Do you remember when the food pyramid came out? I took one look at it and thought, “Wow! If people actually follow this stupid pyramid they’ll all get fat.” What’s astounding is that people actually refer to it as a dietary authority. We all know that the government (U.S. Department of Agriculture) designed the food pyramid. Look at it: You see all that grain at the bottom? They want you to eat that just like calves that are being raised for slaughter are fed grain to fatten them. They benefit financially when you eat corn, wheat and soy. Then you get fat and they make more money off of you when you buy fat loss products. Then, eventually, you’ll get sick and the pharmaceuticals make more money off of you when you buy drugs and go to the hospital where they charge you for shitty dead food (based on that ingenious pyramid) and $10 for each “doctor recommended” liver-impairing Tylenol. They want to keep you well enough to work but sick enough to “need” prescription and OTC “medications” and poor enough to live on crappy grains until you’re about 65. Then, (they secretly hope), you’ll die before they have to actually pay you social security and cover Medicare costs. There are already natural cures for cancer that they suppress. They don’t want to cure cancer. That is not sufficiently profitable. They want to “treat” cancer until you are bankrupt. You, I, we are being farmed.
Do they (the pharmaceutical giants, the agricultural giants and the politicians they own) have any financial interest whatsoever in you living a long and healthy life? Ponder that. If they really wanted you to be healthy they would make artificial sweeteners, HFCS, MSG, and trans fats illegal. They would not allow the chlorine and fluoride in public drinking water. (Water can be purified with UV light, ozone or H2O2, etc.) The FDA, with its zero-and-falling credibility, should not be allowed to interfere with natural health remedies. (There’s a common joke that if something is FDA approved you should avoid it and if the FDA says they have not approved something you might want to go ahead and check it out.) They would not allow prescription drug ads on TV. Rather than subsidize the grain industries they would subsidize organic farms. The domination of agri-business food conglomerates that “own” so much farmland needs to be destroyed. They would encourage everyone to have a small greenhouse as geographically possible. As it stands, the way we eat is slow poison and early death.
One thing people have got to get into their heads: the government does not care about your individual well-being. Their behavior proves it. The government cares about money and power and if they get more money and power by you being sick or getting sick then so be it. War is also a primary money maker. Yes, they will speak to you patronizingly – say nonsense such as they “care” about you, “the American people” rhetoric, blah, blah, a.k.a. reeking bullshit. Know this: if the choice is between you and them, then you lose. Period. If they get more money by promoting corn, wheat and soy and you get diabetes because it’s hidden in the majority of food in the supermarket, well that’s too bad. Yes, you have a choice in what you eat and apparently most people are making the wrong ones – largely because bad food is cheaper. Do you think the majority of the U.S. population can be sick and it’s not going to affect all of us?
It doesn’t matter whether you vote Democrat or Republican because they are the same. They just make different speeches and point fingers at each other. (I think we should elect speech writers. If you can’t write your own speech then you are unqualified for public office.) It’s like deciding between a hot dog with relish and mustard or a hot dog with chili and cheese. They’re both wieners. The idea of one providing real change is ludicrous. They are both a flavor of same-ol-shit.
Monday, December 28, 2009
A proposal for public school restructuring
Here’s a bit of human stupidity: when a cultural tradition becomes a sacred cow because people are comfortable with it even though it is ineffective or even damaging.
Today a person in the U.S. will attend kindergarten through high school grade 12 and many will then go on to a four-year bachelor’s degree and then “start” their career. (Yea, a few go onto master’s degrees and PhDs.) Our inept and gimpy education system is little more than an expensive baby sitter hell-bent on indoctrination. Our focus, our goal, really should be education. Shocking, I know. We need to prepare children to be independent adults and an education therefore should be career/life-focused. It’s not that complicated. People have done it for centuries.
We all know what school work looks like and most of us bitched and complained all the way through about being bored and “I’ll never use this… I don’t see why I have to learn it… This is stupid...” We were right. We were absolutely right. How much of your formal education do you actually remember AND use? (tic … tock … crickets … silence … zzzzz) The system sacrifices children to feed the fatted sacred cow. And we let them. For some masochistic reason we seem to think that if we had to suffer through the public school system “paying our dues” then our kids should as well regardless of the dismal results. How in the hell do people graduate from high school and not know how to read? What kind of education system creates a majority people who do not even read one book per year?
Let’s cut to the chase.
All people need to know 1) how to read and write and 2) how to do basic math. With these two skills they can learn anything else. If education is handled with the least bit of intelligence it will instill and feed a strong desire for lifelong learning.
What is currently considered elementary school (grades K-5) should be only grades 1-5 – therefore five years not six. Generations of people started school in the first grade. Nothing is taught in kindergarten than can’t easily and casually be taught at home. Elementary school should continue to cover the same levels of core study currently covered but do so in only 3 hours per day. If you can’t do it in three hours you can’t do it because regardless of how long you attempt to keep their attention young kids don’t learn much past three hours of study in a day and they need to actually be kids. Children are not biologically wired to sit still and pay attention for very long. Yep, it should be obvious. Anyone with any powers of observation knows this. They don’t need Ritalin. They need a childhood.
Also, if you can’t teach in three hours either the student is mentally slow, the teacher is inept or the subject matter is inappropriate. Many homeschoolers excel with only two hours of formal study per day outperforming full-time public school students.
Those three hours should consist of one hour of combined reading, spelling and language (because they naturally go together). Reading an interesting (that’s key) book will naturally expand the knowledge of language usage and then the new/harder words can be studied for spelling. Most reading books are boring. How many people enjoy reading a boring book? How much do you learn from a boring book?
Math should take about 45 minutes and should be interesting enough to hold the attention of right-brainers. Science should take about 30 minutes and be very hands on with a health and environmental emphasis since we are screwing up the planet and making ourselves sick. When appropriate, the two could be integrated. Social Studies/history/ geography/foreign language should take about 45 minutes and again, be taught simultaneously because they naturally go together. It’s logical. History should be split evenly between World History and American History without rehashing the same damn events over and over.
By the end of the 5th grade students should be interviewed, evaluated, tested and guided into their individual areas of talent and interest. Yes, they already know what they generally like. They are not stupid.
Because so much of what is “taught” or attempted to be taught is redundant, obvious, dumbed-down and overkill what is currently considered grades 6-10 should be taught in grades 6-8. Get to the point. Middle school should only be 4.5 hours per day with three of those hours continuing to be core subjects and 1.5 hours being spent on subjects of individual interest such as art, health, business, history, construction, science … whatever. There should be no homework except for very little “real world” math (10 minutes/day) and an occasional research report because everyone needs to know how to research. Current world events should be discussed and debated often in Social Studies/history.
As anyone knows who’s been through high school and college there is no point in taking four years of high school English then having to take nine+ credit hours of “Communication” which is basically English and Speech unless one wants to be an English major. The same can be said for Math and Science.
Compare the typical class requirements for college-prep high school and the general “academic” requirements for an Associates Degree. Both high school and college require a computer course. Do they think this is the 1970s? Today most kids could teach the computer teachers. Kids should be using computers enough in elementary and middle school to just scrap that archaic requirement.
The high school requirements of Physical Education (how is running a mile physical education?) and Health should also have been covered in elementary and middle school. They should be taught the importance of physical activity and offered the chance to participate in sports if they like but it should not be required in high school. I’ve heard people argue that kids should have to take P.E. because they might not get any other physical activity. Should they force them to eat broccoli and give them each a kiss and hug as well because they might not get that at home either? Should they pass out vitamins and wash their bed sheets? Kids who are athletic will continue to be active because they like it. Kids who are not athletic will not become athletic because they are forced to take P.E. class and embarrass themselves. The more you force it the more they will hate it. It’s just the way people are. You can’t make people get off their butts and sweat.
The High School requirement of American History should be well-covered after 8 years of core study through the 8th grade. Pursuing it further should be an elective.
High school should be a six-hour day and it should start no sooner than one hour after sunrise. High school kids need at least nine hours sleep. It’s basic biology. You can’t learn when you are groggy. You know it. I know it. We all spent that first hour or so half unconscious.
In the 9th and 10th grade four hours should cover what is now considered junior and senior-level English, math, science, social studies, foreign language, and government (including a focus on the Constitution). Two hours should be elective. Math, Science and English should not be the standard mass-taught courses for each student but each student should be able to choose their type of course. For example math could be business math, taxes, accounting, economics or calculus, trigonometry, geometry, etc. Science could be anatomy, zoology, biochemistry, nutrition, physics, etc. – their choice. English could be composition, literature, speech, journalism, scriptwriting, etc.
High school grades 11 and 12 should consist of career-oriented electives only and a high-school diploma should be the equivalent of an Associates or Technical degree. Many high schools are already going in this direction. This should have already been the norm decades ago. A person should be able to graduate high school and go directly into their chosen field and/or start their own business. If they want to pursue a bachelor’s degree it should be sans “general education courses.” A college degree should not cost more than a new graduate could expect to make in a year. Why should they receive more than their teaching is worth?
Of course, shortening the school day would cause and require an enormous shift in parent schedules and the business world should accommodate it because in the end they are at the mercy of the populous. With the Internet and remote access, etc. many people could telecommute at least part of the time. They could also job-share more. Business hours should be more flexible and let the rigid 8 to 5, Monday through Friday schedule become a thing of the past. Who said we all had to strictly compartmentalize the workday? There are 168 hours in a week and there are a myriad of ways to work 40 hours without throwing kids and families under the bus.
Today a person in the U.S. will attend kindergarten through high school grade 12 and many will then go on to a four-year bachelor’s degree and then “start” their career. (Yea, a few go onto master’s degrees and PhDs.) Our inept and gimpy education system is little more than an expensive baby sitter hell-bent on indoctrination. Our focus, our goal, really should be education. Shocking, I know. We need to prepare children to be independent adults and an education therefore should be career/life-focused. It’s not that complicated. People have done it for centuries.
We all know what school work looks like and most of us bitched and complained all the way through about being bored and “I’ll never use this… I don’t see why I have to learn it… This is stupid...” We were right. We were absolutely right. How much of your formal education do you actually remember AND use? (tic … tock … crickets … silence … zzzzz) The system sacrifices children to feed the fatted sacred cow. And we let them. For some masochistic reason we seem to think that if we had to suffer through the public school system “paying our dues” then our kids should as well regardless of the dismal results. How in the hell do people graduate from high school and not know how to read? What kind of education system creates a majority people who do not even read one book per year?
Let’s cut to the chase.
All people need to know 1) how to read and write and 2) how to do basic math. With these two skills they can learn anything else. If education is handled with the least bit of intelligence it will instill and feed a strong desire for lifelong learning.
What is currently considered elementary school (grades K-5) should be only grades 1-5 – therefore five years not six. Generations of people started school in the first grade. Nothing is taught in kindergarten than can’t easily and casually be taught at home. Elementary school should continue to cover the same levels of core study currently covered but do so in only 3 hours per day. If you can’t do it in three hours you can’t do it because regardless of how long you attempt to keep their attention young kids don’t learn much past three hours of study in a day and they need to actually be kids. Children are not biologically wired to sit still and pay attention for very long. Yep, it should be obvious. Anyone with any powers of observation knows this. They don’t need Ritalin. They need a childhood.
Also, if you can’t teach in three hours either the student is mentally slow, the teacher is inept or the subject matter is inappropriate. Many homeschoolers excel with only two hours of formal study per day outperforming full-time public school students.
Those three hours should consist of one hour of combined reading, spelling and language (because they naturally go together). Reading an interesting (that’s key) book will naturally expand the knowledge of language usage and then the new/harder words can be studied for spelling. Most reading books are boring. How many people enjoy reading a boring book? How much do you learn from a boring book?
Math should take about 45 minutes and should be interesting enough to hold the attention of right-brainers. Science should take about 30 minutes and be very hands on with a health and environmental emphasis since we are screwing up the planet and making ourselves sick. When appropriate, the two could be integrated. Social Studies/history/ geography/foreign language should take about 45 minutes and again, be taught simultaneously because they naturally go together. It’s logical. History should be split evenly between World History and American History without rehashing the same damn events over and over.
By the end of the 5th grade students should be interviewed, evaluated, tested and guided into their individual areas of talent and interest. Yes, they already know what they generally like. They are not stupid.
Because so much of what is “taught” or attempted to be taught is redundant, obvious, dumbed-down and overkill what is currently considered grades 6-10 should be taught in grades 6-8. Get to the point. Middle school should only be 4.5 hours per day with three of those hours continuing to be core subjects and 1.5 hours being spent on subjects of individual interest such as art, health, business, history, construction, science … whatever. There should be no homework except for very little “real world” math (10 minutes/day) and an occasional research report because everyone needs to know how to research. Current world events should be discussed and debated often in Social Studies/history.
As anyone knows who’s been through high school and college there is no point in taking four years of high school English then having to take nine+ credit hours of “Communication” which is basically English and Speech unless one wants to be an English major. The same can be said for Math and Science.
Compare the typical class requirements for college-prep high school and the general “academic” requirements for an Associates Degree. Both high school and college require a computer course. Do they think this is the 1970s? Today most kids could teach the computer teachers. Kids should be using computers enough in elementary and middle school to just scrap that archaic requirement.
