CODEX

Last week, I began to expose that the global pharmaceutical companies and the medical community is actually working to keep people sick and on medications. The dependency on medications simply means more money for them. Unfortunately, the motives behind these action are very base - greed, power, and control. This has been a dominate theme by the manipulators that have been exposed in this blog over the last eight months.

This week, we will explore a new industry that has ties to the medical community - the supplement industry which is closely tied to the food industry. Today, we will introduce a topic that everyone should be aware of, but few are. To introduce CODEX, I'm sharing an article written by Paul Anthony Taylor published in October, 2006, titled "CODEX: What is it and how does it affect you and your health?"

October 2006 – Codex is not an easy subject to get to grips with. With over 20 committees meeting on an annual basis, and published reports comprising a total of over 1,400 pages in 2005 alone, most people are blissfully unaware of the extent to which its activities affect their health. Read on to discover the bigger picture behind the Codex Alimentarius Commission's support for the "business with disease".

What is Codex?

The Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex) is the main global body that makes proposals to, and is consulted by, the Directors-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on all matters pertaining to the implementation of the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme. Established in 1963, the Commission's main purposes are stated in its Procedural Manual as being: protecting the health of consumers; ensuring fair practices in the food trade; and promoting coordination of all food standards work undertaken by international governmental and non-governmental organizations. Unfortunately however, and as we shall see, its activities do not protect the health of consumers and the international food trade is anything but fair.

At the time of writing, the Commission presides over a total of 27 active subsidiary committees and ad hoc intergovernmental task forces, the main functions of which revolve around the drafting of standards, guidelines and other related texts for foods, including food supplements. Once completed these texts are presented to the Commission for final approval and adoption as new global standards.

How does Codex affect you and your health?

Whilst the adoption by countries of the various standards and guidelines developed by Codex is theoretically optional, the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on 1 January 1995 essentially changed their international status, in that they are now increasingly used by the WTO as the benchmark in the adjudication of international trade disputes involving foods. As such, the potential threat of becoming involved in – and losing – such a dispute now effectively makes the adoption of Codex guidelines and standards mandatory, in that it leaves WTO member countries little or no option but to comply with them. Given therefore that a total of 149 countries are currently members of the WTO, and also that Codex standards or guidelines now exist for virtually every food one can name, this effectively means that the activities of Codex now directly affect the vast majority of people on the planet.

In addition to dealing with ordinary foods, however, Codex also sets standards and guidelines for, amongst other things: vitamin and mineral food supplements; health claims; organic foods; genetically modified foods; food labeling; advertising; food additives and pesticide residues. Significantly, therefore, and as we shall see below, in all of these areas the evidence is now inescapable that Codex is increasingly putting economic interests – and particularly those of the pharmaceutical and chemical industries – before human health.

Codex Guidelines for Vitamin and Mineral Food Supplements

The Guidelines for Vitamin and Mineral Food Supplements were adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission as a new global standard at its meeting in Rome, Italy, in July 2005. Drafted using the European Union's restrictive Food Supplements Directive as a blueprint, the Guidelines mandate the setting of restrictive upper limits on the dosages of vitamins and minerals, and the prohibiting of claims that vitamin and mineral supplements are suitable for use in the prevention, alleviation, treatment or cure of disease. As a result, and bearing in mind the growing mountain of evidence demonstrating the impressive health improvements that can be achieved via the use of nutritional supplements, it can be seen that far from protecting the health of consumers, the global enforcement of these guidelines would ensure that the sale of curative, preventative, and therapeutic health products remains the exclusive province of the pharmaceutical industry.

Health claims

There are already several Codex texts in existence that place restrictions upon the health benefits that can be attributed to food products, and perhaps the most significant of these is the Codex General Guidelines on Claims. Adopted in 1979, and revised in 1991, these guidelines are in some senses the very root of the Codex problem – in terms of placing severe restrictions upon natural forms of healthcare – in that they effectively seek to ensure that the only products that can make claims relating to the prevention, alleviation, treatment, and cure of disease are pharmaceutical drugs. Specifically, and amongst other things, the Codex General Guidelines on Claims prohibit all claims implying that a balanced diet or ordinary foods cannot supply adequate amounts of all nutrients, and all claims that food products are suitable for use in the prevention, alleviation, treatment or cure of diseases. As such, it can be seen that they essentially protect the patent on the pharmaceutical industry's control of our healthcare systems.

Organic foods

Organic foods have been receiving increased attention from Codex in recent years, and it is now increasingly clear that the Codex Committee on Food Labelling is attempting to water down global organic standards to permit the use of substances such as sulphur dioxide, which can cause allergic reactions in some people; sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate, which are potentially carcinogenic, and have been implicated in hyperactivity in children; and carrageenan, for which there is evidence that it is associated with the formation of ulcers in the intestines and cancerous tumors in the gut. Worse still, however, the Codex Alimentarius Commission recently gave the go-ahead for work to begin on the inclusion of ethylene in the Codex Guidelines for the Production, Processing, Labelling and Marketing of Organically Produced Foods. Ethylene is used to artificially induce fruits and vegetables to ripen whilst they are in transit, and as such its approval for use on organic foods would represent a disturbing step towards WTO-enforced acceptance of the same dubious and unnatural agricultural practices that non-organic foods are already subject to.

Why does Codex want to water down organic standards in this way? On a basic level it is simply because organic foods fetch higher prices than ordinary, non-organic, foods, and that as such the large non-organic food producers see an easy opportunity to break into the market for organic foods and make larger profits. On a deeper level, however, organic foods promote better health than non-organic foods, by virtue of the fact that they contain higher levels of micronutrients. In addition, of course, organic foods don't contain pesticides, residues of veterinary drugs or genetically-modified organisms either. Bearing in mind therefore that good health is not in the interests of the "business with disease", this ultimately makes the increasing demand for organic foods a threat to the pharmaceutical and chemical industries; not only because organic foods promote good health, however, but also because they result in a lower demand for pesticides, veterinary drugs and GM foods – and thus in lower profits.

Moreover, and unlike genetically-modified seeds, organic seeds cannot be patented. As such, given that some of the major players in the pharmaceutical and chemical industry, such as Bayer and BASF, are also major players in the biotech industry, it can easily be seen that the rising popularity of non-patentable organic foods is in fact a serious and growing threat to the profits of the pharmaceutical industry's "business with disease".

Tomorrow, part two of Paul Anthony Taylor's article will be shared. Stay tuned ...

The LORD is far from the wicked
but he hears the prayer of the righteous.

A cheerful look brings joy to the heart,
and good news gives health to the bones.

He who listens to a life-giving rebuke
will be at home among the wise.

He who ignores discipline despises himself,
but whoever heeds correction gains understanding.

The fear of the LORD teaches a man wisdom,
and humility comes before honor. Proverbs 15:29-33 (NIV)

If you have comments or questions, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@panama-vo.com

Medical Choices

This week the focus has been on many frauds and other deceptions that are perpetuated in the medical community. Does this mean that all doctors, pharmaceutical, and the entire medical community are bad? Certainly not.

However, the base premise of prescription drugs are to treat symptoms, and not necessarily to correct the root cause of the problem. Often this approach may alleviate the symptom, but also will cause harmful and even disastrous side effects that are many times not detectable until significantly later. This delayed reaction and culmination will usually be treated with more drugs to combat those symptoms. Do you notice the pattern here? More symptoms, more drugs, the more your body is so medicated that your natural immune system doesn't know or can't combat much of anything. Your body then starts to break down, your health goes downhill, and eventually you die. However, this is not before you spend a fortune on tests, prescription drugs, doctor visits, more tests, drugs, etc. Does this sound like a healthy way to live - medically or financially?

