Sunday, August 23, 2009

The Global Economic Melt Down & What To Do About It By Chief Investigator Of The Past S&L Fraud And Recovery

William Black "This Economic Disaster"


Watch the video:
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2009/08/william-black-this-economic-disaster.html

There is also an audio link.

Black talks about how Obama and others do not see the obvious economic meltdown and instead believe the 'green shoots' and other deceptions that hide the systemic fraud.

He explains what can be done, and is being done and what can work. He talks about his work with Iceland and their bankruptcy and much more.

He explains what each person can do - including take every opportunity to talk with house and senate representatives.

He knows first hand how it all works and explains in lucid detail.
===


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Wednesday, August 19, 2009

America Is Seething - Big Government Continues To Loot The Public - World Economy Continues To Deteriorate

America is seething.  Not since the Civil War has anything like this happened.  But the protests are either being intentionally downplayed or ignorantly misinterpreted.

organized or spontaneous is not the issue.

the legislation is regarded as yet another straw on the already overloaded camel’s back.  

A series of gigantic, unpopular government-imposed (but taxpayer-financed) bailouts, buyouts, rescue and stimulus packages have been stuffed down the gullet of Americans. 

With no public platform to voice their opposition,

yet another instance of big government taking another piece out of their lives and making them pay for it; again telling them what they can or cannot do.

we forecast ... will become the most profound political trend of the century – the trend that will change the world – is still invisible to the same experts, authorities and pundits who didn’t see the financial crisis coming until the bottom fell out of the economy. 

Conditions will continue to deteriorate.
The global economy is terminally ill. 
The recession is in a brief remission, not the early stages of recovery. 
Cheap money, easy credit and unrestrained borrowing brought on an economic crisis that cannot be cured by monetary and fiscal policies that promote more cheap money, easy credit and unrestrained borrowing.

Fourth Shot of the “Second American Revolution”:
the threat of government-forced Swine Flu vaccinations is realized, it will be the fourth shot. 
Tens of millions will fight for their right to remain free and unvaccinated.

The power of the Internet and new technologies is inexorably fermenting the “Second American Revolution.”

Now, with the ubiquitous camera-equipped cell phone,
universal access to YouTube,
and millions of twitters and tweets,

the uprisings cannot be ignored, contained, managed, spun or edited down. 
The revolutionary fervor will prove contagious. 

A false flag attempt, a genuine crisis, or a declaration of war, may slow the momentum of the “Second American Revolution,” but nothing will stop it.
+++



The “Second American Revolution” Has Begun By Gerald Celente

August 12, 2009
http://yonkerstribune.typepad.com/yonkers_tribune/2009/08/the-second-american-revolution-has-begun-by-gerald-celente.html

Celente_GeraldKingston, NY -- The natives are restless.  The third shot of the “Second American Revolution” has been fired.  History is being made.  But just as with the first two shots, the third shot is not being heard.

America is seething.  Not since the Civil War has anything like this happened.  But the protests are either being intentionally downplayed or ignorantly misinterpreted. 

The first shot was fired on April 15, 2009.  Over 700 anti-tax rallies and “Tea Parties” erupted nationwide.  Rather than acknowledge their significance, the general media either ignored or ridiculed both protests and protestors, playing on “tea bagging” for its sexual innuendo.  

Initially President Obama said he was unaware of the tea parties.  The White House later warned they could “mutate” into something “unhealthy.”

Shot #2 was fired on the Fourth of July, when throngs of citizens across the nation gathered to again protest “taxation without representation.”  And as before, the demonstrations were branded right-wing mischief and dismissed.

The third volley, fired in early August, was aimed point blank at Senators and House members pitching President Obama’s health care reform package to constituents.   In fiery town hall meetings, enraged citizens shouted down their elected representatives.  It took a strong police presence and/or burly bodyguards to preserve a safe physical space between the politicians and irate townspeople. 

The White House and the media have labeled protestors “conservative fringe elements,” or as players in staged events organized by Republican operatives that have been egged on by Fox news and right-wing radio show hosts.  

In regard to this latest wave of outbursts, health industry interests opposed to any reform are also being blamed for inciting the public.  But organized or spontaneous is not the issue.  While most protestors exhibit little grasp of the complex 1000 page health care reform document (that nary a legislator has read either), their emotion is clearly real and un-staged.

Rightly or wrongly, the legislation is regarded as yet another straw on the already overloaded camel’s back.  

A series of gigantic, unpopular government-imposed (but taxpayer-financed) bailouts, buyouts, rescue and stimulus packages have been stuffed down the gullet of Americans. 

With no public platform to voice their opposition, options for citizens have been limited to fruitless petitions, e-mails and phone calls to Congress … all fielded by anonymous staff underlings.

Now, with Congress in recess and elected representatives less than a stone’s throw away, the public is exploding.  The devil is not in the details of the heath care reform, the devil is the government mandating health care.   Regardless of how the plan is pitched or what is being promised, to the public the legislation is yet another instance of big government taking another piece out of their lives and making them pay for it; again telling them what they can or cannot do.

Though in its early stages, the “Second American Revolution” is underway.  Yet, what we forecast will become the most profound political trend of the century – the trend that will change the world – is still invisible to the same experts, authorities and pundits who didn’t see the financial crisis coming until the bottom fell out of the economy. 

Trend Forecast: Conditions will continue to deteriorate. The global economy is terminally ill.  The recession is in a brief remission, not the early stages of recovery.  Cheap money, easy credit and unrestrained borrowing brought on an economic crisis that cannot be cured by monetary and fiscal policies that promote more cheap money, easy credit and unrestrained borrowing.

Nevertheless, Washington will continue to intervene, tax and exert control. Protests will escalate and riots will follow.

Fourth Shot of the “Second American Revolution”: While there are many wild cards that could light the fuse, The Trends Research Institute forecasts that if the threat of government-forced Swine Flu vaccinations is realized, it will be the fourth shot.  Tens of millions will fight for their right to remain free and unvaccinated.

Publisher’s Note: The power of the Internet and new technologies is inexorably fermenting the “Second American Revolution.”  However widespread and emotionally charged, had the tax rallies, tea parties and healthcare reform protests occurred in years past, they might have been covered by the local media, but might not have made national headline news and thus would have died stillborn.  

Now, with the ubiquitous camera-equipped cell phone, universal access to YouTube, and millions of twitters and tweets, the uprisings cannot be ignored, contained, managed, spun or edited down.  The revolutionary fervor will prove contagious. 

Can anything stop it?  

Trend Forecast: Before the momentum of the “Second American Revolution” becomes unstoppable, it could be derailed through some false flag event designed to deceive the public, or a genuine event or crisis capable of rallying the entire nation behind the President.   In a worst-case scenario, according to Trends Research Institute Director, Gerald Celente, “Given the pattern of governments to parlay egregious failures into mega-failures, the classic trend they follow, when all else fails, is to take their nation to war."

A false flag attempt, a genuine crisis, or a declaration of war, may slow the momentum of the “Second American Revolution,” but nothing will stop it. 


Learn more about The Trends Research Institute by visiting the www.TrendsResearch.com Website.


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Become a Google Earth Explorer! Explore The World With Google Earth

Become a Google Earth Explorer!
Learn tips and tricks to explore the world, find interesting places and share content with others. Follow this hands-on learning game at your own pace until you complete each level and become a true explorer!

More about this game

This self-paced game will get you familiar with both the basics and more advanced features of Google Earth. Once you complete the course, you'll be able to:

  • Fly to your home
  • Explore the oceans
  • See sights around the world
  • Explore street-level imagery
  • View 3D buildings
  • See 3D terrain
  • View user-submitted images
  • Explore historical images of the Earth
  • Mark places, draw paths and measure distances
  • Get driving directions
  • Tour any location

Ready to begin? Use the links on the left side of this page (at this link: learning game) to navigate through the levels.

