Housing Bubble.

So President Obama wants to help the housing market. Many people are now upside down on their mortgages and the only solution people want to hear, is that we have to get prices back up. Hello people. Getting things back to the way they were just recreates the problem. The reason these people are upside down on their loans is because they paid more than they should have and got a loan from a corrupt banking system that we just bailed out. For the most part these people were taken advantage of, and we should have bailed them out instead. Now it's too late to go back and fix the bailout fiasco, and we just have to realize that these people are going to have to deal with their loses on their own. But we cannot go back to having the prices back at the levels that they were. That is not a solution, it's just making the same mistake again.

Now we could maybe save these people by dissolving these banks and using the money to get these people back on their feet. What do you think about that? Maybe that would send a clear message to the banks.

Does this matter.

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

This month is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. And I feel it necessary to share some incites that too many people in this country either don't know or ignore. First of all, the best "cure" for cancer is prevention. There is plenty of scientific study out there that already proves that we should not be suffering from cancer the way we are in this country and others that have adopted our diets and our lifestyles. For example, in the early 1970's, the premier of China, Chou En-lai, was dying of cancer, so he initiated a nationwide survey to collect information about the extent and location of cancer in China. The result was the most comprehensive biomedical research project ever undertaken, involving more than 650,000 workers. It's known as The China Study, and it proves that our diets can, for the most part, prevent cancer. In fact, it proved that cancer is considered a "disease of affluence," or, as Dr. T. Colin Campbell, the director of the project more aptly called it a "disease of nutritional extravagance." I don't want to get into details about the study, that would take too long, and there are books on the subject that you should read, if you are interested.

So, moving on. One of the biggest obstacles for real cancer awareness, in my opinion, is all of the medical companies doing research. These companies are in this to make money, and if the solution is as simple as eating better, then they would all be out of jobs. Also, the medical industry itself, in our country especially, is about profits, so there is no incentive there either for people to be healthy, and to work towards prevention, rather than treatment.

Another obstacle could be the food industry. Not just the huge fast food changes, but the companies that make our groceries. Most of what is out there contains empty calories, harmful ingredients like hydrogenated oils, and very little nutritional value. A hundred years ago our diets where much healthier than they are now. By feeding us crap, we eat more, and they make more profit. If we eat more nutritional foods we wouldn't eat so much.

Yet another major obstacle is our government. They may not always purposely lead us astray, but because our government agencies are suppose to work for us, we believe in them to do what is right for the American people. Unfortunately, they don't. Too many times, the agencies that are suppose to work for us, are overseen by the heads of many of the very companies that we should be wary of. Does that make sense? That's not just like letting the fox into the hen house, but also like having the fox tell the farmer how to run the farm. (Personally, I hate animal analogies that make animals look bad, but it helps make the point I hope.)

Now, I don't want to make people think that I believe people who get cancer are getting what they deserve. That is not the case. I am, in fact, very saddened by how many wonderful people have suffered and died from this disease. And want to do what little I can to make a difference. If our government isn't going to get the truth out, and the cancer researchers aren't, then we are left with finding out the truth on our own. Please look into The China Study, and if you find it useful, pass the information along. Another good book on the subject is Healthy at 100, by John Robbins.

Does this matter? I'm guessing yes, because we have a whole month dedicated to it, but you decide.

Should labor unions join the "Occupy Wall Street" protest?

There's a lot of talk in the media now about the unions supporting the protestors on Wall Street, and I'm wondering if that is really a good thing. Unions have done a lot of good for workers in the past, but many of them have gotten very powerful and power hungry. In my opinion they began to add to the problems of our economy long ago. Because of unions a lot of jobs have gone over seas, and America can not compete economic with many other countries. Instead of continually wanting more raises and benefits from employers, that just cut into profits, why don't they try getting the guys at the top to stop taking such big bonuses and share the wealth with the workers?

Look at the example of the US Postal Service. That union is so strong, that they will be lucky to not be closed down by the end of this year. Eighty percent of the operational cost is salary! And they have a "no layoff" clause, so they can't legally cut back on their work force to help save jobs.

