Long before the recent reports of animal abuse in slaughterhouses, I had considered no longer eating meat. Let's face it, the consumption of any meat processed in a non-organic environment is 'tainted' with various types of steroids and other unnatural growth stimulants that are not healthy for our consumption.
New meat related illnesses are popping up at an alarming rate, and consumers should make a point to educate themselves about what they are eating, not to mention the inhumane treatment of animals in slaughterhouses.
While you may not consider yourself an animal advocate, take into consideration that when an animal has been left in conditions that are not healthy, leave not only a physical but also an emotional scar on the animal that damages the meat.
Think of it as leaving "residual" energy, as we sometimes do in our living spaces. The same concept is true for animals as well, so any trauma experienced is sure to leave the meat with side effects, so to speak.
Hundreds of years ago, hunting and preparing meat for consumption was considered a sacred exchange between man and animal. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case. Man's destructive nature will be the downfall of humanity.
For your health, refrain from ingesting any meat or vegetable product that you do not know for sure is raised in an organic manner.
Boycot non-organic meat manufactures and support those who remain organic and humane in their manufacturing!
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I'm not one for keeping up with politics, and in fact find the entire political game to be a farce at best, but considering as this is an election year, I have been inadvertently exposed to more fodder from the media than usual, despite my sincere efforts to avoid their influence. Mind control techniques used during speeches by presidential candidates are, for the most part, laughable and largely obvious, however I was quite entertained by the the following one.
Below is a rather entertaining video containing clips of about 5 different speeches given by presidential candidate Obama that I was exposed to whilst on MySpace. The manipulations utilized would be brilliant, were they not being televised in every location and thus pieced together. Apparently one of the many forms of sorcery he uses is to have a member of his audience feign a fainting spell, whilst he not only shows his immediate concern by halting mid-speech to assist, but also his ability to take control and ease fears of the masses in a crisis situation. Thus, he presents himself to be trust worthy and a strong leader... a tactic which, I believe, was brilliantly executed.
How entertaining is that, eh?
Let the political games continue! :}
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I am disheartened by so much violence. I am disgusted by wars over oil and power. I am sickened by our societies lack of opening their eyes and seeing the horrible truth that is in front of their faces. We are a great evil, obsessed with money and perfection at any cost. We accept wholeheartedly the "lies" because they are much more pleasing than the truth. Nobody wants to know the truth! Then it would tear apart our view of a perfect world and force us to realize that we have been used; that we have been living our own lies.
Open your eyes! The American 'system' has serious flaws and it is failing us! People who need medical care cannot get it. People who have serious, even life-threatening illnesses, are turned away every day because of corporations such as insurance and pharmaceutical companies. People die, even after paying insurance premiums for years and years because of the 'almighty' dollar. America is a monopoly. The rich get richer while the poor get poorer. We spent billions of dollars to fight wars in other countries, to aid some countries, to put men into space, to pay politicians, but we cannot even help our own people?! What kind of government leaches off it's own citizens and stands back to watch them wither away?
And what's scarier is that most people don't even see it!
By the way, where is Osama Bin Laden? Are we even still searching for him or is it just about the oil? Exactly what are we fighting for?!
The nation's one million Jehovah's Witnesses also don't believe Dec. 25 is the correct date. "It has been established to our satisfaction that is not the birth of Jesus," Backloupe says. The Church of Christ, which has two million to three million members, also doesn't believe Jesus was born Dec. 25, pointing to the Bible's indications that Jesus would have been born in a warmer time when the shepherds would have been out in the fields to see the star that reportedly heralded Jesus' birth.
Although the great majority of Christians worldwide now celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25, they have not always agreed on what kind of celebration is appropriate. Even in the early days, church leaders were concerned about too much merrymaking. The church's Second Council of Tours proclaimed in the mid-500s the duty of fasting during Advent and the sanctity of the 12 days between Dec. 25 and Jan. 6.
In the 1600s, Christmas came under strong attack from some Christian groups. The Puritans banned Christmas because there was no reference to it in the Bible and even fined people who celebrated it. The English Parliament also outlawed celebrating Christmas in the mid-1600s. But their view wasn't shared by all, and as more diverse groups came to the United States, Christmas became more festive for most Christians.
I certainly have no problem with Christians who choose to celebrate Christmas, either as part of their liturgical calendar or simply as a cultural event. The fact that Christmas arguably isn't fundamental to Christianity, and may even be antithetical to aspects of it, does however mean that Christians shouldn't get self-righteous about the way in which contemporary America has drained the holiday of many religious elements. If Christians could drain pagan meanings from it, why can't modern American drain Christian meanings from it?
Holidays aren't static. Holidays serve social and cultural needs, which means that as society and culture changes the manner in which we celebrate our holidays also changes. The "traditional" Christmas people like to reminisce about is of relatively recent vintage, with all of the elements not coming together until the 20th century and many elements not even starting until the 19th century. There is nothing permanent or necessary to the way we celebrate Christmas today and Christians don't have much basis for complaining when changes occur.============================================
In Buckie, Banffshire, two brothers were banned from the school's Christmas party because they were uninterested in religion, didn't participate in Religious Education classes, and didn't celebrate Jesus' birth. Headmaster Ian Davidson apparently believed that Christmas existed only for Christians and, if the two boys weren't going to be Christian, then they couldn’t expect to enjoy Christmas festivities with their friends.
Douglas Stewart was forced to stay at home while his friends received presents from Santa and tucked into ice cream and jelly. His parents were told he was not welcome at the celebration because they had pulled him out of religious eduction classes earlier in the year....
Furious mother Dawn Riddell, 38, said yesterday: "I've helped out at the Christmas party before and it's got absolutely nothing to do with Jesus. Douglas was heartbroken he couldn't
go. It was cruel."
Dawn Riddell had been told when she pulled her sons from Religious Education that there would be consequences, but she couldn't have expected that this would be one of them — especially since she knew that the Christmas party was secular in nature. She even called to check and was told that the school parties were all non-religious. As others have learned, though, the secular status of Christmas and Christmas celebrations doesn't stop some Christians from trying to impose their stamp of Christianity on the day wherever they can.
It's fine, of course, for Christians to celebrate Christmas in a religious manner if they wish. Who's going to stop them and who would even want to? What's not fine is for Christians to hold completely secular celebrations of Christmas and then pretend that there is some sort of religious entry requirement. To put it another way, Christians can't have it both ways: they can either have religious or secular celebrations, but they can't have secular celebrations with religious standards or expectations. This time the headmaster backed off and admitting the boys to a party, but next time might not go so well.
Hit the ground runnin' with the mornin' sun...July Fourth - Celebration and Mourning
To my all my friends here..
Introducing: The Spoon