Why Does McDonald's Taste So Good?

I don't want people to think I'm a hypocrite, so let's get this out of the way right here. I am sitting here writing this while eating a McDonald's sausage burrito and hash brown. I normally try to avoid eating fast food, but there was little in the house to eat this morning, and well it just tastes so good!

What is it about the food that attracts even the wariest of people to eat there, knowing full well how bad it is for you, and how bad their system of food production is for the world? It's certainly not looks. On the commercials the burgers look fresh and amazing, but in reality they are pretty ugly. So why do we continue to eat them?

According to Fast Food Nation, McDonald's secret is a special combination of flavors created in laboratories, along with that infernal scent that wafts out of the buildings and into the street. The United States has a fascination with science, especially chemicals. We tend to assume that science is always a good thing, and that messing around with growing and preparing food will yield results in terms of quantity and quality of food provided.

For example, Monsanto created soy beans that already contain pesticides. This (in theory) should eliminate the extra time needed to spray pesticides on the crops, and would cut down on these poisons entering the ecosystem and destroying other plants and animals as well as habitats. Unfortunately, science is still very mysterious, and we do not fully comprehend the implications of these creations. Who knows what these beans will do to people once the crops have been ingested, or what will happen when these beans inevitable escape the boundaries of the field and enter the environment.

There's no escaping the advertising on the television, Internet, radio, billboards, etc. You know that song in their commercials? That was created by a Berkeley College of Music professor. Yes, it was designed to be simple enough to stick in your head forever and drive you crazy. Much like those car and mattress comercials whose jingles you find yourself singing in the shower every morning.

Is there any escape?

The answer is no. As humans we have evolved to seek out fats, sugars and salts when it comes to food. These are rare in the natural world, which makes us intrinsically designed to stuff as much as we can into our stomachs when we do find these foods. Sadly, McDonald's has tapped into this evolutionary design with their products. It is up to us as individuals to stop and think about our food choices when it comes to meal time. This is a difficult feat, but one worth doing. As I said before, this is still something I'm working on. It gets easier over time, but there will be times when you can't help but eat that large order of french fries. All we can do is try and do our best.


http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/business-brains/green-chemistry-stresses-8216benign-by-design-mindset/16177

The Days Are Numbered For Herman Cain

In recent weeks it has come to light that Herman Cain has been involved in sexual harassment allegations. This is a clear "he said, she said" case, and the truth remains unknown. While these are serious allegations, Cain refuses to take them seriously. At first he denied even knowing about the allegations, then he remembered but was shady about the details. He's clearly hiding something. 

Yesterday on the morning news I listened to Cain's newest accuser, Sharon Bialek. She stated that while looking for a job, she was groped by Cain in a car. When she protested he said "You want a job, right?" This is a clear, cut and dry case of sexual harassment. Cain allegedly put his hand up her skirt, and attempted to force Bialek's head toward his own crotch. 

Cain's campaign has since labelled her a chronically in debt woman who is desperate for money. This is a sad attempt at deflecting responsibility. Cain should own up to his mistakes, try to make things and move on. This leaves American wondering how much longer the Cain campaign can carry on before self-destructing. If more women come forward it would speed up this campaign's demise. 

Sharon Bialek

The NPR Difference

I appreciate transparency in all things, so I was very happy to hear - on NPR - that there has been some controversy surrounding many higher level executives at NPR. As of December first  the president and CEO of the company will be Gary Knell. Knell formerly was the head of Sesame Workshop, the organization that owns Sesame Street. 

The former CEO and president, Vivian Schiller, forcibly resigned in March of this year following the firing of Juan Williams. has been replaced as of Monday. Williams was a contributing analyst at NPR who was fired after stating on Fox News that Muslims make him nervous at the airport. Subsequently NPR has been attacked for having a "liberal bias", and conservatives have been pushing for NPR to lose it's federal funding (which only makes up about two percent of it's annual budget).  According to NPR, "directors came to the conclusion that the controversies under Schiller's watch had become such a distraction that she could no longer effectively lead the organization". 

