As a therapist, I think about people like Lance, people who need to win . . . whatever it takes. Lie about lying? No problem. Steal fame and fortune from others? In a heartbeat. Poison bodies while poisoning the faith and confidence of millions of people? Pass the needles.
How do they sleep at night? How do they live with themselves?
Armstrong’s antics are hardly exceptional. The food, tobacco, soft drink, insurance, pharmaceutical, and many other industries are so corrupt, Armstrong might consider pedaling for them.
But that doesn’t soften the blow when a national icon such as Lance Armstrong turns out to be a multi-million dollar two-bit shyster.
Yes, Armstrong violated trust, but I still believe in his potential to pull his head out of his bloated ego. I have to believe. If I didn’t believe, I’d have no reason to work in the helping profession. I hope for his sake he figures out what’s important in life. If it were up to me, I’d give him several years to think about it in a small room heavily accented with iron décor.
I love heroes. Real heroes. Not villains who hide behind their hero images.
When Kris and I lived in Japan, people told us we were “oya baka,” which literally means foolish parents. Oya baka are parents who are gaga over their great kids. Our friends were right, of course. We are oya baka. Our kids are good at a lot of things, but most importantly, they’re good at being good people. They respect others. They respect life.
We’re so oya baka, we’re going to do whatever it takes to help David run across America. No, that’s not right. We’re not going to lie. We’re not going to steal. We’re not going to poison our bodies or poison the faith of the people and organizations who breathe life into this adventure.
Erika, Brittany, David, and Olivia, thank you for being good people! David, thanks for inspiring your oya baka parents to join you on your run across the country. Let’s do it. Let’s have some fun and kick some butt.
But while we’re kicking butt, David, remember what Armstrong forgot: winning races, medals, and fame don’t make you great. You brought your greatness with you from eons before you were born and it will grow within you for eons into the future. But your greatness shines brightest when you honor and respect yourself, life, the Earth, and God.
Speaking of greatness and God, when you present an image of yourself to the public as we cross America, just be yourself. And while you’re being yourself, remember in whose image you were created.
Thanks to Brooke for inviting me to read at Writer’s Read! And thanks to Dr. Dan Etulain for recording the event.
I read a selection from my upcoming book Sexy Body, Sexy You: Unleash The Secrets of Weight Loss, Life, Love, and Loot.
This selection is the final part of the chapter on biotechnology, genetically modified foods, and Monsanto.
Following the text of my reading, I’ve included several Monsanto and GMO related links.
Thank you for standing with us as we run the country for healthy, real food.
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I grew up with the outlandish and apparently outdated idea that God created the Earth and life. Within that belief system, I never would have considered it possible for a human being to patent life. God created our food and I thanked Him for it every time I ate a meal with my family. I figured if He made it, He got it right. It was healthy as is. How silly of me! God doesn’t own it. Monsanto, Cargill, Dow, and other biotech corporations own it. And I’m not talking about buying and selling food. I’m talking about patenting the genetic makeup of food. Now that I’ve been enlightened, our mealtime prayers at home go something like this:
Oh Divine Monsanto,
We thank you that you’ve had the wisdom, courage, and forethought to provide your children with DDT, PCB’s, Agent Orange, and genetically engineered foods. We know you’ve perfected the world’s food supply out of your love for us. We thank you for liberally sharing your seeds with the world’s poor. We thank you for working with the Coalition Provisional Authority, for protecting and liberating Iraqi farmers from their seeds of terror. We thank you for improving the lives of the Indian farmers who haven’t yet committed suicide due to your GMO cotton. We thank you for suing American farmers when your GMO’s contaminate their pesky natural foods. We thank you for spending millions to keep GMOs unlabeled. Through your love, world hunger has been alleviated, farmers enriched, bodies purified, minds sharpened, and spirits ennobled.
In the sacred names of Donald Rumsfeld, John Ashcroft, Paul Bremer, Michael Taylor, ad nauseum.
Amen.
