Over the years, I've heard from many hundreds of
people that, after eating cheese, they get sleepy.
Each case in itself is remarkable, and would be
considered to be an "anecdote" by doctors and
scientists. Hundreds of cases would be called
"anecdotal evidence." To my understanding, there
has been no study linking cheese consumption
to "sleepiness."

In the best interests of science, I am revealing why
cheese eaters get tired. Since I am the first to report
this, it is my option of naming this phenomenon after
myself, so from here on, please refer to this as the
"Notmilkman Effect."

It has been well established that people get sleepy
after eating Thanksgiving meals. Scientists place
the blame upon an amino acid in turkey flesh called
tryptophan.

There was a time when tryptophan supplements were
used by insomniacs. Pop a pill and go right to sleep.
In 1990, the food and drug administration took
tryptophan products off the market after a few
dozen deaths were reported. More than 5,000 people
got seriously ill after ingesting tryptophan. Some
were diagnosed with eosinophilic-myalgia, a syndrome
in which extreme muscle pain leads to serious swelling
of arms and legs.

I obtained data for the average tryptophan level in all
cuts of turkey by accessing the United States Department
of Agriculture Nutrient Database:

http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp

A 100-gram portion of turkey contains 0.31 gram of
tryptophan. For the sake of comparison, that number
will be our baseline.

You might ask yourself if Gouda is good for sleep.
Does Wisconsin's finest Cheddar cause more drowsiness
than a group of cheeseheads talking about the Green
Bay Packer football? Will Parmesan cheese at dinner
put you to sleep an hour later while watching a
performance of Figaro? How about goat cheese?

Here's what you need to know about tryptophan levels
in 100 gram portions of food:

Turkey (all cuts) = 0.31 gram of tryptophan
Cheddar Cheese = 0.32 gram of tryptophan
Hard Goat Cheese = 0.32 gram of tryptophan
Parmesan Cheese = 0.482 gram of tryptophan

Advice for car owners: Don't eat cheese and operate
a motor vehicle. If you do, have one member of your
party assigned to be the designated non-cheese driver.
If you know of any person falling asleep at the
wheel and causing an accident, please call somebody
from MACC (Mothers Against Cheese Consumption).

Pleasant dreams!

Robert "Notmilkman" Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com

Eating Rainbows

Society considers that which is white, to be pure.
Such a belief can be deceptive.

By shining white light through a prism, one is instantly
blessed with the hidden beauty and complex nature of our
universe. A pure white beam of light reveals its inner
essense.

Most people can name the seven visible colors of the
rainbow's spectrum. Violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow,
orange, and red. Of course, there are two other colors,
often forgotten, but always present, ultraviolet and infra-
red.

Animals and insects feel these colors. Plants sense them,
too. While we lack the same receptors and are blind to their
existance, our handicap cannot negate their influence.

The ultras and infras of plants are magical substances,
indeed! They include plant chemicals, or phyto chemicals,
such as isoflavones and bioflavinoids. Science teaches us
that plants protect themselves from attack with their own
secretions and chemical messengers. Vegetables repel insects
who would eat them, and blossoms attract other insects with
a perfume so that their pollens can be spread and their
species self-propagate. Plants protect themselves from too
much heat, or cold, or wind, or too much moisture,
maintaining their own good health with their specialized
hormones. Plants can cure their own sicknesses and cancers
by secreting and bathing themselves with these enchanted
essences.

When we eat the plants, we are similarly protected. Modern
science has confirmed the centuries-old traditions and lore
from cultures that refined the sacred techniques of using
foods as medicine.

TODAY'S PERFECT RAINBOW

Eat foods of color. The perfect color can be found right in
the middle of our rainbow, the color green. There is a pot
of gold and jewels within that rainbow, and these treasures
so contained can be cashed in to purchase good health.

Eat green for wellness.

In the 1980s, scientists first began to explore how
phytochemicals prevent cancers. A great amount of emphasis
was placed upon the fruits and vegetables that contain
vibrant colors. The best known of these wonder drugs was
recognized as beta carotene. That's what gives carrots their
bright orange hue.

In the 1990s, scientists at the University of Minnesota
(Steinmetz, et. al.) categorized different groups of fruits
and vegetables demonstrating life giving, disease fighting
qualities. In doing so, they defined some of those magic
colors, and the phytochemicals so contained within those
pigments.

SOME OF THE MAGICAL COLORS

The violet, indigo and blues of the plant kingdom include
phenols and dithiolthiolnines contained in eggplant,
cruciferous vegetables, grapes, plums, and grains.

Eat onions and shallots, leeks, scallions and garlic for
cancer-fighting alliums. Those green leafy vegetables
contain flavonoids, and inositol is found in beans. Green
fruits and veggies contain phenols, and plant sterols,
protease inhibitors and saponins.

Yellow limonines contained in citrus fruit and squash have
also been identified as cancer fighters, as have the orange
carotines in carrots, and my all-time favorite vitamin pill,
the cantaloupe. Balancing out the rainbow's spectrum would
be the red phenols in peppers, radishes, and tomatoes.

Tens of thousands of unique substances have been identified,
and there are still plant hormones and enzymes yet to be
discovered.

Remarkably, the one plant containing the greatest amount of
these wonderful phytochemicals is the soybean. Soybeans
contain coumarins, flavonoids, inositol, isoflavones,
lignans, phenols, plant sterols, protease inhibitors,
saponins, and Omega 3 and Omega 6 oils.

For many years, it has been said that "an apple a day keeps
the doctor away." Such wisdom! Each day of one's life should
reflect a lifestyle that includes this maxim:

For the best of health eat a rainbow today!

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com

Today's column, presented in the form of ten
questions, will make Mad Cow Disease seem like
the common cold in comparison.
______________________________________________

Question #1

You are reading an issue of Hoard's Dairyman, the
"National Dairy Farm Magazine." There is an ad
promoting a test for bovine leukemia. The ad reads:

"You Can't Tell By Looking"

The text of the ad reveals that "most dairy herds are
affected by bovine leukemia virus."

Do you omit cheese from your diet?

Question #2

There is one cow in your field. You are told that she has
leukemia. Would you drink her body fluids or eat her meat?

Question #3

There are 100 cows in the field. You are told that 43 have
leukemia. Would you drink milk that has been collected and
pooled from these cows?

Question #4

There are 10,000 dairy farms in your region. You learn that
8,900 of those herds have cows infected with leukemia.
Would you drink even one glass of milk purchased from your
local supermarket?

Question #5

You visit a website (emilyproject.org) and find a study, the
title of which is, "Milk of Dairy Cows Frequently Contains a
Leukemogenic Virus." Would you ever again eat a cup of yogurt?

Question #6

You have just read Gertrude Buehring's study in the December
27, 2003 issue of the Journal of AIDS Research and Human
Retroviruses, and learned that 176 of 237 humans tested
positive for bovine leukemia virus antibodies. Knowing that
twelve pounds of milk are required to produce one pound of
ice cream, and having answered questions 1-5 in the negative,
would you be apt to purchase and devour a pint of Ben & Jerry's
Lucious Leukemia?

Question #7

You've come across an article in the July, 2003 issue of
The Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association
(AVMA) and read that nearly five out of every ten cows in
America are infected with leukemia. This year, the Journal
of Dairy Science (Vol. 86:2826-2838)reported that just
one out of every hundred cows exhibit clinical signs
of leukemia, although 43 out of 100 are so affected.
The one is culled from the herd and sent to slaughter.
The other 42 continue to be milked.

Will you ever again enjoy a milkshake with a Big Mac?
When given the choice of "Having it your way at B.K.,
will you ask for the leukemia-free burger? (They might
cost extra!)

