27 posts tagged “politics”

I copied these facts from the website for "What's On Your Plate?" a documentary about kids and food politics.

Important Facts About Kids and Food

One in three U.S. children born in the year 2000 could develop type II diabetes during their lifetimes.

- Centers for Disease Control

The rate of obesity among children today is four times as high as it was in the early 1970’s.

- Time Magazine, June 12, 2008 Issue

One study found that only 27% of parents of overweight or obese children ages 2 to 17 acknowledged themselves as such.

- Time Magazine, June 12, 2008 Issue

Overweight children are more likely than healthy-weight kids to be anxious, unhappy and depressed.

- Time Magazine, June 12, 2008 Issue

40% of all Cancer is diet related.

- Fierro, Michael. "Cancer Prevention and Control Information" National Governor's Association: Best Practices, April, 13, 2001

The generation of Americans born in the year 2000 is the first in history to have a shorter life expectancy than its parents.

- Centers for Disease Control

In 2001, Americans consumed 15 billion gallons of soft drinks, twice as much as in 1974 and the equivalent to 587 12-ounce servings per year for every man, woman, and child.

- Center for Science in the Public Interest

More than 25 percent of two-year-olds eat French fries or fried potatoes on any given day.

- The Future of Children, Princeton-Brookings

In 1970, Americans spent $6.2 billion at fast food restaurants; in 2004, the amount was $124 billion. Twenty times as much.

- "Don't Eat This Book" by Morgan Spurlock

The United States exports 1.1 million tons of potatoes a year and imports 1.4 million tons of potatoes a year.

- Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

Our food travels an average of 1,500 miles before we eat it.

- Gussow, Joan-Dye. "What is Sustainable Cuisine- and Why Does it Matter So Much?" (Presentation to the 5th Annual Chef's Collaborative 2000 Retreat), Phoenix, Ariz., 7-9 June 1998

Most children can recognize over 1,700 products but do not know what's grown and produced locally.

- Cloud, Jaimie. The Sustainability Education Center, New York, 2002

The American Dietetic Associations' funders have included Kellogg, Kraft Foods, Campbell Soup, Nestle USA, Coca-Cola, General Mills, Nabisco, ConAgra and Sunkist.

- ADA's Donor Report Lists

US Agriculture uses 1.2 billion lbs of pesticides each year, roughly 5 lbs for every American.

- Curtis, Jennifer "Fields of Change: A New Crop of American Farmers Finds Alternatives to Pesticides." (Natural Resources Defense Council, July 1998)

70% of all antibiotics consumed in this country are utilized in animal husbandry.

- Benbrook, Charles, et al., " Hogging It: Estimates of Antimicrobial Abuse in Livestock". Union of Concerned Scientists, 2001

Corn-fed beef is less healthy because it contains more saturated fat and fewer Omega 3 fatty acids than the meat of grass-fed cattle.

- The Omnivores' Dilemma by Michael Pollan

A typical fast food hamburger may come from over 1,000 cows from 5 different countries.

- Schlosser, Eric, Fast Food Nation: The Dark side of the All-American Meal (Harper Collins, 2002)

Between 1989 and 2005 the price of fruits and vegetables rose 74.6% while the price of fats fell 26.5%

- Time Magazine, June 12, 2008 Issue

Could my red state turn blue?

In an election today in Indiana, Barack Obama takes 48% of the vote, John McCain 47% of the vote -- a statistical tie -- according to this latest SurveyUSA poll conducted exclusively for WHAS-TV Louisville and WCPO-TV Cincinnati. Obama's 1-point lead is within the survey's 4 percentage point margin of sampling error, and these results should be reported as a tie. Among men, McCain leads by 5; among women, Obama leads by 7 -- a 12-point gender gap. Among voters age 18 to 49, Obama leads by 5; among voters 50+, McCain leads by 3. Obama leads by 22 points among voters under age 35. 16% of Republicans cross over to vote for Democrat Obama; 19% of Democrats cross over to vote for Republican McCain; Independents favor Obama by 7 points. Among those voters who say they have already made up their minds, the two candidates are tied; among the 25% who say they could still change their mind, Obama leads by 2.

I know this is close and it is early, but typically in Indiana the Republican presidential candidate would be enjoying a head and shoulders lead over the Democratic candidate. 

Jill Long-Thompson, our Democratic candidate for Governor, just annouced that Dennie Oxley would be her running mate.  Wait.  Dennie . . . who?  I needed to learn more about this dude, so I used "the Google" and came up with this:

He is a fairly conservative Democrat. He is a member of the National Rifle Association and was the only Democrat on the House Rules Committee last year to vote for a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

Oy! 

Who do you think Obama and McCain will choose as running mates?

