125,000,000. (A year later, GLC sued Monsanto for the $71,000,000 shortfall in expected sales.) On the first of July, 1999, Monsanto put the Nutrasweet Co. on the auction block with TWO other companies – the THREE of which had “combined sales of a billion dollars.” So much for “good growth.” It took another 10 months for Monsanto to find an investment firm that would relieve them of their growing burden.

Dr. Friedman, who quit the FDA when Jane Henney was selected to become the permanent FDA commissioner (1999), elected to sign on with G. D. Searle as a senior vice president at a purported cushy $500,000 a year. Going to work for someone who he was supposed to REGULATE (AND for a company that he helped to DEFEND [”60 Minutes,” Dec. 1996] seems very WRONG! Could this new job be his reward for ignoring citizen complaints and defending aspartame and rbGH? Perhaps more importantly, does the U.S. have a congress that cares? Is there a justice department really interested in prosecuting fraud and genocide for huge profits? So far… the answer has been NO!

So why DORway.com? Well, in addition to what I said in the first paragraph above, I don’t like the idea of being poisoned for profit, and I don’t like being the first in my family to get any form of cancer. Worse, to have an OLD MAN’s prostate cancer that was declared to have already spread (terminal stage) at the young age of 55 is totally abhorrent to me (not to mention, awful damned expensive and life altering). I am doing all that I can to warn others about aspartame, and milk and dairy with its abundance of IGF-1 cell growth factor – GET OFF BOTH ASPARTAME AND MILK/DAIRY and live a healthier and longer (perhaps even cancer-free) life. This is something that was denied me by a whole lot of greedy self-important self-serving “humans.”

Most text files on this site can be obtained from the archives. For a good overview and commented links please download a copy of help.txt.

- David Oliver Rietz

Dave on His Country & His Life…

First … let me express how very pleased I am to be a native-born citizen of the United States of America.Regardless of this nations faults and short-comings I can state most categorically, as a member of the United States Navy (retired) who has visited many countries and been in combat, that when all things are considered … especially FREEDOM AND THE RIGHT TO PURSUE HAPPINESS, the USA is the very best place to live! Our forefathers put forth their best efforts and conceived a plan that has enabled America to become great … in so many ways.

Second, on the 19th day of January, 1997, I turned 60. From an early age I had the strongest feeling that I would never see my 40th birthday … and when I was 39, had I not been wearing an excellent life vest, I believe that feeling would have become a reality. Now, four years into treatment for prostate cancer I want to do something unusual … to give THANKS! publicly, for being fortunate in so many ways:

Thank you for:

  • The miracle of conception
  • The good fortune to be born a homo sapien, complete in all respects
  • A savvy doctor who saved my life at birth
  • The earthbound time of my existence … this era in human history
  • My good fortune to be born in the United States of America
  • The miracle of medicine that saved me thrice from tetanus (lockjaw)
  • The luck to survive a vehicular accident when I was 8
  • The luck to survive a farm boy’s existence of long hours alone with heavy equipment
  • The luck to survive stray bullets in a graveyard in full daylight
  • The luck to survive a hunter’s poor habits and his 12 gauge blast in my direction
  • A FREE educational system that was able to prepare me for my life’s work
  • A chance to join the Navy and truly see the world
  • My exceptional good fortune at finding Isabel, my wife of 36 years
  • Exceptional medicine that has saved her life several times
  • For four handsome and loving children, all sound of mind, and stout of heart
  • The phenomenal luck to survive the Viet Nam “war,” and in one piece!
  • The good fortune to be wearing an excellent life-saver when I broke my hip skiing
  • The services of an excellent doctor to piece me back together again
  • Completion of 21 years of Naval service and retirement
  • The ability to use my well-honed skills in electronics for 42 years
  • A medical era in which I have the tools to fight prostate cancer … and win?

Update – to the 21st Century – Thank you for:

  • Letting me ring in a new century and millennium
  • The peace, tranquility, and the uneventful transition to Y2K
  • All my children making it (in one piece) to this new century and millennium
  • Dylan … my fantastic 3 year old grandson
  • Nichole … my smiling new edition to the Rietz grandchildren
  • Living long enough to draw Social Security (that is still around)
  • Having my wife of 39 years still by my side; sound of mind, able, and in love
  • This Tremendous Internet, which has let a little “David,” like me, exact a measure of justice on the huge multi-national multi-billion dollar corporations who poisoned me for high profit with the likes of aspartame, MSG, and cow’s milk and dairy … all with FDA approval
  • Letting me be a part of the winds of change … that helps folks get better (or well) for free, and stay that way
  • Giving me the opportunity to help so many

Dave on Dave…

I’m a transplanted Yankee … born in Elkhorn, Wisconsin and raised in Aberdeen, South Dakota. After years of enduring harsh winters (the worst was -48 degrees below zero, with 35-foot snowdrifts and gentle 50-knot breezes (sometimes followed by storms!), floods in the springtime and 120 degrees in the shade during the summer, I made an easy decision to depart that flat land and go serve my country. I made the Navy a career as an electronic technician and retired in September of 1976, to live in a little town called Goose Creek, SC. around 20 miles north of Charleston, a city well known for its historical beauty, friendly people, and its involvement in the Civil War. For the submarine minded, the recent finding of the Hunley is a further reminder of the history of this area. This has been a very nice place to live for the past 30 years … and for the most part, we have been very fortunate – no tornados, floods, forest fires, mud-slides or volcanos blowing their tops. As a matter-of-fact, until Hurricane Hugo struck on the 21st of September, 1989, the only detractor from living in this area was the geological fault-line located only 10 miles away in a town called Summerville. Naturally, it is a MAJOR fault line, and the only one on the entire eastern seaboard . Perhaps needless to say; but I carry earthquake insurance on my home!

During my Naval career I was transferred to Naval Station Rota, Spain, where I met and married a beautiful young lady from Cadiz (Isabel). Spain is a country rich in history. We have celebrated our 43rd Wedding Anniversary, and we are proud of our four grown children: Tanya Ann, Sonya Anita, David Michael and Steven Christian. Tanya, being the story-teller of the family, became a best-selling author and is currently on her 15th Historical Romance novel, under the pen name of Tanya Anne Crosby. Sonya works for Bayer as did Steve (when he wasn’t paying his “dues” and working on breaking into the big-money golf circuit), and David (Jr) {whom we call Mike to eliminate confusion} works for a growing metal trades business.”

- David Oliver Rietz, 2003