The high school requirements of Physical Education (how is running a mile physical education?) and Health should also have been covered in elementary and middle school. They should be taught the importance of physical activity and offered the chance to participate in sports if they like but it should not be required in high school. I’ve heard people argue that kids should have to take P.E. because they might not get any other physical activity. Should they force them to eat broccoli and give them each a kiss and hug as well because they might not get that at home either? Should they pass out vitamins and wash their bed sheets? Kids who are athletic will continue to be active because they like it. Kids who are not athletic will not become athletic because they are forced to take P.E. class and embarrass themselves. The more you force it the more they will hate it. It’s just the way people are. You can’t make people get off their butts and sweat.
The High School requirement of American History should be well-covered after 8 years of core study through the 8th grade. Pursuing it further should be an elective.
High school should be a six-hour day and it should start no sooner than one hour after sunrise. High school kids need at least nine hours sleep. It’s basic biology. You can’t learn when you are groggy. You know it. I know it. We all spent that first hour or so half unconscious.
In the 9th and 10th grade four hours should cover what is now considered junior and senior-level English, math, science, social studies, foreign language, and government (including a focus on the Constitution). Two hours should be elective. Math, Science and English should not be the standard mass-taught courses for each student but each student should be able to choose their type of course. For example math could be business math, taxes, accounting, economics or calculus, trigonometry, geometry, etc. Science could be anatomy, zoology, biochemistry, nutrition, physics, etc. – their choice. English could be composition, literature, speech, journalism, scriptwriting, etc.
High school grades 11 and 12 should consist of career-oriented electives only and a high-school diploma should be the equivalent of an Associates or Technical degree. Many high schools are already going in this direction. This should have already been the norm decades ago. A person should be able to graduate high school and go directly into their chosen field and/or start their own business. If they want to pursue a bachelor’s degree it should be sans “general education courses.” A college degree should not cost more than a new graduate could expect to make in a year. Why should they receive more than their teaching is worth?
Of course, shortening the school day would cause and require an enormous shift in parent schedules and the business world should accommodate it because in the end they are at the mercy of the populous. With the Internet and remote access, etc. many people could telecommute at least part of the time. They could also job-share more. Business hours should be more flexible and let the rigid 8 to 5, Monday through Friday schedule become a thing of the past. Who said we all had to strictly compartmentalize the workday? There are 168 hours in a week and there are a myriad of ways to work 40 hours without throwing kids and families under the bus.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Income Taxes, waste, and a call for common sense
It’s obvious that taxing something dissuades that action. Soooo… only a country run by idiots would have an income tax. Really, ‘let’s tax people for working.’ What would be the logical outcome of that brilliant decision?
As the story goes, when income tax in the U.S. began it was to only apply to the rich. (Congress has its right to tax from Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution. However, what we consider income tax didn't really arrive until the 16th Ammendment in 1913. At that time less than 1% of people paid federal income tax. Using today’s dollars a couple would have to earn over $348,000 to be taxed just 1%. That's more like it.) That’s why people agreed to it – it was the “other” guy. The rich guy. It was a slippery slope. Golden Rule trampled underfoot. That will come back and bite you in the ass every time. Oh look. What do we have here in 2009? A big collective screwing.
The mega wealthy can get around income tax problems because they basically set their own tax on us: Everyone needs gas. They sell gas. Almost everyone thinks they need drugs. (Legal or illegal are just two sides of the same coin.) They sell drugs. Everyone needs a place to live. They rent out their buildings or profit from mortgages or other over-the-top real estate transactions. Every computer needs an operating system. They sell operating systems. They make far more income from “Joe Lunchbox” just living his life than they pay in taxes.
Those who live in poverty are trapped by their own poverty. The gap between getting help and being self-sufficient is too large. They have to fit in the “charts” to get help. Grow slightly outside of that bracket and you lose – possibly more than you can afford to lose. I know someone who struggles financially and his income sets him about $300 per year outside the bracket for a Habitat for Humanity house. $300 vs. a house.
Then, there’s everyone else – a dwindling pond if ever there was one. These are the people carrying the tax burden. Many pay enough in taxes that it drains their quality of life. Some can’t afford a house, a much-needed and deserved vacation or better food or clothes from somewhere other than Goodwill and Wal-Mart but they’ll pay hundreds of dollars per month in taxes. You know how it is. Have you ever gotten a raise and didn’t even feel it because of taxes? It’s a drain on businesses too. Often, the tax burden dissuades companies from hiring. Been there, done that. Sometimes small businesses really need help but they simply can’t afford the expenses above a decent salary.
And WTF are they doing with all that money? (Besides selling our souls to China. Did you agree to that? Did you sign the papers?) I’ll bet your average housewife could take a red marker to the Federal Budget and take care of business. One week of work and she’ll have that budget balanced, baby. Because that’s what she does everyday: work miracles with too little money. Of course that means only the priorities will be left. What do we really need the Federal government to do? We need defense, we need interstate highways/railways/air traffic, we need immigration control, we need environmental laws, we need a common legal tender (backed by precious metals) … that’s about it. We should disband the IRS, the FDA, the Dept. of Education (there’s a misnomer), and on and on and on. We don’t need them. They can’t even give a person a straight answer to a simple question. We can’t afford them especially with their addiction to waste. Anyone who’s every worked around a government-run operation has seen the waste.
Just one microscopic example of waste: I email a Senator about a concern. He sends me two emails in response. One that takes 300 words to say thank you for emailing and another that takes 600 words to give me a canned response that doesn’t address what I frickin’ wrote about in the first place. THEN I receive a letter in the mail that says basically, again, thank you. Did that benefit anyone or anything? No. OK. Let’s say a senator receives 1000 contacts per day. That’s $440 in stamps per day to respond via mail. That’s over $100,000 per year in wasted postage for one senator. One. I would love to have that income. I deserve it just for stating the obvious. I’d even share it with the next person who called a spade a spade (and the guy down the road that’s $300 too “rich” to get a Habitat for Humanity house.) And, of course, many Senators receive more contacts that that. I was being conservative. Then there’s the congressmen and every other Tom, Dick and Harry in a government office that thinks they need to mail a letter in response to an email because it’s protocol or whatever. Get with the 21st Century program.
State governments are just as guilty of waste. Have you ever filed for unemployment benefits? I don’t know about your state but in mine while the process is being set up you may get, literally, seven envelopes from THE SAME OFFICE in one day and more the next day. Sometimes they’ll send out 15 envelopes from the same office usually containing one piece of paper each. I’d fire them on sight because that level of stupidity doesn’t even deserve a conversation. Protocol. Reminds me of proctologist. Get your head out of your ass.
Anyway, you can magnify that “small” amount of postage waste to get a picture that makes you want to vomit. They don’t care because you and I are paying for it. And when we can’t afford it they sell us to China. I think every year that the budget is not balanced every single politician should be “fired” in the elections. Change them like underwear until they get it right. It’s simple math, people. And why do they get $170,000 per year income to sell us out? Mr. Senator: no balanced budget = no six-figure income for you. Maybe they should be paid a salary that's $300 more than the upper limit for a Habitat for Humanity House which is actually somewhere just below the average income in the U.S. If they (financially) live where we live maybe they’ll get it.
Taxes should come from sales (but not food). The government wants money? Earn it. Encourage business. When people have more money they spend more money. They are often more generous, too. When they spend more money a government that makes its money from encouraging business will receive more money. It’s like planting a garden. The more you sow and care for your garden the more you reap. Taxing income is like eating your seeds.
A government of the people, for the people and by the people must be, by its very definition, common sense. We need a party of common sense. I guess we’re too distracted with our noses to the grindstone building the great Wal-Mart of China.
As the story goes, when income tax in the U.S. began it was to only apply to the rich. (Congress has its right to tax from Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution. However, what we consider income tax didn't really arrive until the 16th Ammendment in 1913. At that time less than 1% of people paid federal income tax. Using today’s dollars a couple would have to earn over $348,000 to be taxed just 1%. That's more like it.) That’s why people agreed to it – it was the “other” guy. The rich guy. It was a slippery slope. Golden Rule trampled underfoot. That will come back and bite you in the ass every time. Oh look. What do we have here in 2009? A big collective screwing.
The mega wealthy can get around income tax problems because they basically set their own tax on us: Everyone needs gas. They sell gas. Almost everyone thinks they need drugs. (Legal or illegal are just two sides of the same coin.) They sell drugs. Everyone needs a place to live. They rent out their buildings or profit from mortgages or other over-the-top real estate transactions. Every computer needs an operating system. They sell operating systems. They make far more income from “Joe Lunchbox” just living his life than they pay in taxes.
Those who live in poverty are trapped by their own poverty. The gap between getting help and being self-sufficient is too large. They have to fit in the “charts” to get help. Grow slightly outside of that bracket and you lose – possibly more than you can afford to lose. I know someone who struggles financially and his income sets him about $300 per year outside the bracket for a Habitat for Humanity house. $300 vs. a house.
Then, there’s everyone else – a dwindling pond if ever there was one. These are the people carrying the tax burden. Many pay enough in taxes that it drains their quality of life. Some can’t afford a house, a much-needed and deserved vacation or better food or clothes from somewhere other than Goodwill and Wal-Mart but they’ll pay hundreds of dollars per month in taxes. You know how it is. Have you ever gotten a raise and didn’t even feel it because of taxes? It’s a drain on businesses too. Often, the tax burden dissuades companies from hiring. Been there, done that. Sometimes small businesses really need help but they simply can’t afford the expenses above a decent salary.
And WTF are they doing with all that money? (Besides selling our souls to China. Did you agree to that? Did you sign the papers?) I’ll bet your average housewife could take a red marker to the Federal Budget and take care of business. One week of work and she’ll have that budget balanced, baby. Because that’s what she does everyday: work miracles with too little money. Of course that means only the priorities will be left. What do we really need the Federal government to do? We need defense, we need interstate highways/railways/air traffic, we need immigration control, we need environmental laws, we need a common legal tender (backed by precious metals) … that’s about it. We should disband the IRS, the FDA, the Dept. of Education (there’s a misnomer), and on and on and on. We don’t need them. They can’t even give a person a straight answer to a simple question. We can’t afford them especially with their addiction to waste. Anyone who’s every worked around a government-run operation has seen the waste.
Just one microscopic example of waste: I email a Senator about a concern. He sends me two emails in response. One that takes 300 words to say thank you for emailing and another that takes 600 words to give me a canned response that doesn’t address what I frickin’ wrote about in the first place. THEN I receive a letter in the mail that says basically, again, thank you. Did that benefit anyone or anything? No. OK. Let’s say a senator receives 1000 contacts per day. That’s $440 in stamps per day to respond via mail. That’s over $100,000 per year in wasted postage for one senator. One. I would love to have that income. I deserve it just for stating the obvious. I’d even share it with the next person who called a spade a spade (and the guy down the road that’s $300 too “rich” to get a Habitat for Humanity house.) And, of course, many Senators receive more contacts that that. I was being conservative. Then there’s the congressmen and every other Tom, Dick and Harry in a government office that thinks they need to mail a letter in response to an email because it’s protocol or whatever. Get with the 21st Century program.
State governments are just as guilty of waste. Have you ever filed for unemployment benefits? I don’t know about your state but in mine while the process is being set up you may get, literally, seven envelopes from THE SAME OFFICE in one day and more the next day. Sometimes they’ll send out 15 envelopes from the same office usually containing one piece of paper each. I’d fire them on sight because that level of stupidity doesn’t even deserve a conversation. Protocol. Reminds me of proctologist. Get your head out of your ass.
Anyway, you can magnify that “small” amount of postage waste to get a picture that makes you want to vomit. They don’t care because you and I are paying for it. And when we can’t afford it they sell us to China. I think every year that the budget is not balanced every single politician should be “fired” in the elections. Change them like underwear until they get it right. It’s simple math, people. And why do they get $170,000 per year income to sell us out? Mr. Senator: no balanced budget = no six-figure income for you. Maybe they should be paid a salary that's $300 more than the upper limit for a Habitat for Humanity House which is actually somewhere just below the average income in the U.S. If they (financially) live where we live maybe they’ll get it.
Taxes should come from sales (but not food). The government wants money? Earn it. Encourage business. When people have more money they spend more money. They are often more generous, too. When they spend more money a government that makes its money from encouraging business will receive more money. It’s like planting a garden. The more you sow and care for your garden the more you reap. Taxing income is like eating your seeds.
A government of the people, for the people and by the people must be, by its very definition, common sense. We need a party of common sense. I guess we’re too distracted with our noses to the grindstone building the great Wal-Mart of China.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Talking Heads Need a Dose of Reality
There is a major disconnect between the people in the U.S. who struggle financially and those who don’t. The ones who’ve “made it” whatever that may mean (think plasma TVs) seem to think that if one studies hard, works hard, and “does the right thing” then they will be successful. They preach about being careful with credit cards – paying off your balance each month – don’t buy more house than you can afford. These people are frickin’ clueless. They are also the talking heads on television and radio and often authors of best-selling non-fiction books that spout their expertness … or massively embarrassing lack thereof.
A flyer on the counter at a doctors office pictured two cats, brother and sister, free to a good home because the couple who had them 1) lost their jobs, 2) lost their house, and 3) became seriously ill and could no longer take care of their beloved cats. This is a snapshot of the financial reality for a large part of the American population. Basically, it’s why Obama won the presidential election.
First, the unemployment issue:
I’ve heard people say (repeatedly) if you need a job don’t be picky just go get any job and they point to delivering pizza or being a greeter at Wal-Mart or a janitor. Obviously the people who advise this have never actually been in that situation after having a decent career. If you are a person with a college education and 20+ years solid work experience you are not the most desirable person for the pizza delivery job or whatever lower-pay level job you want to apply for. As long as there are other applicants for those jobs who are not over-qualified you will not be hired. Why should they hire you? They know you’ll leave as soon as you get a better offer, duh. They are not in the business of helping you they are in the business of doing what is best for their bottom line.