When I’m totally pissed, I want to tell the people of power in Monsanto/FDA/USDA/congress to go screw themselves with a bunch of their mutant double helix monstrosities. But I don’t need to tell them. They’ve already screwed themselves and their children. And they’re hell-bent to screw the world, without regard to the consequences.
That’s nothing new for Monsanto. Ask the diseased, disfigured, and disabled Vietnamese who have been screwed by Agent Orange. Ask the people of Anniston, Alabama who identify themselves at their local meetings by their blood PCB levels. Ask the Mexican farmers whose corn is now contaminated with GM corn even though Mexico doesn’t allow GM corn in their country. Ask the Indian farmers who are now depressed, destitute, or dead due to Monsanto’s GMO cotton. Ask the Iraqi farmers who have experienced the deliberate annihilation of their ancient farming methods which international researchers have termed the “ultimate war crime.” (http://tribune.com.pk/story/342986/control-by-seed/)
GM products and associated poisons are already directly responsible for the suffering, illness, and deaths of millions of people. But the potential consequences are yet to be realized. Now that Monsanto and other GMO producing corporations have unleashed these mutant life forms into the environment, there is no going back. These corrupted life forms are now part of the Earth’s eco system. They are infecting and contaminating crops even in countries where GM products are illegal. Even if all GM products were outlawed today, there would be no way to eradicate these poisons from the earth.
So what can you do to at least slow their spread? Choose to exercise two powerful tools with every meal: One. Don’t eat factory-farmed meat. The tortured animals that provide the vast majority of the meat on American plates grow fat on poison-saturated, GM feed. When you say no to meat, you’re also saying no to the GM feed that fattens those animals. Two. Say no to GMO’s on your plate. I realize saying no to GMO’s is easier said than done, but it’s not impossible. The good people at the Institute For Responsible Technology have created a fact-filled brochure called Non-GMO Shopping Tips. This brochure tells you where Monsanto and gang hide their GMO’s.
Like any other company, Monsanto exists to make money. When enough people stop buying their poison, they’ll stop producing it. In Monsanto’s case, they’ll be forced to come up with yet another way to poison people and the environment. Refuse to be a Monsanto guinea pig.
If you want to actively fight against GMO’s, then join forces with The Institute For Responsible Technology at http://www.responsibletechnology.org/. The battle they’re waging against GMO’s is a battle that must be won. The very future of the human race and the Earth is at stake.
You might be wondering what GMO’s have to do with your sexy body, weight loss, life, love, and loot.
There’s nothing sexy about cancer, tumors, allergies, and fertility and immune system problems. There’s nothing sexy about Order 81 and Indian farmer suicides. There’s nothing sexy about Monsanto destroying American farmers.
When you choose to eat the foods that God and Mother Nature created in their naturally occurring forms, you honor God and Mother Nature. You honor your body and your health. It may be no coincidence that American butts have ballooned since GMO “foods” were silently spliced into the American diet, but regardless of that question, there is no question that GMO’s are dangerous, the only question is how dangerous they will ultimately prove to be to your health, the health of your children, the health of the environment, and the health of worldwide farming systems and the global food supply.
When you choose natural foods, you show your love for people around the world whose lives are being destroyed by GMO’s. You support traditional and organic farmers. You love your own body enough to nourish it with safe and healthy food.
When you choose natural foods, Monsanto will never see your money! Writing that gives me such pleasure, I’m going to write it again. Monsanto will never see your money! Wiping out Monsanto and their poisons would be a happy ending to a horrendous chapter in human history. A happier ending would be the day the linchpins of the Monsanto/government cartel serve the rest of lives in prison for crimes against humanity and their fat assets are carved up and distributed to the millions of victims and survivors around the world whose lives they’ve destroyed.
Monsanto and gang defeated California’s Proposition 37 by lying to and inciting fear in voters. Fear Monsanto! Don’t fear their lies! Americans have the right to join some 50 other countries that already label GMO’s. You have the right to know if your food has been genetically modified. Vote with your wallet, vote with your food purchases, and vote with your vote. Say Yes to Labeling, say Yes to Natural Foods, and always, always, always, say No to biotech bullies like Monsanto!
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Learn more about Monsanto and their deadly legacy:
