Monday, August 17, 2009

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Michael B. Laskoff: The Passing of the Kennedy's and Healthcare Reform Top
Eunice Kennedy Shriver was buried yesterday. Not to be morbid, but she'll likely be followed in the not too distant future by her one surviving sibling. When Brother Teddy goes, a remarkable arc in American history will be have come to an end. For the purposes of this blog, it begins with one symbol of America, John F. Kennedy. A man who famously declaimed, "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country..." It was rhetoric to be sure, but moving nonetheless. In 2009, however, such sentiments would get you heckled. Americans are no longer interested in making any sacrifices; reform is treated not as a noble betterment to the collective good but as a threat to "our way of life." Nothing symbolizes this better than the demise of Ted Kennedy. He has been a tireless champion of better healthcare for all, but his own failing health has robbed the Senate of a powerful organizing nucleus for orderly debate. He may not always have been a paragon of perfect virtue, but the Senator has spoken with a gravitas and conviction that Max Baucus cannot quite duplicate in his stead. The absence of such voices leaves us with the sort of anarchy that leads to frivolous and fallacious discussions of death panels and similar nonsense. So with the de facto passing of the Kennedy's, we have truly reached an end. What comes next, it seems, is an age in which the operative question has changed. Today, it is what can America do for me. This, by the way, is not the "me" voice of the Generation X but rather the the "mine" of the Baby Boomers. That's why I don't think that this is really a debate about healthcare at all; its more like a desperate last stand in support of a a status quo that gave us big cars, big houses and big credit. Unfortunately, it's just not realistic to carry in this spirit. Sacrifice may not be a popular sentiment, but opposing the necessity for change will not relieve the requirements for broad reforms in many aspects of our lives. We already spend twice as much on health care as healthier countries and the excess is killing our economy. So even those who don't support reform out of a sense of civic obligation should realize that one way or another change is coming. Better to do it now, in an orderly fashion, then in the midst of even bigger crisis later. More on Ted Kennedy
 
Brent Green: 40 Years After Woodstock: An Extraordinarily Different America Top
Woodstock has been described as a watershed, seminal, formative, game-changing, and with dozens of superlatives. Those who've attempted to contain the baby boomer generation in a tidy sociological package have pointed at Woodstock in summary, sometimes with derision for the Bacchanalian overtones this word can represent. Woodstock means little until you place it in larger context of a society unraveling around the newest generation of young adults, a dominant and dominating cohort of malcontents. From their parents' generation they had absorbed rich idealism for time-honored principles of social and economic justice. From the world they were inheriting they had discovered unbearable discontinuities and hypocrisies. From romanticized western archetypes, the first generation to grow up with television had learned to stare down orthodoxy. Woodstock was just one major event with national impact that blasted through 1969. The final year of the tumultuous sixties included discordant Richard Milhous Nixon succeeding Lyndon Baines Johnson as 37th president of the United States. US troops stationed in Vietnam crested at 543,000. Three hundred students stormed and occupied Harvard University's administration building in a spellbinding demonstration of street theater. Charles Manson's LSD-crazed cult executed actress Sharon Tate and seven others, including Tate's unborn child. And this was all before a turbulent autumn featuring the largest peaceful protest in US history on October 15, the first Vietnam War Moratorium. And that's not even close to half of it. Woodstock was not merely a rock concert showcasing some of the best rock 'n' roll bands of the sixties. It was an interlude arriving in the context of more social and political upheaval than most Americans had witnessed. It was a chaotic but peaceful prelude to forthcoming breakdown between government and governed when combined will would end an unpopular war. I did not attend the concert although, like many of my peers, I gave the odyssey passing consideration. When "Butch" Barger asked me if I wanted to drive across country with him to upstate New York, I barely had a clue what he was talking about. Prospects for this road trip sounded interesting but indefinite. In retrospect, I'm glad I didn't go because mud and unsanitary conditions would not have enlivened me even at 19. I'm better suited to experiencing Woodstock cinematically from a home theater, shower and comfy bed nearby. To become embroiled in the turmoil and idealism this festival represented did not require attendance. Political upheaval, disintegrating racial relations, burgeoning feminism, environmental degradation, and rock 'n' roll culture enveloped a generation, inundating us, forging strident collective mentalities. From Alaska to Colorado to New York, young people crossed the country for peace and love in a time of rage and resentment. They wanted to do the right thing, and to them this meant standing firm against received authority. Woodstock at once represented the improbable and the possible: just three spins of the globe, three short days - an interruption of business-as-usual that persists even in this newcentury. I saw remnants of Woodstock as young protesters clamored along Denver's 16th Street Mall during the Democratic National Convention last August, their faces lit up with passion and high purpose. I felt reassuring presence of shared citizenship in the Mile High City's Civic Center Park last October 26 when more than 100,000 gathered peacefully to hear words of hope from their next president, improbably an African-American man with a strangely un-American sounding name. I saw the teenagers of Woodstock with wizened faces filling Red Rocks Amphitheater for the 40th anniversary of sixties' super-group Jethro Tull. I think of Woodstock-era uproar when watching media reports of roiling public protests over possible new health care legislation. The 40th anniversary of Woodstock is virtually meaningless if nothing meaningful survives. But when we peer through those throngs of tie-dyed t-shirts and tribal costumes into the present we see an extraordinarily different America four decades later: arguably, a better America. More on Richard Nixon
 
Jim Randel: CONSUMERS RULE: FINALLY!! Top
News from the retail world is not good. Sales midway into the back-to-school period are trending significantly lower than this time last year. In fact, last year sales were up 1% (over the prior year) and this year the projection is that sales will be down 3% - 4%. So, notwithstanding the best efforts of those who have an interest in seeing consumers start spending again - those opining that the recession/depression is ending, consumers are done being told how and when to spend their money. For the last decade or more, consumers were told how to spend their money as the experts, the conflicted and the government advised that: (1) Long term, you always make money in the stock market, (2) There is no better investment than buying your own home, and (3) We have learned how to control booms and busts. And most of us acted in reliance on that sage advice - to our detriment. Now, finally, consumers are taking control. Retail sales are down because consumers don't think we are out of the woods quite yet. Stock holdings are still down about 40% from the highs. And home prices are way down too. Credit card companies are canceling accounts and tightening usage. Those of us fortunate enough to have jobs know plenty of people either unemployed or underemployed - perhaps as much as 20% of the work force. Productivity is up - which sounds good in the headlines - but which means that companies are getting more production out of fewer workers. People understand what is happening in our economy. They realize that without the Stimulus Bill and a $1.8 trillion 2009 deficit, things would be much worse. They realize that the money being used to prop things up is not going to last forever and, is really just we adults borrowing from our grandchildren. I am happy that consumers are finally taking charge and thinking for themselves. Since consumer spending represents about 2/3 of our economic engine, the economy will recover when consumers feel the time is right - not when someone else tells consumers "it's safe to go back in the water." I also hope that we consumers get it right this time. That we will not take on blind faith what others tell us - especially those who have an agenda to see us borrow and spend. I hope that we will do our own homework, will invest the time and energy needed to make good decisions with our money, will educate our children, and will use our collective power to force change on those who pushed us to the brink. Jim Randel is the founder of The Skinny On book series. His first book, The Skinny on the Housing Crisis, was awarded First Prize in a competition sponsored by NAREE, an organization of 650 journalists. More on The Recession
 
