Donald Trump: "Ite in patria tua" (10 Minute Read)

Why President Trump's recent Twitter attacks are bad for social unity and great for his political base.

Donald Trump recently took it upon himself to directly attack elected congresswomen on Twitter, over what he perceives as direct attacks on America. 

With this, he has not only managed to get the spotlight placed back on himself, but has also set the tone for the upcoming 2020 American election.

If you haven't seen the tweets, I will post them below, but for everyone who has witnessed them, you hopefully can see why this type of wording from the president of the United States is bad news. Especially when they come from the mouth of the very person in charge of leading Americans, regardless of their political stripes. 

While many people have shrugged these words as nothing important or worse just laughed them off, they do not realize the implications they actually create.

It is no surprise that since Trump's election as president, the world has witnessed a shift toward a more nationalistic or protectionist political view. While there are exceptions to this of course, the reality of the situation is that America still sets the tone that the world listens to and in many cases adopts. Donald Trump knows this, which is why it is not surprising that he relies on social media and any form of attention in order to appease his political base.

In politics, whenever someone begins to gain attention or some form of power from the electorate, those currently holding the majority of power begin to worry, which is why you can witness a shift in attack ads during an election based on poll updates and debate outcomes. 

So for Trump to focus on four women currently serving in congress, he is not only showcasing the fear they present to him, but also making public his disregard for people of colour and women.

How? 

By telling people to go back to their own country, because they happen to be doing their job and questioning the "Great Country of America," you are basically using the playbook of every uneducated racist anywhere in the world. 

When people begin to witness great change, especially change that affects their personal way of life, they usually do one of two things: They accept the change and adapt or they become very xenophobic and find a source to attack that is responsible for that change.

The political base supporting Donald Trump and who made it possible for him to win fall within a mixture between both outcomes above. 

These are people that are witnessing their country changing and have attempted to adapt, but have been left behind due to economic and social changes, especially in areas like the Rust Belt or Bible Belt. 

When Donald Trump assumes that someone of colour is not a naturally born American, like he did with three of the four congresswomen, he plays the role of great protector for his base. 

A predominately white country like America is changing in such a way that it is no longer going to appear fully white. Throw in the constant reliance on Fake News, used to combat any form of truth against Donald Trump and you have a recipe for disaster. 

To make matters worse for Canada specifically, this kind of lingo is beginning to creep across our border and also be utilized by politicians on the right. From the need to attack immigration quotas to the reliance on threats of separating from Canada, these politicians not only should be ashamed of themselves, but should also step down! 

The worst possible thing any sovereign nation can endure is a civil war. 

With Donald Trump, his actions and words have done nothing but sell to his personal base that being white and a traditional man is still the primary face of America. To be anything other, especially a woman, who does nothing but complain while not being a natural born American, is wrong. 

And this folks...is where we witness a turning point in American political history. 

The most important thing to do is not fall for the trap Trump has set. He wants you to become upset and irrational, because then it is easier for his political pundits to attack you and dismantle your argument.

The most important thing people can do right now is see through the smoke and mirrors and realize the kind of man Donald Trump is. He is not a politician, but simply a strong man who ran under the guise of bringing positive political change to America. Donald Trump is a businessman who cares of no one but himself, the zero sum game of life. You are either with him or you are against him and that is the kind of political belief that contradicts the history of America, a land of immigrants dedicated to freedom and expression. 

So in closing I can only say that people on both sides of the border need to remain vigilant. A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian just like an American is an American.

You are not a traitor for questioning the ethics or actions of your country and it's allies.

You are not a traitor for wanting to benefit your countrymen, by implementing change that actually lifts them up.

You are a traitor and a turncoat, when you sell your country out and divide it for the sole benefit of increasing your own power and wealth!

-The Political Road Map-

A Salute to Progressive Bloggers

The October election is coming fast and with it one can only imagine what tricks and zingers the main political parties along with the Russian trolls are coming up with. Memes anyone?

This post is simply a thank you to everyone at Progressive Bloggers and to everyone who takes the time to comment and discuss a topic that many people choose to ignore.

Everything is political, whether we like it or not, it affects us and requires us (the electorate) to ensure our way of life continues.

In 2019, the world has become such an ever complicated place, maybe not too complicated, since it has always been in some form of mess, but it definitely hits closer to home than ever before.

There are entities out there that want us to fail for the simple purpose that democracy makes their work messy and inconvenient.

We all know that politics are power games and while our domestic parties dual it out for more coverage and exposure, we must never forget that international actors have an interest too!

Hopefully this doesn't sound too conspiracy related, but I mean come on! Donald Trump! Enough said...

Anyways, Salute to everyone on the blogroll and regardless of your political stripes, may we all continue to discuss and filter out the misinformation from those willing to destroy our way of life and the foundation of our political system!

-The Political Road Map-

Starting Beef with the Beyond Meat Burger (10 Minute Read)

I recently had a chance to try A&W's Beyond Meat burger. Which is taking North America by storm and has already gone public, with impressive early gains in its stock.

While the burger wasn't exactly the same experience as biting into an actual meat burger, it fit in perfectly well with the fast food environment. You may think that a quick stop into McDonald's or some other fast food joint will get you an entirely natural and simple burger, but boy would you be surprised. Calculate the fillers and preservatives and it is difficult to find wholesome food and fast in the same place.

