I heard an editorial comment today (during a supposed radio news show) the again positioned gay marriage as "a simple civil rights issue," and then, incredulously, argued that it's past time to settle this simple issue.
It's a good example of the marketing narrative for the LGBT movement. But it's a false and contrived narrative. Marriage is the simple principle under attack here. Marriage is simply between a man and a woman. Gay marriage isn't marriage at all and should not be so. To change that would be to codify this inexplicable doublespeak and redifiniton of marriage.
It's not about defending civil rights from being taken away. No one is taking away any man's right to marry a woman, or vice versa. It's about a foundational change to the core structures of our society. It is unjustifiable.
Indeed, were the LGBT agenda passed into law, then we'd really see what it means to attack real rights: rights to freedom of expression and of religion. Where the agenda has sadly gotten a foothold, we already see persecution on business owners who don't want to provide sacred services to gay couples. LGBT is not content until it can force others to accept their lies.
When that's the contrived game, it is difficult to find sincere players with whom to have real dialogue. It's up to us to reintroduce truth into the narrative. Part of that truth is the need for civility and genuine dialogue and understanding.
You can see an inspired explanation of fvmily and how family blesses nations, and how the destruction of family values threatens nations. Search "Proclamation on The Family" at http://www.lds.org.
9 weeks ago, I stopped drinking all soda pop. It's all water now. 5 weeks ago, I radically changed my eating in an attempt to improve my health before it's too late. 5 weeks later, I'm 18 lbs down and going strong. I'm regaining vim and vigor. My eyes are brighter, say my colleagues. The clothes are fitting a bit better. There's a long way yet to go, but it's an acceptable start.
Within days of taking the decision to do better, I saw the PBS fundraiser infomerical — the only time the really good stuff is on PBS, eh — where Joel Fuhrman was talking about his dietary approach to solve these typically American health problems. Fuhrman dubs his approach, Nutritarian, since it is focused on foods packed with nutrition. The higher the nutrition per calorie, the better the food. You don't freak out on much more. You just eat.
I've thought through this approach and other popular approaches. Here are some opinions.
The LDS (Mormon) Word of Wisdom
The first thing that really resonated with me in Fuhrman's approach is that it aligns beautifully with the religious health code for Mormons, the Word of Wisdom. I've considered the Word of Wisdom much in recent years, but apparently lacked the know-how to eat that way. Fuhrman's approach gives me the "how," and I like being able to be further and further in harmony with that code of health. (He even solves that pesky "eat meat sparingly" tenet.) And I really do believe that God really does know best.
South Beach Diet #fail
Next, I considered other dietary ideas. I struggled with Southbeach diet a few years ago. Religiously, it didn't align well with the Word of Wisdom. Philosophically, it didn't make a lot of sense — so much refined food! They don't even balk at (my favorite) highly processed lunch meats loaded with who-knows-what. And it didn't work for me.
Veganism and Vegetarianism #fail
The obvious comparisons are Vegan and Vegetarian, and I've read more of these recently since starting the Nutritarian diet. The most offensive thing to me about Vegan and Vegetarian talk is that, well, I'm secondary. Or tertiary.
The primary rhetoric isn't about what's good for me, but what's good for the animals, or the oceans, or the fish, or the trees, or the twigs, or the caterpillars, or the whatever. I'm conscious of the fact that this doesn't represent the entirety of these philosophies, but it is a dominant theme in the 2-3 documentaries I've watched on the topic, and the several readings I've done. And I can get behind those ideas to some degree, but not to the extent that they subordinate people.
I think that it's an extension of the faction of Environmentalism whose starting point is seemingly that man is a blight upon the earth and should be ashamed of his presence here. I say "faction," because again, I think that the entire Environmentalism movement can't be characterized that way, but a loud faction of them can be. And I can't align to that. I can align to good stewardship and responsible living, but not that I'm a blight. Vegan and Vegetarian thought seems to start from that same point, at least in how it subordinates people to just about anything else on the earth, and how it seems to argue that my diet should reflect my concern for them instead of my concern for me. Bollocks.
Furhman's Nutritarian ideas, as expressed in his book, "Eat To Live," start with what's good for me. The downstream impact on other concerns is positive, but the primary argument is about me, what's good for me, and what gets me healthy. That's how it should be. Further, he solves a lot of the problems Vegans and Vegetarian's create in dietary thought, most particularly in their often heavy use of refined foods which might be good for the planet (sigh) but aren't so good for us. Finally, the thought aligns with God's modern revelations and instructions to us on how we care of our health. And that's good.