Julia Moulden: How Small Farmers Are Saving the World (And How You Can Help) Top
Driving through farm country this week - lush green fields, huge blue skies, produce stands filled to bursting - I was listening to a piece on the radio about the 40th anniversary of Woodstock. They played Joni's song, of course, and I sang along at the top of my alone-in-the-car lungs. "We are stardust, we are golden, and we've got to get ourselves back to the garden." In the 1970s, hippies like me "went back to the land", taking up residence on small farms across the continent. Refugees from cities and suburbs, we had visions of Arcadia. Only we were going to do it our way - friends called their cow Hamburger, on the theory that it would make it easier when it came time to turn her into meat. Now, for reasons the same and new - but with more urgency - people of all ages are looking for ways to get back to the garden. Or at least be able to eat from one. And this time, we have pioneers like Tim Wightman to help lead us. Tim's family were farmers in Wisconsin, where his childhood intersected with the low point in the history of family farms. While his father lost interest in the whole business and moved on, Tim was bitten. As a student and young man, he worked freelance on farms across the state, heading west to take part in the wheat harvest each fall. By the fall of 1979, when he was ready to try farming on his own, the economics had changed so dramatically that it just wasn't possible. "Money was being handed out to consolidate the industry. Family farms were dying left and right." Over the next decade, Tim started a horse transportation company, drove truck, and did what he had to do to support his family. But the pull of farming was strong. In the early 90s, he heard about community-supported agriculture (CSA), where a community of individuals pledge support to a farm operation so that the farmland becomes the community's farm, with the growers and consumers providing mutual support and sharing the risks and benefits of food production. He knew it was time to make his move. Tim reasoned he could make it work with a small farm like the one he'd been raised on. Even better, his family's farm was in an ideal location - Hayward County, in northern Wisconsin, is a major tourist area, a land of lakes and forests. He figured there would be a market for whatever he grew. But every hero's journey comes with obstacles - although he'd been told that he would inherit the farm, that didn't happen. So Tim bought his own piece of property, planted a huge garden, and started the first CSA in the area. One success led to another, and Tim's business flourished. When Fortune magazine named Hayward County one of the best places to live in the US, more people came. Tim and his partners opened a bakery. An organics store. And a restaurant. "We were doing what Alice Waters had done in California with local, seasonal cuisine, without ever having heard of her. It just made sense to us to use great-tasting ingredients - grown right here - in everything we made." "The way our grandmothers would have cooked?" I asked. "Exactly! Our pecan pie recipe, for instance, was researched back to 1878. We didn't use corn syrup. I can tell you that Southerners on holiday in Wisconsin quickly learned about the pies and drove for miles to get them." Alongside all of this, Tim was fighting an epic battle. He and his dairy farm partner, Clearview Acres, wanted to provide raw milk to local consumers. But the state had other ideas. A paragraph can't possibly do justice to a legal battle that went on for a decade and took a huge toll on Tim and his partners. "We kept asking the government of Wisconsin - 'Look, we've got all these people who want raw milk, since you say it's illegal, tell us how we can do this.' Finally, they gave us a way to move forward, by selling the animals instead of the milk, and building separate buildings and introducing protocols." Tim and his partners were ultimately successful, and people can now get raw milk in Wisconsin. "We started with 40 families, quickly went to 80, and before long were providing raw milk to 365 families." For more about the legal battle, see realmilk.com [http://realmilk.com/] and farmtoconsumer.org. And if you're interested in safety protocols for clean, safe raw milk, read Tim's Raw Milk Handbook. Today, Tim is helping others nudge government into the new millennium (and fend off the multinational food producers operating behind the scenes). He's working with a farm consumer legal defence fund. [http://www.farmtoconsumer.org/] A few years back, he sold the business, and thought about retiring. Instead, and in addition to advocacy, he's helping people who want to be part of the burgeoning locavore movement realize their dreams. "People think that you have to have a big property, because that's the only way to fit into the food system," he told me. "But that's not true." "So, what would you say to emerging New Radicals?" I asked. Here are his top three tips. 1. Think small. "People think they can't be economically sound on 15 or 20 acres, but I say different. If you have a passion for growing things, if you want to feed people, it can be done on very small acreages, even in urban gardens. Plus, the science is there now about how to grow excellent crops and build the soil the same time." 2. Find the choir. "There's a much bigger movement out there than many people realize. You just need to find them. And not just farmers or producers. I'm talking about alternative health care practitioners and trainers in gyms. People who know that what people put in their mouths is important." (For resources, keep reading.) 3. You are what you eat. "You can make a radical change right now by deciding where you'll get your food - supporting local farmers and feeling better for it in every way. You can do something three times a day that improves your health and changes the face of the earth." For baby boomers like me, Woodstock was a powerful event - we saw just how big our tribe was. If you're dreaming about going back to the land, you might want to see just how many people there are who share your vision. Check out this extraordinary site, Organic Nation TV, founded by the delightful Dorothee Royal-Hedinger. [http://www.organicnation.tv/] And Tim also highly recommends Acres USA [http://www.acresusa.com]. "It's probably the best library for understanding locally-produced food - they've been cataloguing this stuff for 35 years." Please share your experiences - including with urban farming! - by posting a comment below, or by emailing me directly. I'm taking a page out of fellow HuffPo blogger Gretchen Rubin's book, and looking for new ways to share my email address (too much spam!). The first part is julia (then that familiar symbol). The second part is wearethenewradicals (then a period, then a com). (If anyone knows a simpler way to express this - please share it with me!) *** Julia Moulden's new book is We Are The New Radicals: A Manifesto for Reinventing Yourself and Saving the World. [http://www.wearethenewradicals.com] She gives speeches [http://www.speakers.ca], and writes them for the world's most visionary leaders. [http://www.juliamoulden.com] More on Careers
 
Allison Kilkenny: British Defend Their Healthcare System Top
In America's healthcare reform debate, there is no greater whipping boy than the National Health Service (NHS,) Britain's healthcare system. The NHS is being used as an example of the "failed Socialist" model of healthcare. FOX host Glenn Beck took some shots at the NHS , apparently forgetting his own nightmare journey when he received subpar care in an American hospital. Republican Senator Chuck Grassley told a radio station last week that "countries that have government-run health care" would not have given Senator Edward Kennedy, who suffers from a  brain tumor , the same kind of care as in the U.S. because he is too old. And most impressively, FOX News's treasure, Neil Cavuto, even claimed universal healthcare is a terrorism recruitment tool . Seriously. Conservative hosts and politicians alike must have been overcome with joy when they finally secured a Conservative British politician who was willing to bad mouth the NHS, which remains extraordinarily popular in Britain. Daniel Hannan previously sat as an Independent after having been expelled from the European People's Party. Hannan is most famous for opposing the European Union and praising Iceland's "economic miracle" prior to the country's titanic crash in 2008. It was probably that stellar resume that first caught the eye of FOX News, which couldn't secure the microphone to his lapel fast enough. These kinds of attacks on the NHS aren't unusual or new, but what is unique is the British response this time to the mad attacks on their healthcare system. British citizens -- particularly tech savvy residents -- are fighting back on Twitter. The top trending topics after Hannan's FOX declarations included #welovetheNHS and #NHS. British Twitterers boasted 'I Heart NHS' avatars designed by Twibbon , a group that spreads awareness about causes by overlaying an image onto supporters' Twitter profile avatars. The Twibbon team says during our interview that the response to the 'I Heart NHS' design has been "magnificent." They add, "In the UK, people often talk about political apathy and show concern over disappointing voting turnouts. What everyone has shown over the last few days is a testament to the power of social networking, and Twitter in particular, not only to unite people in solidarity, but also to initiate global conversations at grassroots level." Graham Linehan , the man behind the #welovetheNHS tag, tells me he was motivated by FOX's irresponsible coverage of the healthcare reform debate. I think that the way that FOX News has been raising the temperature of the health care debate over there is one of the most reckless and cynical things I have ever seen. It's just mindblowing to me. It's also infruriating the way they change their coverage of the UK according to their needs. So when they wanted a partner to legitimise an illegal and ill-thought-out war, the UK was the best country in the world. Now that their needs are different, they attack the UK as 'Socialist'. It's breathtaking, how little shame they have. What really inspired Linehan to do something was when Investor's Business Daily published an editorial claiming Steven Hawking "wouldn't have a chance in the U.K., where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless." Of course, the claim is absurd as Hawking stated later , pointing out that he would not be alive today if it hadn't been for the NHS. Where other British citizens saw gross lies, exaggerations, and frustrating half-truths, Linehan saw a "golden opportunity to kickstart a campaign to redress the balance a little bit." He linked to the Hawking article and the #welovetheNHS hashtag was born. "I thought it might pick up steam once people saw the ridiculousness of that story, but I had no idea how big it would become. Three days now, and we're still trending," says Linehan. The online response to the We Love the NHS campaign is overwhelming. "NHS Saved my life as a 19 year old naive lad!" writes one Brit . "Saved my life, saved my wife's life, beat my brother-in-law's cancer and embodies a compassionate civilized ideal #welovetheNHS,"  writes one more . The movement now includes some of Britain's most powerful leaders, including Prime Minister  Gordon Brown , who Tweeted "NHS often makes the difference between pain and comfort, despair and hope, life and death. Thanks for always being there #welovetheNHS." British newspapers, politicians, and medics are rushing into the debate partly to defend the NHS and partly to gain some kind of political leverage. Labor hoped to embarrass David Cameron by challenging him to disown the Hannan comments, which he did . "Nobody should be in any doubt, for the Conservative Party, the NHS is the number one priority," said Cameron to Sky News. The British newspaper,  Daily Mirror , has started calling America " the land of the fee " because of the way patients are forced to pay for medical services. S enior figures in British healthcare are also frustrated at the portrayal of the NHS. Mike Hobday, of Macmillan Cancer Support, stated: "We are really furious at the way in which the NHS, which is the best healthcare system around, is being denigrated by a group of people who clearly don't have the first idea about how it works." "The NHS does a damn fine job," says president of the UK Faculty of Public Health, Dr. Alan Maryon-Davis. "These claims are complete and utter rubbish...The horrific thing about the American system is that there are tens of millions of people without health insurance. We spend less on health in terms of GDP than America but if you look at health indices, especially for life expectancy, we have better figures than they do in America," he adds. The nexus of the Internet makes the dissemination of disinformation difficult. Such interconnectedness means the lie of "dangerous Socialized medicine" cannot sustain itself when Brits of all ages and backgrounds shout to the rafters that they love the NHS, and are here to defend it. Cross-posted from Allison Kilkenny's blog . Also available on Facebook and Twitter . More on Glenn Beck
 