So, usually the alternative is to seek another approach. There are a number of alternative forms of medicine and disease treatment - Ayurveda (Hindu health care system), chiropractic, herbalism, homeopathy, naturopathic medicine, osteopathic medicine, Chinese medicine, and others. Most of these approaches get into some form of holistic treatment that the body can be cured and maintain great health through its own natural immunity provided that body is given what it needs.

Obviously, we could spend years going into the particulars on all of these subjects. But the basic point that allopathic medicine (treatment of disease with drugs and surgery) is not always the best approach. Why? Because the system that produces the these doctors is severely faulted. Most of the medical schools are heavily financed by pharmaceutical companies through drug clinics and trials, grants, donations, etc. The schools therefore are pretty much obligated to teach their students the allopathic method or risk losing their funding. The students learn only one side of things and therefore go out and "practice" their specialty. This is not creating independent thinking or research.

Due to this age of specialization and the constant pressures of time, occupation, family, and trying to find a quality of life, we often go with the professional advice of the experts, not knowing that they have only one view of things. Therefore, we typically are steered down a path of treatment that is not the best. There is no argument that healthy people do not need a lot of medical treatment. The medical and healthcare industries are like all businesses - they need customers. Why not create more dependency, more customers, and therefore more profit by making the customers sicker, especially when it can't be detected for years? Do you ever wonder why pharmaceutical companies are always getting record profits year after year? After this weeks posts, you should no longer wonder.

Meanwhile, the medical community routinely advises against any alternative treatment, obviously because it is bad for business. Healthy people don't need tests, drugs, and doctors. Prevention is never mentioned, let alone practiced.

This is why the medical community is being blasted this week. Their fraudulent and deceptive system is rampant and little is being done about it. The small minority of professionals that practices or promotes alternative treatment are ostracized and labeled as "quacks". The wellness industry that promotes prevention and boosting the immune system are denounced as unnecessary.

So as always, you have a choice. What will you choose? Like it or not, your health is your life. What kind of quality or degree is again up to you to choose. Remember the old wives tale of "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure".

As with all Saturdays, I will recap the week looking at several key financial indicators that drive the markets. During this consolidation period, the markets have bounced around getting everyone more comfortable with the new price levels. The upward trends are starting to renew their pressures to continue moving upward. Precious metals all rose this week. The price of gold went higher on Friday, closing at $927.60 per ounce. Silver also closed higher at $17.52 per ounce. The price of oil hit a new record high, closing at $140.57 per barrel. These pressures drove the US dollar index down again, closing at 72.28 against the other major world currencies.

All of you should be able to see what is coming from these actions - inflation. A rise in oil prices drives nearly all consumer good prices higher. If wage increases don't match the price increases, you have less money to spend. This will likely cause more recessionary measures and if continued, will lead to a depression. This has been pointed out on numerous occasions in this blog, so it should not be a surprise.

As always, if you are looking for personal solutions, please contact me. I am constantly working on finding solutions in many areas and thus improving quality of life. This is the purpose of this blog.

As always, the choice is yours.

The heart of the righteous weighs its answers,
but the mouth of the wicked gushes evil. Proverbs 15:28 (NIV)

If you have comments or questions, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@panama-vo.com

Documenting the Doctors' Role

This week the focus has been on the deplorable deceptions and fraud, including bribes that are common place in the medical community. Yesterday, the beginning part of a Dani Veracity article was shared. Today, excerpts from that article siting a number of professional sources regarding the doctors' role in ongoing bribes and other deceptions used.

Just look, reflect, and really think about the variety of the sources and statements made in these excerpts.

After all, I am not talking about overt corruption such as fraud, bribes, office-buying, or kickbacks. Yet what we are concerned about is equally problematic, far subtler, and largely hidden from sight. One observer commented: "Conflicts of interest are institutional weeds. They take root below the surface and become pervasive problems often long before they show their ugliness." The weeds in this case expose physicians to powerful temptations to make money at the expense of their patients' welfare. Aside from harm to patients, conflicts of interest may be subconscious and as such can undermine judgment and integrity and lead to self-deception.
On The Take by Jerome P Kassirer M.D., page 52

...he and his colleagues receive funds that allow them to spread their educational message to thousands of physicians. Dr. Libby believes that despite the drug-company support of these efforts, strict adherence to published guidelines in creating the content of the sites, multiple layers of peer review by experts, and assessment by his audiences preserves the objectivity of these programs. By disclosing all his financial conflicts of interest and by being involved with so many companies, Dr. Libby believes he can maintain his independence, objectivity, and reputation as an opinion leader in his field. The involvement of these high-level academics in such ventures is open to various interpretations. Dr. Libby asserts that they simply exploit a corrupt system in a way that benefits patients. Nonetheless, to me these relationships between the academics and the companies (which may include providing advice about drug marketing) are too close, too collaborative, and too cozy. They generate income for some of the participants and thus induce some obligation to advocate for the company in unseen ways.
On The Take by Jerome P Kassirer M.D., page 104

Sometimes physician chicanery is the result of doctors entering the deep waters of entrepreneurship, where there is always the danger of conflict of interest between patient care and making a buck—too often a quick, dishonest buck.
The Medical Racket by Martin L Gross, page 112

Kickback scams are omnipresent in medicine. Dishonest and ingenious doctors can take in sums much greater than $100,000 a year. In one case involving Caremark International, a Minneapolis-based home care company, a federal grand jury indicted them for paying astronomical kickbacks to one physician. How much? Caremark pleaded guilty to mail fraud and paid a fine of $161 million. Suprisingly, the doctor was convicted but that conviction was overturned on appeal; the charges against the executives were dismissed entirely.
The Medical Racket by Martin L Gross, page 115

Most physicians do not make decisions about which drug to use on the basis of scientific research or cost. They base their decision almost entirely on which drug is the most popular choice of their colleagues. What determines popularity? The effectiveness of the drug company's marketing and advertising efforts. In essence, doctors are often bribed or lied to so that they will prescribe certain medications. ... If the drug company didn't expect the gift to influence the doctor's decision, why would it give the gift? According to a 1992 article published in The New England Journal of Medicine written by Douglas Waud, M.D., the term gift should read bribe. A gift implies that no strings are attached.
Natural Alternatives To Drugs by Michael T Murray ND, page 25

The ultimate drug company "bribery" is sending an M.D. on an exotic vacation and including CME courses along with it. The physician spends a few hours a day listening to lectures on how to prescribe the company's drugs and the rest of his time on the beach or golf course.
Prescription Alternatives by Earl Mindell RPh PhD and Virginia Hopkins MA, page 13

Analyzing why there is so much medical error Leape acknowledged the lack of reporting. Unlike a jumbo-jet crash, which gets instant media coverage, hospital errors are spread out over the country in thousands of different locations. They are also perceived as isolated and unusual events. However, the most important reason that medical error is unrecognized and growing, according to Leape, was, and still is, that doctors and nurses are unequipped to deal with human error, due to the culture of medical training and practice. doctors are taught that mistakes are unacceptable. Medical mistakes are therefore viewed as a failure of character and any error equals negligence. We can see how a great deal of sweeping under the rug takes place since nobody is taught what to do when medical error does occur. Leape cited Mclntyre and Popper who said the "infallibility model" of medicine leads to intellectual dishonesty with a need to cover up mistakes rather than admit them. There are no Grand Rounds on medical errors, no sharing of failures among doctors and no one to support them emotionally when their error harms a patient.
Death By Medicine by Gary Null PhD, page 10

