We, the Voting Village, for President Hillary Clinton

Today marks an auspicious occasion for American women, especially those of us born sometime in the 50s, 60s or 70s. Forget boomer or gen-xer labels, I'm talking about women who've experienced the struggle of inequality in the US, first hand and watched our grandmothers, mothers, sisters and aunts fight the good fight all their lives, simply to be seen and heard for what we are; strong women.

Today Hillary Clinton becomes the first US presidential nominee of the democratic party, which makes me proud to be her supporter, because ultimately it's she who supports us. Nearly 100 years after women were finally granted the right to vote, we have a nominee who's lived our struggles, understands and represents us.

Some people reading this will inevitably write me off as "voting with my vagina" (I'm looking at you Susan Sarandon) but frankly, my vagina cringed and tried to crawl back into my ovaries at the prospect of Carly Fiorina (also purported to be a woman). Nope, it's that Hillary is smart, successful, compassionate, empathetic and vastly qualified to lead one of the greatest nations on earth.

Growing up, I watched my mother struggle to keep our large family going, she wasn't a bra burner but she taught piano lessons and worked as a crossing guard so she could help bridge the gap between my dad's wages and the needs of our family all while still being home for us, as women were expected to be. When it was my own turn to make my way in the world, I slid behind the wheel of a taxi cab in Philly in 1979, eager to earn enough to pay for my college tuition. There weren't many women driving cabs then, and I had fares who refused to ride with me, because I was "a little girl" and Philly had some arguably tough neighborhoods. From there I went into the United States Air Force (USAF) where my grades and test scores qualified me for any career field I could choose - except of course, the great many which were reserved for men only. When I landed at my permanent duty station, there were only 3 women in my unit and while the military was sometimes further ahead than the civilian world in equality, there were constant hurdles, simply by virtue of my 'vagina'.

I'm not complaining. I've had it better than many women. I wasn't trying to raise a family on my own, with no support, no childcare and no health insurance. I wasn't struggling to get an education while working to support hungry mouths, I wasn't also fighting racism or religious intolerance. I was one of the lucky ones able to overcome the barriers in civil engineering and software while looking across the table at stodgy men in business suits, telling me that I had good ideas but the men would take it from here. I had to make many sacrifices, like marriage and family in favor of a career while my male counterparts were never even faced with those choices. They could have it all.

But then I remember voting for Bill Clinton and being so thoroughly in awe of his first lady Hillary. After years of fighting (in relative obscurity) for children with the Children's Defense Fund, watching her take on healthcare was like experiencing your first sonic boom. She was driven, fearless, tireless and resonated with all the women I knew. She believed it was possible. I watched her and learned that perhaps my own struggles paled in comparison to others. She taught me compassion, empathy and the lesson that we are all responsible for, and to one another. She weathered outrageous sexist attacks on everything from her appearance to her choice to stand by her marriage vows. The attacks extended to her daughter, young and innocent but not above attack by angry republican men who feared the power of Hillary's sheer intelligence. They couldn't attack her on the things that mattered so they got in the mud and threw shameless buckets of it, seeing what would stick (much like they still do).  She took it on the chin and overcame not by cowering nor by striking back. Her ultimate victory was her ability to draw on the power of her convictions and keep moving forward to draw more people into the vision she was creating.

Women play a unique role in bringing us together to be that village (of her famous quote "it takes a village") because we've all experienced adversity and we are the flexible strength this nation needs right now. We know that 'my way or the highway' only serves to make our paths to success more difficult. We know that it's never a question of 'us or them' and that finding a path of inclusion for everyone is a far greater aspiration. We know this whether it's in our families, our schools, our businesses, our charities or our world view because we live it daily. We are the agents of compromise who affect change.

I know that many of today's younger women can't relate to those struggles, and if not, then we've done our jobs. We want to make each generation of young women, more self-confident, more powerful in their own right without facing the barriers that our mothers and grandmothers faced simply to earn us those rights. But never, should we forget that our grandmothers marched as suffragettes, our mothers fought for rights outside of the home and that we (and Hillary) have fought to shatter the glass ceilings. We should be proud, but never forget the journeys that got us here and be ever mindful of the road ahead.

So today, with tears streaming down my face for this momentous achievement, I'm proud to stand behind Hillary Clinton as a woman who champions my causes, represents women better than I could ever hope to and stands up as a proud American ready to represent our diverse cultures and values to the world at large.

