October 1, 2007
CNN has an article about vegetarianism, how vegetarians should eat a balanced diet, and how protein is a “real concern” for vegetarians. I am glad to see that a somewhat positive article about vegetarianism making the headlines. It was also nice that they chose to highlight my favorite vegetarian restaurant in Atlanta, The Sunflower Cafe!
The real issue I have with the article and other articles about vegetarianism is that they always seem to say *only* vegetarians should eat a balanced diet - which is absurd. All people should eat a healthily for optimum health. I am unsure as to why people seem to think that vegetarians do not eat enough protein. Considering that the large majority of vegetarians eat milk products and eggs it only stands to reason that they would get plenty of protein from those two sources as well as tofu/tempeh, fruit, vegetables, protein shakes, or whatever they eat. The rest of the vegetarians who do not eat eggs or do not consume milk or both generally find enough protein in their diets. Most people simply do not need the amount of protein that the average meat eater consumes. It is a waste of protein given that most people are not trying to be powerlifters and bodybuilders. For a vegetarian, eating a proper diet is not even difficult to do and I would surmise that most vegetarians successfully eat a healthy and diverse diet. After all, it is (generally) not vegetarians that you see cruising into McDonalds, Burger King, and Wendys for a meal. It can be a challenge in a meaty world but I’ve always managed to feed myself - sometimes you just have to be creative.
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August 22, 2007
I was reading this article on CNN and it really struck a chord inside of me. Then I read this article.
The United States supposedly invaded Iraq to get rid of weapons of mass destruction. When none were found, instead of admitting wrong doing and leaving, the United States government decided that the real reason was Saddam Hussein, terrorism, and the installation of democracy. When that failed they decided that any type government would do so long as it is stable.
I believe the regime under Hussein was much more stable than the current “democracy” in place and such a reign as he had would fall under the new ideology they are attempting to employ in Iraq. While I certainly would not call his government desirable his government was also not in mass chaos and certainly was better than the current war situation. So, this war has caused well over 100,000 American casualties, killed 76,000 civilians, caused mental instability among a large portion of soldiers, and has wasted $454 billion dollars. And for what? Absolutely nothing.
Bush also seems to be messing up his rhetoric regarding Vietnam drawing more on the experiences of Cambodians - re-education camps, killing fields, etc. He says this was all the result of America pulling out [of Vietnam] and Iraq would be like that if America pulled out. I fail to see his point. The US government secretly bombed Cambodia and then left leaving millions of Cambodians to be massacred by Pol Pot and if that was not bad enough the US government actually helped Pol Pot overthrow the Vietnamese government that overthrew the Khmer Rouge. Bush also seems to invoke Vietnam as to illustrate that something was learned. Obviously, given that the Iraq war occurred nothing was learned from the millions of lives spent on the Vietnam war.
Our parent’s generation has sent our generation to slaughter in Iraq just as our grandparent’s generation sent our parent’s generation to slaughter in Vietnam just like our great grandparent’s generation sent our grandparent’s generation to slaughter in WW2 & Korea and so on…
When will we learn?
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