Sweet Meat

I've struggled with meat for years. So much so that I was a vegetarian eater for several years and even a vegan for a short period of time. Initially, it was due to my concern over the standard of living of food animals as well as environmental factors. When I got married, I discovered that it was difficult to cook separate meals and I greatly relaxed my meatless dining habits only to be told in the early 2000s that I could no longer give blood due to potential exposure to variant Creutzfeld-Jacob Disease (vCJD) (aka Mad Cow Disease). Guidelines state that you may not give blood if:

You were a member of the of the U.S. military, a civilian military employee, or a dependent of a member of the U.S. military who spent a total time of 6 months on or associated with a military base in any of the following areas during the specified time frames

* From 1980 through 1990 - Belgium, the Netherlands (Holland), or Germany

You spent (visited or lived) a cumulative time of 5 years or more from January 1, 1980, to present, in any combination of country(ies) in Europe, including

* in the UK from 1980 through 1996 as listed in above
* on or associated with military bases as described above, and
* in other countries in Europe as listed below:

o Germany

-American Red Cross

I lived in Germany from 1981 to 1992, guess I got the message, I can not give blood because I may have eaten some bad meat. Not only did this news irritate me but once again I was repulsed by meat. After more investigation though I became more disgusted with the practices that allowed a disease like vCJD to spread. You see, large production farms, always looking to save a buck, decided to grind up the waste bits of farm animals and use it as food to feed other farm animals such as cows. That this was not banned at the outset is absolutely disgusting. What freaking moron thought of this practice, probably the same stupid fat f*ck who decided to grain cattle to "fatten" them up so that they can be ready for slaughter faster and make more fat f*cks. What's wrong with feeding an animal their natural diet? We could save ourselves so much by just feeding our feed animals the things that they are naturally made to eat. For cows, it's this green stuff that grows out of the ground. Stuff like grass, alfalfa, hay...Stuff that makes naturally lean beef.

Graining cattle is appalling and it's taken me years to get that through my spouses cranium but guess what, one taste of our own naturally fed beef and he's hooked. Graining cattle is force-feeding so that a cow can fatten up for slaughter in six months as opposed to the 2-4 years of normal growth to slaughter size. Corn-fed beef is also bad for you and I.

After the news that I could not give blood I absolutely refused to purchase beef from our local grocery stores, instead opting to travel to the nearest Whole Foods Market, about an hour away, to ensure that I could get grass-fed, hormone free beef for my family. Now, I'm practically spoiled, my beef is in my backyard, eating what they like to eat and generally looking pretty damn happy.


That's Honeymoon above, she's the boss (maybe it's the horns! or that she's bigger than our little Gelbvieh girls, Black Betty and Black Berry). You should see them running to us when we come up to the fence with a treat, yesterday it was dandelions that I pulled up from the yard. They are social animals and have not only provided my family with safe meat but are fun to be near and help us teach our child about responsibility.

So, what brought all of this on today?

The recall of 96,000 pounds of ground beef due to E. coli 0157:H7 contamination last night. The product was packaged on March 10th and the first illness was reported on May 13th, resulting in the recall on May 21st. E. coli is naturally found in intestines, so in the most basic sense, the beef in question is contaminated with fecal matter which is not exactly unusual in meat processing plants. That's why they want you to cook your meat to a certain temperature, and especially be wary of ground meat, because any contamination has been mixed into the meat instead of just resting on the outside.

View the recalled products here. You'll note that the products in question are USDA inspected but keep in mind only a small percentage is ever actually inspected. Read all about meat processing and inspection at Sustainable Table.

Bottom line, if you do eat meat please think about where your meat comes from, it could save your life. If you live nearby, I'll serve you naturally fed Scottish Highland beef and you won't even be able to stomach mass-produced beef again!

