The View From the Outback

In short, one might conclude that all knowledge, wisdom, and wit are confined to those who inhabit New York City, Washington DC, or Hollywood.

I am now a senior citizen, plus. My experience was gained in many cities in the U.S. and in about 30 foreign countries. That experience has included the U.S. Marines, law school, the ATF, the CIA, Fortune 500 executive, writer, public speaker, educator, editor, and publisher - for openers. For over 20 years, I have written articles off and on for various magazines and newspapers. I've had an enormous number of letters published in major national publications. Some insights come from talking with ham-radio operators in every major country and such idyllic places as the Cook Islands. The Outback is the rural area in Northeast Texas where I have lived for the past 14 years. Every few weeks I will attempt to post a new set of musings from the Outback.

July 10, 2004 Saturday - and following

Click on a Topic to go directly to that topic.

• Thoughts While Staring at the Ceiling Fan
• The Scare About the FBI Checking on Your Library Books
• Rep. Corrine Brown, (D.Fla) A Disgrace to Congress and Her Constituency
• Customers Losing Faith in Symantec aka Norton
• Statins Inducing Heart Problems, Among Other Things
• HSN Pushed the "Truth" Beyond Permissible Limits
• Chairman Greenspan, Oh, Now I Understand

Thoughts While Staring at the Ceiling Fan

If you think HDTV stands for "High-Dollar TV," you may be a Redneck - and be right at the same time.

I missed John Kerry's acceptance speech. When I heard that it was going to run 55 minutes, I decided to to watch a documentary on HDTV, someting about rats in the sewers, etc. - honestly. One cannot avoid the sound bites, though. "I defended this country as a young man." Sen. Kerry, that is bullshit! I enlisted in the Marines during the Korean War. Since I don't recall Korea being any immediate threat to the U.S., I could hardly say that I "defended" this country. I "served" my country in the military. While Kerry was spending his four months in Vietnam, I was spending two years with the CIA in Laos (in the "secret war"). I don't recall Vietnam or Laos posing any threat to the United States. Neither Sen. Kerry nor I can honestly say we were "defending" our country in Vietnam or Laos. We were serving our country. Big difference between "defending this country" and "serving this country." Especially since in both Korea and Vietnam, our government had its head up its ass. So, Sen. Kerry knock off the crap about "defending" your country. You weren't there very long anyway, and your Purple Hearts and some other actions have a cloud hanging over them. You would be better served by downplaying your service in Vietnam. In the end, it is probably going to bite you in the ass. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Anna Kournikova's agent on his cell phone: "Anna, I just watched Sharapova win Wimbledon. I'm working on a new shoe contract for you." Anna: "Oh, maybe with my own brand name?" Agent: "No, it's a job in a shoe store." Anna: "But I am Anna Kournikova, beautiful and sexy tennis star." Agent: "Not anymore, sweetheart. You're just one of thousands of good looking Russian girls, who plays tennis now and then."

A beautiful 21-year-old female Russian pen-pal once wrote me that Anna Kournikova was not very popular in Russia. "She has never won anything," she wrote. Oh, you noticed.

Martha Stewart ought to hire Barbara Walters as her PR agent and "spin person." I have no strong feelings about Martha Stewart either way, or about her conviction. But, if Barbara Walters calls her interview on 20/20 of July 16, 2004 "journalism," it is an insult to journalists everywhere. I hope that the judges on the Appeals Court did not watch the program and do not watch any other TV appearances by Ms. Stewart. Go to jail for five months now, Martha. Get it over with. You are not getting any younger while you wait out the appeal. If your conviction is overturned, just think of the great series of articles you can write for your magazine. "A Martyr's Tale From Inside a Gilded Cage."

Medicare has agreed to consider obesity as a disease and to pay for some forms of treatment for weight loss. What a stupid thing to do, unless a person is about three times their normal target weight. Now, people will be flocking to surgeons trying to get gastric bypasses, or seeking liposuction, or whatever. I have struggled with my weight since I was a teen. About the only time I was at my ideal weight was in the Marines They ran my chubby ass into the ground. Simple. And about 20 years ago when I ran 3-5 miles a day, swam a mile, and played tennis - often all in the same day. On my main Web page is an article called "Weight Loss - No Magic Bullet." (Under "Birdshot at 150 Yards") Except in a very small percentage of cases, excess weight is caused by taking in more calories than you expend. If you eat too many calories of anything, even apples and bananas, and get no exercise, you will gain weight. The "diet industry" is one of the biggest scams in this country. I am once again trying to get down to my fighting weight. I am in complete control! If I eat less and exercise more, I will lose weight. And I am doing it, pound by pound. I feel no sympathy for the 200-pound lady interviewed on TV, sitting in her recliner, saying how glad she was there was now hope for her to get her weight down. Madame, here's the deal. Eat less and if you are unable to exercise, eat way less. Here is my best example. You can have a Snickers bar every day. But, you must walk a mile to the store to get it and a mile back. Do the math, or check out my article. Don't look to Medicare to cure a problem that is in your head, unless they agree to pay for shrinks who can teach you behavioral modification with regards to food. That behavioral modification would consist of eat less, exercise more. Who in the government signed off on this one? I want names. This is going to cost Medicare, which is teetering on the financial edge, a lot of money.

There is a movement to draft Hall of Fame player and coach Mike Ditka to run as a Republican Senator from Illinois. Mike was my neighbor, tennis buddy, and friend who got me 50-yard-line tickets when he coached with the Dallas Cowboys. We kept in touch for many years. What follows is something I wrote on my Web page somewhere around 1999 (can't tell because of possible edits), under "My Heroes on Former Dallas Cowboy Teams":

Mike Ditka is a hero of mine for several reasons. He is a man of conviction with an unswerving sense of mission. He typifies the "work ethic" that is rapidly being lost in this country. He does not tolerate excuses from himself or those who follow him. He is in fact the essence of a Conservative. I once suggested to him in a letter in 1989 that he run for the U.S. Senate after his coaching days. But he, like me, probably would not fit in on the Hill. He would be too tempted to punch out some of the idiots with whom he would share the Senate chamber. At least, the old Mike Ditka would have....

I also found a letter-to-the-sports-editor of the Dallas Times Herald that I wrote in 1990 in which I was extolling the real Mike Ditka that I knew. One sentence was: "Ditka for Senate." Deep down Mike is a really sweet guy, but when somebody blows the whistle another person takes over his body. I hope he becomes a U.S. Senator. Maybe he would get fed up with the personal insults and the grabass in the Senate and knock out Sen. Leahy and Sen. Schumer, both of whom need it badly - among others. Mike is too much of a gentleman to "bitch slap" Hillary, but if he took into her verbally, she would not need to get a permanent for about two years. I wonder if I can figure a way to vote in the Illinois election? It used to be simple, dead people voting and all. Maybe they have tightened the rules. Go Mike! Update: July 15, 2004. Coach Ditka has declined to run for the U.S. Senate. Rats! It would have been so much fun.