Question #8

A veterinarian (Margo Roman, DVM) writes on her website
(mashvet.com), "Bovine Leukemia Virus is a transmissible
virus between cows and spread to calves through milk,
blood, body fluids and insect vectors. It is found in
a large percentage of cattle in the USA. Bovine Leukemia
has been found in breast tissue in women." Do you ask for
whipped cream on your next cup of Starbucks venti latte?

Question #9

The Notmilkman informs you that only one out of 20 cows
actually develops signs of clinical leukosis, and that
most affected cattle appear to be healthy, but viral
infections can be found in the meat and milk of nearly
half of all dairy cows. He references page 1105 in the
December 27, 2003 issue of Aids Research and Human
Retroviruses, Volume 19, Number 12. Do you ever eat
mozzarella cheese again?

Question #10

You learn that breast cancers may grow as a result of
exposure to bovine leukemia virus (BLV). Buehner, et. al,
have determined:

"We detected BLV proteins and DNA in human breast tissues
removed by surgery, which suggests these tissues were infected
by BLV."

What advice do you give to mom, sister, and daughter?
Do you send each a copy of this column?

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com

Milk and Gastric Cancer

The November, 2003 issue of the Journal of Pathology
(2003 Nov;201(3):430-8) contains new evidence that a
hormone in cow's milk, IGF-I, plays a role in the
genesis and progression of gastric cancer.

There are hundreds of millions of different proteins in nature,
and only one hormone that is identical between any two species.
Like a key fitting into a lock, this hormone is a perfect match
between human and cow. IGF-I is the most powerful growth hormone
in the human body. Every sip of milk and every bite of cheese
contains IGF-I. IGF-I survives digestion and has been identified
as a key factor in the growh of breast cancer. See:

http://www.notmilk.com/b.html

In the Journal of Pathology study, Dr. Pavelic writes:

"These findings suggest that members of the IGF family are
involved in the pathogenesis of gastric cancer, probably by
autocrine/paracrine stimulation of cell growth. Such tumours
might be excellent candidates for therapeutic strategies aimed
at interference with this pathway."

How does one "interfere" with the "pathway?"

By adopting an immediate therapy of "Notmilk!"

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com

Four years ago, after having completely abstained
from cheese, ice cream and pizza for 24 months, I
made the decision, to discontinue eating meat,
chicken, and fish.

In my own mind, I became a vegan, although I admit
to not being a "strict" vegan. I innocently ate
cookies or bagels and muffins made with eggs, or
enjoyed a slice of toast in a diner that might have
been baked with traces of milk powder. I probably also
ate some products containing milk chocolate, never
asking the server whether the icing or filling was
of the dairy variety.

Today, I carefully read labels. I educate myself
about product ingredients. I do not eat the muffins
that I know contain eggs. I do not eat the halvah
that I know to contain honey.

Is honey vegan?

I am often asked this question, and respond
by first stating that I do not eat honey.
I then offer a brief explanation about how bees
are abused during the collection of their honey.
Finally, I offer an alternative. I have found that
maple syryp is a great substitute. I use maple syrup
in my tea with lemon. I'm drinking a cup as I write
this, at 5 AM.

Many years ago, I heard an author and activist
lecture about the vegetarian diet. Her name is
Joanne Stepaniak. Joanne is the author of
The Uncheese Cookbook, Raising Vegan Children,
The Vegan Sourcebook, and many other wonderful
texts. Recently, I came upon her response to that
same question about honey. I have yet to read or
hear a better elucidation of this topic.
In Joanne's words:

"Regardless of how careful we are, it is impossible
to live a totally harm-free life. All animate sentient
beings inflict some form of injury or death to others
simply by their existence. Humans displace or destroy
large and small life forms whenever we erect buildings,
plant seeds, dig crops, burn wood, fly airplanes, drive
cars, operate factories, walk on grass, or bat our eyes.
This is simply an aspect of being alive.

The difference between vegans and nonvegans, however, is
the element of intent. Vegans consciously strive to do no
harm to any sentient life, including insects. This does
not mean that vegans do not hurt others inadvertently,
but that it is never their aim to do so.

Honey is made from sucrose-rich flower nectar that is
collected by honeybees and then regurgitated back and
forth among them until it is partially digested. After
the final regurgitation, the bees fan the substance with
their wings until it is cool and thick. This mixture,
which we call honey (which is essentially bee vomit),
is then stored in the cells of the bees' hive and used
as their sole source of nutrition in cold weather and
other times when alternative food sources are not available.

During the collection of flower nectar, the bees also
pollinate plants. This is part of the natural process of
life and is necessary and unavoidable. Even though humans
inadvertently benefit, the bees do not pollinate plants in
order to serve human needs; it is simply a secondary aspect
of their nectar collecting. The honey that bees produce is
stored in their hives for their own purposes. When humans
remove honey from the hive, they take something that is not
rightfully theirs.

To collect honey, beekeepers must temporarily remove a
number of the bees from their home. During the course of
bee management and honey collection, even the most careful
beekeeper cannot avoid inadvertently injuring, squashing,
or otherwise killing some of the bees. Other commodities
may be taken from the hive as well, including beeswax,
honeycomb, pollen, propolis, and royal jelly.

Bees are not harmed by the process of pollination -- it is
something they would do whether or not humans were involved
or reaped any profit. If one were to stretch the point,
using honey could, in a broad sense, be considered analogous
to dairying. Furthermore, there is no reason to take honey
from bees other than to sell it. Utilizing bees to pollinate
crops in no way necessitates ravaging their hive.

Although the issue of honey is not deemed the most pressing
concern of many vegans, honey is nevertheless considered an
animal product. Because there are numerous alternatives to
honey, from a vegan perspective there is no justifiable
rationale for using it. Furthermore, the vegan position on
honey is definitive. Honey was prohibited for use by vegans
according to the 1944 manifesto of the British Vegan Society
(veganism's founding organization), a position consistent
with the requirement for full (vegan) membership in the
American Vegan Society since its inception in 1960.

Sweeteners are not necessary for human health. There are
virtually no essential nutrients (in fact, there are hardly
any nutrients at all) in sweeteners, so our use of them is
purely for personal pleasure. Although the labor force is
typically exploited on sugar plantations, even humans with
minimal choices have far more options than the honeybees.
Humans can live quite well without sugar or honey. As a
rule, extensive use of sweeteners is found only in affluent
societies. If vegans want to indulge in sweets, there are
many substitutes available: organic, unbleached cane sugar
(somewhat kinder to the environment, but not necessarily
better for the workers); beet sugar; maple sugar; maple
syrup; concentrated fruit syrups; rice syrup; barley malt;
and sorghum syrup, among others. We do not need to choose
between exploiting humans or bees in order to satisfy our
sweet tooth. Concerned vegans can avoid harming either by
eliminating sweets from their diet or by choosing
compassionate alternatives."

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com

Tuberculosis Risk from Raw Milk

I should be grateful that less than 1% of the Emails
received each day are from people who promote the
consumption of raw milk. Still, each one of those
letters is as pleasing as the sound of a dentist's
drill. The arguments of raw-milk drinkers are like
melodious chalksounds scraping across blackboards.

The December, 2003 issue of the Journal of Seminars
in Respiratory Infections (Vol. 18, (4):272-91)
contains a publication re: pediatric tuberculosis.
Author Ann Loeffler, M.D., is an expert on pediatric
diseases. She is currently on staff at Legacy Emanuel
Children's Hospital in Portland, Oregon.

In examining the etiology of tuberculosis in young
children, Dr. Loeffler concludes:

"Young children...acquired their disease from shared
airspace with adolescents or adults with pulmonary TB
or ingestion of unpasturized milk products (M. bovis)."