Sidhe, The Wandering Elf
AWOP Contributor
Author of Musings of a Wandering Elf Blog

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Peace Y'all

BlogBlast For Peace: How A Movement Began

It's been called everything from a cyberspace revolution to organic to a waste of time. To some it is a phenomenon. To many, a bloggers day to connect and represent. To others just an ordinary spot on the calendar. But to all who blogged for peace - it is a voice for change.

To me it is a passion.

In October 2006, I wrote an article on my blog semi-venting about the state of our world and pondering how I could do anything about it. North Korea's testing of nuclear weapons caught the attention of the world and on the same day a small plane flew into a New York apartment building stirring memories of terror. The news was unsettling. Frightful. Sobering. So I threw out a challenge to my handful of readers that perhaps, if we all wrote our names across our world and loudly, oh so loudly, proclaimed "Dona nobis pacem" (translated from the Latin "Grant Us Peace") that maybe, just maybe, we could see change, at least in our own little spheres. I asked that we post it on the same day with the same title in a display of unity. In less than sixty days, hundreds of bloggers had done just that. Before I could wrap my brain around it, little blue peace globes began spinning out of control across the blogosphere. I found them everywhere. It was amazing! From cat bloggers, dog bloggers, gerbils, birds, moms, dads, rockers, preachers, soldiers, mothers, gay, straight, liberal and conservative. The Peace Globe Movement aka BlogBlast For Peace began.

Our sixth launch takes flight

November 5, 2009.

Will you be there?

Today there are forty-six countries participating and thousands of blog posts about the movement and its influence. Wait a minute. Movement? Me? You? We? We started a movement? How? And more importantly, why? People wrote to me, "I never thought I had a voice until now."

I kept hearing that over and over. And this -

"There is a roof over my head, food in my

refrigerator- and in my belly... For me, life is good, and full of fun and

games. For some people, none of life is fun and games.....On November 5th a call for peace will rise from the blogosphere. I plan to show my gratitude for my

life and privileges I deem common place, by asking that those privileges become

common place the world over." (Quilldancer)

Luxor The Cat purred, “I always picture us linked together by our individual globes, our heartfelt wishes spreading out over the blogosphere in a wave of love and light and hope for the future."

Ambitiously naive? Hardly.

Not even for a cat.

I began to read, one at a time, the carefully crafted posts, marveling at the creativity and individuality sprawled on the simple blue graphic - the pithy and the poignant - humbled by the pure intent behind the words. A wish for peace. I was so moved I found myself weeping at my computer. From Zimbabwe, Scotland, United Arab Emirates, Spain, Bolivia, South Africa, California.....they all had something to say about peace; what it meant to them personally, what it means in their part of the globe, and what it means to us collectively.

Suddenly my blog neighbor half a world away moved into my neighborhood. Blog communities globally melded. We were a sight to behold. For one day our hearts bled passionate words of hope - all over the world.

Our language and circumstance strikingly different, our yearning for peace the same.

Indeed. A movement began. It is my privilege to represent the peace bloggers.

One blogger in Canada wrote, “.....if social connections exist and what we write has power, why can’t a group of people posting a similar graphic calling for peace - whatever the word peace means to you - wield similar power?"

I no longer doubt it. Voices of peace can't war. We launched, quite literally, a revolution of words. Stealth. Steady. Marking our world with a promise.

And oh.so.loud.

I have changed since the beginning of Dona Nobis Pacem in the blogosphere. I am changing still. Revolution? Of the kindest kind. It is a turning. An attitude shift. A metamorphosis. An evolution – one in which the power of our words manifests intrinsic change and expands our compassion for and understanding of people everywhere, dictates a respect for diversity, and calls me – and my neighbors – to a place of peace.

This is the hope I have for myself. It is my hope for you.

The voices of our time matter.

Won't you add yours to the growing number of peace bloggers?

Click here to find out how

Mimi Lenox
AWOP Contributor
Author of Mimi Writes Blog


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Peace Y'all

Change? Reform? Where?

Like many other Americans who either supported Barack Obama's campaign last year or who care deeply about our nation's dire need for health care / insurance reform, I received an email from the White House on the subject.

