Political Ramblings

[punk-a-doodle]

Haha, I don't want any of your luck then Rufus! XD

 

[rufus]

Mamma Roo, I also have tried gardening. I wish I had your rain. After about six months of $300 water bills, I had one potato. We didn't know whether we should eat it or worship it.

In my neighborhood, if one is going to garden, it should be something that is under ground, like carrots or potatoes. Otherwise it will be stolen. Apparently, thieves are not big on heavy digging. Growing tomatoes or chilis is just like saying "steal me, steal me."

For the last two years a couple of ladies have stripped my apricot trees. They left nothing but tracks in my very expensive mud. I don't know how this could have happened. I am retired and stay home most of the time. They must have been watching. I sure miss my guard rooster.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Well, it sure looks like they will not be buying twinkies with their SNAP or EBT cards.  Hostess is liquidating the company.  This is their second bankruptcy within my memory.  They underwent a previous bankruptcy in 2004.

The real losers are those two hedge funds that bought up the company debt.  Boy did they back a loser this time.  It sure would have been nice if the union had fronted up some of all that pension money that they supposedly had stashed away and bought a stake in the company.  But I guess they knew that this time they had taken it too far.  They had killed the company.

My best guess is that the company assets will be sold off and the brand names and over seas plants will be sold to a company like Gamesa.  These products will probably continue to be made, but at plants in Mexico or the Philippines.

Sorry about that.  I have a gut feeling that is just the start of a bad process.  Other companies will go down also.

That brings up another point. I wonder how and why (what is the reasoning behind it) "treats" (chips, soda, snack cakes (twinkies ), cookies) are an approved item when it comes to the Free Money Cards. When did a person ever NEED a "treat" to survive? Seems to me they only need the basics to survive and that would be fruit, vegetables, meat, rice, potatoes, beans and dairy (excluding ice cream). Anything else is just "Lagniappe" (pronounced - LAN-yap ) as we say in Louisiana, which means a little something extra.

Once the kids have eaten all the candy and treats, then their teeth rotten, so then they have to get FREE dental care. I'm just saying.............

 

[rufus]

My wife works part time at Wally World. She comes home angry because some people buy a couple of hundred dollars of candy and then complain because they are diabetic. I too am diabetic, and I tell her they probably won't be doing that for much longer. It is a self solving problem.

My fear is that so many people have become reliant upon these cards and other social welfare programs that when these programs are no longer available something bad is going to happen. It is like feeding bacon to a bear. Whey you run out of bacon, guess who is next on the menu?

I have a real bad feeling about this.

 

[kuntrygirl]

My wife works part time at Wally World.  She comes home angry because some people buy a couple of hundred dollars of candy and then complain because they are diabetic.  I too am diabetic, and I tell her they probably won't be doing that for much longer.  It is a self solving problem.

My fear is that so many people have become reliant upon these cards and other social welfare programs that when these programs are no longer available something bad is going to happen.  It is like feeding bacon to a bear.  Whey you run out of bacon, guess who is next on the menu?

I have a real bad feeling about this.

 

I'm sorry but that is funny about the diabetic. I had to laugh when I read that. Sad thing is that it's true.

I too have a bad feeling about all of this.

 

[rufus]

Punk a Doodle are you still looking for some land? I see the GSA is selling off those old missile silos in North Dakota. It sure looks green from the pictures they put up on the internet. But I bet it sure gets cold and snowy there in the winter.

Just make sure you don't fall down that silo.

Sometimes you can get real bargains off of that site. They sold off thousand of FEMA mobile homes on it. Most went for about a thousand dollars. They were 14 foot by sixty foot and in unused condition.

I too am looking for some real estate. They had a good sounding deal in Monticello, Utah. The price was really attractive, but upon further research, it turned out to be a tailing dump for a uranium mine.

 

[ChickensRDinos]

There are programs like WIC that are nutrition based programs that give coupons only for specific items like milk, veggies, cheese, etc.

Unfortunately groceries stores are very demographic and the healthy food/produce selection in poor neighbors is depressingly sad. When I first moved into an inner city neighbor and went to a grocery store I was SHOCKED. Access to healthy food is limited and so in education about nutrition in general. The sad truth is that the cheapest foods are the crappiest foods. Per calorie, the cheapest food that you can but at a store is potato chips. Quality food is costly.

My friend works on rotation as a doctor at the county hospital and large number of uneducated parents honestly believe that clear soda is healthy and calorie free because it is clear. They think it is a healthy thing to give their children. Education on nutrition, on portion size and on how to cook in general are not easy to access.

There are much larger problems at work here and simply making bad choices.

 

[kuntrygirl]

There are programs like WIC that are nutrition based programs that give coupons only for specific items like milk, veggies, cheese, etc.

Unfortunately groceries stores are very demographic and the healthy food/produce selection in poor neighbors is depressingly sad. When I first moved into an inner city neighbor and went to a grocery store I was SHOCKED. Access to healthy food is limited and so in education about nutrition in general. The sad truth is that the cheapest foods are the crappiest foods. Per calorie, the cheapest food that you can but at a store is potato chips. Quality food is costly.

My friend works on rotation as a doctor at the county hospital and large number of uneducated parents honestly believe that clear soda is healthy and calorie free because it is clear. They think it is a healthy thing to give their children. Education on nutrition, on portion size and on how to cook in general are not easy to access.

There are much larger problems at work here and simply making bad choices. 

I have heard of WIC.

You are right about the cheapest foods are the crappiest. As bad as I hate to say it, but I can understand a family going to Mc'Donald's and buying $1.00 burgers, fries and drinks for a cheap price. At $3.00 per family member, it feeds their families. Sad but true. And I can understand it from that side.

Yes, Education plays a vital role in all of this.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

Hey Rufus, yes I am! We are saving like mad, but probably will still be at least a year if not more before we can buy our first property. Thanks so much for the tip, I haven't looked at that site before. Hope you find what you are looking for as well. There are some very nice farming areas in UT, though I do worry about the suburbs swallowing up some of them.

And yes on education! It is such a huge factor in most anything, and unfortunately there is a lot of heavy and misleading marketing in the food category.

 

[rufus]

There are programs like WIC that are nutrition based programs that give coupons only for specific items like milk, veggies, cheese, etc.

Unfortunately groceries stores are very demographic and the healthy food/produce selection in poor neighbors is depressingly sad. When I first moved into an inner city neighbor and went to a grocery store I was SHOCKED. Access to healthy food is limited and so in education about nutrition in general. The sad truth is that the cheapest foods are the crappiest foods. Per calorie, the cheapest food that you can but at a store is potato chips. Quality food is costly.

My friend works on rotation as a doctor at the county hospital and large number of uneducated parents honestly believe that clear soda is healthy and calorie free because it is clear. They think it is a healthy thing to give their children. Education on nutrition, on portion size and on how to cook in general are not easy to access.

There are much larger problems at work here and simply making bad choices.

A lot of diet problems are cultural. Some people think that if you eat beans, rice and tortillas you have a balanced meal Meat is basically considered a condiment. It is to taste, not get full on. It is really hard to break with culture.