By now we have all seen the commercials about HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) and how it is not that bad for you in moderation. The problem is HFCS is in almost everything that we eat and in some of those products, soda for example, it is not used in moderation. Most Americans are eating way more then they should.
HFCS's chemical compound is very similar to sugar and just like sugar does nothing but ad empty calories to your diet. Both sugar and HFCS makes your blood sugar spike and then drop rapidly. We all know the myth that an hour after eating Chinese food you will be hungry again. Turns out this isn't a myth, the refined carbs of the white rice act on the blood sugar the same way HFCS and sugar do. Makes your blood sugar spike and drop rapidly making you hungry again sooner then you should be.
There are studies that show a coalition between HFCS and obesity and diabetes. It is no secret that obesity causes all kinds of problems for the body and is a major player in the increase of type II diabetes. Journal of the American Medical Association did a study that lasted from 1991 to 1999 and showed that women who drank more then 1 sugar sweetened beverage per week had greater magnitude of weight gain and were at a significantly greater risk of developing type II diabetes. How many people drink 1 or less sugar sweetened beverages per week? Most people are drinking at least one per day.
The majority of the sugar-sweetened beverages are sweetened with HFCS. Although they haven’t proved that HFCS directly leads to obesity and diabetes doesn’t mean that we can eat as much HFCS as we want.
Here is what has been shown in studies. Americans are obese and this obesity is leading to higher rates of type II diabetes. They also know that over consumption of sugar, including HFCS, refined grain products like white bread, white rice, white anything, are leading to this obesity epidemic.
My challenge to you is to look at the foods you eat the most and check out the ingredients. The higher on the list the more of that ingredient it has. So if HFCS is second on the list that means HFCS is by volume the second greatest ingredient in the product.
Another problem is that many products say “made with whole grains” on the front but if on the ingredient list it says anything other then “whole grain wheat” or rice or oats, then it is considered refined. If in doubt about the whole grain factor look at the amount of fiber in the product. It should have at least 1 gram of fiber per 90 calories and whole grain products will have at least that if not more.
HFCS may not be the only thing leading to health problems but it is one of the leading offenders.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Editorial #2 Final Draft
Nebraska Death Penalty
The Nebraska death penalty has recently come into question in the state unicameral. Electrocution was the sole method until the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled the method unconstitutional in February 2008. Nebraska tried to pass a life sentence without parole to replace the death penalty but it fell one vote short of passing. The death penalty is wrong and should be replaced with a life sentence without out parole.
The death penalty is cruel punishment. There are reports of botched deaths when it comes to any form of execution. The last reported case of an electrocution gone badly was July 8, 1999 in Florida. Blood had poured from the mouth of the man being executed and oozed through the buckle holes on the straps across his chest. There are a number of cases more resent then that where lethal injection has gone wrong. The problems reported with lethal injection is not being able to find a vein, going through the vain and the poison being pumped into the surrounding tissue, and unusual violent reactions to the lethal drugs. Even if you could guarantee that you could use lethal injection without harm to a person, killing someone is still wrong.
The death penalty is wrong because you may execute an innocent person. The death penalty is also a long and complicated process. It clogs up the courts and cost millions of dollars. This long process also causes prolonged pain for the victim’s family, who must relive the trauma through multiple court hearings and appeals. If there were a way to guarantee that no one innocent would be killed, if the cost of the death penalty were cheaper then life without parole, and if the death penalty helped the victims families, taking the life of another is still wrong.
The most compelling reason for revoking the death penalty, and replacing it with life without parole, is that to kill another human being is wrong. Most death penalty cases involve the defendant being charged with murder. We cannot claim that murder is wrong when we turn around and kill someone who is convicted of murder. We are all human and none of us have the right to say that because it is a jury, judge, or law (which were written by man) that means it is acceptable to kill the killer. No one has the right to judge who should live and who should die, that is why there are laws against murder. We should not look the other way when someone is being killed, even if it is the authorities that are making that choice.
Fourteen states do not have the death penalty. Nebraska needs to adopt this practice, too. We were the last state to have electrocution as our sole method of capital punishment. Let us become one of the early adaptors of life with out parole. We all have a responsibility to do what is morally just. Choosing to let the state murder someone is no more just then letting anyone else get away with it. We need to let our state know that we do not support the death penalty; that it is wrong and we will not stand to let any more blood be spilled, even when the blood is not that of an innocent person.
