Single Payer Health Coverage: Everybody Into The Pool
While 22,000 Americans die every year due to lack of affordable health insurance, government funded universal coverage has proven elusive. Watered-down healthcare proposals are now under congressional review, but "single payer" legislation, in effect Medicare for all ages, has been declared "off the table" not only by Republicans but also by prominent Democrats. Barack Obama once advocated for "single payer" as an Illinois state senator but reversed his position in 2008 while running for President.
While single payer has been criticized as "socialized medicine," advocates reply that patients would be free to choose their own doctors, with government covering the costs of treatment and medicines. Most doctors prefer single payer because it would reduce the time they spend billing and wrangling with HMOs over treatment plans and coverage. Even private companies such as General Motors would benefit from government provided single payer, lowering employee costs and allowing them to be more competitive with foreign manufacturers. The only group left out would be the insurance industry, which would no longer reap huge profits, up to one fourth of all healthcare costs by some accounts. Saving this money could mean providing medical care to 50 million uninsured Americans. But changing the system is not easy. Insurance companies are major contributors to both Democrats and Republicans in Congress.
According to Physicians for a National Health Program, "In the current U.S. system, there are literally tens of thousands of different health care organizations—HMOs, billing agencies, etc. By having so many different payers of health care fees, there is an enormous amount of administrative waste generated in the system. In a single-payer system, all hospitals, doctors, and other health care providers would bill one entity for their services. This alone reduces administrative waste greatly, and saves money, which can be used to provide care and insurance to those who currently don't have it."
Most Americans favor a "single payer" system, and in countries where single payer is provided such as Canada and in Western Europe, most citizens prefer their system of "socialized medicine" to ours. According to the nonprofit advocacy group Single Payer Action, "Outside the [Washington] beltway cesspool/hot tub, the majority of doctors, nurses, small businesses, health economists, and the majority of the American people – according to recent polls – want a Canadian-style, single payer, everybody in, nobody out, free choice of doctor and hospital, national health insurance system."
With the notable exception of Bill Moyers and Amy Goodman and some of the progressive talk shows, few national broadcast journalists have given extensive coverage to the "single payer" healthcare option. Print journalism has been better, with SF Gate, Huffington Post, and various magazines reporting on single payer. So despite what you hear and read in much of the corporate media, grassroots activists haven't given up their fight. Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) says, "Tell Obama: Single Payer is the answer."
SOURCES: www.singlepayeraction.org
www.pnhp.org/facts/what_is_single_payer.php
www.huffingtonpost.com
www.johnconyers.com/transition
Green Restaurants Thrive!
A recently released national online poll shows that the economy is not putting a damper on the purchase of green goods and services and that restaurants with a green focus - organic and natural - have a competitive edge.
Among green buyers, more than two thirds said their purchases of environmentally friendly products and services has stayed the same, with another one quarter saying their green buying has actually increased. Support for restaurants with a clear green focus also remains strong.
Complete poll results are available at www.torkusa.com.
SOURCE: www.harrisinteractive.com.
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Averting Climate Catastrophe
Each year tens of millions of people are affected by weather-related disasters, and that number continues to grow. Carbon pollution is disrupting the climate and undermining life on the planet, according to the latest Worldwatch Institute report, Vital Signs.
The United States accounted for over 21 percent of global carbon emissions from fossil fuel burning in 2005. According to Erik Assadourian, Vital Signs Project Director, "The United States must be held accountable for its emissions and should follow the EU lead by committing to reducing its total greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050."
The Obama administration has recently stated that it "recognizes the urgency and complexity of the challenge" and promises to act swiftly and forcefully to address the climate crisis. Can legislation pass Congress? The swing votes will likely come from Democrats in coal mining states.
SOURCES: www.grist.org, 4/24/09
Worldwatch institute, www.worldwatch.org/node/5340
Peaceniks: A Silenced Majority?
The following question was asked of 1,010 adults nationwide, with an accuracy of plus or minus 3%:
"Do you favor or oppose the U.S. war in Iraq?"
