Wednesday, 22nd May 2013

The Big Easy – Going More and More Organic

Posted on 21. May, 2013 by in Eco Tourism, Education, featured, Florida News

Linda Novit - 5-21-13                               

 

          

 

 

Linda Novit, ENV Magazine

 

New Orleans, even more dear to us now, since Katrina. But the places on high ground, such as the French Quarter, and the famed (mainly through Ann Rice),Garden District were not affected, apart from the loss of business and power outage.

Streetcar NOT named DesireBesides going to party down in the French Quarter, you can lay back and relax in the Garden District, which also has fine restaurants, access to street cars, even if they’re not called Desire, A 24 hour Tavern called The St. Charles Tavern, ask for Jay, he’ll tell you stories, a very knowledgeable man. There’s also “The Green Fork” a totally organic bistro, started 5 years ago. It had it rough for a while, but has prospered the last two years, as the people of New Orleans go more and more organic.

Then there are the wonderful (at least I think it’s the best way to travel) B&Bs. I picked one called the Fairchild House  (located at 1518 Britannia St – www.fairchildhouse.com)   run by Brazilian New Orleanians Beatriz Bentley and her mother Rita. They started their business 21 years ago, and they love it. As they lovingly call it “Faulty Towers” The breakfast array is wonderful and Kosher, which means they don’t mix meat with dairy (comes from the Jewish “Thou shalt  not eat the calf in it’s mother’s milk)

Beatriz of Fairchild GardensAnd when you’re in the mood, it’s only about ten minutes to the French Quarter, with all it’s excitement, and what I most appreciate, live music everywhere!!! I even found a hidden historic treasure, teaching me more about the city. I found the “Tango Bar”, the only one left since the 30’s. At that time, tango was the thing, and there were 30-40 tango bars. Although music on Bourbon Street is entertaining, along with all the shops, and you can barter at their Farmers Market. Near the Farmer’s Market, lies Frenchman Street, where the avante garde jazz is happening There’s also, on one corner of the French Quarter,  Louis Armstrong Park, beautiful, and nice to spend time in.

In between the French Quarter and the Garden District lay a huge Museum dedicated to WWII. I entered and felt chills. How could they change the Swastika, which used to be a symbol for peace, into the face

 

                           Beatriz of Fairchild Gardens

of evil and horror!! Yes, someone in my family died in the camps.

Anyway, right next door, was the Contemporary Art Museum, which this week featured Teen Art.

Pier 424 - Carlos and Paul with yours trulyAnd now to the food! I went back to a restaurant where I’d dined last year, and had fond memories of, the Pier 424 Seafood Market, on Bourbon Street, a special restaurant, the locals had guided me to last year. I then had some scrumptious Filled Portobello mushrooms. At the time I and another table were the only diners. But word travels fast, now it was packed!!

For my first course, besides the introductory drink, a chocolate martini, to die for! I am a chocoholic, , so from their wine list, which even educates you about wines, I chose one that went well with chocolate. Really good! I had oysters, that tasted so good, you’d think they had just brought them up from the beach and shucked ‘ em. They were so good I almost turned gay !!! To follow was a gigantic catfish that was so tender , it just fell off your fork, into your mouth, along with them I had

 

            At Pier 424 with Carlos and Paul  

some fried button mushrooms, mushroom freak as I am. Then, the Grande finale! I really felt like a VIP when I was served cheesecake with berries. Wow, so we splurge a little now and then. Many thanks to Paul, server extraordinaire, Manager Karl, and Morgan in marketing. We love you madly!  I’ll be back to the gym next week.

Big Easy - Louis Armstrong ParkCafé du Monde

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                            Louis Armstrong Park                                                                  Café du Monde          

 

Big Easy - Contemporary Art Museum

Big Easy French Quarter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

          Contemporary Art Museum                                                                             French Quarter   

                                                                                   Big Easy artists display their work outside cafe du Monde

                                                        Artists display their work outside Café du Monde                                                                         

Our heartfelt thanks to Christine and the others at New Orleans Conventions and Tourism bureau!!!

