Can't we all just get along?

There is so much health-care hullabaloo (I like that word) going on right now that I think my head may explode. I'm pro health-care reform 100%. On one hand I don't have health insurance and I wish I could go to the Dr without paying an arm and a leg but on the other hand I believe more in natural medicine than anything else. I have a distrust of prescription drugs since they rarely do anything but mask the problem. Nevertheless, I don't expect everyone to feel the way I do about natural medicine so I fully support cheap insurance run by the *gasp* government. Yes, the government is not my favorite institution but I find it doubtful that it will make us a *gasp again* SOCIALIST COUNTRY. I don't understand every one's horrific fear of socialism. As if capitalism is the best form of government out there. Please.

I was reading an article, Guns That Talk (which I highly recommend) from the Huffington Post that made some great points. Many health-care reform crazies have been having conniptions about their gun rights being taken away (who the hell is even talking about that?) and how in order to be patriotic one must bring a gun to the protest! Yes, and sing the national anthem with banners of Obama looking like the Joker or Hitler. Pick one. The writer points out that if this were during the Bush years and people were bringing guns to a Bush speech...dear lord imagine the repercussions. For just wearing an anti-Bush shirts people were escorted off the premises Interesting. Robert Koehler, the writer, points out:

That was then: "Free speech zones" were the norm; protesters were routinely whisked out of sight at every Bush appearance, even though, you know, we have a First Amendment and all.

This is now: A dozen guys with guns gathered outside a convention center in Phoenix on Monday as President Obama spoke. At least two of them had assault rifles slung over their shoulders. "Phoenix police said the men carrying guns at Monday's event did not need permits, as the state of Arizona has an 'open carry' law," the U.K. Telegraph reported. "No crimes were committed, and no one was arrested."

What is the mentality of these people? I cannot believe that they actually feel so threatened by health-care reform that they think a revolution is in order. I am ecstatic about their protesting name though: Tea-baggers. Priceless.

But for Obama being such a Nazi socialist he is being awfully nice to all the people who are attempting to defy him. Does that seem like Hitler behavior to anyone? These gun toter's say they're merely practicing their 2nd Amendment rights. But what does it mean when you bring a gun to a protest? What will these people need protection from? Themselves? Especially the guy who held a sign with a Thomas Jefferson quote about watering the tree of liberty with the blood of tyrants...Yes, nothing aggressive about that.

Don't misunderstand me, I'm completely for protesting passionately for what you believe in. But to rage and blither absolute nonsense while toting a gun, well, that just seems like a disaster waiting to happen. If these people maybe had better information and better sources (ahem: Fox News, Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh...is that enough?) then maybe I'd be more inclined to listen to them. But I don't believe in aggression or guns for that matter. At least until I'm being threatened with the same. That's not the case here though. All we're asking for is help. For the people who can't afford insurance or who have been turned away by money-hungry insurance companies. Studies show that in 2007 nearly 46 million Americans were uninsured. Between 2008 and 2010 nearly 7 million more people will also lose their coverage. I can only assume that these town hall protesters just don't care about those figures or anyone but themselves for that matter. I guess they're okay with the thousands that die yearly because they can't afford medical care. You betcha!

So where does all this craziness stem from? I read another fascinating article from the Huff Post, this time from Johann Hari, who makes some excellent points. She covers basically all of the right-wing lunacy dating back to the Bush years. Lunacy based on, no not facts, but well...lunacy. Here's an excerpt:

You have to admire the audacity of the right. Here's what's actually happening. The US is the only major industrialized country that does not provide regular healthcare to all its citizens. Instead, they are required to provide for themselves -- and just under 50 million people can't afford the insurance. As a result, 18,000 US citizens die every year needlessly, because they can't access the care they require. That's equivalent to six 9/11s, every year, year on year. Yet the Republicans have accused the Democrats who are trying to stop all this death by extending healthcare of being "killers" -- and they have successfully managed to put them on the defensive.

