Our Future – Will we see beyond the veil?

blog, Children's health, Opinion Pieces, Politics, Vaccines 2 Responses »
Sep 112012

Today, is a day to ponder where we were before 9/11/2001 and where we are now. It is a day for both reflecting what is behind us, and what is ahead.

What has become of  our society in the last decade?  What and who will we be in the decade ahead? Is it still worth the fight to get people to “see”, since most are content to “go along to get along”?

During our recent vacation, I had several conversations with interesting people about the status of U.S. healthcare and the mess we have gotten ourselves into by trusting that “The Doctor Knows Best.” All of them — mixed ages, different countries and most with very successful backgrounds — said, “Well, you have to trust someone and doctors *are* the experts. I can’t learn medicine {or how to take care of myself} on my own.”

When asked, “What about freedom of choice, the freedom to choose your treatment?” They all agreed that freedom to make personal health decisions was a good thing, but in the end, everyone should defer to the “expert” and follow the advice of their doctor.

When asked, “What about freedom of choice in vaccination??” ALL of them said, “Oh you MUST listen to your doctor on this one! Children must be vaccinated to be healthy.”

Sigh… Anger… Grief… Sigh…

What did General Robert E. Lee feel, Southern war hero and postwar icon of the “Lost Cause of the Confederacy”, when he had given his all but still had to concede defeat? What  did he think as he reflected on the bloody battlefields, where thousands of young men had lost their lives for naught?  After 150 years, vestiges of Sherman’s March to the Sea — which scorched and destroyed everything along the way — can still be seen across Georgia.

War creates permanent changes to the topography. The war being waged against our health will do the same. Only a few seem to be aware that this is going on; fewer still are trying to revolt. Worse, a heavily financed group exists that is not only celebrating the carnage, but orchestrating to make it so.

Humanity is headed for extinction through the manipulation of our children’s DNA and immune system. Vaccination begins at birth, and in many cases, before birth by the vaccination of pregnant mothers. The vaccines deliver the first crushing blows to the human genome, followed by GMO food, aspartame, fluoride, pesticides, BPA, and perchlorate — and many others — as a child begins to eat. One by one, humans are insidiously being made into life time customers of the drug companies, thanks to the “experts” who say are these products are not only “safe and effective” but necessary.

It has been good to be out of the country for a while. Travel gives an opportunity to have a different perspective, to look back AT your country and to listen/read what others are saying about our politics and our choices. The rest of the world can clearly see that the U.S. is losing ground on every single front: politically, economically, medically. Our clean food, our robust health, our sovereignty seems to be going into the history books. Every day, graphs and charts are displayed to prove their point.

I know you can run, and can’t hide, but living quietly outside the U.S. is gaining more appeal every day. It’s the difference between watching battles on TV and being in the middle of the gunfight. I feel a handful of warriors have done their very best to lead the troops (parents and children) away from vaccination and out of harms way, including those who have anonymously talked to everyone in their personal world.

But having the right to choose what healthcare you want also means having the right to be vaccinated. It appears most are still opting to pollute their children with foreign matter, following the expectation of their pediatrician “expert.” There is little more to be said that hasn’t been hashed and re-hashed about the problems caused by vaccines. If people don’t get it by now, likely they never will. And pro-vaccine forces are putting together a battle unlike anything we have seen to date, to force us to participate.

Today, on 9-11, it seemed appropriate to post one of the most important, thought provoking articles ever written by my dear, late friend, Don Harkins, called “Slavery and the Eight Veils,” written in December, 2001.

The future is in your hands. Will you choose to see beyond the veil? What will your world look like in the years ahead?

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Slavery and the Eight Veils, by Don Harkins

Over the last several years I have evolved and discarded several theories in an attempt to explain why it is that most people cannot see truth — even when it smacks them in the face. Those of us who can see “the conspiracy” have participated in countless conversations amongst ourselves that address the frustration of most peoples’ inability to comprehend the extremely well-documented arguments which we use to describe the process of our collective enslavement and exploitation. The most common explanation to be arrived at is that most people just “don’t want to see” what is really going on.

Extremely evil men and women who make up the world’s power-elite have cleverly cultivated a virtual pasture so green that few people seldom, if ever, bother to look up from where they are grazing long enough to notice the brightly colored tags stapled to their ears.

The same people who cannot see their enslavement for the pasture grass have a tendency to view as insane “conspiracy theorists” those of us who can see past the farm and into the parlor of his feudal lordship’s castle.

Finally, I understand why.

It’s not that those who don’t see that their freedom is vanishing under the leadership of the power-elite “don’t want to see it” — they simply can’t see what is happening because of the unpierced veils that block their view.