 

 

The DIRTY Truth about Canola Oil

Posted on 19. May, 2013 by in featured, Florida News, Healthy Foods

From truthaboutabs.com

unhealthy canola oilHave you been lied to about the health benefits of canola oil?

by Mike Geary, Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Specialist Author of best-sellers:  The Truth About Six Pack Abs & The Top 101 Foods that FIGHT Aging

If you’ve been following my fitness newsletters for some time, you may have noticed that I NEVER include canola oil in any of my recipes or any of my lists of healthy foods.

Many people have asked me why, because all they hear in the mainstream media is that canola oil is “heart healthy” and a good source of monounsaturated fats similar to olive oil.

Well, first of all, you need to realize that much of what you hear in the mainstream media has been influenced by heavy handed marketing tactics by big food companies.  Canola oil is cheap for them to produce so they want to fool you into thinking it’s a “health oil” so that people, restaurants, etc will buy it up as their main oil of choice.

The dirty truth about canola oil

Yes, it’s true that canola oil is high in monounsaturates, but let me explain why canola oil is anything but “healthy”.

Canola oil is made from something called rapeseed. Rapeseed actually had to be bred over the years to reduce the percentage of a problematic component of rapeseed, which is erucic acid.

Important note on canola oil “urban legends”:  There is a problem with most websites that DEFEND canola oil, saying that internet “urban legends” on the dangers of canola oil are unfounded.  The problem is that these websites that defend canola oil ONLY talk about the issue of erucic acid.  The issue of erucic acid IS an urban legend, because erucic acid has been bred out to very low levels over the years, so it is a non-issue.

However, these websites that defend canola oil are barking up the wrong tree because they don’t address the issue of the processing of canola oil and oxidation of the polyunsaturated component of canola oil, which is what makes it unhealthy for human consumption.  THAT’S the real issue that they either don’t understand (because they are not nutrition experts) or are simply ignoring.

Let’s look at the REAL issues with canola oil:

Canola oil typically ranges between 55-65% monounsaturated fat and between 28-35% polyunsaturated fat, with just a small amount of saturated fat.

While we’ve been led to believe that high monounsaturated fat oils are good for us (which they are in the case of virgin olive oil or from unprocessed nuts or seeds), the fact is that canola oil has more detriments than it does benefits.

As you may have heard me talk about in other newsletters or in my Truth about Six Pack Abs program… one of the biggest problems with highly processed and refined vegetable oils such as corn oil, soybean oil, and yes, even canola oil, is that the polyunsaturated component of the oil is highly unstable under heat, light, and pressure, and this heavily oxidizes the polyunsaturates which increases free radicals in your body.

The end result of all of this refining and processing are oils that are highly inflammatory in your body when you ingest them, potentially contributing to heart disease, weight gain, and other degenerative diseases.

The reason that extra virgin olive oil is good for you is that it is cold pressed without the use of heat and solvents to aid extraction. EVOO also contains important antioxidants that help protect the stability of the oil.

Canola oil, on the other hand, is typically extracted and refined using high heat, pressure, and petroleum solvents such as hexane. Most canola oil undergoes a process of caustic refining, degumming, bleaching, and deoderization, all using high heat and questionable chemicals.

Does canola even have trans fats?

Even worse, all of this high heat, high pressure processing with solvents actually forces some of the omega-3 content of canola oil to be transformed into trans fats.

According to Dr. Mary Enig, PhD, and Nutritional Biochemist, “Although the Canadian government lists the trans fat content of canola at a minimal 0.2 percent, research at the University of Florida at Gainesville, found trans fat levels as high as 4.6 percent in commercial liquid canola oil”.

And this is the crap that they are marketing to you as a “healthy oil”!

As you can see from the details above on how canola oil is processed, it is barely any healthier for you than other junk oils like soybean oil or corn oil.  The bottom line is that it is an inflammatory oil in your body and should be avoided as much as possible.

The only canola oil that might be reasonable is if you see that it is “cold pressed” and organic. Most canola oil is NOT cold pressed or organic, so you might as well choose oils that you know are healthier.

