School Of RAWk

Nice...your commitment is so inspiring right now! (As I take another sip of my hot chocolate and take a bite of a cookie!) :-p

we will definiitely talk. How much or long did you want to detox, or do you just some good additions to include? The class was har as I'm on day 19 of master cleansing, but it was fun. Long day tomorrow (both jobs) and I will be TIRED!

Goooooooo ERICA

Good morning! Make that day 19, LOL! And thanks, guys!

Damn straight. Thanks for posting this.

I'll never get how people liked the taste of diet soda. I always thought it tasted gross. I was a Mountain Dew addict.

See, I never got the Mountain Dew thing. Or regular coke. Diet coke. Loved it.

Maher tells us that alcohol's only purpose is for unattractive people to get laid, and that we should tax “crappy food” out of existence like they are trying to do with alcohol. Is this a brilliant statement, as some people seem to think, or is it being a little simplistic? And once we head down that slippery slope where does the control end? Do we want our government telling us what is good for us, what we can eat and drink, and the medicines that we will have to take?

What has gotten us into this healthcare mess is that people simply don't want to take responsibility for their own well being. No one is forcing people to take a drug or eat a certain food. The market place will respond to what people want. Pharmaceutical companies often get a bad rap, but take a moment and think of all the good things that they have done. I would have been dead a long time ago if it weren't for a couple different drugs the pharmaceutical companies developed. On the other hand, I know people who take so many pills per day that it’s actually scary. Should we focus on one, and forget the other?

Bill suggest that my standard for personal responsibility has been effected because President Obama appointed Surgeon General Benjamin, who is fat, and a former advisor to Burger King. Does anyone really buy into this nonsense? I suppose if a person feels that they have absolutely no control over their decisions, that it’s all in the hands of the lobbyists, and that they are forced to eat this stuff, then they would accept his statement. ... See More

I use to have the mentality that we needed to force people into good health, but through my Wellness experiences I've come to learn that you can't save everyone. Some people simply don't care and other's are just the opposite and work extremely hard to maintain their health. That isn’t going to change.

Finally, I have found that exercise will often negate poor nutrition. Some cultures eat poorly but they have abundant health because of exercise, e.g. the isolated village of Vilcabamba in the Andean Mountains, the Hunzas in Pakistan, people in the former Georgia province of Russia, etc. Maybe Bill should suggest that every American would be required to exercise an hour or more a day, or face a stiff tax penalty. After all its for your own, and societies collective good. Bill is a political comedian, talks with tongue in cheek, and shouldn’t be taken too seriously.

The exercise idea isn't necessarily a poor one, actually. Or, some kind of tax/insurance incentive, perhaps? I disagree that it negates poor nutrition, it just may delay it's consequences. You truly need to put effort into both to be healthy, no matter how one looks or feels.

I think basically we (three) all agree that it's an issue of self-responsibility, and how difficult it is seemingly to instill it in others/a whole nation, or even in ourselves. It's true you cannot force people into anything, I've learned that as well, but incentives/taxes aren't totally illogical. I've also learned that dying is okay, too. We have no insights as to what another's real path is in this life, and maybe that was their lesson, or their time. But the individual DOES become collective when we're all paying into this system, and some do their part and others don't. Sometimes I fall on the other side of that line, too, so I'm not preaching or being condescending about others, just truly thinking outloud here as to how to motivate people since, as we established, we cannot force them. I know I sure as hell hate being told what to do, LOL!

And yes, even pharmaceuticals exist for a reason, but I would go as far as to say that 90% of them are unnecessary, truly. When an organ recipient receives an organ, pharmaceuticals keep them alive - keep their body from rejecting that organ. That is a necessary pill, of course. But most are bunk. We need hospitals and surgeons, too. But oncologists who give you the option of radiation or chemo? We're better off without them, sorry. Both are just deadly. ... See More

Funny: I read the first line of your response and immediately was going to pipe up with the reminder that he is famous first for being a comedian - which you aptly noted yourself. DEFINITELY something to keep in mind when dissecting his delivery. I do agree with his points, and it doesn't sound like you altogether disagree; I also agree with you that he is of course rash and that yeah, it is oversimplified - likely due to the format/context it was written for.

Extremely interesting. Some of the foods on her list were a surprise.

Which ones were a suprise to you?