Obesity Epidemic, Diabetes, Sugar, Fat and "Obamacare"

The other day I was astonished to hear TV health promoters declare it has recently been discovered that sugar is a toxic poison, and we should avoid it as much as possible.  Dr. Robert Lustig, Dr. Oz and others have worked hard to bring to our attention the dangers of the typical American diet.  However, any suggestion that the dangers of sugar is a new and amazing discovery completely ignores the long history of this controversy.  There is now strong additional scientific proof of what has been known and/or suspected for more than half a century.  Anyone wishing to learn more should Google their disease of choice--diabetes, cancer, heart disease, etc. and sugar effects on that disease.

[11-10-15]  Scientists are finally getting serious and plan to urge world leaders at their upcoming G-20 meetings to take concrete action against the seriously bad health effects of eating too much sugar.  Sugar would far better be used to produce ethanol, and keep all but bad corn to be used for food instead of ethanol.

[1-7-16]  A recent study suggests that obese fathers may have poor sperm quality and also predispose their offspring to problems related to diabetes.  This study was done on mice and will be followed up with humans.  Forty-six year ago when we contemplated reproducing, both my husband and I went into "training" 6 months before trying for a pregnancy.  We ate the best food we knew, stopped any drinking, etc.  Both sons are strong and healthy, and neither has had more than one cavity.

[5/30/16]  Unfortunately there has been an increase in the cost of "Obamacare" for several reasons in a number of states.  This article and map provide more details.

[6/1/16]  Another important health factor that if corrected can save billions of dollars is smoking.  This article emphasizes $63billion in potential savings by achieving a 10% reduction in number of smokers plus a 10% reduction in amount of smoking.   This site also has an informative map showing heavy smoking or light smoking states.  http://www.aol.com/article/2016/05/30/healthcare-costs-nosedive-when-smokers-quit/21385078/

Whereas some of the diseases in the first paragraph can be influenced by our behavior, others are the result of exposure to unidentified toxins decades ago.  A mesothelioma law firm or asbestos lawyers can provide some financial help for the people with asbestos lung cancer developed by working in boiler factories or ship yards.  It is less certain that mere exposure to asbestos in homes has caused much disease in home owners.  On the other hand new dangers are appearing or being identified even with  foods commonly considered healthy.  An important issue is that of GMO foods.  The long term medical effects of these genetically modified foods on human health and fertility have not been adequately studied. Already some disturbing effects have been reported.

On the environmental front, a spill of Canadian tar sands oil from an Enbridge pipeline in the Kalamazoo River is costing over $1billion in clean up costs.  I was recently told that people in the area of the spill are now dying from toxic effects.  Then there is the Lake Megantic oil tank car crash and explosion which has cost 47 lives.  This oil seems to have been western ND Bakken Shale oil which can have high levels of flammable, corrosive, poisonous and explosive hydrogen sulfide vapor.  Once burned Enbridge has now requested permission to refuse transport of some shale oils.  If the asbestos lawyers run out of clients, the Keystone XL Pipeline, fracking and toxic oil accidents should provide much future business.

During the 1930s, exciting pioneering research was being done.  Dr. Francis Pottinger studied the effects of various proportions of raw and/or cooked meat and milk fed to cats.  The conclusion was that at least for cats, a diet of 1/2 raw food or more was needed for successful health and long term reproduction.  Pottinger style long term studies are needed on GMO foods.  Dr. Weston Price traveled the world and studied and photographed primitive people both in their original state, and after they had been exposed to western diets for a number of years.  He determined that before the introduction of refined western foods, these people were generally healthy (regarding degenerative disease) and had excellent teeth and bone structure.

Other researchers have concluded that it takes about 20 year for the western diet to begin causing degenerative diseases in primitive peoples. Personally, I try to eat at least one half my food raw and avoid sugar and refined grains.  I am currently experimenting with a raw food diet. Here is a link for preparing raw vegie and fruit smoothies.  Recently a family of 4 decided to experiment with totally eliminating all added sugars to their diet by only buying products without them.  Here is their experience and the benefits it brought.

After WWII, the rise of corporate food companies and their influence in government and on academia began to be felt.  Dr. Frederick Stare, Harvard nutritionist, became notorious in some circles for his promotion of sugar and sugar containing products like cereal.  His nutrition department received large contributions from industry.  Fighting these trends were people such as Michael Jacobson of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, and Frances Moore Lappe whose well received Diet for a Small Planet (1975) showed how to reduce consumption of meat by mixing grains and legumes with complementary proteins.

CSPI is still making the good fight for the peoples' interest, and Anna Lappe the author's daughter has continued to write to alert the world to our need to eat more wisely.  For those who don't know, the amount of land/food needed to raise beef, chicken, and hogs can be from 5 to 10 times the land needed to grow wheat, corn, rice, beans, lentils, chickpeas, etc which when unrefined and properly mixed supply a complete amino acid complement.

Now, however, we have a new problem.  Dueling diets have proposed severe reductions of fats, carbohydrates, or calories, or eating patterns like "The Mediterranean Diet".  As early as 1972, Dr. Robert Atkins had proposed a diet based on reduction of carbohydrates.  The most intensive phase of his diet, The Induction Phase, requires eating no more than 20 grams of carbohydrate a day.  Then as one approaches one's target weight, you gradually add small amounts of carbs until you find how much you can actually eat without regaining weight.  There is much information through Google on all phases of his diet, as well as newer editions of his books with more recent data and recipes.  Significant amounts of research have confirmed his initial conclusions about the excellent health benefits of his diet approach.

