Corn is one of the shittiest things in nature. If corn played in an organized sporting event against mosquitos, flesh eating disease, AIDs, dick cheese, jealousy, and the LA Lakers I'd be pretty hard-pressed to decide who I'd favor. I almost feel as though there's some conspiracy theory behind Native Americans gifting us their precious grain: maybe they knew the level of misuse and abuse would be so obtuse with the white man and they'd ultimately destroy themselves with maize-mania.
Why do I dislike corn so much? Well, first of all it doesn't even taste that fucking good and it's typical "meat and potato" macho male fare. So many fat fucking dudes with Budweiser-stained NFL shirts come in and dig the fuck out of the corn, throwing ears all over the fucking place searching for "good ones." Guess what? Corn is 10 for $2, that's $.20 a piece. Who gives a fuck whether or not the ear is a millimeter longer or looks slightly thicker? Chances are you're just going to drench it in butter or put it in your mashed potatoes and turkey - it's not like you're going to taste much of its exquisite flavor or differentiate between one ear or another.
Corn fucking sucks because of the farm bill, and the fact that it's heavily subsidized so farmers grow corn instead of other, better products. The end result is type 2 corn being grown and sold to make things like additives, preservatives, HFCS, etc. at a cheap price, and companies trying to extend their usage of corn byproducts. This is not fucking good - at all.
You know why else corn sucks? Third world countries indebted to the World Bank grow genetically engineered corn (along with specialty products) specifically for the world market and to sell to first world countries - instead of being able to concern themselves with sustenence farming. Instead big fucking America and its big fucking technological "advancements" march in and shit GMO corn fields across the landscape - when other grains would fare much better in drier areas, regardless of how fucking much they modify the corn seeds in a laboratory.
Corn has its large, yellow-and-white bulbous dick down Mother Nature's throat. Fuck corn, fuck the people who buy it, and fuck how much it sells.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
Entry #27: "Conflicting Interests"
I'm well aware that I have absolutely no readers, so apologizing for a long gap between entries (and the low quality of more recent entries) is totally unnecessary - but I still feel obligated to apologize for how infrequently I post nowadays.
I have lots of shit tied up at the moment. I started working on my own tabletop RPG, I've been hanging out with friends more often, I'm considering starting a comic strip, and most importantly - I'm going to plan on driving again and having my own car for the first time in over 2 years. One problem is that driving would mean a couple hundred more dollars I'd have to spend monthly, and it really makes me consider taking a second job. The larger problem is that it seems in no way whatsoever could my second job be something I actually fucking enjoy, because of the simple corporate idea of "conflicting interest." I can't work at any other grocery retailer, I'm limited in working for any food distributers, samplers, gas stations, or health food stores. If my second job, in any way, appears to benefit another grocery retailer then it will ultimately lead to me choosing one job or the other.
This pisses me the fuck off. I found a craigslist listing about a job sampling organic foods: this shit would be totally boss. If I sampled organic foods, chances are I'd be learning about products and I could apply that information to my personal life and my job in produce. I would be paid to engage in conversation with people about foods that I'd probably eat myself - just like in produce. The whole issue of "conflicting interests" in this case was questionable, because I wouldn't be working for any one specific store - rather I'd be traveling between grocers in the Cleveland and Akron areas. The pay would rule, the title would rule, and the level and nature of my customer interaction would rule.
But guess fucking what? Apparently corporate considers the job "conflicting interests" and bars me off from applying for this second job. See, I understand the concept of "conflicting interests:" if you're engaged in your company's sales then it would cancel out if you're supporting a competitor simultaneously. The major flaw in this logic is, though: I don't give a fuck about my company's interests. It's not as though I purposely try and undermine my store's sales, but I get absolutely nothing concrete out of caring. On an abstract level, you could argue that if the store had higher sales then there would be more hours available for every department - which is false, my particular store being a shining example on the contrary. The store manager at my particular store gives out as many hours to the produce department as similar stores that make 40 grand less every week. Hours are entirely at the whim of the store manager and his/her degree of greediness. If he/she feels that he/she can get a larger bonus based upon how few hours he/she hands out without compromising the store's sales and that bonus - then it's based entirely on whether or not the store manager wants to help out his/her employees or would rather opt being a greedy dickhole.
You know, if I was a store manager I would care about the "best interests of the company" (although profits shouldn't be the only interests) - but I'm not a store manager, or any manager for that matter. I go to my job and do it well, without any vocal complaints or problems: this is all that should be asked. I'm not a fucking salesperson, I don't sense any sort of communal connection to my store, and I'm not doing cheers or chants like if I was working at Wal-Mart. Fuck this shit so hard. I was so stoked on possibly getting this second job.