The Nebraska death penalty has recently come into question in the state unicameral. Electrocution was the sole method until the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled the method unconstitutional in February 2008. Nebraska tried to pass a life sentence without parole to replace the death penalty but it fell one vote short of passing. The death penalty is wrong and should be replaced with a life sentence without out parole.
The death penalty is cruel punishment. There are reports of botched deaths when it comes to any form of execution. The last reported case of an electrocution gone badly was July 8, 1999 in Florida. Blood had poured from the mouth of the man being executed and oozed through the buckle holes on the straps across his chest. There are a number of cases more resent then that where lethal injection has gone wrong. The problems reported with lethal injection is not being able to find a vein, going through the vain and the poison being pumped into the surrounding tissue, and unusual violent reactions to the lethal drugs. Even if you could guarantee that you could use lethal injection without harm to a person, killing someone is still wrong.
The death penalty is wrong because you may execute an innocent person. The death penalty is also a long and complicated process. It clogs up the courts and cost millions of dollars. This long process also causes prolonged pain for the victim’s family, who must relive the trauma through multiple court hearings and appeals. If there were a way to guarantee that no one innocent would be killed, if the cost of the death penalty were cheaper then life without parole, and if the death penalty helped the victims families, taking the life of another is still wrong.
The most compelling reason for revoking the death penalty, and replacing it with life without parole, is that to kill another human being is wrong. Most death penalty cases involve the defendant being charged with murder. We cannot claim that murder is wrong when we turn around and kill someone who is convicted of murder. We are all human and none of us have the right to say that because it is a jury, judge, or law (which were written by man) that means it is acceptable to kill the killer. No one has the right to judge who should live and who should die, that is why there are laws against murder. We should not look the other way when someone is being killed, even if it is the authorities that are making that choice.
Fourteen states do not have the death penalty. Nebraska needs to adopt this practice, too. We were the last state to have electrocution as our sole method of capital punishment. Let us become one of the early adaptors of life with out parole. We all have a responsibility to do what is morally just. Choosing to let the state murder someone is no more just then letting anyone else get away with it. We need to let our state know that we do not support the death penalty; that it is wrong and we will not stand to let any more blood be spilled, even when the blood is not that of an innocent person.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Editorial #2
Nebraska Death Penalty
The Nebraska death penalty has recently come into question in the state unicameral. Electrocution was the sole method until the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled the method unconstitutional in February 2008. Nebraska tried to pass a life sentence without parole to replace the death penalty but it fell one vote short of passing. The death penalty is wrong and should be replaced with a life sentence without out parole.
The death penalty is cruel punishment. There are reports of botched deaths when it comes to any form of execution. The last reported case of an electrocution gone badly was July 8, 1999 in Florida. Blood had poured from the mouth of the man being executed and oozed through the buckle holes on the straps across his chest. There are a number of cases more resent then that where lethal injection has gone wrong. The problems reported with lethal injection is not being able to find a vein, going through the vain and the poison being pumped into the surrounding tissue, and unusual violent reactions to the lethal drugs.
Fourteen states do not have the death penalty. Nebraska needs to adopt this practice, too. We were the last state to have electrocution as our sole method of capital punishment. Let us become one of the early adaptors of life with out parole.
The death penalty is wrong because you may execute an innocent person. The death penalty is also a long and complicated process. It clogs up the courts and cost millions of dollars. This long process also causes prolonged pain for the victim’s family, who must relive the trauma through multiple court hearings and appeals.
The most compelling reason for revoking the death penalty, and replacing it with life without parole, is that to kill another human being is wrong. Most death penalty cases involve the defendant being charged with murder. We cannot claim that murder is wrong when we turn around and kill someone who is convicted of murder. We are all human and none of us have the right to say that because it is a jury, judge, or law (which were written by man) that means it is acceptable to kill the killer. No one has the right to judge who should live and who should die, that is why there are laws against murder. We should not look the other way when someone is being killed, even if it is the authorities that are making that choice.