All human endeavors are a filtration process. Sports is one of the best examples. We play specific sports until we get kicked off the playground. The pro athletes we pay big bucks to watch just never got kicked off the playground. Where millions of kids play little league each spring, they are filtered out until there are about 50 guys who go to the World Series in October.

Behind the first veil: There are over six billion people on the planet. Most will live and die without having seriously contemplated anything other than what it takes to keep their lives together. Ninety percent of all humanity will live and die without having pierced the first veil.

The first veil: Ten percent of us will pierce the first veil and find the world of politics. We will vote, be active and have an opinion. Our opinions are shaped by the physical world around us; we have a tendency to accept that government officials, network media personalities and other “experts” are voices of authority. Ninety percent of the people in this group will live and die without having pierced the second veil.

The second veil: Ten percent of us will pierce the second veil to explore the world of history, the relationship between man and government and the meaning of self-government through constitutional and common law. Ninety percent of the people in this group will live and die without having pierced the third veil.

The third veil: Ten percent of us will pierce the third veil to find that the resources of the world, including people, are controlled by extremely wealthy and powerful families whose incorporated old world assets have, with modern extortion strategies, become the foundation upon which the world’s economy is currently indebted. Ninety percent of the people in this group will live and die without having pierced the fourth veil.

The fourth veil: Ten percent of us will pierce the fourth veil to discover the Illuminati, Freemasonry and the other secret societies. These societies use symbols and perform ceremonies that perpetuate the generational transfers of arcane knowledge that is used to keep the ordinary people in political, economic and spiritual bondage to the oldest bloodlines on earth. Ninety percent of the people in this group will live and die without having pierced the fifth veil.

The fifth veil: Ten percent of us will pierce the fifth veil to learn that the secret societies are so far advanced technologically that time travel and interstellar communications have no boundaries and controlling the actions of people is what their members do as off-handedly as we tell our children when they must go to bed. Ninety percent of the people in this group will live and die without having pierced the sixth veil.

The sixth veil: Ten percent of us will pierce the sixth veil where the dragons and lizards and aliens we thought were the fictional monsters of childhood literature are real and are the controlling forces behind the secret societies. Ninety percent of the people in this group will live and die without piercing the seventh veil.

The seventh veil: I do not know what is behind the seventh veil. I think it is where your soul is evolved to the point you can exist on earth and be the man Ghandi was, or the woman Peace Pilgrim was-people so enlightened they brighten the world around them no matter what.

The eighth veil? Piercing the eighth veil probably reveals God and the pure energy that is the life force in all living things-which are, I think, one and the same.

If my math is accurate there are only about 60,000 people on the planet who have pierced the sixth veil. The irony here is too incredible: Those who are stuck behind veils one through five have little choice but to view the people who have pierced the veils beyond them as insane. With each veil pierced, exponentially shrinking numbers of increasingly enlightened people are deemed insane by exponentially increasing masses of decreasingly enlightened people.

Adding to the irony, the harder a “sixth or better veiler” tries to explain what he is able to see to those who can’t, the more insane he appears.

Behind the first two veils we find the great majority of people on the planet. They are tools of the state: Second veilers are the gullible voters whose ignorance justify the actions of politicians who send first veilers off to die in foreign lands as cannon fodder — their combined stations in life are to believe that the self-serving machinations of the power-elite are matters of national security worth dying for.

Third, fourth, fifth and sixth veilers are of increasing liability to the state because of their decreasing ability to be used as tools to consolidate power and wealth of the many into the hands of the power-elite. It is common for these people to sacrifice relationships with friends and family, professional careers and personal freedom with each veil they pierce.

Albert Jay Nock (1870-1945), author of “Our Enemy, the State” (1935), explained what happens to those who find the seventh and eighth veils: “What was the best that the state could find to do with an actual Socrates and an actual Jesus when it had them? Merely to poison one and crucify the other, for no reason but that they were too intolerably embarrassing to be allowed to live any longer.”

And so now we know that it’s not that our countrymen are so committed to their lives that, “they don’t want to see,” the mechanisms of their enslavement and exploitation. They simply “can’t see” it as surely as I cannot see what’s on the other side of a closed curtain.

The purpose of this essay is threefold:

1. To help the handful of people in the latter veils to understand why the masses have little choice but to interpret their clarity as insanity;

2. To help people behind the first two veils understand that living, breathing and thinking are just the beginning and;

3. Show people that the greatest adventure of our life is behind the next veil because that is just one less veil between ourselves and God.

