Only in America...

Good v Evil

Religion.

“Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it, you'd have good people doing good things and evil people doing bad things, but for good people to do bad things, it takes religion.”

- Steven Weinberg

Afgan women: This is what religion does

I am watching a very touching television show on ABC at the moment.  It truely is horrific but in reality its life.  This is what religion does to a society.  THIS IS WHAT RELIGION DOES.

Religion is not peace, acceptance or happiness.  There are opportunities for those involved in a religion to find these qualities in religion but the underlining truth is that religion defies morality.  So many fucking contractions.

Lets look at Afganistan, as featured in this television show.  Hundreds of women and children are imprisioned for morality crimes, most while stem from defying their fathers.  One woman ran away from home, fell in love and had sexual relations at 15 and her father took her to court and pressed charges upon her.  She was put in prison and has not been told when she will be released.  Children of these women are also placed in prison with them and although they are cared for; the fact that they are there is so unfair to me.

Women come in to the local hospital due to suicide attempts.  Most are between 15 and 25 and are married.  Two women set themselves on fire to try and free themselves from abusive husbands.  One was married when she was 12, despite the legal marriage age being 16.  Many girls are sold/exchanged and married before they are legally able.  Men dominate the system and women are sold as livestock.  Although there are American troops there trying to make peace, they are full of empty promises for the welfare of women.

You are lucky.
Never forget it!

ABC: 8.30pm

Tying the knot: Ignorance is bliss right?

They say ignorance is bliss but I guess that statement can be taken to a whole new level when it comes to marriage.  How long can one be ignorant and married before they realise its not actually as easy as taking out that piercing that you really hated?

 I know it sounds like I am anti-marriage but I most certainly am not.  My primary concern is that TEENAGERS and young adults are choosing to marry long before their brains have reached full maturity.  I know some of you will challenge me and by all means - I would love someone to try and convince me but they are unlikely to be successful.  This isn't to say that a couple can't be happy forever if married young.  It obviously depends on the individuals that exchange vows.

I guess this is how I see it - you only live once.  Life isn't about selecting a mate before someone else does, roping them in, tying them down and proceeding with adult life all before twenty one.  Then comes getting bored, having affairs, exorbitant divorce costs, the claiming and splitting of goods and items and then being 30 and having all of your friends (and their developed brains) becoming happily engaged and soon married whilst you sit smoking packets of cigarettes in a corner coffee shop...trying to attract a mate with your aging face and mouth wrinkles from frowning so much throughout your entire marriage!  Pardon me for being so cynical!  I guess its just not the "Aussie" way.

We Australians are interesting creatures.  We complain so much about being hard done by but we are fed higher education opportunities, centrelink payments and clean water on a silver platter.  Its not in our nature to attract complications and they should be put off until ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.  We need more time scratching our ass and writing university essays the night before, instead of planning weddings.  Come on - we're supposed to be somewhat fearless and carefree.

And so I say to all of you kids out there thinking of getting married:

BE REALISTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Do you REALLY want to have sex with one person for the next 50 years? 
- Is knowing someone for 8 months enough to base a marriage on?
- What the hell are you going to do about a house and money and bits and bobs when you have a big fat HEX debt or are working at cotton on?
- Ladies: What the HELL is wrong with your man?  I don't know many men that want this too.  Will he turn out to be homosexual?  This might be something to consider!!!
- Weddings cost a gazillion dollars.  What if you have more than one?
- A divorce is not like breaking up with your boyfriend..theres other shit involved.
- Are you so damn insecure that you need to tie the knot incase the guy or girl leaves you? SERIOUSLY!?!?!?!?!??!

Marriage should happen all in good time.  I know that I am a loyal person and that I could theoretically get married but I feel no need to what so ever right now!  Just because you adore someone and your life would be incomplete without them, doesn't mean they are going to pack up and bail if they feel the same way you do.  Have fun.  Love if you want to - theres nothing stopping you.

Men - this WILL be you

This blog is subject to personal opinion.

Iron and dark chocolate: Check this out!

