Notmilk NEWLETTER forum. Missing numbers pertain to non-forum topics that were removed. 1 From: David Rietz Date: Mon Feb 14, 2000 6:44am Subject: Welcome to Dairy Education Board Hello and Welcome to the DEB forum Dairy Education Board (DEB) The whole story on cow's milk and dairy This forum is for distribution of the FREE DEB Newsletter, and the exchange of ideas and comments concerning what is perhaps the greatest myth of the 20th century... that cow's milk is suitable for human consumption. All participants are encouraged to become familiar with the contents of the following milk related WEB sites: http://www.notmilk.com Hundreds of WEB pages concerning cow's milk and dairy http://www.notmilk.com/deb/column.html Past columns on this subject http://www.notmilk.com/deb/squirts.html Past tidbits on this subject http://www.notmilk.com/hs Focused drive to have Monsanto's Posilac banned from use http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary.html Daily hungerstrike diary Your active participation is invited. All messages are expected to include information as factual as possible, with information sources included where possible. Flaming, harsh exchanges between members, is not allowed. David Rietz 2 From: Dave Rietz (DORway.com) Date: Mon Feb 14, 2000 10:29am Subject: On the "cutting edge" of bio-devastation! Daily Hungerstrike Diary Entry: Monday, February 14 Today is the 100th day of my hunger strike. It's Valentine's Day, but we might look back on the news in this column as the Valentine's Day Massacre. The Worst Nightmare has begun - Day 1 Monsanto said that it could not happen. The Food and Drug Administration said that it could not happen. Nobel Prize-winning scientists said that it could not happen. What happened? IT happened. On Thursday, February 10, 2000, the first news story was published in Alberta, Canada. Pollens to the wind, seeds to the fields, nightmares for the scientists who have brought us to the edge of bio-devastation. Genetic engineering has allowed Monsanto to create grains and vegetables resistant to their ROUNDUP pesticide. Entire fields have been sprayed and, in theory, everything was supposed to have died except for the corn or the soybean or the canola plants. Canola plants produce canola oil, but the original name for canola is rapeseed. The world has been raped by criminals wearing white lab coats. The insignia on those coats reads: "Monsanto." Phase one of a Stephen King-like nightmare is what's happening in the fields of Northern Canada. Unfortunately, the best laid plans of rats and men often go astray. Weeds now grow in those fields, and those weeds have developed an immunity to ROUNDUP. Will those weeds be controlled, or are they destined to spread and overwhelm Canada's 200,000 square mile area of arable grain and oilseed-producing farmland? http://www.producer.com/articles/20000210/news/20000210news01.html Canadian agriculture canola specialist Phil Thomas said, "We knew it was going to happen. It was only a matter of when." DNA testing has confirmed that the weeds are resistant to Monsanto's ROUNDUP. Is this the last roundup for agriculture? Is this a wake-up call for America's FDA who maintains the position that such an event is not possible? Scientist Keith Downey, who created the biologically modified canola plants, said: "I don't think it means anything to consumers." Tolerance of the weeds to ROUNDUP has been blamed on the wind and the bees. The question we ask today is why did the world let this happen? Bob Dylan might have sung, "The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind." Robert Cohen 6 From: Robert Cohen Date: Mon Feb 14, 2000 9:53pm Subject: LAZINESS Dear friends, Fruit looks picturesque, when painted in a study by Cezanne or Miro, or sitting in a bowl on your kitchen counter. How many of us take time to slice up wedges of fruit for our loved ones? I just spent the past half hour cutting slices of oranges. I peel the entire orange, then section the slices so that they contain no gristle. I then peeled and quartered bosc pears. To that, I added grapes and topped four bowls each with a strawberry. My wife and three daughters were grateful. I drank the juice. I walk into friend's homes, and take note of the absense of fruit. Most kids do not eat fruit...certainly not the 4-5 portions recommended by that silly food pyramid. When my daughters invite a friend over, there is alwaysa ripe cantaloupe or pineapple to cut up for a snack. There are rarely leftovers. FRUIT IS A TREAT! I've learned that in my home it will sit in a bowl, untouched. If I take the initiative to cut it up, then everybody loves my efforts. Robert Cohen 7 From: Robert Cohen Date: Mon Feb 14, 2000 5:45pm Subject: Re: Gary Greenberg, MD Group, Since I'd never heard of egroups before receiving today's DEB Newsflash, my curiousity lead me to go to the site and do some browsing, or snooping around. The first thing that came to my mind was 'milk' where I browsed a few milk propaganda posts... Dear Peter, Last year the largest dairy magazine wrote an editorial about me. They commented that there were 40 people employed full-time trying to counter what I am doing. Needless to say, they've caused a lot of mischief! :<( In addition to calling radio stations (to kill interviews) and threatening TV stations by pulling ads, I receive more than my share of midnight phone calls and death threats. Just imagine...whatever you can conjure up, it's worse. I often get empty gallon milk jugs on my lawn, from out of state. I have had to install two very sophisticated alarm systems in my home. Ain't easy being the NOTMILKMAN, but somebody's gotta do it, right? It is very easy to forge an internet signature. I neither have the time nor the desire to be anything other than who I am! Robert Cohen 8 From: Robert Cohen Date: Mon Feb 14, 2000 9:32pm Subject: Re: Dairy farmers say soy milk isn't milk Dave Shishkoff wrote: I got a good laugh out of this. Pretty desperate if you ask me.. http://www.foxnews.com/national/0214/d_ap_0214_176.sml Dear Dave, I happen to agree with the dairy industry position. Every carton of Soy milk should warn consumers: NOT-BOVINE BODY FLUIDS (pus & hormone-free) Robert Cohen 10 From: Robert Cohen Date: Mon Feb 14, 2000 11:09pm Subject: Re: Fomenting Fumento I wrote Michael Fumento a nasty e-mail because of his totally biased and unabashedly bought-off/sold-out, machismo garbage he toutes as journalism. If you feel so moved, I would recommend it, but only if you are prepared for an insult or two. Check out his Myth bashing site, and the one I responded to, his x-files vs. scientist concerns Sam Epstein, who was recently in Vermont at the Vermont Law Schools 2nd annual "You are What You Ate" Symposium, called Udder Madness and the, yes you got it, rBGH issue, which is far from dead here in the NE if I have anything to say about it. Peter Dear Peter, Sam Epstein is an American hero, but he often shoots himself in the foot, BIGTIME. For every twenty little steps we take, Epstein has a way of taking one giant stride backwards. For example...he recently posted a prss release stating that the United States CODEX representatives had rejected rbGH. That never happened. In addition, Epstein exagerates the increase of IGF-I in rbGH-treated milk, claiming that levels of IGF-I increase by a factor of 12 times. Truth is, that there is an across the board increase of IGF-I levels equal to about 80 percent. Robert Cohen 16 From: Robert Cohen Date: Wed Feb 16, 2000 1:08pm Subject: AMERICA'S SEMI-SECRET POLICE FORCE Dear Friends, Yesterday marked the 101st day of my hunger strike. America has a police force that most of her citizens have never heard of. Mention the name Government Accounting Office (GAO) and one might conjure up an image of a legion of bureaucrats with briefcases, calculators, and ledgers. GAO is staffed by investigators, detectives, and undercover operatives. GAO is America's equivalent of INTERPOL. When Congress wishes to investigate fraud or waste in government or criminal acts, they launch GAO investigations. We are now in contact with GAO. FDA has made a mockery of federal statutes by ignoring time limits placed upon Freedom of Information Act responses. FDA continues to stall the review of Monsanto's genetically engineered bovine growth hormone, despite new evidence of widespread fraud. FDA continues to deny the existence of the second 90-day portion of the Richard, Odaglia, and Deslex study in which laboratory animals got cancer from the same hormone now in America's milk, cheese, and ice cream. GAO must investigate a system that no longer works to protect Americans. Robert Cohen 17 From: Robert Cohen Date: Wed Feb 16, 2000 1:15pm Subject: A WORK OF ART Dear Friends, Dave Rietz (my brilliant webmaster) has designed a one-page flyer containing photos of "personalities" connected to Monsanto. Check out Dave's WORK OF ART: http://www.notmilk.com/hs/betrayed.html Today is the 102nd day of my hunger strike. I have written a letter to my congresswoman, Marge Roukema, requesting that she support a bill that will require mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods. I have also requested that she formally petition America's Congressional "police force," the Government Accounting Office (GAO) to open an inquiry into FDA fraud and deceit. Tomorrow I will POST a letter that you can send to your congressional representative. Robert Cohen 21 From: Robert Cohen Date: Wed Feb 16, 2000 10:45pm Subject: Re: AMERICA'S SEMI-SECRET POLICE FORCE This is Alan....an Englishman living in Germany. Keep up the good work mate...the world needs more people like you. As to your "hunger strike", don't worry too much. You are obviously eating fruit or consuming pure fruit juices or else you wouldn't still be around. Take it from me...your hunger strike is actually the best thing healthwise that you could do. Nevertheless, it is the thought and goal that counts and I for one am behind you all the way. :-) Thank you for your letter, my friend. I am indeed drinking fresh juices; otherwise I would be long gone. Regards, Robert Cohen 25 From: Robert Cohen Date: Thu Feb 17, 2000 7:04am Subject: Advice please! Combrinck marceben@m... wrote: With the new format being introduced, would I not be able to receive the newsletter in e mail format? Dear Marcelle, Each day, I write a diary entry which is posted to: http://www.notmilk.com/hs You can save that site in your browser, and access it at will. That same entry was occasionaly sent to members of this list. Instead, each entry will now be sent, along with your comments. This eGroup is a chat group. Dave Rietz and I discussed all options, and decided this would be the easiest for us, and the most informative for you and members of the media. Each tie a mailing is made, Dave invests 2-3 hours of his time. This list requires minimal effort on his part. Robert Cohen 28 From: Robert Cohen Date: Thu Feb 17, 2000 7:52am Subject: Re: Media Louise Cherry wrote: Haven't seen any coverage of this in Huntsville, AL. There was a article in yesterday's Huntsville Times by a man who was talking about the Nazi-type controls that people are trying to put on us. Don't remember the writer's name but I am sure he was not a local writer. Dear Louise, That column appeared in 160 newspapers, and was written by Walter Williams. In his story, he called me a "Lifestyle Nazi." There have been thousands of small artcles about the hungerstrike, but I do not expect major coverage until June...when I sould be very skinny, and my body may very well be in trouble. Stay tuned. Robert 29 From: Robert Cohen Date: Thu Feb 17, 2000 9:01am Subject: AIN'T LIFE A DITCH? Dear Friends, Today's diary entry can be accessed at: http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary02.html#103 Robert Cohen 34 From: David Rietz Date: Thu Feb 17, 2000 3:04pm Subject: Change in posting policy NOTMILK - E-group forum Switching from a private list to E-groups was done for the added features. In particular, the ability for each person to have absolute control over subscribing... and unsubscribing, along with what and how Emailings were to be received by each subscriber. NOTMILK is a fairy large list (and the mechanics of maintaining that list were too time consuming). E-groups solved that problem. In addition, it provides each recipient with the ability to receive newsletters in several different formats: text or html (browser format) Individual Email's (default) Daily summaries Daily full-text digest Read it on the web, only (to modify the above the recipient must visit www.egroups.com and change their own information/desires). Due to the controversial nature of the subject matter... postings were required to be approved by the List Manager... but within only two days the feedback response has become too much of a burden for either Mr. Cohen (whose agenda leaves almost zero room for new work), or myself. Keeping in mind the primary focus of switching to E-groups... lightening the load on us while providing YOU with total control... we have decided to allow postings from only Mr. Cohen (and myself if/when necessary). Ideas, comments, questions should be posted directly to Mr. Cohen and the easiest address to remember is notmilkman@n... ... The GOOD news for full mailboxes/busy folks: In addition... to lighten the load on YOUR mailboxes (and time) we have decided that, except for really hot information, we would keep the Email short and to the point... providing you with the caption for an article along with a direct link to it. Such as: AIN'T LIFE A DITCH? END THE THREAT OF BIOTECH! http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary02.html#103 In effect... this will be the old Email list that provides YOU with total control. For those who wish to unsubscribe simply send an EMPTY Email to: notmilk-unsubscribe@egroups.com Of course, we hope the subject of what ends up on your dinner plate... where many of the products have a direct impact on the health of your and your loved ones... will prompt each of you to remain with this group. Sincerely, Dave Rietz, WEBmaster 35 From: David Rietz Date: Fri Feb 18, 2000 10:16pm Subject: DEB news caption DAY 104 - Now I am a "lifestyle Nazi"? Think again, Dr. Williams! http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary02.html#104 Regards... Robert Cohen 36 From: David Rietz Date: Sat Feb 19, 2000 7:46pm Subject: DEB News headline Hungerstrike central... I'm getting thin... and with a new beard... perhaps scruffy, too http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary02.html#105 Regards RObert Cohen 37 From: David Rietz Date: Sun Feb 20, 2000 9:27am Subject: DEB News Headline Hungerstrike center From an educational ivory tower surfaces a "one track mind" http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary02.html#106 Robert Cohen 38 From: Robert Cohen Date: Mon Feb 21, 2000 10:18am Subject: FLA SUN VS. NJ ICE Dear Friends, I just came back from a three day vegetarian festival in Gainsville, Florida. On Friday, my family shovled five inches of snow as I enjoyed 80 degree heat (in guilt). Now I'm back, and I am ready to kick up my FDA protest another notch. Expect some major media coverage in the coming weeks. It's gotta remain secret for now, as my adversaries have verrrrrry long reaches and exert powrful influences. I'l keep my daily updates brief, so as not to clutter your EMAIL boxes. Robert Cohen 39 From: David Rietz Date: Mon Feb 21, 2000 7:51pm Subject: DEB News Headline Hungerstrike Central: Nourishing Body, Mind, and Spirit http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary02.html#107 Robert Cohen 40 From: David Rietz Date: Tue Feb 22, 2000 10:06am Subject: DEB Newletter Diary Entry Hungerstrike Central: Tuesday, February 22 FREEDOM OF NON-INFORMATION Today is the 108th day of my hunger strike. America's freedoms, or lack of them, can be best symbolized by the illusion that citizens of the United States have a right to know what government agencies are up to. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) should be renamed the Bondage of Information Act because current policy places the average American in solitary confinement. I have filed a citizens petition to revoke the use of Monsanto's genetically engineered bovine growth hormone (rbGH). After filing my suit, Monsanto and Pharmacia Upjohn proposed a merger. I learned from a conversation with a senior level Upjohn executive that Pharmacia Upjohn now has an application before the FDA for approval of their version of rbGH. If FDA revokes Monsanto's hormone and approves Upjohn's version, America will be back to square one, and we will have accomplished nothing. With that in mind, on December 22, 1999, I filed a Freedom of Information Act request for "any and all documentation, including letters to FDA from Upjohn and letters to Upjohn from FDA regarding that application." I have just received a letter of denial for my entire request. That letter was signed by Lawrence Bachorik, Interim Associate Commissioner for Public Affairs. In that letter of denial, Mr. Bachorik wrote: "I cannot respond to your request since any acknowledgement, either of receipt of a submission or that no such submission has been received, would constitute disclosure of confidential commercial information." In other words, FDA will not even admit whether or not an application for a new version of the genetically engineered bovine growth hormone has been made. This barn door will be closed long after the animal is gone. FDA's policy allows the donkey to escape and makes asses of the rest of us. Robert Cohen 41 From: David Rietz Date: Wed Feb 23, 2000 1:34pm Subject: DEB Newsletter Headline Hungerstrike Centra: New York Times and Breast Cancer: still clueless! http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary02.html#109 New NOTMILK Flyer available: http://www.notmilk.com/nmflyer2.txt Robert Cohen 42 From: Robert Cohen Date: Wed Feb 23, 2000 3:10pm Subject: THURSDAY RADIO I will be a guest on "WALDEN'S POND" WBAI Radio - FM 99.5 - New York City Thursday February 24 - 2:00 PM Robert Cohen 43 From: David Rietz Date: Thu Feb 24, 2000 9:56am Subject: DEB New Headlines Hungerstrike Central: Lopsided Food Pyramid: Is it correctable? http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary02.html#110 Robert Cohen 44 From: Robert Cohen Date: Fri Feb 25, 2000 5:49am Subject: OUT OF TUNE WITH REALITY The 'Dixie Chicks' just won a grammy, and posed for a milk mustache ad. They are seen holding a calf. http://www.businesswire.com/photowire/pw.022400/bw3.gif What do you imagine is the fate of the creature in their arms? If it is a male, it may already have been served as somebody's veal marsala. If it is female, it will produce milk for 2.4 years like the average American dairy cow, then end up as thousands of Whoppers or Big Macs. Either way, to pretend that the 'Dixie Chicks' are loving a cute cuddley animal, is a deception. After they put that creature down, the bovine is destined to experience a painful life and death. Robert Cohen 45 From: David Rietz Date: Fri Feb 25, 2000 11:04am Subject: DEB News Headline Hungerstrike Central: This planet needs (and deserves) our help: Earthsave http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary02.html#111 Robert Cohen 46 From: David Rietz Date: Sat Feb 26, 2000 8:36am Subject: DEB News Headline Hungerstrike Central: Senator Boxer champions meaningful food labels: Please help out Unless we let our representatives know our thoughts, the Golden Rule will win the day. (Those with the gold, rule.) http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary02.html#112 Robert Cohen 47 From: David Rietz Date: Sun Feb 27, 2000 9:51am Subject: DEB New Headline Hungerstrike Central: CODEX Alimentarius: Don't let that name fool you... this is BIG! http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary02.html#113 I have been invitied to participate... should I? Does anyone care what is on their dinner table... and what they can purchase without a prescription? Robert Cohen 48 From: David Rietz Date: Mon Feb 28, 2000 2:42pm Subject: DEB Codex: "To go... or not to go" To go or not to go, that is the question. FDA has invited me to become a member of the United States delegation to the CODEX biotechnology and food safety meeting in Tokyo from March 14 to March 17. I have asked for your comments. Two-thirds of the more than 100 responses urge me not to accept. Here are some of your opinions, wisdom, and my final decision. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary02.html#114 Robert Cohen 49 From: David Rietz Date: Tue Feb 29, 2000 11:41am Subject: DEB The food pyramid, PCRM and you The Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) is letting all Americans down because they are not working hard enough to do one very important thing: Robert Cohen 50 From: David Rietz Date: Tue Feb 29, 2000 12:48pm Subject: DEB ... OOPS! (Please pardon my missing link :-( The Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) is letting all Americans down because they are not working hard enough to do one very important thing: http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary02.html#115 Robert Cohen 51 From: David Rietz Date: Wed Mar 1, 2000 10:54am Subject: DEB - CRIME & PUNISHMENT Wednesday, February 29 - Day 116 I do not tolerate death threats. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary03.html#116 Robert Cohen 52 From: David Rietz Date: Thu Mar 2, 2000 4:47pm Subject: DEB News: THE GARDEN OF EDEN; THEN AND NOW What did the residents of the Garden of Eden eat for breakfast and what did they take for a headache? Here is the original prescription and the 21st century version... http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary03.html#117 Robert Cohen 53 From: David Rietz Date: Fri Mar 3, 2000 3:35pm Subject: DEB New: NO MORE FRANKENFISH What happens when factory fish farming operations inject fish with Monsanto's genetically engineered bovine growth hormone? http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary03.html#118 Robert Cohen 54 From: David Rietz Date: Sat Mar 4, 2000 9:36am Subject: DEB News: Organic consumers association This grass roots environmental organization needs your support. Pure Food's Ronnie Cummins and Debbie Ortman have an organization with 300,000 members and a free Internet newsletter. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary03.html#119 Robert Cohen (If the above URL does not appear... press and hold the shift key while clicking on the browser "refresh" or "reload" button) 55 From: Jan Jenson Date: Sun Mar 5, 2000 2:22am Subject: Tell Amazon.com & Jeff Bezos What You Think of Their Patent Practices! Since this needs to go out to as many people as possible as soon as possible, I'm forwarding it to you to forward to as many of your friends and contacts as you can as soon as possible. The problem has gone WAY too far already! Jan Jenson >From: J. Nicholas Schmidt jnschmidt@p... >Subject: Special Profitstream! Tell Amazon.com & Jeff Bezos What You Think >of Their Patent Practices! >Date: Sat, 04 Mar 2000 17:34:21 -0800 > >Feature Article: Tell Amazon.com & Jeff Bezos What You Think >of Their Patent Practices! > >------------------------------------------------------------ >J. Nicholas Schmidt's THE DAILY PROFITSTREAM for 3/4/2000 >------------------------------------------------------------ > > >NORMALLY, I don't climb on a soapbox and comment on >general issues pertaining to e-commerce and the Internet. > >NORMALLY, I try to limit the contents of the Daily >Profitstream to rock-solid how-to information and offers >that can help you make money on the 'Net, on an individual >basis. > >BUT THE LAST FEW WEEKS have seen events unfold that are so >outrageous and maddening... events that threaten YOUR >PERSONAL E-COMMERCE PROJECT... yes YOUR(!) WEB SITE... >the one that you may already operate, or that you may be >planning to launch soon. > >I'm talking about "patents on Internet business models," >as recently granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office >to Amazon.com, and pending for Priceline.com and a host >of other companies. > >Towards the end of this article, there will be links to >relevant publications, the USPTO, and other sites that >shed light on this important and urgent issue. > >------------------------------------------------------------ >Why should you care? >------------------------------------------------------------ > >If you are a non-technical person, you may be oblivious to >patents or anything that drives technology. You may only >care about your wallet. > >Fine. Try ignoring this development for another year or two. >But when it's time to start YOUR e-commerce site, which, >today, can be operated on a shoestring, even from your >home, with reasonable hosting and development fees... yes, >when it's time to build YOUR Web site, YOU will be the one >who has a rude awakening. > >Why? Because you'll find out, that most, if not all of the >business practices that are completely common and obvious >on the Internet today... will have been PATENTED by >corporate behemoths like Amazon.com or Priceline.com... >making it outright ILLEGAL for you to: > >1.) Set up an affiliate program on your own; > >2.) Create a site that conductions auctions or reverse >auctions; > >3.) Create a site where the customer will name their >own price on items; > >3.) Create a Web site with a button that allows one-click >ordering; > >4.) Create a Web site that does any kind of e-commerce at >all? > >..unless you ask Amazon.com for permission to do so; >..unless you buy the software from the single (or one >of few) vendors that have been licensed by Amazon.com >or Priceline.com, etc. to legally sell such software; >..unless you pay a hefty MONOPOLY PREMIUM because all >competition in the Web software market has been >virtually eliminated; > >And how would you like it if you found out that all this >is being done with a stamp of approval from U.S. congress? > >Sounds like the death of the Internet as the greatest >"equalizer" of all times, right? Sounds like the Web site >you planned for your small business may be doomed, right? >Sound like Amazon.com wants to strongarm you into using >their zShops or whatever they call it, so THEY are the >only ones who will profit from the e-commerce revolution? > >------------------------------------------------------------ >Bogus patents will be fleecing YOUR wallet! >------------------------------------------------------------ > >An e-commerce Web site that costs just $5,000 now, may cost >$25,000 in the near future, JUST BECAUSE IT MAY REFLECT >A COMPLETELY COMMON BUSINESS MODEL, such as "affiliates >get commissions on all sales they refer to you" or "name >your own price," or "click here to place your order without >entering your credit card info over and over." > >Why the price increase? Because any company like yours may >have to pay ROYALTIES to Amazon.com for using "their" idea >on your web pages. > >THIS AMOUNTS TO A DE-FACTO E-COMMERCE TAX. Amazon.com's not- >so-secret goal may be to to gain a legal monopoly on all >e-commerce transactions worldwide, and force you and me to >pay a premium for each item we sell or purchase on the Web, >using "their" patents, even if we wrote each web page >ourselves. > >There are many ways to turn a patent into money... here's >where Amazon.com may become truly inventive. > >All this because bogus patents are being granted to >predatory and ruthless companies like Amazon.com, >who exploit the technical ignorance of a body of lawmakers >that ALLOW the USPTO to grant MONOPOLIES BASED ON MERE >IDEAS... > >..ideas that are so OBVIOUS to anybody who has ever written >one line of HTML code wonders, "what are these people at the >USPTO thinking? Is my congressman sleeping?" > >------------------------------------------------------------ >What damage has been done? >------------------------------------------------------------ > >* Amazon.com owns a patent on their "groundbreaking" idea of >one-click ordering: This is the idea of placing a button on >your Web site that allows ordering without entering credit >card details every time you place the order. > >The USPTO should have said: DUH! > >Instead, they granted patent number 5,960,411 on 9/28/99. > >* Now Amazon.com received a patent on "affiliate programs": >The idea of issuing someone commissions as a reward for all >sales that have been generated by a hyperlink from their >site to yours. > >Again, anybody who ever created just one Web page would >say: DUH! > >But the USPTO granted patent number 6,029,141 on 2/22/00. > >BOTH IDEAS ARE PLAIN AND OBVIOUS. But, due to a loophole in >U.S. patent law, you, me, or anyone, could have applied for >a "patent" on these business processes, so as to extort >royalties, or impose a de-facto e-commerce tax on virtually >all transactions made anywhere on the Web, from anyone in >the world who ever chooses to create Web sites that employ >the same, inevitable, and obvious IDEAS. > >------------------------------------------------------------ >Ok, you're not a techie, so you're not convinced yet. >------------------------------------------------------------ > >THAT'S THE CORE OF THE PROBLEM. The Internet is so new, >it's easy to pull the wool over a USPTO bureacrat's head by >using lots of buzzwords like "hyperlink" and "real time" in >your patent application. > >Using the right lingo in a new technological field that few >lawmakers and government employees use (much less understand), >it's EASY to make a simple, obvious 3-step business >transaction, or a simple marketing promotional scheme, appear >like a true technical innovation that deserves a patent, and >royalty payments from thousands of other software companies >that implemented the same, obvious procedure, years ago. > >If you too can't tell HTML from CGI, let me illustrate the >sweeping broadness of the Web patents being granted to >Amazon.com and their ilk, every day: > >Imagine the fictionary market leader in Pizza delivery >services, "Domino Hut" applied for a patent on the following >procedure: > >* Customer calls in by phone, orders a pizza; > >* Pizza is is paid for by credit card in real-time, with >immediate feedback given to the customer who holds the line; > >* Pizza is cooked using a unique high-tech device called >"oven". > >* Pizza is then delivered (in real time!) to customer at >his or her place of residence. > >* At that time, a coupon is handed over to the customer >that can be redeemed for discounts towards additional pizza >purchases in the future. > >IMAGINE THIS PATENT WAS GRANTED. Not only would "Domino Hut" >be able to immediately sue its largest competitor "Papa >Caesar's"... it would also have effectively put ANY AND ALL >SMALL PIZZA DELIVERY services out of business... with the >stamp of approval from the U.S. Government, the supposed >last defender of the capitalist system of free market >competition in the world. > >What's more, "Domino Hut" would become the sole provider of >takeout pizza to American households, allowing them to charge >you a $20 per delivery MONOPOLY TAX... but unlike government >taxes, this money would go right into their pocket. With the >blessing of the government. > >SOUNDS SCARY? RIDICULOUS? Well, such patents on completely >obvious "business processes" are being granted almost every >day now, to companies who have the million-dollar resources >to file the application first. > >And we, the smaller e-commerce start-ups, have no choice >but to follow suit, jump on the bandwagon, and file our own >patents, unless legislators come to their senses soon. > >------------------------------------------------------------ >Help wipe Jeff Bezos' phony smile off his face >------------------------------------------------------------ > >WHAT MADDENS ME MOST is the phony "good guy" image that >Amazon.com, Priceline.com, etc. have built up in public. > >You thought Microsoft is ruthless and plays hardball? At >least Bill Gates is honest about his plans for world >domination. ;-) And he's smart enough to not alienate the >Internet community (and the DOJ) by filing bogus patents >en masse, and harassing competitors with lawsuits based >on such patents. Amazon.com, however, has already filed >suit against BarnesAndNoble.com for implementing the oh-so >original idea of one-click ordering online. > >Hardly a day goes by that Jeff Bezos (named in the patents >in question) smiles at you from some cover of a magazine, >or touts his "garage-to-riches story" to a group of >drooling admirerers at some Silicon Valley event. > >It's sickening, if you ask me. > >I don't mind Mr. Bezos being happy; he has reason to smile, >and I like good-natured people. > >No, it's the phoniness, and the attempts to shove the truth >about Amazon.com's practices under the rug, that maddens me. > >Next time you catch him trying to look as cute and harmless >as possible, ask him about his software patent practices. > >Ask him if he will tax YOUR e-commerce Web site because it >implements any of the ideas that he claims a monopoly on. > >Ask him if why Amazon.com wants to eliminate, or tax the >small operators who eek out a few dollars a month by >participating in affiliate programs. > >He will typically defind himself saying that it took >Amazon.com years of hard work to develop their one-click >ordering system, or their affiliate system, or whatever >promotional scheme is common on the Web. > >Phony. > >Sickening. > >Mr. Bezos, it may be true that it took a lot of time to >implement the idea. But you applied for a patent on the >UNDERLYING BUSINESS PROCESS, i.e. the idea itself, which has >nothing to do with the admittedly difficult implementation. > >The BUSINESS MODEL of one-click ordering, or issuing >affiliate commission reports, is obvious. These are ideas as >old as the Internet itself. In fact, business and marketing >can hardly function without things like hyperlinks that >generate commissions. > >I don't know about you, dear reader, but this writer feels >that ANYONE should be allowed to create a Web site that >issues affiliate commissions to its sales representatives, >or cuts a check to joint venture partners, even with "real >time" e-mail reports. (Another duh! feature of Bezos' patent.) > >ANYONE should be allowed to offer the convenience of one-click >buttons to place an order online. None of these ideas take >more than five minutes to write down on a napkin. The excuse >that Amazon.com invested a lot of engineering genius into >these ideas is just another attempt at misleading the public >into believing any of this has to do with the "rocket science" >of implementing the idea or writing software -- it isn't. > >So when you see Mr. Bezos' still boyish face, remind yourself >that you're really seeing a ruthless businessperson who will >do ANYTHING, and I mean, ANYTHING (legal) to wipe out small >competitors like you, and take over the Internet, and tax it >as much as this is possible. > >------------------------------------------------------------ >What can you do about this? >------------------------------------------------------------ > >1.) PROFITSTREAM.COM IS NOT ALONE IN ITS PROTEST. I do not >want you to take just my word on this. Read the recent >articles on Amazon.com's anti-competitive practices: > > >http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000301/1981865s.htm > > >http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-922281.html > >2.) READ THE PATENT ITSELF. One paragraph of such sweeping >generality, it's hard to believe anyone at the USPTO even >read it or has any idea of how far-reaching its impact on >e-commerce in the U.S. will be: > >Go to the USPTO's Web site at: > >http://www.nowebpatents.org/ > >Register, participate, sponsor this fantastic site! > >5.) SHOW SOME CIVIL COURAGE -- SPREAD THIS ARTICLE WIDE >AND FAR. It's YOUR right to conduct e-commerce with >your own small business on the Web, without fear of >getting sued by some corporate bully for "violating" a >patent on an idea that's as obvious as the wheels on a >car. > >It's YOUR right to run a Web-based business without >paying a universal e-commerce tax that goes into >Jeff Bezos' pockets. > >Equally, as a consumer it is your right to enjoy one- >click ordering, or participate in affiliate programs >other than Amazon.com's and make a few bucks on the side. > >I KNOW, ENTREPRENEURS LIKE YOU WOULD RATHER NOT BOTHER. >I know, you have to use your 8 hours a day to make money. >We rarely have time to fight a crusade. But how will YOU >earn your money a few years from now, when your right to >conduct business on the 'Net as you please, has been all >but eliminated? > >How will it feel when YOU have to pay universal >e-commerce taxes to Amazon.com for each transaction you >run at your site? > >------------------------------------------------------------ >YOU DO HAVE FREEDOM OF SPEECH, and public opinion quickly >turns against corporate bullies, if they push it too far. >------------------------------------------------------------ > >A SWING OF PUBLIC OPINION IS THE ONLY WAY TO FIGHT THIS. > >A huge backlash is building against Amazon.com, and >their imitators will be next. Jeff Bezos still plays >the "good boy" on TV, but his image can crumble as soon >as the mainstream media pick up on this story (as they >should ~ why haven't they?) > >USA Today just picked up this story. NOW is the time to >help this cause pick up steam! > >If Amazon.com or anyone bullies you, let me know and >we'll run a story on it immediately. > >Friends, only a massive public outcry can wake up >congress, and can save the competitiveness of the United >States economy in the world. WHERE will e-commerce go >if competition can be eliminated in the U.S. by simply >filing a patent on an IDEA that pops into your head? > >E-commerce will go offshore, of course, where idiotic U.S. >patents don't apply. Always an alternative, but not a >convenient one. > >IS THAT WHAT CONGRESS WANTS? E-commerce companies moving >out of the U.S.? Or does congress want a thriving e-economy >where YOUR company could become the new garage-to-IPO success >story, without being charged to death by one corporate >bully who wants to choke competition from the start. > >5.) FINALLY, surf over to Profitalk.com to discuss this >issue, and watch for updates -- I invite Mr. Bezos >directly to defend himself at our public forum: > >don't apply for a patent myself, my competitor will." Just >reasonable thinking, right? > >And some of these good people think it's alright because >other good people either don't object, or are doing it >themselves. > >The negative spiral is gaining momentum and in a few >short years, there'll be nothing you can sell on the >Web without violating someone else's patented idea. > >HOW CAN THINGS GO WRONG, DESPITE SO MANY WELL-INTENTIONED >PEOPLE INVOLVED? 'cause it ain't hurting in anyone's >wallet yet. > >But the greater good, the freedom to conduct business online, >using whatever buttons or promotional schemes, REALLY IS in >acute danger. > >YOU, as a consumer, are already hurting because BN.com had >to take their convenient one-click ordering button off >their site. And if you're counting on BN.com's >affiliate commission checks to supplement your income, >guess what will happen to this useful program, now that >Amazon.com owns the right to shut down any and all affiliate >systems worldwide, if they so desire? Amazon.com will >probably force BN.com to give up their affiliate program, >and there goes your check! > >Sure, it's not hurting in your wallet today, but it WILL >tomorrow. You heard it here first. > >Truly a startling development. Truly amazing. > >------------------------------------------------------------ >Since none of the "good people" currently involved in the >process, seem to do anything to stop it, the burden is now >on YOU. >------------------------------------------------------------ > >Yes YOU. > >Review the action points from above. Take action now. It's >YOUR e-commerce future that's at stake. > >Do it now. > >It's important that you do it now. > >-Nicholas Schmidt > > >------------------------------------------------------------ >All contents Copyright © 1999-2000 Profitstream Corp., >except where indicated otherwise. All rights reserved >worldwide. Reprint only with express permission from >copyright holder(s). All trademarks are property of their >respective owners. All contents provided as is. No express >or implied income claims made herein--your business >success is always dependent on many factors, including your >own abilities. Advertisers are solely responsible for ad >contents. >------------------------------------------------------------ 56 From: David Rietz Date: Sun Mar 5, 2000 1:05pm Subject: DEB News: A presidential candidate worth supporting I had previously decided not to vote in this year's presidential election until this man appeared on the national scene. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary03.html#120 Robert Cohen 57 From: David Rietz Date: Mon Mar 6, 2000 1:03pm Subject: DEB News: The CODEX DELEGATES (let YOURS know YOUR position!) Monday, March 6 Today is the 121st day of my hunger strike. Here is a list of e-mail addresses to some of the key players (and voting members) of CODEX Alimentarius, the world organization that will make a determination as to what foods you will be eating, what genetically modified organisms will be contained in those foods, and how they are to be labeled. Won't you take a few minutes and send the following letter to these scientists and politicians: Dear Delegate: You will be meeting in Japan to determine the safety and labeling requirements for genetically modified organisms. The United States is sending a delegation representing companies and industries supporting genetically engineered foods. America's traditional position has been that consumers have no right to know what they are eating. Perhaps that position will change. One of the members of the U.S. delegation, Robert Cohen, possesses important information and real science proving the dangers of genetically modified foods. Cohen's information details a corrupt U.S. Food & Drug Administration with enormous conflicts of interest. For background information, please review the scientific evidence at: http://www.notmilk.com/hs Mr. Cohen will be staying at the Hotel New Otani Makuhari in Chiba, Japan during the conference, and has additional information. He welcomes the opportunity to give you important evidence. --------------- Here are the e-mail addresses and nations represented by 38 of the delegates: For Email links to CODEX reps see below or http://www.dorway.com/nocodex.txt (Note: this is the entire article but the link is http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary03.html#121) 58 From: David Rietz Date: Tue Mar 7, 2000 10:46am Subject: DEB News: W.H.O.'s In Control?! If you believe that you are actually in control to make choices about the foods you eat you are living in the fantasy world of subliminal advertising. In the real world, the decisions about your foods are made in Zurich, Rome, Montreal, and Tokyo. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary03.html#122 for the whole story Robert Cohen 59 From: David Rietz Date: Tue Mar 7, 2000 5:31pm Subject: DEB EMERGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT #/#/#/#/#/#/#/#/#/#/#/#/#/#/# $ EMERGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT $ #\#\#|#\#\#\#\#\#\#\#\#\#\#\# MONSANTO has won a battle, and lost the war! Robert Cohen has just been removed from the American delegation to CODEX. He will NOT be going to Tokyo on Saturday. MONSANTO called in a favor, and in doing so, removed America's voice of opposition. In doing so, they have revealed the scope of their power, and exposed the continuing betrayal of American interests by FDA officials. Last night, FDA faxed a FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT response to Cohen, and the information contained within that document conclusively demonstrates that MONSANTO defrauded the FDA in 1994 during the approval process for their genetically engineered bovine growth hormone. Robert Lake removed Cohen from the CODEX meeting. Mr. Lake has ignored the multi-million dollar lobbying efforts of other members of the CODEX team. MONSANTO does not want Americans to enjoy the right to know whether the foods they eat are genetically engineered or not. MONSANTO has Lake's ear, and Lake removed Cohen, despite Cohen's protest. Members of the MEDIA can call the Dairy Education Board office at 201-871-5871. MORE TOMORROW... Robert Cohen 60 From: David Rietz Date: Wed Mar 8, 2000 11:49am Subject: DEB News: THE SECRET CODE-X There exists a secret governmental agency. (TRANSLATION: secret because most Americans have no idea that it even exists, and those who do have little insight into what its function might be.) That New World Order organization will make critically important decisions as to how foods containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are to be labeled in the 21st century - from America's media. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary03.html#123 for the whole story Robert Cohen 61 From: David Rietz Date: Thu Mar 9, 2000 11:11am Subject: DEB News: Mr. Cohen goes to congress "Mr. Smith" went to Congress, but he didn't bring along a reporter from one of America's largest newspaper chains. On the other hand, Mr. Cohen did. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary03.html#124 for the whole story Robert Cohen 62 From: David Rietz Date: Fri Mar 10, 2000 10:57am Subject: DEB News: Coming Home The last two days in Washington have been an experience and I am overjoyed at how easy it is for just one person (me) to make a little bit of change. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary03.html#125 for the whole story. Robert Cohen 63 From: David Rietz Date: Sat Mar 11, 2000 8:25am Subject: DEB News: Sugar, spice, and everything nice Saturday, March 10 - Day 126 I live for moments like this. How often does one get an opportunity to throw non-dairy whipped cream pies in the faces of federal bureaucrats who betray the interests of the American people? http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary03.html#126 for the whole story. Robert Cohen 64 From: David Rietz Date: Sun Mar 12, 2000 9:33am Subject: DEB News: GUEST EDITORIAL Here is a letter/editorial from Deborah Best of Anaheim Hills, California. Deborah is a pre-med student, and she has sent this letter to many newspapers. After you read it, perhaps you could send this or your own letter to your paper? http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary03.html#127 for the whole story Robert Cohen 65 From: Robert Cohen Date: Sun Mar 12, 2000 2:05pm Subject: TIME POLL - 161,462 Ballots cast CAST YOUR BALLOT: Are you concerned about genetic engineering? http://www.time.com/time/daily/poll/ As of March 12, 2000 (2:00 PM - EST) here is the tally: Very concerned - 56.92 % Somewhat concerned - 1.72 % A little concerned - 1.94 % Not concerned at all - 38.98 % Clueless - 0.41 % 66 From: David Rietz Date: Mon Mar 13, 2000 9:04am Subject: DEB News: A scarlet letter... A scarlet letter to the CODEX delegates Nations from around the world will meet with the American delagation in Tokyo. The American group should be called: The Monsanto delegation. Here is a letter that I delivered to the other world members on the eve of their departure: http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary03.html#128 for the whole story. Robert Cohen 67 From: David Rietz Date: Tue Mar 14, 2000 9:31am Subject: DEB News: Do raccoons and deer avoid fields filled with genetically modified corn? Here's one not-so-funny anecdote published in a farm magazine. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary03.html#129 for the whole story. Robert Cohen 68 From: Robert Cohen Date: Tue Mar 14, 2000 11:36am Subject: FIVE DAYS OF HEAVEN GARDEN OF EDEN - SUMMERFEST Joe and Joanne Farb are chartering a bus from Nashville, KC, & St. Louis for those who wish to attend this summer's vegetarian festival (July 5-July 9) in Ashville, NC. Contact Joe and JoAnne: jojo@v... SUMMERFEST INFO: http://www.navs-online.org 69 From: David Rietz Date: Wed Mar 15, 2000 8:58am Subject: DEB News: Who created the fruit of the vine (boray pre hagofen) When you eat your next meal, will you gobble it down or will you taste and experience each one of nature's molecular flavors? http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary03.html#130 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 70 From: David Rietz Date: Thu Mar 16, 2000 10:30am Subject: DEB News: These cornballs have got your ear The National Corn Growers Association supports genetically engineered corn despite the fact that corn growers have the biggest surpluses and lowest prices in history. Who's really behind this agency? http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary03.html#131 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 71 From: Robert Cohen Date: Thu Mar 16, 2000 12:48pm Subject: WHERE'S THE ACTION? WHERE'S THE PARTY? MAKE YOUR SUMMER PLANS NOW. JOIN US IN JULY: July 1- 5 WASHINGTON, DC http://www.animalrights2000.org July 5- 9 ASHVILLE, NC http://www.navs-online.org July 10-16 TORONTO, CANADA http://www.veg.on.ca/wvc2000 Robert Cohen & Howard Lyman 72 From: David Rietz Date: Fri Mar 17, 2000 8:28am Subject: DEB News: A return to the age of aquarius More than 30 years ago, Students for a Democratic Society and the "Chicago 7" made headline news opposing an unjust war in Vietnam. One of the key players is now a state senator, and he has introduced food labeling bills for school lunch programs that will alert children and parents to the presence of genetically engineered foods. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary03.html#132 for the rest of the story. Robert Coehn 73 From: Robert Cohen Date: Sat Mar 18, 2000 7:43am Subject: EMERGENCY--- RECALL Nestle Recalls Baby Formula - Saturday, March 18, 2000 2.5 million cans of Nestle concentrated baby formula are being recalled because they may not have been properly sterilized. The baby formula was produced between Oct. 18, 1999, and March 13 of this year and was sold nationwide. Nestle urges consumers to call 1-800-510-7493 74 From: David Rietz Date: Sat Mar 18, 2000 9:33am Subject: DEB News: Grand slam home run It's baseball season and one courageous newspaperman from Wisconsin has won the game in the ninth inning. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary03.html#133 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 75 From: David Rietz Date: Sun Mar 19, 2000 10:39am Subject: DEB News: The CLOCK is running... FDA Hickory, dickory, dock, the rat ran down the clock. The clock struck two, Monsanto's through... http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary03.html#134 for the rest of the story Robert Cohen 76 From: David Rietz Date: Mon Mar 20, 2000 12:18pm Subject: DEB News: Three letters Am I crazy? I recently wrote a letter to FDA praising them for not having not deceived America and having survived my inquest attempting to reveal America's biggest liar. Was it FDA or Monsanto? http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary03.html#135 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 77 From: David Rietz Date: Tue Mar 21, 2000 3:39pm Subject: DEB News: Truth or Consequencs Tuesday, March 21 Today is the 136th day of my hunger strike. I am sending today's diary entry to this list of people at FDA: FDA Commissioner "Jane Henney" jhenney@o... fax #301-443-3100 FDA Senior Associate Commissioner "Linda Suydam" suydam@o... fax#301-443-3100 CVM Director "Stephen Sundlof" ssundlof@c... fax #301-594-1830 CVM Deputy Director "Andrew Beaulieu" abeaulie@c... fax #301-594-1830 Office of the Inspector General "Kathryn Dahl" kdahl1@o... #202-401-0502 CVM Ombudsman "Marcia Larkins" mlarkins@c... fax #594-4512 Director of New Animal Drug Evaluation "Claire Lathers" clathers@c... fax #301-594-2297 Strategic Manager for Biotechnology, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition "Jim Maryanski" jmaryans@cfsan@fda.gov> fax #202-401-2893 Director of the Office of Surveillance and Compliance "Linda Tollefson" tollefs@c... fax #301-594-4512 Director of the Office of Regulations & Policy, Center of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, "Robert Lake" RLake@b... fax #202-401-7739 Congressman Dennis Kucinich http://www.house.gov/kucinich/index.htm fax #202-225-5745 "Senator Barbara Boxer" senator@b... fax #202-228-4056 ************************* Dear Commissioner Henney: There comes a time in a decision-making process when the consequences of that decision should be carefully considered. Once a decision is made, it becomes too late for change. The decision that your agency must make on April 20 will have great meaning, and the eyes of the world are firmly focused upon you. Monsanto clearly deceived the Food & Drug Administration during the approval process for their genetically engineered bovine growth hormone (rbGH). Monsanto: - Created five "freak" amino acids - Did not inform the FDA of their errors - Fixed the problem by changing the formula - Created a 750 kg. phage contamination of rbGH in September of 1993 - Waited until after approval to publish evidence of their deception It is well accepted that a breast cancer can take up to ten years to grow from one cell into a one million-cell tumor, representing the tiniest lump a woman can feel in her breast. Recently, the New York Times revealed that there is a 50% increase ("explosion") in breast cancers in the African-American community. When cows are injected with rbGH: - Levels of IGF-I in milk increase - IGF-I has been called a key factor in the growth of every breast cancer - IGF-I is identical in humans and cows - Nations with the highest rates of breast cancer are also nations with the highest rates of milk consumption - Milk drinkers experience a 10% increase in blood serum levels of IGF-I Your choices are clear, and the consequences of your actions will be unmistakable. Should you dismiss Monsanto's deception then FDA clearly erases the fine line that many still believe separates FDA and Monsanto. Such a decision will not be tolerated by the American people, and will serve to act as a symbol of Monsanto's power and FDA's inability to act as America's fiduciary. Should FDA act to impose sanctions upon Monsanto and immediately revoke rbGH from America's marketplace, FDA will also immediately become a hero to those Americans who have criticized conflicts of interest, but who wish to confirm and celebrate America's greatness. The choice is yours to make, but let me respectfully alert you that the consequences of your actions will be enormous. Very truly yours, Robert Cohen 78 From: David Rietz Date: Wed Mar 22, 2000 1:06pm Subject: DEB News: "CATCH 22" Damned if they do, and damned if they don't. Today's evidence is a society gone mad. "Cigarette smoking must be safe" rules the Supreme Court. Otherwise, FDA would have taken cigarettes off the market. Does the same lack of logic apply to biotechnology? http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary03.html#137 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 79 From: David Rietz Date: Thu Mar 23, 2000 9:30am Subject: DEB News: ANECDOTE? NOT FUNNY! Anecdotal evidence is rejected by FDA who prefers to accept biased studies. Anecdotal evidence often supplies clues that contradict FDA conclusions. Here's the latest: http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary03.html#138 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 80 From: Robert Cohen Date: Thu Mar 23, 2000 12:10pm Subject: RADIO PERSONALITY KILLS ANIMAL Radio host Mike Gallagher was angry about PETA'S anti-milk campaign. Yesterday he killed a steer on his show. Gallagher looked into Old Blue's furry white face and big black eyes, then turned away as a gun was put to the animal's head. His final words before the animal was killed: "I'm seriously thinking maybe we shouldn't do this...Maybe we can give him a reprieve." His morning radio audience was stunned by the sound of the exploding bullet. I want a piece of this guy...write to him and his producer and ask to have me as a guest on his show: Mike Gallagher mike@m... Mike's producer, Ron Mitchell: rmitchell@m... Robert Cohen 81 From: Robert Cohen Date: Thu Mar 23, 2000 12:19pm Subject: PHOTO OF THE COW KILLED ON LIVE RADIO http://www.mikeonline.com/events/pics/cow1.jpg They are selling T-shirts to commemorate the event: http://www.mikeonline.com 82 From: David Rietz Date: Fri Mar 24, 2000 11:56am Subject: DEB News: The NOTMILK story according to HEALTHGATE A new health magazine has tackled the milk controversy and finds that milk does not do the body any good. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary03.html#139 for the rest of the story. Robert Coehn 83 From: David Rietz Date: Sat Mar 25, 2000 6:54am Subject: DEB News: It's been a busy week Here's a typical week filled with radio and television shows, lectures, and travel. I had a very special houseguest and am now in another country…be back Monday. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary03.html#140 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 84 From: David Rietz Date: Sun Mar 26, 2000 10:22am Subject: DEB News: Suppose they held a meeting... and everybody came! FDA ALERT: FDA TO HOLD SPECIAL HEARING The FDA is holding a public meeting on April 4, 2000 from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM at the Department of Education, Barnard Auditorium (Federal Building 6), 400 Maryland Ave SW, Washington, D.C. This building is one block east of the L'Enfant Metro Station (Maryland Ave. exit). FDA is seeking public comment supplements. To speak at the meeting, call Carole A. Williams at 301-827-4421. WHO WILL ATTEND THE MEETING? Manufacturers of pharmaceuticals who seek to have you lose the right to take supplements. Insiders who lobby congress and FDA to take away your rights. The FDA has only given a one-week notice to apply to attend to this meeting, which is unusually short. It's obvious the FDA would like to assure themselves that the public has no interest in this area. Come to the meeting and register to testify. Bring a friend. Write your statement and read it into the public record. Robert Cohen 85 From: David Rietz Date: Mon Mar 27, 2000 10:40am Subject: DEB News: Top ten reasons why no company will sell me life insurance I am on a hunger strike, and my insurance agent calls a few times each week to see how I am doing. Perhaps they want to negotiate a buy-out! Will my top ten list appear on Letterman's Late Night? http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary03.html#142 for the rest of the story Robert Cohen 86 From: David Rietz Date: Tue Mar 28, 2000 9:07am Subject: DEB News: The view from above This past weekend, Jennifer (my 14-year-old daughter) and I flew over America's heartland. From Missouri to Texas, there were patches of green and blue, brown and orange, as seen from nearly six miles up. Of note... http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary03.html#143 for the rest of the story Robert Cohen 87 From: David Rietz Date: Wed Mar 29, 2000 8:20am Subject: DEB News: Top ten future biotechnology errors Genetic engineering has provided many unpleasant surprises, and will continue to do so. Fact is becoming stranger than fiction. These are the top ten future biotechnology errors we do not want to see: http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary03.html#144 for the rest of the story Robert Cohen 88 From: David Rietz Date: Thu Mar 30, 2000 9:37am Subject: DEB News: The "domino letter" from FDA to Monsanto Jane Henney is the Commissioner of the FDA and Robert Shapiro is the President of Monsanto. What follows is the letter I would hope to see FDA soon deliver to Monsanto. When that magic moment occurs, manufacturers of genetically modified organisms will experience the domino effect from a technology gone terribly wrong. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary03.html#145 for the rest of the story Robert Cohen 89 From: Robert Cohen Date: Thu Mar 30, 2000 8:35pm Subject: SPREAD THE NEWS!!! ________________________________________________________ \ \ «¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤ / / \ \ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ / / \ \ MONSANTO fined $250 Million. FDA sets five / / \ \ year moratorium on genetic engineering: / / \ \ http://www.notmilk.com/fdarecall.html / / \ \________________________________________/ / \ «¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥ / ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ 90 From: David Rietz Date: Fri Mar 31, 2000 1:11pm Subject: DEB News: Solidarity Many thousands of people (and a few dairy farmers) will be attending the annual Solidarity Conference at Penn State University in State College, Pennsylvania from March 31st until April 2nd. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary03.html#146 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 91 From: David Rietz Date: Fri Mar 31, 2000 3:04pm Subject: DEB News: Update on "old blue" Last week, I sent a notice out regarding a radio host by the name of Mike Gallagher who killed a steer on his show. On Friday, I was driving through the beautiful state of Pennsylvania on the way to the Solidarity Conference when I heard that same radio host doing his schtick. I was infuriated when Gallagher told his audience that for $500 they could make a rug out of Old Blue (the cow he killed) for his office. He invited guests to call in and take their best 20 seconds in trashing him. So I called and got a busy signal for five minutes. I pulled over to the side of the road, and while I was waiting for my turn, I took notes. When my twenty seconds came, here is what I said in rapid fire: "PETA wants to make a rug out of you, but the problem is they won't know which end is up. The only difference between your show and a bucket of Old Blue's fertilizer is the bucket. Every sip of milk has virus, pus, bacteria, growth hormones, antibiotics, fat, cholesterol, dioxins, and I want all of those things in your body, Mike." After my piece was said, I turned on the radio again, and heard Gallagher respond: "That's the guy who hates milk and he is on some hunger strike, and hundreds of his fans wrote to me wanting him on my show and there's no way he's coming on." Robert Cohen 92 From: Dave Rietz (DORway.com) Date: Sat Apr 1, 2000 9:00pm Subject: DEB News: The funniest milk mustache ad Richard Nixon accepted an enormous "gift" (bribe) from the dairy industry and it was caught on a Watergate tape. Now for the first time: THE BEST MUSTACHE AD YET! http://www.notmilk.com/hs/nixon.html for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 93 From: Dave Rietz (DORway.com) Date: Sun Apr 2, 2000 3:08pm Subject: DEB News: WHY FDA WILL NOT REVOKE rbGH The genetically engineered bovine growth hormone caused cancer in lab animals and mastitis in cows and genetic deformities in calves. Monsanto manufactured five errors and did not tell the FDA. Monsanto developed a process to filter out the mistakes and, in doing so, changed the formula without informing the FDA. The product that is on the market today is completely different than the one that was tested. Here is why FDA will do nothing about Monsanto's fraud and deceit. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary04.html#148 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 94 From: Dave Rietz (DORway.com) Date: Sun Apr 2, 2000 3:17pm Subject: DEB OOPS! Sorry, folks, that earlier note is tomorrows explosive headline! Here is todays... Biotechnology conference and protest Last week, Boston played host to the largest industry biotechnology conference in American history. Seven thousand members of biotechnology lined up against 3500 activists. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary04.html#148 Robert Cohen 95 From: David Rietz Date: Mon Apr 3, 2000 11:07am Subject: DEB News: Why FDA will NOT revoke rbG Today is the 149th day of my hunger strike. When an attorney files a brief or a motion for summary judgement, he or she usually, as a matter of courtesy, writes a motion for the judge to sign (saving the judge that task). My diary entry for Thursday, March 30, 2000, fasting day #145, was a letter that I wish had been written by the commissioner of FDA. My courtesy was extended and only needed her signature. Had FDA been interested in health and safety issues, they would have immediately revoked Monsanto's hormone from the market, pending new research. There is no debate. FDA erred the first time around, and Canada's review of Monsanto's application resulted in non-approval because adverse effects from oral ingestion of rbGH had been observed by Canadian scientists. Conspiracy? To be or not to be? The Food & Drug Administration is actually a halfway house for government employees and scientists who shuffle to and from Monsanto. Job opportunities and conflicts of interest take priority over human and health safety issues. FDA has taken nearly six months to find a way to skirt the very premise of my citizen's petition. There is no way that I now expect them to act in the interest of the American people. Despite the fact that FDA possesses information about Monsanto's lies and deceit, including the fact that the formula for rbGH has been changed, FDA is powerless to act. With a new presidential administration, who would dare to place their career and job security in jeopardy by doing something politically "stupid?" Biotechnology companies are investing millions of dollars in political donations to cement their genetically engineered relationships with those men and women of Congress who make the laws and have the real power. Even Teddy Kennedy, who had been a champion for human rights, believes in the future of biotechnology and was a keynote speaker at last week's biotech conference in Massachusetts. Bill Clinton praised Monsanto in his 1996 State of the Union Address, and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was Monsanto's attorney. Ex-Surgeon General C. Everett Koop attacked Monsanto critics, two ex-FDA commissioners have gone to work for Monsanto. The game is fixed, and I have deceived myself into believing that there would be an honest assessment of Monsanto's fraud and deceit. FDA cannot rule against themselves. They're protected by the Fifth Amendment by a matter of principle called "self-incrimination." Ex-Monsanto employees, like Margaret Miller and Suzanne Sechen, continue to work at the FDA, and friends do not betray friends. Monsanto's secret deceptions are safe because the rug contained in FDA's center hall lies over massive accumulations of dirt. Last year at this time, FDA Commissioner Michael Freidman held the broom and swept the dirt under the rug. This year, FDA Commissioner Jane Henney holds the dustpan in one hand and a vacuum cleaner in the other. Whoosh. FDA is Monsanto. Robert Cohen (posted at http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary04.html#149) 96 From: David Rietz Date: Tue Apr 4, 2000 9:27am Subject: DEB News: TO THE END Tuesday, April 4 Today is the 150th day of my hunger strike. Many of you have asked about the vitamins and supplements and juices that I consume during my fast. Here is a list of what I will be eating from now until the end of my hunger strike. ** From now until the end of my hunger strike, I will drink only water. ** Robert Cohen 97 From: Robert Cohen Date: Tue Apr 4, 2000 10:56am Subject: PRESS COVERAGE OF HUNGER STRIKE Millions of Americans will read about our HUNGERSTRIKE! The GANNETT story appears today in 120 newspapers and will be sent to you in tomorrow's diary entry. Robert Cohen 98 From: Robert Cohen Date: Tue Apr 4, 2000 12:59pm Subject: ARE YOU SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE? Are you sleepless anywhere in America? Tomorrow morning (Wednesday) I will be a guest on Mike Siegal's show at 5AM EST. LIVE ON THE INTERNET: http://www.kiro710.com Robert Cohen 99 From: Robert Cohen Date: Tue Apr 4, 2000 7:17pm Subject: LAST SECOND CANCEL Tomorrow morning's EARLY radio show (SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE) will be re-scheduled. Robert Cohen 100 From: David Rietz Date: Wed Apr 5, 2000 11:13am Subject: DEB News: HUNGER STRIKE REPORTED IN 100 GANNETT NEWSPAPERS One man, a crusade, and the fight to wean milk from manmade hormones. The story covered three-quarters of the front page of the Lifestyle section in Tuesday's edition (April 4, 2000). Here is what millions of Americans read. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary04.html#151 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 101 From: Robert Cohen Date: Wed Apr 5, 2000 6:55pm Subject: MY LETTER TO THE EDITORS (120 NEWSPAPERS) YESTERDAY THE GANNETT GROUP REPORTED OUR HUNGER STRIKE. ATTACHED IS MY LETTER TO THE EDITOR CONCERNING ONE ASPECT OF THAT STORY. Dear Editor: Congressman Cal Dooley supports the genetically engineered bovine growth hormone that is now in America's milk, cheese, and ice cream. The following appeared in your Tuesday edition: "Rep. Cal Dooley, D-Calif., a member of the House of Representatives' Committees on Agriculture and Resources, says it would be absurd to deny dairy farmers a tool of efficiency just because the nation has surplus milk. It is in the interest of this country to see the production of milk or cotton or autos or computers or anything to be done in the most efficient manner possible," he says. "You can't impede the adoption of new technology... because you may have at that present time a greater supply than what the market demands." In 1994, Dooley's committee (Dairy, Livestock, and Poultry) considered a bill that would label milk and dairy products containing Monsanto's hormone. The bill "remained in committee" and never was voted upon. When the 1994 session of Congress expired, the bill died. I investigated the members of that committee and learned that, in 1994, Dooley received $219,475 in PAC money. While serving on an agriculture committee, he received $97,857 of those funds from companies with agriculture interests. Dooley was one of four members of that committee accepting PAC money directly from Monsanto ($1000). My dictionary defines bribery as "the act or practice of giving or accepting money or some other payment with the object of influencing the action or judgment." Since Dooley was good enough to comment on the bovine growth hormone for your story, perhaps he would also find it appropriate to comment on his very real conflict of interest. Robert Cohen 102 From: Robert Cohen Date: Thu Apr 6, 2000 9:11am Subject: --- Howard Stern: MILK & CANCER Yesterday Harvard University revealed what we've known for years: MILK DRINKING INCREASES THE PROBABILITY OF GETTING PROSTATE CANCER (Tell Howard to call the NOTMILKMAN at 201-871-5871) Howard Stern: Office 212-314-9230 Fax 212-314-9340 Howard Stern Radio Show (listening audience of 17 million) ROBIN: There is a new study that says there’s a possibilty that the heavy consumption of milk and other dairy products may modestly raise the risk of prostate cancer. HOWARD: Of course! Milk is for babies! You shouldn’t be drinking milk! Milk is... You know what milk is?... Milk is a thing in nature that makes little cows into big fat cows. It takes little calves and makes them into big fat cows. Milk can’t possible be good for you. I DON’T CARE HOW MANY GODDAMNED CELEBRITIES POSE WITH MUSTACHES! ROBIN: Men who ate two-and-a-half servings of dairy daily were 30% more likely to develope prostate cancer than those who average less than half a serving a day. HOWARD: Of course. I drink soy milk. ROBIN: They say it’s premature to change your diet right now but more study is needed. HOWARD: And then they say “Women need calcium.”... You can eat BROCOLI and get calcium. ROBIN: Or spinich... HOWARD: Because a lot of you broads are getting dowagers hump. Well listen, I don’t blame you for not wanting that, but milk isn’t necessarily the answer. (pause)...With this milk... Like babies... ROBIN: All the time with "milk." 103 From: David Rietz Date: Thu Apr 6, 2000 1:24pm Subject: DEB News: Pus in milk... and other realities How many pus cells are really in a 12-ounce glass of milk? How much milk does the average cow actually produce? For how long after giving birth does a cow produce milk? What percentage of cows are sent to slaughterhouses? http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary04.html#152 for the rest of the story. Robert Coehn 104 From: Robert Cohen Date: Thu Apr 6, 2000 2:19pm Subject: HOWARD STERN SEVENTEEN MILLION FANS? I may be on tomorrow morning (6:00am)...the producer just called for my home number. With Howard, it's never definite...but it may happen! In New York: 92.3 FM Robert Cohen 105 From: Robert Cohen Date: Fri Apr 7, 2000 7:23am Subject: - - - HOWARD STERN COVERED OUR HUNGER STRIKE 7:05 AM -- HOWARD STERN INTERVIEWED ROBERT COHEN!!! I'll try to get the transcript. MILK = Pus with hormones and glue. Howard agreed with me...no adults should drink milk. He talked about MacDonalds and junk food, obese kids and early sexual maturity. GOT MILK? GOT HORMONES! Robert Cohen 106 From: David Rietz Date: Fri Apr 7, 2000 11:56am Subject: DEB News: KING KONG VERSUS THE GIANT SNAKE Two monsters are fighting each other, and you'd better not get too comfortable watching the battle. When one destroys the other, the winner's eyes will focus upon you. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary04.html#153 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 107 From: David Rietz Date: Sat Apr 8, 2000 12:06pm Subject: DEB News: Howard Stern interview of Robert Cohen Today is the 154th day of my hunger strike. It's nice to know that this went out to 17 million people. Howard Stern slices apart all celebrities with his razor-sharp wit. Here is how my three minutes went: http://www.notmilk.com/hs/stern.html for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 108 From: David Rietz Date: Sun Apr 9, 2000 8:15am Subject: DEB News: A little girl needs your help Sunday, April 9 The genetically engineered bovine growth hormone has affected one little girl's future. Monsanto arranged to have her parents fired after they tried to alert Americans to the dangers of the new milk. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary04.html#155 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 109 From: Robert Cohen Date: Sun Apr 9, 2000 1:49pm Subject: STERN WARNING Please send this to a friend: http://www.notmilk.com/hs/stern.html 110 From: David Rietz Date: Tue Apr 11, 2000 1:06pm Subject: DEB News: Good karma Fasting is a spiritual event, and many think that the Dalai Lama is God's representative on Earth. Is his advice for me? You be the judge. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary04.html#157 Robert Cohen 111 From: David Rietz Date: Wed Apr 12, 2000 11:55am Subject: DEB News: FDA commissioner comments FDA Commissioner Jane Henney appeared on C-SPAN and gave an indication of how FDA will rule on our petition to revoke Monsanto's genetically engineered bovine growth hormone. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary04.html#158 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 112 From: David Rietz Date: Thu Apr 13, 2000 9:15am Subject: DEB News: Zapped on the ZIP with a mere slip I have been fasting on just water for one week and I'm going back to juices. Here is why. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary04.html#159 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 113 From: David Rietz Date: Fri Apr 14, 2000 10:27am Subject: DEB News: Monsanto's letter to thousands of dairy farmers Monsanto has sent a libelous and slanderous letter to thousands of dairy farmers. That letter was delivered by Federal Express, and it concerns Robert Cohen and it contains a very big lie. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary04.html#160 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 114 From: Robert Cohen Date: Fri Apr 14, 2000 12:32pm Subject: COHEN'S USDA TESTIMONY MY TESTIMONY TO THE UNITED STATED DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE DIETARY GUIDELINES COMMITTEE 3/10/2000 (Under-secretary Eileen Kennedy had instructed each speaker to state his/her name, organization, and source of funding---I had three minutes to speak, and had no prepared statement): Our next presenter is Mr. Robert Cohen. MR. COHEN: Thank you. I'm Robert Cohen. I'm with the Dairy Education Board. We have a shoestring budget, and I pay for the shoestrings. I'd like to ask you, since this is the first time I've ever been asked who funds me, who funds you, Dr. Kennedy? Who funds you, Dr. Watkins and Lurie and Huberto Garza who's listening on the telephone? Dr. Kennedy, you said that this is an open and transparent process. Americans know how transparent it is. Ms. Lurie, you said there's a history of collaboration. Dr. Watkins, you travel America speaking to trade organizations. It's on the internet. Native American, you go to South Dakota and North Dakota to Indian Reservations and tell them how they need more milk and cheese and you're going to give it to them. This is a transparent process. We know, Dr. Kennedy, that you're on the Board of Directors of a research organization funded by Dannon Yogurt. We know Huberto Garza, that you get $500,000 a year from USDA as a line item. At Cornell University you work for the Dairy Council. And Joanna Dwyer who worked on this food dietary guideline committee worked for the dairy industry as did Rachel Johnson and Roland Weinster and Richard Deckelbaum and it goes on and on, Scott Grundy. All connections to the dairy industry. What's going on here? The first part, I want to tell you that we're not pleased about these conflicts of interest. I sat with the Vice President of the United States yesterday and with Senator Barbara Boxer, and we're all not pleased about these conflicts of interest. Can't you come up with a committee that doesn't have these conflicts? Milk. Eighty percent of milk protein is a substance called casein, C-A-S-E-I-N. That's the glue they use to hold together the wood in this podium. You eat casein you produce histamines you make mucous. We've got soaring rates of asthma and diabetes, breast cancer. The New York Times last week had a full page article in their science section that breast cancer rates in women are soaring. Thousands of things cause breast cancer. The key factor in its growth, the only hormone in nature exactly alike between two species, IgF-1 human and cow, has been identified as the key factor in breast cancer. We've got our children in the schools. You talk about cholesterol and animal fats. You know they're dangerous. You take the combined intake of dietary cholesterol from cheese, milk, butter, ice cream, for the average American its equal to the same amount of cholesterol contained in 53 slices of bacon. That's today's intake. That's, 19,345 slices a year. By age 52 the same cholesterol in a million slices of bacon. You've got to examine, you've got a hearing, an obesity hearing coming up in America and you've got to examine the 29.2 ounces a day or 666 pounds per American of milk and dairy products that we're eating and how intolerant that is, especially to African Americans. Robert Cade, University of Florida, attributed one natural hormone in milk - casomorphine as the reason for attention deficit disorder and autism. One out of three kids in our Washington schools are on ritalin. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. DEPUTY UNDERSECRETARY KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Cohen. And the one question you directed to us, I will answer. We are funded by the American taxpayer. 115 From: David Rietz Date: Sat Apr 15, 2000 11:06am Subject: DEB News: How FDA arbitrarily assesses safety In 1994, the genetically engineered bovine growth hormone (rbGH) was approved for America's milk, cheese, and ice cream, but FDA actually allowed rbGH-treated milk in the food supply in 1987. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary04.html#161 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 116 From: David Rietz Date: Sun Apr 16, 2000 8:10am Subject: DEB News: FDA DECEIT -- Sick animals make for sick humans Today is the 162nd day of my hunger strike. I have vowed not to cite animal studies with one exception. When I find a study that FDA cites as evidence of safety, and the data reveal that FDA is not telling the truth, then I will expose FDA for the liars that they are. This week I obtained such a study. FDA has previously determined that the genetically engineered bovine growth hormone was safe for cows. A surreptitiously obtained Monsanto study was published in the January, 1990 issue of Pete Hardin's dairy industry newsletter MILKWEED. At that time, many Wisconsin dairymen were against Monsanto's genetically engineered bovine growth hormone. Although FDA was promoting that animal drug, one visionary dared to risk all by sharing TRUTH with his peers. Monsanto and FDA claimed that the genetically engineered bovine growth hormone was safe for dairy cows. The actual data indicated otherwise. Imagine an animal losing six percent of its body weight (100 pounds). What would you guess would be the effect on its body organs? Would the organs also shrink or remain the same size? SHOCKING RESULTS While stressed animals lost weight, their body organs grew! Adrenal glands squirt adrenaline into a mammal's system during stressful events. This powerful chemical is responsible for the "fight or flight" response. Cows treated with low doses of rbGH lost an average of 90 pounds, but their adrenal glands grew by a factor of 21% over the control group. The medium dose group experienced increases of 46%, while the high dosed group had adrenal growth rates of 51%. The thyroid gland is responsible for regulating metabolism. The low dose group experienced 7% growth increases. The medium dose group experienced a 17% increase, while the high dose group experienced a 61% increase over the control group. Liver and heart weights increased by double-digit factors in the medium and high dose groups. Ovary weights increased in excess of twenty percent in all three groups. No biological effects? Here are the actual data: CONTROL LOW MEDIUM HIGH GROUP DOSE DOSE DOSE TOTAL WEIGHT 1591 lbs 1501 1509 1487 THYROID 1.24 ozs 1.33 1.45 2.00 LIVER 23.9 lbs 23.9 27.0 26.8 HEART 7.5 lbs 7.5 9.0 9.0 ADRENAL 1.15 ozs 1.39 1.68 1.73 KIDNEY 3.7 lbs 4.1 5.1 5.3 OVARY 0.82 ozs 0.99 1.07 1.10 IMPLICATIONS FDA approved milk from these cows for America's food supply in 1987. When we drink hormone-filled milk from stressed animals, would it be reasonable to expect that these hormones might have an effect on our bodies? I never heard the phrase "road rage" before 1990. Today, television shows and newspaper stories carry daily accounts of anger and stress. Student violence? Children shooting children with guns? Something is wrong with the way we act towards our fellow man. Something is wrong with the way we act towards animals. Forty percent of what the average American eats (666 pounds per year/capita) represents milk and dairy products containing powerful hormones. The research results were an important clue, but FDA reviewers were piloting our ship, and they were asleep at the helm. The pure SCIENCE from this study does not lie. We are what we eat. Overstressed animals secrete fear and pain into their flesh and body fluids, and these chemical messengers merge into our cells and ultimately our consciousness. Robert Cohen 117 From: David Rietz Date: Mon Apr 17, 2000 10:34am Subject: DEB News: King of Siam What do Thai food and racquetball have in common? The answer is Doug Graham, my fasting coach and the best example of what a raw food diet can produce. Follow Doug to the Garden of Eden. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary04.html#163 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 118 From: David Rietz Date: Tue Apr 18, 2000 10:13am Subject: DEB News: Dietary guidelines "Kids say the darndest things." Art Linkletter made that phrase famous, and "America's Funniest Home Videos" captures Americans at their funniest/worst! CAUTION: Do not read the following while eating, unless you are with a friend who is trained in the Heimlich maneuver. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary04.html#164 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 119 From: David Rietz Date: Tue Apr 18, 2000 4:44pm Subject: DEB: Thursday is THE day for FDA's decision on Posilac As one of 267 million Americans I made one last attempt to induce a reasonable, logical, and appropriate decision on Mr. Cohen's recall petition. I sent an Email to the FDA commissioner and three other top employees of the FDA. I sent a copy to Senator Barbara Boxer, as well. Robert Cohen thought it appropriate that I share it with you. Sent TO: "Jane E. Henney" JHENNEY@O... "Stephen Sundlof" ssundlof@c... with copies to: "Linda Suydam" lsuydam@o... "Andrew Beaulieu" abeaulie@c... (their titles are at http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary03.html#136) Copy to: "Senator Barbara Boxer" senator@b... -------------------- Tuesday, 18 April, 2000 The FDA promised a decision on the recall of Monsanto's POSILAC by Thursday, 20 April, 2000. I hope, for the sake of 267 million Americans, you make the only appropriate moral, ethical, and perhaps even legal decisions that comply with the FDA charter to protect consumers: 1. The immediate recall of Monsanto's Posilac, and 2. The immediate prosecution of Monsanto for fraud. The rest of the world looks to you for the truth, and for guidance to what is right. However, in the case of Posilac most of your counterparts in other countries did not follow your approval, with Canada being perhaps the latest example of making the right decision. The FDA decision to approve rbGH was a tragic error. FDA has made several highly questionable decisions in the past. Aspartame and MSG are two of them. However, just about everything related to the approval of Posilac... the subterfuge, the hiring of two Monsanto employees to be in the approval process, the "non-review" of the all important and damning Richard, Odaglia & Deslex study of 1989, give the strong impression of FDA deviance from its mandate to protect the American consumers. That did not happen "on your watch". You now have the opportunity to correct that error. Thanks to one or more of a growing number carcinogens being allowed in our environment I became the first among my long-lived ancestors to acquire any form of cancer. That was bad enough. Thanks to a lifetime of "typical" American-style consumption of cow's milk and dairy, with its own dangerous level of IGF-1, my prostate cancer flourished. (If FDA were correct in their statement that IGF-1 did not survive the digestive system FDA would have proven that breast feeding cannot work!) Perhaps the additional IGF-1, created by the rbGH shot into dairy cows since 1987 (long before the 1994 approval), was all it took for my cancer to become terminal (already spread) at the young age of 55. The worst aspect of this subject is that I am not alone... millions more of Americas too-trusting citizens are receiving their own devastatingly bad news "YOU GOT CANCER!". A bit over two years ago I abandoned a life-time of dairy consumption. Encouraging news for me is what I just posted on Mr. Cohen's "NOTMILK" guestbook.. "My terminal prostate cancer grows FOUR TIMES SLOWER than when I consumed dairy!" I would rather not have any form of cancer... certainly not one that is still incurable. However, with a much slower growing cancer... perhaps I can survive until a cure is discovered and made available. Cow's milk and dairy were "grandfathered" as "GRAS". So was tobacco. Cow's milk and dairy is long overdue for a thorough review for safety and healthfulness. However, more pressing is the need for your decision to recall Posilac. Failure to do so will place you, Ms. Henney, and the FDA, squarely among the ranks of the Drs. Mengele of this world. Please recall Posilac effective immediately, and commence appropriate legal action against Monsanto. Regards... David Rietz 122 Foxborough Road Goose Creek, SC 29445 843-553-7896 http://www.dorway.com Aspartame http://www.notmilk.com cow's milk http://www.notmilk.com/hs Posilac http://www.milkgate.com Prions and cancer http://www.truthinlabeling.org MSG... kissing cousin "mind blower" to aspartame 120 From: David Rietz Date: Wed Apr 19, 2000 9:28am Subject: DEB News: Just for the record The clock is ticking and the drum roll begins. FDA has promised a decision on Monsanto's hormone to be made on or before April 20, 2000. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary04.html#165 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 121 From: David Rietz Date: Thu Apr 20, 2000 10:59am Subject: DEB News: Decision day: The legacy Today is the 166th day of my hunger strike. Comissioner Jane Henney Food & Drug Administration Parklawn 5600 Fishers Ln. Rockville, MD 20857 Re: FOIA Request #99026306 Dear Commissioner Henney: Attached to this letter is a check payable to the FDA for $253.50. That payment represents your bill to me for my recent Freedom of Information Act request. This is blood money. This information should have been obtained by your review team as a routine part of your investigation. This was the most very basic part of my citizen petition (#99P-4613). The fact that I had to request this key piece of information and wait 85 days (65 days longer than the Justice Department allows you) and then pay for this information, compounds your whitewash I had requested any evidence in your 55,000-page file that Monsanto informed you that they created five "freak" amino acids when they genetically engineered the bovine growth hormone. Monsanto changed the formula for that hormone after the FDA review was completed. As a result, the hormone currently on the market has never been tested. By recognizing Monsanto's fraud and deceit, you could have taken the opportunity to show Americans that the FDA acts in their fiduciary interest. Your ultimate decision to my citizen petition will be judged by all Americans. When Americans take to the streets to protest FDA decisions, we will be blowing whistles, and those whistles will have your name boldly printed upon them. You will become a symbol to all Americans, and that, Madame Commissioner, will become your legacy. Very truly yours, Robert Cohen 122 From: Robert Cohen Date: Thu Apr 20, 2000 12:12pm Subject: - - - FDA DECISION DUE TODAY I just received a phone call from FDA (12:10 PM, EST). The decision will be FAXED to me after the close of business today, at about 5:30 PM. If rbGH is taken off the market, I will eat an apple tomorrow in celebration. If not, my fast continues. Robert Cohen 123 From: Robert Cohen Date: Thu Apr 20, 2000 5:54pm Subject: - - - FDA'S DECISION I have just received an 11 page FAX from FDA. BOTTOM LINE FDA will not take Monsanto's hormone off the market. QUOTE -- FDA WROTE: "Based on our examination, we reaffirmed our conclusion that the manufacturing changes resulted in only biologically inconsequential variations in the product used in the safety and effectiveness studies and, therfore, the rbGH product we approved is the same as the product used in the studies." (Can anybody explain how FDA can say two different things and contradict themselves within the body of just one sentence?) FDA refers to five different amino acids. Inconsequential variations? The same product? I will post the entire 11 page decision in a few days, with my analyses. Robert Cohen 124 From: David Rietz Date: Fri Apr 21, 2000 6:49pm Subject: DEB News: Let my people go SYNOPSIS The Food & Drug Administration is Pharaoh and the American people are slaves to a system of exploitation. We have had many plagues, and the worst of all will be FDA's legacy: Biotechnology's angel of death. ------------- Today is the 167th day of my hunger strike. Residents of North Carolina woke up a few years ago to red tides filled with algae blooms that devastated aquatic life and made humans sick. The waters turned to blood. New strains of bacteria have developed in dairy cattle because of FDA's liberal anti-biotic protocols. Sterile frogs are being born and diseases are spread by ticks and fleas that may very well have escaped from laboratories performing experiments in genetic engineering. Tiny particles called prions in dairy cattle, pigs, and deer are being consumed by Americans who come down with rare neurological diseases. These plagues of modern time mimic the Biblical plagues, which fell upon ancient Egypt. Pharaoh was repeatedly warned "Let my people go," but the powers in Egypt refused to acknowledge evidence and dangers until it was too late. Biotechnology is the modern day angel of death, and it is passing over all of us. In the Bible, a certain group of people was spared from the terror. In order to be spared today, one must make the choice to buy organically grown fruits and vegetables. One must explore alternatives to factory-produced foods. America's food manufacturers do not care about consumers' rights to know what they are purchasing and consuming. We simply ask for a warning label on any product containing a genetically modified organism. FDA, wearing Pharaoh's robes, refuses to let us be free. FDA had one last opportunity to send a message to America. Monsanto had committed fraud, lab animals got cancer, and FDA knows that Monsanto created five "freak" amino acids with their bovine growth hormone. FDA has chosen not to remove that hormone from the marketplace. FDA has chosen not to label dairy products containing milk from cows treated with that hormone. The sea swallowed up Pharaoh's soldiers just as our sea of resistance must swallow up those who betray us. The FDA is the enemy and they can no longer be believed. The FDA has betrayed us and they can no longer be trusted. We say to the FDA "Let our people be free." Yesterday, the Food & Drug Administration determined that Monsanto's bovine growth hormone would not be taken off the market. My hunger strike will continue, and so will our protest. Robert Cohen 125 From: Robert Cohen Date: Fri Apr 21, 2000 10:28pm Subject: - - - LAST SECOND SCHEDULE CHANGE SEVERE WEATHER ALERT I will NOT appear at HARVARD SQUARE Saturday in Boston. Heavy rain (3.5 inches) is forecast for the outdoor EARTHDAY festival with high winds & a wind-chill factor in the teens. If you live in Massachusetts, exercise caution. Heavy flooding is predicted. Robert Cohen 126 From: David Rietz Date: Sat Apr 22, 2000 11:35am Subject: DEB News: The vicious cycle A new super antibiotic has been approved by the FDA for Monsanto, the company that created super-resistant strains of bacteria in the first place. The most common side effects of this new drug are headache and nausea. Caution: reading this story might produce both symptoms. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary04.html#168 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 127 From: David Rietz Date: Sun Apr 23, 2000 7:52am Subject: DEB News: FDA denies petition - HUNGER STRIKE CONTINUES FDA delivered a ten-page letter denying the citizen petition to revoke Monsanto's bovine growth hormone. That letter contains inaccuracies and incorrect conclusions. There is evidence of fraud, deception, and there may have very well be criminal activity at FDA. Does breastfeeding work? According the FDA letter of denial, breastfeeding cannot possibly be of any biological significance to human infants. FDA's decision and my comments: http://www.notmilk.com/hs/4613rbut.html for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 128 From: David Rietz Date: Mon Apr 24, 2000 10:28am Subject: DEB News: SCIENTIFIC DECEIT: Colon cancer Coincidence? On the same day that the page one New York Times story announced that dietary fiber was of no benefit in preventing colon cancer, Monsanto received approval to market a drug (Camptosar) to treat colon cancer. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary04.html#170 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 129 From: David Rietz Date: Tue Apr 25, 2000 2:49pm Subject: DEB News: Battling demons For nearly six months, I have eaten no food. Juices from fresh fruits and vegetables have sustained me. I've battled demons in government and now face voices from within. Do I continue my fast? http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary04.html#171 Robert Cohen 130 From: Robert Cohen Date: Wed Apr 26, 2000 6:17am Subject: - - - BEAUTIFUL JOB, DAVE Dave Rietz is my WEBMASTER, and last night he CHANGED the Hunger Strike site. He gets my nomination for BEST INTERNET WEBMASTER! Check out what one man can produce while the rest of us sleep: http://www.notmilk.com/hs/index2.html Robert Cohen 131 From: David Rietz Date: Wed Apr 26, 2000 8:33am Subject: DEB News: Frustration and disappointment Hundreds of millions of dollars are being directed at America's congressmen and senators by biotech organizations seeking to take American's right to know what they are eating. Do we really stand a chance? http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary04.html#172 Robert Cohen 132 From: David Rietz Date: Thu Apr 27, 2000 9:14am Subject: DEB News: Beautiful people Steve Urow is the webmaster for Ron Cummings Pure Food website. Pure Food is an organization campaigning for food safety, organic agriculture, and sustainability. Steve also has the largest veggie dating service on the Internet. I've been in Syracuse, and am traveling today and today's diary entry is pure fun. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary04.html#173 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 133 From: Robert Cohen Date: Thu Apr 27, 2000 9:26pm Subject: - - - COHEN IN PHILADELPHIA ON SATURDAY ARTICLE IN TODAY'S PHILADELPHIA NEWSPAPER: http://www.citypaper.net/articles/042700/eat.sidedish.shtml Robert Cohen, "Milk Myths and How to Solve the Calcium Dilemma," Sat., April 29, 2:45 p.m., Better Living Festival, Philadelphia Ethical Society, 1906 Rittenhouse Sq. The festival runs from noon to 5 p.m., Call 215-242-0465 for more information. 134 From: David Rietz Date: Fri Apr 28, 2000 8:50am Subject: DEB News: I feel great Today is the 4th day in which I am consuming just water and I have changed my day-to-day routine. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary04.html#174 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 135 From: Robert Cohen Date: Fri Apr 28, 2000 10:11pm Subject: - - - MY WEBMASTER Dave Rietz has posted something very special: http://mywebpages.comcast.net/dorietz/thanks.html Dave has the largest anti-NutraSweet site on the World-Wide-Web: http://www.dorway.com 136 From: David Rietz Date: Sat Apr 29, 2000 11:48am Subject: DEB News: Never cry wolf It's been five days of just water and I find myself more alert and more productive than I can ever remember. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary04.html#175 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 137 From: David Rietz Date: Sun Apr 30, 2000 9:03am Subject: DEB News: Whistle blowing I will be inviting you to join me in the new demonstration for the new millennium. My office will be getting permits to march on various locations in Washington, and I'm bringing along a special weapon-whistles. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary04.html#176 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 138 From: Robert Cohen Date: Mon May 1, 2000 4:32am Subject: - - - SPAM MAIL CAN BE FUN Dear NOTMILK lovers, It's 4:30 AM, and I just received the attached spam, which I send to you with my response. Is there any less likely person on this planet to have received such a business opportunity? _________________________________________________________ Huaxia Dairy Products Co. Ltd., one of the key enterprises which specialise in production with edible casein,industrial casein and sodium caseinate, located in Linxia,100 km far from Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province, China.It situated at the traffic cross of Sichuan province, Qinghai province and Tibet region.Our company has convenient transportation, rich natural resources and enjoyable geographical position.We have full sets of complete equipment for food processing ,with advanced technique , qualified technicians and workers.The raw materials are from the milk of yak which live in the unpolluted Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.At present ,we can yield annually over 1,000 mt of sodium casein, 500 mt of fresh milky casein, 2,000 mt of edible casein, 1,500 mt of industrial casein.The quality of our products meet the requests of China national standard, and confirmed and authenticated as green food.We have our offices in some main cities in China.We would like to offer our best service in the field of dairy products, please contact with us. Dear Casein producers, I will purchase the entire amount. Can you ship it to Boston Harbor? Do you have a recipe for Moo Goo Gai Pan with casein? Robert Cohen 139 From: David Rietz Date: Mon May 1, 2000 8:19am Subject: DEB News: Messengers This time it wasn't the FDA or USDA who sanctioned a genetically engineered pesticide. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) just approved an insecticide called "MESSENGER," and most Americans still have not gotten the message. Spray that chemical on a new genetically engineered broccoli for a dish that even ex-President Bush could enjoy! Will the new food be called broccoli-rodent? Truth becomes stranger than fiction: http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary05.html#177 Robert Cohen 140 From: Robert Cohen Date: Mon May 1, 2000 3:47pm Subject: - - - HELP! WHAT DO I DO NOW - - - ANY SUGGESTIONS? Dear Friends, Eighty percent of milk protein is CASEIN, the same glue used to hold a label to a bottle of beer. It's used as a food additive. I received an unsolicited offer to buy hundreds of tons from Mainland China which I accepted as a joke...figured I could pour it all into Boston Harbor as my NOTMILK version of the 1773 Boston "tea party." I did send Ma-Johnglin the URL to my website, but it must be all "American" to him/her. Seems that the Chinese people took me seriously. Here is their response, and my letter back to them: ________________________________________________________________ hxrpyxgs" hxrpyxgs@p... WROTE: Dear Mr Robert Cohen, Thanks for your e-mail dated today.We can ship our casein to Boston Harbour,USA. But we need to know which kind of payment term you used to do. Best regards/Ma Zhonglin Dear Ma Zhonglin, You have a very interesting name. Ma-Zhong is a Chinese game, played with tiles. I have watched people gamble in New York. What is the price for your CASEIN, and what are your terms for 100 tons? Would that require an entire tanker? Should I send my ship, or do you have one? I could either pay cash, net 60 days, or arrange an agreed-upon trade of American round-up ready soybeans, depending upon your price. Please FAX your contract. Robert Cohen 141 From: David Rietz Date: Tue May 2, 2000 8:24am Subject: DEB News: If it moos, it's a drug factory The New York Times promotes biotechnology, and why not? It's great for their business. Got ad revenue? http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary05.html#178 Robert Cohen 142 From: David Rietz Date: Wed May 3, 2000 10:59am Subject: DEB News: Will tidal waves drown us? The New York Times buried a very important biotechnology story on the bottom of page 20 of today's edition (May 3, 2000). Atop that story was a revelation that elite colleges had tougher admission standards. To the right of the biotech story was the cataclysmic news that fissures off the coast of Virginia might cause tidal waves. Grab your life preservers and rubber ducky inner tubes. Here's what the New York Times buried. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary05.html#179 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 143 From: Robert Cohen Date: Wed May 3, 2000 12:09pm Subject: - - - HOWARD STERN SHOW If you have REALPLAYER, you can now listen to my April 7th interview on Howard Stern: http://www.notmilk.com/hs/stern.html Robert Cohen 144 From: David Rietz Date: Thu May 4, 2000 8:43am Subject: DEB News: But is it kosher? Mix a pig in a poke with a fish in a Diet Coke and is that kosher? If Dr. Seuss were still alive, he might have been tempted to rewrite his classic and call it: "Blue fish, red fish, biotech? Dead fish." http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary05.html#180 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 145 From: David Rietz Date: Fri May 5, 2000 10:00am Subject: DEB News: Direct result of genetic engineering: human sickness This week's New England Journal of Medicine (April 27, 2000, Vol. 342, No. 17) is more proof of biotechnology's failure. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary05.html#181 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 146 From: David Rietz Date: Sat May 6, 2000 1:18pm Subject: DEB News: Biotech gives me a headache Twelve days of water and my body is starting to rebel. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary05.html#182 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 147 From: Robert Cohen Date: Sun May 7, 2000 2:45am Subject: - - - WAKE-UP CALL Dear Friends, It is 2:45 AM, and I cannot sleep. My four-day headache is gone! (Hooray!) I am alert and well-rested. You will read my Sunday diary entry later today...another ongoing investigation, and see that my abilities have not diminished. I am now drinking steam-distilled water. Each time I drink, I take a BIG-GULP (sounds like a "7-11" drink) and count to ten. I force myself to drink a few gallons per day, and it is cleansing. I have promised myself that if the headaches return I will end my water fast. I believe that what I went through was a transition...a cleansing. That remains to be seen. On this 13th day of just water, my body sends me no negative signals. Robert Cohen 148 From: David Rietz Date: Sun May 7, 2000 9:08am Subject: DEB News: Bought and paid for Republican Governor Ed Schafer from North Dakota is a friend of biotechnology. He's the one on the right in the below linked page: http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary05.html#183 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 149 From: Robert Cohen Date: Sun May 7, 2000 10:42am Subject: - - - TEN THOUSAND VEGETARIAN RECIPES I receive over 2000 email messages per day, and many are personal requests for information. I do the best I can. The single-best resource for accurate information on the Internet regarding heath and vegetarian issues can be found at: http://www.vegsource.org This site provides hours of reading and surfing pleasure! Robert Cohen 150 From: Robert Cohen Date: Sun May 7, 2000 6:03pm Subject: - - - E COLI LIE (As reported by 20-20) Dear Friends, The ABC TV news show, 20-20 recently interviewed Dennis Avery and condemned organic vegetables by reporting that people consuming organic food were eight times greater risk of contracting the potentially deadly E. coli (E coli O157). I regret that 20-20 did not read my COLUMN of 12/20/98. Here is a portion of what I wrote on that day: DAIRY EDUCATION BOARD NEWSLETTER A STORY OF FAITH Many years ago I was a tourist in Jerusalem and stayed with a friend who lived near the Wailing Wall. I visited the same site at the famous wall twice each day for a week. Each time I came there I saw the same man praying. He reminded me of my uncle, but not being fluent in Hebrew, I held back my curiosity and did not approach him. On the day I was to leave the country I could no longer contain myself so I asked my Israeli friend to act as translator. I addressed my friend who turned to the old man and asked, "I have seen you come here to this same spot every day for a week. How long have you been doing this and what do you ask for in your prayers?" His Hebrew response was translated back to me. "I have come here every day for eleven years. I ask the Lord for peace. I ask that all men be brothers so that we can live together. Then I go home, have lunch and come back to pray again. In the afternoon I ask that the Lord cure all illness and make our foods healthy and nourishing." I was impressed. I can remember that moment as if it had just happened. Perhaps that man had an influence on the work I do today. Before departing, I asked one last question of my friend. "Ask him how he feels to come here every single day for eleven years." My friend did just that and the old man turned to me and responded in perfect English: "I feel like I'm talking to a wall." I had a similar feeling after reading an editorial in the WALL STREET JOURNAL (WSJ). On page A22 of the 12/8/98 edition, a WSJ editor wrote: "According to recent data complied by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), people who eat organic and "natural" foods are eight times as likely as the rest of the population to be attacked by a deadly strain of E. coli bacteria (0157:H7)." I have learned not to trust everything I read, even in respected journals that represent the foundations of American business and science so I called CDC and was connected with spokeswoman Sharon Hoskins (404- 639-7290). "What's going on?" I asked. She had heard about this article in the WSJ and responded "CDC has never done such a study. This is pure unadulterated nonsense." It took me a few days, but I got to the bottom of things. WSJ quoted an "authority" with an agenda, Dennis Avery. Mr. Avery has a long established reputation as a supporter of powerful pesticides. He is the author of "SAVING THE PLANET WITH PESTICIDES AND PLASTIC." Avery recently did an interview on a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation program criticizing organic farming because in his words: "Organic farmers use manure to fertilize their fruits and vegetables." Avery was once a vocal supporter of DDT and wishes that we were still using it in America. The WSJ journalist made up his numbers and did not base them on fact. Wall Street Journal did an enormous disservice to its readers. I do not imagine that organic farmers are regular advertisers in WSJ but I do suppose that companies like Dow Chemical and Monsanto oftentimes exert their influence. After calling WSJ I felt like I was "talking to a wall!" Robert Cohen 151 From: David Rietz Date: Mon May 8, 2000 7:44am Subject: DEB News: Come to Washington on June 17th I am calling this the "strange bedfellows conference" because I will be joining with dairy farmers to discuss the destruction of their farms and their last chance to put a stop to the "runaway freight train" named genetic engineering. Today is the 184th day of my hunger strike and the 14th day of my drinking just water. JOIN ROBERT COHEN AT THE FREE CONFERENCE On Saturday, June 17, 2000, the SIERRA CLUB is hosting a conference in Washington, D.C. on the Threat of Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone. The conference will be held at the Resources for the Future Conference Center at 1400 Sixteenth Street NW. CONFERENCE AGENDA There are one dozen speakers, including myself. Here are some of the highlights: RALPH NADER on the corporatization of our food supply, the WTO and implications for the future. SENATOR BARBARA BOXER and/or CONGRESSMAN DENNIS KUCINICH on bills to give consumers the right to know what they are eating. ROBERT COHEN on FDA's recent decision not to remove rbGH, and the fraudulent research not considered by government regulators. PETER HARDIN, publisher of Milkweed, who will provide an overview of the genetically engineered bovine growth hormone controversy. STEVE WILSON & JANE ACRE: Two FOX Network Reporters silenced by Monsanto when they did an investigative report on rbGH dangers. MICHAEL HANSEN: Consumers Union scientist on an overview of the FDA and the approval process for rbGH + danger from IGF-I. ANDREW KIMBRELL: Lawsuit on rbGH SCOTT DYE (Sierra Club) and KAREN HUDSON (F.A.R.M.) on environmental destruction caused by dairy production VICTOR DANIEL & HEALTH CANADA SCIENTISTS: The silencing of health concerns in Canada after pressure from Monsanto. Dairy farmers will also speak and attend. LODGING Rooms have been reserved at the Quality Hotel & Suites - Downtown at #1315 Sixteenth Street NW. Call (202) 232-8000 or (800) 368-5689 to make reservations. Mention the Sierra Club Dairy Conference. Singles $89/night. Doubles $99/night. Triples $109/night. Quads $119/night. REGISTRATION FORM e-mail Chris Bedford: cbedford@e... Name: Address: City/Town: State: Zip code: Telephone: Fax: E-mail: Please register if you plan to attend. There is no cost for this conference except payment for lunch. If you plan to have lunch with us, send $10 by check made out to MARYLAND CHAPTER/SIERRA CLUB at #7338 Baltimore Avenue (Suite 101A), College Park, Maryland 20740. If you have any questions please contact Chris Bedford at 301-779-1000 or 301-277-6699 fax or email cbedford@e.... Robert Cohen 152 From: David Rietz Date: Tue May 9, 2000 10:15am Subject: DEB News: Happy asthma day Last Wednesday (May 3, 2000) was designated World Asthma Day. Scientists have no clue why asthma rates are soaring and why 30% of children in countries such as Canada and Australia are effected by asthma. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary05.html#185 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 153 From: David Rietz Date: Wed May 10, 2000 9:58am Subject: DEB News: The big gulp I should be in bed resting according to the experts, but my body is telling me to dance and hug trees. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary05.html#186 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 154 From: David Rietz Date: Thu May 11, 2000 6:37am Subject: DEB News: USDA promotes biotechnology on the internet The United States Department of Agriculture has a link to Monsanto on their government website. This blatant commercial is an insult to all Americans, and one wonders at the cost of that ad. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary05.html#187 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 155 From: David Rietz Date: Fri May 12, 2000 12:01pm Subject: DEB News: Winds of war David vs. Goliath. Monsanto vs. a small Canadian farmer. Who will be the winner? http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary05.html#188 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 156 From: Robert Cohen Date: Fri May 12, 2000 7:35pm Subject: - - - TEST Attachment 5k (image/jpeg)deb100.jpg 157 From: David Rietz Date: Sat May 13, 2000 7:27am Subject: DEB News: Mad cows at the FDA The Food and Drug Administration has a mad cow disease committee and will be conducting secret and private meetings on June 2, 2000. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary05.html#189 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 158 From: Robert Cohen Date: Sat May 13, 2000 8:59pm Subject: ROBERT COHEN ON RADIO NOW SATURDAY NIGHT 9-11 PM THE ENIGMA CONNECTION http://www.wmcstations.com/am790/live.htm EMAIL questions to: notmilkman@notmilk.com 159 From: Robert Cohen Date: Sun May 14, 2000 6:49am Subject: - - - Got ZITS? http://www.notmilk.com/gotzits.html Today is the 190th day in which I have eaten no solid food, and my 20th day of drinking just water. Am I losing it? You be the judge. People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) asked me to write a few words about teens, acne, and the MILK and DAIRY connection. It took my webmaster (Dave Rietz) a few hours to create the following: By Robert Cohen Executive Director Squeeze an acne pimple and out oozes greasy white, mucousy pus. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allows 750 million pus cells in every liter of milk (about two pounds) produced in America. The dairy industry refers to these pus cells as "somatic cells." The somatic cell count (SCC) is measured in thimblefuls (milliliters). If milk contains more than 750,000 pus cells in one thimbleful (ml), the milk is rejected. In Europe, regulators allow 400 million pus cells per liter. France and Italy are known for their magnificent cheeses. Perhaps that's their secret: Less pus! A two-slice portion (2 ounces) of greasy cooked Canadian bacon contains 33 mg of cholesterol and 4.8 grams of fat. Compare that to a two-ounce portion of mozzarella on a slice of pizza containing 35% more cholesterol (44.5 mg) and 2 1/2 times the amount of fat (12.26 grams). Greasy-gooey delicious pus-filled pizza. If you eat pus with hormones, cholesterol and fat, what will happen to your face? GOT ZITS! HOW MUCH CHEESE DO AMERICAN'S EAT? In 1970, the dairy industry produced 2.2 billion pounds of cheese. The population of the United States was 203 million, which translates to 10.8 pounds of cheese per person. By 1990, America's population had grown to 248 million, but Americans were eating more cheese, 6 billion pounds worth! That's an average of 24 pounds per person. In 1994, according to the USDA, the average American consumed 27.7 pounds of cheese. America's rate of cheese consumption is skyrocketing. Today, America's per-capita cheese consumption has passed the 30- pound per person level. BEHOLD THE POWER OF PUS Constipated by Camembert? Sickened by Swiss? Phlegmed by port wine cheddar? It takes 10 pounds of milk to make one pound of cheese. Therefore, a pound of cheese can contain up to 7.5 billion pus cells. Your next slice of American cheese can legally contain over 468 million pus cells. Got Provolone? Got pus! BEHOLD THE POWER OF GLUE Eighty percent of milk and cheese protein consists of casein, a tenacious glue. Casein is the glue that is used to hold a label to a bottle of beer. Try to scrape off one of those labels, then consider the effects of casein in your body. Casein is the glue that holds together wood in furniture. Behold the power of glue and behold the power of horrible bowel movements. Casein is a foreign protein and your body reacts to its presence by creating an antibody. That antibody-antigen reaction creates histamines. Antihistamines (like Benadryl) are used to counter the effects of histamines. Mucus and phlegm are produced as a result of cheese consumption. Imagine not eating cheese or any other dairy product for just six days. An internal fog will lift from your body as the mucus leaves. Eat just one slice of pizza on day seven, and twelve to fifteen hours later, the mucus will return. Got Gorgonzola? Got glue! BEHOLD THE POWER OF HORMONES Every sip of milk has 59 different powerful hormones. Which ones do you want your little girls to take? Estrogen, progesterone or prolactin? In her lifetime, as a little girl becomes a big girl then a mature woman, she will produce the total equivalent of one tablespoon of estrogen. Hormones work on a nanomolecular level, which means that it takes a billionth of a gram to produce a powerful biological effect. Forty percent of the average American diet consists of milk and dairy products. Last year, the average American ate five ounces per day of meat and chicken and 29.2 ounces a day (666 pounds per year) of milk and dairy products. Ice cream, cheese, and milk contain powerful hormones. One pound of cheese can contain ten times the amount of hormones as one pound of milk. Nursing cows were never supposed to pass on cheese to their calves. They were, however, designed to pass on hormones, lactoferrins, and immunoglobulins in liquid milk to their infants. Got Romano? Got raging hormones! There are four eight-ounce glasses of liquid in a quart of milk. Depending on how you sip your milk, there should be between 20 and 30 million pus cells per mouthful. I recently spoke at the Solidarity Conference at Penn State University. I had a receptive audience that included one dairy major. When it came time for questions, he boldly stood and protested my calling milk "pus with hormones and glue." In defending milk, this Penn State student said that there was no pus in milk. Instead, he said that somatic cells were actually dead white blood cells. He's right, of course. That's what pus is! The pus that teenagers squeeze from the pimples on their faces is an oily accumulation of fat and dead white blood cells. Drink milk? Get PUS. The March 25, 2000 issue of the dairy magazine Hoard's Dairyman contains the standards for the average level of pus cells in a liter of milk sold in America. On page 226, an editorial reveals that the United States average of 307,100,000 pus cells in 1996 increased to 318,000,000 in 1998. America's dairy cows are being stressed, and the amount of pus in their milk has increased by over 3%. I sometimes challenge milk drinkers by asking them if they would drink a glass of milk containing 1,000 pus cells. Hoard's reveals that the average 12-ounce glass of milk in America contains 112,899,408 pus cells. The Hoard's editorial also reveals that the proportion of "cows leaving herd" each year runs in excess of 35%. That means that 3.2 million dairy cows will be sent to McDonalds and Burger King this year because they don't produce enough milk or because they are too sick. (Why is their flesh healthy to eat if their milk is not fit for human consumption?) Finally, the Hoard's editorial reveals that the average cow in America produced in excess of 20,500 pounds of milk in 1999. That's 25.5 quarts per animal per day. One hundred years ago, the average dairy cow produced one quart of milk per day. American teenagers spend billions of dollars on doctors' visits and chemical remedies that cannot work while they continue to eat greasy pus with hormones from one food group. The cure is simple and inexpensive. Want to look your best and have those zits leave in 30 days or less? NOTMILK! Drink water. NOT CHEESE! Eat fruits and veggies. NOT ICE CREAM! Eat sorbet. NOT ZITS! Robert Cohen 160 From: Date: Sun May 14, 2000 1:42pm Subject: New poll for notmilk Enter your vote today! Check out the new poll for the notmilk group: Do you consider the information on cow's milk and dairy, presented to you by Mr. Cohen via his book "Milk, the deadly poison", and/or his two web sites www.notmilk.com and www.hungerstrike.com, credible to you? o Yes, highly credible! o I'm not sure. o No, I am not convinced milk and dairy are bad. To vote, please visit the following web page: http://www.egroups.com/polls/notmilk Note: Please do not reply to this message. Poll votes are not collected via email. To vote, you must go to the eGroups web site listed above. Thanks! 161 From: David Rietz Date: Mon May 15, 2000 11:38am Subject: DEB News: Evolution of revolutionaries These are the times that try men and women's souls, and a few courageous people seek to change things for the betterment of all mankind. Today is the 191st day of no food, and the 21st day in which I am just drinking water. This past week, I read a book called "The Life and Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson," by Adrienne Koch. Two years before the American Revolution began, Jefferson wrote (in my opinion) the single greatest essay in American history. Jefferson's "Summary View of Rights of British America" cited the many injustices of British rule and laid the foundations for the American Revolution. Jefferson's argument for independence addresses tyranny and misrepresentation, the likes of which America is again witnessing at the hands of federal regulatory agencies like the FDA. Jefferson wrote: "Single acts of Tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of a day; but a series of oppressions, begun at a distinguished period, and pursued unalterably through every change of ministers, too plainly prove a deliberate, systematical plan of reducing us to slavery." Two ex-FDA commissioners have gone to work for Monsanto, and FDA has not fairly treated the review process for Monsanto's genetically engineered hormones. These conflicts of interest place the health interests of Americans secondary to the financial interests of those who compromise the integrity of government officials. We are in prison. Bars and shackles, favors traded for laws and policy now prevent us from enjoying our inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. These basic truths that were deemed to be self evident to the founding fathers HAVE been taken away by a series of tyrannical acts. Until FDA labels foods containing genetically engineered organisms, I will continue to protest my loss of liberty. FDA'S tyranny protects pharmaceutical companies and food manufacturers. The rest of the world does not allow such betrayal. Only in America. We deceive ourselves by beliving that we are land of the free. Our media will not tell us the truth, relying upon ad revenue from the betrayors. While I continue my hunger strike, joined by nearly five hundred people who have fasted for one day or longer, another hunger strike continues as protest to one of America's great injustices. In 1997, ex-Attorney General Ramsey Clark spoke of a man that few Americans have heard of, a man who happens to be the most well-known political prisoner on this planet. Clark said: "Until Leonard Peltier's rights are respected, there can be no peace in our hearts and our minds, or if we have courage, in our bodies...it is imperative that we, you and I, secure the freedom of Leonard Peltier." Leonard's tragic story, and those who fast to bring justice: http://www.capecod.net/~spiral Millions of people have come to know of his case and support his freedom. His supporters included the late Mother Theresa, 50 members of the U.S. Congress, the European Parliament, the Dalai Lama, and Amnesty International. Leonard Peltier, a Native-American, is 54 years old, and has lived in a federal prison for the past 24 years. In 1995, US prosecutor Lynn Crooks testified that no evidence exists against Peltier. Remarkably, this testimony came during a parole hearing. Leonard Peltier has a new parole review hearing scheduled for June 12th. He is long overdue for release through parole, and it is one of two remaining options for freedom. The second is executive clemency. A group of 84 people are now fasting for Leonard Peltier. I am fasting for Leonard, in spirit. Each day, for the remainder of my hunger strike, I will spend a few moments and re-visit those principles that made America strong. I will consider the imprisonment of Leonard Peltier. I will consider the spiritual imprisonment of all Americans. An American president can offer clemency and free political prisoners. After reviewing Peltier's story, let Mr. Clinton know how you feel. Peltier's struggle and my struggle are your struggle too. Together, we are all innocent victims to tyranny. Write, phone, fax, and email: President William Clinton The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave Washington, DC 20500 (202)456-1111 (hit 0 to avoid survey) FAX (202)456-2461 president@w... Regards, Robert Cohen 162 From: David Rietz Date: Tue May 16, 2000 9:38am Subject: DEB News: Down under milk cartons Tuesday, May 16 - Day 192 There will be a new warning label on milk containers, and this is no bull. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary05.html#192 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 163 From: David Rietz Date: Wed May 17, 2000 11:24am Subject: DEB News: Something stinks Genetically modified "stink bugs" are attacking America's crops, and farmers are beginning to panic. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary05.html#193 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 164 From: David Rietz Date: Thu May 18, 2000 3:46pm Subject: DEB News: Away from home I have been working away from my home for two days and will return on Saturday. I need the time to meditate and do some uninterrupted writing without the distraction of telephones, television, and e-mail. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary05.html#194 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 165 From: David Rietz Date: Fri May 19, 2000 10:16am Subject: DEB News: Quakers quake and roll over in their graves Last week, shareholders from Quaker Oats Company overwhelmingly defeated a proposal that would have required the company to stop to using genetically modified ingredients in their food products. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary05.html#195 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 166 From: David Rietz Date: Sat May 20, 2000 7:52am Subject: DEB News: Dave's cancer Dave Rietz is my webmaster and he has cancer. Here is his amazing story. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary05.html#196 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 167 From: Robert Cohen Date: Sun May 21, 2000 10:35am Subject: - - - Take the VegPledge and Get Freebies Kevin Nealon's (Saturday Night Live) latest news update: http://www.vegpledge.com (Free Healthy Beginnings Care Package, Free Issue of Vegetrian Times magazine) 168 From: David Rietz Date: Sun May 21, 2000 12:07pm Subject: DEB News: Women who drink milk have increased rates of uterine cancer The most amazing part of the largest medical study in history will soon be published by Harvard University. Milk and uterine cancer? Here's the new evidence. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary05.html#197 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 169 From: David Rietz Date: Mon May 22, 2000 1:47pm Subject: DEB News: FDA commissioner meets the NOTMILKMAN FDA Commissioner Jane Henney, MD, and Robert Cohen appeared together on National Public Radio show. Was her response to Cohen's question the response of a physician or a politician? Today is the 198th day of my hunger strike and the 28th day of my drinking just water. On Friday (May 12, 2000), I had the opportunity to ask FDA Commissioner Jane Henney a question about genetically engineered milk hormones. FDA has concluded that hormones in milk do not work because the proteins are destroyed in the human stomach. Such an admission can only mean that FDA believes that breastfeeding does not work. I just received the transcript of that show, broadcast on National Public Radio's "Talk of the Nation/Science Friday." Ira Flatow is the host. Robert: "Genetically engineered bovine growth hormone - - the White House called it the greatest controversy in FDA history. This happened before Commissioner Henney's watch. But I recently went through a six-month process that the Commissioner is familiar with and the major conclusion that the team of scientists at the FDA made was that these dietary proteins-the rbGH, recombinant bovine growth hormone-are destroyed by digestive enzymes. In other words, they're concluding that breastfeeding doesn't work, that immunoglobulins and lactoferrins do not survive digestion. And I think there's a flaw in the FDA thinking and I've already sent a letter to the Commissioner just this past week requesting a formal hearing to determine that not only does breastfeeding work but milk is a hormonal delivery system and when you genetically engineer milk, levels of powerful growth hormones increase. Commissioner, what do you feel?" Dr. Henney: "Well, actually I was at the FDA when the discussion about growth hormone took place. That discussion was also held in many public forums, both before our food advisory committee, our veterinary medicine advisory and a combination thereof. And I think that the conclusion of all of the groups that looked at that decision was that this milk essentially was the same as other milk and was, therefore, safe. But I will look forward to seeing your letter and we will evaluate it thoroughly." Ira Flatow: "Thank you, Robert." Dr. Henney did not answer my question about breastfeeding. Does it work? Scientists at FDA have told me that it does not. The final decision (which is now under appeal) to my petition to revoke the bovine growth hormone contains this language: "Like most dietary proteins, rbGH is degraded by digestive enzymes in gastrointestinal tract and not absorbed intact." (Page 8) This assumption is incorrect. Milk was "designed" so that these proteins would survive digestion. That is the crux of my argument against genetically engineered milk. Biotechnology has created a new milk containing increased levels of powerful growth hormones. The milk has changed. The commissioner is incorrect. I applaud the Commissioner for once having said: "I truly believe science must underpin our decision-making process. Science must support and guide the critical policy decisions that we at FDA make. FDA plays a central role in the administration's push to improve the safety of the nation's food supply." When introducing Henney at her 1998 swearing-in ceremony, Vice-President Al Gore said: "The FDA regulates products accounting for approximately 25 cents on every consumer dollar-worth more than $1 trillion annually." Dr. Henney has served on many commissions, but one role deeply concerns me. She has been a consultant to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Kellogg's cereals have been a staple of the American breakfast, and most of their products are served with milk. From 1980-1985, Dr. Henney was also the director of the National Cancer Institute. Nobody had heard of IGF-I while she was the director. Twenty years ago, one out of four people was expected to die from cancer. One out of fifteen women was expected to get breast cancer. Today, one out of three will die of cancer, and 39.6 percent of women between the ages of 40 and 50 have breast cancer (New York Times, November 8, 1994, page C1). What Henney did between 1980 and 1985 was ineffective. What she does about milk and the IGF-I connection will become her legacy. Robert Cohen 170 From: David Rietz Date: Tue May 23, 2000 12:23pm Subject: DEB News: GOT MILK? NOT IN INDIA Gandhi proclaims that milk is a deadly poison. http://www.notmilk.com/hs/diary05.html#199 for the rest of the story. Robert Cohen 171 From: Robert Cohen Date: Wed May 24, 2000 4:23pm Subject: - - - JUNE 6TH --- MAJOR RADIO SHOW People have told me that I should appear on the ART BELL radio show, but that will never happen, since Bell has recently retired. Bell has been replaced by MIKE SIEGEL, whose COAST TO COAST show is heard by millions of late-night/early morning listeners on 450 radio stations across America. I will be Mike's guest on Tuesday, June 6th! (11 PM, Pacific Time, 2AM New York Time) You can listen LIVE ON THE INTERNET: http://www.coasttocoastam.com OR...call my office for the station in your area: 201-871-5871. In New York: WABC AM Chicago: WLS AM Los Angeles: KABC AM (THANKS TO ALIX CASSADAY FOR BOOKING THIS SHOW!) Robert Cohen 172 From: Robert Cohen Date: Thu May 25, 2000 8:42am Subject: - - - HELP NEEDED FOR STEVE & JANE Steve Wilson and Jane Akre are the courageous TV reporters who were fired because they would not edit their story on Monsanto's genetically engineered bovine growth hormone. On June 1st, Steve & Jane will be conducting depositions in Washington, DC. A few weeks ago, Steve deposed Walter Cronkite in New York City. The court reporter was kind enough to lower his fee for Steve, allowing an enormous discount. They have been looking for a similar "deal" in Washington, but have so far been unsuccessful. Do you know a lawyer or reporting service in the nation's capitol? Please contact Steve if you can help: 727-796-6504 http://www.foxbghsuit.com 173 From: Robert Cohen Date: Fri May 26, 2000 9:00pm Subject: - - - WIN THE CONTEST - FREE BOOKS Thanks to Paul Grignon's for designing this graphic: http://www.notmilk.com/moofrig.jpg FILL THE BUBBLE (put words in the cow's mouth) and win $50 worth of books: Signed copy of MILK: The Deadly Poison CALCIYUM - The cookbook Mad Cows and Milkgate Moooove Over Milk One winner for the funniest/cleverest 'one liner' Robert Cohen 174 From: David Rietz Date: Sun May 28, 2000 7:29pm Subject: DEB News: Held in contempt Sunday, May 26 Held In Contempt Today marks the 204th day of my hunger strike. America is the land of freedom, and one of those freedoms is an expectation of accountability from federal agencies. One privilege afforded to Americans is the freedom to obtain information. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) allows citizens the right to request agency documents. In this manner, checks and balances insure that federal agencies conduct their business in an ethical manner. On March 15th, I filed a FOIA (pronounced foyer) request for information regarding a manufacturing error during the production of Monsanto's genetically engineered bovine growth hormone. I obtained an internal Monsanto document that revealed the contamination of 1,650 pounds of tainted product. Had Monsanto informed FDA that something was wrong with their manufacturing process? The Justice Department mandates that federal agencies respond to FOIA requests within 20 "business" days. FDA acknowledged my request on March17, and assigned to it docket #00007428. April 14 would have marked the twentieth business day. A request filed by FAX on March 15 is now 72 days overdue. On April 11, I learned that FDA had actually decided that genetically engineered foods would be safe for Americans to consume based upon one 28-day oral toxicity rat feeding study. I wrote about that on Day 161 of my hunger strike. That decision was made by one person, Judy Juskevich, who wrote: "Based on the results of the oral feeding study and our knowledge of the characteristics and biological activity of bovine somatotropin, we have no objection to granting the sponsor's requests." That 28-day study was "pivotal" in FDA's decision. It was more than pivotal. The entire approval was based upon that lone study. Milk from dairy herds treated with Monsanto's hormone were introduced into America's milk supply because FDA deemed that milk was safe to drink eight years before the hormone was approved. A second FOIA request (docket #00007428) to review the actual study was filed on April 11. FDA acknowledged that request on 4/13. FDA's due date was 5/11. The first FOIA request was filed 72 days ago, and the second was filed 44 days ago. FDA is in violation of the law. Ignoring laws, rules, and regulations empowers a criminal to hold the victim's rights in contempt. The FDA is the criminal, and the American people are the victims. The responsibility for these crimes leads through the chain of command to the desk on one individual, FDA Commissioner Jane Henney. If and when FDA answers these requests, I expect no justice. I have given up hope for a fair hearing. FDA has proven that individual rights are subordinated to those rights of pharmaceutical companies. I cannot offer employment to ex-FDA commissioners in the same manner that Monsanto has done for Michael Freidman and Arthur Hull Hayes. America had held hope that a woman at FDA'S helm would bring a more gentle and ethical approach. How naïve we were. I hold FDA in contempt. Robert Cohen 175 From: David Rietz Date: Mon May 29, 2000 10:26am Subject: DEB News: The End Monday, May 29 2000 Today is the 205th and FINAL day of my hunger strike. I have accomplished all that I am capable of. I possess the secret study in which laboratory animals got cancer from Monsanto's genetically engineered bovine growth hormone. That study was authored by Richard, Odaglia, and Deslex, and if I release the study I will go to jail. On October 11, 1996, the Economic Espionage Act was signed into law by President Clinton. That law was enacted in the middle of my federal lawsuit seeking the release of that study and sent a clear message to me. If I reveal Monsanto's trade secret I will be committing treason and be subject to a $10 million dollar fine and 15 years incarceration in a federal prison. A few months after the law was signed, President Clinton delivered his State of the Union address and praised Monsanto as a company to lead America into the 21st century. I have offered this study to Marian Burros of the New York Times and will agree to take my chances if it is published on the front page. Is going to jail worth revealing the horrors of what happened to lab animals? Is going to jail worth preventing a poison from entering the bodies of my children and yours? I would do so, only if my act became more than just a scream in the darkness. I will not "piss into the wind," for who would bear witness to my anguish? Just myself. I have attempted to work within "the system," relying upon the ethics and morality of unbiased FDA reviewers. Unfortunately, there exists no such creature. The only hope, then, is to bring the truth about genetically engineered foods to the American people. You have read my account, and I hope that you are now armed with the proper tools and wisdom and share this diary with people you love and care for. Today I end my hunger strike, and will continue to spread the word of truth. The next time you hear a whistle blowing inside of a supermarket or outdoors, look for me. That will be my statement. One whistle. One thousand whistles. Millions of whistles. Let us join together and become whistle blowers. Let us send a piercing cry to the hearts and psyches of those who betray. We can no longer permit ourselves to blindly place the health of our children in the hands of those with conflicts of interest. This healing must now be taken directly to the people. Robert Cohen 176 From: David Rietz Date: Tue May 30, 2000 12:44pm Subject: DEB: TREE OF LIFE Daily "Squirt" of NOTMILK wisdom :-) Tuesday, May 30 TREE OF LIFE "When the woman saw that the tree was good for eating and a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable as a source of wisdom, she took of its fruit and ate: and she gave some to her husband also, and he ate." - Genesis 3:6 And the Lord God said, "Now that the man has become like one of us, knowing good and bad, what if he should stretch out his hand and take also from the Tree of Life and eat, and live forever!"- Genesis 3:22 Today I ate my first food in 206 days, an organically grown apple. I peeled the skin, removed the core, and savored each slice of life-giving fruit. I chewed each piece slowly and contemplated what I've learned in the previous 205 days. I've gained enormous wisdom, and I have an obligation to work harder in sharing what I know with those who are naïve. In doing so, I shall become a guide and do all that I can to deliver people back to the garden. Robert Cohen 177 From: David Rietz Date: Wed May 31, 2000 11:49am Subject: DEB News: Ask the milk people Daiy Squirt of NOTMILK Wisdom Wednesday, May 31 Ask the milk people The Dairy Industry is coming to the New York area, and their goal is to infect little children with their propaganda. Why not celebrate National Dairy month by attending this event with your kids? The milk mustache fiends will be doing their thing at the CHILDREN'S MUSEUM in Garden City, Long Island on June 24th and June 25th, from 1:00 P.M. - 4:00 P.M.. Ask the milk people: What happens to the baby male calves? What happens to the cows when they no longer give milk? Why is there so much pus in milk? Why should my children drink estrogen and other hormones each day? Why are the nations with the highest bone disease rates also the nations drinking the most milk? Why are the nations with the highest breast cancer rates also the ones with the highest rates of milk consumption? Why will Australia and New Zealand be adding warning labels to milk cartons? Why did the New England Journal of Medicine warn that no child under the age of one ever drink whole milk? There are hundreds more questions, and if you read the columns and squirts at the notmilk.com site, this can become a very interesting learning opportunity for those who push bovine body fluids on our children. http://www.notmilk.com The museum is located across the street from the Roosevelt Field Mall. Admission fee is $5. Free parking. Many family restaurants are nearby. DIRECTIONS: Meadowbrook Parkway to Stewart Avenue. 550 Stewart Avenue Garden City, NY 11530 516-222-0207 Robert Cohen 178 From: David Rietz Date: Thu Jun 1, 2000 11:36am Subject: DEB News: WATCH WHERE YOU STEP Thursday, June 1 WATCH WHERE YOU STEP The news from California is not good for Old MacDonald's family farm. A giant West Coast cotton-growing company is getting into the dairy business, and the enormity of their project terrifies traditional family dairy farms. California has just approved a 48,000-cow factory farm, authorized by the Kings County board of supervisors. The 6,000-acre farm will be spilt into four separate dairies. The average cow in America produces 20,500 pounds of milk per year. That includes Brown Swiss, Jerseys, and Guernseys. The largest, best- producing, hormone-treated Holsteins produce upwards of 30,000 pounds per animal per year. This new operation has the potential to produce nearly 1.5 billion pounds of milk annually. Greater than 50% of America's milk is used to make ice cream and cheese, and America's intake of saturated fats through these products is soaring, as liquid milk intake declines. On February 3, 2000 (Day 89 of my hunger strike), I wrote: "There are 9.2 million dairy cows working full time to produce 170 billion pounds of milk per year for American consumers. Those 9.2 million cows produce 257.6 billion pounds of manure per year. That's almost 706 million pounds per day of manure ('manure' includes urine and feces). One cubic foot of manure weighs almost 64 pounds. There are 7,956 pounds of manure produced every second of every day." The 48,000 cows on that future California farm will produce 3,682,200 pounds of manure per day, or enough manure to occupy 57,534 cubic feet. That's 21 million cubic feet per year. One cubic foot of manure would cover an area (1 mm thick/the width of 5 pieces of paper) equal to 300 square feet. The yearly deposit of feces from 48,000 cows would cover 6.3 billion square feet, or 144,000 acres, or 258.26 square miles. That's enough manure to cover the entire city of Chicago and have plenty left over for San Francisco. Super factory farms are on their way to a state near you. Watch where you step. Robert Cohen 179 From: Robert Cohen Date: Fri Jun 2, 2000 7:30am Subject: PHONY INTERNET SITE CRUELTY FREE? There is a phony Internet site called PLANET VEGGIE, and they are only in it for the money. http://www.planetveggie.com They promote cruelty-free products. The lead story on their website says: "Don't Kill Your Mother Have you ever looked into a cow's eyes? Have you ever seen her get killed?" In the name of vegetarianism and non-animal abuse, this website sells powdered goat's milk. In order for a goat to produce milk for human consumption, she must first birth a baby goat. On goat farms, what do you imagine happens to baby male goats? Compassion to animals is the least important factor in any dairy operation. Dairy farms exist to enslave animals, and the dairy industry represents the least compassionate form of the factory-farm business. When the young animals are separated from their mothers, their tortured cries bring nightmares to all who process the milk. Robert Cohen 180 From: David Rietz Date: Sat Jun 3, 2000 7:27am Subject: DEB News: THE COWS ARE COMING TO NEW YORK Saturday, June 3 THE COWS ARE COMING TO NEW YORK Five hundred fiberglass cow sculptures will occupy New York City's five boroughs beginning next week, and this NOTMILKMAN is not pleased. Last summer, a similar cow parade graced the streets of Chicago, and proved to be an enormous tourist attraction. It is estimated that 40 million people saw the Chicago cow parade. Cows were decorated in calico, madras, stripes, stars, and clown costumes. New York city sponsors are paying $7500 per cow. This should generate nearly $4 million dollars for the sponsor. These parades celebrate animal abuse, and the city of Cincinnati is planning a pig parade for the Fall. Miami will follow with a flamingo or dolphin parade according to Connecticut attorney Jerome Elbaum, owner of the cow parade statues. The dairy industry will be sponsoring many of the cows. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) wanted to sponsor a cow to decry animal abuse, but their request was denied. PETA is now in court suing for that right. Anybody have an appropriate idea as to how to deal with this summer's bovine invasion? Robert Cohen 181 From: David Rietz Date: Sun Jun 4, 2000 7:21pm Subject: DEB News: NON-DAIRY WHIPPED FRENZY Sunday, June 4 NON-DAIRY WHIPPED FRENZY I was away from home this weekend and brought along my meals. One dozen bananas, six apples, and six pears were my nourishment. Arriving home, my daughters surprised me with a homemade cake. "No milk, dad! No eggs or animal products." Their enthusiasm became my pleasure, and despite my pledge to eat just raw fruit and veggies, I promised my daughters that I would have a small piece this evening. The drive home took six hours, and I pulled into the driveway at the same time as my wife with her carload of groceries. Tired as I was, I helped carry packages to the kitchen and began to un-bag and put away sundries into the fridge and kitchen cabinets. One item caught my eye. "Why did you buy this," I asked? There in my hand was an eight-ounce container of supermarket brand non-dairy dessert topping. My wife and kids have heard me lecture about the hidden presence of dairy products in food on many occasions. The front of a package often claims that the product is dairy-free, and the small print on the rear of that same package reveals that the non-dairy cream-like topping contains sodium caseinate, a milk derivative. Cancer fears occupy the thoughts of most American woman over the age of 30, and my wife, Lisa is no exception. Every twinge or lump becomes cause for concern, and the dairy link to breast cancer is supported by hundreds of scientific studies. Dr. T. Colin Campbell, professor of nutritional science at Cornell University links the milk protein casein as a factor in breast cancer. Columnist Jane Brody of the New York Times called Campbell's "China Project" the "Cadillac of nutritional studies." The best nutritional advice can be accessed at Dr. Campbell's site. Review the following studies and be armed with the facts about living a healthy lifestyle: http://www.newcenturynutrition.com/NCN/newsletter.shtml My family has not yet learned how to read labels. This is very frustrating to me. If the label says "casein," it's from a cow. Let this column embarrass my wife and put the woman in charge of my family's food budget on notice. From hereon, if the label says casein, I will be throwing the product in the garbage. Robert Cohen 182 From: Robert Cohen Date: Mon Jun 5, 2000 8:39am Subject: INSTRUCTIONS FOR NOTMILK NEWSLETTER Four hundred daily newsletters (squirts of notmilk wisdom) are archived by date at: ARCHIVE http://www.notmilk.com/deb/squirts.html (hungerstrike diary: November 7, 1999 - May 29, 2000) Seventy-five columns on a variety of subjects: COLUMNS: http://www.notmilk.com/deb/column.html 183 From: Robert Cohen Date: Mon Jun 5, 2000 8:39am Subject: INSTRUCTIONS FOR NOTMILK NEWSLETTER Four hundred daily newsletters (squirts of notmilk wisdom) are archived by date at: ARCHIVE http://www.notmilk.com/deb/squirts.html (hungerstrike diary: November 7, 1999 - May 29, 2000) Seventy-five columns on a variety of subjects: COLUMNS: http://www.notmilk.com/deb/column.html Robert Cohen 184 From: David Rietz Date: Mon Jun 5, 2000 2:29pm Subject: DEB News: SHOOT THE HEADLINE WRITER Monday, June 5 SHOOT THE HEADLINE WRITER Yesterday's New York Times acted responsibly by placing a genetic engineering story in their Sunday edition (June 4, 2000). However, key words, such as biotechnology and genetic engineering were missing from the headline, which read: "Modified Foods Put Companies in a Quandary" The Times should have slammed hypocritical food manufacturers by exposing their contradictory policies. Many companies respond to consumer demands by removing genetically modified organisms from one product while leaving it in another. Frito-Lay announced that it would not use genetically engineered corn in its Dorito chips, but continues to use corn syrup made from genetically engineered corn in its Pepsi. McDonalds no longer accepts genetically engineered potatoes for its French fries, but cooks those fries in vegetable oil made from Monsanto's genetically engineered corn. Gerber Baby Foods has banned genetically engineered ingredients from creamed corn and mixed vegetables, but what is now safer for babies does not apply to adults. Gerber is owned by Novartis, the Swiss pharmaceutical company that produces the seeds for genetically engineered corn. One very interesting comment was buried deep within the article. Kraft Foods' chief executive, Betsy Holden, commented that consumers were supporting genetically engineered foods and that her company had received very few complaints. The last part of her comment was what I found very interesting. Holder said: "Consumer calls here are very low. We get more calls about aspartame." The largest anti-aspartame Internet website http://www.dorway.com is owned by the passionate and dedicated webmaster of the NOTMILK site, Dave Rietz. Dave's 15 hour/7 days per week mission has a common denominator, Monsanto. Although Monsanto recently sold off its aspartame unit and merged with Upjohn forming a new company, Pharmacia, they continue to reap benefits from those poisons in our food supply. Robert Cohen 185 From: Robert Cohen Date: Tue Jun 6, 2000 7:36am Subject: GOT INSOMNIA? Dear Friends, Robert "Not Milkman" Cohen (moi) will be a guest on the international AM radio show "Coast to Coast" on June 6th, 11-1 AM Pacific time, 2-4 AM EST. If you're in North America you will be able to get it. Art Bell has been replaced by MIKE SIEGAL whose late nite/early morning radio show is heard on 450 stations across North America. You can also tune in on the Internet: http://www.CoastToCoastAM.com Note: Technically, listeners in the East will be tuning in on the 7th, since it's after midnight. To talk to Robert Cohen on the show, or pose a question for the host: U.S. / Canada Numbers Western US: 800-618-8255 (toll free) Eastern US:800-825-5033 (toll free) First time caller Line: 541-665-0520 Wild Card Line: 541-665-0521 (anyone can call) International Toll Free: (ATT USA Direct Access Number) 800-893-0903 Mike Siegel E-Mail: mikesiegel@c... Fax: (206) 325-4500 (2 Page MAX) Find out where your nearest stations are: http://www.CoastToCoastAM.com/stations.html 186 From: David Rietz Date: Tue Jun 6, 2000 9:41am Subject: DEB News: BATGIRL is no longer CLUELESS Tuesday, June 6 BATGIRL is no longer CLUELESS Alicia Silverstone may be just 23 years old, but she has great wisdom, and she's become the darling of the NOTMILK movement. At a recent promotion tour for her new movie-musical adaptation of Shakespeare's "Love's Labour's Lost," Silverstone admitted that she has become a new person since giving up all dairy products two years ago. Silverstone sings in the new movie and recognizes what opera stars and Broadway performers have long known. Milk or cheese before a performance will create a nasal voice and cause stomach distress to the performer. Silverstone commented: "It's like pure mucous. It's just creepy. No other species drinks milk from any other species. It's completely mental." Alicia was asked what happened to her body when she stopped consuming milk and dairy products. "My skin became, like, completely glowy. I lost all this weight. I started pooping right." Here's something we would like to see. Alicia, how about posing for carrot juice-mustache ad to grace the NOTMILK site? More and more young fans are beginning to follow your lead. The most recent issue of the dairy industry magazine Hoard's Dairyman (May 25, 2000) contains an editorial complaining about the growing popularity of vegetarian diets among high school and college students. Hoard's writes: "Rare is the family gathering that doesn't include at least one teen who will pass on the beef or pork, if not the dairy products and chicken as well." Silverstone has become an advocate for both animal and people rights. By abusing animals, we abuse our own bodies. The actress said: "They take…the cows that are deemed unfit for human consumption, and they're all ground up and fed back to cows and chickens and turkeys and pigs." Alicia, we applaud you. You are a role model who has forsaken millions in endorsements to promote good health by your ethical and compassionate message. Robert Cohen 187 From: David Rietz Date: Wed Jun 7, 2000 11:18am Subject: DEB News: SUPREME INSULT Wednesday, June 7 SUPREME INSULT In John Grisham's "Pelican Brief," two Supreme Court justices are assassinated, and a young law student (in the movie version, Julia Roberts) figures out the big business/big law firm conspiracy connection. Monsanto groomed one of their attorneys, Clarence Thomas, for the Supreme Court. In 1978, Thomas worked for King & Spaulding, Monsanto's law firm. One day, biotechnology issues are going to reach the Supreme Court, and one can only anticipate Thomas' payback for his former employer. I have investigated other justices and had yet to find a connection to biotechnology firms. That is until this past Sunday. The New York Times Business section (Sunday, June 4, 2000) ran an article about Microsoft's anti-trust case, and cited the newest justice, a Clinton-appointee, Stephen Breyer. That article got my attention when it reported a speech made by Justice Breyer a few weeks ago at a biotechnology conference in Massachusetts. Supreme Court justices are supposed to be unbiased, yet Breyer's comments included this statement: "I believe that in this age of science we must build legal foundations that are sound in science, as well as in law." Justice Breyer is on the board of directors of DANA-FARBER Cancer Institute, which is now performing clinical trials on genetically engineered therapies. Those trials include pharmaceuticals that are before FDA for fast-track approval. One of those drugs is thalidomide, which will be used in breast cancer studies. Supreme Court justices should be attorneys and scholars with unbiased credentials. There are now two justices on the Supreme Court who may very well one day make the difference by casting their votes for those whose bottom line is making money. Robert Cohen 188 From: David Rietz Date: Thu Jun 8, 2000 9:58am Subject: DEB News: TROUBLE SWALLOWING THEIR TALE Thursday, June 8 TROUBLE SWALLOWING THEIR TALE Unless I metamorphosed myself into a Kafke-like vision of a black swallowtail butterfly, I will always remain a human. I will not become a guinea pig or a rabbit or a chimpanzee, and I will certainly not become a rat unless I one day sell out and go to work for the Food & Drug Administration. The point I wish to make in today's column is that I am not a laboratory animal, and laboratory animals are not humans. Hundreds of years ago, Jonathan Swift wrote about an island of research scientists that floated above the earth's surface. Swift's descriptions of research studies appear as absurd to today's reader as present-day research will appear to 22nd century philosophers, sociologists, and scientists. If I was to examine just one tree in the Amazon rainforest, I would be able to produce 6,000 different species of life occupying a living eco-system. Each of those species interacts synergistically with the others, and each of those species is an individual unto itself and completely different from its neighbors. Some species are killed if the temperatures get too hot, and some thrive and multiply in the heat. Some creatures are killed by pollens from a neighboring plant, while others use that pollen for food. Nature is diverse in its beauty and characteristics, and it would be absurd to compare a swallowtail butterfly to a mallard duck despite the fact that both fly. Why then do scientists expect to extrapolate swallowtail butterfly research data to demonstrate human safety? On Tuesday, June 6, the New York Times Science section contained a story with this headline: "Type of Biotech Corn Found to be Safe to a Butterfly Species" Within that same article, it was reported that the researchers found that another type of biotech corn was toxic to swallowtail butterflies. Is the public's perception of genetic engineering to be formed by the whims and skills of a headline writer? The researcher performing the study suggested that 100 different species of butterflies and moths could be affected by genetically engineered pollen. However, that key piece of information was not revealed until the end of the column and was certainly not indicated by the misleading headline. Humans are not butterflies. The deception of science and government regulatory agencies is that Americans are made to believe that genetically engineered foods are identical to those foods which they replaced. The phrase that these regulators use is "substantial equivalence." I see their point and agree that I am substantially equivalent to the swallowtail butterfly. Like that angel of flight, I too wish to be free. Robert Cohen 189 From: Robert Cohen Date: Thu Jun 8, 2000 11:44am Subject: - - - THE REMEDY FOR A LONG CAR RIDE __________________________________________________________________ Robert Cohen on the ART BELL/MIKE SIEGAL show is now available on cassette tape. CALL ART BELL'S toll-free number: 1-800-917-4278 Cost is $27.50 NOTE: I make ZERO money on this tape, but it was a terrific program! My office has received over 1,000 phone calls from that show! __________________________________________________________________ My book (Milk: The Deadly Poison) is also available on two cassette tapes (180 minutes). If you like, you can buy it at half price $8.50 and we'll pay for the shipping, and get it to you before FATHER'S DAY! (HINT!!!) Call: 1-888-NOT-MILK (668-6455) _________________________________________________________________ Robert Cohen 190 From: Robert Cohen Date: Thu Jun 8, 2000 4:42pm Subject: - - - GARDEN OF EDEN Vegetarian Summerfest 2000 on-campus housing is selling out, but there's still time to register! Asheville, North Carolina was been voted the nicest small town in America, and the University campus will be the home for this summer's Vetetarian Summerfest 2000. The weekend housing has been SOLD OUT, but there are still rooms available for the full session (July 5 - 9). Five hundred people are coming, and there is only room for about 100 more. Don't get shut out! If there are things you'd like to learn about vegetarianism...if you could use a dose of inspiration...if you like eating great tasting food (without having to clean up afterward)...if you'd like to make some new vegetarian friends (or see old ones)...if you'd like to have some fun... if you could use a vacation...then Vegetarian Summerfest 2000 may be the place for you. For further details contact: North American Vegetarian Society PO Box 72 Dolgeville NY 13329 (518) 568-7970 navs@t... http://www.navs-online.org/fest00 (you can register right from their webpage) JOIN ME FOR FIVE DAYS OF HEAVEN! Robert Cohen 191 From: Robert Cohen Date: Fri Jun 9, 2000 7:21am Subject: - - - INTERVIEW IS NOW ONLINE ART BELL SHOW/ MIKE SIEGEL'S INTERVIEW OF ROBERT COHEN GOTO: http://www.notmilk.com 192 From: David Rietz Date: Fri Jun 9, 2000 9:11am Subject: DEB News: Friday, June 9 APPLES AND ORANGES Before children learn their ABCs, they are taught to add concepts, like apples and oranges. First grade students know that six apples plus six oranges make a lot of fruit salad, but do not add up to twelve pieces of fruit with the same name. The Grocery Manufacturers of America (GMA) are supporting genetic engineering and, in doing so, applying an extremely convoluted form of logic. Do apple growers commingle their fruit with fresh picked produce from orange or peach farms? Do soy growers mix their little white beans with kernels of corn? GMA expects Americans to believe that genetically engineered corn cannot be separated from the wholesome product which it replaced. Don't farmers go from field to field, harvest their crops, and ship it to the processor separately? Why would anybody mix wheat and barley or grapes and potatoes? Genetically engineered foods are very different, and herein lies the problem. If I buy juice, I want to know the ingredients. If I buy bread, I have a right to know whether milk powder was used to make that bread. Labeling laws exist because consumers have a right to know what they are eating. GMA has long forgotten that apples and oranges have different characteristics. I don't go to the supermarket to buy fruit. I go to buy apples or oranges. It would be an easy matter for growers to segregate their crops and for processors to process one product or the other. It has come time to calculate the risks, and the explanations of biotechnology supporters just do not add up. Robert Cohen 193 From: Robert Cohen Date: Fri Jun 9, 2000 10:12am Subject: - - - INTERNET RADIO SHOW TONIGHT 7PM EST REAL TALK NETWORK http://www.realtalknetwork.com Robert Cohen 194 From: Robert Cohen Date: Fri Jun 9, 2000 6:08pm Subject: - - - VERY LATE NOTICE MY RADIO SHOW BEGINS IN 50 MINUTES (7PM, EST) ASK A QUESTION: 877-485-8197 [tollfree] Log on line at: http://www.realtalknetwork.com/beta/ Robert Cohen 195 From: David Rietz Date: Sat Jun 10, 2000 11:57pm Subject: DEB News: GUESS WHAT YOU HAD FOR BREAKFAST THIS MORNING? Saturday, June 10 GUESS WHAT YOU HAD FOR BREAKFAST THIS MORNING? This past week, a full-page ad appeared in many of America's largest newspapers, asking the above question. In the ad was a large glass of milk, a cup of cream, a pat of butter, some sausage and bacon, and each had the tag "Contains Dioxin." I spoke with the author of that public service message, Monica Rohde, who runs the dioxin campaign for the Center for Health, Environment and Justice (CHEJ). http://www.chej.org CHEJ and hundreds of other organizations anxiously await the soon-to-be-issued report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Our preview of EPA's report reveals that the report will say that the dioxins in our milk and cheese are ten times more of a cancer risk than had been previously believed. Last summer, the dairy industry closed in Brussels for one month because milk and dairy products were found to contain 100 times the safe level of dioxins. A few months ago, tests on Ben & Jerry's vanilla ice cream revealed that America's delicious dessert contained 200 times the safe level of dioxins. When Ben & Jerry's learned that their product contained dangerously high levels of dioxins, their response was "It's in the environment." Our response? Indeed! Eat body fluids from diseased animals and you eat concentrated quantities of pesticides and dioxins. Concentrate these body fluids into cheese (10 pounds of milk make 1 pound of cheese) or ice cream (12 pounds of milk make one pound of ice cream) and you increase risk. Robert Cohen 196 From: David Rietz Date: Sun Jun 11, 2000 10:07am Subject: DEB News: Early Sexual Maturity and Milk Hormones Guest editorial in the San Francisco Chronicle Early Sexual Maturity and Milk Hormones By Robert Cohen, Sunday, 11 June 2000 June is that special month honoring dads and grads. I have been blessed with three daughters; the first in high school, the second in middle school, and the third in elementary school. The excitement of three graduations recently produced a sense of nostalgia, and a trip to my attic located a sought-after goal; a box of dad's "old" school photos. My youngest daughter is in sixth grade, and my own sixth grade photograph brought about pleasant memories. It also triggered a surprise. Most of the boys in my class looked sharp in their Cub Scout uniforms, and our crew cuts depicted the symbolic hairstyle of the early 60's. Photos of my eleven-year-old friends resemble today's young boys. Little has changed, and generations of boys have been made of frogs and snails and puppy dog tails. Today's little girls, though, are shockingly different. Eleven-year old girls from my day were flat-chested. There is no denying the photographic evidence. A scan of today's pre-teen schoolyard cannot disguise the number of large-busted sexually mature girls. A recent series of phone calls to my friends confirmed that my own experience was not unusual. Today's girls are very different. In my own sixth grade photo, there was Gail with pigtails, and Ellen with her irresistible smile, hands neatly folded on her desk. One little girl after another exhibited none of the budding signs of early sexual development that baffle today's sociologists and endocrinologists. Today, little girls are made up of more than just sugar, spice, and everything nice. These girls of the twenty-first century are maturing earlier than last generation's children, and something is very different about their womanly physical attributes and behavior. Could there be a food link to this mystery? In 1970, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the dairy industry produced 2.2 billion pounds of cheese. The population of the United States was 203 million, which translates to an average of 10.8 pounds of cheese per person. By 1990, America's population had grown to 248 million, and Americans were eating more cheese, 6 billion pounds worth. That's an average of 24 pounds per person. In 1994, the average American consumed 27.7 pounds of cheese. As we pass from one millennium into another, America's per-capita cheese consumption has broken the 30-pound per person level. America's rate of cheese consumption is skyrocketing. Since ten pounds of milk are required to produce just one pound of cheese, three hundred pounds of milk are used to manufacture that thirty pounds of cheese. The USDA publishes yearly food consumption data. In 1999, the average American consumed a combined 5 ounces per day of meat and chicken, and 29.2 ounces of milk and dairy products. That's 666 pounds per year per American of dairy products, making this group the largest component of America's diet. Concentrated milk in the form of increased cheese consumption means that concentrated hormones are being consumed. Every sip of cow's milk contains 59 different bioactive hormones, according to endocrinologist Clark Grosvenor in the Journal of Endocrine Reviews in 1992. Milk has always been a hormonal delivery system, providing nursing infants with nature's perfect food for the young of each species. Thousands of studies published in respected peer-reviewed scientific journals report that lactoferrins, immunoglobulins, and hormones in human breast milk provide enormous benefit for nursing humans. In other words, hormones in milk work to exert powerful effects. Each species of mammal has a different formula. Cow's milk contains hormones, and nursing on cow's milk will deliver these hormones to the human body. As a little girl becomes a big girl, then a mature woman, she will naturally produce in her lifetime the equivalent of only one tablespoon of estrogen. Hormones work on a nanomolecular lever, which means that it takes only a billionth of a gram to produce a powerful biological effect. Should little girls be encouraged to pop estrogen, progesterone, and prolactin pills each day? If they drink cow's milk, that is just what they are doing. If they eat cheese and ice cream, they ingest concentrated forms of these hormones. Is early sexual maturity a bad thing, healthwise? Dr. Catherine Berkey, of Brigham Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, examined data from 65,000 participants in the Harvard Nurses' Health Study. Her findings were published in the journal Cancer in 1999. Of the participants, 806 developed breast cancer before menopause and 1,485 developed breast cancer after menopause. Dr. Berkey's comment: "Earlier menarche and taller adult height were predictive of elevated breast carcinoma risk. Our work provided evidence that breast [cancer] risk is influenced by preadulthood factors, and thus prevention efforts that begin in childhood and adolescence may someday be useful." Is it possible to do a controlled scientific study testing this theory? Such a study was actually performed on an entire nation. There is one country where milk consumption was unknown before 1946. In Japan, in every year since 1946, 20,000 persons from 6,100 households have been interviewed and their diets carefully analyzed along with their weights and heights and other factors such as cancer rates and age of puberty (the last measured by the onset of menstruation in young girls). The results of the study were published in Preventive Medicine by Kagawa in 1978. Japan had been devastated by losing a war and was occupied by American troops. Americanization included dietary changes. Milk and dairy products were becoming a significant part of the Japanese diet. According to this study, the per-capita yearly dietary intake of dairy products in 1950 was only 5.5 pounds. Twenty- five years later, the average Japanese ate 117.4 pounds of milk and dairy products. In 1950, the average twelve-year old Japanese girl was 4'6" tall and weighed 71 pounds. By 1975, the average Japanese girl, after changing her diet to include milk and dairy products containing 59 different bioactive hormones, had grown an average of 4 1/2 inches and gained 19 pounds. In 1950, the average Japanese girl had her first menstrual cycle at the age of 15.2 years. Twenty five years later, after a daily intake of estrogen and progesterone from milk, the average Japanese girl was ovulating at the age of 12.2 years, three years younger. Never before had such a dramatic dietary change been seen in such a unique population study. Little girls do not take birth control pills (those hormones are produced from horse urine). Little girls do not inject steroids, and do not require estrogen replacement therapy. Little girls are born with bodies that are genetically pre-programmed to transform them into women. By drinking cow's milk, little girls become big girls long before Mother Nature intended. Robert Cohen 197 From: David Rietz Date: Mon Jun 12, 2000 4:47am Subject: DEB News: PAYING SPIRITUAL RESPECT Monday, June 12 PAYING SPIRITUAL RESPECT "Man cannot pretend to he higher in ethics, spirituality, advancement, or civilization than other creatures, and at the same time live by lower standards than the vulture or hyena." Jay Dinshah 1933 - 2000 Last December, I was one of two hundred who attended a vegetarian conference in Gainesville, Florida.There were speakers and workshops, and a bookstore was maintained by Jay and and his wife, Freya.I purchased $300 worth of books because they were wonderful books, and I wanted them to be a part of my library.I felt good about buying those books from the Dinshahs because, in doing so, I was helping in a very small way to support their mission: to help share the vegan lifestyle through their own example, by motivating and teaching and loving others. In May of 2000, I spoke with Jay.He told me that he would have to leave earlier for the Toronto Vegan festival because the border crossing would take nearly a full day as each book and tape would be inventoried and tariffs paid for every single item.Jay was not looking forward to the experience. Last Thursday, Freya found Jay in his study, dead on the floor. There was no sickness and no warning.Jay had been working early, as he has done every day for the past forty years.Freya will continue their mission. When a loved one dies, those who pay respect do so by sending flowers or making generous donations to a church or foundation.Rather than making a donation, please do something very different.Call the American Vegan Society (856-694-2887) and order a book.Order ten books.Order one hundred books.Buy the book for yourself.Buy the book for a friend.Buy books for libraries.Buy children's books.Buy cookbooks. That would be a tribute to Jay, and I can imagine his smile. Author Joanne Stepaniak wrote: "In 1960, the American Vegan Society was born in the United States, founded by Jay Dinshah. It wholly embraced, and continues to embrace, the principles of its British predecessor, advocating a strictly plant-based diet and lifestyle free of animal products. In addition, the American Vegan Society promotes the philosophy of Ahimsa, a Sanskrit word interpreted as "dynamic harmlessness," along with advocating service to humanity, nature and creation. In other words, in order to practice veganism, it is not sufficient to simply avoid specific foods and products; it is necessary to actively participate in beneficial selfless action as well." Jay Dinshah wrote: "The Pillars of Ahimsa indisputably represent the clearest, surest path out of the jungle, and toward the attainment of that highly desirable goal." Help support Jay's organization.Your tribute and blessing would be to plant the seeds of knowledge contained within the thousands of books in the American Vegan Society's catalogue.Be true to Jay's spirit and support his mission.In death, you can renew Jay's life. Call 856-694-2887 and pay your respects by respecting Jay's mission. With knowledge, there is truth, and with truth, Ahimsa. Robert Cohen 198 From: Robert Cohen Date: Mon Jun 12, 2000 11:05am Subject: http://www.vegsource.com/articles/dinshah.htm (Please visit http://www.vegsource.com/articles/dinshah.htm for the article) 199 From: David Rietz Date: Tue Jun 13, 2000 9:58am Subject: DEB News: STALEMATES AND CHEATS Tuesday, June 13 STALEMATES AND CHEATS When two people play a game of chess, four possible events can occur. Black wins, white wins, there is a tie, or somebody cheats and the remaining pieces get thrown on the floor. Are we simply pawns in FDA's game? Must we act like children and hold our breath until we turn blue? Federal law mandates that agencies such as the FDA respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request no later than twenty days after said receipt. I have learned the hard way that FDA is playing more than chess, they're playing hardball, and in the bottom of the ninth, they've decided to take the bats and balls and bases and go home. I filed an FOIA request (#00005465) on March 17, 2000. Today marks the 62nd day, or 42 days past the legal time limit for FDA's response. I filed another FOIA request (#00007428) on April 13, 2000, which is now 41 days ago. FDA is arrogant. They continuously break the law and thumb their noses at America's citizens who have no such freedom to obtain information that has been promised by the Justice Department. I have nowhere to turn and my letters to Congress have been ignored. To some this problem might seem to be too small. I can see their point. The tip of an iceberg is also very small, but we have got a Titanic problem. We are a society in which our laws and values have broken down, and FDA is immune from the law. Robert Cohen 200 From: David Rietz Date: Wed Jun 14, 2000 5:10pm Subject: DEB News: New York City and COWS ON PARADE! Wednesday, June 14 COWS ON PARADE! Please visit http://www.notmilk.com/cowpie.html for the whole story and graphics. Robert Cohen 201 From: David Rietz Date: Thu Jun 15, 2000 1:16pm Subject: DEB News: ****************** Thursday, June 15 THE BOTTOM LINE ON STUPIDITY Bottom Line, a subsidiary of Boardroom Publications, publishes a monthly health newsletter. The July 2000 issue (vol. 14, no. 7) contains front-page advice regarding diabetes. Francine Kaufman, M.D., director of the Comprehensive Diabetes Program, Children's Hospital in Los Angeles, writes that sugar in corn starch takes up to six hours to break down in the body and, in doing so, helps to prevent a rapid fall in sugar levels which often causes diabetes-induced comas or seizures. Kaufman advises taking one or two teaspoons of cornstarch with a glass of milk. In July of 1992, the New England Journal of Medicine reported: "Studies have suggested that bovine serum albumin is the milk protein responsible for the onset of diabetes." In October of 1992, Scientific American, responding to additional studies linking milk consumption to diabetes, wrote: "The National Dairy Board slogan, 'Milk, It Does a Body Good,' sounds a little hollow these days." In December of 1996 (LANCET, vol. 348, Dec 14, 1996) Simon Murch, MD, of the Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology of the Royal Free Hospital in London wrote: "Cow's milk proteins are unique in one respect: in industrialized countries they are the first foreign proteins entering the infant gut, since most formulations for babies are cow milk-based. The first pilot stage of our IDD prevention study found that oral exposure to dairy milk proteins in infancy resulted in both cellular and immune response... this suggests the possible importance of the gut immune system to the pathogenesis of IDD." Robert Cohen 202 From: Robert Cohen Date: Fri Jun 16, 2000 6:34am Subject: - - - GOT MILK? GOT DIABETES! Cow's Milk May Be Increasing Childhood Diabetes By Suzanne Rostler http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000614/hl/diabetes_milk_1.html Cow's Milk May Increase Child's Risk of Type 1 Diabetes By Suzanne Rostler NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Consuming large quantities of cow's milk during childhood may increase the risk of developing type 1 diabetes in children who arealready genetically susceptible to the disorder, results of a study suggest. The team of Finnish researchers found that children who had a sibling with diabetes were more than five times as likely to develop the autoimmune disorder if they drank more than half a liter (about three glasses) of cow's milk a day, compared with children who drank less milk. Results show that children who developed diabetes were more likely to have consumed at least three glasses of milk daily before entering the study. SOURCE: Diabetes 2000;49:912-917. 