Honestly, I respect her sincerity on this prevailing problem that, although it is widely known, has yet to be taken seriously by the people and especially by the establishment that was created for our protection in matters of health, the FDA, an organization which now resembles Swiss cheese stuffed with dollar bills.

But, am I the only one who, with that statement, sees the confirmation and justification of my fear about the food I prepare for my children everyday?

Like many, I try to buy organic, when I can afford it, and I am willing to buy less for more if the quality could somehow be guaranteed, if the priority was quality rather than quantity for the sake of money. And I hate that, because money is such a priority, I must feel suspicious even about some food’s “organic-ness”, and fear regular produce. This makes me wonder about my lingering suspicion that the “organic” foods industry has gained its existence from this very fear. Or did they cause it?

Furthermore, the fact that we have such excess of crap and junk, the fact that anything cheap is pumped with chemicals, as if the lower income populations are guinea pigs that, due to the lack of funds, have no choice but to eat the most ridiculously unhealthy foods, is wrong. That, due to lack of information, awareness, education, and the excess of commercials pounded into our minds from so many direction that it is utterly unavoidable, many people, rich and poor, keep businesses, like McDonalds and producers of things like Twinkies and such, fat with money, while we are fat with shit.

But we have learned to love all these products because, despite what we do know, we just cannot seem to wean ourselves of them. And…we love them because we have grown up with them, just like women have grown up with the idea that they are less than men, just like many have grown up with the idea that people of other colors and cultures are to be thought of as less, with the idea that an accent means your ignorant, that the problem of immigration is the problem of the immigrants’ own country and not the fact that our exploitation of that country (with produce production for exportation and the dirt cheap and oppressive labor that is used for the mass production of these crops …as just one example) has severely halted their ability to develop, that it is religion that provides morality, despite the fact that is has caused the death and corruption of so many for so long, also for the sake of money and power…etc. We cherish these idiotic ideas and eat our fake meat because that is what we know….right?

But I digress.

My point is that, when you pick up a piece of fruit, whether organic or not, to feed your little babies so they can grow up strong and healthy, maybe you should think of all the connections between that single piece of fruit and the spider web of political, economic, and health issues that surround it, and which effect the balance of the world.

I have gone through many changes since my last post. I have rediscovered myself but was hesitant to write my thoughts, mostly because I think that no one gives a shit about what I think. However, given that anyone who reads past this line might be remotely interested, I have decided to give this thing another try. I will attempt to write all the bullshit that I have trapped in my head on various topics. I will tell you, in all uncensored honesty what my theories, opinions, and philosophies are.

That being said, my first order of business is to rant about some of the things that bother me.

1. Fake people that don’t realize they are fake: If you willingly chose to be plastic, that’s fine. However, behavior that is repeated constantly will eventually stop being an act and become your real personality. Anyone who has the ability to introspect should always remember who they really are deep inside, and be aware of the risk of self conditioning. 

2. Robots posing as people: These people who have spent their entire lives conditioning themselves to follow the narrow, limited path of their choice have constricted and repressed their humanity in order to become a machine. There is no hope for these types of beings. They consider everything that life throws their way as an obstacle in their path to perfection. Instead of considering change and connection to other beings, they live lonely lives of high achievement. Some die in this mechanical state, and some discover it when it is too late to do anything about it.

3. People posing as robots: worse than being a robot is willingly wanting to be one. But not to worry. As I mentioned in #1, if you fake it for long enough, eventually you won’t be able to tell the difference anyway.

4. Crammed schedules: people need room to breathe. The quality of life in poorer countries is actually better. People live with less…compete less…enjoy more human contact…have bigger, closer families. They suffer and enjoy together. What good will ballet, piano, karate, gymnastics… and all of these admired activities that parents shove their children into…do if when they grow up they don’t know how to relax and breath. Many of them, later in life, just end up filling their schedules with therapist appointments and massage sessions in the desperate attempt to undo all the stress they have accumulated since childhood. Many drink too much alcohol or use drugs (prescription or otherwise) as a form of escapism.

5. Useless routines: a routine is a repetitive behavior that may be compared with obsessive compulsive behavior disorder. Spontaneity and a little uncertainty in life is not bad. If you know what you will be doing for the rest of your life, then what is the point of living?

6. Strict deadlines: any kind of strictness is devastating to the human condition. It limits the possibility for improvement and progress that flexibility offers.

7. Unchangeable minds: If you are incapable of being convinced otherwise, you are in serious risk of becoming a hopeless robot. Read more and read opposing arguments. Try to understand that every human has countless variables that have given them their continually malleable shape. There are so many reasons why people are who they are, but that doesn’t mean that they cannot change some aspects of themselves. 