Earlier, I mentioned the Mozilla Firefox Web browser. The beta version is now (7-10-13) up to 0.9.2. Many security experts are suggesting that people abandon Internet Explorer 6.0 completely, because of the multiple vulnerabilities that continue to be uncovered. There has been a substantial increase in the use of Firefox, for example. Firefox does not support ActiveX, which is mostly a plus, as this is one of the things used by hackers to attack Internet Explorer. If you find a site that absoultely needs to use ActiveX, use IE6, and then get the heck out as fast as you can. Once again, try Firefox, you will love it.

In passing, I mentioned one time in the Outback that former Senator and Secretary of Defense, William Cohen, was married to a black woman. Janet Langhart Cohen was on C-SPAN in connection with a party at the Embassy of Kuwait honoring her for her new book "From Rage to Reason: My Life in Two Americas." No wonder Bill Cohen always seems to have a smile on his face. What an incredibly beautiful and confident woman. I leave it to you to research her story - from the Projects to the Pentagon.

John McEnroe has a new talk show on CNBC. When I lived in Dallas, I had season tickets to the World Championship of Tennis tournaments. My seats were in the third row in the end zone. These are the kind of seats that you put in your will. We saw all the greats in the world, from Laver to Rosewall, to Ashe, to Newcombe, to Borg, and so on. The spoiled Brat, John McEnroe, won the tournament one year. At that time, I said that his father, who is an attorney, should have been a better disciplinarian when John was young. I turned in my tickets and never came back. McEnroe was a jerk then. He is a jerk now. How long can his show last? Who knows, since he is not the only jerk on TV. But he is right up there near the top.

Dr. Steven J. Hatfill is suing the NY Times for articles that he says "knowingly and falsely printed false and derogatory information about him." You may recall my piece, "The Media Trial of Dr. Steven J. Hatfill," which appeared in the Outback for Oct. 26, 2002. (See Archives). I heard from someone very close to the original series of investigations some time back. He read my piece in the Outback and called me. He said that the responsibility for the Anthrax investigation at the FBI changed hands and that the new man "called off the dogs" on Hatfill. You may recall that the FBI constantly tailed him, had cameras posted near his residence, searched his place more than once, and generally ruined his reputation and his life. I wish Dr. Hatfill well in his lawsuit, although he will probably lose. At least the absurdity of the media coverage will get some public scrutiny.

South Korea has adopted the American standard for HDTV. Surprisingly, only three countries have adopted the U.S. Standard, the U.S., Canada, and South Korea. Most of the world uses the European HDTV (digital TV) standard. What this means to me is that we can count on more and more "state-of-the-art" HDTV sets coming to the American market from S. Korea, since they will know so much about our HDTV standard as to have a leg up. Samsung and LG were already producing superior products. Now watch them.

I have mentioned for about a year or so that we ought to get out troops out of S. Korea, because they are rich and can defend themselves and because too many Koreans do not appreciate what we have done for them over a span of 50 years. One startling fact caught my eye in the WSJ. Last year, Samsung Electronics Co. earned more money than Japan's nine largest electronics makers combined. Now, Samsung has a deal with Sony to build a huge factory for LCDs and already had a deal with the U.S.'s Corning to make king-size sheets of glass needed for large LCD displays. And there is LG Phillips LCD Co., among others. South Korea should stop sucking at the U.S. teat. They have plenty of milk of their own. I love Samsung, and am about to buy my third Samsung LCD monitor, a new Samsung DLP HDTV set, and not long ago bought a Samsung LaserJet. But at this point, we owe Korea nothing. We are no doubt their biggest customer. What more can they ask?

The Associated Press reported that Bill Cosby went off on another tirade against the black community, telling a room full of activists that black children are running around not knowing how to read or write and "going nowhere." I thought the use of the word "tirade" was an interesting choice. Does the AP think that nobody should make constructive comments about the plight of black kids, many without resident fathers, talking in hip-hop lingo that will not get them a job, and so on? For sure, black schools are in general of a poorer class than mostly white schools. From what I have read, part of the reason is that it is hard to get and maintain good teachers in schools where the kids show no respect, use foul language in class, intimidate teachers, carry knives and guns to school, and simply refuse to try to learn proper English, or any other subject. This is part of what is pissing off Mr. Cosby. Good for you, Bill. Remember, even Jesse Jackson took on the hip-hop music industry for using "bitches" and "whores" in their lyrics, and he raked black kids over the coals for $150 tennis shoes with no strings, pants that "show the crevice of their butt," no belts, and other pithy observations.

In the WSJ for July 15, Secretary of Education, Rod Paige, a black man, lashed out at the NAACP, of which he is a life member. If you don't take the WSJ, read his op-ed at the library. Secretary Paige said: "Sadly, the current NAACP leadership has managed to take a proud, effective organization in a totally new direction: naked partisan politics, pure and simple." Add that to the ACLU, which is now a liberal advocacy group - and many other organizations supposedly working for the "general public good" - but are nothing but liberal political-action groups. Mr. Paige said that only 12% of black kids can read proficiently and only 7% are proficient in math by the eighth grade. And people are criticizing Bill Cosby and Jesse Jackson, for finally, repeat finally, getting on the case of black kids who do not try to excell.

National Public Radio (NPR) obtains about $86 million taxpayer dollars a year. Some are questioning why they should get any Federal money. Especially, since they have large donors and are generally regarded to have a "liberal slant" to their news and talk-radio commentary. They are hardly "fair and balanced." Republicans are too gutless to stop the funding, for fear of the backlash and all the "attempting to do away with a diversity of opinion" nonsense that would follow. If you didn't notice, just one donor last fall, the late widow of McDonald's Ray Krok, passed on a $200 million-dollar bequest to NPR (twice their yearly budget). And that is just one of the big donors, not to mention the countless listeners who donate each year.

I ran across a quote from Margot Adler, host of "Justice Talking" on NPR. In one interview she described herself thusly: "I was the child of socialists, a Marxist, a Jew, a New Yorker, a woman, a Witch – all things that have made me 'the other' in America." Such is the stuff of which NPR is woven.

Normally, I enjoy listening to Mario Cuomo (ex-Dem Gov. of NY) speak, since he is such a bright and glib man. I seldom agree with his positions, but he is such a convincing orator. Until ... he came on CNBC with Tim Russert and extolled the virtues of "Fahrenheit 9/11," especially the now-disproven rumor that members of the Bin Laden family were quickly flown out of the country after 9/11, without normal processing. He tried to get Fahrenheit 9/11's movie rating reduced so that younger audiences could see the film. Start the hating as young as you can, Mario. Great idea. Right out of page One from the Terrorist's Manual. I have never seen Tim Russert so uncomfortable with a guest, who happens to be his friend. The hour-long polemic against George Bush and Dick Cheney was thinly disguised as a talk about Mario's new book about Abraham Lincoln. What a tortured hour that was, trying to work Lincoln into the conversation. Is was kind of like the "What would Jesus Do?" conversations.