Posted by Dr. Sherri at 12:31 pm

Embracing the Joys and Challenges of Healthy Living

Dr. Janet's blogs, Nutrition, Opinion Pieces No Responses »
Jul 242012

by Janet Levatin, MD

For most of my life, I’ve embraced natural choices as a way to live, eat, work, sleep, and play. I want to share some of the better-known choices and strategies you can use to get well and stay healthy, and start a dialogue on how busy people incorporate health-conscious choices into their every day life.

1. Take charge of what you can. There are many things you can’t control, such as the weather, the genes you inherit from your ancestors, and what big companies are doing to pollute the earth. You can, however, make choices that will truly make a difference in your health. For example, you can choose personal care and cleaning products with fewer chemicals, and choose local/regional and organic foods over what is offered in conventional big box stores. You can choose natural healing methods, such as homeopathy, supplementation, acupuncture and osteopathy over pharmaceutical products and other invasive methods that have side effects and toxicities. Incremental choices add up to big successes over time.

2. You are what you eat. It is no secret that much of what we call “food” is highly processed and unhealthy. I encourage people to eat whole, unprocessed “real food” as much as possible. Choosing organic means your body will have fewer pesticide and herbicide residues to expel. Choosing regional or local food means your food will be fresher, have more nutritional value, and be more ecological. Produce that has been transported long distances loses nutrients along the way and has a larger environmental footprint. Eating well when you’re busy doesn’t have to be a chore. For example,  breakfast could include a poached eggs and potatoes sauteed in olive oil. A healthy lunch of salad with olive oil and vinegar dressing, and a hearty helping of seasonable veggies will keep you from feeling sleepy and sluggish in the afternoon. A simple dinner of grilled fish or chicken with rice or quinoa, and broccoli or kale can be very nutritious and tasty. I often tell patients, if you can’t pronounce it and you can’t spell it, you probably shouldn’t eat it!

3. You’re made mostly of water. Your body is made up of more than 50% water and you need water every day. Your health is a reflection of  the statement, “you are what you drink.” Most people know that soda pop and drinks laced with corn-based sweeteners are not healthy. You may not know, however, that bottled water is poorly regulated, and may contain a variety of impurities. I was surprised to learn that in some cases, bottled water is simply bottled tap water. Additionally, the bottled water industry uses plastic packaging, which is neither good for you nor the environment. Unfiltered city water is usually full of chlorine and a variety of other impurities, and well water may be contaminated with underground pollutants. Since water is vital to a healthy system, I recommend an alkalizing water purifier for home use to clean the water coming out the spout and to promote proper acid-base balance.

I encourage my friends, family members and patients to follow these foundational steps on their journey of healthy living. I look forward to hearing about what you do to take charge of your health and well-being. How do you stay motivated? What helps you get back on the Health Wagon when you’ve slipped back into some old patterns? Here’s to our successful journey together!

Posted by Dr. Sherri at 1:48 am

Memorial Day: Look Back with Honor. Launch Forward with Hope.

blog, Opinion Pieces, Politics, Vaccines 2 Responses »
May 272012

By Dr Sherri Tenpenny

I recently completed, “The Magic of Believing.” What a marvelous little book. Originally written in the 1920s, the message is as relevant today as ever. Near the end, the author mentions a series of women who made their mark in history and have been long forgotten (since we don’t study history any more). I’ve made a list of pioneering women who forged paths for so many around the globe. In reading the biographies of these brave women, their stories inspire respect and appreciation.

I’m really enjoying “Gertrude Bell: Desert Queen: The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell: Adventurer, Adviser to Kings, Ally of Lawrence of Arabia.”  Gertrude Bell was an English writer, traveller, political officer, administrator, archaeologist and spy who explored, mapped, and became highly influential to the formation of Iraq. Born in 1868, this a bold, Victorian woman defiantly turned her back on the status quo and traveled to the Middle East to live by her own rules. She has inspired me to be braver, more determined, stronger than ever. Her message, “Care not about the opinion of others – even family and closest friends — when you know your right and your are changing history,” reinforces my resolve to fight to retain our right to refuse mandatory vaccination.

“One Woman’s Crusade”, is book I really appreciate. It is the biography of Alice Paul, detailing her bravery, leadership and dogged determination to ensure women obtained the right to vote, a seven-decade quest. Adept at generating constant newspaper coverage and public attention for the campaign to adopt the legislation, Paul understood that ever-greater spectacle and sensation were needed to keep the suffrage issue in the forefront of the public’s mind. Her tactics escalated despite fierce criticism from everyone, including the President of the United States. Her conviction was so strong, she was willing to go to prison for her stance on the right to vote.

