Wednesday, December 10, 2008

The Millen Man March

I used to believe the roar could be restored, but when Matt Millen's contract was extended in 2005 I realized profit, not winning was Ford's intentions with the Lions. Since Millen's arrival in 2001, the Lions were 31-84, 26 games below .500, and had lost nine or more games each season. During the early part of Millen's tenure (2001-2003), the Lions failed to win a road game for three years (0-24).

So now my team is faced with becoming the worst team of all time. 0-13 and 3 games to go defeated. For the first time since 1992 do I find myself feeling like they can go all the way. Winning isn't everything.

Thursday, December 04, 2008

Sufjan Stevens: Songs for Christmas


Through the years some amazing Christmas albums have been created. John Denver's A Christmas Together with the Muppets and Charlie Brown Christmas are two masterpieces. But back in 2006 Sufjan Stevens put together a box set of 42 tracks (over two hours of song) that he recorded over the last 5 years. You might not even know who Sufjan Stevens is but stop right now and go listen to samples of Songs for Christmas on Amazon. Samples never do a masterpiece justice, but you'll get a good taste of my favorite Christmas album/box set of all time.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Thanksgiving

Asher's first Thanksgiving went well until he started getting cranky and wouldn't go down for a nap. I sometimes wonder what Hell could be like and I think about the worse things in life. How about a screaming crying baby who is overly tired and won't go to sleep? And all you do is try to put him to sleep for eternity. Just got him down listening to his Smashing Pumpkins xylophone music. I almost like the xylophone versions better than the originals and I'm a huge fan of the Smashing Pumpkins so that says a lot.

My beautiful wife made me a wonderful T-day dinner. A couple of the highlights were her amazing cranberries that she cooks with Port.....yum, and the Crunch-Topped Sweet Potato Casserole. The casserole is not just a dish but an experience. It begins with the anticipation from smelling it when it's cooking and then on the first taste at the dinner table letting some of that pound of brown sugar that goes into making it slowly melt all over your taste buds. If you haven't experienced the Crunch-Topped Sweet Potato Casserole, you just haven't experienced one of the pinnacles of the Thanksgiving feast.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

200,000 Club

We currently have 214,000 miles on our 1996 Toyota Corolla. I've been a high mileage car owner pretty much all my life. Just recently we bought a 2 year old xB, so that's the newest car I've ever owned. One day I'd like to say that I was a member of the 300,000 club, but the problem is I only put about 15,000 miles on a year. I guess I could just go out and buy a car with 275,000 miles on it, but that's cheating. You have to put in your dues through the 100,000 miles in the 200,000 mile club. So far the casualties on the Corolla in the 200,000+ range is a broken parking brake and new spark plugs and wires. I'm going for it. 6 years to go......

If you would like to join the 200,000 mile club:

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2007/09/200000-mile-clu.html

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Asher Week 13

I've been extremely delinquent posting pictures of Asher. We are already on week 21. I'll slowly catch up, but for now here is week 13:

Saturday, November 08, 2008

Credit Default Swaps

Anyone fully understand a Credit Default Swap?

"A credit default swap (CDS) is a credit derivative contract between two counterparties. The buyer makes periodic payments to the seller, and in return receives a payoff if an underlying financial instrument defaults. CDS contracts have been compared to insurance, because the buyer pays a premium, and in return receives a sum of money if a specified event occurs. However, this is a slightly misleading comparison because the buyer of a CDS does not need to own the underlying security; in fact the buyer does not even have to suffer a loss from the default event" - Wikipedia

I'm convinced the 700 billion bailout we just went through had much to do regarding Credit Default Swaps. They were illegal on Wall Street for almost 100 years and became legal in 2000. Is it just me or does that definition from Wikipedia sound like gambling? 60 Minutes aired this piece on October 26: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4546583n.

I Hate People

It's amazing what comes out of our mouths when we are at our peak of anger and frustration. Yes, i said, "I hate people" Friday morning. I had an extremely bad morning at work. My laptops hard drive died so I had to reload windows and lost some important documentation that couldn't be recovered. I was also confronted with a slew of problems that I couldn't get resolution in a timely manner.