Richard Nixon never could quite "rehabilitate" his public image. But, Bill Clinton is a master. He has sweet-talked and charmed those who interview him about his book, "My Life," until the women interviewers swoon and the men act like Clinton never did anything to be ashamed of, or made a serious policy mistake. The man could sell a Yugo to a Wall-Street tycoon, air-conditioners in Antarctica, or life insurance to a 100-year-old.

President George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry are distantly related. They're ninth cousins, twice removed (whatever that means). They also share a common relative, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, who is the ninth cousin of both men. There's some trivia for your cocktail party.

SBC Communications must sell local phone and broadband services separately in California, state regulators have ruled. I noted earlier that when I lived briefly in Paris, Texas, I had a COX Cable highspeed modem, but that I could not get that service without also subscribing to "basic cable TV." Since I had satellite TV, I needed "basic cable" like I needed a heart attack. All of this "bundling" is simply extortion, whether it be SBC DSL, COX cable modems, or Viacom forcing satellite and cable providers to take their "package" of programs in order to get CBS, and so forth. It seems like the Congress, state legislatures, and the FCC are beginning to wise up to these strong-arm tactics.

SBC had a big announcement that they were going to spend "billions of dollars" on laying new fiber optic cables in communities, with a view to linking homes to the optic network - for broadband, phones, and possibly TV transmissions. When I get a free minute, I am going to send the president of SBC in San Antonio a detailed map of the location of my house, which is six miles from a small town, with a legend "Put fiber cable here!" Fat chance. I will probably not live to see the day when there is a fiber optic cable to houses in rural areas. The local SBC Central Office, about six miles from my house, IS connected to the Central Offices in nearby towns with fiber optic cable. You pay a price for the tranquility and fresh air when you live in the Outback. Note to SBC, a lot of us would kick in a substantial amount to help defray the cost of laying the fiber optic cable out this way. I would even donate time to work on the cable-laying crew.

"Life With Bonnie," starring Bonnie Hunt was cancelled. Bonnie came on with David Letterman and they talked about the show and general chit chat. As I recall, Letterman's World Wide Pants produced "Life With Bonnie." What a scam and a facade to sit there and chat about the show without ever mentioning that it was actually Letterman's show that went in the tank. Oh well, he now spends his time touting his racing team, which is winning.

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The Scare About the FBI Checking on Your Library Books

The drumbeat by the ACLU, Democrats, and the "desperate to beat Bush" folks in general have convinced many people that the FBI is casually rummaging through your library book checkout records and your bookstore purchases - at will. During debate on an appropriations bill in the Congress, Democrats tried to gut the provisions of Section 215 of the Patriot Act. They used the same lame lament that our "freedoms are being trampled on by the Patriot Act." What a crock.

As a former Federal agent and a law grad, I knew that agents can not just walk into a library and look over your records, and so on. One Republican speaker pointed out that there are several safeguards in Sec. 215, including review by a judge of an order to review records and exclusion of records of United States citizens (a paraphrase). And he noted, that if Sec. 215 is gutted, the FBI would have to resort to getting a supeona from a Grand Jury. Then, the person who is the object of the search would have to hire an attorney to try to get the supeona quashed. In other words, Sec. 215 grants rights and provides oversight, rather than taking rights away.

Since there has been so much whining and crying and lies about Sec. 215 as it relates to bank records, library records, bookstore purchases, et al., listed below is the text of Sec. 215 of the Patriot Act. Read it carefully and see how badly you are being lied to by the liberals, and groups like the ACLU.

Interestingly, in a discussion of the ACLU on TV, a couple of very smart people said that the ACLU had changed from an organization that protected individual rights to one that spends its time trying to promote a social agenda. They do this primarily by attempting to get the courts to legislate, since they have largely failed to get their agenda adopted by the Congress or state legislatures. I have been saying that for years, in one way or another. The ACLU is a liberal lobby, pure and simple.

SEC. 215. ACCESS TO RECORDS AND OTHER ITEMS UNDER THE FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE ACT.

Title V of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1861 et seq.) is amended by striking sections 501 through 503 and inserting the following:

SEC. 501. ACCESS TO CERTAIN BUSINESS RECORDS FOR FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE AND INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM INVESTIGATIONS.

(a)(1) The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation or a designee of the Director (whose rank shall be no lower than Assistant Special Agent in Charge) may make an application for an order requiring the production of any tangible things (including books, records, papers, documents, and other items) for an investigation to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities, provided that such investigation of a United States person is not conducted solely upon the basis of activities protected by the first amendment to the Constitution.

(2) An investigation conducted under this section shall--

(A) be conducted under guidelines approved by the Attorney General under Executive Order 12333 (or a successor order); and

(B) not be conducted of a United States person solely upon the basis of activities protected by the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

(b) Each application under this section--

(1) shall be made to--

(A) a judge of the court established by section 103(a); or

(B) a United States Magistrate Judge under chapter 43 of title 28, United States Code, who is publicly designated by the Chief Justice of the United States to have the power to hear applications and grant orders for the production of tangible things under this section on behalf of a judge of that court; and

(2) shall specify that the records concerned are sought for an authorized investigation conducted in accordance with subsection (a)(2) to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities.

(c)(1) Upon an application made pursuant to this section, the judge shall enter an ex parte order as requested, or as modified, approving the release of records if the judge finds that the application meets the requirements of this section.

(2) An order under this subsection shall not disclose that it is issued for purposes of an investigation described in subsection (a).

(d) No person shall disclose to any other person (other than those persons necessary to produce the tangible things under this section) that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has sought or obtained tangible things under this section.

(e) A person who, in good faith, produces tangible things under an order pursuant to this section shall not be liable to any other person for such production. Such production shall not be deemed to constitute a waiver of any privilege in any other proceeding or context.

end of Sec. 215

Here is the American Library Association's take on Sec. 215 of the Patriot Act versus a Grand Jury subpoena (www.ala.org):

FISA Court Orders and Grand Jury Subpoenae: How They Differ

The Justice Department has argued that it can obtain business records (including “any tangible thing” from libraries) using a grand jury subpoena without judicial approval at all. (Indeed, this may be part of the reason that it has not needed to rely on Section 215.) They claim that Section 215, because it requires an order to be issued by a FISA Court judge, provides better protection for libraries and, thus, librarians should not be so concerned about this provision of the USA PATRIOT Act. However, while the judge isn't actively involved in the issuing of a grand jury subpoena, the grand jury subpoena is subject to other checks not present in the FISA context:

First, it is constrained by the criminal code and the definitions of particular crimes - a grand jury can obtain only those records relevant to investigation of a particular crime. Thus, the scope of a criminal investigation is typically far narrower than an intelligence investigation, where arguably almost anything could be relevant.

Second, the grand jury process is run by a federal prosecutor, who serves to constrain FBI over-reaching.

Third, the recipient of a grand jury subpoena is normally free to disclose information about the subpoena, providing a "sunshine" check on the process. Recipients of Section 215 orders are statutorily prohibited from telling anyone that they have received them.