Despite what many doctors think, vitamins and minerals are not something invented by the health food industry; they are part of our biological system. Without them all life stops and you die. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies can often lead to disease, and you do not have to be embarrassed about taking vitamin and mineral supplements. The medical and scientific literature supporting nutritional supplements is extensive and goes back over a hundred years. I know many doctors who religiously take supplements themselves but will not recommend them to their patients because of fear of being ridiculed by their colleagues. This is intellectually and morally dishonest.
Health And Nutrition Secrets by Russell L Blaylock MD, page 36

I am not implying that those who review manuscripts are corrupt or even conscious of their bias. Nevertheless, doctors and scientists who are interested in nutritional medicine almost invariably complain about how difficult it is to have their work published in "peer-reviewed" medical journals.
Preventing And Reversing Osteoporosis By Alan R Gaby MD, page 250

Many doctors are paid by Eli Lilly and other drug companies to do drug studies for them or they are affiliated with a university or hospital which do these studies. The "don't bite the hand that feeds you" philosophy plays a major role in their defending the safety of Prozac. Are the incentives being offered to them by Lilly to prescribe this drug so great that they feel it is worth "selling out" their own patients? What is it? Have they become totally irrational themselves from their own personal use of Prozac? We are aware that doctors in general have on of the highest rates of prescription drug abuse. Just how serious is the abuse of these mind-altering drugs among the individuals we are trusting with our lives? Psychiatric nurse, Joyce Strom-Paikin, puts her license and credentials on the line to fight the "conspiracy of silence" that exists in the medical profession with the use of drugs by doctors and nurses in her book, MEDICAL TREASON. She feels this is a practice which "threatens to corrupt the profession and cost lives of many patients." In defence of physicians it should be stated again that they receive very little training in medical school on the use of drugs. Our entire system is in desperate need of revamping.
PROZAC Panacea or Pandora by Ann Blake Tracy PhD, page 176

...shocked to discover that their doctor's advice could be colored by less than virtuous motives. You're supposed to believe that everyone in the medical community is in it purely for humanitarian reasons. If you believe that, just try to see a doctor or check into a hospital without flashing your insurance card! Did you know that some hospitals offer special incentive deals that give doctors valuable gifts like fax machines and car phones if they schedule surgeries when the hospitals are hurting for business? If your doctor is prescribing a certain drug for you, wouldn't it bother you to know that the makers of the drug may have offered him a free trip to New Orleans in return for his patronage? Drug companies regularly bribe doctors with free drugs, dinners, trips and even cash."
PROZAC Panacea or Pandora by Ann Blake Tracy PhD, page 235

Doctors Borison and Diamond pleaded guilty to the theft, bribery, and racketeering charges brought against them by the Georgia Attorney General. They were each fined $125,000 and were sentenced to prison. At the time of their highly publicized indictment, Eli Lilly pulled all studies still in progress with Borison and Diamond, reassigning them to other centers. Regarding the many studies the pair had completed over the years for Lilly, however, a spokesperson said the company was confident that none of the data provided was compromised in any way. But Dr. David Hess, chief of neurology at the hospital where Borison was the chief of psychiatry, told investigators, "This whole thing was very dirty. It was basically a numbers game. These patients are purely used for the greed of the researchers.. [It] was very apparent to me what was going on." While some insist that the repeated exposes are not representative of the testing of psychiatric drugs, others note that many of the most disturbing practices highlighted in the exposes—such as the exorbitant sums of money involved, employing staff with little training or clinical experience to evaluate patients, and advertising for subjects rather than using real patients coming into doctors' offices seeking treatment—are not uncommon in psychiatric drug testing.
Prozac Backlash by Joseph Glenmullen MD, page 211

Unscrupulous pharmaceutical companies, corrupt government officials, venal physicians, stupid and cowardly media people, incompetent and dishonest researchers — none of these things are new. They are business as usual. Where, then, does the buck stop? Who is responsible for pharmacogenocide?
The Aids War by John Lauritsen, page 272

Of course, other professions don't police themselves so well either. How many unethical lawyers are disbarred? How many corrupt judges are removed from office? How many check-kiting legislators are impeached? And how many incompetent public school teachers are fired? There is a lot of room for more policing of the professions. Maybe methods used against doctors will be tried in your profession next.
Your doctor is Not In by Jane M Orient MD, page 193

The politically feasible course is to subject physicians, clinics, nursing homes, suppliers of medical equipment, and other providers to the same law that is used to wage war on drug dealers or Racketeer-Influenced Corrupt Organizations (RICO). The RICO law provides for civil forfeiture of property.
Your doctor is Not In by Jane M Orient MD, page 200

Increasingly, people are questioning the values and the presumptions of medicine, asking whether our way of caring for people is the best way. The administrative structure of medicine is being overhauled from top to bottom by governments, by market managers, by physician executives and health management consultants. At the same time, new advances in medical science promise a new era of biologic innovation, with everything from fetal surgery to gene therapy to treatments to prevent aging. Each innovation comes with a promise and a price, and the more we innovate, the more we are forced to question and compare and prioritize among interventions, populations, problems, and allocation schemes. The individualistic morality that sees virtue in the unencumbered and unswervingly loyal commitment of each doctor to each single patient seems to be crumbling under the assault. Medical societies agonize over the compromises that doctors are being forced to make. Journals are filled with soul-searching articles bemoaning the changes and looking for villains. We blame the corrupt government or the greedy managed care administrators or the heartless market.
Do We Still Need doctors by John D Lantos MD, page 98

How much suffering and death are the American people willing to take before they stand up to the bureaucracy? How many physicians must be put into prison before all physicians cry "enough!" to the increasing government control over their profession? How many Watergates do we need before we realize that mortal men are corrupted by power, and that the solutions to one's problems lie not in increasing the power of government but in decreasing it?
World Without Cancer by G Edward Griffin, page 330

So when are we going to change things? When are we going to stop accepting whatever the doctors say, regardless of the side effects or other consequences?

As always, the choice is yours. This time it could mean your life.

But you, O God, will bring down the wicked
into the pit of corruption;
bloodthirsty and deceitful men
will not live out half their days.
But as for me, I trust in you. Psalm 55:23 (NIV)

If you have comments or questions, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@panama-vo.com

The Doctors' Role

This week we have been looking at the extraordinary amount of deceit and greed in the healthcare industry. Today, we will look at more of that from a little different perspective of that of the role of the doctors.

The following is from an article by Dani Veracity published on July 7, 2005. The title is "Physicians and bribery: a closer look at this common medical practice".

In 2001, 2.8 billion prescriptions were filled in the United States for an average of 9.9 prescriptions per person. This statistic taken from Ultraprevention, by Drs. Mark Hyman and Mark Liponis, certainly supports their point that "drug industry prescriptions have gotten far out of hand." The overabundance of prescriptions isn't because of a rise in illnesses or the availability of new drugs that effectively and safely treat chronic diseases; rather, it is because of the corruption of mainstream medicine. The philanthropy that was once present in modern medicine has been replaced by a love of money, which gave rise to an elaborate system of bribery, conflict of interest and deception.

How does your doctor decide which medications to prescribe? Is the decision based on the first-hand testimonies of other patients? Is the decision made after a careful and thorough research of medical journals? Usually not. As Michael T. Murray explains in Natural Alternatives to Drugs, your doctor's decision has nothing to do with medicine: "Most physicians do not make decisions about which drug to use on the basis of scientific research or cost. They base their decision almost entirely on which drug is the most popular choice of their colleagues. What determines popularity? The effectiveness of the drug company's marketing and advertising efforts. In essence, doctors are often bribed or lied to so that they will prescribe certain medications." Bribery is a danger in any business sector. In medicine, bribes can prove downright deadly; nevertheless, they are shockingly common.