Anyway, rather than state too many of my ideas and opinions about unions on here, I want to make the point that there almost seems to be a conflict of interest between what the current protestors  are about, and what unions are about. The protestors seem to be more about changing things for the better, and lot letting corporate America continue to get away with horrible business practices the are hurting our economy. Things like taking bailouts for a problem they caused, and then paying their top screw ups bonuses for it. The unions are more about getting more for the laborers, regardless of whether is causes us the not be competitive with other countries and shoots us in both feet, legs, arms, and in the long run head, economically.

Does anybody else see this, and is this important?

Hunza Myths?

I wanted to see if I could find some good photos of the Hunza terraces that I had read about in "Healthy at 100", and I came across this guys website. He was attempting to use a lot of information that contradicted what I was reading to prove that the Hunzakuts, are not only not mainly vegetarian, but that they don't live as long as claimed. He also wanted to prove that eating more meat and animal fat was much healthier than being vegetarian. Does anyone else see the contradiction here? If he is claiming the Hunzakuts don't live as long, (based on the photos he saw, he was guessing the elders were only in their fifties), and he is claiming their diet was mostly animal based, then to me this suggests that an animal based diet is not as healthy.

Anyway, I don't want to seem too biased, and I would like to have others look at his site and tell me what they think. Maybe I am misunderstanding him. There was a lot of other interesting information about the Hunzakuts too, that I hadn't heard before. Don't know how much is fact, fiction, or speculation.

This is probably not that important. But you may enjoy it.

Healthy at 100

Healthy at 100 is a book by John Robbins that I have recently started to read. It's not only about living to be a hundred and beyond, but about doing so and being functional and healthy still. You see, although people are living longer in our modern world, on average they aren't very functional or healthy. In fact, you may say that in stead of living longer, we are dying longer. In a quote from the book, "A century ago, the average adult in Western nations spent only 1 percent of his or her life in a morbid or ill state, but today's average modern adult spends more than 10 percent of his or her life sick." The book is full of statistics and facts based on research. As usual, John Robbins is superb at collecting his facts. But basically it is about research that has been done of four different societies around the globe that are known to be long lived. For the most part these cultures are in pristine locations with plenty of clean air and fresh fruits and vegetables. Yes, their diets are mostly vegetarian, but the book is not about that. In fact, it isn't even about promoting the lifestyles of these cultures. In general these people are very poor, and have little or none of the modern conveniences that we enjoy. Realistically, what John Robbins wants to do with the book, is change our mindset about how we look at getting old. Some of the biggest factors mentioned in the book, are how respected the elders are in these society, compared to our modern industrialized view of being decrepit and ugly. The other stuff in the book, like the differences in diet and exercise are, in my opinion common knowledge, and of no real surprise. The only thing holding people back in these aspects of health are our own decisions. But our society's mentality towards aging effects us greatly too. Look at the media today, and you mostly see commercials, television shows, and movies with young "attractive people". Especially where women are concerned. How often do you see an average out of shape guy with a more attractive woman? And even things like birthday cards talking about being "over the hill". There are not many positive terms used to describe older people, but plenty of negative ones, like "geezer," "old fogey," old maid," "dirty old man," and my favorite, "old fart." In the cultures mentioned in the book, there on no negative terms for getting old. In fact, everything about being older is so revered that the elders often lie about their age and say they are older than they really are.

John Robbins makes a point of being very honest in the book. Even though he is a vegetarian he tells about the meat and dairy that they eat. It is a very small part of their diets, especially compared to what our society consumes, but not enough so to omit. He could have focused on how old some of these people claimed to be, but he made a point of showing that research had revealed that many of them were 20 or 30 years younger than they said they were. But the point wasn't really to show that these people lived to be well over a hundred, but to show that even if they were only in their 90's, they were still very fit, healthy and active. Most of the time the researches couldn't keep up with these elders, as they went about their everyday lives.

So, what am I getting out of this book? That, yes, clean air, a good diet and exercise are important to live a long and healthy happy life, but so is attitude. Not just our own, but of our society. We need to be surrounded with love and positive energy. Getting old should not mean, a loss of health and vitality. It should mean a gain in wisdom and respect. Not too surprising either, I hope.

Is this important?

Is there a problem with democracy?

I read an article yesterday about how the youth in so many countries are disillusioned with democracy now. Basically, they feel that the politicians are corrupt and work for the banks and other corporations, rather than the people who vote them into office. I admit, I've been feeling this way myself for quite a while now. Some of the remarks being made in the article mention how even in countries that had dictators, they are no longer happy with the democratic method. Their parents say they are happy to be able to vote, but the youth see past this to the new issues that exist.

