EsteBurt's Blog Hi. EsteBurt here. Music is my life. Guitarist, shredder, composer, decomposer. Tweet me @BurtonMunson.

Topic: Is modern farming in the USA completely dependent on slave labor to turn a profit?

Crops in CA & AZ are left to rot because there aren’t enough workers willing to do the work for the pay offered. If the farmers offered better pay, they’d go out of business. So we get illegal workers who are treated poorly & paid almost nothing (slave labor).

How do we remedy it? Higher food prices? Not likely. A work-credit program for illegals? Not humane (still slave labor). I’m at a loss for viable solutions.

I still have no idea how this website works. Or this tumblr app. Suppose I’d figure it out if I tried. Oh well.

So, NY is trying to force people to drink less soda, eh? What should they drink instead? More tap water? Wouldn’t forcing more fluoride ingestion onto the population make them more docile, more lethargic, & fatter?

Oh yeah, it would also make the population less likely to revolt — just like in Nazi concentration camps.

This isn’t about making people healthier. It’s about squashing down the 99%.

It’s considered hate to ridicule someone based on their race, gender, sexual preference, etc. But if it makes you feel better about yourself, go ahead & ridicule overweight people. Sorry “health-advocates,” I’m about to expose your self-hate & hypocrisy for what it really is.

Health nuts, vegans, vegetarians, those who are addicted to “healthy living, eating, & exercising” (yes they’re all addictions) are everywhere telling you that you should feel bad about yourself if you eat foods with carbs, fat, sugar, or any taste whatsoever. They’ll tell you that meat is bad for you. That you’re disgusting for eating anything other than organic twigs & berries.

IT’S ALL BULLSHIT! They’re all saying this stuff for 2 reasons:

1) To profit by selling you their beliefs & the products that go with it.

2) They hate themselves & it makes them feel better to point at “fatties” & make fun of them.

Obesity isn’t an epidemic. Diabetes isn’t any more prevalent than it ever used to be. Our media sources are bigger than ever before & are run by mega-corporations that report only what will make them record profits. These are all lies being forced upon you in order to make you feel bad about yourself & in turn, produce a profit.

The people behind this are the same assholes who used to profit off making people feel bad about themselves for being black (or any other race besides white), or for being a woman, or for being gay. Wake up! The only reason being big is considered “unhealthy” is because they can’t make a profit by hating those other groups any more.

I’ve seen a lot of people saying they have no sympathy/compassion for people if they are/were a drug addict (Ex: Whitney Houston, Amy Winehouse, Kurt Cobain, etc.) I didn’t realize there were so many “Straight-Edge” perfect people out there who’ve never drank or tried drugs before!

As a performer I’ve never been lucky enough to make it to any level of fame & fortune whatsoever. However, I do know the pressure involved firsthand. I can empathize with those who turn to alcohol & drugs to cope. You’re expected to put on an energetic, outstanding performance every time. Doesn’t matter if you aren’t feeling well. You have a headache? You’re depressed? You haven’t slept or eaten well in weeks? Tough shit, get on stage, or your career is over.

You see, performers don’t get to call in sick. They don’t get to take a “mental health day.” They can’t drag their ass into work, sit behind a desk, & avoid the boss all day while slacking off. One mistake & they get shredded by every self-appointed critic, newspaper, & narcissistic prick who owns a twitter account. I doubt your job has that kind of pressure.

Performers are like doctors. They spend hours a day for many years before they even get a whiff of fame practicing, learning, turning raw ability into talent. They didn’t get paid. They do it because they love it. They do it because YOU enjoy the final product too. Eventually, some turn to drinking or drugs to get them pumped up to hit the stage. Often they do it to block out what’s on their mind, so they can put on the show you expect.

I’ve never done drugs, but I’ve most definitely had my own destructive pre-show routines. Poundung tons of sugar (Mountain Dew, candy bars, donuts…) to get the rush of energy I needed to play. I’ve taken handfuls of painkillers to numb anything from general aches & pains to killer migraines. I’ve played shows while suffering an asthma attack, or barely coherent & shaking from all the medication I’m on to fight off those asthma attacks. I’ve even made it a habit to get drunk before (& even during) shows, in an attempt to drown out insecurity, nerves, depression… whatever was preventing me from giving the best performance possible.

So yeah, I have compassion for everyone, dead or alive. Whether they’re a drug addict or not. Life sucks sometimes. We all have to deal with it & we all cope in different ways. I dream of a day when we all can help each other cope with life’s problems, big & small. Maybe one day we can even do it before it’s too late & save a life instead.

On Twitter when a celebrity dies, a plethora of bad jokes begin. Yesterday’s passing of Whitney Houston was no different. I understand, some of you cope w/ loss through humor. I do too. However, this time I was disgusted by how many hateful, jealous tweets I saw. They couldn’t even remotely be considered jokes.

Whether you realize it or not, being a performer takes a great deal of work. Some make it look effortless. In reality, it’s anything but that. The reason Whitney Houston was a superstar is because she’s a better singer than you. She’s also put in the years of hard work required to get there & stay there. Rather than get jealous, why don’t some of you look in the mirror & admit that the reason YOU aren’t a celebrity is because YOU either have no talent, or weren’t willing to work hard enough to develop that talent?

Move on & do something positive with your life instead. Maybe you’re the next rock star. You’ll never know if you don’t try. Leave your petty jealousy behind, though. It’ll only serve to destroy you.

Hollywood is only hurting itself by lobbying congress to stop file sharing sites.

I download some of the TV shows I watch because I don’t have cable (or the BBC in some cases). If not for file sharing sites like Megaupload or Filesonic there are many shows I never would have discovered, given a chance, & eventually bought the DVD’s of.

My computer is too old to stream anything. And I refuse to pay $2 on iTunes for a show that just aired for free for anyone to record onto DVR, or even VCR.

After file-sharing goes down, what’s next? Will they attempt to outlaw VCRs again!?

I really should blog more. Lots of thoughts, not a lot of time to type. :(

I’ll see what I can muster up in the next few days.