Disclaimer: I am currently on a Keto regiment, which means the majority of my food is made with a high percentage of fat and is primarily considered whole food, since I am using basic ingredients in everything. I do not work on behalf of the meat industry, so any questions I have or caution I provide is out of the concern for the majority of people as a whole.

The Beyond Meat burger has come into the mainstream food venue as an apparent solution to the world's problem with meat consumption, treatment of animals and also climate change. While no animals are directly harmed in the production of these meatless meat products, I worry about the humans that may be harmed by the political and economic motives behind the scenes.

Each burger contains four main ingredients along with other trace amounts of items to help mimic an actual burger patty and act as preservatives. In total, your Beyond Meat burger contains a total of 20 ingredients.


Lets compare the almost twenty ingredients found in this burger with the one ingredient found in your traditional home made burger, which is beef. Granted, not all beef is the same, but at the end of the day it still remains a whole food if you make it from scratch.

From a health standpoint, I have to question how healthy this kind of item really is. It is no surprise that North Americans have an addiction to meat, but can we really protect the environment and address this addiction by pumping ourselves with additives?

As we move forward with a growing global population, the need to reign in our diets and control portion sizes will become even more important. Frankly, obesity is a simple side effect of the marketing and campaigns present to push the illusion of cheap and quick food to a busy population. The Beyond Meat burger hopes to address this by saving the cows, but if anything appears to be jumping on the very same bandwagon with an ethical label as its main focus.

Animal rights activists are praising the introduction of this option, since it is 100% vegan, even though it is created in a lab.

God forbid we eat GMO plants from Monsanto, but the franken-burger from Beyond Meat, thumbs up, no questions needed!

The Environment:

Aside from saving the cows from factory farms, which is a legitimate argument, the company hopes to address climate change, since cows eat grass and require space to roam, not to mention they emit methane from their burps, which captures heat much more than simple carbon dioxide does.

On the surface this seems like a huge win for the planet, we avoid farming a living creature, push to reduce meat consumption and in doing so potentially remove a source that contributes to 1/3 of global methane, right?

Not necessarily unfortunately, because if you actually look at the stats with a wide angle, you see a much different story. While cows produce methane, so does every other animal currently living on the planet, does that mean we should limit populations of those species too?

More importantly, the biggest contributors of methane still come from human production, specifically in the form of plastic production and oil & gas extraction. Methane is produced as a byproduct during the extraction process and plastic products such as bags and wrappers actually produce methane when they are exposed to a heat source or direct sunlight.

While reducing the amount of livestock would definitely help overall, you have to be weary of a company selling you a product that makes it money, especially if it claims that said product is a large part of the solution through its marketing. Unless you are a nonprofit or government body, nobody is saving the planet unless it serves their own agenda directly.

Another point to consider is the transportation and packaging of the burger. The ingredient list is long, but is most likely not being sourced in a relatively local setting. Which means that although your generic meat burger may require energy to grow, slaughter and form, your meat substitute may actually match this carbon output when you consider the refining and transportation required to supply facilities with the main ingredients. Not to mention, as stated above, plastic products create methane and surprise, the Beyond Meat burger is wrapped in the stuff!

Traditional meat burgers do require animals to be slaughtered, but in most cases are sourced from local farmers. This is something we need to do more of, since a push to source local foods allows us to reduce the amount of fuel needed in delivering this food, especially from places overseas.

The Politics of Food

Yes, even food enters the realm of politics and the Beyond Meat burger is no exception.

Companies have been working hard to ensure that they are protected from the detrimental effects their food products can create. This is why you do not see class action lawsuits against fast food giants, because legislation exists that puts the onus on the consumer to eat in moderation.

Then you have specific groups that endorse a certain lifestyle, especially in the vegan community, who, on the radical side, often profess that animal consumption is the ultimate evil in society. These groups have money and a voice behind them, so when you see something like the Beyond Meat burger enter the market, it is no surprise that misinformation and hype can allow people to not take a second look and join the hype.

Is the idea of a meatless burger cool? Sure it is, but I personally believe that switching over to a meat substitute like this will not help the environment very much, aside from making a bunch of companies waving the vegan banner much wealthier.

Heck, Tyson foods, which is one of the three largest producers in America for meat products is also a supporter for the Beyond Meat burger. That's no different than an oil company investing in a company working on solar panels. Contribute to the problem, while investing in a great optics project for your marketing!

If you want to really save the environment and live healthier, you may have to perform an audit on your grocery list, but not with Beyond Meat.

Adopting a vegan diet can be helpful, but you can still live with a Mediterranean diet and improve not only your health, but also your reliance on factory farmed goods.

We need to place more emphasis on natural ingredients and whole foods in order to get ourselves back into a state of balance. This means cooking at home more and questioning the ingredients many companies are using, which in most cases only help their bottom line in the end.

Save the cows by eating less of them, but save yourself and society by demanding farming techniques that are sustainable and involving yourself more in the production of meals served to you and your family.

It isn't easy, especially in a world of busy schedules and rising food costs, but it is necessary if you want to impact on the world in a positive way, without making too much of a drastic lifestyle change and still keeping things natural.

I am interested in hearing your feedback from this entry, so as always, feel free to drop me a line or two.

-The Political Road Map-