How sad that in barely two generations, we’ve mostly forgotten these strong women and the trail blazing they did for us. How disappointing we have lost our sense of adventure, our ability to stand up against the status quo (a pediatrician is intimidating? Really?).  Few of us would publicly fight for — or go to jail over — the right to refuse the injection of foreign matter into our body and into our children. We need to have some of Alice Paul’s guts and become adept at her tactics for fighting the vaccine industry. Sadder still…most of us don’t even bother to vote.

This morning, I read about Vera Nyman. Another tenacious Victorian woman, she was widowed at age 26. Left destitute in the early 1920s, she sold household products door-to-door to survive. Her customers repeatedly asked for a product that would clean walls. Instead of simply saying none was available, an idea was sparked. She poured through chemistry books at the public library and spent evenings mixing concoctions in her bathtub. After five years, she found eleven chemicals that could be distilled into a blue liquid that would harmlessly clean walls. When no one would loan her money, she gave more than 50,000 personal demonstrations to housewives who then wanted to buy her product. She mixed and sold small quantities as the orders came in. Three years later, she borrowed $100 (about $1200 today), rented an abandoned speakeasy and lived in her factory to minimize expenses. Her company, Soil-Off Manufacturing, soon sold millions of dollars of product annually. And she refused to sell it when a drug company made her an offer. Would women (or men) today be that persistent, that determined, have that much staying power, to see their dream through to success?

We can’t have the country we want by emailing and faxing Congress, asking them to pass reasonable laws. Legislators are corporate puppets and the laws are trending against us. We can’t have the world we want through perpetual wars, fighting invisible enemies, using guns and indiscriminant force. Governments have multiple times more bullets than we could possibly own and more force than we could ever muster. And their minions are instructed to follow orders, arresting those who protest. 

So what can we do?

We can change our country AND the world by shifting our thoughts and raising our beliefs to a higher vibration. This requires more than just positive thinking. “Trying to be positive” with a negative belief system is akin to putting a patch on an old wine skin and expecting it to hold new wine. If you’ve tried the Law of Attraction and claim it doesn’t work, it’s because what you want doesn’t line up with your belief system about having it.

Do you regularly invest time and money in yourself? Do you devote at least 1 hour a day to pruning your belief system, managing your thoughts, nurturing your personal growth? Do you believe you can be, do and have ANYTHING you want? Do you think big and dream expansively, knowing You Can Do It, or are you expecting “the government” to have the answers?  Do you have the tenacity of Gertrude Bell, Alice Paul and Vera Nyman to do whatever it takes to have a life, a country and a world full of prosperity, health and freedom, for yourself and your children – and your children’s children?

What have you done lately to improve your life and your circumstances? Have you read “The Magic of Believing” or “The New Psycho-Cybernetics” by Maxwell Maltz, MD?  Have you completed the recommended exercises in those books, such as creating a physical dream board, imaging everything on your board is already yours?  Do you have a burning desire to achieve all you want from your life? Or are you letting life have its way with you, turning you into a negative, skeptical, naysayer?

This Memorial Day weekend, while we remember and honor those who have given so much, let’s work together to create a new world. Let’s start by making a list of what WE WANT to experience instead of focusing on what we don’t have and what we don’t want.

  • Instead of redistributing wealth, let’s activate the creative power within each of us to become as wealthy as we want to be.
  • Instead of depending on a government-designed healthcare system for relief, let’s embrace the notion that all healing comes from within. Take simple steps. Change your diet. Drink more water. Improve your sleep patterns. Do a thorough Spring-cleaning and eliminate all thoughts and emotions that prevent you from being healthy and keep you dependent on prescription drugs.
  • Instead of blaming the economy for current financial circumstances, know that the prosperity you want, wants you…but it will only become a reality when it resonates with your core belief about money.

Thoughts are things. Words have power. Eliminate any stinkin’ thinkin’ you may have – get rid of words, thoughts and belief patterns that hold you back. True, lasting change comes from within. Decide TODAY that by this time next year – a mere 365 days from now – you will be living a life of your dreams. 365 days are going to come and go anyway. Why not create a plan, blaze a new trail, focus on a goal you want to achieve. Let the lives of these brave women strengthen your convictions. Let the memories of the past propel us to a new future. Success is a decision away.  Let’s start now.

 

Posted by Dr. Sherri at 7:50 pm Tagged with: , , ,

Why Do Doctors Push Vaccines?

blog, Children's health, Dr. Janet's blogs, Opinion Pieces, Vaccines 60 Responses »
Dec 242011

by Janet Levatin, MD

I recently received an email asking, “Why do doctors (especially pediatricians) push scheduled vaccines so strongly? Why do they fight against parents who refuse? Do they have incentives? What can I share with my family members to open their eyes? What can I do to prove I really am trying to keep my children and myself healthy without vaccines?”

