Category: Right Conduct

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Stephen Colbert Testifies before Congress

God Bless Stephen, he never got out of character and still made his point.

It would be interesting to see what would happen if Americans had to pay a fair cost for their food. If the food was not harvested by exploited illegal immigrants, if our meat supply was done in an ethical manner, if our food supply was truly food and not laboratory products…

Click the link below to watch.

Stephen Colbert’s Testimony before Congress

Here is a link to an article where folks were upset with his testimony.

Steny Hoyer: Stephen Colbert’s Testimony To Congress Was ‘An Embarrassment For Mr. Colbert’

My personal take was it was wonderful.  If you invite a cat in the house and sharpens its claws on the furniture whose fault is it?  He was funny, yet made a lot of good points.  The one at the end was probably one Congress did not want to hear, but is very true.  Stephen was asked to leave the meeting room after his “performance”.   Those sleaze balls in Congress take themselves much, much too seriously.

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The Raping of America

Now That’s Rich – New York Times op-ed piece by Paul Krugman

From the article:

“We need to pinch pennies these days. Don’t you know we have a budget deficit? For months that has been the word from Republicans and conservative Democrats, who have rejected every suggestion that we do more to avoid deep cuts in public services and help the ailing economy.

But these same politicians are eager to cut checks averaging $3 million Continue reading “The Raping of America”

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Does Ice Cream Cause Breast Cancer?

Is Your Favorite Ice Cream Made With Monsanto’s Artificial Hormones? – Huffington Post Article

Why my title?  It is a quick synopsis of the article by John Robbins in Huffington Posts. Basically rBGH, artificial growth hormone that is so prevalent in our milk supply was developed, pushed through FDA approval, and promoted by Monsanto Chemicals. One of the effects in cows of rBGH is increased IGF-1 in their milk. Monsanto’s own research showed Continue reading “Does Ice Cream Cause Breast Cancer?”

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High Cost of Cheap Eggs

Lessons From the Egg Recall: Cheap Food Makes You Sick – Huffington Post Article

I moved to cage free and preferably free range eggs a while back.  I’ve given up mayonnaise because the eggs in it come from such places.  While the eggs are pasteurized it would be an economic vote for such places as the Iowa factory farms producing the tainted eggs to buy such a product.

And eggs are not the only cheap food that has a high cost.  Just about all the meat (chicken, turkey, beef, and pork) in the supermarkets of this country comes from industrialized farms.  It has been well documented why these are not good places, and definitely not good places to get the food that nourishes your body.  As much as I love a good steak, I cannot in good conscience eat one anymore.

This is a capitalistic society.  Dollars are economic votes.  Is seemingly cheap more important than the environment, the workers in such places,   the animals welfare, or if self interest motivates, your health?  Is it really ethical to sustain such places with your continued participation by buying their product?  Unfortunately, for so many of these corporate operations, the bottom line is what matters.  It should be different, but they only change when they see their bottom lines headed the wrong way.

How are you voting?

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Rev. Joe stumbles

I am not religious.  I do not even consider myself spiritual.  I made the last comment a while back and I had a couple folks arguing with me as they thought I was very spiritual.  One problem with the word spiritual is that it has an old school dictionary definition, and common usage that is of a more new age derivative.  The dictionary definition, to me, is not that much different than the dictionary definition for religious . Spiritual in this context seems to imply a less structured version of religious.  I have trouble getting my head around the new age definition.  It is very much like E=mc2.  I understand the parts, but the whole is another matter.

My goal is to live an ethical and a genuine life.  However, most of the time I fail miserably at these tasks.  Continue reading “Rev. Joe stumbles”

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Trailer Trash on Display

Okay, okay…I’m all for freedom of speech.  God knows that I would not want somebody limiting my wonderful ramblings.  At some point, some self censorship should take over.   Occasionally, the question should be asked, “Is this classy?  Is this really how I want to represent myself to the population at large?”

We’ve all seen the urinating boys doing their thing on “FORD” or “CHEVY”.  I saw one the recently that I thought represented the ultimate in poor taste.  Continue reading “Trailer Trash on Display”

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How Do You Say Goodbye?

Here is an open question for everyone, how do you say goodbye. 

A friend’s mother is in hospice, partly the result of age, and partly the result of several diseases she failed to manage properly catching up with her.

My friend flew her twenty-something daughter in for the week so that she could see her grandmother before she passed.  At the first  of the week my friend’s mother was still occasionally coherent and aware.  By the end of the week she was out of it, and sleeping most of the time. 

The three of us went to visit her on the Saturday before the daughter had to fly back out on Sunday.  It was more than a little sad as the grandmother was only there physically.   The granddaughter knew that this would in all likelihood be the last time she saw her grandmother alive. 

We stayed about two hours.  The granddaughter tried to feed the grandmother who was not interested.   Some attempts were made at communication, but those essentially failed.  Both mother and daughter were crying off and on.  Towards the end the granddaughter just hugged her grandmother and stroked her. 

I went out a little before the other two to give them some time alone.  The granddaughter came out first and asked me, “How do you say goodbye to some one?”  I took a minute to answer as I was a little choked up myself.  All I could muster was a lame comment about “giving them positive energy and remembering the good times.”  I do not imagine it satisfied the daughter.  It did not satisfy me. 

I’ve been thinking about it, and I still not sure I have a good answer.  How do you say goodbye to someone?

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Sunday Morning Snobbery

I first noticed the father, a vaguely unkempt looking man picking out a bowling ball.  It was hard to tell his age, but I am guessing around mine, pushing 60.  His hair was all white, and he was bald on top.  A comb or brush would not have hurt his look.  He was dressed in a pair of black Rustler jeans and a black t-shirt that was a tad too short for him. 

imagesI then noticed his wife. She appeared to be at least 20 years his junior. She was obese enough that her belly had more than formed an apron.   Initially I thought she was Hispanic.  I shortly heard her say something, and it was classic Tennessee country.  Neither she nor her husband were ugly, but then again they were not particularly handsome.

Then the passel of kids came into focus.  There were a total of four.  The oldest, a boy, who never took down his sweatshirt hood, looked to be 12 or 13.   Continue reading “Sunday Morning Snobbery”

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The Five Agreements

fifth-agreementFrom the jacket cover of the book The Fifth Agreement: A Practical Guide to Self-Mastery by Ruiz & Ruiz available @ Amazon.com

BE IMPECCABLE WITH YOUR WORDS

Speak with integrity.  Say only what you mean.  Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others.  Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

DON’T TAKE ANYTHING PERSONAL

Nothing others do is because of you.  Continue reading “The Five Agreements”