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Saturday, 01 August 2009

Whose Fault Is It?

     A question was asked yesterday:
                     Anyone in Twitterverse believe unhealthy
                 diets are 100% due to personal choices
                 (a.k.a. personal responsibility)?
     I said that I believed that was correct. The last time I checked, there was no one putting food into my mouth but me. So my unhealthy or healthy diet is 100% my responsibility. Unless you are in a prison, in a coma, or strapped down to a bed being handfed by a spoon, the food going in your mouth is your responsibility. I make the choice on which foods I consume. My diet, healthy or unhealthy, is my choice. I am not a "victim of society".
     Evidently, that wasn't the answer they were looking for.
    Then they attempted to do what my children do. They tried to wheedle me into backing out of my statement. I was asked: So there aren't ANY other factors at work?
     My response to that was that the other factors don't absolve me of responsibility for the choices I make. I got asked to acknowledge that there were other factors at play. I never said there weren't other factors at play, I said that what goes in your mouth is your responsibility.
     Again, what goes in my mouth is my personal choice.
     Whether it's healthy, unhealthy, legal, illegal, tasty or nasty: It's MY CHOICE = MY RESPONSIBILITY!


     Evidently these people weren't raised like me. My parents raised me to make decisions. And having made decisions, to claim ownership of those decisions (personal responsibility).
   Advertising attempts to influence my decisions, but if the object advertised doesn't live up to the advertised claims, it won't be bought again. At least, I won't be buying it again.
     But the advertisements don't put the product in my mouth. All the beer advertisements they put on TV, all the wine advertisements, whiskey advertisements, etc. don't put the product in my mouth. If I drink, it's because I put it in my mouth.
    If you're still reading, and believe that advertising influences people to do things they don't want to do, enjoy the taste of your New Coke!

Thursday, 23 July 2009

Drug Resistant Bugs. . . and other such stuff

I was reading an article that blamed drug resistant bacteria (bugs) on the antibiotics that farmers were feeding to animals.
    Now,. I ain't no scientist. I didn't never go to school long enough to get me no college degree. But I think if Americans, and other countries people, want to find the people responsible for the bacteria that's drug resistant, they can probably find them in the bathroom by looking in the mirror.
   Cause you see, its like this. I been on the back of a garbage truck. And you get to see the stuff that people throw away if it isn't in a garbage bag. So when you see a pile of medicine bottles and you have good eyesight, you can read the instructions on the bottle and see what drug was in the bottle.
     Hmmmmm. Theres one that says something -cillin take 3 a day for 5 days. 15 pills prescribed. So unless the person died, there is no reason that there are still 4 pills left in the bottle, unless the person didn't do "JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED"
     And there is another antibiotic that has pills left in the bottle. If the person went to the trouble of going to the Dr., paying the co-pay or the doctors visit, and paying for the drugs, WHY DIDN'T THEY DO WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED?
     I guess they're like my kids, they decide they feel better so they think they don't need the drugs anymore. Feeling better does not mean that you are well, or that you have killed whatever bug was causing the infection in the first place. And around our house I DEFINITELY want to kill the bugs. There are too many other little peoples running around who can also come down with the bug. And if they are going to get one, I'd rather they get the original bug, not one that has had a chance to get immunity to the medication.
    Cause them bacteria and viruses is got something in common with people, what don't kill them makes them stronger.
Rant Over, Have a good day.