So when I asked the woman working in human relations I informed her that the job would most likely be sampling through places like Whole Foods, Zagaras, and Mustard Seed. I noted that it would more than likely not have any sort of affiliation with Trader Joes. So guess what? When she comes back to tell me that the job would be "conflicting interests" according to corporate, she pointed out that it's possible I could be affiliated with Trader Joes. Did you not fucking listen? Is it because I'm some uneducated produce guy? Derp derp? Have you ever even been in a Trader Joes, or even more surprisingly - has anybody that talked to you from corporate ever been in a Trader Joes? The employees there do everything from cashiering and stocking, and more than likely the sampling; yes, the samplers are in-store workers and not paid through any separate employer. Not only that, but the majority of products in Trader Joes are store brand - and therefor aren't products that would be sampled at multiple different grocers.
What irks me about the concept of "conflicting interests" is its shortsightedness and its simplicity. You know, the customer base at my workplace is definitely not the same customer base as Whole Foods. You're ignorant as fuck if you think that shoppers at Whole Foods are thinking, "Oh man, I wonder if _______ has this product - I'll definitely pay less to go somewhere with a far worse organic, animal-friendly, and gluten-free selection and much lower quality products!" If the customers have the money to shop at places like Whole Foods or Mustard Seed, they're obviously going to either for quality or their organic selections - things of which my company could never compare. Hell, my workplace doesn't even carry tempeh or seitan - let alone tons of other common specialty products. You know, I was talking to managers at my old location and I asked them about the Super Wal-Mart that opened and whether or not it hurt the store's sales - apparently the loss in sales was less than 5%. Less than 5%, from fucking Super Wal-Mart.
There are definitely three main customer bases: people who want shit dirt cheap who don't care whatsoever about its quality, customers who want to shop at a pro-union workplace that supports local businesses, and customers who have the money to buy whatever the fuck they want and just care about quality or their health. My workplace definitely fits into the second category. Whole Foods isn't any more of a threat than Wal-Mart is.
But no, shit has to be boiled down to the simple idea of "conflicting interests" and just as long as something can be categorized as another grocery retailer or in any way affiliated with one - regardless of vast differences in customer bases, quality, or selection - then it's barred off. Thank you corporate for not knowing fuck about anything.
I have lots of shit tied up at the moment. I started working on my own tabletop RPG, I've been hanging out with friends more often, I'm considering starting a comic strip, and most importantly - I'm going to plan on driving again and having my own car for the first time in over 2 years. One problem is that driving would mean a couple hundred more dollars I'd have to spend monthly, and it really makes me consider taking a second job. The larger problem is that it seems in no way whatsoever could my second job be something I actually fucking enjoy, because of the simple corporate idea of "conflicting interest." I can't work at any other grocery retailer, I'm limited in working for any food distributers, samplers, gas stations, or health food stores. If my second job, in any way, appears to benefit another grocery retailer then it will ultimately lead to me choosing one job or the other.
This pisses me the fuck off. I found a craigslist listing about a job sampling organic foods: this shit would be totally boss. If I sampled organic foods, chances are I'd be learning about products and I could apply that information to my personal life and my job in produce. I would be paid to engage in conversation with people about foods that I'd probably eat myself - just like in produce. The whole issue of "conflicting interests" in this case was questionable, because I wouldn't be working for any one specific store - rather I'd be traveling between grocers in the Cleveland and Akron areas. The pay would rule, the title would rule, and the level and nature of my customer interaction would rule.
But guess fucking what? Apparently corporate considers the job "conflicting interests" and bars me off from applying for this second job. See, I understand the concept of "conflicting interests:" if you're engaged in your company's sales then it would cancel out if you're supporting a competitor simultaneously. The major flaw in this logic is, though: I don't give a fuck about my company's interests. It's not as though I purposely try and undermine my store's sales, but I get absolutely nothing concrete out of caring. On an abstract level, you could argue that if the store had higher sales then there would be more hours available for every department - which is false, my particular store being a shining example on the contrary. The store manager at my particular store gives out as many hours to the produce department as similar stores that make 40 grand less every week. Hours are entirely at the whim of the store manager and his/her degree of greediness. If he/she feels that he/she can get a larger bonus based upon how few hours he/she hands out without compromising the store's sales and that bonus - then it's based entirely on whether or not the store manager wants to help out his/her employees or would rather opt being a greedy dickhole.
You know, if I was a store manager I would care about the "best interests of the company" (although profits shouldn't be the only interests) - but I'm not a store manager, or any manager for that matter. I go to my job and do it well, without any vocal complaints or problems: this is all that should be asked. I'm not a fucking salesperson, I don't sense any sort of communal connection to my store, and I'm not doing cheers or chants like if I was working at Wal-Mart. Fuck this shit so hard. I was so stoked on possibly getting this second job.