This is only my opinion. I don’t live by these rules. But I feel, and therefore I am.

Till next time, whenever that may be…

Iffi’s comment to my post:

“why do ppl tend 2 do bad thngs???y can world leaders come to a conclusion and produce result in any issue?????F*** Israilis and also dos ppl who hurt other ppl be it Muslims or non-muslims…damn all of u!God…grant peace 2 all and bless us!”

This is my reply to Iffi:

There are countless reasons why people do bad things. Some people do bad things because they feel that their cause is good and that there is no other way to get results. In some cases they are right: Revolutions against oppression for example, to gain independence. And many times they are wrong. Some do it for the welfare of others and some do it for their own welfare. But it’s not that black and white either. People suffer no matter the cause.  There are many different opinions as to why people do bad things and what defines whether they are bad or not or even what is “bad.”

 It is not only up to world leaders to make things better. World leaders are a handful of people (o.k., probably more), but compared to the rest of billions of people that populate this world, they are too few. Although they are a good tool for getting results, it is up to us to show more interest, involvement, and determination.

The way you are expressing your distaste for Israelis and Muslims is just what the problem in solving these issues are. Many people say “fuck you” and have no idea what they are saying it to, or why. These same people vote for laws and mayors and presidents, or even become them. It is very hypocritical to insult a country and an entire religion and pin only them for the “bad things” that happen and then say, god bless us.  You show no intention of doing anything to help and have resigned to leave it up to the “leaders”(why not god, or Santa, or the tooth fairy?) to fix everything. Then you go on to unconstructively and, in contradiction to your own opinion, show how you have the same attitude which you seem to detest.    

The only ones that can grant peace is us, the humans living on this planet, not god. Inform yourself a little more, read the news from both sides and point of views, read about other countries and their situations, cultures and beliefs, do some research, analyze, and then, maybe, you can come up with a better, more informed way to have an opinion that will contribute to a solution. Don’t display your ignorant hatred for everyone to read, because that will make you part of the reason why things can’t get better, even if your intentions are good.

           I was online about to check my e-mail and I clicked on to this article about Starbucks. After I finished reading the article, I read the comments and I was not amazed.  I wish I could say that I have never read such stupid comments from such stupid people.

            How sheltered are the lives of so many, when they demonstrate how they spend all their time following this weeks trend, drinking expensive, cheap coffee and commenting on something as irrelevant as the closing of 600 stores of a multi billion dollar corporation, and then go on to defend it as if they were doing everyone some kind of favor by making its money through manipulating people into thinking they need to overpay for a product you can get anywhere else. meanwhile the world is getting hotter, religion more extreme, wars closer to home, jobs being lost, people are starving next door, education is not educating, ignorance is globalizing, cultures are being lost and replaced with corporate lifestyles, oil is too expensive and contingent to global warming which is causing animals to rapidly become extinct and history is repeating because it is an unreliable source……

so much more is happening in the world that deserve the attention that has been obviously reserved to the worries of losing one of the two stores in the block where some people get the latte that, marketing and good PR, has made them think is both good and cool to pay more for…..

Next up…..why gum sales is more important than the rising price of food…hence my title.

Check out the Article:

http://blogs.moneycentral.msn.com/topstocks/archive/2008/07/18/starbucks-real-estate-savvy-gone-bad.aspx?PageIndex=20

LINK

…and personally I’d rather watch Lost on the various links that this site offers because it’s commercial free, unlike the ABC website.

Enjoy!

http://theframeproblem.wordpress.com/2008/01/28/doubt-in-and-faking-of-faith-and-the-need-for-secular-alternatives-to-religious-communities/#comment-1494

I’m very afraid, however, that categorizing it and becoming a movement consisting of more than one person will make atheism just another cult or a group of revolutionaries by the media and religious groups. Each individual that I’ve asked and those whose opinions I read about seems to have some similarities and a world of personal differences. I don’t want to be part of a group. I don’t want a word like atheism or any other word defining me as a person. I want to think for myself. I don’t want it to dictate my life and what I’m allowed to think and believe from this point on. I don’t think that life should be consistent or a routine. I change my mind a lot. I like changing my mind, I think it’s healthy and important to be able to change and mature and learn other perspectives. I also think that if I label myself or categorize myself I will just become a slave to my own mind and the perception of others. In middle school I called myself  a “head banger” because I enjoyed rock…when my friends saw me listening to jazz or classical music or rap they would call me a “poser” and they were right…..I was claiming to be and represent only one aspect of my personality.

            Bob Dylan’s personality was confusing to many. He put so much effort in opposing all attempts to pin him down and label him as this or that by the media and his fans. All the guy wanted to do was just make music. He wasn’t a messiah or the voice of the people or any of that…..I am in no way comparing myself to him….I don’t write music and I sing for my family and myself in the shower. I like to write and I don’t have a favorite color…..I don’t think that because I live a certain way or like a certain thing now that I have to be tied down to it forever. I am. I just am.

