There is Beauty Here

Why We Need More People Like Jennifer Livingston to Tell the World There Is More to Life Than Our Weight

Since the use of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) became widespread and pretty much replaced cane sugar in most of the USA's selection of soft drinks and processed foods, the weight of most Americans has been going up every year. The ratio of large-to-thin people is fastly leaning toward the large side.

Eating fat doesn't make fat but eating anything with HFCS in it, does.

The comments on the above article make me sick. So many people think it's perfectly within their rights to judge anyone who doesn't fit the Madison Avenue-pushed physique. What is ironic is a lot of the people doing the judging aren't exactly model-thin themselves (and thank Goddess for that; being too thin has more health issues than being too fat).

It's very hard to avoid things with HFCS in it, especially in this day and age where food prices are skyrocketing and pocketbooks are thin. Next time you go to the grocery, try to find a loaf of bread that doesn't use HFCS as an ingredient. What do you notice? Those that don't have that listed as an ingredient are far more expensive than their counterparts.

This is true for any food product which uses natural sweeteners compared to those that do not.

A great deal of Americans have little choice but to purchase foods that are too high in carbohydrates, and too low in vegetables and meats. A diet consisting of fresh vegetables, fruits, and meats can get pretty expensive - so if you're not rich, it's hard to follow such a diet. It's more likely that you purchase certain preprocessed dinners and other foodstuffs - and every one of them contains HFCS.

Why didn't baby boomers get fat as kids drinking soda? Because during their childhood most sodas were sweetened with sugar. These days you have to purchase an off-brand or order soda special if you want some with sugar instead of HFCS.

The same goes for your bottled teas, energy drinks, fruit-based drinks, etc. Look on the label next time.

You see, we in the USA are caught in a conundrum: We cannot afford a completely fresh, from-scratch diet but we have "the ideal body" constantly shoved down our throats, and not just by television and other advertising. How many times has your doctor got on you about the few extra pounds you carry around, even if your blood pressure and cholesterol are perfect? Those few pounds aren't hurting you, not if the rest of you is healthy.

There are a whole host of "hidden diseases" which contribute to extra poundage as well - but those who are quick to judge never stop to think that perhaps that large person has one of those.

I am a large woman. I also have a host of "hidden" diseases that prevent me from being as physically active as I'd like to be. In fact, those diseases have caused me to be entitled to handicapped parking.

I remember years ago, when I was at my local store shopping. A slim, elderly couple went out of the store ahead of me, and they happened to be parked in a handicapped stall right next to my vehicle. They got to their car before I did, and caught sight of me when I got to mine. The looks on their faces said it all: I was a malingerer who likely was using my mother's handicapped card to get away with parking there. I stared at them for a bit, then said to them, out loud, "I have multiple sclerosis." They were in a quick hurry to get out of there after that.

We are all tempted to judge others by what we see. If you don't think so, pay attention the next time you're looking at someone on the street (or a "personality" on the TV) and ask yourself what are your first thoughts. Are they a critique of how that person looks? How sexually appealing they are? How thin or fat they are?

October is Anti-Bullying month. I wish they would've had such a thing when I was in public school but back then bullying wasn't so much on the national radar because we didn't have the convenience of the Internet inflating the problem. That doesn't mean bullying didn't exist. It not only existed, it was just as painful to us kids who endured it then as it is for the modern kids of today.

I was one of those kids criticized for my weight, even though I was bright, healthy, and active. I was beat up a lot, had nice outfits ruined on purpose, etc. My mother fought the good fight for me and made sure I got a bus seat behind the driver, as well as talking to teachers and playground supervisors about why they were turning their heads to the violence being done to her kid.

There should have been more like my mother back then - and there should be more like her, now. Jennifer Livingston nailed it when she said that the best way to discourage bullying is by example. How many of you sit there and vocally criticize others, right in front of your kids? What, you don't think bullying is a learned behavior? Think again. It always was, and always will be, so if you don't want your kids to be bullies then stop being a bully yourself.

Nobody is perfect on the outside - even those who model clothing. Their thin-ness brings on a whole new set of problems that a large person will never face, and they're far more serious than those faced by a large person. No one SHOULD be that thin so please STOP holding that body type up as an example to "strive for". Do any of you realize how much money you mis-spend on diet plans, exercise equipment, and related items? It's a multi-billion dollar business and has it really done anything for you besides drain your pocket? The answer is likely a resounding "no".

