Influence of corporate money on study of nutrition questioned

The nutrition industry is already inheriting some of the biases of the pharmaceutical industry:

TSN Influence of corporate money on study of nutrition questioned

Obama links food systems, our country's health, energy policy and the built environment

"I was just reading an article in the New York Times by Michael Pollen about food and the fact that our entire agricultural system is built on cheap oil. As a consequence, our agriculture sector actually is contributing more greenhouse gases than our transportation sector. And in the mean time, it's creating monocultures that are vulnerable to national security threats, are now vulnerable to sky-high food prices or crashes in food prices, huge swings in commodity prices, and are partly responsible for the explosion in our healthcare costs because they're contributing to type 2 diabetes, stroke and heart disease, obesity, all the things that are driving our huge explosion in healthcare costs. That's just one sector of the economy. You think about the same thing is true on transportation. The same thing is true on how we construct our buildings. The same is true across the board. For us to say we are just going to completely revamp how we use energy in a way that deals with climate change, deals with national security and drives our economy, that's going to be my number one priority when I get into office, assuming, obviously, that we have done enough to just stabilize the immediate economic situation."

Swampland - TIME.com � Blog Archive The Full Obama Interview �

TOP 5 REASONS OBAMA SUPPORTERS SHOULDN'T REST EASY

1. The polls may be wrong. This is an unprecedented election. No one knows how racism may affect what voters tell pollsters—or what they do in the voting booth. And the polls are narrowing anyway. In the last few days, John McCain has gained ground in most national polls, as his campaign has gone even more negative.

2. Dirty tricks. Republicans are already illegally purging voters from the rolls in some states. They're whipping up hysteria over ACORN to justify more challenges to new voters. Misleading flyers about the voting process have started appearing in black neighborhoods. And of course, many counties still use unsecure voting machines.

3. October surprise. In politics, 15 days is a long time. The next McCain smear could dominate the news for a week. There could be a crisis with Iran, or Bin Laden could release another tape, or worse.

4. Those who forget history... In 2000, Al Gore won the popular vote after trailing by seven points in the final days of the race. In 1980, Reagan was eight points down in the polls in late October and came back to win. Races can shift—fast!

5. Landslide. Even with Barack Obama in the White House, passing universal health care and a new clean-energy policy is going to be hard. Insurance, drug and oil companies will fight us every step of the way. We need the kind of landslide that will give Barack a huge mandate.

If you agree that we shouldn't rest easy, please sign up to volunteer at your local Obama office by clicking HERE.

Gandhi

I just finished watching the epic moving Gandhi. It was my first real history lesson in this saint's life. There are a few morals and values from it that I will always remember:
- Non violence works. Tyrants ultimately fail. The focus should not be WHEN they will fail; rather that they WILL FAIL. An individual's life is only a short part of the history of good and evil in the world. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. We must not preach revenge.
- Patience is a virtue. I often try to get things done quickly. (My mother taught me this.) But, true change takes patience. I will strive for more of it.
- True change requires collaboration with all. A great person can be effective. But a great person can have an even greater impact if he collaborates and joins with others.
- Religion can be great, if we realize that no religion is better than another. We are all Hindu, Jews, Buddhist, Muslim, and Christian.
- A free media is probably one of the most important parts of democracy. Any restriction on media should be dealt with in a serious (non-violent) way.
- Humor is a good trait of a great man.
- Hollywood is important because they make great movies.

I vow to try to work all of these into my daily life, in honor of Gandhi.

NY Times: Organized Medicine and Industry

Until organized medicine (The American Medical Association, The American Academy of Family Physicians, etc.) gives up ties with industry, patients trust in these organizations will continue to erode.

If you want to do something about it, join a medical organization that does not take industry money: The National Physicians Alliance.

Washington
Psychiatric Group Faces Scrutiny Over Drug Industry Ties
By BENEDICT CAREY and GARDINER HARRIS
Published: July 12, 2008
Probing into the financial relationship between drug companies and psychiatrists, senators are demanding that the American Psychiatric Association give an accounting of its financing

The King of Questions

I named this blog "Question Everything", as I believe asking questions is one of our primary responsibilities as citizens and humans. Asking the proper questions of our leaders allows us to unearth their intentions and discover their values. Asking the right questions can lead to advocacy and improvements in our systems. Without the questions our society stagnates and does not progress.

There was no better questioner than Tim Russert. I watched Meet The Press as much as I could. I often planned my Sunday around it, but would skip it if Russert was not on that week. Russert was a true journalist, as he was impartial, tough, smart, and did his research. There is no one who could get to the bottom of an issue like he could. There is no journalist that did more to bring honesty to politics.

I do not know how we will navigate through difficult political issues without him. As a fan of good questions, I do not know how I will find another role model. Mr. Russert, King of Questions, I will miss you.

