| The Raving Idiot!! |
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| The difference between Wisdom and Inteligence: Inteligence is knowing how to tie your shoe, Wisdom is knowing why you tie your shoe. |
| Nov 22nd, 2007 Thanks for what day? Top Ten Ways to know if your a Christian or not. 10 - You vigorously deny the existence of thousands of gods claimed by other religions, but feel outraged when someone denies the existence of yours. 9 - You feel insulted and "dehumanized" when scientists say that people evolved from other life forms, but you have no problem with the Biblical claim that we were created from dirt. 8 - You laugh at polytheists, but you have no problem believing in a Triune God. 7 - Your face turns purple when you hear of the "atrocities" attributed to Allah, but you don't even flinch when hearing about how God/Jehovah slaughtered all the babies of Egypt in "Exodus" and ordered the elimination of entire ethnic groups in "Joshua" -- including women, children, and trees! 6 - You laugh at Hindu beliefs that deify humans, and Greek claims about gods sleeping with women, but you have no problem believing that the Holy Spirit impregnated Mary, who then gave birth to a man-god who got killed, came back to life and then ascended into the sky. 5 - You are willing to spend your life looking for little loopholes in the scientifically established age of Earth (4.55 billion years), but you find nothing wrong with believing dates recorded by Bronze Age tribesmen sitting in their tents and guessing that Earth is a couple of generations old. 4 - You believe that the entire population of this planet with the exception of those who share your beliefs -- though excluding those in all rival sects -- will spend Eternity in an infinite Hell of Suffering. And yet consider your religion the most "tolerant" and "loving." 3 - While modern science, history, geology, biology, and physics have failed to convince you otherwise, some idiot rolling around on the floor speaking in "tongues" may be all the evidence you need to "prove" Christianity. 2 - You define 0.01% as a "high success rate" when it comes to answered prayers. You consider that to be evidence that prayer works. And you think that the remaining 99.99% failure was simply the will of God. 1 - You actually know a lot less than many atheists and agnostics do about the Bible, Christianity, and church history -- but still call yourself a Christian. Sept 4th, 2006 By Cracky.... Its been awhile..... Damn.. its been more then awhile. I guess I could blame my lack of up-dates on all kinds of shit. Starting from the weather, to my long hours at work, and even My Space.com , or it could of been a combo of all of them. Was it ignorence or apathy.... I don't know and I don't care. I know I have been spending a lot of time at that other space. Mostly just trying to whip it into some shape that I can leave alone for awhile then I can come back to this place and continue my hard work here. So what brought my arse back here. One word... Death. Not just the dead, and not just some nation losing thousands in some freak occurence. Nope... this was Death. Or at least, the Death of someone special. Steve Irwin to be exact. You know... the whole time you watched Steve do his thing with all the wild ass animals that he dealt with in all the shows he did. I never would of guessed he would of ended up the way he did. I mean eaten alive by some huge Crock, or maimed beyond help by a pack of wild dingos, maybe... just maybe. But to have some lame ass creature like a stingray take the guy out is almost anti-climatic. Granted, a stingray ain't a teddy bear, but its not a 25ft crock either. I mean I always hoped that the odds would run out on the guy and we would wake up one morning with the news we got today, but I was really counting on an "eaten alive" news report and not the one we got this morning. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- June 19th, 2006 Take this job and shove it...... Well I’ve had just about enough. I pretty much kept my mouth shut for almost 2yrs now and finally on this last Friday, while having to work an extra 3 hrs, after everyone from the production lines went home, I was asked in a casual way what I thought of the ‘new & improved” design for the way our product travels thru the warehouse/factory. Of course, since I have been working a ton of overtime, and yet I see others, whos fault it is as I see it, leaving long before me, I don’t think that they have done squat to improve and the “new” is really retro. I asked when were they going to stop all the empty threats of punishment for not hitting the numbers we are suppose to be hitting everyday? I got a number too, but the only time I hit it is when the lines hit theirs. And yet every morning I have to listen to the managers bitch and moan about the lack of numbers. I asked if there was anyone in the managers department that had any gonads? I asked when was the last time anyone was cut lose for not making their numbers? I asked when was the last time (if ever) anyone was punished for not getting back to their work station in a timely manner after breaks? I called managers wishy washy, and other fine words. Before it was all over I was told that my attitude was not acceptable. My attitude? LOL!!! Then, the old dried up fart that looks like he just came out of an AA meeting, asked me if I understood what he just said? I looked the guy in the eyes and told him “oh, I understand alright” and then went back to twiddling my thumbs on over-time. So I doubt that I’ll be here much longer unless some things change. And not just look like they changed. I’m really getting tired of failing the same unit for the same reason 3 times in a row over a 5 day period. I had one unit come across my work area 4 times in a 10 day period. Each time I failed it for the very same reason I failed it the first time. And this is just a drop in the bucket. I have learned from one of my fellow employees that the wood box hanging on the wall near the time clock has been used by some as a kind of suggestion box, or a complaint type box. Funny… when I first saw this box going up (over 6 moths ago) I asked the HR lady (whos no longer there) if that was to be a suggestion box and I was told in no uncertain terms that NO, its not. Because some people would abuse it and they didn’t want to use it like that. She told me then that the box was to be used to pass documents from the line people to the office people. Well