Stop feeding that industry, and stop thinking that you should look like a Madison Avenue model. Eat the best diet you're economically capable of and do what you can to make yourself feel alive and healthy. Stop worrying about a few extra pounds and start worrying about how we all criticize one another over the most trivial of things. You can't take a walk in that person's shoes so you don't know all the factors that may have led up to them being a larger person. You also don't know if they are healthy at that weight - and frankly it is none of your business. Stop turning your sights outward and turn them inward, toward yourself and your family.

Teach your kids that size does not make them better or worse. Teach them that their skin color, their weight, their acne, or any of a dozen more visual things, do not define who they really are and what they are capable of. Teach them to turn a deaf ear to anyone who bullies them for their differences. Support your kids' self-esteem and that kid will grow up happy and healthy, regardless of size, skin color, gender identity, or other things which may make them subject to bullying.

Please don't be a sociopathic turd and point fingers at a woman like Jennifer and have the audacity to say she's not a good example for the community. She's an excellent example, and you could learn a lot from her.

Stop teaching your kids that it's okay to bully someone because they're different.

Note: I know some folks hate this man, but you have to admit that he speaks the truth in this letter. ~L

"President Romney" – How to Prevent Those Two Words From Ever Being Spoken ...a letter from Michael Moore

Thursday, September 6th, 2012

Friends,

In two months we Americans will go to the polls once again to decide who the president will be for the next four years. We will not be allowed to vote on those who wield the true power in this country. On November 6th we will not vote for the chairman of ExxonMobil or JPMorgan Chase or Citibank or the Premier of China. That day will come, but not this year.

Now, I know there are a goodly number of you out there who believe there's not a snowball's chance in Kenya that Barack Obama will not be re-elected to the White House. And why would you believe otherwise? After the incredible Democratic convention this week, with the best rock-em-sock-em speeches I've heard from a Democrat's mouth since … since, I don't know when. You can't help but not have a contact high after this past week if you are of the sort who believes in economic justice, peace, and a five-dollar latte. Right now, with the buzz on, you are sitting there thinking that your fellow Americans will turn out in massive numbers, either because they want to continue the Obama era or because they're scared shitless of the barbarians at the gate – or both. You're convinced that the Republicans have blown it with all their talk of the lady parts they want to control even though we now know that they have no idea where those parts are, what they are, or how they work.

Yes, it certainly looks like the voters will reject this obscenely wealthy man called Romney — Romney of Michigan/Massachusetts/New Hampshire/Utah/Zurich/Grand Cayman — this man who will not explain exactly how all his wealth was obtained, where he keeps it, or how much taxes he pays on it. He wants to turn the clock back to the '50s – the 1850s – and he refuses to offer any specific plan about what he'll do about anything. He wants to run the country like a corporation but he can't even control one 82-year-old actor on his own convention stage, a Hollywood legend who, in the matter of ten and a half minutes went from Good (walking onto the stage) to Bad (talking to a chair) and then to Ugly (the chair started … swearing?). It was better than the best cat-flushing-the-toilet video on YouTube and it was a gift to all of us who know that Romney is doomed come November.

Or is he?

Last week, I said on the HuffPost Live webcast that we had all better start practicing how to say "President Romney" because, living in Michigan, I can tell you that there's trouble here on the two peninsulas and it's not just because Romney is a native son or that we like to watch kids from Cranbrook chase down gay kids and chop their hair off. One recent poll here showed Romney leading Obama by four points! How can that be? Didn't Obama save Detroit?

No, he didn't. He saved General Motors and Chrysler. "Detroit" (and Flint and Pontiac and Saginaw) are not defined by the global corporations who suck our towns dry and then split town to make more money elsewhere (except, of course, they continued to design and built crap cars, so eventually they didn't make the money at all). These cities in Michigan are about the people who live here, and in the process of "saving Detroit," Mr. Obama had to fire thousands of these people, and reduce the benefits and pensions of those who were left. There's a lot of pissed off people in Michigan (and Wisconsin and Ohio), people who weren't saved even though the corporation was. I'm just stating a fact, and those of you who don't live here should know this.