There is a tone in the article that suggest trying to come up with another option to democracy all together. "Increasingly, citizens of all ages, but particularly the young, are rejecting conventional structures like parties and trade unions in favor of a less hierarchical, more participatory system modeled in many ways on the culture of the Web."

I love this creative thinking and can hardly wait to see what comes out of it. Unfortunately, I feel that America may become the last dinosaur of democracy. I say unfortunately, because I foresee things having to get a lot worse, before enough Americans are willing to make the radical changes necessary. We could of course, try things like opening up our democracy to more than just the two party system we have now. But I just don't see it happening soon enough. But maybe we need to hit bottom, so that we are willing to make real changes in the long run, and not just settle for half way measures that are still susceptible to corruption.

Does this matter?

The Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act

I recently got an email from PCRM (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine) about this new bit of legislature called PAMTA (The Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act, H.R. 965/S. 1211). Basically, it's about having the FDA re-evaluate using antibiotics on livestock. The simplified version of the problem is livestock producers place animals in overcrowded, unsanitary living conditions to maximize their output and profits. Then, to prevent the inevitable spread of disease from such conditions and to spur faster growth in the animals, they routinely add antibiotics to their feed. Widespread use of antibiotics gives rise to resistant bacteria. Through contact with farm workers and contaminated waste runoff, resistant bacteria can spread to humans and other animals.

I have to say, that even if I didn't believe there was an issue with resistant strains of bacteria, I would have to support this kind of legislation to help change what is going on in factory farms. Hopefully, people who don't care about the conditions the animals are in will still have more selfish reasons to consider a change.

Is this important?

Wall Street Protest

So, I just read an article about the protestors on Wall Street, and then read some of the remarks. There seemed to be a huge disconnect. I'll start with the remarks, which seemed to focus primarily on the idea that the protestors were against the rich, and that they believed that everyone on Wall Street is rich. That's not what I get out of reading about the protestors. From what I can gather, and this may be because it's more like how I feel, the protestors are fed up with things like bailouts, and corporate loopholes that allow them to corrupt our democracy, and damage the environment. They're fed up with the people who are causing the problems not only getting away with it, but getting rescued by our tax dollars. Many of them getting rewarded for doing a good job through bonuses, after we had to bail them out.

As the people in the remarks said, the average worker on Wall Street, isn't rich, and worked hard to get where they are. But Wall Street itself, unfortunately, is a symbol of many of the problems with our government and politics. All of our democrats and republicans are owned by big business, with the exception of a very few. (That's why I support the Green Party. But I do feel that Ron Paul is an exception and our best choice, and chance for a good president.) So I feel the protestors got it right. They picked probably the best symbol for what they think is wrong with this country, and it's unfortunate that many can't even slightly understand what it is they are protesting. Makes me wonder if they even looked into it before they made their remarks. And, it made them look ignorant, in my opinion.

Is this important, or just extremist being extreme?

Attitude

As some of my friends and family know, I've been in management, had my own business and been my own boss, and now work as a cashier at a local grocery chain. At first, I was embarrassed and felt that this job was beneath me. I thought I would move up quickly, especially after I started getting a lot of positive feedback from my supervisors and customers. But that didn't happen. This began to effect my attitude, which is usually very positive. I am a spiritual person though, and so I rediscovered prayer and asked for guidance. The result is that I learned that my attitude should not be brought down by my situation, but that I should use my attitude to bring me up. I've believed this for years, but now it is really being tested. Now I feel that I am where I am meant to be, at least, at this time of my life. Everyday, I have customers tell me how they see me smiling all the time, even when dealing with difficulties. And that I make their day.

Many people ask at some point in their life how they can make a difference. I think the answer can be as simple as having a positive attitude, and sharing a sincere smile with people around you. With the state of our economy right now, it may be the only thing some of us can to do help. In fact, I am beginning to believe, it is a big part of what we need to learn to get through this crisis. Economist, politicians, and big business want us to believe that the solution is more spending. Even the media is telling us this. Well, that never rang true with me, and less so now. I think the proof is in the pudding, and if you look at history, it has been proven time and time again. I won't assume that I know the answer, although I do have some ideas. But I believe, regardless of what the solution is, we need to remember that attitude is something we can control and can make a difference. I once heard that life is ten percent objective, and ninety percent attitude. In other words, you can't always control what is happening around you, but you can control how you decide to handle it.