Here's a little snippet from the message:

"The Vice President and I just met with leaders from the House of Representatives and received their commitment to pass a comprehensive health care reform bill by July 31.

We also have an unprecedented commitment from health care industry leaders, many of whom opposed health reform in the past. Monday, I met with some of these health care stakeholders, and they pledged to do their part to reduce the health care spending growth rate, saving more than two trillion dollars over the next ten years -- around $2,500 for each American family. Then on Tuesday, leaders from some of America's top companies came to the White House to showcase innovative ways to reduce health care costs by improving the health of their workers.

Now the House and Senate are beginning a critical debate that will determine the health of our nation's economy and its families. This process should be transparent and inclusive and its product must drive down costs, assure quality and affordable health care for everyone, and guarantee all of us a choice of doctors and plans.

Health care reform can't come soon enough. We spend more on health care than any country, but families continue to struggle with skyrocketing premiums and nearly 46 million are without insurance entirely. It is a priority for the American people and a pillar of the new foundation we are seeking to build for our economy."
...

Is this the same person who as a candidate so eloquently advocated for something akin to a single payer plan?

Did they get him in the Oval Office and force feed the Kool-Aid to him?

The insurance industry is scared shitless of the growing popular appetite for a single payer national health plan. So afraid that earlier this week they met with Mr. Obama at the White House and essentially tried to sue for peace.

According to the President's message above, the two trillion dollars that the bloodsuckers, er uh, insurance executives pledged in reduced costs over ten years will amount to $2,500 per family.

So let me get this straight, Blue Cross, Humana, et al. are going to trim the fat from their operations in a way that will save my family roughly $250 per year, probably by laying off some low level clerical workers and replacing them with part-timers and temps.

When I had health insurance for my family (Blue Cross) through my last employer, the monthly premiums that I paid came to almost $450 per month, and I still had deductibles so high that I could only afford to use the plan for the most hellish nightmare scenario.

HOW THE HELL IS SAVING ME LESS THAN ONE MONTHLY PREMIUM PER YEAR ANY SORT OF REFORM?

Mr. Obama, if this is the change we were all lead to believe in, your late mother is rolling in her grave. Stop cowering before the corporate status quo and show us something we can honestly believe in.

Bipartisanship will only get us the same old thing: plenty at the top and another full ration of pain at the bottom.

http://www.HealthReform.gov

Thurman
AWOP Contributor
Author of Random Abstractions Blog

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Peace Y'all

Sweet Snarky Serenity

Did you know that the United States has a Commission on International Religious Freedom?

Apparently it was created out of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 and the panel issues a report of the worst international oppressors of religious freedom annually. When a country is identified in the report as CPC (countries of particular concern) our Secretary of State has some policy options available to address these concerns, including sanctions.

You can view the CPCs here. Now my sweet, snarky, and yes, even twisty mind is wondering why the US isn't on that list.

Okay, okay, the countries on that list are unarguably more religiously oppressive than our own (and I am certainly not making light of the oppression present in those countries but bringing to your attention a little bit of apparent hypocrisy) but, I will argue that there are those among us who are pretty darn limited in their view of who "religious freedom" applies to. Since 9/11 there has been a surge of anti-Islam sentiment in our nation. I even received anti-Islam propaganda from military co-workers, I guess they forgot that there are American Muslims fighting the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq right along side Christian, and even Pagan, military personnel.

We should remember that this country was colonized by Europeans seeking religious freedom. It would be a shame to dishonor their progress by resorting to the oppression of our countrymen.

When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross.

-Sinclair Lewis (1935, It Can't Happen Here...allegedly, I've purchased the book just now and will let you know as soon as I have a chance to personally verify, if you have a copy and can check real quick-like that'd be great too!)

Sidhe The Wandering Elf
AWOP Contributor
Author of Musings of a Wandering Elf Blog

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Peace Y'all