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Weight:223.2
Body Fat:28.6%
BP: 153/109*
Heart Rate: 95

It’s the day before I start my cleanse.

Freaky, I know. I’ve been eating pretty much normally up to this point, but I’ve gotta go shopping for some vegetables and fruits. I’m kinda concerned about getting through these first 3 days. I think once I get past the “Ease-in” ans settle into the cleanse itself I’ll be okay.

Day 1 is living foods. All that comes to mind is carrots and celery, but the ranch dip I’m accustomed to drowning them in is probably out. I thought I’d throw a tomato, some onion, and some herbs into the food processor with a little olive oil to help it stick together as a substitute. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Oh, and I also bought a can of “Digestive Health” trail mix from Planters. I figured nuts and berries fell in the category of living food.

Day 2 is soup and broths. Again, I have no idea what I’m going to be eating other than a tomato thrown into the food processor with some salt and pepper. Suggestions are appreciated.

Day 3 is fresh squeezed orange juice. That’s it. Lord, with all this acid I’m planning on taking in on the first 3 days, it’s bound to start cleaning out my guts, right?

I bought a Brita water pitcher (I figure if I’m drinking all this water it migft as well be clean water, right?

I’m a little apprehensive, overall. I’m feeling this anxiety, and I’m not entirely sure what that’s all about.

My plan is to meditate for 15 minutes or so each morning, and maybe do some cardio on the Wii Fit. I’ll let you know how that goes, as well.

I said earlier that this wasn’t about losing weight, and it’s really not. Why the daily photo and stats then? More than anything, just to track changes. I can tell you all day long how I’m feeling, but having a few numbers to measure things by can’t hurt.

Starting tomorrow morning with a grapefruit, no sugar. Weird…

*This is probably a little higher than normal, on account of I forgot to take my medication until an hour or so before I tested.

So, on we go…

As it relates to the discussion I had on Roe v. Wade, Part I is pretty much a foundational work. It’s important to understand the implications and background of the Roe v. Wade decision, though. It actually goes back much further than the 1973 decision, arguably to the 14th amendment, which covers (in particular) Dues Process and Equal protection.

Why is this important?

Let’s read Section 1. together, shall we?

“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

So basically, as a citizen of the United States and of Utah, I have a reasonable expectation of privacy free from government intrusion.

The fourteenth amendment also covers due process, which (among other things) means that there are two basic exercises of law – substantive law, which creates, defines, and regulates rights, and procedural law which enforces those rights or seeks redress for their violation.

Substantive law includes things like freedom of religion, the freedom to raise your children the way you see fit, and the choice to procreate or not. This naturally leads to many questions and caveats, either real or implied, but the one thing that really can’t be argues is my basic right over my own body. That right has been argued effectively, and supported by law for thousands of years.

Which leads us to Roe v. Wade.

You see, it’s not just about abortion, although that was the central theme. It’s about substantive law, and the rights we all enjoy as citizens. If you repeal Roe, you alos put at risk other privacy rights, such as the right to choose to use birth control or not, and the right of two consenting adults to engage in whatever consensual sexual activity they wish within the walls of their own home.

In fact, when you come right down to it, all law exists to protect privacy. Period.

So all you pro-lifers, Roe v. Wade actually supports you in your religious position against abortion – leave it alone.

Over the past few weeks I’ve had a few different conversation (some more heated than others) about the jurisdiction of the Federal Government and the Jurisdiction of State Government, and how to determine which one takes precedence. The general consensus of everyone I’ve spoken with is that the federal government should basically let the states govern themselves unless national security or interstate commerce are involved.  I don’t know why, but this just didn’t seem quite right to me. In fact, what really set me on this quest was a comment from one of my buddies from the mission. He said (and I’m paraphrasing a bit here) that Roe v. Wade should be repealed and th states should decide whether or not to outlaw abortion.

I knew that my good friend James Ord, who is sincerely one of the most brilliant men I know, would have the answers I was looking for. Among other things, he’s a very educated and talented lawyer, so I sent him a quick email asking about Federal vs. State jurisdiction and how it’s determined. One of the things I appreciate about James is that he doesn’t ever give me an answer directly. He gives me all of the background, history and information I need to form my own opinion and find my own answer. His reply is worth sharing here:

Okay so ITS HISTORY LESSON TIME BOYS AND GIRLS. .

Everyone sit on your square of carpet for story time. . .

Federal Preemption of State law. This is what you need to know:

Under our theory of Govt.