It didn't help that the biggest problem was caused by another employee in my department who didn't document anything and most likely either remembered wrong, or never checked what the IP address was on the device so he randomly chose an IP address in the lot for that area and knew someone else would eventually be called to fix the issue. I could go further with this, but I have decided I need to confront this person on Monday. It wouldn't be right to sit hear and vent anymore negativity about this individual.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Judgment

Lately I've been judging people. They have done things that make my life difficult so I declare them guilty as charged. And off they go to my mental prison, never to be trusted again, unless they can prove to me they won't make my life difficult. I forgive them and I will forget the hurt over time, but I will hopefully always remember their actions so they and others can't hurt me in that same manner again.

Is this the right thing to do? We all have to protect ourselves to a certain extent from those that mean to continually do us harm. I don't like to categorize, or write people off. I am never one who likes to judge, but I find myself putting people
behind bars. Is this healthy? I'm not one who likes to put up walls, but lately I feel like I own the largest construction company in the world.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Minnesota Crime Commission

Even though I think Asher is the best behaving infant any parent could ever ask for, I know what lies ahead (terrible 2's) and the only way to curtail that and on through his teenage years is through instruction. This quote from the Minnesota Crime Commission regarding child rearing might seem a little extreme, but without
instruction and consequences I know I would of been a menace to society:

"Everybody starts life as a little savage. He is completely selfish and self-centered. He wants what he wants, when he wants it - His bottle, his mother's attention, his playmates toys, his uncle's watch. You deny him these once and he seethes with rage and aggressiveness which would be murderous were he not so helpless. His is dirty and knows no morals, doesn't know anything, and has no developed skills... This means that all children are born delinquent. If permitted to continue in their self-centered world of infancy, given free rein to their impulsive actions to satisfy each want - every child would grow up to be a criminal, thief, killer or rapist."

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Asher Week 14

Hospice House

On many occasions a sadness comes over me when I work in the hospice house. At first I thought it was seeing all the people alone in their rooms, some just being kept alive by machines and others watching TV alone. But today when entering the hospice house the same sadness came over me, but my thoughts changed from the loneliness to the thought of them not coming to any solid conclusions on what they truly believed about their existence.

On my death bed whether I'm right or wrong I want to be solid in my faith and what I believe about my existence. I want to be satisfied about my belief of GOD. I don't want to be indecisive regarding anything in my life that truly mattered. From what i believe when I fall flat on my face meeting my creator for the first time, I want to truly say I tried to the best of my ability to fulfill His desire for my life.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

How Much Can One Truly Know

Do you ever have moments when you realize the comprehension of everything in your life is quite little. It's in these moments I feel like a dab of genius fluid was dropped on my brain giving me just enough insight to understand how much I don't know in life.

It's in these moments I wonder if our mind was created not to completely comprehend our existence. Possibly as a way to keep us under control protecting us from spiraling out of control any faster than our current potential.

I don't believe we were created to be lab rats, I think that to be quite the opposite. I think we were meant to work under a certain confine for our own good. I hope that one day I will completely understand, but I don't think it will be in this world.

Monday, September 01, 2008

Content

On many occasions when Asher is content it can be a huge relief. Don't get me wrong i love playing with him and hearing him try to talk. Seeing him smile and laugh is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen, but it can be hard work trying to entertain the little fellow.

This morning I felt like I understood why GOD wants us to be content. There Asher sat in his vibe chair content as can be, winding down from a hard 2-3 hour session of waving his arms, trying to talk, standing as I held him on my stomach, and using all the brain power he could muster trying to figure out who he is and how he got on this big round rock floating in outer space.

So just as when I feel relief and peace when Asher is content, I think the same goes for GOD when we are content. GOD is like, finally. Maybe this is why GOD invented sleep. Forced content, it just doesn't get any better than that for GOD and us.


"Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am." - Philippians 4:11

Friday, August 29, 2008

Eyes to His World

I was telling the story of my Eyes to My World post from August 16 to a co-worker and she said you know that saying, "the eyes are a gateway to the soul"? I actually thought that was scripture, but just a quote from Herman Melville. So she went on to explain that maybe it was me looking at Asher's pure soul that made me want to run instead of Asher looking at mine.

So at that moment when my co-worker was giving me this different scenario, I thought of a story I once heard of a man who when entering Heaven was all of a sudden stricken with this immense pain that hurt so much he had to leave and his only other choice was Hell. Could this be the very reason why Jesus must wash away our sins and make us pure so that we will be able to enter into Heaven?

