I just watched Forks Over Knives, a two hour documentary about how we have been intentionally mis-led by ‘Big Food’ and the US Government - who should have been protecting us, about the foods we eat.

Probably the biggest lie of all, is that humans need ‘high-quality protein’ - read: large quantities of animal-based protein (aka milk and meat). As it turns out, that ‘high quality’ food causes cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis and diabetes, just to name a few.

Our generation has been the beneficiary of improved economic circumstances that have brought more of these proteins to our plates than to any previous generation. And we are only now seeing the disastrous consequences of all that protein on our health and on the health of the planet.

And it isn’t just the fat in those foods that is making us sick, which is what we have been lead to believe. It’s the protein to an even greater extent than anyone would have predicted. And the proof is irrefutable.

There are government subsidies to the corn,dairy and livestock industries. Why would we want our government to support industries that are killing us?

 It’s money. It’s donations to political campaigns to elect Senators and representatives in Congress, who will continue these unhealthy subsidies.There is money to be made selling us this factory food, and unfortunately there is also money to be made treating the illness and disability this food causes.

And it’s not just our health that suffers.Did you know that half of the gas responsible for global warming is not CO2, but methane? The methane  comes from the ruminant animals (cows, sheep and pigs) we raise to eat. It is in their exhalations, copious farts and dung.

If you have access to Netflix, please watch the film Forks Over Knives. If it doesn’t change the way you eat, nothing will.

Here is a thoughtful, logical and honest article about why now may be the right time for the United States to legalize and regulate (read: tax) marijuana, by Timothy Egan of The New York Times. It’s about time one of us knuckleheads said it.

Here is a White House Petition to sign if you would like the states to have the power to decide if marijuana should be legal. http://goo.gl/2rNM1

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/22/give-pot-a-chance/?hp

This letter went to Boehner and McConnell, but I will also write to the representatives from my state, and the other foot-draggers we gave jobs to. Please feel free to “borrow” any text you need to get our elected representatives to move away from the “fiscal cliff” they have created.                                                                       

House Speaker John Boehner

H-232 The Capitol

Washington, DC 20515                                                                      November 10, 2012

Dear Speaker Boehner,

I have listened to your comments in the days since the election, and I am appalled that you are as recalcitrant as ever. You seem to have learned nothing in this election cycle. So, I will tell you again what our voting behavior should have made abundantly clear: the American people want their government to be functional, not obstructionist. Pre-election polling showed that the people of America felt that we were headed in the wrong direction. This obstructionism is what we meant.

There is far too much work to be done to allow you and your party to continue to waste time.  We want you and the Republicans to work with the President to get his initiatives passed. Most particularly, I would like to see some real cooperation from the party of “No”, by allowing the Bush tax cuts on the wealthy to expire, in the way that President Obama has requested.  Anyone making over $250,000 a year does not need a tax break. Calling them “job creators”, in an attempt to scare us, isn’t working, because we all know that they are not job creators.

It seems that Republicans are the only ones who are unaware that in this digital age, we can check facts in a way we never could before. We can hold Congress more accountable than ever before, and the American people are only going to continue to do so, albeit it even larger numbers.

We will also continue to vote in record numbers, to get the government we want. If you and your party wish to have a place in American’s future, you need to start doing the work that we hired you to do. The lesson you should have learned in this election, is that we like to fire people who don’t do their jobs, too.

In closing I ask once again for you to cooperate with President Obama in passing tax reform, in a way that benefits middle-class America –  which I will even define for you: those are the people who make much less than $250,000.00 a year. This word cloud may help you understand what America is hungry for: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/11/07/word-cloud-twitter-election/1689817/

Sincerely,

Maureen Shanahan

P.S. You are receiving my communication by snail mail, because your website http://www.speaker.gov kept crashing my computer. Somehow, I can’t help but feel that is intentional.

A look at the backward looking ideas and attitudes that Mitt Romney displayed last night, and some thoughts of my own.

First, a look at what was said last night.  http://tinyurl.com/cyc6hu7

Secondly, I want to talk about the issues I’m afraid we’re not seeing or taking into account.

The needs of Business

Business has needs. What do businesses need more than anything? Customers. If you are in the business of manufacturing, distributing, selling or service, the thing you need most is paying customers.

How can you get more customers? Work harder, open new markets, or innovate. Tried and true. But there’s’ another way that should at least be acknowledged.

What if government and social policy could actually help create new customers? Simply deny women, the world over, access to safe, reliable, cost-effective birth control. The world population of more than 7 billion proves how well this plan has worked so far.

New customers in the world are created by loving, consensual sex, though rape (legitimate or otherwise) has a role here too, at home and in the 3rd world.

Population growth is always good for business. The politicians who create morally superior sounding phrases like “pro-life” know full well that lack of reproductive control will almost guarantee that many women and children will be lucky to stay in the 47% that Mitt Romney is so fond of disparaging when speaking to select audiences at fund raisers for his campaign.

According to the National Poverty Center at the University of Michigan, in 2010, 22% of native born children in the United States, live in poverty. That’s more than one child in five that you see out there on any given day. Those numbers reflect even more poorly on us as a nation, when you see that 38% of Black children and 35% of Hispanic children live in poverty. More than 16 million of America’s children live in poverty.

Businesses fund and support candidates they know will support legislative and tax policies that are pro-business. Business and Political Action Committees (PAC’s and super-PAC’s) also support political candidate’s quasi-government social agendas (like defunding planned parenthood) that just so happen to provide a never ending parade of new customers - both inside and outside our borders.

