Obesity Musings

Several pieces of trivia I've learned over the years seems to gel into an idea of why our obesity rate is high in the U.S. and other countries.

Here are the pieces:

• Hot dogs and Twinkies do not rot in landfills.
• McDonalds hamburgers don't rot.. according to two sources: radio program, conversation with friend.
• When cows are in the feed lot prior to slaughtering, they are fed corn which the cows cannot digest properly.  I was told their stomachs would perforate unless they are fed antibiotics.
• Antibiotics kill friendly bacteria in our intestines and a recent study associates antibiotics with obesity.

So, is it the bacteria in our intestines responsible for obesity?  Seems like the evidence is building up.

Now I have to see if there are any studies done on the bacterial mix in the intestines from different cultures, especially those cultures that do not have an obesity problem.

And, I'm wondering if the antibiotic resistant bacteria are killed by the two glasses of wine recommended by doctors for men, one for women?


Just thoughts,

Eric

Cain's Naughtiness

"Judge Not, Lest Ye Be Judged"

Do you know of any human on earth who has not sinned (Besides Jesus Christ)?

I don't anyone who is perfect. I KNOW I'm not. 

Let's face it.  All of us have done things we regret and it is very hard to fess up to them.  

I don't care if Herman Cain is innocent or guilty.  Herman is a human just like the rest of us.  We all make mistakes, there are plenty of times when we wanted to say one thing and another thing came out of our mouths.

These mistakes are called "life". 

I remember a time when I wanted to help someone.  I wanted to forewarn this person about rumors being spread (unjustly) about a mistake this person was supposed to have made.  I thought it would help this person deal with the situation if forewarned before things blew up into madness.

When I did this, this person heard something completely different and thought I was accusing him/her of making a mistake.  I tried to explain, but communication didn't occur.  The SHOCK of the unexpected blocked this person from hearing me trying to explain what I said and that I only wanted to help.

So, what happened from my effort to help?  I was reported to upper management with a complaint and went through much of what Mr. Cain went through.  It was a nightmare that came from trying to help someone out.

Now, I see Mr. Cain going through the same thing.  It is not fun, it has you second guessing yourself constantly asking yourself questions like "What did I do?", "How could I have said this better?",  "Am I insane?, "Do I have a double personality?" "What was heard?"

I've come to the conclusion that what we see and hear is what we expect to see and hear.  So if I said the water is red, the person who heard me would swear I said the water was blue.

There's another thing that bugs me.  Men are supposed to be perfect.  How can any man be perfect with a ton of testosterone floating through his blood?  IF Mr. Cain had a weak moment, MORE POWER TO HIM.  It would only attest to the fact that he is A MAN!  Much better than having a wimp running things.

Now the other side... WOMEN. 

Did you ever read the book "Men Are From Mars, Women from Venus"?

This book explains that men and women think different. That's why the battle of the sexes.

One thing that women have over men is that they are much better communicators than men.

Men just plod along trying to get their point across.  (Relative to women who can talk your head off.)

Let's face it... we all make mistakes, some are embarrassing and we learn from them. Our mistakes help us build our character and we are much less likely to make the same mistake again.

Coming from a man's perspective, if a man propositioned a girl, she should be flattered and can deny easily. No problem. 

Going berzerk at being propositioned to says to me there's a mental disorder there.  We are all adults and adults can understand the underlying nature of sexual attraction.  Gosh, if we didn't have sexual attraction we'd die out as a species. The 7 billion people in this world attests to the fact that sexual attraction exists. 

So, all you muckrakers out there. You aren't doing yourself any good.  

If your are right about the allegations against Mr. Cain,  you are just verifying the fact that Mr. Cain is a MAN, who, like most men, make human mistakes once in a while.

If you're wrong, you are no better than a malicious gossiper.

I believe I mentioned in an earlier post that our memory is not perfect. Memories change over the years much like the story that's passed on from one person to another.

How can anyone relate something that has happened over 6 years ago with absolute accuracy?  Lawyers understand this, judges understand this.  Witnesses have shown over and over again that they aren't reliable because they can only remember what the perceived and their perception could be totally wrong!