As Hillary says; "If that's the woman's card? DEAL ME IN!"

Please join me and be sure to visit Hillary's website for any further info - her policies and proposals are published for all to see.

Jack be Nimble

Jumping over the candlestick without extinguishing it was said to be good luck. Well it looks like ole' Jack, put out the candlestick this time. John Michael Iten (known as Jack) was arrested and charged early in April for a variety of offenses, including drug trafficking, weapons, forgery, counterfeiting and child endangerment. Yes, the last one is correct. you see, not only was he carrying on some major drug activity within 1000 feet of an elementary school, he had fully loaded automatic weapons strewn around the apartment he shared with his girlfriend and son, who is not quite a year old. The child was found in the apartment at the time of the raid. It's unclear where the baby's mother was at the time. Jack was in possession of some serious drugs, we're not talking a little bit of weed here, so don't give me the 'pot should be legal' argument. We're talking some serious crap that the police are now saying was supplied by a Mexican drug cartel.  Jack is currently cooling his heels in the Cass County, North Dakota jail with a bail set at $500,000 cash only.

See the police report here: Drug Bust

John (Jack) Iten mug shot 4/4/2016

Contraband confiscated from Jack's place

Now, you may ask why do we care about a gun toting drug runner? Whelp, Jack first came to our attention through his mother who is a compulsive tweep, tweeting nonsense she knows nothing about. She's cruel, bigoted, judgemental and a habitual liar who often holds up her son to deflect the ire she creates with her vitriol. Meet Chris Stark, aka @doxingrx on twitter, formerly known as @stark3923 If any of these accounts are familiar to you, then you can go ahead and skim to the end, since her self-aggrandizing brand of deceit is probably well known to you.

photo courtesy Chris Stark on twitter

And before you think I shouldn't be reveling in the misfortune of others, read on. Many of us are entitled to a bit of schadenfreude over this particular dose of perfect karma.

I came across Stark during the infamous Jodi Arias murder trial, where by virtue of her own imagination, Stark had set herself up as an expert 'researcher' involved in the case. She was nothing of the kind, she was simply watching the trial streams like the rest of us and not even doing a very credible job of that. I watched as she labeled one of the witnesses for the defense a drug addict and tweeted her name, number and address. She even went so far as to create a fake arrest warrant for heroin but spelled it "heroine". The poor woman she victimized was beset by threats to the point that she eventually declined to testify. I won't post the screen shots here because the woman has been victimized enough and I don't need to  perpetuate it. Stark pretended that the woman was a heroin addict because that's the worst thing she could think of and now her own son Jack is peddling heroin half a block from an elementary school. That's karma, no?

Stark also seems to suffer from Munchausen by Internet, whenever people twig on to some of her falsehoods ranging from tall tales about her celebrity friends to (in her own words) waging war on people via twitter! She has suffered from; Lupus, Hashimoto's disease, rheumatoid arthritis and two kinds of cancer - sometimes all at the same time. Y'all know how much I despise cancer fakers. Interestingly her "cancer treatment"  for breast and uterine cancer has been ongoing since 2001, which we find funny since her most vain 'possession' aside from Jack, of course, is her hair.

But let's talk about Jack. Chris Stark's only child is John Michael Iten who goes by Jack. Chris and hubby Mike had an extremely acrimonious split when Jack was just a toddler. Chris has said that her husband was abusive and an alcoholic but then, with Chris, it's difficult to believe anything she says. However, if you are a small child and hearing that all the time, I imagine it would be troublesome. Additionally, she seems to live vicariously (or did) through Jack but when Jack wasn't quite cracked up to par, she invented tall tales to dazzle people with how wonderful HER son is. That would have to hurt if you're the kid.

Not only did she claim he graduated a year early from high school with a scholarship (he didn't, she was looking for an excuse as to why she abandoned him and left the state just before his senior year), she claimed he was president of the NDSU TKE fraternity (he wasn't), she claimed he found a missing child with autism, rescued a girl from an ongoing rape in a frat house on campus and rescued several girls from a flipped and burning SUV along the highway. Wow, what a life that kid led, no? Seemingly his greatest accomplishments (in her eyes) was being an eagle scout and into martial arts at 14 years old. We dubbed him "Super Jack"

She posted this montage just days after he split up with his girlfriend (top middle). He'd been dating her since high school and I think momma bear was disappointed that he lost his 'good catch'. SO she posts all these photos from when he was her good little boy. Nice, huh? Mom's always disappointed in real life.