Your best bets are these truly healthy oils:

  • extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) - for lower temperature cooking or used as a healthy salad dressing oil
  • Udo’s Choice Oil Blend – NEVER use this for cooking as it has a higher polyunsaturated fat content (therefore heat destroys the benefits of this oil, and increases it’s inflammatory properties), but it is a cold processed blend of healthy oils that mixes well with olive oil for salad dressings.
  • Virgin coconut oil – great for all temperatures of cooking due to its super high stability under heat.  A great source of healthy saturated fats in the form of medium chain triglycerides (MCTs), one of which is Lauric Acid, which helps support the immune system and is lacking in most western diets.
  • Organic grass-fed butter – I like to use a mix of grass-fed butter, coconut oil, and a small bit of olive oil for most of my cooking. Grass-fed butter is a great source of the healthy fat, CLA, which has even been shown in studies to have muscle building and fat burning properties.  Grass-fed butter also has a much healthier omega-6 to omega-3 ratio than standard butter at your grocery store.  Kerrygold Irish butter is my favorite grass-fed butter.

So don’t be fooled by food labels claiming that they contain “healthy canola oil”… as you can see, this couldn’t be further from the truth!  Choose some of the healthier options above and your body will thank you!

By the way… Are you eating these unique power-foods that FIGHT aging in your body, normalize blood pressure, improve brain function, and even help BOOST your metabolism?

CBS News Enables FDA to Deceive Public

Posted on 12. Mar, 2013 by in Education, featured, Florida News, Opinions

by William Faloon

If you watched CBS News 60 Minutes last     night, you witnessed the kind of misleading     reporting that enables federal agencies to gain unbridled power.

60 Minutes accurately told     the story of an unscrupulous manufacturer of contaminated drugs that caused     48 deaths and over 700 serious illnesses.

60 Minutes omitted     the fact that the FDA     knew about this disaster-waiting-to-happen as far back as 2002, but failed     to stop it until Americans started dying in 2012.

FDA officials were     given free rein on national TV to blame this tragedy on a lack of regulatory authority.     As you’ll read here, the fault instead lies with bureaucratic incompetence at     the hands of the FDA and the state pharmacy board that permitted these     lethal deviations in good manufacturing practices to occur.

Particularly appalling is the FDA’s inability to     recognize that manufacturing as many as 17,000 vials of a drug all at once     under filthy     conditions was a far cry from compounding     one drug at a time in a sterile     environment.

The contamination problem, however, is not isolated     to one bad drugmaker. It turns out that these kinds of safely violations     were routine at drug factories that the FDA had certified as being safe.

Instead of blaming the FDA for ignoring this     lethal problem, CBS     News let FDA officials blame Congress for not giving the     FDA more regulatory power over pharmacies. >>>

The FDA pretends to     protect the public against contaminated drugs. The sordid facts reveal an     agency incapable of acting in a logical manner, and when the FDA does     something “after the fact,” they often create worse problems.

Such is the case of a     pharmaceutical manufacturer that made contaminated     injectable drugs that have killed 48 and sickened over 700 Americans. The     FDA identified problems with this manufacturer as early as 2002, but dropped     the ball into a state pharmacy board’s lap that failed to act. The FDA     again identified dangerous problems in 2006, but once more failed to     take actions other than send a “warning letter.” The FDA now     claims it needs more power and money to do its job.

This same unscrupulous     drug manufacturer was the focus of a 60     Minutes broadcast on March     10, 2013.

What the FDA does not     want the public to know is that the reason this shady manufacturer was able     to take over such a significant part of the market is that FDA actions     caused other     companies to stop making certain injectable drugs.

CBS News ignored House and Senate     investigations that documented the FDA’s egregious failings in this matter.     CBS instead allowed the FDA to blame this catastrophe on lack of regulatory     authority over compounding     pharmacies.

U.S. drug factories in ‘terrible shape’

Here’s how the New York Times     described conditions inside FDA-registered     drug factories:

“Weevils     floating in vials of heparin. Morphine cartridges that contain up to twice     the labeled dose. Manufacturing plants with rusty tools, mold in production     areas and — in one memorable case — a barrel of urine.”

The New York Times     emphasized that these were not reports about the injectable drug     maker that caused dozens to die from fungal     meningitis. These quality lapses were found at large drug companies     whose names are familiar to many Americans.

When these problems were     discovered, the FDA sent out “warnings” to these companies.     Instead of fixing the problems, many of these drugmakers decided it was     cheaper to simply discontinue making the drug(s). The result was severe shortages of the     drugs cited by the FDA. This opened up the market for disreputable companies     to make these drugs, who did so under the same kind of abysmal conditions     the FDA found at large drug factories.

