Deatrophication of the Brain

I guess tonight was my political night. I watched Real Time with Bill Maher for an hour in video thanks to the fact that you can now subscribe to the video of “Real Time” through iTunes (it’s the same feed, just has videos in it now). I then watched yesterday’s broadcast of Democracy Now which was an extremely good broadcast about how the diet in America is essentially quickly leading to our demise. I then listened to an hour of Bicycle Mark and Madge Weinstein talk about more political issues as well (YR758 Bicylemark on the FISA Bill, Gold, and More. Also Auntie Vera is abused). They also discussed yesterday’s broadcast of Democracy Now. I guess this will be an echo chamber of sorts but I think I will try to put my own spin on it and talk about how it effects me.

One thing that I’ve been thinking a lot about since I finished the 3 hours of political talk is during the broadcast of Democracy Now, Michael Pollan author of “In Defense of Food” stated that when you go grocery shopping you should only shop around the perimeter of the store because that is where the produce and the non-modified foods are. I agree with this 100% and wish that it was possible to do this. Unfortunately, when you’re broke you are not able to. A big question I have is in regards to breads. Michael and Amy were talking about how the ingredients that are used to make our breads are broken down so small that the good part, the germ of the wheat is taken out. This makes breads taste much sweeter because when they touch your tongue they have been broken down already and your body doesn’t have to do a lot of work to break them down. So, you get an instant rush of glucose. Again, I agree with this but my question is how do we combat this? I would venture to guess that 90% of the breads in this country, even breads that are whole grain and massively produced have been produced by the same methods. You can’t get around it buy buying boxed breads because it’s essentially the same thing. You are simply supplying the final ingredients. Even fresh breads that come from a baker are susceptible to this problem. What do we do?

So much of our food is modified in this country. Even our water isn’t simply water anymore. If you drink your water from the tap it generally has fluoride in it. I do have to point out that the water that comes from my tap does not have fluoride in it because we do not get our water from the utility district. We have our own well. I prefer to not drink the water that comes from it because it has a lot of iron in it and filters get expensive to replace. Right now in Blount County, Tennnessee there is a protest against the utility district’s plan add fluoride to the drinking water. I’m not going to say I’m for or against this because I really don’t know. In the news report there were talks about the health concerns of ingesting fluoride. I remember in my early years of elementary school we would swish fluoride around in our mouths and spit it into a paper cup. Everyone generally participated and it was accepted as being a healthy thing to do, no one questioned it. Most public water supplies have chlorine and other chemicals to help keep the water clean. Just like the food we eat in America our water isn’t simply water anymore.

Turn on the TV right now and I will guarantee you that you will see some sort of commercial for fast food, snack food or frozen dinner that proclaims to be healthy for you. Of course you’ll also see all the reality TV shows that poke fun at the obesity epidemic. Why are we not taking the time to educate about these things in our country? Why is it that when anyone says they are vegan, vegetarian or only eat foods grown locally they are automatically considered an outcast? It’s so accepted to eat junk. It’s what our country eats. If the saying “You are what you eat” is true, then America is junk.

Getting back to an earlier thought. I would love to eat a lot healthier than I do. I am so sick and tired of eating frozen Banquet Salisbury Steak dinners, Banquet Chicken Pot Pies, Banquet Turkey Slices in Gravy with a side of mashed potatoes and something boring from a can. Why do I eat like that? It’s cheap. Healthy foods are UNREACHABLE because of their price tag. If you want to put food on the table on an extremely tight budget you will be going down the middle aisles of the grocery store. I would really love to have a salad every evening but the good salad greens cost a lot more money than the $1 box of frozen salisbury steak with gravy that feeds 6 people.

The local vocational school grows fruits and vegetables during the summer and sales them in the local grocery stores. While I think this is a great idea I question the growing method. I’m sure they are not 100% organic. At some point they HAVE to use some sort of non-organic fertilizer to make a profit which is what it generally boils down to, profit. Last summer we had our own garden here at home. I loved it! It was so nice to be able to go and get a cucumber, a tomato, tommy toes and lettuce out of the garden and make a salad. But still, the garden was not 100% organic. We used fertilizer on the garden. We could have used chicken or cow manure but the question still remains how organic is the manure coming out of the cow? Remember the circle of life they sang about in the Lion King?

Our country has been going downhill for the last 50 years and we’re starting to take other countries down with us. The planet is going to hell in a hand-basket. Let me re-phrase, the country has gone to hell in a hand-basket. I’m afraid that no matter who we elect as our President in Novemember these things WILL NOT change. I hope they do but I’m afraid they won’t. I don’t want out of this country, I want off this planet. Then, where would I find food?

One last thought of the evening and then I’m going to bed. I use to ask how in the world people in foreign countries can be going hungry? How can they go hungry when we in America have all this cheap food. I use to think that we should send a few boat loads of ramen noodles to foreign countries so they can have something to eat! While that would give people food to eat it would be setting them on the same path of destruction America is on. Goodnight.

Unless you are living under a rock then you know that Tuesday, February 5 was “Super Tuesday.” The day in which 24 states held primaries or caucuses (I need to learn more about caucuses). Of course being a citizen of the United States I proudly went and cast my ballot. I cast my ballot for Barack Obama. I’m saying that now so just in case people who don’t want to read anymore can leave now.