When Rupert Murdoch was going through that scandal (which is entirely not over) his subsidiary companies dodged the topic like a plague. Fox News did not even hint at the topic; it was as if there was no scandal and life was just plodding along normally. This is NOT transparency. Fox news assures it's audience that there is no spin on their network, and they are the most trusted and reputable news source. All I can say is, if you believe this...think again. 

Hydroponics Could Feed the World

When you hear the word hydroponics, what immediately comes to mind? Most likely you imagine a college kid's closet filled with lamps and marijuana plants. That is what I picture too. However, while working at an organic food store, I started seeing tomatoes labelled as being hydroponically grown. This got me wondering about the growing method - first used as far back as the 1930's - and how it could be beneficial to our society. 


Essentially hydroponics means "the process of growing plants in sand, gravel, or liquid, with added nutrients but without soil". This means that seedlings are placed in some medium (cloth, gravel, etc.) and grown indoors under LED lamps. The plants are fed fertilizers and nutrients along with water through a pumping system that recycles the water to prevent waste. 


This is a very sterile and controlled method of growing plants, and is self-contained, therefore requiring minimal effort on the farmer's part to keep the plants alive and healthy. In addition, these plants can be placed much closer together than in the field, resulting in a greater yield. There are also no pesticides, no weeds, and no pesky insects since the LED lights can be set to a frequency that discourages insect breeding. 


Here are the benefits to hydroponic farming:

• No soil
• Little assistance needed from farmers after everything is set up
• Can be done inside abandoned buildings
• Saves on water by recycling it
• No pesticides
• Organic
• Can be run using alternative energy sources, such as wind or solar power
• Large, uniform crop yields
• Great variety of fruits and veggies can be grown
• Not affected by seasons
• Relatively inexpensive
• Uses CO2 to promote photosynthesis (less CO2 and more oxygen in our atmosphere)
• Safe from bacteria such as E Coli and Listeria --> Remember when spinach was recalled due to contamination? It was due to the fact that sewage leaked into the soil in the farm fields...no soil, no issue! 

Several companies world wide are experimenting with this method of farming, including one in Ithaca New York called AeroFarms. This start-up seeks to transform abandoned buildings into "vertical farms". 

So, a building like this

could easily be turned into something like this

Helping to feed our growing populations while simultaneously eliminating factory farming, a practice which is killing our environment as well as human beings. 




Sources:
http://innoplex.org/eng/2010/12/aerofarms/ 
http://www.farmsanctuary.org/issues/factoryfarming/
http://www.epicurious.com/tools/fooddictionary/entry/?id=3006

The Fate of Humanity

The new documentary 2012: Time For Change discusses modern society and it's lack of connection to the natural world. I stumbled on this documentary yesterday while looking through Netflix. This is now one of my favorite documentaries!

The gods first created people out of mud, but they were not well beings; they lacked emotions and insight. They were then destroyed by a great storm. Next the gods made people out of wood, but they had no direction. They were destroyed by a great flood. Finally the gods made people out of corn. They had great insight, balance, and were powerful, so the gods blew a mist over their eyes. They slowly moved away from the natural world, and so we are today. The end of this era is coming. We need to evolve our consciousness to reconnect with the natural world. The age of wisdom is coming, and we must change in order to continue our survival on earth. 


Our consumer culture is a "materialist prison" (Daniel Pinchbeck). We're running out of resources, and we are ruining the earth. We must change our consciousness and actions. Can we escape this routine of destruction that is our way of living? Why does congress refuse to fund alternative energy or fund the creation of bike trails and better sidewalks for pedestrians? Are these politicians all in the pocket of big businesses such as oil and agriculture? We need to free ourselves! 


We had a lack of elders to lead the new movement for change in the 1960's. Now these once-children are the elders we need to lead us out of the dark and into the new era. If we can all change our consciousness and our actions, with the guidance of elders, we can become more spiritual and save our earth and existence. 

Armageddon really means transformation. This does not need to be the end of time, or the demise of humanity, but ti does need to be a time of change. We cannot continue living this way, or this will become a time of destruction and death. 


