What am I??

I never really got into politics and never really understood what the differences between a liberal and conservative were. How sad since I work for the government. Then lately I think I may have stirred up some crap with my friends by posting a Global Warming blog on my MySpace. I truly did not have the intension on upsetting any one. But I got a lot of negative feedback from my little picture of an ice mountain that says "global warming is a big problem". And since then I have noticed politics beginning to dominate conversations..and honestly I cant talk politics with people..oye! But it got me thinking maybe I need to do some research on this political thing and start voting and understanding where they are coming from and why I caused so much upset.

Since our world is so into labels, I must be viewed as a Liberal because I think that change is good, Environmental issues are important and I support the small business owners. But I still believe that war can be beneficial and I am religious. So where does that leave me..I did find a blog where a girl was talking about the difference between the two labels and she made a great statement.

"The problem, in my opinion, begins when you pidgeonhole somebody into one of the two groups. Define somebody by a single word, and you set up a roadblock to actually understanding them." --Esoterica

That to me is a wonderful way of saying that we should not label each other but respect one another and each others opinions. Why cant a liberal learn something from a conservative and vise versa..do we need to put up insulting things about one point of view or the other..no that truly will not solve anything. Talking and listening to one another is the best solution. Perhaps it will not change anyones opinions but it would be a building block in understanding the person and why they feel the way they do.

I suppose if I have to be labeled then I am hands down more on the liberal side of things, but that does not mean that I am going to shut out all the conservative points of views out there or vote strictly Democrat. I think that a person should be judged strictly on what they are going to do to better the world..I will look for the person who supports recycling, helps stop animal cruelty, supports laws and regulations that help against domestic violence and child abuse, better the economy so there are more job opportunities, support educational programs, supports a healthier America, and so on.....

Bottom line, lets not insult one another for our points of view..but listen and learn.


Another good article:

The difference between liberal and conservative Brent Flynn Practically Rational

My brother, a self-professed Dittohead (Rush Limbaugh fan), forwarded me an email on Veteran's Day titled "Difference Between Liberal and Conservative." I read what turned out to be a joke in which a liberal and a conservative are put in the same hypothetical situation and certain assumptions are made about how they will react. Here's the situation: You're walking down the street with your wife and children. A dangerous looking man with a knife comes running and screaming obscenities at you. In your hand is a .357 Magnum. What do you do? In the joke, the liberals response is to understand why this man turned to violence. The pacifist liberal then wonders if the man might be content to stab only him, while his family makes an escape. Finally, the pathetic liberal decides to consult a friend to come up with a solution. In the meantime, the liberal is exterminated along with his bleeding heart family. The conservatives answer is simply to shoot the man, take his family to a baseball game, eat some hot dogs with apple pie, sing the national anthem, go to church and praise the Lord for one more day of freedom. I found the joke mildly amusing. I did have a few problems with its premise (not least of which was the part where the liberal dies). For starters, it is a simplistic breakdown of a wide spectrum of ideas into only two categories. Conservatives are given a monopoly on common sense, bravery and patriotism while liberals are portrayed as a bunch of pansies. What is even more disturbing is that there is a whole genre of conservative literature being disseminated via email with the sole intent of casting so-called "liberals" in the worst possible light. One email contains the alleged first-hand account of an interview on National Public Radio between a female host and U.S. Army General Reinwald. The General is describing a Boy Scout Troop the base is sponsoring, and mentions that the boys will be learning how to shoot a rifle. The interviewer questions whether the kids are being equipped to "...become violent killers." The General responds, "Well, you're equipped to be a prostitute, but you're not one, are you?" The zinger the general lays on the liberal reporter really puts her in her place…except the interview never happened. The fabricated story is an elaborate set-up for the big pay-off where the General makes his politically incorrect (Republicans love anything that's not PC) remarks. Another email claims that the government has been paying the Clinton's mortgage on their New York home. Allegedly, a housing unit was built at the Clinton's' house for Secret Service agents to use. The Clinton's, we are told, are charging them rent and the rate they are charging is the same amount as their mortgage payment (about $10,000). In short, we taxpayers are paying for the Secret Service addition, AND the Clinton's' mortgage! Is your blood boiling yet? Well cool down. Ex-presidents are reimbursed for any area of their house used by the Secret Service. The Clinton's were eligible to receive more than $1,000 a month, but they did not accept the reimbursement. Nevertheless, these emails are passed around to the delight of Ditto heads everywhere who apparently never bothered to check the facts. Now I'm not a big fan of the Clinton's or a blind follower of every "liberal" cause out there, but the zeal with which Republican's go after those on the left has gotten way out of hand and in some cases is based on flat-out lies. There are many more of these emails floating around in cyberspace on a variety of subjects, but when I pointed out these two examples of conservative smear campaigns and reminded my brother that he had sent me the one about the Clinton's' Secret Service reimbursement, he didn't respond. So I called him a couple of days later and asked him why he hadn't replied. He said, "You sounded like you were trying to start a fight." (emphasis mine) Oh that's right. I'm trying to start the fight. He was just sharing a funny email that he thought I might enjoy. No reason for me to get so upset. Then again, it was just a joke. Maybe I shouldn't be so touchy…but who am I fooling? I'm just an unpatriotic, overly-sensitive liberal.