Let's focus on the point that Mr. Cain has figured out how to help us all out.  His 9-9-9 plan is robust.  You can tell by his lead in getting the other candidates to come up with a knock-off of his plan.  

What Mr. Cain calculated was an optimum.  Look at the other proposals... 23%????  

Any number greater than 9 in any of these other proposals indicates to me that the "LESS THAN OPTIMUM" is being promoted for "SPECIAL INTEREST ADVANTAGE"  

Follow the money and see how the other proposals leave in chances to do an end run around the best plan available.  Numbers don't lie.  Herman Cain knows that.

I like Heramn Cain's Dynamic Analysis

Herman Cain Cannot Lie

I like Herman Cain's Process

I've worked in a lab and spent many hours trying to analyze, mathematically model, and optimize formulas for consumer products.  During my years of learning, I discovered dynamic analysis and learned that it was very effective in finding the best solution to "multivariate" problems.

When I heard Herman Cain mention that he is a mathematician and uses dynamic analysis, I knew

he was going to be a winner.  Math cannot lie.  Herman Cain knows this.

Enjoy this video I put together. It explains how dynamic analysis can fix our country.

They Want me Dead

Why do they want me dead? 

Bernanke announced the cost of living went up 6%. 

Social Security recipients are getting a 3.5% cost of living which should pay for the 3.5% increase in medicare deductions in Jan 2012. 

Co-pay for Medicare A-B is 20%. My "Agent Orange" cancer costs ~$60,000/yr.

The best supplemental insurance I can get requires minimum $5000.00 "out of pocket" before the rest of the expense is paid for. 

This program leaves about $7000/year left for living expenses.... not enough to survive on. Food prices rising 200%/yr. All prices up....

They want me dead.

CHANGE

I wrote a post somewhere and lost it.  So, I'll try to re-construct the idea and embellish on it.

Did you ever wonder why groups of people stay where they are? 

Why don't shanty towns disappear? If you were born in a shanty town, you are most likely to live your whole life in a shanty town in spite of the fact that you could leave it for a richer life elsewhere. 

The same goes for those born in ghettos, deserts, or low lying coasts where many people die from storm surges and high tides every year..

I learned about this WHY from the experience my sister had.

Here's her story.........

My sister married a man she met through writing to a soldier during the Vietnam war.
He was from west Texas, she from Wisconsin.

He decided to move to Wisconsin to live with my sister and they both spent several years there.  However, he missed "home" and finally convinced my sister to move to West Texas with him.

In Wisconsin, we had trees, grass and enough rain to keep things green. West Texas is basically flat desert with cactus, mesquite, dry, dusty, and a horizon filled with pump jacks. It smells of oil and the drinking water is brackish.

But West Texas was home to my brother-in-law and he missed it. (My predilection is green, his is wide skies and brackish water.)  Now my sister misses the trees and green and sweet water.

I then realized that people feel more comfort living in areas where they were born and grew up.

Why is this so?

People like to stay in familiar surroundings because they know they can survive there. If they are taken out of their "survival" zone, i.e. to less familiar surroundings, they feel less secure. (Not said well, hmm.)

People fear the unfamiliar. Change is always scary, uncomfortable. Any change from their infant past will always cause discomfort. The same goes for any change from the usual in adult life.

Change for the better is always dreamed about, but only in the context of familiar surroundings.

Nuff said.

AN IDEA ON HOW ALL OF US CAN GET RICH

 Background

Last night, I went to one of Herman Cain's rallies in TN. Before going, I went to his website, http://www.hermancain.com/999plan to see if there were any changes since last time.  YUP, there was.

I can now see his strategy (and it makes all the sense in the world) and it is brilliant.

In his speech last night, and he revealed another portion of his 9-9-9 plan and the logic behind it.

There is NO WAY the far leftists and "rightists" can stop his momentum.... he will always be one step ahead of them.

For security purposes, I cannot tell you what I perceived and I hope and pray he will be able to continue his campaign, because everyone, Radical Left, Radical Right, and everyone in between will learn from him that can promote their own goals.  He's leaking these concepts, one by one, and they are moving to a crescendo that will be well worth the wait for everyone.   I know his intentions are honorable.