So when I asked the woman working in human relations I informed her that the job would most likely be sampling through places like Whole Foods, Zagaras, and Mustard Seed. I noted that it would more than likely not have any sort of affiliation with Trader Joes. So guess what? When she comes back to tell me that the job would be "conflicting interests" according to corporate, she pointed out that it's possible I could be affiliated with Trader Joes. Did you not fucking listen? Is it because I'm some uneducated produce guy? Derp derp? Have you ever even been in a Trader Joes, or even more surprisingly - has anybody that talked to you from corporate ever been in a Trader Joes? The employees there do everything from cashiering and stocking, and more than likely the sampling; yes, the samplers are in-store workers and not paid through any separate employer. Not only that, but the majority of products in Trader Joes are store brand - and therefor aren't products that would be sampled at multiple different grocers.
What irks me about the concept of "conflicting interests" is its shortsightedness and its simplicity. You know, the customer base at my workplace is definitely not the same customer base as Whole Foods. You're ignorant as fuck if you think that shoppers at Whole Foods are thinking, "Oh man, I wonder if _______ has this product - I'll definitely pay less to go somewhere with a far worse organic, animal-friendly, and gluten-free selection and much lower quality products!" If the customers have the money to shop at places like Whole Foods or Mustard Seed, they're obviously going to either for quality or their organic selections - things of which my company could never compare. Hell, my workplace doesn't even carry tempeh or seitan - let alone tons of other common specialty products. You know, I was talking to managers at my old location and I asked them about the Super Wal-Mart that opened and whether or not it hurt the store's sales - apparently the loss in sales was less than 5%. Less than 5%, from fucking Super Wal-Mart.
There are definitely three main customer bases: people who want shit dirt cheap who don't care whatsoever about its quality, customers who want to shop at a pro-union workplace that supports local businesses, and customers who have the money to buy whatever the fuck they want and just care about quality or their health. My workplace definitely fits into the second category. Whole Foods isn't any more of a threat than Wal-Mart is.
But no, shit has to be boiled down to the simple idea of "conflicting interests" and just as long as something can be categorized as another grocery retailer or in any way affiliated with one - regardless of vast differences in customer bases, quality, or selection - then it's barred off. Thank you corporate for not knowing fuck about anything.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Entry #26: Attractive Women
My workplace happens to be in a wealthier area, so it's very often that attractive middle-aged women and trendy girls in their twenties shop at my grocery store - at least those who aren't picking up hummus and clif bars from Trader Joes. I will say that I'm not actively on the prowl or expecting to talk to any of these women - because I have a wonderful girlfriend who I'd never want to betray. I'm sure she could accept me appreciating somebody's physical attractiveness if I'm not hooting and making grabbing motions in the air like I'm squeezing tits.
Anyways, there are things that a 9 or 10 can do that will instantly make them a 5 in my book - almost in some Seinfeldian, observational nitpicking on my part. Most of the things that they do are things I've mentioned in older posts, especially those having to do with fucking bananas (not literally fucking bananas, I'm using fucking as an adjective).
1) Banana rippers. If you're an attractive woman and you pick up a big fucking bunch of bananas and rip off a single banana and place it back - you're instantly plummeting on the physical attractiveness meter. If I was ever single again and I was in bed with a banana ripper, I would feel like I'm shoving my dick in a huge mound of manure. More than likely I would be spitting on her in my head, and I'd probably go out of my way to make the sex messy and demeaning. I can't take banana rippers seriously. On the other hand, if you kindly walk over and pick up a bunch immediately where I placed my last bunch, make a comment or appology, and not rip off a single banana *swoon*.
2) iceberg lettuce/salad purchasers. A girl can't be attractive if she's boring and she eats iceberg. Plain and simple.
3) Women who don't know how to cook. This almost sounds sexist, but I'm definitely not going for that angle. both men and women should aspire to learn how to cook well, fuck anybody who says otherwise. If you're coming in and asking me for cooking advice, you exhibit any sort of ignorance of fruits/vegetables, or you're buying incredibly boring products (iceberg, baby cut carrots, tomatoes, etc.) then you're immediately dropping to average or below.
Anyways, there are things that a 9 or 10 can do that will instantly make them a 5 in my book - almost in some Seinfeldian, observational nitpicking on my part. Most of the things that they do are things I've mentioned in older posts, especially those having to do with fucking bananas (not literally fucking bananas, I'm using fucking as an adjective).
1) Banana rippers. If you're an attractive woman and you pick up a big fucking bunch of bananas and rip off a single banana and place it back - you're instantly plummeting on the physical attractiveness meter. If I was ever single again and I was in bed with a banana ripper, I would feel like I'm shoving my dick in a huge mound of manure. More than likely I would be spitting on her in my head, and I'd probably go out of my way to make the sex messy and demeaning. I can't take banana rippers seriously. On the other hand, if you kindly walk over and pick up a bunch immediately where I placed my last bunch, make a comment or appology, and not rip off a single banana *swoon*.
2) iceberg lettuce/salad purchasers. A girl can't be attractive if she's boring and she eats iceberg. Plain and simple.
