Be Part of the Solution to Change US Health Care

We all now have the unique opportunity and responsibility to do our part to change health care in the US.  Many changes are currently underway in Washington, DC, including the impending senate vote for a new FDA commissioner.  

President Obama is aware of the many problems in our current health care system, including escalating costs versus the dramatic decline in the general health of our citizens, and intends to make changes to improve our system.  And, he has asked for direction.

The CWC (Consumer Wellness Center) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to nutrition and disease prevention education.  They have launched the Health Revolution Petition, authored and organized by Mike Adams, editor of NaturalNews.com, with the considerable help from health freedom attorneys and advocates, including Scott Tips, Bill Faloon, Jonathan Emord, Jim Turner and Byron Richards who kept it aligned with the principles of liberty and freedom. 

Laguna Natural Health is a supporter of this petition which suggests making revolutionary changes to create true health care initiatives and freedoms for our nation's citizens.  Crisis is this the time when change is most probable and possible.  

We invite you to join us.  Read and sign the petition at:

http://www.HealthRevolutionPetition.org/index.html?ID=21622 

ocnaturaldoc

Swine Flu: Lab Created?

With the recent multi-national outbreak of Swine Flu comes many theories of its origin.  Many have gone back and researched the chronology of the Avian Flu for parallels.  Some suggest the Swine Flu is laboratory (man) created and is considered 'biological weaponry'.   Mike Adams, Health Ranger and editor of NaturalNews.com states:

http://www.NaturalNews.com/026141.html

Dr Rima Laibow, Medical Director of the Natural Solutions Foundation reports:

http://www.healthfreedomusa.org/?p=2581#pandemic

And then there's the issue of the 'vaccine'.  This is a 'new' flu strain.  How is it possible to research and develop, jump through the legal hoops AND perform proper clinical trials in a week's time?  Dr Laibow has learned that some Mexican doctors were recently vaccinated and died.  She discusses the details of the vaccine here:

http://www.healthfreedomusa.org/?p=2581#vaccinated

We know that a strong immune system is a key to disease prevention.  There are many foods and supplements that work well to build immune function.  The short list includes:

Garlic - raw and fresh - use 2-3 cloves and consume within 1 hour of crushing

Resveratrol - antiviral

Vitamin A - balance with Vitamin D - food sources: oily fish, liver, egg yolks for good lung function

Vitamin C - antioxidant, immune builder

Vitamin D - balance with Vitamin A - if you're in the sun 20 minutes plus a day, you probably don't need to take a Vitamin D supplement 

Vitamin E - antioxidant, immune builder

Magnesium - inflammatory response dominator (we like a product called 'Calm')

Sodium Bicarbonate - change blood and full body pH is going to shift the environment of most pathogens making it more uncomfortable for them to inhabit a host

Green Tea is said to be a possible Tamiflu/Relenza alternative

Apple Juice - freshly juiced with pulp is a more effective anti-viral than processed commercial juice

St John's Wort - antiviral

Olive Leaf extract - fights bacteria, fungus, yeast and viruses

L-Lysine - amino acid that interferes with viral genes

Skullcap - antiviral - use as herbal tea

Astragalus Root - immune builder

Cat's Claw - immune builder

Thymus Extract - stimulates immune function

Iodine - antibiotic, antiseptic, antiviral -  able to penetrate quickly through the cell walls of microorganisms

AVOID:

Bananas

Chocolate

Honey

Echinacea

Kimci

Dairy products

Elderberry 

Micro Algae

Remember to wash your hands frequently, avoid those who cough, and do not touch eyes, mouth or nose (mucous membranes).  These are general good health reminders, but people seem to pay more attention to them with the outbreak of a flu.

For more information, feel free to contact us at info@lagunanaturalhealth.com

LNH

URGENT: Oppose Fast Track of Healthcare Reform by April 29, 2009

Contact your Senator by this Wednesday, April 29, and ask him or her to oppose a budget resolution that includes reconciliation instructions. 