Here is a link to an extensive YouTube video on the science of sugar/carbohydrate metabolism and general health.  It is titled:  Sugar: The Bitter Truth.  Below it are extensive comments by people who are not convinced, and people who really believe that limiting carbs has helped their health and weight.  There are also other interesting experiences and insights offered.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

A recent report of a new experiment shows that weight reduction can significantly reduce the need for surgery like knee replacement.  They first experimented with a 5% weight loss and were so encouraged by the results that they continued the experiment with a 10% weight loss target.  Here is the complete story.
http://www.everydayhealth.com/osteoarthritis/0925/ten-percent-weight-loss-may-relieve-arthritic-knee-pain.aspx?xid=aol_eh-arth_8_20130923_&aolcat=AJA&ncid=webmail22

I have tried Atkins' diet on two occasions and found the weight did come off quite nicely, and I did NOT feel very hungry or deprived.  I have also found that under stress the craving for carbs has increased and weight has crept back on.  Here is an interesting link about diabetes with many comments on personal experience with diet, diabetes and other health issues.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sugar-ray-leonard/diabetes-prevention_b_2356846.html

After studies by others comparing the low fat, low carb, and mixed diets, it was determined that the greatest weight loss was with the low carb diet.  There is only one problem.  If you agree with the Lappes that animal protein production is hard on the earth, then following the Atkins diet for a lifetime will not help.  Also, so far as sugar consumption is concerned, we would be far wiser to use sugar cane for ethanol production, and use most of our corn to help feed the hungry of the world at reasonable prices.  Many people rev up their energy every day with coffee.  However, while one or two cups a day may be OK, three and more can have a negative influence.  Here are a number of ways to start your metabolic motor in the morning while avoiding excess caffiene and sugar.

Unfortunately, the foods that the Lappes recommend have a significant carb content. Having thought about this problem from a "Green" perspective, I am going to try the following:  do the Atkins diet until I reach my weight goal, then gradually switch over to predominantly vegetable protein sources with plenty of fresh and mostly low carb vegetables, a little bit of fruit and almost no sugar.  The above link lists carb counts of veggies, fruit and berries.  Strive to eat no more than 20 grams of carb a day for several weeks, then gradually add about 5 grams a week until you reach a level that maintains your desired weight.  Hopefully, along with more exercise, this will do the trick.  I will also experiment with a mostly or all raw food diet for a while and report back.

Another significant concern is the implementation of the new Obama Health Care initiative.  Unless we all do our part to stop poisoning ourselves with the diet the food industry spends so many dollars trying to persuade us to buy, the suggested savings from preventive care, will not happen.  Our economy will suffer, and so will we and our pocketbooks, because we are too lazy, or greedy to make the dietary changes that will save us, our country and our planet.

We must all help fight the Medical/Pharmaceutical/Charitable Industrial Complex.  Many of us are aware that big Pharma is a major lobbyist for drug use.  However, medical societies and illness charities for Cancer, Diabetes, Heart Disease and others also work to promote medical interventions rather than use common sense and the good things the earth has always produced for us.

Spam Scams from Craigslist and Elsewhere, Buying, Renting, Selling, Responding

In the past few days I have spoken with several people who experienced contact from scammers after they tried to rent, buy or sell on Craigs List or other popular sites.  Since "Green" type people are particularly fond of recycling by buying and selling good used items, I thought this would be a timely topic.  Whether it is renting, buying furniture or a used car, etc. one must exercise great care.

To start with I would suggest never giving out your address or phone number if possible before actually calling and speaking with the interested party.  Craigs List makes this easy by providing an anonymous service option.  If receiving a response from posting there, ask the person to provide a phone number that you can use to contact them.  If your instinct is that they seem like reasonable people after a phone conversation, you can proceed from there.  Never give out bank or other financial information in the early stages of contact.

Here are some typical features in a SCAM answer.  Something will be said like:  I am a religious person and go to church every Sunday (these guys are really giving religion a bad name).  I am very respectful of property (in case of rental).  In one case the "property owner" said it was a magnificent property, but they were out of the country and would rent it out sight unseen for a very low price if the potential renter would just mail a cashiers check without seeing the place.

In fact, there always seems to be some reason why the parties cannot meet--out of the country, in a remote area without phone service doing some great humanitarian work, on the road and lost cell phone, etc.  They often say their father will be responsible for all payments, and in the case of renting your property will even give several months in advance as soon as you provide the requisite full name, address, phone number, and your bank information so they can send the money there.

There is often a convoluted personal history.  My mother is from Brazil, my father is from Austria, and I am on a remote island in Hawaii with no phone, but that's OK because my father will pay everything.  In one case several years ago I got two different scam emails apparently from the same person with varied details except they said they were a female 5'8", and they were NOT a lesbian.  I have never had anyone legitimate  volunteer their height or weight, or their non-homosexual status.  I have had a few male renters mention that they were gay, but this is the DC metropolitan area and some might find that a plus.

[Feb. 2017]  Here is one of the more bizarre scam stories I received recently.
     "I will introduce myself first to you, My name is Miss. Xxxxx Xxxxxx, I lost my Father, my hero and my lord Mr. Xxxxxx Xxxxxx years ago. He was poisioned to death by his associate in business. He formed a company by one Mr. Xxxx Xxxxx who poisioned him only to take benefit of the multi million venture. He was arrested immedaitely my Father died and he entered an agreement with my father's brothers that I and the immediate younger brother of my father will represent my father's interest in the company. After six months I was kicked out of the company because I said that we have to change the company's lawyer who I termed was part of the elimination of my father.
     I did not know that they have changed all the company's document without my name appea ring any where. I will have to let you know more detail on that but let me move to the point why I am contacting you. I have been nick named bastard by my father's relations, They have named me all source [sorts] of names even calling me outcast because my father is late [dead], while my father was the bread winner of the family. They have pushed me out of my father's mansion and still want to eliminate my life.
     I got through the records of my father account books three weeks ago while crying and meditating, which I beleive was inspired by the spirit of God, I discovered that there is a huge sum of money he deposited in a bank, which is $x,x00,000. The note attached to the deposit agreement he made with the bank indicated that, the money was to be used to purchase machinery for the establishment of a new company of his own.
     Please all I need from you is to do all you can to help me to get this money out of the bank. etc. etc."  [So of course all Miss X needs from me is all my bank information, etc.  Spelling mistakes left in.]

This past year I have received two urgent emails from acquaintances of mine saying they were in a country in Europe, everything had been stolen from them and they desperately needed money to get back home.  There were also more details about their "tragedy".  Fortunately, I had their phone numbers.  NEVER answer this kind of email.  When I phoned they explained that someone had hacked their email and contacted all their contacts, and they were working with the police to try to stop/catch these crooks.  They also had to change their email service and a lot of other messy detailed actions.