Atheism is rapidly becoming a label that entails countless things that I don’t know or don’t agree with. I sometimes act like I am one…I sometimes wake up and hate religion, sometimes I insult, sometimes I’m more peaceful and understanding, sometimes I am more rational…sometimes my husband blames it on my hormones…lol, and then I forgive him for not thinking before he speaks…he’s not perfect and neither am I. atheism is not perfect either, neither is science…so when I have to fill out an explanation of how I can prove that I am an atheist to join the atheist blogroll, because I find the subject very interesting among many others….I feel pressured to say that in part I agree with the general concept but don’t want to marry it. and maybe they’ll consider me worthy and maybe not. Atheism may preach open-mindedness but not all of the people who claim to be atheist are…their human….

My father used to tell me something when I was small that was so funny to me and yet so true…..he would tell me that some people will do what ever you can convince them of doing (the discussion was mostly about religion) and then mentally show me his campaign…..:

Eat shit! Billions of flies can’t be wrong….!

How about that for a lesson?

I’ve been searching around to see if maybe I could find leaked episodes of Lost Season 4 with no such luck. I did find an other good site to watch seasons 1-3 however. I will continue on my search, but until then, Enjoy the new link!

 here is my other post about lost aswell.

I am currently reading, “god is not Great: How religion Poisons Everything” By Christopher Hitchens. So far the book is very interesting and although his tone seems very angry at times, his skills as a writer are undeniable. I also agree with many of his opinions but I came across a section in which he’s not 100% accurate and although it is just a small technicality, it made me think about what else he could have slipped on in-order to exaggerate or prove his point. It is little slips like this one which, although minuscule, make the author lose a little bit of credibility. I still enjoy the book, and will continue reading it. But I just had to bring this to the attention of the readers.

This is the quote: the subject is the Mayans.

“It is a certainty that these people, too, had their creation myths and their revelations of the divine will, for all the good it did them. But they suffered and triumphed and expired without ever being in “our” prayers. And they died out in the bitter awareness that there would be nobody to remember them as they had been, or even as if they had been.”

Now, although this is probably true for the Incas, Olmecs, Aztecs and many other smaller tribes, It is not true for the Mayans. In fact the Mayans still live today. I had the opportunity to travel to the Yucatan and have met many of the ancestors of the original Mayan civilisation. They never died out and are more numerous in south Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and Belize. The Mayan empire collapsed in the early 900′s (A.D.), The Spanish didn’t show up until the 1500′s, long after their collapse. The survivors of this grand and ancient civilization still live in the surrounding areas of their pyramids and temples. They are now poor farmers, living in huts, as the ancient ones lived (Mayans did not live in their temples). Some of them still speak Mayan or one of the dialects of the language. There are even some tribes of Mayans that may still practice their original beliefs and that live in remote areas of Guatemala’s and Honduras’s jungles. On a tour through the jungle in Honduras (we were trying to find a fertility stone, which is a statue of a frog with a platform. The place where pregnant Mayan women had to travel to and give birth),my family and I had a strange encounter with a beautiful, young, Mayan girl who was bathing under a small stream of falling water. I felt as if I had traveled through time. In any case, Christopher Hitchens was incorrect when he stated that this civilization was wiped out by the Spanish. Many of them did die when the Spanish arrived in the 1500′s , and many were also converted to Christianity, but not all and they’re culture is still very much alive. and to state that, even if it helps to make your point of making these Spanish inquisitors seem like savages, which they really don’t need much more help to make, is just a little bit irresponsible in his part.

“The more I study religions the more I am convinced that man never worshipped anything but himself.”

Sir Richard Francis Burton
British explorer & orientalist (1821 – 1890)

“The opposite of the religious fanatic is not the fanatical atheist but the gentle cynic who cares not whether there is a god or not.”

Eric Hoffer
(1902 – 1983)

“I’ve often thought the Bible should have a disclaimer in the front saying this is fiction.”

Ian McKellen,Interview on the Today Show, May 2006

“A myth is a religion in which no one any longer believes.”

James Feibleman

“Those who seek consolation in existing churches often pay for their peace of mind with a tacit agreement to ignore a great deal of what is known about the way the world works.”

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, 1990

“The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.”

Oscar Wilde
Irish dramatist, novelist, & poet (1854 – 1900)

“With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.”

Steven Weinberg, quoted in The New York Times, April 20, 1999
US physicist (1933 – )

“A cult is a religion with no political power.”

Tom Wolfe
US author & journalist (1931 – )