The Republicans want to defend the existing system, not least because they are given massive sums of money by the private medical firms who benefit from the deadly status quo. But they can't do so honestly: some 70 percent of Americans say it is "immoral" to retain a medical system that doesn't cover all citizens. So they have to invent lies to make any life-saving extension of healthcare sound depraved.

These claims have become so detached from reality that they often seem like black comedy. The right-wing magazine US Investors' Daily claimed that if Steven Hawking had been British, he would have been allowed to die at birth by its "socialist" healthcare system. Hawking responded with a polite cough that he is British, and "I wouldn't be here without the NHS." Frank Laffer, the right-wing economist lauded by David Cameron, claimed on CNN that it would be a disaster if the government got its hands on Medicare, the program providing healthcare for the elderly, paid for entirely by... the government.

This tendency to simply deny inconvenient facts and invent a fantasy-world isn't new; it's only becoming more heightened. It ran through the Bush years like a dash of bourbon in water. When it became clear Saddam Hussein had no Weapons of Mass Destruction, the US right simply claimed they had been shipped to Syria. When the scientific evidence for man-made global warming became unanswerable, they claimed, as one Republican congressman put it, that it was "the greatest hoax in human history", and all the world's climatologists were "liars". The American media then presents itself as an umpire between "the rival sides", as if they both had evidence behind them.

She believes most of the right-wing crazyness stems from religion which seems agreeable on my part but we'll leave that for another post. Until then I will continue to watch the madness and hope that change will prevail.

Until next time.

-Vanessa

Every experiment, by multitudes or by individuals, that has a sensual and selfish aim, will fail. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Crude

From Eco-chick:

Crude is the story of a community of 30,000 tribal members in the Amazonian jungle of Ecuador who hold a corporation to bear for its crimes against their land, their livelihood, and most importantly, their lives. The film follows the intricacies of what has been called the “Amazon Chernobyl.”

The indigenous population claims that Chevron, the parent company to the former Texaco, spent thirty years contaminating the air, land, and water of an area the size of Rhode Island which is now called the “death zone.” Cancer, leukemia, and birth defects are among some of the effects of Big Oil. The film was shot and edited over a period of three years, with Berlinger and the crew sacrificing their own safety by facing both environmental (toxic fumes, disease, searing equatorial heat) and man-made dangers (shooting near the Colombian border where drug runners and FARC rebels are very active) to capture a story they felt must be shared with the rest of the world.

Berlinger’s cinematic sensibility paints a picture that captures the lush vitality of the Amazon, the horrendous atrocities endured by the tribespeople, and the complicated path that social justice must traverse, all the while avoiding cliche and stereotypes. Amazon Watch and the Rainforest Foundation have both been instrumental in bringing the Ecuadorian devastation to the public eye.

Trudie Styler, Sting’s wife, and noted activist, appears in the film to lend celebrity to the cause. Repeatedly referring to the Amazon as “the lungs of the earth,” Styler and others point to the far more serious nature of the toxicity than mere dollars can assuage. If Ecuador is in trouble, we are ALL in trouble. If tribe members cannot fish or swim, that affects us directly. Transnationals can no longer act in a vacuum of backyard antics.

Vanity Fair featured an article in the 2007 Green Issue on the case in Ecuador, and attorney Pablo Fajardo, who passionately represents the plaintiffs. In one scene in the film, Fajardo notes that he is not intimidated by the high powered legal team because he has truth on his side, which makes his work that much easier. He doesn’t have to work diligently to create lies about what is happening.

Without sensationalizing the health effects of the toxic sludge left in the Ecuadorian jungle, Berlinger simply allows the water to tell the tale. The water, the rivers, the streams, and pools appear fresh from a distance as children play, women wash, and people drink. Once approached, the rainbow sheen of petrol catches the light and the scent of gasoline sends heads reeling. The ground is soft sludge as the pollutants work their way through the soil and into the Earth. One of the Texaco/Chevron representatives claims: “this is not contamination, this is industrial exploitation that your government permitted.” Amazing. This film must be seen.