I thought those were great questions.

So, why DO doctors push for scheduled vaccines so strongly? The reasons are complex and overlapping, but having been in practice for more than 25 years, I have a few ideas.

From the beginning, doctors are only taught the basic theories about of how vaccines work. They are told vaccines are safe and beneficial, and are directed to follow the ever-expanding vaccination schedule designed for children and adults. The vast majority robotically follow the recommendations, never questioning the directives.

Most physicians no doubt believe they are contributing to the health of vaccinated individuals and promoting the greater good of society. Few, if any, connect the deterioration of our nation’s health with the bloated vaccination schedule that now injects 40 doses of 16 vaccines into tiny bodies by five years of age. Indeed, more recently trained doctors may look at a truly healthy child as an anomaly. Their only experience has been treating children with diseases that are vaccine-induced but somehow thought to be part of “normal development.” When did doctors start believing that speech delays, sensory-integration disorders, asthma and eczema are a normal part of childhood? Why have doctors – and parents – accepted that attending OT, PT and speech therapy is a “normal” part of growing up?

There are not-so-subtle financial incentives that drive doctors to become vaccine pushers. I have read that pediatricians can earn a significant percentage of their income from vaccination, meaning, vaccines are encouraged to keep a positive balance sheet. After all, a medical practice is a business, with sizable expenses such as malpractice insurance, staff salaries and rent. For physicians who are employees of a hospital system, they have fee quotas to meet so they can receive bonuses. Many of the vaccines in the inventory are expensive (for example, Gardasil and MMR) and some have very short expiration dates (i.e. flu shots and Flumist). They need to be administered for costs to be recouped. Adding a shot, or shots, to a routine office visit generates more revenue. So no doubt, financial pressures play a role in the thought process of those who push vaccination.

Even if they are not fans of vaccines, many doctors give vaccines out of fear. They do not want to question authority or challenge professional organizations and licensing bodies, such as state medical boards. From the very beginning of medical education, bright, aspiring medical students, interns and residents are taught to do as they are told, follow orders and not confront the status quo. Doctors-in-training who challenge the system or dare to think independently are often punished with more work or publically humiliated in front of their peers. Early on, they get the message they better tow the Party Line if they want to survive. Later, when in their individual practices, doctors who buck the system and don’t vaccinate, or vaccinate less aggressively, often suffer penalties such as losing hospital privileges, being dropped from insurance company rosters or being ostracized by their peers.

For parents who have confronted this massive system that is stacked against the right to decline what should be viewed as an elective procedure, I commend you. Making an informed decision about vaccination is critically important. Considering the current politically hostile climate toward parents who choose to avoid vaccination, it is important to keep up with routine office visits with a pediatrician or holistic practitioner, even if your child is very healthy. Some parents have been accused of neglect for not vaccinating. Having documented office visits for routine well care demonstrates that you are taking good care of your child, with medical oversight, even through you choose to not vaccinate.

I encourage everyone to work with a practitioners who respect their choices. Often family practitioners, nurse practitioners, and osteopathic physicians are more flexible and less dogmatic than their MD pediatrician counterparts. Always keep in mind that YOU are the primary caretaker for your children. Never allow yourself to be bullied into vaccinating or into accepting any other elective procedures you wish to decline.

For more information, I strongly recommend a visit to the Tenpenny IMC store for Dr. Tenpenny’s well-documented resources. I welcome any parents to my new practice at Tenpenny Integrative Medical Center who want to openly discuss vaccine issues and want to utilize other options for raising healthy children.

Posted by Dr. Sherri at 10:26 pm Tagged with: , ,

Holiday Reflections and Reasons for Thanks

Children's health, Dr. Janet's blogs, Homeopathy, Opinion Pieces 2 Responses »
Dec 052011

By Dr Janet Levatin

From the time I entered the medical profession, I have wanted to help people get healthy and stay healthy using natural methods. I have observed the approaches used by conventional doctors, and I knew they weren’t for me.

After finishing my pediatric residency in 1986, I started my own holistic practice where I treated both children and adults using nutrition, supplements, herbs, and homeopathy. Over the years I learned a lot about diverse integrative healing modalities. I have routinely recommended them for my patients after observing first-hand how helpful then can be. I am very thankful to now be part of an Integrative Center where many of these resources are available at one location.

One of the things I have liked best about my practice is that parents can bring their children for routine check ups and receive NO pressure to vaccinate. I also like being able to spend as much time as necessary with patients, offering natural solutions to their health problems. Being in solo practice was challenging because I did not have adequate administrative support. I am grateful to now be part of a team that allows time to focus fully on my patients while they answer the phones, dispense supplements, and schedule follow up visits. I am free to engage in discussions about vaccination concerns, nutrition, exercise, and general questions about a child’s health and development.