Liberty = the right to do what ever you want so long as it doesn’t interfere with someone else right to do what ever they want.

The theory is that the states actually have all the rights and confer them upon their citizens. Citizens only have liberty in so far as the State confers it upon them. This is called Positive Law.

As opposed to rights being confered upon citizens by God (Negative Law or Natural Law), and then the citizens allowing the states to have enumerated and limited powers over those rights, to regulate, and operate for the health safety and welfare of society.

AND

As opposed to all the rights originating in the federal government, and then being granted to the citizens by the federal govt.

Because our system originated from a group of independent countries, the founders did not wish to get into a pissing match and fight with the states over where the bundle of rights originated and how it vested power. Below were the different line of authority theories.

God –> to Citizens –>to Federal Govt –> To States
God –> To Citizens –> to States –> To Fed Govt
God –> To Citizens –> with some rights to Fed and others granted to States
God –> to Fed Govt. –> To States –> To Citizens
God –> To Fed Govt –> Citizens –> To States
God –> To Fed Govt –> with some rights to States and others to the Citizens
God –> to the States –>To Fed Govt. –> Citizens
God –> to the States –> To Citizens –> To Fed
God –> to States –> with some rights to Fed & Others to States

The result was that the latter was the theory which was used to build our Govt.

Although libertarians love to think it isn’t so, the constitution makes the federal govt one of limited enumerated powers, and the States retain ALL the rights under our theory of govt.

Under the theory of govt that brought the US Constitution into place God does NOT vest rights in ANY citizen.

Thomas Jefferson vehemently disputed this but ultimately it was so.

The result was the following:

The Bill of rights was passed that said that no matter what rights the states held, the fed would recognise in all of its interactions with citizens that God Grants to CITIZENS certain rights and that those rights cannot and will not be infringed by the Fed.

Pre Civil War

The Fed derived its powers from the States

And prior to the Civil War, ALL of the Fed’s powers were granted to it by the States.

Pre Civil War, the states could do what ever the FRAK it wanted to its citizens so long as it did not interfere with the Federal preemptive rights enumerated in the Fed constitution. Since the citizens of the several States ONLY had those rights granted to them by their respective States.

Post Civil War

Since the several States were so keen on Human Rights (sarcasm inserted), the key to rejoining the Union was the ratification of the 14th amendment.

This shoved the Fed’s theory of vested rights down the Southern States throats.

The 14th Amendment Insured that some rights were granted by God to the Citizens, and then the citizens granted the Fed the right to regulate them, and the Fed then forces the States to regulate them or in some cases to not regulate them.

So with the ratification of the 14th amendment we went from

God –> to States –> with some rights to Fed & Others to States

TO

God —> with some rights to States, some to the Citizens, and the Citizens allowing the Fed to force the States to recognise those rights that God gave to citizens that the States can no longer infringe upon.

That IS VERY VERY IMPORTANT for understanding Federal preemption law.

So . . In our system The Fed Preempts state law in two ways. . .

1. Those areas of law that states at the founding ceeded to the fed and the Federal Constitution SPECIFICALLY designates as federal jurisdiction.

Examples of this are interstate commerce ie. the commerce clause, or the power over minting and coining money, setting weights and measures, or the power over foreign policy.

2. By Operation of the guarantees found within the 14th Amendment being binding upon the states.
It should be noted that as a result of the vesting theory debate Tommy J. . .Who flunked out/dropped out of Law School at William and Marry btw, wrote the Virginia Charter of Religious Freedom which ultimately became the basis for the Bill of Rights.

He then went on a one man campaign state by state to convince their legislatures to amend their states’ constitutions to reject Positive Law, and re-vest the powers of their states BACK into their respective citizenries.

Cincinatus eat your heart out.

Tommy J was successful in most of the states he went to bat. . . BUT even with a batting average of 700 he still struck out on a few.

As a result. The Federal govt is a patchwork of States who derive their limited power to govern from their citizenry,

AND

States whose governments are still technically benevolent despots whose only limits on their state’s power are those limits placed upon them by the Fed.

Sooo in essence, with all things legal, to determine if a State is exercising one of its God given powers, OR if it is exercising a power granted to it by its citizenry, OR if it is truly infringing upon a Federal power, you have to figure out What the power is, and then where it vested from.

If you determine it is a State-held power then you must ask if there are any Federal preemption rules or technicalities which would would constrict the way in which a state held power could be exercised.

Lot’s to digest, to be sure. I’ve read it several times and continue to find more understanding in it each time.