Choc.o.late

So this came up in my most recent "Care 2" newsletter subscription.  I am yet to do personal research to confirm its credibility but the website is generally very reliable. If so then theres another reason to have dark chocolate apart from the antioxidants! Have a read :)

Iron: Dark Chocolate Contains More than Beef?

posted by Jake Richardson May 13, 2010 5:03 pm

According to the website, Nutritiondata.com, a one ounce serving of dark chocolate contains 19 percent of the US RDA for iron. Yet an ounce of beef sirloin only contains 3 percent.
Is dark chocolate really that high in iron? Why hasn’t anyone told me this?
Data from USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference shows: Chocolate, dark, 70-85 percent cacao solids, value per 100 grams is 11.90 milligrams of iron. Beef, bottom sirloin, tri-tip roast, separable lean and fat, trimmed to 0″ fat, all grades, cooked, roasted, value per 100 grams is 1.66 milligrams of iron. Beef, ground, 70 percent lean meat / 30 percent fat, crumbles, cooked, pan-browned, value per 100 grams is 2.48 milligrams of iron. So these two information sources state that dark chocolate does contain more iron than some cuts of beef, and not just a little more. (I’m currently holding a dark chocolate bar and the wrapper says 100 grams is 3.5 ounces).
Now I’m not suggesting that anyone use dark chocolate as a staple, or primary source of iron. The chocolate bar I’m holding contains 27 grams of saturated fat, and that’s way too high to eat the whole thing at once, or even in a day. Also, my post here is not an exhaustive scientific study. I just wanted to share an example (one of many) showing that beef is not the only source of iron, nor the highest source of iron, and that we may find there are many sources beyond what we have been told via messages in the mainstream media. My apologies if you were already aware of the many non-meat sources of iron, including dark chocolate.

(From www.care2.com)

Nutrition for Great Minds...

I have been rather assiduous this week for a change.  It has began to dawn on me that exams are just around the corner and there are definintely not enough hours in the day to accomplish all that I wish to achieve!  Time is short and precious.  I know many of you out there are in the same boat - hang in there.  Holidays are fast approaching!

What to consume during study periods

1. Fresh fruit and veggies (obviously) but you're going to need all the essential vitamins you can get! Vitamins C and B are probably the most valuable to help boost your immune system and energy.

2. TRUCK LOADS of Omega 3 and brahmi & Gingko complex.  When I say truckloads I mean it.  Eat salmon until you turn pink, take fish oil tablets and buy blackmores brahmi and gingko complex to help increase neural activity and memory!

3. PROTEIN.  Eggs, seafood, legumes! DO IT!  Keep fueling your body!  Eat plenty of beans!

4. Water.  Keep super hydrated!

5.  Spices.  Have some indian - especially tumeric and garlic.  Boost that immune system!

6.  CARBS.  I know carbs should be limited but they are necessary for brain functioning.  Our brain uses a great deal of energy and carbs are a quick fix.

7.  And finally CAFFEINE.  I really don't think large amounts of caffeine are good for the body AT ALL as they lower calcium levels and can interfear with heart rate etc.  According to a study on television this evening, a medical nutritionist guy recommended caffeiene as the best stimulant for increased brain activity (or at least without going to your phsych and begging for dexies etc).  Remember to keep a back up supply of milk thistle and detox after exams/after the over load!

And other essentials:

SLEEP
EXERCISE
MORE SLEEEEEEEP
GOOD STUDY ENVIRONMENT

THINK: Do you eat 74.2kg of meat a year?

Here is my usual Wednesday morning rant.  It comes after inspiration and information from my favourite class.  Today we looked at Economic development and influence on population and nutrition etc.  Once again I will state that we are so fortunate to live in this wonderful country.  Let me start by discussing food consumption.

Food Consumption

Meat:
The Average Australian eats 74.2kg of meat per year (as recorded in 1998), however in 1940 meat consumption was at 100kg per person, per year... a good 25.8kg more!  One of the inticements that brought migrants to Australia was the "Feed the man meat" campaign.  It was advertised that in Australia, man could eat meat 3 meals a day SO MOVE HERE! What crap!

You may assume that individuals from Bangladesh and Indonesia would eat a significantly lower amount of meat per day which is obviously true.  What is startling is that in Bangladesh, the annual meat consumption rate per person is 3kg!  In indonesia it is 8kg.

Fruit and veg:
We consume a fuck load of fruit and vegetables per year (140kg of fruit alone).  This includes juice too which would be the majority of the figure for many people.  From late 1970's to early 1980's there was a huge incline in vegetable consumption.  Know why?  The introduction of the humble french fry by Ronald himself!  Apparently the most widely consumed vegetable amongst children at present is potatoes - thanks to that ridiculous franchise!

Other
- The average Australian eats 3120 calories a day!!!!!!!
- Only 32% of women breast feed and this rate is DECREASING
- We consume far less sugar due to artificial sweeteners.
- We are experiencing negative growth.
- 990 people per square km in Bangladesh, 3 people per square km in Australia (in 2007).
- We only use 48kg of fertilizer per acre in comparison to the 383kg per acre in China (thats what happens when you need to make food for that many people).
- 61% of chinese people are employed in agriculture, compared to 4% of Australians.
- Each Australian has .7 of a tractor (aka machines do our work to compensate for manual labour/people).