203 From: David Rietz Date: Fri Jun 16, 2000 10:06am Subject: DEB News: ANTIBIOTIC MISUSE TRANSFORMS TREATABLE DISEASES TO INCURABLE Friday, June 16 ANTIBIOTIC MISUSE TRANSFORMS TREATABLE DISEASES TO INCURABLE The World Health Organization (WHO) recently met in Geneva to discuss one of the "major health disasters" of the 20th century. The result of that meeting is a 65-page report titled "Overcoming Antimicrobial Resistance." WHO refers to existing antibiotics as mere "sugar pills," recognizing that they are no longer effective in treating diseases. There was a time when American health agencies, such as FDA, USDA, and the Centers for Disease Control, blamed the ineffectiveness of antibiotics on overprescription and overmedication by America's doctors. Parents have learned that antibiotics no longer work, but they don't understand why. WHO now recognizes that the increased use of antibiotics in animal feed has made treating human illnesses nearly impossible. Resistant strains of bacteria are growing at an alarming rate. Hundreds of millions of people effected with tuberculosis, typhoid, hepatitis, malaria, pneumonia, and other diseases have developed resistance to traditional antibiotic treatment. Evidence exists that drug-resistant strains of bacteria have crossed from one species to another, infecting humans. When we eat the flesh of an animal whose growth has been promoted by antibiotics, and whose body fluids contain those same antibiotics and new strains of bacteria resistant to those antibiotics, we are asking for trouble. Robert Cohen 204 From: David Rietz Date: Sat Jun 17, 2000 7:01am Subject: DEB News: THE LAST STRAW, OR DISSEMINATING INSEMINATING INFORMATION Saturday, June 17 THE LAST STRAW, OR DISSEMINATING INSEMINATING INFORMATION You would think that being put out to stud and living in a large field would be an ideal existence for a bull like Ferdinand, but his days and the days of other male bovines are severely numbered, and this is no bull. Colorado State University has developed a new method of artificial insemination to increase the odds that next year's calves will be female. How does one artificially inseminate a cow, you might wonder? Bull semen is presently sold in a straw, and you've got to have a strong stomach to stir this one. In order to artic=ficially inseminate a cow, a farmer puts on a glove that extends up to his shoulder. He then plunges his left arm deep into the cow's anus, winding his way up through her intestines, feeling his way through the inside of bovine body organs until he reaches the exterior wall of the "mature ready-for-you-know-what" cow. While his left hand is extended up to the shoulder, with his right hand on the outside of the animal, the farmer injects the tiny straw, loaded with semen, into the general location of the mature egg, fertilizing the animal. So much for 21st century sex. Current doses of semen sell for between $20 and $50 per shot, depending on the breed and history of the bull. The new sexed semen should sell for about $100 per shot, but that price is well worth it. After all, who wants more bull? Every 15 months, 9.2 million dairy cows must continuously become impregnated so that their milk continues to flow. That averages out to 7 million new cows per year. If we assume that 3.5 million of them are female, then we can also assume that 3.5 million are destined to become scallopine, picata, or parmigiana. With sexed semen, there will be 2.8 million more dairy cows in America, and any way you weigh it, that's going to mean more milk. Dairy farmers are getting, historically, the lowest prices for their milk, and the last thing they need is another dairy management tool that will put more of them out of business. The average dairy cow in America produces 56 pounds of milk per day. That's over 20,000 pounds of milk per year per animal, which means that the extra 2.8 million cows will produce an additional 56 billion pounds of milk. In the year 2000, America's milk production will equal 170 billion pounds. Robert Cohen 205 From: David Rietz Date: Sun Jun 18, 2000 2:07pm Subject: DEB News: NEW PROOF THAT GENETICALLY ENGINEERED MILK IS DIFFERENT Sunday, June 18 NEW PROOF THAT GENETICALLY ENGINEERED MILK IS DIFFERENT In approving Monsanto's genetically engineered bovine growth hormone, the Food & Drug Administration determined that there were no differences between "wholesome" milk and the new genetically modified version. The FDA relieved Monsanto from the obligation of developing a test for the new milk, stating that there could be no test because the milks were identical. Monsanto hired ex-Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, who stated that the two milks were indistinguishable. After such confirmation from the esteemed Dr. Koop, who needed a second opinion? It has just come to our attention that a Cornell University dairy scientist, Vitaly Spitsberg, has been granted a patent for a method to detect hormonal treatment in animals (US Patent #5,635,401). The unbelievable part of this patent confirms that Cornell University was given grant money by the United States Department of Agriculture in 1992, two years before Monsanto received approval for the use of recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST) in dairy cows (Grant #92-27206-779). Who says Monsanto and the U.S. government are not one big happy family? One feature of milk is that it is loaded with saturated fat. These fat molecules are not entirely fat. They are actually composed of many different layers. The thin outermost layer is made of protein, and that is the key. While one would assume that genetically engineered milk could be tested by measuring the levels of bovine growth hormone or insulin-like growth factor-I, the new patented test measures an unusual protein in the membrane named milk fat globule membrane or MFGM. Keeping this simple, the MFGM contains an unusual protein named mammary derived growth inhibitor, which is a fatty acid-binding protein (MDGI or FABP). The new patented method measures the amounts of these new proteins so that an easy test of milk can determine whether it has been genetically engineered. FDA's conclusion that the milk was identical was wrong. This just adds more evidence that somebody knew the truth a few years before final approval. Robert Cohen 206 From: Robert Cohen Date: Sun Jun 18, 2000 3:35pm Subject: - - - PARTY TIME NEW YORK CITY --- TONIGHT WHERE: ZENITH RESTAURANT Eighth Avenue & 52nd Street WHEN: 9:00 PM Dinner costs $10 (includes tax and tip). See you there. Robert Cohen 207 From: David Rietz Date: Mon Jun 19, 2000 1:47pm Subject: DEB News: Growing support... Monday, June 19 Read an independent article supportive of the NOTMILK stance. http://www.notmilk.com/guesteda.txt Robert Cohen 208 From: David Rietz Date: Tue Jun 20, 2000 12:44pm Subject: DEB News: THE SOY PLOY Tuesday, June 20 THE SOY PLOY The current issue (June 2000) of Hoard's Dairyman (the dairy industry magazine) contains one small paragraph reflecting the enormity of a new dairy industry anti-soy lobbying effort. On the inside front cover of each issue, Hoard's includes five to ten snippets of information called "Washington Dairygrams." Hoard's writes: "DAIRY PRODUCTS, TWO TO THREE SERVINGS PER DAY, REMAIN firmly planted in federal government's new 2000 dietary guidelines. Dairy farmer and processor reps lobbied together successfully to block equal billing for calcium-enriched soy beverages, now to be mentioned in footnotes only." Here is an admission that the dairy industry expended resources and called in favors to do everything they could to continue their monopoly of their calcium-rich product. One of the sources that the dairy industry used included ABC Television's 20/20. On a recent segment of that show, soy bashing became the evening's topic. Rather than interview FDA scientists based in Washington or Rockville, Maryland, 20/20 located FDA employees in Arkansas. Those employees had an agenda. I interviewed one of FDA's research biologists, Daniel Sheehan, who will soon be retiring after many years of government service. Sheehan is an animal researcher who works in FDA's primate research lab facility, and readily admits that soymilk has something in common with human breast milk. According to him, both are endocrine disrupters and should never be consumed by humans. I imagine that in an organization like FDA with 20,000 employees, one can find FDA officials claiming to be abducted by aliens and endorsing the use of leeches for curing the common cold. For the record, Dr. Sheehan has been prohibited from any further communication with members of the press. FDA has endorsed soy products and was not at all pleased by Dr. Sheehan's comments. In my conversation with Sheehan, I gave my word not to share the details of our conversation, but the one thing I can relate to you is his frustration at being selectively quoted. When TV news shows like 20/20 interview their "mark" for an hour, and then run a 20-second sound bite, their agenda becomes clear. Dr. Sheehan had no intention of bashing soy. That was 20/20's agenda. That was ABC Television's agenda. Things do not happen by accident. Many millions of dollars are funneled to the media by the dairy industry and those investments pay off. Robert Cohen 209 From: David Rietz Date: Wed Jun 21, 2000 8:39am Subject: DEB News: COMPASSIONATE VEGETARIANS Wednesday, June 21 COMPASSIONATE VEGETARIANS Are you a compassionate milk-drinking vegetarian? If so, you will be responsible for the deaths of three animals. Like it or not, you must take responsibility for your actions. You might get angry at me for telling you this, but look within yourself. The average American eats thirty pounds of cheese per year. It takes ten pounds of milk to make one pound of cheese. The average American eats 25 pounds of ice cream per year, and the conversion factor for America's favorite frozen dessert is 12:1. Factor in just those two items, and one needs six hundred pounds of milk to supply each American's cheese and ice cream "needs." The average American consumes the equivalent of 29.2 ounces each day of milk and dairy products which adds up to a total yearly consumption of 666 pounds per American. Each year, the average cow produces 20,500 pounds of milk. According to the U.S. Almanac, an American born today is expected to live for 77 years. In his/her lifetime, he/she will consume 51,282 pounds of milk. Assume that half of all calves are male and half are female. The male calf becomes veal. The female grows to become another milk-producing cow. Therefore, the average American, through milk consumption, will be responsible for the life and death of two+ dairy cows and one baby bull. Forget for a moment that a cow's body fluids contain virus, pus, bacteria, powerful growth hormones, allergenic proteins, saturated fat, cholesterol, antibiotics, and dioxins. None of those things are good for your body. Your milk consumption is also dangerous for the mother cow and her children. The slaughterhouse stun gun is painful. The knife cuts through the animal's throat, and the animal's pain is horribly real. You, the cheese eater, are responsible for her death. Two cows, one baby. You steal her body fluids, and must be held accountable for her death and the death of her child. Robert Cohen 210 From: David Rietz Date: Thu Jun 22, 2000 10:39am Subject: DEB News: EARLY PUBERTY Thursday, June 22 EARLY PUBERTY Half of all girls in England will have reached puberty by the age of ten, and one in six English girls will reach puberty by the age of eight according to new research conducted at Bristol University. The study's director, Jane Golding, Ph.D., also found that boys are coming into sexual maturity earlier than their fathers did. Her study found that 7% of today's eight-year-old boys already have pubic hair, a rate that is 10.7 times higher than boys one generation ago. The author tracked the development of 14,000 children from birth and made no assumptions or conclusions as to the reasons why British children are maturing earlier. American children are maturing earlier also. Every sip of milk contains steroid and protein hormones. Every lick of ice cream and every bite of cheese contain concentrated amounts of powerful growth hormones and anabolic steroids. From one every generation to the next, there has been a major change in diet. The world's children in industrialized nations are eating two to three times the amounts of these bioactive hormones. GOT MILK? Then you drink hormones in the name of good health. Behold the power of cheese? Then you eat concentrated hormones. The choice is yours. Robert Cohen 211 From: David Rietz Date: Fri Jun 23, 2000 8:25am Subject: DEB News: Rutgers Study Friday, June 23 Rutgers University (New Jersey) has an agricultural extension, and their scientists recently addressed the controversy surrounding organic vegetables. Is there really a difference between organically grown vegetables and factory-farmed supermarket produce that has been treated with with chemical fertilizers and pesticides? Many people believe that "organic food" is merely a label that achieves nothing more than to raise prices. In many cases, there is little or no taste differences between organically grown veggies and traditional supermarket vegetables. Scientists measured the amounts of key elements in five vegetables--beans, tomatoes, spinach, cabbage, and lettuce. Their numbers were published in milligrams per 100-gram portion. I have extrapolated the data and relate the levels of ten key elements in organic vegetables to the non-organic variety. In each case, the number reflects the TIMES (X) factor. EXAMPLES: Organic beans contain 2.59 times the amount of boron as non-organic beans. Organic cabbage contains 2.11 times the level of magnesium as non-organic cabbage. The results of this experiement were a surprise to me. Here are data from Firman Baer's report: Beans Cabbage Lettuce Tomatoes Spinach Phosphorous 2.59 1.70 3.54 2.34 2.31 Magnesium 1.64 2.11 1.95 2.19 1.93 Sodium 2.61 3.43 4.44 5.11 2.02 Manganese 4.05 3.21 3.76 13.11 4.35 Copper 3.43 4.40 3.29 2.52 2.80 Ash 9.56 25.50 12.20 6.50 69.50 Calcium 7.30 6.00 6.17 12.00 7.33 Potassium 30.00 6.50 169.00 68.00 117.00 Boron 22.70 4.70 57.33 1938.00 33.33 Iron 23.00 120.00 20.00 53.00 106.67 Cobalt 26.00 15.00 19.00 63.00 12.50 It is clear that ORGANIC produce contains greater amounts of minerals than their non-organic alternatives. In the name of good health and nutrition, these data should end the debate as to whether ORGANIC makes a difference. Organically grown fruits and vegetables do cost more. Can one put a price on good health? Can one place a price upon cancer prevention? Robert Cohen 212 From: Robert Cohen Date: Fri Jun 23, 2000 2:15pm Subject: ORGANIC PRODUCE I am seeking the original study. http://www.rce.rutgers.edu/pubs/bearreport/index.html Robert Cohen 213 From: David Rietz Date: Sat Jun 24, 2000 11:44am Subject: DEB News: Do vegetarians make better lovers? Saturday, June 23 Do vegetarians make better lovers? A recent paper published in the British Journal of Cancer examined diet and assessed risk factors for prostate cancer (N. E. Allen, P. N. Appleby, G. K. Davey, T. J. Key p 95-97, Volume 83, Number 1, July 2000). One phase of that study measured testosterone levels in 696 Oxford University men. Testosterone has been identified as the steroid hormone most often linked to male sexual behavior. Increased amounts of testosterone are correlated to increased sexual behavior and performance. Of the study participants, 233 were vegan (ate no animal products) and 237 were vegetarian (ate milk and dairy products). The remaining 237 "subjects" were meat eaters, and meat-eaters were defined as men who ate meat on most days of the week. Data from the study revealed that vegans had higher testosterone levels than vegetarians and meat-eaters. Throw out the Viagra and reach for the veggies. GOT ROMAINE? Got romantic! GOT APHRODISIACS? Get avocados! Robert Cohen 214 From: Robert Cohen Date: Sat Jun 24, 2000 5:23pm Subject: EMERGENCY WARNING *** RECALL Juice Co. Recalls Packaged Drinks The Fresh Juice Company of Winter Haven Florida has issued an EMERGENCY recall for their juice and mixed juice drinks. Apparantly, their fruit juice smoothies contain CASEIN and other milk proteins. Eighty percent of milk protein is casein, a tenacious glue. Casein might make the final product "frothy," but some people produce an internal "froth" that may be deadly. The company has nationally distributed their FROOJA brands and SARATOGA SMOOTHIES. The affected drinks are marked with expiration dates of between May 15 and July 12. I just attempted to call the company Tel: (863) 299-6915 but they appear to be closed for the weekend. Such deception! They should be closed until CASEIN/GLUE is taken out of their products, warning label or no warning label. Robert Cohen 215 From: David Rietz Date: Sun Jun 25, 2000 10:30am Subject: DEB News: SAY IT AIN'T SO, JOE *************** Sunday, 25 June SAY IT AIN'T SO, JOE http://www.notmilk.com/torres.html I grew up in New York City's Bronx borough, and during my first thirteen years, the New York Yankees won the pennant eleven times! I was a Bronx Bomber fan and still am. In the past three years, Joe Torre has managed the Yanks to two World Series championships, and has brought stability to George Steinbrenner's clubhouse, no easy task for a team and stadium once collectively called the "The Bronx Zoo." Two years ago, after managing the Yankees to a season in which they won a record 125 games, Torre was diagnosed with prostate cancer. An entire city sent Joe their prayers and good wishes, and Torre seems to have "beaten" his prostate cancer...for now. Last week, I saw a Sports Illustrated ad in which Torre posed with a milk mustache. Say it ain't so, Joe! I have previously written about athletes who pose for dairy ads in the harshest of tones. I've dissed Mark McGwire (comparing the steroid hormones in milk to his andro use) and I've ridiculed "Calcium Ripken" for selling out. Patrick Ewing of the New York Knicks and Flo Jo (who died with gallons of bronchiole-clogging mucus in her body and undigested pizza in her stomach) both posed for milk mustaches, despite the fact that ninety-five percent of African-Americans cannot tolerate lactose. Joe Torre is different. I love Joe, and today's column is an open letter to Mr. Class. Joe -- Please learn the truth about milk before it is too late. Hundreds of studies have identified a hormone in the human body as the KEY factor in the growth of prostate cancer. That hormone is called insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I). This powerful cellular growth accelerator is identical in cows and humans. Eat pizza with mozzarella or Parmesian on pasta, ice cream or yogurt, and you deliver this powerful hormone to your body. SCIENCE magazine was started by Thomas Edison in the late 1880's. This prestigious journal is read by over 500,000 scientists every week. On January 23rd, 1998 (vol. 279. p. 563), IGF-I was called the key factor in prostate cancer. Nowhere in that article was it mentioned that there are forty-three thousand species of mammals, and hundreds of millions of different proteins in nature, and that IGF-I is IDENTICAL in humans and cows. I imagine that your physicians do not know this critically important piece of scientific information, Joe. The latest scientific confirmation will be published in the July issue of the British Journal of Cancer. (p 95-97, Volume 83, Number 1, July 2000). Researchers at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in Oxford found that a diet without meat or dairy products could reduce the risk of contracting prostate cancer. The authors cite earlier studies suggesting that high levels of IGF-I play a key role in causing prostate cancer. Vegetarians have lower levels of IGF-I than meat eaters, and vegans have lower levels of IGF-I than vegetarians. I have given this information to Joe's agent, Bill Yardley who can be reached at: bill@s... (800-636-7445) Please let Bill know that you do not want to see Joe Torre's prostate cancer return. Prostate cancer is a killer, and we love Joe. His milk mustache ad most certainly was done in ignorance, and Torre's message is hazardous to his own health, and the health of his fans. Robert Cohen 216 From: Robert Cohen Date: Sun Jun 25, 2000 7:41pm Subject: - - - SAY IT AIN'T SO, JOE (DAMNED YANKEE) SAY IT AIN'T SO, JOE ! I grew up in New York City's Bronx borough, and during my first thirteen years, the New York Yankees won the pennant eleven times! I was a Bronx Bomber fan and still am. In the past three years, Joe Torre has managed the Yanks to two World Series championships, and has brought stability to George Steinbrenner's clubhouse, no easy task for a team and stadium once collectively called the "The Bronx Zoo." Two years ago, after managing the Yankees to a season in which they won a record 125 games, Torre was diagnosed with prostate cancer. An entire city sent Joe their prayers and good wishes, and Torre seems to have "beaten" his prostate cancer... for now. Last week, I saw a Sports Illustrated ad in which Torre posed with a milk mustache. Say it ain't so, Joe! I have previously written about athletes who pose for dairy ads in the harshest of tones. I've dissed Mark McGwire (comparing the steroid hormones in milk to his andro use) and I've ridiculed "Calcium Ripken" for selling out. Patrick Ewing of the New York Knicks and Flo Jo (who died with gallons of bronchiole-clogging mucus in her body and undigested pizza in her stomach) both posed for milk mustaches, despite the fact that ninety-five percent of African-Americans cannot tolerate lactose. Joe Torre is different. I love Joe, and today's column is an open letter to Mr. Class. Joe -- Please learn the truth about milk before it is too late. Hundreds of studies have identified a hormone in the human body as the KEY factor in the growth of prostate cancer. That hormone is called insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I). This powerful cellular growth accelerator is identical in cows and humans. Eat pizza with mozzarella or Parmesian on pasta, ice cream or yogurt, and you deliver this powerful hormone to your body. SCIENCE magazine was started by Thomas Edison in the late 1880's. This prestigious journal is read by over 500,000 scientists every week. On January 23rd, 1998 (vol. 279. p. 563), IGF-I was called the key factor in prostate cancer. Nowhere in that article was it mentioned that there are forty-three thousand species of mammals, and hundreds of millions of different proteins in nature, and that IGF-I is IDENTICAL in humans and cows. I imagine that your physicians do not know this critically important piece of scientific information, Joe. The latest scientific confirmation will be published in the July issue of the British Journal of Cancer. (p 95-97, Volume 83, Number 1, July 2000). Researchers at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in Oxford found that a diet without meat or dairy products could reduce the risk of contracting prostate cancer. The authors cite earlier studies suggesting that high levels of IGF-I play a key role in causing prostate cancer. Vegetarians have lower levels of IGF-I than meat eaters, and vegans have lower levels of IGF-I than vegetarians. I have given this information to Joe's agent, Bill Yardley who can be reached at: bill@sportsstarsusa.com (800-636-7445) Please let Bill know that you do not want to see Joe Torre's prostate cancer return. Prostate cancer is a killer, and we love Joe. His milk mustache ad most certainly was done in ignorance, and Torre's message is hazardous to his own health, and the health of his fans. Robert Cohen 217 From: David Rietz Date: Mon Jun 26, 2000 10:38am Subject: DEB News: I'VE GOT A HEADACHE Monday, June 26 I'VE GOT A HEADACHE Pharmaceutical giant Glaxo Wellcome employs nearly 10,000 people in North Carolina, and markets and sells hundreds of different drugs for human ailments. Glaxo's most effective advice may very well be contained on their new website: http://www.holidayheadachecenter.com Rather than promote a drug for treating migraine headaches, Glaxo advises: "Anticipate your dietary needs and try to plan meals accordingly... avoid dietary triggers such as... aged cheeses." Cheeses contain a substance known as tyramine, which has been identified as a substance that increases the severity of migraine headaches. Migraine headaches are debilitating brain crushers that occur after increases in blood pressure make blood vessels smaller, causing unbearable pain. Tyramine is formed from protein breakdown, which occurs when cheeses age. Parmesan and Romano cheeses are aged for up to 36 months, and should be avoided if one is susceptible to migraines. We at the Dairy Education Board applaud companies like Glaxo Wellcome for giving such preventive health advice. However, we caution this pharmaceutical giant which one day may become a pharmaceutical midget. If people give up milk and dairy products, who will need your pharmaceuticals? Robert Cohen 218 From: David Rietz Date: Tue Jun 27, 2000 8:11am Subject: DEB News: TARGET THE WOMAN Tuesday, June 27 TARGET THE WOMAN The Sunday, June 25, 2000 edition of the New York Times contained two sections dedicated to health. Section 15 was WOMEN'S HEALTH, and Section 16 was MEN & HEALTH. The ten-page men's edition contained advertisements for seven pharmaceutical products, and these ads took up 45% of the actual section. Cures for testicular cancer, high cholesterol, depression, and anxiety, also contained warning labels that listed such symptoms as cancer, depression, and heart disease. In other words, the cures may very well cause the same problems. How creative! The woman's section was twice as large as the men's section; twenty pages. Do women have twice as many health concerns as men? Ten pages of ads filled the women's section, but the page seven advertisement filled an entire page in full color with the cast of EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND wearing milkstaches. The GOT MILK ad asked: "Want strong bones? Drinking enough lowfat milk now can help prevent osteoporosis later." Women's health sections and women's magazines are hazardous to women's health. Women have become marketing targets of the you-know-what industry. The national fluid milk marketers ignore real science by promoting their osteoporosis myth. The largest study in the history of woman-kind (Harvard Nurse Study) has demonstrated that women who drink a lot of milk and eat a lot of cheese as teenagers develop higher rates of pelvic and forearm fractures than non-dairy users. There are currently 121,800 nurses in the Harvard Nurse Study database. Ads often do not make for good health. Milk mustache ads only promote good financial health for dairy producers. Irresponsible magazines and newspapers can sponsor many special sections on health issues, but by accepting milk ads, they sell-out your health interests. Robert Cohen 219 From: David Rietz Date: Wed Jun 28, 2000 9:40am Subject: DEB News: MUSEUM WELCOMES DAIRY AND THROWS OUT THE NOTMILKMAN Wednesday, June 28 MUSEUM WELCOMES DAIRY AND THROWS OUT THE NOTMILKMAN A promotional brochure from the Long Island Children's Museum (Garden City, New York) reveals: "The Long Island Children's Museum is a learning laboratory where hands-on exhibits invite visitors to experiment, examine and play." On Saturday (June 24th), I visited the Long Island Children's Museum. They had advertised a special dairy day in which they would be promoting nature's "perfect food" by having a cow-milking demo and butter making class. I arrived at the museum at 1 PM and was happy to see that "FARM SANCTUARY" had set up a table outside the entrance with photos of what really happens to farm animals. It isn't pretty. Kids get to "play" with a lie inside the building, and learn the vivid truth outside. Carol Moon of Farm Sanctuary had brought two associates who were well-versed on animal abuse issues. I entered the premises with two of my daughters and two of their friends. It was a beautiful sunny day, and our party represented half of the museum's visitors. I had no opportunity to speak to anybody, other than three museum employees. One was an frican-American woman, the second an Asian American, and the third, an Indian woman. A fourth employee overheard our conversations and alerted the museum manager, Bonnie Dixon. Ms. Dixon asked me to leave. Perhaps it's a good thing that there were not big crowds. I noticed that the butter demo included no refrigeration facilities. A carton of heavy cream was left out at room temperature, and the resulting butter was not refrigerated. Bacteria counts double every twenty minutes at room temperature. Before leaving, I took some of the free literature provided by the dairy industry. I had picked up a free handout, a fold-up paper "Action toy cow" provided by Ben & Jerry's ice cream company. Last summer, the dairy industry closed in Belgium for one month because 100-times the safe level of dioxins were found in milk samples. Recently, Ben & Jerry's vanilla ice cream was tested to have 200 times the safe level of dioxins. We wonder whether the Long Island Children's Museum will consider a future program on dioxins. The Dairy Education Board will volunteer to set up a butter making demonstration and alert parents and children that concentrated dairy foods contain unsafe levels of concentrated poison. Another free sheet of paper was titled, "MILK FROM COW TO YOU." The first paragraph revealed that cows eat about 90 pounds of food per day and drink about 150 quarts of water, or 330 pounds. We know that the average dairy cow produces 56 pounds of milk each day. This means that each cow produces 364 pounds of excrement... feces and urine. Where does all of that "stuff" go? Apparantly some of it ends up on the director's desk. Although our admission fees were refunded, we did not appreciate being thrown out. Does the museum receive public funding? Private industry should not dictate such policy of censorship. Behold the power of cheese. Robert Cohen 220 From: Robert Cohen Date: Wed Jun 28, 2000 10:58am Subject: - - - COW OF THE CENTURY SEXY DOMINATRIXES TO UNLEASH PETA'S LEATHER-FREE ENTRY IN COW PARADE - New York, NY New York - Despite the punishing summer heat, notorious rubberwear designer Pigalle and one of her sexy friends will don full-body plastic dominatrix outfits to unveil PETA's leather-free entry in CowParade New York 2000. Date: Thursday, June 29 Time: noon Place: Washington Square Park, at the intersection of Washington Square Park and Laguardia The funky "cow," which is decorated entirely with faux leather boots, jackets, pants, and belts, illustrates how easy it is to find cruelty-free clothing. Robert Cohen (visit http://www.peta-online.org/feat/parade/ for the real thing with all the graphics) When 500 "cows" roam the streets of New York City, and 300 "pigs" are rooting around in Cincinnati, you can count on PETA to be there! New York and Cincinnati will host citywide public art displays this spring and summer, with hundreds of individually decorated, life-size fiberglass animals ("cows" in CowParade New York and "pigs" in Cincinnati’s Big Pig Gig) gracing city parks and sidewalks. In each city, two PETA-sponsored sculptures will invite viewers to think differently about the animals who so often end up as burgers, belts, and chops. One of PETA’s "cows" will be decorated entirely in hip faux leather boots, pleather jackets, suedette pants, and plastic belts, showing how easy it is to find cruelty-free clothing. The other "cow" and two "pigs" will be decorated with facts about the health and environmental consequences and the ethical problems with eating cows and pigs, as well as celebrity sayings, including a kind quote from James Cromwell, all showing respect for the animals whose lives are filled with torment and end in violent slaughter so that humans can satisfy their taste buds. PETA hopes that the sculptures, designed by the award-winning British designers Lawrence & Beavan, will "moo-ve" consumers to examine the animal suffering in the meat and leather trades. PETA recently launched its new "Shed Your Skin" Campaign, unveiling the results of a shocking investigation into the international trade in leather made from "sacred" Indian cows—click here for more info, or click here to learn more about how animals suffer for burgers and bacon. New York’s "cows" debut June 29 (click on the picture to see a larger version of the image). Cincinnati’s "pigs" have hit the streets. Two of PETA’s designs appear below (click on the picture to see a gallery of images). Want to get a closer look at all that text on PETA's pig? Below are all the factoids, quotes, and sayings from the sculpture, in an easy-to-read format: Pigs are friends, not food. "Animals are my friends, and I don’t eat my friends." —George Bernard Shaw "We are the choicest ones."… We shall enter magnificent cities. … No more the cruel knife. … Let our tushes growwww …" from The Hog Book, by William Hedgepeth. Please don’t eat my people. Please don’t eat me. Once dehaired, they are hooked onto the disassembly line, to be parceled into the slabs of meat we recognize as "pork." Please don’t eat pigs. "Dear God, Protect and bless all living things. Keep them from evil and let them sleep in peace." —Albert Schweitzer "Pigs are social intelligent animals, each one an individual—from friends of choice to food preferences. They are herd animals often exploring in curiosity during the day and sleeping in a ‘pig pile’ side by side at night."—from Pig’s Peace Sanctuary "We don’t need to eat anyone who would run, swim, or fly away if he could." —James Cromwell "Let loose the hogs of peace upon the world to go and do their good works!" —from The Hog Book "DEDICATED … to the millions of porkers who’ve gone to their final resting sites inside us and to the ghosts of still billions more pigs who’ve long since passed away down the throat of time. I’d like to call them all by name, but the list is long and I cannot remember." —by William Hedgepeth in The Hog Book 100 million per year 273,972 per day 11,415 per hour 180 per minute 3 per second … but one at a time. Please don’t eat pigs. "No man should be allowed to be president who does not understand hogs or hasn’t been around a manure pile." —Harry S Truman "Dogs look up to you, cats look down on you, and pigs think you’re their equal." —from The Hog Book. "No one assumes the pig wants to die. It would avoid slaughter if it could. It feels the desire to live and the pain of its sorrow just as humans do; the only difference is that it cannot say so in words. The crying of the pigs being slaughtered is horrible. People report that they sound like human screams. The pigs are communicating. They are speaking of their terrible fear." —from When Elephants Weep by Jeffrey Masson and Susan McCarthy "Real-life "Babes" see no sun in their limited lives, with no hay to lie on, no mud to roll in. The sows live in tiny cages, so narrow they can’t even turn around. They live over metal grates, and their waste is pushed through slats beneath them and flushed into huge pits." —Morley Safer, 60 Minutes, Sep. 19, 1997 Go Vegetarian! www.GoVeg.com Please don’t eat Babe for breakfast. Help all the "Babes" – stop eating animals today. I don’t want to be a wiener! Pigs are friendly and smart, and we love life. Please don’t kill me. www.peta-online.org Go vegetarian – for life! Pigs feel pain. Pigs are smart and friendly animals. "Pig flesh is loaded with fat and cholesterol. 4 oz. of pork contains more than 100 mg of cholesterol!" —from "Doctor in the House," PETA News, Fall 1993 "Pigs may not be as cuddly as kittens or puppies, but they suffer just as much." —James Cromwell Pork bellies make pot bellies. "Dumping pork from your diet will improve your health." -Dr. Neal Barnard Ham is a scam! Don’t eat pigs. Be pro-pig. Go veg. I met a pig named Lucy once. She was black and white and very clean, not being confined to a pen. She was about one-third grown. Having her tummy scratched put her in ecstasy. She would roll over, her little corkscrew tail wiggling with happiness. As you rubbed her stomach, her eyes would close in bliss and her tail would stop wiggling while she savored every second of the scratching by staying motionless, as dogs often do. As soon as you’d lift your hand, the corkscrew resumed wiggling and the bright little eyes opened and looked right into yours, clearly saying, "Isn’t this fun?" I wish everyone could meet a pig. Pigs are so sensitive and friendly and intelligent that humans have gone to incredible lengths to distance themselves from them. —from Carla Bennett’s "The Joy and Sorrow of Pigs," PETA News, Fall 1993. "If you were to peek inside (a pig factory), you’d see row upon row upon row upon row of pigs, each standing alone in his narrow steel stall, each facing in exactly the same direction, like cars in a parking lot. … I have looked into their eyes and I can tell you it’s a terrifying sight. These sensitive, tortured creatures have been literally driven mad." —from Diet for a New America, by John Robbins. Lincoln said, "That pig was my companion. I played with him, I taught him tricks. We used to play ‘hide and go seek.’ I can see his little face now peeping around the corner of the house to see whether I was coming after him. After a while he got too heavy for me to carry him around, and then he followed me everywhere—to the barn, the plowed ground, the woods. Many a day I have spent in the woods brushing the leaves away and helping him to find the acorns and nuts. Sometimes he would take a lazy spell and rub against my legs, and stop in front of me, and lie down before me, and say in a language which I understood: ‘Abe, why don’t you carry me like you used to do?’ "There was talk about the house of the hog being fat enough to kill. At the table, I heard father say he was going to kill the hog the next day. My heart got as heavy as lead. "The next morning … I slipped out and took my pet with me to the forest. When father found out … he yelled as loud as he could, ‘You, Abe, you, Abe, fetch back that hog!’… The louder he called, the farther and faster we went, till we were out of hearing of the voice. We stayed in the woods till night. "On returning, I was severely scolded. After a restless night, I arose early and went to get my pig for another day’s hiding but found that father had arisen before me and fastened my pet in the pen. I knew then all hope was gone. I did not eat any breakfast, but started for the woods. I had not gone far when I heard the pig squeal, and knowing what it meant, I ran as fast as I could to get away from the sound. "Being quite hungry, at noon I started for home. Reaching the edge of the clearing, I saw the hog, dressed, hanging from a pole … and I began to blubber. I could not stand it, and went back into the woods again, where I found some nuts that stayed my appetite till night, when I returned home. They never could get me to take a bit of the meat … it made me sad and sick to even look at it. "The next morning I … saw the red place on the ground where the throat had been cut with the knife and, taking a chip, I scraped the blood and the hair that had been scattered, into a pile, and burned it up. Then I found some soft dirt, which I carried in the folds of my tow shirt, and scattered it over the ground to cover up every trace of the killing of my pet. "The dirt did not do its work very well, for to this day ... my heart goes back to that pet pig …" —Abraham Lincoln Ninety percent of all pigs are closely confined at some point in their lives, and 70 percent are kept constantly confined. —from Animal Factories In Houston, Texas, Priscilla the pig saved an 11-year-old, mentally impaired boy from drowning. Priscilla bravely swam to the struggling youngster, offered her leash to him, and towed him back to shore. For her heroics, Priscilla was honored with "Priscilla the Pig Day" in Houston and became the first pig ever inducted into the Texas Pet Hall of Fame. In Chico, Calif, Spammy the pig saved her own life and the life of her best friend, Spot the calf. When a fire broke out in their barn, Spammy used her backside to punch a hole in the barn wall, which she and Spot used to escape the blaze. When she emerged from the burning barn, she had scratch marks, burn blisters, and soot marks on her body. Spammy’s caretaker said of the brave pig, "Oh, she’s a very special pig." I’m someone, not sausage! "Fakin’ Bacon and faux sausage taste great and are wonderful alternatives to pork!" —Paul McCartney During their pregnancies, sows are confined in stalls that do not permit them to turn around or walk to and fro. —from Animal Liberation, by Peter Singer "After their confinement during their pregnancy, sows are often immobilized from the time they give birth until the piglets are weaned. They are never allowed to nuzzle or clean their young." —from Animal Liberation, by Peter Singer "Pigs in modern factory farms have nothing to do but eat, sleep, stand up, and lie down. Usually they have no straw or other bedding material, because this complicates the task of cleaning. Pigs kept this way … will be bored and unhappy." —from Animal Liberation, by Peter Singer One British farmer wrote to Farmer’s Weekly describing how he had housed pigs in a derelict farmhouse and found that they played all around the building, chasing each other up and down the stairs. He concluded from this observation, "Like human beings, pigs dislike monotony and boredom." —from Animal Liberation, by Peter Singer. "An ordinary citizen who kept dogs in conditions similar to that of factory- farmed pigs would risk prosecution for cruelty." —from Animal Liberation, by Peter Singer "Due to intensive confinement, for at least 10 months per year, pregnant and nursing sows are unable to walk around." —from Animal Liberation, by Peter Singer The American Dietetic Association notes that vegetarianism reduces the risk of many chronic degenerative diseases and conditions, including obesity, coronary artery disease, hypertension, diabetes, and many types of cancer. "Vegans have one-tenth the heart disease rate of meat-eaters." —from Diet for a New America, by John Robbins "In 1996, U.S. factory farms produced 1.4 billion tons of animal waste—130 times more than humans did." —from "Lakes of Animal Waste Pose Environmental Risk," USA Today, Dec. 30, 1997 According to the Environmental Protection Agency, factory farming pollutes U.S. waterways more than all industrial sources combined. Think you can be a meat-eating environmentalist? Think again! People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510; 757-622-PETA 221 From: Robert Cohen Date: Wed Jun 28, 2000 8:36pm Subject: - - - HERE WE GO AGAIN CASTRO'S CONVERTIBLES Devilishly good deal for MonSatan Fantastic Deal for Castro? Congress has voted to sell surplus genetically engineered American foods to Cuba, and Castro could not be happier. Monsanto has found a new market, and all parties have Elian Gonzalez to thank. Elian may very well become a hero in his native Cuba, but he is even a greater hero to America's biotechnology companies. Cubans are starving, and America's 40-year trade embargo was the major contributor to Cuba's problema. In the spirit of "I'll scratch your back while you scratch mine," it seems that biotech firms and biotech farmers also share a problem and a solution. European nations reject milk and dairy products treated with Monsanto's genetically engineered bovine growth hormone, and the world community has no use for America's genetically engineered Frankenfoods. Enter, CUBA. They'll take the food! Corn, soybeans, and other genetically modified organisms will soon be shipped 90 miles south of Miami in a deal worked out by Congress. One Cuban official, Richard Alarcon, president of the Cuban National Assembly, criticized the plan, saying: "Not only doesn't this agreement modify the blockade but in some parts makes it worse." He's got that right. Get ready for tons of America's unwanted rbGH- treated milk powder, Amigos. The World Policy Institute has estimated that the United States will export more than $400 million in food and agricultural products to Cuba, primarily powdered milk, corn, and soybeans. The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) has praised the agreement. Biotech companies fund the AFBF and their agenda has been to open up other world markets to foods that Europeans are rejecting. Spokeswoman Mary Kay Thatcher of AFBF said: "We view this as step one. We'll be back for step two and step three later." One problem. Cuba does not have money to pay for the surplus food. Can you, in your wildest imagination, think of who ultimately will pay the price? Let's see now…Biotech lobbies Congress…farmers lobby Congress…Europe does not want America's surplus food. A new market develops, but the purchasers have no funds to pay for the food. GOT SUBSIDIES? Robert Cohen 222 From: David Rietz Date: Thu Jun 29, 2000 7:44am Subject: DEB News: COMEDY APPROACHES TRAGEDY Thursday, June 29 COMEDY APPROACHES TRAGEDY This morning, I heard a radio commercial for PROCRIT, a pharmaceutical manufactured by AMGEN, and marketed by ORTHOBIOTECH, a division of Johnson & Johnson. In that ad, a woman revealed that she was "on chemotherapy," and had developed anemia. She claimed to be feeling better, and was on the way to a store to buy a carton of milk. GOT BAD MEDICAL ADVICE? There are extremely low levels of iron in milk, and the medical profession knows that milk and baby formula take iron out of the blood and causes anemia. Iron is used to build hemoglobin, and is essential for enzymatic activity. A 100-gram portion of whole milk contains .05 mg. of iron. The same portion of Romaine lettuce contains twenty-two times the amount of iron that is contained in milk. In June of 1995, the Townsend Medical Letter revealed that hemoglobin loss results from milk consumption. Frank Oski, Chief of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins Hospital cited intestinal bleeding as a consequence of exposure to bovine proteins in milk-based baby formula. One merely has to check the labels on bottles of formula to confirm that iron is added because of the negative effect of cow's milk proteins. Johnson & Johnson's radio model is being treated with chemotherapy. She must have cancer. The key factor in the growth of every human cancer is IGF-I, the most powerful growth hormone in the human body. IGF-I is identical in humans and cows. Would you want a relative, stricken with cancer, to be taking a hormone that fuels its growth? The top man at AMGEN, America's largest privately owned biotechnology company, is Gordon Binder, and his private number is 310-557-9898. Gordon had no comment to make, and I was referred to David Kaye, head of Corporate Communications, who did not return my phone call. Bob Roach, the Director of Marketing at Johnson and Johnson, did return my phone call (his number is 908-218-6090). His comment: "I can't comment except to say that I do not necessarily agree with your scientific opinion on that." I asked Mr. Roach whether he had any training in science, and he responded that he did not. SECOND OPINIONS Neal Barnard, M.D., Director of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), said the following: "Cow's milk products are very low in iron. To get the U.S. Recommended Daily Allowance of 15 mg. of iron, an infant would have to drink more than 31 quarts of milk per day. Milk can also cause blood loss from the intestinal tract, which, over time, reduces the body's iron stores. Researchers speculate that blood loss may be a reaction to proteins present in milk." Dr. Robert Kradjian, Chief of Breast Surgery at Seton Medical Center in San Francisco, reviewed 2700 articles in the medical literature having milk as the main focus, and found that there was no lack of scientific literature on the adverse effects of milk and dairy products. Kradjian commented: "The main focus of the published reports seems to be on intestinal colic, intestinal irritation, intestinal bleeding, anemia, allergic reactions in infants and children, as well as infections such as salmonella." Should you be using this anemia drug and have a medical problem made worse by their awful advice (maybe that's a part of their plan), please give this column to your attorney. Milk is no remedy for anemia or chemotherapy. Milk is the cause. Dairy products cause the disease. Milk and dairy products remain the cure for just one thing: Cash-flow enhancement for pharmaceutical companies. GOT ILLNESS? Robert Cohen 223 From: David Rietz Date: Fri Jun 30, 2000 10:11am Subject: DEB News: TIME FOR A REST Friday, June 30 TIME FOR A REST I've written 444 consecutive daily columns: http://www.notmilk.com/deb/squirts.html and, before that, 50 weekly columns: http://www.notmilk.com/deb/column.html There are 150 million WEBSITES on the World Wide Web and I've yet to find another guestbook with as many letters as the NOTMILK site. Dave Rietz has been, and continues to be, a dedicated and brilliant webmaster, and our http://www.notmilk.com website has been visited by over 1 million people. On our best day, we had 23,000 visitors, and still average many thousands of visitors daily. http://www.Lpage.com/wgb/wgbview.dbm?owner=NOTMILK It's now time for me to take a rest. I'll be leaving for Washington today, where I will speak eight times in five days. I'll be there watching the fireworks from the Washington Mall. I'll then travel to Asheville, North Carolina where I'll speak another eight times in five days. From Asheville, I'll drive twenty-three hours to Toronto, and speak another eleven times during the course of a week, including a nighttime appearance in a comedy club. It's time for a vacation. During the month of July, I will NOT be writing my daily column, but may call in a column or two, just for the fun of it while I am away if anything of earth-shattering significance should present itself. Until then, have a great summer. I'll be back writing in August. P.S. The dairy industry has finally figured it out and is planning a nationwide milk strike for July 4th. http://www.agweb.com/news/news.cfm?id=7674&breaking news=1 We urge you to join the dairy industry's milk boycott for July 4th and continue it until the next millennium. Robert Cohen 224 From: Robert Cohen Date: Tue Aug 1, 2000 7:46pm Subject: - - - ONE YEAR AGO I WROTE THIS COLUMN http://www.notmilk.com/deb/080199.html THE MAD COWBOY http://www.madcowboy.com/lyman1.jpg He walks to the microphone and is greeted with a standing ovation. Howard Lyman is an ex-cattleman rancher-turned vegetarian. "I was raised in Montana, and I when I was growing up I knew one person who was a vegetarian." He pauses for effect and eyeballs the audience. "And she was a straaaange lady." His timing is perfect. He drawls the word "strange" and the audience erupts with laughter. "I learned better living through chemistry during my four-year college career," continues Lyman. "Not once during my education did I hear the word 'vegetarian.' Being from Montana, I would have rather been caught riding a stolen horse than be called a vegetarian." The audience roars with delight and applauds. Howard has them eating tofu out of his enormous hands. HOWARD AND OPRAH Two years ago, Howard Lyman appeared as a guest on "Oprah." The subject that day was meat. Howard discussed E. coli and salmonella and mad cow disease. Oprah remarked, "I've eaten