I overheard a manager one day fuming out loud about going through the trouble of hiring someone who soon left for a better-paying job. She said she will ask all future interviewees if they are applying for other jobs and if so she will not hire them because she doesn’t have the time and money to waste on training people. This is their point of view. So if you take your double-degreed, mid-profession unemployed self there for a job your application will just get tossed. We who live in the real world know that. I personally have seen several times an unemployed person apply for hundreds of jobs (700+ in one case) – anything they thought they could do (stocking grocery shelves, etc.) – and the only phone calls he received was in regard to jobs for which he was well suited.
Second, losing the house:
The mortgage industry is a demon from hell that steals peoples’ lives. No, that’s not an overstatement. Let’s say you buy a house for $250,000, mortgage it for 30 years at 6 percent interest. After one year you will have paid about $18,000 to your mortgage company but you will still owe $246,930. After ten years you will have paid about $180,000 but you will still owe $209,214. If you lose your job at this point and you cannot pay your $1,500 per month house payment the mortgage company will foreclose your home and you will lose it because they say you owe them $209,214. The $180,000 you paid into your house is gone and so is your house. Sure, you can try to sell it. Might happen. Might not. You think there is someone to call? You think they will “work” with you? If you are unemployed you are a financial pariah and no one (other than maybe your family) will help you. You are not a risk they are willing to take and they don’t give a sweet damn about you.
Once you have lost your home to foreclosure it is extremely difficult to get another house. Your “nest egg” is gone. How do you save money for a down payment when you are financially destitute? Or if you’re sick...
Third, illness:
Just the stress of losing a job and a home can cause a major illness or it could have been the reason for the job loss in the first place. I can’t go into all the points of illness here obviously but I would like to make one point. I was listening to a radio talk show hosted by a famous financial expert. The caller was a married man with two children. His wife couldn’t keep a job for whatever reason – she was often unemployed. (This in itself was leading to a divorce.) The man only brought home $1200 per month in income. Although he worked full time he just wasn’t well paid. He said his rent was $800 per month and they just kept getting into more and more debt. Now, every human with a working brain synapse knows these numbers are very bad, right? It doesn’t take even a 3rd grade education to figure this out. The “expert” said “Well, that leaves $400 for groceries I don’t see what your problem is?” Seriously. In what alternate universe does this idiot live? Since when do people have to only pay for rent and groceries? Does his car run on air? Do they go naked and dirty? Do they not have telephone, electric and heating bills? Obviously a major oversight. But…
How can a family of four live on $400 per month in groceries and be healthy? That’s a whopping $3.33 per day per person. Has this “expert” been grocery shopping in the last decade? What is he going to eat? Generic oatmeal made with water three times a day? Even if he managed on that what about his two kids? This is why many poor people are fat. They are forced of necessity to eat highly processed low-nutrient crap full of preservatives and high-fructose corn syrup. And what does that do? It makes people sick. Really sick. Today, right now, it takes about $800 per month minimum AND a lot of planning to feed a family of four reasonably healthy food. (Healthy food by definition means generous amounts of organic fruits and vegetables.) Been to Whole Foods Market lately? Great stuff. Love it. Expensive. Of course grocery bills also include toilet paper, soap, detergent, aspirin, toothpaste, Band Aids, razors, tampons, shampoo, deodorant, maybe a sponge to wash the dishes, etc.
Then there are other famous idiots of stature on national radio saying things like “well, that’s why we have a food stamp program.” Apparently this nincompoop never tried to get food stamps either. You can literally subtract some people’s bills and be left with $0 for groceries and the chart that determines food stamp eligibility will say they should get $12 for food per month for a family of four. Yes. This is a fact. Maybe if the bills, such as the mortgage, weren’t artificially high because of the greedy bastards who designed the mortgage industry, this wouldn’t be the case. In effect they say “Let them eat cake.”
A flyer on the counter at a doctors office pictured two cats, brother and sister, free to a good home because the couple who had them 1) lost their jobs, 2) lost their house, and 3) became seriously ill and could no longer take care of their beloved cats. This is a snapshot of the financial reality for a large part of the American population. Basically, it’s why Obama won the presidential election.
First, the unemployment issue:
I’ve heard people say (repeatedly) if you need a job don’t be picky just go get any job and they point to delivering pizza or being a greeter at Wal-Mart or a janitor. Obviously the people who advise this have never actually been in that situation after having a decent career. If you are a person with a college education and 20+ years solid work experience you are not the most desirable person for the pizza delivery job or whatever lower-pay level job you want to apply for. As long as there are other applicants for those jobs who are not over-qualified you will not be hired. Why should they hire you? They know you’ll leave as soon as you get a better offer, duh. They are not in the business of helping you they are in the business of doing what is best for their bottom line.
I overheard a manager one day fuming out loud about going through the trouble of hiring someone who soon left for a better-paying job. She said she will ask all future interviewees if they are applying for other jobs and if so she will not hire them because she doesn’t have the time and money to waste on training people. This is their point of view. So if you take your double-degreed, mid-profession unemployed self there for a job your application will just get tossed. We who live in the real world know that. I personally have seen several times an unemployed person apply for hundreds of jobs (700+ in one case) – anything they thought they could do (stocking grocery shelves, etc.) – and the only phone calls he received was in regard to jobs for which he was well suited.
Second, losing the house:
The mortgage industry is a demon from hell that steals peoples’ lives. No, that’s not an overstatement. Let’s say you buy a house for $250,000, mortgage it for 30 years at 6 percent interest. After one year you will have paid about $18,000 to your mortgage company but you will still owe $246,930. After ten years you will have paid about $180,000 but you will still owe $209,214. If you lose your job at this point and you cannot pay your $1,500 per month house payment the mortgage company will foreclose your home and you will lose it because they say you owe them $209,214. The $180,000 you paid into your house is gone and so is your house. Sure, you can try to sell it. Might happen. Might not. You think there is someone to call? You think they will “work” with you? If you are unemployed you are a financial pariah and no one (other than maybe your family) will help you. You are not a risk they are willing to take and they don’t give a sweet damn about you.
Once you have lost your home to foreclosure it is extremely difficult to get another house. Your “nest egg” is gone. How do you save money for a down payment when you are financially destitute? Or if you’re sick...
Third, illness:
Just the stress of losing a job and a home can cause a major illness or it could have been the reason for the job loss in the first place. I can’t go into all the points of illness here obviously but I would like to make one point. I was listening to a radio talk show hosted by a famous financial expert. The caller was a married man with two children. His wife couldn’t keep a job for whatever reason – she was often unemployed. (This in itself was leading to a divorce.) The man only brought home $1200 per month in income. Although he worked full time he just wasn’t well paid. He said his rent was $800 per month and they just kept getting into more and more debt. Now, every human with a working brain synapse knows these numbers are very bad, right? It doesn’t take even a 3rd grade education to figure this out. The “expert” said “Well, that leaves $400 for groceries I don’t see what your problem is?” Seriously. In what alternate universe does this idiot live? Since when do people have to only pay for rent and groceries? Does his car run on air? Do they go naked and dirty? Do they not have telephone, electric and heating bills? Obviously a major oversight. But…
How can a family of four live on $400 per month in groceries and be healthy? That’s a whopping $3.33 per day per person. Has this “expert” been grocery shopping in the last decade? What is he going to eat? Generic oatmeal made with water three times a day? Even if he managed on that what about his two kids? This is why many poor people are fat. They are forced of necessity to eat highly processed low-nutrient crap full of preservatives and high-fructose corn syrup. And what does that do? It makes people sick. Really sick. Today, right now, it takes about $800 per month minimum AND a lot of planning to feed a family of four reasonably healthy food. (Healthy food by definition means generous amounts of organic fruits and vegetables.) Been to Whole Foods Market lately? Great stuff. Love it. Expensive. Of course grocery bills also include toilet paper, soap, detergent, aspirin, toothpaste, Band Aids, razors, tampons, shampoo, deodorant, maybe a sponge to wash the dishes, etc.
Then there are other famous idiots of stature on national radio saying things like “well, that’s why we have a food stamp program.” Apparently this nincompoop never tried to get food stamps either. You can literally subtract some people’s bills and be left with $0 for groceries and the chart that determines food stamp eligibility will say they should get $12 for food per month for a family of four. Yes. This is a fact. Maybe if the bills, such as the mortgage, weren’t artificially high because of the greedy bastards who designed the mortgage industry, this wouldn’t be the case. In effect they say “Let them eat cake.”
Monday, December 21, 2009
The Biggest Problem in the World
The biggest problem in the world today is a lack of spiritual maturity. I’m specifically not talking about “religion.” It's done quite enough damage, thank you. I’m talking about the human soul. Only a sick soul wants to kill. Only a sick soul wants to steal. Only a sick soul wants to suppress and oppress others. Only a sick soul doesn’t give a damn about the planet on which we all depend. Only a sick soul can’t get their mind off their crotch (or someone else’s).
One can’t force spiritual maturity. It’s not something you can TRY to be because it is the evidence, the result of a relationship. It’s just like you can’t keep the 10 Commandments and the Golden Rule and BECOME righteous. You naturally keep them when you ARE righteous. (Yes, I know that no one is perfect and we all fall.)
Jesus is the example of spiritual maturity. You can’t “go to church” and learn to be that way. You can’t attend religious meetings and take detailed notes and hope to attain spiritual maturity. Spiritual maturity comes from spending time with God – One on one. He’s the source not pastors, priests, choirs, TV evangelists, or best-selling Christian books. Not only do they not help you in your maturity, often they are obstacles. At best they may stimulate you to think something through. At worse, if you revere them, they become idols – something poisonous to your relationship with God. Anything you allow between you and God is a bad thing.
No matter how much you love someone and want to help them their spiritual maturity is their own journey. Spiritually mature people display certain traits that stand in bold contrast to spiritually immature people:
* Self-sacrificing when necessary vs. self-serving, self-centered behavior
* Comfortable and content in solitude vs. a need for company
* Not caring for or disliking recognition vs. a craving for recognition
* An outright disdain for abundant material possessions vs. a tendency toward materialism
* Frequently craving silence vs. an almost constant need for a TV to be on, a cell phone conversation, a computer game, music or radio playing, etc.
* Wanting only enough money to be independent and free vs. a desire for wealth, power, and status
* Desiring only simple, natural food in small quantities to maintain health vs. a desire for abundant gourmet meals
* Annoyance when a human fleshly need rears its head vs. a drive to satisfy human fleshly needs as often as possible
* Seeing the “big” picture vs. a life filled with superficial concerns
* Compassion, concern and a connection with other living thing vs. regarding other living things as either disposable or less deserving
* No fear of their own death vs. a great fear of their own death
These are not personality traits so much as they are traits of spiritual health or symptoms of spiritual illness. It’s a report card.
One can’t force spiritual maturity. It’s not something you can TRY to be because it is the evidence, the result of a relationship. It’s just like you can’t keep the 10 Commandments and the Golden Rule and BECOME righteous. You naturally keep them when you ARE righteous. (Yes, I know that no one is perfect and we all fall.)
Jesus is the example of spiritual maturity. You can’t “go to church” and learn to be that way. You can’t attend religious meetings and take detailed notes and hope to attain spiritual maturity. Spiritual maturity comes from spending time with God – One on one. He’s the source not pastors, priests, choirs, TV evangelists, or best-selling Christian books. Not only do they not help you in your maturity, often they are obstacles. At best they may stimulate you to think something through. At worse, if you revere them, they become idols – something poisonous to your relationship with God. Anything you allow between you and God is a bad thing.
No matter how much you love someone and want to help them their spiritual maturity is their own journey. Spiritually mature people display certain traits that stand in bold contrast to spiritually immature people:
* Self-sacrificing when necessary vs. self-serving, self-centered behavior
* Comfortable and content in solitude vs. a need for company
* Not caring for or disliking recognition vs. a craving for recognition
* An outright disdain for abundant material possessions vs. a tendency toward materialism
* Frequently craving silence vs. an almost constant need for a TV to be on, a cell phone conversation, a computer game, music or radio playing, etc.
* Wanting only enough money to be independent and free vs. a desire for wealth, power, and status
* Desiring only simple, natural food in small quantities to maintain health vs. a desire for abundant gourmet meals
* Annoyance when a human fleshly need rears its head vs. a drive to satisfy human fleshly needs as often as possible
* Seeing the “big” picture vs. a life filled with superficial concerns
* Compassion, concern and a connection with other living thing vs. regarding other living things as either disposable or less deserving
* No fear of their own death vs. a great fear of their own death
These are not personality traits so much as they are traits of spiritual health or symptoms of spiritual illness. It’s a report card.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Health for Everyone ... An Outline of the Basics
As noted on my last post I wanted to list what is basically an outline for health distilled from well over a decade of extensive reading and real-life personal application. It may seem simplistic but it’s all true and to the point.
1. Spiritual health is paramount. If you’re unwell spiritually, emotionally or mentally you cannot be healthy physically. I know it sucks that we can’t compartmentalize ourselves but it’s true. This is the biggest health issue but it’s not exactly the simplest to address. And I’m not talking about “going to church” or seeing a therapist. Minimum to start would be praying (or meditating) and breathing exercises. Research de-stressing techniques. Stress and its triggers are perceived differently by different people. Just start. Be open minded. Love yourself. Take it one step at a time.