34% favor 65% OPPOSE 1% unsure
A similar majority also opposes the Afghanistan war. Despite President Obama's eloquent peace rhetoric, Army Chief George Casey says that 50,000 troops could stay in Iraq for ten more years. Meanwhile the U.S. is also building permanent bases in Afghanistan. This begs the question: When do Bush's wars become Obama's wars? Tom Hayden reports that key Democrats are withholding criticism of Obama for one year. On June 16, Congressional Democrats, including Speaker Pelosi, voted another $106 billion in war funding.
SOURCES: www.thenation.com/doc/20090608/hayden
CNN/Opinion Research Corporation, May 14-17, 2009.
Michael Moore Tells Car Company To Make Trains
Michael Moore, documentary filmmaker whose landmark movie Roger & Me showed the devastation of GM plant closings in the 80s, recently offered President Obama advice on how to restructure the failed auto industry:
"As I sit here in GM's birthplace, Flint, Michigan, I am surrounded by friends and family who are filled with anxiety about what will happen to them and to the town. Forty percent of the homes and businesses in the city have been abandoned. Imagine what it would be like if you lived in a city where almost every other house is empty. What would be your state of mind?
"Saving our precious industrial infrastructure... must be a top priority. If we allow the shutting down and tearing down of our auto plants, we will sorely wish we still had them when we realize that those factories could have built the alternative energy systems we now desperately need. And when we realize that the best way to transport ourselves is on light rail and bullet trains and cleaner buses, how will we do this if we've allowed our industrial capacity and its skilled workforce to disappear?
"Thus, as GM is 'reorganized' by the federal government and the bankruptcy court, here is the plan I am asking President Obama to implement:
"Just as President Roosevelt did after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the President must tell the nation that we are at war and we must immediately convert our auto factories to factories that build mass transit vehicles and alternative energy devices. Within months in Flint in 1942, GM halted all car production and immediately used the assembly lines to build planes, tanks and machine guns. Everyone pitched in. The fascists were defeated.
"We are now in a different kind of war — a war that we have conducted against the ecosystem by our very own corporate leaders.... The things we call "cars" may have been fun to drive, but they are like a million daggers into the heart of Mother Nature. To continue to build them would only lead to the ruin of the planet...."
SOURCE:
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22748.htm
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Eating Red Meat Shortens Your Life
The more steak, burgers, and bacon you eat, the sooner you'll die, says a new study of more than 500,000 people. Researchers at the National Cancer Institute in Maryland compiled data on the intake of red and processed meats over a 10-year period, then cross-referenced data on deaths over the same decade. They found that both men and women who ate a lot of red meat and processed meats such as hot dogs and bacon were more than 30 percent more likely to die than people who rarely consumed these foods.
"You eat a hot dog a week you're going to up... your risk of death in a 10-year period," epidemiologist Barry Popkin tells The Washington Post. Most of the premature deaths were the result of heart disease and cancer. Red meat contains high levels of saturated fat, which pushes up levels of bad cholesterol, and cooking red meat is known to produce carcinogenic compounds. Hot dogs, salami, and other processed meats contain enormous doses of salt and are preserved with nitrites, a known carcinogen.
Based on this study you should eat no more than four ounces (one small serving) of red meat per week and eliminate processed meats from your diet completely. Simply put, the less red meatyou eat, the longer you're likely to live.
Still craving something to go with your organic baked chips? Try veggie burgers or tofu dogs. They've improved the flavor—really!
SOURCE: THE WEEK, April 10, 2009.
B Vitamins May Prevent Stroke
Taking B vitamins may lower your risk of stroke, according to two recent studies reported in the American Stroke Association International Stroke Conference, February 2009.
In one study, a group of 5,522 adults who took a daily B-vitamin cocktail of 2.5 mg folic acid, 50 mg B6, and one mg B12 were found to have a decreased overall risk of stroke and a possible reduced risk of arterial damage.
A second study suggested that taking B vitamins may also lower the risk of a second stroke in those who have already suffered their first.
Andrew Weil, MD, one of America's most trusted proponents of integrative medicine, comments, "It's always encouraging to see a study that supports vitamin supplementation.... While the study used an unusually high dose, I recommend starting with a supplement containing 400 mcg of folic acid."