But that changed when Jack got his girlfriend knocked up. Chris really, really wanted to own her son's progeny as well - take a look at some of these posts.

Ouch, that had to hurt but wait - that was before baby Mason came along:

Yup - total ownership, I guess. I'm thinking that the child's mom wasn't very fond of Chris' meddling influence and judgemental attitude though, because she posted these comments on the very day that Chris paid them a visit from across 3 states. 

Sounds a lot like Chris. I think that Ms Stark was disappointed that Super Jack hooked up with a girl that dropped out of college and got pregnant, prompting Jack's dropping out of school too. Though I'm not so sure Stark wasn't actually right about Jack's baby mama who posted this recently:

Who knows when the drugs and guns came into play? What I do know is that they were dangerous to have around a child just starting to get around on his own. Of the 22 counts Jack is charged with, this is pretty egregious especially if you're the grandma and you abhor evil and drugs.

I mean, she really really hates anyone associated with drugs and alcohol:

And don't forget to use cap-locks for that more sensational atmosphere:

I guess when they happen to other people they're 'bombshells":

or crime:

or pretty much anything she deems wrong:

Ah well, the kharmic wheel rolls over many a fraud. Stark is no exception. If you want some fun reading of her antics over the years - go visit a friend of mine Transient Amnesia and poke around a while. There's lots of background on why we aren't especially upset over the plight that Stark finds herself in now because it is her plight after all. it's ALL about her. Maybe that's how Jack got to where he is now - facing down 3 life sentences. Only Chris Stark knows for sure but she's busy trying to figure out how to spin this one for maximum personal benefit.

Unicorns and a Bernie Sanders Presidency

When I watch ridiculous sci-fi movies with hubs, he always reminds me about "Suspension of Disbelief" being required in order to enjoy the movie. So today, dear readers, I will ask the same of you. We'll journey to the land of make believe where unicorns exist and fairies sprinkle pixie dust over magical dreams to make them come true.

OK, are you there with me? I'll give you a moment...

Now that we're soaring on the back of a winged unicorn under a cloud of pixie dust, let's just imagine that Bernie Sanders actually wins the democratic nomination. I know, I know, continue when you're done laughing. Let's imagine that all those superdelegates that the Berns insulted by calling them "Democratic Whores" could actually be swayed by Bernie's 'popularity'. (yes, I know that Clinton has well more than 2.5 million MORE votes than the Berns but remember, we're on a unicorn here) Now imagine what would happen if the Berns had to run against the GOP candidate and let's just hypothetically say that's Donald Trump, since all the GOP candidates are equally frightening in different ways. Bernie has been crying and whining that the Hillary camp has been mean to him or has been 'cheating' him, or that elections are rigged against him. Of course this is just a smokescreen to cover his own  failures and personal smears on Hillary, but we'll take another pass under the pixie dust to pretend that he's really been demeaned and cheated. Bernie is fond of saying that current national polls put him farther out in front of Trump than Hillary and this is proof of the cheating and smears. Let's take a closer look.

The reality, even in our pixie dust, unicorn world, is that no one in the GOP has yet to take a shot at the Berns. In fact rightwing Karl Rove's super PAC, American Crossroads, has aired TV ads against Hillary in states where there were democratic primaries. So Bernie has actually gotten help from the very folks who will take aim at him come November in our imaginary Bernie-winning-nomination land. The tone of the campaigns this season has been incredibly acerbic, from Bernie's camp calling Hillary a 'democratic whore' and his supporters throwing dollar bills at her motorcade as you would a stripper; to Trump's racist comments and blatant name calling, I have to think that this would not end well for Bernie. In reality, the GOP can't wait to sink their teeth into Sanders' soft underbelly in a general election.

At issue will be Bernie's own lack of a track record and unsustainable promises. In all his years in Washington he's managed to sponsor 3 bills which passed; two of which were to rename post office buildings. Not exactly as earth shattering as his socialist rhetoric proclaims him to be. And that's just the easy stuff, his campaign promises to grant free college education and 'break up the banks' (just don't ask him how) are reliant upon a pixie dust coated projection of a record breaking sustained economic growth, unprecedented in the history of the US. It's hard for me to imagine, even whilst riding a winged unicorn, that breaking up banks and risking 700,000 US jobs, demonizing corporations who provide many of "the good jobs" his supporters are demanding, combined with draconian trade policies that will drive companies out of the US while dramatically increasing the cost of consumer goods in America, will lead to any expansion of economy. In fact even through rose colored lenses it has the potential to plunge the US into the worst recession in history.