2. Stop eating sugar and grains. All of them. At least until you find out your metabolic type. There are different sources to help you do this from “The Metabolic Typing Diet” by William Wolcott, to Dr. Mercola (www.mercola.com) to the blood type diet (“Eat Right for Your Type” by Dr. Peter D’Adamo) or Jillian Michaels, etc. There are many to choose from. Pick your favorite. We’re all different so none will be exact but you will learn the basics. Then if you find out you are in the minority that do ok with grains then put them back in your diet but only the types and amounts that are ok for you. And most importantly, listen to your body. If, for example, you are told oatmeal is ok for you but you feel like crap after you eat it then don’t eat it. Important fact to know: Your body requires glucose (and the corresponding insulin release) in order to store fat. Without insulin the body cannot put fat acids into the fat cell. So if you don’t eat carbs you can’t store fat. However, without the carbs from fruits and veggies you also can’t be healthy. So lose the grains and sugars at least until you are satisfied with your weight. While losing fat be careful with high glycemic fruits (watermelon, cantaloupe, dried fruits, pineapple, etc.) and veggies (potatoes, parsnips) – be aware of them and either eliminate them until you are at maintenance level or limit them.
3. Eat all fruit and most veggies raw and eat lots of them.
4. Find out if you have a problem with yeast and/or parasites and if so address those issues.
5. Have a holistic doctor check your thyroid. In general allopathic doctors are virtually useless when it comes to the thyroid. Get a prescription for natural desiccated thyroid if needed. Synthetic thyroid meds are easier to get but many (if not most) people don’t do as well on them as the natural ones. Personally I don’t feel any improvement with synthetic T4 and only slight improvement with synthetic T3 added to it.
6. Get sunshine, fresh air, lots of fresh water and at least 8 hours sleep in a dark cool room each night (more if you have fatigue). These seem simplistic but they work miracles. To paraphrase one source “Cutting sleep time may add more hours to your day but it subtracts hours from your life. People who sleep 9 hours per night have greater killer cell activity. (Those are the cells that kill bacteria, viruses and cancer.) Lack of sufficient sleep causes brain neurons to shrink and makes people more prone to depression.” (I think this was from “Stress Less” by Dr. Don Colbert.)
7. Exercise (including resistance, aerobic, core and flexibility). Do what you like and what works for you but do it. Don’t expect to be healthy without exercise. Yes, you can lose weight without exercising but you won’t be healthy. We are biological machines created for motion. Be consistent with exercise but don’t buy into the myth that you have to “go hard or go home.” If you like that, great. If you just want to do Pilates and swim, that’s great too. If nothing else jump on a rebounder and stretch.
8. Supplements: Everyone has individual needs but almost everyone needs a multi vitamin/mineral, Essential Fatty Acids, extra Vitamin C, extra Vitamin D, and iodine. The older you are and the more health issues you have the more additional supplements you will probably need like CoQ10, digestive enzymes, calcium, magnesium, extra vitamin E, etc. '
9. Avoid things like micro-waved food, sunburn, EMFs (i.e., cell phones), too much meat (especially red meat), fried food, processed food, pesticides, food additives, chemicals in cleansers and personal products, artificial hormones, mercury fillings, most alcohol, all artificial sweeteners, etc. I know this is easier said than done; but do what you can.
10. After all of this monitor your pH. Buy some testing tape from Swanson Vitamins (much cheaper than your average health food store.) If you eat right, take iodine, and get proper amounts of natural salt and fresh water your pH should be pretty good. An acidic body leads to illness.
11. The ultimate question in the end is “How do you feel?” If you don’t feel well then something is wrong no matter what the test results are or what the doctor says. Listen to your body.
1. Spiritual health is paramount. If you’re unwell spiritually, emotionally or mentally you cannot be healthy physically. I know it sucks that we can’t compartmentalize ourselves but it’s true. This is the biggest health issue but it’s not exactly the simplest to address. And I’m not talking about “going to church” or seeing a therapist. Minimum to start would be praying (or meditating) and breathing exercises. Research de-stressing techniques. Stress and its triggers are perceived differently by different people. Just start. Be open minded. Love yourself. Take it one step at a time.
2. Stop eating sugar and grains. All of them. At least until you find out your metabolic type. There are different sources to help you do this from “The Metabolic Typing Diet” by William Wolcott, to Dr. Mercola (www.mercola.com) to the blood type diet (“Eat Right for Your Type” by Dr. Peter D’Adamo) or Jillian Michaels, etc. There are many to choose from. Pick your favorite. We’re all different so none will be exact but you will learn the basics. Then if you find out you are in the minority that do ok with grains then put them back in your diet but only the types and amounts that are ok for you. And most importantly, listen to your body. If, for example, you are told oatmeal is ok for you but you feel like crap after you eat it then don’t eat it. Important fact to know: Your body requires glucose (and the corresponding insulin release) in order to store fat. Without insulin the body cannot put fat acids into the fat cell. So if you don’t eat carbs you can’t store fat. However, without the carbs from fruits and veggies you also can’t be healthy. So lose the grains and sugars at least until you are satisfied with your weight. While losing fat be careful with high glycemic fruits (watermelon, cantaloupe, dried fruits, pineapple, etc.) and veggies (potatoes, parsnips) – be aware of them and either eliminate them until you are at maintenance level or limit them.
3. Eat all fruit and most veggies raw and eat lots of them.
4. Find out if you have a problem with yeast and/or parasites and if so address those issues.
5. Have a holistic doctor check your thyroid. In general allopathic doctors are virtually useless when it comes to the thyroid. Get a prescription for natural desiccated thyroid if needed. Synthetic thyroid meds are easier to get but many (if not most) people don’t do as well on them as the natural ones. Personally I don’t feel any improvement with synthetic T4 and only slight improvement with synthetic T3 added to it.
6. Get sunshine, fresh air, lots of fresh water and at least 8 hours sleep in a dark cool room each night (more if you have fatigue). These seem simplistic but they work miracles. To paraphrase one source “Cutting sleep time may add more hours to your day but it subtracts hours from your life. People who sleep 9 hours per night have greater killer cell activity. (Those are the cells that kill bacteria, viruses and cancer.) Lack of sufficient sleep causes brain neurons to shrink and makes people more prone to depression.” (I think this was from “Stress Less” by Dr. Don Colbert.)
7. Exercise (including resistance, aerobic, core and flexibility). Do what you like and what works for you but do it. Don’t expect to be healthy without exercise. Yes, you can lose weight without exercising but you won’t be healthy. We are biological machines created for motion. Be consistent with exercise but don’t buy into the myth that you have to “go hard or go home.” If you like that, great. If you just want to do Pilates and swim, that’s great too. If nothing else jump on a rebounder and stretch.
8. Supplements: Everyone has individual needs but almost everyone needs a multi vitamin/mineral, Essential Fatty Acids, extra Vitamin C, extra Vitamin D, and iodine. The older you are and the more health issues you have the more additional supplements you will probably need like CoQ10, digestive enzymes, calcium, magnesium, extra vitamin E, etc. '
9. Avoid things like micro-waved food, sunburn, EMFs (i.e., cell phones), too much meat (especially red meat), fried food, processed food, pesticides, food additives, chemicals in cleansers and personal products, artificial hormones, mercury fillings, most alcohol, all artificial sweeteners, etc. I know this is easier said than done; but do what you can.
10. After all of this monitor your pH. Buy some testing tape from Swanson Vitamins (much cheaper than your average health food store.) If you eat right, take iodine, and get proper amounts of natural salt and fresh water your pH should be pretty good. An acidic body leads to illness.
11. The ultimate question in the end is “How do you feel?” If you don’t feel well then something is wrong no matter what the test results are or what the doctor says. Listen to your body.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Fat loss ... it's not for the experts.
O.K. people (especially women … most especially moms), I’ve got to set the record straight about fat loss.
I spent over 10 years doing what the fat loss experts said to do. I spent an enormous amount of time researching. I gave the most credence to the most accepted plans and forced myself to believe in the calories in, calories out theory. It sounded good. It was “scientific” – thermodynamics and all that, right? It made sense. But it didn’t work for me. Maybe it works for some people – I’m assuming they’re not all liars – I’m assuming they mean well.
So for over 10 years I counted calories, I weighed and measured. I used online food diaries, etc. I ate tuna and egg whites and frickin’ oat meal. I was hungry almost all the time. You know what I got? Fat. Yep. I remember following a particular mainstream diet to the “T.” I mean I was Miss Anal Retentive. I was being “good.” I gained six pounds in ONE WEEK. No, it wasn’t water. It took weeks to get it off.
I kept thinking that if I was “perfect,” if I calculated more accurately, if I worked out just a bit harder I would lose fat. (I’ve always been active. I was an athletic kid and a gym rat as an adult so exercise was not a problem with me.) The problem was at the core. The problem was that I believed a calorie was a calorie as far as fat loss is concerned. I really believed it because it was no bullshit and it was quantifiable. It was my failure.
So I accidentally stumbled across the solution to my problem and, I suspect, the problem for many people – especially women and most especially moms. For the first 34 years of my life I was always between thin and normal weight until I had my second child. Then I began to gain weight. The harder I tried to lose it the more I gained. It was like quick sand. I had become hypothyroid and even though I began to feel better when I started taking (natural) thyroid medication the fat didn’t budge. If you are hypothyroid you know exactly what I’m talking about. You can check out story after story on thyroid web sites. People don’t just gain 20, 40, 60 and more pounds of fat after being thin for decades and eating the same amount or less.
Because I suspected I had a systemic yeast problem I went on an anti-yeast diet. At the heart of the diet is a complete avoidance of sugars and grains. I stopped eating sugars and grains COMPLETELY. I stopped counting calories. I stopped being concerned about dietary fat. I even stopped exercising as hard and as often. Basically, I just took it easy. And guess what? I lost 15 pounds in six weeks.
I can eat enormous amounts of raw nuts, seeds, raw fruit, and any veggie other than potatoes and still lose weight. The little brainwashed voice in my head said I would gain weight if I ate a grapefruit, two oranges, two apples, an avocado, an enormous salad with cheese and loads of olive oil, handfuls of raw almonds, protein shakes with 2% milk, whole yogurt and frozen fruit, whole eggs fried in coconut oil, several carrots and several coffees loaded with half and half. Nope. Fat seemed to melt away. BUT, if I ate even one piece of bread and hardly anything else I would gain weight. The numbers don’t add up because you’re body is not counting calories. It doesn’t give a sweet damn about your calories in vs. calories out equation. Honestly, when in the history of the world have people needed to calculate food to maintain a healthy weight? It’s all about balanced nutrition.
So I no longer care what any of “the fat-loss experts” say. I have become my own fat-loss expert and I hope that this info helps others who are in the same situation. I’m keeping a “diary” of sorts and once I’ve reached my fat loss goals I’ll elaborate more and publish it. I’m also going to add more basic info on the blog tomorrow. But for now watch this:
http://dhslides.org/mgr/mgr060509f/f.htm
I wish every single one of you magnificent health.
I spent over 10 years doing what the fat loss experts said to do. I spent an enormous amount of time researching. I gave the most credence to the most accepted plans and forced myself to believe in the calories in, calories out theory. It sounded good. It was “scientific” – thermodynamics and all that, right? It made sense. But it didn’t work for me. Maybe it works for some people – I’m assuming they’re not all liars – I’m assuming they mean well.
So for over 10 years I counted calories, I weighed and measured. I used online food diaries, etc. I ate tuna and egg whites and frickin’ oat meal. I was hungry almost all the time. You know what I got? Fat. Yep. I remember following a particular mainstream diet to the “T.” I mean I was Miss Anal Retentive. I was being “good.” I gained six pounds in ONE WEEK. No, it wasn’t water. It took weeks to get it off.
I kept thinking that if I was “perfect,” if I calculated more accurately, if I worked out just a bit harder I would lose fat. (I’ve always been active. I was an athletic kid and a gym rat as an adult so exercise was not a problem with me.) The problem was at the core. The problem was that I believed a calorie was a calorie as far as fat loss is concerned. I really believed it because it was no bullshit and it was quantifiable. It was my failure.
So I accidentally stumbled across the solution to my problem and, I suspect, the problem for many people – especially women and most especially moms. For the first 34 years of my life I was always between thin and normal weight until I had my second child. Then I began to gain weight. The harder I tried to lose it the more I gained. It was like quick sand. I had become hypothyroid and even though I began to feel better when I started taking (natural) thyroid medication the fat didn’t budge. If you are hypothyroid you know exactly what I’m talking about. You can check out story after story on thyroid web sites. People don’t just gain 20, 40, 60 and more pounds of fat after being thin for decades and eating the same amount or less.
Because I suspected I had a systemic yeast problem I went on an anti-yeast diet. At the heart of the diet is a complete avoidance of sugars and grains. I stopped eating sugars and grains COMPLETELY. I stopped counting calories. I stopped being concerned about dietary fat. I even stopped exercising as hard and as often. Basically, I just took it easy. And guess what? I lost 15 pounds in six weeks.