Anne Naylor: 4 Steps To Enrich Your Life Top
"Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you." Oscar Wilde Education may have taught you to get the right qualifications, a good job and then you would enjoy the benefits of a comfortable life, doing what you want to do - happy with the people around you. That was not the way my life unfolded. So what if there were another way? What if Have, Do, Be could be reversed to Be, Do, Have . The "having" becomes a lesser priority. Life experiences have taught me that being true to, and at peace with, myself is where I start. Then happiness in relationships and success in my vocation come more naturally as an outcome. There are those, and I am one, who hold the view that we are spiritual beings having a human experience. I find that the human spirit we each are is truly remarkable, How can you activate your spirit and engage with life in ways that are more enriching, rewarding and fulfilling? The Science of Getting Rich was written by Wallace D Wattles in the 19th Century. The approach he offers applies to receiving material wealth. However, it can be applied equally well to any aspect of your health, wealth (well-being) and happiness. "To receive, you must be active, Keep in mind your purpose. You will receive in direction proportion to: Your clarity of vision Your definiteness of purpose The steadiness of your faith The depth of your gratitude" If you have not already read it, I recommend Russell Bishop's last post when he poses the question: What do you want out of life, really? You could apply the answer you receive to these 4 steps: 1. CLARITY OF VISION Envisage yourself experiencing what you really want for yourself. More fulfilment in an important relationship? A vocation that is true to you? Peace of mind, effective communications with co-workers, healthier patterns of eating, sleeping or exercise? See yourself in the picture. Feel, hear, touch and taste what that would be like for you. Take some quiet time to contemplate the richness of your vision. You might like to write it down, record it or go for a walk and allow the vision to become clearer for you. Ask to be shown more details in your dreams. Be open to the ways you may be guided in your vision and how you can realize it. 2. DEFINITENESS OF PURPOSE Ask yourself the question: Why? Why is your vision important and meaningful for you? How will it be serving yourself, others? Knowing your purpose will help to keep you on track amid all the distractions that life can throw your way. Your purpose is like a light on your path, to guide you and keep you moving along it. "Wealth is the ability to fully experience life." Henry David Thoreau 3. STEADINESS OF FAITH Act as if the purpose were being fulfilled; you are already enjoying living in the vision. Acting "as if" gives a way to overcome doubt. You may find yourself drawing on your reserves of courage, and in the process experience greater vitality and freedom than you have ever known. Commenting recently, fellow blogger Kari Henley demonstrates how she took action with faith: "Yet, when I decided to leave an unhappy marriage, pregnant with a toddler in tow, no money and no family nearby, I acted on sheer faith. I trusted that inner voice that was screaming, "It will be OK- just do it." And, one miracle after another fell into my lap. I followed the "synchronicities" as my guide I was on the right path. When I get that tingle on my arms, and lurch in my stomach, I know it is a sign." "Faith is a passionate intuition." William Wordsworth 4. DEPTH OF YOUR GRATITUDE Education in life is about understanding. Training is about putting what you know into practice. I have known for a while that being grateful is a "good thing". How can you make being grateful a way of being? For the past several months, I have been writing at least 5 gratitude statements in my journal each evening. Being grateful for what I have seems to attract to me more to be grateful for. I am even grateful for when things do not go my way because I am learning to assume that everything is working out for the best. It is amazing how that seems to happen. Gratitude is a great attitude. Commenting last week, this person illustrates gratitude: "Gratitude in God is powerfully healing, and I mean that in a genuine sense. 31 years ago I got in a motorcycle accident and ended up walking with a limp for a few weeks. While thanking God for allowing me to continue to walk, thinking if limping was the worst that came out the accident rather than having a leg amputated or mutilated - I could handle it and was thankful. While deep in that thought I remember taking one extra step and was no longer limping. I was totally healed. God is indeed power . BTW, I DON'T GO TO CHURCH or belong to an organized religion." "Abundance through Spirit is available to all. Spirit is a constantly expansive, available energy that is dynamically present. It is up to each individual to keep the 'well' or channel open to receive of the blessings of abundance." John-Roger The Science of Getting Rich is freely available on the internet. If you would like a pdf copy, please contact me at the address below. What does enrichment mean for you? What are some of the ways your enrich yourself? Have you recently found a new purpose for fulfilling your life? I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to comment below, or contact me at clearresults@mac.com. To receive notices of my blogs, check Become a Fan at the top.
 
Tara Stiles: Is Religion Ruining Our Health? Top
The moment we believe the answers are no longer inside ourselves, waiting without trickery to be uncovered by reflection, meditation, and practice, we are separated from the truth. We become ungrounded by fear and start to look outside and grasp for answers away from our reach. Self-doubt is a part of most everyone's life at some point. When we forget that we are powerful, loving beings, full of potential and endless possibilities, we are subject to fall into the traps of teachings that convince us that we are unworthy, unholy, and small. Finding the answers in something outside of our selves can feel more secure, especially when lots of other people are doing it. Most of us are taught faith when we are young. We are given a set of rules and behaviors to live by "or else" bad things will happen and there will be no eternal salvation. Religion takes the trust away from the individual and replaces it with an insurance plan for eternal salvation paid off over a lifetime with rules and fear. Is going to a building once a week to be guided to a connection with God useful or destructive? Why can't we plug into divinity each moment without the help of an institution? Feeling and intuition can guide us through a very grounded and real spiritual path. Religion has the potential to bring people together, provide comfort, and turn people's attention to good things. Religions also have the power to crush the human will, making a person dependent on rules and behavior for approval, acceptance, and salvation. A good friend of mine was sharing with me how upset she was over her boyfriend of several years breaking their relationship off. His religious and cultural values led him to put down all the extroverted professional on-goings my friend was experiencing, and made her feel bad about gaining success and attention for her performing career. When it came down to the root of their issue, his religion and values taught him to believe that performing on stage, and any act of expressing one's talent and passion outwardly is turning away from God. This sounds more like fear than spirituality. It makes sense that full expression of our gifts in a celebration of joy and love leans more to the union of the Self with God. When we acknowledge and celebrate that divinity is in everyone, our fears have the capacity to fade. Realizing this ultimate truth, whether practiced in singing, yoga, gardening, running, or walking, is a strong foundation for spirituality. While my friend's case is extreme, religions have contributed to a decline in our mental and physical health. Think back to a joyful childhood moment where you were running around, having a blast, full of uncensored, joyful expression. You weren't worried about rules yet, although we are trained from birth how to act to get love and attention. Playful kids are full of joy, vitality and health. The body and the mind are the same. Kids don't worry about how many grams of protein are in their dinner, or how many calories they are burning running around having fun. They are living in the moment and somehow they find their way naturally to consuming and burning what their bodies need, resting when they are tired, and waking up fresh when they've had enough sleep. We can also find and trust our own intuitions, and live in the moment as adults. We probably have more responsibilities than when we were 5, and we have to make our own meals. But we can figure it out. People follow rules for 2 reasons: 1. It makes sense to follow that rule. Traffic signals are a good example. 2. Fear. We're taught our whole life what we need to do and what we're not allowed to do. Some rules are useful and some are silly. It's not useful if someone tells you which rules to follow and which to break. Our own work is in following a practice that helps us center, ground, and connect to some harmony with nature, the divine, and of course ourselves. At that point, we already know what we need to follow and what to let go. After reading through Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food several times, what crept up and shocked me wasn't as much the outcome - an ongoing horrific state of health in America. It's that on the whole, we've completely lost touch with our awareness. We put all our faith in scientific studies that continue to contradict each other, and marketing that keeps us constantly switching directions. We have been trained to trust the "experts" without thought or question, and welcomed the glazed-over convenience of it all. We waited for someone to tell us what to eat, and we believed them when they told us we could eat a whole box of SnackWells cookies because they are "fat free." Religion doesn't have to get in the way of trusting our own feelings, but it has that capacity if we let it. Similarly, we don't need to let scientific studies get in the way of our own common sense. Looking at the history of science (or religion for that matter), it's kind of amusing how seriously we sometimes take all the latest proclamations of "Now we have the truth so come and get it!" We already have our own sense, our own intuition, our own truths. We have a great need all around us now to work on our health. The exciting part is we can choose to put in the work to ground our selves, take a closer look at our behaviors and psychology, find our own answers, and use our knowledge and compassion to help others. We're already living in the Matrix , or Stepford (pick your favorite flick), and it's time to unplug. Excitingly enough, it's never too late to change, to inspire, to love, and to eat something green. More on Health
 
Ethan Nichtern: Whole Foods CEO John Mackey's Utterly Disappointing Worldview Top
There is a Whole Foods across the street from the Interdependence Project in New York's East Village, the Buddhist-inspired nonprofit organization which I direct. Some nights, after teaching or participating in a class on meditation and Buddhist psychology, or after yoga practice, I head there on my way home, to buy convenient, healthy food for one of those 10 pm diners New Yorkers know all too well. Since our organization works directly with issues of responsible consumption and environmental activism, it's always nice to be able to find local and organic produce, even if it traumatizes my slender wallet to shop regularly at "Whole Paycheck." Five-dollar pre-washed spinach from the North Fork of Long Island! It's late, I'm exhausted; what could be better? Of course on the surface, a Buddhist shopping at Whole Foods makes a lot of sense (almost to a degree of neo-hippy caricature). I practice, study and teach a tradition of mental health and wellbeing, a path for people to systematically learn to take care of our own minds and extend that care-taking to others around us. A healthy diet and an interest in eating both local and organic foods are -- for me -- the physical extensions of that mental mindfulness practice. However, the Buddhist teachings on the truth of interdependence don't allow us to stop at the level of individual health and wellbeing. The more we pay attention to reality, the more we see the total impossibility of taking care of our own bodies and minds without taking care of others. The more we see interdependence -- that our lives do not happen in a vacuum, separate from the lives of others -- the more we realize that our own health is inextricably bound up with the health of others. If you are healthier, then I am healthier, and vice versa. This is true physically, this is true psychologically, and this is true comunally. A few years ago I wrote a book about updating the Buddhist philosophy of interdependence for the 21st century, called One City: A Declaration of Interdependence . In researching where the term interdependence has surfaced outside of Buddhist thought, I came across Whole Foods' mission statement on their website, which, serendipitously, is also called a "Declaration of Interdependence." Read it -- it's uplifting and full of good intentions on taking care of oneself and taking care of each other. An excellent corporate mission statement for sure. At that time, I was heartened by the thought that -- during the dark and separatist cynicism of the Bush era -- interdependence was still making deep inroads into corporate America. Then this week I read Whole Foods' CEO John Mackey's Wall Street Journal op-ed piece , which struck me as a highly fearful and regressive take on the healthcare debate, which is undoubtedly one of the most interdependently pressing issues of our time. Mr. Mackey's Wall Street Journal piece might alternatively be titled "A Declaration of I, Me, and Mine." The world view on display in that piece of writing is one of selfish individualism, mistrust for the very notion representative government itself, and continued support for a system of profit on anabolic steroids. The piece is also amazingly dismissive of the most interdependently-minded president we've had in a long time, taking the term "Obamacare" straight from Rush Limbaugh's play book. The cognitive dissonance between the worldview that seems to inform Mr. Mackey's views on healthcare, and the "Declaration of Interdependence" on his company's website are too much for me to continue to support, at least for now. As a Buddhist practitioner, I work hard to identify and slowly transform my own internal hypocrisies. Most of them take the following form: I declare good intentions to benefit myself and others. Yet, I fall prey to deep-seeded destructive habits and fearful self-obsessions instead. As a practice, whenever I recognize a destructive habit or a cognitive dissonance, I set an intention to work mindfully and diligently to open myself to a larger, more compassionate and less fixated worldview. This work is slow and difficult, and I look like a hypocrite myself a large percentage of the time. But unless I choose to recognize my own hypocrisies, the work of positive transformation never begins at all. An extension of this practice is to not support the obvious hypocrisies of a friend (and my wallet, at least, has definitely befriended Mr. Mackey for years), especially when the friend is in a position of enormous power and influence. So until Mr. Mackey learns that truly declaring interdependence means we take care of each other no matter what - a declaration best furthered in the healthcare debate by supporting a single-payer plan, or, at the very least, a strong public option - I am not going to support his cognitive dissonance on interdependence with any more of my hard-earned local-organic-neo-hippie-spinach money. We are all interdependent. And therefore we must take care of each other and support policies that promote real interdependence. Especially those of us who go so far as to proclaim interdependence as a corporate mission statement. In the meantime, anybody have a good CSA in Brooklyn? More on Wall Street Journal
 
