380 million salmonella eggs. Not yummy, but, apparently, neither is 80% of the chicken. It's regularly contaminated with the very same salmonella involved in the recent recall. Still, no one is talking about that. People only speak in sound bites now--even my adoptive Italian Grandma stated: "It's not worth the risk." Just hours later I read her exact words in an article by Mike Adams.
No, the FDA, the CDC, and the USDA aren't telling you to throw out of those tiny tainted chicken corpses. Proper cooking kills the contaminant. Same with the eggs. They don't report that.
So was it the chicken or the egg? Both? Neither? In this case, if you plow through the misinformation, it is obvious that it is the farming practices that are wrong.
Awww, come now. THAT doesn't make for exciting television. We need sensational news stories with sci-fi endings, like the idea of nuking all the eggs, eradicating nutrients along with the contaminants. Why attempt to cure the big agribusiness disease completely when you can invent a new oppressive solution that will evenly distribute poor health to everyone? Now that's equality!
What's useful about the age-old chicken-egg question is that it probes for root causes. What started it all? That's why I almost became a naturopathic doctor. I appreciated the methodology: restoring balance by addressing the most basic problem.
Nowadays, we treat the surface. Not just in conventional medicine. In so many arenas.
Take, for instance, insults to supposed "teabaggers" by so-called progressives who believe that Tea Party values are without merit simply because neocons like Palin, desperate for followers, are hoping to capitalize on this record-level disenchantment by posing as champions and saviors. They are not. This situation has smeared the good names of Patriotism and Political Dissent, which are GOOD THINGS. Vital things.
If Republicans are racists, Democrats are socialists, and Independents are just wasting their votes, where does that leave us? You know. Us. The people.
Nowheresville.
Popular adherence to the false left-right paradigm is infuriating and dangerous.
When will pseudo-progressives and faux conservatives quit their petty assaults on each other?
Isn't it evident that most politicians, be they Democrats or Republicans, are beholden to corporations whose primary motivation is not our well-being but their profit?
In this atmosphere of zero accountability, we can expect that such interests will contribute to the promotion and election of more corporate shills who seek to co-opt movements by both true conservatives and true progressives and to subvert their agendas. The problem is not the other side: it's the infighting among those of us who realize something is amiss. We need to befriend the Other. We need to dig into our differences and find the overlap, or it is curtains for our country.
The exacerbation of political difference is our greatest weakness. We are powerless until we see this. Only from a place of empowerment will we be able to identify those parties who wish to exploit that weakness by fomenting tensions and thereby keeping us too distracted to start rooting for ourselves and each other. You know. The home team.
25.8.10
3.8.10
French Kissin' for the DNA
When I hear a boy has a cold, it is an immediate turn-off for me. If he eats white flour and sugar, my heart suddenly stops fluttering. If he is regularly exposed to chemicals, I hide my cuteness from him. If he smokes, I think, "What a waste!" and promptly begin searching out a new crush.
My friends and family dismiss my criticisms as "weird" and "picky" and suggest that I broaden my horizons. I vehemently protest until they switch topics.
Apparently, I am not alone. Vastly outnumbered but not entirely alone.
Yesterday Luke had bubblegum for breakfast and an ice cream sundae for dinner. Sure, it was organic raw vegan ice cream, but where was the balance? What kind of nutritional debt did he accumulate that day? I scolded him for not preserving his genetic integrity in front of our new drummer because he knows better. No, it didn't earn me points with either of them, but I get angry. I have invested in his health. I have taught him. He has been the beneficiary of all my diligence. The countless books and articles I've studied have allowed me to impart sage advice whenever applicable. He's been lucky to have me as his personal nutritional counselor/gourmet chef/health guru. I do realize that he usually eats properly and that, more importantly, he prefers to, but sometimes he gets disappointingly lazy, and I just can't stand it!