This makes me think of the dust free environments some industries need in order to create a product. Once the product is made dust can touch it, but it must always be protected from the inside. I guess the same thing can be said of how we were made, we would never survive without our skin. I think the same goes for Heaven, but the cleansing we need goes way beyond the material and has everything to do with the spiritual. But we just don't have the capacity to create the spiritual cleansing we need in order to be in a place that cannot have one hint of falling short of who GOD needs us to be in His home. So there is absolutely no way we could enter Heaven on our own. Our spiritual being has been ruined by living in this world. We need something, or someone to cleanse us and prepare us for something we can't possibly do on our own. We need an intercessor.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Waffles in Drawer

Yesterday I decided to put leftover waffles in a slide out drawer that is used for all our saran wrap, aluminum foil and plastic bags. A couple of times I've put the ice cream in the refridgerator. On many occassions I go looking for the remote control and find it upstairs on our dining room table, or on the coffee table. Not a big deal, except our tv is in the basement.

Why do I unconciously take things and put them in a place that makes no sense as to where they should be located? This problem has gone on for way too long and I must find a solution. I'd appreciate any suggestions.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Asher Week 9

Eyes to My World

Lately I've been noticing how intense Asher's focus is on me. His world is completely Kim's and my world. On a few occassions his focus on me has been mesmorizing. I feel frozen. It's like he is peering into my soul. Maybe babies can do that beacause they don't have all the crap from this world clouding their mind. They are pure from the factory, nothing has corrupted them yet. They are functioning at a spirtitual level that can never again be reached. Maybe in those times of my frozen state it's because deep down I feel Asher can somehow see my total being. And just like Adam and Eve all I want to do is run and hide. I only want him to know the good part of my world.

Saturday, August 02, 2008

I Gave My Son to GOD

I'm not much of a poet and I'm rusty on poetic format, but I had an idea yesterday to write a poem, so I did this morning.

I Gave My Son to GOD

I gave my son to GOD.
He gave me His,
So I returned the favor.
My son doesn't know it yet,
he's only 8 weeks old.
I wonder if he'll be angry,
or one day passionately give me a big hug saying thanks.
I hope this means GOD will raise my son
so I can just be GOD's assistant in the process.
I gave my son to GOD.
Only GOD knows what's best for him.
And I want what's best for Asher.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

The Truth is at War with the Lies

I think back to all the roads I have traveled down, all the people I've met around the world. So many places, faces, and decisions. At times completely out of control in so many different ways. All these decisions that I've made and life has brought me to this point.

I think most people look at everything in their life as a bunch of random events with good and bad results. I believe in an order in the universe. I'm not saying something was controlling me when I wasn't in control, but I believe our decisions are covered by the order. If the order doesn't cover one of our decisions I don't believe that decision can be brought into fruition. The order doesn't agree with all our decisions, it just allows them to take place with the good and the bad for reasons unknown to me, except in conjunction with my understanding of free will. Its just the way the universe was set up at the beginning of time. In my opinion I don't think the mind was created to fully conceive it, just respect the order and be content and at peace with it.

I think we were meant to learn and understand about the order to help us choose the intended paths for our lives. Many people will just say its all a bunch of meaningless random decisions and events that happen to us all, but i believe all our decisions matter. Each decision takes us down a different path. Each decision brings us closer, or further away from the truth. I believe the truth will set you free. But I thought the truth would be easy. The truth is difficult. The truth is at war with the lies.

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Smoking

I've been meaning to post about this for awhile, but just never got around to it. At my work they decided to ban smoking 100 ft from all company grounds. HOORAY!!! Sorry, smokers. So anyways, I knew this would be difficult because patients don't care and I knew they would smoke no matter what, but what has amazed me is how all the workers not only light up right in front of the non-smoking signs, they get together as many as 9 one day, I COUNTED! It's common in one area for me to see up to 5 people smoking together. This is right out in the middle of our parking lot! I see all the areas where they are smoking, some of them try and hide as best as possible, but then others go right out in the middle of our parking lot where everyone can see them.

So I'm guessing that they must know my company won't, or can't fire them. Otherwise, I'm sure they would have been fired a long time ago and they wouldn't be so obviously rubbing it in my companies face that they are going to smoke on company grounds. So how strange is it to do something every day and know your company doesn't want you doing it, but you don't care because you know your company won't fire you, so you do it anyway. The crazy thing is I know these people wouldn't be doing it if they weren't nicotine junkies. I said the word junkies, I decided before I started writing this post that I wouldn't say junkies, but that is exactly what smoking is if you can't wait until you get home and your willing to take the risk every day of getting fired. I really hope these people are trying to quit. But that doesn't seem to be the case, I see the same individuals out there multiple times each day fraternizing.