SOURCE: Dr. Andrew Weil's Self Healing, May 2009.
Sex Promotes Heart Health
People who are physically fit generally have better sex, but it turns out that people who have regular sex may also be making themselves healthier and more fit.
Making love can result in a happy, healthy heart. British researchers who looked at about 900 middle-aged men found that men who had sex twice or more a week had a lower risk of heart attack over the course of 10 years than men who had sex less often. The study was published in 2002 in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. The cardiovascular boost may be from the sex itself, or may be because men who are in better physical condition have regular sex, so their heart attack risk is already lower.
Regular sex also has been shown to lower rates of prostate cancer in men and endometriosis in women.
SOURCE: http://foodlifegoodness.blogspot.com/2008/02/how-beneficial-and-great-making-love-is.html
Yoga Before Heart Surgery May Speed Recovery Afterwards
If you are suffering from a heart problem and coronary artery bypass graft is the only surgical solution to the disease, yoga may heal you faster after the operation.
Punjab India cardiologist Dr. H. S. Bedi has conducted a study that found yoga can substantially reduce the risks of postoperative pulmonary complications in patients who opt for yoga training for a week prior to the day of the surgery as compared to the conventional respiratory therapy.
With the efficacy of yoga having already been a topic of research as cardiologists across the world over are developing yoga training for cardiac health, the revelations of this randomized clinical trial may usher in a new approach towards the care of heart patients, before and after the surgery.
Various studies have also linked the benefits of yoga with the success in helping to control cholesterol and diabetes.
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THE VANISHING FACE OF GAIA: James Lovelock Basic Books, 2009 Speaking at a recent conference, noted environmentalist James Lovelock declared that renewable energy and conservation would not be sufficient to thwart the impact of "global heating," a term Lovelock prefers because it is less friendly than "global warming." Lovelock is a staunch advocate of nuclear power, saying that only nuclear fission plants will provide the power we need to run our factories and preserve a semblance of civilization over the coming decades. Lovelock's scientific creds are formidable. In the 80s he discovered the cause for the "hole" in the Earth's ozone, leading to an international ban on aerosol CFCs and thereby avoiding countless cases of skin cancer and cataracts. He is perhaps most famous as co-creator of The Gaia Hypothesis, suggesting that the Earth behaves much like a single, self-regulating organism. The problem, writes Lovelock, is that humanity's use of fossil fuels has given Mother Earth a raging fever. Gaia is lurching ever closer to a permanent "hot state"—and much more quickly than most specialists think. Climate change has already passed a critical tipping point, declares Lovelock, and civilization itself is now at risk. "As the earth heats, dries, and loses land to the ocean, seven billion people will be squeezed into an ever decreasing area of fertile land...." Within the next century we may have to retreat from our homes and move to what were formerly plateaus of ice in the most extreme regions of the world. We will certainly be forced to give up many of the comforts of western living. Only the fittest—and the smartest—will survive. Humanity is unlikely to become extinct by global heating, says Lovelock, but we may be cut back to one billion people or less—approximately a seventh the world's current population. Lovelock's final advice is to move north, gain altitude, grow your own food, learn to be locally self-sufficient, and get to know your neighbors.
ED BEGLEY, JR's Ed Begley, Jr. Available September 8, 2009 Speaking at a recent conference, noted environmentalist Ed Begley, Jr. declared that renewable energy and conservation could make a critical difference in slowing the impact of global warming. Begley is a staunch foe of nuclear fission, saying that the only "nuclear" energy we need comes from inside the sun—sunshine for our solar panels and windmills. Currently one of the most popular speakers on eco-living in America, Begley's theme, "Live Simply So That Others Can Simply Live," has received standing ovations at over 50 events in just the last year. An Emmy Award-wining actor, Begley has since leveraged his fame to speak out for environmental causes. He has devoted much of his time in service with numerous environmental organizations, including serving on the boards of the Environmental Media Association and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, and he has earned awards from prestigious organizations such as the Natural Resources Defense Council for his work with environmental issues. "Ed Begley, Jr. is not only a talented and accomplished actor, but also a passionate advocate for environmental issues," said James Smith, president and CEO of Green Building Focus. Guide to Sustainable Living shows how every person can green their household and reduce consumption and carbon emissions. Begley says that little changes all add up, and he's not just an eloquent spokesman but also a sterling role model. The Begley home in Los Angeles is well insulated and covered in solar panels. Begley waters his organic garden with captured rainwater, toasts his bread by pedal power, and sparingly drives an all-electric Toyota RAV. |
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Protecting Men's Health: Veggies, Vitamins & Hormones
Men are one-and-a-half times more likely to die from cancer or cardiovascular disease than women. To support general good health, men should fill up on fresh fruits and veggies, legumes, nuts, seeds, whole grains, and very limited amounts of low fat, organic fish, dairy, and meats.