Moreover, while the judge isn't actively involved in the issuing of a grand jury subpoena, if issues arise there is a judge who can resolve them. For example, an individual can move to quash a grand jury subpoena -- and a judge would decide.

(end of excerpt from ala.org)

As law professors are prone to say, suppose this: Suppose that you are a librarian and that one of your customers (clients, visitors) has either been observed on the computer visiting Web sites that relate to bomb making, chemical weapons, nuclear theory, et al., and/or has been seen reading in the library books that relate to possible terrorism, such as bomb making et al., or has checked out books that might relate to terrorist activity. Do you have an obligation, or a duty, to report this to local or Federal investigators? Or, is a librarian under any kind of librarian/client confidentiality privelege not to divulge the reading or surfing habits of a client, without a court order?

I am not talking about someone who visits only one site, or reads only one applicable book, but someone who has shown a pattern, possibly to the exclusion of all other types of reading and surfing, of an interest in terrorist-related material. Logic would say that most librarians are smart people and they can tell the difference between people with a casual interest in certain subjects and those who are obsessive about specific subjects. This is a very delicate issue, but one that needs exploring.

In other sections at ala.org are:

Do public and academic librarians monitor library users?

Librarians are aware of the behavior of library users and when faced with disruptions or clear violations of the law, they take appropriate action. If laws are broken – as with theft or other violations – the librarian reports this immediately.

On the other hand, librarians do not police what library users read or access in the library. Libraries ensure the freedom to read, to view, to speak and to participate. They are cornerstones of democracy.

America's libraries support President Bush and Congressional leaders in our nation's efforts to preserve and protect the many hard-fought freedoms we enjoy as Americans. Librarians are encouraged to study and understand state confidentiality laws and to cooperate with the authorities within the guidelines provided by these laws. Librarians have a responsibility to protect the privacy of our patrons while responding to legitimate national security concerns.

end of excerpts from ala.org

Reasonable people can disagree about Sec. 215 of the Patriot Act. You would expect libraries to defend a person's right to confidentiality as a mother bear might defend her cub. But, given that there are no apparent cases where Sec. 215 has been invoked in libraries, and certainly no demonstrable abuses, I cannot get too excited about the ALA's nearly hysterical stance. Read the plethora of information and quotes at www.ala.org about the Patriot Act. And I have been on many sides of the issue, as a Federal agent, as a CIA agent, and as an author who was censored by the CIA in a work of fiction - and that story played out in a syndicated column, in the book section of The Washington Post, and elsewhere.

As to the question I posed about a possible prohibition against a librarian voluntarily revealing to law enforcement the reading or surfing habits of someone he or she thinks might pose a threat to national security: the following sentence, taken from the ALA website, seems to say that there is room for a librarian to exercise independent judgement in reporting activity that would appear to endanger our national security. Again, that sentence is: "Librarians have a responsibility to protect the privacy of our patrons while responding to legitimate national security concerns."

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Rep. Corrine Brown, (D.Fla.) A Disgrace to Congress and Her Constituency

Some of her antics get a little coverage, but seldom in the mainstream liberal press. The name of Rep. Corrine Brown (D.Fla) was never on my radar until I saw her on the House floor the other day. She was ranting and raving at the top of her voice about the last presidential election. She made remarks about how "the election was stolen." How there was a "coup d'etat," and so on. A member objected to her remarks about an "election being stolen," which is apparently in the list of forbidden words on the House floor.

In a procedure I can never recall seeing before, a motion was made for "Words Taken Down." In other words, she was to be censured - and presumably the words removed from the record. If the Chair ruled that the words should be taken down, Ms. Brown would not have been allowed to speak on the floor for the rest of the day, without the permission of the House.

The process dragged on and on. In the end the Chair ruled that the words should be taken down, there was a vote and a majority agreed. Ms. Brown was muzzled for the day. I have looked fairly hard, but have not found anyone in the liberal media who has covered this charming little event. After a little searching, I discovered that she had also raised a minor furor by telling an Undersecretary of State (who is a Mexican-American) in a briefing that the Bush Administration's policy toward Haiti was racist.

From www.strangecosmos.com:

MORON RACIST BLACK CONGRESSWOMAN - CORRINE BROWN

February 26, 2004

Brown: Haiti policy 'racist'

U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown verbally attacked a top Bush administration official during a Washington briefing on the Haiti crisis Wednesday, calling the president's policy on the beleaguered nation ''racist'' and his representatives ''a bunch of white men.''

Her outburst was directed at Assistant Secretary of State Roger Noriega during a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill. Noriega, a Mexican-American, is the State Department's top official for Latin America.

''I think it was an emotional response of her frustration with the administration,'' said David Simon, a spokesman for the Jacksonville Democrat. He noted that Brown, who is black, is ''very passionate about Haiti.''

Brown sat directly across the table from Noriega and yelled into a microphone. Her comments sent a hush over the hourlong meeting, which was attended by about 30 people, including several members of Congress and Bush administration officials.

Noriega later told Brown: ''As a Mexican-American, I deeply resent being called a racist and branded a white man,'' according to three participants.

Brown then told him ''you all look alike to me,'' the participants said....(the article continues)

Then, I found: Capitol Hill Blue (www.capitolhillblue.com/Aug1999/081699/criminalclass1-081699.htm). In an article entitled "Congress: America's Criminal Class: Part I," the criminal conduct and lapses of ethics of many members of Congress are noted.

As to Rep. Corrine Brown, they allege the following:"In just seven years in Congress, Rep. Corrine Brown has eluded creditors, filed false financial disclosure reports and lied to the Internal Revenue Service.... The financial records that every member of Congress is required to file shows the Jacksonville, Florida Democrat failed to disclose the $40,000 sale of her Tallahassee travel agency and improperly reported the sale of her Gainesville agency...."

This is a very long article which lists an incredible number of financial transactions tinged with fraud and lawsuits to recover money owed by Ms. Brown. You must read the article, not only about Ms. Brown, but about the Congress in general. Warning, it will turn your stomach.

After observing Rep. Corrine Brown on the House floor yelling at other members and making such intemperate remarks, and after reviewing some of her history, I cannot understand how she stays in Congress. She is an insult to the Congress, to thinking blacks, and to her constituency. It also does not speak well for those who have elected her to Congress for several terms. What kind of people would send this woman to Congress - several times over? That is the deeper problem.

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Customers Losing Faith in Symantec aka Norton

Recently, I noted problems I was having with Norton Internet Security/Norton Antivirus by Symantec (NIS). On one day, I spent at least five hours trying to fix just one problem. In the course of searching the Web, I came across hundreds of messages containing complaints about Symantec/Norton products, from "resource hog" to "buggy" to "crap" to "no support." Phone help is about 30 bucks a call! Forget that.