I guess some time in the near future they are going to began to receive more then they bargined for from that little box. June 4th, 2006 I come from the water..... Since I have been handing out all this advice and crap about what to eat and what not to eat, I have decided to take it one step further and give you lovers of idiots a better idea on what to drink. Water is the substance of life. Life can not exist without water. We must constantly be adding fresh water to our body in order to keep it properly hydrated. Water can be a miracle cure for many common ailments such as headaches, fatigue, joint pain, and much more. We can go for weeks without food, but only 3 days without water! The body is comprised of 80% water. Water makes up nearly 85 percent of your brain, about 80 percent of your blood and about 70 percent of your lean muscle. (Because there are a lot of tissues that have less water, the average is about 50 percent.). It is difficult for the body to get water from any other source than water itself. Soft drinks and alcohol steal tremendous amounts of water from the body. Other beverages such as coffee and tea are diuretics therefore stealing precious water from the body. Water plays a vital role in nearly every bodily function. Lack of water is the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page. Water is essential for proper digestion, nutrient absorption and chemical reactions. The carbohydrates and proteins that our bodies use as food are metabolized and transported by water in the bloodstream. No less important is the ability of water to transport waste material out of our bodies. If your system is low on water then your poop is not going to come out of your butt as it should. Water is essential for proper circulation in the body. The levels of oxygen in the bloodstream are greater when the body is well hydrated. The more oxygen the body has readily available the more fat it will burn for energy. Without the presence of oxygen the body cannot utilize stored fat for energy efficiently. Not only will the body burn more fat when well hydrated but because there are increased oxygen levels you will also have more energy. Water also helps remove toxins from the body, in particular from the digestive tract. Water suppresses the appetite naturally and helps the body metabolize stored fat. Studies have shown that a decrease in water intake will cause fat deposits to increase, while an increase in water intake can actually reduce fat deposits. In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is often mistaken for hunger. One glass of water shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study. Water regulates the body's cooling system. Sports drinks are useful when consumed after or during vigorous and prolonged exercise in high heat. But most experts agree that water works better than carbohydrates or sugared beverages for moderate exercise. For instance, if you drink 12 ounces of plain water, your body will absorb 8 ounces of it within 15 minutes. If you drink 12 ounces of a 10% sugar solution, less than 1 ounce will be absorbed in the same period. The typical soft drink is a 10 to 12% sugar solution. Consistent failure to drink enough water can lead to Chronic Cellular Dehydration. This condition where the body's cell are never quite hydrated enough leave them in a weakened state, vulnerable to attack from disease. It weakens the body's overall immune system and leads to chemical, nutritional and pH imbalances that can cause a host of diseases. Dehydration can occur at any time of the year, not only during the summer months when it is hot. The dryness that occurs during winter can dehydrate the body even quicker than when it is hot. When you are dehydrated you tend to eat more. Due to the fact that every body is different the rule we often hear about drinking 8-8oz. of water per day can be misleading. We need to drink half our body weight in ounces of water every day to provide the body with its MINIMUM water replacement requirements. Triple the intake for better results. Soft drinks steal water from the body. They work very much like a diuretic which takes away more water than it provides to the body. Just to process the high levels of sugar in soft drinks steals a considerable amount of water from the body. To replace the water stolen by soft drinks, you need to drink 8-12 glasses of water for every one glass of soft drinks that you consume! Soft Drinks never quench your thirst, certainly not your body's need for water. Constantly denying your body an adequate amount can lead to a weakened immune system and a plethora of diseases. The elevated levels of phosphates in soft drinks leach vital minerals from your body. Soft Drinks are made with purified water that also leach vital minerals from your body. A severe lack of minerals can lead to Heart Disease (lack of magnesium), Osteoporosis (lack of calcium) and many other diseases. Most vitamins can not perform their function in the body without the presence of minerals. Soft Drinks can remove rust from a car bumper or other metal surfaces. Imagine what it's doing to your digestive tract as well as the rest of your body. The high amounts of sugar in Soft Drinks causes your pancreas to produce an abundance of insulin, which leads to a "sugar crash". Chronic elevation and depletion of sugar and insulin can lead to diabetes and other imbalance related diseases. This is particularly disruptive to growing children which can lead to life-long health problems. Soft Drinks severely interfere with digestion. Caffeine and high amounts of sugar virtually shut down the digestive process. That means your body is essentially taking in NO nutrients from the food you may have just eaten, even that eaten hours earlier. Consumed with french-fries which can take WEEKS to digest, there is arguably nothing worse a person can put in their body. Diet soft drinks contain Aspartame, which has been linked to depression, insomnia, neurological disease and a plethora of other illness. The FDA has received more than 10,000 consumer complaints about Aspartame, that's 80% of all complaints about food additives. Soft Drinks are EXTREMELY acidic, so much so that they can eat through the liner of an aluminum can and leach aluminum from the can if it sits on the shelf too long. Alzheimer patients who have been autopsied ALL have high levels of aluminum in their brains. Heavy metals in the body can lead to many neurological and other diseases. The human body naturally exists at a pH of about 7.0. Soft Drinks have a pH of about 2.5, which means you are putting something into your body that is hundred of thousands of times more acidic that your body is! Diseases flourish in an acidic environment. Soft Drinks and other acidic food deposit acid waste in the body which accumulates over time in the joints and around the organs. For example, the Body pH of cancer or arthritis patients are always low. The sicker the person, the lower the Body pH. Soft Drinks are the WORSE THING you can possibly put in your body. Don't even think of taking a sip of a Soft Drink when you are sick with a cold, flu or something worse. It will only make it that much harder for your body to fight the illness. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- May - 29th, 2006 An Idiots diet plan It don’t matter how much you think you know about eating right, aka… heathy. You still may not know enough. Its really something so simple and yet the agencys involved with helping you decided can’t really decided it for themselves. With all the fuss over whether or not to eat one food or another. How can any of us know we are really doing something good for our bodies? I have learned that my own diet (and I don't mean that in the sense that I'm trying to lose weight) is somewhere between that of an Omnivore (a bear) and what some describe as a Semi-Vegetarian. That's where I eat anything but red meat and pork. I say in-between because its more like I go back and forth according to what I feel like eating and whats on the more healthy side of the menu. So I guess I’m still more omnivore then vege-head. I still eat a steak at least once a year, and I don’t back away from pork to often. All bets are off during those weekend warrior activities. I expend so much energy at one of those events that I normally come home weighing less then I went. Years ago I made the decision to cut red meat out of my daily intake of food. By doing this I knew I was also cutting out some important nutrients so I also started taking supplements. I read up on the whole vitamin thing. At first I was taking individual pills for some of the vitamins I was missing when I stopped eating steaks and such. I think at one time I was taking up to 8 different pills everyday. Over time I have cut that down to a single muti-vitamin every day. Mostly because I don't abuse my body as much as I use to and my activty level is a tad -if not more- lower then it use to be. And I now eat some red meat but it is still a second choice. So I don't feel the need to do all those extra pills. Now, some 20yrs later, my general health seems to be ok. Granted, I don't participate in all the sports and hard activities that I did in my youth, but then again I don't consume near as much booze and or other indulgences of my wasted youth either. Gone are the days of waking up almost every weekend with a hangover. Gone are the days of staying up for 2-3 days at a time with a little help. Now I stay home on most week nights, and on weekends I have been known to do even less. But I feel I have earned these times of in-activity. Just as long as they don't become a habit. Even with my present injured knee I'm not going to just stay at home. I'm already planning on going out to one of the local parks and spend some time walking the paths to keep my knee from getting to relaxed. But that will most likey be the limit to my activity today. So back to my diet... After some recent studies, it seems that depending on where your standing and what your eating, certain factors will influence your general health. Now for some people, living in some countries, they really don't have much of a choice. I'm sure they would trade that clump of enriched flour/wheat/protien paste they sometimes get 3 times a day, for a equal serving of the gruel we serve our prisoners. But my point is that here in America we can get pretty much what we want to eat just about anytime of the day or night. Thats one of the great things about our country. As long as you can stay gainfully or atleast semi-gainfully employed then most of us will continue to be able to eat. Keeping in mind that there are exceptions to every rule and unknown factors in every situation. ((There are 8 Million stories in the naked city.)) But in general the world see us as a bunch of spoiled fat children. We get all the coolest toys, and we get to eat what we want. Even my uneventful life is better then some guy half a world away who doesn't have half the stuff I do. Wait... thats not the subject today. So back to my diet... recently I have been reading about a trend of sort. Seems that most nutritionists agree that while cutting down on certains food is good, cutting any one food out could be bad. The healthfulness of vegetarian and/or meat-containing eating habits depends on the food choices made within the framework of each of these diets. Lets face it, you could eat nothing but carrots and lettuce like a rabbit. But your not a rabbit and your body will need more then rabbit food to survive. Just as, you could eat nothing but steak and eggs. But your not the King of the Beast and your body -heart, arterys etc..- will not be able to handle all that extra fat. We come from a line of plant eaters, who then evolved into hunter/gathers and only in the last million+ years did our ancestors develope a taste for meat. Our ancient ancestors were omnivores and were kept quite busy by scratching out an existence and surviving the days perils. In doing so, they developed a larger brain. And a larger brain requires an inordinate amount of care and feeding and exquisite temperature control in order to function properly. Increases in brain size would therefore drive changes in early human diets, because of the need to increase the intake of protein. Not that any of our early ancestors would know something like that. They just knew that meat was good and they wanted more of it. While human species remained mostly ominivorous, a preference for meat-eating did in fact occur over time. But our daily amount of activity has gone down over these same millions of years. Even more so just in the last 2000 yrs. For 99.9% of us, gone are the days of hunting for your food, or running to keep from being food for other meat-eaters. Its because of the fact that most of us can just go down to the corner store and get the basic staples of food that we in return have slowly went from a lean species to a fat one. Even more so in the United