Grandma

Backtime

Friday, June 27, 2008

Saturday, June 21, 2008

A Dependence on Love

One of my first emotions in the hospital after Asher was born was the feeling that I would choose to die in a heartbeat if it meant that my son could live. It was so strong. I keep trying to relate this emotion to how GOD had to sacrifice His only Son so that I could truly be forgiven for my countless trespasses against Him throughout my life. I can't, because all I can think about is how not worth it I am.

But at one time I too was as little as Asher resting in my father's arms and he too felt these same emotions in the hospital. Something tells me its an extremely common emotion with every new father and mother. I believe this is how GOD reminds us of his continual love and how it can't be based on actions, because all Asher has done is poop, cry, eat and sleep. Asher is completely dependent on Kim and I to keep him alive. From the day we are born GOD shows us how He wants us to be dependent on Him. He'll take care of us, but we need to continually ask for his guidance.

This whole time Asher has been sleeping in my arms. He's constantly been rustling around trying to either get comfortable or is slowly waking up as I go back and forth from one and two hands typing. He even managed to throw himself out of my arms onto the couch. I'm glad I'm sitting on the couch. I think whether we ask for God's guidance, or not, we're all infants throughout our lives and GOD is trying to type with two hands.

Asher Steven Newman


Asher Steven Newman was born on June 11th at 11:28pm. He weighed 7 pounds and 12 ounces. My last post "Anxiously Awaiting" was at 6:30pm on the 11th, I had no idea an hour later Kim would start going into labor. She wasn't even sure it was real labor until 9:30pm. And we didn't leave the house until 10:30pm. When we arrived at the hospital I was running through the halls pushing Kim in a wheelchair with one hand and the other pulling our luggage. Let's just say it was one crazy hour! Thank you Asher for not deciding to be born in the xB.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Anxiously Awaiting......

It's one day past Baby Kix's due date. Kim drank 3 tablespoons of caster oil today. We've been eating spicy foods for the last two days. Kim told me that some doctors believe that the baby releases hormones when it gets stressed out and that's what begins labor. We don't feel like trying to stress out our baby, that seems kind of mean. We really don't want to be induced. Anybody have any suggestions?

Thursday, May 22, 2008

The Importance of Belief Part 2: How can one be held accountable for something if they don't believe in it?

Google couldn't find me anything directly answering my question. But indirectly Google revealed Romans 1:19-20 and Romans 2:14-16 which I found quite interesting:

Romans 1:19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, beingunderstood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse

"Although the Gentiles had no written revelation, yet what may be known of God is every where manifest among them, God having made a clear discovery of himself to them. For his being and perfections, invisible to our bodily eyes, have been, ever since the creation of the world, evidently to be seen, if attentively considered, in the visible beauty, order, and operations observable in the constitution and parts of the universe; especially his eternal power and universal dominion and providence: so that they cannot plead ignorance in excuse of their idolatry and wickedness." -Adam Clarke Commentary

Romans 2:14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.15They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them

"The expression they are a law to themselves is another way of saying that the demands of the moral law are written within a man. The point is this: the attempt to “accuse and defend” will be brought into broad daylight on the day when God judges the secrets of men. That God will judge men’s secrets is in keeping with the fact sin is often related to the conscience, i.e., the inward and hidden moral reasoning of a man (And no creature is hidden from God, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account. ~Heb 4:13). That this judgment will take place, and that Jesus will be the judge, is in keeping with the gospel which Paul preached." -Adam Clarke Commentary

So I guess this scripture answers my question from a biblical point of view. We are accountable to GOD in all things. It doesn't matter whether we believe in being accountable, or not. We are all part of a system that was put in place a long time ago, an invisible reality. A reality I believe left unable to fully prove in order to leave the choice to believe, or not and most importantly the choice to love GOD, or not.

Saturday, May 03, 2008

The Importance of Belief

I am again obsessed with thinking about our beliefs. We can give fake fronts about who we are and say what we believe just to fit in with our friends, but our true beliefs still lay dormant in the core of our being.

Why do we believe what we believe? What is determining those bundles of neurons to connect in such a way to form a belief? My beliefs have changed drastically over my 35 years. I've gone back and forth with some issues swaying from the right to the left on many occassions. In many cases the more I come to understand a certain subject, I really never understood the stance I originally took about the issue.