Sarah Haskins: Target Women: You're Old Top
I turned 30 this week, and promptly began to fall apart. Fortunately, modern medicine is here to help with my arthritis, incontinence, and bone loss...for now. WATCH: More on Advertising
 
Dr. Tian Dayton: Diane Schuler: The Heartbreak of Denial Top
An August 13th, New York Post article Blood is not Thicker than Alcohol reports that, "William Hance, was enraged not just that his sister, Diane Schuler, had guzzled vodka and smoked pot while driving his kids -- but that her husband, Daniel, concocted bizarre medical excuses to try to explain away his wife's condition and denied that she had a drinking problem, said a lawyer familiar with the situation." This is the kind of heartbreak that alcohol and drug abuse engender. Families who hide parental alcohol and drug abuse put children at risk. The case with Diane Schuler is the horrific extreme of how children can be affected by, in this case, a drunk driver. But there are other ways of "driving drunk". There is the mother who simply 'forgets' to pick her children up on time, or to get them to school functions, friends or doctor's appointments. There's the Dad who doesn't come home at night because his relationship with a bottle takes precedence over his relationship with his family. Then there are the silent sufferers, the kids who become little adults too soon. The ones who stand guard at the gate of the family ready to swing into action to get younger siblings up, dressed and fed when mom or dad are "out of it", to act in loco parentis not for physically absent parents but for parents who are absent because they have disappeared temporarily into a bottle or a drug. The long term effects of this kind of constant preoccupation with whether or not the adults who are supposed to be in charge of our lives are on or off duty are what we have been discussing in previous blogs on codependency and will continue to discuss in that series. Emotional Baggage Kids who grow up in this atmosphere can become what psychologists call hyper vigilant, constantly scanning their environment for signs of changes in the emotional weather, constantly waiting to take their signals of what to do next from what is going on with their parents; the psychological equivalent of riding in the back seat of a car with a parent driving drunk. We discussed the over responsible little grown ups who step in to take charge when parents drop the ball, but the opposite also occurs when othe siblings, discouraged and disheartened with trying and getting nowhere just sort of give up and develop learned helplessness , because they learn that nothing they can do will change the situation for the better. Still others become anxious, depressed or even emotionally numb in an unconscious attempt to keep pain and anxiety under control. In the absence of clear lines of authority siblings step in to fill the void. Sometimes older or stronger siblings take over in a benevolent manner, filling in the gaps left by parents......but sometimes they take advantage of the power vacuum and lord it over their more vulnerable counterparts. And sometimes they do both. When these alternating sibling dynamics run unchecked they can create confusion and competition; they can also create traumatic bonds, the kind that get forged under extreme stress. Needless to say, denial of abuse can seer these qualities into place and make them deeply disturbing; because the problem is denied and explained away children cannot make sense of what is going on around them and their trust in their own powers of reasoning as well as in other people gets severely undermined because rather than the truth they hear...."Mom isn't drunk she has a 'medical condition', 'she's just tired', 'you kids are too much for her...or....dad is just 'tired from work,' 'worried about money' 'has that back problem (flu, old injury, headache...you name it) again." This teaches children to doubt themselves and create a false persona to deal with their own fear and the world around them. It teaches them, in other words, to live a lie. A child who grows up with alcohol and drug abuse may experience: • Loss of Trust and Faith Due to deep ruptures in primary, dependency relationships and breakdown of an orderly world. • Distorted Reasoning Due to convoluted attempts to make sense and meaning out of chaotic, confusing, frightening or painful experience that feels senseless. • Easily Triggered • Development of Rigid Psychological Defenses When this person develops long term 'charactor armour' to defend against letting pain in. • Desire to Self-Medicate When this person attempts to quiet and control their turbulent, troubled inner world through the use of drugs and alcohol or behavioral addictions.This can be part of how addiction gets passed down through the generations. Why do families deny that there is a problem with alcohol and drug abuse until the cost is so great that it takes a life time to undo? Addiction is mortifying, it is deeply disturbing to watch someone you love become someone else, become a person you might laugh at, turn away from or avoid in any other circumstance. Addiction is terrifying, to really admit how scared you are about what is happening on a regular basis in your own family it just too frightening. Addiction is creepy, confusing, insidious and very, very sad. It makes one feel that if they cop to the extent of the problem, they will have to change their entire life. They will have to run away, lower the boom or take a life altering action that they fear will 'destroy the family', 'hurt the children' or 'turn everyone's lives upside down'. But everyone's lives are already upside down (and inside out). Reaching Out There is another way. They can reach out, break their silence and get help. They don't even need to see a professional. Some of the best help available for addiction issues are twelve step programs. They are free, there is no sign up and twelve step meetings (AA for addicts, alanon for family members of addicts) are available at all times of day all over the world. Whether what you are struggling with is addiction currently going on or the effects of growing up with addiction there is no need to struggle alone. For more information log onto www.al-anon.alateen.org or www.aa.org. If you are a teacher, clergy, medical or mental health professional, family member or good neighbor and want to learn how you can identify when there is a problem and help a hurting child, even if it's only by listening or standing by log onto nacoa.org For more information on the effects of growing up with addiction read Emotional Sobriety: From Relationship Trauma to Resilience and Balance , Tian Dayton PhD
 
Lila Shapiro: 'Where I am Spending National Relaxation Day: Spa Castle!' Top
Today is national relaxation day-- a day I recently discovered-- and there's really only one place I can think of wanting to spend it: Spa Castle, a self-described Korean "spa and water park" in College Point, Queens. This is a subject I feel pretty qualified to discuss: I travel to Spa Castle frequently, I also am given to spending long portions of dinner parties, train rides, and boring movies talking up its charms. The lede for the New York Times piece that first introduced me to the Spa Castle lifestyle-- "THIS is the best night of my life!"-- proved pretty accurate for me. Unlike a standard spa or spa retreat, Spa Castle (sometimes called Inspa World, the spa's original name, and still in use indiscriminately throughout the place on signs, uniforms and packaging) is not primarily about getting Golden Caviar Pore Refining Facials, or Collagen Eye Treatments, or a cleansing fast, though you can do those things there. And it's not filled with huge water slides either - though you can rent a raft to whirl around a 20 foot long circular water swirl. It's about a relaxation journey in a foreign land. Spa Castle was started and owned by a Queens architect and developer Steve Chon, who, according the New York Times is planning on opening 19 more spas, the next in Dallas. I've haven't seen any indication of Dallas, though the website (tagline: Welcome To Paradise!) has intriguing photos of an upcoming Spa Castle Pocono, to be developed over the next 3 to 5 years. "Spa Castle Pocono will be suburban place with culture, sport and recreation programs for a health life," the site proclaims "wheras Spa Castle N.Y. is an urban place for families and lovers." [sic] Upon entrance ($35 dollars during the week, $45 on the weekend, open from 6:00 a.m. to midnight) you're instructed to put your money, clothes, cell phone and wristwatch in your locker. In exchange, they give you a uniform (grey for men, pink for women, yellow for kids) and a fake watch that serves as a your locker key and charge card while inside. It doesn't tell the time. There are a list of rules in the locker rooms, including a no-discrimination order illustrated by a sketch of 5 yellow ducklings turning their backs on a black duckling. You can dip in a series of plunge pools (from icy cold to scalding) and a daily rotating herbal health bath (think "ginger! for relaxation"). On the second floor there's Sauna Land. Some of the wonders: a Gold Sauna (made with 96% gold tiles, which apparently sucks out bad energy), a Color Therapy sauna where you sit in heated cubicles glowing red, blue, green, lavender, and so on with "mood boosting" effects, and a Jade Sauna (according to the signs, good for high blood pressure, paralysis and athlete's foot.) To cool off, there's an igloo lined with icy pipes and blue tile. The whole of Sauna land resembles a series of giant sparkling gu drops. Hungry? There are 5 places to get food, ranging from a full Korean restaurant on the top floor to a swim-up bar where you can order ice cream sundaes and grilled corn while lolling about in warm, jet filled water. If you're tired, there are three designated sleeping areas. The most surreal of these is dark, and filled with massive leather recliners each connected to a small tv that hovers over you while lying down. The tvs don't have headphones or volume controls, but you can change the channel. I drifted off there while watching The Breakfast Club and the air was filled with a soft unintelligible hum from the neighboring tvs. On the roof deck there are a series of swirl pools and baths. I like the 300 year old pine bath, which is, a nearby sign says, "like taking a bath in the forest." (White swimsuits should not be worn, the sign further cautions. They will turn brown.) It's not really like taking a bath in the forest-- but as you sit, and smell the piney spicy scent and feel the percolating bubbles and stare at the fake illuminated columns, you feel a bit like you're taking a bath in the woods of an alternate dimension. A fellow Spa Castle voyager described the best part of the experience like so: "The palpable sense that when you are there you are living and moving about in an entirely different reality." One thing I've noticed is that after a couple of hours at Spa Castle, people start acting so happy and relaxed (and let's face it, a little weird) that I start to feel glad there are so many employees standing around in uniform, soberly keeping an eye on things. Once when I was in Sauna Land, I overheated and took my uniform top off (I was wearing a swimsuit underneath). A guard politely followed me into the Sauna and firmly suggested I put it back on. Another time, when it was nearing sunset, a man approached the pine forest bath, dipped his hand in and tasted the water. At night the roof deck is lit up with the same colors used in the color therapy sauna, and you start to look around noticing that everyone looks wildly happy. It's not like I really understand or believe in the technical benefits of color therapy, say-- but you start to have this gnawing sensation that it all makes sense. It's an interesting feeling -- I recommend it.
 