The FDA would like to     take credit for stopping these problems, but in certain cases, it was     people working at the drug factories that came forward to complain about     unsanitary manufacturing conditions, or people dying from contaminated     drugs that prompted FDA action.

The sad fact is that     some drug companies are so greedy they will not stop their highly     profitable assembly lines to perform even the most rudimentary sterilizing     procedures.

Contaminated injectable drugs

Fungal     meningitis     causes inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord that result     in dreadful sickness and sometimes death.

A drug factory made     large quantities of a steroid (methylprednisolone)     that was injected into the joints and spines of aging humans in chronic     pain. It provided immediate but temporary relief.

The problem was this     drug was contaminated with a black     fungus that easily infected those who were injected with     it. Since injectable drugs bypass the natural barriers afforded by an     intact digestive/immune system, they have to be manufactured and maintained     in a sterile environment to avoid killing patients.

FDA inspections in 2002 and 2006 revealed     injectable drugs being made under substandard (non-sterile) conditions. It     was not until hundreds fell ill and scores died that the FDA took     meaningful action (in 2012).

How the FDA bungled investigation

The name of the company     that made the fungus-laced injectable drug is New England Compounding Center     (NECC). It pretended     to be a compounding pharmacy, but instead functioned as a large drug factory.

The FDA claims that it     lacks adequate regulatory authority over compounding pharmacies, but the     FDA’s inspection of NECC in year 2002     revealed problems with record keeping, sterility, and other     issues. That same year the FDA informed the Massachusetts State Board of     Pharmacy of an adverse reaction to methylprednisolone,     which is the same drug that in 2012 caused the fungal-meningitis     outbreak.

Had the FDA done their     job back in 2002,     they would have forced NECC to register as a drug manufacturer and     subjected NECC to stricter regulatory oversight, which may not have     prevented the problems since FDA-registered     drug makers were later found to have similar unsanitary facilities.

The FDA and     Massachusetts State Pharmacy Board’s most blatant failure in this matter     was to uncover horrific conditions inside NECC … and take no     practical steps to enforce safety compliance before tragedy struck.

Good Manufacturing Practices overlooked

According to     Massachusetts state regulators, the NECC drug factory failed to sterilize     injectable drugs, something that is mandatory for a substance that is going     to be injected into the body.

NECC did not keep     manufacturing equipment clean, operated a leaky boiler near the “clean     room” where injectable drugs were packaged, and shipped products     before receiving test results showing the products were sterile, which     violates good manufacturing guidelines.

In addition, NECC did     not test the manufacturing equipment used to sterilize injectable drugs on     a timely basis.

The result of a     multitude of quality lapses was injectable vials that contained black     matter inside, which turned out to be the fungus that caused 48 deaths.

FDA inspects after catastrophe

After hundreds had fallen ill from     fungal meningitis, the FDA conducted a thorough inspection of NECC’s drug     factory.

The FDA’s report cited     greenish-yellowish discoloration on sterilization equipment and non-sterile     raw ingredients. The FDA found that 25% of supposedly sterile vials were     contaminated with greenish-black foreign matter and that 100% of these     vials sent for analysis contained fungus.

The FDA noted that NECC     was unable to provide documentation that its steam autoclave devices were     capable of achieving product sterility, a critical factor when making     injectable drugs. In fact, FDA inspectors found greenish-yellow     discoloration inside the one cleaning autoclave and a tarnished     discoloration inside another.

NECC turned off its air     conditioning in “clean rooms” from 8 p.m. to 5:30 a.m., which is     improper because failing to keep clean rooms at low temperature and low     humidity provides a fertile environment for fungal growth.

Particularly troubling     in the FDA report was documentation that NECC had found microbial     contamination, but did not enact cleanliness procedures to neutralize this     lethal threat.

Furthermore, “clean     rooms” used to make injectable drugs had been identified by NECC’s own     staff as detecting bacteria and molds in January 2012, but the FDA could find     no evidence that the company acted to fix these lethal problems.

The FDA’s belated     inspection of NECC did nothing to prevent the suffering and death of     hundreds of victims who contracted fungal infections from contaminated     vials of methylprednisolone     injected into their spines and joints.