This budget reconciliation process is utilized when Congress issues instructions or directives as part of the budget bill in order to legislate policy changes in mandatory spending (entitlements) or revenue programs (tax laws) to achieve the goals contemplated by the budget resolution. Basically, it is a way of “packaging” many different budgetary concerns. In a normal budgetary process, each budget area’s spending will be debated and considered in separate committees. This process allows Congress to consider the budget as a single entity, a sweeping economic program that gets accepted or rejected as a whole.

The hot topics in the annual budget this year are energy independence, education reform, and healthcare. Our concern is that we don’t yet know what the healthcare reform part of the budget will entail, and these decisions are too important to happen without careful consideration—or without health freedom advocates being able to weigh in on the issues so important to us.

Democrats currently hold 58 seats in the Senate, and most legislation needs 60 votes in order to pass. The budget reconciliation process, however, allows the Democrats to move forward with this economic package with a simple majority of 51 votes instead of the 60. 

“A reform of our healthcare system—a massive legislative undertaking that will impact every American—should be done through the normal debate and amendment process,” Sen. Judd Gregg (RNH) said in a statement. “To circumvent that process in favor of ramming through a partisan plan that needs only a simple majority to pass is a far cry from the bipartisanship that has been promised.”

As an organization that advocates for limited government interference in one’s healthcare decisions, we believe that healthcare reform is an item that unquestionably warrants open debate and extensive input from all stakeholders—which includes every American citizen. 

The use of the budget reconciliation process as a means to fast track healthcare reform—one of the most important issues facing our nation today—is about the most undemocratic maneuver a party could employ. 

Please contact your Senators and Representatives immediately to voice your opposition of using the budget reconciliation process for national healthcare reform.

https://secure3.convio.net/aahf/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=356

LNH

A Lesson in Ordinary Greatness

Let's close this week out with something inspiring to marinade on this weekend.  Columnist and management consultant Brian Jones shares a lesson he learned from comedian Conan O'Brien about "ordinary greatness".

***************************************

A Lesson in Ordinary Greatness

by Brian Jones

One of the side effects of my constant travel schedule is arriving at hotels in new cities late at night. Unable to sleep, I turn on the TV. Late-night TV is mostly a wasteland of infomercials and B-movies, but one of the bright spots has been Late Night with Conan O'Brien on NBC. It could always be counted on for a laugh. It was interesting to see recently that Conan has aired his final show, as he will be succeeding Jay Leno as Tonight Show host when Jay steps down later this year--according to Conan, a dream of his come true.

Conan's 'Career Path'
Conan's career path also contains many lessons for leaders, I believe. You see, when Conan was offered the role of host of Late Night in 1993 (after being encouraged to audition by the legendary producer of Saturday Night Live Lorne Michaels), he was following the very successful David Letterman, and Conan was a complete unknown. He had been a successful writer behind the scenes on The Simpsons and Saturday Night Live, but he had no show-hosting experience. 

Many experts in the entertainment field were quite surprised and maybe even a bit offended that someone they did not know well had been chosen to host Late Night. In fact, NBC even acknowledged this perception in a radio ad that aired shortly before the show's debut that had O'Brien telling the story of someone who recognized him on the street and said, "Look, honey, there's the guy who doesn't deserve his own show!"

And his tenure was not without its bumps. For example, during the first 3 years, NBC insisted on renewing the show for only 2 weeks at a time. But then Conan and his staff began hitting their stride. The shows became consistently funny, ratings improved, and the show developed a loyal following. 

This provided some comedic fodder for O'Brien on his 10th Anniversary Special. Mr. T appeared on the special to give O'Brien a gold necklace with a giant "7" on it. When O'Brien tried to point out that he's actually been on the air for 10 years, Mr. T responded, "I know that, fool ... but you've only been funny for 7!"

What I Learned from Conan
What's the lesson for leaders? Well, first of all, greatness in others is not always readily apparent. Sixteen years ago, no one was predicting that Conan would be such a successful host with such a legion of fans that he would actually be the next host of the Tonight Show. He appeared to be an ordinary man, the "guy who doesn't deserve his own show." It took a visionary like Lorne Michaels to see the "ordinary greatness" in Conan.