The other problem facing us this election (spoiler alert – angry white guys may want to stop reading right now) … is race. We all fear there's probably a good 40% of the country who simply do not want a black man in the Oval Office. In fact, in 2008, Obama lost the white vote. He lost every white age group except young people (18-29). And yet he still won by 10 million votes! The optimistic secret the Obama people know is that only about 70% of the voters in November will be white. So if he can win just 35-40% of them, and then get a massive majority of people of color, he can win re-election. There is no question in my mind that Obama is more popular than Romney and if everyone could vote from their couch like they do for American Idol, Obama would win hands down. As I have said before, we live in a liberal country. The majority of Americans (who do not call themselves "liberal") now support most of the liberal agenda – they're for gay marriage, they're pro-choice, they're anti-war, they believe there's global warming, and they hate Wall Street for what it has done to them and their neighbors. The Republicans know this: that we, the majority, will have sex when we want and with whom we want, will read and watch whatever we want when we want, will use marijuana if we want and if we don't want to then we certainly don't want our friends who do to be throw into prison. We are sick and tired of being poisoned, by chemicals or propaganda, we think the Palestinians have been given a raw deal and we want our friggin' jobs back! The Christian Right (and their Wall Street funders) know this all too well – America has turned, and there's no going back to not loving someone because of the color of their skin or expecting women to cede control of their bodies to a bunch of Neanderthals. So, what's a Rightie to do now that we've turned the joint into Sodom and G? They have to suppress the vote! They have to stop as many liberals from voting as possible. So they've passed many voter suppression laws to make it hard for the poor, the minorities, the disabled and students to vote. They honestly believe they call pull this off – and they just may. The only "positive" thing about this is that their need to have such laws in order to win the election is an admission on the part of the Republicans that they know the U.S. Is a liberal country and that the only way they can now win now is to cheat. Trust me, if they believed that America was a right-wing country they'd be passing laws making it so easy to vote you could do it in the checkout line at Walmart.

But the voting on November 6th will not take place at Walmart or on any potato's couch. It can only happen by going to a polling place – and, not to state the obvious, the side that gets the most people physically out to the polls that day, wins. We know the Republicans are spending tens of millions of dollars to make sure this very thing happens. They have built a colossal get-out-the-vote machine for election day, and the sheer force of their tsunami of hate stands ready to overwhelm us like nothing we've ever seen before. Those of us in the Midwest got a taste of it in 2008. Traditionally Democratic states – all of which voted for Obama – saw our state legislatures and governor seats hijacked by this well-oiled machine. We didn't know what hit us, but these new Republicans wasted no time in dismantling some of the very basic thing we hold dear. Wisconsin fought back – but even that huge grassroots uprising was not enough to stop the governor bought and paid for by the Koch brothers. It was a wake up call, for sure – but have we really woken up?

It's been a great week in Charlotte, and I'm getting ready now to watch Barack Obama give his speech. It's OK for us to take a couple days to high-five each other, but I cannot stress enough to you that unless you and I are doing something every day for the next 60 days to get people out to vote, then there is a chance we will all be saying "President Romney" come January. Don't think it can't happen. Hate, sad to say, at least in America these days, is a far greater motivator than love and feelin' groovy.

For those of us who believe that the history of the Democrats and the Republicans is to do the bidding of the 1% (Obama's #1 private contributor in '08 were the people at Goldman Sachs), and that while the Dems are a kinder/gentler bunch, they are also just as quick to want to take us to war and sell us out to the corporate interests (and, yes, Obamacare is a $$ gift to the insurance companies; only a single-payer system will stop that), this election is a bit of a bitter pill. We were hugely disappointed when President Obama didn't charge out of the gate after his inauguration and undo the damage that had been done (as FDR did in his first hundred days) – and only when Wall Street stopped writing him the big campaign checks this past year did he get his mojo back and start fighting the fight that needs to be fought. He's a good and decent person (when he's not sending in drones to kill Pakistani civilians or prosecuting government whistleblowers), and his election four years ago was a high point of such emotional intensity I just couldn't get over how hopeful I was that this country had changed and we had found our moral footing. Reality set in a few weeks later when he put Tim Geithner and Larry Summers in charge of economic policy and then he changed his mind about closing Gitmo.

OK, so people like me, just once in our lifetime, would like to get our way all the time! Is that too much to ask? Of course, there is a different question that is in the air now — shall we give the country back to the crowd who gave the country to the 1%? I think not. So let's join in with our liberal majority and be fierce and relentless in these next two months. Let's spend this time educating people what we mean when we say things like "single-payer" and "Blackwater." Politics and the fate of the nation (and the world – sorry, world) are on the front burner and those of us who want to wrestle control of our society out of the hands of the few can take healthy advantage of these coming weeks. Don't sit it out. Don't try to convince anyone Obama has magically transformed us – just tell them four years is simply not enough time to undo all the hurt caused by biggest economic crash since the Great Depression and the biggest military blunder/lie in our history.

I'm going to go with my optimistic side here (sorry, cynics, you know I love you) and imagine a Second Term Obama (and a Democratically-controlled Congress) who will go after all the good that our people deserve and put the power of our democracy back in our hands. There's good reason why the Right is terrified of a Second Term Obama because that is exactly what they think he'll do: the real Obama will appear and take us down the road to social justice and tolerance and a leveling of the economic playing field. For once, I'd like to say I agree with the Right – and I sincerely hope their worst nightmare does come true.