Does this matter?

9/11

With the tenth anniversary coming up on Sunday we are hearing a lot of opinions about 9/11 again. I heard one today on the news that we have rebuilt New York and shown the terrorist that they did not win. It's a nice thought, but I'm not sure it's true at all. If we think about what their objective might have been, do we really think they just wanted to piss us off by killing a few thousand of our citizen in a single attack. That doesn't make any sense. From research I did back then, bin Laden's intention was to draw us into a war, and to expend our resources and bring about our own down fall. By my humble estimations of what is going on in this country, the terrorist may be close to succeeding. Albeit, we were on the downfall long before 9/11, but what we have done since then to pay the terrorist back and get revenge, has only helped to speed us towards the cliff. The only thing that makes this even worse, is how rich some people got because of it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against wealth, just against getting wealthy at the expense of others, especially others lives.

Maybe we should pretend we are winning though. What do you think? Does this matter?

Being vegetarian

When people find out that I'm vegetarian, they always ask why. They seem to think that I can give a simple ten second answer, and I'm pretty sure they expect to not agree. But more and more often, I'm finding that people are more receptive to the idea. They may not think that they can do it, but they still seem to agree that it would be healthier. So, I want to take a little time and explain some of my reasons on my blog.

First of all, I don't limit myself to any one reason, or just a few of them. There are a lot of reasons, and all of them work for me. I figure, with so many reasons, it's obvious that being vegetarian is the right way to go. The toughest part in starting this list is deciding where to start and what to include. Since most people seem to respond to the idea of the personal health reasons, let's start there. When it started for me, back in 1993, I was in college (I started late) and most of my information came from word of mouth. The first, and by far best source of information I came across that included facts based on research, was "Diet for a New America", by John Robbins, which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. He's the son of Robbins, from Baskin Robbins Ice Cream. Who better to talk about such a topic, right? Well, it turns out he knows quite a bit. His book is a wealth of knowledge. For example, one of the first questions people ask is, "where to you get your protein." The answer is, from pretty much everything. Anything that has ever lived, needs protein to survive and grow, even plants. To support this answer, I would like to impose on your sense of logic. Look at the largest land animals on this planet, elephants, hippos, cows, and many more. They are all pretty much herbivores (vegetarians), and nobody wonders where their protein comes from. And, in the typical American diet, about twice the recommended, or required amount of protein is consumed. So, no real problem there, you just need to eat a good variety of foods to make sure you get all of your nutrients.

Something else I learned from the book, although is was only a theory at the time and has since been proven, is that even though American's consume more dairy than any other culture we still have the highest incidents of osteoporosis. Does that make sense, after all the marketing from the dairy industry to tell you how good milk is for us, especially against osteoporosis? The reason, is because our bodies utilize calcium in processing animals proteins, so most of it never makes it to our bones.

I'll move on to another aspect of being vegetarian now. The environmental impact of eating meat. To raise livestock for meat, we utilize literally tons of resources, like water, corn and soy. If we took the soy and corn that we use to feed livestock and gave it to humans, we wouldn't have people starving in the world. Eighty to ninety percent of both crops go towards feeding livestock. And we get such a small return on that investment, about ten to one. Meaning it takes ten pounds of these crops to get a pound of meat. And the type of farms that these animals are raised on are destroying the environment around them. Thousands of animals crammed together eating a food they weren't designed for (corn). That's right, cows bodies become acidic and sick from all of the corn they are fed, because they are meant to eat grass. But they don't grow fast enough from grass, and they aren't fat enough then either. (Another reason eating meat is not healthy) And all of these animals create a lot of manure, which ends up contaminating a lot of ground water systems and could be causing birth defects in the local communities.

In countries in South America, rain forest are being destroyed to create more farm land for raising beef and livestock. This land isn't very fertile, because the fertility of a rain forest is mostly in the plants and animals, not the ground it's on. So once it's wiped out, it's gone for good.