Jamie Court: Mercury Insurance Launches Attack On Middle Class With Initiative To Raise Rates For Drivers Who Don't Cause Accidents Top
Every major economic downtown has its Scrooge, the opportunistic capitalist who preys on working people when they are hurting the worst. A ballot measure cleared for circulation by California Attorney General Jerry Brown moves Mercury Insurance CEO and founder George Joseph high up on the list of America's Top Corporate Predators. Brown has released the official title and summary of the proposed Mercury Insurance ballot initiative that will allow insurance companies to raise rates when motorists who stopped driving for a time restart their coverage; when they file a claim, even if an accident is not their fault; or when they are late on a payment. The anti-consumer measure is sponsored by auto insurance giant Mercury Insurance and its billionaire Chairman George Joseph, who over the years has funded numerous attempts to undermine Proposition 103, the voter-approved measure that bans unfair rate increases. Joseph has been been listed as among the top 400 richest men in the world, but I suppose you can never be too rich when there's opportunity to hit the middle class where it hurts in the name of profit.   Under state law, the Attorney General is responsible for analyzing a proposed ballot initiative and issuing a title and summary that will now appear on petitions presented to Californians by signature-gatherers for their approval. The Attorney General's full title and summary reads:   ALLOWS INSURANCE COMPANIES TO INCREASE OR DECREASE THE COST OF AUTO INSURANCE BASED ON A DRIVER’S COVERAGE HISTORY. INITIATIVE STATUTE. Allows insurance companies to raise the cost of auto insurance based on the absence of prior automobile insurance coverage. Allows insurance companies to lower the cost of auto insurance for drivers who have continuously maintained auto insurance coverage, even if they change insurance companies. Allows insurance companies to consider “claims experience” when calculating the amount of any such reduction or when determining which drivers will be eligible for it. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: The measure would have no significant fiscal impact on state and local governments. (09-0021.) The initiative would penalize people who miss one payment or decide not to drive and let their insurance lapse.  It would also allow insurance companies to penalize drivers simply because they file a claim, even if they are not at fault such as when they're at rear-ended while waiting at a stoplight.  Currently, only accidents where the driver is at-fault can be used to increase his or her premium.   "Mercury is using the initiative process to go after middle class Californians by allowing insurance companies to raise rates on struggling families in the middle of an economic crisis," said Consumer Watchdog's Executive Director Doug Heller.  "Auto insurers shouldn't be allowed to jack up your premium because you stop driving for a time, miss one payment or file a legitimate insurance claim when you are hit in an accident."   Hidden in the deceptive initiative is Mercury's plan to create an unfair "use it and lose it " system, which would raise driver's rates if they ever file a claim. This creates a perverse incentive to not file accident claims, even when you are not at fault, in order to avoid a major rate hike.  People who pay for coverage should not be penalized for using their policy. It also means accidents are less likely to be reported, a public safety hazard.  Most importantly, for Mercury, it means that insurance companies will have to pay fewer claims.  That is why Mercury, the only donor to this effort, has already contributed $500,000 to the campaign.   "It's pretty easy to figure out what's going on here.  An insurance giant and its billionaire chairman are going to spend millions on political consultants and signature gatherers to try to fool Californians.  Mercury will say and spend anything to win new ways to charge higher premiums and pay fewer claims," said Heller.   Because the number of Americans letting auto insurance lapse during this economic crisis is skyrocketing, according to insurance industry data, Mercury's proposed penalty for restarting insurance coverage will also force many drivers to remain uninsured. This will raise the cost of uninsured motorist coverage for everyone else and leave California roads much less safe.   "Mercury's proposal is a triple threat.  You will pay an insurance penalty if you ever have a lapse in coverage; you will pay a penalty if you ever file any kind of claim; and you will pay higher uninsured motorist premiums. That might be good for Mercury, but it’s no good for the rest of us,” said Heller.   Consumer Watchdog sent Mercury's George Joseph a letter about his dangerous attack on California families when the initiative was first filed.  Click here to read the letter .   Consumer Watchdog has yet to receive a response. Shame on Joseph and Mercury. This is one company that the public simply cannot trust. -
 
