#Sugar Beets are #GMO too? I had no idea and I think I've been had...

So much for me switching to sugar-based soda instead of corn-syrup to be a tiny bit healthier... But no, GMO (genetically modified organism) foods are not labeled - in fact CANNOT be labeled. (Unethical law in my estimation.) I knew that most corn and soy is now genetically engineered, but not beet sugar. And I do research. If I don't know, do you?
I wish there was a way to know if it was made from cane sugar instead of sugar beets.  Pepsi Throwback (my poison of choice) uses both, so I'll never know. Wish I could quit!

"...the latest USDA data shows that 95 percent of the sugar beets, 93 percent of the soybeans and 88 percent of the corn grown in the U.S. are genetically engineered. They mixed in federal data revealing that 79 percent of the salad oil consumed in the U.S. is soybean oil, and 55 percent of the sugar comes from sugar beets. The grand total? Americans are eating an average of 193 pounds of genetically engineered food per year."

http://healthfreedoms.org/2012/10/17/new-report-americans-eating-their-weight-in-genetically-engineered-food/

Heather J. Kirk

We have "Truth in Advertising" laws. I suggest that we create "#Truth in #Politics" laws.

We have "Truth in Advertising" laws. I suggest that we create "Truth in Politicizing" laws. If a candidate or PAC lies about a candidate during a debate or a commercial, they would have to 1) pay for a commercial on which 2) they say they were wrong (I lied, I misquoted, I misunderstood...) about 'x', 3) but the truth is that my opponent...
 
Maybe then we would not have so much garbage going around and so much spinning in a way that it could hardly be called the truth anymore. Take it out of their campaign funds!

In a debate like tonight’s with each calling the other a liar over and over, how can we ultimately know the truth. Do you just stick with your Party? Do you wait and see how the media spins it? Whoever wins the poll? Do you check on sites that pretend to tell the truth but are highly politicized themselves, like MoveOn.org, FactCheck.com or BarackObama.com/TruthTeam. Just a hint here - his website is going to say he told the truth. You can't trust each candidate to check themselves.

We need outside sources. Go to statistics, to economic indicators for more than the past 4 years.  Go to newspaper reports or radio interviews - listen to the whole thing, not just the sound bites; look at governmental records.  I bet you can look up a whole lot of things stated in the debate that was immediately  contradicted by the other, go beyond the sound bites to the whole context; look at governmental records. I bet you can look up Licenses for drilling on Federal Lands somewhere. The question is not should we or should we not, but what is true about drilling there based on what these two (angry/frustrated/contradictory) men said.

Lot's of "Talk to the Hand" going on...

Too much work? Don’t want to do all that research? Then go ahead and vote on who is cuter, or who the news says wins the popularity contest, vote for who is more charming. None of that will matter in the Presidency, but what the heck. Even a straight party ticket without knowing the parties’ platforms is pretty worthless.

Or, if doing a little research is too much for you, then please, don’t vote.


Heather J. Kirk

#MittRomney Can't Put #PBS or #BigBird Out of Business - Even as President...Unless Listeners Stop Giving

Will Mitt Make Big Bird Disappear? Turns out cuts in federal funding would hardly make a dent. But why do so few listeners and watchers donate? I don’t have the answer, but let’s take a look at a few of the facts and a real life example.

Mitt Romney “threatened” to cut funding for Jim Lehr and Big Bird – or actually for PBS, but Big Bird has been used as the mascot to upset children around the country.

A silly example:

 

Would we really lose PBS if it did not get federal funding? (Note: there is a difference between federal and “public” funding)

National Public Radio (NPR) faced a similar situation not too long ago...and it is still going strong, because people who listen (the 'public' in ‘public radio’ and ‘public broadcasting’) are the largest portion of donors, and there are many other sources of funding.