Second, the lesson is that people need time. It might take a while to see ordinary greatness in others--don't give up. You might have to keep an eye on things weekly as the NBC folks did, but the results will be there.

So tonight, before you watch Late Night or go to bed early, be sure you have recognized greatness somewhere around you. Oh, and be sure to not just recognize it, but to tell someone you have. Here are some phrases to get you started:

• I haven't told you this in a while, but thank you for ...
• You might think that no one noticed when you ...
• Thank you for making my job easier when you ...
• Thank you for always taking such good care of our customers.
• I know they don't always say thank you, so let me.

There is ordinary greatness everywhere you live. If it's not apparent, you might have to be open to it and give it time. But the return on your investment will make it worth it, and you might find the next Conan!

*****************************************

Thank you for following the LNH blog.  We appreciate your readership and sharing in our desire to 'do for the greater good'.

Enjoy a peaceful weekend.

LNH

Shareholder Battle vs Leading Manufacturer of Mercury Fillings Coming May 5: An Update from Charles Brown, Nat'l Counsel, Consumers For Dental Choice

We are in this fight against mercury fillings to win, so we take our battles everywhere -- not just to the courts and to the agencies. 

 

This time, we head to the corporate boardroom of the #1 purveyor of toxic mercury fillings.  On May 5, we will appear at the annual meeting of the Danaher corporation (which owns Kerr) to present and argue for a resolution calling on the corporation to transition out of manufacturing mercury fillings.

 

Getting to this point took most of a year.  First, we sought out shareholders, and were delighted that several Catholic religious orders own Danaher stock in their pension plans and play a major role in trying to challenge corporate malfeasance.  Next we obtained legal advice from securities counsel on how far a resolution could go, in light of barriers erected by the pro-corporate U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.  Then we presented the shareholder resolution to Danaher, who by law must allow a shareholder vote.  So, armed with proxies (the document allowing us to vote shares of stock), we head to the meeting at the Mayflower Hotel in WashingtonDC.

 

Leading the charge will be Sister Valerie Heinonen of the Ursuline Sisters of Tildonk, a great friend of our movement. She is experienced in challenging corporate malfeasance. With Valerie’s guidance, I will present our resolution.  (If you want to thank Sister Valerie, she’s at heinonenv@juno.com)

 

The first time, we can't get a majority. But we will lay down the gauntlet, putting Danaher on notice that forces are building from all directions to send amalgam to the dustbins of history, and if they stick with amalgam their stock price could take a huge hit.  Those forces include Wall Street itself, which is issuing reports intimating amalgam has no future for the investor community: see www.toxicteeth.org/mercuryfillings_BOAreport.cfm  (Bank of America Securities says industry would be more profitable abandoning mercury fillings) and  

www.toxicteeth.org/jpmorgam-2008.pdf 

(J.P. Morgan says FDA is likely to put limits on use of mercury fillings when it issues its rule in 2009, a point I agree with).

 

In its written reply, Danaher says two-tiered dentistry is a good thing for lower-income Americans and institutional recipients.  So our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who fight for this country just deserve mercury?  How about hard-working Americans at the low-income level -- do their children just deserve mercury?  We won’t let this contemptuous attitude toward our fellow Americans unchallenged; Valerie and I, plus a dentist we will invite, will respond on May 5.

As you know, our lawsuit meant that the Food and Drug Administration now advises that mercury fillings "may have neurotoxic effects on the nervous systems of developing children and fetuses," www.fda.gov/cdrh/consumer/amalgams.html;  Danaher/Kerr persist in selling its product, knowing full well that it is being implanted in children and pregnant women.

 

Potentially, folks, some of you could help.  Do you or an acquaintance own Danaher stock?   If so, we'd be delighted if you would join us, speak up, and vote.  (You must bring proof of ownership, e.g., a ballot or stock certificate, to get into the room.)  If you own Danaher stock and can't get to Washington, then please write me, and arrange to get me your proxy.

