Monsanto - Killing the Competition and the Client

Monsanto is a really terrible organization. Tyson's a close second. I'll give a quick summary to how Monsanto operates:

Monsanto's a chemical company that genetically-modified their corn and soy plants to not be killed when roundup (a toxic weed killer created by Monsanto to kill all products that aren't theirs) is sprayed on them. They patented the seeds for those plants. Then, they sprayed all sorts of roundup over the entire USA. If a farmer was able to sell crops that season, they would be sued for copyright infringement and Monsanto would demand millions from the farmers, or force the farmers (if they couldn't pay the lawyer fees, etc) into a contract where they work solely for Monsanto, giving the corporate giant all the profit from that farmer's sales.

Going off that, I obviously disagree that this is a good thing:

That's not really "creating" 24 million jobs, if you ask me:

Furthermore, Monsanto was found guilty of chemical poisoning today.

And more, many officials at the three main regulatory bodies (U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency and Food & Drug Administration) are former employees of Monsanto and its subsidiaries, making legislation easily passed. Ohhh how politics and law can be disgusting.

So, as with all my blog posts, what suggestions can I offer to that you eat healthier and support a more-sustainable world?

• CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) signup starts soon.
• For DC ones, click here. Local to DC will probably have less of an impact by Monsanto than national/midwest crops.
• Get all sorts of fruits/veggies and discover new recipes!
• Farmers Markets
• Read this list of clean vs. pesticized fruit.
• Watch this documentary and this one.

Republicans

I read today that Republican lawmakers are furious over President Obama’s rejection of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. WHY???

I thought that was very reasonable of him, and completely supported it. Getting back to my original point, no politician would admit to being against fuel-efficient cars (or cars "fueled" by a source other than fuel/refined oil), nor would they be in support of creating plastic bags/other uses of refined oil, etc.

So, why are Republican lawmakers against a bill that would support the non-American company TransCanada?

I guess the obvious answer is the one that makes me cringe, which is the same one that has caused me to not go to any NBA games in the near future.

If these politicians are anti-fuel (i.e. pro-new technology), how are they pro-fuel? Is it just me, or can people be both for and against supporting crude oil at the same time? Is this proof that (Republican) politicians are two-faced?

The money that would be invested in supporting this Canadian company (and give Americans jobs) could be redirected to support transport infrastructure and/or manufacturing new technology (and give Americans jobs). I guess my point is ... not supporting one specific (non-sustainable) project doesn't mean not supporting job creation. Another good use would be to have the government invest in infrastructure projects, as that would give jobs to people for construction as well as overhead jobs (e.g. being conductors, etc, for the proposed rail system).

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To all those in South Carolina - vote Stephen Colbert / Herman Cain for leader of the Republican party in South Carolina!

Supporting the USPS

We all get letters from credit card companies, asking us to sign up for new credit cards, etc. Well, in those envelopes, there's always a return envelope saying "no postage necessary if mailed in the united states."



I want to bring your attention to another part of that envelope ...



Do you see how it says "postage will be paid by addressee?" Well, instead of simply recycling the letters, why not send them back to the credit card companies?

That way, the credit card company's paying 60 cents or so to the USPS. Inside the envelope, put the application form or whatever with a note saying "I'm not interested, but have a good day" to the person working in the mail room of whatever company.

All this costs you is 10 seconds to find a pen and write that note and lick the envelope. What's the result of that effort?



She gets to continue to work.

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A friend of mine has been doing this for a while and I love the idea!

State of New York

I've been impressed by New York recently.

First off, it's enormous. I'm always overwhelmed by the size and the movement of the residents and their cars when I'm there. Despite the size, its water is some of the cleanest in the world, and its famous bagels are replicated by creating the same chemical content of that water all over the world, including Florida.

In a visit to NYC for new years, I found letters on the outside of the buildings.



So I researched it to find a description of the system as well as a guide for what specifically is looked for during inspections. I feel that it's pretty easy to meet this ... make hot things hot, make cold things cold, don't leave fish for more than 3 months, don't put weird stuff in food, no rats ... but I guess this is easier to do in a residential kitchen than in New York and running a restaurant.



Furthermore, in New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's State of the City address earlier today, he highlights some interesting strategies to emphasize education (not employment of teachers) as well as many recycling initiatives.

He also talked, at some length, about several recycling initiatives. He promised to double the amount of residential waste diverted from landfills by 2017, and to make New York one of the first cities in the country to convert waste water into renewable energy.

Go New York!

Five years, in review

Going back to what I wrote on Thursday, June 7, 2007, I smile. That day was a turning point in my life, my first foray into my independent life. I went to Portugal knowing no one, followed by exploring life and culture in many countries of Europe and northern Africa. What makes me smile, though, is how I completely forgot about this blog post until the end of 2011 when I was doing some reflection. What makes me smile is my how interests and "dreamer" expectations somehow worked out.

Here's some Portuguese culture I loved.

Indeed, a close friend pointed out "you are a freak of nature, but I love you."

So, what did I say 4-and-a-half-years ago?

What Pete plans to have done:
9) Peace Corps - November '08 - January '10 11
10) Designer, or something, in Colorado/Europe - Spring '10 11
12) Quit my job - April '12 13
13) Complete life goals:
-Climb Mt. Everest
-Read all books that have gotten Pulitzer Prizes
-Swim English Channel
-Whateva other ones I'll figure out later.
15) Find some other job / go crawling back to old job, '13 14
16) Wife and Kids (have 2, adopt 2), '14 15
18) Have my son daughter or son create a blog of his her or his own, Priceless

I made a few mistakes corrections for dates that I got wrong (2 years 3 months after Nov '08 is Jan '11, not Jan '10 ).

A year-and-a -half after I wrote that timeline, I joined the Peace Corps as I had forgotten I had planned. I got back from that at the time I had forgotten I had planned. Got a job as a designer (designing engineer) as I had forgotten I had anticipated (which I feel very fortunate to have ... or maybe it was fate?).

So, what does this mean for my future? According to the prediction it made, it means I will continue to work for another year and a few months before taking all my savings and quit my job in lieu of personal exploration and accomplishments.

I currently view that as unrealistic, as as more-mature me realizes the benefits of job security and health care. But, who knows... Brick - I may keep it up, as you supported me in saying! And Nancy, my interests on that issue remain the same. And Mary, I don't know who you are...

Dreams can come true.