Tara's 30th birthday party

What a fun night. Went to Tara's birthday party. A lot of people were there..people whom I love to hang out with. It was funny though cuz Tara was away from the table and they started to sing happy birthday to her..we had to stop them. She missed her shot...Im sure she is not too disappointed. Its always kinda embarrassing to be the center of attention..when the entire restaurant is staring at you. Well just wanted to say that it was fun and cant wait for the next gathering..

Love to all my friends.

Spa Party Cont..

me and ginger
Well had the party. Like I thought not many people showed up. Well ok only my mom, and Ginger and her girls. Thank God for Ginger and my mom. Ginger has been there for me in so many situations. Half the people who told me they would come did not show..I wonder how they would feel if I did that to them. Honestly, I'm beginning to think that I want to do that to them just so they can see how it feels. Its rude. I go to all the parties that I am invited to, the only ones I really did not make was the ones that were held during my first trimester when I was barfing my guts out with morning sickness or the ones that were held that entailed family gatherings on the same day. Anywho, it was still fun and Ginger and the girls are always welcome. My mom came too and the girls love her. Ginger also brought her sister Marla who I have not seen in years, so that was nice. I somehow managed to get 40 dollars worth of product for free, which ROCKS!!! I love free stuff. Thank you mom and Ginger cuz they both ordered me over 100 dollars worth of product and thats why I got the 40 free. Speaking of party. Tonight is Tara's 30th birthdays party. Were going to go to the Hacienda part of it. I wish I could go out with them afterwards, but they are going to a bar in town that is super duper smoky and being as super duper prego that I am I don't think its a good idea to be around that much smoke. I will soon be able to join the rest of the crew again..that is if I can find a babysitter. WOW what I am going to have to start doing just to get a night out on the town. It will be more than worth it I am sure.

Wes' head..

SPA PARTY

Having a spa party today. Hopefully someone shows up. I invited a ton of people but only a few responded. So hopefully the few will be here. If not, well I will just have to enjoy the party myself. Which is fine. I do know that my mom will be here so it can be a mother daughter bonding moment. Not much else has been happening. I went to the baby doctor yesterday. Everything is good. The baby has a good heart beat. Going back in two weeks. I guess my blood pressure is running kinda high so I may have to go on bed rest the last few weeks of my term. That kinda stresses me out. How ironic is that. Oh well what do you do.

laters

Vegetarian is the New Prius

President Herbert Hoover promised "a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage." With warnings about global warming reaching feverish levels, many are having second thoughts about all those cars. It seems they should instead be worrying about the chickens.

Last month, the United Nations published a report on livestock and the environment with a stunning conclusion: "The livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global." It turns out that raising animals for food is a primary cause of land degradation, air pollution, water shortage, water pollution, loss of biodiversity, and not least of all, global warming.

That's right, global warming. You've probably heard the story: emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide are changing our climate, and scientists warn of more extreme weather, coastal flooding, spreading disease, and mass extinctions. It seems that when you step outside and wonder what happened to winter, you might want to think about what you had for dinner last night. The U.N. report says almost a fifth of global warming emissions come from livestock (i.e., those chickens Hoover was talking about, plus pigs, cattle, and others)--that's more emissions than from all of the world's transportation combined.

For a decade now, the image of Leonardo DiCaprio cruising in his hybrid Toyota Prius has defined the gold standard for environmentalism. These gas-sipping vehicles became a veritable symbol of the consumers' power to strike a blow against global warming. Just think: a car that could cut your vehicle emissions in half - in a country responsible for 25% of the world's total greenhouse gas emissions. Federal fuel economy standards languished in Congress, and average vehicle mileage dropped to its lowest level in decades, but the Prius showed people that another way is possible. Toyota could not import the cars fast enough to meet demand.

Last year researchers at the University of Chicago took the Prius down a peg when they turned their attention to another gas guzzling consumer purchase. They noted that feeding animals for meat, dairy, and egg production requires growing some ten times as much crops as we'd need if we just ate pasta primavera, faux chicken nuggets, and other plant foods. On top of that, we have to transport the animals to slaughterhouses, slaughter them, refrigerate their carcasses, and distribute their flesh all across the country. Producing a calorie of meat protein means burning more than ten times as much fossil fuels--and spewing more than ten times as much heat-trapping carbon dioxide--as does a calorie of plant protein. The researchers found that, when it's all added up, the average American does more to reduce global warming emissions by going vegetarian than by switching to a Prius.