 

Charlie

19 April 2009

 

Charles G. Brown, National Counsel                 

Consumers for Dental Choice                            

316 F St., N.E., Suite 210, Washington, DC 20002        

Ph. 202.544-6333; fax 202.544-6331                  

charlie@toxicteeth.org, www.toxicteeth.org

Working for mercury-free dentistry

 

No Amalgam for Children and Young Women: An Update from the Office of Charles Brown, National Counsel, Consumers for Dental Choice

Public Officials Caucus to FDA Nominee:

No Amalgam for Children, Young Women

 

The State and Local Public Officials Mercury-Free Caucus has requested that the U.S. Senate health committee give particular attention to the FDA Commissioner nominee’s position on mercury amalgam.

 

To run FDA, President Obama nominated former New York City health commissioner Margaret Hamburg, who fortunately recognizes the toxicity of mercury.  She has stated, “Mercury is . . . highly poisonous to the brain and kidneys." 

www.mercurypoisoningproject.org/pdf/june1991.pdf  

Her nomination is now before the Senate for confirmation, and the Senate health committee will be holding its hearings any day now.  In addition, Senators may also inquire in writing about Dr. Hamburg’s views on issues and plans for FDA, and the public can urge its Senators to do so. 

 

Hence, the State and Local Public Officials Mercury-Free Caucus has written health committee chairman Senator Ted Kennedy and ranking Republican Senator Mike Enzi (letter republished at bottom).  At the outset, the Caucus letter points out that classifying amalgam will be “one of [Dr. Hamburg’s] first duties,” and stresses, “No good public policy reason exists to continue to use amalgam, especially for children and women of childbearing age.”

 

Noting that FDA must classify mercury amalgam by this coming July 28, the Caucus asks that Dr. Hamburg give a warning about the mercury to “every patient and parent.”  The caucus then expresses grave concern about the emergence of “two-tiered dentistry,” whereby institutional settings -- even clinics for our servicemen and servicewomen -- still place mercury fillings, even though they are functionally interchangeable with resin composite.

 

The letter is endorsed by a bipartisan team of 13 current and former public officials, hailing from ten states -- Arizona, California, Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Ohio,Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.  Of the Caucus members, eight have served as state legislators, three as local officials (a mayor, a councilman, and a sheriff), and three as dental board members.*  (As you may recall, we initially brought these concerned officials together to issue a powerful comment on FDA’s proposed amalgam rule.)

 

Now that the State and Local Public Officials Mercury-Free Caucus has spoken, here’s what all Americans can do:  Write your two Senators; see below for how.**  Ask your Senators to inquire if Dr. Hamburg intends to stop amalgam use, at least for children and young women.  Remember, the confirmation process is your opportunity to voice concerns to the Senate and to educate the FDA nominee about mercury fillings. 

 

Charlie  

23 April 2009

 

Charles G. Brown, National Counsel

Consumers for Dental Choice

316 F St., N.E., Suite 210, Washington, DC 20002

Ph. 202.544-6333; fax 202.544-6331

charlie@toxicteeth.org,

www.toxicteeth.org

Working for Mercury-Free Dentistry

 

* Signatories: Teresa Fedor (State Senator, Ohio), Daylin Leach (State Senator, Pa.), Sandra Williams (State Representative, Ohio), Karen Johnson (former State Senator, Ariz.), Charlotte Pritt (former State Senator, West Va..), Jay Goyal (State Representative, Ohio), Hal Lynde (former State Representative, New Hamp.), Marvin L. Van Haaften (former Director, Iowa Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy, and former Sheriff of Marion County, Iowa), Joanne Twomey (Mayor of Biddeford, Maine, and former State Representative), Michael J. London (Councilman, Trumbull, Conn.), Kevin Biggers (former Member, Dental Board of Calif.), Ron King, DDS (former Member, Minn. Board of Dentistry), Chester L. Yokoyama, DDS (former Member, Dental Board of Calif.)

