Cross-posted from  Integral Psychosis

A friend just sent me this link, and you should check it out.  Chris Martenson is a very bright guy who has put a lot of incredibly hard work into trying to sort through all the noise of “what’s going on” with our economy.  He has put together this thing he calls his “crash course” in which the current economic (and food, and environmental) crisis is demystified and explained- quite clearly- and put into context of how we got to where we are.  In all, it takes a bit more than and hour and a half to watch the entirety of the “crash course”, but it is essential that you do.  Check it out here.  The severity of our problems are immense, and very seldom does something come along that is so clear and helpful in speaking directly to what those problems are and why.  Cheers to Mike for sending me the link.

Sometimes it isn't what she says, but who she allows to say it. Terri Hallenbeck's May 7th article about the so-called “pocket-veto” was strikingly unbalanced. I've reorganized all portions of the article where Hallenbeck is either quoting or paraphrasing the message from Symington or Douglas. Just look (you don't even need to read it) at the difference in the amount of print space she gives to the Douglas message versus the Symington message. (And no, she apparently didn't bother to ask why Gibbs, a state employee whose salary is paid with our tax dollars, was clearly engaged in campaign activity… not that you suspected that level of journalistic curiosity from her.)

Douglas message:

Spokesman Jason Gibbs accused legislators of shirking their duties by leaving without a veto session and contended they did it to allow Democratic House Speaker Gaye Symington to start raising money from lobbyists for her expected campaign against Republican Douglas in the fall election.

“Their decision to forgo their responsibility on establishing a veto session has created a situation where any legislation the governor was intending not to sign would not become law because Gaye Symington wants to raise money from special interests,” Gibbs said.

Gibbs said the governor should be able to take advantage of the option of letting a bill become law without his signature for bills he doesn't particularly like but where there is widespread legislative support and no harm would come from allowing it to become law.

He cited an industrial hemp bill the Legislature passed last week as an example. Gibbs said Douglas will still not sign such bills, but the onus will be on the Legislature when the bills die.

Gibbs said the pocket-veto provision will not change how the governor handles a bill regarding the Vermont Yankee decommissioning fund. Douglas will act on that bill today, and Gibbs indicated he will veto it. “The governor's been very clear he does not support legislation that will result in (utility) rate increases for the people of Vermont,” Gibbs said.

Though Gibbs accused Symington of wanting the extra time to solicit campaign donations from “special interests,” he conceded that Douglas accepts donations from those who lobby in the state. “He certainly accepts contributions from organizations and individuals that represent them but this is a tactical move by the Speaker to put fundraising ahead of policy she supports,” Gibbs said.

Douglas has said he thinks party contributions in that bill would force campaign spending into the hands of outside “special interest” groups.

Symington message:

Symington… objected to the accusation on several fronts. “The governor's been calling for us to have an orderly adjournment,” she said. “Now they're somehow wanting us to extend the session?”

Symington said it shouldn't be a problem for the governor to decide whether he supports a bill or not. “Legislators only get to say yes or no. He wants to say maybe,” she said. “I think that's a cop-out of leadership.”

Symington said if Douglas is concerned about campaign donations, he should not have vetoed the Legislature's campaign finance bill that would have limited contributions

(Updated due to current announcement. – promoted by JulieWaters)

Just got this rather spartan PR from the Dems:

Symington to make Announcement

Montpelier, VT – Gaye Symington will make an announcement at the Statehouse on Monday, May 12.  

WHEN: Monday, May 12 –  10 a.m.

WHERE: Vermont Statehouse Steps

Three guesses what that announcement’s gonna be.

UPDATED: Symington is making it official right at this moment.  You can stream the audio of it right now (live stream of the speech, which will be just WDEV radio once the speech is over) at this link –julie

(Unconfirmed) word is that longtime single-payer advocate Dr. Deb Richter will be challenging Brian Dubie for the Lieutenant Governor’s office this year, running on the Democratic ticket.

There has been recent speculation in the traditional media that Richter was considering such a run – including considering whether to run as a Democrat or a Progressive, but word is circulating rapidly that she is ready to move forward with her candidacy.