John McCain:  Well, I hope he chooses Bobby Jindal (Governor of La.), especially after learning that Gov. Jindal abandoned his Indian name and changed his name to "Bobby" in homage to Bobby Brady and that he performed an exorcism with a group of college friends.  That's good stuff!

Barack Obama:    My personal favorite is Mark Warner.  Actually, Mark Warner was my early favorite in the presidential race until he dropped his campaign.  And, in a nutshell, here's why I like him:  Mark Warner was one of the founders of Nextel (now known as Sprint Nextel), a hugely successful corporation.  And he was a very popular two-term Governor of Virginia.  With his credentials as a successful businessman and governor of a red state, a Warner VP pick would really speak to the many Americans feeling economic stress (and who isn't?).  Also, he was born in Indianapolis, so there is a Hoosier connection!   And, his wife , who was the first Virginia First Lady to keep her maiden name, is pretty cool too. That said, Gov. Warner is currently running for Senate, so that could be a roadblock, I guess ... Nevertheless, I'll keep my fingers crossed.   

Victory

I can't wait for the first Obama/McCain debate!

I Can't Read the Teleprompter!

The Democratic Primary is coming to an end.

And Hillary Clinton will acknowledge Barack Obama as the nominee.

Let's Celebrate!

Here's to the end of a spirited contest!  Now, let's unite and win the White House!

Clink!

Update:  Wait.  What?  Oh well ... I'm still celebrating the official end of the Democratic Primary!  Salute!

PS to Terry McAuliffe:  Stop!  

Okay, here's something I really don't get.  Last night on one of the cable news programs, there were some poll numbers indicating that a significant percentage of Hillary Clinton's supporters say they will vote for John McCain if Hillary doesn't get the Democratic nomination. To the extent that Hillary has a large female base of support, this gives me pause.  To a Hillary supporter, there should be nothing appealing about John McCain.

John McCain is no friend to women.  Many believe McCain is pro-choice.  He is not.  Seriously!  He's not. 

He voted against the minimum wage adjustment in 2006.  He voted against the equal pay bill in 2008.

He dumped his first wife after she was left disabled from a car accident and he has used some offensive language toward his current wife.  Furthermore, some may recall the "joke" he made at Chelsea Clinton's expense?  Indeed, he even thought it was quite okay to refer to Hillary as "the bitch."

So, as a woman, how could you even think about voting for John McCain?

Bill Clinton is mad!

She is winning the general election today, and he is not, according to all the evidence," Clinton said. "And I have never seen anything like it. I have never seen a candidate treated so disrespectfully just for running.

Right.  Because we all know that Bill Clinton would Never Disrepect Hillary.

I am growing ever so tired of the claims of sexism on behalf of the Hillary Clinton campaign.  And, you know, I'm female with some working knowledge of sexual harassment/discrimination matters, so I think I can detect sexism when I hear it or see it, and in the context of Hillary Clinton's campaign I don't even get a whiff of it. 

As a woman, and mother of a daughter, I would LOVE to see a woman elected President someday, just not Hillary Clinton.  And, if Hillary is some sort of champion of women's rights, that is news to me.  In fact, as this article articulates so well, I don't even think of Hillary as a woman candidate, probably because she's doing her best to act like a man.  And I just don't think that's good for women.  

Hillary has proven that sometimes the best man for the job may be a female posing to be a man. In other words, Hillary has simply clothed herself in men’s tactics and strategies. She can nuke with the best of them. Hillary not only authorized the war in Iraq but she repeatedly continued to do so for several more years — up until the time she began running for president. She allowed, along with Bill Clinton, the egregious trade blockade against Iraq as hundreds of thousands of children starved to death after the ‘91 war. She more recently has supported Israel’s terror bombing of Lebanon and has newly endorsed “the total obliteration” of Iran.

When Hillary became a US Senator, I saw that as a perfect opportunity to set herself apart and handle things with a cooler head and a gentler touch.  It could have been oh-so-effective.  And it was so disappointing when she started toeing the Republican Party line. 

Hillary is a sexual decoy. She looks like a woman but is not a feminist nor does she speak for or on behalf of most women. She speaks for white people while identifying with her gender, as a woman. But she has trumped herself here. If a female prepares to bully the rest of the world with war and white privilege hopefully we — the big “we” — the “we” that spans across our differences will defeat the political forces she represents. And this means building a coalition for the November elections that makes sure that a non-misogynist agenda is part of the anti-racist politics of the Obama campaign.

Isn't it sort of funny that Barack Obama is coming across as the softer, gentler candidate?  I don't know about you, but I'll take calm and controlled over bombastic and belligerent anyday, and most especially on Election Day!