If people are constantly being reminded of the dire situation our society is in, and the doom we're facing now, why are they not mobilized to do something about it and affect change? This is because people cannot really grasp what they are being told. It's a tough thing to accept emotionally. Also, change is difficult for everyone, even small change. We are programmed to resist change. Not to mention the fact that we're effectively controlled by the system (in a way similar to the Matrix), where capitalism has us and we do not want to escape. We cannot even fathom living differently, and our politicians continually tell us that resistance is futile and nothing will ever change, so just relax and go with it. 


According to Einstein, we cannot fix the problems by using the same mindset we used to create them, instead we must change our way of thinking. 

Alex Grey painting of Pres. Obama

Analysis of Candidates: Stewart Alexander

Now we look at...

Stewart Alexander

Stewart Alexander is a Democratic Socialist politician who is running for president of the US. Formerly a member of the Air Force Reserve, Alexander is a fine example of the self-made man. He paid for his college education through hard work, eventually becoming a well-known politician who ran for for Mayor of California, Lieutenant Governor of California, and for Vice President in 2008. Each campaign was highly unsuccessful. Alexander currently resides in Virginia and works closely with the Socialist Party.


Alexander's campaign webpage lists his stance on many important issues of our time:


"The Socialist Party stands for the abolition of every form of domination and exploitation, whether based on social class, gender, race/ethnicity, age, education, sexual orientation, or other characteristics.

We are committed to the transformation of capitalism through the creation of a democratic socialist society based on compassion, empathy, and respect as well as the development of new social structures.  Socialism will establish a new social and economic order in which workers and community members will take responsibility for and control of their interpersonal relationships, their neighborhoods, their local government, and the production and distribution of all goods and services.

For these reasons we call for social ownership and democratic control of productive resources, for a guarantee to all of the right to participate in societal production, and to a fair share of society's product, in accordance with individual needs.

As we pursue a socialist transformation of society, we join with others in making radical demands on the existing system: demands that challenge the basic assumptions of a capitalist market economy while pointing the way to a new society. Although reforms will not in themselves bring about socialism, the fight for them will advance the cause by demonstrating the inherent limitations and injustice of the capitalist system. As we build the socialist movement, we organize around a platform committed to our common and interdependent struggles and aspirations."

"We stand in total opposition to U.S. imperialism and the current “war on terror”."


"focusing on production for need not profit"


"municipal ownership and control of energy plants, in a non-profit and decentralized, but coordinated, system that ensures the most careful use of natural resources."

http://vote-socialist.org/p08/questionnaires/alexander.html 



http://www.stewartalexandercares.com/

Analysis of Candidates: Roger Gary

Now we take a look at...

Roger Gary

Roger Gary is a Libertarian activist from the state of Texas. Formerly an elected official in San Antonio, he also is a lifetime member of the Texas Libertarian Party. 


You might be asking yourself (as I was wondering), what is a Libertarian? What do they stand for? In a nutshell, freedom. The dictionary defines a Libertarian as:  

noun

1.

a person who advocates liberty,  especially with regard to thought or conduct.

2.

a person who maintains the doctrine of free will.

Therefore, a Libertarian believes that people should be free to do as they see fit, without government interference. This is essentially the basis of the Republican Party's ideals - from which the party has recently strayed; less government, smaller government, freer citizens.


Personally, I love the idea of less government interference. However, there comes a time when the government does need to step in and push the people toward more rational decisions, such as getting the economy back on track. I think we all would agree that people often do not want to do what is best for them in the long-term (like exercising!), and sometimes the citizens with more experience need to step in and show everyone what the best choice is.  


On his campaign website, Gary spares no harsh words when describing his fellow Texan, Rick Perry, saying that Perry is "all hat and no cattle". Gary also states that the Republican nominees are not courageous enough to give Americans the freedom they deserve; they are too soft to get the job done. 


As for his position on various issues, I'll let Gary's own campaign website speak for itself.

Civil Liberties

Abortion- Government should not make your medical decisions for you — but neither should it force you to subsidize someone else’s abortion.