If you don't have Google Earth on your computer, visit http://earth.google.com/ to download it.




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Monday, August 17, 2009

Selfless Service -- You See Everybody As Yourself And Expect No Reward -- Start The Journey

One Legitimate Use of Power

--by Keshavan Nair (Aug 17, 2009)

Audio Reading by Liz Helgesen

Download this file (right-click or Control-click)

Gandhi never held any official position in government, he had no wealth, the commanded no armies -- but he could mobilize millions.  People were willing to serve with him and for him because his life was devoted to serving them.

Many of us have come to believe that leadership is the attainment of power.  But as long as power dominates our thinking about leadership, we cannot move toward a higher standard of leadership.  We must place service at the core; for even though power will always be associated with leadership, it has only one legitimate use: service.

The importance of service to leadership has a long history.  Ancient monarchs acknowledged that they were in the service of their country and their people -- even if their actions were not consistent with this.  Modern coronation ceremonies  and inaugurations of heads of state all involve the acknowledgement of service to God, country, and the people.  Politicians define their role in terms of public service.  And service has always been at the core of leadership in the spiritual arena, symbolized at the highest level by Christ washing the feet of His disciples.

Service exists in the context of a relationship.  In politics, it is between elected officials and their constituents, in academia between teachers and their students, in religion between priests and their congregations, and in interpersonal relationships between loved ones.  In business it is between companies and their customers, shareholders, management and their employees.

The ideal of selfless service -- you see everybody as yourself and expect no reward.  But if you wait until you can serve without any selfish motive, you may wait forever.  Gandhi insisted that the best way to attain the ideal was to start on the journey: "If we all refuse to serve, until we attain perfection, there will be no service.  The fact is that perfection is attained through service."

--Keshavan Nair, in A Higher Standard of Leadership



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Friday, August 14, 2009

2009 Swine Flue & 1919 Flu Epidemic Cured With Homeopathy For Many

Doctors in Mexico City Cured 2009 Swine Flu with Homeopathy

Friday, August 14, 2009 by: Paul Fassa, citizen journalist
See all articles by this author
Email this author
http://www.naturalnews.com/026839_homeopathy_homeopathic_doctors.html

Key concepts: Homeopathy, Homeopathic and Doctors
View on NaturalPedia: Homeopathy, Homeopathic and Doctors

(NaturalNews) Homeopathy had an amazingly high cure rate in the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic in the USA. Just recently, during the 2009 Mexican Flu outbreak, a small group of Mexico City homeopathic doctors have revealed that homeopathy is up to the task again. This is good news considering that many over the counter and prescribed pharmaceutical flu remedies not only hazard negative side effects, but they may also not really cure current flu strains.

Pharmaceutical Flu Remedies Efficacy Questioned

Recombinomics, a viral/vaccination research and tracking group`s website, this July 8, 2009 commentary, reports: "... resistant Novel H1N1 in Saskatchewan Raises Concerns". "This new influenza . . . has been combined with two genes from the H1N1 seasonal flu," said Dr. Frank Plummer, scientific director-general of the national microbiology laboratory in Winnipeg. Dr. Plummer noted that this mutation may make it almost impossible for current pharmaceutical flu remedies to cope with this new strain of Swine Flu. You can view that commentary here: http://www.recombinomics.com/News/0...

The New York Times reported in a January 8th, 2009 article titled "Major Flu Strain Found Resistant to Leading Drug, Puzzling Scientists". The article goes on to explain how throat swabs for common flu infected patients showed a higher rate of resistance to pharmaceutical flu remedies this year than last year. Read it yourself here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/09/h...

Despite all this, the government wants you to believe that only the flu remedies of Big Pharma are appropriate for curing Swine Flu. They want you to believe this so much, the FDA recently posted warnings, with enforcement penalties, to curb anyone from saying there is any other natural product that can cure H1N1 (Swine Flu).
Details on the FDA ruling here: http://www.naturalnews.com/026473_t...

Homeopathy Flu Therapy Is Not Affected by Viral Mutations

Homeopathy does not depend on one drug or feature particular drugs for curing any type of flu. Homeopathy is a non allopathic healing method that was once the mainstream medicine of the 19th century. Because different remedies and combinations and strengths are prescribed according to exact symptomatic readings, homeopaths can successfully adapt treatments to handle viral mutations. Homeopathy was enjoyed by many until certain moneyed interests almost pushed it out of existence. Now there is somewhat of a resurgence of its use.

In an article posted on the website Homeopathy for Everyone, four Mexican Homeopathic doctors posted their first hand observations on the 2009 Mexican flu, and revealed the exact protocol they used to cure those afflicted under their care. The doctors who reported these findings from Mexico City, in May of 2009 are: Est. Luis Jamil Bonilla Galicia, Dr. Oscar Alberto Legaria Garcia, Dr. Emmanuel Alvarez Lorenzo, and Dr. Fernando Dareo Francois Flores.

These doctors included historically documented observations regarding the 1918 flu pandemic. For historical references they used "... the thesis written by Dr. Manuel Mazari to obtain his qualification at the Escuela Libre de Homeopata de Mexico: "Short Study of the Last Influenza Epidemic in Mexico City (1918)",as well as reports published by the Ministry of Health, news published in the media in general, and some clinical cases mentioned by homeopathic physicians"

Not surprisingly, the symptoms of the 1918 flu and the so called `swine flu` of 2009 are very similar. It`s interesting to note both pandemics started in the spring, in the month of April, and not in the official flu season which is autumn. Two additional symptoms, one of which is an emotional aspect that is part of homeopathy diagnosis, are noted by this study: "fear of death" and a "high fever" at the onset of the infection.

Mainstream, medical, literature, sources conclude:"...that this virus {A(H1N1) influenza virus} was the causative agent of the influenza epidemics in (1918 -1919), (1933-1935), (1946-1947), (1977-1978)."
The basic purpose of the Mexican Homeopaths` study was to identify common symptoms of the 2009 swine flu in order to outline a specific homeopathic based prevention and treatment model that could be used by homeopathic doctors around the world.

NOTE: The following is copied directly from their report, and some of it is beyond lay understanding. The formulaic remedy details of their report should be put into a homeopath`s hands.

"Recommendations for the Prevention and Control of the Influenza A (H1N1)"

General hygienic actions of each person during an epidemic.


1.- Hand washing after coughing and sneezing.
2.- Cover the mouth with a disposable handkerchief when coughing or sneezing.
3.- If there is no handkerchief available the inner side of the elbow can be used.
4.- Avoid crowded places.
5.- Avoid greeting ill persons by hand or kissing.
6.- Avoid spitting on the ground and other surfaces.
7.- Throw handkerchiefs away in closed plastic bags.
8.- Don`t share glasses, plates, cutlery, food or drinks.
9.- Follow the recommendations as given by the physician and don`t self-medicate.
10.- Ventilate your working place and house, and permit sun to enter.
11.- Drink much and eat foods rich in vitamin C.
12.- Avoid sudden change of temperature.
13.- Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.

PROPHYLAXIS (meaning preventive)

1. Homeopathic remedies
a. BAPTISIA TINCTOREA
b. INFLUENZINUM
c. ARSENICUM ALBUM

From the Mexico City Doctors Report

"In homeopathy there are no specific medicines for a particular nosological picture (for which the most common symptoms are taken into account). But in epidemics, due to the common causative agent, susceptibility of the population in this particular moment, and the repetition of symptoms, a group of the most useful remedies can be deduced. The remedies determined in this way are called the Genius Epidemicus. They consist of a group of medicines with symptoms most similar to those presented by most patients suffering this flu."

"For homeopathic treatment is it necessary to take into account the degree of reaction of the patient and the symptoms with which the disease manifests itself. We considered this and the symptoms observed during the last epidemic (1918) to find the similar remedy."

