[*] Sources
Religion, Money, and Milk Part I: The Milk By Elli Leimone
We can be pretty repulsive. Not everybody, just the majority. And there’s really just no other way to put it; so consumed by our material possessions and pride and ‘purpose’. Our lives are flooded with propaganda, informing us of the proper lifestyles and correct viewpoints; the right opinions from the wrong opinions; what the newest and most popular products are; who’s important from who’s not; the correct way to dress from the incorrect way; which words to use and not to use, etc., etc. When did everything become so excessive and unessential? Self-respect and a little deserved self-indulgence is good, but narcissism and self-entitlement can be a plague. So, where’s the line? I believe it’s when the cost of our benefits include inhumanities, or harm toward others. Considering the various atrocities being committed by politicians, multi-national companies and an ever-increasing, self-entitled, mass public*; I think we’re so far from the line, we’ve forgotten there was a line in the first place. Lavishness at the expense of destabilizing poorer countries, promoting sweatshops, and stepping on the throats of your fellow man - this is the new “norm.” ‘What does this have to do with milk’, you’re probably thinking? We’re getting there. Just be patient. We tremble in wait for the newest iPhone, or next year’s car models, or the biggest, shiniest rock we can fit on our fingers. We spend more and more money because the more money we spend, the better we seem to feel. It’s all around us, all day, every day. It also seems to be getting easier and easier to spend money, and harder and harder to make it. Doesn’t it? Marketers are getting better every day at using psychological tactics** to target our innermost desires and encourage our business. It’s so easy to lose ourselves in the madness, and sometimes we don’t even realize it.
Say that every day on our way to work we pass the same billboard. Itadvertises a fast food establishment with a deliciously enticing burger, juicy on a golden bun with a catchy slogan that may or may not peak our interest. While we may only ogle it for a second every day, eventually when we get hungry, there’s a good chance we’ll be thinking of that burger. Or maybe a commercial presents a new brand of washing detergent, and we watch as the families using this product are always smiling and happy. It may not happen the first time, but after watching enough of that detergent’s commercials, thenext time we find ourselves doing laundry, we may feel gloomy. Could it be because we naturally find no pleasure in doing laundry? Probably, but there’s also a good chance our mind is correlatingdoing laundry with the happy detergent commercials and not having that product. It’s unlikely that we’d consciously connect the two, but our minds are always working for more efficient ways to live. It’s natural to want to be happy. Take note of which detergent you buy next time you’re at the store, or the kind of paper towels you buy, or the brand of cereal. It’s probablyTide, Bounty, and HoneyNutCheerios. If not, then maybe it’s Gain, Bounce, and Mini Wheats. And it’s because you subconsciously yearn to feel an emotional response similar to that which is seen in the commercials. Now, this may not always be the case, as we may buy a red shirt because red is our favorite color, or be frugal and buy a generic brand because it’s cheapest, or understand the influence of marketing. Various factors can come into play.It is, however, highly unlikely that we buy various products and test them through scientific method in order to draw our own conclusions. Take into consideration any widely advertised fast food franchise. A lot of people probably eat there, and you may be thinking, ‘well, of course, it’s a widespread and popular place to eat’. Well,why is it a widespread and popular place to eat? Their food is often, generally, greasy, fattening, and unhealthy. Personally, I feel like crap after I eat fast food, and I eat fast food very infrequently. The immense number of people who feast from these establishments have probably been lured in not only by each other, but by the endless commercials, billboards, and various other advertising tactics that litter our lives. Did you know that there arefarms*** where the animals are pumped full of GMO’s, poorly cared for, and kept in confined cages where they can’t even turn around or sit down? This saves space so they can fit more animals and gain more income. A GMO**** is a genetically mutated organism and the acronym is often used as a noun for the various genetic mutations, such as growth hormones. Growth hormonestell cells to grow. So, pumping animals full of extragrowth hormonesmakes them fatter, which means they produce more meat and product, which means more money can be earned. Some animals become so grotesquely fat, that they can’t stand on their own legs anymore. But, that’s okay, we don’t ever see or hear about it. It’s not our problem. That is until we start to show signs of sickness*****, andour children are being born with deformities and weakened immune systems. Remember the phrase ‘we are what we eat’? It’s not far from the truth. What we eat becomes digested into our body and bloodstream. That means whatever is in the food, good and bad, will enter our bloodstream, including the GMO’s. Which means, on a molecular level, we are slowly being changed, and not for the better. Some may say GMO’s allow us to shortcut evolution, by selecting the traits we want. Evolution may slowly trial and error its way to efficiency, but what we “want”, or think we need, may not be efficient at