my last hamburger." THE OPRAH SUIT As American housewives (who comprise the greatest part of Oprah's audience) heard that message, so too did traders in the cattle futures market. Word quickly spread. America will no longer eat beef! Speculators began to sell contracts and cattle futures plummeted. Fortunes were lost in a few minutes of trading. By the end of the day, many millions of dollars were lost by panicking options traders either buying or selling their calls and puts. A few of the losers got more than angry. They got even. A suit was filed against Howard Lyman and Oprah. In America, freedom of speech is merely an illusion. There are now laws making it illegal to criticize an agricultural product. AGRICULTURAL DISPARAGEMENT ACTS It is illegal in thirteen states to criticize an agricultural product. Howard and Oprah learned this the hard way. Texas is one of those thirteen. They sued the wrong people. Oprah has very deep pockets. This was one case that she could not afford to lose. This was much more than just hamburgers. This was about an industry attempt to muzzle the press. Would the media even be tempted to ever tell the truth if Oprah Winfrey lost to the cattlemen? The case went to trial, the jury came in with a verdict: not guilty! Howard and Oprah won and the cattlemen lost. The case is now in appeal. HOWARD'S BOOK I've read "Mad Cowboy," and books do not get much better than this one. Howard's account of how rich the soil used to be on his farm, with earthworms in rich loam, is written with great emotion. One college education and hundreds of chemicals later, Howard managed to turn that soil into an asbestos-like artificial fiber. "Mad Cowboy" picks up where Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" left off. The book is brilliantly written and filled with details of the toxins in our foods. Read this book and you'll soon be buying organic fruits and vegetables. The alternatives are simply not worth it. Howard is often asked about the difference in price between organically grown vegetables and those treated with chemical fertilizers and pesticides. His response? "Can you afford the cost of cancer?" HOWARD'S CANCER Howard Lyman's cancer was a one-in-a million. He blames it on the dangerous chemicals and even more dangerous lifestyle. Howard says, "When I was younger, I never found an animal product that I didn't want to stuff down my throat." The tumor removed from his spinal column should have put Howard in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Instead, he is now the symbolic leader of the vegan movement in America. HOWARD'S QUOTES "If 5 people go to dinner and one is a vegetarian, who do you think is the one to pick the restaurant?" "It takes 70 calories of energy to produce one calorie of meat. Sixteen pounds of grain are used to produce one pound of meat. Sixteen pounds of grain can feed 32 people . . . or one Rush Limbaugh." "One-third of Americans will get cancer and one-quarter will die from it. There are 600 chemical compounds in our bodies that did not even exist 50 years ago." HOWARD'S WEBSITE: http://www.madcowboy.com I LOVE HOWARD! Howard and I often lecture together. I have learned quite a bit from this man. Long before I was travelling across America, warning people about the dangers of milk and dairy products, Howard was speaking to small and large groups doing just that. A month after I learned about Monsanto's genetically engineered hormone, I received a tape of Howard speaking in a Chicago area library. There were about six people in the audience. Howard would corner an audience of one in a phone booth to get out his very important message. Recently I received a great compliment from my good friend, Howard. I had given a talk to a standing-room only audience at the University of Pittsburgh. Howard attended, sitting in the back of the room. An hour later, we sat down for a vegetarian lunch in the college cafeteria. I mentioned to Howard that I saw him sitting in the back of the room. He asked, very seriously, "Know what I was doing there?" I shook my head and he continued, "Stealing material!" Howard, you've led the way and my hat is off to you! Just for the record, there is one person who I give credit to for inspiring me to eat a plant-based diet. That man is Howard and he has taught me and thousands of others the right and wrong ways to treat a human body. Combine my NOTMILK campaign and Howard's NOTMEAT campaign and you'll possess a valuable roadmap to discovering the fountain of youth. Robert Cohen 225 From: Robert Cohen Date: Wed Aug 2, 2000 8:39am Subject: - - - INSTANT REPLAY - ON 4/17/99 I WROTE: Dear Friends, I recently appeared on COAST TO COAST radio, and received over 500 telephone calls from people with irritable bowel syndrome. Got milk? Got mycobacterium paratuberculosis. It's a real crap shoot. (Forgive me!) ____________________________________________________________ DAIRY DIARY - SQUIRTS OF NOTMILK WISDOM - April 17, 1999 GOT MILK? GET IRRITABLE BOWELS! The mid-March issue of Wisconsin Agriculture Magazine (page 12 story by Joel McNair) tells the tale of Ruth and Dan Vosberg, two Wisconsin dairy farmers. There is a disease that strikes fear in the hearts of all dairymen and dairywomen: JOHNE'S (pronounced yo-nees). Johne's is caused by a bacteria called mycobacterium paratuberculosis (not-to-be confused with TB). There is evidence that humans get this disease from cows by drinking their milk. This bacterium affects both humans and cows equally with bouts of diarrhea and irritable bowels. I have written about the illness in two previous issues of the ANTIDAIRY Coalition column. I shUDDER at the thought of drinking body fluids from diseased animals. http://www.notmilk.com/deb/062898.html http://www.notmilk.com/deb/080998.html I interviewed Dan Vosberg for today's "squirt" of NOTMILK wisdom. Dan and Ruth have two children, ages 9 and 5. The Vosbergs do all that they can to produce the most "wholesome" milk (according to their belief) possible. Their cows eat real grass, unlike most of America's dairy cows who eat hormone-laden feed. They refuse to use Monsanto's genetically engineered hormone because of their very real concern for human health. The Vosberg children once drank the milk produced on their farm. They no longer do. In 1998 only 187 of Wisconsin's 8,000 dairy farms were tested for mycobacterium paratuberculosis. This year nearly 1,000 farms have been tested. Dan told me that every Wisconsin herd tested this year contains animals who tested positive for these bacteria. In 1997, two of the 81 Vosberg cows tested positive for Johne's. In 1999, 42 were positive and officials estimated that up to two-thirds of his herd might be affected. The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture called this rate of increase "one of the largest documented increases over such a short period of time." The United States Department of Agriculture came to Dan's farm and ordered him to "cull" fifteen cows. That means the animals were sent to MacDonalds. I asked Dan if he would eat their flesh and he quickly responded "No way." Animals infected with Johne's do not test positive until their second year. Dan slaughters his own cattle for his family's consumption. He uses young animals, not yet affected, or so he believes. I asked Dan what the solution to eradicate this problem might be and here is his response: "I wish that somebody would develop a test that could detect the disease a lot earlier so we could know what we are dealing with." Robert Cohen 226 From: Robert Cohen Date: Thu Aug 3, 2000 7:51am Subject: - - - WHO OWNS KRAFT FOODS (Replay from 4/20/99) DAIRY DIARY - SQUIRTS OF NOTMILK WISDOM - April 20, 1999 UN-AMERICAN CHEESE TRIVIA QUESTION: Who owns Kraft Foods? (Answer at the conclusion of this column...don't peek!) RHETORICAL QUESTION: What could be more American than American cheese? The people at KRAFT'S foods are a bit crafty on this issue! KRAFT'S American cheese "Single's" now contain: MILK PROTEIN CONCENTRATES (MPC), (according to the April 1999 issue of MILKWEED, $35 per year - 608-455-2400). Where are milk protein concentrates produced? MILKWEED editor Pete Hardin reveals that MPC is "not commercially produced in the United States. MPC sources include New Zealand, Ireland and Eastern Europe." A representative from KRAFT FOODS recently joined me in attending a CODEX session in Washington, DC. Kraft does not believe that Americans have a right to know what is in the foods they eat. This company supports a no-labeling position for genetically engineered foods. http://www.notmilk.com/deb/041899.html KRAFT neither shows compassion to its consumers or to animals. A recent KRAFT (Shake'n Bake) television commercial depicted a de-feathered, beheaded chicken strapped to a vibrating machine, combining violence and disrespect for life. ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION: KRAFT FOODS is owned by the Philip Morris, a multi-national holding company best-known for Marlboro cigarettes. In 1998 Philip Morris had sales of nearly $75 billion dollars. MORE FUN KRAFTINESS: Would you believe that Philip Morris had 90 registered federal lobbyists in 1997 and 150 registered lobbyists in 44 states in 1996? Un-American cheese? Un-American influence? Sadly, very American. What chance do consumers have against such wealth and power? Robert Cohen 227 From: Robert Cohen Date: Fri Aug 4, 2000 10:00am Subject: --- SUMMER ICE CREAM + PIZZA = ASTHMA ATTACKS Dear Friends, Last year, I wrote an asthma column...researchers still don't get it, but asthma rates continue to soar!!!!!!!! DAIRY DIARY - SQUIRTS OF NOTMILK WISDOM - May 7, 1999 ASTHMA - WILL RESEARCHERS EVER SEE THE TRUTH? NEW YORK TIMES - WEDNESDAY, MAY 5, 1999, Page B-1 "38% ASTHMA RATE FOUND IN HOMELESS CHILDREN" A photo of a small African-American boy wearing an oxygen mask accompanies Three hundred lines of text. One sentence is devoted to the probable cause: "...exposure to factors like cockroach feces, dust mites, mold, dampness, rat and mouse urine and crowded living conditions." Homeless people live in shelters and get free room and board. They get FREE cheese and milk which serves as the foundation of their diet. ASTHMA RATES ARE SOARING The article comments: "For reasons that remain unclear to researchers, the prevalence of asthma is rising..." The highest asthma rates are found in New York City, where 23 percent of the students in the Hunts Point Section of the Bronx have been so diagnosed. ARE THERE MORE COCKROACHES IN THE BRONX? Of course not! However, the rates of poverty are extremely high among the inner city African-American population. WHAT DO THE CHILDREN EAT? In the name of "good nutrition," these kids are fed concentrated milk proteins. They receive free milk and cheese thanks to the United States Department of Agriculture. Last year ten billion pounds of free poison were fed to the children. WHY DO DAIRY PRODUCTS CAUSE ASTHMA? Eighty percent of milk protein is CASEIN, the same glue used to hold together wood in furniture. Casein is also the glue used to affix a label to a bottle of beer. Eat casein and you produce histamines. Histamines result in mucus. Mucus makes breathing difficult. Thousands of children die, primarily African-Americans. Many deaths are misdiagnosed, called congestive heart failure. CONGESTION Asthma results when the bronchioles of the lungs fill with glue. In the case of asthma, mucus. I first wrote about asthma and the milk connection after reviewing the autopsy of a pizza-victim. With every organ acutely congested with mucus, unable to breathe, this African-American died and the undigested cheese remained in her stomach 15 hours after her meal. Fifteen hours! Her body worked overtime to produce histamines and mucus, congesting her lungs. She choked to death, unable to breathe. http://www.notmilk.com/deb/111598.html HIGH ASTHMA RATES IN CHILDREN The homeless adults also live in poverty. They are also exposed to the same environmental conditions as their kids. However, they do not go to school. They do not eat free breakfast, milk with cereal. They do not eat free lunch, macaroni and cheese or cheese sandwiches. They do not drink chocolate milk. They do not wear the cute milkstaches and their asthma rates are not as high as their children. Robert Cohen 228 From: Robert Cohen Date: Mon Aug 7, 2000 10:25am Subject: - - - MILK CONSPIRACY (Replay of 5/11/99 Column) DAIRY DIARY - SQUIRTS OF NOTMILK WISDOM - May 11, 1999 THEY SAY THERE WAS NO CONSPIRACY FDA published a review of the genetically engineered bovine growth hormone in the journal SCIENCE on Friday, August 24, 1990 On August 22, two days earlier, the JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION (JAMA) had jumped the gun and published their endorsement of FDA's conclusions. A third journal, SCIENCE NEWS, published news of the JAMA endorsement of the SCIENCE article just one day after the SCIENCE article appeared. JAMA raised their glass of milk and collectively said, "We'll drink to that!" The JAMA article and the SCIENCE NEWS articles appeared the same week as the SCIENCE article. JAMA, representing America's doctors, is universally respected for independent unbiased review of medical issues. GOT INTEGRITY? IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE? The American Medical Association, recognizing that this most publicized controversy must be handled with surgical gloves, assigned the task to two "independent doctors." One was David Barbano from Cornell University. Barbano is a professor of dairy science but he is not a physician. PAPER TRAILS ARE EASY TO FOLLOW Ah, paper trails. Thank goodness for researchers who must see their names in print. Scientists document their relationships with other scientists by publishing articles with their colleagues. Names appearing together are smoking guns, testimony to the vain and the foolish. Dale Bauman, the scientist at Cornell who worked for Monsanto and published dozens of articles with their scientists, also published a paper with Barbano, the co-author of the so-called independent JAMA article. David Barbano was not an independent author writing for the JAMA. In 1988, Barbano and Bauman published an article on the influence of rbST on general milk composition! That study was financed by Monsanto. A NOT-SO-INDEPENDENT CO-AUTHOR Co-author William Daughaday, M.D., had Monsanto ties. The actual words of the JAMA reviewer which were added as an addendum to the paper reveal: "From 1984 to 1986, Dr. Daughaday was the recipient of a research contract from Monsanto Company, a small fraction of which was paid to Dr. Daughaday as a consulting fee." Every newspaper in America repeated the JAMA conclusion. Not one newspaper revealed the conflicts of interest. This JAMA paper can easily be obtained from a public library. Page one of the actual paper reveals these conflicts of interest. GOT ETHICS? Robert Cohen 229 From: Robert Cohen Date: Tue Aug 8, 2000 5:36am Subject: - - - ADVICE TO DOCTORS FROM DOCTORS ADVICE TO DOCTORS FROM DOCTORS THE TOWNSEND MEDICAL LETTER How do many doctors keep up to date on the latest medical news? By reading the Townsend Medical Letter, a newsletter written by doctors for doctors. In the May, 1995 issue of this prestigious newsletter, physicians, who had not placed strong emphasis on nutrition in medical school, were at last getting an accurate and unbiased message concerning milk. Many M.D.s who subscribe to this trade journal drank their first sip of milk's great controversy. The Townsend Letter included a brief column on the dangers of cow's milk. This medical newsletter gave credit to good marketing by the dairy industry, which informs us to drink milk because it is "wholesome and necessary." The newsletter responded to this marketing message, this way: "In reality, cow's milk, especially processed cow's milk, has been linked to a variety of health problems." Among those problems attributed to milk and dairy consumption by this medical newsletter written by doctors for doctors, include: 1) mucus production 2) hemoglobin loss 3) diabetes 4) heart disease 5) atherosclerosis 6) arthritis 7) kidney stones 8) mood swings 9) depression 10) irritability 11) allergies Here's how to contact the TOWNSEND MEDICAL LETTER: Phone: 360-385-6021 Fax: 360-385-0699 info@t... Nine months before the Townsend article appeared, the seed to this story was planted in the August, 1994 issue of Natural Health. In an article entitled "Don't Drink Your Milk!" author Nathaniel Mead describes "nature's perfect food" as being linked to a great number of serious health problems. Mead's article begins by including a quote from a Washington, D.C., pediatrician by the name of Russell Bunai, M.D. When asked his opinion on what single change in the American diet would produce the greatest health benefit, Bunai responded: "Eliminating dairy products." Mead interviewed Frank A. Oski, M.D., Chief of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, who stated: "At least 50 percent of all children in the United States are allergic to cow's milk, many undiagnosed. Dairy products are the leading cause of food allergy, often revealed by diarrhea, constipation, and fatigue. Many cases of asthma and sinus infections are reported to be relieved and even eliminated by cutting out dairy. The exclusion of dairy, however, must be complete to see any benefit." Robert Cohen The above column was written on May 17, 1999 230 From: Robert Cohen Date: Fri Aug 11, 2000 11:53am Subject: - - - MEDIA CONSPIRACY OR LACK OF INTEREST? Dear Friends, Steve Wilson and his wife, Jane Akre, are on trial. They have sacrificed their careers for your health interests. These two courageous Emmy-winning investigative reporters will probably never again work in television. Three years ago, they refused to LIE about Monsanto's genetically engineered bovine growth hormone and they were fired by WTVT, the FOX affiliate in Tampa, Florida. Although their trial continues, there is nothing in newspapers or evening news about it. Last week, I was contacted by a young man who obtained the original censored tape that Steve and Jane produced and that the station refused to air. Jason Beck of Massachusetts sent a case of tapes, costing me $5.62 each. My shipping and packaging costs are $2.81 per unit, bringing the total cost to $8.43 per tape. I am selling the tapes for $10, and after MC/VISA gets their 3%, I clear $1.27 per unit. I will be sending the proceeds to Steve and Jane as a contribution to their legal defense fund. To date, I have sold six tapes, and will donate $7.62 to Steve and Jane. Should they come to New York, that might buy them each a cup of frappacino in one of the many STARBUCKS coffee outlets. Hopefully, they'll order theirs with soy milk. Robert Cohen 231 From: Robert Cohen Date: Mon Aug 14, 2000 5:18pm Subject: - - - "WE'RE SCARED SHITLESS" (Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young - Woodstock, 1969) Dear Friends, I wrote this column 14 months ago and nothing has changed! ____________________________________________________________________ Saturday, June 19, 1999 - Toxic chemical runoff from farms is scaring the lab coats off of scientists. Read the shocking news about the strange effect on wildlife. HOW MUCH WASTE CAN A COW PRODUCE? A Cow can eat 70-100 pounds of commercial feed and drink the equivalent of a 55- gallon drum of water each day. GOT MILK? Then you've GOT BODY WASTE! There are more than nine million cows in America and there are no standards to limit the levels of dangerous pesticides given to them in feed. Those toxins accumulate in their flesh and body fluids which Americans then eat. Those toxins are sprayed on crops and find their way into America's streams and rivers. So do the toxins excreted in body waste. Nine million cows produce one billion pounds of body waste each day. There are ten times that amount of hogs and beef cattle, not to mention chickens, lambs, and other animals raised to feed America. In 1985, a pond in California was so severly polluted by a combination of agricultural factors that the government determined would serve as a model for a long-range study of the effect of agricultural chemicals on the environment. WHAT'S NEW? ANIMALS WERE RECENTLY AUTOPSIED Michael Delamore, chief of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's drainage program in Fresno, has been analyzing a study of toxic farm chemicals in waterways and he is more than perplexed. BOTH MALE AND FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS were found in one-third of the 87 field mice, house mice, harvest mice, and California voles trapped last year on land that once collected toxic runoff at the Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge in Los Banos, California. WHAT DO BIOLOGISTS SAY? Technically, the rodents seem to be pseudo-hermaphroditic, according to biologist Gary Santolo, who led the investigation. They appear to be males from the outside and lack external female genitalia, but have a fully developed set of internal female organs in addition to functional male sexual organs. Dr. Richard Auchus, an endocrinologist at the University of California at San Francisco, had this comment: "It's fair to say that if it happened in four species and happened suddenly, it's indicative of an environmental cause of some sort." WHY BLAME IT ON AGRICULTURE? ACCORDING TO CNN (June 14, 1999): "Animals in the area have been monitored yearly since an investigation in 1985 revealed that selenium, a byproduct of agricultural runoff, was killing or deforming thousands of birds. "Massive quantities of selenium, pesticides and other toxic chemicals were being deposited in the refuge in ponds that served as a dump for farm runoff." Robert Cohen 232 From: Robert Cohen Date: Tue Aug 15, 2000 12:21pm Subject: - - - THIS ONE WILL PISS YOU OFF! Dear Friends, Today I spoke with a woman from Idaho who was concerned that a permit had been issued for a new 16,000 cow dairy farm near her home. The water tables in her county have been severly reduced, and she was concerned that 16,000 cows might add to the problem. I have read that a cow can drink the equivalent of a 55 gallon drum of water each day (that weighs over 400 pounds), but let's imagine just 100 pounds of water per day consumed per animal...that's 1.6 million pounds of water daily. Should this Idaho notmilkwoman be concerned? Here's a column I wrote last summer: _________________________________________________________________ Monday, July 5, 1999 - Where Have All the Flowers Gone? That's easy. They're growing by the sides of streams, fertilized by billions of gallons of waste products from dairy herds. WATER POLLUTION SUIT TARGETS DAIRIES HEADLINE-STOCKTON, CA Officials in the California State Department of Environmental Protection and local health authorities have filed suit against four dairy farms in San Joaquin County for fouling local waterways. STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL BILL LOCKYER SAID: "We are seeking through joint state and county lawsuits to stop the pollution, and to extract civil penalties for the dairy farmers' failure to address the problem." THOSE WHO POLLUTE The defendants are Lucky J Dairy near Tracy, ManJean Holsteins near Stockton, Quaresma & Sons Dairy near Manteca, and Machado Dairy, also near Manteca. THE PROBLEM Last spring, state laboratory testing found streams nearby these farms toxic to flora and fauna. Dairies were ordered by state water regulators to clean up the streams and immediately cease discharging cow urine and manure into nearby waterways. Lockyer described these factory farms as "small cities." Imagine a small city without a sewage treatment plant. WHAT DID REGULATORS FIND? State investigators and local inspectors found large volumes of animal waste flowing into roadside ditches and streams, including one flow estimated at 50,000 gallons that traveled several miles into the San Joaquin River. Residents of San Joaquin Valley drink water from that river. HOW MUCH WASTE? A dairy cow generates more than 110 pounds of waste each day, according to Lockyer. There are more than 9 million dairy cows in America. That adds up to over 1 billion pounds of waste, dumped somewhere every single day! If one six-inch brick of bovine excrement weighed one pound, one could produce 500 million linear feet of bovine bricks per day. Allowing 10,000 bricks to the mile, in five days that line of bricks would stretch from the Earth to the moon. Anybody want to follow the yellow brick road to the cow jumping over the moon? If you do, watch where you step! Robert Cohen 233 From: Robert Cohen Date: Wed Aug 16, 2000 12:56pm Subject: - - - HAPPY ANNIVERSARY ONE YEAR AGO THE DAIRY INDUSTRY CLOSED IN BELGIUM. THE SAME PROBLEM PLAGUES AMERICAN DAIRY PRODUCTS, AND IT'S WORSE HERE! August 16, 1999 - Dioxins in milk and meat causes a panic in Belgium. America takes minimal precautions. BELGIUM PANICS It might have been a scene from a pre-nuclear war screenplay or the worst case scenario from somebody's Y2K nightmare. What actually happened in Belgium? There was a panic. Supermarket shelves were emptied and curfews were declared. Citizens of Belgium discovered last month that milk, dairy products, and meat were not safe to eat. DIOXIN CONTAMINATION - A SCAPEGOAT Contaminated fats used to supplement animal feeds were implicated (but not proven) as being the cause of June's European catastrophe. A few months earlier, the World Health Organization announced that 90% of dioxins that humans take into their bodies come from milk, dairy products, and meat. Last week, a story out of Britain revealed that mothers who nurse their infants have up to 50 times the safe level of dioxins in their breast milk. Blaming high dioxin levels on one tainted batch of animal feed is the easy solution to a potentially explosive problem. What would happen if the world's supply of milk and meat were declared to be carcinogenic, severely tainted by industrial wastes such as dioxins and PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls)? Finding a scapegoat for the dioxin scare is merely a simple Band-Aid for what might be a growing systemic cancer. FDA'S AMERICAN SOLUTION The Food and Drug Administration ordered that all milk products from Belgium be detained at American ports of entry. FDA's announcement placed the responsibility of testing on importers of food. WHAT'S GOING ON? Why doesn't FDA test the food? Why must food importers conduct the testing? Is any agency in the United States routinely testing American food for dioxins? Is the potential bad news answer something we'd rather not know? THE FOOD CHAIN The higher up an animal is on the food chain, the higher the concentration of dioxins in its flesh and body fluids. Rabbits eat plants after dioxins from the air find their way onto leaves and roots. If a hunter traps and eats a rabbit, that animal flesh will contain the concentration of many meals worth of dioxins. If the hunter becomes a vegetarian, his intake of dioxins will not be as high as the dioxin intake of his fellow meat eaters. The average American eats 6 ounces of meat every day and 29.2 ounces of milk and dairy products. You are what you eat. One pound of steak might contain a thousand times more dioxins than one pound of salad greens. This should be food for thought, particularly for nursing mothers. _____________________________________________________ RECENT TESTS REVEALED THAT BEN & JERRY'S VANILLA ICE CREAM CONTAINED TWO-HUNDRED TIMES THE SAFE LEVEL OF DIOXINS. BEN & JERRY'S OFFICIAL RESPONSE: "It's in the environment." _____________________________________________________ SOLUTION: http://www.NOTMILK.com Robert Cohen 234 From: Robert Cohen Date: Thu Aug 17, 2000 8:03am Subject: - - - Barbara Walters Interview DANNY SEO - A YOUNG MAN WHO IS CHANGING THE WORLD Dear Friends, Danny Seo has been an activist for nearly ten years, and this idealistic 23-year-old will be interviewed today: THE VIEW 11:00 a.m. (EST) WABC Channel 7 (New York) Robert Cohen 235 From: Robert Cohen Date: Thu Aug 17, 2000 8:10am Subject: - - - CHEESY STUDY Dear Friends, When you get diarrhea or nausea, sneezes or sniffles, do you recall eating a slice of cheese 45 days before? That's how long it can take listeria to culture in your body. The cure for the common and not-so common cold? NOTMILK! I wrote the following last summer: Saturday, July 24, 1999 - Dangerous bacteria survive digestion. More powerful evidence is discovered. SCIENTIFIC STUDIES Hundreds of thousands of studies are published each year in thousands of scientific journals. One can hardly keep up with the volume of scientific "facts" which are continuously stored in data banks and cumulatively add up to the vast amount of scientific knowledge available to mankind. CLUES Thousands of clues have added up to condemn milk and dairy products as being unsafe. One new clue was actually discovered in 1987 and has remained buried for twelve years. SURVIVAL OF LISTERIA MONOCYTOGENES IN MILK DURING HIGH-TEMPERATURE, SHORT-TIME PASTEURIZATION. This study was performed at the University of Wisconsin and appeared in the July 1987 (Volume 53) issue of the Journal of Environmental Microbiology. The authors were Doyle MP, Glass KA, et.al. WHAT WERE THE RESULTS OF THE STUDY? Milk from cows inoculated with listeria was pooled for 2 to 4 days and then heated at 162 degrees Fahrenheit for 16 seconds in a high- temperature, short-time pasteurization unit. Live listeria bacteria was then successfully isolated from the milk after heat treatment in 11 of 12 pasteurization trials. Results indicate listeria can survive the minimum high-temperature, short-time treatment required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for pasteurizing milk. In February of 1999, 350,000 cases of milk and dairy products were withdrawn from every state in America because of listeria contamination. Dozens of Americans died from a bacterial infection that might take as long as 45 days to incubate in the human body. One plays a deadly game of Russian Roulette by eating milk and cheese products. Robert Cohen 236 From: Robert Cohen Date: Fri Aug 18, 2000 10:19am Subject: - - - THE JURY IS OUT Dear Friends, Please include Steve Wilson and Jane Akre in your thoughts. Their entire NOTMILK trial: http://www.foxbghsuit.com I just spoke with Judge Steinberg's office (10:15 AM). All arguments are over, and the judge has finished instructing the jury. We anxiously await the decision. Win or lose, Steve and Jane would love to hear from you: Steve's EMAIL: Wilson@f... Jane's EMAIL: PlainJaneE@a... Robert Cohen 237 From: Robert Cohen Date: Fri Aug 18, 2000 2:01pm Subject: - - - THE JURY IS STILL OUT Steve Wilson and Jane Akre are waiting for a decision: http://www.foxbghsuit.com It's 2PM, and I just spoke with the court clerk... no decision. Robert Cohen 238 From: Robert Cohen Date: Fri Aug 18, 2000 2:47pm Subject: - - - FOX BGH SUIT UPDATE MY 2:45 PM TELEPHONE CONVERSATION WITH STEVE WILSON WILSON: If this is what television has become, I don't belong in it any longer. COHEN: Win or lose, Steve, you're a hero to a lot of people. WILSON: The judge had nine pages of instructions for the jurors; we successfully argued it down to one page. Waiting...this is the toughest thing I've even been through. _______________________________________________________ 239 From: Robert Cohen Date: Fri Aug 18, 2000 3:03pm Subject: - - - 3PM EMAIL FROM STEVE WILSOM Dear Friends, I just received the following EMAIL from Steve Wilson: _________________________________________________________________ After listening to instructions that took 30 minutes to read, the jury in the Fox/BGH trial began deliberations at 10:45 a.m. this morning (Friday) in Tampa. The alternate juror, who was dismissed before the panel entered the jury room, later told attorneys for both sides that he was 80% sure he would have voted against the plaintiffs and in favor of Fox. He said he thought the fired journalists just failed to make their case and that if they would have only cooperated more with their editors, perhaps the story would have gotten on the air. The computer programmer said just two days ago he had a better idea for a program he was writing but his client insisted on doing it another way. "He was my boss. I do what the boss says," the alternate stated. He also said he would have wanted to review some key documents and it is POSSIBLE he could have changed his position after doing so. He also said he did not expect the jury to deliberate long. As of the moment this is written, they have been in the jury room for more than four hours. They asked for a large chalk board and another copy of the instructions about 20 miunutes after deliberations began. _______________________________________________________ Robert Cohen 240 From: Robert Cohen Date: Fri Aug 18, 2000 4:01pm Subject: - - - MOMENTS Dear Friends, It's 4PM, and I just spoke to the judge's assistant. Still no word from the jury. Steve Wilson and his wife Jane Akre are entering their sixth hour of WAITING, their fate resting upon a judgement from a jury of their peers. I recall a moment two years ago after FOX had offered the Wilsons a few hundred thou$and dollar$ to safrifice their integrity and settle their suit. That was a MOMENT. The Wilson's had to have known that their refusal to accept a settlement represented career suicide. What television station in America would hire reporters who litigate against their network? There is a wonderful movie called NETWORK, worth renting from your video store. Watch it tonight! Once seen, who can forget the TV reporter opening his window in the middle of the night and screaming for the world to hear: "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore." Steve and Jane are mad as hell. They have been fighting Monsanto, who called in every favor to get their erbGH expose cancelled. They have been fighting a network that hired Bill Clinton's law firm. They have been fighting a system which has all but ruined them, financially. When the dust clears...when the decision comes in...the Wilsons go home to laugh and cry. It has been three years of hell for these courageous "soldiers" who fight their battle for you and for me. Robert Cohen 241 From: Robert Cohen Date: Fri Aug 18, 2000 4:59pm Subject: DECISION IN THE FOX BGH SUIT Dear Friends, Talk about getting the news from the horse's mouth! I just called the judge's chambers, and his clerk had gone home for the weekend. Judge Steinberg answered his own phone! The jury had just come in with their decision. It will take me a long time to figure this one out... For Steve Wilson: No liability on the part of FOX. Zero damages. Steve lost. For Jane Akre: $212,000 of liability on the part of FOX! Jane won. BOTTOM LINE: Steve and Jane are married...and they are a team...AND THEY'VE WON! They beat the bastards!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have a nice weekend! Robert Cohen 242 From: Robert Cohen Date: Sun Aug 20, 2000 11:34am Subject: - - - (Dairy Education Board) WHAT HAPPENS TO THE UDDERS Dear Friends, One year ago, I wrote this column: ****************************************************************** * WARNING: Today's column portrays how animals go from farm to * * dinner plate, and the squeamish might find it distressing. * ****************************************************************** (graphic version at: http://www.notmilk.com/deb/082999.html ) Sunday, August 15, 1999 WHAT HAPPENS TO THE UDDERS? http://members.aol.com/distrbdcow/cow_ani.gif I woke up in the middle of the night after dreaming about cows dangling from ropes tied around their hind legs. The animals moved slowly down the line, twitching as the life ebbed out of their bodies, blood spurting from gashes in their necks delivered moments earlier by a man wearing a bloodstained smock. Occasionally, there would be an animal, still alive, mooing loudly and shaking spasmodically, seeking a way to escape. In my dream, one animal made eye contact with me, her eyes bulging, wild with pain and fear. Once awake, I envisioned their enormous udders, some still filled with milk. White creamy discharges mix with dark red blood and feces, dripping from lifeless carcasses to the concrete floor. I imagine the smell of the slaughterhouse. A thought comes into my mind. What happens to the flesh on their faces, cheeks, lips, and eye sockets? What happens to the anus? What happens to the udder? Do these body parts become a cruel joke for Ronald MacDonald? Do you really "deserve a break today" or desire to "have it your way?" SLAUGHTERHOUSE Last weekend I visited Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, New York. At the time of my visit I was reading Gail Eisnitz's remarkable book, SLAUGHTERHOUSE. http://www.hfa.org/slaught.jpg I petted the animals at Farm Sanctuary, Holstein cows, goats, and hogs, and, at the same time, was reading truths about how pigs met their death. http://www.meatstinks.com/raw/cpl3.jpg Gail Eisnitz writes: "These hogs get up to the scalding tank, hit the water, and just start screaming and kicking. I'm not sure whether the hogs burn to death before drowning. The water is 140 degrees. I do not believe the hogs go into shock, because it takes them a couple of minutes to stop thrashing. I think they die slowly from drowning." After a few well-placed phone calls, I connected with Gail at her Montana home. http://www.hfa.org/eisnitz.jpg "What happens to the udders?" I asked. Gail related to me a dairy cow's last moments. I had also read the gruesome details in her book. "When a conscious cow arrives at the first hind-legger, usually the legger tries to make a cut to start skinning out the leg. Unfortunately, it is very difficult and dangerous to do that when an animal is kicking violently. So the legger will cut off the bottom part of the animal's leg he's working on with a pair of clippers." Her book does a remarkable job of exposing the cruelty applied to 8 billion farm animals each year. Each one dies a painful death. Killers become so used to the act of killing that these animals are treated with great disdain. Sometimes they are brutally tortured before and during death. Would we eat their bodies if we could witness their suffering? That was a question I asked myself as I walked through a supermarket this very morning. I have tried unsuccessfully to read excerpts of "SLAUGHTERHOUSE" to my children. This book reads a little differently than "Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr. Seuss. Americans may not want to read this book. Deaf, dumb, mute, and blind. Gail's agenda involves much more than compassion to animals. She exposes unsanitary slaughterhouse conditions and practices. By eating such renderings, one shows little compassion to one's own body. Eisnitz writes: "Federal records show that major meat packers smoked rancid meat to cover foul odor, or marinated it to disguise slime and smell... Chickens and hams were soaked in chlorine baths to remove slime and odor, and red dye was added to beef to make it appear fresh. Plant managers repeatedly fought to allow 'some contamination' such as feces, grease, hydraulic oil, maggots, metal, floor residue and rancid meat..." WHAT HAPPENS TO UDDERS? Gail paraphrased the well-publicized dairy industry campaign with her own question. "Got pet food?" "You mean, those little cans of dog and cat food contain minced udders?" I asked? Occasionally, I find myself situated behind little old ladies at supermarket checkout counters. They often spend more money on tiny tins of cat food then they do on their own groceries. The cans read, "100% beef." If only they knew this dirty little secret. A PANDORA'S BOX OF PATHOGENS Eisnitz begins Chapter Thirteen with a quote from David Carney, a USDA meat inspector. "We used to trim the shit off the meat. Then we washed the shit off the meat. Now the consumer eats the shit off the meat." If you eat chicken, you might want to skip the next paragraph. If you buy and prepare chicken for your family, you cannot afford not to read what follows. Gail writes: "Today, thanks to automation in the industry, individual poultry plants... can kill and process as many as 340,000 birds per day. Since it's easier to bleed a bird that isn't flapping and struggling, most live birds have their heads dragged through an electrically charged water bath to paralyze - not stun - them. Other industrialized nations require that chickens be rendered unconscious or killed prior to bleeding and scalding so they won't have to go through the process conscious. Here in the United States, however, poultry plants... keep the stunning current down to about one-tenth of that needed to render a chicken unconscious. A conveyor then carries the shocked and paralyzed birds to a high-speed circular blade meant to slit their throats but which occasionally misses birds as they rush past at the rate of thousands per hour. After their heads and feet are removed and they've been washed (and feathered), the chickens are re-hung on an evisceration line. There, machines automatically cut them open and pull their guts out. In the scald tank, fecal contamination on skin and feathers gets inhaled by live birds, and hot water opens bird's pores allowing pathogens to seep in. The pounding action of the de-feathering machines creates an aerosol of feces-contaminated water which is then beaten into the birds. Contamination also occurs when the birds have their intestines removed by automatic eviscerating machines. These high-speed machines commonly rip open intestines, spilling feces into the bird's body cavities. Rinsing a chicken 40 times does not remove all of the bacteria. Water in chill tanks has been aptly named 'fecal soup' for all the filth and bacteria floating around. By immersing clean, healthy birds in the same tank with dirty ones, you're practically assuring cross- contamination. Chickens that bathe together get contaminated together." Gail finishes the chapter by quoting Gerald Kuester of USDA: "There are about 50 points during processing where cross-contamination can occur. At the end of the line, the birds are no cleaner than if they had been dipped in a toilet. CONCLUSION Out of sight, out of mind. If only every American could just see what goes on in a slaughterhouse. That's now possible by reading Eisnitz's book. MILK What drips down a cow's leg while it's being milked? Feces, mucous, blood, bacteria. A filter is used to remove those impurities before the milk enters the bulk holding tank. Drink that milk and devour the glorious essence of bovine excrement. MEAT Eat their flesh and you consume those diseased animals that no longer produce enough milk to guarantee a profit to the dairyman. When cows are diseased, with cancer or paratuberculosis, leukemia or other sicknesses, that's when they are sent to their final fate. Your dinner plate. Gail Eisnitz is an investigator for the Humane Farm Association. http://www.hfa.org Her book can be ordered, online: http://www.hfa.org/form-2.html Robert Cohen 243 From: Robert Cohen Date: Sun Aug 20, 2000 11:35am Subject: - - - (Dairy Education Board) TEXT VERSION OF UDDER COLUMN WHAT HAPPENS TO THE UDDERS? http://members.aol.com/distrbdcow/cow_ani.gif I woke up in the middle of the night after dreaming about cows dangling from ropes tied around their hind legs. The animals moved slowly down the line, twitching as the life ebbed out of their bodies, blood spurting from gashes in their necks delivered moments earlier by a man wearing a bloodstained smock. Occasionally, there would be an animal, still alive, mooing loudly and shaking spasmodically, seeking a way to escape. In my dream, one animal made eye contact with me, her eyes bulging, wild with pain and fear. Once awake, I envisioned their enormous udders, some still filled with milk. White creamy discharges mix with dark red blood and feces, dripping from lifeless carcasses to the concrete floor. I imagine the smell of the slaughterhouse. A thought comes into my mind. What happens to the flesh on their faces, cheeks, lips, and eye sockets? What happens to the anus? What happens to the udder? Do these body parts become a cruel joke for Ronald MacDonald? Do you really "deserve a break today" or desire to "have it your way?" SLAUGHTERHOUSE Last weekend I visited Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, New York. At the time of my visit I was reading Gail Eisnitz's remarkable book, SLAUGHTERHOUSE. http://www.hfa.org/slaught.jpg I petted the animals at Farm Sanctuary, Holstein cows, goats, and hogs, and, at the same time, was reading truths about how pigs met their death. http://www.meatstinks.com/raw/cpl3.jpg Gail Eisnitz writes: "These hogs get up to the scalding tank, hit the water, and just start screaming and kicking. I'm not sure whether the hogs burn to death before drowning. The water is 140 degrees. I do not believe the hogs go into shock, because it takes them a couple of minutes to stop thrashing. I think they die slowly from drowning." After a few well-placed phone calls, I connected with Gail at her Montana home. http://www.hfa.org/eisnitz.jpg "What happens to the udders?" I asked. Gail related to me a dairy cow's last moments. I had also read the gruesome details in her book. "When a conscious cow arrives at the first hind-legger, usually the legger tries to make a cut to start skinning out the leg. Unfortunately, it is very difficult and dangerous to do that when an animal is kicking violently. So the legger will cut off the bottom part of the animal's leg he's working on with a pair of clippers." Her book does a remarkable job of exposing the cruelty applied to 8 billion farm animals each year. Each one dies a painful death. Killers become so used to the act of killing that these animals are treated with great disdain. Sometimes they are brutally tortured before and during death. Would we eat their bodies if we could witness their suffering? That was a question I asked myself as I walked through a supermarket this very morning. I have tried unsuccessfully to read excerpts of "SLAUGHTERHOUSE" to my children. This book reads a little differently than "Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr. Seuss. Americans may not want to read this book. Deaf, dumb, mute, and blind. Gail's agenda involves much more than compassion to animals. She exposes unsanitary slaughterhouse conditions and practices. By eating such renderings, one shows little compassion to one's own body. Eisnitz writes: "Federal records show that major meat packers smoked rancid meat to cover foul odor, or marinated it to disguise slime and smell... Chickens and hams were soaked in chlorine baths to remove slime and odor, and red dye was added to beef to make it appear fresh. Plant managers repeatedly fought to allow 'some contamination' such as feces, grease, hydraulic oil, maggots, metal, floor residue and rancid meat..." WHAT HAPPENS TO UDDERS? Gail paraphrased the well-publicized dairy industry campaign with her own question. "Got hot dogs?" "Not for the last three years," I responded. A PANDORA'S BOX OF PATHOGENS Eisnitz begins Chapter Thirteen with a quote from David Carney, a USDA meat inspector. "We used to trim the shit off the meat. Then we washed the shit off the meat. Now the consumer eats the shit off the meat." If you eat chicken, you might want to skip the next paragraph. If you buy and prepare chicken for your family, you cannot afford not to read what follows. Gail writes: "Today, thanks to automation in the industry, individual poultry plants... can kill and process as many as 340,000 birds per day. Since it's easier to bleed a bird that isn't flapping and struggling, most live birds have their heads dragged through an electrically charged water bath to paralyze - not stun - them. Other industrialized nations require that chickens be rendered unconscious or killed prior to bleeding and scalding so they won't have to go through the process conscious. Here in the United States, however, poultry plants... keep the stunning current down to about one-tenth of that needed to render a chicken unconscious. A conveyor then carries the shocked and paralyzed birds to a high-speed circular blade meant to slit their throats but which occasionally misses birds as they rush past at the rate of thousands per hour. After their heads and feet are removed and they've been washed (and feathered), the chickens are re-hung on an evisceration line. There, machines automatically cut them open and pull their guts out. In the scald tank, fecal contamination on skin and feathers gets inhaled by live birds, and hot water opens bird's pores allowing pathogens to seep in. The pounding action of the de-feathering machines creates an aerosol of feces-contaminated water which is then beaten into the birds. Contamination also occurs when the birds have their intestines removed by automatic eviscerating machines. These high-speed machines commonly rip open intestines, spilling feces into the bird's body cavities. Rinsing a chicken 40 times does not remove all of the bacteria. Water in chill tanks has been aptly named 'fecal soup' for all the filth and bacteria floating around. By immersing clean, healthy birds in the same tank with dirty ones, you're practically assuring cross- contamination. Chickens that bathe together get contaminated together." Gail finishes the chapter by quoting Gerald Kuester of USDA: "There are about 50 points during processing where cross-contamination can occur. At the end of the line, the birds are no cleaner than if they had been dipped in a toilet. CONCLUSION Out of sight, out of mind. If only every American could just see what goes on in a slaughterhouse. That's now possible by reading Eisnitz's book. MILK What drips down a cow's leg while it's being milked? Feces, mucous, blood, bacteria. A filter is used to remove those impurities before the milk enters the bulk holding tank. Drink that milk and devour the glorious essence of bovine excrement. MEAT Eat their flesh and you consume those diseased animals that no longer produce enough milk to guarantee a profit to the dairyman. When cows are diseased, with cancer or paratuberculosis, leukemia or other sicknesses, that's when they are sent to their final fate. Your dinner plate. Gail Eisnitz is an investigator for the Humane Farm Association. http://www.hfa.org Her book can be ordered, online: http://www.hfa.org/form-2.html Robert Cohen 244 From: Robert Cohen Date: Mon Aug 21, 2000 10:47am Subject: - - - VICTORY IN FLORIDA Dear Friends, I just received this message from Steve Wison... TAMPA (August 18, 2000)—After listening to all the evidence for five full weeks and deliberating more than six hours, a state court jury has agreed with what fired journalists Steve Wilson and Jane Akre said long ago: Fox Television pressured them to broadcast a false, distorted or slanted news report. The jury awarded $425,000 in damages after finding the evidence proved that Fox took retaliatory personnel action against Akre because she threatened to blow the whistle to the Federal Communications Commission. The jury did not find for Wilson apparently because they concluded that Fox’s decision not to renew his contract was not based solely on a threat to blow the whistle to the FCC. According to a published report in the St. Petersburg Times, Fox V-P News Phil Metlin claimed, "The jury realized that Fox never told anyone to lie, distort or slant the news. "This is a wonderful day," Metlin told that was also aired on the station's 10 p.m. news broadcast. He and other Fox executives refused comment to The BGH Bulletin as they left the courthouse after the verdict. Chief defense attorney William McDaniels of the Washington firm Williams & Connolly that represents President Clinton, said the defeated defendants would have a statement later in the evening and promised to provide it but never did. Fox has indicated it intends to appeal the damage award the jury gave to Akre. "We're these guys at the same trial I was at?" Akre asked after watching WTVT's reporting of the verdict on the station's newscast Friday night. "They think this jury decided Fox never told anyone to lie, distort or slant the news?" co-plaintiff Wilson asked. "Poor Mr. Metlin must have gone somewhere to drown his sorrows before drawing a conclusion like that! "And as for Fox lawyer Ted Russell making a similar statement on the air," Wilson continued, "he's just doing what the jury saw Fox lawyers often do. They frequently have, shall we say, a unique interpretation of the truth." The last day of the grueling, five-week-long trial began with the litigants agreeing on final jury instructions and the verdict form which would be given to the panel. Fox had proposed lengthy instructions and a multi-page jury verdict form for each defendant. The final instructions both sides agreed to were written on 32 pages but the verdict form itself was pared down to a single page for each plaintiff. Shortly after10 a.m. trial Judge Ralph Steinberg began the half-hour task of reading the instructions to the jury before sending them into the jury room to begin deliberations. Shortly before 4 p.m., after they had spent more than five hours in the room together, Judge Steinberg called the parties was being made. The jury was brought into the courtroom and one of the jurors told the judge "We're close." With that simple remark, the judge sent them back into the room to resume their deliberations. Within about an hour, there was a knock at the door and the jury indicated they had reached a verdict. Just before 5 p.m. the jury re-entered the courtroom and the judge asked : "Do you have a verdict?" Pharmacist John Tagler, the foreman elected by the others, replied, "Yes, Your Honor, we do." Two sheets of paper, the verdict form for each plaintiff, was then handed to the judge who reviewed the documents and certified that they had been properly filled out. He then handed them to the court clerk to read out loud. Plaintiffs Steve Wilson and Jane Akre, who are married to each other, held hands as the clerk started to read: "Do you find that the plaintiff Jane Akre has proven by the greater weight of the evidence that the defendant New World Communications of Tampa through its employees or agents terminated her employment or took other retaliatory personnel action against her because she opposed or refused to participate in the broadcast of a false, distorted or slanted news report which she reasonable believed would violate the prohibition against intentional falsification or distortion of the news on television if it were aired?" The jury verdict as to question one: No. The courtroom remained tense as the clerk went on to read question number 2: "Do you find that the plaintiff Jane Akre has proven, by the greater weight of the evidence, that the defendant, through its employees or agents, terminated her employment or took other retaliatory personnel action against her because she threatened to disclose to the Federal Communications Commission under oath, a false, misleading, distorted, or slanted news report which she reasonably believed would violate the prohibition against intentional falsification or distortion of the news on television, if it were aired?" The jury verdict as to question 2: Yes. With one of the first two questions answered in the affirmative, the clerk went on to read the third question before the jury: What is the amount of lost wages, if any, lost earning capacity, if any, and damages, if any, sustained by the plaintiff Jane Akre? For lost wages: $88,725 For lost earning capacity: $120,750 For other damages: $215,525 The clerk then proceeded to read the same questions as to the jury's findings with regard to plaintiff Wilson's claim, reporting that the jury voted "No" to both questions and therefore awarded him nothing. "I learned it is extremely difficult if not impossible to be both a strong and aggressive advocate for yourself in the courtroom and a victim at the same time, "Wilson told reporters after the jury was dismissed. Although the reporter's questions drew admissions and responses that shocked and surprised even the Fox defense attorneys at times, they sometimes led to bitter confrontations in the courtroom. At one point, Fox attorney Greg Jones screamed at Wilson, "You're the biggest liar I've ever known!" He was admonished by the judge and repeatedly had to be told to answer Wilson's questions responsively. "The jury was told they must determine whether I was fired because I objected or refused to participate in the production of a slanted story. ," Wilson explained. In fact, the exact instruction to the jury was 'if you determine that this was the reason for the termination, then your verdict shall be for the plaintiff'. "The problem was the jury had no option to find that the slanted news report was a compelling reason, or a substantial reason, or even just one of the reasons," Wilson said. "With those instructions, it had to be the reason. And once I admitted to being difficult in the face of my bosses telling me to lie on the air, I think the jurors decided my intransigence certainly could have also been another reason they wanted to get rid of me. "Jane and I were a team. We were working on the same story. This jury has now decided that what Jane threatened to disclose to the FCC was a false, distorted and slanted news report," Wilson added. "That is a stain that no amount of spin from $650-an-hour Washington lawyers who specialize in telling you what the definition of 'is' is can never take away. No appeal can ever remove it, either. And neither can any amount of lying about, as WTVT has resorted to doing on its own newscasts," he said. "Jane and I have a lot of respect for many of the fine people who work there. They need to take a look at Friday night's 6 p.m. news transcript and then look how the spin changed in the 10 p.m. news transcript...and compare that to what the jury said on the verdict form itself. the transcript of what what their own station reported at 6 p.m. _____________________________________________________________ READ THE ENTIRE TRIAL COVERAGE: http://www.foxbghsuit.com _____________________________________________________________ Robert Cohen 245 From: Robert Cohen Date: Tue Aug 22, 2000 9:02am Subject: - - - WHERE DO COWS GET THEIR CALCIUM? Where do cows get their calcium from? Will bovine bones break if cows do not eat