States. One out of three Americans are on a diet at any given time. With the abundance of fad diets and conflicting nutrition advice, how can the calorie-conscious be sure they aren’t sacrificing important nutrients for good health? On the surface, miracle diets give people what they think they want – a ‘magic bullet’ for losing weight, which usually means depriving themselves of one type of food or an entire food group. In many cases, these programs also give dieters unrealistic expectations and ultimately set them up for failure. Add that to the pressure and anxiety people experience from avoiding certain foods actually can make dieting significantly more challenging, especially when the forbidden foods are your favorites. According to most nutrition experts, the key to healthy eating, whether it is for weight loss or general health, is making conscious decisions to balance many kinds of foods. If you really love a particular food, you can still enjoy a moderate amount of that food as part of a balanced diet without guilt. For any of us to just be nothing but a Vegetarian is still not all that bad, but unless your taking the right supplements your going to have health problems. Over that last couple of million years or so we have developed a larger need for protein. What we need to find is a “eating habit” that contains more veggies, fruits, and whole grains, yet still allows for some meat (protein) to be eaten. Well today is your lucky day. What is a Vegetarian Diet? A vegetarian diet is broadly defined as a diet excluding animal products such as meat, poultry and fish. However, there is no single vegetarian eating pattern. Vegetarian diets differ widely in the extent to which animal products are excluded. A lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet – which is the most popular – is based on grains, vegetables, fruits, legumes, seeds, nuts, dairy products and eggs, but contains no meat, fish or poultry. A vegan diet, which is similar to the lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet but also excludes dairy products, eggs and other animal products, is one of the most restrictive vegetarian diets. Lack of consistency in the word “vegetarian” has led to the suggestion that it be replaced with the term “plant-based”. However, this term may be inappropriate given that a plant-based diet can still contain animal products. Motives for following a vegetarian eating pattern range from expected health advantages to concerns about the environment and economics to religious beliefs. For some people, young women in particular, following a vegetarian diet may be an acceptable way to mask an eating disorder. The way I see it... Eat what you want, just watch the portions. And get some form of exercise. Don't go on a diet that doesn't let you eat the foods you like or crave because when you go off the diet (and 99% of people do) the weight will come right back. Having a between meal snack so you don't get too hungry is ok. It turns out Mom was right, eating a snack before a dinner will ruin your appetite! Just make sure the snack is not a bowl of ice-cream or a 8oz steak.If you skip meals or cut calories down too far- you'll probably overeat later. We're really overthinking this whole diet thing. Several epidemiological studies indicate that vegetarians have lower morbidity and mortality from chronic degenerative diseases such as heart disease. However, “low intake of red meat does not seem to be an adequate explanation for the general good health of vegetarian populations,” states Walter Willett, MD, Professor of Epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. Higher intakes of fruits, vegetables, dietary fiber, antioxidants and phytochemicals from vegetarian diets than from nonvegetarian diets may contribute to vegetarians’ good health. Nondietary aspects of a vegetarian lifestyle such as regular physical activity and abstinence from smoking and alcohol may also be contributing factors. However, the more foods eliminated from the diet, the greater the risk for nutrient deficiencies. Like meat-containing diets, well-planned vegetarian diets can meet dietary recommendations for essential nutrients. However, for certain population groups including children, adolescents, pregnant and lactating women, and older adults who follow a vegetarian eating pattern, meeting nutrient needs becomes particularly challenging. This is especially true for people consuming vegan diets. Eliminating meat such as beef from the diet increases risks for deficiencies of vitamins B12, iron and zinc. Even population groups categorized as “high” consumers of beef fail to meet 100% of the daily values for iron and zinc. The key to a healthful diet – be it meat-containing or vegetarian – is to consume a variety of foods in moderation consistent with dietary recommendations. Both vegetarian and omnivorous eating habits can be healthful if they are appropriately planned, include a variety of foods and are consistent with dietary guidelines. Current guidelines to promote health and prevent disease do not recommend that meat be eliminated from the diet. The 2000 Dietary Guidelines for Americans states “Meat, fish, and poultry are major contributors of iron, zinc, and B vitamins in most American diets. If you choose to avoid all or most animal products, be sure to get enough iron, vitamin B12, calcium, and zinc from other sources”. Your body is use to taking such a small amount of vitamins and minerals out of your foods and if you had a proper diet which included whole good, fertile eggs, tremendous amounts of fresh fruits and vegetables, baked potatoes and brown rice and other high-fiber types of foods, in many cases you might not need extra vitamins and minerals at all. Allowing for the loss of nutrients that occurs during storage, processing, or food preparation, in their raw state, most men can't get by on less than 2200 calories, and women need 1500 calories just to get the vitamins and mineral nutrition they need from day to day. That's why those 1000 calorie diets don't work. The best way to go is to increase your daily activity so it burns more calories, and that way you can eat more of the vitamin and mineral packed foods. It is an unfortunate thing that we as Americans have adopted the mentality that if you don't feel "FULL" after a meal, then you are not satisfied. That frame of mind is quite possibly the biggest factor contributing to America's being the country with the highest population of