Tallulah Morehead: Big Brother 11: The Wizard of Wacko Place. Top
"This power that we're supposed to have, we're just calling it 'The Wizard,' just because, you know, wizards have magical powers." -Jordan. (We have now found the one thing that Jordan does know!) When my column last week, The Empire Strikes Out , had to be several days late, I received many comments and emails from you readers, expressing how you missed it, and were hoping it would be forthcoming, and when it arrived, expressing gladness that it was here. Thank you. At the risk of being sincere for one sentence, that meant a lot to me. Also, before we get down to business, I wanted to point out that in the comments for two weeks ago's column, No Joy in Mudville , a comment was left by evicted houseguest Casey himself, fortunately expressing how hilarious he found my write-up, rather than fuming over my harmless japes. It does tickle me to learn that some of my subjects are also among my readers, though I don't expect any compliments from the Emperor Palpatwit anytime soon. Glad to have you here, Casey. Now to business. This week was a trilogy of fantasy worthy of J.R.R. Tolkien himself, and so shall it be. Book One: Sunday : Jeremy Piven and the Deathly Bores. Jessie is so clueless (and doomed) he actually misses Palpatwit. Said Jessie of The Dork Lord: "We lost a wingman, and a very good wingman he was." Jessie, Palpie was the whole turkey. Pointless Wizard Speculation #1 : Kevin to Chima: "I thought sure you had the mystery power." Why? Chima about winning HOH: "Most importantly, it means that Natalie, Jessie, and I are safe this week... Sweet Revenge, baby." Somewhere (outside in the pool), a secret wizard is chortling quietly. Russell tried kissing Chima's butt to stay off the block. He had to hug her. Poor Russell. My skin hasn't crawled so far since Palpatwit appeared shirtless. Plus, it was already a lost cause. Jordan, watching a spider spin a web (Which Jeff thinks the tiny spider will use to catch birds! I'd like to see a half-inch spider trying to eat a robin, snared in its steel web.): "What do they make their webs out of?" Jeff: "Web." (Well, it's not like he's wrong, but it's still an utterly stupid answer.) Jordan: "Yeah, but where does it come from? Or does it shoot out of their butt?" Jeff: "I don't know where it comes out of. They're wrists! " Spiders have wrists ? Even Jordan wasn't stupid enough to buy that one. And when you're dumber than Jordan, you are truly an ignoramus. I'm afraid this wizard flunked out of Hogwarts. I hereby rename Jeff to henceforth be called The Wizard Gandoofus. He's not a dark wizard; he's just a dim wizard, The Dim Lord. Chima told the houseguests the tale of her rape and beating by a serial killer. It's a horrifying, true story, and her evidence sent the killer (He'd already killed two women he'd raped) to death row and his execution. Chima said: "I want to do something, maybe go talk to young girls or something. Something that's empowering." It happened ten years ago. What has she been waiting for? Pointless Wizard Speulation #2 : Jordan: "I think Michele has the mystery power. I really do... Michele has the mystery power." Why Jordan is certain of this I don't know; but then, I don't know why she can't tell time, nor divide 60 by 4, nor know where that far-away mythical land "Iowa" is. Jeremy Piven visited the Big Brother House. Poor Jeremy. And now the houseguests are all in danger of getting mercury poisoning. Gandoofus: "If any celebrity can come in the house, Jeremy Piven is definitely up there. I would say - I'm not even going to say top ten. Maybe top eight." I'm dying to know who the seven celebrities Gandoofus would put ahead of Jeremy are. (I would put about 22,784 celebrities ahead of Piven.) My guesses for Gandoofus's Top Seven: 7. Jessica Simpson. (For her bitchin' brain.) 6. Jon Gosselin. 5. Sanjaya Malakar. 4.The Sham-Wow Guy. 3. Me. 2. Kendra Wilkinson. 1. Professor Stephen Hawking. So if Gandoofus loves Jeremy Piven so much, why didn't he warn him about that spider web? What if Piven got eaten by that ferocious spider? If Gandoofus loves Jeremy Piven so much, why doesn't he marry him? Natalie told Piven that Gandoofus and Jordan have been "hooking up." Great! Now thanks to Loose Lips Natalie, Gandoofus can never achieve his dream of becoming Mrs. Jeremy Piven. Way to go, loudmouth. It was a "luxury" challenge. The losing team had to see Jeremy's new movie. (Paramount Vantage hasn't payed me for Product Placement to mention its title, so I'm not going to.) The winning team got to eat slop for a week. One loser (Russell) also got $50,000, which would be my minimum fee to sit through this execrable movie. I saw the trailer for it in a theater a couple weeks back, and not only did it leave me wanting never to see it, but I wanted to un see the trailer, which includes an anti-Asian Hate Crime presented as a "funny gag." Let me put it this way; the ad mentions that it's from the people who made Stepbrothers , a wretchedly dreadful movie of last year. That's the sort of connection you hide, not trumpet. I'd tell you what grade Entertainment Weekly gave it, but they haven't reviewed it yet, luckily for its opening weekend. However, on Rotten Tomatoes.com , out of 55 reviews, 40 were pans to only 15 mildly positive ones. While in the house, Piven made The Biggest Mistake of His Life, even bigger than appearing in Very Bad Things , or eating plates of fish that can tell you the temperature. He said to Jessie, "Good to see you, my friend." You see, Jessie took this meaningless polite noise at face value. Jessie now thinks that Jeremy Piven is now his actual friend! As Jeremy was trying to escape, I mean leave, we heard this exchange: Jeremy: "I'll see you guys on the other side." Jessie: "How are we going to be able to take you up on that?" Jeremy (A look of panic and terror flashing across his face): "On the other side? Don't you worry." Jessie: "Oh, you'll find us?" (Jessie's been handed this dodge before, once by his parents.) Jeremy (sprinting for the exit): "I'm gonna find you. Yeah. It's easy to find. I know how to find you guys." Then, Jessie in the Diary Room: "He's a celebrity, and we actually get to say that now we've met him. You know, I was like, all right. Cool. If you wanna chill outside the house, that's awesome." Jessie, Jeremy Piven is not your friend, and he does not want to "chill outside the house." I see a restraining order in Jessie's future. Jeremy Piven in the Diary Room: "They seemed like a bunch of really nice kids," so we know he hasn't been watching! Jessie made the mistake of not fleeing when Lydia spoke to him, and Natalie flew into a jealous rage. If he were anyone in the world but Jessie, I'd feel sorry for him. That poor guy needs steady hands when shaving his armpits. To no one's surprise, Chima nominated Russell and Lydia, and it didn't matter, because The Wizard was still lurking shirtless in the background, with the real power. Book 2: Tuesday : The Treachery of Gollum. I looked at the houseguest page on CBS.com , and there people can elect to be a "fan" of their favorite houseguests, just as you can elect to be my fan here. (My thanks to all 75 of you) Interestingly, Gandoofus has the most fans, at 6580. Chima has the fewest ( Yea! ), at 399, actually below Palpatwit's 468. Braden has 1126 fans, and he was evicted the first week! Russell has 2193 fans, oddly enough, all gay bottoms. Pointless Wizard Speculation #3 : Jessie to Natalie: "[Gandoofus] has the power." Okay, that's actually a correct guess, but it was based solely on The Dim Lord getting summoned to the Diary Room. They all get Diary Room summonses! It means nothing. Yet Jessie then went around to his alliance announcing that Gandoofus has the power. These people will soon be on a jury, and they don't begin to grasp the concept of "evidence." Pointless Wizard Speculation #4 : Chima to Jessie: "I've been thinking it was [Gandoofus] from the beginning." On what evidence? Pointless Wizard Speculation #5 : Natalie to Jessie and Chima: "[Gandoofus] doesn't have the power. I don't think he would use it if he's not on the block anyway... He's not dumb like that." That's three wrong guesses in thirty seconds. He is The Wizard, he will use it, and he is that dumb! Russell does not have a future in diplomacy. "I'm on the block, so I'm going to try to mend some fences, particularly with Michele," said Russell before going out and starting an argument with The Doctor that rapidly escalated into a full-scale screaming match. Russell could get Mahatma Gandhi to mass-murder orphans. I bet that this once happened in a shopping mall, some long-ago December: Santa Claus to Little Russell sitting on his knee: "So little Russ, what would you like for Christmas, you tremendously hunky six-year-old? Ho, ho, ho." Forty-five seconds later... Santa Claus to Little Russell: " Get off my lap, you vicious little bastard! I hate your mother-f*#king guts, you evil monster! I hope you die slowly in pain! I hope your Christmas tree burns down your house! I'm bringing you cholera for Christmas!!! " Russell gets people screaming so loudly that I can still hear them after I turn off my TV. To play for her in the Power of Veto competition, Lydia chose Kevin, now renamed by me Gollum, because he's creepy, fawning, and untrustworthy (there's also a physical resemblance; no offense, Movie Gollum). Admittedly, the movie Gollum is a bit butcher. Okay, more than "a bit." Lydia did this because her buddy Gollum assured her he would use it to take her off the block. Lydia, a word of advice; don't loan Gollum any of your jewelry. This competition required the contestants to wear chicken suits. CBS, we tune into Big Brother each summer for the flesh. Quit dressing them up, and let them compete as nude as they're willing to get. It involved stealing eggs through chicken wire. Why weren't they dressed as foxes, or still better, weasels? Gollum complained in the Diary Room: "I'm thinking 'I'm screwed,' because I have tiny Asian hands." This is the first time I've heard a member of an ethnic minority use a racial slur against himself. Besides, his tiny hands were actually an advantage, as they could more easily slip through the chicken wire than the others. He took an early lead which he never lost, and won the Power of Veto, though Russell only lost by a single second. Lydia was jubilant. Gollum had won! She was safe! Oh yeah? You see, Gollum is a cowardly little weasel. He immediately began worrying that if he kept his word to Lydia, whom he repeatedly told, "I've got your back," he'd make an enemy of Chima and others. Realizing that he was now vulnerable to the power of the lurking Wizard, Jessie began working on Gandoofus to try and turn him against Russell, using the straightforward tactic of telling Gandoofus blatant lies, recounting how Russell had been telling everyone that The Dim Lord "needs to go," which Russell never said. Gandoofus may be dim ( may be!), but he's not that dim! Jessie then laid this same line of bull on Jordan, who can believe anything (I'm fairly certain that by Thursday, she was expecting a real wizard to show up), but even she wasn't buying it. Pointless Wizard Speculations #6, 7, and 8 : Jordan to Jessie: "I think it's Michele, or [Gollum], or hopefully [Gandoofus] has it and is just playing dumb right now." Basically Jordan's guess boiled down to "It's someone who isn't me." And Jordan, Gandoofus isn't playing dumb, any more than you are. Now I would like to award a couple achievements: Most Pointless Speculation Imaginable : Jordan asked Gandoofus: "If I get HOH next week, who should I put up?" The correct answer would be, "Ask the pigs that fly out of your butt when you win a competition." Most Honest and Accurate Statement of Fact This Week : Russell: "Chima is a complete bitch. She's the most arrogant, self-centered person I've ever met." And he knows Jessie! Chima, whom I'm starting to loathe as much as I loathed Palpatwit, said to Russell, "You should have been on America's Top Terrorists." (Will Paula Abdul be judging that now?) Yes Chima, Russell disliking you, the only sane response anyone could have to meeting you, makes him the equal of people who fly hijacked airliners into skyscrapers, murdering thousands in seconds. Real sense of perspective and good taste there. Russell took this as a racial insult to him. Is he of Arabic heritage? I'm really asking, as I have no idea. Anyway, as he protested that this was a racist remark, Chima's mature, adult response was to stick her fingers in her ears (hopefully managing to avoid piercing her eardrums with her razor-sharp talons), and loudly chanting "La, la, la, la, la, la, la." Chima Symone, the 21st Century Oscar Wilde. President Obama doesn't hold a monopoly on brilliant, reasoned oratorical powers and calm, intelligent discourse skills. Chima should be - ah - "discussing" healthcare at a town hall gathering. Remember, this is the woman who last week said: "America, you suck." and then laughed that scrapping-chalk laugh of hers, because it's funny to hate America, especially for petty reasons. The producers backed up Chima's offensive (to victims of actual terrorists) slur with a montage of clips of Russell's 'riod rages throughout the show's run so far. It was entertaining, but no one seemed to be in terror. They were just annoyed. Russell doesn't terrorize. Not even once has he killed a random group of innocent strangers. How I wish I could still say that about myself. What Russell does is harassment. Frankly, if he'll keep doing it shirtless, he can come over and "terrorize" me all night. I'll leave my door unlocked. Don't tell Lydia. "You can't take it because a woman is sending you home!" Chima screeched at Russ. Chima, don't count your chickens until The Wizard lets them go. " I DON'T CARE! " Chima shrieked like a banshee so loudly she was blowing out my speakers, which to me says she does care. "Grow a pair," was her parting shot. Chima, I've seen a live-feed screencap of Russell coming out of the shower, and he has a pair. Oh boy, does he. Then the Luxury Challenge losers were locked in a room and forced to watch the Jeremy Piven movie. I believe this violates the Geneva Conventions. They were supplied with plenty of beer, in the producers' hopes that if they got drunk enough, they'd like the movie. How bad is this flick? Well, Russell and Jessie were laughing at it, Chima thought it was "good," and Jordan could almost follow it. In the Diary Room, Lydia was wearing bright red lipstick and a red head scarf that made her look like a punk Lucy Ricardo. After Lydia told Russell she was sure Gollum was going to betray her, Gollum got all whiny with her for betraying his plan to betray her. How dare you betray me when I'm betraying you? Gollum got so peeved that he threatened to use the POV to take her off the block. That's right, he threatened her with being saved from eviction. He hasn't
 