We all have a responsibility to do what is morally just. Choosing to let the state murder someone is no more just then letting anyone else get away with it. We need to let our state know that we do not support the death penalty; that it is wrong and we will not stand to let any more blood be spilled, even when the blood is not that of an innocent person.
The Nebraska death penalty has recently come into question in the state unicameral. Electrocution was the sole method until the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled the method unconstitutional in February 2008. Nebraska tried to pass a life sentence without parole to replace the death penalty but it fell one vote short of passing. The death penalty is wrong and should be replaced with a life sentence without out parole.
The death penalty is cruel punishment. There are reports of botched deaths when it comes to any form of execution. The last reported case of an electrocution gone badly was July 8, 1999 in Florida. Blood had poured from the mouth of the man being executed and oozed through the buckle holes on the straps across his chest. There are a number of cases more resent then that where lethal injection has gone wrong. The problems reported with lethal injection is not being able to find a vein, going through the vain and the poison being pumped into the surrounding tissue, and unusual violent reactions to the lethal drugs.
Fourteen states do not have the death penalty. Nebraska needs to adopt this practice, too. We were the last state to have electrocution as our sole method of capital punishment. Let us become one of the early adaptors of life with out parole.
The death penalty is wrong because you may execute an innocent person. The death penalty is also a long and complicated process. It clogs up the courts and cost millions of dollars. This long process also causes prolonged pain for the victim’s family, who must relive the trauma through multiple court hearings and appeals.
The most compelling reason for revoking the death penalty, and replacing it with life without parole, is that to kill another human being is wrong. Most death penalty cases involve the defendant being charged with murder. We cannot claim that murder is wrong when we turn around and kill someone who is convicted of murder. We are all human and none of us have the right to say that because it is a jury, judge, or law (which were written by man) that means it is acceptable to kill the killer. No one has the right to judge who should live and who should die, that is why there are laws against murder. We should not look the other way when someone is being killed, even if it is the authorities that are making that choice.
We all have a responsibility to do what is morally just. Choosing to let the state murder someone is no more just then letting anyone else get away with it. We need to let our state know that we do not support the death penalty; that it is wrong and we will not stand to let any more blood be spilled, even when the blood is not that of an innocent person.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Cell Phone Etiquette
I grew up in an age where not everyone had a cell phone. Only the really rich people in Hollywood had them and they were the size of your head. I must have been around 16 when I got my first cell phone and I was one of the first kids in class to have one.
My father worked for the railroad as an engineer and was gone more often then he was home. As a result a family dinner was not an every night thing and even when he was gone we only ate out maybe once a week.
Even when dad wasn't home we would set the table and eat in the kitchen. We didn't get to eat with the TV on much either. If we were in front of the TV and the big old yellow rotary phone would ring we could answer it but if we were at the table you let it ring and the answering machine could pick it up. Yes, there were answering machines and those where also really big, too. Our first answering machine took full size cassette tapes.
Here we are in 2009 and when I go out to eat I see other families eating and here are the teenage kids texting away. Every time my ex would take me out he would start texting with people. DRIVES ME NUTS! When you get a chance to sit down with your family you should enjoy it. People don't realize that it might be the last time they see the. And what are they doing - Playing with their phones. How romatic is it when you go out to eat with a significat other and the both of you spend the meal talking and texting other people.
Is everyones' lives that important that they can't take a few minutes out of the day to be here right now with a real live human being. I can't believe the lack of respect in the yonger gerneration. OH YEAH I SAID IT. I don't really mean that though. The young have never known respect and I didn't know what the word ment either a few years back. Then I learned that I will for the rest of my life be learning how to be respectful. It is a never ending process.
I guess the big bugger for me is that I love technology and love to use technology and think it is really cool all the things and posiblities that technology holds. I love that technology is changing so fast that we don't know what the future holds. 10 years ago Wired Magazine made some prodections about the futre of the Internet and technology. Some were compleatly off and some were on the right track. We just don't know and sometimes our wildest imaginations can't do what really happens justist. Oh, how I love technology.
But there seems to be something missing. The human connections, the human network. I miss sitting down to dinner with my family and knowing that our time together will be just for us. Why can't my sister give me 30 minutes of her time when I only get to see them once every couple of months. She talks and texts on her cell when we go out to dinner. I try to remember to turn my ringer off when we eat but if I forget I would never answer it.