I believe when we go to the grave certain beliefs are cemented for eternity. Well, that is the question? Are we given another chance? Does it really matter what we believed, because GOD is all loving and he'll understand we were just ignorant feverish little clots. Is it all good? Our beliefs change over time, so that wouldn't be fair if we weren't privy to knowledge that would of changed our belief for the better. And if we did know it's not our fault that we chose the wrong belief beacause life is extremely complex with so many variables and influences. I can only work with the neuron's that I was given at birth. But what if only a few exceptions and no excuses are accepted in the afterlife. Who are we to judge?

Everything in this world revolves around responsibility and accountability. I have to believe that I will be responsible and accountable for how I lived this life. My belief system is the motivation for my actions. Yes, I'm going to make mistakes and go against what I believe at times, but there will always be that belief system in the core of my being administrating my everyday decisions making me who I am. It's amazing how one little belief can change how you see yourself in this world and how one little new belief can sometimes sprout a seed changing one into a completely new being.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Remembering Jorai Mae Newman

This was taken from a draft i found in my gmail back on 12/26/07. I was planning on posting this but it never made it........

"Today I worked on the printer that printed Jorai's picture at her birth. The printer actually only needed a new color cartridge, but at the same time I felt an attachment to this printer. If I wasn't able to fix it and needed to replace it, I know I would have brought it home. I don't know if this is healthy, but I find myself not wanting to part with anything that had anything to do with Jorai.

At home we still haven't taken down the pictures, cards, and Jorai's ashes that sit on the wood trunk in our living room. I wanted them up until the end of this year. I never understood when people would tell me after their loved ones departed from this world that they still felt them alive, or in some way felt that they were still with them. I do feel Jorai is still alive."

Saturday, April 19, 2008

mingle-mangle

I saw a "never satisfied" bumper sticker and felt a sadness for the driver of that car.

The other day I saw a Ford commercial and they dropped in a line stating they now have the same quality as Toyota. So I'm trying to find out exactly when Ford was able to match Toyota's quality. Does this mean all the models of Ford were matched at the same time? America deserves to know when this quality standard was acheived so we know not to buy any Ford products prior to that date.

Dark Horse, my favorite brewery in Michigan has released another batch of Sapient BelgianTriple Ale. It is now available only at E. Lansing Oade’s Big Ten, or if you feel like driving
to the Dark Horse brewery in Marshall.

Go see Ben Stein's film "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed." Amazing!

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Are All Sins the Same?

So I went off on a rabbit trail and found a wolf in the sheep den. I was trying to figure out how to equate not murdering someone because we don't want to go to jail, to not letting certain things slide that we know GOD doesn't want us doing. No, I'm not thinking about murdering anyone. Just trying to figure out how to stop doing those things I know GOD doesn't want me doing, but I do them anyway. This led to the question: Are all sins the same? That answer led to: Why don't people believe in Jesus?

Conclusion: We're just more physical than we are spiritual. Until it hurts us in the physical, the spiritual seems to be left by the wayside.

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Africa's World War

(CNN) -- The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and armed groups in the country signed a deal Wednesday to end years of fighting in Congo. According to the International Rescue Committee the conflict and humanitarian crisis in Congo had taken 5.4 million lives since 1998, and 45,000 people continue to die there every month. This loss of life is equivalent to the entire population of Denmark, or the state of Colorado, dying within a decade. Even with the country's violence, the IRC found that most of the deaths were from non-violent causes such as malaria, diarrhea, pneumonia, and malnutrition. Nearly half the deaths were among children younger than five, even though they are only 19 percent of the population.

The reason why I'm speaking about this is that I didn't even know about this war until 2 days ago when I was listening to NPR. How can a war that is equivalent to World War II go so unnoticed by the media. Why haven't I heard any of my friends ever speak about this war? Why haven't I heard or read anything about this war until 2 days ago on NPR?

For an inside look on Africa's World War read:

http://www.blackagendareport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=519&Itemid=1

Sunday, March 02, 2008

Is America Addicted to Porn?

XXXchurch pastor Craig Gross and ex porn producer of 9 years Donny Pauling went up against Monique Alexander and Ron Jeremy in a debate at Yale on the harmful effects of pornography. Take time out to view this video, it will take about 45 minutes. Debates like these are rare and this gives a good look at how people in the pornography industry justify their trade. Pay close attention to what Donny Pauling says about the countless woman that are ruined from the industry.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Nightline/FaceOff

A great book to read about the pornography industry and the effects inside relationships of men and woman that view pornography on a consistant basis is Pornified by Pamela Paul. If you view pornography on a consistant basis, or want to stop viewing it, this book shows you the troubles you will have in relationships from couples that are extremely candid about their pornography habits and the connections that are made to the pornography that is hurting their relationships.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Money for sex

Kim and I just watched "Trade". This movie was based off a 9 month investigation piece The Girls Next Door from the New York Times. According to the U.S. State Department's report on sex traffic in 2005, 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders each year, with 14,500 to 17,500 trafficked into the U.S.