And I can think of no better endorsement than the one offered by GMD front pager Caoimhin Laochdha in the comments of a diary I wrote some time back, musing about possible women candidates for Governor:

I’d vote for her in a heartbeat.

For almost twenty years, Vermont has primarily faced two major problems.  (1) The health care crises facing our broken medical system and (2) everything else government does.

One Democratic physician already proved to be an extremely adept Governor at handling the “everything else.” A Governor Richter might be our best chance to finally and seriously address the biggest, most difficult and most serious problem:

– facing Vermont’s economy,

– pressuring the state’s budget,

– driving state property and income taxes,

– exploding the cost of human capital for state employers, and

-creating one of the biggest threats to our quality of life.

Without health, you have nothing. Without a functioning and manageable health care system, we are only treading water – at best – trying to handle every other state problem.

Dr. Richter is extremely capable and qualified. Her life’s work and Vermont’s most pressing need just happen to be the same thing.

Where’s the petition?

Sounds like the petition is on its way. Let’s just hope she gets some fresh communications advisers.

If you study behavioral psychology, you’ll learn about a concept called “the extinction burst.”  

The specific example I use when I teach is this:

You’ve got a child who is throwing tantrums.  In the past, the tantrums have gotten the child attention, which is exactly what the child wants.  Therefore, you have been providing positive reinforcement to that child’s behavior.  It’s “positive” because you’re adding something (attention), not because it’s good.  It’s “reinforcement” because it increases the behavior.

The much more effective approach to reducing tantrums is negative punishment.  “Negative” because you’re removing something and “punishment” because it reduces the behavior.  When we talk about “punishment” in behavioral psychology we don’t necessarily mean anything specific; it’s just any act in a behavioral context which reduces the frequency of a given behavior.

But here’s why many parents don’t use negative punishment: the extinction burst.

You have a child who’s throwing tantrums and you decide to reduce the tantrums through not paying attention.  You try to ignore them completely.  This will generally work.  But before it works, it gets worse.  The child, knowing that the tantrums have worked in the past, thinks that the tantrums are just not loud enough.  

So they get worse, before they fade out entirely.

This last ditch effort to make the tantrums work is the aforementioned “extinction burst.”  It’s perfectly human: something that has worked in the past is losing its power so you don’t try something different.  You do what you’ve been doing all along, but push harder.

Here are some examples of the extinction burst in action:

USA Today:

Hillary Rodham Clinton vowed Wednesday to continue her quest for the Democratic nomination, arguing she would be the stronger nominee because she appeals to a wider coalition of voters – including whites who have not supported Barack Obama in recent contests.

“I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on,” she said in an interview with USA TODAY. As evidence, Clinton cited an Associated Press article “that found how Sen. Obama’s support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me.”

Yahoo News:

With virtually no chance of catching Obama in the popular vote or among pledged delegates, Clinton and her strategists have pinned their hope on persuading superdelegates – elected officials and party activists – that she would be the stronger Democrat to run against McCain.

Harold Ickes, who heads the Clinton campaign’s outreach to superdelegates, has acknowledged discussing Obama’s controversial former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, with superdelegates, saying Wright’s incendiary anti-American sermons and other comments could alienate voters in the fall.

Talking Points Memo:

Camp Hillary is rejecting the new plan floated today by Michigan Dems that would seat the delegation by awarding 69 delegates to Hillary and 59 to Obama.

A Recommended post at MyDD:

On May 20th, BO will stand before us – place the crown on his own head – and tell the people who have yet to vote that he’s our nominee because he’s reached some magic number of pledged delegates.  Screw Michigan and Florida.  Screw the Superdelegates.  He figures he’ll have the majority of the pledged delegates so to hell with Hillary and to hell with the millions who have voted for her and are looking forward to deciding this according to the RULES as laid out by our party.

Another Recommended post at myDD:

So…yes, it appears that Barack Obama is very scared.  Scared of the people in Florida, Michigan, West Virginia, Kentucky, Puerto Rico; scared of the Democratic process; and possibly scared that more of his skeletons will pop out of the closet before June.  I can’t really say, don’t know what he’s thinking, but Jeez, Senator, let Democracy be!