For the occasions when a child is acutely ill (ex: ear infection, flu-like symptoms, nonspecific fever) or just off balance (ex: teething difficulties, sleep disturbances, behavioral issues), I usually suggest homeopathic treatment. Homeopathy is a gentle, nontoxic, easy-to-administer therapy that helps children self-heal and return to a healthy, balanced state. It can be used with children of all ages. Same-day appointments for acute illnesses are often available at our Clinic. Since I am also trained to treat adults with homeopathy, parents feeling “under the weather” can often receive same-day treatment too.

What I really love about my new position at Tenpenny Integrative Medical Center (TIMC) is the fact that I can refer children to other health professional all in the same facility. I can discuss the specific needs of your child with other practitioners who are all right there! We offer a wonderful and gentle treatment for allergies called Tenpenny Sensitivity Reduction Technique, (T-SRT) a treatment modality that uses kinesiology and acupressure to eliminate symptoms caused by food and/or environmental allergies. The program is non-invasive, can be done at any age, and involves no drugs or shots.

Another benefit at TIMC is that I can refer children for craniosacral therapy, a hands-on modality for helping the body achieve optimal function through structural balance. It is so gentle it can even be used to treat newborns and infants. I have referred many children over the years for this subtle approach to conditions such as crossed eyes, congenital torticollis, and nursing difficulties. Now, instead of referring to someone across town, Dr. Sherri and Dr. Cindy, both trained in cranial manipulation, are right down the hall.

I love that we offer state-of-the-art lab tests that identify nutritional deficiencies, toxic metal burdens, thyroid imbalances, and the causes of intestinal problems. The Clinic carries many child-friendly supplements from reputable manufacturers to help correct deficiencies and balance a myriad of health problems.

Looking at the bounty of healthy practices and products available at TIMC, I feel truly thankful and blessed to have joined this fabulous team. I am thankful to be surrounded by like-minded practitioners promoting health and wellness. While there are many elements of Massachusetts I miss, I really like Cleveland. I am easily settling into my new home and the surrounding community.  I like being back in the mid-West and I’m quickly making a lot of new friends.

This year, Thanksgiving was the beginning of a lot to be thankful for in the upcoming holiday season and on into next year.

Posted by Dr. Sherri at 1:30 am Tagged with: , ,

A New Way to Celebrate the 4th

Opinion Pieces, Politics 1 Response »
Jul 032011

Independence Day, celebrated on the Fourth of July, is the federal holiday set aside to reflect on what has transpired in the 235 years since we severed our relationship with the Kingdom of Great Britain.  Our long weekend is generally celebrated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, picnics, baseball games at family reunions. The news is peppered with political speeches and photo ops for local and national politicians.

The tone of the celebrations seems different this year, because from Sea to Shining Sea, our circumstances in 2011 are different.  We have flooded farmlands in the North, tornado-decimated cities in the South, hundreds of thousands of acres of scorched land in the West. Nuclear plants in New Mexico and Nebraska and New Jersey are tottering on the edge of a disaster. The number of unemployed persons (13.9 million) and the unemployment rate (9.1 percent) has remained essentially unchanged for months.  The national debt, at more than $14 trillion, is choking our economy and crushing the future of future generations.  And we still have more than 140 thousand American troops in the deserts of the world fighting faceless enemies without clearly defined outcomes. All that makes for a somber holiday.

Many cities have cancelled their expensive fireworks displays, stating “it seems like the right thing to do” in light of budget cuts, layoffs and closures. Our national government should be doing the same thing. A report that came out this week called “The Cost of US Wars since 9/11”, states,

In the 10 years since U.S. troops went into Afghanistan to root out the al-Qaida leaders behind the Sept. 11 attacks, the spending on the conflicts totaled between $2.3 trillion and $2.7 trillion. Those numbers will continue to soar, when considering often overlooked costs such as long-term obligations to wounded veterans and projected war spending from 2012 through 2020. These estimates do not include at least $1 trillion more in interest payments coming due and many billions more in expenses that cannot be counted, according to the study.”

So, what can we do?

I truly believe in what Napoleon Hill said decades ago, “you get what you think about most of the time.” What if we changed our future by focusing on what we want for our life, for our country and from our politicians, instead of focusing on continually negative news? What if we stopped being absorbed with what we don’t want, and instead believed in our ability to create want we do want? What if we worked collectively to raise the spirit and outlook of our family and friends, our nation and our planet through optimism, happy thoughts and your personal form of prayer?