Anyway, this post is getting a little long, so I’m going to break it into two parts. Part 2 will follow tomorrow, and we’ll get into why Roe v. Wade is still a relevant and important decision (especially if you’re anti-abortion).

I’ve really been thinking about it, and I’m going to do a cleanse. I appreciated all your feedback on my last post, and I’ve made up my mind.

There are actually several reasons I want to do this. In no particular order, I want to know what it’s like to know exactly what I’ve put in my body, I really want to start eating healthier, and I think cleaning my guts out is a good start, and I figure I’ll be doing some emotional and spiritual cleansing while I’m at it.

16 days. This will most likely be the most rigorous culinary challenge I’ve ever taken on in my life. Here’s how it breaks down:

The Ease-In

Day 1 – Living Foods *fruits and vegetables, no dairy, no meat

Day 2 – juices, soups, and broths

Day 3 – Orange Juice only

The Cleanse

Day4-13 – The lemonade, maple syrup and cayenne concoction

The Ease-Out

Day 14 – Orange Juice only

Day 15 – Juices, soups and broths

Day 16 – Living foods

So, I’m starting on March 1 and finishing on March 16. My goal is to post each of the 16 days, and there’ll be 2 podcasts in there as well. Stay tuned…

Pan-Roasted Filet Mignon Stuffed with English Stilton Served with Potato Walnut Confit and Port Wine Reduction

Sounds expensive (and delicious), right?

Well, it wasn’t too expensive ($85 in groceries, $22 of which was the cheese), and it was heavenly!

It all started when Megan requested that I cook dinner for the two of us on Friday for our date night. All she said was that she wanted something made with beef.

A little searching on teh tubes and I had my recipe. I like trying new recipes, as I usually learn new techniques and flavor profiles when I do. The first problem I saw with this one was the cheese. Stilton isn’t exactly something you just run down to Wal Mart and pick up. A few phone calls later and I had found my store – Whole Foods of all places.

As an aside, apparently Megan has been shopping at Whole Foods for quite some time now, but because I’m a stubborn sonofabitch that was protesting my sons vegan eating habits, I wasn’t in on the secret until just recently.

Anyway, I needed Stilton cheese, which is an English blue cheese, very creamy in flavor with just enough sharpness to fall this side of too strong. It’s pretty tasty, but a little pricey. I got 8 oz. for $22. I used 2 ounces, so I can make this meal again soon. Whole Foods had my cheese, so I figured I’d do the rest of the shopping there as well. After all, I’d seen Whole Foods on Top Chef, if it was good enough for them, it was certainly good enough for me.

$85 dollars later I had what I needed and we headed home.

The whole thing starts with 4-color fingerling potatoes, sliced about 1/4 inch thick and then tossed in olive oil and dried thyme, with a dash of salt and pepper (easy on the pepper, here) to bring out the flavor. Throw ‘em in an oven proof saute pan and roast at 400° for 30-40 minutes, until they’re browned on the edges and cooked through. Take ‘em out of the saute pan and set ‘em aside, but keep ‘em warm. Deglaze the pan with about 1 cup of beef stock and reduce by half, then set that aside as well.

Next, put about 3 strips of good thick-cut bacon that’s been chopped into medium-sized chuncks into an oven-proof sautee pan. Cook it until it’s almost crispy, then throw in 1 cup of walnut pieces and 1 clove of chopped garlic. Sautee it all together, then add it to the potatoes. Reserve the bacon grease.

Take 2 shallots and cut them into 1/4″ thick rings. Get a sauce pan and heat about 1 cup of vegetable or canola oil to rippling. Add the bacon grease. Dredge the shallots in a bit of flour, then fry them in the grease for about 2 minutes, or until they’re just starting to get crispy.

While that’s happening, take your 2 filets and cut a 1″ slit on one side and carefully sliding the knife from one side of the filet to the other, form a pocket inside for the cheese. Fill the pocket with about 2 tablespoons of crumbled Stilton cheese. In the skillet you cooked the bacon on, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and sear the filets for about 2 minutes oin each side, then stick it in the oven for about 8-10 minutes for a nice medium rare.

Set the filets aside to rest for about 10 minutes and deglaze the pan with 1/2 cup of ruby port and reduce by half.

To put the whole thing together, mound some potatoes in the center of the plate, place the filet on top, add some shallots to the side, spoon the reduced beef stock over the filet, drizzle the port reduction around the plate, top the filet with a few crumbles of cheese and sprinkle with a bit of fresh parsley.

Tada.

A little bit of work, sure, but it was heavenly!