I can eat enormous amounts of raw nuts, seeds, raw fruit, and any veggie other than potatoes and still lose weight. The little brainwashed voice in my head said I would gain weight if I ate a grapefruit, two oranges, two apples, an avocado, an enormous salad with cheese and loads of olive oil, handfuls of raw almonds, protein shakes with 2% milk, whole yogurt and frozen fruit, whole eggs fried in coconut oil, several carrots and several coffees loaded with half and half. Nope. Fat seemed to melt away. BUT, if I ate even one piece of bread and hardly anything else I would gain weight. The numbers don’t add up because you’re body is not counting calories. It doesn’t give a sweet damn about your calories in vs. calories out equation. Honestly, when in the history of the world have people needed to calculate food to maintain a healthy weight? It’s all about balanced nutrition.
So I no longer care what any of “the fat-loss experts” say. I have become my own fat-loss expert and I hope that this info helps others who are in the same situation. I’m keeping a “diary” of sorts and once I’ve reached my fat loss goals I’ll elaborate more and publish it. I’m also going to add more basic info on the blog tomorrow. But for now watch this:
http://dhslides.org/mgr/mgr060509f/f.htm
I wish every single one of you magnificent health.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Vegetarianism vs... not
Have you read or heard a debate on vegetarianism vs. meat eating? People are so emotional about whatever side they support (because food is personal) they often wind up hitting below the belt. (Such as vegetarians calling meat-eaters barbarians or Neanderthals and meat-eaters saying vegetarians are stupid.) A person actually trying to get balanced information will be sorely disappointed.
While most people use the Bible or evolution to make their point that’s not usually a very effective approach because many, if not most, people reject one or the other. (Although I have heard some desperate people selectively quote the Bible, misunderstanding the verse and then back it up with a “factoid” from the evolution camp. Wha?) So, I say we should look at nature now. As we all know, our closest “relatives,” or most similar species if you prefer, are the apes such as chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans. They love fruit but also eat leaves, bark, flowers, roots, etc. Occasionally all three species will eat insects. Chimps and orangutans may eat other animals as well but all three are about 95% vegetarian. Many vegetarians would say that’s not a vegetarian. Fine. So I’ll say omnivore while you go split hairs with a gorilla.
Every person is different. Some people need more protein than others. Some people do extremely well on vegetarian diets and some people do well eating animal flesh. But it’s pretty clear that it’s a rare human that should live mostly or exclusively on animal protein. I strongly suggest each person find out what their metabolic type is. There are several free tests out there or you can go with the blood type diet as set forth by Dr. Peter D'Adamo or a combination. (Don’t pre-judge the blood type diet before reading it. Although I didn’t want to admit it at first the diet nailed me on point after point down the line.)No matter what test I take I always come up with the same conclusion for myself: a mixed type leaning toward a protein type. But, alas … I hate meat.
I was raised in the rural south where people pretty much ate whatever they caught. My large extended family raised our own cows, pigs, chickens. They hunted and fished. We raised our own vegetables and had a family dairy. I would bottle feed baby calves and find them a year later in the deep freezer. I found that deeply disturbing. It didn’t seem to bother anyone else in my family. So I quit eating beef first as a teenager dropping other critters from my menu along the way. Crab (my greatest flesh weakness) was the last to go in my early 20s.
I was a lacto-ovo-vegetarian until I got pregnant. In my second trimester I got these unbelievable cravings for fish. I decided my body knew something I didn’t so I ate as much fish as I wanted … which was quite a bit – often twice per day. I would drive 50 miles out of my way to get it if I was craving it. By my third trimester the cravings left completely. I read later that fish contain something necessary for brain development in the second trimester. A Harvard Medical Study “observed that the more fish the pregnant women ate during the second trimester, the better her six month old performed on a standard mental test.” (My kids are brilliant.) So, good thing I listened to my cravings. Very, very rarely I will still get another craving for a particular kind of fish but I can go months or years without it.
If I even drive by a steak restaurant I want to gag. The smell is absolutely repugnant. So, despite a general consensus that red meat is good for me I can’t even stomach the idea of it. I try to listen to my body and I accept this as a major clue.
If someone told me I would live to be 120 in great health if I ate red meat daily I still wouldn’t do it. If I were faced with the choice of starvation or killing a cow, rabbit, deer, chicken or any other mammal or bird I would just have to starve. I couldn’t do it. However, if I had to choose between starvation and eating fish I’d kill a fish (by decapitation not “drowning” in air). I couldn’t do it unless there was no other avenue to survival. Yea, maybe I’m a speciesist when it comes to fish or insects. I just have more empathy for mammals and birds. Maybe it’s because I grew up so close to them.
The meat industry in general is indeed cruel and barbaric. There’s no getting around it. Read “Fast Food Nation” for a peek. So, if you insist on eating meat find a source where the animals are well-treated and killed with great mercy. (Good luck with that.)
If you are a Christian you might want to read “What Would Jesus Eat.” Its author, Dr. Don Colbert, states that while Jesus probably ate fish daily, other meats (and only “clean” meats as per Leviticus Ch. 11) were rarely eaten – being reserved for special occasions. Kosher is proper.
Whether you look at if from a natural point of view or a Biblical point of view human consumption of flesh (unless you are an Inuit) should be limited.
I’ve heard people argue the “herbivore” and “carnivore” extremes comparing us to lions or gazelles. That’s really nonsense. The most elementary of feline study reveals that cats are true carnivores. Their bodies actually make vitamin C. They have no choice in the matter and they naturally like to chase something down and kill it. Have you ever watched your chubby housecat kill a mouse then paw at it in confusion as though its toy has broken? It’s instinctive.
We are obviously not true herbivores either because we have no desire to graze in pastures. Have you ever seen a beautiful meadow of green grass and, with a salivating mouth thought, wow I’ve gotta get me some of that! We would die of malnutrition trying to live on grass regardless of good intentions. Grains are almost as bad. Most people are much healthier when they drastically reduce or eliminate grains altogether. How do they fatten up cows for slaughter? Grains.
We’re omnivores like the (other) apes that thrive on a predominantly vegetarian diet. We’re naturally attracted to sugar but we should go with the natural sources not the granulated or artificial sort. We’d probably be much healthier if half of our diet consisted of ripe, raw, organic fruit. Throw in some veggies, nuts, seeds, herbs and good fats and you should have the majority of our ideal diet. That condiment-size portion left over may be an individualized (depending on your metabolic type) serving of meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
The decision to eat meat or not to eat meat is not the single pivotal point in individual health. I’ve met healthy and intelligent people on both sides. They are usually the ones who make a point of getting lots of fresh fruits, veggies, and water in addition to having other healthy habits. More to come on that later.
While most people use the Bible or evolution to make their point that’s not usually a very effective approach because many, if not most, people reject one or the other. (Although I have heard some desperate people selectively quote the Bible, misunderstanding the verse and then back it up with a “factoid” from the evolution camp. Wha?) So, I say we should look at nature now. As we all know, our closest “relatives,” or most similar species if you prefer, are the apes such as chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans. They love fruit but also eat leaves, bark, flowers, roots, etc. Occasionally all three species will eat insects. Chimps and orangutans may eat other animals as well but all three are about 95% vegetarian. Many vegetarians would say that’s not a vegetarian. Fine. So I’ll say omnivore while you go split hairs with a gorilla.
Every person is different. Some people need more protein than others. Some people do extremely well on vegetarian diets and some people do well eating animal flesh. But it’s pretty clear that it’s a rare human that should live mostly or exclusively on animal protein. I strongly suggest each person find out what their metabolic type is. There are several free tests out there or you can go with the blood type diet as set forth by Dr. Peter D'Adamo or a combination. (Don’t pre-judge the blood type diet before reading it. Although I didn’t want to admit it at first the diet nailed me on point after point down the line.)No matter what test I take I always come up with the same conclusion for myself: a mixed type leaning toward a protein type. But, alas … I hate meat.
I was raised in the rural south where people pretty much ate whatever they caught. My large extended family raised our own cows, pigs, chickens. They hunted and fished. We raised our own vegetables and had a family dairy. I would bottle feed baby calves and find them a year later in the deep freezer. I found that deeply disturbing. It didn’t seem to bother anyone else in my family. So I quit eating beef first as a teenager dropping other critters from my menu along the way. Crab (my greatest flesh weakness) was the last to go in my early 20s.
I was a lacto-ovo-vegetarian until I got pregnant. In my second trimester I got these unbelievable cravings for fish. I decided my body knew something I didn’t so I ate as much fish as I wanted … which was quite a bit – often twice per day. I would drive 50 miles out of my way to get it if I was craving it. By my third trimester the cravings left completely. I read later that fish contain something necessary for brain development in the second trimester. A Harvard Medical Study “observed that the more fish the pregnant women ate during the second trimester, the better her six month old performed on a standard mental test.” (My kids are brilliant.) So, good thing I listened to my cravings. Very, very rarely I will still get another craving for a particular kind of fish but I can go months or years without it.
If I even drive by a steak restaurant I want to gag. The smell is absolutely repugnant. So, despite a general consensus that red meat is good for me I can’t even stomach the idea of it. I try to listen to my body and I accept this as a major clue.
If someone told me I would live to be 120 in great health if I ate red meat daily I still wouldn’t do it. If I were faced with the choice of starvation or killing a cow, rabbit, deer, chicken or any other mammal or bird I would just have to starve. I couldn’t do it. However, if I had to choose between starvation and eating fish I’d kill a fish (by decapitation not “drowning” in air). I couldn’t do it unless there was no other avenue to survival. Yea, maybe I’m a speciesist when it comes to fish or insects. I just have more empathy for mammals and birds. Maybe it’s because I grew up so close to them.
The meat industry in general is indeed cruel and barbaric. There’s no getting around it. Read “Fast Food Nation” for a peek. So, if you insist on eating meat find a source where the animals are well-treated and killed with great mercy. (Good luck with that.)
If you are a Christian you might want to read “What Would Jesus Eat.” Its author, Dr. Don Colbert, states that while Jesus probably ate fish daily, other meats (and only “clean” meats as per Leviticus Ch. 11) were rarely eaten – being reserved for special occasions. Kosher is proper.
Whether you look at if from a natural point of view or a Biblical point of view human consumption of flesh (unless you are an Inuit) should be limited.
I’ve heard people argue the “herbivore” and “carnivore” extremes comparing us to lions or gazelles. That’s really nonsense. The most elementary of feline study reveals that cats are true carnivores. Their bodies actually make vitamin C. They have no choice in the matter and they naturally like to chase something down and kill it. Have you ever watched your chubby housecat kill a mouse then paw at it in confusion as though its toy has broken? It’s instinctive.
We are obviously not true herbivores either because we have no desire to graze in pastures. Have you ever seen a beautiful meadow of green grass and, with a salivating mouth thought, wow I’ve gotta get me some of that! We would die of malnutrition trying to live on grass regardless of good intentions. Grains are almost as bad. Most people are much healthier when they drastically reduce or eliminate grains altogether. How do they fatten up cows for slaughter? Grains.
We’re omnivores like the (other) apes that thrive on a predominantly vegetarian diet. We’re naturally attracted to sugar but we should go with the natural sources not the granulated or artificial sort. We’d probably be much healthier if half of our diet consisted of ripe, raw, organic fruit. Throw in some veggies, nuts, seeds, herbs and good fats and you should have the majority of our ideal diet. That condiment-size portion left over may be an individualized (depending on your metabolic type) serving of meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
The decision to eat meat or not to eat meat is not the single pivotal point in individual health. I’ve met healthy and intelligent people on both sides. They are usually the ones who make a point of getting lots of fresh fruits, veggies, and water in addition to having other healthy habits. More to come on that later.
Was it good for you too?
What used to be an important service – the postal service – has now become mostly a nuisance. (Postal employees, you have my sympathy, but…)
We (personally) have to rent a Post Office Box to receive mail. (No, they will not deliver it to our house.) We have to drive to the Post Office to get our mail. We have to spend time going through the mail which is 95% junk. We have to buy garbage bags to put the junk mail in. We either have to drive to a recycling station to drop off the junk mail or pay for garbage disposal. All the while, we get to worry about some dumpster-diver getting our personal information and stealing our identity and screwing up our credit so, oh yea, we have to buy a paper shredder. And/or we can pay someone to supposedly protect our identity. It’s all on us.
Regarding identity theft, whoever thought of using social security numbers as a general I.D. number needs to be publically flogged. That’s the person/department/entity that is responsible for identity theft. Social security numbers should be used strictly for Social Security and tax purposes. They should have no connection with our credit or our insurance or charge card applications, etc.
And why is it that a credit reporting agency has so much power over your financial credibility? Ironically it does not prove your credibility at all because life is not black and white. A credit report does not explain any late payments. The moral high road is not exactly lucrative. Maybe someone had great credit for 20 years and then was involved in a major auto accident and couldn’t work and was buried in medical bills (another screwing, anyone)? Maybe someone lost their job through no fault of their own and had a hard time getting back on their feet thanks to a massively suckitude economy (and who’s responsible for that)? When people are down they just get kicked harder. They’re struggling to make it but are burdened by oppressive interest rates. But the “well qualified buyer” mentioned in television auto ads will be offered 0% financing and could probably pay cash for the car. But, of course, the car companies know that. Why do we, the people, have to monitor our own credit report records? Shouldn’t accuracy be their responsibility? They’re the ones making money gathering information. They should actually check with us when a monstrosity shows up on a credit report BEFORE they publish it not in a little “by the way, there’s a negative entry on your report” notice. Gee thanks.
The credit reporting agencies collectively plus the social security administration plus the IRS should GUARANTEE that our identities are safe. THEY should pay for our protection because THEY are responsible for the very possibility of identity theft. And they should provide each of us with a shredder.