Yours,
Michael Moore
[email protected]
@MMFlint
MichaelMoore.com

...going to keep happening for awhile. Some of this is old shit so if you don't want to read it again, skip over this entry....
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I grew up Christian, and I was Christian into my 30s.

What I was taught is not what is apparently being taught these days. I was taught that to be a Christian, one should be forgiving, generous, and help those who need help.

Then I hear about Chick-Fil-A and the controversy surrounding what the owner said about his company being run on "Christian Values" when asked about gays.

Um....

There is a brief statement in the Old Testament that says a man should not lay with another man. That is the entire foundation of the beliefs certain individuals and Churches possess and use against those who are gay, bisexual, transgender, or other-gender. Further research into the time that quote applied to reveals that the Jews were commanded to "go forth and multiply". Well, that can't happen in a gay relationship, can it? There is absolutely NOTHING in the New Testament that condemns other-than-heterosexual people to the fires of Hell. NOTHING. If you're going to take things literally, then take it literally where Jesus tells you that he brought a new Covenant to his people. The Old Testament is nothing more than reference.

We live in the United States of America, whose Founding Fathers laid down the rules that keep religion out of government, and yet, under Bush I and II, the separation of Church and State was eroded. As a result, we have scores of groups claiming to be Christian who are doing their best to influence how our government is run - all the way from the local to the federal. They have succeeded in twisting laws about abortion. They have succeeded in keeping gays and women second-class citizens. They have promulgated hatred against non-Aryan races, under the radar - and, oddly enough - have gotten members of some of those races to go along with them. It's a twisted and sick picture that I see, and one that makes me very glad to have walked away from Christianity, if that's what it means to be Christian these days.

This is the 21st Century and our culture is forever evolving. The way I see it, people like I'm talking about seek to keep things "the way they were" because they're afraid of anything they don't understand.

My "god" wouldn't allow non-hetero people if they weren't meant to be here. Perhaps it is our species' way of cutting down population. Perhaps we're evolving, as a species, into something that isn't so neatly divided as "male" and "female". It sure looks that way, if you turn off the TV, and the radio, and put down the newspaper and just think about it, in your head, by yourself, without other "voices" trying to influence your opinion.

I am of a dying breed; true Free Thinkers are rare these days. I was brought up to question, to research, never to take anything at face value. I have come to the unfortunate conclusion that "Christianity" as put forth by "popular culture" is not something I would ever want to be identified with. It teaches that women should be pregnant, barefoot, and chained to the stove, rather than fulfilling their human potential as they see it. It teaches that a woman's reproductive organs are domionion of men, and subject to men's regulation. It teaches that if I am anything but one gender and a heteroseuxal one at that, there's something wrong with me, and I'm going to Hell for it. It does not give any wriggle room for anything outside of Black and White.

It's totally unrealistic, and I refuse to have anything to do with it.

I am calling this "the lost week" simply because it was too damned hot to do anything, even indoors.

It got SO hot early in the week (high on Monday was 110) that the swamp cooler was overwhelmed and no matter what you did, it was warm in the house. The thermometer on my little window a/c unit in the bedroom was reading mid-to-high 80s.

Then, the monsoonal moisture moved in, and the humidity shot up outside - once again defeating the swamp cooler. I was cool but damp all over.

Then this evening the weather switched entirely and my joints all said UGH, as well as my sinuses.

Sandy is hopefully coming over tomorrow and he and M can start sorting out the jumble of belongings occupying our living and dining room. I don't anticpate doing very much because just thinking about it makes my back hurt (literally).

We've only been here a couple of days but already I like this place much better than the other place.

For one, it's filled with TREES. Trees of several different varieties. Just in our area alone I've identified cottonwoods, possibly poplars, different kinds of pine. This has made us both realize how sterile the other place was. If a resident didn't plant it, there wasn't much of anything. We were lucky there in having a fairly old-growth tree growing in our neighbor's yard that overhung their fence. While the lots are larger there, they are generally filled with nothing. Our old neighbors across the street were lucky enough to "inherit" several trees and other foliage, but they've neglected it all since moving in. I'm glad I won't be around to watch things slowly die off, anymore.

It's very quiet here as well. Even with Independence Day coming up, I've heard relatively little in the way of fireworks. A few large rockets. A Roman Candle here and there. Small fircrackers set off in strings. For the most part, it's been quiet and quite peaceful.