Congress cites FDA failure

The House and Senate     held oversight hearings on the NECC tragedy that sickened over 700 and     killed 48 people.

Congress wanted to know     why the FDA didn’t do more to prevent the production and sale of the     tainted steroids.

As anticipated, the FDA     claimed that it didn’t have enough authority     to regulate pharmacies that compound drugs. FDA Commissioner (Margaret     Hamburg, M.D.) warned that if Congress doesn’t strengthen legislation,     another similar tragedy is inevitable. Dr. Hamburg stated before the House     committee:

If we fail to act, this type of incident     will happen again. It is a matter of when, not if.

What Dr. Hamburg may not     have expected was irrefutable documentation that the FDA and the     Massachusetts State Board of Pharmacy both repeatedly visited NECC and     found problems, but the strongest action the FDA took was the issuance of a     warning letter in 2006.

In response to Dr.     Hamburg claiming the FDA needed more “authority,” one     representative responded:

We’re just not buying it, doctor “…     “You lack the     authority to do anything, yet you send a letter like this? ”     (In reference to the FDA 2006 Warning Letter).

This warning letter     documented numerous violations of existing rules the FDA found in 2006, yet the FDA     failed to take action until citizens started dying.

House members repeatedly     berated regulators     who failed to prevent the fungal meningitis outbreak, stating the FDA and Massachusetts state regulators     both knew as far back as 2002     that there were problems at NECC, which distributed tens of thousands of     doses of contaminated steroids.

Dr. Hamburg was     lambasted by House Committee members who stated:

This is a complete and utter     failure on the part of your agency.”

This is one of the worst public     health disasters ever caused by a contaminated drug in this country.”

After a tragedy like this the     first question we all ask is ‘Could this have been prevented?’ After an     examination of documents produced by the Massachusetts Board of Pharmacy     and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the answer here appears to be,     ‘Yes’.”

You can take a regulator to a     problem but you can’t make him regulate.”

It’s an absolute tragedy without     any question that 32 people have died.

Other House members came     to Dr. Hamburg’s defense, arguing that a solution needed to be found     instead of seeking to “prosecute     the Food and Drug Administration.

Senate more harshly critical of FDA

The day after the House     hearing where the FDA asked for more authority, a bipartisan staff of the     Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee issued a report     detailing how federal and state regulators knew nearly a decade ago of     serious safety concerns with the NECC tied to hundreds of meningitis cases,     but failed to act decisively. The report concluded that “bureaucratic inertia appears to     be what allowed a bad actor to repeatedly risk public health.”

While acknowledging the     lack of clarity in what the FDA’s role should be in regulating compounding pharmacies,     the Senate cited plenty of evidence that the FDA should have taken action     against NECC, which clearly was functioning as a drug factory.

The Senate investigators     wrote, “Both     federal and state regulators were well aware that NECC and its owners posed     a risk to the public health” and “repeatedly failed to demonstrate     that the company could safely compound sterile products.”

One senator told of an     elderly patient from her state whose mouth had become infiltrated with mold     that “she had     to be swabbed free of black fungal matter before she died.”

The Senate report     uncovered an internal FDA memo in 2003     that concluded there was “potential     for serious public health consequences if NECC’s compounding practices, in     particular those relating to specific sterile products, are not improved.”

The Senate confirmed     that NECC-produced methylprednisolone “had previously been a suspected cause of at least     two cases with bacterial meningitis-like symptoms” in 2002, leading to     an FDA inspection … with no meaningful action taken.

Most senators expressed     skepticism that the FDA could effectively use widened authority under any     new law, one stating “the     FDA has failed to use its existing authority,” with     another stating, “This     has been going on since 2002 … It took all this time, and nobody did     anything.”

Regrettably, some     senators still believe that giving the FDA more tax dollars will     solve these issues of bureaucratic incompetence and mismanagement.

At the Senate hearing,     FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg conceded:

Perhaps we should have been more     aggressive,” referring to the FDA’s failure to inspect     NECC and follow up on the 2006     warning letter. “There     was a lot of debate within the agency about whether to proceed.”

Senators repeatedly     questioned the FDA’s sending NECC a warning letter in 2006 and a letter     in 2008     saying that it planned to inspect, but not following through until after     the fungal meningitis outbreak occurred in late 2012.