In this case there may have been a "worm" infecting their system that could actually catch their key strokes while being made, even their passwords. You need to back up your data, then need to clean your system [don't ask me now that is done]. Don't use simple minded passwords, leave your email information lying around were it can be looked at like in the office, change your password often, and have good virus protection.  One friend had lost her cell phone with a lot of information on it.

I even called the FBI a few years ago when a number of these scams came my way.  These mostly seemed to have an African origin.  The FBI said there was a lot of this coming out of Nigeria, but the problem is that they could have their phone or email service coming from anywhere, so it was very hard to track them down and prosecute.  So I guess the first principle has to be ALWAYS BE ALERT FOR A SCAM.

Here is the content of a scam email I have received.  They even have the nerve to say they are anti scam workers with the IMF.   Recently Bank of America was hit by these types too.
   "Attention: Beneficiary

WORLD BANK AUDITORS/INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUNDS (IMF) had meeting

with the British Government, Nigeria and as we received a report of

scam against you and other British/US citizens Etc. The countries of

Nigeria have recompensed you the following  meeting held with the

four countries' Government and various countries' high commission for

the fraudulent activities carried out by the four countries' Citizens.

     According to the number of applicants at hand, 184 Beneficiaries has

been paid, half of the victims are from the United States, and we

still have more 37 left to be paid the inheritance fund of Nine

million, seven Hundred Dollars ($9.7Million USD. Signed by British

Government of United Kingdom,On behalf of IMF.

     Did you sign any Deed of Assignment in favor of (TOM BROWN) Thereby

making  him the current beneficiary with his following account

details?  [omitted for space, but they say he is CITI Bank]

     We shall proceed to issue all payments details to the said Mr. TOM

BROWN,if we do not hear from you within the next two working days from

today.

     DR.ERIC UBA, DIRECTOR OF PAYMENT/ SPECIAL DUTIES, WORLD BANK AUDITORS"

And then there is this next one.  Can you believe the Federal Reserve wants to give me $1,570,000.  Well, neither can I!  Hey you pikers at the Fed, the IMF wants to give me $9.7 million.

     "Attn; Beneficiary 

     We use this medium to inform you of the payment approved to be made to you by the WORLD BANK through the Federal Reserve Bank New York.  In a meeting that took place on the 21st of Aug. 2014, you have been granted Financial Assistance/Sponsorship and awarded compensation by the WORLD BANK Charity Humanitarian Mission aimed at providing financial support for people around the world.

     We have been asked by the WORLD BANK to Compensate/Award you the sum of US$1,570,000.00 from a reserved account which shall be released to you either by wire transfer or Pre-loaded VISA ATM card. This payment has been approved by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the WORLD BANK and the FBI/INTERPOL. These precautions were taken to prevent legal issues while receiving your funds so be rest assured you will have no legal issues.                                       To receive the funds immediately contact our offices directly via all of the information below: OFFICE OF CHAIRMAN FEDERAL RESERVE BANK

JANET YELLEN

Email: xxxxxxxxxx@gmail.com

xxxxxxxxxx@yahoo.com                [I put x's in place of their addresses]

OFFICE FOR FUND REMITTANCE

Email: xxxxxxxxxxx@careceo.com

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@usa.com

     Furthermore, we wish to inform you that we recently received a letter from a Mr. Bradley Williams detailing explicitly that you passed away and him being your next of kin is entitled to the funds. He requested for your funds to be transferred to him.

     To avoid remitting your funds into the wrong account, all mails should be directed to office of the chairman Federal Reserve Bank JANET YELLEN with your FULL NAMES, ADDRESS, LOCATION, AGE and CONTACT NUMBER.

     The Federal Reserve Bank New York will not be held liable if funds are transferred into the wrong account. Your funds will be remitted to you immediately we hear from you.

The WORLD BANK charge you to use these support funds wisely for it is our aim to help as many individuals become financially independent.

     We assure you of the legitimacy of this transaction and its safety, contact Janet Yellen now by email (xxxxxxxxxxx@gmail.com or xxxxxxxxxxxxxx@yahoo.com) and call our office directly (202 xxx-xxxx) to receive your funds ASAP. Congratulations!

Yours in service, Janet Yellen, Chairman Federal Reserve Bank New York"

Most recently (Jan. 2017) comes this email I condensed from an "anti-Spam group", HA.
     "Attention: Beneficiary
...the World Bank president...treated on solution to Scam victim problems.  ...your name submitted...therefore the United Nations...agreed to compensate...USD$500,000.00.
     ...contact Agent xxxx...forward...Your full name, your country/city, your delivery address, your telephone number, your age, your occupation and your ID card or passport."
     How can anyone be so stupid to think the UN is giving them 1/2 million dollars??  And the gall to say these Spammers seek "solutions to Scam victim problems", as they Scam you.

I recently went to clean out my Spam folder and found the following examples:
1)  Alanna Dow wanted to offer me a"customer service assignment" paying $200.  All "she" wanted was my name, address, phone number, sex, age and email address.  What, no request for bank account numbers and SS number??
2)  Several Bank of America notices they "detected unusual activity" and I should "download" since some of my activities would be suspended until this was fixed.
3)  Fed Ex International Mail Service "could not deliver your(my) item."  I should "download" their "shipping label."
4)  Wells Fargo detected "unusual activity" at my [nonexistent] ON LINE account, and of course I must "download" to fix it.
5)  American Express said I must "authenticate account" by "downloading file and update account."  Since for years I have sent back all their mail to every variant of my name they could find, with the request to take me off their mailing list and DO NOT SOLICIT, this Spam was either a very sneaky attempt to get me for their customer, or another typical Spam email.
   Of course there were many of the usual solicitations for male enlargement (my sex is ambiguous because of my name), Viagra, Dr. Oz weight loss help, Canadian pharmacy, million dollar offers from Africa with inheritances, instant loans, service repair contracts, and messages in Chinese that I cannot read.  Delete, delete, delete, delete.........  There were also a few legitimate contacts that were sent to Spam and I got them too late to act on the invitations, so I guess I just have to look at the Spam folder more often.  Grrrrrrr!!