How would you like a bonus of $100,000 per year on top of your already outrageously high salary? Wow, that sounds like a dream, doesn't it? Well, for many doctors, obtaining a bonus of that amount is a reality. These days, the majority of doctors have dived right into the "deep waters of entrepreneurship, where there is always the danger of conflict of interest between patient care and making a buck," as Martin. L. Gross phrases it in The Medical Racket. Entrepreneurship has turned the medical industry into a giant game, where patients serve as the chips, their lives the bets, and jackpots are won by doctors, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies.

At times, the bribes are obvious, such as when pharmaceutical companies send physicians on exotic vacations in exchange for listening to lectures about the companies' drugs for a few hours of the day, while the rest of the day is quite literally a day at the beach (or the golf course). The ways in which some hospitals bribe physicians are especially sickening, according to Professor Ann Blake Tracy in "Prozac: Panacea or Pandora": "Did you know that some hospitals offer special incentive deals that give doctors valuable gifts like fax machines and car phones, if they schedule surgeries when the hospitals are hurting for business?" Incentives belong in car dealerships, not in doctors' offices.

Sometimes the corruption is not as conspicuous; it could be a matter concerning conflicts of interest. "Conflicts of interest are institutional weeds. They take root below the surface and become pervasive problems often long before they show their ugliness," Dr. Jerome P. Kassirer quotes an "observer" as having stated in his book, On the Take. Now, what are these conflicts of interest, and are doctors really so susceptible? Dr. Kassirer asks a few questions in order to determine the severity of this subtle corruption: "Have the fees that physicians charge given them an incentive to bring patients back to their offices too often, or to order too many tests that aren't needed? Or have they skimped on tests if ordering too many shrinks their paycheck? Are they more inclined to order certain expensive drugs or promote certain products because of personal financial relations with some of the drug companies, contrary to patients' best interests?" The answer to all these questions is, unfortunately, yes, which signals the existence of a pervasive level of corruption.

Now you know why doctors' prescriptions follow trends and why the whole world seems to be on the same drug at the same time. Now you know why so few doctors prescribe alternative medicines for their patients: Nature doesn’t offer bribes.

One big question, however, remains unanswered: How can doctors accept these bribes and look in the mirror afterward? According to Dr. Kassirer, it's all a matter of self-deception: "Physicians know that pharmaceutical companies don't provide these services simply out of altruistic motives, yet they are eager to believe that they can preserve their integrity in the face of such bribes. How then, do they cope with the gross discrepancies between the knowledge that they are being bought and their need to believe that they cannot be bought? Disavowal probably explains much of the mechanism of self-deception. Whereas avowal is a capacity to identify one's true thoughts and motives, disavowal aids self-deception by evading these motives." In other words, corrupt doctors actively try not to question themselves about it, thereby perpetuating their state of self-deception.

Physicians may not overly concern themselves about the bribery they allow to take place, but we as consumers must. Gross asks, "What could be better than stopping the waste of $100 billion (at the very least) in medical, dental and pharmaceutical fraud, and using the money for any good purpose, including lower federal taxes for all? And in the process, cleansing the stain that dishonest doctors have cast on the profession and, by extension, on their honest colleagues?"

Ask yourself that same question. There is no downside to stopping medical corruption right here, right now.

Tomorrow, there is more of Dani Veracity's article and some professional sources that are cited. Stay tuned ...

Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous. Exodus 23:8 (NIV)

If you have comments or questions, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@panama-vo.com

Massive Medical Fraud Part II

This week the topics revolve around the healthcare industry taking advantage of consumers through outrageous markups on prescription drugs, bribes to doctors, and bogus clinical trials. Yesterday, I shared the beginning part of an article by Mike Adams, an independent journalist known as the Health Ranger. For more on Mike Adams, please see his website www.HealthRanger.org,

Here is the part two of Mike's article titled "Massive medical fraud exposed: pharmaceutical company paid doctors to prescribe drugs and run sham clinical trials" published on July 9, 2004. Please note that the first paragraph is repeated from yesterday's post for continuity and because of its important message.

It's not an exaggeration to call this a medical holocaust. These drug companies seem determined to dose the entire population with as many simultaneous prescriptions as possible, as long as it generates profits for their shareholders. Business ethics are nowhere to be found in the pharmaceutical industry these days: it's all about money, profits, power and control.

And the funny part about all this is that these drugs are almost entirely unnecessary. There's not a single chronic disease that's actually cured or reversed from any prescription drug in existence. All these drugs do is treat symptoms and barely keep the patients alive long enough to write another check to cover their growing medical debt. Chemotherapy is a sham and has absolutely no scientific merit whatsoever. (Yes, it shrinks tumors, but it adds nothing to a patient's lifespan.) Statin drugs are a con, and yet they're being over-prescribed for all sorts of chronic disorders that actually need to be treated with nutrition and exercise, not drugs. And over-the-counter drugs are both extremely dangerous and highly ineffective. NSAIDs (Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) kill some 40,000 patients each year from intestinal bleeding -- and yet offer no real benefit to patients that couldn't be achieved from simple changes in diet and exercise.

The FDA, meanwhile, watches all this and focuses its own efforts on discrediting herbal supplements like ephedra. The agency seems determined to outlaw or regulate all nutritional supplements, thereby making vitamins illegal and practically guaranteeing another decade of outrageous profits for drug companies. It's no surprise: most FDA employees used to work for drug companies (or plan to in the near future). Many FDA employees maintain strong financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry. They're simply out to crush the natural health industry and thereby boost their own personal profits from pharmaceuticals.

Modern medicine is in shambles, folks. It's a train wreck. We're sicker, fatter and more depressed than ever. And the really good advice that people need isn't reaching them. Good health is really simple, it turns out. Get lots of natural sunlight on your skin daily. Eat superfoods like chlorella and spirulina. Avoid all refined carbohydrates and processed foods. Ban soft drinks from your life. Never touch cigarettes. Pick up strength training, yoga, pilates, cycling, jogging or some other physical exercise activity. And breathe, people. Breathe consciously. Your body needs oxygen. Learn how to put yourself in control of your own health: read "Take Back Your Health Power!"

In a way, the massive fraud now being exposed in western medicine is a blessing in disguise. Big Medicine has gone so far over the top with aggressive marketing and downright evil (if not criminal) tactics that the whole profiteering orgy is going to come crashing down on them. Big Medicine will soon be history -- remembered as just a moment of insanity in the history of modern civilization. Some day, people will say, "Do you remember when the whole country was dosed up on chemicals?" They'll shudder with the thought of it -- how we were all duped by the drug companies, by our family doctors, and by the Bush Administration's complicity in the whole scheme. They'll ask, "How could an entire country go mad like this?"

And the answer, of course, is that the whole country was doped up on prescription drugs that alter brain chemistry, cloud the mind, and turn ordinary consumers into pill-popping zombies.

It was a brilliant scam. It generated billions of dollars in profits. And now the truth is starting to come out: Big Medicine is about to become another sad chapter in the history of human deception. Good riddance.

Highly recommended reading: Death By Medicine by Gary Null, Ph.D.