Unpasteurized milk and dairy products contain surprises
for milk producers, including dangerous bacteria.

Things have not progressed very much in the past
67 years. In 1936, the Journal of Dairy Science
(Vol. 19:435), reported:

"Infected raw milk is the chief means by which
milk-borne tuberculosis is transmitted to man."

Fifty-two years later, that same journal (Vol. 71),
reported:

"Many diseases such as tuberculosis are transmissible
by milk products."

The May 10, 1999 issue of Hoard's Dairyman, the dairy
industry magazine subscribed to by 108,000 "insiders"
(dairy farmers and milk producers), reveraled that dangerous
bacteria are naturally present in milk. Hoard's wrote
that scientists at South Dakota State University tested
bulk tank milk from 131 dairy herds and found that
32% of the samples contained one or more species of
pathogenic bacteria.

In addition, a survey of those farms revealed that on 60
percent of the farms, dad, mom, and kids consumed raw milk.

Many bacteria are not killed by pasteurization. Rod-shaped
bacteria form a "spore" at the first sign of heat ("spore"
is the Greek word for "seed"). When the milk cools, the
spore re-emerges into its original form.

The Third Edition of Lincoln Lampert's Modern Dairy
Products contains the most accurate information regarding
bovine tuberculosis. This should be sobering news to
all dairy consumers:

"The causative (tuberculosis) organism in cattle, called
Mycobacterium bovis, is one of the most heat-resistant of
the non-spore forming pathogenic bacteria, but fortunately
it is destroyed by pasteurization. A cow with pulmonary
tuberculoisis may swallow her own saliva and this, with
the infected material coughed up from the lungs, then
passes through the whole digestive tract, and remains as
an active form of infection. Particles of infected dust
or manure may contaminate the milk, or it may be infected
directly from the tubercular udder."

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com

Sleepless in Seattle (Bye, bye)

The motto for the state of Washington comes
from a Chinook Indian word, translated as
"Bye and Bye," which may be appropriate for
many of Washington's milk drinkers. Bye, bye.
They may all have consumed the seeds to a disease
that will slowly turn their brains into sponge-like
masses. A form of encephalitis called Mad Cow Disease.

Evidence as to why milk & dairy may be the means
of transmission:

http://www.notmilk.com/m.html

The state of Washington has a population of
about 6 million people. Last year, the 4,000
cows living on the Sunny Dene Ranch of Mabton,
Washingon, produced nearly ten quarts of milk
for each one of Washington's citizens. It can
be said that those trusting dairy consuming
people living in Washington innocently drank
body fluids from at least one very diseased
animal, whose milk was pooled with all others.

There would be Prions aplenty from that one cow,
for each and every citizen of the Bye, Bye state.
(The Prion is a microscpoic protein particle which
cannot be destroyed by 1,000 degree Fahrenheit
heat treatment.)

Last year, the Sunny Dene Ranch of Mabton,
Washington, received over $55,000 in USDA
subsidies. Imagine that? Four thousand dairy cows
on this farm produced 100 million pounds of milk
in 2002 (50 million quarts), and drank 200
million pounds of water to make that milk,
while your tax dollars helped to subsidize an
enormous money-making factory farm operation. That
may be as big a crime as any, in this corrupt
system of ours which protects dairy producers
in more ways than one while betraying its citizens.

And now America is cursed with a new plague,
thanks to a not-so Sunny Dene dairy operation.

In 2002, fifteen hundred cows were culled from the
herd and sent from Sunny Dene Ranch to slaughterhouses,
resulting in ten million quarter pound hamburgers eaten
by West Coast Americans as a result. Some scientists
believe that the incubation for Mad Cow Disease
may be many decades.

Tiny Ticking Time Bombs Taken by Tacoma Teens.
(say that ten times fast)

With news like this, I would be sleepless in Seattle.

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com

Oakhurst settles with Monsanto over hormone
By Bruce Mohl, Globe Staff, 12/25/2003

Monsanto has bullied a small dairy into changing
their label for daring to send this message to
consumers:

Milk from genetically engineered cows is different.

I was happy to offer a defining column-ending comment
to the news article, published yesterday in the Boston
Globe.

<http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/359/business/Maine_dairy_to_modify_
labels
+.shtml>

Newspaper reporter Bruce Mohl wrote:

"Robert Cohen, the New Jersey-based author of 'Milk:
The Deadly Poison' who unsuccessfully petitioned the FDA
to withdraw its approval of Posilac in 2000, said Oakhurst
was caught in a Catch-22. He said Oakhurst's milk may contain
fewer hormones than milk from cows treated with Monsanto's
artificial growth hormone, but it still contains hormones
because they appear naturally in all milk.

'Two glasses of wholesome milk contain the same amount of
hormones as one glass of treated milk,' Cohen said. 'Should
Oakhurst criticize hormone-treated milk, it would be indicting
its own product.'"

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com

We Need Your Contribution To Stay in Business

In this season of giving, we need your support.
Notmilk incurs enormous expenses getting the
message out, and we now must ask each and every
member to contribute.

The fee is not in dollars. The cost to you? We
place an obligation upon all of our readers
to help spread the Notmilk message. When it
comes to donations, we treasure your time
more than your dollars. We need your passions.

Anthropologist Margaret Mead once wrote:

"I must admit that I personally measure success
in terms of the contributions an individual makes
to her or his fellow human beings."

As an example of what we ask of you, go to
diabetes support groups and related bulletin
boards and post the following link:

http://www.notmilk.com/d.html

Do the same with breast cancer discussion groups:

http://www.notmilk.com/b.html

There is a Yiddish expression that goes
something like this:

"Save one person and you've saved the world."

Margaret Mead also wrote:

"I was brought up to believe that the only thing
worth doing was to add to the sum of accurate
information in the world."

So, in lieu of sending your dollars to the cause,
please spend an hour of more of your time trying
to help others. Go to the left column of:

http://www.notmilk.com

It's all alphabetical, from allergies to zits.

Pick a subject, be it sudden infant death,
rheumatoid arthritis, or irritable bowels.
There are hundreds of other subjects to choose from.

Then go to: http://www.google.com

Type in your key word, followed by "discussion group"
or "bulletin board."

Donate your time to help others.

My favorite Margaret Mead quotation:

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
committed citizens can change the world. Indeed,
it is the only thing that ever has."

Here is the Notmilk donation form. Please check
where appropriate.

I am willing to spread the Notmilk message. My
donation will be:

1 hour_____ 2 hours_____ 5 hours_____ 10 hours+_____

Please donate generously!

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com

***ALERT: Oakhurst Dairy and Monsanto Settle Out of Court

Straight from the courthouse--I just spoke with a
reporter from a major newspaper (1:30 PM, 12/24/03).

Oakhurst and Monsanto settled their dispute out
of court today, with Oakhurst agreeing to state
on its labels that the FDA states that there is
no difference in the milk treated with artificial
growth hormones.

I first reported the story on July 5th, 2003:

<http://www.health.groups.yahoo.com/group/notmilk/message/1362>

The case and settlement is a classic Catch-22. When
WW-II bomber pilots became severely emotionally disturbed
by flying dangerous suicide missions and encountered enemy
fire, they had the option of being declared unfit. However,
no sane man would agree to fly such bombing missions, so
that any such declaration would have to have been made by
a sane man.

Ergo, no exemption would be given. On the other hand, if
an insane PILOT wanted to volunteer for dangerous bombing
runs, his commading officer might pat him on the back and
wish him a good flight. Either way, the aviator's a loser.