Homepathic Remedies Listed by the Mexican Doctors and Directly Copied Here Which They Successfully Employed Against the 2009 Mexican Flu

Aconitum napellus, Actea racemosa, Allium cepa, Ammonium phosphoricum, Antimonium tartaricum, Arnica montana, Arsenicum album, Baptisia tinctoria, Belladonna atropa, Bryonia alba, Camphora, Carbo vegetabilis, Carbolic acid, Causticum, Chamomilla, China officinalis, Drosera rotundifolia, Eupatorium perfoliatum, Euphrasia, Ferrum phosphoricum, Gelsemium sempervirens, Glonoinum, Hepatica triloba, Hyosciamus niger, Influenzinum (corresponding to the epidemic), Ipecauanha, Lachesis trigonocephalus, Lycopodium clavatum, Mercurius vivus, Natrum sulphuricum, Nux vomica, Opium, Phosphorus, Phytolacca decandra, Pulsatilla, Pyrogenium, Rhus toxicodendron, Sticta pulmonaria, Sepia officinalis, Sulphur.

Most Used Remedies in Hemorrhagic Influenza

Arnica montana, Arsenicum album, Baptisia tinctoria, Belladonna atropa, Bryonia alba, Camphora, Carbo vegetabilis, Chamomilla, China officinalis, Ferrum phosphoricum, Influenzinum (corresponding to the epidemic), Ipecacuanha, Lachesis trigonocephalus, Mercurius vivus, Phosphorus, Sepia officinalis, Sulphur.

Nosodes

Influenzinum (corresponding to the epidemic), Pyrogenium, Anthracinum.

That Ends the Doctors` Report. Here`s More General Information on Homeopathy

Classic homeopathy is a healing methodology that is based on the wisdom of treating a specific individual and their specific symptoms (including body, mind, emotions, and environment), as opposed to the allopathic model which bases treatment on agreed upon disease symptoms and averages.

It is also important to note that homeopathy is primarily an energetic and vibrational medicine. Simplistically speaking, homeopathic remedies are created by diluting a physical substance into a distilled water and alcohol and creating a vibrational or energetic substance by shaking it rapidly with machinery. This is how a nosode is created. Therefore, even a toxic physical substance prepared in a nosode will not retain any toxicity that will be transferred into the body.

And the nosode is taken orally, thereby not bypassing the initial stage of the immune system. Inoculations do bypass this important first phase of the immune system by ignoring the mucous membranes in the mouth and throat and going directly into the bloodstream. Homeopathic remedies are applied by a counterintuitive method. A homeopathic doctor is skilled in matching the individual`s current symptom picture with exact remedies that produce those exact same symptoms. This is actual immunization. Keep in mind when an individual`s symptoms change, new homeopathic remedies are prescribed to replace the previous homeopathic recommendations. This process continues until there are no more symptoms.

However, when there is an epidemic or pandemic disease, a homeopathic doctor can use the `common` symptoms widely reported by the public as an individual body and prescribe homeopathic remedies accordingly.

Homeopathy and the 1918 Flu

WW I was the first time that USA military personnel were ordered to receive vaccinations. There was and is a strong suspicion that mandated vaccinations used on troops actually created the initial infections for this pandemic. It`s recorded that many died after being vaccinated, while most who did not receive vaccinations survived.

Those factors did not affect or alter what homeopaths managed to put together during this pandemic. Understanding symptoms which have been closely scrutinized and categorized are the determining factors for administering classic homeopathic remedies, including the follow up remedies for complete recovery as symptoms change.

Undisclosed to the public at large, despite the strange and unusually virulent flu strain resulting in the "White Plague", the cure rate of homeopathy during the 1918 so called Spanish Flu has been reported as 98%.

Sources:

An Important Article Recommending Over the Counter Homeopathic Remedies
http://www.examiner.com/x-11705-NY-...

The Mexico City homeopathic doctors` 2009 Mexican complete report http://www.hpathy.com/papersnew/gal...

Homeopathy for Everyone http://www.hpathy.com/

Observations of Mexican Flu 2009
http://www.hpathy.com/papersnew/gal...

Homeopathy and the Flu
http://www.cure-guide.com/Flu/Homeo...

Website for general flu information and homeopathy
http://flusolution.net/

Important for Swine Flu Epidemic: Homeopathy Successfully Treated Flu Epidemic of 1918 http://www.naturalnews.com/026148.html

About the author

Paul Fassa has managed to survive the normal American diet and his youthful folly by studying real, not medical mafia, health matters informally with his wife over several years, and incorporating them into his lifestyle as a vegetarian.


He also practices Chi-Lel Chi Gong, and he is trained as a polarity therapy practitioner. He is dedicated to warning others of the corruption of food and medicine in our time, and guiding others in a better direction for health.

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Thursday, August 13, 2009

Boycott Whole Food - CEO Mackey Campaigns To Defeat Single Payer Health Insurance

Boycott Whole Foods

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods,
has just launched a campaign to defeat a single payer national health insurance system.

today, Single Payer Action is calling on all American citizens to boycott Whole Foods.

Why?
Because Mackey has launched a public campaign to defeat single payer national health insurance.

This despite the bottom line reality that single payer is the only way to both control health care costs and cover everyone.

the problem with Mackey’s campaign is that it results in the deaths of 60 Americans every day due to lack of health insurance.

buy [from]
Your local health food co-op.
Farmers’ markets.
Community supported agriculture.

join the Single Payer Action Boycott of Whole Foods.

Don’t cross the picket lines.


Don’t spend another penny at Whole Foods until John Mackey and his right wing friends are defeated.

And single payer is enacted.


Onward to single payer.
+++

Boycott Whole Foods

by Russell Mokhiber

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, is a right wing libertarian.

He’s a union buster.

He believes that corporations should not be criminally prosecuted for their crimes.

He has just launched a campaign to defeat a single payer national health insurance system.

And he’s the CEO of Whole Foods.

Primo hangout of liberal Democratic yuppies.

“We are all responsible for our own lives and our own health,” Mackey wrote yesterday in the Wall Street Journal. “We should take that responsibility very seriously and use our freedom to make wise lifestyle choices that will protect our health. Doing so will enrich our lives and will help create a vibrant and sustainable American society.”

Yes it will, John Mackey.

Yes it will.

I do take that responsibility very seriously.

I try to eat well.

And exercise regularly.

I also take my responsibility as a citizen seriously.

After all, Mr. Mackey, we are all responsible for our own civic lives and our own civic health.

We should take that responsibility very seriously and use our freedom and make wise civic and consumer choices that will protect our nation’s health.

Doing so will enrich our civic lives and help create a vibrant and sustainable American society.

That’s why, today, Single Payer Action is calling on all American citizens to boycott Whole Foods.

Why?

Because Mackey has launched a public campaign to defeat single payer national health insurance.

This despite the bottom line reality that single payer is the only way to both control health care costs and cover everyone.

As Dr. Marcia Angell says in today’s New York Times, “if you keep health care in the hands of for-profit companies, you can increase coverage by putting more money into the system, or control costs by decreasing coverage. But you cannot do both unless you change the basic structure of the system.”

Mackey leads his Wall Street Journal diatribe against national health insurance with a quote from one of his heroines – Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.”

And the problem with Mackey’s campaign is that it results in the deaths of 60 Americans every day due to lack of health insurance.

Mackey is responsible for these deaths as much as anyone.

And we are responsible for putting money into his Whole Food bank account so that he can continue his campaign without resistance.

I know that this boycott of Whole Foods will upset many liberal Democrats.

Where will they buy their organic wines?

And cheeses?

And tofu?

There are options.

Your local health food co-op.

Farmers’ markets.

Community supported agriculture.

Other corporate chains like Trader Joe’s.

So, please, join the Single Payer Action Boycott of Whole Foods.

Don’t cross the picket lines.

Don’t spend another penny at Whole Foods until John Mackey and his right wing friends are defeated.

And single payer is enacted.

Onward to single payer.

Russell Mokhiber is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Corporate Crime Reporter.  He is also founder of singlepayeraction.org.