Why do we put up with this? Did we collectively agree to this? I know I didn’t vote for a perpetual screwing.
The Postal Service says that junk mail is its primary source of income. Why is that so precious but our time and income are apparently disposable?
If I went to the post office every day it would take about 25 minutes per day for the round trip plus the sorting time. That’s 130 hours per year mostly wasted out of my life. (I could probably make one trip a month to get the total mail that I actually want.) This doesn’t even include the cost of gas and the bother of disposal. What is my time worth? Apparently it’s worth nothing to them but it’s worth a lot to me. I’ll calculate low: at minimum wage that’s $942.50 per year I should get paid for my time, plus add gas money, plus add garbage bag money because I DON’T WANT TO go to the Post Office for junk mail and sort and dispose of junk mail. Basically I’m serving as a person who cleans the junk out of their box. They owe me part of their profits for participating in their junk mail campaign. If I order something through the mail then I want to receive that mail and of course I pay for shipping. Other than that I don’t want any of it. Nada. Unless I’ve ordered a package, then email me. How many trees are cut for the idiocy of junk mail. Are we really collectively that stupid? Can we do no better than acting like trained mutton?
I’m trying to come up with a way to just not have a mailing address. That should be interesting. Yes… that’s a plan worth pursuing.
We (personally) have to rent a Post Office Box to receive mail. (No, they will not deliver it to our house.) We have to drive to the Post Office to get our mail. We have to spend time going through the mail which is 95% junk. We have to buy garbage bags to put the junk mail in. We either have to drive to a recycling station to drop off the junk mail or pay for garbage disposal. All the while, we get to worry about some dumpster-diver getting our personal information and stealing our identity and screwing up our credit so, oh yea, we have to buy a paper shredder. And/or we can pay someone to supposedly protect our identity. It’s all on us.
Regarding identity theft, whoever thought of using social security numbers as a general I.D. number needs to be publically flogged. That’s the person/department/entity that is responsible for identity theft. Social security numbers should be used strictly for Social Security and tax purposes. They should have no connection with our credit or our insurance or charge card applications, etc.
And why is it that a credit reporting agency has so much power over your financial credibility? Ironically it does not prove your credibility at all because life is not black and white. A credit report does not explain any late payments. The moral high road is not exactly lucrative. Maybe someone had great credit for 20 years and then was involved in a major auto accident and couldn’t work and was buried in medical bills (another screwing, anyone)? Maybe someone lost their job through no fault of their own and had a hard time getting back on their feet thanks to a massively suckitude economy (and who’s responsible for that)? When people are down they just get kicked harder. They’re struggling to make it but are burdened by oppressive interest rates. But the “well qualified buyer” mentioned in television auto ads will be offered 0% financing and could probably pay cash for the car. But, of course, the car companies know that. Why do we, the people, have to monitor our own credit report records? Shouldn’t accuracy be their responsibility? They’re the ones making money gathering information. They should actually check with us when a monstrosity shows up on a credit report BEFORE they publish it not in a little “by the way, there’s a negative entry on your report” notice. Gee thanks.
The credit reporting agencies collectively plus the social security administration plus the IRS should GUARANTEE that our identities are safe. THEY should pay for our protection because THEY are responsible for the very possibility of identity theft. And they should provide each of us with a shredder.
Why do we put up with this? Did we collectively agree to this? I know I didn’t vote for a perpetual screwing.
The Postal Service says that junk mail is its primary source of income. Why is that so precious but our time and income are apparently disposable?
If I went to the post office every day it would take about 25 minutes per day for the round trip plus the sorting time. That’s 130 hours per year mostly wasted out of my life. (I could probably make one trip a month to get the total mail that I actually want.) This doesn’t even include the cost of gas and the bother of disposal. What is my time worth? Apparently it’s worth nothing to them but it’s worth a lot to me. I’ll calculate low: at minimum wage that’s $942.50 per year I should get paid for my time, plus add gas money, plus add garbage bag money because I DON’T WANT TO go to the Post Office for junk mail and sort and dispose of junk mail. Basically I’m serving as a person who cleans the junk out of their box. They owe me part of their profits for participating in their junk mail campaign. If I order something through the mail then I want to receive that mail and of course I pay for shipping. Other than that I don’t want any of it. Nada. Unless I’ve ordered a package, then email me. How many trees are cut for the idiocy of junk mail. Are we really collectively that stupid? Can we do no better than acting like trained mutton?
I’m trying to come up with a way to just not have a mailing address. That should be interesting. Yes… that’s a plan worth pursuing.
Friday, December 11, 2009
"May the best car win" ... um, they already have
You’ve heard General Motor’s ad stating “may the best car win.” This is the sort of ineptitude that resulted in their failure in the first place. Honestly, where have these people been for the last 35 or so years? How stupid do they think we are? How stupid are we?
Our immediate family has purchased 11 autos over the last couple decades: We’ve had a Ford, two Pontiacs, a GMC truck, two Chevrolets, a Dodge, three Suzukis and a Subaru. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE AMERICAN VEHICLES LEFT US STRANDED at some point – some of them several times – once on a road trip several states away – sometimes in very dangerous situations. (I will say that the GMC truck had over 150,000 miles on it before it gave us any trouble so it is excused.) The four Japanese models were/are like Energizer bunnies – they just keep going and going and going. We’ve had to pay for towing services several times for the American cars. We’ve taken the cars/truck to be serviced at the dealerships who charged us a fortune and then, as you all probably know, didn’t fix the f*cking problem. They owe us money … big time – not just for out-of-pocket expenses in the thousands of dollars but aggravation and endangerment. IF they gave me (completely free) a car AND it performed well for at least 200,000 miles THEN I would consider buying an American made car in the future. Not going to happen so good riddance.
I know I’m not alone in this. All one has to do is peruse Consumer Reports and look at the “grades.”
I live in the rural Rocky Mountains. I drive a lot. I’ve always noticed that most of the cars broken down on the side of the road are American made. Five months ago I started keeping track. Here are the results: Saturn = 1, Cadillac = 1, Oldsmobile = 1, Audi = 1, Mitsubishi = 1, Chrysler = 2, Buick = 2, Pontiac = 2, Mercury = 2, Honda = 4, Dodge = 5, Jeep = 6, Chevrolet = 8 and Ford = 11. So 88% of the breakdowns in my area are American vehicles (41 American vs. six foreign). (And no, that is no reflective of the general ratio of car makes on the road in this area. At least half the cars/trucks here are foreign makes – especially Subaru, Suzuki and Toyota.) I also asked a tow truck driver what was the most common make of vehicle he picked up and he said Ford – reaffirming my little survey. However, if you combine all the GM models then they are the worst.
If ever a company or companies did not deserve a bailout it was the American auto makers. We, their customers who’ve spent a fortune on crappy cars, are the ones who deserved a bailout. Did you get yours? Since they’ve screwed us all so thoroughly for the last three decades and since our money bailed them out we, each and every tax payer (NOT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT), should get stock in those companies. We should all be part-owners of General Motors and Chrysler. I want a stock certificate with my name on it. At least then we could have some motivation to actually buy their products (with crossed fingers and a prayer).
The GM ad says if you don’t like your new GM purchase you can return it within 60 days. Is that indicative of their confidence in their product? Is that supposed to be a good thing? How about “if we don’t like it the first 200,000 miles we can return it?” And if we do like it (meaning it hasn’t left us stranded) then we’ll actually pay for it. The least they could do is cover all towing and repairs with a 100% guarantee – none of this 100,000 miles nonsense. A car that only gives you 100,000 miles before giving you trouble is known as a POS.
I know I’m being demanding; but shouldn’t we be? If you spend $40,000 on a new vehicle and you are anywhere near average you are spending a year of your life to pay for it. (It could be longer because you have to pay taxes out of your income [part of which pays for their bailout] and then taxes on the vehicle – a triple screwing.) Is that a good trade? You are also probably relying on it to get you to and from that work to pay for it. You are also putting your physical safety (and that of your friends and family) at stake every time you drive it.
A car serves one primary purpose: to get you from Point A to Point B reliably and safely every single time you need to go somewhere. None of the niceties of car design matter if it doesn’t first fulfill that basic purpose. So you can take your shiny paint, butt warmers, sleek styling and great stereo and stick it unless the vehicle is reliable.
Americans certainly have the skill and resources to make great cars. We want great cars. We love great cars. (And stop whining about environmental restrictions. Sack up and make something great.) Put up or shut down.
Our immediate family has purchased 11 autos over the last couple decades: We’ve had a Ford, two Pontiacs, a GMC truck, two Chevrolets, a Dodge, three Suzukis and a Subaru. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE AMERICAN VEHICLES LEFT US STRANDED at some point – some of them several times – once on a road trip several states away – sometimes in very dangerous situations. (I will say that the GMC truck had over 150,000 miles on it before it gave us any trouble so it is excused.) The four Japanese models were/are like Energizer bunnies – they just keep going and going and going. We’ve had to pay for towing services several times for the American cars. We’ve taken the cars/truck to be serviced at the dealerships who charged us a fortune and then, as you all probably know, didn’t fix the f*cking problem. They owe us money … big time – not just for out-of-pocket expenses in the thousands of dollars but aggravation and endangerment. IF they gave me (completely free) a car AND it performed well for at least 200,000 miles THEN I would consider buying an American made car in the future. Not going to happen so good riddance.
I know I’m not alone in this. All one has to do is peruse Consumer Reports and look at the “grades.”
I live in the rural Rocky Mountains. I drive a lot. I’ve always noticed that most of the cars broken down on the side of the road are American made. Five months ago I started keeping track. Here are the results: Saturn = 1, Cadillac = 1, Oldsmobile = 1, Audi = 1, Mitsubishi = 1, Chrysler = 2, Buick = 2, Pontiac = 2, Mercury = 2, Honda = 4, Dodge = 5, Jeep = 6, Chevrolet = 8 and Ford = 11. So 88% of the breakdowns in my area are American vehicles (41 American vs. six foreign). (And no, that is no reflective of the general ratio of car makes on the road in this area. At least half the cars/trucks here are foreign makes – especially Subaru, Suzuki and Toyota.) I also asked a tow truck driver what was the most common make of vehicle he picked up and he said Ford – reaffirming my little survey. However, if you combine all the GM models then they are the worst.
If ever a company or companies did not deserve a bailout it was the American auto makers. We, their customers who’ve spent a fortune on crappy cars, are the ones who deserved a bailout. Did you get yours? Since they’ve screwed us all so thoroughly for the last three decades and since our money bailed them out we, each and every tax payer (NOT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT), should get stock in those companies. We should all be part-owners of General Motors and Chrysler. I want a stock certificate with my name on it. At least then we could have some motivation to actually buy their products (with crossed fingers and a prayer).
The GM ad says if you don’t like your new GM purchase you can return it within 60 days. Is that indicative of their confidence in their product? Is that supposed to be a good thing? How about “if we don’t like it the first 200,000 miles we can return it?” And if we do like it (meaning it hasn’t left us stranded) then we’ll actually pay for it. The least they could do is cover all towing and repairs with a 100% guarantee – none of this 100,000 miles nonsense. A car that only gives you 100,000 miles before giving you trouble is known as a POS.
I know I’m being demanding; but shouldn’t we be? If you spend $40,000 on a new vehicle and you are anywhere near average you are spending a year of your life to pay for it. (It could be longer because you have to pay taxes out of your income [part of which pays for their bailout] and then taxes on the vehicle – a triple screwing.) Is that a good trade? You are also probably relying on it to get you to and from that work to pay for it. You are also putting your physical safety (and that of your friends and family) at stake every time you drive it.
A car serves one primary purpose: to get you from Point A to Point B reliably and safely every single time you need to go somewhere. None of the niceties of car design matter if it doesn’t first fulfill that basic purpose. So you can take your shiny paint, butt warmers, sleek styling and great stereo and stick it unless the vehicle is reliable.
Americans certainly have the skill and resources to make great cars. We want great cars. We love great cars. (And stop whining about environmental restrictions. Sack up and make something great.) Put up or shut down.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Yes, the FDA is out to get you (and your money)
The FDA and the pharmaceutical companies do not care about your health. They only want your money while they consider your health a risk they are willing to take. Don’t be an idiot. And don’t think your doctor is an independent agent. He or she has been funneled into the current medical system to fill a particular economic role. A doctor would have to rebel in order to honestly look out for your health and thank God, there are a few out there who have; but they are certainly a minority. (NOTE: In general, I am not referring to surgeons. I have nothing but respect and gratitude to trauma teams and those who try to put us back together when we are injured or remove tumors or give a deformed child corrective surgery, etc.)
“Prescription drug sales reached $286.5 billion in the United States in 2007, up from $40.3 billion in 1990.” -- November issue of the Maine Center for Economic Policy’s Choices publication.
Certainly you can’t think that we NEED that much more drugs than 17 years ago or that their Franken-chemists have somehow come up with a plethora of cures to what ails us. Outside of antibiotics, drugs don’t cure anything because the manufacturers don’t want to cure any illness or disease. It is not in their financial interest for you to be cured which is why they oppose natural remedies. They want to “treat” you … and treat you… and treat you …
Their increased profits are due to massive marketing. Aren’t we all sick of watching TV and hearing about Tom, Dick and Harry’s erectile dysfunction? I mean, really, if it doesn’t work isn’t that a clue? You can be sure that it’s not the only part of your body having a problem. Find the cause first. (Denis Leary, made an excellent point in that viewing audiences were all offended at Janet Jackson’s breast making a break for it on national TV while no one seemed to care about the erectile dysfunction commercials. Love him! Read his book “Why We Suck.” It’s great.)
