I read this article this morning and about fell off the couch! Mexico thinks meat processing plants in the United States are unclean? Um, no, I'm declaring shenanigans on this one.
The gist of the Reuters article that is linked to the headline on this post is that Mexico is balking at a new law that went into effect recently called the "Country of Origin Labeling", which requires the meat processing plants to put on the label of all meat whether it's from the United States, Canada, Mexico, etc. Fearing their meat won't be chosen in favor of US grown meat (I know that's what I would do.) Since it's well-known that the USDA has some pretty stringent requirements when it comes to what goes into the meat we eat while it's still four feet on the ground, I'd feel better knowing I was eating US grown meat.
I will say that, according to the article, Mexico buys a great deal of their meat from the United States, and the "embargo" lasted just one day. However, it got me thinking of one thing; if Mexico's meat is so great, why do they have to buy from the United States? And if our meat is so "unclean" then why do they continue to buy meat from us?
I, for one, am tired of Mexico thinking they can dictate terms to the United States. First, they invade our borders to the tune of thousands of people a day crossing, then they don't want labels on the meat signifying from whence it came? When did it become okay to disobey the law? Oh, wait, silly me... It became okay to do that when our government started telling them it was okay in the form of lack of enforcement for crossing said border. To reinforce this idea, Obama has assigned someone to run Homeland Security that couldn't/wouldnt' do it for Arizona, can't/won't do it for the United States, in the form of Janet Napolitano.
I'm not going to go on a rant about Obama since I'll have four of the longest years of my life to do that, so we'll just stop here and I'll leave you with a final thought - Mexico needs to settle down and start creating some of their own guidelines as it relates to the meat they grow. If they are putting out a quality product, people don't care where it comes from.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
This isn't about me
I originally started this blog so I could have an outlet for my frequent rants as they relate to current events, sports, the world around me, whatever... The last few posts here have been of a rather personal nature and that has never been my intention here. I have long held out the hope that this blog would encourage intelligent discourse amongst adults, not the usual childish stuff people will post. This is one of the reasons my comments section is moderated, so that idiotic, childish or puerile comments can be posted here.
I am also a huge proponent of the First Amendment, that the opinions of another person, whether they agree or disagree with me, are always permitted, so long as they are respectful in nature. No name-calling, no rants (other than mine) and no disallowing others the opportunity to disagree; one of my favorite quotes is one by Voltaire (the nom de plume of François-Marie Arouet), a French writer and philospher from the 17th Century, "I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it."
This is just my opinion, and truly, what do I know, but I believe the cornerstone of any good democracy is the public's ability to express their opinion in a manner befitting an intelligent adult. I have long stressed to my children that though my home is not a democracy but an aristocracy (I am the Queen, my husband is the King and our children are our loyal serfs. We are masters of all we survey) I DO expect them to speak up when I am being more than a little unfair. I'm not saying I'm a pushover with my kids, more often than not I disagreed with their assessment, but I always felt one of my roles as a parent to my children was to encourage them to stand up when they felt they were being wronged. Winning the challenge was never the issue, it was recognizing the injustice, formulating cogent thought related to it and offering their thoughts on the issue. An unexpressed thought can become a cancer, eating away at you until it kills you.
An example of this is my teenage son. He is in High School now but at one time he attended a school that was K-8. For some reason, his teachers were extremely liberal and preached this almost daily. When it became most significant was when Friday rolled around which was Current Events day. This was a day when the students would bring to class news articles from the week to discuss. They were given a grade on their articles and their participation. The students who brought with them news articles with a liberal slant were given an "A" and these were the items discussed. Students who brought with them news articles with a conservative slant were given an "F" and the articles were thrown away. My son being a product of his parents always brought in articles of a conservative nature. He was not the only one in his class doing this and his fellow students began to gripe about this. My son finally had enough and finally stood up in class making the pronouncement that it was unfair and biased that the teacher only allowed "...liberal propaganda..." to be discussed and he demanded the equality and lack of censorship that was afforded him by the Constitution. He made a huge fuss and was finally sent to the Principal's office.
To wrap up this long story, my husband and I were called to the school because our "... son was causing a disruption in class and he needs to be dealt with." Once we got to the school and were told what his "disruption" was, I was LIVID! Between my husband, son and I, we tag-teamed the principal until the decision was made to allow ALL types of news stories, not just liberal, and a policy change was made.
Censorship in any form is a violation of what I consider to be a most inalienable right for any human being. To forbid the freedom to express an opinion (excluding yelling "Fire" in a crowded theater and other statements meant to inflame) is to render useless one's own thoughts and ability to think for themselves.