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Sunday, August 9, 2009

This Is Not Helpful: Imposed Unity To Purify Communities Based On Humiliation, Victimizing, Lynch Mob Mentality ...

a system of political authority and social order intended to reinforce the unity, energy, and purity of communities in which liberal democracy stands accused of producing division and decline."

"a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation or victimhood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion."


We know beyond doubt that the Teabag movement was created out of whole cloth by astroturf groups like Dick Armey's FreedomWorks and Tim Phillips' Americans for Prosperity, with massive media help from FOX News.

We see the Birther fracas -- the kind of urban myth-making that should have never made it out of the pages of the National Enquirer -- being openly ratified by Congressional Republicans.

We've seen Armey's own professionally-produced field manual that carefully instructs conservative goon squads in the fine art of disrupting the democratic governing process -- and the film of public officials being terrorized and threatened to the point where some of them required armed escorts to leave the building.

We've seen Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner applauding and promoting a video of the disruptions and looking forward to "a long, hot August for Democrats in Congress."

These people are as serious as a lynch mob, and have already taken the first steps toward becoming one.

And they're going to walk taller and louder and prouder now that their bumbling efforts at civil disobedience are being committed with the full sanction and support of the country's most powerful people, who are cynically using them in a last-ditch effort to save their own places of profit and prestige.

We've arrived. We are now parked on the exact spot where our best experts tell us full-blown fascism is born. Every day that the conservatives in Congress, the right-wing talking heads, and their noisy minions are allowed to hold up our ability to govern the country is another day we're slowly creeping across the final line beyond which, history tells us, no country has ever been able to return.

How do we pull back? That's my next post.
http://www.ourfuture.org/
+++

Fascist America: Are We There Yet?

by Sara Robinson

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/08/09-5

All through the dark years of the Bush Administration, progressives watched in horror as Constitutional protections vanished, nativist rhetoric ratcheted up, hate speech turned into intimidation and violence, and the president of the United States seized for himself powers only demanded by history's worst dictators. With each new outrage, the small handful of us who'd made ourselves experts on right-wing culture and politics would hear once again from worried readers: Is this it? Have we finally become a fascist state? Are we there yet?

And every time this question got asked, people like Chip Berlet and Dave Neiwert and Fred Clarkson and yours truly would look up from our maps like a parent on a long drive, and smile a wan smile of reassurance. "Wellll...we're on a bad road, and if we don't change course, we could end up there soon enough. But there's also still plenty of time and opportunity to turn back. Watch, but don't worry. As bad as this looks: no -- we are not there yet."

In tracking the mileage on this trip to perdition, many of us relied on the work of historian Robert Paxton, who is probably the world's pre-eminent scholar on the subject of how countries turn fascist. In a 1998 paper published in The Journal of Modern History, Paxton argued that the best way to recognize emerging fascist movements isn't by their rhetoric, their politics, or their aesthetics. Rather, he said, mature democracies turn fascist by a recognizable process, a set of five stages that may be the most important family resemblance that links all the whole motley collection of 20th Century fascisms together. According to our reading of Paxton's stages, we weren't there yet. There were certain signs -- one in particular -- we were keeping an eye out for, and we just weren't seeing it.

And now we are. In fact, if you know what you're looking for, it's suddenly everywhere. It's odd that I haven't been asked for quite a while; but if you asked me today, I'd tell you that if we're not there right now, we've certainly taken that last turn into the parking lot and are now looking for a space. Either way, our fascist American future now looms very large in the front windshield -- and those of us who value American democracy need to understand how we got here, what's changing now, and what's at stake in the very near future if these people are allowed to win -- or even hold their ground.

What is fascism?
The word has been bandied about by so many people so wrongly for so long that, as Paxton points out, "Everybody is somebody else's fascist." Given that, I always like to start these conversations by revisiting Paxton's essential definition of the term:

"Fascism is a system of political authority and social order intended to reinforce the unity, energy, and purity of communities in which liberal democracy stands accused of producing division and decline."

Elsewhere, he refines this further as

"a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation or victimhood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion."

.
Jonah Goldberg aside, that's a basic definition most legitimate scholars in the field can agree on, and the one I'll be referring to here.

From proto-fascism to the tipping point
According to Paxton, fascism unfolds in five stages. The first two are pretty solidly behind us -- and the third should be of particular interest to progressives right now.

In the first stage, a rural movement emerges to effect some kind of nationalist renewal (what Roger Griffin calls "palingenesis" -- a phoenix-like rebirth from the ashes). They come together to restore a broken social order, always drawing on themes of unity, order, and purity. Reason is rejected in favor of passionate emotion. The way the organizing story is told varies from country to country; but it's always rooted in the promise of restoring lost national pride by resurrecting the culture's traditional myths and values, and purging society of the toxic influence of the outsiders and intellectuals who are blamed for their current misery.

Fascism only grows in the disturbed soil of a mature democracy in crisis. Paxton suggests that the Ku Klux Klan, which formed in reaction to post-Civil War Reconstruction, may in fact be the first authentically fascist movement in modern times. Almost every major country in Europe sprouted a proto-fascist movement in the wretched years following WWI (when the Klan enjoyed a major resurgence here as well) -- but most of them stalled either at this first stage, or the next one.

As Rick Perlstein documented in his two books on Barry Goldwater and Richard Nixon, modern American conservatism was built on these same themes. From "Morning in America" to the Rapture-ready religious right to the white nationalism promoted by the GOP through various gradients of racist groups, it's easy to trace how American proto-fascism offered redemption from the upheavals of the 1960s by promising to restore the innocence of a traditional, white, Christian, male-dominated America. This vision has been so thoroughly embraced that the entire Republican party now openly defines itself along these lines. At this late stage, it's blatantly racist, sexist, repressed, exclusionary, and permanently addicted to the politics of fear and rage. Worse: it doesn't have a moment's shame about any of it. No apologies, to anyone. These same narrative threads have woven their way through every fascist movement in history.

In the second stage, fascist movements take root, turn into real political parties, and seize their seat at the table of power. Interestingly, in every case Paxton cites, the political base came from the rural, less-educated parts of the country; and almost all of them came to power very specifically by offering themselves as informal goon squads organized to intimidate farmworkers on behalf of the large landowners. The KKK disenfranchised black sharecroppers and set itself up as the enforcement wing of Jim Crow. The Italian Squadristi and the German Brownshirts made their bones breaking up farmers' strikes. And these days, GOP-sanctioned anti-immigrant groups make life hell for Hispanic agricultural workers in the US. As violence against random Hispanics (citizens and otherwise) increases, the right-wing goon squads are getting basic training that, if the pattern holds, they may eventually use to intimidate the rest of us.

Paxton wrote that succeeding at the second stage "depends on certain relatively precise conditions: the weakness of a liberal state, whose inadequacies condemn the nation to disorder, decline, or humiliation; and political deadlock because the Right, the heir to power but unable to continue to wield it alone, refuses to accept a growing Left as a legitimate governing partner." He further noted that Hitler and Mussolini both took power under these same circumstances: "deadlock of constitutional government (produced in part by the polarization that the fascists abetted); conservative leaders who felt threatened by the loss of their capacity to keep the population under control at a moment of massive popular mobilization; an advancing Left; and conservative leaders who refused to work with that Left and who felt unable to continue to govern against the Left without further reinforcement."

And more ominously: "The most important variables...are the conservative elites' willingness to work with the fascists (along with a reciprocal flexibility on the part of the fascist leaders) and the depth of the crisis that induces them to cooperate."

That description sounds eerily like the dire straits our Congressional Republicans find themselves in right now. Though the GOP has been humiliated, rejected, and reduced to rump status by a series of epic national catastrophes mostly of its own making, its leadership can't even imagine governing cooperatively with the newly mobilized and ascendant Democrats. Lacking legitimate routes back to power, their last hope is to invest the hardcore remainder of their base with an undeserved legitimacy, recruit them as shock troops, and overthrow American democracy by force. If they can't win elections or policy fights, they're more than willing to take it to the streets, and seize power by bullying Americans into silence and complicity.