Now this is not to say that some of Sanders' goals aren't good ones, it's his priorities and general paranoid cynicism that I rail against. You can't change a nation by tilting at windmills to convince its citizens that they have no hope, all the cards are stacked against them, so why bother trying on your own. It may help you get into office as a unicorn flying demagogue but what then? People who think they've been defeated before they even make an attempt are far less likely to work hard to overcome obstacles. It's far easier to plop on one's ass and blame everyone else for your own lack of success.

Do we need to even the playing field so that people have a greater chance of success - yes, I think we have a responsibility to do so but to me, that's helping those who really need it, not some college kid who racked up 50k in consumer debt on a credit card. I feel badly for them, but I'm not inclined to call them underprivileged. Do we need to solve education issues? Surely, but my priority would be for basic education in underserved communities where kids truly don't have a fighting chance. No one is handing kids in south side Chicago or west Atlanta, credit cards to have lattes with their pals. How about we make progress toward improving education there and eliminating guns so that kids can actually make it to school without being shot dead in the street? The people whining about free college are the people who've already had a great deal of advantage in their lives, they just can't seem to see past their own struggles to see the bigger picture. And of course, if you try to knock them off of their unicorns to see the world from more realistic vantage point, they write you off as being part of the establishment.

Perhaps I am part of the establishment, but isn't that what they are screaming for an opportunity to be? They are shouting that they paid for school and can't get the 'good jobs'. I'm sure there is truth in that, since the economy is still recovering after the devastation what was George Bush, but 'good jobs' aren't handed out on a silver platter either, never have been. I tried paying for a good education by driving a taxi and waiting tables in Philadelphia in the early 80s. It was no picnic, let me tell you. So I joined the USAF  one of 3 women in my whole unit,  and when I got out, I was able to earn a whopping 8 bucks an hour in a male dominated field. So I worked my ass off, twice as hard as any of my male peers until after 15 years; I had 'the good job' pulling down 6 figures. And you know what? I was able to make changes, hire women, run after work seminars for them to teach them the ropes in the hopes that their struggles would hit less glass ceilings and allow them faster progression.

Am I a hero? Nope. I'm a pragmatist. There are many more women in my field now and in much higher positions, including CEOs and senior government positions. This wouldn't have happened had all of us, faced with challenges, sat on our collective asses blaming the system and demanding that someone else change it. We worked hard, we continue to work to assure that change, at times slower than we like, is inevitable as death and taxes. So when these younger folks find out that change starts from within, not from screaming and shouting at someone else to change it they will undoubtedly succeed. Will the younger generation condemn them for their hard work? Quite possibly, so I suggest that they tend those unicorns well so that they can be passed to the next 'revolutionaries'.

Long live the unicorns.

The Drumpf or the King?

I don't usually write about politicians here because, well, they're pretty much all liars. But one person has gone way too far. For a while I'd just assumed that Donald J Drumf was a big Poe having a laugh at all the idiots who hang on his every hateful word. After watching how far it's gone and how utterly absurd the Republican race for the white house has become, it's clear he's not joking, though he certainly has the world laughing...at Americans.

I've seen people draw parallels between Hitler and "The Donald" but I don't see that connection. Hitler, while an evil man, was driven by singular goals and was in fact a self-made man. Drumpf, on the other hand, was handed millions after being born and raised with a silver spoon. The Drumpf has never known what it's like to live as the people who rabidly cling to him as their candidate. Instead, he truly reminds me of King Henry VIII. Let's explore why.

Henry was born into royalty - he never knew a day of hunger, his education was provided for him and had a profound sense of entitlement to all of it.  When Henry VIII ascended the throne, he had a massive surplus in the national treasury - thanks to his father. But  the junior Henry didn't have a vision for the country, its alliances or a strategy. Henry VIII cared only about Henry VIII. His driving forces were greed, ego and lust just like the Donald.