A dairy producer who is smart enough to not inject the
bovine growth hormone into his cows must be careful to
not criticize those who do. Either the cow's milk hormones
are safe to drink or they are not. A glass of milk from a
cow injected with the genetically engineered bovine growth
hormone has nearly twice the level of hormones as does a glass
of milk from good old wholesome untreated cows. Two glasses
of wholesome milk contain the same amount of hormones
as one glass of treated milk. Should Oakhurst criticize
hormone-treated milk, they would be indicting their
own product.

Bottom line: The healthiest milk from the healthiest cow
contains a hormone called insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I).
IGF-I is identical in humans and cows. IGF-I has been
called the key factor in the growth of every human breast
cancer. Milk from cows injected with Monsanto's hormone
contains nearly twice the level of IGF-I as Oakhurst's
milk.

As to the settlement, here are the facts as to why
Monsanto's genetically engineered milk is indeed
different from Oakhurst's milk:

http://www.notmilk.com/g.html

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com

The Prophecy Comes True (So, What Can You Do?)

In 1902, Ellen G. White wrote:

"Let the people be taught how to prepare food
without the use of milk or butter. Tell them
that the time will soon come when there will be
no safety in using eggs, milk, cream, or butter."

Ellen White was America's first animal rights
activist, but she was also much more than that.

http://notmilk.com/egwar.html

White wrote about animal rights and people rights.
She spoke about the consequences of eating flesh and
drinking body fluids from diseased animals. She
prophesized that God would give the world a sign, and
no sign has been delivered more clearly then the news
of America's first case of Mad Cow Disease.

Unless your local editors and reporters live in a
closet, today's local newspaper will contain one or
more stories about Mad Cow Disease.

You will be told by USDA damage control experts
that it's ok to drink milk and eat meat. Canadian
beef and dairy products are still under embargo
by the United States because one case of Mad Cow
Disease was discovered. Don't let those whose
job it is to protect milk and meat producers fool
you with their propaganda. What applied to Canada
now applies to the United States. Rules cannot be
changed in the middle of a game.

This link will take you to the home page of
every newspaper in America, state-by-state.

http://www.refdesk.com/paper.html#natnews

Go to the top of the page, and click on your state.
Then, send the following letter to the editor. Cut
and paste as you wish or write a new letter. Sign
your name. Your letter should be about 150 words.
Include an address & telephone number for confirmation.
____________________________________________

IS MILK WHITE BLOOD?

Dear Editor,

Blood banks no longer accept human blood if the donor
has lived in England, recognizing that Mad Cow Disease
can be transmitted through the blood and infect humans
with Cruetzfeld-Jacob Disease (CJD).

A cow filters 10,000 quarts of blood through her udder
each day, and extracts white somatic blood cells to make
her milk. Some call Milk "white blood."

The protein particle responsible for Mad Cow Disease
(Prion) can then be transmitted from cow to human.

One Holstein dairy cow from the State of Washington
has been detected. Was her milk pooled to make the
cheese or ice cream in my next meal? On August 23, 1997,
the London Times reported:

"A 24-year-old vegetarian has been diagnosed with
CJD. Scientists fear that milk and cheese may be the
source of infection."

One year later, The Lancet (1999 Nov, 354:9191) wrote:

"Routes of transmission of bovine spongiform
encephalopathy have not yet been determined."
____________________________________________
Sign Your Name
Include your phone number for confirmation
(Ask the paper not to publish your number)
____________________________________________

If every reader of this column writes a letter
today, and that letter is published tomorrow,
that could result in an abrupt end to America's
dairy industry.

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com

EMERGENCY***First Ever USA Mad Cow

It was inevitable. The State of Washington is home
to America's first Mad Cow, and Canadians are
snickering.

Last summer, the United States destroyed Canada's
meat industry by closing its borders to meat and
dairy products from the north. Now it is America's
meat and dairy industries that will suffer the
consequences of marketing diseased flesh and body fluids.

Canadians shunned beef after their first case of
Mad Cow Disease. Will Americans do the same?

So far, one Holstein cow from a dairy farm in Mapleton,
Washington has tested positive. Mapleton is in the center
of the state, just 40 miles southeast of Yakima. The entire
farm has been quarantined, but the damage has been done.

Americans have been drinking milk from that cow for many years.
This is as bad as it gets folks, for the disease is here. The
plague is coming. Here is why milk and dairy products may be
the key to passing on Mad Cow Disease to humans:

http://www.notmilk.com/m.html

The active substance that causes Mad Cow Disease to spread
to humans and causes a brain-wasting encephalopathy called
Cruetzfeld Jacob Disease (CJD) is the Prion. Prions
are protein fibrils, crystalline in structure. They
are not destroyed by Pasteurization.

Since one single cows filters 10,000 quarts of blood through
her udder each day, chances are that an infected cow has
spread her disease to humans in her milk. Ten pounds of
milk are required to make one pound of hard cheese. Twelve
pounds of milk make one pound of ice cream. Twenty-one
pounds of milk make one pound of butter.

Will these potential poisons be served at your
Christmas or New Year's buffet?

Merry Christmas, dairymen.
Happy New Year, meat producers.
Americans have been waiting for a sign to
reject your poisons.
It's here.

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com

Her name is Julie.

http://notmilk.com/feather.html

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com

Why I Cannot Vote for Dean, Kucinich, or Nader

Howard Dean is a good man, filled with fire and brimstone.
I supported his candidacy when I was in high school in
1968. Only then, his name was McGovern. His name was
McCarthy. His name was Shirley Chisholm. I was not very
practical then. I was a politically naive, idealistic teen
who wanted to help change the world.

Ralph Nader talks a good talk, showing up once every four years.
He hangs around long enough to make some incredibly clever
statements, raising substantial funds, then buries his head
beneath the Cheops, under deep sands deposited by the Nihilism
river until the following presidential cycle.

Dennis Kucinich has a vision that would make him the perfect
president of Middle Earth, in the sequel to Return of the King.
With Gandalf as his chief of staff, perhaps he'd appoint Hobbits
to run things at the Pentagon. The other magnificent seven
Democrats are not even worth mentioning. I'd sooner be elected
as head of Land O'Lakes Butter than the odds that any of those
pretenders be elected president of these United States.

Not any of the above has even one nanogram's chance in a kilo
of defeating the George Bush war machine. What have we become,
sacrificing good wisdom and logic, to imagine that nickels
and dimes can defeat the Republican Party's $100 million war
chest?

There is but one lone Democrat with any possibility of
defeating the Bushmeister, and she has not entered the fray.
Pity. George Bush is bad for your health.

The Republican Party has more than just sold out to
pharmaceutical companies. They have merged with
Monsatan so that the needs of the White House and the
policies of biotechnology and genetically engineered food
companies have become identical. Their visions are one and
the same. Public health be damned. The health of the bottom
line of drug companies is a top priority in our new America.

Monsanto's ex-attorney (Clarence Thomas) sat on the Supreme
Court and cast the deciding vote three years ago. Payback
is, as some would say, a fitch. Slippery as a polecat?
Evidence of the Monsanto connection to the Bush White House:

http://www.notmilk.com/pelican.html

Every nation on planet earth with one exception, gives
its consumers the right to know if packages of processed
foods contain genetically engineered organisms. How can
it be that in the land of the so-called free, America
has become that one exception? Each day, more and more
evidence is found attesting to the adverse threats from
consuming genetically engineered foods. Yet, Monsanto is
protected.

On Friday, December 19, 2003, Monsanto began the largest
cover-up in their history. After a serious manufacturing
error of their bovine growth hormone, Monsanto will be
calling in every political favor that they can to insure
that the truth not be told. Am I at risk for attempting to
do so? I do not give a damn. Your health is at stake,
and your interests have been sold out. If you are foolish
enough to continue to eat dairy products, let this event
be motivation for you to immediately desist. Do not eat
any dairy product until you are assured that this possible
genetically engineered freak of nature has not entered
your food supply.

