Sunday, April 18, 2010

Irresponsbility

I really enjoy this title. You don't know where I'm going to go with it. Hell, I really don't know. Kidding. At least click the link at the bottom of my rant if you get tired of reading it.

I linked another blog on my Facebook page that talked about this ridiculous new sandwich that KFC has put on the market. I swear to god, someday, I will wake up and it will be a dream. Sadly, however, I recalled that Wendy's has it's own version of instant death on the market called the Baconator. Most of anything on the Carl's Jr menu is a mixture of unhealthy crap with unhealthy crap.

Why am I surprised? I fully understand some people are not ready to embrace veganism and fully understand that a majority of people will continue to support the animal abuse and torture industry and eat meat. I get it. I'm not going to be an ass about their choice. I, futhermore, understand that hamburgers and hot dogs will be sold and remain on the market. I'm a realist.

What I'm repulsed about, is that someone would eat this piece of crap knowing (and yes, everyone KNOWS that this saturated fat and cholesterol soaked shit is bad for their arteries) how bad it is for them. What further perplexes me is with the huge shift in the fast food industry promoting healthy alternatives: how could something like this get to the public?

Oh, yeah. Corporate greed. You can produce this "sandwich" cheaply from chicken byproducts that you call patties, cheap cheese, and byproduct bacon and sell it as a STEAL to the lower classes as a filling, delicious meal, and make some bank in the process. Who cares if you're going to send thousands to their early grave's? I mean, they have the CHOICE to eat it, right?

Of course, they have the choice to put it in their fucking mouths but it doesn't absolve you of your negligence, selfishness, greediness, or repulsiveness. You mislead the public about the safety of your product to make a buck. You produce your ingredients for bottom dollar, without the public health interest as a fleeting thought. It's this foulness that makes these corporate fucks destined to the 9th level of hell.

Tobacco companies gave people a CHOICE to use their product and look at where they are now.

When did the safety and quality of food become secondary concerns for providing food to the public?

I highly recommend FOOD, INC. to anyone who wants to see the state of food in America. This is NOT a vegetarian/vegan documentary but a documentary about the state of food production in our country and the industry that has been built around it. It was nominated for an Academy Award this year and is streamable on NetFlix. It will also be airing, free of charge, on PBS on April 21st. Arm yourself with knowledge. I promise you'll be better off in the long run.

2 minute clip of Food, Inc and the article to go along with it.
Food, Inc Clip

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

It's A Renter's Market

The title is misleading, I know. Here's your bait and switch.

Let me preface with: I hate apartment hunting. Hate. I would rather put out a lit cigarette in my eye. If I still smoked; I would do that right now.

Why do I hate this process so? A variety of reason - one of which are my dogs. I understand some people want to be "pet friendly" but don't want to allow in pitbulls so they make their acceptance of pets conditional in listings. This just adds another level of hell for my screening process, since it requires a call to the apartment manager and sometimes you get conflicting information. Add in the fact that my big girl is a whopping 48 pounds (yes, I weighed her last night, and it was quite amusing to anyone who was watching) and is going to be 11 years old shortly and my situation gets a little more complicated than most.

The second reason is just trying to find listings. There's no real central place to go here in Los Angeles. Driving around will net you a ton of numbers, at the cost of gas, but there's absolutely no initial screening involved that you get in other places. I'd venture to say 40% of all listings in LA are just done by hanging a sign. The remainder get thrown on craigslist or, shudder, the paper. Craigslist is spammed daily by people putting up the same listing, over and over, so it get tedious to sort through and the remaining sites out there just don't have any quality listings (apartments.com and rent.com have NO listings for West Hollywood - which is far from reality).

Next we get to the actual apartment visit. This is where the apartment manager tends to say obvious shit in case you missed it. "The apartment has hardwood floors." Really? I just thought this was REALLY tough carpet. Thanks Sherlock! Sherlock tends to get pushy and trys to make you sign something at this point. He'll even try to get you to make the deposit and first month's rent right away. Sorry, I'm just not that keen on writing $2,000 checks on my first viewing of the apartment before I can do some sideline research. But I guess some people need an apartment right away - those kind of people trying to outrun the feds or some shit.

Now comes the sideline research. For me, before I pick a place to live, I want to make sure that it's a safe area and that it's going to be convenient to the places I need/want to go to all the time. I'll check the LAPD crime website which shows a map of all the major crimes that have hit the immediate area around an address. I'll check the registered sex offenders site as well to make sure I'm not near some pervert cluster (or at least make sure they're cute before I move in). Then I'll just goggle the closest Target, Whole Foods, 24 Hour Fitness, and Petsmart.

Then comes the actual application process and signing away of your life. Then the packing and the moving (do I need to elaborate on how much THIS SHIT sucks?).

After reading this - maybe, I'm just a neurotic freak... I dunno. I just don't want to move somewhere for a year that I'm going to regret.

Nah, I'm a neurotic freak.