3) Women who don't know how to cook. This almost sounds sexist, but I'm definitely not going for that angle. both men and women should aspire to learn how to cook well, fuck anybody who says otherwise. If you're coming in and asking me for cooking advice, you exhibit any sort of ignorance of fruits/vegetables, or you're buying incredibly boring products (iceberg, baby cut carrots, tomatoes, etc.) then you're immediately dropping to average or below.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Entry #25: Job Security
Some of the biggest assholes alive are customers who sincerely believe that by purposely being careless and leaving extra work for you to do that they're ensuring you're not bored and you're looking busy for management. I've heard people refer to this loosely as giving us job security.
Why is this total shit? Because you're treating your workers like they enjoy wiping your ass. Do people purposely shit on the restroom floor when they're out so the janitors/porters have job security? Do seniors in retirement homes cock a fucking smile and shit their pants whenever their caretakers walk in the room in the name of job security? Do I go into your office job and start throwing around papers and jumping on your desk like a fucking orangutan, then tell you "don't worry, I'm giving you job security"?
I'm sure that even without people acting like children and not returning things to their proper places that I'd still have enough to keep me busy at work. People act like it's some sort of joke, "oh, sorry about ruining your display;" I have a fucking box that I'm actively grabbing shit from, why don't you just grab from my box, save me work, and get something fresher than what's already on the shelves! You're not cute, and neither are your friendly jokes.
Why is this total shit? Because you're treating your workers like they enjoy wiping your ass. Do people purposely shit on the restroom floor when they're out so the janitors/porters have job security? Do seniors in retirement homes cock a fucking smile and shit their pants whenever their caretakers walk in the room in the name of job security? Do I go into your office job and start throwing around papers and jumping on your desk like a fucking orangutan, then tell you "don't worry, I'm giving you job security"?
I'm sure that even without people acting like children and not returning things to their proper places that I'd still have enough to keep me busy at work. People act like it's some sort of joke, "oh, sorry about ruining your display;" I have a fucking box that I'm actively grabbing shit from, why don't you just grab from my box, save me work, and get something fresher than what's already on the shelves! You're not cute, and neither are your friendly jokes.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Entry #24: Garden Pt.1
Life right now rules pretty fucking hard, aside from feeling like such an outsider and questioning my financial future. I'm just now trying to overcome the initial efforts of my first life goal: my feet are figurately getting wet. My major "goal" in life is to learn to feed and sustain myself, without the use of any fossil fuels and without any outside help. My first obstacle will be gardening, followed by finding a guide to teach me how to forage, and then possibly learning how to hunt (preferably without a gun) and then kill and dress an animal.
My parents have allowed me to use a plot of their land at our house in Medina that has around 3 acres. I've decided I want to grow perennials, and then possibly try and cultivate a small permaculture once I've gotten the hang of everything; I figure perennials would allow me to work a little less and experiment with more non-conventional fruits and vegetables.
Just in the last week I spent a few hours turning over soil:
I'm sure it could look better, and I'm unsure if I made any dire mistakes. For one, I had to use my shovel to loosen up the soil (instead of something more effective like a pitchfork), and for two I accidently dug near tree roots in a few areas (near the far left on all three rows, and near the far right on the closest row).
I'm going to wait two weeks before I plant anything, so I hopefully have sufficient time to find a seed supplier (probably online) and get something shipped. Ideally I would form nearby connections and get my seeds locally, but I'm taking a slight shortcut for the lack of time I have left before I have to plant. Possibly I may plant annuals in the closest row if I have problems attaining enough seeds or I don't have enough ideas come crunch time, if anything - arugula or eggplant. Right now I'm looking at planting a nice breeds of dandelion and boxthorn/goji.
I'm going to wait two weeks before I plant anything, so I hopefully have sufficient time to find a seed supplier (probably online) and get something shipped. Ideally I would form nearby connections and get my seeds locally, but I'm taking a slight shortcut for the lack of time I have left before I have to plant. Possibly I may plant annuals in the closest row if I have problems attaining enough seeds or I don't have enough ideas come crunch time, if anything - arugula or eggplant. Right now I'm looking at planting a nice breeds of dandelion and boxthorn/goji.
Such a boring entry to anybody other than me, more than likely - but I'm so fucking happy that I'm moving on my first major goal. I worked my ass off for how inexperienced I am, and I have blisters on right hand.
I'm just slightly perturbed because gardening may again be something where I'm a fucking pariah and it's near impossible for me to get advice that's relevant to my intentions and ideals. It's already that way with medicine, organic food, sex, science, and various other topics - and it's horseshit. While at the Mustard Seed I asked a dude for advice on what to plant for fixing nitrogen into the soil, and whether or not runner-beans are perennials (or if there were any perennial seeds available in the store's selection). The produce dudes there were helpful as fuck, but they couldn't give me a proper answer and decided to call a guy who has a reputation for being a good gardener and works at another location. When I tried to explain myself I sounded incredibly amateurish (as I admittedly am on this topic), and said something along the lines of how I want a self sustaining garden. The guy laughed and said something to the extent of, "that's what all gardeners would want - but it'll never happen. Everybody has to treat their gardens with something." However, the guy's countenance on the phone was more patronizing or condescending than it was friendly and jocular. He was telling me how I'll need to get organic fertilizers and I'll need to add things to my soil like seakelp.