I even heard Republican David Schweikert (Arizona Congressional District 6) say in an interview on KJZZ (our local NPR station) say that while he voted to cut national spending, he gives personally to KJZZ. I was impressed, especially since only 8% of listeners do.

I think people should look at and understand the way funding works before they fall for the gimmick (lie) that a lack of federal funding will put public broadcasting under. Government funds only account for 4.6% of NPR funs -real life example -down from 6% in 2009 - which means that 1.4% constitutes the reduction in NPR’s total budget by the cuts in federal funding).

Here’s a great visual: http://www.npr.org/about/aboutnpr/publicradiofinances.html   If we want Public Broadcasting so badly, we should be willing to pay for it - and in fact we do! At least 8% of us do - providing 39% of the budget. And by the way, "big bad corporations" also donate a good-sized chunk to National Public Radio (17%) - much more than the government in fact.

 

“Disclaimer: I do listen and I do give to public radio. I do not watch PBS – because I can’t receive it with my rabbit ear antennae. Which means I don’t “give” to cable either. Interesting that ao many people are up in arms about cutting federal funding to PBS, but don’t give to PBS, while they do give LOTS to commercial cable or satellite companies. Go figure…

Heather J. Kirk

The image says "#New York Times" at the top and has a quote that discusses "#Veterans' Jobs Bill Block in the Senate" on #Facebook

Facebook is a great way to share information with friends - but can also end up passing on false or partial information. Therefore, just like e-mails, I encourage people to check things out!

The image says "New York Times" at the top and has a quote that discusses "Veterans' Jobs Bill Block in the Senate". Since at first blush, it does not seem to be a good move politically for Senate members, I got curious and decided to find and read the article it came from – and why they would not pass a bill to help Veterans.

It appears that things like Snopes, Fact Check or Truth Team are not as unbiased as they used to be. So it's good to go directly to articles quoted, bills discussed or full context of quotes.

I use this example because it is very current and I have seen it many times and decided to do a little research..

#1: It appears to be from a blogger on NYT on-line site. Though not just a random person but a regular NYT blogger, this TruthTeam quote comes from a combination opinion piece /news piece blog. It’s important to understand that blogs and editorials are created for opinions to be expressed, based on the news and current events, but not necessarily unbiased news reports.

#2: It’s always good to read things in context, and get opposing views. So here is a link to the article. http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/19/veterans-jobs-bill-blocked-in-the-senate/

The overall tone is not a whole lot different from the quote, but according to the article, Republicans voted against it specifically because the $1 billion bill was not funded. There does appear to be an expected source of funding, but possibly not attached to this bill. Also saw that the $1 billion would be to create up to 20,000 jobs. That's a minimum of $50,000 to create each job - not even the actual income veterans would receive.

My goal: To encourage people to not just pass along little snippets that sound good. Instead to get involved in the political process by educating and informing themselves. This is just one example of how I chose to do that.

Heather J. Kirk

We know your vote counts - make sure it's logical too!

We know your vote counts - make sure it's logical too!

Political ad writers COUNT ON YOU TO NOT THINK FOR YOURSELF and to not know how your own government works. Here is my rant of the week - not against, or for, any candidate, but about putting on our thinking caps - and knowing what we are talking about before we speak!

An ad against Vernon Parker says he told Tea Partiers he wants to get rid of the Department of Education (yes, he did say this), and therefore Arizona will lose $800 million dollars in educational funding. This is NOT A LOGICAL CONLUSION!

The DOE basically says 'teach what we tell you to, or we won't give you federal money for education. We don't care if you want to teach to the needs of your students and your geographical area. No local control of curriculum allowed." (My own words.)

But if there is no DOE, the DOE can't take away our funding for not doing what the DOE says we have to do. (See how that works...)  So the claim is ILLOGICAL.

Later (not in the ad), it appears that to cover up for this lack of logic, the ad writers say there will be no Pell Grants for college without the DOE. Who says there will be no college grants without a DOE? Not Vernon Parker. In the video quoted, he says that the DOE educational rules have resulted in kids who can't read at a third grade level and don't know history - - responding to charts and a presentation obviously made before he started speaking, about poor test scores, something very few will disagree with.