mozzarella? Where do cows get their calcium? Certainly not by drinking milk! In the summer, cows eat lots of "green stuff." Grass, weeds, vines, clover and rye. In the winter, they eat hay and different commercially prepared feeds. "Green stuff" contains chlorophyll. Red stuff (our blood) is very similar to chlorophyll. The basic difference between chlorophyll and hemoglobin, the major blood protein, is at the center of the molecule. Hemoglobin, the protein that makes our blood red, has iron as its center atom. Chlorophyll, the protein which makes plants green has as its center atom magnesium. HEMOGLOBIN AND CHLOROPHYLL ARE NEARLY IDENTICAL The magnificence of nature can be observed in the common bond between plants and humans. The active protein in our blood and the protein in the blood of plants are nearly identical. We live harmoniously, synergistically. Humans breathe in air containing oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. Plants "breathe in" air containing carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen. The 1930 Nobel Prize for Chemistry was awarded to Dr. Hans Fischer who noted that chlorophyll and blood hemoglobin are nearly alike. Chlorophyll contains at its center a magnesium atom. Blood contains at its center an iron atom. Magnesium aids calcium absorption. In order to absorb one milligram of calcium, you must have an equal milligram of magnesium. Is milk "LOADED" with calcium? Absolutely! Is milk "LOADED" with magnesium? Nope! For calcium and magnesium in the proper proportions, eat dark-green leafy vegetables. Robert Cohen THIS COLUMN WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED: Saturday - September 18, 1999 246 From: Robert Cohen Date: Tue Aug 22, 2000 8:49pm Subject: - - - THE VERDICT Dear Friends, This was the most controversial television suit in history. Two reporters were fired for daring to tell the truth about milk. Will they ever work in television again? ____________________ IN HER OWN WORDS... ____________________ "Do you find that the Plaintiff, Jane Akre has proven, by the greater weight of the evidence, that the Defendant...terminated her employment or took other retaliatory personnel action against her because she opposed or refused to participate in the broadcast of a false, distorted, or slanted news report..." "NO!" the clerk read. Oh, God, we've lost, I thought. Moments earlier, the jurors, every one of them,. failed to look at us when they entered the courtroom to announce their decision. READ JANE AKRE'S STORY: http://www.foxbghsuit.com/jasw081800ja.htm __________________________________________________________ Robert Cohen 247 From: Dave Rietz (DORway.com) Date: Wed Aug 23, 2000 12:58pm Subject: Survivors?! SURVIVORS or rat-eating, bug-munching, back-stabbing rats. They've eaten rats. They've eaten bugs. America's new anti-heros have plotted against each other on prime time TV during the summer of 2000 as they whittled their number down to four "survivors." Hatred. The worst examples of human behavior. Kill or be killed mentality. What better celebrities could the dairy industry have chosen for their milk ad campaign? The final four have been forever immortalized by the latest in a long series of milk mustache ads. THE FINAL FOUR Rasputin-like conniving corporate trainer Richard Hatch, 39, of Rhode Island who paraded naked on the island and has been arrested and charged with child abuse; grumpy Rudy Boesch, 72, an ex-Navy SEAL from Virginia who showed contempt for Rich's homosexuality; wishy-washy Kelly Wiglesworth, 23, the river guide from Nevada who used stolen credit cards and bit off part of her ex-husband's nose; and truck-driving Susan Hawk, 38, the Wisconsin whiner who showed up to the audition of SURVIVOR with nude photos of herself. What wonderful role models! Left on an island with just their clothes, a few basic tools, and rice, sixteen "survivors" provided entertainment for millions of television viewers as their personalities and psyches were ripped open each week to be shared with those of us willing to put up with the absolute worst in human behavior. THE LOSERS One man was voted off the show because of his religious beliefs. Another, an African-American, suggested that there were racial overtones to his demise. Each week an individual was rejected because of flaws in his or her basic personality. Ultimately, there were four left, and millions of viewers debated not who was the best of the four, but who was the worst. The worst of human behavior. Survivors plotting to destroy each other. During the course of the show, rewards were offered to contest winners. One night, a slice of pizza was the prize, and it was won by the African-American male. Rather than eat the slice himself, he shared a bite with each remaining survivor. Altruism? Not at all. This unselfish act was pure survival. After all, ninety-five percent of African-Americans cannot tolerate lactose. Who needs gas, bloating, and constipation while stuck on a tropical island? His reward for sharing? Voted off! GOT beer? The reward for another day's competition was an ice cold bottle of beer and a night off the island drinking ice cold drinks. Did the lucky survivor go to a milk bar? No way. More beer! (Shameless corporate plug for Budweiser Light!) Imagine milk and dairy products on a tropical island. Had the survivors been left with a few gallons of milk there would have been no hit series. Ten minutes into the show there would have been such bacterial growth and contamination...got Medivac helicopters? The survivors were left with one food staple, rice. They could have been left with Parmalat milk (in sealed containers) but the producers recognized that there was no dietary need for dairy products. Even sponsors got into the spirit of the show. On August 16th, the CBS network ran a REEBOK commercial in which two bow-hunting men shot a small dog, killing the animal. The hunters then threw the canine's impaled body into a tree. Entertainment? Perhaps this was the moment that inspired milk processors to design an ad based upon this hit series. Did anybody return home with bone disease? Did anybody miss their milk? Twenty-five thou$and dollar$ is the going rate for a milk ad. Now that the show is over, $URVIVOR$ will $ay anything, and endor$e any product, when the money is on the table. Most of the survivors now have agents, and the milk mustache ad is their introduction to the millions of commercial dollars awaiting their endorsements. Robert Cohen 248 From: Robert Cohen Date: Thu Aug 24, 2000 10:13am Subject: - - - SHARE THIS WITH A DIABETIC FRIEND NEW YORK TIMES FRONT-PAGE HEADLINE - Thursday, 8/24/2000: "DIABETES RISES; DOCTORS FORESEE A HARSH IMPACT" From 1990 - 1998, the incidence of diabetes cases has increased by a factor of 76% among 30-40 year olds. What has changed? CHEESE CONSUMPTION! Doctors attribute this dramatic increase to a corresponding increase in obesity. If one eats a food group (DAIRY PRODUCTS) containing calories, fat, and growth hormones, every cell in the body will be influenced to grow. Simultaneous to the soaring increase in rates of obesity, there is a corresponding rise in diabetes. Cause and effect? There is evidence that both epidemics are linked to the consumption of milk and dairy products. Milk proteins cause (for some) an auto-immune response in which insulin-producing pancreatic cells are destroyed. These cells (beta cells) manufacture insulin. SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE FOR THE DIABETES/MILK CONNECTION It is interesting to note that Finland has the highest rate of diabetes in the world and the highest rate of milk and cheese consumption (LANCET, 1992; 339, 905-909. Greene, et al.). Researchers compared the rates of Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (IDDM) to milk consumption in Finland, Japan and the United States, discovering the following: NATION # CASES OF IDDM AVERAGE DAILY MILK PER 100,000 people PROTEIN (GRAMS) Finland 28 30 United States 15 19 Japan1 5 Studies in which people move from one country to another negate the genetic hypothesis for diabetes. One study (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1990, 51(3), 489, Scott, F.W.) demonstrated a doubling of diabetes rates after native born Polynesians moved to Australia and changed their diets from fish proteins to cow proteins. The July 1990 issue of Scientific American asked the question, What Causes Diabetes? Authors Mark Atkinson and Noel Maclaren recognized that an autoimmune response in which the body's own pancreas cells (beta cells) are "ambushed" is the key to Type-I and Type-II diabetes. Two years after the publication of this profound determination, Scientific American wrote (October, 1992): "The National Dairy Board's Slogan, 'Milk. It does a body good,' sounds a little hollow these days." The journal then identified a team of Canadian researchers who found evidence that early exposure to a protein in cow's milk may sometimes lead to juvenile diabetes. Eighty-five percent of the people identified in this study came from families with no previous history of diabetes. Scientific American further cited a study, which appeared in July of 1992 in the New England Journal of Medicine (July 30, 1992, page 302, Karjalainen, et. al). The authors of this study wrote in their abstract: "Studies in animals have suggested that bovine serum albumin is the milk protein responsible for the onset of diabetes." Their conclusion: "Patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus produce antibodies to cow milk proteins that participate in the development of islet dysfunction... Taken as a whole, our findings suggest that an active response in patients with IDDM (to the bovine protein) is a feature of the autoimmune response. THE PREVENTION OF EXPOSURE TO COW'S MILK EARLY IN LIFE PREVENTS THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS DISEASE." (emphasis added). In June of 1992, the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Nutrition recommended that cow's milk was not suitable as an alternative to breast milk for the first year of life. (Pediatrics, 1992; 89; 1105- 1109). A letter in a subsequent issue of that journal written by pediatricians Lane Robson, MD and Alexander Leung, MD of the Alberta Children's Hospital asked: "In lieu of the recent evidence that cow's milk protein may be implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus, we believe that the Committee on Nutrition should clarify whether cow's milk is ever appropriate for children and whether or not infant formulas that are based on cow's milk protein are appropriate alternatives to breast milk." In October of 1996 (LANCET, 348; 926-928) Cavallo, et al discovered that antibodies to BETA-CASEIN are present in over a third of IDDM patients and relatively non-existent in healthy individuals. Their work supports the sentiment that bovine proteins play a key role in the pathogenesis of IDDM. In December of 1996 (LANCET, vol. 348, Dec 14, 1996) Simon Murch, MD, of the Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology of the Royal Free Hospital in London wrote: "Cow's milk proteins are unique in one respect: in industrialized countries they are the first foreign proteins entering the infant gut, since most formulations for babies are cow milk-based. The first pilot stage of our IDD prevention study found that oral exposure to dairy milk proteins in infancy resulted in both cellular and immune response...this suggests the possible importance of the gut immune system to the pathogenesis of IDD." In that same issue, researchers from New Zealand (R. B. Elliot, MD, et. al, Department of Pediatrics, University of Aukland) paralleled earlier studies and investigated diabetics in three locations: Auckland, New Zealand, Giessen, Germany and Sardinia, Italy. They reported finding a higher level of antibodies to bovine proteins, particularly CASEIN in diabetics than in healthy individuals. I recently wrote a guest editorial for the San Francisco Chronicle. In that editorial, I included this information: In 1970, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the dairy industry produced 2.2 billion pounds of cheese. The population of the United States was 203 million, which translates to an average of 10.8 pounds of cheese per person. By 1990, America's population had grown to 248 million, and Americans were eating more cheese, 6 billion pounds worth. That's an average of 24 pounds per person. In 1994, the average American consumed 27.7 pounds of cheese. As we pass from one millennium into another, America's per-capita cheese consumption has broken the 30-pound per person level. America's rate of cheese consumption is skyrocketing. Since ten pounds of milk are required to produce just one pound of cheese, three hundred pounds of milk are used to manufacture that thirty pounds of cheese. The average American consumes more cheese than ever before. Cheese containing powerful growth hormones and allergenic proteins that have been linked to diabetes. Do you have a friend or family member with diabetes? Perhaps this information can save him/her thousands of dollars in medical bills and a lifetime of suffering. The cure is simple: NOTMILK! Robert Cohen 249 From: Robert Cohen Date: Thu Aug 24, 2000 12:03pm Subject: - - - LIVE ON FOX NEWS - 11:55AM GERALDO RIVERA & A FEMALE INTERVIEWER: "Do you like the SURVIVOR series? Robert from New Jersey is on the line." ROBERT COHEN "I hate it. Had there been hidden cameras on a real island, we might have witnessed murder and unspeakable crimes. Would we have crowned the one survivor a hero as we are now doing with commercial endorsements such as the dairy industry's milk mustache ad? These people are not role models. One survivor compared the two finalists to snakes and rats. I will not endorse the dairy industry's attempt to make these people heros." _____________________________________________________________________ 250 From: Robert Cohen Date: Fri Aug 25, 2000 9:27am Subject: - - - LATE NOTICE I just got a call from WMEX radio in Boston (40,000 WATT channel). I'll be on for thirty minutes, beginning at 9:30 AM! Robert Cohen 251 From: Robert Cohen Date: Fri Aug 25, 2000 9:39am Subject: - - - PETA HAS NOT GONE FAR ENOUGH! PETA's billboards parodying the popular "Got Milk?" campaign went up Wednesday in Wisconsin with a picture of New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani wearing a milk mustache and asking, "Got prostate cancer?" PETA's controversial ad has drawn criticism, but perhaps this time, they were NOT strong enough. Hundreds of studies have identified a hormone manufactured by the human body as the KEY factor in the growth of prostate cancer. That hormone is called insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I). This powerful cellular growth accelerator is identical in cows and humans. Eat pizza with mozzarella or Parmesian on pasta, ice cream or yogurt, and you deliver this powerful hormone to your body. SCIENCE magazine was started by Thomas Edison in the late 1880's. This prestigious journal is read by over 500,000 scientists every week. On January 23rd, 1998 (vol. 279. p. 563), IGF-I was called the key factor in prostate cancer. There are forty-three thousand species of mammals, and hundreds of millions of different proteins in nature, and only one hormone in the entire animal kingdom is an exact match between two species. That hormone is IGF-I. The latest scientific confirmation was published in the July issue of the British Journal of Cancer (p 95-97, Volume 83, Number 1, July 2000). Researchers at the Imperial Cancer Research Institute in Oxford found that a diet without meat or dairy products could reduce the risk of contracting prostate cancer. The authors cite earlier studies suggesting that high levels of IGF-I play a key role in causing prostate cancer. Vegetarians have lower levels of IGF-I than meat eaters, and vegans have lower levels of IGF-I than vegetarians. Prostate cancer is a killer, and Mayor Giuliani's cancer is shared by millions of Americans. The dairy industry recently selected New York Yankee manager Joe Torre as a model for a milk mustache ad. Giuliani is a New York Yankee fan, and often appears with Joe. These two "heros" of New York share a common disease and should share a common therapy: NOTMILK! Robert Cohen 265 From: Robert Cohen Date: Tue Aug 29, 2000 12:46pm Subject: MY LETTERS APPEAR IN TODAY'S NY PAPERS Today (Tuesday, August 29, 2000), the New York Daily News (circulation: 758,000) and the New York Post (circulation: 420,000) published versions of my letter/guest editorial. Neither version reflected my entire editorial, but one newspaper had the audacity to change my written words (The Post). The Post wrote something that I would not have written (the second sentence): "Hundreds of studies have identified a hormone manufactured by the human body as the key factor in the growth of prostate cancer. Consuming dairy products accelerates the development of this hormone." I also wrote that Mayor Guiliani and New York Yankee manager Joe Torre should "share the same therapy: NOTMILK." The Post eliminated the word "NOTMILK." HERE ARE THE THREE VERSIONS (Post, News, my letter): ______________________________ NEW YORK POST VERSION PETA's controversial ad has drawn criticism. But perhaps this time PETA was not strong enough. Hundreds of studies have identified a hormone manufactured by the human body as the key factor in the growth of prostate cancer. Consuming dairy products accelerates the development of this hormone. Prostate cancer is a killer, and Mayor Giuliani's cancer is shared by millions of Americans. The dairy industry recently selected New York Yankees manager Joe Torre as a model for a milk mustache ad. Giuliani is a Yankee fan and often appears with Joe. These two "heroes" of New York share a common disease and should share a common therapy. Robert Cohen Englewood Cliffs, N.J. ______________________________ DAILY NEWS VERSION THE DANGERS OF MILK Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: PETA's controversial ad has drawn criticism, but perhaps this time it was not strong enough. Hundreds of studies have identified a hormone, insulin-like growth factor-I, manufactured by the human body, as the key factor in the growth of prostate cancer. This potent cellular growth accelerator is identical in cows and humans. Eat pizza with mozzarella, Parmesan on pasta, ice cream or yogurt, and you deliver this powerful hormone to your body. Robert Cohen Dairy Education Board ______________________________ THE ORIGINAL LETTER: PETA's billboards parodying the popular "Got Milk?" campaign went up Wednesday in Wisconsin with a picture of New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani wearing a milk mustache and asking, "Got prostate cancer?" PETA's controversial ad has drawn criticism, but perhaps this time, they were NOT strong enough. Hundreds of studies have identified a hormone manufactured by the human body as the KEY factor in the growth of prostate cancer. That hormone is called insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I). This powerful cellular growth accelerator is identical in cows and humans. Eat pizza with mozzarella or Parmesan on pasta, ice cream or yogurt, and you deliver this powerful hormone to your body. SCIENCE magazine was started by Thomas Edison in the late 1880's. This prestigious journal is read by over 500,000 scientists every week. On January 23rd, 1998 (vol. 279. p. 563), IGF-I was called the key factor in prostate cancer. There are forty-three thousand species of mammals, and hundreds of millions of different proteins in nature, and only one hormone in the entire animal kingdom is an exact match between two species. That hormone is IGF-I. The latest scientific confirmation was published in the July issue of the British Journal of Cancer (p 95-97, Volume 83, Number 1, July 2000). Researchers at the Imperial Cancer Research Institute in Oxford found that a diet without meat or dairy products could reduce the risk of contracting prostate cancer. The authors cite earlier studies suggesting that high levels of IGF-I play a key role in causing prostate cancer. Vegetarians have lower levels of IGF-I than meat eaters, and vegans have lower levels of IGF-I than vegetarians. Prostate cancer is a killer, and Mayor Giuliani's cancer is shared by millions of Americans. The dairy industry recently selected New York Yankee manager Joe Torre as a model for a milk mustache ad. Giuliani is a New York Yankee fan, and often appears with Joe. These two "heroes" of New York share a common disease and should share a common therapy: NOTMILK! Robert Cohen 266 From: Robert Cohen Date: Tue Aug 29, 2000 7:57pm Subject: - - - CNN - CROSSFIRE - INGRID NEWKIRK OF PETA Ingrid Newkirk, President of PETA is on CROSSFIRE. It's 7:30 PM, EST Ingrid (IN)is being interviewed by Mary Matalin (MM) and Bill Press. I am watching and typing...please forgive the unproofed errors... Sorry I could not get it all...here are the highlights. MM Mayor Guiliani... Don't you think you've violated his privacy? IN He held the news conference that got the most attention, and during it, he downed a glass of milk. MM No studies have been done to show that milk consumption increases cancer risk...You violated his privacy and offended our senses... IN You'll find eleven studies finding that there is a link. IGF-I causes our cancer cells to grow. milk is so filled with protein, it leeches calcium from the bones MM In your "got beer ads", didn't you consider the harm you might cause? IN We never did that...we said "look at milk, glass for glass...it has more nutrition than beer, but we do not advocate drinking beer." MM You said, a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy... IN They are like us...when it comes to feelings... In the important ways. BP You're asserting that there is no difference. We are different in more important ways. What rights do rats have? IN The right not to be tortured. There is a humane way to do things. Why do we eat animal corpses in the 21st century? MM I can answer that...because they are yummy. I'll be going out for a steak after this show. CNN SHOWED A TAPE OF USDA SECRETARY DAN GLICKMAN GETTING HIT WITH A PIE... IN It's Vaudville, it's not violence. BP With the furor of Guiliani, is this over? IN No, we're looking at Bob Dole, because we may do an ad with him...we'll be making a point with him. BP Eating milk can cause impotence. Can I tell you, as a meat eater, how wrong you are? IN After the age of 60, half of all men are impotent. _________________________________ Robert Cohen 267 From: Robert Cohen Date: Wed Aug 30, 2000 9:37am Subject: - - - TONIGHT - RADIO SHOW I will be a guest on Jeff Rense's radio show this evening - 11:00 PM - MIDNIGHT (EST) 130 STATIONS + INTERNET access http://www.rense.com Robert Cohen 268 From: Robert Cohen Date: Wed Aug 30, 2000 4:28pm Subject: - - - IF YOU OWN A SOYMILK MACHINE: You can now buy organic soybeans directly from the grower. Call Jonathan Chambers at Fairview Farms: 888-526-9296 All of their soybeans are grown from non-genetically engineered seed! http://www.fairviewfarms.com 10 pounds = $13.00 includes shipping and handling 20 pounds = $20.40 includes shipping and handling Robert Cohen 269 From: Robert Cohen Date: Fri Sep 1, 2000 10:45am Subject: - - - GOT SICK? Dear Friends, One month ago, SLIM FAST recalled 2 million cans of their milk-based "diet" shakes after consumers suffered gastric distress. They have not yet discovered the problem. Company officials will not communicate with me, and FDA investigators have no comment. Could this be the problem? 270 From: Robert Cohen Date: Fri Sep 1, 2000 10:49am Subject: - - - TEXT VERSION OF TODAY'S COLUMN (FOR EASY PRINTING) Dear Friends, One month ago, SLIM FAST recalled 2 million cans of their milk-based "diet" shakes after consumers suffered gastric distress. They have not yet discovered the problem. Company officials will not communicate with me, and FDA investigators have no comment. Could this be the problem? On Friday, August 20, 1999, the New York Times ran a front-page story that has ramifications for all Americans ("After 4 Deaths, Scientists Fear Germ’s Threat," by Sheryl Gay Stolberg). That story reported the deaths of four children and the illnesses of 200 others due to a drug-resistant bacteria that has been identified as Staphylococcus aureus. A scientist at the Center for Disease Control, Dr. Tim Naimi, was quoted in that article. He said: "These serve as a warning sign, sort of like the canary in the coal mine, that there may be problems that lie ahead. It's sort of like an old fox has gotten into a new and much larger henhouse." The children who died had a variety of symptoms including very high fevers and difficulty in breathing. They were all treated in hospitals, where antibiotic therapies were ineffective. The Times reported that Staph is a common infection, and that one in five people carry the germ. What the Times did not report is so very serious that it foreshadows a widespread epidemic, the likes of which has never before been experienced in America. THE MISSING LINK Staphyloccus aureus was the staff of death for those four children, and this bacteria is often identified with food poisoning. The most common pathogenic organism found in raw milk is Staphyloccus aureus. Cows often get ulcers or sores on their udders. That bovine condition is known as mastitis, and the average cow in America requires $200 to treat that mastitis condition. Multiply that by 9.3 million dairy cows, and America’s dairymen have a $2 billion yearly problem. THE GOOD NEWS Staphyloccus aureus is destroyed by pasteurization. THE BAD NEWS While the organism is easily destroyed by heat, the toxin it produces is not. Bacteria eat and bacteria digest foods. The byproducts of their digestion are toxic to humans. In order to destroy that venomous waste, milk containing the discharge must be heated at 121 degrees Celsius (250 degrees Fahrenheit). Keep in mind that the boiling point of water is 100 degrees Celsius (212 degrees Fahrenheit). Milk is normally pasteurized at 72 degrees Celsius (162 degrees Fahrenheit) for 15 seconds, not 30 minutes. Traditional pasteurization methods will not destroy existing toxins from Staphyloccus aureus. WHY ARE THERE NEW STRAINS OF BACTERIA? In 1990, the Food and Drug Administration sent a message to dairy farmers: more drugs in milk was permissible. FDA arbitrarily increased the allowable level of antibiotics in milk by 100 times. The old protocol called for no more than one part per hundred million of antibiotic residues in milk. The change permitted antibiotic levels to be as high as one part per million. Consumers Union tested milk samples in the New York metropolitan area in 1992 and found the presence of 52 different antibiotics. During that two-year period, cows were overdosed with antibiotics and new strains of bacteria developed. If an imaginary cow had one billion bacteria in her system and she was treated with streptomycin and that antibiotic killed all but one of those germs, that one survivor would be immune to the drug, then reproduce a new population with total immunity. Doubling its population every twenty minutes, it would take 10 hours for a new strain of bacteria to grow to one billion in number. Multiply that by 9 million cows and 52 different antibiotics, and it becomes clear to see why antibiotics no longer seem to work when they are needed. GOT MILK? GOT ANTIBIOTICS! The average American drinks milk and eats cheese containing new strains of bacteria, immune to the 52 different antibiotics which are also present in milk. Children are dying, and scientists do not have a clue why. OTHER BACTERIA IN MILK Forty million Americans have irritable bowel syndrome. Another bacterium has been implicated as being the cause. Mycobacterium paratuberculosis (para-T) is heartier than staphyloccus aureus. Normal pasteurization does not destroy para-T. Ninety percent of Crohn’s patients test positive for the presence of para-T. This bacteria causes Johne’s disease in cows, which causes diarrhea. That bovine condition is impossible to eradicate. The disease is passed on to humans in the form of infected milk and dairy products. THE SOLUTION In order to solve a problem, one must first identify that cause. Few scientists have considered milk and dairy links to disease. In February of 1999, 350,000 cases of milk and dairy products were taken off of America’s supermarket shelves because of Listeria contamination. Eat cheese containing Listeria today and you might get sick 45 days later. How many doctors or scientists would be able to correlate the cause and effect after 45 days? Milk and dairy products should carry a warning label. Forty percent of the average American’s diet consists of a product that is always infected with bacteria in its raw state. Raw milk usually contains blood, feces, bacterial and pus cells. Pasteurization does not kill all of the bacteria in milk. Many cheeses are not pasteurized. Rod-shaped bacteria form a spore (spore is the Greek word for seed) at the first sign of heat. When the milk cools, the spore "blooms" and the bacteria re-emerges into its toxic state. Does pasteurization really work? On day ten you might pour out the offensive smelling milk in your refrigerator, and on day nine, you drink it. GOT SICK? Robert Cohen 271 From: Robert Cohen Date: Sat Sep 2, 2000 10:15am Subject: - - - TAKE MY ADVICE WHEN IT COMES TIME TO VOTE Dear Friends, I am inspired to tell you how I intend to vote. Hopefully, you will see the wisdom in doing the same. John Hagelin is a good guy, and I admire his position on genetic engineering, but his chance of winning is somewhere south of slim and one or two clicks north of none. Ralph Nader and I spoke in Washington recently (he followed my lecture), and he paid me a nice compliment before his talk. I like Nader, but he also has very little chance of winning. Bush and Gore are good-old boys, and network with the same powers-that-be. I expect to see Michael Taylor (Monsanto's ex-attorney) and Ed Schafer (governor of North Dakota) in either candidate's cabinet...whomever the winner shall be. Does it really matter to me who wins? Not at all. The powers that fuel post-election decisions are influenced by campaign donations. One merely has to check party lines to see how every major congressional and senate vote is cast by connection, not logic and wisdom. I have GIVEN UP on the election system and the way our government functions. Access is fun...it fuels my ego. Meeting a senator or congressman makes me feel good for ten minutes, but it really makes no difference. I cannot compete with the people who hire lobbyists and spend hundreds of millions of dollars to dictate policy. How will I vote, then? I will take my eldest daughter into the voting booth with me. She has studied the issues and candidates. She is America's future. Why not do the same? Bring a young person with you, and give him/her the opportunity to cast the vote. This gives meaning to a process that, for me, has lost meaning. Robert Cohen 272 From: Robert Cohen Date: Mon Sep 4, 2000 3:12pm Subject: - - - 25 MILLION POUNDS OF MILK TO BE DUMPED TODAY NOTMILK POST notmilk@egroups.com Dear Friends, Today, thousands of dairy farmers will symbolically dump their milk into the soil of their farms. http://www.milkstrike.com There is a well-organized MILK STRIKE, and I encourage dairy farmers to continue it forever! On March 23, 1971, Richard Nixon received a $3 million dollar cash gift from the dairy industry. The giving of that gift was recorded on a Watergate tape. A few months later, Nixon set price controls for milk, and in doing so guaranteed that the price farmers receive for 100 pounds of milk would never fall below $9.90. In November of 1999, dairy farmers were receiving $16.49 for 100 pounds of milk. One month later, the price of milk fell $4.77, a traumatic financial event for dairymen and their families. In January of this year, the wholesale price of milk fell below the governmental support price for the first time in history. As demand for liquid milk decreases, farmers continue to produce more milk. Genetic engineering was a deception. The promise of more milk as a "dairy management tool" was a mere deception meant to betray the small dairyman. That is just what it has done. This new biotechnology has done much more than increase milk supplies and depress prices. Monsanto's hormone taught me, and America that ALL milk contains powerful hormones, even natural-organic milk. On this very symbolic day, dairymen dump their milk, and America will takes little notice. Where is the newspaper and television coverage? Robert Cohen 273 From: Robert Cohen Date: Tue Sep 5, 2000 8:13am Subject: - - - NEWS AT 7 One hundred and eighteen women will die today from the ravages of breast cancer, and few, if any, of their loved ones will know about IGF-I and the milk connection. Mayor Rudy Guiliani defiantly drank a glass of milk at his recent press conference, angrily denouncing PETA for pointing out the milk-cancer link. This year, 43,300 women will die from breast cancer. It says so right on page 733 of my World Almanac. That is an average of 1 every 12 minutes. Can we measure the physical pain and mental anguish in each breast cancer case? Should we not direct all of our positive energies towards finding a cure, and all of our negative energies towards the culprit? Thousands of things cause breast cancer, and it is rather common. An autopsy study published in the New York Times (11/8/94) revealed that 40% of women between the ages of 40 and 50 have breast cancer but that it is normally controlled. Science has taught us that a key factor in the growth of every breast cancer is the most powerful growth hormone in the human body, IGF-I (Lancet, 5/9/98). IGF-I is an identical hormone between humans and cows. When cows are treated with the genetically engineered bovine growth hormone, levels of IGF-I increase by about 80%. When women drink milk, levels of IGF-I increase in their blood serum by a factor of 10%. Today I will be interviewed by one of America's major television news shows. I am told that the interview will last about one hour. The producers will take the tape into post production, then edit my words into 15 or 20 second sound bites. Will they get the message? Will America get the message? Stay tuned... Robert Cohen 274 From: Robert Cohen Date: Tue Sep 5, 2000 3:12pm Subject: - - - READ THE CAPTION ON THIS PHOTO http://dallasnews.com/metro/161565_milk_02met.ART.html Thanks to Jill Natowitz for sending us this story: Driver of milk tanker killed in I-30 accident Two highways closed after truck smashes into bridge support 09/02/2000 By Nancy Calaway / The Dallas Morning News FORT WORTH – A milk truck driver died in a fiery crash early Friday morning that forced the closure of two major highways in West Fort Worth during rush hour, police said. Police did not disclose the identity of the driver, a 45-year-old man from Snyder, pending notification of relatives. The truck was headed east on Interstate 30 when it careened into a bridge support at the State Highway 183 overpass about 3:30 a.m. Friday. The truck exploded into flames, fell on its side and skidded for about 100 yards, police said. Although the fire was quickly extinguished, emergency workers closed the highways for several hours Friday to clear the scene and assess structural damage to the bridge. An entrance ramp and one lane on the Highway 183 bridge will be closed indefinitely while the bridge support is repaired, officials said. There were no witnesses to explain why the driver left the highway, investigators said. "There were no skid marks and nothing to indicate that he tried to stop, so that will be something that is under investigation," said Lt. David Burgess, Fort Worth police spokesman. Police have not been able to determine what company was shipping the milk but said the tractor portion is owned by a company in Sweetwater. "Part of the problem our investigators are having is that a lot of companies have already closed down for the holiday weekend," Lt. Burgess said. "But they will be able to backtrack everything and find out who it all belongs to; it just may take some time." Hazardous-materials crews were called to help with the cleanup, Lt. Burgess said. A large amount of diesel fuel spilled, as well as the milk. "Milk is not usually considered hazardous, but when it gets out in the heat it becomes bacteria-laden," he said. "We were concerned it might get into the water supply. They got most of it absorbed." The remainder of the milk was transferred to another truck to reduce additional spills when it was uprighted, police said. Interstate 30 was reopened Friday night, but the entrance ramp from Spur 341 to the eastbound lanes of I-30 will be closed until the bridge is repaired. One of eight of the bridge supports was destroyed in the collision, and highway officials said the bridge will be partially closed while repairs are made. The three southbound lanes on Highway 183 will be reduced to two, officials said. "We've got a local contractor and it should take about two weeks," said Michael Peters, public information officer for the Texas Department of Transportation in Tarrant County. "There are no safety problems at all in the lanes that are open," he said. "With the impact, the bridge didn't give at all. It's really a heavy, strong design and that additional strength has helped." Highway 183, which carries about 33,000 cars a day, will have minor delays during peak hours, officials said, but should not be overly congested. Officials are not advising motorists to seek alternate routes. 275 From: Robert Cohen Date: Wed Sep 6, 2000 9:16am Subject: - - - DANTE'S DAIRY INFERNO NOTMILK POST notmilk@egroups.com This morning, the enclosed SHOCKING letter was posted to my guestbook. Not all dairy farms are as bad as the one so described, but if you continue to consume milk and dairy products, you should be aware of what's going down at the farm. Shari from Cheney, Washington wrote: I have been living near a dairy, whose horrific processing practices have caused the surrounding neighbors to band together and fight this guy. At first glance, the dairy is dirty, unkept, and very smelly. Before anyone goes off on a tangent, I raise livestock and eat my own meat because of meat processing practices. I am very used to manure and other farm smells (I have a billy goat, and he stinks to high heaven at times) This odor is pure methane and decay. The odor emits from a holding pond which is a purple color, and the plot (300' x 300') which holds approximately 80 - 100 cows. The cows are forced to live, eat, and sleep in their own feces. I have lived here four years and have yet to see a stall cleaned. Needless to say, the cows teats are caked in manure. The people the dairy employs are either drunk or high the majority of the time. One is under investigation for meth lab/stolen property. At one point, my neighbor, the milker, got so drunk he left the cows hooked to the machines and went home and passed out. This man and others can't keep themselves clean, so you know the teats are not washed prior to milking. The owner of the dairy is no better. As we all know, it is necessary to freshen a cow yearly. If done properly, the cow can provide milk for 20 years. However, I've yet to see a calf on the property. The owner actually ripped a calf from the womb because the purchaser of the dairy calves wanted two. Again, I have never seen a calf, male or female, on the property. On with the tale: this spring and summer, several cows slipped on concrete covered in manure and split their pelvis'. One cow was drug out to the side of a county road and left without food and water for five days. Her milk bag filled to an ungodly size. She never moved. The neighbors and other travelers along our road stopped to inquire and complain. It wasn't until Spokane County Animal Control was called and they contacted the dairy by phone three days later. The cow disappeared. Not three weeks later and another cow in the same condition was left again, but had some hay and water. Again, this poor creature was left at the roadside (now remember Kids are riding the school bus and going by this dairy and assuming this is what a dairy should be) At the same time this live cow is suffering next to the road, a dead cow, bloated all four legs sticking straight up is left by the road also. So now the flies have started, thick as thieves. So we (the neighbors and I) start calling. We went through Washington State Department of Ecology, Water Protection, the USDA, and the health department. No one wants to touch this guy. He lives right on the edge of the law and he is such a jerk he frightens the neighbors. So the neighbor is out walking her dogs and what does she come across but a literal bone yard, but not just bones but whole cows lying there rotting. She comes home in a tizzy, and off we go with the camera crossing the field to take pictures. (Charlie's Angels - Watch out) The cow that laid by the road had been drug ALIVE to die in this back field, while I am no forensic scientist, the cow was lying on her belly, hollowed out by maggots. (the coyotes and cougars, which we have in abundance, imagine that, had not tore this creature to bits) Next to her is another cow, with the hide still on, hollowed out. These cows were laying among other carcasses. So off we go to the Spokane County Health Department and we get a hold of Mr. Joe Pallelo. Now Mr. Pallelo is a piece of work, he calls and tells the dairy owner that he needs to deal with the dead cows (that was over four weeks ago) He calls the dairy everytime we call him and says, "Shucky darn, but the guy won't let me on the property and he says their not his" Well, we did get his dander up when we called the vet. So far, the cows still lay there and rot. Now, the cows in the field across from the dairy are starting to die (these are meat cattle on a huge pasture) And we watched them haul another dead cow into the field today. I noticed a man's response to your efforts and how apalled he is at the whole idea and cows are mindless creatures living in 5-star conditions. Sir, I beg to differ. These cattle know their miserable, that is why the eat their own crud and females try to have sex with each other. These animals are fed, but they are sick and tired (literally). I have goats, and when one goat had her babies taken (they died in the womb) she sulked and wandered looking for these babies. When I take one goat to the vet, the others know she's gone and pitch a fit, running up and down the fence line. One beef I had, Sarah, knew the moment she saw me she was going to get a brushing (with a horse comb) and ran from the back of the pasture, leaning all 900 lbs on me while I combed her. I still did not have a problem cooking a roast that winter. The methods by which this dairy and many others is inhumane and I beg society to contemplate our reasonings of mistreating animals and the disposability of livestock. Worse yet, these unkept barns are a host of trouble waiting to happen. If one thinks Anthrax is just a band, remember this type of treatment will eventually leak into the surrounding community and children. This man cannot sell his milk locally. He must haul it to Moses Lake, to the Safeway processor there (160 miles away). (I contacted Safeway, with no response) I know hormones, antibiotics, and pus come out of those poor cow udders. Believe me when I say, I enjoy milk and milk products, but I really don't want to be forced to milk a cow twice a day because we can not govern and/or regulate dairy practices. Any suggestions on who can stop this 'beast' from harming any other defenseless animals. __________________________________________________ Robert Cohen 276 From: Robert Cohen Date: Thu Sep 7, 2000 3:38pm Subject: THE MOST IMPORTANT AND INCREDIBLE THING I'VE EVER WRITTEN Dear Friends, If you only read one thing that I write this millennium, please make it this column. This is really amazing, and should cause quite a stir. You are the first to learn: LYMPHATIC PLAGUE An epidemic rise in one under-publicized category of cancers should sound an alarm for all Americans. There is a powerful link to the dramatic surge in lymphatic cancer: the 1994 approval of the genetically engineered bovine growth hormone (rbGH). Before 1995, lymphatic cancers were comparatively rare. Today, if one adds up the total number of cancer deaths from breast, prostate, lung, pancreatic, and genital cancers, they do not cumulatively equal the number of deaths from lymphatic cancers. Do I have your attention? This year Americans will consume nearly 180 billion pounds of milk and dairy products in various forms. That will average out to 666 pounds per American, nearly 40% of the average American diet. Cheese eaters, ice cream slurpers, and milk drinkers of both sexes and every age group will be ingesting dairy products from hormonally-treated cows. Most Americans are unaware that laboratory animals treated with rbGH experienced enormous changes in their lymphatic systems. The spleens of these animals grew dramatically. The controversial genetically modified cow hormone was approved for human consumption in February of 1994. Cancer statistics have recently been published by the U.S. Census Bureau comparing death rates from cancer by sex and age groups in 1980, 1990, and 1995. These data support evidence of a runaway plague. All of America became a laboratory study for rbGH, which is now in America's ice cream, cheese, and pizza. There are small increases and decreases in lymphatic cancer rates from 1980 to 1990 depending upon sex and age group. What happened in 1995 represents the most dramatic short-term increase of any single cancer in the history of epidemiological discovery and analyses. DEATH RATES FROM LYMPHATIC CANCER BY SEX AND AGE (1980 - 1995) (Deaths per 100,000 population in specified age group) MALE FEMALE % % 1980 1990 1995 increase 1980 1990 1995 increase AGE GROUPS 35-44 4.3 4.5 36.5 811% 2.4 2.1 44.0 2095% 45-54 10.2 10.9 143.7 1318% 6.6 6.0 140.7 2345% 55-64 24.4 27.2 480.5 1767% 16.8 16.7 357.5 2141% 65-74 48.1 56.8 1089.9 1919% 34.4 39.5 690.7 1749% 75-84 80.0 104.5 1842.3 1763% 57.6 71.2 1061.5 1495% 85+ 93.2 140.5 2837.3 2019% 63.0 90.0 1249.1 1588% The approval process for rbGH was the most controversial drug application in the history of the Food & Drug Administration (FDA). In order to address that controversy, the FDA published an article in the journal SCIENCE (August 24, 1990). Data in that paper reveal that the average male rat receiving rbGH developed a spleen 39.6 percent larger than the spleen of the control animals after just 90 days of treatment. The spleens from rbGH-treated females increased in size by a factor of 46 percent. These are not normal reactions and portray animals in distress. These animals were "under attack" by the genetically engineered hormone. The spleen is the first line of defense in a mammal's lymphatic system. Lab animals treated with rbGH developed lymphatic abnormalities. This same hormone causing changes in lab animals was introduced into America's food supply in 1994. As Americans continue to ingest genetically engineered milk and dairy products, lymphatic cancer rates soar. Americans have become laboratory subjects in genetic engineering's experiment, and the resulting data indicates extreme cause for concern. Robert Cohen 277 From: David Rietz Date: Fri Sep 8, 2000 4:31pm Subject: NOTMILK Times: Consumer concern can lead to good results Early this week, a disturbing letter was posted to the NOTMILK Guest Book. The author, Shari from Spokane, Washington, described the most horrible of conditions on a local dairy farm. As a result of that letter, Robert Cohen spoke with the Spokane Health Department and the State Department of Agriculture. Cohen learned that the farm in question had a very poor history of mistreating animals and of complaints. Candace Jacobs of the State Department of Agriculture took an immediate "hands-on" approach and sent inspectors to the farm. She reported that the conditions described in that letter no longer exist. The last cow death on that farm occurred in early July. Inspectors found the dairy cows to be free of disease and the stalls to be clean. The farmer in question is milking 400 cows and has made substantial improvements to his operation insuring the comfort and safety of his animals. Robert Cohen 278 From: Robert Cohen Date: Mon Sep 11, 2000 10:35am Subject: - - - HOW LONG IS A LIFETIME? Dear Friends, Is a short healthy lifetime better than a long lifetime of illness? Should you follow the advice in today's newspaper, you may enjoy one moment of tasty food that will forever clog your heart! I've been away for the weekend, having spoken at a vegetarian festival in Toronto. Ten hours of driving brought me home at 4:30 this morning. I downloaded approximately 4,000 e-mail messages and then went outside to get this morning's newspapers from my driveway. I've learned (the hard way) that the one reliable place for truth in the daily paper is contained in the sports section. You can't just make up football and baseball scores, and enough people bear witness to athletic events to make the bending of truth improbable. I'll reserve future commentary for the mis-information contained in the health and daily news sections, but today's column comments on the most truthful advertisement I've ever read. In small print at the bottom of the advertisement are the words: "Memories Last a Lifetime." This ad in the sports section of today's (NJ) Record (page S-5, September 11, 2000) invites New York area sports fans to travel two hours to see the New York Mets play the Philadelphia Phillies. The ad's text reads: "COME FOR THE HEART-POUNDING GAME. STAY FOR THE HEART-CLOGGING CHEESESTEAK. BRING A FEW BUDDIES TO THE GAME, WOLF DOWN A FEW CHEESESTEAKS…" What an example of speciesism! wolves do not wolf-down food. Do humans people-down food? People are not wolves, and they are not rats or pigs either (an insult to our four-legged friends). To compare negative human qualities to other animals is to insult those species having greater innate wisdom than those who knowfully eat "heart-clogging" cheesesteak. Just for the record, wolves don't eat cheesesteaks, and if they did, they would soon discontinue the practice because they most certainly would take notice of the changes in their bodies from that notorious mucous-forming milk protein, casein. One must applaud the honesty of the Philadelphia copywriter who recognizes the universal truth: cheese is a "heart-clogger." Pennsylvania's memories may very well last a lifetime, but the quality and length of that life may be severely shortened and compromised by that which, admittedly, clogs hearts. GOT CHEESE? GOT HEART DISEASE! Robert Cohen 279 From: Robert Cohen Date: Tue Sep 12, 2000 8:40am Subject: - - - OBESITY EPIDEMIC OVERWEIGHT IN AMERICA - GOT MILK? Throughout history, obesity and wealth have been directly proportional. Aristocracy has always benefited from the creme de la creme of man's food supply, and overeating of rich foods has been reserved for the rulers of both primitive and civilized societies. Today, starvation and malnutrition are directly proportional to poverty in most world nations. America is the exception. In the United States, being poor often means being overweight. Poor children in America's inner cities are often roly-poly fat children. Drive by any schoolyard in America's inner cities and overweight kids are the norm, not the exception. Children, lacking in proper nutrition at home, are now the beneficiaries of school breakfast and lunch programs. What food group is the most subsidized in America? Milk and dairy products. Milk is mandatory for school lunch programs. Milk contains plenty of calories, growth hormones, fat, and cholesterol. The most powerful growth hormone in the human body is identical to the most powerful growth hormone in a cow's body. That hormone instructs every cell in the human body to grow. Children are becoming overweight at an early age. By eating growth hormones in combination with animal fat, the body has a way of listening to the signals of those chemical messengers: GROW! Many children of color live below the poverty level. In its wisdom, the United States Department of Agriculture provides free food and nutritional programs for these kids. In its lack of wisdom, USDA has chosen milk and dairy products to be the major components of these kids' diets. These children now receive free breakfasts of cereal with milk, free lunches of chocolate milk with macaroni and cheese or pizza. A free snack before they go home is more chocolate milk. Ten pounds of milk are required to make one pound of cheese. In 1970, the average American ate ten pounds of cheese. Today, the average American eats thirty pounds of cheese. Concentrated growth hormones in the presence of fat and cholesterol do just what they were designed to accomplish. Milk and dairy products represent 40% of the average American's diet, 666 pounds per year per person. Robert Cohen (PERMISSION IS GIVEN TO DISTRIBUTE THIS COLUMN ON THE WWW) 280 From: Robert Cohen Date: Wed Sep 13, 2000 9:47am Subject: - - - THE NOTMILK GUESTBOOK Dear Friends, There are more than 50 million INTERNET sites, and I've yet to find one having more letters in its GUESTBOOK than the NOTMILK site. To read those letters and my responses is an experience! There have been death threats and criticisms, as well as letters of support. To read the letters: http://www.Lpage.com/wgb/wgbview.dbm?owner=NOTMILK This morning, I received a letter reflecting what most scientists believe: milk hormones cannot possibly work. Here is that letter with my response: LETTER # 1907 CLINT MCCOY FROM ILLINOIS WROTE: LIES, LIES, all LIES! What's the relationship between IGF-I and bovine somatotropin? Doesn't IGF-I get digested in the human GI tract instead of absorbed as active IGF-I??????? IGF-I does get digested! Animal science majors, textbooks, and professors of veterinary medicine cannot all be wrong! Dear Clint, Either animal science majors, textbooks, and professors are wrong, or nursing mothers and pediatricians are wrong. You cannot have it both ways. Does breastfeeding work? According to all that you learn in college, it cannot possibly work. In theory, lactoferrins and immunoglobulins must be destroyed in the nursing infant's tummy. There is, of course, a flaw in your thinking and logic. Breastfeeding does work! Children who are breastfed have higher IQ's and greater immunological protection. These facts are not in dispute, having been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Milk was designed to allow its components to survive digestion. Milk buffers gastric pH so that strong acids are diluted. Milk proteins such as casein protect the hormones from gastric degradation. By homogenizing milk, mankind has improved upon nature's natural mechanism and made milk an even more efficient and powerful hormonal delivery system. Tiny fat molecules resulting from homogenization (micronized liposomes) act as carriers for these protein hormones, and are small enough to bypass the gut intestinal wall where they are absorbed intact into the bloodstream. BOTTOM LINE, Clint. Does breastfeeding work? If your answer is that it does, you must recognize that drinking cow's milk is merely another form of breastfeeding. Those growth hormones survive digestion in your tummy, too. You and your professors need re-educating, and those textbooks will one day be re-written by somebody possessing greater wisdom than the present-day authors do. Robert Cohen (PERMISSION IS GIVEN TO RE-POST THIS ARTICLE ON THE INTERNET) 281 From: Robert Cohen Date: Thu Sep 14, 2000 7:40am Subject: - - - CENSUS BUREAU'S BROKEN ABACUS Dear Friends, There are 2,799,100 government employees, and 4,930 of them work for the U.S. Census Bureau. They have teams of employees whose function it is to dot every 'i' and cross every 't' and check all of their sums and equations...twice. On the other hand, there is just one ME. One week ago, I obtained "Death Rate from Cancer" data published by the U.S. Census Bureau (Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1999). Upon reviewing these data, I noted that there was an increase, an explosion, of lymphatic cancer rates between 1990 and 1995. I called the U.S. Census Bureau (301-458-4530) and Paula Norman assured me of the reliability and integrity of those data. I then called the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics (301-458-4636) and was told by Sabra Lloyd that those vital statistics were accurately put together by the mortality branch of the U.S. Health Service. Yesterday, I obtained 501 pages of raw data titled "The SEER Cancer Statistics Review." SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) is based upon data combined by the Cancer Surveillance Research Program at the National Cancer Institute and cancer mortality data provided by the National Center for Health Statistics. After 10 weary-eyed hours of review, I found no evidence of the lymphatic cancer explosion data published by the Census Bureau. I then called Dr. Jeff Lancashire (301-458-4334) of the National Center for Health Statistics. Together, we determined that the U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. National Center for Health Statistics had jointly published these lymphatic cancer statistics in error. As exciting as the original news was, I wonder why I could not get mainstream media to report the phenomenal rise. After all, the Census Bureau guaranteed the results. Now that I am aware of the truth, I am wasting no time in sharing the news with you. As I write this correction, I wonder why I was the only American to note this mistake. In the pursuit of truth, I now publish this notice with the enclosed letter of apology from Dr. Lancashire. Here is the letter: http://www.notmilk.com/graphics/dhhsadd2.gif Robert Cohen (THIS MAY BE DISTRIBUTED VIA INTERNET) 282 From: Robert Cohen Date: Fri Sep 15, 2000 9:27am Subject: - - - FLUID MILK SALES NOSEDIVE Dear Friends, Every day, thousands of people read this newsletter. Every day, thousands of people send and re-send evidence containing the negative aspects of milk to friends and family members. Every day, I am heard on radio shows, and occasionally get an article published in a newspaper or magazine. I frequently lecture and often appear on television shows. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) and the Dairy Education Board (DEB) together act as the antidotes to $500 million dollars worth of dairy brainwashing efforts by empowering Americans to explore a diet that does not include cow's milk products. Every little bit helps to send a message to all people: COW'S MILK DOES NOT DO THE BODY ANY GOOD. Yesterday, the September issue of THE MILKWEED, a pro-dairy newsletter/journal, arrived in my mailbox. The headline of Issue No. 254: "FLUID SALES NOSEDIVE DESPITE BIGGEST PROMOTION" (THE MILKWEED: P.O. Box 10, Brooklyn, Wisconsin 53521 $35 per year [12 issues]) That's right! The latest data from the USDA suggests that April-June 2000 milk sales declined 2.3%. Since the population of the United States continues to grow (at a rate of 0.8% per year), fluid milk sales must also increase to maintain the same rate of growth. Data reveal that actual fluid milk consumption rates declined by 3.4% from January to June 2000. The actual April data were so horrible (suggesting a 6.6% decline) that USDA temporarily stopped reporting the data (according to The MILKWEED). What has been the response of the dairy industry? They are spending an unprecedented amount of money marketing milk mustache ads. Wherever I appear, the dairy industry does damage control by placing more radio, television, and print ads. Have you noticed how hard they are trying? It's just not working. Milk prices continue to fall on the wholesale level, although retail milk prices have not dropped. There is now a government (GAO) investigation into why. With falling prices, and falling consumption, dairy farmers continue to produce more milk. They do so by breeding more cows and injecting their livestock with genetically engineered hormones, which also increases milk production. Americans have learned not to drink their pus with hormones and glue. Not only is the thought of drinking bovine body fluids offensive to one's sensibilities, but it just happens to taste awful. Kids know this, and are now getting the TRUTH via the Internet. We have been planting the seeds of the destruction of an industry, which continues to brainwash Americans with their milk myths. Every sip of milk contains virus, pus, bacteria, powerful growth hormones, allergenic proteins, antibiotics, pesticides, fat, cholesterol, and dioxins. Eighty percent of milk protein is casein, the same glue used to hold a label to a bottle of beer. There are 59 different hormones in every sip of milk. FDA allows 750 million pus cells per liter of milk. MY MANTRA (Repeat after me) Pus with hormones and glue...pus with hormones and glue...pus with hormones and glue... Robert Cohen (PERMISSION IS GIVEN TO SEND THIS AROUND THE WORLD VIA THE INTERNET!) 283 From: Robert Cohen Date: Sat Sep 16, 2000 12:13pm Subject: - - - GOT MILK? GET HORMONES! TAKE RITALIN Dear Friends, On Wednesday of this past week (September 13, 2000) two families in my county (Bergen, NJ) filed suits against the makers of RITALIN, a drug used to control hyperactive children who are diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD). This easy cure causes more damage to the child, and the pharmaceutical manufacturers encourage its use. Three million American children now take this drug. Rather than identify and eliminate the problem, society (schools, physicians, and parents) choose to treat the symptoms and ignore a possible cause of ADD. Please close your eyes and imagine giving your child an adrenaline injection on his or her way to school each morning. Give your daughter one teaspoons of estrogen and another of prolactin. Give your son a pill containing testosterone and melatonin. Make sure that your kids take powerful hormones for breakfast. Remind them to take a second dose for lunch. Your telephone rings at 1 PM. It's the school nurse. Your child is out of control and must be medicated or suspended. What do you do? GOT HORMONES? GOT MILK Robert Cade, MD (Department of Medicine and Physiology, University of Florida), blames casomorphin, a protein in cow's milk for playing a role in behavioral disorders such as attention deficit disorder (ADD), autism, and schizophrenia. Cade found Beta-casomorphin-7 in high concentrations in the blood and urine of patients with either schizophrenia or autism. His study was published in the journal AUTISM Vol. 3(1) 85-95; 007426 1362-3613 (199903)3:1 In 1992, Endocrinologist Clark Grosvenor published a review of the known hormones and growth factors in milk ("Hormones and Growth Factors in Milk," Endocrine Reviews, volume 14, number 6, 1992). Each sip of cow's milk includes pituitary, hypothalamic, pancreatic, thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal, gonadal, and gut hormones. ADD cure? Get that child off of all milk and dairy products. Try this remedy for just one week, and give the child back his or her innate ability to learn. The results will astonish you. Share this with parents of a child so diagnosed. Robert Cohen (THIS EMAIL MAY BE POSTED AND RE-POSTED ON THE INTERNET) 284 From: Robert Cohen Date: Sat Sep 16, 2000 1:39pm Subject: - - - LETTER FROM HEAVEN Dear Friends, I have received hundreds of letters like this over the years, and each time I congratulate the PARENT for having more wisdom than his/her physician. After mailing out today's column, I received this: Dear Robert Cohen, I want to thank you for today's post. My 4 year old son was diagnosed with ADHD last year, and the Drs insisted on Ritalin for him. Instead of going that route (and ticking off the Drs in the process!) I did some homework and heard about ADHD and dairy. I cut out all dairy products, and my son is a different child. Our entire family is happier and healthier now. Thank you! 285 From: Robert Cohen Date: Sun Sep 17, 2000 9:42am Subject: - - - HOLIER THAN THOU HOLEY COW The best part about Swiss Cheese, so far as I am concerned, is the holes. If only there were more holes and they were bigger. WHAT CAUSES THE HOLES IN SWISS CHEESE? Swiss cheese holes are actually bubbles that are formed by bacteria within the cheese. As the bacteria eat the cheese from within, the byproducts of their digestive processes flavor the cheese (yummy) and include carbon dioxide burps/flatulence which expand the size of the holes. The dairy industry can control the size and frequency of those holes by varying the level of acidity in the cheese. Under existing USDA standards, the majority of holes must be between 11/16 and 13/16 of an inch in diameter. The dairy industry is now lobbying USDA and government regulators to ease up on the standard and reduce the size of the hole to one-half the previous size. In other words, they want smaller holes and more cheese per slice. The new standard will allow no hole bigger than 3/8 inch. This change may not seem a lot for one slice, but multiplied by billions of slices, it adds up to millions of additional pounds of cheese to be consumed on America's sandwiches. USDA will make a decision later this year, most probably in favor of the dairy industry. The acid level of the Swiss cheese will increase and the holes will get smaller. It's the little things that add up. In 1970, the average American consumed 10 pounds of cheese per year. In 2000, the average American will consume 30 pounds per year. Perhaps next year, 31. As cheese consumption increases, so do asthma and heart disease rates. Given the choice of eating Swiss cheese saturated with calories, fat, cholesterol, growth hormones, and casein (glue), ask the supermarket deli counter-person for the holes. Robert Cohen (THIS COLUMN MAY BE RE-PRINTED ON THE INTERNET) 286 From: Robert Cohen Date: Mon Sep 18, 2000 10:52am Subject: - - - GOT IRRITABLE BOWELS? NEW EVIDENCE OF A MILK LINK TO CROHN'S I first wrote about Crohn's disease and irritable bowel syndrome in June of 1998. There is a bacteria in milk that is not killed by pasteurization, mycobacterium paratuberculosis, that causes diarrhea in cows and then in humans. Irritable bowel syndrome often leads to Crohn's disease. HOW MANY AMERICANS HAVE IRRITABLE BOWELS? Estimates run as high as 15% of the population, or 40 million Americans. WHAT HAS OUR GOVERNMENT DONE ABOUT THIS? The United States Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration both believe that mycobacterium paratuberculosis is destroyed by pasteurizing milk. They are wrong. Their belief is based upon a study performed by Judy Stabile, Ph.D. The title of Stabile's work: "Heat Inactivation of Mycobacterium Paratuberculosis in Raw Milk: Are Current Pasteurization Conditions Effective?" The abstract of Dr. Stabile's paper claims: "Currently, it is not known whether commercial pasteurization effectively kills mycobacterium paratuberculosis in contaminated raw milk." The second page of Stabile's paper (published in the December, 1997 issue of "Applied and Environmental Microbiology") reveals: "Bacteria were not totally inactivated until after 15 minutes of incubation (pasteurization) at 72 degrees centigrade." I've got some very bad news for all milk drinkers…normal pasteurization at this temperature calls for a 15-second treatment, not 15 minutes! USDA and FDA concluded that pasterization destroyed this bacteria when that was clearly not the case. THE LATEST EVIDENCE A new government survey in England has found nearly ten percent of pasteurized milk samples (80 out of 802) were found to contain live cultures of mycobacterium paratuberculosis. Translate that to milk drinkers: If you purchase one quart of milk per day for your family's consumption this year, then thirty six of those quarts will contain something that may grow in your body, causing great misery, and for many, death. Robert Cohen 287 From: Robert Cohen Date: Mon Sep 18, 2000 12:59pm Subject: NOTMILKMAN INTERVIEWED LIVE ON INTERNET Cohen will be interviewed this evening (Monday): http://www.wholejournal.com 9:30 PM - EST (30-45 MINUTES) 288 From: Robert Cohen Date: Tue Sep 19, 2000 11:06am Subject: - - - THIS NEWS IS NO BULL! Dear Friends, I thought you might enhoy reading dairy news from around the world. CANADA As dairy farmers continue to inject cows with Monsanto's genetically engineered bovine growth hormone, breeders continue to eliminate genetic diversity in farm animals. One day, every cow on every dairy farm may share the same father. Who should the world honor next father's day? There is a dad with 200,000 offspring, and this one is no bull! "Starbuck" is the name of a bull who died in 1998. His frozen sperm continue to impregnate dairy cows, and his cells have been successfully cloned to produce: STARBUCK-II. The cloned calf was born on September 7 and weighed 120 pounds at birth. The official announcement should be released early next week. ENGLAND Britain faced a new front in its war on ''mad cow'' when top researchers said a whole range of farm animals could be silent carriers of the deadly disorder. England estimates that there is a possibility that 500,000 British citizens are infected with Mad Cow disease. CHINA Working with computer models of the brain proteins involved in Alzheimer's and mad cow disease, Dr. Chi Ming Yang, of Nankai University has found a similarity in the structure and pattern between the proteins. SCOTLAND This week, Scottish researchers showed mad cow disease and its human equivalent, known as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), can be transmitted through blood transfusions. AUSTRALIA As the Olympics continue, health officials in Australia have announced a ban on blood from donors who have lived for six months or longer in England. Robert Cohen 289 From: Robert Cohen Date: Wed Sep 20, 2000 6:24am Subject: WHITE LIQUID DEATH Dear Friends, In two hours I'll be on a plane to Buffalo, New York. After two talks, I'll fly home, then drive to Baltimore, Maryland. I've done another all-nighter...researched and wrote the following at 5 AM: WHITE LIQUID DEATH The ten poorest states/districts (per capita income) in the United States include West Virginia (the poorest), Washington DC, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Has anybody ever demonstrated a correlation between poverty, illness, and food consumption? Where poverty once existed, there was starvation. Hunger no longer exists, as USDA purchases billions of pounds of milk and cheese from the dairy industry and distributes free food to the needy. Remarkably, it is in those poor areas that we observe the highest rates of illness. Washington, DC has the number one death rate in America. After subtracting all of the deaths from homicides, DC still ranks number one in American deaths. They "enjoy" the fourth highest rate of cancer deaths in the United States and the second highest rate of death from diabetes. West Virginia knows poverty. They also know death, having the second highest death rate in America. West Virginia has the highest rate of death by heart disease and the second highest cancer death rate in the United States. They rank third in diabetes deaths. Florida also ranks in the top ten for poverty. They are number one in cancer deaths, and #4 in deaths linked to heart disease. Louisiana leads America in diabetes deaths, and also is ranked among America's poorest states. Mississippi also makes the top ten poverty list, and ranks third in heart disease deaths. Each day from milk and dairy products, the average American consumes the equivalent cholesterol contained in 53 slices of bacon. Would it make sense that areas consuming a lot of dairy would have high rates of death from heart disease? Two proteins in milk, bovine serum albumin and lactalbumin, have been linked to the onset of diabetes. Would it make sense that areas consuming a lot of dairy would have high rates of death from diabetes? One protein hormone in milk, insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), has been called the key factor in the growth and proliferation of every type of human cancer. IGF-I is the most powerful growth hormone in the human body, identical between humans and cows. Would it make sense that areas consuming a lot of dairy would have high rates of death from cancer? Got milk? Got cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. The above statistics were taken from table #141 (Death Rates by Leading Cause - States) published by the U.S Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1999, and Table D, Median Income of Households by State. Robert Cohen (PERMISSION GIVEN TO DISTRIBUTE THIS ON THE INTERNET) 290 From: Robert Cohen Date: Thu Sep 21, 2000 3:25pm Subject: - - - WHEN HELL FREEZES OVER Dear Friends, Every day, I receive 2,000+ e-mails, and at least once a day, I get the suggestion to get myself booked on Oprah. This morning I realized my chances of getting the NOTMILK message to America on the Oprah Winfrey Show were a lot closer to "none" than "extremely slim." Finding myself stranded in the Buffalo, New York airport magazine store, I noticed a prominently displayed copy of the October, 2000 issue of "The Oprah Magazine" (circulation of over 1 million readers). Imagining that the milk industry might exert some power on Oprah by advertising in her impressive magazine, I looked for evidence of the dairy influence. There on page 113 was Frankie Muniz, star of TV's "Malcolm in the Middle," posing with his "Got Milk?" mustache. On page 117 was a full-page ad for Dannon Drinkables, followed by an ad for Kraft products on page 118. How strong can bones get? On page 133, Dannon Yogurt's ad presented their dairy argument. Oprah's magazine continued with an ad for Land O' Lakes Butter on page 150, Stoneyfield Yogurt on page 199, a two-page ad for Rice Krispies on page 200-201, an ad for Yoplait Yogurt on page 206, an ad for Philadelphia Cream Cheese on page 272, and a Got Milk? coffee ad on page 300. Last but not least, there was a second cheesy Kraft calcium ad. A full-page ad in "The Oprah Magazine" runs $67,275. One dozen full-page dairy ads make for enormous cash flow for Oprah. The total cost for those dozen ads is $807,300. Multiply that times 12 months and you've got nearly $10 million per year of advertising revenue. Make no mistake about it, folks. Oprah and her handlers have little reason to kill the sacred cow by presenting any negative milk issues on her nationally syndicated television show. Oh, yes...here's some special advice to you from Oprah in her July/August issue: "Accept what people offer. Drink their milkshakes. Take their love." --- Wally Lamb, Author Robert Cohen 291 From: Robert Cohen Date: Thu Sep 21, 2000 4:43pm Subject: - - - ONE OF MY FAVORITE SITES Dear Friends, If you've been thinking of becomming a vegetarian or vegan... THIS SITE WILL AMAZE YOU: http://www.vegancentral.com Some of the stories are pretty graphic: 9/8/00 Pet food poultry sold for human consumption 9/7/00 Feces, vomit on raw meat a growing risk 8/22/00 Diet lowers homocysteine and heart disease risk Robert Cohen 292 From: Robert Cohen Date: Fri Sep 22, 2000 5:39am Subject: - - - DEATH THREAT Dear Friends, Last night I got a letter...you'll see it in a moment. When I was in college, I never imagined that the FBI would one day become the valued friend to me that they now are. You see, I get quite a lot of threats, and each time the word "die" is used in a phone call or EMAIL, the incident gets reported to the FBI and other authorities. They act immediately to arrest those making terroristic threats. Two people have been arrested for making serious threats against me. One was taken out of his high school. Both were associated with the dairy industry. Last night the following person sent a disturbing letter to me: Please do not write a nasty letter back to this individual. His EMAIL is now being monitored by at least one federal agency. URDREMN20@a... THE LETTER: __________________________________________________________________ This is an out rage I do not believe you should be doing this to these animals. Maybe someone needs to put you in a SLAUGHTERHOUSE. The cruelty that goes on in this world. I wish you would die the same way that these cows and other animals do. I will stop this. ___________________________________________________________________ Those last four words in this individual's letter are as provoking and disturbing as the first part of the EMAIL. I sent the following letter to abuse@a... and the FBI: I have a ZERO TOLERANCE for death threats, having received many due to the controversial nature of my work. I trust that you will appropriately deal with the person making this death threat. NOTE: I have alerted Field Agent Bruce Gourlie of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (tel: 973-792-3000) and have FAXED a copy of the original EMAIL with full headers to his Newark, NJ office: (973-792-3021) Robert Cohen 293 From: Robert Cohen Date: Tue Sep 26, 2000 7:25pm Subject: - - - DAIRY DEATH: NEW EVIDENCE DAIRY DEATH The evidence is now in! Those Americans consuming cheese and ice cream have higher rates of death from cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. Shame on the government of the United States. The Census Bureau, Bureau of Health Statistics, and the United States Department of Agriculture all are in possession of the following data. Thousands of government employees with million dollar budgets have ignored the milk link to diseases including death from cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. NOW REVEALED: DEATH BY DAIRY One wonders why the United States government does not release food consumption and illness data. They must know the truth, and certainly have better resources than I do. In an effort to perform a task that the government has ignored, I have spent the past week carefully examining data compiled by various government agencies, including the United States Agricultural Research Service and the United States Census Bureau. The United States Department of Agriculture has a branch called the Agricultural Research Service whose function it is to conduct food research. Kay Tipped (301-504-0344) was kind enough to supply me with USDA's Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (CSFII), popularly known as the "What We Eat in America" survey. Unfortunately, the USDA does not itemize that information by state. Instead, USDA separates the United States into four distinct regions, the Northeast, Midwest, South, and West. I have obtained data published by the US Census Bureau, which includes the number of deaths from heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. These data, by state, are contained on Table 141, which is published by the US National Center for Health Statistics, and is a part of the National Vital Statistics Report (NVSR). I compared death data to food consumption data by region. What I learned is astonishing. People living in cold weather states (the Northeast and Midwest) consume more food and calories per capita than people living in the South and West. While there are slight differences in most of the food groups, there are enormous differences in milk and dairy consumption. The average American living in the Northeast/Midwest corridor consumes 6% more milk, 19% more ice cream, and 34% more cheese than people living the Southern/Western corridor. Meat consumption was 3% higher in the Northeast/Midwest corridor and vegetarian choices (fruit, vegetables, grains, and beans) were 6% higher. Deaths from heart disease, cancer, and diabetes were also much higher in the Northeast/Midwest corridor. Here is a chart of the death rates per 100,000 of population: Heart Disease Cancer Diabetes Northeast/Midwest 307.51 218.81 24.10 South/West 252.78 191.3 22.13 Here are the daily food consumption rates: Milk & Dairy Ice DAIRY Milk Cream Cheese Factor Meat Vegetarian Northeast/ Midwest 219.95gr 29.64gr 18.10gr 756.63 218.12gr 708.45gr South/West 205.01gr 25.00gr 13.54gr 586.53 211.62gr 666.16gr BOTTOM LINE Cheese consumption is a whopping 34% higher in the Northeast/Midwest than the South/West. Ice cream consumption is a whopping 19% higher in the Northeast/Midwest than the South/West. What else is greater in the high dairy consuming states? Diabetes deaths are 9% higher. Cancer rates are 14% higher. Heart disease rates are 22% higher. THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE MILK/DIABETES CONNECTION: http://www.notmilk.com/deb/011099.html THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE MILK/HEART DISEASE CONNECTION: http://www.notmilk.com/deb/090599.html THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE MILK/CANCER CONNECTION: http://www.notmilk.com/deb/013199.html Robert Cohen 294 From: Robert Cohen Date: Wed Sep 27, 2000 8:02am Subject: - - - JANE GOODALL'S NOT-SO SACRED COWS JANE GOODALL'S AND THE DAIRY INDUSTRY I often have problems sleeping. I suppose I'm trying to do too many things. Once I let go, it all comes crowding in and I have pictures in my mind of chimps in chains, chimps in laboratories. It's awful. It colors my watching the wild chimps. I think, 'Aren't they lucky?' and then think about other tiny chimps in tiny prisons, though they have committed no crimes. Once you've seen it, you can't forget... - Jane Goodall Jane Goodall receives donations from a dairy company. What happens to the calves? Where do the cows go when they no longer are milked? Why does she accept their dollars and endorse their products? Every cow is fated to die a horrible death by the butcher's knife. Calves are separated from their mothers at birth, and mother and child cry a torturous song for many days after. Perhaps Jane will sleep better when she no longer endorses such abuse. This past weekend I attended a food product show in Baltimore, Maryland. One of the food companies was STONYFIELD FARMS, producer of organic yogurt and dairy products. I was not happy to see JANE GOODALL used as one of their marketing tools. STONYFIELD reps distributed baseball-type cards with photos of Jane Goodall and a chimpanzee. The front of the card reads: "Jane Goodall and African Rainforests." Jane Goodall performed her research on Gombe Game Preserve in Tanzania. This part of Africa does NOT include rainforests. STONYFIELD FARM'S attempt to capitalize on Goodall and rainforests is a cheap exploitation. Some environmentalists and members of a trusting public have soft spots in their hearts (and brains) when reading about rain forests. STONEYFIELD writes: "Much of Jane's work took place within the rainforest." Their card reveals this fun fact: "Rainforests of the world contain about half of the world's total plant and animal species. There can be over 75 different species of life in each square meter." That's all very nice, but in 1986, Goodall wrote in her "Chimpanzees of Gombe" the following (page 106): "The 1972 dry season was a particularly difficult one with respect to food availability: chimpanzee weights were generally lower, competition for certain foods was greater, males were less likely to give food calls, they traveled shorter distances per day, and party size was smaller. It was during this period that the old female Flo died." During the months of June through September, Gombi experiences less than one inch of rainfall per month. Some rainforest! Last year, I attended an environmental at which Jane Goodall was the keynote speaker. I have long admired Dr. Goodall. COMPASSION TO ANIMALS The end of Jane Goodall's speech was met by a standing ovation from a standing-room-only audience of enthusiastic animal rights activists. By her own admission, Dr. Goodall rarely lectures to such a "choir" of supporters who share her compassion for animals. Before the lecture I was able to speak privately to Dr. Goodall, a woman who has dedicated her life to observing chimpanzee behavior in the Kombe region of Tanzania. At our private session, I asked Dr. Goodall why she did commercials for Stoneybrook Farms Dairy. Her response to me was that "Organic milk is a healthier product than genetically engineered milk." I asked her whether milk and dairy products represented a large part of her diet. "No, they are not," was her response. We spoke for a few moments about milk and the hormones so contained and we exchanged books. She autographed her book and wrote these words to my daughter: "Follow your dreams." AFTER THE TALK Jane's speech was immediately followed by another lecturer. I sensed that I would not see her again and climbed the stairs from my front-row seat to wish her well and give her my closing words. In her talk, Dr. Goodall had described the look of death on a drowning chimpanzee's face. A man who rescued the drowning non-human explained why he risked his own life to make the rescue. "Those eyes were asking: 'Won't anyone help me?'" For Jane Goodall, WE are human animals and THEY are non-human animals. WE and THEY love and fear, live and die, laugh and cry. I reached Dr. Goodall in the hallway leading from the auditorium. I asked her, "Dr. Goodall, are you aware of Dr. Albert Schweitzer's letter, written a few days before his death? That famous letter was a statement of animal rights and universal truths. He was coming to terms with many things, and you should too." "Yes?" she asked, and I continued. "You spoke of a chimpanzee's eyes. Don't you imagine that a cow has the same look as her young calf is taken from her? How does the calf feel, urgently needing her mother's milk, yet kept anemic so that her flesh can stay pink for the butcher's sharp knife? By supporting the milk industry you support the torture and slaughter of other non-humans." She shook her head slowly in understanding and we said goodbye to each other. Dr. Jane Goodall continues to support Stonyfield farms. With all due respect to her, she needs to be educated. I hope that you can play a role in teaching her that the dairy industry represents the least compassionate role in the animal wrongs industry. Animal rights? Please let Dr. Goodall know how you feel. Jane is now in England. Her personal secretary is Mary Lewis. Mary's EMAIL address is: mlewis@a... Jane's FAX number is: 011-44-171-727-4408 Please respect this great woman, and help her to learn truth. Robert Cohen 295 From: Robert Cohen Date: Wed Sep 27, 2000 1:54pm Subject: - - - CORRECTION The Jane Goodall Institute gave me an incorrect EMAIL address for Dr. Goodall's assistant, Mary Lewis. Her proper address: MLewisjgi@a... Please refer her to this link: http://www.notmilk.com/goodall.html Robert Cohen 296 From: Robert Cohen Date: Thu Sep 28, 2000 10:48am Subject: - - - OLYMPIAN MILK MUSTACHES WILL THERE BE A NEW OLYMPIAN MILK MUSTACHE AD? Does anybody doubt that Americans will be coming back from Australia with sour cream and vanilla ice cream (the dairy industry milkstache formula) applied to their upper lips? The premier candidate for a milkstache will be Marion Jones, the sprinter/long jumper who continues to strike Olympic Gold. She has already won two Olympic gold medals, and has three more in her sights. Problem is, Marion's name has been tainted by her husband's association with steroid hormones. American shot putter CJ Hunter is married to Marion. This man could substitute for the entire offensive line of the Green Bay Packers - that's how big he is. Unfortunately, he is not competing in this summer's Olympics because his enormous bulk was artificially constructed with the help of a banned steroid hormone, nandrolone. That won't stop the dairy industry from rewarding Jones. Dairy marketing geniuses consider drug use to be an asset, having previously painted a milk mustache on home run champ, Mark McGwire. History repeats itself. Another shot putter (world-record holder Randy Barnes) will never again compete, having been barred for life for having used the same drug as McGwire (androstenodione). ATHLETES TAKE IGF-I Those who take insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I) will not be caught at this summer's Olympics. Athletes: Beware! The technology exists to test fat molecules and reveal those who have taken the powerful genetically engineered growth hormone. One day, there may not be an Olympics. It is a not-so closely guarded secret that weight lifters, sprinters, swimmers, and athletes from all nations and events are using the protein hormone, IGF-I. They use it in the belief that it cannot be detected. They will certainly all one day be in for a surprise. Two Cornell University scientists have received a patent for a test that detects subtle changes in fat molecules after IGF-I treatment. ATHLETES SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS U.S. shot putter C.J. Hunter, better known as "that big guy" who is married to Marion Jones, decided to skip this year's Summer Olympics because of a knee injury. IOC officials say he tested positive for nandrolone during the summer. C.J. blames a dietary supplement for the positive test. Andris Reinholds, a rower from Latvia also tested positive for nandrolone, a banned steroid hormone. He was sent home from the Olympics on Saturday. Reinholds blames his positive test on a Chinese herbal medicine. German long distance runner Dieter Baumann, a German runner, won a gold medal in the 5,000 meters at Barcelona. He recently was banned from this year's Olympics after testing positive for nandrolone. Dieter claims that his toothpaste was spiked. Robin Lyons, a Canadian hammer-thrower, also tested positive for nandrolone. He blamed a diet supplement. Indeed. Runner Simon Combo of Kenya, cyclist Neil Campbell of Britain, long jumper Iva Prandzheva of Bulgaria, sprinter Linford Christie of Britain, runners Doug Walker and Mark Richardson of Britain, sprinter Merlene Ottey of Jamaica, all tested positive for nandrolone. CAN YOU DIG IT? That's the favorite quotable from new Olympic heroine, Marion Jones, who (rumor has it) will soon be the newest member of a long list of dairy industry milkstache wearers. Millions of dollars in endorsements await our newest athletic darling, and one hopes that Marion does not share the same fate as yesteryear's Olympic hero, Florence Griffith Joyner (Flo Jo). Flo Jo wore a milk mustache and died with 250 cc of undigested food in her stomach containing flecks of cheese. She ate her last pizza at 3PM and died at 6AM, 15 hours later. Her body organs were acutely congested with mucous and Flo Jo could not breathe. GOT ASTHMA? Asthma rates continue to soar in the African American community and Marion Jones' milkstache ad will betray the children who see her as a hero. Is it too late to ask Marion not to do it? The $25,000 paid by the National Fluid Milk Processors for this ad will be a drop in the bucket compared to the millions of dollars in endorsement fees awaiting her. Contact Marion's agent: Charles Wells of Vector Sports Management: 817-337-4494 (extension 13). vectorsm@a... Robert Cohen 297 From: Robert Cohen Date: Fri Sep 29, 2000 7:41am Subject: - - - NEW YORK TIMES - FINAL EDITION Dear Friends, I don't get it. A few years ago, in what must have been a fit of brutal honesty, NY TIMES columnist Jane Brody referred to T. Colin Campbell's CHINA STUDY as the "cadillac of nutritional studies." Dr. Campbell is adamantly against the consumption of cow's milk, blaming dairy products for much of human disease. On one hand, Brody accepts Campbell's brilliant work, and then continues to contradict herself. On Tuesday of this week, Jane Brody wrote another in a long series of slanted, biased, pro-milk columns, and included these words: "In addition to building bones, the calcium and other components in milk may help to prevent hypertension (and, thus, heart disease and stroke) and cancers of the breast and colon. Milk is also a good source of other vital nutrients, including vitamins A and D, riboflavin, protein, phosphorus and the trace elements copper, zinc and manganese." Jane Brody and the New York Times have a clear PRO-MILK agenda that seems to be directly proportional to NY TIMES milk ad cash flow. As more and more milk mustache ads appear in their pages, so do more and more pro-milk articles. In April of 1999, I wrote: -------------------------------------------------------------------- Jane Brody, New York Times "HEALTH WRITER," continues to extol milk's virtues. The Times publishes "ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT" while accumulating all the money that's fit to accept by running full-page milkstache ads. Brody was one of the first to knock Dr. Spock's view on milk and she was the first to promote the dairy industry's phony colon cancer/dairy study. http://www.notmilk.com/deb/101198.html In today's edition, the page F-6 headline alerts its readers: "AVOIDING CONFUSION ON SERVING SIZE IS KEY TO FOOD PYRAMID." One-half of the page contains a color photograph of twenty-five foods, each lined up in its respective food group. The top row is: MILK AND DAIRY PRODUCTS and the upper left most- conspicuous position is reserved for a glass of milk next to a bright red milk carton. Not only is the prominent placement reserved for milk, but the milk icon is also the tallest photograph! Which photos are the smallest of the twenty-five? The apple and glass of orange juice! Even the bowl of ice cream is larger than the broccoli, potato and fruit images. These events do not occur randomly. They are subliminal and they are brainwashing of the unhealthiest kind. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sixteen months ago, I wrote about Jane Brody's breast cancer and the powerful milk hormone link. A copy of the following article was sent to Jane Brody: JANE BRODY'S BREAST CANCER http://www.notmilk.com/deb/051699.html Four months later, the TIMES responded, and I wrote this: NY TIMES COMMITS ANOTHER BONER http://www.notmilk.com/deb/091999.html Robert Cohen 298 From: Robert Cohen Date: Fri Sep 29, 2000 7:58am Subject: - - - ALERT MARION JONES HAS WON A BRONZE MEDAL IN THE HIGH JUMP Marion Jones fouled on four of her six attempts and has not fulfilled her prediction to win five gold medals in the Olympics. Rumors still swirl regarding her future milk mustache ad. Calls to BSMG/Bozell (the fluid milk processor's publicist) confirming that choice have not been returned to the Dairy Education Board. Robert Cohen 299 From: Robert Cohen Date: Sat Sep 30, 2000 11:35am Subject: MARION JONES UPDATE Marion Jones predicted that she would do something no other woman has ever done: WIN 5 OLYMPIC TRACK AND FIELD MEDALS. She has done just that! Three gold plus two bronze = a new American hero!!! WILL SHE DO A MILK MUSTACHE AD? Calls to the dairy industry promotion board remain unreturned. Calls to Jones' agent were also not returned. Will Marion Jones betray the 95% of African Americans who cannot tolerate lactose? Will she take the money and run? Read about another Olympic athlete who betrayed African-Americans, and was betrayed by the dairy industry -- FLO JO: http://www.notmilk.com/deb/111598.html Robert Cohen 300 From: Robert Cohen Date: Sat Sep 30, 2000 12:50pm Subject: - - - THIS YEAR'S SUBSIDIES--WHO PAYS? The September issue of HOARD'S DAIRYMAN (the dairy industry magazine subscribed to by 108,000 dairy farmers) reveals: "Exports of nonfat dry milk more than doubled in 1999 (from 123 million pounds to 249 million pounds." It takes 11 pounds of milk to produce one pound of nonfat dry which means that 2.7 billion pounds of milk produced that dry milk powder. Much of that product was exported to Cuba, in a deal brokered by the dairy industry with Congress around the time of the Elian affair. Since the Cuban government does not have the money to pay for that product, guess who pays the price for that subsidized 2.7 billion pounds of milk? Meanwhile, Hoard's reports: "Total cheese storage by August 1, 2000 was 820 million pounds higher than 1999 levels." It takes ten pounds of milk to make one pound of hard cheese, so 8.2 billion pounds of milk were used to make that stored cheese which will probably find its way to the school lunch giveaway program. Butter stocks were also up by a factor of ten percent over 1999 levels. Farmers continue to produce record amounts of milk, while milk consumption rates fall. Genetic engineering has enabled dairy farmers to get more milk from their cows, despite the fact that genetically engineered milk contains increased amounts of naturally occurring powerful growth hormones. Do farmers care about anything other than production and profit? Doesn't seem that way. As Americans learn about those hormones, milk consumption rates will continue to decline. Amounts of stored milk, cheese and butter will increase, and so too will subsidies for these products. The past ten years, asthma and diabetes rates have reached epidemic proportions, particularly in school-age children. Particularly in minority communities. Robert Cohen 301 From: Robert Cohen Date: Sun Oct 1, 2000 9:04am Subject: - - - PRIZE AWARDED FOR THE BEST GUESS HOW TO CLONE A COW Win a prize by guessing closest to the winning auction bid! (Contest details at the end of this column) This week, tens of thousands of dairy farmers and cheeseheads are expected to converge upon Madison Wisconsin for the World Dairy Festival: http://www.world-dairy-expo.com The highlight of this year's festival is an auction of a cloned cow to be sold this Friday, October 6th at 7PM. The cow has been cloned by the INFIGEN company. The next generation of dairy cows will put an end to biodiversity. Imagine a world in which everybody looked exactly the same. One day, every dairy cow in America will be exactly the same. Cow or machine? This is our destiny. Here is a chart explaining how to clone a cow: (Don't try this at home, kids) http://www.infigen.com/transgenic/transgenic_chart.html Some dairy farmers are excited by this technology. Some know that it spells the end of the family farm. Can a farmer with 40 cows compete with a factory farm containing 2000 of these gigantic super producers? Holstein cows now must be milked three times per day because their udders grow to enormous proportions. These creatures have been bred to deliver 30 or more quarts of milk each day. One hundred years ago, the average cow milked only one quart per day. Today's milk contains increased levels of powerful growth hormones. Cows are modified creatures, designed to become bigger. Those who drink the hormones in their body fluids respond the same way. Slaughterhouse operators note that these cows are different. They can break pelvic bones with their hands. Anybody notice soaring osteoporosis rates? Cows mature earlier, and their milk contains more hormones. Anybody notice earlier sexual maturity? The milk contains more protein. Eighty percent of milk protein is casein, a tenacious glue. Anybody note the doubling of asthma rates these past ten years? Milk proteins have been linked to diabetes. Notice the diabetes epidemic? The new milk contains increased amounts of a hormone (IGF-I) linked to prostate, lung, and breast cancer. The new milk may very well contain a prion, linked to Alzheimer's and Mad Cow Disease. The new milk has more fat and cholesterol (got heart disease?). The new milk contains a morphine-like substance (caso-morphin) that has been linked to Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). Today one out of five children takes ritalin after having been diagnosed with ADD. Cloned cows are good for dairy farms. They produce more milk. The first cloned cow is expected to generate upwards of $25,000. Let's have a contest. A free copy of the book MILK-The Deadly Poison plus the book on tape (retail value, $40) to the individual guessing closest to the actual auction price. My guess is that the auction sale price will exceed the pre-auction estimate. My guess is that Monsanto will make the symbolic winning bid of $100,000. "As the company continues to perfect its cloning process, the price will come down," said Jesus Martinez, Infigen's Director of Marketing. You might want to let Jesus know how you feel about the new biotechnology. jmartinez@i... Remember to submit your guesstimate of the winning bid for the cloned cow! Send that bid to: notmilkman@n... Robert Cohen 302 From: Robert Cohen Date: Mon Oct 2, 2000 8:20am Subject: - - - IT TOOK ONLY SIX DAYS Dear Friends, The New York TIMES has a history of writing PRO DAIRY stories that are followed a few days later by full-page milk mustache ads. When Jane Brody's pro-milk story appeared last Tuesday (September 26th, 2000), we suspected that a milk mustache ad would soon appear. With the NY TIMES, it's more than coincidence. Contracts are signed for advertising promotions, and the newspaper whose motto is: "ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT" finds room for a supporting story. Soon the NY TIMES will follow with Olympic milk mustache ads. We hope that America's new hero, Marion Jones, does not give in to the dangling carrot offered by the National Fluid Milk Processor's Promotion Board. Actually, a carrot juice mustache under Marion's nose would suit us just fine! Today's edition (October 2, 2000) contains a full page ad on the back of the sports section. The model is Noah Wyle. The ad reads: "Want Strong Bones? Drink up, doctor's orders." Noah Wyle plays John Carter, a young emergency room trauma doctor in the hit television series, E.R. Wyle is a talented actor, but not a doctor. The NY TIMES continues to ignore the milk/cancer link. Thanks to Scott (a reader of the daily NOTMILK letter), we now have additional information about that link. Scott's recent MEDLINE search turned up 2088 medical journal references suggesting that insulin-like growth hormone (IGF-I) is a key factor in the growth and proliferation of human cancer. IGF-I is the most powerful growth hormone in the human body, and is identical in humans and cows. The most recent evidence was published in the September 20th issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (pgs. 1472-1489). Yu, et. al explored the role of IGF-I in cancer development and progression. Their conclusion: "The role of IGFs in cancer is supported by epidemiologic studies, which have found that high levels of circulating IGF-I and low levels of IGFBP-3 (binding proteins) are associated with increased risk of several common cancers, including those of the prostate, breast, colorectum, and lung." Noah Wyle probably spends most of his time learning scripts and taking acting classes. If pretend-doctors like Noah spent time reading scientific journals, they would be aware of tens of thousands of scientific studies linking milk consumption to a vast array of human illnesses. The NY TIMES ad includes medical advice from "Noah Wyle, MD." Noah is NOT a physician. Many NY TIMES readers do not watch E.R., and have no idea who Noah Wile is. Dispensing medical advice without a medical degree while posing as a medical doctor is a criminal act. Pretend-truth spreaders such as the NY TIMES should re-discover their journalistic responsibility by reporting real science, and not give in to the economic pressures exerted by their advertisers. An appropriate place for the NY TIMES to begin would be to review those 2088 studies linking IGF-I to cancer. GOT JOURNALISTIC INTEGRITY? Robert Cohen 303 From: Robert Cohen Date: Tue Oct 3, 2000 9:37am Subject: - - - TIP OF THE ICE CREAM CONE Dear Friends, A great victory was won in court yesterday (October 3, 2000), but first, a bit of background. On March 10th of this year, I was one of 27 individuals to testify before the United States Department of Agriculture. On that date, USDA was conducting their final "DIETARY GUIDELINES" session which was to result in a new FOOD PYRAMID. I took the opportunity to verbally attack the USDA for their enormous conflicts of interest. Here is my entire testimony: http://www.notmilk.com/hs/usdatest.html USDA Under-Secretary Eileen Kennedy was running the session that day. She asked each individual to state his/her name, organization, and source of funding. I turned the question back to her: "I'd like to ask you, since this is the first time I've ever been asked who funds me, who funds you, Dr. Kennedy? Who funds you, Dr. Watkins and Lurie and Huberto Garza who's listening on the telephone?" I did my research well: "We know, Dr. Kennedy, that you're on the Board of Directors of a research organization funded by Dannon Yogurt. We know, Huberto Garza, that you get $500,000 a year from USDA as a line item. At Cornell University you work for the Dairy Council. And Joanna Dwyer, who worked on this food dietary guideline committee, worked for the dairy industry as did Rachel Johnson and Roland Weinster and Richard Deckelbaum, and it goes on and on, Scott Grundy. All connections to the dairy industry. What's going on here?" After my testimony, Dr. Kennedy took the microphone and said: "Thank you, Mr. Cohen. And the one question you directed to us, I will answer. We are funded by the American taxpayer." Well, folks, this is just the tip of the iceberg. It's the tip of a hot fudge sundae, but that sundae is melting, and on Monday, the cherry rolled onto the floor. Yesterday, a federal court ruled that the U.S. Department of Agriculture violated federal law by keeping secret certain documents used in setting federal nutrition policies and by hiding financial conflicts of interest among members of a diet advisory committee. The ruling was written by U.S. District Judge James Robertson. The Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) filed a suit against USDA for these conflicts and won! PCRM's Neal Barnard testified at that March 10th session after I called him to register. (I registered as the third speaker, and he was #4). Barnard eloquently supported the inclusion of soy milk and soy-based meat analogues as acceptable alternatives for the milk and meat products. PCRM's court victory is a victory for all Americans, for it exposes the way America conducts its business. USDA's boss, Donna Shalala, had the gall to pose with a milk mustache. These conflicts go much higher than just her office. The bribes began in 1971 when Richard Nixon received a $3 million cash gift in the Oval Office. It was recorded on tape. The dairy industry uses their money and influence to buy favors. Their hired hands become our betrayers. Thanks to PCRM, the truth is now known. One wishes that a congressional investigation could fairly get to the bottom of things. However, after Nixon's bribe was delivered, Secretary of the Treasury John Connally was recorded on a Watergate tape saying this to Nixon: "These dairymen are organized; they're adamant, they're militant...and they, they're massing an enormous amount of money that they're going to put into political activities, very frankly." How could the dairy industry have missed getting to Judge James Robertson? Thank you, Your Honor. Robert Cohen 304 From: Robert Cohen Date: Wed Oct 4, 2000 5:56am Subject: - - - TROUBLE ON THE HORIZON Dear Friends, Last Sunday, I visited the Horizon Farms booth at the Natural Foods Exposition in Baltimore. They were not too pleased after hearing my milk comments recorded by a film crew. Horizon Organic Dairy is America's leading producer of organic milk and dairy products with sales of over $50 million per year. The people at Horizon want you to believe that their cows are so happy, that they've trademarked the phrase "HAPPY COWS." Horizon's press kit includes a re-printed article, originally excerpted from Rodale's "Your Organic Kitchen." The opening paragraph, accompanied by a photo of "happy cows" in a tranquil field setting, reads: "Although Horizon Organic Dairy doesn't claim that its Happy Cows are sacred, the nation's leading organic dairy treats its most honored employees like deities." According to my year-2000 almanac, there are about 4 million Jews in America and over 5 million Moslems. There are one million Hindus. The rest of Americans worship as their "deity," Jesus. Wasn't Jesus nailed to a cross? Didn't Jesus "die for man's sins?" That's no way to treat a deity, and Horizon farms seems to be doing just that. After their cows are milked, what becomes their fate? They end up dying for man's meat consumption. Our sins against their health and happiness. In India, where cows are worshipped as gods, these gentle animals live free, walking the streets as protected wards of the state. On Horizon's farms, their "deities" end up tortured, dying alone with great fear and then pain. The blood from their cut throats sprays out by the gallon, staining workers, flooding the slaughterhouse floors, causing the animals to gurgle and choke on their own blood. Horizon pretends to have happy cows, yet these animal's udders become so large that it is necessary to milk them three times per day. Most dairy farms milk their cows once or twice each day. Horizon pretends to have happy family farms, but nothing could be more distant from the truth. On March 9th, 1999, the World Street Journal wrote: "Horizon buys about 40% of its milk from other organic-dairy operations, but it has two farms of its own, in Idaho with 3,700 milking cows, and Maryland with 500 cows. The company is looking to establish a third farm...and have a capacity for 2,000 cows..." Folks, Horizon runs a factory-farm operation. I've investigated the Idaho farm which actually contains nearly 7,000 cows. Each animal produces 80 pounds of body wastes daily. That's 560,000 pounds of excrement and urine each day entering Idaho's environment. How does Horizon fool so many people all of the time? They have just purchased 600 acres of property (known as the George Dairy Property) next to the Nature Conservancy's 40,000 acre Cosumnes River Preserve. At last! An organization ready, willing, and able to protest another factory farm and the ensuing pollution, right? Wrong! Horizon and the Nature Conservancy have cooperated together for the past year on this project, and obtained government funding for this acquisition. More cows, more pollution. When the cows no longer give milk and have outlived their usefulness, they will have their heads bashed and necks slashed. Their body parts will be cut into smaller pieces by men with sharp knives, and they shall feed the masses. Such is the fate of Horizon Farms' deities. Hallelulah! Oh yes...organic milk. The healthiest milk from the healthiest cow is naturally loaded with lactoferrins, immunoglobulins, and growth hormones. Horizon's organic milk contains animal fat and cholesterol, dioxins, and bacteria. The amount of somatic cells (pus) in organic milk is lower than milk from non-organic cows, but it's still dead white blood cells and dead bacteria. Ask yourself this question. Does organic human breast milk sound like a delicious drink for an adult human? Instinctively, most people know that there are substances in breast milk that are not intended for their adult bodies. Same goes for pig's milk and dog's milk. Same for cow's milk. Some people may not be able to tolerate lactose, a milk sugar. One hundred percent of humans are allergic to casein, a milk protein. Eighty percent of the protein in Horizon's organic dairy products is casein, the same glue used to adhere a label to a bottle of beer. Eat casein and your body produces histamines, then mucous. This sludge congests your organs. Give up all milk and dairy products for just one week and an internal "fog" will lift from your body. Is genetically engineered milk dangerous? You bet! Organic milk contains just a little bit less of the same hormones. I find very little difference between the two. Robert Cohen 305 From: Robert Cohen Date: Thu Oct 5, 2000 6:58am Subject: - - - LUNG WORMS AND OTHER DAIRY TREATS Dear Friends, You can learn a lot about a food product by reading the related industry magazine. Open the inside cover of the September 25th, 2000 issue of Hoard's Dairyman (The National Dairy Farm Magazine) and you see an ad announcing: "New Calf Diarrhea Vaccine Now Available" The ad explains that their vaccine protects agains 4 strains of E coli, clostridium, coroma-virus, and 3 strains of rota-virus. If you still drink body fluids from diseased animals, this news may gross you out. Do you eat their flesh? The first column ("Hoard's has Heard...") reveals that "evidence of hairy heel warts was found in 29 percent of dairy cows shipped to a Southeast slaughterhouse." Investigators found leg lesions, and 61 percent of the cows harbored infectious spirichetes. A few pages later is a column called "Farm Flashes." We learn that an anti-inflammatory drug has benefits during dehorning. Ouch. Researchers recommend a sedative for dehorned cows followed by a local anesthetic. Since they are advising this technique, one must imagine that many dairymen don't follow this advice and cause great pain to their cows. The same column warns farmers to understand mycotoxins which cause excessive vaginal discharge, udder enlargement, and diarrhea. WOW! These cows sure have problems, and most Americans are eating their resulting byproducts. Dairy consumers should question milk's wholesomeness after reading the veterinarian's column. Dave Linn writes about milk quality. We visit a typical farm through a vet's eyes and learn: "It was not uncommon for Jerry to have up to 5% of his cows in the hospital string at one time due to antibiotic treatment of mastitis cases...50% of the new cases were due to environmental Streps, 20 percent were coliforms, and the rest were Staph Aureus...most of these cases probably were clinical flareups of chronic infections." For goodness sakes, these animals are carriers of disease, and cheese eaters should wonder what's in their next bite of brie. Turn the page and there is a full page color ad for CYDECTIN. If you eat steak or ribs, don't read this. Here's what the advertiser says: "Control performance-robbing parasites with CYDECTIN. You get long-acting persistence against brown stomach worms and lungworms, plus control of lice, grubs, mites and horn flies." Lung worms? Do you have a long term cough? That tickle in your chest might be caused by a little wiggly friend. Do you also enjoy eating bar-b-cue animal parts from diseased animals? No way that can sound appetizing after reading the above. The final page contains an ad for Bovine Rhino-trachetis Virus, Para-influenza Respiratory Syncytial Virus Vaccine. Do you suspect that Old MacDonald was keeping a few secrets from the rest of us? Robert Cohen 306 From: Robert Cohen Date: Fri Oct 6, 2000 9:31am Subject: - - - MILK SUBSIDIES Dear Friends, Last night, Congress was in session, and our elected representatives did something to betray most Americans. Last night many of you watched the Vice Presidential candidate's debate, and I switched back and forth between the political contest and the New York Mets/San Francisco Giants baseball game. Congress was busy voting billions of dollars of subsidies to farmers who continue to cause their own problems by producing surplus food. Genetic engineering and biotechnology has resulted in more milk, more corn, and more soybeans. Record crops result in falling commodity prices, and farmers suffer...or do they? As midnight turned to morning, the Mets won a dramatic game and most certainly enjoyed their 6 hour plane ride home. We as Americans are being taken for a long ride too. A $3.5 billion dollar package of election-year farm subsidies were added to an $80 billion appropriations bill that will fund next year's USDA and FDA. Nearly $1 billion dollars will go to livestock and dairy producers. Dairymen will get $473 million! There are 9.2 million dairy cows in America. Here's how the subsidy works. If you are a dairyman, you receive $50 per cow, no questions asked. If you are milking 40 cows like the typical dairyman in Wisconsin, you get $2,000. That drop in the bucket is not going to bail out a farmer in trouble. Here's what it will do for a 7,000-cow factory farm like Horizon Organic: $350,000. Early this morning, I checked the "Congressional Record" for PAC money. Most of our elected officials serving on agriculture committees receive large donations (thousands of dollars per congressman) from dairy industry groups. These dairy industry investments have placed an enormous amount of money into political activities and pay enormous dividends, but at who's expense? Robert Cohen 307 From: Robert Cohen Date: Fri Oct 6, 2000 9:40am Subject: I HATE THE FREE AD THAT IS ATACHED Dear Friends, I utilize a FREE service to send out EMAILS, and they attach ads to each letter. I was appalled at today's ad, promoting NITROX as a substitute for Viagara. Please do not imagine that I endorse of support these horrible chemicals. Robert Cohen 308 From: Robert Cohen Date: Sat Oct 7, 2000 9:21am Subject: - - - COW AUCTION WINNER AUCTION WINNER The first cloned milking cow was sold at auction Friday evening, exceeding the pre-sale estimate of $50,000. The winning bid was $82,000. She's not yet ready for milking, but the Holstein cow, an exact duplicate of an award-winning bovine who produces 3300 gallons of milk per year was purchased by a Minnesota dairy cattle group. The Landox Syndicate of Minneapolis bought a clone of award-winning 'Mandy' and will receive the calf when she's 6 months old. We asked you to guess the final bid, and received over 200 guesses, ranging in price from $35,000 to $1 million dollars. The winner hit the price exactly. CONGRATULATIONS TO: Jon Mont Jonathan.Montgomery@c... $ 82,000 J0N: Please send me your mailing address, and your prize package will be shipped UPS to you on Monday! Robert Cohen 309 From: Robert Cohen Date: Sat Oct 7, 2000 1:09pm Subject: NEW CONTEST Dear friends, Letter # 1943 (Mike from Minnesota in my NOTMILK guestbook asked: "Does anyone know the physical differences between a herbivore and a carnivore? Is the human body designed to eat animal products?" I will send a FREE BOOK and TAPE (MILK-The Deadly Poison) to the best response posted to my guestbook in the next 24 hours. POST YOUR MESSAGE: http://www.Lpage.com/wgb/wgbsign.dbm?owner=NOTMILK READ THE LETTERS: http://www.Lpage.com/wgb/wgbview.dbm?owner=NOTMILK 310 From: Robert Cohen Date: Sun Oct 8, 2000 9:25am Subject: - - - MAYO-NAYS NAYS TO MAYO The Mayo Clinic Health Newsletter has added an anti-soy agenda to their strong pro-milk position. Here is the most recent example of their (im)propaganda. Note the final sentence of their column: _______________________________________________________________ Liz from Minnesota Asks the Mayo Dietitian: http://www.