Get rid of that administration which continues to
bend over backwards to protect the world's most dangerous
and powerful criminals. Their actions have made your food
supply a potential weapon of mass destruction.

What else can you do? There's a primary coming to a state
near you. Waste your vote on Dennis the Menace, Howard
the Duck, or Ralph Kramden, and you continue your
comic-book fantasy existence of delusion and illusion.
Write in H. Clinton. Write letters to the editor. Spread
the message. Urge Hilary to run. Your vote is too important
to waste. Only one individual can beat George Bush. She has
the stature and brains to lead. She's been in the White House
before, and things were never better for America. During
those Clinton years, other nations loved America. American
people still had inalienable rights. The economy was strong.
Our children had a future free of fear.

Today, Big Brother watches over America, and I am not
comforted by what we have become. Only one person has
a chance of defeating the Monsanto presidency, which
grows stronger with power and connections and influence.
Her name is Hilary Clinton. If she does not run, I will
write in her name, hoping that we make it until 2008.

Send your message to Hilary:

http://clinton.senate.gov/email_form.html

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com

This week, a rarity of convergence and love will occur.
Christmas, Chanukah, and Kwanzaa will all be celebrated
within the same 24-hour period.

Sadly, All Ye Faithful will not be Coming...
Halls shall not be Decked With Boughs of Holly...
There will be a Silent Night in one very sad home...

Here is the reason why:

http://lifesave.org

Hark, the Herald Angels Sing...
of man's inhumanity to child.

While lighting a Kwanzaa or Chanukah candle,
or reciting a Christmas prayer, bless the
beautiful family whose child has been stolen
by the State of Utah, for the crime of being
vegan.

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com

Every Portion of Swiss Cheese is Infected with Listeria

In yesterday's notmilk column, I reported the
case of a current cheese recall due to Listeria
contamination.

<http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/notmilk/message/1498>

In that column, you read that Listeria monocytogenes
can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in
young children, frail or elderly people, pregnant women,
and individuals with weakened immune systems. Listeria
infections can also cause miscarriages

A few readers of the column were angry. One dairy
farmer suggested that the incidence of Listeria is
so small as to be almost nonexistant. He suggested
that one out of every one million packages of dairy
products contain live Listeria. In order to check
out this claim, a bit of research was necessary.

One of the many tasks I assign myself each day is
to spend some time (sometimes a few hours) searching
and reading Medline abstracts. There is no way any
one person can read every study published in every
scientific journal. I located the revealing summary
of a  recently published study in a French journal,
referenced as Rev Epidemiol Sante Publique. 2003,
Oct;51(5):493-503.

A group of scientists (Schaffner, et. al.) measured
the level of exisiting Listeria bacteria in Swiss
cheese samples and came up with astonishing results.
Every sample tested contained traces of live Listeria.

These researchers discovered that the processing of
Swiss cheese leads to a probability of contamination.
In their words:

"Elevated bacterial concentrations are mainly due to
cases of mastitis involving Listeria monocytogenes."

Depending upon the level of heat treatment, various
samples tested resulted in anywhere from one to ten Listeria
monocytogenes per portion of cheese. The authors conclude:

"Based on the presented data and estimations, it is concluded
that the consumption of traditionally/artisanal manufactured
Swiss Emmental hard cheese presents an extremely low, but
existent risk, especially for people with a deficient or
diminished immune system."

What this all means is that all Swiss cheese contains detectable
levels of live Listeria. Depending upon storage (loading dock,
truck, warehouse, supermarket, your home), those bacteria
have the opportunity to multiply. What are the odds of
you being infected with Listeria? Russian Roulette, anybody?

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com

Mark down this date, 12/19/03. This very well be
the moment that ended the use of genetically
engineered foods in America's food.

Milk and Dairy products sold in America may have
been seriously contaminated. Immediately pour
all milk down the drain. What's wrong? FDA's
not talking. Just to be safe, immediately discard
all of your dairy products.

Monsanto has experienced a big problem with their
genetically engineered bovine growth hormone. They've
issued a press release indicating that Poslilac (rbGH,
rbST) will be experiencing restricted deliveries and
only limited supplies will be available to farmers.

In an embargoed press release (Monsanto would not
allow this information to be released until noon (CST)
of December 19, 2003), Monsanto wrote regarding their
manufacturing facility:

"They are making manufacturing corrections and improvements to
their plant..."

This is Monsanto's convoluted way of saying, "OOPS!"

What does that say for biotechnology?

I called FDA on Friday afternoon, but nobody is talking.
I spoke with the Commissioner's office.
I left messages for Dr. Steven Sundlov, director of FDA's
investigative branch, Center for Veterinary Medicine.
I spoke with Linda Tollifson's office. Linda actually
runs things at CVM. Down the chain of command went my
phone calls. I spoke to Lynn Post, who said:

"We knew there's a problem. We don't know the details.
We don't have all the information at this time."

Spoken like a politician. Thanks to all the zippermouths
who seem more interested in protecting Monsanto than
the American people, who continue to drink genetically
enginered milk.

After speaking with FDA's press office, I've filed
a Freedom of Information Act Request (FOIA). Will
I get to the truth? You bet. One way or another...

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com

Caution: Office Christmas parties often serve
cheesey offerings. Say no to cheese, and
have a happy and healthy holiday.

Should you eat cheese containing a commonnly
found pathogen, you'll get sick many days or weeks
after ingestion, and not make the connection.
Suggestion: eat the crackers, pass on the cheese.

CHEESY NEWS

On December 17, 2003, the Food and Drug Administration
instituted a recall of 5,688 packages of cheese in
Illinois. The recall affects Margarita brand, Queso
Fresco, Mexican Style Fresh White Cheese.

See:

<http://www.safetyalerts.com/recall/f/02.2/f0003456.htm>

According to FDA:

"Listeria monocytogenes can cause serious and
sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail
or elderly people, pregnant women and individuals
with weakened immune systems. Healthy individuals
may suffer short-term symptoms such as fever,
headaches, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and
diarrhea from listeria infection. Listeria infection
can cause miscarriages and stillbirth among pregnant
women."

IS CHEESE PROTECTED WHEN IT'S REFRIGERATED?

"Listeria organisms excreted in cow's milk escaped
pasteurization, grew well at refrigerator temperatures,
and were ingested by consumers."

(New England Journal of Medicine, 1985, 312)

ISN'T LISTERIA KILLED BY PASTEURIZATION?

"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."

(Journal of Environmental Microbiology. July 1987)

WHAT ARE THE CHEEZE WHIZZES UP TO?

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com

When Farm Sanctuary solicits your donations, you are
lured into giving generously by claims that you will
save animals by offering them a home on a tranquil
farm in New York State or California. Such ads can
be, at the very least, deceptive.

The once passionate and dedicated owners of Farm
Sanctuary continue to waste donated dollars by
creating money pits. It would be better for the
animals if Farm Sanctuary were to dump your dollars
into ditches, pour gasoline, and ignite them. That
way, the finds would not be used to betray the
animals. Instead, millions of dollars are being used
to promote compassionate slaughter laws. Compassionate
slaughter relieves the consciences of meat eaters.
Ergo, more meat is eaten.