obese individuals in the world. Elsewhere in the world, if you take a look at people you will notice that for the most part, they eat to enjoy the flavor of their foods, rather than for the overwhelming feeling of being "stuffed", to the point where they cannot even move after a meal. In America the "all you can eat" fad is killing us. The solution is pretty simple. Our digestive systems as well as our metabolisms work much better when we eat smaller more frequent meals throughout the day, instead of the 1 or 2 "large" meals we are used to eating since childhood. The problem lies in training the mind that this is the way we should be eating, and defeating that bug in our brains that tells us that we need to be "stuffed". Take your time when you eat. If you eat too quickly, you will finish your food before your stomach gets to tell your brain that it is full. Try to enjoy the flavor of your food, rather than just stuffing the food down your throat. Think about what nutritional value you are obtaining from the food you are eating, rather than the stuffed feeling you used to aim for. If you are having too difficult of a time adjusting to eating smaller meals, and absolutely HAVE to feel full, then get full on gigantic SALADS. They will help you to lean out, and provide your body with plenty of nutrients that it needs. If you have to eat out, try to remember this... Ask for dressing on the side. Order Salad instead of french fries. Order grilled not deep fried. Choose poultry over high fat red meats (like burgers). Make sure to ask what the meal comes with (ex. Mayo, gravy or other high fat condiments). Limit alcoholic beverages In conclusion, smaller meals will make you live longer, look and feel better, and will put more money into your pockets, since the food you buy will last a lot longer. You will also develop a better sense of taste, and learn to enjoy the food you are eating, as well as the benefits you are giving to your body, since you will be eating nutrient dense food, and not garbage. And lastly, when you DO decide to eat some junk, at least you will have control over the portion size, and won't overdo it. If you do, then all your results in the gym will be hindered, and you'll have to start from step one again. It's all about consistency, and if you can learn to be consistent with smaller portion sizes, your body will love you for it, and you'll love the results you see on your physique as well. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- April 16th, 06' I'm Broken..... The ravages of old (middle) age may have came to my life last weekend. While out playing my medieval war games, I suffered for the first time an injury that may take me a while to recover from. During the last 18 yrs I have watched others go from effective warriors to something less. Some are still very effective but they have had to change their approch to the battle. And not all these people were in as good as shape as I am. Not to say that I can power lift my weight, or run a marathone, which are two different ways to be considered "in shape". But I can keep up a pace and when needed I can work up a serious sweat. I just have to be sure to maintain my intake of fluids and foodstuff during these periods of mass exertion. These are simple things that only through trial and error have I learned. Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards. None the less I have been lucky to be one of the few involved Warriors to not be slowed down by injuries to my bones and flesh. Sure I was once hit so hard in the head by one of the new fangled weapons we now use that I was dazed and confused for a brief time and that night I suffered from shooting pains thru out my upper torso and my arms did a spaz dance most of that first night. But hey... I was fine after a week. And it never caused me to limp. Sure I had some lingering pain in my left hand up to 2 months after the head shot, but that didn't really stop me. And to be honest I have had other minor aches and pains that came directly from some action or reaction on the padded field of medieval war. After a long hard weekend of these mock battles and the parties afterwards I'm not always moving all that quickly on Monday mornings. But then again, my spring chicken days are long past and any activity that keeps me moving as much as Amtgard could bring me the same aches and pains. I have heard tales of Pro football players not being able to move to much on the days following a game. If it wasn't for all the fancy health equipment available to these warriors of the gridiron then they wouldn't be able to survive to many seasons. I have been lucky to survive 18 seasons in Amtgard without any major injury. I had a thumb injury that kept me somewhat off the field for a few weeks. I could still fight but I had to limit myself to single handed weapons and only used my good hand for awhile. So I don't really count that. And I've twisted my ankle a few times but I have had worse injuries during a game of killer frisbee. So last weekend I felt a little ting of pain shoot thru my knee and instead of performing some everyday simple move that involved me stopping on a dime from a short burst of speed, I instead found myself falling to the ground and grabbing my knee area as the rest of my team tried their best not to tramble me during their continued push forward to slaughter the enemy before us. Once the battle moved away from me I slowly made my way to the sidelines and spent the rest of the battle sitting (on the bench) in my chair offering visual aid and moral support to my team. Sure my knee hurt but it didn't really swell up and I could still walk on it, but I didn't want to do anything real quick or something that might involve putting any pressure on the knee. All that night I heard from other Warriors their tales of injuries and how some of them need to be cut opened to be repaired. Thoughts of that kinda of crap were not what I wanted to hear so I tried not to listen to these stories. When I got home from the event I was lucky enough to have the first day of the week off from work so I spent that day doing not much of anything and other then going out to buy myself a nice knee brace I didn't leave the house. During the next few days I wore the brace at work and at home. Here I sit, one week later. It still kinda hurts a little and I still don't have any faith in my ability to perform death avoiding moves. So I'll have to sit out another week cause I not stupid enough to