In her speech, the first lady focused on the issue of childhood obesity and her "Let's Move" initiative...
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"When African American communities are still hit harder than just about anywhere by this economic downturn, and so many families are just barely scraping by, I think the founders would tell us that now is not the time to rest on our laurels. When stubborn inequalities still persist -- in education and health, in income and wealth, I think those founders would urge us to increase our intensity, and to increase our discipline and our focus and keep fighting for a better future for our children and our grandchildren," - Michelle Obama said to the NAACP.
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Really?
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I know the US isn't perfect but what is she talking about? Is she and her husband really in touch with the American people? Stubborn inequalities exist for most US citizens hit by the depression, no matter what their race. And Mrs. Obama's big job is childhood obesity? BFD - no one is forcing poor fat kids to eat junk food and roost on a couch all day, playing with their blackberries, cell phones, iPad, and/or iPhone while watching TV.
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The Obama's and the NAACP are playing the race card to effect their idea of social change.
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I hate to sound uncharitable--but when I was volunteering in the local food bank a few years back--just about everyone who frequented it didn't look like they had missed very many meals....and no one wanted "staples",--they wanted the expensive pre-packaged stuff (and tuna)....no one cooks from scratch anymore..
ReplyDeleteI'm telling ya--we have the richest (and fattest) POOR people in the world...
Sara
MO should just STHU. She has never been overweight - no fat person (msyelf included) will take her seriously. Oh for the days when the First Lady was seen and not heard....
ReplyDeleteThat woman is a disgrace and embarrassment to this country. Her and that two-bit empty suit she's married to are clueless and classless and have managed to set back race relations 100 years.
ReplyDeleteAngela - MO is overweight. She could stand to shed 20 or 30 pounds.
"a"ffect, right?
ReplyDeleteYou forgot to add 'blogging' to your list... :-)
Just you wait - no more vending machines, no more Jalapeno Cheetos, no more soda...San Francisco just banned the sale of soda and sugary drinks from vending machines within the city.
Oh! And don't forget the trans fats!
Excuse me while I head out and get a Sausage McMuffin with Cheese while it's still legal.
I'm telling ya--we have the richest (and fattest) POOR people in the world...
ReplyDeleteSara - I've said the same thing for years.
It's worse when the preachers are multi-millionaires who got free rides through college, talking to single mothers who are daughters of single mothers.
ReplyDeleteI shop at a dollar store (the kind where a buck is often the lowest price). It's amazing to look at what the people in line ahead of me are buying as I stand there with a 2 liters of pop ($1.20), four rolls of toilet paper ($1.00) and some cheap aspirins ($1.00).
"That woman is a disgrace and embarrassment to this country. Her and that two-bit empty suit she's married to are clueless and classless and have managed to set back race relations 100 years." -- Adrienne, you said it, girl!!
ReplyDeleteI do not like MO or her husband either. And yeah, this excerpt from her speech shows that she is clearly playin the race card to effect their idea of social change, as Terry so succinctly puts it. But, you know, I'm glad *someone* in the public eye is bringing up the childhood obesity problem in this country. NOT that it is something that shoudl be resolved by Big Governement (God help us!), as Larry illustrates with the San Francisco contrabands. But there are several issues that need to be addressed.
ReplyDeleteYes, the kids are sittin on their rears on the damned computer or playin videos all day and night. But another really big aspect is this: the cheapest foods you can buy are the most fattening. Go to the grocery store with, say, 20 dollars, and try to buy the most food you can. You'll find all the donuts and bakery items, pastas, sweets, hotdogs, buns, catchup, canned beans --all on sale. But fresh produce, organic chicken or turkey breast, brown rice, multi grain sprouted bread, organic milk and yogurt? Rarely or never on sale. Poor people trying to stretch a buck, especially if they have to feed children, often find they have no choice. And McDonald's is cheap and easy, too -- and addictive. (I swear they sprinkle crack on everything.)
Georgette is right, getting fat isn't expensive. Of course, one can do the whole Mother Earth, raise a garden, make-everything-from scratch thing. But it's a full-time job. If you are a member of the working poor, it's probably not going to happen.
ReplyDeleteI can't really fault Michelle O. too much for her project. First Lady Missions tend to be feel-good things to keep them occupied and out of trouble. Anybody remember Lady Bird Johnson's Make America Beautiful thing? It involved planting wildflower seeds along highways.
I work full time and I cook most everything from scratch. It needn't be hard, time consuming, or expensive. I had a good ol fashioned home economics class in jr high(mid 70's so not that long ago) where you learned how to menu-plan, grocery shop with a list, plan good wholesome balanced meals. (It WAS before microwaves:). You purchased produce in season or used frozen vegetables. Plan menus around grocery store ads. Make alot of soups and stews and chili--my grandma ALWAYS had a pot of soup going on her stove. Rather than bread I use tortillas and make wraps. No dry cereal--cooked oatmeal--Quaker Oats in the big drum. I'm not a big meat eater--meat primarily goes to soup, stew, chili, although for me it is mainly vegetable/15 bean soup. And I can peaches and apricots and make jam to get me through the year. I ALWAYS brown bag my lunch.
ReplyDeleteIf I make something like lasagne or casserole I make two and put one in the freezer..that way if unexpected company comes over it is real easy to put in oven.
Dessert is only once a week, usually on Sunday.
About the only time I eat out is if it is something that would be difficult to make at home--such as sushi or Chinese :) Maybe once/twice a month..
Portion control is a biggie too--American have no sense of portion size... The tinmes I eat out I usually take home half or two-thirds of my meal as it is just too big..
Sara
Sarah, I want to have supper at your house!
ReplyDeleteSara - I'm getting the feeling you are the perfect woman. Seriously - you amaze me.
ReplyDeleteSara, the perfect woman and she rides a motorcycle!
ReplyDelete***
When I look at my viewmaster reels from the 1950's and 60's in the crowd scenes everyone is dressed very nicely and people were generally not obese. It's hard to spot a fat person in a crowd. In the 70's that's when people began to look fatter and barely put together.
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But there is a bigger problem than obesity and clothing options looming. It's a defiant generation who have no respect or fear for authority and they dont worry about consequences.(They're sitting home alone on their computers looking at Lord knows what.) My husband saw two examples at the pool yesterday when kids outright told life guards "no" when they had been repremanded and one little guy demanded to speak with the lifeguards superior.
In a few short years these children and a million like them are going to be a real pain in the ass.