 

** How to Contact Your Senators

1.              Go to http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm         

2.              Choose your state from the drop-down menu at the top

3.              Find senators’ addresses and telephone numbers under their names or click on the link next to "Web Form" to send an email

 

 

State and Local Public Officials Mercury-Free Caucus

316 F St., N.E., Suite 210-B

Washington DC 20002

Phone 202.544-6333; fax 202.544-6331

 

The Honorable Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), Chairman

The Honorable Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Minority Member

Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions

 

Re: FDA confirmation hearings: Request you forward our concerns to Dr. Hamburg

 

Dear Chairman Kennedy and Senator Enzi:

 

One of Commissioner-designate Margaret Hamburg’s first duties, should she be confirmed, will be to classify mercury amalgam. By court order, FDA’s deadline is this July 28.

 

We created this coalition of state and local public officials because we believe the time is past for the use of mercury-based dental fillings.  Amalgam, a pre-Civil War device, perhaps had transitional value before resin composite was developed as an alternative. But now that resin fillings are interchangeable with amalgam, and now that the health risks of mercury are well-known, no good public policy reason exists to continue to use amalgam, especially for children and women of childbearing age.

 

May we ask the Chairman and/or Ranking Minority Member to forward our concerns -- and this letter -- to Dr. Hamburg?

 

First, we agree with Dr. Hamburg when, as Health Commissioner for New York City, she stated that mercury is “highly poisonous to the brain and kidneys.”  We see no reason to exempt mercury implanted in children’s mouths from that statement -- and we trust that neither does she.  Indeed, an inch from the brain is the last place a neurotoxin belongs.  Consider this: When an amalgam is removed from a tooth, it must be placed in a hazardous waste bag only a few seconds after it was in a person’s mouth.

 

Second, because of the deceptive term “silver fillings” and a gag rule previously enforced by state dental boards, most Americans, according to a Zogby poll, do not know that the fillings are mercury.  Certainly many American parents and pregnant women are trying to shield their children or unborn babies from any mercury exposure.  FDA should require disclosure to every patient and parent of a child patient receiving mercury.

 

Third, two-tiered dentistry exists today. Gone are the days when everyone got mercury fillings; today, upper-middle-class adults get resin. Consumers -- including, tragically, our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines -- still receive mercury fillings in factory-line dental clinics and institutional settings.  Indeed, a witness from the NAACP, testifying before a U.S. House committee, said, “It’s time to end mercury for the poor and choice for the rich,” and added:

 

“Don’t create a two-tiered system of environmental justice, where we leave the mercury fillings on the Indian reservations, in the inner cities, in the barrios, and in Appalachia.”www.mercurypoisoned.com/hearings/carlton_statement.html

 

We condemn the idea that children, lower-income Americans, and Americans receiving institutional dentistry merit anything less than what the rest of us now receive: toxic-free dentistry.  Dr. Hamburg, if confirmed, should act decisively to protect Americans, especially children and young women, from mercury by limiting, then phasing out the use of amalgam.    

 

Sincerely,

 

Hon. Teresa Fedor, State Senator, Ohio

Hon. Daylin Leach, State Senator, Pennsylvania

Hon. Sandra Williams, State Representative, Ohio

Hon. Karen Johnson, former State Senator, Arizona

Hon. Charlotte Pritt, former State Senator, West Virginia

Hon. Jay Goyal, State Representative, Ohio

Hon. Hal Lynde, former State Representative, New Hampshire

Hon. Marvin L. Van Haaften, former Director, Iowa Governor's Office

      of Drug Control Policy (“Drug Czar”); former Marion County (Iowa) Sheriff

Hon. Joanne Twomey, Mayor, Biddeford, Maine; former State Representative

Hon. Michael J. London, Councilman, Trumbull, Connecticut

Hon. Kevin Biggers, former Member, Dental Board, California

Hon. Ron King, DDS, former Member, Board of Dentistry, Minnesota

Hon. Chester L. Yokoyama, DDS, former Member, Dental Board, California