In order for this film to have a chance of being seen by the rest of the country, it must nearly sell-out in NY, LA and SF, so tell your friends, blog about it, spread the word…go see this film. Because the film doesn’t have huge marketing dollars, it’s up to people like you and me to spread the word online.

Here are some important screening dates: for locations click here
-NYC: September 9-22
-L.A.: September 18-24
-S.F.: September 25-October 1
-D.C.: October 23-29

Day 6: Red Rock Crossing

(Late, I know...)

Today was absolutely amazing. We visited Red Rock State Park and hiked up an amazing trail to Cathedral Rock. The terrain was mainly rocky and we had to cross Oak Creek to continue on. The hike was a whopping 1.5 miles round trip.

But it felt like 3. At least.

We weaved back and forth on the open path, surrounded by all sorts of local vegetation and funny looking lizards. We also encountered some mountain bikers who made my jaw drop. I couldn't even imagine trying this trail myself with a bike of all things. Once we got closer to the peak we had to climb up slabs of jutting red rock. At some points I even had to go on all fours to make it up. We brought 6 liters of water for the 5 of us and once we got close to the peak we started running out, effectively cutting our trip short (the Arizona sun is HOT). Even without making it to the very top the view from where we were was nothing short of breathtaking. We felt like we were on top of the world and it felt exhilarating to make it as far as we did.

Taking a dip in the creek afterwards was the perfect remedy for a much overheated Derek and I (he even got to fly off of a rope swing...lucky). I was too afraid of hurting myself further so I passed on the rope.

After lunch we dragged ourselves to do some shopping in the local village where Derek got me a wooden, locally made flute. The saleswomen was pretty convincing once she whipped out her own flute and played us a few tunes. I was sold after that. I find the sound of the flutes so mesmerizing and relaxing (I’d wanted once since I’d seen a man playing one whilst sitting on a rock wall at the Grand Canyon).

On our way back to the house we stopped at the popular Chapel of the Holy Cross which was inspired by a student of Frank Lloyd Wright more than fifty years ago. The chapel was built into the red rocks of Sedona and apparently took 18 months to construct. It was definitely a sight to see. After doing some research I found out that Arizonans chose the cathedral as one of Arizona’s 7 wonders. For good reason too. The inside was pretty majestic as well with tall ceilings and two long windows spanned from floor to roof. I wish I had snapped a photo of the front but I felt so exhausted from our hike and my head was pounding to the point that I could barely enjoy it.

We took our leave after a few minutes of oh's and ah's and headed home for a much needed recharge.

Want advice for relaxation and recharge? Hot tubs!! Especially in Arizona, at night, with no roof above your head. The stars are incredible.


Love

Vanessa

Day 5: Jerome, Tuzigoot, & Dead Horse Ranch

Today I would consider a lazy day. We left the house around 11am and headed to the city of Jerome, which is considered a ghost town. The city reminded Derek of the Florida Keys just with more elevation. Most of our time was spent going in and out of the local shops and having some lunch at a local eatery called the Iron Flat Café. Gatlin and Derek had a ginger and carrot soup (sounded and tasted interesting.) Then a lovely downpour started, sort of dampening our day. Almost every single shop was either an art gallery or gifts that were made by local artists. We found a lot of amazing art work. There was a very artsy/hippy feel to the place, loved that. They seemed to have a sort of an aversion to children. Each shop had some kind of smart-ass sign or poster in the front that would say something to the line of “All young children must be supervised by an adult, if not we will kidnap them and force them to work in our coal mine for the remaining years of their lives.” Not even a joke. About 90 percent of that is a direct quote. Vanessa found it amusing. The area seemed very pet-friendly.

