Typically when we talk about a record being broken, it’s a good thing. Whether it’s an individual athletic event where a sprinter or swimmer smashes a world record with a scintillating performance, a team accomplishment like winning a Super Bowl or Stanley Cup, or a major milestone by a company or industry, we tend to look at breaking records as a sign of success, accomplishment and progress.

Negative Records: Driven by Incompetence

There are examples, however, of records being broken in the negative, including situations that are demoralizing, tragic and even horrific. History, for example, is littered with record-breaking examples of murderous socialist & fascist dictators imposing their will at the cost of millions, as evidenced by the Mao regime in China, the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, and the Hitler/Nazi regime in Germany. Most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic was responsible for a record-breaking number of global deaths from a virus created in a laboratory in Wuhan, China.

When we see negative records being set, it’s incumbent upon us as rational, thoughtful adults to stand-up, take a position based on sound logic & critical thinking, and make a change. We have that opportunity staring us in the face and the evidence of incompetence is simply shocking. Below are two current examples of negative records that are being set, and that we can change: (1) Incompetent political leadership and (2) Incompetent dietary leadership.

Example 1: Incompetent Political Leadership

Unfortunately, we’re seeing negative records being set almost on a weekly basis from abject policy & governmental leadership failure. How bad is it? As I made my list, I was well beyond 25 examples before I had to stop and try to synthesize, so here’s a short list of 10 negative records broken since President Biden took office:

• Gas prices reached a 20-year high in June 2022, due largely to a democratic-led war on domestic oil and gas production that shut down the Keystone pipeline, reduced oil and gas leases, squeezed domestic blending capacity, supported the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia to Germany, and even included Biden begging Venezuela and Saudi Arabia to expand production while refusing to open up domestic resources! Oh, and counter to the current narrative that high gas prices are all due to the invasion of Ukraine, gas prices were up 40% before Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

• Biden has pulled more oil from the strategic petroleum reserve than any President since the reserve was established in the 1970’s. In his latest stunt to pull another 15M barrels, conveniently right before the upcoming election, what he didn’t tell you is that represents less than one-day of usage in the U.S. https://www.eenews.net/articles/bidens-use-of-oil-reserves-overshadows-past-presidents/
• Inflation is at a 40-year high. The costs of non-discretionary (ie, basics for life) are up as much as 20%, the cost of natural gas is climbing by 30%+, and the U.S. population is poorer and feeling more economic pressure than they have in decades. Wages are not keeping up with inflation, which means people are becoming poorer, which is what happens in a socialist welfare state. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-10-13/core-us-inflation-rises-to-40-year-high-securing-big-fed-hike
• Almost 5M illegal aliens have crossed the southern U.S. border due to Biden’s open-border policy, not to mention the tens of thousands who have been flown to intra-U.S. cities for placement in the middle of the night so that the American citizens would not notice. In the meantime, the failed border czar VP Harris finally visited the border, once, but only went briefly to El Paso, TX which was hundreds of miles away from the open border areas that are seeing hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants per month attempting to cross into the U.S. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fair-analysis-4-9-million-illegal-aliens-have-crossed-our-borders-since-president-biden-took-office-301606980.html
• After an atrocious 2021 based on crime statistics, 2022 is again setting new records for violence in some of America’s biggest cities (that are almost all run by Democratic leadership). Oh, and less we forget the Democrats united call to defund the police. https://www.foxnews.com/us/major-cities-violent-crimes-data-murders-shootingshttps://www.foxnews.com/us/us-murder-rate-violence-big-cities-record
• Geo-political debacles are coming at a record pace.
  • VP Harris hailing the alliance with North Korea while visiting our actual ally, the Republic of South Korea. https://nypost.com/2022/09/29/kamala-harris-hails-us-alliance-with-north-korea/.
  • Biden has authorized almost $18B in largely military aid to Ukraine, hardly a democracy, while the U.S. consumer suffers from crushing inflation. https://www.state.gov/625-million-in-additional-u-s-military-assistance-for-ukraine/
  • Biden engineered a debacle of an exit from Afghanistan. Over $82B in U.S. military aid and training wasted, over $7B in military equipment left to the terrorist Taliban leadership, thousands of Afghans friendly to the U.S. left to run for their lives from the murderous Taliban regime, and basically a ‘green light’ for Russia to invade the Ukraine. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9947707/Biden-administration-ERASES-records-83-billion-military-aid-given-Afghanistan.html
• The United States, a first-world country with some of the best technology and most robust resources in the world, ran out of infant formula due to horrible EPA management and a lack of contingency planning, having to import formula from countries like Mexico and China. This is a historical first, and is still an ongoing issue! https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-national-baby-formula-shortage-and-the-inequitable-u-s-food-system/
• A record number of COVID-19 deaths, with 50% more deaths coming under Biden’s regime even with the full allocation of medical treatments and vaccines available. Recently, the CDC fully admitted their handling of the COVID-19 pandemic was poor, gave way too many mixed messages, and created more confusion than confidence in many cases.
  • https://prismreports.org/2022/07/21/more-people-dying-covid-didnt-have-to-be-this-way/
  • https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/17/cdc-admits-covid-response-fell-short-launches-reorganization.html
• This administration’s drive to divide is at record levels. From calling concerned parents domestic terrorists; to referring to MAGA voters as extremists; to the incessant race-baiting around issues like voter suppression (Jim Crow 2.0 in Biden’s words) which have no basis in fact, Biden is clearly setting the record for being the “divider in chief.”
• Record loan forgiveness, the latest way for Democrats to buy votes. What is so hilariously sad about Biden’s loan forgiveness plan is even his own Speaker of the House has said the President cannot pass an executive order to do this, and recently, the courts agreed. What’s also interesting is no politician has ever said who is paying the $400B bill for this loan forgiveness (the inconvenient truth is it will be us, the taxpayers), and none of those same politicians have any remorse for the hundreds of thousands of American citizens who DID pay their student loans.