I'm on a knife kick. I haven't owned a pocket knife since I was a little kid. I bought one a week ago, and have another one on order. I ordered up some sharpening tools tonight on line (more than I need, but it'll be fun). I checked out a couple of whittling books at the library for some ideas and general approach info. The knife isn't as sharp as I think it ought to be, so once I get the sharpening tools, I'll fix that, then try my hand at whittling a couple of links of chain.
The boys have been on a pocket knife kick for a little while. Ben bought a Swiss Army knife at cub scout camp and ended up giving it to Carter. Carter has been sharing it with Elijah, who's completely enamored w/ the knives. I took Elijah with me tonight to Sportman's Warehouse to buy a quick-and-dirty sharpening tool to tide me over, and he was like a kid in a candy store looking at all the knives! He persuaded me to buy him one, and he's very pleased with it. They're all talking whittling, so I'm hoping that the whittling takes hold of us this year. It'll be fun.
When I was trying out the South Beach diet (I disapprove of it now), one of the recipe substitutions was to use spaghetti squash instead of spaghetti noodles. Nice enough idea, and it plates up well, but I never liked it very much. I did find that I liked it better when the squash was cooked, oh, say, for a week (lol). It did have to cook a very long time to really soften up.
One day, my wife had extra zucchini, so she grated it up (course grate) and cooked it in a skillet. That was our "noodles." It works very well as a base for spaghetti sauce.
Now that I'm following a more "nutritarian" diet à la Joel Fuhrman, Wendy is kind enough to make 2 spaghetti sauces — one with meat and one without (for me). Served atop grated zucchini, and I'm good to go!
I like these black bean veggie burgers we get at Costco. I fried that up, and fried up an orange bell pepper at the same time. I laid out some heart of Romaine lettuce leaves, put a slice of the grilled pepper on each one, but the bean burger on, then topped that with fresh tomato and half an avocado. I'm not a huge-huge avacado fan, except with this bean burger. OMG! Then I drizzled the plate with a little apple cider vinegar, and devoured my dinner!
I got a bag of brussel sprouts last week and this week in our Bountiful Basket (www.bountifulbasket.com), and I haven't cooked any. Since I also got lemons for the fresh juice and zest, I think I'll give this a go. I'm going to use regular onion instead of green onion, just because that's what I've got.
1 head green leaf lettuce 4 small zuccini 3 yellow summer squash 2 large onions 7 roma tomatoes 6 green bell peppers 1 bunch bananas 5 red d'anjou pears 9 small apples 5 kiwi 3 large lemons 6 oranges 1 dozen brussel sprouts
My entire #hulu plus queue is “web only.” It really cripples the value proposition.But if the content providers think this is somehow protecting their content or driving me to view their content on their sites, it’s not. Their content isn’t mobile or TV friendly at all, so I watch something else entirely. Or I rant about their stunning short-sightedness on Twitter and G+.
#blogpost
from Plus Public Activity Feed for Max Walker https://plus.google.com/114853167947244697204/posts/DXQwAPMbE4X
“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and to my mind the assertion that there is no God falls into the nature of an extraordinary claim.”
Paul Alan Cox, an ethnobotanist and a Mormon, contributed his explanation of why he believes in collection of such statements, “Why I Believe” (BookCraft, 2002, ISBN 1-57008-723-7). Here is my favorite excerpt of his comments that express some of my ideas very well (p. 126).
“During my studies I became aware that some people struggle with apparent contradictions between science and religion. Some scientists are suspicious of those with religious convictions, and some religious people regard science as an evil force. While I don’t belittle those who agonize over such issues, I must admit that I personally have found few contradictions between faith and science. What I have learned about science has only increased my admiration for Heavenly Father and His creations.
“Like the Book of Mormon prophet Alma, ‘I have all things as a testimony that these things are true.’ (See Alma 30:40-41.) The overall harmony and beauty of the heavens and of the earth are to my mind a powerful witness of the reality of God. ‘All things denote that there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator.’ (Alma 30:44.) Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and to my mind the assertion that there is no God falls into the nature of an extraordinary claim. While I respect those who have no religious beliefs, I have never seen anyone produce one shred of credible evidence that there is no God.
“Of all of the sentient beings in the entire universe, surely one is the most intelligent, and is is this Being that I call God. Millions of people can bear the same witness I do: that He lives!”
The Northern Mist Cowl (Susan Newhall, designer) gets lots of “Wow!“‘s as we show it off. The size of the piece and it’s luxurious feel are much enhanced by the wavy effect of the pattern. It’s perfectly designed, knits up well and is an interesting knit, fits well and creatively according to the wearer’s preference, is so warm, and makes a huge fashion statement. It's perfect.
For the socks, Justina had been after me to do another slipper sock for her that fit her well like Donella’s. The one’s I’d made Justina were too big in the foot, she said. She gave me the yarn as a Christmas gift and I opted to knit this sock for her. She seems pleased.
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