In past years, $50,000 of your generosity was not
used for the animals. Instead, that money was sent
to the United States government as penalties invoked
for illegal donations made as a result of election
law violations. Animal rights supporters are lied to,
while people in high places followed the real money trails.
Naive donors are told that animals will be named after
them. Full page advertisements are placed in vegetarian
journals soliciting funds to "name a turkey." The break
even point to pay for that ad does not come close to the
number of new turkeys that could be added to Farm
Sanctuary's turkey barn. Where does the money go?

During the 1870s, Dom Pedro, Emperor of Brazil, raised
enormous sums of money by naming hills and streams
after those who donated. He used people's charity to
live quite well, and the nation loved him, for he built
schools and hospitals. On one of those buildings, an
asylum for the insane, Dom Pedro placed a dedication
thanking all those who donated funds. The sign read,
"To the vain and the foolish." That same model was
used by Israel during the 1950s and 1960s. Donating
money for a tree raised hundreds of millions of
dollars. American Jewish tourists would then go to
Israel to look for their trees. I imagine that Israeli
authorities snickered each time the question was asked,
"Where is my tree?"

After making a large enough donation to Farm Sanctuary,
one receives a photograph of his or her adopted "pet."
Each year, tens of thousands of people visit Farm Sanctuary
to see "their cow" or "their turkey." Perhaps they should be
looking for "their bull."

Farm Sanctuary's latest move is a lawsuit against
the United States Department of Agriculture. Lawsuits
cost dollars. What is the nature of the suit?

Farm Sanctuary wants USDA to ban the sale of "downed"
animals for human food because of a fear of Mad Cow Disease.
Talk about a waste of funds!

USDA has tested the brains of tens of thousands of downed
cows, and has not found one case of Mad Cow Disease in
America. Future tests will enable slaughterhouses to
quickly and economically test every single slaughtered
animal.

Will Farm Sanctuary's suit save even one living creature?

Their suit accomplishes just one thing. Their strategy
enables the meat industry to assure consumers that meat
is safe to eat. Their suit seeks to eliminate downed
cows, so that consumers will be eating compassionately
raised and compassionately slaughtered animals.

Donate to Farm Sanctuary and you help to promote
compassionate slaughter and increased meat consumption.
The numbers do not lie. Per capita meat consumption
continues to increase in America.

In their lawsuit, Farm Sanctuary argues that downed
livestock are probably infected with Mad Cow Disease
because they lose coordination and are unable to stand
upright.

The truth of this matter is that animals go "down"
because their bones cannot support their weight. Three
million "burned out cows" go to slaughterhouses every
year. With their own hands, slaughterhouse workers can
break pelvic bones of cows who have been treated
with Monsanto's genetically engineered bovine growth
hormone. Increased milk from treated cows results in
calcium loss. Bones dissolve from within. Cows
break down. Some never make it to the slaughterhouse
because they can no longer walk.

All cows will die as tortured animals. This should be
the Farm Sanctuary message. Instead, they sue to
stop downed animals from being fed to humans because
of Mad Cow fears. What a narrow window Farm Sanctuary
creates. Meat producers will soon have the solution.
Simple tests on downed cows will produce conclusive
results. Cows will be slaughtered and eaten by consumers
who will be assured that the flesh is safe to eat.

What then will Farm Sanctuary have accomplished?
They will have spent your dollars unwisely, promoted
meat consumption, and neglected to continue their
original mission, which was to offer sanctuary to
farm animals.

There are thousands of acres of farm country for sale
in Watkins Glen, New York. Land very nearby Farm Sanctuary.
There are millions of wasted dollars, donated by passionate
animal rights activists, that could be otherwise used
to offer sanctuary to unwanted and abused animals.

There are many animal sanctuaries who do nothing but offer
shelter to rescued animals. They need all of your financial
support. Your dollars will be used to feed these gentle
creatures. Please help if you can. Three of my favorites:

http://www.oasissanctuary.org

http://www.oohmahneefarm.org

http://www.sashafarm.org

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com

Special Offer

Every year about this time, we offer MILK: The
Deadly Poison (book on tape) and MILK A-Z to our
readers for substantial discounts.

Each item retails in Barnes and Noble for $15.
Order ten or more as stocking stuffers or Chanukah
gifts, and we'll charge you just $5 per item (plus
S&H). We sponser this offer so that the Notmilk
message reaches as many people as possible.

A is for allergies, B is for breast cancer, C is
for crohn's, D is for diabetes, etc. H is for heart
disease, O is for osteoporosis, R is for rheumatoid
arthritis. Deliver the gift of health to all with
convincing scientific support.

Last year, over 100 people took advantage of this
special. If you order today (12/17), we guarantee
delivery by December 24th.

Mix and match any ten items. You will be bringing
good health to your loved ones this holiday season.
To order, call toll-free:

888-NOT-MILK (668-6455)

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com

Baby Formula Kills

The disaster center lists the top ten causes of death
for children between the ages of 1 and 4. Last
year, according to their records, the leading cause
of death was motor vehicle accidents and all other
accidents, responsible for 2155 fatalities.

http://www.disastercenter.com/cdc/111riskb.html

One brilliant (and courageous) doctor would disagree.
After many years of researh, Dr. Linder Folden Palmer
has discovered that over 9,200 children die each year
from the effects of drinking cow's milk-based formula.

Dr. Palmer has determined that the U.S. death rate
for formula-fed infants is double that of the existing
motality rate for infants. Dr. Palmer's new report,
containing 105 references, can be found at:

<http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/BF/200312-formula-report2.htm>

Linda Palmer, author of "Baby Matters," has been examining
research in this field for 20 years. Her new report
is sending shudders of pain, guilt, and denial to baby
formula manufacturers.

I interviewed Dr. Palmer. Her most powerful comment:

"Cow's milk and formula consumption leads to increased
risk of childhood diabetes, bowel disease, osteoporosis,
bone disease, and reproductive organ cancers, not to
mention increased incidence of colic, ear infections,
and attention deficit disorder."

I've owned a copy of Dr. Palmer's book, "Baby Matters,"
since its 2001 publication date, and re-read the book
this week. I recommend a copy for all newbie parents,
and parents to be.

Contact Dr. Linda Folden Palmer:
lfpalmer@...
(619) 222-8753 or (619) 871-9126

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com

The California dairy industry has financed a media
campaign portraying "Happy Cows" producing merry milk,
blithe butter, and cheerful cheese. If only slaughterhouses
had glass walls. Dairymen do not want consumers to witness
how each and every "Happy Cow" ends her life. Three million
not-so-happy cows will have their throats slashed this
year so that Americans can eat fast-food burgers.

This month (December, 2003), California's "Happy Cow" ad
campaign goes national. Commercials will be aired by cable
TV networks so that most Americans will be fed multiple
doses of "Happy Cow" manure, and be subliminally motivated
to seek out and purchase California dairy products.

Animal rights activists would like to document just how
unhappy California cows really are, but a new state law
has been enacted just in time for the media campaign.
Trespassing on California farms and dairy processors
will soon be punishable by up to six months in jail and/or
a $1,000 fine. The new law takes affect on January 1, 2004.
The current penalty calls for a citation and a $10 fine.

Truth will be sacrificed under the guise of a deceitful
veil called homeland security. What future scenes will
courageous activists (facing jail time) be recording?

Imagine for a moment each creature's experience. She is
loaded onto a crowded truck, packed in tightly with her
sisters. She is then driven many miles in the middle of
the night to her death. Some animals do not make it that
far. They cry. They scream. Those unlucky enough to survive
the trip are roughly unloaded from the truck and are
prodded with electrical devices of torture to go up a ramp
to their final fate. Stun gun, sharp knife to the throat,
meat hook; some remain conscious as the blood still drains
from the wounds in their necks. Those who feel pain react
by kicking wildly and are rewarded by having their thrashing
legs removed by chainsaw. The adrenaline permeates their flesh.