What Congress overlooked

What was not discussed     in congressional hearings was the FDA’s history of abusing and misusing whatever     authority     that Congress gave it.

For example, when the     FDA first discovered problems at NECC (in 2002), it chose to direct its     limited resources to prosecuting a man named Jay Kimball who     sold a drug (liquid deprenyl) that harmed no one.

In 2006, while FDA     did not think it needed to stop NECC’s lethal manufacturing practices, it     somehow found the time to censor claims by cherry growers that cited scientific     studies on their website showing cherries conferred health benefits.

What few understand is     how the FDA has abused     its authority in a discriminatory     manner. The new “authority” the FDA is seeking would enable the     agency to pick out small, well-run compounding pharmacies and regulate them     out of business using minor technical arguments that have no bearing on     safety.

How much more FDA failure will Americans     tolerate?

In 1906, a book called     “The Jungle”     was published that described appalling conditions inside America’s meat     packing industry. The revelations in this book resulted in the     establishment of federal laws that mandated standards of strength, purity     and quality of foods and drugs.

Conditions inside some     of America’s drug factories are eerily similar to those described in     “The Jungle,” yet the FDA has been around for more than 100     years! How much longer is the public expected to wait before the FDA     effectively spends its $4     billion annual budget on real consumer protection, as     opposed to threatening walnut and cherry growers for claiming health     benefits for their foods?

No matter how many times     the FDA fails to protect consumers against contaminated drugs, there     are no calls for meaningful reform.

Instead of recognizing     FDA ineptitude, cries ring out to give the FDA more money and power … as     Americans perish from contaminated drugs the FDA should have stopped.

No free market!

What the public doesn’t     yet understand is that contaminated drugs are the result of draconian regulations that limit     free market     competition. By restricting drug factories to only those     overseen by incompetent bureaucrats, the inevitable result will be     shortages, poor quality and high prices.

One of the challenges in     dealing with the NECC catastrophe is that there may be new shortages of     injectable drugs because there are not enough drug factories in the U.S. to     meet patient demand. Shortages create opportunities for unsavory companies     to dump even greater amounts of overpriced and contaminated drugs into the     bodies of unsuspecting victims.

This kind of problem     would not continue in a free     market, but ever-increasing regulations are exacerbating the     problems of drug shortages, deadly manufacturing practices, and obscenely     high prices.

We will re-publish this     response to the FDA’s deceptive tactics aired last night on 60 Minutes in     greater detail later this year in Life     Extension Magazine®.

I thought it critical to     alert members immediately about this misleading propaganda as it may     influence policy makers into giving the FDA more authority. The facts     clearly show that the FDA failed to use the power it already has to     stop contaminated drugs from poisoning the American public.

For longer life,

William Faloon signaturewilliam faloon, life extension foundation

 

William Faloon

 

 

Greedy Lying Bastards

Posted on 10. Mar, 2013 by in featured, Florida News, Global News

Documentary goes after global warming deniers with the gloves off

Howard Bio-Picture

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Howard Salus, ENV Magazine

 

Last week, I was invited to screen Greedy Lying Bastards, for which I was very grateful. Hopefully, as more and more see this eye-opener (which was released the other day), there will be sufficient public outrage to finally provide some proper action. I implore you to see this film, to tell your friends and loved ones to see this film so positive uproar can ensue that will curtail the devestating trend our planet is following. The following are some snippets taken from my scanning to further motivate you to start the ball rolling.

Seven years after “An Inconvenient Truth,” what has changed in the world’s efforts to come to grips with global warming? The scientific consensus has firmed up, even further. Public opinion has, at last, fallen in line with the science, assisted by any number of in-your-face extreme weather events — epic droughts, record ice melts, multiple applications of the phrase “storm of the century.”

But action? Nothing. By anyone.

