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Footprints in the sand……

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One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
             Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
                  In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
                       Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
                           other times there were one set of footprints.
 
                                  This bothered me because I noticed
                                that during the low periods of my life,
                             when I was suffering from
                         anguish, sorrow or defeat,
                     I could see only one set of footprints.
 
          So I said to the Lord,
      “You promised me Lord,
         that if I followed you,
             you would walk with me always.
                   But I have noticed that during
                          the most trying periods of my life
                                 there have only been one
                                       set of footprints in the sand.
                                           Why, when I needed you most,
                                          you have not been there for me?”
 
                                 The Lord replied,
                          “Because I’m not real dumbfuck!’
                   you got yourself outta those jams all by yourself,
          you just thought it was me because you are a deluded asshole.”

GMO info from Green America website

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I will refer to GMO foods in other posts as GMC, Genetically Modified Crap because that is what it really is and while conservatives and liberals argue over mundane shit, they really should be asking the REAL questions and worrying about REAL issues! I would start at ‘What the Hell is on my plate and why isn’t labeling GMC a requirement?! 

9 GMO Ingredients to Avoid

 

 

Because of the prevalence of soy and corn in processed foods, about 30,000 genetically modified food products sit on US grocery store shelves.

Here are the top 9 GM ingredients to watch for: 

 

1. SOY
GM since: 1996
How widespread: 94 percent of the US soybean crop was genetically modified in 2011, according to the USDA.
What to watch for: Soybeans show up in many traditional (i.e. not organic) soy products, such as tofu, soy milk, soy sauce, miso, and tempeh, as well as any product containing the emulsifier lecithin (often derived from soybean oil), such as ice cream and candy.

 

2. COTTONSEED
GM since: 1996
How widespread: 90 percent of the US cotton crop was genetically modified in 2011, according to the USDA.
What to watch for: The cotton plant, genetically modified to be pest-resistant, produces not only fibers for fabric, but also cottonseed oil, available on US shelves as a standalone product, and also commonly used as an ingredient in margarine, in salad dressings, and as a frying oil for potato chips and other snacks.

 

3. CORN
GM since: 1996
How widespread: 88 percent of the US corn crop was genetically modified in 2011, according to the USDA.
What to watch for: GM corn can make its way into hundreds of products: breakfast cereals, corn-flour products (tortillas, chips, etc.), corn oil products (mayonnaise, shortening, etc.), and literally anything sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup, which covers sweetened fruit drinks, processed cookies and other snacks, yogurts, soups, condiments, and many other products.

 

4. CANOLA OIL
GM since: 1996
How widespread: 90 percent of the US canola crop was genetically modified in 2010, according to the New York Times
What to watch for: Any canola oil made in the USA. This popular cooking oil, originally derived from rapeseed oil by breeders in Canada (the name is a contraction for “Canadian oil, low acid”) comes from a genetically modified plant that is no longer simply cultivated, but grows wild across the Dakotas, Minnesota, and Canada.

 

5. U.S. PAPAYA
GM since: 1998
How widespread: 80 percent of the US papaya crop was genetically modified in 2010, according to the New York Times.
What to watch for: All papaya grown in the US. Hawaiian papaya was genetically engineered to withstand the ringspot virus in the late 1990s, with the GM version rapidly taking over the industry. In 2009, the USDA rescinded regulations prohibiting GM papaya on the US mainland; they have since been introduced to Florida plantations.

 

6. ALFALFA
GM since: In 2005, the USDA deregulated GM alfalfa, though cultivation was later halted in 2007, following lawsuits from the Center for Food Safety and others who demanded a full evaluation of the threats to conventional alfalfa plants, and the emergence of herbicide-resistant weeds. Following a new environmental impact study, the USDA in 2011 again deregulated GM alfalfa, which is grown primarily as feed for dairy and sometimes beef cattle.
How widespread: Data on the re-introduction of GM alfalfa in 2011 will be available from the USDA in July. At present, GM alfalfa is used primarily as hay for cattle. The Monsanto Technology Use Agreement for “Roundup Ready” GM alfalfa forbids its use for sprouts.
What to watch for: It’s difficult to tell from a meat or dairy product whether it is from cows fed GM alfalfa. Look for organic dairy products and organic or 100 percent grassfed meat. An even better option is to go vegetarian or vegan.