One thing you can do if you suspect a message might be legitimate is to go to Google and place the email address of the sender there and see what appears.  You may get information that the email has been identified as a scam or other useful facts.  I was recently getting a big red screen view saying that I must phone a certain "legitimate" IT company to keep from loosing important stuff.  When I Googled the phone number provided, sure enough, it was tagged as a scam phone number.  

[7-22-16] - This creative scammer (so called bank official) wanted to give me 40% of $37million of a dead mans unclaimed deposit:  "My proposals is that i will like you as a foreigner to stand in as the next of kin or distant cousin for us to claim this money, so that the fruits of this old man’s labour will not get into the hands of some corrupt government officials who will later use the money to sponsor war in Africa and kill innocent citizens in the search for political power."  So much better to put money in the hands of corrupt non government people.

[11-18] - I recently receive a notice I believe was from my bank which offers some advice which seems useful:  "Unfortunately, scammers target your information year-round. Watch out for scams and other scenarios that target your payment information.

• Fake receipts, shipping notices and too-good-to-be-true offers  These email scams could infect your device or trick you into disclosing payment card information. A new scam claims to notify people about recent iTunes^® purchases linked to their Apple ID. Keep in mind, criminals can copy and paste any company logo on an email. Stay safe by checking your account information through the actual company website.
• Unexpected requests to update your account  In a new direct deposit scam, employees receive a phony email appearing to be from their HR department with a link to log in to their account. Scammers capture their information and use it to redirect their direct deposit to another bank account. Be sure to never supply log in credentials or personal information in response to an email.
• Conducting sensitive transactions on public Wi-Fi connections  Your payment card information could be intercepted if you use unsecured Wi-Fi connections to shop online. Instead, use an internet connection that you know is secure, like your mobile service provider or home Wi-Fi network.
• Sending money electronically  The holiday season could mean more meals out with friends and family. Zelle^® is a great new way to split the check and send money to people you know. But, we don't recommend using Zelle with people you don't know or if you aren't sure you'll get what you paid for (like items bought from online bidding or sales sites)."

So be careful out there there this holiday season and the rest of the year too.  Cheers

If you have had an internet scam/fraud experience, by all means share it with a Comment.

Obama & Roberts Give Health Care, Now Our Duty Begins

Well folks, there is a whole lot of excitement now about the Supreme Court decision on President Obama's health care program.  Some pundits say Roberts was an idiot, others say he is a Machiavellian who has successfully motivated the far right base to run Obama out of office in November.  Of course, many feel just as strongly this is a great victory for the President which will motivate his base to reelect him in November, and it appears they were right.

What not many people are talking about is our share of responsibility in making this program a success.  There is certainly much potential for lowering health care costs if everyone takes more personal responsibility for their own health care.  Whether it is improving our life style choices to maintain our good health, learning more about our individual health problems so we can do things that will improve them, or going for routine regular check-ups to keep problems from appearing and getting out of hand, we have a lot of power.

For example, here is the experience of one family that decided to eliminate all sugar from their diet for one year and the benefits experienced.  In 2016, a study has reported the potential for saving $63billion in smoking health care costs if 10% of smokers quit, and others would reduce their amount of smoking by 10%.

[12/27/16]  Republicans continue to declare their intentions of defunding Planned Parenthood and shutting down "Obamacare" (Affordable Health Care) as soon as possible.  This 2015 article shows how one Republican Congresswoman perpetuated lies and misinformation on behalf of her candidacy.  Many comments tear Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers viewpoint to shreds.
     People at this site, which described Trump voters' distress at the idea of defunding Planned Parenthood, also had a lot to say. One commented "It's Obamacare because Pres. Obama DOES care, it will be called the Trump DOESN'T care plan when he and the GOP get done!"  I like  "TrumpNoCare" plan, or "TrumpCareless" plan, or "TrumpLessCare"plan for a label.
     Unfortunately, many people do NOT realize the well liked Affordable Care Act is "Obamacare". Mostly poorer states refused to expand their Medicaid services (fully funded by the Federal government) leaving many of their citizens underinsured.  If Trump succeeds in destroying "Obamacare" as promised, all the lower income people who voted for him in states with expanded benefits will loose them.  [States expanding Medicaid – AZ, AR, CA, CO, DE, DC, HI, IL, IA, IN, KY, MD, MA, MN, MA, NH, NV, NJ, UT, NM, NY, ND, OH, OR, PA, RI, VT, WA, WV]  If you live in one of these states and voted Trump you voted against your own interest.  This long, detailed article with maps and listing of who has benefited from this program and by how much will answer your question.

[11/19/16]  One casualty of reduced spending on preventive health care and education has been the increase in the rate of sexually transmitted diseases (STD's) since the major recession began in 2008.  Let us hope that Republicans in Congress are not penny wise and dollar foolish with their cutting of Obamacare, Planned Parenthood, and other programs that help prevent or reduce STD rates.  Health care costs for increasing rates of STD are far higher than prevention.

Of course, sometimes danger are not apparent until some years have passed.  Black lung disease has plagued miners, and asbestos lung cancer has made $millions for mesothelioma law firms, also known as asbestos lawyers.  Unfortunately, such lawsuits have been so expensive that doctors are forced to carry  extremely costly liability insurance.  This is one contributor to current high medical costs.  Something has to be done in the way of tort reform, that is lowering the amount that can be collected in lawsuits.  Trial lawyers will fight this tooth and nail.  Some balance has to be found between the extremely high legal settlements that excessively benefit lawyers and very low recompense that is unfair to injured parties.

Doctors can do a lot to fix serious problems, just as a mechanic can fix your car when it breaks down.  However, if we change the oil regularly, inflate the tires, keep other fluid levels up, and drive carefully, we have the ultimate power to preserve our autos.  It is the same with our health.  If you are reading this blog, then you know how to use a computer.  You can always Google to find information about different health needs, problems and symptoms.  You can also order useful books on line.  Of course the medical profession has been slow to get on board with this approach as it tends to reduce their business.  Concern has now been expressed that we do not have enough General Practitioners to care for the millions of new people with health insurance.  This will be less of a problem when we take fuller responsibility for our own health.