So filmmaker Craig Scott Rosebraugh (“Seventh Generation”) dispenses with conveniences and niceties and goes straight for the jugular with “Greedy Lying Bastards,” a documentary about the folks who have fought, stalled and misdirected the international conversation about this dire subject for decades. “Climate change is already with us,” Rosebraugh narrates over a montage of very recent natural disasters, from floods to droughts, wildfires to hurricanes. “We knew decades ago” that this was coming, he adds. And to make his point, he shows a very young actor Darren McGavin converse with a scientist in a 1950s educational film, shaken by descriptions of “the drowned towers of Miami.”
Rosebraugh’s film is about why no action has been taken, and it names names — discredited scientists, oil industry shills and out-and-out clowns (e.g. Lord Christopher Monckton), the people the climate change-denying corners of the media trot out to cast doubt and delay action on the warming planet. We visit Kivalina, Alaska, an island village suing Exxon-Mobil and other big oil companies for the rising sea levels that are washing it away. Tuvalu, the South Pacific’s poster-nation for rising sea levels, has its say. But we’re also treated to wildfire victims who have lost their homes in Colorado.
And then the filmmaker gets after the usual suspects. The Koch brothers, Charles and David, who finance tea party politicians and cloaked “grassroots” lobbying groups like Americans for Prosperity, take their seat next to assorted un-credentialed paid spokespeople such as Myron Ebell of the Competitive Enterprise Institute and ex-convict “Dr.” Jay Lehr of The Heartland Institute.
The list of “heroes” (U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman, ex-EPA chief Christine Todd Whitman) is as familiar as the roll call of “villains” here. Rosebraugh borrows a page out of many a documentary script when he buys Exxon-Mobile stock in order to finally get a question to CEO Rex Tillerson. Yes, the “echo chamber” of Fox News is cited for its endless repetition of anti-climate change talking points.
What’s fresh here is the tone — rude, blunt and bordering on shrill. This is a less in-your-face Michael Moore-style take on this subject — no confrontations that Rosebraugh has himself, just bristling voiceovers and recycled footage from other TV interviewers and members of Congress taking these paid lobbyists down.
Despite its urgency, one undeniable truth facing this quick turn-around doc is that the line of scrimmage has moved. Public opinion has shifted, even in the reddest of the red states, as droughts enter their third or fourth year, as storms wash away whole communities or set records for snowfall.
The days when one film could change this debate are past, Rosebraugh seems to be acknowledging. Perhaps he feels that by matching the rhetoric and tone of the denial camp, he can get himself heard above the din. Fortunately or unfortunately, that background noise now includes the howling wind of the latest superstorm and the cracks of the world’s fast-disappearing glaciers. It’s a wonder anybody gets heard above that.
NTTimes – As increasingly unpredictable weather patterns stoke the flames of debate over global warming, filmmaker Craig Scott Rosebraugh investigates the wealthy power players, politicians, and corporate puppets who seem determined to discredit scientific studies indicating that the planet could be in grave danger if mankind continues to ignore the warning signs above our heads, and beneath our feet. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Storyline

Melting sea ice, glacier loss and rising sea levels. Severe droughts and wildfires. Increasingly severe tornadoes, hurricanes, and flooding. Record heat waves. Climate change is no longer a prediction for the future, but a startling reality of today. Yet, as evidence of our changing climate mounts and the scientific consensus proves human causation, there continues to be little political action to thwart the warming of our planet. “Greedy Lying Bastards” investigates the reason behind stalled efforts to tackle climate change despite consensus in the scientific community that it is not only a reality but also a growing problem placing us on the brink of disaster. The film details the people and organizations casting doubt on climate science and claims that greenhouse gases are not affected by human behavior. From the Koch Brothers to ExxonMobil, to oil industry front groups, to prominent politicians and Justices, this provocative exposé unravels the layers of deceit threatening …                Written byOne Earth Productions

Craig Rosebraugh‘s documentary Greedy Lying Bastards shines a harsh light on the lengths the energy industry continues to go to in order to head off climate-related legislation — and assure the public there’s nothing wrong with continuing to rely on fossil fuels. Billionaire climate-change deniers (Koch Industries, ExxonMobil) funnel huge amounts of money to both “Astroturf” (fake grassroots) organizations and — thanks to the Supreme Court‘s Citizens United decision — like-minded politicians, who take office and immediately move to dismantle environmental regulations.

