Thanks to Ruthi Coats for this:

I am the proud mother of 3 sons in the Air Force and a proud mother in-law of a daughter in-law also in the Air Force. Please read this and realize that it is very true.

IT IS THE SOLDIER
by Charles M. Province

IT IS THE SOLDIER, not the reporter,
Who has given us freedom of the press.
IT IS THE SOLDIER, not the poet,
Who has given us freedom of speech.
IT IS THE SOLDIER, not the campus organizer,
Who has given us freedom to demonstrate.
IT IS THE SOLDIER, not the lawyer,
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.
IT IS THE SOLDIER who salutes the flag,
Who serves under the flag and
Whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protester to burn the flag.


"Exploitation” of food animals

COMMENTARY: AN ACTIVIST MANIFESTO: WELCOME TO THE WORLD AFTER WE WIN
by Dan Murphy on 3/28/03 for www.meatingplace.com
It remains a compelling vision, one shared by cynically opportunistic leaders and rank-and-file zealots alike in the campaigns to legalize animal rights on a par with people, impose a vegetarian diet on all of humanity and effect a transformation to socialist-style governments everywhere: Someday, somehow they will "fix" this messed-up world and permit all life on Earth to live forever without cruelty, injustice and greed.That pipe dream centers on three key tenets:·
"Freeing" all animals from bondage to humans·
Switching all people to purely vegan diets·
Reinventing global food production and processing according to a low-tech, labor-intensive template.
Such a transformation would solve virtually all of the world's problems, according to the activist gospel.

click here for entire commentary



Have a great weekend….

Hormones, what hormones?

Sorry I missed sending Loos Lips yesterday. I have been on a whirlwind tour with the Michigan Corn Growers for the past twenty-four hours. Actually I am writing this sitting in the Detroit airport waiting for my plane home. Airports, there is no better research opportunity than this. I repeatedly visit with people in airports about their food preferences and the image of farmers/ranchers. I am here to tell you most do not alter there purchases because of it, but every single person will voice concern about the hormones used in livestock agriculture. The most recent was a guy that owns a construction company. All the concern about hormones used in the beef industry, yet not one single person can tell what hormone it is. What about you, do you know? ESTROGEN.
I had an excellent meeting last night with many of the Michigan commodity organization including Kathleen Hawkins of the Michigan Beef Industry Commission. Today she forwarded this information to me about the truth of estrogen in the food supply. Thanks Kathleen
You are correct when you say that hormones are a concern of consumers. Daily human estrogen production is 54,000ng for girls (before puberty), 41,500ng for boys (before puberty) 480,000ng nonpregnant women and 136,000ng normal adult male. As you know, a nanogram is one billionth of a gram.

By contrast, the amount of hormones ingested by eating beef is minuscule when compared to the amount of hormones produced in the human body daily. For example, 3 ounces of cooked beef (a serving) has 1.2ng (nonimplanted steer) and 1.9ng (implanted steer). Other foods by comparison 34ng in 8 ounces of milk, 908ng in 1 bowl of split pea soup, 993ng in 1 egg, 2,700ng in 4 ounces of cabbage and 35,000ng in a low dose birth control pill.

Michigan agriculture has 125 commodities produced

Speaking of my whirlwind tour with Michigan Corn Growers. Jody Pollok is the executive director of this organization. Yes she does talk fast, but she works harder for her members than she talks. I was indeed very impressed with the drive of Jody and many other agriculture enthusiasts here in Michigan. Many here in Michigan truly want to get in front of the consumers with producers opening dialogue. Developing leaders and spokesmen will be accomplished here and I believe set the standard for all other states to follow in term of coalition building.

I finished my tour with a visit to Nobis Dairy Farm near St. Johns. Man, Larry and Ken Nobis are living examples that it is the “People” that set US agriculture apart. Thanks to all in Michigan and I look forward to my next trip.