The drug manufacturers also push antidepressants on us like it’s a panacea to the good life and then tell us, oh by the way (fast talk), ‘people who take these drugs have a higher incidence of suicide or violence.’ Does the word Columbine ring a bell? All the profits made by the pharmaceutical industry from mind-altering drugs should be given to the victims (and their families) who have been hurt by those drugs. So what if it destroys the company? A company that destroys lives should not continue to exist. They are literally getting away with murder.
If a person seems to have mental problems the first thing that should be addressed is nutritional deficiencies, toxicities and stress relief. Do you honestly think those “silver” fillings that are in your head consisting of 50% highly toxic mercury have no ill effect on your brain? Or that the chlorine and fluoride in public drinking water is not wrecking havoc in your body? But instead, the depressed or hyperactive are given drugs that actually make their health worse. Psycho-stimulants (Ritalin, etc.) cause brain atrophy. Nice. You think the fact that Timmy can’t sit still is a problem now? How about the long term results of drugging a significant part of our population to permanently alter their brains?
Teachers and parents complain that many kids that can’t sit still and pay attention in class. Is that annoying? You betcha. But they assume the kid is screwed up rather than the obvious: 1) they are full of sugar and food additives, 2) they are bored and 3) children are not designed to sit still for hour upon hour. No healthy intelligent person wants to sit still and “act” like they pay attention to a lecture of no interest. Sorry but it’s the truth. If you can’t hold an audience maybe you need to revise your material and/or your delivery. Maybe you just suck. (Thank you, Dr. Leary.)
Anyone – especially a doctor – needs to earn your trust. Just because he/she is standing in front of you in a white coat with a stethoscope draped around his neck like a status symbol and a diploma on the wall that states that he spent an inordinate amount of time in institutionalized education backed by pharmaceutical companies (who also write medical text books) does not mean they are experts in what is best for your body. You are the expert in your body. Quite frankly, if you study health yourself you probably know more than your typical general practitioner sans the Latin. (Again, I’m not talking about surgeons. I’m also not saying that most doctors don’t have good intentions – they too, have been had by the system.) You don’t have to study everything; but you better care enough to study those things that affect you most.
We used to be an independent nation – a nation of pioneers – tough, largely self-sufficient. Not any more. The pharmaceutical companies are in bed with the FDA and other decision makers and are using drugs (including “immunizations” [a misnomer if ever there was one]) to rob you of first your money, then your health and then your liberty. The FDA should be disbanded but for now no one should be allowed inside the FDA who has ANY connection with pharmaceutical companies. Nada. Not even a Walgreens employee.
Pharmaceutical companies create synthetic drugs because they can patent them. (Read $.) Have you ever noticed that illegal drugs are often more natural than the legal ones? If you are prescribed a drug – particularly one that you will take on an ongoing basis as opposed to short term/as needed such as pain relief or an asthma inhaler – then do your research. Most likely, it will do more harm than good and the manufactures will not take responsibility for it. It will cause side-effects for which you will be prescribed … a medication.
Please, think for yourself and question authority.
“Prescription drug sales reached $286.5 billion in the United States in 2007, up from $40.3 billion in 1990.” -- November issue of the Maine Center for Economic Policy’s Choices publication.
Certainly you can’t think that we NEED that much more drugs than 17 years ago or that their Franken-chemists have somehow come up with a plethora of cures to what ails us. Outside of antibiotics, drugs don’t cure anything because the manufacturers don’t want to cure any illness or disease. It is not in their financial interest for you to be cured which is why they oppose natural remedies. They want to “treat” you … and treat you… and treat you …
Their increased profits are due to massive marketing. Aren’t we all sick of watching TV and hearing about Tom, Dick and Harry’s erectile dysfunction? I mean, really, if it doesn’t work isn’t that a clue? You can be sure that it’s not the only part of your body having a problem. Find the cause first. (Denis Leary, made an excellent point in that viewing audiences were all offended at Janet Jackson’s breast making a break for it on national TV while no one seemed to care about the erectile dysfunction commercials. Love him! Read his book “Why We Suck.” It’s great.)
The drug manufacturers also push antidepressants on us like it’s a panacea to the good life and then tell us, oh by the way (fast talk), ‘people who take these drugs have a higher incidence of suicide or violence.’ Does the word Columbine ring a bell? All the profits made by the pharmaceutical industry from mind-altering drugs should be given to the victims (and their families) who have been hurt by those drugs. So what if it destroys the company? A company that destroys lives should not continue to exist. They are literally getting away with murder.
If a person seems to have mental problems the first thing that should be addressed is nutritional deficiencies, toxicities and stress relief. Do you honestly think those “silver” fillings that are in your head consisting of 50% highly toxic mercury have no ill effect on your brain? Or that the chlorine and fluoride in public drinking water is not wrecking havoc in your body? But instead, the depressed or hyperactive are given drugs that actually make their health worse. Psycho-stimulants (Ritalin, etc.) cause brain atrophy. Nice. You think the fact that Timmy can’t sit still is a problem now? How about the long term results of drugging a significant part of our population to permanently alter their brains?
Teachers and parents complain that many kids that can’t sit still and pay attention in class. Is that annoying? You betcha. But they assume the kid is screwed up rather than the obvious: 1) they are full of sugar and food additives, 2) they are bored and 3) children are not designed to sit still for hour upon hour. No healthy intelligent person wants to sit still and “act” like they pay attention to a lecture of no interest. Sorry but it’s the truth. If you can’t hold an audience maybe you need to revise your material and/or your delivery. Maybe you just suck. (Thank you, Dr. Leary.)
Anyone – especially a doctor – needs to earn your trust. Just because he/she is standing in front of you in a white coat with a stethoscope draped around his neck like a status symbol and a diploma on the wall that states that he spent an inordinate amount of time in institutionalized education backed by pharmaceutical companies (who also write medical text books) does not mean they are experts in what is best for your body. You are the expert in your body. Quite frankly, if you study health yourself you probably know more than your typical general practitioner sans the Latin. (Again, I’m not talking about surgeons. I’m also not saying that most doctors don’t have good intentions – they too, have been had by the system.) You don’t have to study everything; but you better care enough to study those things that affect you most.
We used to be an independent nation – a nation of pioneers – tough, largely self-sufficient. Not any more. The pharmaceutical companies are in bed with the FDA and other decision makers and are using drugs (including “immunizations” [a misnomer if ever there was one]) to rob you of first your money, then your health and then your liberty. The FDA should be disbanded but for now no one should be allowed inside the FDA who has ANY connection with pharmaceutical companies. Nada. Not even a Walgreens employee.
Pharmaceutical companies create synthetic drugs because they can patent them. (Read $.) Have you ever noticed that illegal drugs are often more natural than the legal ones? If you are prescribed a drug – particularly one that you will take on an ongoing basis as opposed to short term/as needed such as pain relief or an asthma inhaler – then do your research. Most likely, it will do more harm than good and the manufactures will not take responsibility for it. It will cause side-effects for which you will be prescribed … a medication.
Please, think for yourself and question authority.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Ma'am is a four-letter word
Ma’am is a four-letter word and sir aspires to be.
I’m originally from the Deep South. Most people in the south think it is appropriate to teach their children to say ma’am and sir when addressing elders. They defend it staunchly. Even growing up entrenched in the custom I hated the practice and only used the words when I knew things would be worse for me if I didn’t. (Such as when dealing with strict Southern elementary school teachers who put in you the fear of physical pain or great humiliation.) In such cases that is fear and not respect. Many people confuse the two. Respect and fear may sometimes look alike but are mutually exclusive in my mind. I don’t fear anyone I respect and I don’t respect any one I fear.
I remember the first time someone called me ma’am. I was 26 and someone called me ma’am at a fast food drive through. I felt sick. OMG! How old do I look! I know some people will say that’s the result of a youth-obsessed culture and I need to get over the fact that I’m not a dewy-skinned youth. I’m well past that and I’ll revisit the age point later. To this day I still argue with my family about the sir/ma’am tradition. I ask them why they insist (often dogmatically) that their children say ma’am and sir. They say it shows respect, that it’s good manners… proper etiquette. Uh, huh.
So I ask the obvious: What is the purpose of etiquette? It is to make others feel more comfortable and to show respect for the people you are around.
Ok. So if you or your child saying ma’am and sir irritates, annoys or offends someone then it’s not etiquette is it? Therefore the etiquette excuse is bogus. How would you know which people to address as sir and ma’am and which ones would find it offensive? You don’t so you really need to examine what actually triggers your use of the words in each situation.
For example, my mother is in her 60’s. Like most other southerners she claims that she says ma’am and sir to show respect. She says it to older people. She often says it to people her own age. She does not say it to people younger than her (unless she is speaking to a doctor). So I asked her, “Do you really respect every person older than you?” I know she doesn’t. Let’s be honest. We all know older people who are just bankrupt of any redeeming good qualities. Why bestow respect upon someone just because they have managed to elude death? I also asked my mom, “Do you not respect good children or teens or young adults?” I know she does but you’ll never catch her saying ma’am or sir to an eight year old (unless it’s loaded with sarcasm which is most certainly not respectful).
So the use of ma’am and sir is not about respect. It’s about age. It’s about “respecting your elders” or at least making them think you do. But why? Of course, everyone should be regarded with a basic human respect. That’s the “love your neighbor” command and doesn’t universally elicit a sir or ma’am. Why should someone receive honor simply for aging? If you didn’t respect me when I was seven years old or 15 years old or 22 years old please don’t bother now. It’s not like I’m more honorable now. I’m not a better person now. I’m more battle scarred (aren’t we all). I’m more knowledgeable but only because I worked hard at it. Not everyone does. I know quite a few people decades older than me who are dumber than dirt. It’s a shame. Yet, I know some kids who are brilliant (and wise).
Although people like to lump the phrases together I’d like to point out that saying please and thank you are not the same as sir and ma’am. A person actually has to do something to earn a thank you. And requesting someone to do something deserves a please – all regardless of age.
We live in a culture that says it rejects discrimination. In theory, it doesn’t base treatment of others on race, sex, religion or … age. (It’s a lofty and noble ideal. I hope we actually reach it one day.) It is in discrimination that the sir/ma’am tradition is based – upon nothing but age. Call it like it is.
So make your choice to say ma’am or sir or not; but don’t do it just because you were told to or because you don’t want to offend someone because either way you go you WILL offend someone. Know why you do it and be prepared to defend it with solid reasoning other than “respect,” “etiquette” and “I was told to.”
Thank you and you’re welcome.
I’m originally from the Deep South. Most people in the south think it is appropriate to teach their children to say ma’am and sir when addressing elders. They defend it staunchly. Even growing up entrenched in the custom I hated the practice and only used the words when I knew things would be worse for me if I didn’t. (Such as when dealing with strict Southern elementary school teachers who put in you the fear of physical pain or great humiliation.) In such cases that is fear and not respect. Many people confuse the two. Respect and fear may sometimes look alike but are mutually exclusive in my mind. I don’t fear anyone I respect and I don’t respect any one I fear.
I remember the first time someone called me ma’am. I was 26 and someone called me ma’am at a fast food drive through. I felt sick. OMG! How old do I look! I know some people will say that’s the result of a youth-obsessed culture and I need to get over the fact that I’m not a dewy-skinned youth. I’m well past that and I’ll revisit the age point later. To this day I still argue with my family about the sir/ma’am tradition. I ask them why they insist (often dogmatically) that their children say ma’am and sir. They say it shows respect, that it’s good manners… proper etiquette. Uh, huh.
So I ask the obvious: What is the purpose of etiquette? It is to make others feel more comfortable and to show respect for the people you are around.
Ok. So if you or your child saying ma’am and sir irritates, annoys or offends someone then it’s not etiquette is it? Therefore the etiquette excuse is bogus. How would you know which people to address as sir and ma’am and which ones would find it offensive? You don’t so you really need to examine what actually triggers your use of the words in each situation.
For example, my mother is in her 60’s. Like most other southerners she claims that she says ma’am and sir to show respect. She says it to older people. She often says it to people her own age. She does not say it to people younger than her (unless she is speaking to a doctor). So I asked her, “Do you really respect every person older than you?” I know she doesn’t. Let’s be honest. We all know older people who are just bankrupt of any redeeming good qualities. Why bestow respect upon someone just because they have managed to elude death? I also asked my mom, “Do you not respect good children or teens or young adults?” I know she does but you’ll never catch her saying ma’am or sir to an eight year old (unless it’s loaded with sarcasm which is most certainly not respectful).
So the use of ma’am and sir is not about respect. It’s about age. It’s about “respecting your elders” or at least making them think you do. But why? Of course, everyone should be regarded with a basic human respect. That’s the “love your neighbor” command and doesn’t universally elicit a sir or ma’am. Why should someone receive honor simply for aging? If you didn’t respect me when I was seven years old or 15 years old or 22 years old please don’t bother now. It’s not like I’m more honorable now. I’m not a better person now. I’m more battle scarred (aren’t we all). I’m more knowledgeable but only because I worked hard at it. Not everyone does. I know quite a few people decades older than me who are dumber than dirt. It’s a shame. Yet, I know some kids who are brilliant (and wise).
Although people like to lump the phrases together I’d like to point out that saying please and thank you are not the same as sir and ma’am. A person actually has to do something to earn a thank you. And requesting someone to do something deserves a please – all regardless of age.