When new life exists, voluntarily or involuntarily, someone, somewhere, will be paying for the things that the new life needs. New humans need everything from diapers, clothing and food to housing, health care and education. A lifetime of needs and wants, that business is only too happy to provide for.

Where will parents get the money to care for this new life? Business doesn’t care if the money comes from waiting tables, selling cars, Medicaid, Food stamps, poor Aunt Jenny, or Mom and/or Dad working two or three jobs. Business doesn’t care if XX’s make the same as XY’s doing the same job. Equal pay means nothing to them. Business’s only concern is the bottom line.

Just like business, women have needs. Two big ones: access to birth control and equal pay. These are family financial issue, not woman’s issues. Obama gets this. Romney lives in a clueless Mormon fairy tale. Unlike anywhere else in the world, American women (and the men who love them) have the power to change policy. Do it. Use your power. Vote early. Vote often. (And by often, I mean in every election.)

grantmartin:

How to Vote for President

Don’t make the mistake of only voting a “straight party ticket.” If you do, you will have missed your chance to vote for president.

Here’s what to do:

[A]   Fill in the oval next to the presidential candidate of your choice. Make sure you do this. If you don’t, you are not voting for president.

[B]   Then, if you would also like to vote for every member of a given party (e.g., Republican, Democrat, Libertarian) for partisan offices throughout the rest of the ballot, fill in the oval next to the party of your choice. (Straight-party voting does not include US President, Vice President, unaffiliated candidates, nonpartisan offices, issues, or referenda.)

The ballot depicted above is for the state of North Carolina. Your ballot may vary, so be sure to read the directions carefully.

September-04-12

Democratic Platform Approved: Supports Abortion Access, Equal Rights Amendment, Same-Sex Marriage

The Democratic National Convention began this morning by releasing Democratic 2012 Party Platform, which seeks to protect abortion access, ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, defend Obamacare, support immigration reform and legalize same-sex marriage among other positions.

On abortion - “Abortion is an intensely personal decision between a woman, her family, her doctor and her clergy; there is no place for politicians or government to get in the way.”

On the Equal Rights Amendment and women’s rights - “We are committed to ensuring full equality for women: we reaffirm our support for the Equal Rights Amendment, recommit to enforcing Title IX, support the Paycheck Fairness Act, and will urge ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.”

On health care - “Democrats will continue to fight for a strong health care workforce with an emphasis on primary care. We remain committed to eliminating disparities in health and will continue to make sure families have access to mental health and substance abuse services. We will strengthen Medicaid and oppose efforts to block grant the program, slash its funding, and leave millions more without health insurance.”

On immigration reform - “Democrats are strongly committed to enacting comprehensive immigration reform that supports our economic goals and reflects our values as both a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants.”

On same-sex marriage - “We support the right of all families to have equal respect, responsibilities, and protections under the law. We support marriage equality and support the movement to secure equal treatment under law for same-sex couples.”

Last week the Republican Party approved their 2012 platform which seeks to ban abortion and same-sex marriage, turn Medicare into a voucher system, eliminate affirmative action, and increase voter suppression efforts.

What Can Women Learn from the Atheist that Republicans Adore?

The latest Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll showed that President Barack Obama leads Mr. Romney 54% to 39% among women. The gap gets truly staggering when it comes to college-educated women. Here, Mr. Obama leads 63%–32%.[1]

I’m pleased to see these numbers, but I am troubled that 32–39% of women are still considering voting for Romney/Ryan. Even assuming that the poll numbers represent women exclusively from the Republican side of things, I still don’t understand.  

The author Ayn Rand, whom Paul Ryan and other prominent Republicans frequently quote, encourages people to act in “rational self-interest.”

If you are a woman, isn’t equal pay for equal work and access to family planning in your self-interest? If you have a brain, the answer has to be “yes.” If Ayn Rand were alive today to address the 32–39% of women who still want to go with Republicanism, she would have to tell them that they are voting against their own self interests.

I would add that they are also voting against the interests of children, seniors, the disabled, the poor, and other groups that women have historically provided care and protection to.

I’ve always told my daughters that when people behave irrationally or out of character, sometimes the cause can be as simple as hunger or as complex as fear (which most men have been taught to never admit—even to themselves), or they could be feeling that a situation is out of their control.

I think we can remove hunger as a probable cause for the stunts that Republicans in power have pulled this year. But fear of social change—in this case female equality, personal freedom, and autonomy—seem to be at the root of many of the new laws we are seeing.

I think fear is what spawned the following:

• Multiple, state-level personhood bills and Paul Ryan’s federal-level version of the same

• The Texas defunding of Planned Parenthood, and Texas’ refusal of the 9 to 1 matching Medicaid dollars that would have gone to women’s health

• The multiple, unfunded, but mandated (legally required) pre-abortion ultrasounds

• The foot dragging we endured as Republicans argued over the usually ho-hum annual renewal of the Violence Against Women Act.

The world is going to keep changing. Do Republicans really want women to be battered, underpaid, barefoot and/or pregnant? If not, then they need to show it. Soon.

Women are 51% of the population, and we have been saying “no” to these politicians with our voices, protests, emails, polling, and letters. They have clearly turned a deaf ear to us. I think the only way they will hear us saying “no” is if it costs them something. If that’s the way it has to be, so be it. Come November, the women will remember.

The anti-Chick-fil-A movement continues. Love this sign. Credit Jack for making me aware.

Nuns on a Bus on Stephen Colbert I love the modern, reasonable and calm voice of Sr. Simone Campbell explaining the mission of Catholic nuns. As my very Catholic friend Tracy would say - “you go girls!”