An article from the Creating Passionate Users blog about turning off the TV — I’d have to agree strongly about the hypnotic effect of watching TV. We have a DVR now and use it a lot… but after watching a show, the tempation is always there to channel-surf for a few minutes. No doubt that we could all accomplish much more if would lose the TV. But I’m not ready to completely do away with it, I just need more discipline.
I was listening to the Americon Freedom Network (AM 1360 here in Northern Colorado)… a bit right-wing for me most of the time, but I flipped to it tonight and heard some interesting things.
Guest on the show (Patriot Radio News Hour) was Lindsey Williams, author of The Energy Non-Crisis. He says he predicted $3/gallon gasoline not long ago, and is now predicting $5/gallon gas in the ‘very near future’. A lot of the show focused on the impact this would have on food production.
He claims talks with a group of farmers in Springfield, Colorado, that said if oil prices keep increasing as it has been, they won’t even bother to plant their crops — there will be no possibility of a profit. Lindsey Williams claims that there will be food shortages at the grocery stores within a year and a half (say end of 2007).
“The world’s economy is oil” He spent some time on the topic of oil and the dollar, and our trade deficit in general. Other countries no longer want to handle oil purchases in dollars, because it is losing its value internationally. Other trading partners are getting lots of our dollars, need to put that somewhere. According to Lindsey Williams, a lot of that money comes back to the US not in office buildings and factories, but in farms, food-producing interests, etc — foreign countries such as China are taking control over our ability to produce food, and will be in a position to exert tremendous control over us. “Doesn’t matter how much everyelse costs — if you don’t have food, you ain’t going anywhere”
Of course he ends the show by advertising his books and DVD’s, etc… (”The farmers said ‘beg the people to watch your DVDs’” It’s all interesting to think about, and no doubt there’s plenty of truth in there. Nothing wrong with him wanting to earn a profit as well, but just struck me as cheap.
Anyway, what to do about it? The only real solution is to do what I already know is right: prepare in terms of food storage, clothing, finances, etc. Try to lesson dependence on the american / world economy — can’t really unplug, but I can insulate myself from small fluctuations, and be in a good position to deal well with major events. I’m working on most of these things already, but one thing I really need to do is diversify investments. I should learn about buying precious metals (gold, silver mostly).
Here’s an interesting article on the health effects of soda pop…
I find this point very interesting:
This means, that for the average teenager, their soda consumption virtually eliminates their chances of eating a balanced diet.
I remember drinking 2 or more soda every day during high school — of course I was burning a lot more calories overall those days as well. As I’ve gotten older, I have (somewhat) less appetite for soda, but it can still be very addictive. It’s not just the caffeine and such that would normally be considered addictive, but the sugar rush itself.
As with almost everything, this is something that can be consumed in moderation — but moderation for soda obviously means pretty small amounts.