We live in a culture that says it rejects discrimination. In theory, it doesn’t base treatment of others on race, sex, religion or … age. (It’s a lofty and noble ideal. I hope we actually reach it one day.) It is in discrimination that the sir/ma’am tradition is based – upon nothing but age. Call it like it is.
So make your choice to say ma’am or sir or not; but don’t do it just because you were told to or because you don’t want to offend someone because either way you go you WILL offend someone. Know why you do it and be prepared to defend it with solid reasoning other than “respect,” “etiquette” and “I was told to.”
Thank you and you’re welcome.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Public Education is a Dismal Failure
Yep, it’s obvious: The public education system in the U. S. is a dismal failure.
If something is not working you first need to know what it is supposed to do. What is the purpose of education? The government values it for indoctrination and crowd control. Many parents value it for “free” baby sitting. Some value a classical or liberal arts education as prep school for a respectable place in society. But the bottom line is people spend the majority of their adult lives earning a living therefore, logically, that is what the primary purpose of education should be – to prepare a person for their life’s work. Quite frankly some people don’t need to know calculus. But everyone needs to be able to do basic “life skills” math. Some people don’t need to read “The Scarlet Letter.” But everyone needs to know how to read and read well. P.E. is a waste of time as a required subject. Athletic people will pursue physical activity regardless. The non-athletic will see P.E. as purgatory. We really need to cut to the chase.
Education should be about preparing kids to think independently and creatively while getting along in society. Basically, they need to use their talents and interests to make a living. John Taylor Gatto, author of The Underground History of American Education and a public school teacher for 30 years, stated “Traditional forms of instruction in America, even before the Revolution, had three specific purposes: To make good people, to make good citizens, and to make each student find some particular talents to develop to the maximum.”
It doesn’t cost loads of money to teach. We don’t need new textbooks every few years to teach math or language. If you want to dole out a few million then give good teachers a raise (and fire the bad ones while you’re at it). Homeschoolers have proven that you don’t need a lot of money to teach effectively and kids can learn a lot in 2-4 hours without the burnout and boredom of a typical public school day. No kid should have to wake up before the crack of dawn in order to go to school. If that means a complete shift in work schedules across the nation, then so be it. The future of our families and our nation is at stake.
Parents have to be a child’s primary teacher. Being their teacher is not something you choose. You either do it well or you do not. If you can’t handle the responsibility then don’t have kids. Really. Do what you’ve got to do – condoms, vasectomies, tubal litigation, masturbation – whatever. I don’t care. Prevent sperm from meeting egg. We (nor your potential offspring) don’t want to be victim to your lack of self-control.
The entire educational system must be recreated. Individual instruction is obviously superior though not a possibility for everyone. Every parent who wants to home school should be encouraged and assisted in doing so. If a public school system receives $7,000 a year per child then a homeschooling parent should as well without interference. If a person graduated from high school they should be able to teach that to their children.
As things stand Kindergarten and first grade should be combined. There’s nothing kindergarten teaches academically that Sesame Street can’t. Generations of kids were educated without kindergarten. Elementary kids should only be in school about three hours per day so that they can be kids and learning (that gets to the point in an entertaining manner) will still be fun and effective.
Repetitive drivel should be dropped. I home school my kids and plan to continue through 8th grade. Language books starting with the first grade introduce sentences, nouns, verbs, etc. They repeat this every year. By the 3rd grade when I opened the Language book my daughter said, “Oh, let me guess. ‘This is a noun.’ ” She was right and her eyes glazed over on day one. By the 5th grade it was a laugh-out-loud joke. We truncated all Language studies yet in the 7th grade she was tested at college level Language Arts. Since we homeschooled we could get straight to the point: Don’t know something? Let’s learn it. Know it? Skip the review and move on. There is so much to learn that no one person could make a dent in it in a lifetime yet the “establishment” insists on serving educational leftovers year after year dumbed down to extra-chromosome level.
Do the classics really offer such a great benefit? We’ve been “teaching” the same crap for a century and our literacy rate has fallen dramatically. “Ninety-six and a half percent of the American population is mediocre to illiterate where deciphering print is concerned,” wrote Gatto. Poor reading skills are the result of not reading. If kids aren’t reading shouldn’t we give them something they find interesting to read in order to encourage them to read? There’s no better way to turn someone off from reading than to require boring reading such as your typical school reading assignment. Human behavior 101 states that people do what they like and avoid what they don’t. You can preach and rant and whine but that will never change. We may as well get a clue and work with it.
Middle school should be about four hours per day but directed toward a child’s interests and strengths. (Yes, most 6th graders are quite clear about what they are interested in.) That leaves them more time to actually pursue their interests without total exhaustion. They still need about 10 hours sleep per night. What is currently considered sixth grade through tenth grade subjects should be covered in those three years. They don’t need to study the American Revolution every frickin’ year unless they want to be a history professor. You can never cover all relevant and interesting history so move on to something new without repeating the national hero propaganda that goes in one ear and out of the other. Obviously everything can’t be taught in that three-year time frame so the intelligent thing … the logical thing … to do is be selective. (Everyone should know who “won” the civil war. Everyone should know where Japan and England and Canada, etc. are on a map. Everyone should read the Constitution. Etc., etc.)
What is traditionally considered high school should be complete by the end of the 10th grade. It should be no longer than 5 hours per day which would still leave time to further pursue interests. There should be no homework unless it’s an occasional research paper or a few (20 or so) minutes of math. Ninth and tenth grades should be the equivalent of what is currently considered junior and senior high school studies that are directed toward the student’s strengths and interests. It’s the only way they will pay attention and retain information.
The next two years should be college-level, career-focused study whether it is pre-med, home construction, theater or whatever. This should include budgeting and finances – something the Federal Government needs to learn about. The first two years of a bachelor’s degree are off-the-point, glorified remedial high school academia anyway. Someone who wants to be an engineer should be required (and interested) in taking more advanced math. An artist should only be required to study “real world” problem solving math. Those who are more vocational or technically career oriented (plumbers, hair dressers, etc.) should be able to complete their training by the end of the 12th grade. They should graduate ready for employment or better yet, self-employment. The scientists, lawyers, doctors, etc. should be able to go straight into master’s studies or medical school, etc.
People who like to learn will continue to learn throughout their lives. People who don’t like to learn will not and no amount of teacher droning, rote exercises, and regurgitation of force-fed data on standardized tests will change that. Basically, you can’t make someone like it nor retain it. But the truth is the public education system doesn’t really care about whether or not our children are truly educated. Gatto states “The new mass schooling which came about slowly but continuously after 1890, had a different purpose, a ‘fourth’ purpose…. to serve business and government— (and) could only be achieved efficiently by isolating children from the real world, with adults who themselves were isolated from the real world, and everyone in the confinement isolated from one another. Only then could the necessary training in boredom and bewilderment begin. Such training is necessary to produce dependable consumers and dependent citizens who would always look for a teacher to tell them what to do in later life, even if that teacher was an ad man or television anchor.”
Public school is indoctrination for the purposes of social engineering. In effect it’s child “sacrifice” to the system and we are all paying for it not only with enormous amounts of money but quality of life for us all.
If something is not working you first need to know what it is supposed to do. What is the purpose of education? The government values it for indoctrination and crowd control. Many parents value it for “free” baby sitting. Some value a classical or liberal arts education as prep school for a respectable place in society. But the bottom line is people spend the majority of their adult lives earning a living therefore, logically, that is what the primary purpose of education should be – to prepare a person for their life’s work. Quite frankly some people don’t need to know calculus. But everyone needs to be able to do basic “life skills” math. Some people don’t need to read “The Scarlet Letter.” But everyone needs to know how to read and read well. P.E. is a waste of time as a required subject. Athletic people will pursue physical activity regardless. The non-athletic will see P.E. as purgatory. We really need to cut to the chase.
Education should be about preparing kids to think independently and creatively while getting along in society. Basically, they need to use their talents and interests to make a living. John Taylor Gatto, author of The Underground History of American Education and a public school teacher for 30 years, stated “Traditional forms of instruction in America, even before the Revolution, had three specific purposes: To make good people, to make good citizens, and to make each student find some particular talents to develop to the maximum.”
It doesn’t cost loads of money to teach. We don’t need new textbooks every few years to teach math or language. If you want to dole out a few million then give good teachers a raise (and fire the bad ones while you’re at it). Homeschoolers have proven that you don’t need a lot of money to teach effectively and kids can learn a lot in 2-4 hours without the burnout and boredom of a typical public school day. No kid should have to wake up before the crack of dawn in order to go to school. If that means a complete shift in work schedules across the nation, then so be it. The future of our families and our nation is at stake.
Parents have to be a child’s primary teacher. Being their teacher is not something you choose. You either do it well or you do not. If you can’t handle the responsibility then don’t have kids. Really. Do what you’ve got to do – condoms, vasectomies, tubal litigation, masturbation – whatever. I don’t care. Prevent sperm from meeting egg. We (nor your potential offspring) don’t want to be victim to your lack of self-control.
The entire educational system must be recreated. Individual instruction is obviously superior though not a possibility for everyone. Every parent who wants to home school should be encouraged and assisted in doing so. If a public school system receives $7,000 a year per child then a homeschooling parent should as well without interference. If a person graduated from high school they should be able to teach that to their children.
As things stand Kindergarten and first grade should be combined. There’s nothing kindergarten teaches academically that Sesame Street can’t. Generations of kids were educated without kindergarten. Elementary kids should only be in school about three hours per day so that they can be kids and learning (that gets to the point in an entertaining manner) will still be fun and effective.
Repetitive drivel should be dropped. I home school my kids and plan to continue through 8th grade. Language books starting with the first grade introduce sentences, nouns, verbs, etc. They repeat this every year. By the 3rd grade when I opened the Language book my daughter said, “Oh, let me guess. ‘This is a noun.’ ” She was right and her eyes glazed over on day one. By the 5th grade it was a laugh-out-loud joke. We truncated all Language studies yet in the 7th grade she was tested at college level Language Arts. Since we homeschooled we could get straight to the point: Don’t know something? Let’s learn it. Know it? Skip the review and move on. There is so much to learn that no one person could make a dent in it in a lifetime yet the “establishment” insists on serving educational leftovers year after year dumbed down to extra-chromosome level.
Do the classics really offer such a great benefit? We’ve been “teaching” the same crap for a century and our literacy rate has fallen dramatically. “Ninety-six and a half percent of the American population is mediocre to illiterate where deciphering print is concerned,” wrote Gatto. Poor reading skills are the result of not reading. If kids aren’t reading shouldn’t we give them something they find interesting to read in order to encourage them to read? There’s no better way to turn someone off from reading than to require boring reading such as your typical school reading assignment. Human behavior 101 states that people do what they like and avoid what they don’t. You can preach and rant and whine but that will never change. We may as well get a clue and work with it.
Middle school should be about four hours per day but directed toward a child’s interests and strengths. (Yes, most 6th graders are quite clear about what they are interested in.) That leaves them more time to actually pursue their interests without total exhaustion. They still need about 10 hours sleep per night. What is currently considered sixth grade through tenth grade subjects should be covered in those three years. They don’t need to study the American Revolution every frickin’ year unless they want to be a history professor. You can never cover all relevant and interesting history so move on to something new without repeating the national hero propaganda that goes in one ear and out of the other. Obviously everything can’t be taught in that three-year time frame so the intelligent thing … the logical thing … to do is be selective. (Everyone should know who “won” the civil war. Everyone should know where Japan and England and Canada, etc. are on a map. Everyone should read the Constitution. Etc., etc.)
What is traditionally considered high school should be complete by the end of the 10th grade. It should be no longer than 5 hours per day which would still leave time to further pursue interests. There should be no homework unless it’s an occasional research paper or a few (20 or so) minutes of math. Ninth and tenth grades should be the equivalent of what is currently considered junior and senior high school studies that are directed toward the student’s strengths and interests. It’s the only way they will pay attention and retain information.
The next two years should be college-level, career-focused study whether it is pre-med, home construction, theater or whatever. This should include budgeting and finances – something the Federal Government needs to learn about. The first two years of a bachelor’s degree are off-the-point, glorified remedial high school academia anyway. Someone who wants to be an engineer should be required (and interested) in taking more advanced math. An artist should only be required to study “real world” problem solving math. Those who are more vocational or technically career oriented (plumbers, hair dressers, etc.) should be able to complete their training by the end of the 12th grade. They should graduate ready for employment or better yet, self-employment. The scientists, lawyers, doctors, etc. should be able to go straight into master’s studies or medical school, etc.
People who like to learn will continue to learn throughout their lives. People who don’t like to learn will not and no amount of teacher droning, rote exercises, and regurgitation of force-fed data on standardized tests will change that. Basically, you can’t make someone like it nor retain it. But the truth is the public education system doesn’t really care about whether or not our children are truly educated. Gatto states “The new mass schooling which came about slowly but continuously after 1890, had a different purpose, a ‘fourth’ purpose…. to serve business and government— (and) could only be achieved efficiently by isolating children from the real world, with adults who themselves were isolated from the real world, and everyone in the confinement isolated from one another. Only then could the necessary training in boredom and bewilderment begin. Such training is necessary to produce dependable consumers and dependent citizens who would always look for a teacher to tell them what to do in later life, even if that teacher was an ad man or television anchor.”
Public school is indoctrination for the purposes of social engineering. In effect it’s child “sacrifice” to the system and we are all paying for it not only with enormous amounts of money but quality of life for us all.
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