Sorry to say, it’s going to keep getting uglier and more shrill before we can move past this and accept that we’ve got a nominee.  

That’s how the extinction burst works.

UPDATE: see the comments thread on this post on MyDD to see other examples of the extinction burst in play.  

I’m not a Star Wars fan but I got a good laugh out of this.

The Empire Strikes Barack on FunnyOrDie.com

Hat tip and kudos to Vermont Lyme Network led by Dayle Ann and Nancy.

I've been studying up on Lyme disease over the last year after meeting two women — both in their early 30's — who suffer from chronic Lyme.  In learning more about it, I became convinced that my father, who suffers every day from a variety of seemingly unrelated symptoms, became a chronic victim after he visted his doctor with a rash from a bug bite — and was never tested!

Lyme disease is here in Vermont, and there are still a lot of doctors who are not proactive in recognizing it.  Last year, the State Epidemiologist sent out questionnaire to doctors in order to discover their knowledge base.  Of course, 85% responded in a way to suggest that they are up to speed on the subject, but frankly, I could have passed the test without ever attending medical school since the questionnaire was titled, Lyme Physician Survey Report for Providers.  Talk about giving away the diagnosis before listing the symptoms.

So, my father suffers needlessly, unlike the President who was diagnosed and treated immediately, which is really the only time to prevent chronic lyme from setting in.

Below the fold, what you need to know, and a press release on last week's settlement in the first-ever anti-trust investigation against a medical society's guidelines development process involving suppressed scientific evidence and corruption by a commercially driven medical panel.

FACTS ABOUT LYME DISEASE

1.  Lyme disease is the most widespread and fastest growing vector borne disease in America.

2.  Lyme desease is present throughout Vermont. “Case definition” statistics do not represent the true occurrence. CDC estimates that at a minimum, nationally the actual number of new cases annually is at least 10 times those that meet the requirements for reporting. Underreporting is common for other reasons as well, misdiagnosis being one of them.

3.  There are two recognized sets of diagnostic and treatment guidelines, but only one is being made available to physicians in Vermont. Physicians need to know about both sets of guidelines, in order to make informed decisions in treating their patients.

4.  Treated early and adequately, Lyme disease can be cured. But once it disseminates from the site of infection, it can be devastating in consequences, and difficult to treat. Even early treatment sometimes fails.

5.  People with inadequately treated chronic or relapsing Lyme disease frequently experience a quality of life equal to or worse than that of people with other chronic illnesses such as ALS or MS.

6.  The loss of jobs, homes, relationships, social support, and dependence on public resources result not only in severe economic losses to the families involved, but to society as a whole.

7.  Additional research on the dynamics of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases, and on various treatment modalities, is critical to increase our understanding of how to treat these diseases more effectively.

8.  There are far more cases of Lyme disease, with more far-reaching consequences, than there are ofWest Nile. Yet the funding for West Nile far exceeds that for Lyme and associated diseases at both state and federal levels.

There is a bill in Congress, HR 741, that would address some of these
issues, but recognition is also needed at the state level.

For more information contact:
Vermont Lyme Network
vermontlyme@vermontlyme.org
www.vermontlyme.org     

Additionall, for those who suffer chronic lyme who have also had their diagnosis and alternative treatment summarily dismissed, there was a ground breaking settlement just last week.

Watch out for ticks, and if you get a bullet shaped rash, get to your doctor immediately and demand a test for Lyme.  The particular type of rash is in fact a diagnosis all by itself.

Here's the press release on last week's settlement:

Hartford, CT – Patients' rights groups today hailed Connecticut Attorney General Blumenthal's announcement of a settlement in a landmark antitrust investigation into the Lyme treatment guidelines ofthe Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).

“My office uncovered undisclosed financial interests held by severalof the most powerful IDSA panelists,” said Blumenthal. “The IDSA's guideline panel improperly ignored, or minimized, consideration of
alternative medical opinion and evidence regarding chronic Lyme disease, potentially raising serious questions about whether therecommendations reflected all relevant science.”

The groundbreaking settlement announced today forces a complete review of the IDSA guidelines by a new panel free from conflicts of interest,specifically excluding previous panel members. This panel will
consider a range of scientific evidence in a public forum broadcast live over the internet and will be overseen by a specialist in financial conflicts of interest in medicine.