The night of the election I set up in my bedroom with computers and the TV and watched as the returns came in. I had instant messages on my main computer. On the same computer I had the BBC streaming to my television. I really enjoyed hearing outsider perspectives on our election. I had the social networking website Twitter on my secondary computer and I had Politico on a third computer which I was repairing for a family member. I was connected, I was tuned in. It really helped boost my desire to tune in and see what was happening with the election. Up until the point of “Super Tuesday” I hadn’t been as caring about it. I had been going through the winter blues. It really felt great to have the rush of finding out which candidates won each state. More importantly, I really enjoyed hearing the candidates give their speeches. Even the Republican candidates because it gave me more insight into their campaigns which I had not even been looking into because I was trying to make the decision between Obama or Clinton so I was only tuned into their websites.

There have been a couple of things that have bothered me since “Super Tuesday.” The first of those is as I was watching Twitter after Barack Obama gave his speech the night of the election people were saying that his speech was “vile”, made them want to puke, “disgusting”, etc. The people who made these statements are open Clinton supporters (which is fine, nothing wrong with that). I do realize that almost all speeches given on that night did not have anymore substance than what they have been saying up until this point. However, I feel as though if you watched or listened to Barack Obama’s speech on that night and you thought it was disgusting or vile then I really feel as though you don’t understand what America is SUPPOSE to be. Everything in Obama’s speech that night states what America is suppose to be! This is one of my favorite excerpts:

You see, the challenges we face will not be solved with one meeting in one night. It will not be resolved on even a Super Duper Tuesday. Change will not come if we wait for some other person or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. (Cheers, applause.) We are the change that we seek. We are the hope of those boys who have so little, who’ve been told that they cannot have what they dream, that they cannot be what they imagine. Yes, they can. (Cheers, applause.)

- The Turner Report: Transcript provided for Obama Super Tuesday speech

The above quote makes me feel as though Obama wants to make a change in this country. Of course there will be a major change since we will be getting out from under the Bush regime. But, I just feel when I read through Obama’s plan for his presidency on his website. When I hear him speak. I really feel that he wants to make a change. Some people will say that he just knows how to make a good speech. When I read the above quote again though I see much more, I feel much more, it makes me think that he realizes that change is not going to come overnight. Change is going to take years. Our country so desperately needs change. But it’s not going to come easy and it can’t end with him. We as Americans have to learn how to change and become more progressive or nothing will ever change. WE are the change. WE (Americans) are the change that we want. WE are the ones who will make things better.

The second thing that has been bothering me came today when I saw another friend say on Twitter that if you are gay and you didn’t vote for Hillary Clinton then you voted against yourself. I’ll be frank. That really pissed me off. It really bothered me. As someone who is gay I looked to my friends this election time to see who they were supporting. I read through both Obama and Hillary’s website and I came to the conclusion that Obama would get my vote based on many statements, especially this one:

Expand Hate Crimes Statutes: Barack Obama cosponsored legislation that would expand federal jurisdiction to reach violent hate crimes perpetrated because of race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, or physical disability. As a state senator, Obama passed tough legislation that made conspiracy to commit hate crimes against the law. As president, he will ensure that the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division makes hate crime a priority.

- Civil Rights Plan PDF (Direct link)

You can correct me if I am wrong on this but I have not found any statement like the one above on Hillary Clinton’s website. Yes, I realize that Hillary has came out and made a statement about how she wants the GLBT vote. Personally, I feel it’s too little too late. Especially considering her past with saying she feels as though children are better with a man and woman as parents. I also do not like the fact that Clinton said she wants the GLBT vote the night before Super Tuesday. That’s why I say it’s too late. Why couldn’t she have made this statement months ago? Is she going to update her website to reflect this new information?

When I say that I looked to my friends to see who they were endorsing and find out that they support Obama. I of course still done my research to see who I would support and endorse. The one person who is on my mind is Marti Abernathey who openly supports Barack Obama. Coming from her that honestly means a lot to me. Then when someone says that if I didn’t vote for Clinton then I voted against myself, it really triggers an emotion. I don’t know how to describe it otherwise so I will leave it at that.

This post is not about bashing Clinton. This post is really not about supporting Obama. This post is about the division among friends when it comes to politics. I think it’s great that we are voicing our opinions now. I just want to say that I think we should voice our opinions. However, I hope that we can all still be friends regardless of the fact that we have different view points. It really bothers me when someone says “If you vote for this person, then I won’t do this for you.” “I can’t be your friend because you support this person.” Many times those two statements are made in a passive aggressive way. Unfortunately, I don’t think that will change but I think we can learn to live with it. In other words, I hope I can learn to live with it. It’s really hard not to take things personally.

There is so much more that I could say in this post. There is so much more that I want to say. I think if I were to continue on much longer I might as well publish a book! If you are the two people in which I refer to in this entry then again, I really hope that we can still be friends and continue to grow as friends. I am almost hesitant to post this but I think it needs to be said otherwise it will be locked away eating at me. You are more than welcome to leave a comment telling me how stupid I am, which quite a few people already think based on my vote. Anyways, thanks for reading.