A very important influence is the quality of our nutrition.  We can choose foods that will build up our health or break it down.  If you do the latter, then you are betraying the President's efforts to provide affordable care for all.  If you have developed health problems through age, neglect or stress you may also need to learn about vitamin, mineral, and herbal supplements for restoring health in addition to good foods and exercise.  It is very easy to Google the name or description of the health problem and then add "nutritional treatment for".  Sometimes foods will be recommended and sometimes supplements of one sort or another.  These "neutriceuticals" can do many wonderful things.  They are not as quick as drugs, but they are much better at creating permanent cures or improvements, and rarely have side effects.

Good books are available in health food stores and on line that will help you learn more about the great variety of things you can do through nutrition.  It is well worth your while reading some and learning how to take care of yourself and your family.  You will save your own money, and that of your country.  Paying attention to exercise and emotional health and equilibrium are also valuable and you should learn about those aspects of health as well.  Unfortunately in 2016 there are increases in "Obamacare" costs in many states as shown on a this map.

In a broader vein, we must take a more intelligent approach to serious illness, and death and dying.  Today I heard someone report it is known that 10% of the sick run up around 90% of the health care costs.  It is also the case that often half of the lifetime medical costs for an individual are spent in the last 6 months of their life.  Almost 40 years ago, I and some friends formed something call The Health Action Committee.  I testified before Congress when attempts were being made to reduce the availability of nutritional supplements.  Thank goodness we won, and I know I owe much of my generally good health now to our success then.

We also approached a well known health insurance company.  They allowed us to examine their records for our area.  We determined that indeed it was10% of their policy holders who were causing 90% of their costs.  We then proposed an experiment where this 10% and/or their spouse/caregiver would be given focused information on how to improve their health with an emphasis on diet and neutriceuticals.  We explained to the insurance company that if this training resulted in lower costs, then they would make money, because lowering fees always falls behind lower costs.  Unfortunately, we were 40 years too early.  Now, however, would be a perfect time for insurance companies, businesses and labor unions to take another look at this approach to lowering health care costs.

When first proposed, the far right made a big fuss about the idea of people being able to discuss decisions around dying and death with their physicians.  This was even mislabeled as "death panels".  Every one of us is going to die, and it is wise to make plans about it while one is still healthy and communicative.  Our culture has also made dying a fearful and technical process.  It has been taken out of the hands of families and turned over to the "experts".  My late mother, who died of congestive heart failure at 89, and my late husband who died of Alzheimers at 75, both begged me not to let them die in some impersonal hospital.  They also made a point of getting legal help with wills and advanced directives while they were still mobile and mentally active.

I had to confront my own feelings about death, and also learn how to give them the care they needed.  Fortunately, they were not in a lot of pain or it might have been a lot harder to care for them.  I had gotten my whole family interested in therapeutic nutrition some years earlier.  When caring for them I made sure they got the nutritional inputs that would help them the most.  The result is that they were mobile and active until the last few months, which greatly reduced the need for costly medical inputs.  When the time came that they could no longer eat much or take their supplements, the end came quickly.  I also was able to get home hospice services to come to my home on a daily basis in the last week or two.  They explained and helped me do what would be most helpful, and also gave some emotional support.

One very important help was through the Medicare program.  There was, and probably still is, a provision that up to 20 days of free Medicare treatment in a Rehabilitation Nursing Facility can be used if one has been hospitalized for 3 days or more.  This is not nursing care.  There must be a real goal for some sort of rehabilitation.  In my husband's case the goal was for him to be able to walk the stairs to our second floor bedroom after he was hospitalized for 4 days.  This service has to be used within 30 days of the hospitalization.  I found out about it after my mother had been out of the hospital for 25 days.  We frantically  found a facility for her.  I don't remember what our rehabilitation goal was, but it did enable us to drive to her home state, close down her room in the boarding home where she had been living, put her possessions in storage, and bring back her winter clothes and other items she wanted with her.  She stayed there for 5 days, and lived with us for another 4 months without further hospitalization.  Here is more on this service from a legal information site.

AARP has pointed out that some hospitals are holding patients for several days without legally/formally admitting them.  The family is then shocked to discover that the 3 qualifying days for free Medicare rehabilitation care have not actually occurred and they are stuck with a large Rehabilitation Nursing Facility bill.  Be sure you or your relative is actually admitted to the hospital and yell like hexx if they are not.

Thus, by learning skills and being able to care for my mother and husband, we saved both ourselves and the medical/insurance system many, many treatment and hospitalization dollars.  We can all help the Obama health care program be a success if we learn how to take maximum responsibility for our own health and that of the ones we love.

A Solar Energy Revolution - Don Wharton (Guest Post)

We know that fossil fuels will run out sometime in the future. Our use of them is depleting a finite source. We also know that the solar energy falling on our Earth every 88 minutes equals all energy sources humanity uses in a given year. That means earth gets 6,000 times the solar energy than all the energy we consume. However, these facts say little about how and when we will move to renewable sources for the energy needs of humanity.

In order to answer that question we need to look at the evidence. In March 16, 2011 the Scientific American hosted a blog article summarizing the evolution of prices and projections based on the historical evidence.¹ The analysis gave a seven percent annual reduction in solar cell costs based on recent decades. At this rate, the projected Solar energy cost should fall below the current US average residential cost of $0.12 per KWH by 2020.

Since the Scientific American article's data from 2009 was printed, prices for solar cells have crashed by over half. The article, when written, had module prices modestly below $3 per peak watt. Prices for high quality modules at a European port in April 2012 are quoted between 74 and 98 cents per peak watt wholesale.² The retail price is higher but Solarbuzz as of May 2012 has 34% of the retail prices for modules below $2 per peak watt.³ These rapidly lowering prices are due to many factors that have saturated the market such as over investment in plants to refine silicon and very low cost thin film technologies. Financially strapped European countries have reduced the feed in tariffs that paid for much of their installed base of solar energy. The result has been very fierce competition for all available contracts. “Bankability” is now a major term in the solar market.. This refers to higher quality product from manufacturers which banks view as financially strong enough to survive.