Wolf in sheep’s clothing

I cannot believe that I continue to see the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine as a “credible” reference for food issues. The only difference between PCRM and PETA is that PCRM is much more clever in naming their organization. In my opinion, the more radical PETA may be, the may “mainstream” groups like PCRM seem to be. The purveyor of “truth” regarding the agendas of these vegans is the Center for Consumer Freedom. Get the entire profile of these guys and other bad guys at www.activistcash.com. . This is a summary of what you will find:

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Who would guess that a fanatical animal rights group could pass itself off as a physicians’ organization concerned with health issues? Judging by its stated positions, PCRM’s goals are to abolish the use of animals as food (including milk, eggs, and other animal products) and to eliminate the use of animals in scientific experiments. The group furthers its mission by continuously misinforming the American public about animal research and providing potentially dangerous dietary recommendations. The American Medical Association has rightly labeled PCRM “an animal rights front organization.”
While PCRM claims to be primarily a network of doctors, the group’s own literature shows that physicians make up only 5% of its membership. Furthermore, the group’s member physicians represent less than 0.5% of America’s doctors. Far from being an unbiased source of health guidance, PCRM has asserted itself as a home for anti-meat, pro-vegan nutritionists who are committed to removing beef, dairy, poultry, and other animal products from our diets for good.



Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. would make a great Canadian citizen

Some of you, well most of you I am sure, think that I am too hung up on Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. The truth is that he just can’t keep his mouth shut. My experience is that when his mouth moves, the truth is a foreign language. The following appeared in a Canadian Newspaper this week. I have pulled one of the Question and Answers from the interview.

Has the conflict in the Middle East taken attention away from
environmental issues at home?

Kennedy’s reply….

It has made it easier for large corporations to operate without public
scrutiny and enabled them to make deals that are scandalous. The
fossil-fuel industry, and other commodity industries, are given much
freer rein to operate. I'll give you an example. Smithfield Foods, the
largest pork producer in the world, invented a way of raising pigs in
large factory farms, which creates huge amounts of pollution,
impoverishes farmers, and distorts markets. By educating the public,
politicians and press in other countries, like Poland, we've been able
to stop Smithfield from expanding into those countries. But as a result
of President Bush's efforts to bring Poland into the coalition against
Iraq, there was a $12.5-billion loan guarantee. Attached to that
guarantee.

Excuse me but the war is now a whole six days old and he is trying to convince someone this has already happened. Furthermore, a paper printed it. Oh, I forgot - he wouldn’t lie, he is a Kennedy.

Looming problem in Rural America

Meth labs in Rural America are a serious problem. Last Thursday I was driving up Hwy 65 in Saline County, near Grand Pass, Missouri. The Highway Patrol and Saline County Sheriff were busting a meth lab at Shawn Summers residence. I stopped to visit with Deputy Wilma Garrett about how prevalent these labs actually are. She told me “this is the time of year when anhydrous ammonia tanks are rolling and I just cringe”. I just completed a two part series on Loos Tales about this problem. Click here if you want to know what to do if you suspect a meth lab in your neighborhood.

This is a live link the Loos Tales airing today interviewing Deputy Wilma Garrett.

Incidentally, Wilma notified me today that Shawn Summers is still at large and a warrant for his arrest has been issued.



Speaking of drugs

My daughter Lindsi was seven months old on Saturday. The first seven days of her life she received IV antibiotics because her body temperature was below normal at birth. Upon further investigation, I learned that this practice is very common. Yet according to the “plant based diet” eggheads, it is my fault as a livestock feeder that humans are becoming resistant to antibiotics. The Sierra Club is an example of one such group with this accusation: “Each year in the United States, roughly 16 million pounds of antibiotics are routinely added to animal feed to speed the growth of livestock. Bacteria that are naturally resistant to the antibiotics survive, reproduce and spread. This leaves us, the consumers, at a greater risk of being exposed to deadly drug-resistant bacteria such as Salmonella, E. coli and Campylobacter”.

These groups always estimate that 70% of all antibiotics produced are used in livestock feeding. Do you know how they come up with that number? They take 9 billion head of livestock times the maximum dosage according to the label; you and I know that doesn’t happen. By the way ANTIBIOTICS ARE THE MOST EXPENSIVE COMPENENT IN FEED, why would we feed one more pound that absolutely necessary?

Many of you have requested more information about this. Ron Phillips at the Animal Health Institute is a great source for this data. On his website you will find the presentation Antibiotic Resistance and Food Producing Animals by Dr. Richard Carnevale,