Red Soc Flyover Waste

Boston Red Sox - Air Force cutback still allows roaring fly-by at game today - The Boston Globe

Do we really need to spend $100,000 on a flyover a baseball game for a few seconds? Imagine how many lives we could save with that much money in a quality health care system....

10 Things You Should Know about McCain

from Moveon.org:
1. John McCain voted against establishing a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now he says his position has "evolved," yet he's continued to oppose key civil rights laws.1
2. According to Bloomberg News, McCain is more hawkish than Bush on Iraq, Russia and China. Conservative columnist Pat Buchanan says McCain "will make Cheney look like Gandhi."2
3. His reputation is built on his opposition to torture, but McCain voted against a bill to ban waterboarding, and then applauded President Bush for vetoing that ban.3
4. McCain opposes a woman's right to choose. He said, "I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned."4
5. The Children's Defense Fund rated McCain as the worst senator in Congress for children. He voted against the children's health care bill last year, then defended Bush's veto of the bill.5
6. He's one of the richest people in a Senate filled with millionaires. The Associated Press reports he and his wife own at least eight homes! Yet McCain says the solution to the housing crisis is for people facing foreclosure to get a "second job" and skip their vacations.6
7. Many of McCain's fellow Republican senators say he's too reckless to be commander in chief. One Republican senator said: "The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He's erratic. He's hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me."7
8. McCain talks a lot about taking on special interests, but his campaign manager and top advisers are actually lobbyists. The government watchdog group Public Citizen says McCain has 59 lobbyists raising money for his campaign, more than any of the other presidential candidates.8
9. McCain has sought closer ties to the extreme religious right in recent years. The pastor McCain calls his "spiritual guide," Rod Parsley, believes America's founding mission is to destroy Islam, which he calls a "false religion." McCain sought the political support of right-wing preacher John Hagee, who believes Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment for gay rights and called the Catholic Church "the Antichrist" and a "false cult."9
10. He positions himself as pro-environment, but he scored a 0—yes, zero—from the League of Conservation Voters last year.10

http://pol.moveon.org/mccaintruth/

It's not all about the Presidential Election

Last week I was sick and got to watch lots of MSNBC all day. 80% of the coverage was debating and analyzing who was up and who was down in the presidential campaign. There must have been an hour of analysis on each sentence a candidate said.

Our Presidential Race is important, but what about everything else going on in the world. There was only a minute (if that) each hour devoted to the troubles in Tibet, and none to other world issues like Darfur:
Dropping the Torch - New York Times

I do not have a radio while living here in DC for the month, so I miss the balanced news coverage of NPR. At least I can watch BBC News at night which gives a more realistic account of the happenings in our world.

Healthy Foods in Canadian Hospitals

Nova Scotia News - TheChronicleHerald.ca

’Every day is the perfect day to stop serving fries and doughnuts. Every day is the perfect day for a health care institution to lead by healthy example.’

If you agree, work with me and the National Physicians Alliance to make Hospital Food Healthy. Have ideas about what is healthy food for a hospital?
Let me know.

Compare Candidate Health Plans

I am sad that Kucinich and Edwards dropped out, as they had the best and 2nd best plans, respectively.
Here is a comparison of all the current frontrunner's plans from my organization, the National Physicians Alliance:

National Physicians Alliance - 2008 Presidential Candidate Health Plan Report Card

Anti-Pharma Rant by Bill Maher

Bill Asks for someone to stand up for spinach. I DO! (although I stand up more for kale)

Loans that change lives

I just made a loan to someone in the developing world using a revolutionary new website called Kiva.

You can go to Kiva's website and lend to someone in the developing world who needs a loan for their business - like raising goats, selling vegetables at market or making bricks. Each loan has a picture of the entrepreneur, a description of their business and how they plan to use the loan so you know exactly how your money is being spent - and you get updates letting you know how the business is going. The best part is, when the entrepreneur pays back their loan you get your money back - and Kiva's loans are managed by microfinance institutions on the ground who have a lot of experience doing this, so you can trust that your money is being handled responsibly.

I just made a loan to an entrepreneur named Hameedan Bibi in Pakistan. They still need another $225.00 to complete their loan request of $700.00 (you can loan as little as $25.00!). Help me get this business off the ground by clicking on the link below to make a loan to Hameedan Bibi too:

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=30814&_isc=

It's finally easy to actually do something about poverty - using Kiva I know exactly who my money is loaned to and what they're using it for. And most of all, I know that I'm helping them build a sustainable business that will provide income to feed, clothe, house and educate their family long after my loan is paid back.

Join me in changing the world - one loan at a time.

Juno Love?

"In my opinion, the best thing you can do is to find a person who loves you for exactly who you are. Good mood, bad mood, ugly, pretty, handsome, what have you, the right person will still think that the sun shines out your ass. That's the kind of person that's worth sticking with." -Juno



Movie of the Year?
A great story about love. Go see it!