This shit pissed me off and confuses me. Agriculture has been around for a long time, and I'm guessing that centuries ago farmers weren't awaiting their overseas shipment of seakelp. I don't see why it's so radical or taboo for me to want nothing from an offsite source. Granted I don't have a farm, and I don't have animals producing manure - the garden itself is in a rural area, and I could get manure from local sources if I struck charismatic gold and befriended a helpful farmer. Honestly though, I'm going to try and mulch using recycled newspaper or cardboard boxes from my work - and I plan on starting a compost.
I don't see how reliance upon store bought products or offsite materials is the only option; the reason why I want to learn to feed myself is incase we reach peak oil or there's a massive food system collapse, in which case I don't think it's feasible for me to get in a car and use oil (that isn't there) to go buy a product that isn't made onsite (and is thereby shipped using oil) and probably wouldn't even be available.
Apparently Mother Nature uses a fuckload of oil, driving here and there and getting shit shipped to her to enrich her soil. Bull fucking shit. I eventually want to imitate nature, not rely upon shit that's not even geographically logical.
I feel too afraid to ask for any sort of advice, because I'm afraid everybody is either going to advocate synthetic fertilizers or they're all going to laugh at me, like fucking Carrie.
Aside from the garden, I just got a juicer and started juicing, and I started creating the framework for a fruit and veggie themed tabletop RPG.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Entry #23: Medicine
Eventually I would have to make a post about this topic, seeing my habitual skepticism regarding most modern research and pharmaceutical drugs. I usually have a huge veiny boner for the underdog, and I guess quite predictably - I support Naturopathy and dietary healing, similar (although not as fervently) to my support of organic and otherwise sustainable farming methods. I will try and step down from any bias I may have, and address a problem that annoys the shit out of me; I feel as though discourse on medicine has become the most roundabout, waste-of-time venture since fucking Nascar.
On one side of the ring we have conventional medicine, whose constant "quackwatch"-type bullshit likens a fucking witch hunt. They refuse to acknowledge that medicine existed longer than 400 years ago, and if anything isn't well documented in modern, recent research - its legitimacy is ultimately discredited. Admittedly, it makes sense that if you're raised to trust any piece of research released by a larger university or any government institution, so long as it doesn't radically question our status quo - then you'd more than likely be skeptical of anything that isn't widely published or categorized under popular opinion.
On the other side of the ring, we have practitioners of alternative medicine - mostly non confrontational, Californian pussies. Instead of openly being dicks (like those that support conventional medicine, who seem to dedicate their efforts into squelching their opposition), they're mostly quiet or only privately object. I guess this also can make sense, since they'd face public stigmitization. It's also pretty shitty that their stereotype is similar, if not worse, than that associated with the organic food movement. In short, plenty of them make jokes of themselves by being into spirituality, auras, and shit of the same ilk.
The problem: neither side trusts its opponent's sources; this isn't a case of not being on the same page, this is being in an entirely different book. I'm going to sound like a fucking simpleton trying to discuss philosophy, but I truly believe that both sides of nearly any argument contain worthwhile substance - I'm not into relativist bullshit, but I do believe that the nature of understanding is much more complex than how we attempt to oversimplify it with science. I think it's incredibly arrogant on humanity's part to sincerely believe it's capable of retrodiction, unbridled understanding, and authority over the natural world. Lately I've been reading a lot about permaculture and perrenials, and it's so fascinating to me - the prospects of emulating nature and its potentially higher productivity, even when compared against our modern chemicals and techniques. Like it says in a favorite song of mine, "Improv Culture Kill" by Policy of 3 (a New Jersey based emotive hardcore band from the early '90s):
"we celebrate the cultures that we kill, they are roadside tourist traps when they should be an insititution. And our science - that has poisoned us on the inside and the out, has created more fear than any vengeful, primitive god. And our science, which we accept so wholehearted, forces us to define what truly is a great mystery. We reach out, but we lack the embrace. We reach out, but there is no embrace to find."
There's no heart in our modern scientific world, and I believe both nature and our minds are the two most complex entities in existence - two things arguably forever more powerful and heartfelt than anything resulting from science and technology. I also believe that contrary to all those angsty, teenage, atheist Family Guy and Daily Show fans swearing religion is the bane of humanity - science itself has created more fear and death. Science and technology created our weapons of warfare, they created all the problems with our modern food system, they were the agents behind all the annual deaths caused by pharmaceuticals, they were the co-conspirators behind all our synthetic recreational drugs (or pharmaceuticals misused for recreation) and all the deaths and strife as a result of their sale, they've hurt our evolution (since our only "progress" still within sight, according to most people, is technological), caused more sedentary lifestyles, and built cultures around convenience and escapism. I'm not a primitivist thought, I believe some technology is beneficial - I don't believe in fucking nut and berry, hunter-gatherer shit. Sorry for sidetracking, I just wanted to get my opinion out there on such a sensitive matter; everybody acts as though I'm fucking their mother whenever I criticize our species' attempts at progress through scientific inquiry and technological fixes. The point I want to make, simply, is that science itself is a faith - one that's only more divided when lobbyists and corporations are involved in the funding of research, and when two opposing sides can make equally as convincing claims on nearly any matter.