The current declines in installed costs have not kept up with prices for solar modules themselves. However, we already do have many situations where newly installed solar energy costs less than fossil fuel investments with no governmental subsidies. For example, in Hawaii the average cost for electricity was $0.33 per KWH in February 2012.⁴ The Department of Energy has a SunShot initiative designed to reduce installed costs by 75% to $1 to $1.50 per peak watt. A recent study by Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and GTM Research has the average installed utility scale system costs (Q1 2012) at only $2.90 per peak watt.⁵ Power from these installations are typically sold under long term power purchase agreements. In an April 2012 news report, “The weighted average highest cost of solar and other renewable power contracts accepted by California utilities in the state’s Renewable Auction Market (RAM) auction was 8.9 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for 20-year power purchase contracts...”⁶ This is higher than some other wholesale energy costs but it is well below the 15 cents that average California residential users are charged including distribution costs.⁴

Germany's different approach demonstrates that far lower installed costs are possible. They have been using very high feed-in tariffs to encourage large scale installation of systems. The Germans have worked on streamlining all permitting and delivery systems. The result is over four times as much solar energy installed in a much smaller country (7500 MW Germany vs. 1700 MW America in 2011).⁷ The German solar installation costs in the first months of 2012 have dropped below two Euros ($2.60) per peak watt.⁸ The following cost graph covers the six years from the second quarter of 2006 through the first quarter of 2012.    

  

This shows a rate of decline of over 14% per year during this period or double the expected rate in the Scientific American article. The costs are roughly half that of similar American residential systems. The downward impact on the retail costs of electricity during a sunny day in Germany is already dramatic. Given the average residential costs of electricity (about $0.33 per KWH)⁹ the household value of a solar installation in getting very near grid parity in Germany. This is true for a country that receives less than half the solar energy of much of the United States. The German market for electricity is immensely complex and a full treatment of it is well beyond the scope of this essay. However, the fact that they have engineered technology and polished procedures that are so successful suggests that much of the world might achieve grid parity very rapidly.

A report on average American permitting and inspection costs of $2,516 per installation explains some of our increased costs compared to the German experience.¹⁰ The Department of Energy cites this report to document a major goal of the SunShot Initiative. The report says Germany, France, and Japan have eliminated permitting for basic residential installations. If we retain residential permitting the report suggests uniform national standards, a $250 fee or cost of permit issuance, email submissions, three day decisions and single inspections executed within a two hour window. The general view is we need to look at solar energy system as a very simple and normal appliance installation. It would make a massive difference in almost all jurisdictions.

Another part of the SunShot Initiative is the Plug and Play concept. It presumes an installed cost of $1.50 per peak watt will be equivalent to 6‐8¢/kwh. At that price it will be cost competitive nearly everywhere. The DOE wants systems that can be purchased at a hardware store and installed by a homeowner with no permitting whatsoever. This envisions something so simple it could be plugged into a wall socket. They want some way for the system to automatically communicate with the utility so that the system and grid are automatically configured to work optimally. In Germany there is a specification which slightly increases the cycles per minute of the AC as a signal to the solar system to ratchet down or cease dispatching energy to the grid. This gives the grid manager a needed management tool when large scale solar capacity is installed.

There are a small number of vendors with systems that are now designed to be easily installed by homeowners by plugging into a standard 120 or 240V AC circuit. The costs are typically $3.50 to $4.00 per peak KWH. An example would be the Spin Ray 240V AC system sold for $849 plus shipping.¹¹ Westinghouse is marketing their Instant Connect system at a modestly higher price per peak watt. Roughly 35 to 40% the cost is for the electronics. The majority of that cost is for the conversion of DC to AC current. This cost should rapidly decline at greater scale as it has in Germany. These systems do not eliminate the additional permitting or inspection costs. They do not have the sophisticated integration with the utility system desired by the DOE and there may be additional costs for bracketing depending upon how and where they are installed. We need an agreed upon specification which can be defined and certified for the plug and play function with little or no permitting. These specifications must be national standards that apply across jurisdictions.

When and if there is a streamlined Federal set of standards it is likely that American costs will be equal to or lower than the German example. As it stands the first approximations of the plug and play technology is competing against the standard installers. When solar systems become a commodity item competing against other high volume manufacturing plants the needed electronics, framing and bracketing costs (balance of systems) will have the same ferociously declining price trajectories as the solar panels themselves. When that happens nearly all consumers will find solar to be a financially attractive option with no subsidies at all. The time frame for this will range from immediately to less than eight years from now.

An obvious implication of this trend is that nuclear energy with its current costs and 10+ year time frames for building will not be cost effective. The tens of billions in federal loan guarantees for new nuclear construction is nearly certain to result in universal economic default and a high net cost to taxpayers. The more reasonable investments would be large scale smart grid capacity that can share energy over wide regions and energy storage technology that will smooth energy availability.

This review of solar energy focuses on evolution of the technology and major policy factors limiting its near term implementation. Future essays will review policies in regard to smart grid operation, integration with other renewable energy sources, construction standards and financing issues.

Footnotes:

1 http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2011/03/16/smaller-cheaper-faster-does-moores-law-apply-to-solar-cells/

2 http://www.europe-solar.de/catalog/index.php?main_page=page_3

3 http://www.solarbuzz.com/facts-and-figures/retail-price-environment/module-prices

4 http://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.cfm?t=epmt_5_6_b

5 http://www.seia.org/cs/solar_in_the_news/news_detail?pressrelease.id=2160

6 http://cleantechnica.com/2012/04/06/its-here-solar-renewable-grid-parity-or-better-in-californias-latest-renewable-power-auction/

7 http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/01/germany-installed-3-gw-of-solar-pv-in-december-the-u-s-installed-1-7-gw-in-all-of-2011

8 http://www.solarwirtschaft.de/fileadmin/media/pdf/BSW_facts_solarpower_en.pdf

9 http://www.energy.eu/

10 www.sunrunhome.com/permitting

11 http://www.spinrayenergy.com/products/solar-panels  [end Don Wharton's article]


A lot has  happened since this guest article was posted.  DC has been inflicted with Exelon and its 23 nuclear power plants.  Pepco, which they now own, has asked for an $85.5 million rate increase just as we who fought the takeover predicted.  On the other hand oil and gasoline prices have continued to be low.  We don't know yet whether Exelon will be less cooperative with DC solar than Pepco has been in the past.