Why am I so interested in Dr. Cain?  Because he leaked a phrase that no one picked up on.  His phrase told me that he is definitely on the right path.  His leaked phrase is undeniable, accurate, and cannot be spun, twisted, or misinterpreted.

Like Herman's life, I was brought up to know that if I wanted something, I had to work for it.  I had a job since 4th grade and did those jobs that nobody wanted.  I worked on a produce farm with migrant workers from age 12 - 18.  To augment my $0.35 to $1.10/hour wage during my farm "career", I also had a paper route at the same time.  I'll never forget the two weeks I worked to fill in for a  friend of mine in one of the worst jobs I could imagine: washing dishes in a bakery.  All the big greasy pots and pans, stacked two-three feet high all over the place had to be washed thoroughly with hot water and detergent and disinfected with a 180F water rinse.  (It was brutal, and after the four hot sweaty hours it took to do the job, I went home (on a bus) stinking like lard totally worn out.)  To me, this was "normal", i.e. no complaints because that was the way it was.

 In kindergarten, my mother walked me the mile to get there (winter, too).   In elementary school to 4th grade, I walked the mile to school.  After 4th grade, we moved to a newer home in a newer neighborhood which was about 8 miles away from elementary school, so we either rode our bikes, or took the city bus to get there. I walked 5 miles (one way) to  high school and back no matter what the weather was.  (Like -17F below zero with high winds.)

I didn't even think of complaining, because that was the way it was.

(Don't worry, my idea is coming, the above background is needed to understand it.)

Protests are everywhere right now.  On the screen I see a lot of people complaining about Wall Street, the "corrupt" Banks, people who are paid by communists, unions, and other special interest groups to try to get something from whomever they are bashing.

This behavior makes me cry.  Why? Because NO ONE TOLD THEM ABOUT THE WAY THINGS TRULY ARE AND HOW THEY WORK.  Not knowing the true FACTS on how our world runs causes stress and emotional outbursts.  NO ONE LIKES INSECURITY.  Lack of knowledge causes insecurity, worry, and illogical outbursts.

Know this.  NO ONE OWE'S YOU ANYTHING, not even your parents.  Life happens, some good, some bad and that's reality.  We can fix our lives in many ways, some honorable, some not. BUT WE CAN FIX IT - IF WE DECIDE IT IS UP TO US as individuals TO FIX OUR OWN LIVES.

(Getting closer to my idea.)

One thing about MONEY.  Money is a piece of paper that represents the value what an individual has done for someone or for society. The value of a dollar is the amount of effort (or possession) a person agreed to do (exchange) that is worth that unit of value.  (If someone gave you that dollar, that someone had to provide a dollar's amount of value to society.) 

A nation's wealth is not money, it is the result of effort. For instance, a nation's wealth includes roads, highways, homes, mansions, yachts, junkers, inventory, land, resources, and intellectual property.  A nation's wealth is the total of all the values it possesses.

So, now, let's get to our unemployed youth.  The beginning of the solution to our economic troubles.

(Remember, ECONOMY = FLOW of Values (money),  Pieces of paper stuffed in a mattress does NOT flow so it provides no benefit to the economy until it is put into motion (spent). (But, those pieces of paper are savings, a good thing for spending later when we can no longer provide value.)

We see youth protesting across this nation without a clue as to why they are protesting. Some will say they got cheated in their education and now flip burgers with a PHD in basket weaving with a BIG student loan debt hanging over their heads for the rest of their lives. (Like "green" degrees?)

Here's my IDEA....
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Let's give our youth the opportunity to build their own future. This will be especially doable in the ghetto where there a tons of abandoned buildings.

Let's set it up so our youth could own their own home/mansion if they built it themselves with free raw materials and a piece of land given to them. All they would have to do is decide what they'd like to live in and go for it.