I found many people with the same problem I had. A download of the Norton Redirector had failed to install. It would download, at least part way, and then fail to install. A couple of Symantec Knowledge Base suggestions did not work, and then they said, "If this does not work, uninstall and reinstall Norton Internet Security." If I uninstall NIS, it will stay off my disk forever, but I wanted to see if I could do the uninstall if I purchased some alternative software. When I clicked on Control Panel and Add/Remove programs and then clicked on Norton Internet Security, my computer rebooted. I did this a couple of times. Some people reported uninstalling and reinstalling NIS several times and still not curing the Redirector download and install problem. Well, back to the Web.

I found complex instructions on how to manually delete NIS and printed them for future use. More searching and I found about six different answers on forums on how to solve the Redirector problem. The first few did not work. Finally, in desperation, just before I was ready to do the manual uninstall, I tried a composite of three suggestions, including a change to the Registry. Finally, after spending most of the day, I was able to download and install the update to the NIS Redirector. Later, I was able to download another update which had been posted since I started my early-morning attempt to fix my original problem. Whatever their faults, Symantec/Norton does try to keep on top of the hacker/virus situation and posts very frequent updates, not only to the virus detection definitions, but basic program updates to thwart attacks at the very program. In recent times, more than one Worm has had code that went in and tried to disable all virus detection and firewall protection. It is a constant struggle.

I learned some things which may help others. The Symantec Redirector is a set of shared network drivers that allow Norton Internet Security (NIS), Norton AntiVirus (NAV) and Norton Personal Firewall (which is also part of NIS) to filter incoming and outgoing data for malicious or undesired content. It is the gate keeper and is often updated. It seems that if you have a list of updates, such as for Redirector, AntiVirus Definitions, etc. and you uncheck Redirector, and do some other updates first, it may fry the brain of NIS and you get into the terrible round-robin of errors. I think there are other program-related updates that you also need to install before you install the Virus updates, and so on. If I find that reference again, I will note it.

When you have multiple files ready during a LiveUpdate, watch which one downloads first and the order of the file downloads. That will give you a clue. Norton knows, they just forget to tell us. The bottom line is if you click on Live Update, or your automatic blinking Update icon is on, when the list of updates comes up, DO NOT uncheck any of them. Apparently, downloaded out of sequence, you can completely screw up NIS and NAV. I uncheck some big files because I am on a dialup connection and don't want to trust all files will download without dropping out, or I am too impatient to wait for a 2MB download. Not anymore.

Some of the Help screens talk about options that you cannot find on the LiveUpdate screen that pops up when you start to search for updates. On WinXP Home, I found under Control Panel an icon for Symantec Live Update. The choice of Interactive versus Express Mode can be selected here (you can read about the differences of the two modes). Also, there is a box to check to "Enable Enhanced Error Support." Check this box! That is the only way I found one or more of the solutions I finally compiled into one make-or-break try. For example, if the Redirector, or any download, fails to install, the Enhanced Error Support will take you to the Symantec Knowledge Base and a document that relates to that specific error. It took me several years to figure this out! Of course, as noted, the Symantec documents do not always guarantee a result. But they help put the puzzle together.

I was so damn disgusted with Norton Internet Security that I once again updated my search for alternatives. Zone Alarm, whose Firewall is highly regarded (I use the free version on my laptop, now that my paid license has expired), now has a package with an integrated AntiVirus (from a well-known 3-rd party). Hot dog. A search of the Forum revealed angry and bitter customers. Version 5.0 of ZoneAlarm was buggy, they said. The integration of the AntiVirus was not working well, and on and on. Granted, only the unhappy and those with problems usually post on Forums. However, there were messages on the ZoneAlarm home page apologizing for some conflicts with other software and assuring that fixes were in the works.

I am convinced that massive programs that try to provide a firewall, antivirus, ad blocking, pop-up blocking, cookie handling, privacy controls, et al., are simply too complicated and begin to trip over themselves. ZoneAlarm more or less promises to "play nicely" in the sandbox with the major Antivirus programs. They even have a monitor that checks to see if your 3-rd party antivirus is up to date. I found this a nuisance on my laptop and turned that feature off. I read enough to know that I would wait for ZoneAlarm Pro 5.0 to settle down. And probably use a separate AntiVirus, such as PC-Cillin or maybe even Norton Anti-Virus. I bought two copies of Norton Internet Security in the last year, for two computers. But, I think that will be enough of that. I already noted elsewhere, that I no longer buy Norton System Works, but prefer V-Comm's Fix-it 5.0 for disk and registry clean up and diagnostics (it has diagnostics that System Works does not have, for one thing).

Now some really bad news. Microsoft is nearing the release of the WinXP SP2 service pack. To make the new Microsoft system work smoothly with Norton, customers will need to download a Norton update. There are now additional reasons not to install Microsoft SP2 for several months. One, SP2 is bound to have its own bugs. Two, it will cause other programs, like the Norton programs, to act up. Think long and hard about installing WinXP SP2. There is a good chance that it will cause more problems than it solves.

I go back a long way with computers, to the CP/M days with 64K of RAM and a floppy drive. I remember Peter Norton, the originator of the Norton Utilities, and they were the Gold Standard way back when. I wrote glowing reviews in "Texas Computing" of his stuff years ago. I still have a couple of his early books, which were among the best at explaining computers and peripherals to the unwashed. He sold his company to Symantec and I never hear of him anymore. I did find one reference to a Peter Norton book about Inside the PC, published in April of 2002 (an update to one of his earlier books, which I have).

Symantec has made several acquisitions and is now the 800-pound Gorilla of utilities, firewalls, and antivirus. But, they seem to be losing their way. Put a hold on expanding and get the stuff you have to work - guys. You are losing old faithful customers like me. I once told the president of Symantec in a letter (a complimentary letter, actually) that I had spent more money in the last 20 years on Norton products than perhaps all other software combined. I upgraded every time they had a new version, for example. It also had to do in part with an appearnce he made before a Congressional hearing. The president's executive assistant called me to tell me how much he enjoyed my letter. He will not be happy if I send his this article. Sometimes your friends have to tell you that you have dandruff.

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Statins Inducing Heart Failure Problems, Among Other Things

For those of you who are taking a Statin drug (HMG CoA reductase inhibitor) to lower your cholesterol, or think your doctor is leaning toward suggesting that you take a Statin, please do some research. Statins, of course, are the now famous Lipitor, Zocor, et al., that are generating billions in sales for their makers. One good source for information is www.statinalert.org - among the many.

The first "medical common knowledge" to think about in the context of Statins is: High cholesterol causes cardiovascular disease. There are an increasing number of doctors, scientists, and researchers - worldwide - who believe that Cholesterol is not the cause of cardiovascular disease. They are being drowned out to a large extent by the entrenched medical community, but more importantly by the pharmaceutical industry, which would be devastated if it were proven that lowering your cholesterol by taking statins, or lowering it by any means, will not save lives.

I read probably a hundred medical reports and research findings each month. The overwhelming material that you and I see, and that doctors read, still insists that lowering cholesterol will reduce cardiovascular disease and thus save lives. But some, if not a substantial portion of that research, is flawed, selectively chosen, or prepared by those who have a vested interest in the outcome.