I was just reading today, in the book "The Politically Incorrect Guide to the South" of which I have provided a link on the left of my blog page, that Abraham Lincoln, supposed leader of the freeing of the slaves, would have arrrested and imprisoned any newspaper editor who dared to disagree with him. I also read that he had over 13,000 people arrested without the benefit of charges or habeas corpus simply because they didn't carry the same views as he regarding secession or state's rights. When U.S. Supreme Court chief justice Toger B. Taney demanded Lincoln declare by what authority he had the right to do this, Lincoln ordered his arrest as well. The only reason Taney didn't lanquish in prison is because Lincoln couldn't find a Magistrate willing to serve the arrest warrant to the highest ranking judge in the country. (The P.I.G to the South, 183-184)
Now that I have gotten around to mentioning this book, I highly recommend this and "The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Civil War" to anyone who is from the South or just wishes they were. There's a reason Southerners state, "American by birth, Southern by the grace of God". I have provided links to both books on the left of this blog page.
Sometimes, however, the censorship is self imposed as has been the case with the recent election of our President. While we hear ad nauseum about Mrs. McCain's former addiction to pain killers as a result of a severe injury, we heard nothing about Obama's cocaine habit while he was in college. While we heard every minute detail about every single mistake McCain made since he was a zygote, nothing was said about the seemingly forged documents that pertain to Obama's birth in perhaps another country. The list goes on and on and the bottom line was that the Main Stream Media (MSM) refused to report balanced news stories in an attempt to skew public opinion. What was once the watch dog of a nation, our country's reporters, is now a tool to alter the thinking of those too weak-minded enough to formulate their own decisions.
I posted something similar to this not too long ago when I discussed the Associated Press change of the Washington Bureau Chief and his directive to his reporters that they insert their opinions in their articles. I won't drone on about this again as you can merely click the link provided in the paragraph if you so choose. Bottom line, though, is this: I believe the MSM can no longer be trusted to report the truth. My thinking with regard to journlism has always been, and will always remain, report the truth and let the reader make up their own mind.
I suppose I've rambled on long enough about this. I am interested to hear what others have to say.
But what do I know? This is just my two cents.
I am also a huge proponent of the First Amendment, that the opinions of another person, whether they agree or disagree with me, are always permitted, so long as they are respectful in nature. No name-calling, no rants (other than mine) and no disallowing others the opportunity to disagree; one of my favorite quotes is one by Voltaire (the nom de plume of François-Marie Arouet), a French writer and philospher from the 17th Century, "I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it."
This is just my opinion, and truly, what do I know, but I believe the cornerstone of any good democracy is the public's ability to express their opinion in a manner befitting an intelligent adult. I have long stressed to my children that though my home is not a democracy but an aristocracy (I am the Queen, my husband is the King and our children are our loyal serfs. We are masters of all we survey) I DO expect them to speak up when I am being more than a little unfair. I'm not saying I'm a pushover with my kids, more often than not I disagreed with their assessment, but I always felt one of my roles as a parent to my children was to encourage them to stand up when they felt they were being wronged. Winning the challenge was never the issue, it was recognizing the injustice, formulating cogent thought related to it and offering their thoughts on the issue. An unexpressed thought can become a cancer, eating away at you until it kills you.
An example of this is my teenage son. He is in High School now but at one time he attended a school that was K-8. For some reason, his teachers were extremely liberal and preached this almost daily. When it became most significant was when Friday rolled around which was Current Events day. This was a day when the students would bring to class news articles from the week to discuss. They were given a grade on their articles and their participation. The students who brought with them news articles with a liberal slant were given an "A" and these were the items discussed. Students who brought with them news articles with a conservative slant were given an "F" and the articles were thrown away. My son being a product of his parents always brought in articles of a conservative nature. He was not the only one in his class doing this and his fellow students began to gripe about this. My son finally had enough and finally stood up in class making the pronouncement that it was unfair and biased that the teacher only allowed "...liberal propaganda..." to be discussed and he demanded the equality and lack of censorship that was afforded him by the Constitution. He made a huge fuss and was finally sent to the Principal's office.
To wrap up this long story, my husband and I were called to the school because our "... son was causing a disruption in class and he needs to be dealt with." Once we got to the school and were told what his "disruption" was, I was LIVID! Between my husband, son and I, we tag-teamed the principal until the decision was made to allow ALL types of news stories, not just liberal, and a policy change was made.
Censorship in any form is a violation of what I consider to be a most inalienable right for any human being. To forbid the freedom to express an opinion (excluding yelling "Fire" in a crowded theater and other statements meant to inflame) is to render useless one's own thoughts and ability to think for themselves.
