2004/08/04
Return of the Blogger
Despite a painfully slow internet connection, I have decided to return to posting. I've had lots to say over the past couple of months. My return has nothing to do with Andymac.
First of all, you guys are mooks for not understanding that in my last post I was writing to my blog, and not to any actual person. If I had a dime for every time someone said to me "ooooh, so who was that post to?" I'd have, like, 50 cents.
The election came and went without any coverage on my blog. I guess that's why we ended up with a minority government. Shame on you liberals for not getting out there and voting NDP. It was in a major way Layton's fault that the NDP didn't do better...he shouldn't have emphasized how dangerous the Conservatives are, it just led to people running for the (currently corrupt) middle.
I certainly do not agree with the NDP on many issues, but I had to prioritize what I deemed to be important, and concluded that I agree with the Conservatives on almost nothing, and that I despise everything about the Liberals. If I had known about the CAP at the time I probably would have voted for them. Jen is my hero for spoiling her ballot by writing in pen the CAP's candidate for Peterborough (he dropped out a couple of weeks before the election).
Paul Martin is useless, McGuinty is a lying scumbag. Bah, more later.
I've been reading Fast Food Nation. It is one of the best books I have ever read; I highly recommend it. Seriously, go get yourself a copy. I've found myself unable to eat much meat since reading it's section on production. And don't go and label me a hippy, neither; I don't care how they kill the cow. What bothers me is the sanitary conditions of the slaughterhouses since large corporations took over. Ever wondered how people get Salmonella or Escherichia coli 0157:h7 (E. Coli) poisoning when these pathogens are transmitted through fecal matter? That's right! As Schlosser puts it, "There's shit in the meat." 78.6% of ground beef contains microbes that spread primarily through fecal material. 'Nough said.
I don't want to misrepresent the book; it's balanced as it looks at all aspects of the Fast Food industry: from it's rather humble beginnings to how it currently affects the economy, socialogy, food production and consumption, and geographical makeup. The author is also very witty and ironic - I'd love to meat him in person (pun intended).
Here's an example of his writing:
"Hank was the first person I met in Colorado Springs. He was a prominent local rancher, and I'd called him to learn how development pressures and the dictates of the fast food industry were affecting the area's cattle business. In July of 1997, he offered to give me a tour of the new subdivisions that were rising on land where cattle once roamed. We met in the lobby of my hotel. Hank was forty-two years old and handsome enough to be a Hollywood cowboy, tall and rugged, wearing blue jeans, old boots, and a big white hat. But the Dodge minivan he drove didn't quite go with that image, and he was too smart to fit any stereotype. Hank proved to be good company from the first handshake. He had strong opinions, but didn't take himself too seriously. We spent hours driving around Colorado Springs, looking at how the New West was burying the Old.
As we drove through neighborhoods like Broadmoor Oaks and Broadmoor Bluffs, amid the foothills of Cheyenne Mountain, Hank pointed out that all these big new houses on small lots sat on land that every few generations burned. The houses were surrounded by lovely pale brown grasses, tumbleweed, and scrub oak - ideal kindling. As in southern California, these hillsides could erupt in flames with the slightest spark, a cigarette tossed from a car window. The homes looked solid and prosperous, gave no hint of their vulnerability, and had wonderful views.
Hank's ranch was about twenty miles south of town. As we headed there, the landscape opened up and began to show glimpses of the true West - the wide-open countryside that draws its beauty from the absence of people, attracts people, and then slowly loses its appeal."
And on it goes. A beautiful work.
I'm going to call it quits for now, but just as a follow-up to my second last post: I found out what Petro-Canada stands for. Pierre Elliot Trudeau Ripping Off Canada.
G'nite folks!
First of all, you guys are mooks for not understanding that in my last post I was writing to my blog, and not to any actual person. If I had a dime for every time someone said to me "ooooh, so who was that post to?" I'd have, like, 50 cents.
The election came and went without any coverage on my blog. I guess that's why we ended up with a minority government. Shame on you liberals for not getting out there and voting NDP. It was in a major way Layton's fault that the NDP didn't do better...he shouldn't have emphasized how dangerous the Conservatives are, it just led to people running for the (currently corrupt) middle.
I certainly do not agree with the NDP on many issues, but I had to prioritize what I deemed to be important, and concluded that I agree with the Conservatives on almost nothing, and that I despise everything about the Liberals. If I had known about the CAP at the time I probably would have voted for them. Jen is my hero for spoiling her ballot by writing in pen the CAP's candidate for Peterborough (he dropped out a couple of weeks before the election).
Paul Martin is useless, McGuinty is a lying scumbag. Bah, more later.
I've been reading Fast Food Nation. It is one of the best books I have ever read; I highly recommend it. Seriously, go get yourself a copy. I've found myself unable to eat much meat since reading it's section on production. And don't go and label me a hippy, neither; I don't care how they kill the cow. What bothers me is the sanitary conditions of the slaughterhouses since large corporations took over. Ever wondered how people get Salmonella or Escherichia coli 0157:h7 (E. Coli) poisoning when these pathogens are transmitted through fecal matter? That's right! As Schlosser puts it, "There's shit in the meat." 78.6% of ground beef contains microbes that spread primarily through fecal material. 'Nough said.
I don't want to misrepresent the book; it's balanced as it looks at all aspects of the Fast Food industry: from it's rather humble beginnings to how it currently affects the economy, socialogy, food production and consumption, and geographical makeup. The author is also very witty and ironic - I'd love to meat him in person (pun intended).
Here's an example of his writing:
"Hank was the first person I met in Colorado Springs. He was a prominent local rancher, and I'd called him to learn how development pressures and the dictates of the fast food industry were affecting the area's cattle business. In July of 1997, he offered to give me a tour of the new subdivisions that were rising on land where cattle once roamed. We met in the lobby of my hotel. Hank was forty-two years old and handsome enough to be a Hollywood cowboy, tall and rugged, wearing blue jeans, old boots, and a big white hat. But the Dodge minivan he drove didn't quite go with that image, and he was too smart to fit any stereotype. Hank proved to be good company from the first handshake. He had strong opinions, but didn't take himself too seriously. We spent hours driving around Colorado Springs, looking at how the New West was burying the Old.
As we drove through neighborhoods like Broadmoor Oaks and Broadmoor Bluffs, amid the foothills of Cheyenne Mountain, Hank pointed out that all these big new houses on small lots sat on land that every few generations burned. The houses were surrounded by lovely pale brown grasses, tumbleweed, and scrub oak - ideal kindling. As in southern California, these hillsides could erupt in flames with the slightest spark, a cigarette tossed from a car window. The homes looked solid and prosperous, gave no hint of their vulnerability, and had wonderful views.
Hank's ranch was about twenty miles south of town. As we headed there, the landscape opened up and began to show glimpses of the true West - the wide-open countryside that draws its beauty from the absence of people, attracts people, and then slowly loses its appeal."
And on it goes. A beautiful work.
I'm going to call it quits for now, but just as a follow-up to my second last post: I found out what Petro-Canada stands for. Pierre Elliot Trudeau Ripping Off Canada.
G'nite folks!
# posted by Justin @ 00:51 
