Wendell Potter's book is a Must Read!

A Must-Read!

"Wendell Potter is a straight-shooter– and he hits the bull's-eye here with an exposé of corporate power that reveals why real health care reform didn't happen, can't happen, and won't happen until that power is contained." Bill Moyers

Deadly Spin: An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR is Killing Health Care and Deceiving Americans, by Wendell Potter


Bill Moyers interviewed Mr. Potter on July 10, 2009, and again on March 5, 2010. This is the place to start. Learn why and how health insurers/corporations are skewing our beliefs and perceptions about health care through ruthless PR campaigns funded with their (our) member's premium dollars, all while protecting their Wall Street investor profits and mind-bogglingly high executive compensation packages. Watch Michael Moore's Sicko, if you haven't yet done so. Get Deadly Spin. The truth is out there. We Citizens need to dig to find it!


The Center for Media and Democracy at prwatch.org is a great source. The insurers are cutting spending on care and dropping unprofitable members while racking up third-quarter profits of $3.4 BILLION. All this while Republicans are aiming to kill consumer protections by repealing the new law.

"The insurance companies are jacking up rates and selling lousy coverage without regard to the devastating impact on real people's financial security and their health," said HCAN (Health Care for America Now) Executive Director Ethan Rome. "Their behavior is offensive, and it's outrageous that the Republicans in Congress want to give control of our health care back to the insurance companies by repealing the Affordable Care Act. We need the law and the protections it provides."

Wendell Potter states on his website, "Since I walked away as head of communications at a top health insurance company in May of 2008, I've worked tirelessly as an outspoken critic of corporate PR and the distortion and fear manufactured by America’s health insurance industry. It is a PR juggernaut that is bankrolled by millions of dollars, rivaling lobbying budgets and underwriting many "non-partisan" and "grassroots" organizations."

"The twentieth century has been characterized by three developments of great political importance: the growth of democracy, the growth of corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy." Alex Carey

We must be vigilant. We must inform ourselves of the truth, however difficult it is to unearth.

A War is Being Waged

"The FDA is now taking aim at raw cheese producers and has created a climate of fear among those who make farmstead cheese for a living. The agency's longterm goal is to eliminate access to raw dairy products. Read "FDA's Ace in the Hole" at farmtoconsumer.org/ace." Weston A Price Foundation

Farmageddon Trailer from Kristin Canty on Vimeo.


Our access to local, sustainably produced food is threatened. We need to take action before it is too late.

"Organic" factory farmed eggs?

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

We are trashing the planet and its creatures in a very big way. The biggest "landfill" is midway between San Francisco and Hawaii, floating at the surface of the ocean, concentrated by the currents of the Pacific Gyre. Known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, it's roughly the size of Texas and contains about 3.5 millions tons of plastic trash. According to the Sea Studies Foundation, "every bit of plastic that has ever been created still exists, except for a small amount that has been incinerated, releasing toxic chemicals." The Earth cannot digest petroleum-based plastics. "Fish are ingesting toxins at such a rate that soon they will no longer be safe to eat." Plastic water bottles by the millions, their polypropylene caps, toothbrushes, plastic bags, toys, shoes, wrappers, are only part of the massive accumulation.



For more information on the problem, watch Captain Charles Moore's presentation at TED. The first part of cleaning up our act is to stop using so much plastic. Stop buying anything packaged in plastic, as much as possible. Do not use plastic shopping bags-- bring your own cloth bags to the store. This is a gigantic problem. Please do your part to minimize your own contribution to the garbage. Encourage your friends and family to learn about this and take action. Thank you.

The Story of Bottled Water

Today is World Water Day and in the spirit of raising awareness, here is a great little video about the impact our obsession with bottled water has upon our planet. Take a few minutes to watch, then vow never to buy bottled water again!

Right from its introduction, I have referred to bottled water as the biggest American rip-off ever and refused to buy it! I'd rather be thirsty. I continue to be incredulous that so many millions of bottles of water are sold every day. We fell hard for the corporate advertising tactics. Surely, we have some sense left to come back to. Carry a stainless or aluminum bottle with you and fill from the tap. There is clean water available for free everywhere. I thank you– the planet will benefit.