Mike Adams, published July 9, 2004

Mike points out very eloquently exactly what I've come to learn over the last several years. Believe it or not, there are lots of documented evidence that the above material is not only true, but is just a small sampling of the corruption in the healthcare industry. However, you will see very little of this information in the mainstream media. The simple reason is that they are also controlled and prohibited from airing the deceptions or anything that protrays a negatively light on the FDA, the medical community, or the pharmaceutical industry. The only exception to this is the occasional prescription recall after someone dies so that it looks like they are doing something in your interest.

Wake up from your drug induced stupor! Get healthy naturally, not synthetically and therefore harmful to your own body's natural balance. Out of balance means chronic and even disastrous health consequences and even death.

As always, the choice is yours.

My son, pay attention to what I say;
listen closely to my words.

Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart;

for they are life to those who find them
and health to a man's whole body.

Above all else, guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life. Proverbs 4:20-23 (NIV)

If you have comments or questions, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@panama-vo.com

Massive Medical Fraud Part I

Yesterday, we began to explore how much the healthcare industry is ripping off consumers through huge markups on common prescription drugs. Today, we will begin a multi part series from journalist Mike Adams from an article he published on July 9, 2004 titled "Massive medical fraud exposed: pharmaceutical company paid doctors to prescribe drugs and run sham clinical trials". This article is found on www.naturalnews.com.

Here is part one of the article.

Here's a must-read article for anyone interested in learning how the pharmaceutical industry really operates. It's a case of aggressive marketing gone bad, with a mixture of corrupt physicians, underhanded payola and a near-total disregard for patient health. And yet it's business as usual in the pharmaceutical industry: drug maker Schering-Plough, one of the largest drug companies in the world, has been outright bribing physicians to prescribe drugs and operate sham clinical trials.

Here's how it would work: doctors who prescribed the drug company's products and avoided competing drugs were paid "consulting fees" of tens of thousands of dollars. And what kind of consulting did these doctors do? The kind of consulting that requires nothing more than signing a blank sheet of paper and cashing the check, of course. And thousands of doctors participated in this criminal scam, collecting untold sums of money in exchange for hyping Schering-Plough's pharmaceuticals to patients. (Medical ethics, anyone?)

Doctors were paid even more money to conduct fraudulent clinical trials that would require patients to take the drugs for twelve months at a time, which of course rang up even more drug profits for the manufacturer and resulted in more kickbacks to the doctors. That's right: they're literally playing doctor with your life while pocketing the drug money.

If all this sounds outrageous, think again: this is precisely the kind of criminal activity that now typifies the pharmaceutical industry and organized medicine in general. These companies will do anything to make a buck, including outright bribing doctors with lavish meals, free gifts and even trips to Hawaii and other exotic destinations, all under the guise of "continuing medical education" (CME) courses. It's all a scam, and the vast majority of physicians just go right along with it, pocketing the benefits and dosing up their patients with whatever drug they've been told to prescribe.

I've seen it myself: a room-full of doctors in Hawaii, ditching a drug company sponsored "education" event, where airfare and hotels were provided for free. Why were the doctors ditching the class? Because they wanted to have fun in Hawaii, and attendance wasn't required after the first hour. It's basically just a paid vacation scam, courtesy of the pharmaceutical company. And it's happening every day, right now.

Prescription drugs are so profitable -- some drugs are now sold at more than 500,000% markup over the actual cost of their raw ingredients -- that drug companies will do practically anything to sell more pills. They invent fictitious diseases and urge doctors and parents to dose their children with powerful narcotics. They conduct fraudulent clinical trials, making sure to bury any negative results that would show how dangerous their drugs really are. They buy the favor of the media by pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into magazine, television, newspaper and online advertising. They pressure the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) into delaying the ban on extremely dangerous drugs in order to squeeze out another twelve months of profits even while patients are dying from drug-induced liver failure.

And the scam works: drug profits are up. Way up. Meanwhile, the American people are sicker than ever. Drugs aren't helping the population at large, all they're doing is turning the United States into a nation of chemical zombies who suffer from the extremely toxic side effects of taking dozens of prescriptions in combination.

It's the greatest con in American history. It's the racket of the millennium. The drug companies are running the show, cutting off drugs from Canada, monopolizing the U.S. market, running the FDA, bribing doctors and killing patients all the while. Even based on statistics from conventional medicine, prescription drugs are right now killing 100,000 Americans each year and injuring another two million. And that doesn't count the tens of thousands of additional deaths caused by NSAIDs (Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) and over-the-counter painkillers.

It's not an exaggeration to call this a medical holocaust. These drug companies seem determined to dose the entire population with as many simultaneous prescriptions as possible, as long as it generates profits for their shareholders. Business ethics are nowhere to be found in the pharmaceutical industry these days: it's all about money, profits, power and control.

Tomorrow, we will continue with part two of this article. Stay tuned ...

A cheerful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22 (NIV)

If you have comments or questions, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@panama-vo.com

The High Costs of Prescriptions

This week, I will focus on the healthcare industry. Many people call it sick care because they don't seem to be interested in keeping you healthy, but are focused on keeping you sick. This sounds very deplorable, and there are many aspects that truly are despicable.

Today, I will pass along some information compiled by Sharon L. Davis, a budget analyst with the US Department of Commerce. Her email address is sdavis@doc.gov. Her research compiled some very interesting facts on the pharmaceutical companies and the cost of their prescriptions sold to the public. Much of the information is posted in Life Extension Foundation online magazine which can be found at www.lef.org.

Did you ever wonder how much it costs a drug company for the active ingredient in prescription medications? Some think that it costs a lot since many drugs for more than $2.00 per tablet. A significant percentage of drugs sold in the United States contain active ingredients made in other countries. This decreases significantly their manufacturing costs, but what is the impact to the bottom line?

Take a look at the difference between the costs and what they are actually selling the prescriptions for.

Celebrex: 100 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $130.27
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.60
Percent markup: 21,712%

Claritin: 10 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $215.17
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.71
Percent markup: 30,306%

Keflex: 250 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $157.39
Cost of general active ingredients: $1.88
Percent markup: 8,372%

Lipitor: 20 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $272.37
Cost of general active ingredients: $5.80
Percent markup: 4,696%

Norvasc: 10 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $188.29
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.14
Percent markup: 134,493%

Paxil: 20 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $220.27
Cost of general active ingredients: $7.60
Percent markup: 2,898%

Prevacid: 30 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $44.77
Cost of general active ingredients: $1.01
Percent markup: 34,136%

Prilosec: 20 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $360.97
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.52
Percent markup: 69,417%

Prozac: 20 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $247.47
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.11
Percent markup: 224,973%

Tenormin: 50 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $104.47
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.13
Percent markup: 80,362%

Vasotec: 10 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $102.37
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.20
Percent markup: 51,185%

Xanax: 1 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $136.79
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.024
Percent markup: 569,958%

Zestril: 20 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $89.89
Cost of general active ingredients: $3.20
Percent markup: 2,809%

Zithromax: 600 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $1,482.19
Cost of general active ingredients: $18.78
Percent markup: 7,892%

Zocor: 40 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $350.27
Cost of general active ingredients: $8.63
Percent markup: 4,059%

Zoloft: 50 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $206.87
Cost of general active ingredients: $1.75
Percent markup: 11,821%

One way to alleviate these astronomically high costs are to buy the generic equivalents which can help save usually 20% or more. Even generic drug companies will routinely mark up their products by more than 3000 percent. But this is still outrageous. This is why there is a Walgreens or a CVS pharmacy on seemingly every major street corner.

Sharon went on to endorse Costco warehouse stores which say that they charge very little over their costs for the drugs. Check out and compare online prices to your local pharmacy - www.costco.com.

So who is doing the gauging? Drug companies, pharmacies, doctors, hospitals? Answer: All of the above.