Afterward, we went to visit some more Indian ruins named Tuzigoot (which was also part of the tribe, Sinagua, which also built Montezuma’s Castle…one of the ruins we saw on our first day.) It’s kind of funny that we have no idea why this tribe of Native Americans just up and left, it was somewhere around the 1420’s, seems pretty obvious the white man scared them off. There is just so much that we don’t know about the people who lived on this land way before we ever did. The ingenuity of these people is inspiring. Not only did they make amazing things we probably couldn’t do without machines but they used herbal remedies for everything. From candy to curing cancer, these Indians had a remedy from a naturally –growing-abundant plant. It really makes you stop and kind of question everything you thought you knew; something that we would have to get approved by our health insurance and then order through some far off pharmaceutical company they had just growing in their backyard. Gatlin was pretty enthralled by the medicinal value of the native plants and we stood their studying the names and uses of the plants for a while, at one point I think he actually embodied one of his World of Warcraft characters and started grinding some Sage into a potpourri. Actually it looked really fun.

The best part of this visit was that it was ruined by flying ants. Yep, you got that right. We couldn’t go to the top of the building because there was a sign that said “Closed Due to flying ants.” I don’t know about you but that is pretty hilarious. I don’t know what I should have expected if I went past the sign. Flying ant attack? Either way I didn’t take the risk. Those winged little insects are intimidating. Don’t let their size fool you.
Lunch was made at Dead Horse Ranch, a small park with some surrounding lagoons and a river that was not much to look at. We took a river hike and searched for the river for about 20 minutes and came up empty. We then realized that the river had dried up big time and was now un-swimmable and right under our feet. But there were lots of snails everywhere. Cute little squirmy things. I'm afraid we stepped on a lot of them and didn't even realize it =/

Big bummer about no swimming ops though.

That night we hoped to go back to Bell Rock which we had hiked to the night before but we got back too late. Double bummer. The highlight of this day was definitely seeing all of the amazing artwork from the locals in Jerome.

Good stuff.

Peace.

Derek & Vanessa

The Grand Canyon: Day 4

After falling asleep at the ripe time of 9:00pm the night before, we awoke to our second day at the Grand Canyon. Gatlin, Jared and Maria took a helicopter tour over the canyons in the morning but we stayed behind because we didn’t feel like spending $300 dollars for the flight, but more importantly because we wanted to sleep in. They loved it. We would have preferred the Jeep tour down into the canyon but the price for one person was an outrageous $265.

Today we visited a few historic buildings that played the usual role of Historical-Recreation/Anecdotal Museum/Gift Shop/Air-Conditioning Relaxation/Tourist trap. And I loved every minute of it. Every store had something a little different that I wanted to absorb. If I could have I would have bought every book in their book store sections. (Notice the tiny entrance to one of the buildings on the left)

A little knowledge gained from one of these expensive, yet irresistible books was the history behind the canyon’s discovery and expeditions…which is fascinating. I found out that sometime in the 1500’s the Spanish discovered the area but found it worthless, probably because they didn’t see any signs of jewels or gold or fountain of youth or opportunities of religious persecution. So it wasn’t until about three centuries later that Americans started exploring the canyons namely, John Wesley Powell in 1869 (a very inspiring individual I might add.) He decided to take, what was then the first independent exploration in the history of the US, a scientific voyage into the canyons to study its geology and geography. He discovered uncharted areas and was also the first to start studying Native Americans, whom had lived on the canyons for hundreds of years. And he did it all with one arm. Now that is skill.

After the gift shop we started a 15 mile hike but because of a little sciatica and the flustered faces of returning hikers, we set an alarm on Derek’s Iphone for 30 minutes and then headed back up. We shared the trail with some mules that left stinky evidence of their existence on the trail. We talked to a few people that went all the way to the bottom (which ends at the Colorado River). One guy said it took him about 4 hours to get there but that getting to jump into the river at the end was totally worth the hike. The trek back up was pretty rough, as most inclined trails are. You start to realize how out of shape you really are. It was exhausting but I can’t wait to come back one day and make it all the way to the river. I’m sure it’ll be worth it.