“This settlement makes it clear that the IDSA guideline development process was corrupted by a commercially driven panel that excluded evidence supporting longer term treatment of Lyme disease,” said attorney Lorraine Johnson, Executive Director of the California Lyme Disease Association (CALDA). “This settlement allows suppressed scientific viewpoints and evidence to be heard, and it is promising news for patients.”

This is the first-ever antitrust investigation against a medicalsociety's guidelines development process.

“We congratulate Attorney General Blumenthal for exposing the IDSA's conflicts of interest and helping reduce the suffering of Lyme patients everywhere,” said Pat Smith, president of the national Lyme
Disease Association (LDA). “The IDSA guidelines are dangerous for patients who suffer longer-term Lyme symptoms that do not fall within the IDSA's narrow disease definition.”

The IDSA guidelines are treated as mandatory within the medical community. More than 50 physicians who use longer-term treatment approaches have been investigated or sanctioned by state medical
boards. The guidelines can also result in financial problems for patients, since insurance companies refuse to reimburse for longer-term treatment and pharmacies may refuse to fill prescriptions.

The majority of individuals involved in the IDSA guidelines development process held direct or indirect commercial interests related to Lyme vaccines, patents, and/or test kits, and did not take
the opinions or experiences of the competing Lyme groups into account. While the announcement of a settlement comes as a huge relief to suffering Lyme patients, the case has much broader implications for a health care system that often contends with conflicts of interest in guideline processes – guidelines which are often used by insurance companies to limit diagnosis and treatment options.

“Today's settlement marks an important victory for all patients who suffer Lyme disease, but it is also a victory for anyone concerned about health care,” said Johnson. “Commercially driven guidelines that
limit patient treatment options are a major issue today in healthcare, and this decision marks an important step towards addressing it.”

The national Lyme Disease Association, (LDA), CALDA, and Time for Lyme are non-profit organizations that were founded by individuals who had personal experience with Lyme disease, in order to address the lack of education and support services available for this newly emerging infection.

Hello Fellow Obama Delegates!

In order to help Vermonters make informed voting decisions at the VDP's State Convention on May 24th, I've begun a list of national delegate candidate statements at the Vermonters For Obama website:
http://vermontersforobama.org/delegates

A few candidates have provided information already, and I hope that many of the more than 100 national delegate candidates take advantage of this opportunity, as well.

So, please check the Vermonters For Obama candidate page from time to time over the next two weeks to learn more about the people who are vying to represent Vermont and to have the honor of casting their votes for Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Are You a Delegate Candidate for the National Convention?

If you are, I'd like to offer you space on the Vermonters For Obama website to help you make your case.

Just send me an email at info@vermontersforobama.org with a statement in support of your candidacy — and I'll post it online for you.

If you participate, your name will be posted in alphabetical order at http://vermontersforobama.org/delegates and will be linked to your candidate statement.

You can send statements either as text in an email, a Microsoft Word or PDF attachment, or just a link to another website, whichever you prefer. Be sure to include your full name and feel free to include a photo, too, if you wish.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Good luck and hope to see you all on May 24th!

Neil Jensen
Vermonters For Obama
Monkton, VT

P.S. Don't forget to participate in the Obama campaign's Vote for Change National Voter Registration Drive this Saturday in Burlington…

This morning I rec'd an email from SPS who asked me to share.  Thank you, Steve, for helping get some real-life pictures to us, and for pointing readers to a place where they can offer help. 

These photos were taken by employees of an AmericanNGO, Pact, – one of the few with offices in Myanmar. The scale of the catastrophe and suffering are simplyoverwhelming.

 Pact has set up a link on its web page (http://www.pactworld.org/cs/help_myanmar) to provide more information on the relief effort, but suffice itto say that right now everyone is scrambling.

best,
Steve

Additional photos are posted on WaPo; but the main point is to get  the word out that Mynmar will likely loose over 100,000 people in the storm's aftermath, and that donations can be given through Friends of PACT/Myanmar.

For more information, go to:   http://www.pactworld.org/cs/help_myanmar