Clearly the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, creators of the ad, did not learn critical thinking in school either.

Here's a link to a Press Release (not news, but Public Relations), accusations related to the quote, and oddly the entire video of Vernon Parker's speech, which does not support the accusation. I guess they are counting on you to not actually listening. http://azdem.org/news/releases/Vernon_Parker_Cuts_Education_AZ_CD9/

 Heather J. Kirk

Metal Prints and Chicken Soup Finalist...

An essay of mine titled "Thin Places" about my experience in the Dominican Republic, and the need to live by faith, has made it (so far) to the final round for an upcoming anthology titled Chicken Soup for the Soul: Finding My Faith. I'll let you know how it turns out.

I have previously had a limited number of metal prints up to 13 x 19. Now introducing Metal Prints up to 32 x 40!

All metal prints ship within 2 - 3 business days and arrive "ready to hang" with a hanging wire, mounting hooks, and nails. Grab a hammer... nail the mounting hook into your wall... and you're done!

www.heather-kirk.artistwebsites.com

Find new image "Dominican Cigars Being Made by Hand" in the Poster Prints Gallery or directly here:

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/dominican-cigars-made-by-hand-heather-kirk.html Photo copyright by Heather J. Kirk

 Heather J. Kirk

Do "all things" really work together for good? Even the tragedies we cannot see our way though?

Just tonight I prayed with a friend going through an extended difficult trial, the familiar verse: Romans 8:28 "
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." I try to be careful with this overused quotation, unless I have already explained to someone my own interpretation...that God does not cause bad things to happen just so He can turn around and make them come out 'good". We live in a world that falls (very far) short of perfection and bad things happen. But in spite of those things, God has the ability bring some elusive, and sometimes even amazing, good thing out of it.

Then I listened to a book tonight that addressed exactly this issue, and I'd like to share it with you, as the author seems to know the original Greek words used in the text.  And, I happen to like the visual image of a pattern of light falling over, and changing, a foundation of darkness. Heather J. Kirk

From Absolute Truths: Church of England Series, Book 6 by Susan Howatch, Conversation between Asgoth and Charles, mediated by John. Begun with Charles:

“The correct translation of that passage is actually, ‘All things intermingle for them that love God.’ I know you think I’m a lousy theologian, Charles, but at least my New Testament Greek is sound.”

I flexed my memory to recall the verb under discussion. “Uh, but what’s the point of the alternative translation?”

“It gives you a better impression of synergy – of the process where two different things are put together and make something quite new. If you just say, ‘All things work together for good,’ as if the good and the bad are all stirred together like the ingredients of a cake which later emerges from the oven smelling wonderful. Then the man who’s dying of cancer will want to punch you on the jaw because he knows damn well you’re understanding his pain and are playing fast and loose with the reality of his suffering by implying that his disease is the end of a good thing. But if you say ‘all things intermingle for good,’ you’re implying that the good and the bad remain quite distinct. There’s no question of well mixed cake ingredients which emerge from the oven smelling wonderful. The bad really is terrible and the good may seem powerless against that terrible reality. But, when the good and the bad intermingle, not merge, but intermingle, they form a pattern,” said John. “As I pointed out a moment ago, the darkness doesn’t become less dark, but that pattern which the light makes upon it contains the meaning which makes the darkness endurable. Do you remember telling me Charles that when you were a POW you found that human beings could endure almost anything so long as they believed their suffering had meaning. What they couldn’t endure was the possibility that there was no meaning which would allow the suffering to be redeemed.” …

“I’m going to pull myself up by my bootstraps, and…”…

“You meant that your new knowledge has given you new power. The pattern of redemption is now clearer to you, and your recent suffering will be given meaning by the new life which begins for you today.” (John)

#Insanity – The #FitTest and then trying to get off the floor

Insanity Fit Test: My numbers were not too bad. Fairly close (though less than) what the actors said their first week's numbers were - that is until I got to the upper body, push-uppy kind of things.