Eat colorful foods! The antioxidants and other phytochemicals in highly colored produce help protect the heart and circulatory system. In one eight-year study of nearly 40,000 men, those who consumed five or more servings of fruits and veggies daily had a 39 percent lower risk for stroke than those who didn't.
Approximately half of all American men over 50 have an enlarged prostate, which causes frequent urination. In the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, men with high levels of antioxidants from a plant-based diet were significantly less likely to develop this condition.
Beyond good eating and daily exercise, some physicians recommend an individualized program of targeted vitamin, mineral, and hormone replacement therapy. As men age testosterone levels inevitably decline, which can be a cause of depression, sexual dysfunction, diminished lean body mass, and reduced bone mineral density. To counter the effects of aging, testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) is becoming more widespread. If TRT is prescribed, however, careful monitoring for prostate problems is mandatory.
Discuss any supplement therapy with a trusted MD. "Most active, productive men need a good supplement program to protect them from illness and deficiency symptoms and increase their longevity by reducing chronic degenerative disease patterns," says Elson M. Haas, MD. Dr. Haas is founder of the Preventive Medical Center of Marin, a longtime lister in OPEN EXCHANGE's Health & Healing category.
SOURCE: Taste For Life, June 2009.
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Birth Control Pills Pollute Public Drinking Water
Trace amounts of birth control and other medications—as well as household and industrial chemicals of every stripe—are present in many urban and suburban water supplies around the country, and there is considerable debate about whether their levels are high enough to warrant concern.
In 2008 the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) tested water in nine states across the country and found that 85 man-made chemicals, including some medications, were commonly slipping through municipal treatment systems and ending up in our tap water. Another report by the Associated Press found trace amounts of dozens of pharmaceuticals in the drinking water supplies of some 46 million Americans.
According to USGS, such chemicals and medications are too diluted to pose a health threat. But others aren't so sure. The estrogen in birth control pills, for example, can wreak reproductive havoc on some fish, spawning infertile offspring with a mixture of male and female parts. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh found that human breast cancer cells grew twice as fast when exposed to estrogen taken from catfish caught near untreated sewage overflows.
Getting traces of birth control and other drugs out of your tap water isn't so easy. Of the many different kinds of in-home water filtration systems available today, only those employing reverse osmosis have been shown to filter out some drugs. Some makers of activated carbon water filters claim their products catch pharmaceuticals, but independent research has not verified such claims.
"The best choice," says Cathy Sherman of the natural health website Natural News, "would probably be a combination of a reverse osmosis filter augmented by pre- and post-activated carbon filters." Installing such a system just for the water you drink should be sufficient, she says.
SOURCE: EarthTalk, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881.
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Natural Remedies For Insomnia
One-third of all adults experience insomnia, which manifests as either having trouble falling asleep or awakening frequently or very early in the morning. Before resorting to medications with their inevitable side-effects and drug interactions, consider the wide variety of natural remedies available.
Make the bedroom a comfortable, dim, quiet place, a "peaceful sanctuary."
Foods such as turkey, fish, eggs and dairy, with high amounts of naturally occurring trypotphan, may help you sleep. But don't eat right before bedtime. Avoid caffeine and other stimulants late in the day. Instead, try a soothing cup of herbal tea.
Physical stress can interfere with sleep. A gentle neck and head massage, and a soothing warm bath, are two ways to unwind. Deep, rhythmic breathing, the kind taught in yoga or breathwork clases, also provides the impetus for sleep.