Meanwhile, other renewable energy supplies are being tested.  For several years there have been reports about off shore wind farms near Spain and Denmark among other countries.  These have all been anchored on the sea floor.  Now, however, a floating wind farm idea is being proposed well off the California coast.  This article provides a number of interesting details and a chart of the growth of off shore wind production in a number of countries.

The Supreme Court (Citizen's United): Anniversary of Another Big Mistake (Plessy v. Ferguson)

One Hundred and twenty years ago last week, our Supreme Court perpetuated a major miscarriage of justice in the landmark Plessy v. Ferguson decision.  On June 7, 1892, Homer Plessy was arrested in a "white-only" railroad car in New Orleans because he refused to vacate his seat.  He was 1/8th black, and by Louisiana law he was required to use facilities for "colored" patrons.  For those who have forgotten, in the middle of last century, there were still laws of this sort operating in Washington, DC.  Laws like this governed use of water fountains, rest rooms, buses and trains, eating places, schools, dressing rooms in stores, etc.

Mr. Plessy was triggering a test case against these laws which were being enacted across the south. Remember, this was less than 30 years after the Civil War. To its great shame, the Supreme Court ruled against him, thus giving legal standing for segregation which lasted more than half a century.  It was finally overthrown by the Brown v. Board of Education case in 1954 which said separate schools were not equal, and thus the integration era was born.

Even in the late 1960s integration was still an issue in New Orleans.  My late husband and his light skinned friend Booker Brooks were doing organizing work for the American Federation of Teachers in Louisiana.  Late one evening they stopped at a bar or cafe for a late meal and some liquid refreshment.  The proprietor refused to serve them and asked them to leave.  They sat there.  Soon a cop car and officer showed up.  They were asked to leave again, but continued to sit.  Soon another police car arrived, and another, and another.  Finally there were 7 cars and their officers and even a Captain trying to deal with the situation.  They continued to sit there.  Finally, the police gave up and left.  I don't remember if they were actually served or not, but they sat there together and were not moved.

Once again the Supreme Court has ruled with a narrow 5 to 4 decision against the rights of citizens.  The infamous "Citizen's United" case established the rule that Corporations are People, and Money is Speech.  The impact of this ruling is that corporations can give as much money to the politicians they support as they wish, and the source of the money does not even have to be identified.

This combined with efforts throughout the country to make it harder for young people, the elderly, and people of color to vote has brought a sad state of affairs to our electoral process.  The people are fighting back however.  There are efforts nationwide to put forth an Amendment to the Constitution clarifying that Corporations are not the same as natural persons, and that money should not be a protected form of speech.  In addition locally we have the effort to put Initiative Measure No. 70 on the November ballot.

The purpose of this initiative is to give DC voters a chance to vote on whether or not they want big money in our political process.  The Summary Statement of this Initiative says "This initiative, if passed, would prohibit corporations and other business entities from making direct contributions to principal campaign committees, exploratory committees, legal defense committees organized in support of public officials, transition committees, inaugural committees, or constituent-service programs."

Our departed Chairman of the City Council is to to have had a war chest of around $800,000.  Other candidates like Vincent Orange and Jack Evans have more than $300,000.  On the other hand, there is one party, the DC Statehood Green Party which does NOT accept corporate campaign contributions.  The national Green Party follows the same rule.

If you want to get big money out of our politics, look for I - 70 on the November ballot and vote YES.
However, there is just one problem.  This Initiative will not be on the ballot unless it gets enough signatures on the petitions.  The magic number is around 24,000 signatures, but because of errors, duplications, etc. the effort is being made to collect 37,000 signatures.  These must be submitted no later than July 9, 2012, but the organizers want to try to get them collected by July 1, as they need to be double checked, organized and numbered.  With 20 names per sheet, that is a lot of sheets to organize.

Only registered voters may sign the petitions, and only residents of DC, 18 or older may circulate them.  Also, the circulators must witness all signatures.  No leaving them on bulletin boards.  DC Public Trust is the organization sponsoring this activity and should be contacted if you wish to help circulate the petitions.

Passing an Amendment to the Constitution is a long difficult process.  There is some talk that the Supremes may feel that this was not such a good decision after all.  Perhaps they will modify the ruling if related cases are heard in the next few years.  At any rate let us hope that it will not take the Supreme Court another 62 years to correct a mistake so dreadfully dangerous to our democracy.

DC Statehood Green "Shadow" Candidates' Declarations accepted at BOEE, also Chairmanship vote announced

After much hassle, the DC Statehood Green Party finally has its write-in candidates approved at the Bd. of Elections and Ethics for the "Shadow" candidates to appear on the November ballot.  David Schwartzman will be the "Shadow" Senator candidate, and G. Lee Aikin the "Shadow" Representative candidate.  The Shadow rep. is not to be confused with the actual DC Congressional Representative, Eleanor Holmes Norton, who unfortunately does not have a vote, but does have a salary.  Statehood Green Party candidate Natale Lino Stracuzzi is running against Ms. Norton. [Also again in 2014.]   Ann Wilcox will also appear on the ballot as the DCSGP At Large candidate for the Council.  [In 2012]

The Party is still looking for good party members to run for the Wards 2, 4, 7, and 8 Council seats.  [In 2014, Wards 1, 3, 5, and 6.]  There are new rules put out by the BOEE, which incidentally were not told to the active write-in candidates until well after the Primary.  The Party was also not informed about the intent to change these rules until 3 days after the "comment" period had ended, although communications between the Party and the BOEE had been ongoing throughout the comment period.  How ethical is that??  At any rate, according to the new rules, "when the position of candidate is vacant in the aftermath of a primary election for certain offices, the impacted party committee may select, in accordance with its rules, an individual who meets the statutory requirements to hold the office sought to serve as its candidate in the general election."

The Party must notify the BOEE no later that Wednesday, August 8, 2012 of any additional candidate names to appear on the November ballot.  Any such candidate must also file a Declaration of Candidacy by that date.  It would really be great if the DC Statehood Green Party could have a full slate of candidates for the General Election. Judging from the disturbances surrounding our major party, new blood is definitely needed in our political arena.