Thus, I refer you once again to www.thincs.org, which is a gathering place for doctors and scientists who believe that Cholesterol is not the cause of cardiovascular disease and that statins are doing more harm than good. And I refer you to the book by Dr. Uffe Ravnskov, M.D., Ph.D. "The Cholesterol Myths," and to his Web page www.ravnskov.nu/uffe.htm and the one more related to his book, www.ravnskov.nu/cholesterol.htm - which make fascinating reading.

But, let's suppose that you and your doctor both believe that if you have high Cholesterol, you should be taking a statin drug to lower it. The news is not good, if you dig beneath the hype and the press releases for the statins.

One of the other known possible side effects is muscle weakness. This needs to be monitored closely by you and your doctor. Some researchers now say that statins may play a role in the onset of certain types of Cancer. Better, yet, don't start taking a statin in the first place.

The most passionate writing in recent months on the dangers of statins has been by Peter H. Langsjoen, M.D., F.A.C.C., a cardiologist in Tyler, Texas. Dr. Langsjoen is regarded as the preeminent authority on Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) and has published many papers on its use in the treatment of heart failure. He notes that in his practice, he is seeing an alarmingly increasing number of patients taking statins who develop Congestive Heart Failure. His answer is simple, and it is backed up by the research of many others, even the drug companies who make the statins.

Put in the simplest terms; Coenzyme Q10 is a fat-soluble vitamin-like substance present in every cell of the body. CoQ10 serves as a coenzyme for several of the key enzymatic steps in the production of energy within the cell. Coenzyme Q10 also functions as an antioxidant which is important in its clinical effects. CoQ10 is known to be highly concentrated in heart muscle cells due to the high energy requirements of this cell type.

Statins deplete our supply of CoQ10, and if the patient is not supplemented with CoQ10, it can lead to what Dr. Langsjoen calls "statin-induced cariomyopathy." As an aside, I know that many of his patients, even those not taking statins, but who are experiencing Congestive Heart Failure show improvement on a regimen of CoQ10 and some other natural supplements.

One of the things that really upsets Dr. Langsjoen is that Merck and Co. (ZOCOR) has two 1990 patents which combine CoQ10 with their statin, but they have not marketed the combination product. The obvious conclusion is that if Merck went to the trouble and expense of patenting a statin combined with CoQ10, they had solid medical evidence that taking statins would deplete our levels of CoQ10, with possible disastrous consequences. Dr. Langsjoen is so upset with the cavalier prescribing of statins and the failure of the companies to own up to the consequences - in his own practice he sees two to three new "statin cardiomyopathies" a week - that he concluded one article with: "I cannot help but view my once great profession with a mixture of sorrow and contempt."

Dr. Langsjoen has taken his "statins deplete CoQ10" campaign to the F.D.A., and on their web site is a paper by him that summarizes the research on the connection between statins, depletion of CoQ10, and resulting heart failure. He is advocating that all statins (HMG CoA reductase inhibitors) bear the following warning label:

Warning: HMG CoA reductase inhibitors block the endogenous biosynthesis of an essential cofactor, coenzyme Ql0, required for energy production. A deficiency of coenzyme Q10 is associated with impairment of myocardial function, with liver dysfunction and with myopathies (including cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure). All patients taking HMG CoA reductase inhibitors should therefore be advised to take 100 to 200 mg per day of supplemental coenzyme Ql0.

I feel compelled to inject a personal note about Dr. Langsjoen and CoQ10. In 1998 I was examined at length and told that I had severe blockages in several of the arteries that supply blood to my heart. Well, I had been a jock all my life, ate a balanced diet, and simply could not accept that I had "heart disease." I went to a second cardiologist and he did an Angiogram. Really bad, he said. "If I were you, I would let us wheel you across the street and do an emergency heart bypass operation." Now, this was a highly regarded cardiologist, who had been recommended by a well-known doctor who is a close friend of mine. Still, I could not accept the "truth."

Through research and an e-mail to a cardiologist who publishes a newsletter, I was pointed toward Dr. Peter Langsjoen, Tyler, Texas, as a cardiologist who did not do invasive procedures, no Angioplasty, etc. I could count on an unbiased opinion from him, which would make cardiologist number three! Trust me, you do not want a heart bypass operation unless there is absolutely, positively, no choice. Get more than one opinion!

Dr. Langsjoen looked at the Super VHS video of my Angiogram and told me that all the other doctors were right, I needed a bypass operation and soon. But, he began to tell me about the wonders of CoQ10 with relation to heart disease. He pointed me to a supplier of high-grade CoQ10 gel caps and told me to start taking several caps a day. Further, he said that I should take my supply of CoQ10 into the hospital and keep taking it right up until the operation and as soon as I came "out from under in ICU."

Because Dr. Langsjoen was in Tyler, he would not be attending me during my operation in Dallas, but I had a top-notch cardiologist who would look after me in the hospital, the same fellow who had done the Angiogram. When I explained that I wanted to bring CoQ10, by now I had researched the subject in depth, into the hospital, I was told by my original cardiologist in Dallas that I could not do that. It was not on the hospital's formulary (the approved drug list). CoQ10 is not a drug, it is a natural substance.

Invoking the name and research of Dr. Langsjoen, I said that if I could not take my CoQ10 right up until surgery and immediately afterward and for the duration of my hospital stay, I would find a different doctor and a different hospital. The Dallas cardiologist looked at me in stunned disbelief. He tried to dismiss connections between CoQ10 and helping your heart as "anecdotal." I dumped piles of my research on the desk of this high-level Dallas cardiologist and made my passionate plea once again, inviting him to call Dr. Langsjoen if he felt he needed a more expert opinion than my assertions and research. (By the way, sometime later he thanked me for pointing him to the CoQ10 research.)

A day later, I got a call and was told that my chart would be amended to allow me to bring my Q10 and take it as I pleased. The surgery was done by another doctor recommended by my medical mentor in Dallas. It went well and I was discharged on the 4th day, as I recall. My surgeon told me that with my long history of exercise and knowing how to read my body's signals, that I should get on the treadmill the next morning after my release from the hospital. I said that I had made tentative arrangements for a cardiac rehab lab and workout place in a town near my home. He said, "That's for people who don't know what they are doing." He gave me a heart rate maximum that I should not exceed, and said, "Just do it!"

I had an accurate chest-strap heart monitor and a good treadmill at home. I did get on the treadmill the morning after I got home from the hospital and within a week was doing two miles a day and driving my truck into town. When I showed up in town within a week, I remember one lady saying, "Are you sure you had heart surgery?"

I am convinced beyond any doubt that my use of CoQ10 before and after the bypass operation - and every day to this day - has made a significant impact on my recovery and my prognosis. Recently, I had an Echocardiogram, EKG, etc. My cardiologist said my heart looked stronger than at any time in the past few years! And I am considerably overweight - but working my way down.