THINK
THINK
THINK

You are lucky.
You are SO lucky.
THINK about what goes in your mouth.
THINK about what COULD go in your mouth.
BREAST FEED YOUR CHILDREN!!!!!!!!!!!!!
EAT LESS MEAT!
EAT MORE QUALITY FRUIT AND VEG.. not this dried and canned stuff.
THINK THINK THINK THINK THINK!

Perhaps we need more of these..

Now with Omega 3

Nutrition Claims

Nutrition claims highlight a particular nutritional characteristic of a food and are often seen on food packaging.

"Claims may be about nutrients such as carbohydrate, sugars, starch, protein, amino acids, fat, cholesterol, fatty acids, dietary fibre, salt, sodium, potassium, vitamins, minerals, or other biologically active substances, or other properties such as energy. Biologically active substances are substances, other than traditionally recognised nutrients, that have specific health effects; an example is plant sterols, which help reduce cholesterol absorption".

- http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/
Nutritional claims can be VERY misleading to consumers and thus I am urging you to PLEASE READ LABELS before buying products.  For example "Now with 20% more soy" says nothing about how much soy was in a particular soy milk in the first place.  Recently
at uni we looked at Tip Top white bread that claims to now have added omega 3.  Little does the customer know that to get enough omega 3 for it to seriously benefit you you would need to eat 12 slices of the bread.  Also what I found amusing that one slice is only 1/30 of your required daily fibre intake so theres hardly any point eating it really?  Consuming 12 slices = too much salt, too much sugar, TOO MANY CALORIES.  But back to my point - consumers are likely to assume that 1 serve gives them a beneficial amount of omega 3.  WRONG!

Luckily there are these wonderful things that govern our society.  They are known as laws and some of them luckily regulate nutritional claims.  There are so many things you wouldnt expect!

"What does the Code specifically say about nutrition claims?

In general, when food manufacturers make a nutrition claim, they must declare the amount of the claimed substance per 100 g and per serve in the nutrition information panel (NIP). The Code may also require the declaration of other relevant information in the NIP.

In addition to this, the Code (clauses 12–17 of Standard 1.2.8 and clauses 4-7 of Standard 1.3.2) has rules which state how much energy or how much of a nutrient has to be contained in a food in order to make a claim about energy or a nutrient. Rules apply to the following:

• vitamins and minerals
• polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fatty acids
• omega fatty acids
• energy
• lactose
• gluten
• salt, sodium, and potassium.

The User Guide on Nutrition Information Labelling explains the criteria that apply to these nutrients". See Australia and New Zealand Government food standards website:   http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/foodstandards/userguides/nutritioninformation1406.cfm

What to look for

• Low Fat: this food must have 3g of fat or less per 100g, but look at the label because it may be high in sugar instead
• Fat Free: this food must have 0.15g fat or less per 100g food
• Lite or Light: always check the nutrition information label on these foods because lite may mean the food is lite in colour or something else and not lite in salt, fat or sugar
• No Added Sugar: this food has no 'added' sugar but may still be high in sugar so check your label
• Low Joule or Diet: this food is either low in sugar and/or fat and is may be artificially sweetened
• No Added Salt: this food has no 'added' salt but may still be high in salt so check the label for the salt content
• Salt Reduced: this food has 25% less salt than a similar product. Lower salt is good but the food may still be high in salt so check the label
• Low Salt of Low Sodium: this food must have less than 120mg sodium per 100g and is a good choice
• High Fibre: this food must have more than 3g of fibre per 100g and is a good choice

Basically you CAN'T tell a consumer that having less cholestrol will cure heart disease etc or any other disease for that matter.  Special rules apply to folate as it is particularly imporant for pregnant women.

So if you have time, here's another reason to READ nutrition labels before you buy things!

Jumping on the band wagon

As lame as it is I CAN'T contain myself after reading the most ridiculous fight on facebook.  I am actually laughing so hard at how defensive people are getting about such stupid things.  Just for pointers - nobody cares about how crap your life is.  Your boyfriend's cousin's best friend doesn't really give a shit if you post "Fuck life" and I'm pretty sure a lot of other people are just going to think you're attention seeking.  As for supporters and those who stand up for people responsible for such posts - you are so fucking funny.  Most of you do not have legs to stand on but my god you amuse me! 

Sorry but I felt the need to say this.  Perhaps I'm just looking for attention? BAHAHAHA.. oh dear. Well this is a blog and I'm not announcing to all my friends and associated profile randoms in perth that my life sucks.

Thank you and goodnight!