On Monday (June 11th) while submitting our Declarations of Candidacy at BOEE, we also received the latest news regarding the Chairmanship.  Effective that date the BOEE has certified that a vacancy exists in the office of  Chairman of the Council of DC, and a special election to fill the vacancy will occur on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012 (the same day as the General Election).

Candidates wishing to appear on the ballot must obtain 3,000 signatures of registered voters in DC.  The petition circulation period begins on Friday, June 15 and ends on Wednesday, August 8th.  All registered DC voters are eligible to vote for Chairman.  Those wishing further information on dates, deadlines, etc. can contact www.dcboee.org or phone 202-727-2194.

Another interesting fact discovered while attending recent events is the distress felt by many in the Hispanic community about President Obama's treatment of the immigration situation.  While at the BOEE offices we were told about one young man whose parents brought him here when he was 4 years old who is about to be shipped out of the only country he has ever really known--the good old USA.  Citizens of Hispanic origin might find the Statehood Green Party more sympathetic than our President's party.  [If elected, Mrs. Aikin would probably be the most fluent Spanish speaker elected in DC.]  For that matter other disillusioned voters might wish to join us as well.  Anyone wishing to register or change their registration can find the form on line at the BOEE site, or go down to their offices at 441 4th St., NW, right next to the Judiciary Square Metro stop.  [2014, They can also change registration at the polling place and file a provisional ballot.]

DC Tax Rates Hurt Working Poor & Middle Class, also Loss of Federal Payment

As pointed out by several member of the DC Statehood Green Party, we definitely need to consider  additional tax brackets.  The current jump from $40,001 to $250,000 is much too hard on people in with incomes below $100,000.  No tax rate above $250,001 is also unfair to the moderately well off.  As I have pointed out often when I have testified on relevant matters, our government has repeatedly failed to maintain the benefits we had at the time of the Home Rule charter in the early 1970s.

The simplest to understand is failure to index our Deductions and Exemptions on the tax form D-40.  When I checked my old tax forms for 1974, these were roughly comparable for DC and the Federal rates.  While some increases were made in the intervening years, by 1991, DC only allowed about one half the amount allowed by the Federal tax form.  Thereafter, nothing was done to keep up with inflation. 

In 2004 I brought this to Mr. Catania's attention and in 2005 he tried to introduced a bill to "couple" our D & E rates with the Federal 1040 rates.  At that point our D&Es were only about 1/3 the Federal rates, and a couple was still only allowed $2,000, AFTER 30 YEARS!!!  Although his bill failed to make it out of Committee, in 2006 and 2008 some additional increases were made in the DC D&E rates.  These rates continued to be the victim of budget difficulties and are frozen at the already inadequate 2008 rates.  With 4 years of DC income surpluses, and a full rainy day fund, it is time to fix this and other inequities.

The 2011 DC rates for D&Es are $4,000 per couple or single, and $1,650 each.  The Federal figures are $5,800 single and $11,600 per couple for Deductions, and $3,700 Exemption each person.  With "coupling" Taxable Income for a family of four would be $15,800 lower, for a couple $11,700 less, and for singles $3,850 lower. You must ask yourselves if this tax unfairness has helped drive families out of the city.

Actual tax savings for a family of 4 with Adjusted Gross Income of $40,000 using "coupling" would be $948.  A similar family with $60,000 AGI saves $1,183.  A family of 4 with $26,400 AGI currently pays $750, with "coupling" $ ZERO.  One councilmember has proposed cutting taxes about 1/2%.  Using this amount, the hypothetical family of 4 with $26,400 AGI would still pay about $600.

The fairest and most practical taxation strategy would be to introduce "coupling" and make moderate income tax rate increases in the upper bracket(s).  Now that our neighboring states are considering raising taxes on the wealthy, the argument that we will scare away our own rich is a lot less valid, if it ever was.

Another move which seems to have cost us dearly is the deal from around 1996 wherein DC gave up our special Federal payment in exchange for the Federal government taking over some of our functions.  We ended our prison at Lorton, and turned over our prisoners to the Feds and the Prison Industrial Complex.  I was particularly annoyed about this because I had been working on the very GREEN project of restoring food raising there to be used for better nutrition for the prisoners, their families and DC social service agencies. 

 I had researched such successful food raising programs in prisons in 5 other jurisdictions where the benefits were appreciated by all.  When I had visited Lorton as a member of the Mayor's Commission for Food, Nutrition, and Health, I was surprised to see more than 100 acres devoted entirely to GRASS, and not the medical kind.  What a waste.  When I spoke with the prisoners about growing food for their own use, for their families and for social service agencies and schools, they liked the idea.  They did not view it the same as Prison Farms where cotton and other cash crops were grown without benefit to the prisoners and families.

Now I  hear that we are having a hard time getting the Federal government to make promised payments for DC Jail and other programs.  Nevertheless, we still pay 100% Federal taxes even though we only have 40% voting representation. Worse yet, Puerto Rico and Guam pay ZERO% federal income taxes.  Why has no one had the guts to start an escrow account for the other 60% to be held until the Federal government either restores a fair payment for all our untaxable property, or eliminates our taxes as is the case for the nearly 4 million people in Puerto Rico.  

If we paid only 2/5ths Federal tax (2/5ths based on the fact we vote for President and VP, but not for Congressperson and 2 Senators), the increased income for DC residents would result in close to $1 billion extra DC government revenue.  That would solve our budget crises and enable us to lower income taxes.  Establishing such an escrow account could also be used to highlight our lack of STATEHOOD and the resulting unfairness.  The City also needs to look at how much we pay in Federal taxes versus how much we get back in standard Federal payments.  One set of statistics I found at Google suggests that we only get back about 1/2 of what we pay in. At another site it was shown we paid 5 times as much as we get back.   This despite our high number of low income residents needing social services.  The reason I do not propose territorial status as some have done is that territories, including Puerto Rico cannot vote for President and Vice President.  I don't believe in giving up any rights we already have, nor do I wish to forgo benefits we could obtain, while waiting for the "perfection" of statehood.