think I can play thru the pain. How long will this injury keep me off the field? I don't know. But I'm not about to rush it. That feeling of being spralled out on the ground with that pain shooting thru my knee is still pretty fresh in my mind. March 20th, 2006 Red meat, White meat, Meat O' Frigging-Ramma. Over the last 20+ years I have been busy with my own personal tick on a somewhat ban/avoidance of any red meat in particular. I can safely say that while I have had some periods during this time where no red meat passed my lips, I can also say that I still enjoyed a good steak or hamburger now and then. What it normally came down to was whether or not I had a choice. If given a choice I would almost always not pick the beef. Chicken, fish, turkey and even pork have been a huge part of my daily diet over the last 2 decades. Recently, I was doing a little personal research and I feel I may have been enlghtened in a one way, and yet encouraged in another way. In Old English times, the term “meat” meant any edible food. During the Medieval period this definition narrowed to only land animals. This inevitably arose out of religious dictums forbidding consumption of certain land animals on particular days of observance. Some maintain that definition today and some take it a step further, employing the term “meat” to denote only red meat, e.g., beef or lamb. It’s astounding how arbitrary our different definitions of things are. Even more fascinating, a capricious definition, as opposed to the true nature of the entity, can wield tremendous influence over peoples’ reaction to it. Somehow, society has generated a conception of red meat as bad and white meat as good. The pork industry, endeavoring to capitalize on this misguided, health-crazed vilification of red meat, now purports pork as the “new white meat”. By definition, meat is animal flesh, any animal, particularly its muscular tissue. I emphasize the muscular structure because with the exception of organ meats, when you eat beef, chicken, pork, lamb, venison, fish, snails, crabs, or even a rattlesnake, you are consuming the muscular structure of that animal. Red meat is red because of myoglobin, an iron containing protein that transfers oxygen from the blood to the muscles of the animal. Muscles which are used more often will contain even more myoglobin, (since they require more oxygen), and will be redder or darker in color. Take chicken for example. A chicken uses its legs far more than it’s breast muscles and hence, they are darker. Moreover, there are different kinds of myoglobin and some are redder than others. pH, (a measure of acidity vs. alkalinity), also affects meat color. Beef is redder than pork because of the amount and types of myoglobin and the pH. And these chemical differences are not good or bad, healthy or unhealthy. Besides, pork starts off as a red meat before being cooked. So picking your meat to eat by color alone is not enough. So what about fat? For those that define “meat” as only red meat, color is only the surface discriminator. The underlying differentiator is usually the fat content and our cardiovascular health. The whole fat issue and its relation to health is a complex web whose spider is fat-phobia. There are many types of fats, (polyunsaturated, saturated, monosaturated, trans fatty acids, etc.), which in turn have a variety of effects on the body. The average person doesn’t take the time to learn all the details. It’s easier to just lump “fat” into one generic concept and then avoid it like the plague, hence, fat-phobia. Pure fat— including lard, butter, vegetable oils, synthetic oils, and margarine—is 200 calories/ounce. Polyunsaturated fat, monosaturated fat, and Omega-3 fatty acids have been purported to reduce cholesterol, and possibly prevent cancer and lower blood pressure. Saturated fat (evil fat) is the fat that can raise cholesterol levels. I'm not an expert in aging, cuts, textures, or any other aspects of butchery, but I do know something about general nutritional information. For the purposes of health and diet, meats are categorized into 4 catergories; seafood, poultry, lean red meat, and fatty red meat. All steaks fit the category of “fatty red meat.” In general, without any add-ons, those 4 types of meat stack up in their number of Calories/Oz as Seafood-25, Poultry-50, Lean red meat (lean pork&chuck)-100, and last but obviously not least, is fatty red meats (steaks) with 125 calories per ounce. Some cuts, like a very fat prime rib, may contain considerably more calories. You can see that all steaks are more than 50% fat. Any label to the contrary is a fancy lie. Rib-eye, filet, T-bone, sirloin, porterhouse, and New York strip are fatty red meats, which is why they have such good taste and soft texture. Some meats, like filet cuts, have the fat more ingrained throughout the meat; others have fat that can be trimmed. Practically, it makes little difference. I personally do not fret over one meat vs. the other. My favorite, when I decide to indulge, is the New York Strip. The average filet is 8–16 ounces. Therefore, the average fatty steak will contain 1000–2000 calories. Since the fat content is animal fat, it is saturated (evil)and greatly stimulates the production of cholesterol by the liver of genetically susceptible people. Those countries with the highest meat consumption have the highest rates of hardening of the arteries (heart attack and stroke). It must be stated that other factors also contribute to atherosclerosis (cholesterol deposition): smoking, dairy fats, and sugar in diabetics and pre-diabetics. Then there is Pork. Pork is a white meat not only in terms of color, but more importantly because it is a lean meat that is low in fat and calories. Over the past 20 years, the efforts of America's pork producers have resulted in pork with 31% less fat and 14% less calories. In fact, eight cuts of pork have less fat than the skinless chicken thigh. Which is great if your a thigh man, but I like breast. Then again, pork tenderloin - the leanest pork choice - is as lean as skinless chicken breast. And damn doesn't a well cooked pork tenderloin taste good? We Amercans like pork, but not as much as the Italians, Spaniards, French, and Chinese. We do like pork more then all of the Middle East and other Islamic countries. Pork is the most widely eaten meat in the world: about fifty percent of daily meat protein intake worldwide is from pork. Despite religious restrictions and the prominence of