all. We are far from gods, as there are still many ailments we have and don’t know how to cure, or simply don’t know about, yet, and everything interacts with everything else in a very particular way. If we change something that we don’t realize is imperative to a particular act in nature, who knows what can happen? We might accidentally destroy a plant that holds a cure for some serious infection we may or may not have discovered yet. Now, for your featured presentation: Milk is generally promoted as healthy for us to consume, but there is clinical evidence that suggests otherwise. Did you know that? After a certain age (Some say around age four, some say only a year), we are not supposed to consume a lot of milk******, because biologically, milk is meant for infants and young who are still growing. It is supposedly, especially unhealthy to drink too much milk of another species, if we’re supposed to at all. Think about it… Mother Nature did not present cow milk as a gift to humans; it’s primarily for the calves of the cows. That milk has proteins and nutrients to help that scrawny young thing to become a massive, meaty beast. What do you think happens when we drink it? For a long time, and until recently, Milk has been one of the biggest consumed products in the grocery market, (other sources of ‘milk’ have been on the rise as of lately, like soy and almond). But milk has been encouraged to be a part of everyone’s diets, because it helps “build strong bones” and is a good source of an abundance of various nutrients we need for growth, such as fats, carbs, proteins, vitamins, minerals, etc. But, as more studies are being performed, milk is being seen as riskier and riskier to consume. The natural protein known as Insulin-like Growth Hormone-I, also known as IGF-I and the most powerful hormone in our bodies, is an identical hormone between cow and human. So when we drink the milk of a cow, we are getting an excess amount of IGF-I, telling our bodies we need to be bigger. What happens when too many cells grow together in one place? Guess. Studies done in the past have proven the correlation between milk and iron deficiencies, obesity, acne, and, yes, various tumors (such as ovarian, prostate, breast, and lung cancers). As if that’s not bad enough, there is a genetically engineered hormone known as Bovine*******, and Bovine not only increases complications for the animal, like trouble reproducing, but also increases the Insulin Growth Hormone in milk by ten percent, which, when entering our bodies through milk, creates an even bigger excess of IGF-I in our bodies. The FDA supposedly knew this when deciding to give the ‘go ahead’ on Bovine insertion into milk years ago, I believe in the early 1990’s. Be aware I am not necessarily suggesting we rid ourselves of milk altogether. I aim to inform people, so that they may hopefully choose to further inform themselves and make their own opinions. I think GMO could potentially be helpful to our species, but only with much more testing and assessment. For the future, I predict that not only will more information be released about the negative effects of milk as it becomes a lesser encouraged and consumed beverage, but its competitors, like soymilk and almond milk, will both rise in price and genetic-tampering, just as milk has. But I bet you can’t guess why all of this information isn’t common knowledge? Did you guess money? Yeah, go figure.
Note to the Reader: Although this is intended to be an informative piece and I have listed various sources to support the information I have listed, please be aware that it is simply my interpretation of the observations found. If you are interested in a search for truth and facts, I encourage you to do your own research and not just follow the perspective of one person. That said, I am in a search for truth. If you find legitimate sources with facts contradictory to what I have written or simply wish to converse your views and opinions, Idesire for them to be sharedwith me.
http://www.thinkatheist.com/profile/ElliLeimone www.issuu.com/ellileimone saint.virtue@gmail.com
Sources: * Inhumanities A. Bayer Knowingly Gives AIDS infested Medications to Other Countries (http://goo.gl/nRgzsu ) B. Lobbyists and Politicians Can Have Sex (http://goo.gl/ZCgFpF ) C.Police Brutality and Racism (http://goo.gl/UFXwji ) D.Guantanamo Bay, Wrongly Imprisoned (http://goo.gl/eUuz04 ), (http://goo.gl/yj2tUZ ) ** Psychological Tactics in Marketing A. What Is Marketing? (http://goo.gl/OXC6TW ) B. A Few Tactics Used (http://goo.gl/SfTLfH ) C. More Tactics...( http://goo.gl/XXFxcQ ) D. Color (http://goo.gl/06eU3N ) ***Factory Farms A. What Is a Factory Farm (http://goo.gl/JXJQ6P ) B. Factory Farm’s Effect on Health (http://goo.gl/5m1pm8 ) C. How Many Farms Are There? (http://goo.gl/8Z2M7e ) D. Various Facts on Factory Farming (http://goo.gl/dp0mz4 ) **** GMO’s and Caused Sicknesses A. What Is GMO? (http://goo.gl/lh2bY1 ) B.Why We Should Avoid GMO’s (http://goo.gl/DP7TmA ) C.Unintended Health Risks (http://goo.gl/p0yU7B ) D.Good Old Roundup (http://goo.gl/cyyLjc ) *****Milk Consumption A. IGF-I, Bone Fracture Case Study, Bovine (http://goo.gl/Qfjup8) B. Milk and Obesity (http://goo.gl/qOZPe6) C.What Happens When You Stop Drinking It, and Other Facts (http://goo.gl/TymWcc ) D.Debunking Some Myths (http://goo.gl/4Uf7fa ) E. Don’t Finish That Glass (http://goo.gl/HPHY3X ) F. Milk Consumption in US (http://goo.gl/INaKGV ) ******Bovine A. What Is Bovine (http://goo.gl/NxCAfh ) B. FDA Approves Bovine (http://goo.gl/WfmsLm ) C.Monsanto Tries (http://goo.gl/XoiQAI )