A Sure Fix for Runaway Health Care Costs

October 5th, 2009

At the Church of the Café Latte, the Café Trident, in downtown Boulder, a dozen or more slim, trim men and women sit together, sipping their morning joe. Their conversation is as noisy as magpies in a tree, yet this morning it is focused on one topic: their friend
Binx Selby and his Cash for Obese Clunkers fix for rising health care costs.

The coffee drinkers, all graduates of his rapid cholesterol loss diet, are vocal proof that his Balance Point Health diet works. Selby will tell anyone who asks that reducing inflammation in the body through simple lifestyle changes could eliminate up to 75% of age related disease and “end of life” costs.

So what does he advocate?

Selby advocates a one-time cash incentive from the government for obese people to lose weight, and then an annual bonus for people who keep down their weight. In other words, he wants the government to pay obese people to do the right thing. To help make this happen, he is working toward giving away his revolutionary, anti-inflammation diet for free.

Why is it revolutionary? Because it is a grain and sugar free diet, that rapidly reduces cholesterol without drugs. Inflammation in the body is caused by grains, says Selby, and is the starting point of most age-related disease such as heart disease.

Selby discovered this personally, when he showed up for an annual physical three years ago and learned from his doctor that his heart calcium level looked dangerously high. He was told that he must begin taking drugs to reduce his cholesterol as a precaution, and see a cardiologist right away.

He was stunned. “What heart condition?” he asked. “I lead a health life. I just finished a 40-mile bike ride. I meditate for an hour every day. I’m eating a Mediterranean diet. I think I’m doing everything right.” He decided that the only thing that might be wrong
was his diet. He asked his doctor for a two week reprieve.

In 10 days he was back at his doctor’s office. “I couldn’t wait for two weeks. I was anxious to find out if what I was doing was right. Selby’s tests went from very bad to very good in only 10-days. Selby’s tests showed his “bad” LDL cholesterol dropping 42 points and his “good” HDL cholesterol going up 19 points in just 10 days. They’re still at that healthy level three years later. The only thing he changed in his life was his diet.

Heart disease is optional, he now says. In the right environment, the body can heal itself. As proof, he and his wife Linda Fong are writing a book called BalancePoint: The 2-week cholesterol and inflammation reduction diet that takes readers step by step through the recipes and science that make up what he calls “a lifestyle protocol.”

As for members of his café latte congregation, Selby has given everyone who took part in his initial trials, one share of stock in his new company.

New Voices in the Wilderness

September 10th, 2009

With the appointment of Harris D. Sherman to the position of Under Secretary for Natural Resources and the Environment at the U.S. Agricultural Department, will new voices emerge to support his strong environmental advocacy?
Harris Sherman has served as Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources under both Governor Richard Lamm, and currently, under Governor Bill Ritter. With confirmation expected within the next 30 days, will Mr. Sherman invite the public to join in discussions of resource conservation and preservation via Online Town Halls? I hope so. I would love to add my voice to meetings while sitting at home, in my PJs. Wouldn’t you???

Public Will vs Monsanto GMO

August 3rd, 2009

A drama worthy of Shakespeare is playing itself out on the greenbelt grassland surrounding Boulder, in Colorado. Organic-minded citizens of Boulder, billed as the #1 healthiest community in America are in a showdown with GMO, Monsanto’s genetically modified sugar beets.

Why? Six traditional (pesticide oriented) farmers want to make a profit growing Roundup Ready GMO sugar beets on public, open space land. A county planning staff, lead by former county commissioner Ron Steward has given the farmers their OK. In a budget constrained world, they view the farmers use of pesticide as helpful in countywide weed control, even if it comes with GMO beets.

However, this is strongly opposed by a volunteer commission that includes local, organic farmers. They suggest that many farmers are turning to profitable niche gardens. Traditional crop production, that includes GMO seeds and pesticides, is dwindling.

Then too, GMO opponents argue that the patented, Roundup Ready biotech seeds which do not reproduce, which require that farmers make an annual purchase of seeds from Monsanto, are not natural, nor good for public lands or public health.

What is the public will? The public will, in this debate, shows up at public hearings and stays until after midnight until the lights are turned out. It is volunteer, uncoordinated, and expressive. When they point to scientific articles that offer doubts and dangers of GMO it is ridiculed by GMO supporters: lobbyists and Monsanto staff, as “emotional mushiness.”

What role does emotion have in a rational, business minded world? If someone believes they will be healthier eating natural or organic products, then they are right.

Yes. We ARE what we think. And, we ARE what we eat.

In Boulder, the County Commissioners get to make the final decision: between the recommendations of their staff vs the Public Will. Like a marriage on the rocks, the Commissioners are being forced to choose between a loyal, money conscious staff, and an earnest public that wants them to protect their good health.

It would be a win-win, if the Boulder County Commissioners invited local, organic farmers to show traditional farmers how to move toward pesticide free crops. Short term subsidies would help with this transition.

In a New Economy, based on sustainability, Monsanto would be out of business, like most of the Detroit auto industry.

July 25th, 2009
Jun 26

Launched as the first electronic democracy website on the Internet, in 1995, award winning Votelink is now going through a transition.

During the Summer of 2009, we will be looking at online civic engagement and its relevance in a socially networked world.

With the intense churn of socialmedia, celebrity news, entrepreneurial ventures such as Facebook, MySpace, Linked In, and Twitter, where does Votelink fit in?

During this transition period, you can contact Votelink president, Alexia Parks @ <alexia@votelink.com>. I’m interested in your ideas. Stay in touch!

Votelink.com

July 6th, 2009