Gay Marriage-Marriage should be a contact between individuals, not a stamp of approval from the government. As with other issues, the solution is not more government, but less.

Gun Rights-There is a natural, inherent Right to keep and bear arms, protected not only by the 2nd Amendment, but also by the 9th and 10th (and arguably the 4th). This Right is also a practical necessity: Americans must be able to protect themselves against violence by criminals, including terrorists, as well as would-be tyrants (whether foreign or domestic).

Patriot Act-Under both the Bush and Obama administrations, the federal government has frequently trampled on the Rights of the American citizens under the guise of protecting Americans from terrorism. We must stop molesting people at the airport, listening in on your private phone conversations, and reading your library check-out records, and start protecting Americans from actual terrorism. Roger Gary will respect the 4th and 10th Amendments.

Economics

Bailouts- As with virtually every interference by government (at whatever level), the bailouts benefited Big Business at the expense of smaller companies, Labor, consumers, and the taxpayer. Roger Gary opposes corporate welfare.

Business- Government should not become “smotherment” by creating unnecessary red tape and bureaucracy. “Smotherment” benefits the huge corporations which can afford the additional expense created by such polices, forcing smaller businesses out of the marketplace. This drives prices up by reducing the competition for our business, and drives wages down by reducing the competition for our labor.

National Debt-The Federal debt is quickly spiraling out of control and the time we have remaining to do something about it is running short. Unlike the Obama and Bush administrations and the Democrats and Republicans in Congress we need to actually start cutting government, balance the budget, and start paying down the national debt and unfunded liabilities. If we keep adding to the debt, eventually the interest alone will overwhelm the Federal budget. That would require one or more of these options: (1) Raising taxes, which would further damage the private sector; (2) Sale of Federal goods or lands [and an attempt to sell a significant amount of land would drive the price lower, negating the effort]; (3) Further borrowing, which would raise interest rates and damage the private sector; or (4) Printing enough currency to cover the shortfall, thus producing absolutely ruinous inflation.

Retirement-Americans should be encouraged to take their hard earned money and place it in deferred tax accounts such as IRA’s and 401k plans instead of being forced to pay 6.2% of their money into the failed Social Security administration which is on the verge of collapse.

Taxes-The government must cut waste, fraud, and abuse; more importantly, it must end its activities not sanctioned by the U. S. Constitution. This would allow Congress to immediately begin to lower taxes for all Americans.

Education

The best way to educate children is to allow each state to use the food stamps model. Most state governments have decided that food stamps are a public benefit that the state should provide while you may agree or disagree with this notion, you should agree that the state governments allowing food stamp recipients to shop at private sector grocery stores is a much better solution than having the government actually take over the distribution of the food.

Education is similar. Parents should be allowed to open enroll their child into the school of their choice. The market effects of competition will drive down cost while increasing quality meaning everyone wins.

Health Care

It is truly amazing that diseases that would have killed a person just a few decades ago can be cured or prevented with little problem today. While our life expectancy and quality of health care has increased exponentially, the costs have also caused some to become concerned. The problem of rising health care costs is best solved by reducing cost transfers, opening up the market to competition, removing government red tape which drives up costs, and a focus on health savings accounts to help offset the costs.

National Security

Roger Gary believes in a strong national defense as defined in our United States Constitution, as opposed to an international offence.
Afghanistan-After a decade of American intervention, Roger supports a transition allowing the people of Afghanistan to take control over their own government and their own security.

Iraq-Roger believes in removing our forces from the country.

Libya-American government aid has brought us violent dictators such as Saddam Hussein and oppressive theocratic governments such as the Taliban. Roger Gary believes that by using American forces in Libya we run a much greater risk of terrorism. Additionally, he understands that the cost of American lives intervening in a fight that is not ours is too great of a risk to take.

http://rvgary2012.com/

When it comes to Roger Gary, the only question we can really ask ourselves as voters is: do we really want this much freedom? With ultimate freedom, especially for the issue of education, income determines who gets the best schools and who doesn't. Is that fair? Should we allow low income children to suffer poor education just because we, as adults, demand complete freedom of choice?