The Vegan Way

What are vegans? Well, Vegans are those who refuse to eat any any animals or animal products like fish, flesh, fowl, eggs, honey, or animal milk and its derivatives. Vegans also restrain from using anything that has been made from animals or harmed animals in any way while being produced such as certain makeup or fur coats.
Why do people become vegans? There are many reasons behind people going vegan that we could go into. Most commonly people choose to live this lifestyle when they feel strongly about treating anima ls fairly. However, the reasoning we're going to talk about tody pertains to the health benefits of becoming a vegan and also touch on some of the hindrances.
Because animal products are toxic to the body when consumed, it has been found that many people's health has dramatically improved by becoming vegan. Veganism has also resulted in the miraculous curing of many health problems such as asthma, arthritis, hayfever, chronic conditions, and many more. Some other benefits include a reduced income of saturated fats due to the elimination of dairy products and meats from one's diet which both contain large amounts of saturated fat. A vegan diet also usually results in a high fiber intake. Many vegans also experience weight loss. Other benefits include a longer life, healthier skin, healthier nails, and healthier hair.

image source: http://blogs.courant.com/colin_mcenroe_to_wit/vegan.jpg
Of course, you will only experience these positive benefits if you go about being vegan in a smart and organized manner. You must be careful of what you eat and ensure that you eat a balanced diet to get all of your nutrients. You can't expect to get healthier by going out and eating french fries and tortilla chips all day. Vegans who don't eat a balanced diet often experience low iron levels which cause them to be sick and tired easily. Going vegan is a huge commitment to take on. You must be mindful that it is very difficult to eat out because most restaurants do not have vegan options. You will constantly be having to check food labels. Vegans must be very self-sufficient because most others do not accomodate for their special lifestyle.
Despite these minor setbacks, going vegan is a fantastic way to life a healthy lifestyle. Vegans who are careful to get all their nutrients and consume a balanced diet are some of the healthiest people there are.

sources:

http://gentleworld.org/rewarded-for-being-vegan/

http://www.nursingdegree.net/blog/19/57-health-benefits-of-going-vegan/

Resolving Hate

It's not likely that everyone will ever agree on everything. In fact, in a country that prides itself on the right for free speech, it's impossible.

But there are ways to be tolerant. There are ways to make change a wanted thing, to get utility from growing as a community, not wanting to travel backward. The question is: how do we get there? It's not an easy answer, mostly because everyone is so different. We have different definitions of tolerant, of acceptance, most certainly of right and wrong.

Here's my idea: we all focus on ourselves. We mind our own business, and get utility from what makes us, personally, happy. If we do that, if we stop hanging our happiness on the actions of others, I believe the world will be a better place.

Utility from Hate

What point is there to hate? What utility can one possibly get from hating? In fact, shouldn't there be no utility at all, and instead a negative affect? Once again, it goes back to fear. The utility from hating is the belief that through discrediting and discouraging a behavior/belief that the hater thinks is wrong, they gain security. Security is what we all look for, and something that disrupts that can be terrifying.

Recently, the legalization of gay marriage and the push for gay rights have been hot topics filled with controversy and debate. Personally, I don't understand the need for debate. In my eyes, people are people and every person deserves equal rights. Who one happens to love should not be a factor in determining that, as long as the marriage is between two consenting adults. Gender shouldn't factor in at all.source:http://images.publicradio.org


But many religious people have a huge objection to this. For them, gay marriage is an abomination, spoken out against in the Bible. A popular catch phrase from Christians like this (not to say that all religious people, that all Christians believe gay marriage is wrong. I am merely basing this off of personal observations of Christianity. I do also know very tolerant religious people. This is not to discredit them.) is: "Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve."

I believe that the issue here is the fear to deviate from tradition. I know multiple people who accept the Bible as law, even though it is a book written thousands of years ago and teaches many things no longer applicable to modern society. Hate comes from the inability to deviate away from comfort. The utility from hate comes from the security that comes with the comfort of the known.
http://www.gotquestions.org/homosexuality-Bible.html

Is Hate Ever Rational?

As I discovered in the last blog post, hate is often times based in fear (of change, of the unknown). Therefore, the question becomes: is fear ever rational?