Henry is largely credited with religious reformation in England but it wasn't due to deep introspection or firmly held religious views. He just wanted a new wife. So he made himself the supreme head of the church and annulled his marriage despite the fact that he had a child from that marriage. As an added bonus, he was able to fill his coffers with all the holdings of the monasteries (since they were now his not the pope's), who had significant lands and often operated as the centers of communities and fed the hungry - but hey, it was just business. To quell an uprising over these drastic moves, he promised the rebels amnesty and then executed most of them. Seems you couldn't trust his word - sound familiar? But after that, Henry blew through wives like kleenex, executing two of them, deciding that one would become his sister and on the path to executing a third when he died. What this illustrates about Henry VIII is that he would stop at nothing to get his own way because he felt he was entitled to it. Women were mere vessels for his children or eye candy to drape on his arm and prove his waning vitality. Use them up and throw them away. Interestingly, all of them except his first, were significantly younger than he was.

Trump, of course, is on his third wife and numerous self-professed extramarital affairs. He lied and cheated in business, defrauded investors as well as those who are currently suing him over his failed Trump University fiasco. He thinks nothing of these things because hey, that's just business. After all, he needs to rake in the big bucks to pay for the latest million dollar wedding. Yes, he spent more on one wedding than many of his admirers will make in their lifetime.

Henry VII was also very divisive - his policies changed from day to day and he frequently pitted his closest advisors against one another to test their strengths and loyalties. Kinda like a royal version of the apprentice except instead of losing their jobs, they lost their heads on the block. His friends and allies never knew quite when Henry would turn on them and send them to the tower (cause Henry had a tower too) for a bit of torture until they testified against themselves. This flip-flopping and extreme paranoia led to some costly wars both from the standpoint of lives and depletion of the treasury, after which Henry, quite literally, was taxing his own people to death.

Trump, too is very divisive. He pits people against one another on a reality TV show because that's how he operates in business as well. He's famously turned on the Clintons who he once claimed were good friends, Univision, who took umbrage at his racist comments, NBC, Macy's and even Samuel L Jackson in a twitter feud. His history is littered with those he's used and cast away when they displeased him. He also advocated torture and killing the families of those he suspects to be terrorists with no due process. He promises to 'take over the oil fields' of another nation, simply because he thinks he can. All this he thinks he can do as president - order illegal activities and people will simply 'do it' because 'he's a leader'.

The risk of a greedy egomaniac in power is real. Things Trump is told that he can't do on his own - citing the balance of power of the US granted by the constitution - he claims he'd just issue edicts instead in the form of executive orders. The reality is that Trump is not likely to deliver on any of his twisted promises because our constitution will prevent. However, he will continue to spread the type of hatred that he's created and alienate the global community against all things American, quite possibly sending our economy into a tailspin that could take years to climb out of. That the public conversation has become so ugly amongst those that are vying to be the one of the world's most powerful men is not only disgusting, it's dangerous for this generation and for generations to come.

That's All Folks.

Enjoy this video too!

Brave, Brave Foodbabe (AKA the Making of a Martyr)

This week Vain Hair (self proclaimed 'Food Babe') waged her own little mini-war on social media against Boar's Head Meats (go ahead and give them a facebook like) originally because in her crack research she couldn't find their ingredient list.

Proprietary research tools

Seems Ms Hari is unfamiliar with the process of purchasing from a deli counter. At any rate, when she found that the ingredient list is readily available to customers, she then turned her sights onto the ingredients themselves. Of course, this is not unusual for her, this is her standard modus operandi to line her own coffers. So what makes this different? We'll show you.

This time, Vain asked all of her followers to harass the company on their facebook page. Yes, she's done this in the past, but this time she did a couple of video broadcasts, in which she publicly labeled people, and their facebook profiles, as 'paid shills' for dissenting with her 'researched opinions'. She requested that all of her followers ignore anyone that disagreed and simply call them a troll or a PR shill.  And so they did. However, her mission was a complete failure and ended up in the Boar's Head facebook page garnering thousands of additional page likes. You can't call a bunch of facebook groups and pages with tens of thousands of members, all 'paid PR trolls' without some backlash, after all.

So Vani reacted as only she can; she doubled down, proclaiming herself and all of her "army" as victims of harassment and abuse. Funny though, that according to Vani herself, she had her staff contact Boar's Head via email and her army harassed their public page while she remained in the background, never getting her hands dirty (except for cheering from the sidelines via her updates as though this were ongoing trench warfare and she was the commander watching through field glasses).

According to this recent post on Facebook, the only 'legitimate' customer concerns were from the winged monkeys she sent there to deluge (aka troll) their page in one of her ongoing attempts to blackmail a company. Her loyal following would never buy deli meats in the first place and many of them have publicly attested to that on her on page, whilst claiming to Boar's Head that they do purchase their products. That's not a 'legitimate customer'. That, my friends is the definition of a troll.