I DO NOT and WILL NOT take a statin. I do take two to three 100mg CoQ10 capsules a day (from overseas and not available in health-food stores) as part of a comprehensive vitamin and herbal-supplement program (all of which I have coordinated with my doctors). I eat a well-balance diet, with a lot of fish and veggies and fruits and up to two glasses of wine a day, and exercise most days. I no longer aspire to an LDL of less than 70, even though I have had bypass surgery. I am betting my miserable life that the "selected and well funded research by the drug companies about the benefits of very-low cholesterol" is wrong. And that the risk/benefit ratio of taking statins does not stack up well. We all gotta go some way. I almost did in a truck accident. I had just finished a big double slice of Pizza before starting the trip. Burp!

Increasingly I find medical research that is simply not honest, but I spend countless hours researching and reading reports. I am obsessed, frankly. Most people get their advice from the evening news, an AP news release from some drug company, or a doctor who never took a course in nutrition in med school. No wonder we are eighth, I think it is, in life expectancy in the world.

As I predicted (warned) a long time ago, the statin makers would begin to tout the drug as a cure or help for half-a-dozen conditions. Every month, it seems, they find a way to massage a little data, leave out some facts, and make a new claim for the statins. First, statins would lower cholesterol (which they do), then they would help prevent heart attacks and stroke (the research for these latter claims is selective and not-compelling to many). Now statins are being touted as helping fend off Alzheimer's disease and glaucoma. Give us a break. No drug is history, other than Aspirin (on which there are no current patents) has ever claimed to be "good" for so many ailments. I still say, all this "research" needs some serious investigation by disinterested parties. I smell some rotting Carp on the dock. I am not alone, and I am just a peon in the Outback. A lot of well educated doctors and scientists are saying the same thing. Billions and billions of dollars have the tail wagging the dog.

There is a new recommendation that those at high risk for heart attack should reduce their LDL cholesterol to less than 70. I checked an old blood-lipid report of mine and found that when I had a total cholesterol of 149, my LDL was 73. Good luck getting down there without a statin, and a big dose, and that is what the drug companies want. Actually, I got my LDL to 73 on a mostly vegetarian diet and a lot of exercise. I have accumulated considerable research that low cholesterol is worse for you than one in the 200-220 range.

I will now predict that when it all shakes out, and after a million dead bodies, medical researchers will tell us that a total cholesterol of 149, with LDL of 73 (especially if attained with a statin) is more likely to kill you than a total cholesterol of around 200-220 without taking a statin - if it turns out that cholesterol matters at all. I read not too long ago of a doctor whose cholesterol was 150 and he was intent on raising it! Incidentally, your doctor will normally mail you a copy of your blood test if you ask. My files go back many years and for treatment by several different doctors. It is a valuable resource. There are many Web sites where you can download guides to what all those goofy abbreviations and numbers on the blood test mean and which organ or disease they might relate to.

In Great Britain, low-dose ZOCOR will be offered over-the-counter, that is, without a prescription from a doctor. This is one of the greatest disservices a government could do to its population. But, one can see the skywriting in smoke, statins will come to you some day in your neighborhood drugstore, unless our government insists on a complete, and exhaustive, review of the "studies" of all the claims for statins, and unless further (less-biased) research is done on the potential benefits - and exhaustive research on the risk/benefit ratio. Right now, the $16 billion a year the pharmaceutical companies make from statins can slant the alleged benefits from statins, from researchers partly or fully funded by the industry, to selective reporting of the findings, to trips to Florida for doctors to take part in "educational seminars" about the benefits of statins, to disgusting commercials (Lipitor) with people falling on their face in public because of high cholesterol, and on and on. I thought the Mafia was devious when I was a Federal agent in Philly. They are Boy Scouts compared to the pharmaceutical industry. Even the Mafia would be jealous of their profit margins.

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HSN Pushed the "Truth" Beyond Permissible Limits

I have bought only one product from the Home Shopping Network on TV, a Wolfgang Puck tabletop electric grill which I use often. Sometimes, when I am bored out of my mind, I will watch a few minutes of HSN, just to see the lovely ladies, who have the most amazing gift to talk about any product with enthusiasm for two hours - without taking a deep breath. Colleen Lopez is adorable and can talk forever like she has just discovered the atom. It's a rare gift. I take Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) every day. So, when I saw that the Special was going to be Andrew Lessman with his CoQ10, I recorded it on my DVR. Since I know a lot about Q10, I wanted to have a record of what they said, of the prices, and so forth. It turned out that I was totally disgusted with the cheap marketing tactics used.

Andrew Lessman kept repeating the mantra that there was a worldwide shortage of Q10, that the prices had gone up 3-4 times in the past year. Colleen said that he was able to literally corner the market on Q10 from Japan to bring to the viewers this special offer on Q10. First, I will give you some snippets of his remarks and those of the hostess Colleen Lopez, and then I will give you some facts. Fair and balanced. You decide.

Colleen:"This man, Mr. Lessman, has connections with the number one CoQ10 manufacturer overseas .... and literally cornered the market on it - basically .... In the past year prices have doubled and even tripled for Coenzyme Q10."

Andrew:"There is a worldwide shortage of Coenzyme Q10." "Okay, CoQ10 has doubled and tripled in price." "I just don't know what the supply is going to be. I had to beg, literally, had to speak with the top executive from Japan." If you were not paying very close attention, the next sentence might give you the idea that he is the only one using "natural" CoQ10 in world. "It is the only true natural CoQ10 that comes out of a special manufacturer in Japan." It might have been less deceptive to say that there is only one manufacturer of natural CoQ10 in the world. "People in the marketplace are paying three to four times as much for CoQ10 as they did a year ago."

Andrew: "I am still one of the few people still getting natural CoQ10 when everyone's opting for synthetic because it is less expensive." I think his legal training and carefully parsing of phrases came into play here. First, he says that he is "one of the few" still getting natural CoQ10, but in the same sentence says "when everyone's opting for synthetic..." Is it that "everyone" (else) is getting synthetic, or is it that "some other vendors are opting for synthetic"? It was late at night, and as sharp as I think I am as a listener, I went to bed thinking he had said that he was the ONLY person in the world getting "true natural" CoQ10 from the manufacturer in Japan. I went to bed wondering if my supplier was using synthetic, which of course is ridiculous. And if they were out of stock. The foremost authority on CoQ10 in the United States had recommended the brand that I take, so the possibility of it being synthetic was nil. Still, Mr. Lessman is smooth and a master at painting a compelling picture to sell his products.

Andrew:"The price is getting crazy, availability is becoming very - kind of - sketchy, very difficult to predict." As you will see from the press release of the Japanese firm Kaneka, Andrews statements here are gross exaggeration. Simply not true.

Colleen was gushing about the 75mg caps that Andrew Lessman was providing and said that "to our knowledge, there's not even another 75 milligram CoQ10 product in the world you can buy." That would seem to say that Lessman's 75mg capsules contain the most CoQ10 of any capsule in the world. How about 100 mg, Colleen? Bio-Quinone, from Pharma Nord, comes in 100mg gel caps, and has for years. I am willing to bet you my lawnmower BioQuinone GOLD Q10 is more bioavailable (potent) than the CoQ10 capsules provided by Mr. Lessman. If Mr. Lessman would produce a 100mg dry Q10 cap comparable to his dry 75mg capsules, I challenge Mr. Lessman to put his caps up against an equivalent mg dose of Bio-Quinone GOLD Q10 over several weeks of testing and see which one produces a higher concentration of Q10 available in the body. I am pretty sure I know the answer. GNC also sells Q-10 in 100mg, 120mg, and 300mg sizes.