See those guns on me?? Looks like my arms would have a t least a little strenght, right? All bark and no bite. Worthless! I actually wrote "10 LAME pushups". 'Lame' means that I did not dip more than one inch - seriously. Hopefully on my next fit test I can remove the lame, even if the number count is lower.

The fit test was so incredibly exhausting that I could not get up off the floor afteward for 20 minutes. Perhaps I never would have gotten up off the floor, except that the incredibly repetitive music that plays over the intro screen to each Insanity DVD would not stop unless I crawled at least to the remote control.

Shower. Bed. We'll see what comes next.

Heather J. Kirk

Remembering #HenrySantos concert in Scottsdale

I attended a fantastic concert on April 21, 2012, at Ocean7 in Scottsdale, Arizona, by Henry Santos and band (all of them fantastic musicians). As you can tell by the photo, all the men were relegated to the back rows as the women pushed to the front and tried to get a touch of Henry.

Henry obliged, touching and kissing hands, waving and smiling, telling anyone who yelled out "Te amo!" - "I love you too." And while sweet and flirty and allowing people up on the stage for various reasons - he kept the women under control, but happy, with chaste little kisses and one pretty-sexy bachata dance. Although he teased about taking off his shirt (it had been 100 degrees that day and still pretty hot on stage at midnight), he never obliged the screaming masses on that one.

Which reminds me - no one was able to understand my mom's comment on the video I posted of the Romeo Santos' concert. What she said after Romeo's third wardrobe change was, "I had hoped he'd take more clothes off, not put more on!

Getting back to my point… Henry is a consummate performer and I am glad to have been able to attend the concert. Blessings Henry - I'm looking forward to seeing you do more amazing things.

Content and Photos copyright by Heather J. Kirk

My #Insanity Fit Test - and the delaying tactics I employed first.

I put this off the Fit Test for as long as I possibly could.


1. I scanned the exercise calendar and made it big enough for me to see. Graphic Designers should know this, but because we can blow things up to view on line, they sometimes forget to be realistic to the naked eye. Business Owners and Designers, take note: white text on black background is not the most readable. Neither is 8 point font.

2. I read the eating plan again. Again, not interested, though it clearly would help, but I don't have time to make and eat 5 meals a day. I already am the slowest eater in the world and always last to get up from the table. Can't spend more time there.

3. I put the DVDs in order according to the calendar. (See how adept I am at delaying the inevitable?

4. Took pictures of my biceps. I know, this is silly, but since they already are big, I wanted to get an idea of the contrast afterward. Will they get more defined and stronger, yet smaller. That would be my ideal.

Can you tell that I cleaned the mirror before I took the picture? This is exactly the reason why my cleaning woman asked me not to clean myself before her visits... this time I mistakenly used Tilex instead of Windex. Clearly it does not work on mirrors!

Last time I had the clever idea to use Rainex on the mirror, figuring that if it made water run of car windshields it would also run off my mirror - splashed daily with calcium-rich spotting water. Hint - it does not work, and created a film that makes it both harder to clean your mirror and frustrates yourself or the cleaning person...

Woops, look at that - I'm at 297 words. Have to tell you about my Fit Test next time...

Heather J. Kirk

Vote to Help Heather Kirk Win Nationwide Art Advertisement through #FineArtAmerica - such as my photos from #Sedona, #OakCreekCanyon and #Scottsdale #Arizona and #Bermuda

Help Heather J. Kirk get 250 votes per photo!