Reading this post however, I am curious as to what this astroturf facebook page is? According to Vain, any time someone posts something positive about genetic modification in crop production she claims they're being paid by Monsanto. Pro-vaccine posts are paid by 'big pharma' and liking Captain Crunch means you're paid by "big food". So where is this astroturf page that funnels millions of dollars to facebook users to post about myriad companies, technologies and sciences that aren't even related to one another? I'd love to know and sign up for some of this apparently free-flowing cash. Perhaps Vani doesn't really know what the word means though, it certainly wouldn't be the first time.

Next, we get to the martyr complex. In this post (subsequent to the one pictured above), Vain claims to be abused and threatened, though like everything else she shows no citations. If she was threatened, that's wrong. But I rather doubt there were any actual threats because in the past, she hasn't been reticent about sharing them publicly. The "bloodbath" she references is a ridiculous over characterization of facebook arguments, and how she can choose to use the word in reference to a few stupid facebook memes when there is actual bloodbath occurring in the world today is truly disgraceful.

While it's  extremely hypocritical of Vain to blame dissenting opinions on paid PR trolls, it's not so surprising. This past summer, Vain employed a brand strategist of her own, one who was formerly employed at Kraft as Senior manager of "Trend Activation". According to this strategist, who also counts among her  previous clients and employers; Frito Lay, Hagen Daaz, Nestle and McDonald's, she advised Food Babe on "how to convert her 800,000+ blog followers into evangelists and inspire them". So this particular onslaught has all the earmarks of a PR stunt.

You see Vain's credibility has been in the toilet this year, for good reason, after many mainstream publications such as NPR, Forbes and Salon have shown her tactics to be disingenuous at best and deceptive in practice. In fact, during one of her videos, prior to unleashing her army upon an unsuspecting meat company, she claimed that she wasn't a corporation, she was "just a girl". Sorry, had to regain composure there. Clearly she doth protest too much.

Food Babe LLC is a limited liability company registered in Delaware and Vani does nothing for free. Her speaking engagements are paid, her food guides will cost you a monthly fee and of course "buy my book'. She inspires fear with one hand while offering a product to subsume that fear on the other - of course that product always comes with a kickback for Food Babe LLC. I've no problem with a for profit business unless it masquerades as a non-profit, activist organization.

It seems that her PR strategy is to create a tremendous outcry about nothing (the ingredients used in Boar's Head Meats are perfectly safe and disclosed on the package according to FDA and USDA requirements), send the army to attack others on social media and then proclaim herself a martyr to the cause. The above photo is only one example of her recent claims to martyrdom.

Brave, Brave Martyr Vani

She's been building up to this over the past six months (about the time she hired the strategist) by sharing credit for non-existent 'victories' over such companies as Starbucks and Subway with her followers, telling them that 'they' did this and she's just a poor little activist. This has the psychological impact of imbuing her followers with a sense of accomplishment in a world where they feel increasingly powerless (plus, our current political climate plays well into increasing that need for control). While Vain didn't even contact Boar's Head herself, nor post on their facebook (she left her army to hang out to dry on that one) she still claims to protect her army and take the brunt of the awful and horrendous behavior that she claims occurred. 

Why would anyone want to be martyred as opposed to victorious on social media you might ask? It lends itself to her narrative of any big company being inherently evil. That's why she selects large companies to target with her campaigns of misdirection. She knows that she can better deflect the criticism of her lack of facts by playing the role of the underdog, especially when it comes to the organic food buyer who seems to still be completely unaware that the organic business segment is in the 10s of billions of dollars annually. What do you do when you want to save the little guy or the underdog? You scream and shout and you lend their business your support with your hard earned dollars.

Time will tell if this is an effective PR strategy or not. I'm betting that it may be successful but only for a very limited time. People, especially Americans, tire easily of having to defend the victim again and again and again. Ultimately they will start to ask themselves why she is always being denigrated and that perhaps there is a reason that is of her own making. I won't shed a tear when her house of cards comes tumbling down around her.

So getting out the pants on fire meter - this one is over the top, off the charts, get me the kelvin scale pants-on-fire. Vain knows that she hasn't been abused. She also knows full well that the companies she attacks provide safe products, she knows that she is extorting companies and she knows that she is misleading vulnerable people for her own gains. Stop the bullshit already Vani and get yourself a real job. Put your internet popularity to some actual good use like helping to feed kids that are hungry here in the US and around the world. Those kids are the true martyrs and victims in the war you've waged so stop it already.