As the pitch grew more urgent, I began to look at my one-week supply of CoQ10, from a different supplier, and worry that I might not be able to get more. I was tempted to call in to HSN and order the 300 capsule bottle. Instead, I went to bed with a bit of uneasiness, because CoQ10 is the most important supplement I take - critical for my heart.

On Monday morning, I called my supplier, who gets Bio-Quinone Q10 from Pharma Nord in Norway. I'm sure it probably uses the same basic pure Q10 as Andrew Lessman gets from the main Japanese manufacturer. The brand that I buy is recommended by the cardiologist who is the number one researcher on CoQ10 in the United States. He is Dr. Q10 to the rest of the medical community. With trepidation, I asked my supplier if she had any Q10 in stock. She said she did. I related some of Mr. Lessman's remarks to her, and she said that she had about a year's supply of capsules on hand for all of her customers. I placed a large order, as I usually do.

As to the price, I checked my Quicken files and the price of Bio-Quinone GOLD Q10 has been the same price, within a dollar or two, for the past two years! I guess Pharma Nord, a large reputable company in Norway, did not get the word that prices had gone up "three to four times." I also checked with a regional manager for GNC stores. She said the price of Q-10 had fluctuated some in the past year, but no way had it gone up 3-4 times as Mr. Lessman had said. The prices for Lessman's Q10 on the HSN Special were good prices, but his normal Q10 prices are no bargain compared to other quality, natural Q10. Granted, as he said, there is a lot of junk Q10 out there, and some synthetics. And he added some C, B-complex and antioxidants, which to me just confuses things. Anybody who takes Q10 probably already takes C, B-Complex and antioxidants.

The Q10 factory where Mr. Lessman has "literally cornered the market" is no doubt the Kaneka Corp. of Osaka, Japan. CoQ10 did take off in the last couple of years, with it showing up in everything, even a skin cream. There were shortages, but Mr. Lessman made preposterous claims about the severity of the shortage to promote his HSN Q10 Special. In a press release, Kaneka Corp., the largest supplier of CoQ10 in Japan, announced that they had doubled production of their trademarked KanekaQ10 as of July 2004. So whatever fears Mr. Lessman was trading on about future shortages of Q10 will be mostly muted by the doubling of production.

There's more. Kaneka Corp. is planning an $80 million plant on 47 acres in Pasadena, Texas (near Houston) to be completed in the Spring of 2006. They will start staffing for the coming plant by the end of June 2004, with a new subsidiary called Kaneka Nutrients L.P. It will be interesting to see if when they ramp up production in the U.S., if Kaneka puts out their own brand-name Q10, thus eliminating the middlemen who now repackage it in various forms.

If you would like to contact the president of Kaneka America Corporation about any of this CoQ10 stuff, his name is K. Kuruma, at 212 705-4360.

I found the whole Home Shopping Andrew Lessman CoQ10 presentation so offensive that I probably will not buy another item from them. Their credibility is shot with me. Not that they care, as about 75% of their customers are women who buy jewelry, cosmetics, and clothes - and a ton of Andrew Lessman products. I believe he said that his entire line of vitamins and supplements was the highest grossing segment on HSN! Given that, there is no need to go around crying Wolf. The product is no doubt good. Mr. Lessman presented good information about the need for Q10, including how statins deplete Q10 (see previous article).

It is a shame that Andrew Lessman comes across as a snake oil salesman who leads you to believe he has captured the last snake in the world and wrung the last drop of oil from it.

And you guessed it, the president of HSN will get a copy of this article. She is Marty Nealon, Pres. Home Shopping Network, 1 HSN Drive, St. Petersburg, FL 33729. I hate it when women use names that confuses them with men. I started to write "Dear Mr. Nealon:" until I saw a press release about HER appointment.

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Chairman Greenspan, Oh, Now I Understand

The following is a transcript of just a few remarks made by the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, at an appearance before a Senate hearing on July 20, 2004:

"What has been happening to our economy, or smore exactly to our labor force, is that we have not been able to keep up the average skill level in our work force to match the required increases of increasing technology. And what that has meant has been that rather than getting an ever increasing number of college graduates at a far faster rate than we have been getting them and hence higher skills to create a surplus, or at least a significantly large supply of skilled workers relative to the demand - in order to keep skilled wages down, and because you move up people from the lesser skilled area to the skilled, you lower the number of surplus workers ... in that ... in those markets for lesser skilled and hence remove the downside pressure on wages. In other words, this is an issue which has been - uh - regrettably going on for fifteen years or thereabouts, creating an ever increasing opening up of skilled - the - the - uh - the skilled versus lesser skilled gap. And as you point out, if you put the wage changes in nominal terms, for the lesser skilled they have been growing at in many - in - in - from many parts of the, uh, of the last fifteen years, at less than the increase in consumer price index."

Of course, Chairman Greenspan. I could not have said it better myself.

This is the man who sets our banking policies. Heaven help us, and he has just been re-upped for four more years. I wonder if President Bush, who has an MBA, has ever had an extended conversation with Greenspan about the economy and our banking system? If so, he still re-appointed him?

I know a Harvard MBA who has an IQ of about 180, yet often has trouble expressing himself verbally. One can only hope that Chairman Greenspan thinks more clearly than he is able to verbalize his thoughts.

A former Governor at the Fed wrote a book about his time there. While taking part in a panel discussion about his book, he noted that very few people at the Fed ever seem to have personal conversations with Chairman Greenspan. Although, it was noted, he is a brilliant conversationalist, if you can get him engaged. The book's author complained that during Congressional testimony Greenspan spends too much time talking about fiscal policy, which is not within the Fed's purview, and not enough time talking about monetary policy. Some panel members, who were ex-Fed Governors, seemed to say that Alan Greenspan is so experienced and so brilliant that he is regarded by many as the "last word" on both fiscal and monetary policy. I have news for those geniuses. About 99.9% of the TV viewers who see and hear him testify do not know the difference between fiscal and monetary policy. If we did, we still could not understand him.

There is another possible partial explanation for Greenspan's convoluted and tortured phrases during Congressional testimony. He is concerned that his remarks might "move the markets" if he speaks bluntly and clearly about fiscal or monetary policy. Thus, he may try so hard not to say anything that could sway the markets that he ends up not saying anything that makes much sense. That's the charitable view. The answer to the dilemma is very simple. Alan Greenspan should speak to Congressional committees only in closed hearings - and his testimony regarded as Top Secret. No leaks, just in case any of the committee members understand what he says.

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COPYRIGHT 2000 Richard C. Rhodes

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