BPA – Science vs. Many Zeroes on the End of a Dollar Sign

 

Fast Company Magazine had a fantastic 9 page article written in their February 2009 issue by David Case.

I always suspect conspiracy and money when I hear about government agencies deciding one way or another, but this article confirms my suspicions. In a nutshell, the argument against BPA which is found lining canned foods, in plastic baby bottles, containers, cell phones, DVDs, CDs, etc. (it’s an ingredient in polycarbonate which is a near shatterproof plastic) has been put into 2 camps: scientists who simply study the effects of what happens when BPA is around and scientists and panels of people whose paychecks pretty much come from donations and fees from industry producers of BPA – and they get pretty nice paychecks.

Health – Eating, Breathing and Drinking

It’s funny – I was flooded with hilarious (though not at the time!) memories after reading one of my husband’s cousin’s notes on Facebook. She recalls not having sugary cereals or Kraft singles – and remarks at the very end how she is doing the same now that she’s a mom. I recall that I was about 5 before my mother was unable to keep a grain of sugar out of my mouth (a friend gave me a lollipop which I POPPED right in before my mother could take it from me graciously) and how until I was 13, we did not even have actual sugar in our house. I remember eating several odd things over the years:

Tofu burgers (which have the consistency of wallpaper paste)

Tofu Chili (which isn’t that bad, though lacks a good bit of flavor)

Soy Milk (which we now know isn’t so good for us)

Rice Milk (which was runny)

Almond Milk Cheese (I don’t know how to milk an almond but I’m not sure I want to know)

Soy Milk Cheese (which doesn’t melt even when said child attempts to light a fire to it)

Why oh why won’t there be 90 seasons of Rome???

I’m so very sad. I have one more episode of Rome (HBO series) and then….that’s it. Nothing more. Why would they do this to me?! I am a history buff, above all else. Nothing defines me more than to say I love history, watching it, reading it, hearing it…. HBO and BBC created a show that starts with Julius Caesar beginning his “career” as a tyrant…through his death at the hands of the senate…through Marc Antony’s control of Rome…to Octavian’s triumph at taking over as Consul. Octavian became Augustus of course, who was emperor when Jesus was born, and his adopted son Tiberius was emperor during the end of Jesus’ life on earth.

The Middle-Class Suffers When the Rich Suffer

I will expound further at a later date but this has got to be said or I’ll go crazy thinking about it.

Obama has made it clear that his one of his top priorities concerning his “plans for change” is the middle-class family. He wants to give women who save $1,000 a 50% matching contribution to their savings accounts towards retirement. He wants to require companies to give more paid sick days and vacation days. He wants to require companies to help pay for health insurance. He wants to require companies to allow their employees 24 hours a year time off to go to their kids’ events and PTA meetings, and so forth. He wants to require all these things to help the middle-class family.

Yet he wants to use the government, taxes and his power to make these things possible. The government is not a charity organization. It’s a business like anything else. It’s in the business of keeping our country afloat. It’s in the business of helping the economy. How is making companies spend twice as much on each employee going to help the economy?

If the trucker has to be paid extra, then the cost of shipping goods will go up. If the cost of shipping goods goes up, the price of the item will go up. Then who will pay MORE for their milk, bread, cheese, cole slaw and blue fuzzy mittens? The same middle-class family that is rejoicing that they get a few extra hours off a year. The economy will suffer just as much. This is the fatal flaw in the government providing comfort and cheer in the way of paid time off and other like programs. This is to be the church’s responsibility. Why aren’t we doing it?? Is it that the government stepped in and took it away from us? No. We stepped away from it and people turned to the government for help. I believe this would point back to the 30’s generation.

Final Day Before the Big Day

So tomorrow is Election Day and we will finally see an end to the bitter battle between the two main political parties in this country. Until one wins and the other will scream and cry bitterly that some sort of cheating or miscalculations took place and if that had not been the case, then their candidate would surely have won after all.  I said it’s all hooey and very old and I can’t wait for it to be all over.

Here’s the thing.  I don’t like McCain and I don’t like Obama.  I liked Hillary even less and I’m not crazy about Bush.  I didn’t like Kerry and I very much didn’t like Clinton – he creeped me out even as a kid.  Regan wasn’t as great a person as everyone likes to make him out and neither was Dole or any of those other guys.  Honestly, my vote would be with Alan Keyes in an instant. 

Batman: Dark Knight

It amazes me that a movie, a single solitary movie, can make in one weekend $155 million.  Dark Knight topped Spiderman in total sales but probably tied with them for tickets sold – due to rising ticket prices.