Update: I edited this to show proof that she's knowingly deceiving people, or at least trying to. The person she's responding to has been banned on her facebook page and many others chimed in to agree that they too have been banned from all of her social media accounts (**note: this author has been banned/blocked on facebook, twitter, instagram and periscope). Thanks for proving my point, Vani!

Don't forget to stop in and give Boar's Head some support!


That's All for now folks!

Shocking New GMO Shedding Information

Guys, this is BREAKING news that you have to read and share and it is absolutely SHOCKING! Everyone knows that GMOs are poisoning us and the whole food system. They're killing the soil, the plants and the insects that fuel our delicate ecosystem. They're probably responsible for climate change too and I have my whole team researching that now. They're calling the Monsanto CEO to ask. More about that later.

Anyways, we all know that about GMOs. What I'm not sure you know is that people who ingest these deadly toxins are also shedding them and can infect the whole population as well as all the crops across the country. Read on for all the juicy details after my ad for an affiliate product. Click and use the promo code  [SUCKA] for a small increase in regular price to support all the work that we do here at Blazing Pants to keep you safe.

Shedding occurs when the body's defense system ejects toxins from the body through sneezing, coughing, physical contact or defecating. Recent Studies show that GMOs infect the entire organism and as such can be shed from the infected individual or insect onto a pure snowflake like YOUR child! In the past it's been shown that insect bites can spread GMOs to people who live in the proximity of toxic factory farms but this totally new information on shedding is SHOCKING. 

Researchers went into some local daycare centers to observe the effects of GMO shedding amongst pre-school children who are callously exposed to GMOs. They observed clear signs of intentional infection from children whose bodies have been infected and whose brains have been mutated by trolls who think GMOs are safe.

The infected children intentionally target the pure

The research photos show typical symptoms of infection due to GMO shedding amongst preschoolers (our most vulnerable!):

Lethargy, especially in the afternoon

Obstinance, particularly at meal times

Irrational crying and Poor listening skills

Combativeness,  Aggressive behavior

Guys, these are serious symptoms that must be dealt with immediately upon realizing that your child may suffer from GMO infection simply due to irresponsible behavior on the part of Monsanto and their paid trolls who are SHEDDING. They want us all to become infected and addicted to the GMOs and GMOs have been specifically engineered to induce shedding in the pre-pubescent population. After all, what do you think the 'M' in GMO stands for?

We must fight back. The first thing we MUST do, is have these troll children labeled. I'm proposing the DORK TM act (Defend Our Rich Kids) to require labels on all preschool children who are shedding GMOs. It's our right to control the behavior of people who won't conform to our standards. Please share this post with everyone you know, call your  school principals, your teachers, your congressperson, your senator, visit the white house, petition Monsanto and distribute these labels NOW! All children of the corn should be required to wear these labels as a first step.

Infected child label

Now you and I both know that won't solve the problem and eventually we will have to completely ban these children, but in the meantime YOU can be a DORK - read on and I'll tell you how you can be a member of the dork army in just a few minutes.

You must act now to cleanse your child who may have been infected by a GMO shedder. I recommend the following from my sponsors:

• 90 day juice cleanse from CLEANSE RIGHT
• Breakfast with pistachio milk and COLON BLOW
• Try using COLLOIDAL SILVER
• Buy a 10 day detox from my advisor Dr Mark Hyman

Once you've clicked through and purchased all of these (please have a credit card handy and don't forget to increase your credit limit so you can pay at checkout) You can rest assured that your child will be detoxed. You can also buy my monthly detox plans to maintain your special snowflake. If you do, you are eligible to download this one of a kind button label that shows you are a DORK and part of my #dorkarmy (good only as long as your subscription to my monthly guides stays current).

To use your DORK army identifier simply download the image (AFTER you've paid) Print using a color printer, cut into a circle and glue to an existing button

Remember Be a part of the movement, fight BIG GMO, fight for the DORKTM (Defend Our Rich Kids) act - because you deserve to be called a DORK. 

xo

Bunny.