 

7. SUGAR BEETS
GM since: 2005
How widespread: 95 percent of the US sugar-beet crop was genetically modified in 2009, according to the USDA. Around half of the sugar produced in the US comes from sugar beets.
What to watch for: If a non-organic bag of sugar or a product containing conventional sugar as an ingredient does not specify “pure cane sugar,” the sugar is likely a combination of cane sugar and GM sugar beets.

 

8. MILK
GM since: 1994
How widespread: Recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) is a GM synthetic hormone injected into dairy cows to boost milk production. 17 percent of US cows were injected with rBGH in 2007 (most recent figure). Milk from rBGH-treated cows contains elevated levels of Insulin Growth Factor-1, a hormone linked to increased risks for certain cancers.
What to watch for: No label is required for milk from rBGH-treated cows, though many brands of non-treated milk label their containers as such.

 

9. ASPARTAME
Genetically modified since: 1965
How widespread: Aspartame, an artificial sweetener, is derived from GM microorganisms. It is found in over 6,000 products, including diet sodas.
What to watch for: Avoid anything labeled as containing Nutrasweet, Equal, or aspartame.

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Hitchens…

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Homo sapiens has been on the planet for at least a hundred thousand years. In order to be Christian, you have to believe that for 98,000 years, our species suffered and died, most of its children dying in childbirth, most people having a life expectancy of about 25; famine, struggle, bitterness, war, suffering, misery, all of that. For 98,000 years, heaven watches it with complete indifference. And then 2000 years ago, it thinks, ‘That’s enough of that, it’s time to intervene. The best way to do this would be by condemning someone to a human sacrifice, somewhere in the less literate parts of the Middle East. Let’s not appear to the Chinese where people can read, study evidence, and have a civilization. Let’s go to the desert and have a revelation there.’ This is nonsense. It can’t be believed by a thinking person.

Christopher Hitchens (via halfprincesshalfgoddess)

Marquis D’Crusade!

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The christian crusades mark some of the most bloody and mad chapters in religious history and are a perfect reason to judge the validity of following illogical shit blindly. For nearly three centuries christianity launched an offensive against the forces of Islam due to idiological differences. Europe had expended such an exponential number of men and an astronomical amount of money to fight for it’s right for a superior mythology, that the entire continent teetered on the brink of bankruptcy if not total insolvency. Millions died of disease, injury and hunger while attempting to inflict the atrocities of torture upon the minions of Mohammed the bible thief. The Islamic religion was, in fact, stolen from the bible in the 600s and ended in 632 CE literally translated as ‘the recitation’ The Holy Quran. As with all myths, the Quran was a linchpin in Mohammed’s arsenal to unite the warring clans of the desert and put them under the banner of a ‘one true god.’

Christianity, with it’s melding of pagan holidays and appeasing of the conquered peoples of Rome created a hodge-podge religion of inaccuracies that was the greatest model for illiterates such as Mohammed and Joseph Smith to create a living document that could control an immense number of illiterate followers. This is the truth of the history of christianity. The advancement of society led to the need to modify the mythology to keep the lemmings in the pews and show that the religion was one of devine tolerance, but I digress.

1066-1099-The first crusade was a military expidition sanctioned by Pope Urban II to regain christian Holy lands taken in the Muslim conquests  of the Levant ( 632-661 ), ultimately leading in the capture of Jerusalem in 1099. The Pope, of course, responding to an appeal by Emperor Alexios I Komnenos to send westerner volunteers to his aid in repelling invading Seljuk Turks from Anatolia. The additional goal became the primary goal to conquer Jerusalem and the Holy land in order to free the Eastern Christians from Islamic rule. More to come!!