Sure enough, last night Natural News sent out a video and article about the "genopocalypse." It discusses how humans are destroying their fertility and their very genetic code via poor diet and lifestyle choices. Studies in small mammals have demonstrated that, even if you don't see genetic anomalies in the next generation, some reproductive irregularities will appear consistently in third and fourth generations and beyond. In his article, Adams claims that vegans will be the ones making viable deposits to the sperm bank, but I disagree; only the most discriminating vegans who are supplementing correctly will be able to contribute to the cause. All of the vegan boys I know eat mass quantities of unfermented soy, which is mostly GMO, highly estrogenic, and definitely unsuitable for consumption by men or anyone, really, unless they want to end up like these poor rats:
"...female rats fed a diet of GM soy experienced a drastically higher infant death rate, and their surviving infants were smaller and less fertile than the offspring of rats fed on a non-GM soy diet. Male rats fed the GM soy had their testicles change from pink to blue, and the GM soy was also observed to damage the DNA of sperm and embryos. Fertility problems such as abortion, infertility, premature delivery, prolapsed uteri, infant death, and even delivery of unformed infants (bags of water) have been observed in farm animals fed GM cottonseed and corn."--
Doctors Warn About Dangers of Genetically Modified Food
After watching and reading, I called Luke again. I told him I believe he has a moral obligation to his progeny to make healthy choices and implored him to do so.
Sometimes I suspect we've strayed too far from our primitive roots to ever connect fully with our most basic urges, but on this account, I was right. It may be socially unacceptable to say these things, but biologically I've always known it to be true. No matter how my contemporaries have fought me on it, I continue to feel this need to couple with someone who is fastidious about his health--not, of course, to an extent that is unhealthy! Just someone who puts genuine effort into his body, mind, and spirit because he finds value there. As I do. Simple.
Maybe someday soon I will get to reclaim and recontextualize the terms weird and picky. Maybe what's weirdest about me is how uncannily right I am to consciously and meticulously choose a partner who doesn't represent a genetic dead end.
My friends and family dismiss my criticisms as "weird" and "picky" and suggest that I broaden my horizons. I vehemently protest until they switch topics.
Apparently, I am not alone. Vastly outnumbered but not entirely alone.
Yesterday Luke had bubblegum for breakfast and an ice cream sundae for dinner. Sure, it was organic raw vegan ice cream, but where was the balance? What kind of nutritional debt did he accumulate that day? I scolded him for not preserving his genetic integrity in front of our new drummer because he knows better. No, it didn't earn me points with either of them, but I get angry. I have invested in his health. I have taught him. He has been the beneficiary of all my diligence. The countless books and articles I've studied have allowed me to impart sage advice whenever applicable. He's been lucky to have me as his personal nutritional counselor/gourmet chef/health guru. I do realize that he usually eats properly and that, more importantly, he prefers to, but sometimes he gets disappointingly lazy, and I just can't stand it!
Sure enough, last night Natural News sent out a video and article about the "genopocalypse." It discusses how humans are destroying their fertility and their very genetic code via poor diet and lifestyle choices. Studies in small mammals have demonstrated that, even if you don't see genetic anomalies in the next generation, some reproductive irregularities will appear consistently in third and fourth generations and beyond. In his article, Adams claims that vegans will be the ones making viable deposits to the sperm bank, but I disagree; only the most discriminating vegans who are supplementing correctly will be able to contribute to the cause. All of the vegan boys I know eat mass quantities of unfermented soy, which is mostly GMO, highly estrogenic, and definitely unsuitable for consumption by men or anyone, really, unless they want to end up like these poor rats:
"...female rats fed a diet of GM soy experienced a drastically higher infant death rate, and their surviving infants were smaller and less fertile than the offspring of rats fed on a non-GM soy diet. Male rats fed the GM soy had their testicles change from pink to blue, and the GM soy was also observed to damage the DNA of sperm and embryos. Fertility problems such as abortion, infertility, premature delivery, prolapsed uteri, infant death, and even delivery of unformed infants (bags of water) have been observed in farm animals fed GM cottonseed and corn."--
Doctors Warn About Dangers of Genetically Modified Food
After watching and reading, I called Luke again. I told him I believe he has a moral obligation to his progeny to make healthy choices and implored him to do so.
Sometimes I suspect we've strayed too far from our primitive roots to ever connect fully with our most basic urges, but on this account, I was right. It may be socially unacceptable to say these things, but biologically I've always known it to be true. No matter how my contemporaries have fought me on it, I continue to feel this need to couple with someone who is fastidious about his health--not, of course, to an extent that is unhealthy! Just someone who puts genuine effort into his body, mind, and spirit because he finds value there. As I do. Simple.
Maybe someday soon I will get to reclaim and recontextualize the terms weird and picky. Maybe what's weirdest about me is how uncannily right I am to consciously and meticulously choose a partner who doesn't represent a genetic dead end.
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