To again acknowledge Napoleon Hill, his timeless book was titled, “Think and Grow Rich”, not “Work hard and Die Poor.” What if we actively sought to participate in upbeat activities and avoided pesimistic friends, colleagues and family members?

Where to begin?

How about starting with a few good and inspirational books, even if you only read a few pages a day. Join organizations that make you feel good – a garden club, a rowing club, a travel club. I’ve joined the Global Information Network; it has changed my life and my outlook in countless ways. Volunteer a few hours a week at a senior center, a day care or a animal shelter.  Take a leap and explore new hobbies outside your comfort zone – ballroom dancing, fencing, sign language. Find a hero or you can look up to — and become someone’s hero by finding someone to mentor.

On this Independence Day, a reflection on what our Founders intended for our country is in order. But much more importantly, take a few minutes to choose activities that make you happy. Washington’s politicos have gotten us to where we are; it is up to us, as individuals, to chart the course of where we’re going.

These solutions are free!  The only cost is the time set aside to visualize a phenomenally good outcome for the year ahead. Happy Holiday!

Posted by admin at 5:26 pm Tagged with: ,

Diet Soda and Weight Gain: The Proof Keeps Coming

Opinion Pieces, Weight Loss No Responses »
Jun 302011

Two new studies have linked drinking diet soda to poorer health compared with those who don’t drink the beverage.

In the first study, people who drank two or more diet sodas a day experienced an increase in waist size six times greater than those of people who didn’t drink diet soda.  The study, called the San Antonio Longitudinal Study of Aging, followed 474 participants for nearly 10 years.  Researchers found that soda drinkers, as a group, experienced 70% greater increases in waist circumference compared with those who do not drink diet soda.

The second study involved feeding aspartame to diabetes-prone mice. One group ate chow with corn oil and aspartame; the control group had chow with corn oil. After three months, the mice that ate aspartame showed elevated blood sugar levels, suggesting that exposure to large amounts of aspartame may increase the risk of metabolic syndrome and diabetes in humans.

What’s sad about this is that it isn’t new — and yet, the FDA still allows aspartame to be used in hundreds of products, not just diet sodas.  When aspartame is absorbed, it passes immediately to the liver where it is broken down into its toxic components – phenylalanine, aspartic acid and methanol.  Toxicity in the liver decreases its ability to break down of fat, increasing weight throughout the body.

Every physician probably encounters aspartame disease in practice, especially among patients with illnesses that are undiagnosed or difficult to treat. This applies to ALL fields of medicine and public health. A partial list of reactions include headache, dizziness, depression, convulsions (seizures), impaired vision, complications to diabetes, hypoglycemia, MSG sensitivity, chronic fatigue, eating disorders, and a long list of neurological symptoms.  Conditions that may be related to aspartame can be misdiagnosed as inflammatory arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis and even Alzheimer’s disease.

In my book, “FOWL“, about bird flu, Tamiflu and the scam of the flu shot, I discussed aspartame at length. Here’s an excerpt from the book:

The aspartame story can be traced back to Donald Rumsfeld prior to becoming a politician. Throughout his career, Rumsfeld was been known as a highly ambitious, tough operator with a reputation for ferociously pursuing what he wanted. An article in the Chicago Magazinedescribes his assent. Although he had next to no experience in private business, what he brought to the table for Searle were government ties and an insider’s grasp of the workings in Washington. All of these attributes were exactly what Searle needed.

Since 1965, Searle had been attempting to bring aspartame to market. Originally developed as a drug for gastric ulcers, the research scientist who was working with the compound had inadvertently tasted it and found it to be extraordinarily sweet. On further testing, the sweetness was 180 times greater than the taste of sugar. Searle immediately shifted the focus from developing a limited-use pharmaceutical product to a “calorie-free” additive that could be used in thousands of products and purchased by billions of repeat customers worldwide.

However, despite spending millions on research and drug applications, the FDA refused to approve aspartame for use. From the beginning, the approval process had been fraught with problems ranging from rejections due to inconsistent safety studies to grand jury probes into fabricated data. Consumer groups had filed legal proceedings to stop its use due to serious concerns; studies had demonstrated that aspartame caused brain cancers in experimental animals. Prior to Rumsfeld’s arrival at Searle in 1977, there didn’t seem to be much hope for getting this potential blockbuster approved.

However, things began to look up with the return of the Republican Party to the White House. When Ronald Reagan took the oath of office as the fortieth president on January 21, 1981, Rumsfeld was poised to move the approval of aspartame through to completion. He was so confident in his party connections that, according to former G.D. Searle salesperson, Patty Wood-Allott, he told his sales force “he would call in all his markers” and no matter what, he would see to it that aspartame would be approved during that year. Politics would supersede safety since reports from aspartame research showed disastrous consequences on the health of nearly all animals tested.

