Supreme Court Defends Animal Cruelty!

Back in October of last year I read this article in Newsweek regarding Animal Cruelty:

The court will hear the federal government's appeal of U.S. v. Stevens, a circuit court's overturning of a 1999 federal law that makes it a crime to create, sell, or possess depictions of animal cruelty for commercial gain. If the court reverses the lower court's decision and reinstates the law, images showing the intentional torture or killing of animals would be deemed illegal.

Today the verdict is in:

Supreme Court Defends Animal Cruelty Videos as Expression of Free Speech. 

FREE SPEECH? Are you freaking kidding me! (sorry for my foul mouth) So you’re telling me that kitty stomping is free speech? Torturing an innocent animal, making a video and posting in on YouTube because I “feel like expressing myself” is free speech?  And the funny thing is that it was ruled with significant unity—8 to 1. If you can’t tell by now, I am pretty disgusted at this and I need a moment to cool off. What do ya’ll think?

Gabba Gabba Weirdos

Guilty as charged. I have let my baby watch this show and I have been “entranced” watching it once or twice myself.  I just have to say one thing though: it’s plain weird! I guess the weird part is that it’s so weird and I just can’t believe this show is so popular.  There’s even a feature movie in the making? Oh you have to be kidding me! Am I the only one who sees this?  An orange dude from the 80’s, a boom box with a bunch of monsters dancing around teaching our kids to “not bite our friends”? Ok, I guess it kinda works because this song did come to mind just as I was about to bite a friend. Is the weirdness the reason this show works? Creepy is an understatement. This show is number one on my list as the weirdest shows ever made… Not like I’m watching it right now or anything. Help!

Should Kids Be Bribed to Do Well in School?

While I was reading this article by TIME magazine, i kept thinking about my very own conclusion.  At the end I came to realize they should’ve just asked me to get the answer because I was right all along! (As I tend to be sometimes) Hey, I’m a mom so I know what woks!

The study was conducted by Roland Fryer Jr, a poor drug dealer turn Harvard professor, by his curiosity of whether money as a motivator could make kids get better grades.  He got a bunch of schools to agree to his study and with 6.3 million dollars in his pockets he began to bribe kids in four cities, Dallas, Chicago, Washington and New York City.  What they found was this:

 

kids respond best when there is less risk of failure.  They can control their attendance; they can’t always control their test scores.

The kids who did the best with rewards were those who were paid to read books, something they know how to do.  The kids who did the worse were those paid to get good grades because they didn’t know HOW to get good grades.  Also the younger the kids were, say 2nd graders, had the most positive impact.

So start bribing your kids early and reward or recognize them immediately after their attempt.  I do, It’s always “yay, this” and “yay, that” and high-fives for all their positive behavior.  Bad behavior gets nothing. If adults work just to get paid, lets be honest, why do we expect our kids to be any different?  They also need rewards and there comes a time when a gold star on the forehead just doesn’t cut it anymore.

Why Exercise Wont Make You Thin

Whether because exercise makes us hungry or because we want to reward ourselves, many people eat more — and eat more junk food, like doughnuts — after going to the gym.

Apparently humans are not a species that evolved to dispose of many calories beyond what we need to live. After a long workout we often crave sugary calories like those in muffins or Gatorade. Self control is like a muscle that weakens each day after you use it. If you force yourself to jog for a hour, your self-regulatory capacity will be run thin.

"The most powerful determinant of your diatary intake is your energy expenditure. If you're more physically active you're gonna eat more".

What does it take to work off a blueberry muffin? (360 calories)
1. 33 min. Jogging (5mph)
2. 66 min. Gardening
3. 66 min. Lawn-Mowing
4. 92 min. Vacuuming
5. 115 min. Lifting Weights
6. 230 min. Folding Laundry

In short, it's what you eat, not how hard you try to work it off, that matters more in losing weight. You should exercise to improve your health but fiery spurts of vigorous exercise could lead to weight gain.

... So after eating three muffins in a row, I say I have lots of folding laundry to do!

Check Out The Article!
Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin

High Price of Cheap Food

So I read this article and can't help but feel a deep feeling of regret. Why do we have to be so dang addicted to this thing we call beef? It's not like we would die if we had it twice a week... no but we might if we have it every day like we do now. The way things are going right now I hate to think how it's gonna be when my children have children.

"He's raised on grass and hay and lives happily on a pasture by the ocean. His meat is free of antibiotics, but can we afford to eat it?... We can't afford not to."

The article points to the difference between the free range Organic and the Conventional way of raising cow. The latter being the crowded and inhumane way of living in tight quarters of a feedlot to be fattened up as fast as possible. The Conventional way is inhumane but also deadly to us. Not to mention all the chemicals used and the waste produced that end up in our oceans killing the one excellent source of nutrition, fish, but also the fat attack that ends up in our gut causing so much obesity in Americans.

So what can we do to help this situation out? We need small farms all around the country as well as more farmers willing do the labor that started this country in the first place. (Yeah I've seen Centennial) Eating less meat and more greens and fruits which are better for us and the planet.

So I raise my own cow and my own chickens but it's still find it too hard to bring myself to killing one for food. Supply and Demand... if we begin buying more organic foods (demand) then surely the supply will follow. Sure we may pay less at the supermarket now for cheap meat but we will pay far more in the long run through medical bills and polluting our earth. For now I will keep doing my part and keep collecting my delicious organic eggs my chicks keep giving me. =)

So, what's for dinner? =)

You can check this article out here!
Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food

Silence Is The Enemy

Today begins a very important initiative called Silence Is The Enemy to help a generation of young women half a world away. Why? Because they are our sisters and children–the victims of sexual abuse who don’t have the means to ask for help. We have power in our words and influence. Along with our audience, we’re able to speak for them. I’m asking all of you–bloggers, writers, teachers, and concerned citizens–to use whatever platform you have to call for an end to the rape and abuse of women and girls in Liberia and around the world.

Everyone is encouraged to get involved and dream up creative ways to participate. Blog Copy from: Silence Is The Enemy