red meat industries in the west (beef and lamb), more pork is eaten than beef, poultry, and fish combined. Pork consumption varies widely worldwide. And with the possible spread of that mad cow diesase the demand for pork is on the rise. Its a Islamic nightmare. In terms of weight gain, remember that you burn approximately 100 calories/mile of walking. A large steak requires 10–20 miles of walking to “pay back” those calories. Then add in the butter and sour cream for the baked potato, the 300 calories of salad dressing, bread and butter, and cheesecake for dessert. Such a meal would be more than 4000 calories! For payback, that’s 4 miles of walking/day for 10 days—to break even! This is why most people (myself included) “save” these meals for a special occasion. The only other health disadvantage to fatty meats is Benzoapyrene, which is formed from fat that drips onto a flame or hot coal and comes back up as smoke or soot. This is the substance that makes the coating of the meat black. Benzoapyrene is black. It also is the most carcinogenic (cancer-causing) substance known to mankind. That includes all of the chemical plant products one can list, cigarette smoke carcinogens, and nitrite preservatives. The highest stomach and colon cancer rates in the world have always followed the consumption of smoked meat products. Stomach cancer was the number-one cause of cancer death in 1900, but is now rare. Virtually all meats were smoked and preserved in those days. Colon cancer deaths are number one in non-smoking men and women. Even breast-cancer death rates are lower than colon cancer. (Incidence is higher for breast, but fewer die of breast cancer.) So after all this and more I have come to realize that for the last 20+ yrs I have been doing a pretty good job in avoiding some of the very things that may have caused or at least contributed to the early departure of at least one of my loved ones. No one would like to delude themselves more than I about the risks of these wonderful tasting delights. There is really nothing better than a hot, off the grill, Cheeseburger and a cold draft beer—described as “Paradise” by someone called Buffet. Feb 11th, 2006 What do you want to do with your life? Recently I was looking thru my collection of music stored in my computer. Even though I'm not the first and only user of the computer, I'm pretty sure that the collection I was looking at was either down-loaded via LimeWire or from one of the CD's I own. It was while I was looking at the collection from the "year put out" area, that I noticed that I didn't have any songs from the years 82-85. Hmm? That was right during my early to middle 20's. Wild days, wilder nights. The begining of the end of my life in one Border Town and the begining of my Life in the Big City. Even if I try really hard I doubt I can remember some/any of the music from those years in particular so I was going to have to do some sort of search for Music by the Years info and see what the hell was being put out during those blurred out years of my youthful self-over-indulgence. So after a few clicks and such, I was soon reminded of why I was so wacked out of my mind during those yrs. First off, Eddie Murphy and his own one hit wonder "Party All The Time" was all the rage back then. Granted, I didn't buy the stupid song much less the album. And for me, spending my hard earned money on an album or concert ticket is the biggest compliment that I could ever give a band. (Last concert I went to was a System of a Down show) Another band from the 80's that never ever got any of my money would be that lipsync Duo of Milli Vanilli. Boy did those boys come and go on the E-train. Thousands of songs were released in the 80's, but only a very few actually hit the top of any chart, whether it be Pop, Rock, Metal,or even Country. So while my search came up with a ton of songs from the 80's I'm really only interested in those I would of heard on one of the radio stations I was listening to back then. So that really cuts it back to the Rock/Metal songs but every now and then I might of heard one of the Pop-type songs cuz I had to go out sometime. Nothing like using the internet to remind you what your life was like 20+ yrs ago. While I was searching for a list of songs from that time era, I found myself using a bunch of those "Best of the 80's" type albums. I mean, you would think that they would give you a feel for the time. Well other then a few songs off one of the Monsters of Rock albums, I really didn't find much that I couldn't do without. Oh I regonized a lot of the songs and some even promted me to make some sort of out loud comment. (my roommate, found my work funny too) A lot of the songs I re-lived during this research I only know from my times at the Clubs. And by Clubs I mean those low lit bars with more dance floor then tables and the music up so loud you can't hear yourself think. Granted, I like to hear some music loud. Its almost like its designed to be heard at just a little less then max-volume. But Maddona can be turned down, as can Boy George and stuff like that. I guess I would of also heard and or seen some of these 80's bands on MTV back then too. Back then there was only 1 MTV channel and it was all about the music. Not all those stupid reailty shows. But while I was waiting for a decent video by a metal or rock band I had to wade thru a ton of other crap. The only other show I watched as religiously as I did MTV was Miami Vice which ran from 84' till 89'. That was a show that not only had some good action and decent T&A, but also had a decent sound track. Then, along came The HeadBangers Ball. Started in 87' with host Ricki Rachtman, and for most of its early years, HB Ball was the greatest show on TV. Hell, I even recorded it so I could watch it even when it wasn't on. ((Anyone remember beta tapes)) And for a time there I even recorded the music of the shows I recorded so I could hear the music from the shows all the time. Hey... it was cheaper then going out to buy all those bands albums. Unfortunetly, Rachtman was a bitch. Every week he was kissing up to a new band. His list of "favorite bands" changed every week. And as it is said, "all good things must come to an end" towards the end, the show was not so great. Once the hair bands took over (i.e. White Lion, Poison, Winger), I had to sit through that crap until the rare speed/thrash video came on. MotorHead Rules!! MTV sucks for canceling the show. It was the perfect fit to counter