A non-producing cow is culled from her herd and sent to the
slaughterhouse when she is no longer profitable to the dairy
farmer. Often times, disease ravishes her stressed body.
Tumors grow. Leukemia or tuberculosis or bovine AIDS
overwhelms her compromised immune system.

Three times per day milking dissolves their bones from
within. Nearly one hundred percent of cows end their lives
this way. They are given no respect as living, feeling
creatures. Ear tags merely identify cows as numbered
agricultural units.

Each living animal is skinned, gutted, and beheaded. The
sum total of her life is now referred to as meat. She is
cut up into halves, then quartered, then portioned.

Warning: Enter at your own risk.
Here is the reality of each happy cow's fate:

http://www.slaughterhousecam.com

You will soon be watching "Happy Cow" commercials.
Do what you think is appropriate. Shut off the TV.
Call the network. Completely give up dairy products.
Gather 100 of your friends with cameras and visit
a happy farm. When you are arrested, tell the authorities
that you wanted to take pictures of happy cows. Six months
of free room and board, paid for by a financially and
intellectually bankrupt state will be your reward for
attempting to record this truth: The only happy cows
in California are the ones whose udders Arnold fondled
during his recent gubernatorial campaign.

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com

Jody is Nuts!

You'll agree with me after visiting:

http://www.futtersnutbutters.com

I recently bought a few jars, and I'm nuts
for futter's nut butters too! (say that
three times quickly).

Jody Futterman and her husband (Mr. Jody Futterman,
I presume) travel the country distributing their
unique products which include hazelnut and pistachio
nut butters.

I made creamy soy and butternut squash soup with cashew
nut butter. Vegan cooking gets no better than this.

Futterman nut butters are unique, and go well with
freshly-baked breads. If you're lucky enough to have one
of those rarely used breadmakers gathering dust on your
kitchen counter, shame on you for not baking often enough!

Buy yeast and flour today, and do what you should
be doing a few times each week. And order some nut
butters to be spread on future freshly baked steaming
hot breads!

After checking out their website, I've found that Futters
mixed giftpaks are sold for under $20 each. Order today,
and you'll be enjoying incredible almond butter on toast
within the week.

Are nut butters healthy? According to Jody:

"Brazil nut is good for the prostate. I also recommend the
Sunflower and Pumpkin Seeds, they are high in the zinc,
selenium or magnesium."

(NOTE: I do not get paid for endorsing products. I enjoy
promoting vegan foods which tickle my palate and fancy.)

Visit: http://www.futtersnutbutters.com
Call toll-free: 1-877-772-2155

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com

Pre-Notmilkman as 1973 Long-Haired Scientist

Here is the long lost photo of me performing
surgery on a rat that I would later name unicorn
for the electrode that protruded from his skull.

http://notmilk.com/henry.html

Those were the days in which I could not understand
what motivated animal rights activists protesting
outside of the Museum of Natural History while I was
inside observing brain surgery on a cat.

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com

Utah Detective Solves Infant Vegan Death

Combine the instincts of Peter Falk's Colombo
with the tenacity of Tom Sellick's Magnum P.I.
Add to that the creative genius of Sherlock Holmes
with a dash of Nero Wolfe, a sprinkle of Angela
Lansbury's Jessica Fletcher (Murder, She Wrote),
and the best of all of the crime scene investigators,
and you end up with master mystery solver, Tom Rodgers.

The state of Utah believes that children must eat
animals in order to remain healthy. During the past
year, Utah "stormtroopers" have gone into a few vegan
homes and removed children, placing them into foster care.

Here are the highlights of one such extraordinary case:

Dan, a child raised in a vegan home, died.
Matthew, a second child from the same family, became ill.
Fearing that a vegan diet was the cause of sickness and
death, the state of Utah removed Matt from his home by
force, and placed the little boy in foster care.

Vegan Tom Rodgers, ex-dairy farmer/cattleman, investigated
and discovered a remarkable secret.

Tom invested six months of his time and thousands of dollars
of his own money and resources (going broke during the
process) to solve the mystery of death and sickness.

Tom discovered that the home's heating system was venting
carbon monoxide. The gas leak made the entire family sick,
killing one boy and making a second son severely ill.
Utah authorities blamed it all on the vegan lifestyle.
In their bias against vegan diets, Utah authorities,
displaying Gestapo-like tactics, are refusing to return
the little boy to his loving parents, despite the
overwhelming new evidence.

See Press Release:

http://www.lifesave.org/PressRelease.htm

Tom Rodgers investigated and solved the mystery.
Tom's Internet site contains all the facts:

http://www.lifesave.org/FamilyVsState.htm

There is so much pain and injustice here, and if it
is within you to help by writing a letter or two or
make some phone calls, please do what you can. Contact
your local media. Interest them in reporting this story.
Ask Tom what else you can do.

Tom's email: <LifeSave@...> or <LifeSaveIn@...>

Tom's phone number: 801-298-9095

Contact "Oprah"

<http://talkshows.about.com/library/extras/blmailoprah.htm>

Contact "60 Minutes"

<http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1998/07/08/60minutes/main13504.shtml>

Contact "20-20"

<http://www.abcnews.go.com/service/Help/abcmail_news.html>

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com

Happy anniversary, dad. Happy birthday too,
and while we're at it, happy holidays as you
approach the celebration of your eighty-eighth
New Year's day!

You've come a long way! I've looked up some of
the fun things that happened as you "celebrated"
your first New Year's day...way back when. That
was the year in which:

The population of the United States (thanks to you
and a few others, passed the 100 million mark.
American women still did not have the right to vote.
The Bolshevik Revolution began in Soviet Russia.
General Pershing chased Pancho Villa
throughout Mexico.
The United States declared war on Germany.
British forces occupied Bagdad, aided by
Lawrence of Arabia.
French temptress Mata Hari was executed for spying.
The USA began to tax income.
Buffalo Bill died.
Forty-two percent of cars were Model-T Fords.
The electron was discovered. (Who knew it was missing?)
The Chicago White Sox beat the NY Giants in the
World Series.

The reason for today's celebration, is this:

One year ago today (December 11, 2002) your cardiologist
and neurologist gave up on you. It was only a matter
of hours or days as to how long you would live after
your most devastating stroke. Even if you survived,
you would no longer talk or walk. I am happy to see
that the so-called experts were wrong on both accounts.
Although you now walk with a cane, you continue to
astonish everybody by driving to the health club and
working out every day.

One month after your stroke, you became a vegan.
Seven months after your stroke, Doctor John McDougall
dedicated a column to your improved health:

http://notmilk.com/mcdougall/notmilkmansdad.html

During your one-month stay in a rehabilitation center,
learning how to eat, swallow, talk, and walk again, I
read and wrote about the wisdom of God's Nutritionist,
Ellen G. White. Mrs. White founded a number of health
sanitariums which were considerably more progressive
in her nineteenth century than those facilities of
our own twenty-first century.

I am fortunate enough to live less that one-half mile away
from Sun-Bridge Care Center, and was there each morning with
freshly cut canteloupe and honeydew for you. I passed from shock
to anger with each meal served to you, dad. Toast with butter,
eggs with sausages or bacon, skim milk. Lunches were worse.
Mystery meat swimming in fatty gravy. Few vegetables. No
fruit. Dinners were more of the same. I met with the nursing
staff, dietician, and nutritionist to no avail. "That's what
got him here," I would tell them. I could have gotten a more
positive response talking to my living room wall. I shopped
and cooked and brought over meals, leaving their fare
untouched.

Ellen White's words of wisdom should became a model for
doctors and health care facilities. I've compiled ten quotes
from her writings, which shall serve as my list of the
Ten Commandments for health care reform.