(You may have to sign up as a collector or artist. Sorry, but it is an easy registration!)
Clink on links to find my photos and Vote. Thanks to All!

 http://fineartamerica.com/contests/national-tv-photo-contest.html?tab=vote&artworkid=2571575

Fully Reflected by Heather J. Kirk (Oak Creek Canyon / Sedona, Arizona)

Open Voting - Now through May 31st, 2012
During open voting, visitors to FineArtAmerica.com are able to view all of the contest submissions and cast votes for their favorite photos.

http://fineartamerica.com/contests/national-tv-photo-contest.html?tab=vote&artworkid=2571587

Golden Fall Reflection by Heather J. Kirk (Oak Creek Canyon / Sedona, Arizona)

Juried Voting - June 15th, 2012
All photographs that have received at least 250 votes from the general public will become eligible for final selection by a jury of FAA staff members and industry professionals.

  http://fineartamerica.com/contests/national-tv-photo-contest.html?tab=vote&artworkid=1668390

Orange Glow by Heather J. Kirk (Scottsdale, Arizona)

The Prize:
Five winners will be chosen to appear in our next TV commercial which is scheduled to begin airing in July 2012. The commercial will air nationwide throughout the United States and is guaranteed to reach a minimum of 10 million viewers during the month of July.

Photos Copyrighted by Heather J. Kirk

#HenrySantos mentioned #Insanity from the stage and I thought "I just bought that"!

Though I suppose the word "just" is an understatement. I bought it 3 (or maybe 4) weeks ago, read the booklet on the meal plan, and became afraid. That's right, I chickened out before I even looked at the DVDs!

I'm afraid of this exercise program. Very afraid.

My brother was impressed I'd bought it thinking I'd done other BeachBody programs to build up to Insanity. Uh oh.... Was I supposed to do that?

But hearing it mentioned was a reminder to me that it is time to stop using a "diet" being too hard (which it really is not) as an excuse to not to start the exercise program.

My brother also said that the people he knows who completed the 60 day Insanity program came out looking fantastic, but very few people stuck with it.

There it is. That's my challenge. I seem to do much better with really hard than with "it's an easy lifestyle change for the rest of your life". Let me get the intense part with Shaunt (Mr. BeachBody himself) down first - THEN I'll decide about the rest of my life!

By writing this here I am holding myself accountable to you - my readers - to DO THIS. Every few days I'll check in with you to let you know how Insane Insanity really is.

Here is my motivatihng picture:

I know, I'm a girl and this is a picture of a boy, but it's the best example I could find. Let's do this!

Heather J. Kirk

Memories of music and dancing in Santo Domingo (#republicadominicana #dancing)

Setting Up the Son Party in Colonial Zone - Every Sunday Night!

I love these photos of this couple's feet dancing the Son - which is a very complicated dance and I only tried once, unsuccessfully, to learn it, as the demonstrator said "Just follow". HA! And men in white pants - very Caribbean! I didn't see many women in white pants though - almost exclusively blue jeans.

Content and Photos Copyright Heather J. Kirk

All of Aventura in Arizona (separately) within a few months

April 19, 2012 (Obviously written before Henry Santos concert O7, Scottsdale, Arizona)

So, on the way home from the Romeo Santos concert I told my mom I wish I could go to one of the small shows in New Jersey or New York where Henry Santos was playing clubs. What an amazing opportunity to see someone of such talent up close. About a week later his concert was announced for Scottsdale. See, once again I am prophetic! And better yet - I don't have to drive all the way across town to Glendale like I did to Jobing.com Arena.

Kind of strange - I had been deprived of live Dominican music since September of 2010 when I left Santo Domingo - and then within a span of a few months, all three spin offs of Aventura will have played Arizona. I guess Arizona is awake after all. Welcome Henry and crew.

P.S. To my readers - I did not invite my mom this time. I plan to dance!

by Heather J. Kirk

Hanging out in Home Depot due to Arizona heat!

Last few days have been so hot in Phoenix/Scottsdale (100 – 105 degrees) that people are hanging out in Home Depot’s floor fan section!

by Heather J. Kirk