Catastrophes like Hurricane Sandy or the 2011 drought have become depressingly commonplace, but Rosebraugh emphasizes a less dramatic but nonetheless sobering problem: forced relocation due to climate change. The homes of both Kivalina, Alaska, and the Tuvalu people of the South Pacific are threatened by rising oceans, and their plight is the canary in the coal mine for coastal communities across the globe. It’s too bad that Rosebraugh himself can be so off-putting. The data presented is horrifying enough without sarcastic narration, or his Roger & Me-style pursuit of an interview with ExxonMobil Chief Executive Officer Rex Tillerson. At least this time around there’s no rabbit lady.

The film does not take into account perhaps even greater problems than the  greedy, lying bastards: the lack of political will among the American people to  fix the problem, or the fact that the government is so broke and dysfunctional  that it can hardly pave the highways, let alone tackle a herculean task like  global warming.

The film’s structural flaws appear to stem from the lack of access to oil  industry titans and the other usual suspects. (To be fair, the filmmakers  tried.) Conspiracies aren’t always photogenic, though better storytelling might  have made this project more of the exposé it wanted to be.

Watching the film is like being on a jury in which you know the defendant is  probably guilty, but alas, there’s not enough evidence to convict.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Greedy-Lying-Bastards-review-falls-short-4336604.php#ixzz2MtlvWhHA

LINK TO MOVIE http://greedylyingbastards.com/

AT FOLLOWING THEATERS in Miami

AMC Sunset Place 24

5701 Sunset Drive South Miami, FL 33143 (305) 740-8904

  • 11:00AM
  • 1:15PM
  • 3:30PM
  • 5:45PM
  • 8:00PM
  • 10:15PM
  • 12:30AM

Cinemark Paradise 24 and XD

15601 Sheridan Street Davie, FL 33331 (800) 326-3264 #2155

  • 10:50AM
  • 1:15PM
  • 3:30PM
  • 5:50PM
  • 8:15PM
  • 10:35PM

FOR OTHER CITIES, GO TO http://greedylyingbastards.com/

While on the above site, you will see the opportunity on how to TAKE ACTION!

 

The Last 400 Whales

Posted on 31. Jan, 2013 by in Education, Environment, featured, Florida News

 
 

When right whales are threatened, Oceana membership matters

Become a Member Today »

Due to past brutal whaling practices, there are fewer than 400 North Atlantic right whales left. But instead of stewarding a safe return to stable population numbers, the Department of the Interior is considering allowing deadly seismic airgun testing for oil right outside their breeding grounds.

These airguns will blast a noise that’s loud enough to kill at close range every ten seconds for weeks and months on end. This noise will drown out the calls whales and dolphins use to communicate, and could even kill them.

Right whales can’t afford another threat. Help whales and the world’s oceans. Become a 2013 Oceana member today»

We know that the plight of animals like right whales are close to our supporters’ hearts. Tens of thousands of you have signed our petitions against seismic airgun testing, and supporters all over the Atlantic coast have attended rallies and meetings, called their representatives, and more.

Because of your efforts, we have good news – we won a delay in the final ruling about whether seismic testing will be allowed. But the fight is not over – we need to finish what we started and get the Department of the Interior to reject seismic airguns altogether.

Here’s what we’re doing right now to stop blasts from seismic airguns from reaching the ears of threatened right whales:

  • Lobbying members of Congress to send letters to President Obama opposing seismic testing in the Atlantic. Dozens of members have already signed on, in part thanks to phone calls and emails from supporters like you.
  • Conducting demonstrations up and down the East Coast to raise awareness about the dangers of seismic testing and push the next Secretary of the Interior to reject airguns, protecting vulnerable whales and dolphins.

We’re beyond thrilled to have delayed seismic airgun testing, but we need to keep fighting, and we’re going to need your help. In the end, Oceana’s work is successful because of our community. When we need help, there are thousands of you who provide support.
 
Your membership not only works to protect right whales – it also goes to work to fight for other endangered animals and their ocean habitats all over world.

Make your membership gift by midnight tomorrow and help save the world’s oceans»

Your support truly does make a difference. Thank you for being part of our community.

For the oceans,
Emily Fisher
Oceana

 

 

 

 

 
Oceana.org | Join | Contact Oceana | Privacy PolicyText JOIN to 50555 to sign up for Oceana text alerts. Standard message and data rates may apply.

Click here to update your information.

Oceana | 1350 Connecticut Ave. NW, 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20036 USA   p: +1 877.762.3262

 

Email Newsletters with VerticalResponse