I miss people. I miss all people.
My father worked for the railroad as an engineer and was gone more often then he was home. As a result a family dinner was not an every night thing and even when he was gone we only ate out maybe once a week.
Even when dad wasn't home we would set the table and eat in the kitchen. We didn't get to eat with the TV on much either. If we were in front of the TV and the big old yellow rotary phone would ring we could answer it but if we were at the table you let it ring and the answering machine could pick it up. Yes, there were answering machines and those where also really big, too. Our first answering machine took full size cassette tapes.
Here we are in 2009 and when I go out to eat I see other families eating and here are the teenage kids texting away. Every time my ex would take me out he would start texting with people. DRIVES ME NUTS! When you get a chance to sit down with your family you should enjoy it. People don't realize that it might be the last time they see the. And what are they doing - Playing with their phones. How romatic is it when you go out to eat with a significat other and the both of you spend the meal talking and texting other people.
Is everyones' lives that important that they can't take a few minutes out of the day to be here right now with a real live human being. I can't believe the lack of respect in the yonger gerneration. OH YEAH I SAID IT. I don't really mean that though. The young have never known respect and I didn't know what the word ment either a few years back. Then I learned that I will for the rest of my life be learning how to be respectful. It is a never ending process.
I guess the big bugger for me is that I love technology and love to use technology and think it is really cool all the things and posiblities that technology holds. I love that technology is changing so fast that we don't know what the future holds. 10 years ago Wired Magazine made some prodections about the futre of the Internet and technology. Some were compleatly off and some were on the right track. We just don't know and sometimes our wildest imaginations can't do what really happens justist. Oh, how I love technology.
But there seems to be something missing. The human connections, the human network. I miss sitting down to dinner with my family and knowing that our time together will be just for us. Why can't my sister give me 30 minutes of her time when I only get to see them once every couple of months. She talks and texts on her cell when we go out to dinner. I try to remember to turn my ringer off when we eat but if I forget I would never answer it.
I miss people. I miss all people.
Editorial #2 Draft
Nebraska Death Penalty
Nebraska has recently come into question in the state unicameral. Electrocution was the sole method until the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled the method unconstitutional in February 2008. Nebraska tried to pass a life sentence without parole to replace the death penalty but it fell one vote short of passing. The death penalty is wrong and should be replaced with a life sentence without out parole.
The death penalty is cruel punishment. There are reports of botched deaths when it comes to any form of execution. The last reported case of an electrocution gone badly was July 8, 1999 in Florida. Blood had poured from his mouth and oozed through the buckle holes on the straps across his chest. There are a number of cases more resent then that where lethal injection has gone wrong. The problems reported with lethal injection is not being able to find a vein, going through the vain and the poison being pumped into the surrounding tissue, and unusual violent reactions to the lethal drugs.
Most states have gotten rid of electrocution and replaced it with lethal injection. Only seven states have electrocution and the inmate can choose the method; some restrictions may apply. Two other states only have electrocution if the other methods are deemed unconstitutional.
The death penalty is wrong because you may execute an innocent person. The death penalty is a long and complicated process. It clogs up the courts and cost millions of dollars. This long process also causes prolonged pain for the victim’s family, who must relive the trauma through multiple court hearings and appeals.
The most compelling reason for revoking the death penalty, and replacing it with life without parole, is that to kill another human being is wrong. Most death penalty cases involve the defendant being charged with murder. We cannot claim that murder is wrong when we turn around and kill someone who is convicted of murder. We are all human and none of us have the right to say that because it is a jury, judge, or law (which were written by man) that means it is acceptable to kill the killer. No one has the right to judge who should live and who should die, that is why there are laws against murder. We should not look the other way when someone is being killed, even if it is the authorities are making that choice.
We all have a responsibility to do what is morally just. Choosing to let the state murder someone is no more just then letting anyone else get away with it. We need to let our state know that we do not support the death penalty; that it is wrong and we will not stand to let any more blood be spilled, innocent or not.
Nebraska has recently come into question in the state unicameral. Electrocution was the sole method until the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled the method unconstitutional in February 2008. Nebraska tried to pass a life sentence without parole to replace the death penalty but it fell one vote short of passing. The death penalty is wrong and should be replaced with a life sentence without out parole.