Four days after Reagan’s inauguration, previous FDA commissioner, Jere E. Goyan, was replaced by professor and defense department contract researcher, Dr. Arthur Hayes. No clear reason can be found in the public record why he was selected over other candidates but it was rumored he was “hand-picked” due to his close ties with Rumsfeld during his previous tenure as the Secretary of Defense.

Despite all information to the contrary regarding aspartame’s supposed “safety,” Hayes over-ruled the Public Board of Inquiry, disregarded scientific warnings, and ignored several laws of the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act, and in July 1981 approved aspartame for use in dry foods. Just as Rumsfeld had predicted, the approval had been completed within the year. Several years later (1983), the chemical was approved for use in consumer soft drinks. Today, aspartame is found in more than 5,000 products under the brand names Equal® and NutraSweet®.

Attorney and consumer-advocate James Turner, who fought the aspartame approval process for years, commented that for Hayes to arrive so quickly to the conclusion that aspartame was safe, he had “firewalked a path through a mass of scientific mismanagement, improper procedures, wrong conclusions, and general scientific inexactness,” meaning he had been given marching orders which he carried perfectly to completion, turning a blind-eye to both scientific evidence and laws.

Shortly after the additive was approved, Commissioner Hayes was forced to leave the FDA after being investigated for accepting a bribe from General Foods, a major user of aspartame. As with many top bureaucrats, even criminal investigations rarely leave them unemployed for long. Dr, Hayes became Dean of New York Medical College and was hired by Burson-Marsteller, Searle’s public relations firm (which also represented several of NutraSweet’s major users), as senior scientific consultant and medical advisor.

The rewards for those involved with the approval process for aspartame were huge. In 1985, Searle was purchased by Monsanto and lawyer Robert Shapiro, who navigated the name change from aspartame to NutraSweet, was named President of Monsanto. After the sale was finalized, Rumsfeld reportedly received a $12 million bonus. The full story was detailed by attorney, Jim Turner here.

The complete story of aspartame is far beyond the scope of this text but a fe w points deserve to be highlighted. In 1992, FDA Commissioner Dr. David Kessler approved its use in heated food, such as baked goods, despite research that shows heated aspartame is converted to formaldehyde. Four years later it was approved for use in all foods. After the completing the approval process, Kessler resigned from the FDA to take a position as Dean of the Yale School of Medicine.

This story demonstrates how deeply politics, big business, and medical education are connected with little regard to the health of humanity.

Posted by admin at 2:56 pm Tagged with: , ,

Helping America’s Heartland

Opinion Pieces 3 Responses »
May 152011

I woke up this morning thinking about the 1000s of people in the heartland of our country who are soon going to be homeless due to the rain, the floods and the opening of the floodgates along the Mississippi. One woman in particular haunts me. As she scrambled to pack a few things into her beater car, she choked back tears as she said, “We’ve never had much but we’re going to lose everything we have.”  I’m choking back tears now just thinking about her.

And they have said repeatedly the water is going to stand in all those houses for weeks, meaning, they will need to be destroyed due to mold.

Our food belt is being battered. Too bad the water being released on farm soil in Mississippi and Arkansas could not somehow be diverted to Texas, which is burning and the crops are lost, due to lack of water.  Only 1% of the corn has been planted across Ohio and Indiana due to mud. This morning, thousands of walleye have washed up on the shores of Lake Erie, no doubt poisoned by chemicals, garbage and land runoff carried into the Lake by the Maumee, the Cuyahoga and other swollen, rushing rivers. The need for personal food storage is a must. Set up a place in your basement or form a community co-op. Not only will food be more expensive in the future, there will definitely be less of it.

Along the Mississippi River our fellow Americans are becoming homeless and losing everything through quirks of nature. Could Habitat for America build homes for soon-to-be homeless Americans? Why aren’t Movie Stars, Rock Stars and Foundations holding fund raisers to take care of these families? Could Susan B Komen gives this seasons funds, raised through their 5k and 10k runs, to the heartland? Our people need it more than the drug companies they raise the money for.

Soon, the Weather Channel and CNN will start talking about something else; they have stopped talking about the homeless and the earthquake devastation in Japan, New Zealand, Santiago and Haiti. But this disintegration of homes and neighborhoods in our own Country will go on for months, probably years.

What can we do individually? How can we all make a difference? Where can we begin? Please post your thoughts. Let’s join together to see how we can help.

Posted by admin at 4:09 pm Tagged with: , , ,
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