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/mayo/10/04/calcium.soymilk/index.html Q. I've recently heard that calcium that is added to soymilk might not be absorbed as well as the calcium found in milk. I switched to soymilk after hearing that soy has many health benefits, including reducing risk for heart disease and reducing hot flashes due to menopause. Is it true and should I switch back to milk? A. According to researchers at CREIGHTON UNIVERSITY in Omaha, Neb., the amount of calcium absorbed from soymilk is about 25 percent less than that from cows' milk. Is this significant? Possibly. Calcium is a mineral that is important for strong teeth and bones and for muscle and nerve function. The CREIGHTON research indicates that 500 milligrams of calcium is needed in a serving of soymilk for it to be comparable to the more absorbable calcium in an equal amount of cows' milk. Most nutrition professionals recommend 2 to 3 daily servings of cows' milk, or foods made from milk. _________________________________________________________________ WHO IS THE "EXPERT FROM CREIGHTON?" If you were to call the dairy industry toll-free number (1-800-WHY-MILK) and leave your name and address, you would be sent their brochure which contains "expert opinions." The National Fluid Milk Producers marketing brochure was "developed with the help of a variety of experts, including top chefs, registered dietitians, leading physicians and scientists." The back cover lists an impressive scientific advisory panel of doctors and nutritionists. One of those doctors is: Robert P. Heaney, M.D. Dr. Heaney is also listed as a calcium expert and Professor of Medicine at CREIGHTON University School of Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska. The milk processors tell us that Robert P. Heaney, M.D., is in the select group of experts whose advice one should follow. Although Dr. Heaney must have, at one time, believed that milk provided the best form of dietary calcium, he no longer believes what the brochure represents. Heaney recently was asked whether milk is the best form of calcium, and replied, "That is not the case." This milk expert has accepted the evidence published in the June, 1995 issue of the American College of Nutrition. That paper reveals that people absorb only 25 percent of calcium in milk while absorbing 42 percent of the calcium in apple juice. HOW MUCH CACIUM CAN BE ABSORBED? The Mayo Disease Letter ignores the fact that calcium cannot be absorbed without magnesium. Their unnamed expert from CREIGHTON actually established the 1:1 proportion. There are 119 milligrams of calcium in a 100 gram portion of whole milk, but only 13 milligrams of calcium. The lowest common denominator is 13, which means that only 13 milligrams of calcium is absorbed. There are 19 milligrams of magnesium in soy milk, more than cows milk. However, there are only 4 milligrams of calcium in soy. Therefore, one must not expect to get a lot of calcium from unfortified soy. There are better calcium/magnesium sources. EFFICIENT SOURCE OF CALCIUM Dark green leafy vegetables include calcium and magnesium in more absorbable percentages. For example, a 100 gram portion of kale contains more than 2 1/2 times as much magnesium (34 mg) and thirteen percent more calcium (135 mg). The amount of calcium absorbed from kale (remember the 1:1 proportion) is 34 milligrams, or nearly triple that of milk (13.44 mg). THE CREIGHTON CONSPIRACY I recently wrote a column about a the National Osteoporosis Foundation. http://www.notmilk.com/deb/052399.txt This organization has deep connections to the dairy industry and Bozell, the public relations firm of the dairy industry. Last year, this phony organization raised over $9 million dollars, including nearly $800,000 in federally funded grants. Only $145,000 was spent on actual research. That's less than two pennies out of every dollar. Their agenda is to promote milk, and the CREIGHTON RESEARCHER (Robert Heaney) is on their Board of Directors. Robert Cohen 311 From: Robert Cohen Date: Sun Oct 8, 2000 11:21am Subject: WHAT HATH MAN WROUGHT? Today's Sunday TIMES of London reports: CLONING TEAMS CROSS PIG AND HUMAN DNA by Jonathan Leake Australian Scientists have successfully produced an embryonic pig-human hybrid. Human DNA was inserted into pig cells which became tiny embryos. The researchers took a cell from a human fetus, extracted the nucleus and then inserted it into a pig's egg cell. Two embryos have been grown. They would be much more human than pig because 97% of DNA is in the nucleus, which was human. There would, however, be some effect from the 3% of DNA from the pig. Here is the author's EMAIL address: jonathan.leake@s... Robert Cohen 312 From: Robert Cohen Date: Sun Oct 8, 2000 11:28am Subject: BOYCOTT BANNER ADS, ESPECIALLY THIS ONE Dear Friends, The following BANNER was attached to my most recent EMAIL to you: ________________________________________________________ One group of animals died, another grew younger. What was the magic remedy? The answer is in your free October Newsletter! http://click.egroups.com/1/9421/13/_/395395/_/971018362/ ________________________________________________________ I have made payment to EGOUPS for $59.60 and have been assured that the banners will be discontinued. I am offended by animal research, as it is a betrayal to animals and humans. We cannot extrapolate an animal study to human physiology. Please know that I have nothing to do with these random offensive banners, and they will soon disappear. Robert Cohen 313 From: Robert Cohen Date: Sun Oct 8, 2000 3:54pm Subject: CONTEST RESULTS Letter # 1943 (Mike from Minnesota) to the NOTMILK Guestbook asked: ____________________________________________________________________ "Does anyone know the physical differences between a herbivore and a carnivore? Is the human body designed to eat animal products?" ____________________________________________________________________ As a result of Mike's inquiry, a free book and tape were offered to the author of the "best response" posted to the NOTMILK Guestbook. Dave Rietz and Robert Cohen were the final judges, and we decided upon two winners, letters #1946 (Edward Hartman) and #1970 (Peter Fulda). I learned quite a bit from more than two dozen letter writers. Thank you! This shows that we are all teachers and students, and that the readers of the NOTMILK letter have great wisdom! To access the guestbook and read letters 1945-1970 (or to post your own): http://www.notmilk.com/gbookmen.html Robert Cohen 314 From: Robert Cohen Date: Tue Oct 10, 2000 2:25pm Subject: - - - LETS GO METS! BASEBALL AND HORMONES It's baseball time! Tomorrow night, the New York Mets play the St. Louis Cardinals and we anxiously await Mark McGwire's home run swing, although Mark is currently injured. McGwire has bone and joint problems... Nations with the highest rates of bone disease include Denmark, Norway, Holland, and Sweden. Many of America's physicians now tell their patients that a prescription for bone disease includes using milk and dairy products. Perhaps Mark's problem results from his love for milk and dairy products and other substances containing powerful growth hormones. McGwire recently posed for a milk mustache, joining dozens of other athletes who take money from the National Fluid Milk Processors Promotion Board. HOME RUNS AND STRIKE OUTS Mark is a sports giant. He's 1.93 meters tall (6'4") and weigh in excess of 110 kg (250 pounds). His arms and legs have been compared to tree trunks. McGwire regularly hits 150-meter (500-foot) home runs. McGwire took ANDROSTENEDIONE, a steroid hormone. Milk also contains steroid hormones, including estrogen and testosterone. Got Hormones, Mark? McGwire comments in his milk ad: "GOING, GOING, GONE." A message for young little leaguers, perhaps? GOT MILK? GOT HORMONES! McGwire hit .201 in 1991 and was so depressed he had to see a psychiatrist. Perhaps he has been a long-time milk drinker. In 1995 the Townsend Medical Letter listed mood swings, depression and irritability among the symptoms of milk consumption. In addition to "andro," McGwire now endorses another product containing hormones, MILK. A marriage seemingly made in heaven. From one hormone to another, McGwire's message is one that the dairy industry endorses. McGwire's conclusion is one that we at the Dairy Education Board agree with. Take hormones and you will soon be "Going, going, gone!" Robert Cohen 315 From: Robert Cohen Date: Mon Oct 16, 2000 4:40pm Subject: - - - URGENT REQUEST Dear Friends, A reporter for a major media outlet wants to talk to parents who are concerned with early sexual maturity, and have milk-related stories to tell about their kids... Would you like to speak with this reporter? It could make a BIG difference in getting out the truth about the hormones in milk. Please contact me privately. Robert Cohen 316 From: Robert Cohen Date: Mon Oct 16, 2000 8:56pm Subject: - - - DIET FOR A SMALL FAMILY Dear Friends, This evening at dinner, my wife served my kids chicken while I enjoyed a salad with rice and broccoli. My 10-year-old daughter (Lizzy) announced: "I will no longer eat anything with a face." It was infectious. Sarah said, "If you do all the cooking, I'll join Lizzy." Jennifer first resisted, but finally came around and agreed to go VEGAN too. The deal: I've agreed to do all of the cooking and cleaning, and my family has agreed to eat a plant-based diet. It means more work for me, but it will be worth the trouble! Robert Cohen 317 From: Robert Cohen Date: Mon Oct 16, 2000 9:26pm Subject: - - - DEADLIER THAN MILK! Dear Friends, Here's a little something that could end all life as we know it: (EBOLA IS BACK!) http://www.independent.co.uk/news/World/Africa/2000-10/ebolalead171000.shtml Robert Cohen 318 From: Robert Cohen Date: Tue Oct 17, 2000 11:13am Subject: - - - FOOL'S GOLD Dear Friends, Yesterday's New York Times (Monday, October 16, 2000, page A9) contained a full-page ad paid for by the Council for Biotechnology Information. http://www.whybiotech.com Their motto is "Good Ideas are Growing." Their phone number is 1-800-980-8660. This color ad shows a young Asian girl sitting on her mother's lap while holding a bowl of rice, chopsticks extended deep into her mouth. The text explains that biotechnology's new "Golden" rice contains increased amounts of beta-carotene, a source of Vitamin A. SCARE TACTICS The biotekkers explain that the new genetically engineered rice could help relieve a global Vitamin A deficiency that now causes blindness and infection in millions of the world's children. Who imagined that millions of children were going blind? GOT CARROTS? What the world's children don't need to do is take daily overdoses of Vitamin A. Beta-carotene can turn their skin yellow-orange in color. Many people cannot convert beta-carotene into Vitamin A (people with hypothyroidism), and eating this rice on a daily basis can be deadly. Let today's column be a prediction that biotechnology's "Midas touch" will be fool's gold for many of the world's children. Toxic levels of Vitamin A can induce nausea, vomiting, and gastrointestinal distress. Overdoses of Vitamin A can cause enlargement of the spleen and liver. Will each grain of rice carry a warning label? Tonight I am cooking golden rice for my family. I will sautee garlic, shallots, and Vidalia onions in a few tablespoons of golden sunflower oil. To that I will add two golden vegetable bouillion cupes with a pinch of Spanish saffron. Two cups of water, one cup of non-GMO rice steamed until al dente. That's my version of Golden Rice. Robert Cohen 319 From: Robert Cohen Date: Tue Oct 17, 2000 6:51pm Subject: - - - TONIGHT'S DINNER Dear Friends, This past weekend I spoke to over 200 people at an ANIMAL RIGHTS conference in Kansas City. Few of the attendees knew what enormous pain I was in. The night before my trip, I had shattered a tooth and had an exposed nerve which I further damaged by not getting immediate medical help. Trooper that I am, the show went on, and today I had root canal surgery. I saw my dentist at 1:45 PM and still have no sensation in my lower jaw and lips as I write this at 6:45 PM. The pain will come later, but the dinner show had to go on too, and I delivered. Tonight I made a pasta dish, and I must share the recipe. Dinner was incredible! My marinara sauce involves a simple principle. Always use about triple the amount of garlic you think can be tolerated. For tonight's dinner, I sauteed two heads of minced garlic (about two dozen cloves) with a large red onion in 1/4 cup of cold pressed extra virgin olive oil. When the onions were transluscent and just beginning to brown, I added three 35-ounce cans of tomatoes...chopped very fine. I added basil and oregano with salt and pepper to taste. I also added a teaspoon of minced carrot (my mom's trick) to neutralize the acid. The sauce simmered for three hours. I cooked spearately one pound of penne pasta, al dente. I then broke an entire cauliflower into tiny florettes and sauteed them in two tablespoons of olive oil until they just began to brown. To that, I added one quart of finished marinara (I froze the other two quarts). To that I added the drained pasta, and served it with fresh garlic bread. Here's what made the meal incrdible. Ever eat snow peas? The Chinese collect the green leaves from snow peas and sell them in Oriental markets as "snow pea tips." I learned this from my friend Donna in Miami. I sauteed an enormous bag of these tips with one clove of garlic in two tablespoons of olive oil. It made for a wonderful side dish. Trouble is...I could not taste anything because of my root-canal numbness. More bad news. My ravenous family saw to it that there were no leftovers. Day one of vegan dining. Robert Cohen 320 From: Robert Cohen Date: Wed Oct 18, 2000 9:09am Subject: - - - CHEESY NEWS Dear Friends, Here's the "HOTTEST" dairy industry news (from the October 10, 2000 issue of the dairy magazine, HOARD'S DAIRYMAN). Cheese prices plummeted in late September with one-pound blocks selling for $1.11 per pound, down 23% from last year. The dairy magazine explains that there is "simply too much cheese for the marketplace." (The same issue of Hoard's reveals that Land O' Lakes has announced plans to build a "big" cheese plant in South Dakota). More farms went out of business, down 5.1% from last year to 83,025 farms. (When I began the NOTMILK movement in 1994, there were 140,000+ dairy farms in America. At this rate, we'll have plenty to celebrate by the year 2010). Government subsidies to farmers totaled a record $23.3 billion this calendar year. That represented 42% of farm net profit. There is also an interesting letter in Hoard's. Can you guess to whom the author of the following letter is referring? Here's the letter to the editor from J.D. McLarty of Florida: "I've been a Hoard's Dairyman reader for 52 years. I'm 84 years old and retired from dairying many years. In late August, NBC's Today program had a man who said that milk causes cancer, especially prostate cancer. He was defending PETA for putting up billboards with the mayor of New York's milk mustache and "Got Cancer?" That man and his bunch need to be sued by American Dairy Association and every state dairy promotion association. Someone from Hoard's should demand equal time on the Today Show. Tell them about the longevity of people in Wisconsin and Minnesota...heavy milk drinkers. Dairymen work too hard to take this lying down." If you know Farmer McLarty, let him know that I would be willing to pay the filing fee for his suit. Try as I may, I cannot get anybody from the dairy industry to sue me. Wonder why that is??? Robert Cohen 321 From: Robert Cohen Date: Wed Oct 18, 2000 11:47am Subject: - - - JUST FOR THE RECORD Dear Friends, The RECORD is my hometown newspaper, and ranks seventy-fifth out of approximately 4,000 American newspapers (Sunday circulation = 240,000). They've printed many of my NOTMILK letters, and even interviewed me for a feature story about milk's negative effects. Imagine my surprise when I read today's news: Wednesday, October 18, 2000 http://www.bergen.com:80/food/jan18200010185.htm By JAN WOLFF Here is the first paragraph of Jan's story: "Many ailments such as allergies, digestive and respiratory disorders, and even heart disease can be linked to excessive consumption of dairy products. While choosing to eliminate dairy from one's diet is personal, we must realize that milk is processed differently today than in the past. From pasteurization and homogenization to the use of hormones, pesticides, and antibiotics, the milk of today is a long way from the barnyard." Robert Cohen 322 From: Robert Cohen Date: Wed Oct 18, 2000 8:17pm Subject: - - - PAELLA Dear Friends, My family does not yet know it, but I'm going to make an enormous effort to get as close as I can to a 100% raw diet. There are some incredible cookbooks, and we'll begin on or about November 1st. During the interim, I'll be visiting Texas, Florida, and will be in Asia for five days (I do not look forward to the 14 hour flight!) This afternoon, I dug out my previously unused paella pan. This evening's dinner was an attempt at totally vegan paella. I sliced wedges of carrot, pepper, & turnip. I boiled rice for ten minutes and added saffron and veggie bouillion cubes, then added the half-cooked rice to the paella pan. To that, I sliced pieces of vegetarian sausage and mock-chicken hot wings. The paella pot went into a 450 oven to finish, and I was very pleased with the results. One quart of last night's marinara sauce became stock for a hearty soup. I added another quart of water, and simmered veggies, beans, and added cooked pasta and fresh basil. This simple minnnestrone was served with the paella. Freshly cut pineapple, oranges, and bananas were dessert. Tomorrow we go to VEGGIE HEAVEN in Teaneck, New Jersey. It's a goodbye dinner for dad. We'll have veal, quail, eel, and duck. It's all soy, and it's delicious. Robert Cohen 323 From: Robert Cohen Date: Fri Nov 3, 2000 11:18am Subject: BIG NOTMILK TV STORY TONIGHT Dear Friends, I've used all of my willpower NOT to tell you about this story earlier. Tonight's TV story will hammer an enormous nail in the dairy industry's coffin. It's too late for the dairy industry to kill this broadcast! Three years ago, I reported that there were UNSAFE levels of dioxins in milk and dairy products. Two years ago, the World Health Organization revealed that 90% of the dioxins entering the human body come from milk and meat products that we eat. (The avertage American eats 5 ounces per day of meat and 29.2 ounces per day of milk and dairy). Last year, the dairy industry closed in Belgium for one month because milk samples were found to contain 100 times the safe level of dioxins. Six months ago, Steve Milloy, owner of the JUNKSCIENCE.COM website attempted to contradict me by testing milk samples for the presence of dioxins. (he has attempted to ridicule my NOTMILK information on numerous occasions). Milloy invested thousands of dollars and tested Ben & Jerry's vanilla ice cream. His finding: The ice cream contained 200 times the safe level of dioxins! Milloy learned about the power of the milk processors. He incorrectly assumed that his "discovery" would make headline news. His press release was picked up by only one newspaper, the Detroit Free Press. Tonight America learns about the reality of dioxins, and ABC's John Stossel of 20-20 is the prime-time reporter. Check your local listings. The higher up one is on the food chain, the more concentrated are the levels of dioxins and other toxic substance in that animal's flesh and body fluids. Twelve pounds of milk are required to manufacture one pound of ice cream. Is Ben & Jerry's delicious? Some say that "it's to die for!" My prediction: Stossel will attempt to portray dioxins as non-toxic. Please stay tuned... Robert Cohen 324 From: Robert Cohen Date: Sat Nov 4, 2000 9:14am Subject: STOSSELED BY A HOSTILE FOSSIL Dear Friends, Last night, 20-20 ran a story on DIOXINS in Ben & Jerry's ice cream. From now on, when I see an attempt by the media to alter truth, I will refer to it as a "stosselism." Any reporter who attempts to become a corporate shill will be referred to as a "stosselist." A lie will be called a "stossel." Conjugate the verb. I stossel, you stossel, she stossels, they stossel...we all stossel. Here is a partial transcript of last night's show. I begin with the ending. After the reporter stosseled, Barbara Walters said: "They won't like you." John Stossel's response: "The ice cream's safe. There are low levels of dioxins in all kinds of food. I have Ben & Jerry's in my freezer. My kids eat it. It's high in fat, but it's safe. It's this feel-good environmentalism that galls me." Earlier in the four minute segment, Stossel explained: "Dioxin...it's absorbed in animal fat, and that's how most of it gets to us...EPA considers dioxin a cancer risk...there is dioxin in the ice cream...there are 13 pats of butter in a cup of Ben & Jerry's ice cream. Do you think people know that?" Stossel had cited Steve Milloy's junkscience.com website. Milloy tested Ben and Jerry's vanilla ice cream, and found it to contain 200 times the safe level of dioxin. The Department of Environmental Protection repeated the tests, and found consumers eating ice cream containing 2,200 times the safe level of dioxin. Stossel intentionally failed to reveal the actual levels of unsafe dioxins. His report revealed only their presense. His logic? DEP calls it a "cancer risk," but he serves it to his kids because "feel-good environmentalists" gall him. The name of Stossel's editorial segment is: "GIVE ME A BREAK!" I'd like to ask ABC to do the same. I've been stosseled more than I care to admit, and this is the last stossel. To paraphrase a famous philosopher: "There are stossels, damned stossels, and statistics." Today's wish is for Mr. Stossel to become a statistic. 20-20's credibility will forever be questioned when stosselists stossel. Robert Cohen 325 From: Robert Cohen Date: Tue Nov 7, 2000 9:00am Subject: - - - WHO GOT MY VOTE? Dear Friends, I carefully considered this year's presidential vote. I over-analyzed every factor, and found myself NOT wanting to cast a ballot. I previously reported that I would do the only thing that made sense. I would bring my daughter into the voting booth and let her cast her choice. After all, she represented the future. That is NOT what I did. Last evening, I considered the votes of those people I respect. I considered my reactions to each person's vote. One friend told me that his choice was Bush. I had the strongest of negative feelings. Another told me that he would vote for Gore. I felt nothing. No joy, no disgust. Just nothing. My mom told me that she intended to vote for Nader. My response surprised me. "Way to go, Mom. That's really cool." Try as I did to not vote for Nader, he ended up as the only candidate who earned my respect. It took my 82-year-old mother to teach me a lesson about myself. Thanks, mom. Nader has no chance of winning, but this vote of mine is about my integrity and self respect. To have voted any other way would have contradicted who I am. Robert Cohen 326 From: Robert Cohen Date: Wed Nov 8, 2000 3:00am Subject: - - - THREE A.M. Dear Friends, I've stayed up til the very end. Some thoughts. Republican President. Republican Congress. Republican Senate. For better of worse, that ends bipartisan politics. Pharmaceutical companies were BUSH'S biggest contributors. Be prepared for a new era of genetically engineered foods. Be prepared for seven days and hundreds of comments from second guessers. In hindsight, everybody is a political expert. Robert Cohen 327 From: Robert Cohen Date: Wed Nov 8, 2000 3:46am Subject: DEWEY WINS! There should be some interesting newspaper headlines today! It's now 3:45 AM and I'm watching Dan Rather, and Bush leads Gore in Florida by 600 votes, with 5 districts yet to be counted. Oh, the tension. I do NOT need a cup of java. Robert Cohen 328 From: Robert Cohen Date: Wed Nov 8, 2000 1:40pm Subject: - - - LAST WORD ON NADER VOTES Dear Friends, A reader wrote the following letter to me. She shall remain anonymous. Included are my responses. I've been wanting to sum up this election, and believe I did so to my satisfaction: SHE WROTE: I RESPONDED: {In one way, you are correct. I helped create Bush's presidency. HOWEVER, whoever is in, when I see something wrong, I make every attempt to correct the situation.} SHE WROTE: I RESPONDED: {What do you suggest is the lesson? I voted my conscience. I continue to conduct myself according to the best within me.} SHE WROTE: I RESPONDED: {I see your reasoning, but reject your logic. If Nader had won, do you imagine that I would not complain when I disagreed with something he did?} SHE WROTE: I RESPONDED: {What do you think would be accomplished by voting for someone with no vision or ability to analyze and solve problems?} SHE WROTE: I RESPONDED: {You assume that Gore is the solution. It is my belief that Gore represents an evil that continues to betray all Americans. It is also my opinion that Bush is part of that evil. I can no longer perpetrate the system. My problem is that others do not share my vision. If they did, Nader would be president.} SHE WROTE: I RESPONDED: {Then you and I are in complete agreement. Ask yourself how Thomas Jefferson, Sam Adams, Ben Franklyn and Thomas Paine might have voted? Do we continue the weakest form of tyranny, or become revolutionary thinkers?} Robert Cohen 329 From: Robert Cohen Date: Wed Nov 8, 2000 7:01pm Subject: - - - WILL BUSH GET GORED? THE LATEST: It looks like a BUSH win. That means a victory for biotechnology. Anybody notice today's stock market? The DOW lost 45 points, and the NASDAQ plunged 184 points (5.4%) on anticipation of a BUSH presidency, but Monsanto/Pharmacia gained nearly two points! MEANWHILE, BACK AT (near) MICKEY AND MINNIE LAND: Two thousand voters claim that their GORE votes were counted as BUCHANAN VOTES. The ballot was poorly constructed. Many voters clicked when they should have clacked. A suit was filed this afternoon claiming that the vote in Palm Beach should be thrown out and a new election held. ___________________________________________________________ I'll be in California this weekend. If you wish to attend my EARTHSAVE SAN DIEGO talk, please contact: Michelle 619-516-1240 Next week I'll be speaking in Cincinnati. Contact: Susan Huesken 513-542-6810 I'll be speaking in New York City on November 18th. GREAT INDIAN FOOD!!! Contact: Craig Summers: 516-939-2811 _____________________________________ Robert Cohen 330 From: Robert Cohen Date: Wed Nov 8, 2000 10:34pm Subject: - - - LETTER FROM A FRIEND Dear friends, I received a lovely letter: ____________________________________________________________ Dear Robert and Friends on the NOTMILK List, We live in a world in which fewer and fewer young people have models in their lives who set examples of intelligence and reasoned judgment. Parents do not demonstrate by their own lives that conscience and conscientiousness toward others and for the planet on which we all live are high priorities. Instead of Christ, Buddha, Gandhi and other such great men of wisdom we urge our kids to "kick ass" in little league sports where winning is everything. We constantly bad mouth anyone who is not politically, religiously, economically, culturally, ethnically, and every other kind of difference from ourselves and our immediate group. I did not vote for Nader but I hold the highest regard for anyone who voted their conscience after giving considered reason to the alternatives. When I was in college I was the Vice President of Young Democrats, the Secretary-Treasurer of Young Republicans, and the Sergeant at Arms of the Model United Nations chapter on our campus. Adali Stevenson who was running for President of the United States visited our campus and in order to afford the gratuity required by his campaign all three of the above mentioned Student Organizations together with the Campus Student Council pooled their resources to come up with enough money to have him speak. The afternoon prior to his evening appearance the faculty advisors and one or two volunteers from each organization gathered in the large auditorium at the School of Optometry to set places at the head table on stage. Name placards were prepared for the officers of each organization and were being set in front of each space at the head table. It soon became evident to those making the arrangements that the name of Ron Eastwood was in three different spots. The ensuing fight between faculty advisors finally resulted in the decision to remove my name altogether from the set up. In fact the decision was made to remove me from all three organizations on the basis that I was obviously a "spy" for the others! Following my last afternoon class I hurried to the Auditorium to help with last minute arrangements and received the news that I was being asked to resign from each of the organizations and that I would not be allowed on the platform. Not being on the platform was understandable in view of the awkward situation it would have presented for name placards and organizational affiliation, but the other decision put me in a state of bewilderment. Unknown to myself or any of the faculty advisors a couple of the "front men" from Senator Stevenson's campaign had been present all afternoon along with a couple Secret Service men that had been assigned to him. As the lights were lowered and the Senator was introduced by the Dean of the University (Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon) he stepped to the podium center stage and waited for the welcoming applause to die down. His words will probably remain in my mind for the rest of my life. "This afternoon before any of you were here in this magnificent auditorium something happened that I am compelled to discuss with you. It happened right here in this auditorium. As you all must realize the office of President of the United States is perhaps the most powerful office any man in the world may hold. For that reason great care is taken to insure the safety and well being of men like myself while campaigning. Two of my aides and members of the Secret Service brought a very alarming matter to my attention late this afternoon. One of the students at this University has done something so serious that it must be brought to your attention." We all became deathly silent. What could it have been? Who could it have been? Pacific University is a small liberal arts college in a small rural community among elegant oak trees on about fifty acres of rolling grassy hills in the middle of this small town. Who from our small university would want to harm a United States Senator running for President of the United States ? His next words nearly caused my heart to stop. "Is Ron Eastwood in the auditorium?" The girl next to me looked at me in shock. I instantly knew it had to be about the membership in all three organizations. But, why is this so serious? Why is everyone so angry? I was a sophomore and I was naive and scared. I had tears in my eyes and a huge lump in my throat. I felt guilty of a horrible act but did not understand. I was barely able to stand and answer, "Yes, sir. I'm back here," from my seat in the rear of the auditorium. "Mr. Eastwood, will you please come forward. Come right up here on the stage with me please." I did not want to go. I was already humiliated beyond belief that I had caused so much anger in my friends and trusted faculty advisors. Now this. By the time I reached the steps to the stage I was shaking so badly one of the aides had to help me up the steps. Senator Stevenson was grinning and pulled a large white handkerchief from his jacket pocket and handed it to me as he said, "Ladies and gentlemen I had a campaign speech all prepared for this evening. But what Mr. Eastwood has done is so important and so unheard of that it says far better than any speech I could write just what I believe about the roll of the President of the United States and what I believe in my deepest heart." He requested his aides to move all the chairs on his right side down one place and he requested that I join him for the remainder of the evening on the platform sitting beside him. He indicated that the partisan politics and petty squabbling by politicians and members of Congress must become a thing of the past. He lauded my attempt to see all sides of issues from the viewpoint of those who hold differing views. He indicated that if he were elected he would bring people together around the issues which affect all mankind. He called for individuals to take unpopular stands for what they believe to be right. He encouraged everyone to think and reason for themselves and not to just follow "party lines". His closing words after an hour long presentation was that he was honored to have met a student like myself who did what was right in spite of the massive pressure from peers and others to do otherwise. He said if the three organizations on campus would not accept me back into their membership there would be a place for me on his staff when he was elected. He did not win. I did not get back into any of the three clubs and in fact after the year ended I was asked not to return to the University. I do not regret for one moment having taken the stand I took. I believe we on this list are honored beyond words that a man like Robert Cohen is leading an effort to enlighten all of us and our corporate and political leaders with regards to the truth. His vote for Nader is one of courage and integrity. I for one would proudly stand or sit beside him any time. I also acknowledge that if you thought through the implications of your vote and voted your conscience regardless of what may have been most expedient or self serving and made your decisions based on the well being of all mankind and our fragile earth, then I support that decision even if it is different from mine or Robert Cohen's. We must stop that which separates us and try our best to join forces to accomplish the great tasks which challenge our world or we shall not long have a planet or a civilization to worry about. Sincerely, Ron Eastwood, Stockton, California 331 From: Robert Cohen Date: Thu Nov 9, 2000 9:40am Subject: - - - MILK PRICES ARE DESTROYING DAIRY FARMS Dear Friends, The wholesale price of milk has never been lower. Eighteen months ago, farmers were receiving nearly $18 for 100 pounds of milk ($18 per hundredweight). Today, they net $8.50 per hundredweight, and the future looks dim. Last year, producers were selling blocks of cheese for $1.44. Today, cheese is selling for 98 cents per pound. When I began the AntiDairy Coalition four years ago, there were 240,000 dairy farms in America. Today there are 83,000, and I just don't see how many thousands more will avoid bankruptcy this winter. Future prices (commodities) reflect no optimism for the dairy farmers of America. June futures are under $10. People are consuming less milk, and dairymen continue to inject their cows with dangerous genetically engineered hormones. This leads to a market in which more milk is supplied as demand decreases. Is something wrong with this picture? I recently lectured with Ralph Nader in Washington, DC to a group of dairy farmers. Imagine me getting a standing ovation from milk producers? On that day, Nader and I both shared an opinion and a vision: Genetically engineered milk hormones are dangerous for cows, consumers, and the financial future of dairy farmers. One day, we will have just factory farms with hormone-fed stressed animals. That day will bring America closer to a time when nobody will eat the toxin-laden flesh of animals nor drink their body fluids. I am off to San Diego. Be back late Sunday. Robert Cohen 332 From: Robert Cohen Date: Thu Nov 9, 2000 10:02am Subject: - - - JANET RENO'S PRESS CONFERENCE Janet Reno is carefully reviewing the Florida voting issues, and I just saw her CNN-televised press conference. The attorney General was asked her opinion of the ELECTORAL COLLEGE. Here was her response. "I debated that issue when I was in school. I debated both sides...and I won both sides." MEANWHILE...32 of the 67 counties have been re-evaluated, and less than 1,000 votes now separate Bush and Gore. Wouldn't it be something if the proverbial ONE VOTE makes the difference? Florida's vote was clearly illegitimate. Nineteen thousand ballots have been discarded because people checked the two spots next to Gore's name. One of those spots represented a vote for Buchanan. The ballot design was severly flawed. Will the polls re-open in Florida for a new vote? What drama! Robert Cohen 333 From: Robert Cohen Date: Mon Nov 13, 2000 9:25am Subject: - - - SOLUTION TO ELECTION DILEMMA Dear Friends, How sad it is to witness men and women who lack solutions. This letter represents the simplest resolution to this year's presidential election; a conclusion that will satisfy all Americans. The Bush/Gore dilemma will be debated for many years, and most solutions will please only one-half or less of America's voters. Here is a solution to a very ugly problem that seems to become more complicated with each passing day. Often times, the process of ARBITRATION is used to resolve disputes. Such determinations can act as alternatives to lengthy (and expensive) litigation. Here is what the Bush and Gore camps should immediately do. Agree upon an arbitration process. In arbitration, both parties select upon one or two decision-makers. In this case, the arbitrator(s) should be chosen from our SUPREME COURT justices. The Bush camp and Gore camp should each appoint one justice to eliminate any question of impartiality. Those two justices would spend one day or less to determine a unanimous procedural solution. Shall we order a new nationwide election? Shall we require a vote in the state of Florida? Shall we have a new vote in one Florida county? Shall we have no new vote at all, and accept the original vote, as is, with Bush being declared the winner? Let those two justices come up with an agreement. Let the candidates agree to abide by their final and absolute decision. Let all of America respect the wisdom of the two justices, and the agreement of the two candidates. In the absence of Solomon, we have respected jurists in the highest court of America who can sit and determine an agreed-upon process to solve this dilemma. Here, then, is a solution that should end all debate. ********************************************************************* THE AGREEMENT On this 20th day of November, 2000, I, George Bush, and I, Al Gore, have agreed to a process of arbitration to settle all claims and differences to the presidential election of 2000. We have each agreed to select one Supreme Court Justice (for a total of two justices) to decide the course of this election. Tomorrow, those two jurists shall meet and collectively decide how the election process shall determine a winner. These two men have many options. They might decide, for example, to hold a new Presidential election in each one of America's 50 states. They might also decide to hold a new election in the state of Florida, or in just the one county in which ballots have been discarded. They might also decide to hold no election, and determine the new President by the total number of votes cast. Whatever is to be their decision, we hereby agree that we shall abide with that decision, and will file no further challenges or appeals. ________________ ___________________ George BushAl Gore *********************************************************************** Robert Cohen PLEASE SHARE THIS EMAIL WITH YOUR INTERNET FRIENDS AND ASSOCIATES 334 From: Robert Cohen Date: Mon Nov 13, 2000 2:40pm Subject: LET'S SET A PRESCIDENT TIM WROTE: You can bet your last dime that the dairy industry has placed and hedged their bets with BOTH political parties. . so, who do you really support when both parties play the game against you? ? ? Who really cares? Bush? Not hardly. . . Gore? Gimme a break! Dear Tim, Chaos breeds discontent. While supporting neither Bush or Gore, I seek to end America's most intriguing political crisis. It can only get much worse. Imagine the Republican reaction if and when Gore overtakes Bush? Robert Cohen 335 From: Robert Cohen Date: Tue Nov 14, 2000 10:09am Subject: - - - FUZZY MATH Dear Friends, The current issue of Hoard's Dairyman reveals that the dairy industry closely monitors those who defend the rights of animals. (November, 2000, Volume 145, number 19, page 746) Last summer, I participated in the ANIMAL RIGHTS 2000 conference in McLean, Virginia. I was very happy to see Alex Hershaft (FARM-USA) bring together over 800 speakers and attendees, including actress Alicia Silverstone. The final evening's banquet served eighty tables seating ten persons per table. What a celebration! HOARD'S DAIRYMAN WRITES: "The Animal Rights 2000 Conference was small and quiet, according to Steve Kopperud, writing in the Animal Industry Foundation newsletter. Organizers claimed to distribute more than 800 name badges at the Virginia meeting, but attendance was estimated at about 300." I was there, and I know this fact to be wrong. The 500 missing people represent a count greater than this year's Florida election vote debate. Fuzzy math? I demand a recount! HOARD'S also wrote: "Many discussions at the conference likened the animal rights cause to human rights and civil rights movements...along with the concepts of civil disobedience, direct actions, and violence." I spoke fourteen times and attended other talks. Not once did I hear a speaker or conference participant support violence. To do so would have meant that animal rights people become the enemy whom we oppose. There were young people who represented themselves as members of the Animal Liberation Front. These passionate members of the movement were smart enough NOT to discuss or support violence at America's largest animal rights conference. After all...people like Steve Kopperud, HOARD'S, and government agencies might have sent undercover people to monitor such comments. HOARD'S WROTE: "The group Farm Sanctuary pledged to make marketing of downed animals illegal." Interesting that HOARD'S should report the obvious as news. Downer Cows have often been diagnosed as animals harboring PRIONS, the agent causing Mad Cow Disease. Do dairy farmers want to continue serving Americans hamburgers from Downer Cows? If you still eat at Macdonald's or Domino's Pizza, consider the fact that the flesh of these animals and their body fluids may very well contain substances that one day could cause an encephalitic condition to your brain. The first sign of this debilitating brain disease? Underestimating a crowd of 800 to be just 300. Robert Cohen 336 From: Robert Cohen Date: Wed Nov 15, 2000 5:32am Subject: - - - EATING PIGS Dear Friends, If you drink milk in America, you're eating pigs! "Have you seen the little piggies, crawling in the dirt? And for all the little piggies, life is getting worse." (George Harrison, The Beatles. 1968) Observant Jews, Muslims, and vegetarians eat no pig, or so they believe. The information in this column is going to provide one very sad surprise for those who drink milk. At one time, Vitamin D-2 was added to milk. Vitamin D-2 is manufactured by exposing bacteria and algae to ultra-violet light. D-2 imparted a bitter taste to dairy products, and so was replaced by vitamin D-3. The source of Vitamin D-3 may now leave a bitter taste in your mouth. I recently attempted to learn the source of Vitamin D-3 by calling dairy processors. I called the United States Department of Agriculture. I called my own New Jersey State Department of Agriculture. I called dairy industry professors and editors of dairy magazines. Not one individual could give me the answer. Finally, I learned about an industry conference called the Vitamin D workshop. Anthony Norman Norman@u... responded to my inquiry: "Basically D-3 always is derived from an animal. The sunlight reaction that converts 7-dehydrocholesterol to vitamin D-3 is a 'pure' chemical reaction that occurs in your skin in certain cells." Do they extract D-3 from human skin and add that substance to milk? Certainly not. Marian Herbert of the Vitamin D Workshop, a division of the biochemistry department at the University of California, wrote: "The provitamin known as 7-dehydrocholesterol is extracted and isolated from the skins of mammals and purified." I have subsequently learned that Vitamin D-3 can come from four different sources: Pig skin, sheep skin, raw fish liver, and pig brains. Most of the time, Vitamin D-3 is extracted from pig skin and sold to dairy processors. Folks...Those who keep Kosher do so by observing the dietary laws set down in the Bible. In EXODUS 23:19 we read: "You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk." Dairy and meat do not mix. That is a taboo in the homes of many Americans. Today you learn that this biblical and social "abomination" is routinely disrespected by 21st century milk producers. If you drink milk, you consume extracts from animals. In kindergarten and first grade, children learn that Vitamin D is the "Sunshine Vitamin." We soon forget our lessons, and subordinate our knowledge to dairy industry brainwashing. Some secrets are well kept. The Vitamin D-3 secret can now be told. Spread the news! Send this link through cyberspace: http://www.notmilk.com/pigmilk.html Robert Cohen 337 From: Robert Cohen Date: Fri Nov 17, 2000 12:47pm Subject: - - - MILK, BASEBALL, AND POLITICS Dear Friends, The great sportswriter Grantland Rice once wrote: "It's not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game." I remember my eleven-year-old little league days. I once tagged a runner out at the plate in a decisive play, but dropped the ball. My error was not seen by the ump, and I picked up the ball in time for an out call. The sliding runner saw the play, and argued with the ump, who would not reverse his decision. It took about three moments of guilt for me to tell the ump that I dropped the ball. When the ump signaled safe, my manager ran from the dugout screaming. When I admitted the truth, everybody was mad at me...my teammates, the opposite team (who dissed me for a long time), even many of the parents. Would I do the same thing today? Damned right. There's an election DISPUTE in Florida, and the day after the vote, I had suggested that Bush and Gore seek arbitration. I knew that things would get uglier and uglier, and this will one day become more than just about the presidential election. This painful post-electoral incident will etch an ugliness upon a generation of young people, who no longer trust or respect our system. Just like an umpire or referee's call, a vote has been taken, and there exists an opportunity for a videotape replay. Do we look at this in slow motion from another camera angle, or go with the ump's original decision, right or wrong? I have uncovered enormous evidence that dairy products are unhealthy for humans. There exists no member of the dairy industry who wishes to debate these issues. No dairy scientist, farmer, dairy professor, dairy processor, or dairy marketing person will ever accept my challenge to debate the NOTMILK issues on national television. Do we trust their marketing decisions, or carefully analyze the evidence? The dairy position is clear. Their $500 million advertising budget is about $500 million greater than mine. That's how they will share their position with Americans. Truth? That's just their version. TRUTH can only be reached when all participants honestly and openly use all available tools and resources to analyze an issue. An election is simple. Win or lose, the actual votes must stand on their own. Machines can only do a somewhat competent job, but examining each ballot is absolute. With a baseball play, if enough cameras capture a play from enough angles, an absolute decision can determine an outcome. With dairy products, real science from peer-reviewed scientific journals have determined that cow's milk should not be consumed by humans. Truth? That's justice, and the American way! Robert Cohen 338 From: Robert Cohen Date: Sat Nov 18, 2000 11:13am Subject: - - - BY THE DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT Dear Friends, The ANIMAL RIGHTS MOVEMENT has many heros. They include Howard Lyman, Ingrid Newkirk, Henry Spira, and Cleveland Amory. All four were named to FARM'S "Hall of Fame" this past summer. Today's hero is Kimber Gorall, a courageous woman who goes into the woods alone warning deer that hunters seek to kill them. Kimber wears an orange non-camouflage suit with a matching bright orange hat, and urges deer to run to the refuge of a nearby sanctuary abutting New York State forests. The hunters do not like her, and follow Kimber's dedicated walk from high atop trees in the telescopic lenses attached to their high powered rifles. With every step, this dedicated animal rights activist is aware that she is being watched by Bambi's enemy. There are two very special deer that Kimberly seeks to save this year. One is an albino doe, marked by her pure white hide. The other is a very old buck who has escaped many seasons of hunters, and who is now the size of an elk. Both are trophys- to-be for the unknown hunter. Both are gentle souls to be saved by the woman of the woods who makes a difference each hunting season. As hunters bullets fly, and the woods become alive with roar from their guns, scared deer run helter-skelter, terrified into traffic. Car acccidents increase tenfold on the first day of hunting season, and such accidents become bogus evidence that deer present a problem for human safety. Please survive the hunter's bullets another year, Kimber. Help the deer to find sanctuary. You are the true her of the animals. Let Kimber know that you appreciate her efforts for the denizens of the woods: kagorall@e... Robert Cohen 339 From: Robert Cohen Date: Sun Nov 19, 2000 8:58am Subject: - - - THANKSGIVING LESSON Dear Friends, This is Thanksgiving week, and I'd like to share the actual reason for Thanksgiving with you...and the DAIRY connection! Who were America's first milk drinkers? The PILGRIMS! THE REAL THANKSGIVING STORY The first year in America the Pilgrims had very little for which to be thankful. That first bitter winter they had limited food supplies, poor clothing and crudely built housing. During the months before spring, fifteen of the eighteen married women died as did twenty-two of thirty- eight men. Because of this great trauma of death from starvation, something had to be done to assure the future survival of the colony. The First Dairy Cows in America In March of 1624, the first dairy animals came to Plymouth on the ship Charity, which delivered three cows and a bull to the grateful pilgrims. Within a generation every family in America had a dairy cow. Milk from these cows was churned into butter. Will and Ariel Durant who wrote "The Story of Civilization" revealed that a typical dairy cow in the 12th century yielded little milk. One can assume that cows in the 1600s yielded as much milk as cows in the 1300s. In "The Age of Faith, History of Life in the Middle Ages," the Durants wrote: "Dairy farming was unprogressive; the average cow in the thirteenth century gave little milk, and hardly a pound of butter per week." Making butter requires 21.2 pounds of milk for each "finished" pound of butter. One quart of milk weighs 2.15 pounds. A dairy cow in Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts might have yielded his Pilgrim family "hardly a pound of butter per week." That averaged out to three pounds of milk per day, about a quart and-a-half. People who believe that early Americans drank milk as a routine part of their diet do not consider how little milk cows gave. Nor do they consider the existence of butter churns. Butter churns weren't hood ornaments for Pilgrim's carriages. Pilgrims used them only for one purpose: to churn milk into butter. That three pounds of milk per day would yield only one-half stick of butter. Imagine fifteen of the eighteen Pilgrim wives dying during the first winter. Imagine the same proportion of the mothers in your community dying from starvation over the winter. You'd need emergency rations to survive. Fat from milk, stored underground, saved for the winter months. Got milk? No way! One-half stick of butter per day, one pound of butter per week, carefully and strenuously churned by a Pilgrim and stored for the cruel New England winter. Did the Pilgrims drink and store milk in the summer? Milk was loaded with bacteria that quickly spoiled, making it undrinkable. By churning the milk into butter and storing it underground, the fat was saved until it was needed. The Pilgrim experience made it necessary for every family to carefully store food through the bountiful months so that they might survive the hardships of winter. Butter became their insurance policy. It became necessary for every New England family to own a dairy cow. In a few years, that's just what happened. The Actual Reason For Thanksgiving Imagine the depression of imminent death by starvation. You come to a new world without food and shelter, haven't bathed in three months and are wearing the same clothes in which you started your voyage. It's December of 1620 and it's snowing, you've sent a landing party ashore and stolen corn from some very angry Abenaki Indians who would like nothing better than to shoot their arrows at you. (Which they did!) Didn't the Pilgrims bear in mind the Eighth Commandment, "Thou shalt not steal?" Obviously not! They left England, seeking religious freedom, or so our school children are taught, and immediately broke one of God's commandments by stealing food from the Indians. How would you handle such fear? By spring, half of your fellows are dead. Fate and Fat: The Dairy Connection The Pilgrims had actually planned for the harsh winter of 1620. They sailed from Holland to London to Southampton, England, where they boarded the Mayflower, bringing along their provisions. There was one problem. At this point in their journey, they were broke and they could not pay their bills. Owing 100 English pounds, they couldn't sail until they paid this bill. So they sold some of their provisions, a calculated gamble which put them at the mercy of diminished resources and divine providence. Unfortunately, their resources were inadequate. The bet didn't work. Historian William Bradford relates: "So they were forced to sell off some of their provisions to stop this gap, which was some three or four-score firkins of butter, commodity they might best spare, having which provided too large a quantity of that kind." They sold their insurance policy, their food for the winter, their butter, and with it the lives of half of their number. A letter written on August 3, 1620, to the "beloved friends" of these Pilgrims explained: "We are in such a strait at present, as we are forced to sell away our provisions to clear the haven and withal to put ourselves upon great extremities, scarce having any butter...we are willing to expose ourselves to such eminent dangers as are like to ensue, and trust to the good providence of God..." They sold the concentrated fat that would have helped them to survive in New England. Had they not sold this treasure, they would have most certainly not starved and suffered the trauma of seeing half their number perish. Would a three-day Thanksgiving have been called for, the following year? All because they sold their butter. How much butter did they intend to bring to the New World? Some "three to four- score firkins." William Bradford, author of "Plymouth Plantation," said that the Pilgrims sold approximately 4,040 pounds of butter. That meant that every man woman and child was rationed 40 pounds of butter. By today's standards, in order to produce those 4,040 pounds of butter they would have required 85,648 quarts of milk. A herd of 100 cows, each producing one quart of milk per day would have taken nearly eight months to produce that much milk. Now, that's a lot of churning! The Pilgrim diaries reveal the favorite food of the native Americans at the first Thanksgiving. Their food of choice was "rancid butter."