The Barrack Obama Roadshow was an absolutely amazing spectacle. One cannot help but marvel at the immense passion, cost and footprint such an phenomenon manifested. We all seem to have gotten caught up in the hype, in the hope, in the dream. Well, maybe not all of us.

John Pilger is one of the greatest journalism alive. He is an Australian, an unashamedly dissident and a socialist. But beyond his politics he is honest, accurate and fearless in his dissection and presentation of the governments of the world and what they are really up to. Pilger’s dedication to true journalism is uncommon in the extreme. If you haven’t read one of his books or watched one of his documentaries, then do so without delay. Pilger has a clear vision of our world and chances are it’s not the way you see it. He peels back the layers and pries out the truth.

In the below video Pilger talks about Obama and explains how he isn’t the President you perhaps thought you he was.

Richard Dawkins is a true free-thinker. He is a celebrated evolutionary biologist and a staunch atheist. I read his book “The God Delusion” last year and have to say it is one of the most important works that I have ever read (I’m currently listening to the audio version). It is at times funny, sarcastic, and poignant; and always well researched, considered and delivered. It should be read by all (those with and without religious beliefs) for it explains clearly the polarity between science and religion.

I enjoy Dawkins because he does not suffer fools lightly and because he has the courage to speak about his beliefs in a world in which atheist is still a bad word.

The below video is of an interview on The Hour about The God Delusion. I hope you enjoy it.

And, yes, I am an atheist too. Don’t hate me.

It strikes me that many people are coming to the understanding that gluten isn’t all that good for us mere mortal humans. I’ve been of this thought for a little while. My mother is coeliac which means gluten is a complete no-no. So, I’ve been monitoring myself when I eat gluten-containing foods. I have found that if I ever get a crook tummy or a bit of wind (well, more than normal) it’s after I’ve eaten bread or pasta or pizza…you get the idea. Now, I don’t eat these foods very often (although I really like to) but my ad hoc investigation seems to validate the ideas of Robb Wolf and other.

So, here’s the challenge:

One week of not eating anything that contains gluten. That should be simple enough.

If you’re up for it, the bigger challenge is to go one month without gluten.

I expect that anyone who takes up this challenge will be feeling a whole lot better about themselves very soon.

Healthy?

If you haven’t worked it out yet, I’m a big fan of simple. An even bigger fan of thinking for yourself. And a huge fan of evidence-based activity.

Today, there are so many “diets” that it’s enough to drive you completely bonkers. And most of them are – please pardon my French – complete bullshit! If people actually stepped back a moment and thought for themselves they’d soon discover that pills, potions and quick fixes don’t work and are not sustainable.

Worse still, our government agencies have got the heads planted firmly in the sand (perhaps an upgrade from where they normally plant them). Take a look at the so called Healthy Food Pyramid from Nutrition Australia. Does anything look wrong to you?

Please tell me that I’m not the only one looking at this diagram and thinking “what the…?” It’s all over the place like a mad woman’s shopping. Let’s take a quick step back…

Mmm, fresh!

Consider the humble human being – Homo sapiens – as a species we have existed for about 200,000 years. Not long in the scheme of things. We lived as hunters and gatherers until about 10,000 years ago then we start to get civilised. Soon, we domesticated animals and developed agriculture.

So, have a think about it. We lived for almost 200,000 years as hunter-gatherers and for under 10,000 years we’ve been moving to an agriculture-based diet. In this time do you think our genetic make-up has changed? If our genetics have in fact altered in the last 200,000 years, the change would be infinitesimal.

As the situation stands we are eating foods that we are simply not designed for.

What you eat matters! There is no use concerning yourself with portions, combinations, meal timings, Glycaemic index values…blah…blah…blah…if you are eating crap! It can’t get any simpler than that.

What to do? Go Paleo, baby! It’s not pseudo-science. It’s been proven over hundreds of thousands of years. Eating from a can or a box is not good for you. Eat fresh, eat real whole foods and you will be healthier than ever. Visit Dr Loren Cordains’s site for all the Paleo info you need.

Need a simple nutritional guide? Here’s CrossFit’s maxim:

Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat.

Dead simple!

Selected references:

• Wikipedia
• CrossFit
• Robb Wolf

A few posts back I wrote about money and worry. I don’t think that I know anyone who isn’t at least a little worried about money. They’re either worried about the recession/depression, their debt levels, the fact they don’t own a house or that they can’t afford a shiny new watch. Seems to me that we’ve got our heads screwed on the wrong way…again.

Earlier this year I read The Richest Man in Babylon by George Classon. It is a collection of stories that teach you how to get out of debt and become wealthy. And it’s not a bunch of crap like a lot of books on wealth. No get rich quick silliness. Just a lot of ideas that are so sensible they’ve been forgotten and are now uncommonsense.

Here’s the basic premise: of the money that you earn (no matter how much or how little) allocate 10% to savings, 20% to debts and the rest to living expenses. Never pay more than 70% for living expenses and never fail to save and repay debt. This method will get you out of debt, build savings and allow you to live comfortably (although you may have to forgo things you want in the immediate term).

It works. It’s not fast. It’s a simple concept that might be exactly what you need.