Writing in a diary shortly before bedtime, affirming your daily decisions and accomplishments, may put you in a positive state of mind for sleep.
It you're still lying awake after repeated attempts to sleep, don't beat yourself up about it. Get up, read a book, sort your desk drawers, or work on that pending project.
If you continue to experience undue emotional stress, consider working with a therapist who can help you sort out the issues that are keeping you awake.
SOURCE: Well Being Journal, July/August 2009.
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Larry Dossey, MD, and 'The Power of Premonitions'
The doctor—and bestselling author—who first demonstrated the healing effects of prayer now offers an unprecedented look at the science of premonitions.
When Larry Dossey was in his first year of medical practice, he experienced a week of premonitions about patients, all of which came true. He had never had them before; they seemed to have come out of left field. After the sensations stopped, writes Dossey in The Power of Premonitions, "It was as if the universe, having delivered a message, hung up the phone. It was now my job to make sense of it—which I try to do in this book."
The four parts of The Power of Premonitions take readers through "documented cases of premonitions," including a remarkable instance when an entire Nebraska community skipped church the very day it exploded; an examination of recent science studying what is known as "presentiment"; a discussion of what it all means to daily life; and practical, "field-tested techniques" for inviting premonitions.
Dossey uses what advocates call "cutting-edge science to prove the value of what had long been considered spiritual mumbo-jumbo."
Skeptics, on the other hand, insist that there isn't any conventional scientific evidence for premonition. Science relies on double-blind experiments, where neither experimenter nor subjects know the outcome in advance. Such experiments are the "gold standard" of science because they are repeatable and universally verifiable. The one-of-a-kind experience of premonitions, by definition, makes them difficult to assess by science's "gold standard."
Those who are skeptical of precognition and other forms of ESP sometimes accuse believers of self-delusion, if not outright fraud. Skeptics say our minds have a natural tendency to remember coincidences more often than other non-coincidences. People will tend to remember more often when they were right about a future event and forget when they were wrong. They argue that precognition can be explained away naturally.
Believers counter that scientific methodology is antiquated and too narrow. Perhaps skeptics have not had personal experiences of unexplained events. Or perhaps they dismiss events which they cannot explain away easily. Sometimes precognition is justified by claims of an "emergent" human potential, the power to envision alternate realities, to imagine possible and probable futures, and even to manifest a desired outcome. Physicists have speculated that time itself is an illusion. At higher dimensions, past, present, and future are all accessible. All that has ever happened or will happen may be realized in an eternal Now.
If the art and science of premonition can one day be honed and perfected, Las Vegas may have to change the way it calculates gambling odds. So far casino owners aren't worried, but we'll be here to report any change....
SOURCES: The Power of Premonitions: How Knowing the Future Can Shape Our Lives, Larry Dossey, 2009.
http://6thsenseconnection.com/Precognition.html
EnLighten Up! The Healing Power of Laughter
A recent study at the University of Maryland monitored participants as they watched both comedies and serious dramas. While watching the comedies, subjects' arteries dilated and their blood pressure dropped.
According to researchers, results showed "for the first time that laughter is linked to healthy function of blood vessels. "Laughter appears to cause the tissue that forms the inner lining of blood vessels... to increase blood flow."
The opposite effect occurred when watching suspense flicks, and this "suggested there was a link between mental stress and the narrowing of blood vessels."
Laughter is the best medicine after all! And the surest way to laugh is to share a smile or a good joke with friends. Since it's easier to be playful and spontaneous in groups than when you're alone, our Rx is to get out and join an OPEN EXCHANGE class or group. Check out our Calendar now!
SOURCES: Well Being Journal, July/August 2009.
www.umm.edu/news/releases/laughter2.htm
Conscious Choices
An elder Cherokee Native American was teaching his grandchildren about life. He said to them, "A fight is going on inside me... It is a terrible fight, and it is between two wolves.
"One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, pride and superiority.
"The other wolf stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.
"This same fight is going on inside of you and every other person too."
They thought about it for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"
The old Cherokee simply replied..."The one I feed."
SOURCE:
http://www.geocities.com/wiccantwinpaths/shadow-work/conflict/onethatifeed.htm