The death penalty is cruel punishment. There are reports of botched deaths when it comes to any form of execution. The last reported case of an electrocution gone badly was July 8, 1999 in Florida. Blood had poured from his mouth and oozed through the buckle holes on the straps across his chest. There are a number of cases more resent then that where lethal injection has gone wrong. The problems reported with lethal injection is not being able to find a vein, going through the vain and the poison being pumped into the surrounding tissue, and unusual violent reactions to the lethal drugs.
Most states have gotten rid of electrocution and replaced it with lethal injection. Only seven states have electrocution and the inmate can choose the method; some restrictions may apply. Two other states only have electrocution if the other methods are deemed unconstitutional.
The death penalty is wrong because you may execute an innocent person. The death penalty is a long and complicated process. It clogs up the courts and cost millions of dollars. This long process also causes prolonged pain for the victim’s family, who must relive the trauma through multiple court hearings and appeals.
The most compelling reason for revoking the death penalty, and replacing it with life without parole, is that to kill another human being is wrong. Most death penalty cases involve the defendant being charged with murder. We cannot claim that murder is wrong when we turn around and kill someone who is convicted of murder. We are all human and none of us have the right to say that because it is a jury, judge, or law (which were written by man) that means it is acceptable to kill the killer. No one has the right to judge who should live and who should die, that is why there are laws against murder. We should not look the other way when someone is being killed, even if it is the authorities are making that choice.
We all have a responsibility to do what is morally just. Choosing to let the state murder someone is no more just then letting anyone else get away with it. We need to let our state know that we do not support the death penalty; that it is wrong and we will not stand to let any more blood be spilled, innocent or not.
I don't care
I like to argue with people. So when given a topic, say the death penalty in Nebraska, I can argue either side. I would have fun. Deep down inside, I really don't care about Nebraska issues. There are a few reasons.
Someone asked, "What if your best friend, boyfriend, or a loved one does something that would cause them to be effected by the death penalty?"
I would quit talking to them because they are a POS if they did something to deserve that question being asked.
- Nebraska is not a bad place to live.
- There are not good controversial topics in the state.
- I have never viewed Nebraska as my home, despite being born and raised here.
Someone asked, "What if your best friend, boyfriend, or a loved one does something that would cause them to be effected by the death penalty?"
I would quit talking to them because they are a POS if they did something to deserve that question being asked.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
I-80
Stephen King loves to drive I-80 across Nebraska. I can understand why, it is kinda creepy. Everyone complains that the drive through Nebraska is boring. It’s only boring west of Kearney. Yes, I know it is brown 9 months out of the year, it is flat, and it sucks to drive at night. I don’t personally find it beautiful but I have to admit there is some beauty in the emptiness.
It’s not that empty there are plenty of things to look at, but you won’t see it if you are zoning out on the road. You have to look into the great expanse to see what is there.
I have spent 10 years driving between Kearney and Lincoln. I know the road, the signs, the fields and the trees. Yes, there are trees that I have watched grow over the past 10 years. It is mind blowing to notice how much a tree can grow.
I don’t like Nebraska and I’m so glad that I have been accepted into an art school in San Francisco. I will be working on my MFA in Advertising. I was born and raised here in Nebraska but it has never been my home. I am a fish out of water, literally, I need the ocean. But today I realized that while I don’t like Nebraska, I have spent so many years getting to know the Interstate that I will miss it, just a little bit, when I’m gone. I’ll miss the familiarity.
It’s not that empty there are plenty of things to look at, but you won’t see it if you are zoning out on the road. You have to look into the great expanse to see what is there.
I have spent 10 years driving between Kearney and Lincoln. I know the road, the signs, the fields and the trees. Yes, there are trees that I have watched grow over the past 10 years. It is mind blowing to notice how much a tree can grow.
I don’t like Nebraska and I’m so glad that I have been accepted into an art school in San Francisco. I will be working on my MFA in Advertising. I was born and raised here in Nebraska but it has never been my home. I am a fish out of water, literally, I need the ocean. But today I realized that while I don’t like Nebraska, I have spent so many years getting to know the Interstate that I will miss it, just a little bit, when I’m gone. I’ll miss the familiarity.
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