I was just reading today, in the book "The Politically Incorrect Guide to the South" of which I have provided a link on the left of my blog page, that Abraham Lincoln, supposed leader of the freeing of the slaves, would have arrrested and imprisoned any newspaper editor who dared to disagree with him. I also read that he had over 13,000 people arrested without the benefit of charges or habeas corpus simply because they didn't carry the same views as he regarding secession or state's rights. When U.S. Supreme Court chief justice Toger B. Taney demanded Lincoln declare by what authority he had the right to do this, Lincoln ordered his arrest as well. The only reason Taney didn't lanquish in prison is because Lincoln couldn't find a Magistrate willing to serve the arrest warrant to the highest ranking judge in the country. (The P.I.G to the South, 183-184)
Now that I have gotten around to mentioning this book, I highly recommend this and "The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Civil War" to anyone who is from the South or just wishes they were. There's a reason Southerners state, "American by birth, Southern by the grace of God". I have provided links to both books on the left of this blog page.
Sometimes, however, the censorship is self imposed as has been the case with the recent election of our President. While we hear ad nauseum about Mrs. McCain's former addiction to pain killers as a result of a severe injury, we heard nothing about Obama's cocaine habit while he was in college. While we heard every minute detail about every single mistake McCain made since he was a zygote, nothing was said about the seemingly forged documents that pertain to Obama's birth in perhaps another country. The list goes on and on and the bottom line was that the Main Stream Media (MSM) refused to report balanced news stories in an attempt to skew public opinion. What was once the watch dog of a nation, our country's reporters, is now a tool to alter the thinking of those too weak-minded enough to formulate their own decisions.
I posted something similar to this not too long ago when I discussed the Associated Press change of the Washington Bureau Chief and his directive to his reporters that they insert their opinions in their articles. I won't drone on about this again as you can merely click the link provided in the paragraph if you so choose. Bottom line, though, is this: I believe the MSM can no longer be trusted to report the truth. My thinking with regard to journlism has always been, and will always remain, report the truth and let the reader make up their own mind.
I suppose I've rambled on long enough about this. I am interested to hear what others have to say.
But what do I know? This is just my two cents.
And a happy Christmas to all
Wow, what a holiday season! I have been extremely busy with my writing but also with taking care of some health issues!
This holiday season has not been without it's ups and downs, to say the least. Sadly, I had to let go of a 'friendship that I thought was significant. It was only through a great deal of thought and consideration that I had to let this "friend" go when I came to realize she had/has no emotional investment in any human relationship outside of those required of her (meaning her family, who is part of her life merely by accident). I thought I was through with her, however, she has opted to have her online acquaintances (see, as a socially dysfunctional person, she has no real friendships, only online ones; read: ones she can control) harass me via e-mail and here at this blog. Plans to contact the local courts and file a restraining order against her are in the works now, having already printed out a comment someone attempted to post here as documentation she is now enlisting her minions (read: not real-life friends but controlled, online acquaintances) to perform her dirty work. The funny thing is, however, that the comments are being left anonymously, meaning they have the same yellow streak down their backs as my former friend. It is only the truly courageous that post their name to their words and it is the anonymous who "hit and run" with their lack of conviction.
Another funny thing about this is, I have a program attached to this blog that traps all necessary information to locate the person harassing me (Perhaps Dobbs Ferry, Ny rings a bell?). I'm sure the police will enjoy this, since new laws have just been passed related to internet harassment. WOW, apparently these people are too stupid to pick up a newspaper and read all about it. That or they don't have enough time on the computer at whatever mental health facility in which they live when given their "free-time".
Anyway, that's off my chest and I look forward to contacting the local authorities regarding the online harassment. Hopefully they will allow me to watch as they charge my former "friend (we'll just call her the lunatic from this point on) with a variety of crimes.
This holiday season has not been without it's ups and downs, to say the least. Sadly, I had to let go of a 'friendship that I thought was significant. It was only through a great deal of thought and consideration that I had to let this "friend" go when I came to realize she had/has no emotional investment in any human relationship outside of those required of her (meaning her family, who is part of her life merely by accident). I thought I was through with her, however, she has opted to have her online acquaintances (see, as a socially dysfunctional person, she has no real friendships, only online ones; read: ones she can control) harass me via e-mail and here at this blog. Plans to contact the local courts and file a restraining order against her are in the works now, having already printed out a comment someone attempted to post here as documentation she is now enlisting her minions (read: not real-life friends but controlled, online acquaintances) to perform her dirty work. The funny thing is, however, that the comments are being left anonymously, meaning they have the same yellow streak down their backs as my former friend. It is only the truly courageous that post their name to their words and it is the anonymous who "hit and run" with their lack of conviction.
Another funny thing about this is, I have a program attached to this blog that traps all necessary information to locate the person harassing me (Perhaps Dobbs Ferry, Ny rings a bell?). I'm sure the police will enjoy this, since new laws have just been passed related to internet harassment. WOW, apparently these people are too stupid to pick up a newspaper and read all about it. That or they don't have enough time on the computer at whatever mental health facility in which they live when given their "free-time".
Anyway, that's off my chest and I look forward to contacting the local authorities regarding the online harassment. Hopefully they will allow me to watch as they charge my former "friend (we'll just call her the lunatic from this point on) with a variety of crimes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)