The Girls Next Door stated that there are thousands of sex slaves right here in the U.S. Please watch this movie. Please understand every time you look at porn whether you pay for it, or not, your click of the mouse is recorded and used for keeping women on the screen with money and addiction to drugs. And worse of all, the promotion of kidnapping and enslavement of innocent children only to be emotionally and physically scarred for the rest of their lives.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Neti Pots

My wife tracked all the people coming to her blog and realized that most of them came because they searched for Neti Pots. She had Neti Pots as the title of one of her blogs. So I'm attempting to get more traffic. Sorry, I apologize for misleading you, but this blog has nothing to do with Neti Pots. The things we do for attention.

I notice more and more people seem to say, "this book is our bible". Today it was a reference to a database. On another day it was Wikipedia. I find this extremely fascinating, because whether you believe that the Bible is GOD's one and only collection of writings that He wrote through man, or not, it's interesting how we go to documents as our one and only source for specific topics of knowledge. Whatever the subject is we all have our bible's. It makes sense that GOD would leave a book for life.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

New Identity?

Nobody I know reads my blog, except my wife. I kind of like it that way, but then what's the point of having a blog. At first I created Speepr McCree from Christmas Island as a joke. I got the funniest picture I had of myself and posted it. But my first entry in 2005 ended up being the only humor of this blog and I deleted it.

I still like my picture and enjoy being from Christmas Island, and I kind of like the name Speepr. So why do I think I want my real identity on my blog? Does it matter? What do I gain and what do I lose? If anyone is reading please give me your opinion.

Saturday, February 09, 2008

The decline of the FDA

I read somewhere that the ingredient "natural flavors" can have monosodium glutamate (MSG) in it, and then I read another detailed article about MSG that didn't have natural flavors listed as an ingredient that might contain MSG. Does anyone have any knowledge regarding the vague ingredient of natural flavors? Why doesn't the FDA require companies to list the origin of the natural flavor? What about artificial flavor? I'm scared to look up what the definition is of artifical flavor in the Code of Federal Regulations.

The exact definition of natural flavorings & flavors from Title 21, Section 101, part 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations is as follows:

"The term natural flavor or natural flavoring means the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional."

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Switchgrass

This could be the replacement for big oil.......

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5183608

Sunday, January 27, 2008

The Future of Food

This really scares me, buy organic.............down the road it might just save your life one day. GMO's might of been invented to help poorer areas grow more crops, but I believe profit has become the force behind the development of GMO food.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Poverty Radio

Instead of sports radio, its poverty radio. Instead of talking about the games, they talk about meetings and discussions going on around the world trying to figure ways to improve living conditions. Instead of talking about the stats and how the players performed each day,they talk about the stats of how many water wells were drilled, and how the workers performed that day. And instead of win's and losses its how many people now have cleanwater for the first time in that region. Instead of fantasy football, it's fantasy worker's. Instead of baseball cards, its worker's against poverty cards.

This all sounds a little off, but what I'm trying to point out is that we spend billions of dollars on sports a year. 100's of players make over 10 million a year, 1000's of players make over 1,000,000 a year. The average salary in the United States is under $30,000. What if we salary capped each player at 1,000,0000 in every sport. What if people wouldn't pay more than$10 for a ticket to see a game. What if all the extra money that was spent on sports somehow,someway could be used to pay the salaries of the WWAPL (Worker's Working Against Poverty League). We could still have our sport's cake and eat it too.

Why can't we get excited about listening to the stories of worker's in the field building infrastructure, supplying healthcare, bringing the means for people to help themselves. Following our hero's through news of their whereabouts and what they are doing throughout the year.

We spend countless of hours focusing on games that overall are meaningless to our well being. There is no reason why we can't take a part of that and put it towards life instead of letting it continue towards death. The crazy thing about all this is that the sports world would go on as if nothing happened. Players would still compete at the highest levels, but with just less salaries. The sports fan would even benefit from getting to pay less for tickets. It's a win win situation. No one needs more than a million dollars a year, no matter how hard they work.