In any case, I will say that I am not the biggest “Superhero” fan.  I found the Incredible Hulk, Transformers, Spiderman and Superman tolerable at best and Fantastic Four dumb.  Previous editions of such movies I find equally tolerable – though I loved the Incredible Hulk series from the 70’s with Bill Bixby – he was great.  But anyway, Iron Man was the first Superhero movie that I really LIKED.  I liked his confidant attitude and the lack of inner turmoil that seems to pervade superheroes!  He didn’t have horrible issues inside that he was castigating over, no groveling at the feet of a woman for her to love him without knowing he was a superhero, no familial traumas, no hiding from the press at all costs – I call to mind the closer of “…..I am Iron Man….”

But Dark Knight!  Dark Knight topped every movie in this genre or category and remote distant star!  Dark Knight was by far the very best made movie I have ever seen.

The obvious correlation between the casual evil of Heath Ledger’s interpretation of the Joker and the lack of absolute morals was astounding.  The image of Dent’s half mangled face being turned to the other half non-mangled portion gave me an immediate flash to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which of course is the ultimate fictional story created on the basis of man’s sin nature vs. God-given moral compass.  

Christopher Nolan is a gifted director – I doubt he has any idea what a terrific picture of worldviews and corresponding morality he has portrayed in this film.  It was brilliant.

Toilets

At work, I am responsible (among a few other things…) for moderating the comments on our daily article blog.  There is one particular person (I cannot call him a gentleman in lieu of his insulting, condescending and irrational behavior which includes calling Gary a liar on a daily basis in between illogical arguments on atheism based on copy and pasted false information found on the web, which of course we all know is SO terribly reliable in all matters pertaining to actual sense….)…..  Anyway, I think I went down two or three rabbit trails there.  Sorry. Back on track.

So I moderate the comments.  Today’s article was in reference to homeschooling.  And the comment this belligerent and ignorant person left on said article was along the lines of “Christians need to homeschool their kids because the rest of us need people to mow their lawns and clean their toilets.”

Well, I’m rather offended.  I don’t like to compare myself on a regular basis to other people, but I know of one person in particular who I will look at comparatively.  

She was a year older than me and had just graduated from college with a degree in IT.  She started working for my company as her first job and seemed smart and as intelligent as any 23 year old can be.  Within four months, she had been informally then formally reprimanded for unexcused absences from work, was paying off a $40,000 college loan, had totaled her nearly new SUV in an accident which was her fault, and living at home with her parents because she could not afford, due to her low paying salary, to move out.  Why was her salary so low?  Because she was in a field saturated by Generation Y-ers – and had none of the certifications that were required (and were also costly) to advance in her career.  She quit her job within a few months….  Last I heard she was working at the mall in a department store.  

What was I doing while she was in public high school and at her public state college getting a $40,000 debt on an “education” in a field that thousands of others were getting an education in only to learn that they couldn’t get a decent salary without spending still more to get further certifications?

I was socially acclimating myself to the world around me in theatre and orchestras, debate and sports, art and history, traveling around the country and reading over 6,000 “adult level” books (including college textbooks on marketing and management).  I have spent time (not just traveled through) in every state east of the Mississippi and some of the ones on the other side.  I have seen just about every lighthouse on the Eastern coast, thrown fish carcasses at sea lions, shaken hands with a billionaire (Truett Cathy) and made maple syrup the long, hard, boring way in the dead of a Northeastern winter.  

• At my first job, I received the most compliment cards of any employee (Chick-fil-A).  
• At my second job, my work was displayed in store and I received several awards for top sales during the month (Lifetouch Photography Studio).  
• At my third job, my descendants were offered jobs anywhere my manager and general manager were involved – my manager even let me study his top secret restaurant business plan before he left to be the Director at the country’s oldest hotel (Van Gogh’s, a Fine Dining Establishment).  
• At my fourth job, I was next in line for a managerial position and was one of three on the team that broke the drive thru record during lunch (Chick-fil-A; 112 cars in 1 hour! ).  
• At my fifth job, I was a receptionist that handled everything and anything for the 20 person staff.  If they needed it, I did it or knew how to get it done (Method IQ).  
• At my sixth job, my partner and I gained a full docket of continual requests for us to be the only team that cleaned their house within a month (it was almost full in 2 weeks) and we were checking up on teams that had been there longer than we had for accuracy and detailed thoroughness (Maid My Day).  
• At my seventh job, I was offered a position as Executive Assistant to the President, based on their experience with me as a receptionist, where I handled all manner of important tasks and confidential matters (Method IQ).  Look up the requirements for an Executive Assistant anywhere and you’ll find a degree and usually a decade of like experience required for even being considered for the position.  
• At my eighth job, I have been heavily involved with orders, customer service, donations, promotional events and emails, project quotes, wholesale accounts, shipping, setting up radio interviews, design input, event coordination, and marketing projects.  

