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Friday Foolishness- health, government, etc.

From my "There's no such thing as a free lunch" file, I just found out today that many of the states are taxing the $4500 people got for the "cash for clunkers" program. Imagine the surprise. You not only pay tax and license for your new car (tax on the full price of the car) but then come to find out in some states you will also pay income tax on it. I live in California and could not find anything on their website about a tax, but many states have already incorporated it. You may want to check with the governing tax board in your state. Nice aye?

Anyone who reads this blog cannot help but know how I feel about Big Pharma and some of their underhanded shinanagins. You would also know how I feel about the vaccine Gardasil. It seems a new report has come to light that Merk, the maker of Gardasil payed doctors to promote the vaccine. Why does this not surprise me? Merck has admitted that it provided $199,000 to the ACHA, $300,000 to the ASCCP, and $250,000 to the SGO to fund "education efforts." Then these organizations wonder why people like me don't trust them. It's my daughters that are subject to their greed.

Dr. William Campbell Douglas II says that according to a leaked document from the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, in order to make up for a $200 million budget deficit, the organization is considering cutting over 6,000 surgeries and closing over 25 percent of its operating rooms (after all, if you're canceling surgeries, what do you need the operating rooms for?). How's Obamacare sounding now? Do you really think if this passes it won't be another place to do budget cuts?

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The Truth Coming Out About Alli

Today I posted concerning the news breaking yesterday concerning the weight loss pills, Alli. So as to not repeat myself please see it at http://www.ldbeams.wordpress.com

Enjoy =)

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Sharing Little Known Health Secrets

Anyone who has followed me for any length of time, knows I love these little sales letters that come in the design of a magazine trying to sell you something, usually a book. I just got my new copy of "Healing Gazette" and thought I would share some of it's newest bizarre "health secrets".

The fact that the flu season is coming is known to anyone over the age of 6. These are a couple of things you may not know to help fight it.

  1. This one's my favorite. You'll see why in a second. Over and over again I have expounded on how wonderful I believe echinacea is. Well it seems all this time I could have been getting it to work even better if I mix 1 1/2 oz. of echinacea root, 3/4 cup of water and 3/4 cup of vodka. Now the book warns not to take echinacea for prolonged use or it will lose some of it's effectiveness. It doesn't mention anything about turning into an alchoholic with the vodka. LOL
  2. Some of these can be pretty stinky, but if they work, hey... Also for fighting the flu, it says to coat the soles of your feet with olive oil, then rub a sliced garlic clove on them. Put on a pair of socks and you wake up the next day feeling like a new person!
  3. For stuffed sinuses it says to use fried salt. I've never really heard of fried salt like you would fry and egg, but here you go. After you fry it, spread it out on a clean towel. Fold it up and lay it on the bridge of your nose. (I wouldn't use to big a towel).
  4. Also for stuffy noses it says to apply a thin layer of olive oil to the bony part of your nose, and then follow with a couple drops of eucalyptus oil in the same place. Then place a hot washcloth on your face for 15 min. and the congestion will clear.
  5. To fight fatigue with the flu, add 1 TBSP. olive oil to 3 or 4 drops of peppermint oil and massage into your feet. I wonder if Rachel Ray knows about that one for her EVOO?
That's about it for today. If you're like me and afraid as hell of the flu shot, maybe these will help. In the meantime, wash your hands often and don't let anyone cough in your face.

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What About The Obama Healthcare Plan?

I don't know about you, but I am definitely confused. So far I haven't seen anything written that says what the new Healthcare Plan will be. I am getting pulled back and forth from both sides saying I should want it (especially since I'm one of the millions without any healthcare), or I should be fighting it because even without healthcare, adopting his plan would be worse. What I'm wondering is how in the Sam hell do I know without seeing it?

I know I don't want socialized medicine. Everyone talks about Canada, but when I was married to a Canadian they took 50% of his check to pay for the "free healthcare" he had. When he needed an operation on his leg, it took months to get us in and it wasn't as if we could just go somewhere else.

I did find an informative .pdf this morning that outlines what they want to fix. My problem with it is no where do they say how they plan to fix it. Personally I feel like you or I could have written this. I think most of us know what's wrong with the health care system, but just like this paper, we don't have the "how". I've always thought that a lot of health care costs would be cut if more insurance companies paid for preventative medicine instead of waiting until someone's got a full blown disease and then paying to try and fix it. Most companies pay for very few preventative measures, which has never made much sense to me.

Another excellent article in Fortune talks about how our freedom to choose our own healthcare plan would really work. There's a lot of information here that I haven't even heard brought up. I'll have to start my list of questions so it's ready when we get our "Townhall meeting" here. LOL.

This is what I do know. I know that the "stimulus plan" spent a ton of money but didn't anticipate very accurately what people would do with that money, and thus didn't seem to stimulate the economy much at all. People spend that paltry little bit by paying a bill or putting it in savings. Lottery winners stimulate the economy. LOL. The money businesses got, a good portion of them (like banks) didn't even have to account for where the money went, until the second hand out. When they did have to account for their spending (there were strings attached to the hand outs) many gave it back or paid it back quickly.

I know that people with fairly new cars are turning them in to the "cash for clunkers" program. One lady turned her newer (2004 Ford) car because it was in an accident and she didn't want to pay to get it fixed (or tell her insurance company). Meanwhile people driving 1988 gas guzzlers are still driving them because they either can't afford or don't want a car payment. Here's the good part. They didn't even make it mandatory to buy a car made in America! You would think when they handed out the second round of cash they would have fixed a few "holes" in the system.

I know that offering big banks a $1000.00 incentive to keep people in their homes is nothing. The execs at B of A and Wells Fargo probably wipe their butts with that money. It was just $500.00 and then they wonder why that program isn't doing anything. The programs they enacted to help homeowners refinance out of their current problems, some of them the guidelines were so strict, one program has only helped one homeowner in all the months it's been in force.

When President Obama took office I was right behind him with my support giving him the benefit of the doubt. I think that's as it should be when you love your country, but I'm afraid it's not like how I love my kids, right or wrong. I have to say so far I'm not impressed. It all just looks like one more government, bureaucratic screw up to me.

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Swine Flu Vaccine- Deadly or Preventative?

I'm getting a bit spooked lately. We're coming to the end of summer and soon the leaves will be turning color to bring our attention to fall. The children are getting back to school and soon will be bringing home the sicknesses ever present when a bunch of school children first get back together. In most places October marks the beginning of flu season and we see the warnings and advice to get our flu shots before the flu gets us.

What spooks me this year is they are already talking about getting flu shots and making it mandatory for school children due to the Swine Flu breaking out last year. I'm supposed to believe that this year's flu vaccine is perfectly safe for my children, my 78 yr. old mother and myself, even tho I can't see how they have had time to go through any testing or trials. Usually it takes years for Big Pharma to bring a product to market, even when they fudge the tests and lie about the outcomes. How is it that they can have a flu vaccine that is going to protect, is perfectly safe, and not harm my family even though they've only been working on it since last year?

As if that is not scary enough, they are suggesting Tamiflu for pregnant women. This is because complications may arize from the flu that require hospitalization. One example I saw on the noon news, they were actually giving the woman a double dosage, even though they have no idea what the effect will be on her unborn child. According to the "Patient Information" sheet supplied by the maker of Tamiflu, "Tamiflu is normally not recommended for use during pregnancy or nursing, as the effects on the unborn child or nursing infant are unknown." We're supposed to put our faith and trust in these doctors.

Once again I will have my family skip flu shots this year and use natural health measures to boost immunities rather than take a chance on Big Pharma's help. I don't want to find out later that it's hurting more people than helping as in the case of when they were going to make Gardasil mandatory.

First up is more Vitamin D. From an article I read they have basically come to the conclusion that flu season hits when it does because we are not out in the sunshine as much. The days are shorter and colder and our exposure to sunlight, especially on rainy days is minimal. A nationwide study in the U.S. found about 9 percent of the children were vitamin D deficient but 61 percent of them were vitamin D insufficient. Researchers are looking at possible new recommendations regarding how much Vitamin D and calcium we should be taking given these new statistics. Right now the recommendations are to aim for 800-1000 IU of vitamin D each day with at least 400 IU coming from food sources if possible. A multivitamin-mineral supplement may be the way to go to make up the remainder if you find that you are low in other key nutrients as well. If not, you could take a vitamin D supplement with calcium to help with healthier bones as well. When selecting a vitamin D supplement, select one that contains cholecalciferol or D3 if possible because of its better absorption. In addition, to maximize your supplement absorption, take your supplement with a meal or snack that contains some fat.

Even though it's taken some bashing in the papers, I personally am also a big fan of Echinacia. It comes in either a tablet or liquid form. For my family it has helped cut short colds and stopped colds from taking over when taken in advance to being exposed. I also believe in taking plenty of vitamin C. Being a smoker I use up just about all I take in. They say if you smoke you should take up to 3000 mg per day. The current recommendation from the FDA is only 250 mg which is just what's needed to prevent Scurvy. The more useful recommendation is approx. 1000 mg. per day according to the studies I've read.

One of the biggest things is to not believe everything Big Pharma puts out. Do some research on your own, and don't panic. For more information regarding symptoms, etc. see my post Swine Flu-Fact or Fiction

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