Tomorrow, there will be more exposed about the atrocities of the healthcare industry. Stay tuned ...

A man's spirit sustains him in sickness,
but a crushed spirit who can bear? Proverbs 18:14 (NIV)

If you have comments or questions, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@panama-vo.com

What You Want

This week the topics have been about taking advantage of opportunities and how to implement solutions. It is one thing to know what you are after and then having a solution available that you know how to implement, then the only thing that remains is acting to accomplish your goal.

However, I've run across many people that simply do not know what they want. They are already in a rut or daily grind, and that is simply all they know. They don't like their situation, but they do not know how to change. This is the focus of today - identifying what you want.

In order for you to identify what you want, you have to look inward at yourself. What motivates you? What are you willing and not willing to do? Who are you willing to associate with and who do you want to avoid? How rigid is your comfort zone? Why are some things important to you and not others? How important are your own feelings? Are you willing to change your opinion on what you want based on input from others? Who and what are you willing to sacrifice for in order for your wants to be met? What excuses are you willing to give up for achieving what you want?

All of these questions revolve around you knowing who you are. In other words, are you self-aware? Self-awareness is an awareness of one's own personality or individuality. It is the explicit understanding that you exist, apart and different from other people. In short, you are unique and have very individual and private thoughts. Another related term, self-consciousness is not only the understanding of the very core of their personality and identity, but also what governs their behavior. In simple terms to use a cliche - 'what makes you tick'.

If you do not know who you are, it may be difficult to identify what you want. With some people, knowing what they want is very natural, or innate (determined by factors present in an individual from birth). With others who don't have a strong self-image, or do not like themselves, all they may know is the dislike for themselves, but not necessarily how or that they even want to change.

I will use another cliche - 'where there's a will, there's a way'. Cliches often become cliches simply because they are so very true in nearly all circumstances they get repeated over and over again. This one is no exception. The point is - if you know what you want and there is a desire to get it, you will somehow or through someone find a solution that is achievable.

So, who are you? What do you want? What do you want your life to become? What do your life to mean? I like to focus on the end result. If you know how you want things to turn out, begin with that and work backwards. Have a very clear picture of what you want your life to be and start working toward that image everyday. If some task or personality trait does not fit into that image, begin to change it. Change does not occur overnight. It all takes time and effort.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

As always, the choice is yours.

As with all Saturdays, I will recap key financial indicators that gives valuable insight into what the financial markets are doing. Precious metals rose slightly this week, further consolidating the prices levels set within the last couple months. Gold closed at $902.10 per ounce on Friday afternoon. Silver also closed higher at $17.38 per ounce. The price of a barrel of oil also rose slightly to $134.80 per barrel, only 40 cents higher than last week. These actions drove the US dollar index down to 73.09, weakening the dollar against the other major world currencies. All of this consolidating action is very typical during the early days of summer. Much of Europe begin their summer days of traveling. Also in the North America, schools begin their summer recess allowing families to take their planned summer trips. Due to the much higher price of gasoline in the US as compared to last year, there certainly are a lot of families that are not taking a summer trip or at least making it much shorter.

Consider these Napoleon Hill quotes (author of "Think and Grow Rich") this weekend on where you want to go and what you life is to become.

No man can succeed in a line of endeavor which he does not like.

Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything.

The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat.

If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self.

If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.

Most great people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure.

Edison failed 10, 000 times before he made the electric light. Do not be discouraged if you fail a few times.

When defeat comes, accept it as a signal that your plans are not sound, rebuild those plans, and set sail once more toward your coveted goal.

It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed.

A goal is a dream with a deadline.

Your big opportunity may be right where you are now.


Remember, where there's a will, there's a way.

May he give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans succeed.

We will shout for joy when you are victorious
and will lift up our banners in the name of our God.
May the LORD grant all your requests. Psalm 20:4-5 (NIV)

If you have comments or questions, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@panama-vo.com

Carpe Diem

This week the topics have been centered around taking advantage of opportunities that are presented to us on a daily basis. What we do with those opportunities are up to us, but we have to act. Today's focus will be on precisely that - acting when the time comes.

Many motivational speakers of today will use the Latin phrase "Carpe Diem" which means to "seize the day". It was first used by the Roman lyric poet Horace (65 BC - 8BC) in the grammatic sense of "enjoy, make use of, seize." The general definition of carpe is "pick, pluck, pluck off, gather" as in plucking or picking a rose or apple. The Latin word for day is diem.

The most common interpretation of the phrase places emphasis on making the most of current opportunities because life is short and time is fleeting. It is a phrase often used in literature and movies. In Shakespeare's Hamlet (act V scene ii), Hamlet observes that "There's a divinity that shapes our ends," and says a few words about how fate is inescapable. He concludes that "the readiness is all." In other words, a person should act now, or seize the moment, whether it seems favorable or not. As Horace says, we should not subject ourselves to augury (wait for an omen or sign to foreshadow a future event). "Carpe diem! Seize the day, boys! Make your lives extraordinary!" was used in the hit movie Dead Poets Society, a film that explores the idea of carpe diem from the viewpoint of a classroom of young men at an all-boys boarding school starring Robin William in 1989. The phrase also appears, although less prominently, in a number of other movies, such as Clueless, Torque, and Roxanne.

Too often when opportunities present themselves, we may hesitate out of doubt or insecurity. However, many times the chance to take advantage of the opportunity disappears rather quickly, thus if we don't act in a timely manner, we lose that window of opportunity. Then, regret may set in. We reminisce about the chance saying "if only" or "I could have" or "I should have". There are a lot of "could have, would have, should have" instances in life, but dwelling on the regret only leads to disappointment and despair.

In the movie Grumpy Old Men, Jack Lemmon says, "The only regrets in life are the chances you don't take. So if you see a chance for happiness, grab onto it with both hands and to hell with the consequences."

Successful people simply take chances on calculated risks. They act when the time comes. They break out of their comfort zone to expand the possibilities of their lives. And they get rewarded for that action. They enjoy the fruits of the labor, the benefit of risks taken, the chance of a lifetime. Although I think the phrase "chance of a lifetime" is very overused and misused. There are many chances of a lifetime presented to us, although people rarely exercise them and may only do one which they later refer to as a chance of their lifetime.

This is why it is said that successful people enjoy what others can't because they do what others won't. Many times once the opportunity is lost, it never returns. You have to begin to look for the next opportunity that will present itself, but it could come from a very different perspective. So if your comfort zone is too restrictive, you will not be able to be open to other possibilities from different areas.

So what about you? Are you going to "seize the day"? How will your life be different months and years from now because of a decision you made today? Think about that.

As always, the choice is yours. Carpe Diem!

Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do. Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun — all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom. Ecclesiastes 9:7-10 (NIV)

If you have comments or question, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@panama-vo.com

Mentor

This week the topics have been centered around seizing the opportunities that exist before us. Today, we will look at another way to take advantage of those fleeting opportunities.

Throughout the week I've touched on a number of ways to maximize your opportunities, but much of it revolves around you knowing what to do. Let's say you don't have a clue what to do, but you know you want to improve your life. Although I've discussed personal coaches, today we will look at the mentor role. A mentor is a trusted friend, counselor or teacher, or usually a more experienced person that will teach and guide you what to do in a particular subject matter or profession. Some professions have mentoring programs in which newcomers are paired with more experienced people in order to obtain good examples and advice as they advance, and schools sometimes have mentoring programs for new students or students who are having difficulties.