Tuesday, 14 July 2009

Ned the Neighbor

     a work of fiction
     The first time Kid Johnson met Ned Neighbor he should have realized that something wasn't quite right. But he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. The old man did seem to be a bit strange, stopping and commenting on a little plot of ground that was for sale down the road. Okay, maybe very strange, since he asked how many acres it was and how much it might sell for. It seemed to Kid that the last time he had been by the land, the sign had said:
For Sale
5 acres
$10,000
     Ned said that he had just retired from working for 'The City' after 40 years and wanted a little farm to settle down on. Kid didn't quite think 5 acres was a farm, but maybe 40 years working for 'The City' gave a person a different perspective. It definitely had given Ned some strange ideas.
     First off he wanted to tear down the fence that separated the 5 acres he bought from the rest of Mr. Skillet's farm. Then he wanted to cut the grass for hay. Then he wanted to get a barn built. Then he wanted to have the ground disked. None of these things was Ned capable of accomplishing on his own. He would ask Kid's Dad, and Kid's Dad would send him to help, maybe make a little money.
     Ned may not have always seemed to be doing things the way that Kid thought he should, but he always had 'A Plan'. He didn't have the tools to take down the fence, or cut the hay, or build a barn, but he had his plans. All drawn out on paper, and ready to show. Just needed a post hole digger to set the poles for his pole barn. Ned already had the spots marked out for the digging, and a pile of posts too. Kid had heard of barn raisings, but Ned's was the first he had ever participated in. but he followed 'The Plan' and at the end of the day, there was a roof over the hay. And still enough time left over in the day to disk the ground.
Kid didn't see Ned for a few weeks after that. There was a house to be built and Ned had to be there to make sure that the builders were following 'The Plan'. The next time Ned came looking for Kid was to build a stall in his barn to raise a calf. Oh, and a loft for the barn. It wouldn't talke long as long they followed 'The Plan'.
     A few days afterward, Ned came over to Kid's house and said he had bought a calf, but he was worried because the calf would NOT eat, and could somebody come check on it. Kid's Dad sent Kid to go with Ned and see what was wrong. When they walked into the barn, there was a 2 or 3 day old calf laying down, looking pitiful. Ned said he had bought calf feed, but the calf didn't want to eat anything. Kid looked at the calf, then at Ned, and asked where was the calf's bottle of milk. Ned for the first time looked like he DIDN'T have 'a plan'.
     Kid had Ned take him home to get a bottle and some milk replacer. Mixed it all up and within minutes of offering it to the calf, it was on it's feet looking like it might not die. Ned hadn't planned for feeding the calf milk, but he rapidly adjusted. Ned learned what he had to do to get the calf going good and everything was back according to 'The Plan'.
     In the spring, Ned needed a little plot disked again so he could plant a garden. (yup, it was all part of 'The Plan') And when he got the first produce out of his garden, he even brought some by for Kid and his family, even though their garden was 4 times as big.
     Time passed and Ned finally got to where he wasn't quite as much of a nuisance needy neighbor. He bought his own little tractor, and equipment to work his garden with. Kid's Dad still called Ned "Our Nightmare", but never to his face.
When Ned finally passed on, one of his grandchildren inherited his farm. He tore down the barn and put in a pool. And never needed anything from his neighbors.

Saturday, 11 July 2009

I Don't Have Vegetarian Friends

Sorry, Angy.
     A discussion on the twitter yesterday got under my skin a little bit. People were talking about having ______ friends. I let it kinda slide on by, cause I was trying to work at the moment. But I would like to comment now.
     I don't have any vegetarian friends. Nor do I have any gay friends. No black friends. No white friends. No Hispanic friends. No atheist friends, nor Christian friends either.
    If someone is my friend, I don't 'qualify' them. They are my friend . (read that as FRIEND PERIOD). Friends are the people you can not see for weeks, or months, sometimes even years and start up a conversation. They may ask you about your family, or not mention them at all.
     Friends are something that you collect as you go through life. You may meet 20 people when you start a new job, and wind up with 3 of them as what you would truly consider a friend. Or you may be lucky and all 20 of them become someone you consider as your friend.
     Now to clear things up though, I have friends (or used to) that are homosexual, black, white, hispanic, asian, jewish, catholic, christian, wiccan, atheist, vegetarian, vegan, native american, next door neighbors, miles away on the internet.
     But I don't classify them. They are or were just my friends.
     Some people I almost expect them to parade me around showing me their various collection of friends.            BTW Left-handed, Lesbian Lebanese friends are VERY RARE.
     Thank You for reading and Good Day!
Nelson

Thursday, 09 July 2009

Generation SS

     I chose the background for my blog because when I saw the picture, I started singing. You know the song "Rainbow Connection" Kermit sang it in the 1979 Muppet Movie.
     Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection,
     The lovers, the dreamers and me.

     Granted, the movie didn't come out until I was well past Sesame Street watching age. But when I was little and Sesame Street would come on I would head for the TV. and I was blessed, we had 2, yes TWO stations, that we could watch Sesame Street on.
     My favorite bit on Sesame Street was http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDtXCsnMP7M . Strange cause, well I kinda look like the guy now.