Moving right along, I hope I haven't bored you yet. Let's get to what is probably the least important factor for most, the treatment of the animals. Animal husbandry used to be more about caring for the animals, and letting them feed on the local grass until they naturally reached maturity and were ready for slaughter. If this were the way things were still done, I could be more accepting. It wouldn't bother me so much if someone chose to still eat meat. But this is far from how things are done now a days. In most cases the animals are not allowed to roam, in fact, most are prevented from moving much at all. They are given diets that are not natural to them, and cause their bodies to become toxic. To counter this we give them tons of antibiotics just to keep them alive until they are ready to slaughter. By that time, most of them are close to death anyway.

I could go on for quite a while, but the fact is, anybody who has read this far is probably already interested, and I'm preaching to the choir. All others probably didn't get past the title. If you are interested, and want a quite easy way to get your feet wet on this information, Diet for a New American also comes in a video format that you can watch on YouTube.

I hope you think this matters.

Child protective services?

I have a niece that lives with her father (my sister died when she was young) who is constantly drunk and broke. They live in a trailer on some land about twenty minutes outside of town. He has a criminal record for drunk driving, doesn't pay his property taxes, gambles what little money he makes, neglects his daughter, lets the utilities get turned off, etc, etc. My niece even told her teachers at school about it, and they called child protective services, which have been contacted numerous times already about the situation. They sent him a subpena to appear in court twice, he no-showed both times, so the case is dropped, because  they can't be sure he got the notices, because he doesn't answer the door when they deliver them. It's starting to sound like child protective service is another oxymoron.

I know there are horror stories about what happens to kids that are taken from their parents too, and where they could end up, especially since she is about to turn fourteen. But she has family that is more than willing to take her, if allowed to. In fact, my father spent tens of thousands trying to get custody of her just before my sister died, but no one wanted to support him at the time, so he lost.


Anyway, does this matter?

Household cleaning and the environment

It should be a no brainer by now, but it isn't. Using commercially produced cleaners in your home is harmful. Most of those cleaners are harmful poisons, that are not necessary. All you really need to clean your home is vinegar. It does just as good a job, and cost a fraction of what commercial cleaners do. So why are people not catching on? Are we really that easily manipulated by these companies? Well, lets see... we buy what they want, we vote for the candidates they want, and we protect them with laws that they want. I guess the answer is "Hell Yes!"


Does this matter?

Politicians and public schools

So, it looks like our politicians don't believe in the schools system that they are responsible for providing us. (see this link) Some conspiracy theories believe that our school system is purposely getting worse, and that the elite want to dumb Americans down. Then they can have a dumb, unquestioning workforce, and they can stay at the top. But even if this isn't intentional, why is it so? Is education just not that important, or do politicians not concern themselves with it, because they can afford alternatives? And regardless of all of this what is the solution?

As Nelson Mandela said, "Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that a son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation."

Of course, if the majority of our good education is only going to those who can afford it, then that makes a statement like this null and void. Doesn't it?

Does this even matter?

America, oil, and government interference

So, if you watch this video on US oil , you may ask yourself, as I do, "why is government even involved in this?" Shouldn't market forces be what determines what natural resources we use and how? If natural gas is the cheaper better way to go, then market forces would make that happen naturally. But our huge government has to have it's hand in everything, so things get delayed indefinitely. That's "our" politicians and tax dollars at work folks. Makes you wonder if they really want us to be less dependent on foreign oil, especially after investing so many American lives in getting more.

Does it matter?

The truth about schools and lottery money

So, we all know, at least here in San Antonio, that schools are laying off teachers. And I thought, wait a minute, what about all of that money the schools are suppose to be getting from the state lotteries? I asked my dad, the genius and he set me straight. So I looked into, and found out very little ends up going to the schools. And what does go to them only replaces what they would have gotten anyway from taxes, so that the taxes go somewhere else. In other words, education is still a low priority and society is obviously paying the price. At least a few of these individuals who get short changed by the school system have a chance at the lottery some day, right? Here's some details form CBS news, if you're interested. Is The Lottery Shortchanging Schools?

Does this matter?

New Blogger

Dear Friends, I constantly have ideas in my head and wonder how important other people think they are. For example, with the Presidential race going on, I noticed right away that my favorite candidate, Ron Paul was doing much better than I expected, but that nobody in the media was talking about it. Of course, once I noticed this, I started to find that others noticed it too, including some pretty well known media sources, so I felt much better. (see this example The Daily Show with Jon Stewart ) Now, if only the mainstream media would do it's job and do some unbiased reporting. But that would be asking too much, I guess.

Does this matter?