Tom Gregory: Thom Bierdz: Daytime's Inspired Resurrection Isn't Restless Anymore Top
For me, loneliness and daytime television have always gone hand-in-hand. As a metronome for the morning, I'll switch the TV on as I prepare for the day. Some afternoons I find myself standing alone in my kitchen intrigued by a talk show train wreck or a CNN prediction of doom. During my college years, I remember the guilty displeasure of Luke and Laura. Today, daytime's preponderance of lawyer, technical school, and lapband commercials make it appear as though people at home could use some shining inspiration. It's there, but you have to dig behind the scenes to find TV's daytime gold. Thom Bierdz's return to The Young and the Restless is 24K brilliance. In 1989 his character, twenty-eight- year-old Phillip Chancellor III, drove his car off a cliff in a drunken fog. All the bells and whistles pealed for a big-haired 'eighties funeral that left legions of fans teary eyed over the end of handsome, young, rebellious Phillip. This summer in a Friday afternoon closing cliffhanger, Thom Bierdz, as Phillip, appeared back on the soap. It seems that Phillip has risen from the dead, but in truth Mr. Bierdz has come back to restore Phillip Chancellor's dignity and give middle America a shot of humanity. When Phillip Chancellor III drove his car over that deadly drop-off, Thom Bierdz was left sitting in the driver's seat of his own destiny. He was free of his daytime contract; he had his eye pinpointed at a film career. He felt damned near indestructible - it was as rosy as a Tinseltown story gets. Scant weeks later an ugly reality came ringing on Thom's Hollywood Hills phone. From Wisconsin, his sister screamed that brother Troy had murdered mother Phyllis with a baseball bat. With the swing of a club, everything had become twisted. A revealing read, Thom's book Forgiving Troy is about his processing the grief, anger, confusion, and mental illness that drove his brother over the precipice of insanity. For a smile and a nod to inventiveness, it's intriguing how a team of writers resurrected Thom's character from his twenty-years of being dead. Soap opera's impossible truth revealed that Phillip faked his own death. Running away, Phillip Chancellor secretly finally found peace and solitude - true to himself - as a gay man. In the real world hundreds of young men and women run away or commit suicide every year. As America's last sanctioned prejudice, homophobia, especially when it's directed against gay youth, routinely starts at home. Young adults are forced from their roots with nothing but a "rot in hell" from their parents. Religious-based rhetoric slashes gay men and women with hate and isolation. It's no wonder Phillip Chancellor drove off that cliff. Let's just hope the writers don't make poor Phillip a jerk. The ridge Thom Bierdz went over the day of his mother's murder doesn't frighten him anymore. Thom fought the demons that dared him to give up. He's discovered his one-in-a-million talent as an artist. His paintings reflect a sense of color and show his imaginative and effervescent spirit. Thom Bierdz in real life -- after the suds and toothpaste commercials -- is a beacon of hope to anyone who feels like they can't pull, push, trudge, and persevere thorough any more rough times. Thom would say, do something, get out of your head, and enjoy today. Thom's website opens with Enya's haunting song "Book of Days." A portion of its lyrics: No day, no night, no moment, Can hold me back from trying. I'll fly, I'll fall, I'll falter, I'll find my day may be, Far and away, Far and away For daytime TV viewers, it's not just Oprah anymore. Thom Bierdz is back on the dial. His mother would be proud. More on CBS
 
Ben Wyskida: SLIDESHOW: Your Healthcare Townhall Meeting Shopping List. Top
(Note: A version of this first appeared at PinkoMag.com , which you should visit if you enjoy this slideshow.) The debate over health care is heating up. If you plan to attend a town hall meeting in your district to tell your Representatives what you think, we want you to be informed, prepared and respectful. Here's everything you need to speak out about health care, defend our Constitution and have a fun day with your family exercising Democracy. SLIDESHOW: Your Healthcare Town Hall Meeting Shopping List. View more presentations from benjammin11238 . Note: View in FULL SCREEN mode for the best experience! Also thank you to this great gallery at Talking Points Memo for a few of our images. More on Health Care
 
Lauren Yanks: A Triumph in Ecological Design: America's First "Living Building" Top
Last month I attended a pivotal event: the opening of the Omega Center for Sustainable Living, a progressive environmental center slated to be the first certified "Living Building" in the United States. The Omega Center for Sustainable Living (OCSL) is the newest addition to the Omega Institute, a nonprofit organization offering a variety of holistic programs on 195 acres in Rhinebeck, NY. Every year, thousands of people attend its conferences and retreats. In the past, they've hosted such renowned speakers as Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Robert Kennedy, Jr. and Eckhart Tolle. "As Omega moves forward, we will continue to create programs that speak to personal development and cultural transformation through the lens of interdependence," said Skip Backus, Omega's Chief Executive Officer and the central figure behind the creation of the OCSL. So, what exactly is a "Living Building"? The "Living Building" challenge was put forth by the Cascadia Region Green Building Council in the Pacific Northwest in 2005. They asked: How can we take the idea of building and really change the world? These are the requirements they came up with: • A "Living Building" must be informed by its eco-region's characteristics. • It must generate all of its own energy with renewable resources. • It must capture and treat all of its water. • It must operate efficiently and for maximum beauty. The Omega Institute decided to take up this challenge, but found many obstacles along the way. "It went from being a building to a crusade," said Backus. "One of the first things I learned is that we don't make anything anymore. Everything is made somewhere else. But part of the purpose of this building is to move us forward. Sooner or later, these materials will all be available on the local level, and at the same price as the chemically-treated materials." Despite the vast challenges, Omega triumphed. The OCSL is a beautiful structure that includes a greenhouse, a water garden, a constructed wetland and a classroom. The center supplies all of its own energy and is carbon neutral. It is heated and cooled using geothermal systems, and utilizes photovoltaic power. But the beating heart of the OCSL is the 4,500-square-foot greenhouse containing a water filtration system called the Eco-Machine. The Eco-Machine was designed by John Todd, a 2008 Buckminster Fuller Challenge-winning biologist working in the field of ecological design. Unlike chemical-based systems, the Eco-Machine is a living system that uses bacteria, plants, snails, algae and fungi to recycle approximately 5 million gallons of wastewater a year. Omega plans to use the Eco-Machine's recycled water to irrigate their campus grounds and gardens. "I'm asking for a sacred ecology that connects everything to each other," said Todd at the opening. "All the parts of the building are integrated; it's like notes in a symphony." After the ribbon cutting, attendees were invited into the center to experience the building firsthand. A peaceful harmony pervaded the space; nature's wisdom whispered from every corner. "To me, the building of this center is a step in finding greater balance in society," said Backus. "What's happening in here is magic. We need to bottle this magic and take it elsewhere, so we can become a more sustainable, loving world." For more information, go to www.eomega.org
 
Mark Goulston, M.D.: Tiger Woods' Competitive Advantage Top
"When you're playing against Tiger there are three things going on: 1. You know he can beat you 2. He knows he can beat you 3. He knows that you know he can beat you That's a competitive advantage!" - as told by a PGA professional friend of mine What gives Tiger his competitive advantage? His superior athleticism? Sure. His work ethic? Of course. His fierce determination? Absolutely. Perhaps his greatest unforeseen advantage may not be a matter of his having a competitive edge, but rather how everyone else seems to lose theirs. How do you lose your competitive edge? When bad things happen and you blame, complain, whine or make excuses what does that do for your competition who at the same moment: a) "takes the hit;" b) feels the upset (even Tiger will bang a club into the ground); c) takes a deep breath and exhales; d) lets it go and puts it quickly behind them; d) recenters; e) refocuses; f) executes. My favorite sports story of all time is one that I offer in my upcoming book, "Just Listen" Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone (AMACOM, Sept. 16, 2009). It is in "Chapter 3: Move Yourself from 'Oh F#@&' to 'OK'" and demonstrated to me the best example ever of not only keeping the wheels on after a bump, but becoming a "Turbo Porsche." In 1997, playing in his second Masters golf tournament , Tiger had shot 40 on the opening nine holes of the tournament. At that moment, Tiger turned to his dad Earl and said something along the lines that he didn't know what was happening. Earl looked into his son's eyes and reflected back just how well prepared Tiger was for anything and said to him: "You've been here before, just do what you need to do." Tiger went on to win the Masters by 12 strokes shooting 18 under par, two records that have never been equaled. Tiger's competitive advantage is that when he hits a wall that would cause others to fall apart, he stops, reaches inside himself and discovers what all champions find. He discovers he has "heart" and in his case it is still held up and given to him by the loving, caring hands of his dad. This phenomenon is not restricted to the world of sports. You see it in business and politics. Isn't that what we all saw as John McCain and Hillary both lost their competitive advantage when they hit a few walls and we saw their wheels come off? What would happen to you if when you reached inside, you discovered the same thing that Tiger does? What would happen if when they hit a wall, you could be to your kids, your people at work, and your friends what Earl was to Tiger? Imagine the possibilities. Also please join me for my August 26, 9-10 AM PST, 12-1 PM EST, free American Management Association webcast, "The Simple Way to Get Through to Difficult People." There are now 2600 people registered for it and you can help me set a record.
 