When that unholy alliance is made, the third stage -- the transition to full-fledged government fascism -- begins.

The third stage: being there
All through the Bush years, progressive right-wing watchers refused to call it "fascism" because, though we kept looking, we never saw clear signs of a deliberate, committed institutional partnership forming between America's conservative elites and its emerging homegrown brownshirt horde. We caught tantalizing signs of brief flirtations -- passing political alliances, money passing hands, far-right moonbat talking points flying out of the mouths of "mainstream" conservative leaders. But it was all circumstantial, and fairly transitory. The two sides kept a discreet distance from each other, at least in public. What went on behind closed doors, we could only guess. They certainly didn't act like a married couple.

Now, the guessing game is over. We know beyond doubt that the Teabag movement was created out of whole cloth by astroturf groups like Dick Armey's FreedomWorks and Tim Phillips' Americans for Prosperity, with massive media help from FOX News. We see the Birther fracas -- the kind of urban myth-making that should have never made it out of the pages of the National Enquirer -- being openly ratified by Congressional Republicans. We've seen Armey's own professionally-produced field manual that carefully instructs conservative goon squads in the fine art of disrupting the democratic governing process -- and the film of public officials being terrorized and threatened to the point where some of them required armed escorts to leave the building. We've seen Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner applauding and promoting a video of the disruptions and looking forward to "a long, hot August for Democrats in Congress."

This is the sign we were waiting for -- the one that tells us that yes, kids: we are there now. America's conservative elites have openly thrown in with the country's legions of discontented far right thugs. They have explicitly deputized them and empowered them to act as their enforcement arm on America's streets, sanctioning the physical harassment and intimidation of workers, liberals, and public officials who won't do their political or economic bidding.

This is the catalyzing moment at which honest-to-Hitler fascism begins. It's also our very last chance to stop it.

The fail-safe point
According to Paxton, the forging of this third-stage alliance is the make-or-break moment -- and the worst part of it is that by the time you've arrived at that point, it's probably too late to stop it. From here, it escalates, as minor thuggery turns into beatings, killings, and systematic tagging of certain groups for elimination, all directed by people at the very top of the power structure. After Labor Day, when Democratic senators and representatives go back to Washington, the mobs now being created to harass them will remain to run the same tactics -- escalated and perfected with each new use -- against anyone in town whose color, religion, or politics they don't like. In some places, they're already making notes and taking names.

Where's the danger line? Paxton offers three quick questions that point us straight at it:

1. Are [neo- or protofascisms] becoming rooted as parties that represent major interests and feelings and wield major influence on the political scene?

2. Is the economic or constitutional system in a state of blockage apparently insoluble by existing authorities?

3. Is a rapid political mobilization threatening to escape the control of traditional elites, to the point where they would be tempted to look for tough helpers in order to stay in charge?

By my reckoning, we're three for three. That's too close. Way too close.

The Road Ahead
History tells us that once this alliance catalyzes and makes a successful bid for power, there's no way off this ride. As Dave Neiwert wrote in his recent book, The Eliminationists, "if we can only identify fascism in its mature form—the goose-stepping brownshirts, the full-fledged use of violence and intimidation tactics, the mass rallies—then it will be far too late to stop it." Paxton (who presciently warned that "An authentic popular fascism in the United States would be pious and anti-Black") agrees that if a corporate/brownshirt alliance gets a toehold -- as ours is now scrambling to do -- it can very quickly rise to power and destroy the last vestiges of democratic government. Once they start racking up wins, the country will be doomed to take the whole ugly trip through the last two stages, with no turnoffs or pit stops between now and the end.

What awaits us? In stage four, as the duo assumes full control of the country, power struggles emerge between the brownshirt-bred party faithful and the institutions of the conservative elites -- church, military, professions, and business. The character of the regime is determined by who gets the upper hand. If the party members (who gained power through street thuggery) win, an authoritarian police state may well follow. If the conservatives can get them back under control, a more traditional theocracy, corporatocracy, or military regime can re-emerge over time. But in neither case will the results resemble the democracy that this alliance overthrew.

Paxton characterizes stage five as "radicalization or entropy." Radicalization is likely if the new regime scores a big military victory, which consolidates its power and whets its appetite for expansion and large-scale social engineering. (See: Germany) In the absence of a radicalizing event, entropy may set in, as the state gets lost in its own purposes and degenerates into incoherence. (See: Italy)

It's so easy right now to look at the melee on the right and discount it as pure political theater of the most absurdly ridiculous kind. It's a freaking puppet show. These people can't be serious. Sure, they're angry -- but they're also a minority, out of power and reduced to throwing tantrums. Grown-ups need to worry about them about as much as you'd worry about a furious five-year-old threatening to hold her breath until she turned blue.

Unfortunately, all the noise and bluster actually obscures the danger. These people are as serious as a lynch mob, and have already taken the first steps toward becoming one. And they're going to walk taller and louder and prouder now that their bumbling efforts at civil disobedience are being committed with the full sanction and support of the country's most powerful people, who are cynically using them in a last-ditch effort to save their own places of profit and prestige.

We've arrived. We are now parked on the exact spot where our best experts tell us full-blown fascism is born. Every day that the conservatives in Congress, the right-wing talking heads, and their noisy minions are allowed to hold up our ability to govern the country is another day we're slowly creeping across the final line beyond which, history tells us, no country has ever been able to return.

How do we pull back? That's my next post.
http://www.ourfuture.org/

Tip o' the hat to Chip Berlet and Steven Martin for their research help and encouragement.

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Making Single Payer Health Insurance The Only Cost Effective Viable Choice For Congress

Watch the video:
Dennis Kucinich-HealthCare Briefing in Washington, DC

In August focus on redoubling effort for single payer health care at the state level.
- it is by far the least expensive and most viable legislation

In September more effort at a national level can be applied to all of congress to pass single payer health care:
- to keep the amendment to the current legislation HR3200 that allows states to have single payer health insurance
- to fully support the single payer bill HR 676 that can replace HR3200 that is so compromised it might not even pass.


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Using Regular Health Tips, Health Reminders, And Awareness Improves Ones Health Dramatically

[Here's a study showing how people who want to improve their health can do so by
- eating more fruits and vegetables,
- eating less saturated fats, and by
- getting more exercise.

To do this they received weekly emails encouraging them to considers specific ways along with periodic email reminders.

Of course these basic 'behavioral techniques' have been turned into a mega 'for-profit' program.

There is no need to turn this into another 'for-profit' enterprise.
This can be done freely by any media group, groups interested in health and individuals on their own.

There is no need to make a big deal of the tips or have grand 'explanations'
- just let people know specific ways they can make things better - their lives, where they live ...

What is important is tips and reminders and awareness and actually choosing to take steps for better health.

One of the tips that can be repeated in many different ways is to keep track of your progress, what you have done and notice if it is helping - if it is keep doing it, if it is not try something else.

Simply sending out on a regular basis, tips that are short, brief, to the point reminders of what individuals can do.
People that want to have better health simply need to be reminded on a regular basis they can have better health and there are plenty of simple things they can do or stop doing that can help them.]
===

  • Americans have a high prevalence of “unhealthy” diets
    • 77% have fewer than five servings of fruits and vegetables each day
    • 77% have a fat intake greater than 30% of calories
  • Americans have a low level of physical activity
    • 51% fail to meet the recommended activity levels
    • 24% are at the “sedentary” level
the majority of Americans eat poorly and fail to exercise enough

daily diet for about three-quarters of the population
consists of more than 30 percent fat,
a percentage that's generally considered too high.

recommended 30 minutes of moderate physical activity most days of the week.


for people who want to improve their diet and physical activity

changing behavior:
small goals tailored for the individual,
reinforcement, and
tracking

regular email reminders appears successful in producing healthier diet and exercise habits

small health-improvement goals for themselves.
Once per week, they received an email containing individualized suggestions on ways to get closer to that goal.

suggestions were simple --
such as walking for 10 minutes each day during lunch,
walking to the store, or
eating three extra fruits per week

In between weekly suggestions, participants also received reminder emails.

Results:
more physically active,
eating more fruits and vegetables, and
reducing their intake of saturated fats and trans fats,
significantly more than those in the control group.

increased their participation in moderate intensity physical activities by almost an hour a week
decreased the amount of time they spent in sedentary activities,
like watching TV and videos, by about two hours a week.

a lasting effect

helping people move more, sit less, and make healthier food choices,

weekly e-mails in their work or home accounts for four months

The e-mails linked to a personal home page with tips for achieving the small-step goals the respondent had selected, educational materials and tracking and simulation tools. Reminder messages were sent between each intervention message.

Before the program began, participants were evaluated on their eating and exercise habits
received immediate feedback.

filled out the online questionnaire twice more,
end of the program and four months later.
+++


Workplace Email Intervention Program Helps People Sit Less and Eat Better

Saturday, August 08, 2009 by: David Gutierrez, staff writer

(NaturalNews) A simple intervention program featuring regular email reminders appears successful in producing healthier diet and exercise habits, according to a study conducted by health insurance firm Kaiser Permanente and funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"The takeaway message here for people who want to improve their diet and physical activity, and for employers who want a healthier workforce, is that email intervention programs are a very cost-effective way to get healthy," said lead researcher Barbara Sternfeld. "A tailored email program includes all the things that behavioral scientists have said for years about changing behavior: small goals tailored for the individual, reinforcement, and tracking but delivered in a mass, cost-effective way."

Kaiser researchers conducted a 16-week trial of the A Lifestyle Intervention Via E-mail (ALIVE) program on 787 employees, 351 of them in the email intervention group and 436 in a control group. All participants took a short, online questionnaire at the beginning of the study and received immediate feedback on their diet and exercise habits.

Participants in the intervention group then set small health-improvement goals for themselves. Once per week, they received an email containing individualized suggestions on ways to get closer to that goal. All the suggestions were simple -- such as walking for 10 minutes each day during lunch, walking to the store, or eating three extra fruits per week -- and were tailored to be realistic for each person's life (such as whether they had kids or a busy schedule). Each email contained a link to a Web site where participants could get extra tips, learn more and track their progress.

In between weekly suggestions, participants also received reminder emails.

According a survey completed at the end of the study and another four months later, the people in the email intervention group had increased their exercise level and fruit and vegetable intake and decreased their saturated and trans fat intake significantly more than those in the control group.

Sources for this story include: www.eurekalert.org.
===

Public release date: 19-May-2009
[ Print | E-mail | Share Share ] [ Close Window ]

Contact: Danielle Cass
danielle.x.cass@kp.org
510-267-5354
Kaiser Permanente

Workplace e-mail intervention program helps people sit less and eat better

Tailored e-mails suggest fruit snacks and 10-minute walks

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-05/kp-wei051109.php

May 19, 2009 (OAKLAND, Calif.) – An e-mail intervention program is an effective way to significantly improve diet and physical activity by helping people move more, sit less, and make healthier food choices, according to a Kaiser Permanente Division of Research study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

The study was a randomized controlled trial of the ALIVE (A Lifestyle Intervention Via E-mail) program conducted among 787 Kaiser Permanente Northern California employees at their worksites. Through the ALIVE program, developed by NutritionQuest, (www.nutritionquest.com) weekly e-mails were sent to the 351 employees randomized to the intervention group; the 436 employees in the control group received only immediate e-mail feedback at the start of the intervention indicating whether or not their reported physical activity and diet met national guidelines. The messages to the participants in the intervention group suggested small, practical, individually tailored goals, such as eating fruit for a snack three times a week, walking for 10 minutes a day at lunch time, or walking to the store instead of driving.

At the end of the 16-week trial, the participants in the intervention group were more physically active, eating more fruits and vegetables, and reducing their intake of saturated fats and trans fats, compared to the control group. The biggest changes occurred among those in the intervention group, who did not meet behavioral recommendations at the start of the trial. For example, employees who were not regularly active before receiving the intervention increased their participation in moderate intensity physical activities by almost an hour a week and decreased the amount of time they spent in sedentary activities, like watching TV and videos, by about two hours a week. These changes had a lasting effect four months after the intervention ended, the study found.

"The takeaway message here for people who want to improve their diet and physical activity, and for employers who want a healthier workforce, is that e-mail intervention programs are a very cost-effective way to get healthy," said study lead investigator Barbara Sternfeld, Ph.D., senior research scientist with the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research and the study's lead investigator. "A tailored e-mail program includes all the things that behavioral scientists have said for years about changing behavior: small goals tailored for the individual, reinforcement, and tracking but delivered in a mass, cost-effective way."

Funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this study offers additional support for the effectiveness of the Internet and e-mail to reach large segments of the population to inspire healthier lifestyle choices. It is one of the first studies to send messages directly into individuals' e-mail inboxes, rather than requiring individuals to actively access messages via the World Wide Web.

Given that the majority of Americans eat poorly and fail to exercise enough, effective e-mail programs could be a useful way to improve health, researchers say. According to the CDC, 55 percent don't perform the recommended 30 minutes of moderate physical activity most days of the week. Additionally, the daily diet for about three-quarters of the population consists of more than 30 percent fat, a percentage that's generally considered too high.

Participants received weekly e-mails in their work or home accounts for four months that were tailored to their individual needs and life situation (for example, whether they had small children at home or busy schedules that posed barriers to exercise and diet improvement.) The e-mails linked to a personal home page with tips for achieving the small-step goals the respondent had selected, educational materials and tracking and simulation tools. Reminder messages were sent between each intervention message.

The study cohort was composed of employees who worked in the regional offices of Kaiser Permanente Northern California. The employees worked in administrative, financial, regulatory, technical and professional services and were not involved with direct patient care. They tend to use computers for much of their work. Participation had no bearing on job performance, employment status, or health benefits. The participants' information was kept confidential and did not appear on medical records or employee files.

Before the program began, participants were evaluated on their eating and exercise habits by answering a short, online questionnaire, to which they received immediate feedback. They filled out the online questionnaire twice more, at the end of the program and four months later.

Another paper published in January in the Journal of Medical Internet Research found that the ALIVE e-mail program reduced presenteeism among the trial participants and reduced bodily pain. Presenteeism is lost productivity that occurs when employees come to work but perform below par due to any kind of illness. The study did not look at whether employees used the e-mail program during their lunch hour or during their regular work hour.

"Using e-mail to get people active is a great use of existing technology that is cheap and readily available," said Bob Sallis, MD, a Kaiser Permanente family physician who is the regional exercise champion for Kaiser Permanente's Southern California region and immediate past president of the American College of Sports Medicine. "Anything we can do to increase activity level is going to improve health because we know that exercise is medicine. It's medicine you can take to live a longer and healthier life."

###

This study was a collaboration between Kaiser Permanente and NutritionQuest (www.nutritionquest.com), and is part of an ongoing body of research by Kaiser Permanente that looks at using technology – mobile phones, wireless PDAs, the Internet, etc. – to help individuals manage their weight, get more physically active and make healthy food choices.

Kaiser Permanente also offers its 164,000 employees and 8.6 million members free online Healthy Lifestyle programs to spur healthy lifestyle choices to prevent disease and improve health through customized online tools for weight management at www.kp.org that links with Kaiser Permanente HealthConnect™, the world's largest civilian electronic health record.

Additional researchers on the Kaiser Permanente study include: Charles P. Quesenberry Jr., Ph.D., Gail Husson, MPH, and Melissa Nelson, MA, MPH, of the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research; Torin J. Block, BA, Clifford Block, Ph.D., Jean C. Norris, DrPH and Gladys Block, Ph.D., of NutritionQuest of Berkeley, Calif.

About the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research (http://www.dor.kaiser.org/)

The Kaiser Permanente Division of Research conducts, publishes, and disseminates epidemiologic and health services research to improve the health and medical care of Kaiser Permanente members and the society at large. It seeks to understand the determinants of illness and well-being and to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of health care. Currently, DOR's 400-plus staff is working on more than 250 epidemiological and health services research projects.

About Kaiser Permanente Research

Kaiser Permanente's eight research centers comprise one of the largest research programs in the United States and engage in work designed to improve the health of individuals everywhere. KP HealthConnect™ , Kaiser Permanente's electronic health record, and other resources provide population data for research, and in turn, research findings are fed into KP HealthConnect™ to arm physicians with research and clinical data. Kaiser Permanente's research program works with national and local health agencies and community organizations to share and widely disseminate its research data. Kaiser Permanente's research program is funded in part by Kaiser Permanente's Community Benefit division, which in 2007 directed an estimated $1 billion in health services, technology, and funding toward total community health.

About Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 8.6 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: www.kp.org/newscenter.

www.kaiserpermanente.org
===

Project ALIVE (A Lifestyle Intervention Via Email)

http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/study/NCT00607009
This study has been completed.
First Received: January 22, 2008   Last Updated: February 4, 2008   History of Changes
Sponsors and Collaborators: Kaiser Permanente
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Information provided by: Kaiser Permanente
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00607009
  Purpose

The objective of this study is to test the effectiveness of an email-based diet and physical activity intervention on increasing physical activity and fruit and vegetable consumption and decreasing intake of saturated and trans fats and added sugars.


Condition Intervention
Inactivity
Behavioral: ALIVE

Study Type: Interventional
Study Design: Prevention, Randomized, Open Label, Placebo Control, Parallel Assignment, Efficacy Study
Official Title: Email-Based Diet and Activity Promotion in Worksites

Resource links provided by NLM:


Further study details as provided by Kaiser Permanente:

Primary Outcome Measures:
  • change in physical activity [ Time Frame: 4 months ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

Secondary Outcome Measures:
  • change in fruits and vegetables [ Time Frame: 4 months ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  • health-related quality of life [ Time Frame: 4 months ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  • presentism [ Time Frame: 4 months ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  • stage of change [ Time Frame: 4 months ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  • self efficacy [ Time Frame: 4 months ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

Enrollment: 797
Study Start Date: July 2006
Study Completion Date: May 2007
Primary Completion Date: May 2007 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
Arms Assigned Interventions
1: Experimental
received emails
Behavioral: ALIVE
email-based behavioral program
2: Placebo Comparator
no contact
Behavioral: ALIVE
email-based behavioral program

  Eligibility

Ages Eligible for Study:   21 Years to 65 Years
Genders Eligible for Study:   Both
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:   Yes
Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

  • regional Northern California KP employees

Exclusion Criteria:

  • none
  Contacts and Locations
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00607009

Sponsors and Collaborators
Kaiser Permanente
Investigators
Principal Investigator: Barbara Sternfeld, PhD Kaiser Permanente
  More Information
No publications provided by Kaiser Permanente

Additional publications automatically indexed to this study by National Clinical Trials Identifier (NCT ID):
Responsible Party: Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente ( Barbara Sternfeld, PhD, Senior Research Scientist )
Study ID Numbers: CN-04BSter-02-H, 5R01DP000095-03
Study First Received: January 22, 2008
Last Updated: February 4, 2008
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00607009     History of Changes
Health Authority: United States: Federal Government

ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on August 07, 2009
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This is the html version of the file http://www.nutritionquest.com/products/ALIVE_program_overview.ppt.
Google automatically generates html versions of documents as we crawl the web.

The link to the html is here.

A Lifestyle Intervention Via Email

Block Dietary Data Systems. www.nutritionquest.com 

  • An intervention to improve
    • Nutrition
    • Physical Activity
 
  • Developed by Block Dietary Data Systems*
    • In collaboration with Kaiser Permanente of Northern California Division of Research
 

* Information about the developers of Alive may be found at the end of this presentation

Block Dietary Data Systems. www.nutritionquest.com 

Background 

  • Americans have a high prevalence of “unhealthy” diets
    • 77% have fewer than five servings of fruits and vegetables each day
    • 77% have a fat intake greater than 30% of calories
  • Americans have a low level of physical activity
    • 51% fail to meet the recommended activity levels
    • 24% are at the “sedentary” level

Block Dietary Data Systems. www.nutritionquest.com 

Overview 

  • 12 weekly or bi-weekly messages
  • Extensively tailored to individual characteristics
  • Based on established learning and behavior-change theories and principles
  • Available for groups reachable by email
    • Employees, group/organization members, HMO clients
  • Requires minimal organizational effort or expertise
  • Proven effective in a randomized controlled trial

Block Dietary Data Systems. www.nutritionquest.com 

Behavioral Goals 

  • Increase physical activity
  • Decrease saturated and trans fats, decrease added sugars, increase good fats and carbs
  • Increase fruit and vegetable intake
 
  • Not a weight loss program
 
  • Can be adapted to other intervention outcomes

Block Dietary Data Systems. www.nutritionquest.com 

Behavior Change Principles 

  • Maximizing individual relevance--through assessments, feedback and tailoring
  • Tailoring to stage-of-change, individual diet habits, exercise preferences
  • Goal setting
  • Small-steps toward new habits
  • Continued feedback and reinforcement
  • Increasing salience and motivation through health information, tips and reminders
  • Encouraging social support

Block Dietary Data Systems. www.nutritionquest.com 

Proven Effective 

  • Randomized controlled trial
  • Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • 797 employees of Kaiser Permanente of Northern California
  • Statistically significant increases
    • Physical activity, fruits and vegetables
  • Statistically significant decreases
    • Saturated fat, trans fats

Block Dietary Data Systems. www.nutritionquest.com 

Proven Effective 

  • Randomized controlled trial results paper in preparation
 
  • Results reported in June 2007 in Oslo at the International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity
 
  • The Trial website contains much more information about Alive!, and about the randomized trial:

Block Dietary Data Systems. www.nutritionquest.com 

Components 

  • Weekly messages contain
    • Suggested goals to try for the week, tailored to each individual
    • Tips for achieving the selected goals
    • Tips for overcoming barriers
    • Health information, information on nutrition and physical activity
    • Interactive tool to explore effects of specific changes
    • Links to other health/nutrition sites
    • Links to track diet and physical activity
    • More!

Block Dietary Data Systems. www.nutritionquest.com 

Some “Health Notes” Topics 

  • Carbs and the Glycemic Index
  • Fruits, Veggies and Cancer
  • Physical Activity and Breast Cancer
  • Diet and Cognitive Function
  • Mood, Stress and Physical Activity
  • Components of Fitness
  • Trends in Physical Activity Programs
  • “Good” Fats, “Bad” Fats
  • and many others

Block Dietary Data Systems. www.nutritionquest.com 

How it works 

  • Licensing agreement with Block Dietary Data Systems (BDDS)
  • Organization/company promotes program to employees or membership
    • Inform them that it’s approved
    • BDDS can provide some promotional material
  • BDDS sends invitation email to organization’s HR or other official
  • Organization’s official forwards email to employee/membership list

Block Dietary Data Systems. www.nutritionquest.com 

How the process begins 

  • Email is sent by the organization or company
    • Batch email, to organization’s target group
 
  • Email message appears in employee’s or member’s email reader

Block Dietary Data Systems. www.nutritionquest.com 

Invitation Email 

  • Appears in employee’s inbox 

  • Employee ‘clicks to get started’
 
  • This is just an opportunity to take a Health Risk Assessment and receive feedback
 
  • Then employee receives diet and physical activity assessment

Health Risk Assessments 

  • Dietary and physical activity screener tools provide tailoring information

Block Dietary Data Systems. www.nutritionquest.com 

Diet and Physical Activity Screeners 

  • Completed online in 15 minutes
  • Provide instant feedback on
    • Saturated fat intake
    • Trans fat intake
    • Added sugar intake
    • Health-related physical activity
    • Cardiovascular-related physical activity
    • Sedentary behavior
  • Available to all, free, whether they decide to participate or not

Block Dietary Data Systems. www.nutritionquest.com 

Instant Feedback 
 
 

  • Instant feedback shows each individual how their own behavior could be improved, in relation to their current health habits

Block Dietary Data Systems. www.nutritionquest.com 

Instant Feedback 

  • First example, person doing well in fats, less well in fruits and vegetables, so-so in physical activity


Instant Feedback 

  • Second example, person doing poorly in diet and physical activity

After Giving Diet and Physical Activity Results: 

  • Opportunity to participate in the Alive program

  • If persons choose to participate, they provide email to which Alive! emails will be sent.
  • May provide an alternate email if they want to participate from home as well.