Discourse on medicine has reserved its seat in the same arena as internet messageboard, "no u" bickering. Those on the side of alternative medicine will continually question the legitimacy of their opposition's sources - seeing as the majority of popular research is funded by corporations that directly profit from positive results and clever euphemism. On the other side, those associated with conventional medicine will continually question the legitimacy of their opposition's sources, since they don't receive massive funding or, in many cases, they're not released by popular publications or by the government.
Shit is so bananas. Nothing is accomplished. How about you all quit being dickheads, and why not settle on healthy diet and excercise? Well, the pharmaceutical industry seems to have the public convinced (through its heavy advertising) that they'd rather work a pill into their routine than completely change their lifestyle and diet. Convenience digs its claws into our culture's health once again. Conventional medicine fails to emphasize prevention, and many forms of alternative medicine thrive on unnecessary preventive methods. The dietary supplement industry also thrives on its consumers believing it's difficult to get all their nutrients through whole food sources, which isn't true; and the herbal supplement industry is full of plenty of companies that sell low quality products, and make it difficult to sift through all the shit for the diamonds!
Just have a healthy diet and live a happy, active lifestyle - learn to forage for herbs (as I intend to do) if you have access to them and they're applicable to your health situation. Food is your medicine, and medicine is your food. If you die shortlived, it's fine (which you probably will not if you maintain a healthy lifestyle). Quit trying to fight the inevitable and contributing to our overpopulation problem.
On one side of the ring we have conventional medicine, whose constant "quackwatch"-type bullshit likens a fucking witch hunt. They refuse to acknowledge that medicine existed longer than 400 years ago, and if anything isn't well documented in modern, recent research - its legitimacy is ultimately discredited. Admittedly, it makes sense that if you're raised to trust any piece of research released by a larger university or any government institution, so long as it doesn't radically question our status quo - then you'd more than likely be skeptical of anything that isn't widely published or categorized under popular opinion.
On the other side of the ring, we have practitioners of alternative medicine - mostly non confrontational, Californian pussies. Instead of openly being dicks (like those that support conventional medicine, who seem to dedicate their efforts into squelching their opposition), they're mostly quiet or only privately object. I guess this also can make sense, since they'd face public stigmitization. It's also pretty shitty that their stereotype is similar, if not worse, than that associated with the organic food movement. In short, plenty of them make jokes of themselves by being into spirituality, auras, and shit of the same ilk.
The problem: neither side trusts its opponent's sources; this isn't a case of not being on the same page, this is being in an entirely different book. I'm going to sound like a fucking simpleton trying to discuss philosophy, but I truly believe that both sides of nearly any argument contain worthwhile substance - I'm not into relativist bullshit, but I do believe that the nature of understanding is much more complex than how we attempt to oversimplify it with science. I think it's incredibly arrogant on humanity's part to sincerely believe it's capable of retrodiction, unbridled understanding, and authority over the natural world. Lately I've been reading a lot about permaculture and perrenials, and it's so fascinating to me - the prospects of emulating nature and its potentially higher productivity, even when compared against our modern chemicals and techniques. Like it says in a favorite song of mine, "Improv Culture Kill" by Policy of 3 (a New Jersey based emotive hardcore band from the early '90s):
"we celebrate the cultures that we kill, they are roadside tourist traps when they should be an insititution. And our science - that has poisoned us on the inside and the out, has created more fear than any vengeful, primitive god. And our science, which we accept so wholehearted, forces us to define what truly is a great mystery. We reach out, but we lack the embrace. We reach out, but there is no embrace to find."
There's no heart in our modern scientific world, and I believe both nature and our minds are the two most complex entities in existence - two things arguably forever more powerful and heartfelt than anything resulting from science and technology. I also believe that contrary to all those angsty, teenage, atheist Family Guy and Daily Show fans swearing religion is the bane of humanity - science itself has created more fear and death. Science and technology created our weapons of warfare, they created all the problems with our modern food system, they were the agents behind all the annual deaths caused by pharmaceuticals, they were the co-conspirators behind all our synthetic recreational drugs (or pharmaceuticals misused for recreation) and all the deaths and strife as a result of their sale, they've hurt our evolution (since our only "progress" still within sight, according to most people, is technological), caused more sedentary lifestyles, and built cultures around convenience and escapism. I'm not a primitivist thought, I believe some technology is beneficial - I don't believe in fucking nut and berry, hunter-gatherer shit. Sorry for sidetracking, I just wanted to get my opinion out there on such a sensitive matter; everybody acts as though I'm fucking their mother whenever I criticize our species' attempts at progress through scientific inquiry and technological fixes. The point I want to make, simply, is that science itself is a faith - one that's only more divided when lobbyists and corporations are involved in the funding of research, and when two opposing sides can make equally as convincing claims on nearly any matter.