Joe Peyronnin: Health Care at the Forum Top
There isn't a more striking symbol of America's health care crisis than the thousands of people who are lining up this week outside the Los Angeles Forum waiting for treatment. One patient put it succinctly, "If everybody in this country were in the situation my daughter and I are in, they would have a whole different view of (the health care debate)." Many of those in the queue have jobs but they do not have adequate health care. In many cases the employer does not provide enough coverage. Still it seems a bit ironic that the nonprofit Remote Area Medical Volunteer Corp (RAM), whose mission is to provide free health, dental and eye care to poor or under served areas around the globe, is turning people away in Los Angeles. This is because of the heavy demand, and because RAM does not have enough volunteer doctors. One RAM worker compared the need in Los Angeles to the poorest parts of India. Yet this unfortunate scene is far from an antidote for the radical and misleading assertions being screamed aloud at town hall meetings across the country in the health care debate. "Death panels" and "eugenics" are among the outrageous lies being spun by those seeking to benefit, either politically or financially, by killing health care reform. In a country of more than 300 million people there is bound to be a small fraction that absolutely believes President Obama wants to kill grandma, or that the president is a Nazi. These are the kind of folks who make up the core audience for Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin, all of whom everyday feed their loyalists the red meat of socialism and government gone wrong. Beck's and Limbaugh's few million loyal listeners never miss a minute of their shameless diatribes. After all, these radio commentators get paid an enormous amount of money to incite a national ruckus, and their audiences love it. You are right Mr. President, it sure plays well on television. Protesters don't want to hear the truth. Like that there are no death panels in the government's health care reform proposals. They believe that government has gotten too big and is not true to the wishes of our founding fathers. In fact, some of these folks are joining local militias perhaps with an eye to "one day taking our country back!" From whom? It's very scary. America has been caught up for the past decade in a great ideological feud between left and right that has perhaps been more polarizing than at any time in our history, except for the period leading up to and during the Civil War. The feud is being amplified and accelerated by technological advances. At the core of the feud is the role of government in each American's life. And a wasteful, inefficient and bloated government is easy to criticize. It is also easy to criticize those elected officials who lie and cheat. Or those who want to spend taxpayer money on corporate jets. And what of a government that mishandles the economy and yet saves the rich bankers during the worst economic downturn in decades? One Wall Street banker made more than $700 million, yet the unemployment rate is unacceptably high and foreclosures are too. A large number of well-intentioned Americans are "mad as hell" and say they are not going to take it anymore. There is a lot of pent up emotion and concern in our populace. They feel no one has been listening to them, and hot August days are especially conducive to raising the heat in town hall meetings across the nation. The complaints and cries for help have become louder, especially at the extremes. But there is nothing to fear. This is American Democracy at work. Most Americans are smart enough to see through the fog of distortions, fabrications and flat out lies being offered up about health care. They know that all politics is local and that hypocrisy runs deep in DC. They know that many Senators and Congressmen are being well funded by the health industry. That many elected officials will do what is best to assure their own survival. Most Americans agree that this country's health care system is broken. There are 46 million uninsured people in the U.S., and that number is growing every day. They know that health insurance companies have enjoyed record profits while co-payments have gone up and "pre-conditions" and other loopholes are impeding access to quality care. They see it every time they need care. President Obama must continue to aggressively push his agenda and highlight its benefits. They include making health care accessible to all, making it affordable for everyone and "bending the curve" of health care costs, which are out of control and are a tremendous drain on our economy. Proponents must also speak out with a clear voice. Few Americans are happy with our current system. Just ask anyone standing in line at the Los Angeles Forum. More on Health Care
 
Harry Fuller: Repubs and their healthcare hypocrisy Top
MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell gets deserved kudos for nailing a Republican Congressman who opposes healthcare reform for the obvious unspoken reason: the Republicans do NOT want to give Obama any major victories that promises continued popularity with ordinary voters and taxpayers. In their wildest dreams the Repubs cannot imagine people hating healthcare that is no longer only for the rich and the well-employed, courtesy of the insurance industry. Of course, Republican office-holders cannot aid the spread of Medicare-like coverage. It would become entrenched, assumed, effective and popular (like social security) and it would always bear Obama's name, not the Republican Party. That would insure further Democratic election success. This is not about what's good for the public or the country, this is about a cynical, power-grabbing party trying to get back in control anyway they can without necessarily going to prison. The damage done to nation and humans matters little. The next set of questions for O'Donnell or another honest interviewer to ask the next Congressional Hypo-Republicrite: Why don't you reject your own personal government-funded platinum healthcare package and buy on the free market? Why doesn't your dedicated free market loving staff reject THEIR fancy government paid healthcare coverage? Have you suggested that Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich reject any government health benefits they are getting? Maybe Karl Rove and Dick Cheney should stand up for what's right and give up their continuing health benefits as former administration officials. Do you think any private insurance company would cover Cheney with his medical history of cardiac problems?
 
Dan Persons: Mighty Movie Podcast: Have You Hugged Your Cadaver Today? Glenn McQuaid on I Sell the Dead Top
Thank you, Glenn McQuaid, for letting us laugh at the desecration of holy ground again. Shot on a tight budget, with New York City -- mostly Staten Island -- standing in for the British Isles in the nineteenth century, I Sell the Dead has pretty much nothing going for it except a neat cast, plus the visual inventiveness and sheer, audacious wit of its director, Mr. McQuaid. Fortunately, that's more than enough. Essentially a depiction of what would happen if Laurel and Hardy had to stoop to a less-savory profession to make their living, the film tells the tale of Arthur Blake ( Lost's Dominic Monaghan) and Willie Grimes (Larry Fessenden, better known as the director of such films as Wendigo ), two legendary grave robbers who specialize in the acquisition and redistribution of, shall we say, product that is very dead yet also quite animated. Yup, not satisfied merely with portraying the finer points of digging up cadavers, McQuaid rallies zombies, vampires, and a few other creatures brought in from way left field to his cause, and throws in Ron Perlman as an inquisitive priest and Angus Scrimm as, what else, a big, scary guy. Granted, there's not much in the way of a strong, narrative through-line here -- watching the film, you'll well understand how, at one point in its voyage to the screen, the script became a comic book -- but I Sell the Dead's approach is so infectious that you can't help but relish every last, silly, episodic minute of it. Click on the player below to hear my interview with McQuaid. Cozying Up to the Otherworld on MMP: Monika Treut on Ghosted Sarmiento and Harel on Deadgirl Tommy Wirkola on Dead Snow More MMP on HuffPost: Neal Brennan on The Goods Sophie Barthes on Cold Souls Louie Psihoyos on The Cove Check out the Mighty Movie Podcast homepage. More on Ireland
 
Zack Cooper: English Healthcare in the US Reform Debate: Setting the Record Straight Top
The English National Health Service (NHS) has become part of the US healthcare debate. This is bad for both countries. In America, the English NHS is a straw man that distracts from the real discussions that need to happen about how to expand health insurance coverage, improve quality and reduce costs. In England, this negative coverage gets the British defensive and makes that government even more reluctant to press ahead with its recent market-driven reforms. Those market-based reforms to the NHS, championed by Tony Blair, have played a vital role in the improvements its health service has made over the last five years. There have been a host of rumors about the English NHS, ranging from the benign to the outright asinine. There have been stories of long waits for care, patients being denied coverage because care is too expensive, claims that Sen. Ted Kennedy would have gone untreated in the NHS and even the idea that Stephen Hawking would have been left to die in England. All these rumors are false. Waiting times have dropped tremendously in England to the point where it is no longer a problem. While there is explicit rationing in England, very little care is denied exclusively on the basis of cost. Sen. Kennedy would have received cancer treatment despite his age. And Stephen Hawking summed up his perspective on the health service saying that 'I owe my life to the NHS.' But those aren't the rumors that are necessarily most damaging to the healthcare reform debate in America. In fact, one of the most harmful rumors out there right now is that which suggests that the only way to provide every American with health insurance coverage is to create an English-style single payer system. A single payer system isn't what is being proposed by President Obama, wouldn't work in America, and isn't on the American health policy radar. As a result, contrasting healthcare in the US and England is an apples to oranges comparison. The English NHS is a byproduct of post World War II solidarity. It was founded on two principles: 1) that coverage was universal and 2) that care was not based on a person's ability to pay. Those are certainly laudable goals and ones that we would do well to adopt in the US, but England's health system -- its structure and its ethos -- have been shaped by 60 years of British history. That history, and the health system that has resulted from it, can't simply be shifted across the Atlantic. There are many different types of healthcare systems that provide universal coverage ranging from those that are almost fully private to those that are fully public. France has achieved universal coverage, as has Germany; and the Dutch are getting pretty close. But none of these systems are right for the US. The key to US healthcare reform is looking at the best of what's out there in Europe and in the US and shaping it into policies that align with American values. England has strong primary care and family medicine that the US would do well to adopt. The Netherlands has a very competitive private insurance industry that keeps prices down and rewards innovation. Germany is known for its strong pharmaceutical policies. Yet, many of the tools that we need to improve healthcare in the US can be found at home in mini-health systems, such as the Cleveland Clinic, the Mayo Clinic and in the Kaiser network. It also turns out that some of the best performing areas of the country also have the lowest costs. That bodes well for the prospects of improving quality, slowing cost growth and expanding access. The real challenge is to create the right type of incentives, which reward the innovators and drive out those offering a bad service at a high price. A final point on the England-US comparisons. There was something very telling about Sen. Chuck Grassley's concerns over whether or not Ted Kennedy would get treatment for his cancer in England. Senator Kennedy (and Senator Grassley for that matter) would both get great healthcare regardless of the country -- England, the US or elsewhere. The real challenge for the American health system is to make sure that the same type of remarkable medical care being delivered to Senator Kennedy is available to everyone else, as well. More on Health Care
 

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