We bought a couple of books at the stores and Gatlin got a hat that he fell in love with. It’s amazing how, no matter how many times you look out at the massive Grand Canyon, it always takes your breath away. Something so grand (pun intended) and natural just can’t be expressed in words or even photos. Even though it seems obvious, I loved how much the park was into natural preservation and earth friendliness. I sort of felt at home here. It’s something I miss in Orlando.

Yesterday was pretty much packed every hour, it felt like as soon as we finished one thing we started the next. We visited a lot of scenic areas and went to a place called Watchtower. There was an opening in the protective fencing where you were allowed (or at least we assumed) to walk out over a strip of rocks to a point much lower than the tower. I had some serious trepidation about going down to this area because: 1. tailbone pain and 2. fear of dying. But I did it anyway, Derek reminded me “you only live once,” a fellow traveler also reminded me that “you only die once” as well. That was pretty hilarious.

That night we ate at a place brilliantly named We Cook Pizza and Pasta. I’d say it was a little overrated and a lot expensive. After eating, last minute, we decided to pack back up and head out to see the sunset over the Grand Canyon. (I had changed into my pajamas already, and decided “ehhh” it’s just a sunset, should be fast.)

What a mistake.

It was friggin freezing on the cliff. I could stand it for about a minute. I had to run back to the van in fear for my life. The uncontrollable shaking didn’t help the tailbone pain either. I learned my lesson.

Overall though, our stay at the Grand Canyon was pretty epic and I can’t wait to go back.

Love and Peace

Derek & Vanessa

Day 2 in Sedona, Arizona

For the past two days I've been enjoying the sights of Sedona, Arizona. I absolutely am in love with this place. The mountains and canyons in this area are some of the most amazing things I've ever seen in my life. We arrived yesterday at 8:30am after leaving Orlando at 7:30am. The 3 hour time difference takes some getting used to but it's kind of a blessing at the same time. I woke up much earlier than usual and felt great. We landed in Phoenix and drove a couple of hours to our first stop: Montezuma Castle

This is an old area where natives used to dwell. They'd use ladders to get up to their homes carved into the mountain side. After this we headed to our rental home which is stunning....

Today we visited Slide Rock Park,my favorite place so far. Everyone was jumping off cliffs into the river and sliding down the naturally carved shoot. I jumped once and paid the price of irritating the stupid sciatica that is ruining my life at the moment. But I digress. It was an amazing place to be, with wild blackberries growing in the area. They were SO delicious. I had stained fingers by the end of our visit =P

We headed to another swimming area after Slide Rock but we were rained out pretty quickly. We also attempted to catch the sunset at the Airport Mesa which is famous for their awesome view but the clouds put a damper on things. Instead we climbed up a small mountain to an amazing view of the city and surrounding red rocks. Unfortunately for me it was too dark to really capture anything on camera. Tomorrow we head to The Grand Canyon for two days with a quick stop to catch the sunrise at the cliff we visited tonight. Until tomorrow =D

It's HOT in Florida

The Florida heat seems to be taking it's toll on our garden. And at the most inopportune time. For the past 3-4 months I've been dealing with tailbone/lower back pain and it really has pissed me off. I could go on and cry about my situation but I don't care to do that at the moment. Nevertheless I do feel sad that I've neglected the garden because of my situation.

Last week I did something to re aggravate my injury and now life sucks. I didn't realize how good I had it until this pain reared it's ugly head. So now I'm basically an invalid. And the garden is dying. I am sad.

Oh, and I almost forgot about the deer rampage. Notice the missing leaves:

On the upside: I've crafted a laptop...lap stand for myself since dorsal recumbency is the most comfortable position for me. I found some ideas online and used whatever I could find at home to make my nifty little stand.

Not the prettiest thing in the world but it does the job!=)