Commentary on the Human Condition

Inadvertently most of us become food patsies at one time or another.  So how do we avoid being taken in?

For example, during the next two weeks hundreds of thousands of paleo advocates and many upscale shoppers will be conned by slick turkey peddlers.  Meaningless fancy labels like good nutrition, humane treatment of animals, heritage, heirloom, better flavor, locally-produced, fresh, and a firmer texture will trap consumers.  When that happens they will pay higher prices motivated by perceptions that do not match reality.  That’s what being conned is all about.  This also means those gullible consumers could have purchased a much lower priced, loss leader turkey at Save-a-Lot and gotten the same quality of turkey.

Old Myths

When I was a youngster studying history in the 1950s I marveled at how ignorant people had been hundreds of years before.  For instance, the fear of hot air balloons incited riots and the destruction of the first prototypes.  The beliefs in witchery or sorcery incited mobs to convict and sentence men and women to be hanged or literally burned at the stake.  Doctors bled patients thinking that “germs” could be drained from the body – curing the illness.  (George Washington was bled in his final days.)  Revolutions were often followed by the killing off of the more productive/enterprising people in a nation.  In the 1930s and 1940s the German government promoted antisemitism and Jewish people were rounded up and put in concentration camps and systematically killed.

With just a little effort at historical recall I could write a book outlining thousands of events where mob action led normally sane people to complete insanity.

Lot's of folks are making resolutions this time of year.  All of them require change.  It's the rare individual who actually follows through on those changes and usually it's because they've structured in "outs."  Making a resolution with an easy exit ramp is actually exciting because it sets a new course that one really doesn't have to follow for this reason or that.  In other words, the resolution is a short-term feel good deviation that's made to fail.

Recently I had a real world letter come it with the easy exit ramp built in.  Here's his letter and it is followed by my reply.

Hello, my name is XX.I am a fellow Texan from XX, Texas. I am also (according to my doctor) a heart attack or stroke waiting to happen. lol.  I am a workaholic that has let his health go completely to crap (60 lbs excess weight, high blood pressure, lipids off the charts etc.).  I have resolved to change that beginning NOW.  I am in the beginning stage of changing everything diet wise.  You guys are my first step!  I was searching the net for REAL food sources including meat, fruit, vegetables, etc., to restock my freezer and refrigerator when I throw away every last thing in my current pantry/fridge inventory!!  lol.  I came across your site and was impressed and wanted to let you know.  I am in a community that does not have a "Whole Foods" market or the like.  We can't even get a tomato that tastes like a tomato at our stores.  I also wanted to let you know to someone like me you are more than an online merchant.  Your operation is a source of better and healthier life for the people you serve if what I read on your site is fact and not simply "marketing".I put in my first trial order online this evening and look forward to receiving it soon.  I may should have called but it was after hours.After I get my first order and it's as good as I expect it will be I may call for my next order and get your suggestions.Keep up the mission.Sincerely;XXP.S.  I don't suppose you know of any great fruit/veggie suppliers?

Should we be concerned about the government tracking and storing our every telephone call, email, and internet read?  Isn’t the war on terror more important than a little tracking of our innocent actions?  Isn’t the quantity of data so huge that even when a known threat exists the data is too voluminous to search for leads?  Or is it?

In my opinion, all societies must fear their governments and their governments must be held in check.  Sure, many of the people working for our various government agencies have the best of intentions.  But that’s not all of them.  Some of them become power freaks even at the lowest levels.  Beyond the subordinates, there are the leaders and here the danger increases exponentially because there are despots in all levels of the society.  A couple of the more famous despotic leaders in our country were J. Edgar Hoover and Richard M. Nixon.  They are just two of many that have risen to power in our country.