Yes, I have cleaned toilets.  And I darn well know when they’re clean and when they’re not.  And I know how to clean one within an inch of it’s shiny white life.  I’ve had a lot of practice, because I was at home so much and had to do it often.  :-)  

But my point is this.  You can’t compare homeschoolers and public schoolers and come out with a definitive “good” and “bad” or “smart” and “not smart” or “worker bee” and “queen bee.”  Every one must be tested on his or her own merits.  I happen to believe that how you are educated or where has very little to do with how you actually turn out.  I know homeschoolers I would rather endure great suffering and pain than be anywhere near.  But don’t look at me and say that because I was 

homeschooled I am good for nothing more than cleaning a public schoolers toilet!  I didn’t need to endure the halls of public education to come out on top of the world I live in.  I’ve proved a homeschooler can do whatever they want in the real world – even if it might take a little longer or might not turn out the way they originally thought.  

I’m working my dream job at my dream company.  If you had told me at 12 that I would one day work at AV, with Gary…Carol… I never would have dreamed it possible.  But here I am – moderating comments from people who think I’m good for nothing but toilet duty.  All I can say is, darn right; and it’ll be clean.  :-)

Change comes from the bottom, not the top.

I am heartily saddened by the state of our political affairs at this time in history.  We are faced with Obama, Hillary, and McCain.  I wouldn’t care for any of them to be my pal, but one of them will be named the next President by the end of the year.

This issue I’m about to address has increasingly become troublesome to me.

The conservative crowd seems to think that what a presidential candidate believes/thinks/votes on the issue of abortion makes them either a good candidate or a terrible one. 

I beg to differ.  Abortion has been a curse on society long before it was made legal in the US in the 70’s.  There are documented and numerous accounts of unwanted babies in Rome being aborted or left on the rocks outside the city to die.  All through out history, whether legal or illegal, abortions have taken place. 

Whether or not the person with the title President is for or against abortion, I’m pretty darn sure some sadistic person out there will be perfectly willing to take a large payment to cut pieces of a tiny screaming baby out of a woman’s selfish body.  If there are serial killers and rapists and child molestors committing their crimes for degenerate pleasure only, I guarantee you there will be those willing to perform an abortion for large amounts of money!

Conservatives – STOP SPENDING ALL YOUR ENERGY ON THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES!  Why don’t you start volunteering in the crisis pregnancy centers?  Why don’t you donate to pro-life ministries and dedicate more of your time to talking to someone you know about why they believe abortion is an acceptable choice for a woman.  Stop spending all your time worrying and talking and howling about which candidate will have a better opinion of abortion! 

Do you realize how our country operates?  Once a law is passed into existence (such as Roe v. Wade), the President can not just step into office and obliterate it.  It’s been around long enough that many of us (myself included) were born into a generation that acknowledges the legality of abortion.  Start spending more of your time and energy turning around the hearts of people who consider abortion a choice and the need to illegalize abortion will fade into the woodwork.

Striking at the symptom (the act of abortion) will not cure the disease (a woman selfishly deciding her baby does not deserve life because it will change hers).  Start worrying and praying and talking and figuring out ways to soften those women’s hearts!  Start using your energy to seek out those who are struggling with the decision and turn their hearts. 

If you have any doubts on whether or not making something illegal will cause it to suddenly cease, take a look at the current drug statistics.  Just this week, Roswell GA police shut down an extensive operation in a home worth probably 1/2 a million where growth hormones and “other drugs” were being created and the operation is labeled “extensive.”  (The word “extensive” brings out the FBI, ATF, etc.)

You’ve got to get a reality check and see that abortion will occur whether legal or illegal until you change the hearts of the people who seek an abortion.

When you look into the mirror and see a flat stomach and realize that your pregnancy test is positive – it is difficult to imagine a tiny life forming.  When you hear the baby’s heartbeat a month later on your first doctor’s visit, it still doesn’t seem quite real.  When you’re six months down the road and you feel your baby kicking and flopping – it becomes very real.  

When a girl is taught (in public school) that her uterus has simply been injected with a fetus, much like a tumor, that will “mess up her life,” she is going to consider abortion her only choice to keep everything normal. 

Why don’t you look for that girl and talk to her about her other options and about the tiny life rapidly growing as a tiny human life instead of gabbing with your equally blind conservative friends about which presidential nominee is worse on the issue of abortion? 

Why don’t you find that girl who thinks “the tumor like growth” will simply cease to exist and help her realize what a baby looks like screaming in pain as a doctor tears off it’s tiny arm, then a tiny leg….or as acidic fluid burns into layers of its fragile skin and the convulsing that occurs when they breathe it into their lungs.  Why don’t you start trying to DO something about abortion instead of talking about which candidate will get to be President and do all the work for you – which they won’t! 

Get off your butt and look around you and figure out what actions YOU can produce for the pro-life beliefs you so proudly talk!