Tailoring Questionnaire 

  • Tailoring for diet is based partially on responses to diet questionnaire
    • E.g., if they report drinking whole milk, suggested goals will propose switching to lower-fat milk
  • All tailoring is based on responses to lifestyle/tailoring questionnaires
    • E.g., stage of change and preferences for structured or unstructured physical activity
    • Or whether they cook, eating-out habits, kids at home

Participant Chooses Big Goal to Work On 

  • Will work on for next 12 weeks
  • Can change goal in first two weeks
  • By agreement, participant may rejoin at end of 12 weeks to work on same or different goal

Weekly email messages 

  • Come directly to participant’s email inbox

Weekly email messages 

  • Each week has a Health Notes (information about nutrition or physical activity and health), summarized in the weekly email by sidebar on the right
 
  • Each week has suggested small-step goals; participant commits to one or two to try for following week

Barriers are addressed 

  • First weekly email lists common barriers to achieving diet (or physical activity goals)
 
  • Participant indicates which ones are barriers for him
 
  • Each week thereafter, tips for overcoming those particular barriers are suggested

Weekly email messages 

  • When participant choose a goal to work on for the following week….

After choosing weekly goal 

  • He is taken to his “Personal Home Page”
  • Containing tailored tips to achieve the goal or goals he has chosen

Example of A Tailored Physical Activity Tip 

  • Physical Activity Path, “Kids at Home” sub-path
 

    “Don’t just be a spectator at your kids’ sports activities.  Walk around the field while you’re watching their soccer or baseball games.  Consider helping out as a coach and do conditioning exercises with the kids.  It will help all of you become more fit.”

Block Dietary Data Systems. www.nutritionquest.com 

Mid-week reminder 

  • Reminds you of your chosen goal for the week
  • Offers opportunity to go to Discussion Board
  • Offers opportunity to track your diet or physical activity at US Government’s MyPyramidTracker.gov

Each week a new email 

  • Report how you did on your goal last week
  • New goals to work on
  • New Health Note topic

Each week, choose a goal for the week 

  • Takes participant to his personal Home Page
  • For Tips
  • Other tools on their Home Page


Tools on the Personal Home Page


Health Notes 

  • A new one each week

Progress and Goal Tracker


What-If Tool 

  • Tools shows participant’s actual responses to foods or physical activities
  • Participant can see effects of changes
  • “What if I ate hamburgers once a week instead of 5 times a week?”
  • Tool shows effect of that change on participant’s total saturated and trans fats

Other Resources on Home Page 

  • Links to other organizations’ sites
  • Library of all Health Notes
  • Links to diet and physical activity tracking tools

Health Note Library 

  • All Health Notes from all Big Goals (Carbs/fats, Fruit/vegs, Physical Activity)

Discussion Board 

  • Participants can share ideas and solutions
  • Can be monitored by local dietitians

More Assessment Tools


Other Options 

  • Family member can sign up – increases social support

Demo Version 

  • This Powerpoint presentation has attempted to give you a sense of Alive’s process and content.  A Demo Version of Alive! is also available, in which you can have a first-hand experience all of the features of Alive!, fast-forwarding through the weeks of the program.
  • Contact Block Dietary Data System. (See contact information in last slide.)

Block Dietary Data Systems. www.nutritionquest.com 

Reports 

  • Reports can be provided to clients
    • What proportion participated in Alive!
    • Age and sex distribution of participants
    • Average diet and physical activity scores before and after the Alive! intervention
  • Arrangements can be made for participants to re-join after the end of the 12-week program
    • Discuss pricing arrangements with Block Dietary Data Systems

Block Dietary Data Systems. www.nutritionquest.com 

Costs 

  • Pricing for the Alive! program is based on the total number of employees to whom the program is offered.
  • 20 - 99 employees = $20 each. 
    100 - 499 employees = $15 each. 
    500 - 999 employees = $12.50 each. 
    1000 - 1999 employees = $10 each. 
    2000 - 4999 participants = $7.50 each 
    5000+ participants = $5 each
  • We will work with you to reach an agreement that works for you

Block Dietary Data Systems. www.nutritionquest.com 

Summary: Potential of an E-Mailed  
Intervention at the Worksite
 

  • Uses an established channel of communication
  • Utilizes existing social support structures
    • provides sources for group support
    • may produce changes in social norms
  • Can reduce health care costs
    • Improvements in physical activity and diet have been shown to improve productivity
  • Little or no burden on management
    • Once launched, Alive! runs automatically


Alive’s Developers at Block Dietary Data Systems (BDDS) 

  • Gladys Block, PhD, is a professor of epidemiology and Public Health Nutrition in the School of Public Health, University of California at Berkeley and is the senior-scientist for BDDS. She is internationally known for her work in nutritional epidemiology and health promotion through dietary interventions.
  • Clifford H. Block, PhD, is a research psychologist whose work has involved the use of information technologies for achieving behavior change in such fields as maternal and child health nutritional practices, oral rehydration, and AIDS and drug abuse prevention.
  • Torin Block, BA, is the Manager of BDDS. He has 13 years of experience in the development and analysis of dietary questionnaires. He is responsible for the design and development of the electronic questionnaires, analysis algorithms and data management systems, and for the technical aspects of Alive!.


Alive’s Developers at Block Dietary Data Systems (BDDS) 

  • Jean Norris, DrPH, has a background in Public Health Nutrition and she is currently working as a scientist with BDDS. Prior to that, she worked for about 15 years as a nutritionist in community clinic settings with disadvantaged populations. She has designed food frequency questionnaires and researched hunger measurement and hardship, and has contributed her expertise to the study design of Project Alive! and the development of the dietary change interventions.
  • Donald Hopkins created all the code to make Alive! work. He is a user interface designer and programmer, who developed a user interface component called "pie menus" at the University of Maryland Human Computer Interaction Lab, a game called "The Sims" for Maxis/Electronic Arts, and the OpenLaszlo video components for Laszlo Systems. He enjoys programming in Python and JavaScript, and working on the One Laptop Per Child project. He publishes a blog on his web site, "www.DonHopkins.com".


Alive’s Developers at Kaiser 

  • Barbara Sternfeld, PhD, was the Principal Investigator of the randomized trial that tested Alive! She is Senior Research Scientist at Kaiser Permanente (Northern California) Division of Research. Her background is in epidemiology and exercise physiology. She has conducted numerous studies that document the health effects of physical activity.
  • Heather A. Clancy, BA was a Research Associate at Kaiser Permanente’s Division of Research and the Project Coordinator for Project Alive!

Block Dietary Data Systems. www.nutritionquest.com 

Block Dietary Data Systems

15 Shattuck Square, Suite 288

Berkeley, CA 94704

Phone: 510-704-8514

FAX: 510-704-8996

Email: tblock@nutritionquest.com



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