Discourse on medicine has reserved its seat in the same arena as internet messageboard, "no u" bickering. Those on the side of alternative medicine will continually question the legitimacy of their opposition's sources - seeing as the majority of popular research is funded by corporations that directly profit from positive results and clever euphemism. On the other side, those associated with conventional medicine will continually question the legitimacy of their opposition's sources, since they don't receive massive funding or, in many cases, they're not released by popular publications or by the government.
Shit is so bananas. Nothing is accomplished. How about you all quit being dickheads, and why not settle on healthy diet and excercise? Well, the pharmaceutical industry seems to have the public convinced (through its heavy advertising) that they'd rather work a pill into their routine than completely change their lifestyle and diet. Convenience digs its claws into our culture's health once again. Conventional medicine fails to emphasize prevention, and many forms of alternative medicine thrive on unnecessary preventive methods. The dietary supplement industry also thrives on its consumers believing it's difficult to get all their nutrients through whole food sources, which isn't true; and the herbal supplement industry is full of plenty of companies that sell low quality products, and make it difficult to sift through all the shit for the diamonds!
Just have a healthy diet and live a happy, active lifestyle - learn to forage for herbs (as I intend to do) if you have access to them and they're applicable to your health situation. Food is your medicine, and medicine is your food. If you die shortlived, it's fine (which you probably will not if you maintain a healthy lifestyle). Quit trying to fight the inevitable and contributing to our overpopulation problem.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Entry #22: Supplementation
Sen. McCain and the Dietary Supplement Safety Act, S. 3002
My girlfriend recently showed me this link, and apparently tons of people are getting super defensive against this proposed legislation regarding supplements. Basically what the bill entails is that key components of DSHEA (Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act) be revised, namely supplements being considered food, rather than drugs, and evading the costs of pre-market research.
Honestly, I will give McCain the benefit of the doubt, and I believe he's sincere and well-intentioned with the proposed legislation - although I do contend that the bill has potential to become anything but beneficial to the consumer. McCain may have pharmaceutical lobbyists pulling his strings as plenty of people suggest, but honestly, he may just be thinking that the lack of regulation has led to a few lower quality products and mislabeling; however, it seems a bit contradictory for a Republican to push any bill that places potentially high fines or added restrictions on industry.
My predictions: the producers of herbal supplements would be hit the hardest, and the alternative medicine sector would be hard pressed to stay financially viable. The reason why, I assume, the producers of herbal and dietary supplements opted to be considered food products under DSHEA was so that they could cut their expenditures and therefor maximize their profits. This isn't a new concept, and the supplement industry isn't any worse than any other major industry; if they weren't required to foot the bill for pre-market research they could save tons of money, not to mention the research (at least for herbal supplements) would be slightly more difficult to pass off as legitimate in plain sight of AMA opposition. I don't think them opting out of pre-market research was a result of them "knowing" their products were faulty (as plenty of practitioners of conventional medicine would suggest), but it was them engaging in very common greed-driven practices: this is the #1 reason I believe capitalism works against public health, not only through lobbyists buying heavily biased research, but via industry curtailing its responsibilites to maximize its profits.
The article states:
"The McCain bill would change existing mandatory serious adverse reporting regulations, requiring minor adverse effects to be reported as well so that the FDA could arbitrarily pull supplements off the shelves or reclassify them as drugs. This immediate recall authority would be granted to the “Secretary upon determination,” that there is a “reasonable probability” that the product is “adulterated” or “misbranded.” Adulterated in this bill takes on a whole new expanded definition: “A dietary supplement which contains a new dietary ingredient shall be deemed adulterated under section 402(f) unless there is a history of use or other evidence of safety.” The development of new products that contain newly discovered nutritional components may be entirely quashed."
If the FDA could arbitrarily pull any supplement off the shelves, then nearly everything could eventually be pulled and be required extensive testing. Herbal supplements could be hit especially hard from this, and they'd slowly have to test each product before it could get its place back on a shelf. Funding would probably be difficult to come by, because the only herb that people give a fuck about testing is marijuana (I swear - the one herbal exception for practitioners of conventional medicine. I fucking wonder why, douchebags?). I'm probably sounding a bit like a fearmongerer at this moment, and it may not be that rough for the herbal supplement industry (which is growing at a steady rate annually) - but what about the dietary supplement industry? If the supplement industry overall is showing to be profitable, then the pharmaceutical industry may see their share of profits to be made in supplements and front the research bills where the less wealthy supplement industry falters and may be more hesitant to cover. If the pharmaceutical industry used its money to profit off of marketing dietary supplements and somehow overtook most small or medium sized producers of dietary supplements, then shit could get dire and lower quality products could get churned out at a quicker pace. I guess I see the pharmaceutical industry as a vulture, and it would more than likely swipe other industry's profits while they're vulnerable - since right now the supplement industry has steady grounding, and even then doesn't pose an enormous threat.