We're still near enough to the train to hear it but that's true for a goodly share of residents in this town. I don't hear the highway like I used to, though if the wind switches to the right direction I can hear the noisier big rigs and occasional motorcycle. Nothing like where we were living before.

This place is more real somehow, perhaps because most of the residents aren't what I'd term relatively well-off. From what I've seen so far, we have a lot of working families, disabled people, and others on fixed incomes. Though some of the mobile homes are in rough shape I don't get a sense of dread or danger, probably because the "lower elements" have enough sense not to do bad things right where they live. They also have security out here and just the other night, I saw one of their number rolling through.

This is a gated community which means not every tom, dick or mary can just come waltzing through. They need a clicker, need to be able to be let in by someone in the park, or have to follow a resident in. Granted, some could simply follow someone else in but it doesn't seem to be that big of a problem.

I feel at peace here in a way I didn't ever feel at the other place, and a lot has to do with the owners and the residents that are here. Nobody is pretentious. Nobody is, pardon the expression, "lily white", if you know what I mean. Sure, some folks have nicer digs and nicer cars but I don't get the impression of anyone feeling they're so much better than anyone else.

Residency is a very mixed bag of white, spanish american, african american. I haven't seen any asian yet but they could be here. It's a cornucopia and I like that.

This place is big enough that it could be considered a small town of its own and I feel like we fit right in. Some people referred to us as "hippies" at the other place; I have the feeling that nobody would ever say that about us here.

Even the cats seem to be more relaxed.

Well, we found a rental. It isn't the most elegant place, but it's nice, and it has a fireplace. We go tomorrow to do a walk-through and see all what has to be fixed before we move in, hopefully right before July 1st. If we can get in before July 1, we won't have to pay the grizzled old lady a dime.

We also found out that she's now responsible for the lot rent, according to our park manager.

We're moving into a HUGE park (something like 350 units). Our house is on the very back of the lot and both lots aside of it are empty. They have cable there, so we can also ditch our unreliable DSL. If we have to, we'll get the business plan, just to make sure we don't hit any caps, because word has it that Comcast will terminate you if you hit their cap even once.

It has a swamp cooler, which I'm not very thrilled about. I still have the window air conditioner from my house in Wisconsin, and that cooled 800 square feet fairly well, so we can supplement with it if we need to. All I know is we ran around in the heat yesterday (park owner wanted to show us ALL the units, even though we said we'd already decided on the last one) and then I sat in their swamp-cooled office and didn't really get any relief till I got home into A/C. We might do the "floor unit" type of air conditioner too. In other words, we do have options.

My room isn't big enough for my bed and my computer so I get to set up out in the living room. There are tall windows on the front, with smaller crank-out windows with screens in them. It's going to be fantastic for ventilation.

The outside is kind of beat up but we aren't buying the place and the owner is responsible for all repairs. We are going tomorrow morning to sign the lease, pay our deposits, and take a walk-through to see what has to be fixed up prior to moving in.

The owner would like us to buy the place but it's old and it's seen better days. Out of the three we looked at however, it was in the best shape. The other two were dumps in my opinion and I wouldn't have lived in them.

I love the fireplace. I love the open floorplan in front with the living room and kitchen, and I especially love those front windows. I don't mind a few dings here and dents there, as long as everything is safe and works.

We have to get a gas dryer - they don't do electrical dryers. The cheapest I've found for the size we need is 539.00 at Lowe's. It's a Whirlpool, which is the "root" brand of Sears Kenmore. I've had Kenmore appliances for years and years. Our current washer/dryer set are roughly 16 years old and I've had exactly one maintenance call, and that was at the very beginning when I did something stupid and it wouldn't drain. They're tough and worth every penny.

I am DEFINITELY looking forward to cooking with gas, again. I don't like cooking with electric nearly as much.

It also doesn't have a microwave. I have a very old one but I'd like to get a newer one. I'm somewhat suspicious of the old one using too much electricity and leaking too many microwaves.

All I know is my mind is now at rest. We have a place to go, and we have folks that will help us move there.

Whew.

We had to go to Mojave, but thankfully it was a short court appearance. No, Ms. Goldenring did not show up, but her lawyer did, and boy did he look sheepish when he took one look at me with my cane and the fact that I was visibly shaking.

Pisses me off that she didn't show up. I wanted a gander at this 88yo woman who was making my life a living hell. I also wanted her to see me, so I ceased to be an abstraction to her.

We have an agreement. Be out by July 31, leave the place "broom clean". Easy enough to do, we just have to find the local dump. Our neighbor Sandy and his sister are going to help us.

Now I take the rest of the day off.

I really miss this guy and it's too bad there isn't a show like this on TV nowadays for kids to make happy memories with...