Another example of a mentoring program is an apprenticeship which are used in professional trades like plumbing, electrical work, construction, etc. Most of their training is done on the job while working for an employer who helps the apprentices learn their trade, in exchange for their continuing labor for an agreed period after they become skilled.

The system of apprenticeship first developed in the later Middle Ages and came to be supervised by craft guilds and town governments. A master craftsman was entitled to employ young people as an inexpensive form of labor in exchange for providing formal training in the craft. Most apprentices were males, but female apprentices were found in a number of crafts associated with embroidery, silk-weaving etc. Apprentices were young (usually about fourteen to twenty-one years of age), unmarried and would live in the master craftsman's household. Most apprentices aspired to becoming master craftsmen themselves on completion of their contract (usually a term of seven years), but some would spend time as a journeyman and a significant proportion would never acquire their own workshop.

Today mentors provide their expertise to less experienced individuals in order to help them advance their careers, enhance their education, and build their networks. Many of the world's most successful people have benefited from having a mentor. Just a few are listed below.

Famous mentor-protégé pairs include:

• Socrates and Plato (Greek philosophers)
• Plato and Aristotle
  
• Aristotle and Alexander the Great
  
• Paul of Tarsus (St. Paul) and Timothy (early Christian missionaries)
• Freddie Laker (British airline entrepreneur) and Richard Branson (English billionaire)
• Mel Gibson and Heath Ledger (both Australian actors)
• Eddy Merckx (five-time Tour de France winner) and Lance Armstrong (seven-time Tour de France winner)
  

So the question is - how much do you really want to be successful at your endeavor, whatever it is? Find someone who has already had success in that area that is willing to mentor you. But you have to want it, work at it, live it, and be teachable with your mentor who will guide you past the obstacles and challenges. Desire is not enough; you need resolve, an unbreakable and unyielding determination to go along with the practiced expertise of the mentor.

When these components are put together, there is almost a certainty of success.

So - what are you willing to give up to gain your success? What lengths do you have to attain to accomplish your objectives and find the right mentor? Only you can answer these questions.

As always, the choice is yours.

Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.

You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory. Psalm 73:23-24 (NIV)

If you have comments or questions, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@panama-vo.com

Synergy

This week we have discussed how to recognize opportunities and take advantage of them. However, we have approached these topics from a personal view, not a collective or dynamic and powerful group perspective. That is what we will cover today.

Yesterday, I did mention that in order to learn much faster and develop skills more quickly, you should engage a personal coach in that area. Let's take that one step farther. Rather than just having a coach, find one or more people that want to accomplish the same goal and all of you then work together toward that objective. The combined strength, skills, and speed that the objective can be met will astound you.

This is called synergy. Synergy comes from the Greek word synergos meaning "working together". Synergy refers to the phenomenon in which two or more discrete influences or agents acting together create an effect greater than that predicted by knowing only the separate effects of the individual agents. Another definition is a mutually advantageous conjunction where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. This bears repeating - the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. The combined strength, skills, ingenuity, and resourcefulness of the group can be so much more powerful than the individuals putting forth their own individual effort separately.

There are so many examples of this - team sports, corporations, grass root campaigns, volunteer organizations, and many examples in the animal kingdom such as an ant colony and a bee hive. Although an ant can lift twenty times its body weight, this feat pales in comparison on what the whole ant colony can do in a brief period of time with everyone working together fulfilling their own personal role. Humans are also capable of some remarkable feats when they choose to work together for a common good.

The problems that eat away and destroy synergism are very evident. Personal egos, politics, greed, personal differences, etc. all take away from the combined overall goal or purpose of the group. If left unchecked, these deteriorating factors can not only halt or prevent the synergy from taking place, but can also destroy the very fabric of the group or organization leading to total dissolution of the group.

So again, it all comes down to choices. Do you put your own personal feelings and attitudes above the purpose of the group, or do you keep those feelings in check for the overall good of the group? A popular peace initiative mentions - "Give peace a chance" as opposed to war. War is always led by greed. How many other countless examples can be sighted to illustrate the simple choices we have to make on a daily basis? These can be personal choices, family choices, groups within a small organization to a large corporation, governments, and even at the global humanity level. These are all examples of how the decisions and choices we make not only affect our lives, but everyone else on the planet in some way or another.

When do we decide to take back this awesome power away from the few that control things? When do we stop greed from manipulating the masses? When do we learn that the people really have the power, not the talking heads?

Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd President of the United States, said, "When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty."

We have that choice to work together synergistically for the good of everyone or let the system constantly divide and conquer and control us.

As always, the choice is yours.

Or, as it is stated in the Bible:
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 (NIV)

There will be more on ways to implement solutions this week. Stay tuned ...

If you have comments or questions, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@panama-vo.com

Confidence

Yesterday, I began to discuss how to implement solutions once we encounter them. We first have to recognize the opportunity as an opportunity. I also brought up the subject of self-image. Self-image can either hold you back or propel you with confidence into the unknown. Today, we will go over the abilities you have to take advantage of those opportunities.

Humans are made up of many traits and personalities. As with self-image, these traits can either work for you and help you achieve the goals you set, or they can hold you back and prevent you from trying. This is where confidence can be a remarkable trait. Confidence is defined as a feeling or consciousness of one's powers or of reliance on one's circumstances. Another definition is that a chosen course of action is the best or most effective given the circumstances.

Confidence is usually created through past experiences. If you have had success in previous circumstances, the chances are likely that you will have success again given the same or similar situations. Confidence can also be gained through others. This can be a mentor, trusted friend, professional, or really any successful person. If they have the necessary experience and they are willing to help you out, the chances your objective will be met are good.

So whether you have personal experience, or you are relying on other's experience, your endeavors will likely be successful. Success builds upon success. Confidence builds on confidence. Conversely, doubt builds on doubt and failure builds on failure. So the question of confidence and self-image all relates back to your comfort zone. The more times you break out of that comfort zone and have a successful endeavor, the more likely you will do it again. Conversely, the reverse is true as well.

This is what I mean many times in this blog when I mention that the choice is yours. Are you the type to use the resources around you to build confidence, or the type to use your past failures as reasons not to stretch your comfort zone? You are in control - much more control than you ever give yourself credit for. How you respond to situations not only determine the outcome of the issue or problem at hand, but future occurrences as well, either positively or negatively.

If your past experiences are not positive, you have the choice each and every day to forget the past and begin creating new found confidence and success. Find others or a mentor that is willing to help you do this. All professional athletes have coaches. Many senior people in academia act as mentors to tutor their proteges along in their advancement in their chosen field. Why should you be any different? Have a personal coach in whatever area of life that you want to succeed in. Many times they are willing to do this without compensation, so don't let that stop you. The internet or your local library are excellent resources to discover more information or find others willing to help you.

Do you want to learn golf from Tiger Woods, or your friend who has been golfing only a couple times? Do you want to learn how to hit a curveball from a major league hitting coach, or from a t-ball coach? Do you want to learn how to make money from a wealthy professional money manager, or do you take advice from your broke friends? Do you want to get improve your home life from a marriage counselor or do you ask your friend who has been divorced twice?

As always, the choice is yours.

Be careful of your choices, because they do affect your future. Confidence builds on confidence. Friendships are built on being friendly and helping others. Make your life how you want it to be.

There will be more on how to improve your life through opportunities all around you. Stay tuned ...

The fruit of righteousness will be peace;
the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever. Isaiah 32:17 (NIV)

If you have comments or questions, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@panama-vo.com

Opportunities

Last week, I discussed solutions that everyone can take in this time of very uncertain economic conditions. This week we will further explore options and how to take advantage of them.

