Did you watch it?

Well, I did. I can’t say I was overly impressed with either the candidates or the questions.

There were a few questions on health care, Iraq, ect that were good but why not get to the point. How about asking questions about our civil liberties?

Would you wire tap, would you spy on American’s, would you make the right decisions even if you were threatened of being labeled un-American?

CNN decided to show us questions from a crazy guy who loves guns. They decided to ask the dems if they would work for minimum wage, ha right. Didn’t they all say they would? CNN must have had thousands of questions to sort through. I think they could have done a bit better.

The fact is they are all politicians and unfortunately because of how our system is set up it takes a lot of money to run an effective campaign and these guys will never show their true colors when talking to us.

I’m interested how others feel about this debate and the candidates. Feel free to comment if you like.

Each year during Grammy week MusiCares puts on a “person of the year” tribute dinner and silent auction to honor a musician who has not only made a significant contribution to the world of music but also has taken significant humanitarian and philanthropic efforts.On February 6, 2006 James Taylor was honored as the MusiCares 2006 Person of the year and this incredible night of music is on DVD. Through the evening fourteen wonderful musicians including Bruce Springsteen, Taj Mahal, Sting, Carole King, the Dixie Chicks and others, perform on James’s tunes with James’s amazing band.

The Music

The music is great, the artists superb, the sound and picture quality is perfection, and by purchasing this DVD you are helping MusiCares provide a critical safety net to music people in times of crisis.

James Taylor made all of the music on this DVD famous. Some of the music you will see and hear songs like “Shower the People” performed by the Dixie Chicks, “Rainy Day Man” performed by Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Springsteen does his own extremely powerful version of “Millworker”, “Country Road” performed by Keith Urban, and Mr. Taylor himself performs a few tunes as well including “How Sweet It Is”, and “Fire and Rain”. James Taylor and the Environment

Neil Portnow, President of the MusiCares Foundation and The Recording Academy said, “MusiCares and The Recording Academy take great pride in honoring James Taylor as a musician and humanitarian who has made groundbreaking contributions to our culture and to the world at large. James exemplifies a unique creative spirit and his dedication to a range of philanthropic causes serves as an example and an inspiration to our entire music community.”

James has been a powerful voice many for many critical social causes including protecting the environment via the Natural Resources Defense Council, where he is an active board member; supporting funding and research for children’s health-related issues, such as juvenile diabetes; campaigning for funding for various arts initiatives; and calling attention to the needs of those less fortunate. He is truly worthy of being the 2006 “person of the year”.

First lets define organic.  An article at PlanetSave.com by the Associated Press states that: Food or textiles certified “organic” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture must meet this definition:

“Organic food is produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations. Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation.”

I would add to that definition.  I would like to add the word local.  Grown by your local farms.  Why?  Because buying local organic makes a much greater impact in the reduction of greenhouse gasses and global warming and is better for your local economy. 

Burning one gallon of gas releases five pounds of carbon into our atmosphere. So how much carbon is released into the atmosphere when you go to the local grocer in North East, USA and buy tomatoes that are organic yet come from the Netherlands?  The answer is too much.

What can we do?  First of all we can eat locally. We can buy from farmers markets.  Farmers markets have been popping up everywhere and you get fresher, tastier food. 

Local organic shopping is not always convenient and I don’t think that it is all up to the consumer to make eating locally become a reality. However, it would be hard to make the big markets change with out the consumer acting first.  Hopefully the large supermarkets that sell organic will start selling local organic.  Wal-Mart sells organic but I doubt it is local.  I don’t shop there so I can’t be 100% sure.

When you buy organic, make sure you are not buying from a company that is simply “Green Washing”. 

So try eating local organic and shopping local organic.  You may find that grocery shopping becomes a fun and fruitful experience.

Good luck.

Ok, so this is my Blog.  guess i better get started.