The Fear Babe - A Review

Hey y'all, I just got done reading a book called The Fear Babe. In the interest of full disclosure, I approached the authors; Kavin Senapathy, Marc Draco and Mark Alsip to get an electronic advanced copy so I could review it. No Shill Bucks exchanged hands. I don't know any of the authors personally and other than a few exchanges on social media, we really know nothing about one another.

If you've read any of my blog posts, you know that I harbor great disdain for anyone who spreads misinformation or outright deceit, especially if they are lining their pockets at the expense of those they are duping. Add in the potential for real physical harm and I'd like to rent a giant dumpster into which I could throw them all together. Vani Hari aka the Food Babe, ranks right up there close to the top of my worthless list and I fully expected this book to be some rolicking good fun at tearing her down off of her self-styled throne of woo. I was wrong.

This book has finally demonstrated to me, the intrinsic value of the Food Babe, of course not as an aspiration or a beacon of truth but as a valuable teaching tool for anyone with a remote interest in their health or nutrition. The authors; Kavin Senapathy, Mark Alsip and Marc Draco combine their talents in a way that turn this book, which addresses complex and serious topics, into something that is easily grasped even by those who don't speak "chemicalese"; like myself.

When I first cracked open the book, I did something I don't normally do: I read the foreword. It was penned by Dr. Kevin Folta and certainly set the tone for the entire book that follows. It introduced the topic of food fear-mongering factually and with humor. In fact, my introduction to the food terrorism ring, called "Al Quesadilla", still makes me chuckle at the mere thought. I would love to see an entire satirical piece dedicated to this pernicious cult and their leaders!

The book itself is presented with an even hand towards Hari, something that I admire, given that the authors have been personally (and unfairly) maligned by the self-styled Food Babe. Rather than tear down the Food Babe for who she is, they often give her motivations the benefit of the doubt, something I was not inclined to do prior to reading this. Instead they present the actual facts behind the science she typically misrepresents and go on to explain how she could potentially have misunderstood the actual facts as opposed to intentionally misconstruing them. Then they go one further and use the nuggets of fear that Hari extracts from her misinterpretation to instruct us on how to evaluate the facts for ourselves. Lest they fall into the trap with which Hari ensnares her readers; "My Opinion", the book has an exceptional amount of footnotes and cited research so that the reader can verify and validate - a good practice for all of us.

The Fear Babe also covers topics beyond just the food that Hari espouses and delves into areas such as alternative therapies and lifestyle advice that may put people at risk. It also explores the technology and psychology that may attract and hook those predisposed to blindly adhere to advice that is clearly not in their best interests, such as the alternative cancer therapies. (side note: as a cancer survivor, I would love to see a subsequent book devoted to the topic of cancer woo, and the book does hint at it!). While Hari is guilty of pushing these alternatives and perhaps scaring people away from life-saving diagnostics (along with her woo-natic advisory council) she's not the worst offender. The authors again, are using Hari simply as a teaching tool so that readers can be aware of key words, phrases and caveats that signal either deception or a complete lack of understanding of the topic at hand. You will learn to extrapolate these methods of critical thinking to apply them to anyone who presents their opinion or study as fact.

And finally, the book does not dig itself so deeply into the realm of the scientific that it loses the lay person in the details. It's is sprinkled throughout with examples and well drawn parallels to describe concepts, and enough humor to keep you turning the pages well past the point that you intended to turn off the lights and go to sleep!

All in all, the book has caused me to look at the Food Babe Army in a different light. Some may indeed just be searching for answers and swayed by irrational fear adeptly instilled by Hari and her ilk. Thus, I need to treat them with respect, knowing that all of us just want to be healthy and happy at the end of the day. I've even decided that perhaps Hari has good intentions but buries them in clickbait to improve the bottom line of The Food Babe LLC.

This book is a good read, in fact I devoured it so quickly that I'm going to go back and read it again, more slowly, since the facts and concepts presented deserve thoughtful consideration. If you are one of the "banned by Food Babe" (as am I;) then you will thoroughly enjoy the book. If you've never heard of the Food Babe but have seen memes claiming that XXX insert organic plant here cures cancer, MS, "leaky gut" and autism; then you should read this book. If you've ever thought that one of these miracle cures might work; then you should read this book.

A huge thank you to the authors whose extensive time and research is evident in this book and who maintain professionalism in the face of unwarranted accusations on a regular basis from the food babe army. I truly hope that the army reads this and understands the difference between evidence and cult charisma. Kudos and happy shilling ;-)

The Book is due out on October 29th - you can pre-order your copy from Amazon.