According to the UN report, it gets even worse when we include the vast quantities of land needed to give us our steak and pork chops. Animal agriculture takes up an incredible 70% of all agricultural land, and 30% of the total land surface of the planet. As a result, farmed animals are probably the biggest cause of slashing and burning the world's forests. Today, 70% of former Amazon rainforest is used for pastureland, and feed crops cover much of the remainder. These forests serve as "sinks," absorbing carbon dioxide from the air, and burning these forests releases all the stored carbon dioxide, quantities that exceed by far the fossil fuel emission of animal agriculture.

As if that wasn't bad enough, the real kicker comes when looking at gases besides carbon dioxide--gases like methane and nitrous oxide, enormously effective greenhouse gases with 23 and 296 times the warming power of carbon dioxide, respectively. If carbon dioxide is responsible for about one-half of human-related greenhouse gas warming since the industrial revolution, methane and nitrous oxide are responsible for another one-third. These super-strong gases come primarily from farmed animals' digestive processes, and from their manure. In fact, while animal agriculture accounts for 9% of our carbon dioxide emissions, it emits 37% of our methane, and a whopping 65% of our nitrous oxide.

It's a little hard to take in when thinking of a small chick hatching from her fragile egg. How can an animal, so seemingly insignificant against the vastness of the earth, give off so much greenhouse gas as to change the global climate? The answer is in their sheer numbers. The United States alone slaughters more than 10 billion land animals every year, all to sustain a meat-ravenous culture that can barely conceive of a time not long ago when "a chicken in every pot" was considered a luxury. Land animals raised for food make up a staggering 20% of the entire land animal biomass of the earth. We are eating our planet to death.

What we're seeing is just the beginning, too. Meat consumption has increased five-fold in the past fifty years, and is expected to double again in the next fifty.

It sounds like a lot of bad news, but in fact it's quite the opposite. It means we have a powerful new weapon to use in addressing the most serious environmental crisis ever to face humanity. The Prius was an important step forward, but how often are people in the market for a new car? Now that we know a greener diet is even more effective than a greener car, we can make a difference at every single meal, simply by leaving the animals off of our plates. Who would have thought: what's good for our health is also good for the health of the planet!

Going veg provides more bang for your buck than driving a Prius. Plus, that bang comes a lot faster. The Prius cuts emissions of carbon dioxide, which spreads its warming effect slowly over a century. A big chunk of the problem with farmed animals, on the other hand, is methane, a gas which cycles out of the atmosphere in just a decade. That means less meat consumption quickly translates into a cooler planet.

Not just a cooler planet, also a cleaner one. Animal agriculture accounts for most of the water consumed in this country, emits two-thirds of the world's acid-rain-causing ammonia, and it the world's largest source of water pollution--killing entire river and marine ecosystems, destroying coral reefs, and of course, making people sick. Try to imagine the prodigious volumes of manure churned out by modern American farms: 5 million tons a day, more than a hundred times that of the human population, and far more than our land can possibly absorb. The acres and acres of cesspools stretching over much of our countryside, polluting the air and contaminating our water, make the Exxon Valdez oil spill look minor in comparison. All of which we can fix surprisingly easily, just by putting down our chicken wings and reaching for a veggie burger.

Doing so has never been easier. Recent years have seen an explosion of environmentally-friendly vegetarian foods. Even chains like Ruby Tuesday, Johnny Rockets, and Burger King offer delicious veggie burgers and supermarket refrigerators are lined with heart-healthy creamy soymilk and tasty veggie deli slices. Vegetarian foods have become staples at environmental gatherings, and garnered celebrity advocates like Bill Maher, Alec Baldwin, Paul McCartney, and of course Leonardo DiCaprio. Just as the Prius showed us that we each have in our hands the power to make a difference against a problem that endangers the future of humanity, going vegetarian gives us a new way to dramatically reduce our dangerous emissions that is even more effective, easier to do, more accessible to everyone and certainly goes better with french fries.

Ever-rising temperatures, melting ice caps, spreading tropical diseases, stronger hurricanes... So, what are you do doing for dinner tonight? Check out www.VegCooking.com for great ideas, free recipes, meal plans, and more! Check out the environmental section of www.GoVeg.com for a lot more information about the harmful effect of meat-eating on the environment.

Kathy Freston is a self-help author and personal growth and spirituality counselor. She is the author of Expect a Miracle: Seven Spiritual Steps to Finding the Right Relationship. Her CDs offering guided meditation have been featured in W, Self, and Mode. Kathy and her husband, Tom Freston, divide their time between New York and Los Angeles.

© 2007 The Huffington Post

Today

Not much happened today. Wes sent me a cool link called Let Them Sing It For You..seriously try it out. Just click on that saying to the right of the page and it will take you there.

I was in a bad mood this morning from the time I awoke, so I really want to thank my husband for listening to me complain about work all morning. Thank God for significant others. Once I got there it was not so bad. Just had a slew of lists on my desk to work on, but heck thats a daily thing.

Tomorrow is our second class of The Bradley Method to birth. Will fill you in on that later. Then Friday is another doctor appointment.

Well not much else to talk about...