This goes back to Saturday's topic of your comfort zone. Many people are exposed to solutions and opportunities all the time, but are hesitant to take advantage of them because of doubt, insecurity, lack of trust, lack of faith, risk aversion, negative past experiences, etc. The bottom line, if they are uncomfortable about moving forward on any matter, they will likely not do it, regardless of the expected benefits. And they will justify their failure to act by any number of unlimited excuses on why they didn't act.

Missed opportunities are as plentiful as pitches in a baseball game. You always get more chances. Many times, all you have to do is connect on one to get a hit or a home run. As with baseball, every time you are at the plate, you get three strikes to hit the ball in fair territory. Life is even more generous, you get many opportunities on a daily basis. The question is what are you doing with those chances?

An opportunity is defined as a favorable juncture of circumstances. Another definition is a good chance for advancement or progress. Too often that comfort zone gets in the way so that we do not recognize the opportunity right in front of us. Change is a scary thing; again, regardless of the benefits awaiting you. But, if you don't step out of the comfort zone every now and then and expand the sphere of possibilities, you will never know what solutions are available or how to implement them. As stated Saturday, the only difference between the grave and a rut is the depth.

I've stated this principle before in this blog, but it bares repeating.
Information is not knowledge without action.
Knowledge creates choices.
Choices allow us to change our lives.

So, ultimately you have choices to exercise those opportunities all the time. The first step is to get information about it so you can make an intelligent decision. Listening to your relative who has no knowledge of the subject is not getting information. Once you get information you have to utilize it. Education without application is simply entertainment. Applying the information generates knowledge. Then choices, and then opportunities, the cycle repeats. How are you at creating choices? Do you exercise those choices and take advantage of the opportunities?

As always, the choice is yours.

Tomorrow, there will be more on how to take advantage of the many opportunities that are available. Stay tuned ...

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. Colossians 4:5-6 (NIV)

If you have comments or questions, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@panama-vo.com

Comfort Zone

All week the topics have revolved around solutions that everyone can implement, regardless of their financial situation. Some, obviously, are more involved than others and take more commitment, but the real key on what or whether you implement any solution, is how you feel about it. In other words, are you willing to step outside your comfort zone to implement the solution? If you are not, you will stay in whatever situation your previous decisions have led you, plus a few curveballs that life always throws at you.

Your comfort zone is a limited set of behaviors and environments that a person can engage in without becoming anxious or without creating a sense of unacceptable risk. This comfort zone actually describes your personality and defines who you are as a person. A comfort zone is a type of self-imposed mental conditioning that causes a person to create and operate mental boundaries that are not real. Such boundaries create an unfounded sense of security. Similar to inertia, a person who has established a comfort zone in a particular axis of his or her life, will tend to stay within that zone without stepping outside of it. To step outside a person's comfort zone, he must experiment with new and different behaviors, and then experience the new and different responses that occur within his new environment.

This often determines how much success you experience in life. Highly successful persons may routinely step outside their comfort zones, to accomplish what they wish. They are willing to try what others won't, and therefore achieve what others can't. They are not held back by fear or are not intimidated by possible failure. If you are not willing to fail, you will never have success either. This reminds me of the great Yoda line from Empire Strike Back of the Star Wars movie trilogy - "Do or do not, there is no try."

The boundaries of a comfort zone may result in an internally rigid state of mind. A comfort zone often results from unfounded beliefs which, once dispelled, expand the scope of a person's behaviors within the same environment. A comfort zone may alternatively be described with such terms as rigidity, limits or boundaries, or habit, or even as an entrenched or stigmatized behavior. Some people may refer this as stubbornness, alluding to their own boundaries they personally set.

An example could be a recognized need to leave an unsatisfactory job, but the fear prevents him from doing so as it would result in losing the sense of security the individual derives from the job. The sense of security the individual perceives could be attributed to the mental conditioning formed initially. This sense of security could have merit or not, but is immaterial because the person believes the sense of security to be real.

Part of the reason a comfort zone is defined is related to his or her self-image. Self image may consist of three types:

1. Self image resulting from how the individual sees himself or herself
2. Self image resulting from how others see the individual
3. Self image resulting from how the individual perceives others see him or her

These three types may or may not be an accurate representation of the person. All, some, or none of them may be true. But again, it doesn't matter, because of what the person believes about himself.

It is very important to step outside of your comfort zone. It will expand those boundaries you create around yourself and opens up new possibilities. If you don't, you will begin to feel complacent, and over time this will lead to a rut, trapped by the boundaries you created. The only difference between the grave and a rut is the depth. Or, another analogy is a prison. The longer you stay behind the bars, the tougher it is to imagine and experience freedom.

As always, the choice is yours. Are you willing to step outside your comfort zone to achieve what you want? Or will the times get so tough that you are forced to step outside your comfort zone?

Calamity breeds resolve or defeat. What will you choose?

As with all Saturdays, I will recap key indicators that determine many of the moves of the financial markets. The markets consolidated a bit from last week, allowing traders and investors to get more of a comfort level with the new price ranges. Gold fell to $871.60 per ounce as of the closing bell on Friday. Silver also closed Friday lower at $16.55 per ounce. The price of oil also dropped to $134.40 per barrel. All of these moves allowed the US dollar to grow stronger against the other major world currencies as the US dollar index closed at 74.06, the strongest it has been since the beginning of March. The question is, how long will this consolidation last?

Think on the following lesson from I Kings:

When Solomon had finished building the temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and had achieved all he had desired to do, the LORD appeared to him a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. The LORD said to him:
"I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.

"As for you, if you walk before me in integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, 'You shall never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.'

"But if you or your sons turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. I Kings 9:1-7 (NIV)

If you have comments or questions, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@panama-vo.com

The Other Side

This week we've been discussing steps everyone can take to deal with these unsettling economic times and what lies ahead. The last several days, we looked at eliminating some expenses and building up some reserves, among other things of simplifying your life. Today, we will look at the other side of the equation - increasing your income. (This is also discussed on Wednesday, November 29, 2007 in this blog. In fact, the whole week is appropriate for review.)

There maybe some who have never considered starting their own business to increase their income, but when dire economic times hit, jobs will be scarce. Like it or not, even when you have a job, you are selling your time to your employer. When the employer does not have money to pay you or need your skills, you have lost your ability to earn an income. What will you do then?

The real fact of life is that products, skills, businesses, or investments provide income. If you do not have ones that are needed, you will be in your own dire financial situation. The more options you have to earn an income, the better prepared you will be for any type of economic upheaval. So even if you may think that you could never sell anything, remember that if you have a job, you are selling your time. How much is your time worth? What if there are no buyers for your time?

As far as a business is concerned, it is wise to find something that is an emerging market. Find out what others want and are willing to pay for, you have then fulfilled a need and your business will bloom very easily. Going back to Monday's post, helping others, whether you are in a business or not, can go a long way to providing solutions for your own problems.

Another thing that you should look for is something that will not be negatively affected when the economy goes in the tank. Find something that is recession-proof, or maybe depression-proof. No business can be all things to all people. Instead, you must reach specific customers and satisfy their particular needs. As an entrepreneur, you must identify those customers and understand as precisely as possible what they want. The more options you have, again, the better prepared you will be. The age of specialization will not be a factor when everyone is just trying to survive.

Your ability to provide what others want will likely be your key to survival in the upcoming times. Choose your future now, before it's too late.

As always, the choice is yours.

Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. I Thessalonians 4:11-12 (NIV)

If you have comments or questions, please feel free to contact me at the address below.
Email: DeltaInspire@panama-vo.com