Everyone is also familiar with the McCarthy era.  That was mob action at it’s best.  Today, political correctness is beyond the pale.  Over time political correctness can morph into forms of McCarthyism that we cannot even imagine today.  It has happened time and time again around the world and the result has been the slaughter and persecution of literally millions of people because of their race, religion, political leanings, social stature, knowledge, investments, age, sex, sexual preferences, diseases, occupations, eating and drinking habits, and many more reasons than I can think of now.  But you get the point.

Vacation time is upon us.  So let the fun begin!  But does this mean we have to sacrifice our health for the good times?  When it comes to food, generally vacations mean some of our customers throw caution to the wind for the good times if they have not planned ahead.  So here is the plan.

The foods required for optimizing body and brain function must cover all three of the critically important “A, B, C” parameters or else don’t eat them.

A.  Eat low glycemic foods.  High glycemic foods are foreign to body function and cause fungal issues that negatively impact the body. B.  Eat foods that are low in Omega-6s and high in Omega-3s, seeking a 1:1 ratio.  This 1:1 balance between Omega-6s and Omega-3s is critical for a strong immune system. C.  Eat nutrient dense foods, especially those that provide 100% of the nutrients needed for optimal body function. Why eat foods that do not significantly contribute to the needs of the body?

Am I a Party Pooper?

The importance of attaining good health is growing in importance.  The reason is no longer just for improving the quality of life because soon just being allowed to stay alive may be the issue.  The combination of increasing health care costs and the increasing number of people over 65 years of age is going to bankrupt the Government's Healthcare Safety Net.  A recent post by Eric Sprott of Sprott Global Resource Investments explains how this will happen in the years immediately ahead.

If you are not healthy and the healthcare system and your relatives do not have the money to take care of you, the only alternative is to let you die a slow agonizing death or quickly pull the plug.  Below is the heart of Sprott's analysis relating to healthcare costs.  The link above and below goes to his entire article and I highly recommend it.  It applies not only to your physical health but your financial health as well.

The following is an excerpt from Ignoring The Obvious by: Eric Sprott & Etienne Bordeleau.

You’ve heard the old story about cooking a live frog.  Just put him in a pot of lukewarm water and turn on the heat.  The frog will sit there as the water gets warmer, then hotter, until it’s boiling and he’s cooked. Well, frogs are not that dumb.  They will jump out of a pot of water as it warms up.  At least they will make every effort to jump out and the hotter the water the more frantic they’ll become.  They will not sit still and be boiled alive.  But what about people? On this topic dailyreckoning.com had an interesting article where Doug Casey talked about “Getting Out of Dodge.”  Doug’s alarmist’s-view-answer is in reference to politics, money, and hiding out.  But that’s not my point in this essay.  I want to explore complacency generally, the dangers of not thinking things through, and the ability for independent thinking about food and health.  So bear with me as I try to make my point by first quoting from the link. L: Doug, a lot of readers have been asking for guidance on how to know when it’s time to exit center stage and hunker down in some safe place.  Few people want to hide from the world in a cabin in the woods while life goes on in the mainstream, but nobody wants to get caught once the gates clang shut on the police state the US is becoming.  How do you know when it’s time to go?

Doug: Well, the first thing to keep in mind is that it’s better to be a year too early than a minute too late. David Galland recently read “They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-45,” by Milton Mayer.  He quoted a passage in his column of last Friday.  It goes a long way in explaining why Americans appear to be such whipped dogs today.  They’re no different from the Germans of recent memory. For those who missed it, let me quote it:

“You see,” my colleague went on, “one doesn’t see exactly where or how to move.  Believe me, this is true. Each act, each occasion, is worse than the last, but only a little worse.  You wait for the next and the next.  You wait for one great shocking occasion, thinking that others, when such a shock comes, will join with you in resisting somehow.  You don’t want to act, or even talk, alone; you don’t want to ‘go out of your way to make trouble.’ … In the university community, in your own community, you speak privately to your colleagues, some of whom certainly feel as you do; but what do they say?  They say, ‘It’s not so bad’ or ‘You’re seeing things’ or ‘You’re an alarmist.’