Every land fill, every abandoned building has all the resources needed to build a mansion. If there are any electronics in them, they could even have gold plated faucets.  All they would need to do is dream their dream and be given the permission to do it. Each facet of building the mansion would be thought out if greed is implicated. (Junk Yards are also a great place for re-cycling resources. Nuts, bolts, electronic components anybody?)

Our youth are very creative and motivated to have something for their very own, to be unique, to stand out in the crowd, to have and be able to provide value.  Any project that fails will provide the experience to do better the next time around.
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You can take the idea above literally, or figuratively.  The idea is to allow our youth (and anyone else) to provide value for themselves (as well as others.).

For instance, (and some of these are lame... I know.)

• Teams of unwed mothers could provide babysitting services for each other while the rest of the team works to provide value for everyone in the team. Home decorating, recycling used clothing into drapes, shades, new clothing to sell,  dying old clothes to make them look new, making quilts to help keep the poorer of us to stay warm.  Ever think of using old clothes (rags) to make tie-dyed wallpaper, pillows, or pet beds? (Goodwill has tons of recycling ideas in their stores.)
• Education Loan Strapped Students can cut a deal with the government that would allow them to provide value to society such as... re-cycling old buildings, cleaning/painting government property, working in national parks, fighting wildfires, renovating national monuments, cleaning up the environment.
• Home care for the elderly.  Help our elderly and handicapped citizens to stay in their homes.  This would save the government (us) money by reducing the cost of housing our older folks in government sponsored facilities.

Even the gangs in Los Angeles  understand commitments and pacts.  Stories of their wounded warriors being cared for by their gang mates pop up in the news.  This idea can be expanded to teams of "value" producers. Let's say a team gets together to renovate an abandoned home with the understanding that once the renovation is done, they can either sell it or live in it.

Providing ownership changes the way items of value (such as homes and buildings.....) are treated.

I expect a lot of criticism... but today is not one of my "brightest light bulb" days.

Let these ideas fester for a while, I'm sure someone will come up with a real winner using this thought process.

I have no claim on intelligence,.  I realize this, and I'm too old to think otherwise.  (Second childhood is GREAT!)

Enjoy, laugh, consider.

Herman Cain's 9-9-9

I like Herman Cain with his 9-9-9 idea.  BUT.......
I do not understand why he has to have three tax sources.  It makes no sense to me.

Why? Because any cost of doing business is passed onto the buyer. (i.e. the price a buyer has to pay includes the cost of doing business.)  The buyer also pays the profit that those higher in the food chain get. (Whatever the market will bear.)

So, in reality, corporations don't pay taxes, merchants don't pay taxes, no one pays taxes except those who purchase things.

So, I want to one-up Cain's proposal.  Instead of 9-9-9, why don't we just accept the fact that it is only the buyer who pays all the money needed to run the government.

If Cain's calculation adds up to 27%, getting rid of two of the 9's would result in less than 27%... MORE SAVINGS.

Now, if we could get rid of the IRS and all the tax laws except a "Sales Tax", we all would save a lot of money and get rid of all the parasites that make us do non-productive work. (Like spend time and money trying to abide by tax law.)

Sorry tax accountants, tax lawyers, most of the IRS employees. You've got to go. Wouldn't it feel better to do productive work instead of non-productive work (parasite) work? It might be more fun catching cheaters: lobbyists and cronies that try to cheat others from being able to compete fairly.

Take away the temptation of trying to get favors from our government, and corruption would go away. Corruption would be less profitable than doing things honestly and ethically.

"Income tax would no longer be called "income tax" because the only function our federal government is supposed to do is protect our borders and our national security so that us citizens can do our thing. So, the "sales tax" imposed by the government would be called "Security Tax."

Now, all other functions like building roads, providing public services like public transportation, garbage collection, treating water... etc. would be handled by the States.  So the states would also impose a sales tax to pay for their necessary functional responsibilities.

Just think how cheap things would be after all the parasitic costs are eliminated!  More money in our pockets, more time to do what we want to do.  (I, personally, spend too much time trying to figure out taxes.)

If we just admitted the fact that buyers pay all taxes and provide the profits to the manufacturers, our life would be much simpler, less costly, and happier.