The Story of Bottled Water

If you want to learn more, visit this site for the documentary film TAPPED.

61 Lobbyists for each Elected Representative

Frances Moore Lappé, author of Diet for a Small Planet, tells us that there are sixty-one lobbyists for each elected representative in Congress. Visit her YouTube channel to hear more about how our democracy is being (or has been!) taken from us. Her newest book, Getting a Grip: Clarity, Creativity and Courage in a World Gone Mad, is an eloquent and passionate plea for us to embrace a new alternative to the trend of billion-dollar politics. She supports the Fair Elections Now Act- S.752, H.R.1826. We can back the work of Change.org, YouStreet.org, and PublicCampaign.org. We do have the power. We just have to exercise that power.

"In 2009, health care-related companies and special interest groups spent more than $544 million on federal lobbying efforts -- obliterating their previous high from the year before. And a number of companies and entities that have lobbied heavily on health care reform -- the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, AARP, Pfizer, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, the American Medical Association -- all rank within the United States' top 10 federal lobbying clients of 2009."

Capital Eye Blog, Dave Levinthal

LOBBYING

Top Spenders

  All years (1998-2009)  2009  2008  2007  2006  2005  2004  2003  2002  2001  2000  1999  1998 

Lobbying Client	Total
US Chamber of Commerce	$144,496,000
Exxon Mobil	$27,430,000
Pharmaceutical Rsrch & Mfrs of America	$26,150,520
General Electric	$25,520,000
Pfizer Inc	$24,619,268
Blue Cross/Blue Shield	$22,715,439
AARP	$21,010,000
American Medical Assn	$20,830,000
Chevron Corp	$20,815,000
National Assn of Realtors	$19,477,000
American Beverage Assn	$18,850,000
American Hospital Assn	$18,347,176
ConocoPhillips	$18,069,858
Verizon Communications	$17,820,000
FedEx Corp	$17,050,000
Boeing Co	$16,850,000
BP	$15,990,000
National Cable & Telecommunications Assn	$15,980,000
Northrop Grumman	$15,180,000
AT&T Inc	$14,729,673

NOTE: All lobbying expenditures on this page come from the Senate Office of Public Records. Data for the most recent year was downloaded on February 01, 2010. Source of this table: Center for Responsive Politics.

Be Part of the World's Greatest Bank Job

Fix Congress to Restore Trust in Our Democracy

"Democracy is not what we have, it is what we do."
Frances Moore Lappé and Anna Blythe Lappé

Go With Grass, Not Grain

Against The Grain

At Mother Earth News, Richard Manning, author of Against the Grain, tells how to heal the damage to the American landscape that has been caused by industrial agriculture, how properly managed grazing builds soil and restores fertility. Manning says, "It would give us a more humane livestock system, a healthier human diet, less deadly E.coli, elimination of feedlots, a bonanza of wildlife habitat nationwide, enormous savings in energy, virtual elimination of pesticides and chemical fertilizers on those lands, elimination of catastrophic flooding that periodically plagues the Mississippi Basin, and most intriguingly, a dramatic reduction in global warming gases." Read his article here:

The Amazing Benefits of Grass-fed Meat
Converting cropland to perennial pastures produces healthier meat, builds better soil and combats climate change.
by Richard Manning

Imagine a World Without Fish

Director Rupert Murray says, "The End of the Line tells the almost unbelievable story of how our oceans all over the world are being systemically emptied of fish, a process that could be complete by the middle of this century... This not just an environmental issue. This is a people issue. It affects everyone on the planet... The first step in becoming aware is to watch The End of the Line, tell as many people as possible, the second step is buy only sustainably caught seafood. The third step is to join the growing number of voices calling for large "no take' zones in the sea. A world without fish is something no one in their right mind wants to see."

The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch is a great source of information about ocean issues and sustainability. Check out their Super Green List to learn which sustainable foods from the ocean are highest in Omega-3 EFAs, supplying at least the minimum daily amount of 250 mg.

Use the Seafood Watch widget to find out what fish you should and should not be eating. People taking action can make a difference. You can increase the chance that the tide of destruction caused by over fishing will be turned around. Our oceans are in crisis, so, please send the widget and information about the movie The End of the Line to as many of your friends as you can!