So the Super Bowl (via the 49ers) is rolling out the old homophobia, eh? Let's boycott it. Just don't watch. (Go, Ravens!!)
I'm only too happy to add the SB to my list of boycotts--places I don't even miss now that I've crossed them off my list of places to spend my money.
Denny's (my first, for their treatment of black patrons);
Target (next, for the CEO's contributions to right-wing political candidates in MN--hey! This is Minnesota we're talking about!! Home of Sen. Eugene McCarthy and VP Hubert H. Humphrey. Now they're electing the likes of Michelle Bachmann? Gwaaan!);
ATT (a hard one, since my dad and one of my brothers worked for ATT--but ATT has been a big contributor to right-wing causes);
Chick Fil-a (next, abominable attitude toward gay persons--since backed off a bit, but...);
Whole Foods (WF moneybags CEO Mackey said Obamacare was worse than socialism--it is fascism! Huh? Fascism's the big buzzword now in the media. If there's something the right wing doesn't like, such as sharing or health care, they used to call it "socialism." Now they're calling it "fascism." Bah, humbug! Mackey is all in favor of capitalism. Maybe he can establish a WF credit card so we can get loans to shop there.)
Remembering words from that old song we used to sing in college,
"Got along without you before I met you,
Gonna get along without you now.
I met somebody who's twice as nice,
and I don't love you anyhow.
Go, Ravens (I've already said that)....
I guess each of us has her boycott list. The first on mine was Nestle - for pushing women in Africa to use baby formula instead of breast feeding their babies. It's hard to buy pizzas with most of the large pizza chains supporting "right-to-life" (oh, yeah!) groups.
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CC: oh, yes! How could I have forgotten Nestle? That was indeed my first and still operative. And the burgers....no more big macs, but i recently saw that Burger King's patties in the UK were found to have horse meat. That's their problem, but haven't seen any alarums here. other than GMO, which I'm similarly avoiding like the plague it is....
ReplyDeleteIt's on my boycott list, too, and that list keeps growing by leaps and bonds!!!!
ReplyDeleteI head an interesting piece on the radio, recently, about how chirality (handedness) of molecules affects living organisms. A case in point was the medicinal, thalidomide. In its original form, thalidomide had the correct (left) handedness configuration and did a terrific job. Somewhere along the line, the manufacturing process started producing incorrect (right) handedness molecules - resulting in the birth defects for which thalidomide is so infamous.
ReplyDeleteThat makes me stop to think about GMO a little more deeply. I don't think it's a problem since the GMO are still life forms (which are, supposedly, all left handed); but, I don't know.
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I'm with your anonymous commenter re GMO foods, but since we are not allowed to know where they are it puts us at a bit of a disadvantage. I did have a SB party though, so much a habit that I'd probably have one even if the game was cancelled.
ReplyDeleteWe were doing OK with boycotts, but then my husband bought a Nespresso machine.
ReplyDeleteDid you have a serious talk with that man?! *giggling*
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just seeing you write this is powerful advertising....but I am restraining myself. don't want one more freakin' electric machine. got no room for them all. the little stovetop espresso cookers go in the cupboard nicely. next to all the other smallish electric gadgets I have (The Little Oscar, which has saved my knuckles! and the hand mixer. Am dangerously close to getting a handheld blender thing, but I can use a masher and a whisk. Good exercise! Cooking for yourself is part yoga, I've discovered: focused movement, meditative, calming....
DeleteXE comment above is for Hattie re her husband's Nespresso machine.
DeleteGMO foods, whatever their molecular arrangement and dangers, are quite harmful especially since they require so much more pesticide (aka poison that contaminates the runoff and eventually groundwater). Here's an excellent link to "Eight reasons GMOs are Bad for You":
ReplyDeletehttp://www.organicauthority.com/foodie-buzz/eight-reasons-gmos-are-bad-for-you.html
Why are we being so sneaky about GMOs? Label foods that contain them! Of course, this will upset the big chemo manufacturers of pesticides, etc. If they can find a cheap way to do something, they're ecstatic. And we are soooo sniffy about Lance Armstrong. We're all hooked on chemicals one way or another.
Hmmm...according to my understanding some of the ADVANTAGES of GMOs are that they can be pest resistant, disease resistant, drought tolerant, etc. (see the citations given in one of the tabs of the posting at http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview.php.) LESS groundwater pollution is one of the selling points, to my understanding. Undoubtedly, unintended consequences crop up with nearly any change; but, that is true for changes that have nothing to do with GMOs, too. This is opinion, of course, since I am not a bio-geneticist!
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CC: Thanks for the link, although it's 13 years old. It cites advantages & disadvantages, just as the US department of energy's genome project does on its link (May 2012): http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/gmfood.shtml
DeleteI've read many reports that are far less glowing--and I've asked one of my former journalist friends whose dad was a century farmer to help me sort this out. The "less groundwater pollution" is indeed a "selling point", but selling points are advertising and PR. I used to believe the PR from BP, too.
One issue that's not related to biogenetics is the ethical issue that's fast evolving: ownership of the world's seed by just a few companies. That frightens me a lot, considering how few corporations there are that I'd trust.
Hattie: My niece's husband, who is Italian, has one of those, and it's fabulous. I can understand why your husband bought one. Meanwhile I use my two stovetop espresso makers, and I'm trying to wean myself of the two spoons of sugar I enjoy in my mug of espresso. Dang!
ReplyDeleteCC: fyi the new link at the top right of my sidebar (or whatever they call it)....
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