Blog

Column #287     February 26, 2021

How sustainable are you? Webster defines the word as “a: of, relating to, or being a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged, and b: of or relating to a lifestyle involving the use of sustainable methods.”

Many people worry about farmers, ranchers, lumberjacks, and fishermen being sustainable, but what about their own lives? Modern lifestyles are nearly 100% interdependent compared to 150 years ago. If you started to list all of your dependancies, it would take several sheets of paper to complete the list. Even with substantial income most people are nearly 100% dependent on others for everything.

Column #286

America’s meat production industry (ranchers, meat processors, and businesses that specialize in their needs) is coming under the gun. That’s because it may not be long before the only meat messages you’ll be allowed to see and hear will be full retard harangues about cattle damaging the environment, eating meat causes heart disease and cancer, and raising cattle harms cattle!

Some multi-multi billionaires such as Bill Gates, George Soros, Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, Jeff Bezos, Mark Cuban, and similar types, believe they know best how us plebs should be functioning. This doesn’t mean that every idea they have is stupid; far from it. But for a fact they are imperfect people just like the rest of us. With all that can be known in this world, just like any clique, they are equally susceptible to myths, conspiracy theories, and total ignorance just like plebs.

Column #285

There’s lots of talk these days about Equity and Equality. According to “Merriam Webster,” equity is “justice according to natural law or right. Specifically: freedom from bias or favoritism.” Equality is “the quality or state of being equal.”

Tyranny is required to mandate equality which by definition causes inequities. Equity creates inequality because every individual has God given rights to freely make their own decisions.

Column #284

Around 55 years ago my view of food was that it was mostly for energy. With it I could power through the day and all was good. It really didn’t matter what I ate as long as it provided the fuel (calories) my adult body and “sharp mind” required. There were bonuses too. If I ate really yummy stuff that was a delight. There were also the social benefits. Sharing fun foods with others was really a hoot.

That was all well and good until 30 years later. By then I was overweight and not feeling like everything was in tiptop shape. So I was thinking that maybe I should start getting annual physicals like everyone else. Most of my friends were being prescribed drugs to make sure they didn’t drop dead. That seemed important.

Column #283

This column differs from most. Yet it still covers topics that may eventually strike close to home. Our small meat business depends on clients staying not only physically healthy, but financially healthy as well. Without customers our employees lose, our suppliers lose, as business owners we lose, and the community loses. So we are all in this together in more ways than one.

Communities consist of a wide variety of people with differences of opinion about nearly everything. Americans do not march lockstep together wearing the same clothes, driving the same cars, liking the same entertainment, worshiping the same, eating the same, vacationing the same, etc. But in some countries diversity is cancelled, news is propaganda, and everyone shops at the company store. So . . .

Column #282

I don’t remember a time when there has been more conflicting information. Fifty-five years ago I was advised (frequently) by old hands to follow the advice of Otto von Bismarck. He said, “Never believe anything in politics until it has been officially denied.” Well, there’s a lot of information out there being officially denied by our new government, the MSM, and the social media/internet oligarchy.

When it comes to the many aspects of what it takes to be healthy, there is more than just a little conflicting advice. Just in the past year of COVID-19 “the science” has been batted around like a ping pong ball. What’s been left out of the conversation is some of the most practical and least expensive advice. Most of what we hear has come from professional bureaucrats via the MSM along with what is allowed on the internet. All too often the bureaucratic ideas have been amazingly myopic and counter to science. In fact, too often they have ridiculed the best solutions that have come from professionals on the front lines.

Column #281

If you aim to eat a healthy diet based on the belief, you are what you eat, you are in a minority. If you understand food chemistry and eat grass-fed and Omega-3 meats with a goal of optimizing your health, you are in a tiny minority. If you understand the science behind the Omega-6 to Omega-3 fatty acid (EFA) ratio, and focus on maintaining a low ratio, you are in a minuscule minority.

This past Monday (Jan 11, 2021) a lady on NPR was discussing the best way to stop civil unrest. Her solution was that we need to banish all commentary that isn’t truthful. That way there can’t be any disagreements. This week another lady sent me an email explaining how the ignorant mob only talks about their ridiculous “religious distractions, gun diversions and ‘fear and loathing’ while laughing all the way to bank, abandoning the country’s infrastructure, healthcare, education, environment, democracy and future to a funeral pyre of cheap tax cuts.” Yep, that was her “truth.”

Column #280

The insanity of shutdowns is over the top. A new working paper, by authors at Duke University, Harvard Medical School, and the Johns Hopkins University business school, indicates that “over the next 20 years, 1.37 million more people will die than would have died without the unemployment shock the pandemic caused.” That’s in an article by “Fortune” magazine. The toll on small businesses is a perfect example of why.¹

Small businesses range in age from new startups to centuries old. Many are just individuals working as house cleaners, musicians, dog sitters, bookkeepers, commercial fishermen, farmers, programmers, consultants, mechanics, and more since the skills of the self-employed are limitless.

Column #279

Watching the sun rise up over the Atlantic Ocean is often an inspiring experience. Yet in spite of its majestic beauty, it’s not a perfect indication for how the new day will unfold. Unknowns may catch us off-guard. Just the same though, most of us are confident we can control our own personal outcomes by sticking with the good habits that got us to where we are today.

To move beyond the current status many people develop wishful hopes and dreams. Compare that to people who not only have hopes and dreams but are also focused on goals with well-thought out plans for achieving them. Obviously, just having hopes and dreams, which the majority embraces, yields little fruit. It’s the second approach that creates life’s greatest successes. So, as you look ahead, what are your goals and plans for achieving them?

Column #278

There’s been a debate for some months now about how long immunity lasts after an actual COVID-19 infection versus the vaccine. Of course, some folks say it’s much better to gain immunity through a vaccine because the virus kills. But even the vaccine has caused some negative reactions and I’ve heard that, in some hospitals, about half of the employees take a pass on the shot for now.

About 90% of the COVID-19-associated deaths are concentrated in just 9% of the population. That’s the folks over 70, particularly those with multiple chronic conditions. Their case fatality rate is 5.4%. The 50 to 69 group has a very low 0.5% fatality rate. The 20 to 49 population has a 0.02% fatality rate. The fatality rate for the zero to 19 group is an infinitesimally small 0.003%, which is less than influenza. It’s very obvious who is most vulnerable and needs the vaccine first. It’s just as obvious that 91% of the population should not be locked down at all.