Gun control

So I'm probably the 87 millionth person to bring up gun control this week.

I thought CNN.com did a respectable job of presenting the two sides of the issue with two columns: this column is in support of getting rid of all guns (except for certain hunting or sports clubs), and this column is in favor of mandating that everyone carry a gun (written by Ted Nugent, which, despite having practically opposite ideals than I do, I always enjoy hearing or reading his thoughts because his passion for his beliefs is quite amazing.)

The issue of gun control is really complicated, but some things always bug me about the debate. First of all, I will never buy an argument that begins with "the founding fathers intended..." The Constiution originally allowed slavery and denied women the right to vote. Constiutional amendments have been passed to outlaw alcohol, and then repeal that prohibition. The fact is, things change over time. Our government is supposed to be the "great experiment." If we don't learn from our mistakes, the experiment is bound to fail. I believe this to be the case for all parts of our Constitution, not just certain amendments. The Constitution is there to prevent spur-of-the-moment governmental changes that would derail our society. It is not there to prevent us from developing a better government as time goes on.

Secondly, I don't buy the argument that no one will shoot anyone if everyone carries a gun. I am willing to listen to the argument that mass killings would *probably* become practically extinct if everyone carried a gun, because as soon as someone started going ballistic they would be stopped. But I do believe that random, heat-of-the-moment crimes would increase. People get mad and do irrational things. People get drunk and do stupid things. People don't pay attention and cause accidents. Increasing the chance that a simple accident could turn into a fatal one is not a good idea.

But beyond that, things get really confusing. The one thing that I keep coming back to is that in my imaginary, ideal world, guns don't exist. But in the real world, guns do exist, and somewhere, someone will have them no matter what governmental laws are in place.

Sometimes I wonder how Supreme Court Justices are able to handle the weight of their positions.

juice fast

As part of the cleanse I'm doing, I did a 24-hour juice fast from Friday night 9PM til Saturday night 9PM.

A juice fast means that you are only supposed to intake fresh juices.

Saturday morning we made a lemon-lime-grapefruit juice. Then saturday afternoon we made a "green lemonade" with lemon, lime, apple, celery, carrots, ginger, and maybe something else I'm forgetting (we usually put in kale but were out).

We cheated a bit and had a "raw soup", which was a bunch of vegetables and vegetable broth thrown into a blender, and was actually quite tasty. We also drank a ton of tea throughout the day (augmented with flax seed and grapefruit seed extract).

At about 8:30PM I had half a banana, and then at 9PM dove into friday night's leftovers.

It was a difficult experience - there were times when I was very hungry, but those would usually pass. I don't think I've ever gone that long without eating before, so it was nice to know that the next time I am an hour late taking my lunch I won't actually die of starvation.

One thing I realized during this was that in the face of starvation, I would not hold on to being a vegetarian.

Another thing I often thought about was how certain religious groups do a fast every week. I wonder how that frequent fasting affects their health.

candida cleanse

As part of my wife's nutritional education, she has been learning about candida, and has embarked on a month-long "candida" cleanse. I'm joining her (though I've only signed up for 2 weeks...).

Quote the wife:

Candida Albicans, a fungus present in everyone’s system in small amounts, is an opportunistic yeast that multiplies when there is an abundance of simple sugar present in the large intestine. Under ideal acidic conditions in the large intestine, the presence of friendly flora, including lactobacilli and bifidiobacteria, controls the growth of Candida. However, the high sugar, high fat, low fiber of the standard American diet, use of antibiotics and overuse of alcohol all can contribute to an alkaline environment leading to the overgrowth of Candida. The most common symptoms of Candida are: diarrhea, constipation, abdominal discomfort, bloating, gas, rectal itching, menstrual complaints, depression, irritability, inability to concentrate, insomnia, memory lapses, headaches, hives, hay fever, sore throat, asthma, ear fungus and chemical sensitivities.

So basically for the next two weeks I can't eat sugars or refined carbs. So no sandwhiches, burritos, beer, cookies, etc. It's sort of like the atkins diet, but I'm a vegetarian, and I can't have anything sweet either. In addition to this, I'm taking probiotic pills and drinking a ton of tea, which is supposed to help with the flushing of candida.

I'm just finishing day 3. The food thing hasn't been that bad, but only because my wife is helping me figure out what to eat. Whenever I get hungry and think of what to eat it always revolves around some sort of carb. Cutting that out has been tough.

I'm really not sure if I have an over growth of candida or not. I figure it can't hurt to go through this cleanse, and if I end up feeling better, great.

But man, I sure could go for a nice sweet piece of chocolate cake right now.