ps. I'm not a strong supporter of supplementation. I already said in a previous post that I'm more a supporter of getting all your nutrients through whole food sources, and healing through diet rather than Naturopathy. If supplements were as effective as whole food sources we wouldn't have to eat any shit at all, and I'd rather learn how to forage for herbs than take something in a pill form (especially when larger retailers try and sell mislabeld products or those in cellulose capsules). I still, however, see the supplement industry as more worthy of my support than the pharmaceutical industry - and any sort of legislation that in any way favors big business, notably the pharmaceutical industry, I will more than likely oppose.
My girlfriend recently showed me this link, and apparently tons of people are getting super defensive against this proposed legislation regarding supplements. Basically what the bill entails is that key components of DSHEA (Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act) be revised, namely supplements being considered food, rather than drugs, and evading the costs of pre-market research.
Honestly, I will give McCain the benefit of the doubt, and I believe he's sincere and well-intentioned with the proposed legislation - although I do contend that the bill has potential to become anything but beneficial to the consumer. McCain may have pharmaceutical lobbyists pulling his strings as plenty of people suggest, but honestly, he may just be thinking that the lack of regulation has led to a few lower quality products and mislabeling; however, it seems a bit contradictory for a Republican to push any bill that places potentially high fines or added restrictions on industry.
My predictions: the producers of herbal supplements would be hit the hardest, and the alternative medicine sector would be hard pressed to stay financially viable. The reason why, I assume, the producers of herbal and dietary supplements opted to be considered food products under DSHEA was so that they could cut their expenditures and therefor maximize their profits. This isn't a new concept, and the supplement industry isn't any worse than any other major industry; if they weren't required to foot the bill for pre-market research they could save tons of money, not to mention the research (at least for herbal supplements) would be slightly more difficult to pass off as legitimate in plain sight of AMA opposition. I don't think them opting out of pre-market research was a result of them "knowing" their products were faulty (as plenty of practitioners of conventional medicine would suggest), but it was them engaging in very common greed-driven practices: this is the #1 reason I believe capitalism works against public health, not only through lobbyists buying heavily biased research, but via industry curtailing its responsibilites to maximize its profits.
The article states:
"The McCain bill would change existing mandatory serious adverse reporting regulations, requiring minor adverse effects to be reported as well so that the FDA could arbitrarily pull supplements off the shelves or reclassify them as drugs. This immediate recall authority would be granted to the “Secretary upon determination,” that there is a “reasonable probability” that the product is “adulterated” or “misbranded.” Adulterated in this bill takes on a whole new expanded definition: “A dietary supplement which contains a new dietary ingredient shall be deemed adulterated under section 402(f) unless there is a history of use or other evidence of safety.” The development of new products that contain newly discovered nutritional components may be entirely quashed."
If the FDA could arbitrarily pull any supplement off the shelves, then nearly everything could eventually be pulled and be required extensive testing. Herbal supplements could be hit especially hard from this, and they'd slowly have to test each product before it could get its place back on a shelf. Funding would probably be difficult to come by, because the only herb that people give a fuck about testing is marijuana (I swear - the one herbal exception for practitioners of conventional medicine. I fucking wonder why, douchebags?). I'm probably sounding a bit like a fearmongerer at this moment, and it may not be that rough for the herbal supplement industry (which is growing at a steady rate annually) - but what about the dietary supplement industry? If the supplement industry overall is showing to be profitable, then the pharmaceutical industry may see their share of profits to be made in supplements and front the research bills where the less wealthy supplement industry falters and may be more hesitant to cover. If the pharmaceutical industry used its money to profit off of marketing dietary supplements and somehow overtook most small or medium sized producers of dietary supplements, then shit could get dire and lower quality products could get churned out at a quicker pace. I guess I see the pharmaceutical industry as a vulture, and it would more than likely swipe other industry's profits while they're vulnerable - since right now the supplement industry has steady grounding, and even then doesn't pose an enormous threat.
ps. I'm not a strong supporter of supplementation. I already said in a previous post that I'm more a supporter of getting all your nutrients through whole food sources, and healing through diet rather than Naturopathy. If supplements were as effective as whole food sources we wouldn't have to eat any shit at all, and I'd rather learn how to forage for herbs than take something in a pill form (especially when larger retailers try and sell mislabeld products or those in cellulose capsules). I still, however, see the supplement industry as more worthy of my support than the pharmaceutical industry - and any sort of legislation that in any way favors big business, notably the pharmaceutical industry, I will more than likely oppose.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