With the above list of negative records and appalling policy being enacted, the question for us is why would we vote for this terrible leadership? Why would we follow inept leaders who have demonstrated their ineptitude in such a wide range of ways, in such a short period of time? The good news is, we can make a change right now by voting many of these leaders out and replacing them with people who are pragmatic, centered, thoughtful and actually believe/support the U.S. constitution. We can turn this sinking ship around and get it back to shore before it capsizes, but we need to act now by voting capable leaders into office in the upcoming November election.

Example 2: Incompetent Dietary Leadership

Speaking of breaking records, admittedly over a much longer period of time, we’re seeing our dietary behaviors and metabolic health move into absolute crisis mode. As covered in numerous previous posts, the U.S. Dietary Guidelines were established in 1977 and sent us down a trajectory of metabolic ruin, just another reason why having a big, bloated government involved in your daily life is such a bad idea. Below are 10 negative records tied to dietary & metabolic sickness that have been set over the past 40+ years.

• In the 1960’s, a debate raged about the root cause of cardiovascular disease. In one camp, Ancel Keys led the position that “fat was the problem, especially saturated fat.” In the other camp, several leading metabolic experts postured that sugar, starches and processed foods were the root cause. Through intimidation, media propaganda and a concerted, collaborative effort between government and industry, fat was demonized, Ancel Keys’ recommendation was accepted as gospel based on one questionable study, the U.S. Dietary Guidelines were built to drive people to eat a ton of carbohydrates and avoid healthy fats, and this record absurdity set in motion our metabolic ruin.
• During the 1930’s, butter and lard were the main sources of cooking fat used in the U.S. However, with World War II and the pressure placed on resources, technology soon offered new options for consumers to use for cooking such as margarine and vegetable oils. These vegetable/seed oils took effect in the 1960’s and have been on a relentless, record growth through today. Why is this so important? Most of these seed oils are made of highly inflammatory polyunsaturated fats and we are eating such an enormous amount that our bodies are literally overwhelmed with inflammation.

