I'm Now Giving Up On Fast Food

I've decided it's time to give up on fast food. A list of exceptions may include:

1. Chain sandwich shops (Togo's, Subway, etc.)
2. Non-chain quick restaurants, food carts (taquerias, etc.)
3. In-and-Out Burger (fresh ingredients, quick service)

I've had a hard time nixing this habit. I'd find myself eating Mc. D's, BK, Taco Bell, etc. and feeling like crap afterwards. Most recently, we had Taco Bell the other day as it was late and my wife and I were exhausted enough that making dinner was too much. After dinner, I felt nauseous and my wife was feeling ill. Plus, it's not good for the high blood pressure.

Time to say, "farewell!"

PS I have no real rationale behind Subway being on there. I'm not sure how they get to claim to be "fresh" with their line-up of microwaved or toaster oven heated food. There veggies are no fresher than McDonalds. That chicken breast is just as processed as a can of Lysol.

Trump University

 According to the SF Chronicle, Trump University "didn't deliver, suit says."

Trump University? I've never heard such a thing! I can just imagine:

"I got my bachelors in racist quackery at Trump U., then got my masters at Beck U. Currently, I'm looking for a job, but the market is pretty tough. Thank goodness for unemployment."

Japan

I always get this feeling inside of sorrow and pain after a natural disaster, whether it affects me directly or not. The death and devastation of the 2004 Sumatra earthquake and tsunami, the 2010 Haitian earthquake, the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, or Hurricane Katrina gets to you. But this one is different for me. I have a connection to country. In 1996, I had the opportunity to study there for three months as a part of an exchange program while at North Side High School in Fort Wayne. Although the city we stayed in, Takaoka, was not directly affected by the quake, the bond the was developed between the people there and the country as a whole is undeniable. Many friends I met now live in Tokyo, which received substantial, but not devastating damage.

Me, Taku, and Shinya chumming it up

I've e-mailed with them, but have not heard anything back. As they were in Tokyo, I'm assuming all is okay as power and internet availability is scarce, if not completely out. I went back to visit in 2006, almost 5 years ago to date. I met up with my friend, Shinya Yamada, who stayed with my family when he was in Indiana as a part of his exchange program. He has become a good friend who I regularly write and chat with through the internet. I have not had the opportunity to make it back there to visit, as I now have a family. One day, I'd like to take my family there to share the wonderful experiences, culture, and people of Japan I have grown fond of.

This disaster will wear on them, but the Japanese show great resolve. With the country on the brink of nuclear disaster, something they have unfortunately have experienced before, they will fight back. The ingenuity, the smarts, and drive to succeed to become better will shine through and the rest of the world will truly be envious of how they come back on top.

God bless Japan.

The Answer May Not Be Shocking!

Snowpocylpse is Coming, West Coast Style

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, snow could even fall in the City. Up here in the foothills, 4 to 8 inches could fall above 2000 feet, where I'm at.

Get ready!

Public Employee Unions - Supporting Workers Rights

States across the country are trying to balance budgets, make up for declining revenue. In some states, such as Wisconsin, the lagging revenue is caused by tax cuts as well as economical impacts. In order to balance the budget, public employees that are members of unions are being targeted. That is fine, everyone needs to make sacrifices. In Wisconsin, however, the union being targeted is the teachers union. Not the police, the fire fighters. So, is everybody sacrificing? Education seems to be the sacrificial lamb for state Republican leaders. Look at New Jersey, California under Arnold, Indiana, Ohio, and so on.

There are two key issues at play. Cutting education and eliminating unions. How on God's green earth does cutting education, a system that is completely underfunded compared to top counties of this world, going to help our economy? Since the Republicans have help shipped jobs oversees for cheap labor, the only type of livable wage jobs that are left are in professions and skilled trades, where one needs highly skilled and specialized training. AN EDUCATION! The real goals of the GOP is to create an uneducation population, so they can be easily manipulated to say and do whatever they are told. The rich getting richer, the middle class being eliminated, and the poor getting poorer.

This whole plan starts with eliminating unions. By eliminating unions, workers rights will be slowly a thing of the past. Hell, we're almost already there. The unions have answered the call in Wisconsin and have agreed to the cuts that will help resolve the budget woes facing the state. But for Gov. Scott Walker, that's just not enough. They want any resemblance of a voice for the worker to be squashed. This proves that this whole conundrum is about power, not money.

God help our Country, because eventually the poor and meek will be the greatest majority this Country has ever seen. A revolution will be inevitable.

Happy New Year

As we are well into the new year, I'm deciding how I would like to reinvent my blog, so that somebody might read it.