all the rest of the crap MTV was pushing back then. Todays MTV really sucks. It's all about marketing that bubblegum teenybopper bullshit. Even MTV2 doesn't play anything cool. All MTV cares about today is playing money-hungry pop retarded, no talent, short bus riding, window licken, rap is crap music. Or at least thats the way I see/hear it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Feb 6th, 2006 Who can it be now? If and when the White House feels the need to tap my phone. I don't think I'll really mind. Its not like their going to hear me giving away some national secrets. I would mind even less of course, if they would chip in when I call 976-BIG-TITS but that's really not the issue here.. Maybe it's because Bin Laden is a close and dear friend of mine. NOT! Then again I work with a few of his relatives, Bin Laten, Bin Milking, and Bin Whinning. Its really a sad day when someone can destroy a couple buildings, order the deaths of thousands; and people think that's all your about. Well, I'm sure there is more. I bet ole Bin loves long walks on the beach but he may not like the sand, fudgsicles as long as their not called Bombers, Wheel of Fortune, celebrity mags (guilty pleasure) and I'm sur he is an overall well-rounded individual. After all, look how stable Sadamn's been for his trials. But since people can't seem to get past the whole 'terrorist' thing, Osama and the Idiots thought it might be a good idea to release the transcript of one of our chats. Here is a small excerpt from the conversation we had yesterday. ((And yes Jass... Its me.)) Idiot -: Osama? What's up buddy? OSAMA: Not much you godless tool of the Great Satan. I just finished Pilates. What's up with you? I: Oh, nothing. How's work? O: You know how it is; same dung different day. Seen any good flicks? I: Let me think... Brokeback Mountain. That was damn good. Have you checked that out yet? O: Come on, do you know who you're talking too? I: Oh yeah; you and your 'issues'. You really need to get over that shit. Think about how many good suicide bombers you've passed on just because they were gay. They can blow up buildings just as well as a straight guy, you know? O: I know, I know. It's just how I was raised. I'm too old to change now. When I find out someone is gay I just can't handle it. So, I stone them to death, or behead them, or shoot them. You know, whatever's easiest. I: What a waste. Just think of all the innocent civilians who they could have taken with them. Well, I'm not going to stand here and lecture you. O: Thanks. I: What else is going on? How's the family? O: Which one? (laughs) I: Oh, right. You have a lot of wives and children. I never get tired of that joke. I don't know how you still have the energy to fuck all those goats. Are they putting Red Bull in your dialysis machine? O: Fuck you, man. How's your family? I: Oh, you know. Still dead. O: Yeah, sorry about that. So, I finished cleaning the sparrows from my gutters. I: The what? Oh, right the 'sparrows' from your 'gutters'. How many were there? O: About 20,000. And on Saturday they're removing a 30 lb dachshund from my ass. I: Dachshund? (pause) I'm sorry, is 'dachshund' Haifa or Tel Aviv? O: Just forget it. I: You mean... O: I said just forget it, ok? I: So, who do you like in the Super Bowl? O: Smart money is on Pittsburgh. I: Really? O: Let's just say Seattle's flight has been rerouted. I: Gotcha. Thanks for the tip, man. I'll see you later. O: Peace out nigga. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday, Jan 7th, 2006 With America losing The War on Drugs, the War on Terror and even the war on Christmas, it's nice to see we're winning The War on something, unfortunetly its the War on our Environment. Global Warming is increasing, the oil reserves are drying up, and we lose another endangered species every five minutes. I could not be happier. Destroying the environment is good. Let me put it another way. Let's say Jessica Alba's ass is the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Sure it looks perfect and pristine. But honestly, how much better would it look if someone was tapping it, am I right? Global warming may lead to extreme weather. But extreme weather leads to extremely entertaining video. I never get tired of watching some shaky amateur footage and hearing someone say, "Gee, maybe we should have evacuated."just before they scream and the screen goes black. Plus, in spite of the cheesy disaster anthems, we often get a couple excellent disaster relief concerts. It's good to use up all of the oil now instead of leaving it for future generations. You know they would squander it. Why should we deprive ourselves of topless hot oil wrestling just so some future generation can fuel their jetpack to go to school? Let's find a new energy source buried in Arkansas, or some pushover country like Denmark. Killing endangered species might seem wrong. But unless we kill them, we're never going to know if their blood contains the cure for cancer, or if their guts can make a better tennis racket, or if their liver tastes like a bit of heaven; smeared on a cracker with a dollop of creme fraiche. Destroying the environment is progress. Anyone who disagrees better be living naked in a cave. And I don't know what they're living on, because last time I checked you needed to kill something if you wanted to eat. The government scientists are never going to get off their asses and build really cool dome houses on Mars, unless we completely devastate and use up everything here on Earth. So, climb into your SUV, light up your cigar, and drive down the street to pick up your teak end tables. And if on your way you see a rare grey squirrel crossing the road, steer into him. Do your part. You know you want to. |
| Worth Saying... The greatest threat to freedom is the absence of criticism. "The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite." - Thomas Jefferson Jesus is coming. Look busy. I support our troops, I served, I have friends and family serving. I pay taxes. What more do I have to do? America is a melting pot, the people at the bottom get burned while all the scum floats to the top. - - - Charlie King Americans are possibly the dumbest people on the planet. ...We Americans suffer from an enforced ignorance. We don't know about anything that's happening outside our country. Our stupidity is embarrassing. - - - Michael Moore Health food may be good for the conscience but Oreos taste a hell of a lot better. - - Robert Redford |