Everyone reacts differently to fear. Some seek it out, becoming adrenaline junkies who would do anything for that next thrill. People like this leap out of airplanes, cling precariously to rocky mountain walls, and swim with sharks. However, many people respond to fear by avoiding it, and pretending it doesn't exist. This is the mentality of those involved in hate groups. Though they certainly don't pretend whatever they hate (ex. gay marriage, people of a different race) doesn't exist, they do all they can to make it go away. They shut out logic, and delude themselves into thinking that they have the power to completely stamp out something they don't like.

Take for example the Westboro Baptist Church. Their entire mission is based on hate. They hate homosexuals, they hate Jews, they even think Obama is Satan, come to aid in the destruction of the world. These are people who can find hate everywhere, around every corner, at every turn. They believe that, if they just picket long enough, make enough hate filled videos, protest enough funerals, that they can get into heaven. They are so terrified of what they dislike that they resort to hate speech and nonsensical arguments about how God hates everyone, a teaching that is contradictory to every other branch of Christianity.
(www.godhatesfags.com)

So is fear rational? No. Is hate rational? Again, no.

(source: http://losangeles.cbslocal.com)

I Don't Do Drugs!

What if I told you those antidepressant you used can be more effective? Well they can!

A professor leading a study in the United Kingdom discovered that cognitive behavioural therapy can help people depressed have fewer symptoms of anxiety and were less likely to go into remission.

CBT, as its called, is where the patient speaks with a trained psychotherapist or psychologist about behaviours and ways of thinking.

I guess it when people say that talking to people helps, they mean it!

Still the majority of people don't have access to this or don't go to anyone for their depression other than their doctor for medication. With this maybe we can stop depression from spreading.

Do you think that depression will eventually disappear from its disease status?

Source: flickr.com

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Could Help People With Depression When Drugs Fail, Study Shows  by Kate Kelland of the Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/07/cognitive-behavioral-therapy-depression-talk-psychotherapy_n_2253834.html

Sauder

Career success

Above is the Sauder career success cycle is what a lot of companies and bussiness people do to stay on track towards success.
The cycle goes in this order:

• Step 1: Assessing Self
• Determine aspirations
• Determine Values
• Step 2: Researching Options
• Find careers that match your profile and needs
• Stay away from careers with unfavorable labor market trends
• Step 3: Being Strategic
• Make your goals 
• Make a plan to how you plan to find your career
• Step 4: Building Your Brand
• cover letter, portfolio, resume
• Network
• Be prepared for interviews
• Step 5: Getting Connected
• Networking
• Job search workshops
• Improve skills
• Step 6: Optimizing Your Future
• Build network
• Continue educate
• Keep moving up

When looking for a career that can work for you and can lead you to success you have to work towards finding the right one. It takes effert to find a good job with an interview. To get to that point it may be difficult. Once you get an interview you better be prepared or it was a waste. While you arent interviewing or working, you should keep working on improving yourself and your overall value.

http://www.sauder.ubc.ca/Careers/For_Students/MM-ECM_Students/Sauder_Career_Success_Cycle

Why Hate

Today, we look at hate groups with bafflement. Unless you are part of one, it is near impossible to understand the ideology and the rationality behind it. In fact, our core understanding of hate groups is that they aren't rational. They aren't logical or understandable. But did they start in a logical or understandable place, beginning somewhere that we, even though we don't endorse or recognize the actions of these groups as acceptable in any way, could possibly relate to?


SOURCE:  http://www.veteranstoday.com

The KKK was founded in 1865 by six college students in the town of Pulaski, Tennessee. Surprisingly, they didn't begin as a hate group. Instead, they were merely six young men in a social group causing a bit of an uproar at night. However, they soon realized that they were causing fear in the slave population. Though this was not their original intent, they latched on to this very quickly. Soon, hundreds of Civil War veterans had joined, and the Klan became an organization divided into realms, dominions, provinces and dens.

But why? Why did these veterans flock to what started out as a club of sorts between six college students? The answer is fear. As the policies of Reconstruction awarded more and more rights to former slaves, life was changing drastically for these former slave owners. Their entire existence was in upheaval. Everything they had ever known was gone. They had lost the war, and now they were losing their way of life.

People react to uncertainty with fear. The KKK was a way to counter that fear. The opportunity cost of the KKK (the hate, the violence, the terror) did not outweigh the utility gained from the organization: that these people felt, in some way, that they were preserving the way they felt things should be. 

http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/kkk/history.asp?LEARN_Cat=Extremism&LEARN_SubCat=Extremism_in_America&xpicked=4&item=kkk