• From the late 1970’s, there has been a very close correlation between the increase in carbohydrates consumed in the standard diet, and the increase in the BMI of both men and women. What you may not be aware of is other countries look to the American Dietary Guidelines and will follow with recommendations, which means not only have we seen the BMI of Americans increase, but overweight/obesity levels in other developed countries has also risen.

• Type 2 Diabetes (T2D), which accounts for almost 95% of all diabetes cases, is now being called a metabolic disease for good reason. T2D is a disease of insulin resistance, a process that can take decades to form, but in the process, wreaks havoc on the body’s ability to function, combat disease, manage inflammation, and resist aging. According to the latest CDC report, approximately 11% of the U.S. population, or about 37M Americans are diabetic, a record number that continues to increase (remember, almost 95% are T2D). Even more concerning are the projected 96M Americans that are pre-diabetic, which means without a major course correction in their dietary lifestyle, they will develop T2D. If the adult population in the U.S. (18+) is about 210M, and 130M adults are either diabetic or pre-diabetic, that means 62% of the U.S. adult population is in a diabetic metabolic crisis.
• Healthcare spending continues to set records every year. Current spending is $4.1T (yes, trillion) per year, compared to the year 2000 when healthcare spending was about $1.4T. So, in just 20 years, our healthcare spending has tripled! How much are we spending on chronic disease? Most estimates are between 85% – 90% of all healthcare costs are spent managing chronic disease.
• Obesity in the U.S. is at a record level, with 42% of the population considered obese. Additionally, while obesity does not care about your ethnicity, we do see even higher rates of obesity among black (50%) and hispanic (46%) adults. For some additional statistics on the shocking level of obesity in the U.S., click here.
• Globally, one of the countries that has seen the fastest growth of obesity & T2D, which currently is at record levels, is China. Over 50% of the Chinese adult population is considered overweight or obese, and the acceleration of T2D is nothing short of shocking. The Lancet produced a powerful infographic to highlight…see below. From a T2D perspective, the news is equally shocking. In 1980, it is estimated less than 1% of the Chinese population has T2D. Today, the estimate is over 13%…and growing.

• A record low 7% of Americans are in good cardio-metabolic health. While we typically think Europeans are healthier, Europeans have now hit a dubious record level with 59% considered overweight or obese. Whether the U.S, Europe or China, obesity & T2D are global issues, and the staggering financial, emotional and physical costs are too much for any society to handle.
• Having spent the last 2 1/2 years in a global pandemic, one of the things that became so striking about how this manufactured virus attacked the human body is how the prevalence of chronic disease created multiple pathways for the virus to enter, and how chronic disease made recovery so much more daunting. Even our own CDC admitted that 75% of the COVID -19 deaths were patients with at least four comorbidities. A body that is unhealthy, overweight or obese, overwhelmed with inflammation, is operating with a poor-functioning digestive and GI system, and is unfit based on the level of lean mass and cardio-pulmonary function is going to struggle much more severely in fighting off a pathogen. That was proven during COVID-19.
• Children & young adults are eating processed foods at a record pace, with ultra-processed food accounting for 67% of calories in a typical diet. This diet will lead to higher levels of childhood obesity, which is now at 20%+ and rising, higher diagnoses of T2D, and a reduced quality of life due to metabolic disease.

With these appalling negative records being set, the obvious question is why are we still following this dietary behavior when it has been so wrong for so long? Well, our time has come to make a change, just as I said earlier with the political incompetence. In May 2022, the White House announced a Conference on Hunger, Health and Nutrition, and author Nina Teicholz wrote very succinctly about how bad our metabolic health is, and how badly a change in direction is needed. There is currently a debate about the dietary guidelines and what should be changed, so take action. First, to get more information and to donate, I invite you to visit https://www.nutritioncoalition.us. Second, write your congressional leaders, President Biden and the United States Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services (USDA-HHS) to voice your concerns and ask for change. It’s time to stop setting negative records, get our political leaders to take action, eliminate the poor policies and change our trajectory from illness to wellness.