I hope that my readers will offer this list, when
appropriately needed, to their own loved ones,
physicians and nurses, and health care aides.

Commandment I

"These people have lived improperly on rich food. They are
suffering as a result of indulgence of appetite. A reform in
their habits of eating and drinking is needed. But this
reform cannot be made all at once. The change must be made
gradually." (1904)

Commandment II

"It is the duty of the physician to see that wholesome food
is provided, and it should be prepared in a way that will
not create disturbances in the human organism." (1901)

Commandment III

"Physicians who use flesh meat and prescribe it for their
patients, should not be employed in our institutions,
because they fail decidedly in educating the patients to
discard that which makes them sick. The physician who uses
and prescribes meat does not reason from cause to effect,
and instead of acting as a restorer, he leads the patient by
his own example to indulge perverted appetite. The
physicians employed in our institutions should be reformers
in this respect and in every other. Many of the patients are
suffering because of errors in diet. They need to be shown
the better way. But how can a meat-eating physician do this?
By his wrong habits he trammels his work and cripples his
usefulness." (1896)

Commandment IV

"When a physician sees a patient suffering from disease
caused by improper eating and drinking or other wrong
habits, yet neglects to tell him of this, he is doing his
fellow being an injury. Those who understand the principles
of life should be in earnest in striving to counteract the
causes of disease." (1905)

Commandment V

"An important part of the nurse's duty is the care of the
patient's diet." (1905)

Commandment VI

"The patients are to be provided with an abundance of
wholesome, palatable food, prepared and served in so
appetizing a way that they will have no temptation to desire
flesh meat. The meals may be made the means of an education
in health reform. Care is to be shown in regard to the
combinations of food given to the patients." (1902)

Commandment VII

"Let fruit be placed on the table in abundance." (1902)

Commandment VIII

"We must remember that the habits and practices of a
lifetime cannot be changed in a moment. With an intelligent
cook, and an abundant supply of wholesome food, reforms can
be brought about that will work well. But it may take time
to bring them about. (1904)

Commandment IX

"The food placed before them must necessarily be more varied
in kind than would be necessary in a home family. Let the
diet be such that a good impression will be made on the
guests. This is a matter of great importance. The patronage
of a sanitarium will be larger if a liberal supply of
appetizing food is provided." (1901)

Commandment X

"Fresh air, exercise, pure water, and clean, sweet premises,
are within the reach of all, with but little expense; but
drugs are expensive, both in the outlay of means, and the
effect produced upon the system." (1885)

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com

Was milk the cause of this young man's cardiovascular
disease and stroke? Evidence of a sheepherder's love
for milk 55 centuries ago astonishes scientists.

http://www.notmilk.com/iceman.html

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com

The question, so often asked in radio interviews
is, "Why do you hate dairy so much?"

Perhaps the deep seeds of my dislike for milk
can be found here. Did my mother make me do it,
or was it an early traumatic experience?

http://notmilk.com/nmautobio2.html

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com

Sex, Lies, and Billboards

One of my favorite feminist philosophers, Carol Adams,
is also an animal rights activist and author of "The
Pornography of Meat." Adams once said:

"I abhor the alliance of any
animal advocacy with pornography."

I have been a big fan of the People For the
Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) until now.

To see what offends me so, and before reading
the remainder of today's column, take a look at
PETA's new Billboard:

<http://www.msnbc.com/local/KHQ/Images/PETAbillboard.jpg>

Santa's not coming?
Milk can make you impotent?
Santa is impotent?
Santa is unable to gain an erection or have an orgasm?
What new dimension has been entered into and what
line has PETA crossed in the name of activism?

I am an advocate of sexual liberation, and my leanings
are quite liberal, but I draw the line when extreme
sexual content is made available to children who are
unable to deal with adult issues. Sex is a most
beautiful act, to be shared between loving partners,
but sexual themes and sexual advertisements should
not be used to sell a products or an idea, no matter
how politically correct that item might be.

Using sex to sell cow's milk is wrong. Ergo, using sex
to sell soymilk is wrong. Using sex to send a message
to children borders upon three territories, the immoral,
the unethical, and the criminal.

PETA wants your kids to know that:

"Santa's not *coming* this year."

Santa is seen looking down into his red pants with
an unhappy face, staring at what we are led to believe
is the disappointing condition of his genital organ. In
this case, the word "coming" conveys a mixed meaning.

Drinking cow's milk is tied to impotence in PETA's ad. That
stretches the limits of what I have researched over these
past ten years. I know of no doctor or scientist or medical
study suggesting that drinking milk causes impotence.

I have seen too many ads from "the other side" (the dairy
industry) suggesting that sex and milk drinking are one and
the same. Children's values have been shaped by such ads.
Now, PETA is attempting to do the same.

Older kids will think that the billboard's message is cool.
They will talk about the ad in front of their peers, and
younger kids will get the message, too. Santa is not
"coming." They will not ask mom and dad to explain the
term "coming." This they will learn from the older kids.
If Santa does not "come," that cannot be a good thing,
right? If Santa does come, there will be "Joy to the World"
this Christmas season. More than visions of sugarplums
will dance in the heads of pre-teens.

I claim to have once been the number one dairy fan,
cheese and pizza eater, and ice cream slurper in the
state of New Jersey. My three daughters are more than
ample evidence of the fact that milk does not cause
impotence. Since giving up all dairy, and falling in
love with soy, I have fathered no children. Is that
evidence that soy causes impotence? Of course not.
That proves just one thing: PETA's convoluted argument
is as intellectually corrupt as the dairy industry message.

Please urge PETA to remove that billboard immediately. There
are thousands of Notmilk studies and concepts for them to
market to children without entering the realm of pornography.
Your letter will reach PETA's director, Ingrid Newkirk:

info@...

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com

Brucellosis

The front page of my Sunday newspaper travel section
(The North Jersey Record, December 7, 2003) includes
a feature story on winter vacations in Montana and
Wyoming. The headline:

"Yellowstone Presents an Ultimate Survival Test"

Indeed.

Headline writers often stretch truth. In this case,
the headline contains a Stephen King-like omen.

A horrible disease has come to Montana, and the dairy
and cattle industry is now under quarantine. You have
not heard this one yet, have you? The media powers to
be don't want you to learn of the following story. It
might hurt those who advertise so that you might drink
body fluids from diseased animals.

A herd of Montana cattle is infected with brucellosis. Four
hundred cows are expected to be slaughtered this week.

Incredibly, nearly $4 billion in federal subsidies have been
"invested" in efforts to eradicate brucellosis since the 1930s.
Clearly, this effort has been unsuccessful.

Brucellosis in cattle can be passed on to man in the form of
Mediterranean Disease or Undulant fever. Brucellis infections
are difficult to detect, and easily misdiagnosed. Symptoms
include chronic fatigue (syndrome), headaches, and arthritic
pain. Once infected with Brucellosis from cows, the disease
can hide in the human body, emerging many years after the
initial bacterial infection.

Before taking your next bite of cheese, carefully read
this information from page 222 of Mad Cows and Milk Gate
by Virgil Hulse, M.D.:

"The following groups of pathogens can be involved in
manufacturing cheese made from raw milk: TB (mycobacterium
paratuber- culosis, Undulant fever (Brucella species),
Disease producing Strep (Pathogenic streptococci), staph
food poisoning (Coagulase positive sttaphylocci), staph
arrhea that may lead to death (Entero-pathogenic
Eschererichia coli), Salmonella, Rickettsia, Virus species,
Bacillus cereus, Clostridium perfringens and Clostridium
botulinum (can be fatal and cause death)."

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com