Omega-3 Improves Your Pet Health

Dear Senator Barbara Boxer,
I am a student at Standley Middle School concerned with health, diseases caused by various meats, and animal cruelty. Animals are being slaughtered at 7 billion per year, and a 1.6 billion percentage is used for human consumption. The animals we eat today are abused and kept in factory farms or slaughterhouses, and bred in small places where they must live a horrifying life without their parents. By eating meat, we participate and encourage these horrible acts. It is finally time to take a stand and protect the environment and our animals by saying no.
Although it is said that meat is especially healthy and valuable, as you can see it is not entirely necessary for your body. Meat carries many nutrients, as well as diseases and problems such as diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol, heart disease, high blood pressure, and general cancer. Fresh fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains are all you really need to maintain a healthy organism. Vegetables and fruits are the main sources of nutrients and contain many vitamins and minerals which protect against the harmful diseases that meat provides and does not encourage animal cruelty. It may seem easy to be omnivorous and consume meat, while still protecting against it’s diseases. However, lack of complete vegetable intake is now believed to cause tumor diseases, cardiovascular disease, and degenerative diseases. By not eating meat, you’ll be eating fewer chemicals that are stuffed into the many meats we know today. Fortunately, vegetables contain vitamin A and C, which decreases your chances of cancer or any of the above listed diseases by 46%.
Our body needs a lot of calcium, protein, fibers, carbohydrates and fats. Generally, fats are obtained from eating meats. However, meat only contains saturated fats, which come from animal sources, while plants and minerals contain healthy unsaturated fats which can easily substitute for fatty foods in order to maintain a healthy organism. Although a fiber-based diet lowers bad cholesterol, it also helps with digestion and comes from fresh fruits and whole grains, such as whole-wheat bread and brown rice.
If someone were to treat dogs and cats as other animals are treated in factory farms, they would be convicted for crime and put in jail, but what makes those other animals any less important? Today, the majority of these animals are kept in such cramped places that they can barely move, they are denied any veterinary care, abused and tortured while still conscious, and finally slaughtered. Today, farm animals do not have any legal rights the way household pets do. They are fed drugs to fatten or “spoil” them, which genetically alters them to grow at a much faster pace. Many of these animals are not slaughtered at all, but die within their own weight instead- gained from these various harmful, aging drugs. Centers for disease control state that “70-90% of chickens are infected before they are shipped to markets for sell.” Vegetarianism a healthier lifestyle that does not encourage the cruelty of these defenseless creatures.
Although each animal suffers a great deal of pain, they each do this differently. Cows, for example, are drugged to give a larger amount of milk than naturally given, often never see their babies again, and are hung and left to die when they are too old to produce rich milk. I believe that many vegetarians believe the fair treatment of all living creatures should be legalized to prevent this cruelty. Take a stand against this treatment and say no. Thank you for your help in this matter. Remember, every life counts.
Sincerely,
_________________________

Is money the root of all evil? “Money is the root of all evil” is what is often heard this day and age, but ironically, is what people strive for, because its essential for a better standard of living. However, are people blinding themselves by materialistic acquisition? It feels good to have money in your
pocket, or money in your wallet. That way their are less worries in life, and problems are less of a hassle? Some people love money to death. They kill for
money, they lie for money, and they lose their respect or their
innocence for money. At the same time there are those that have come to
realize that money is worthless at the end. For example, if Bill Gates
were to be lying on his deathbed, the money that he has in his bank
account cannot go with him when he dies. In the New
International Version of the Bible, Timothy 6:10 reads, “For the love of money is
the root of all kinds of evil.” The love of money is the critical
factor in determining if money is for good or evil, from God’s perspective.
The love of money is worthless because money cannot buy love, joy, or
peace.
Money cannot buy love because emotions cannot be bought. When an
individual is seeking to buy love, then that is considered to be an
artificial love. Women often times love checking out expensive cars. They love
sitting down in the leather interior passenger seat of a fire red Honda
Civic. Some women are not checking out the driver, but are clearly
checking out the car. According to a source, The Calico Cat, “No matter
what the playing field is, some will rise ahead and others will fall
behind, and those who are behind will feel intense jealousy, even if the
competition is about something other than money (1).” The source goes on
to say that the desire for money and status is only bad when
individuals do bad things in order to obtain what they desire (1). This type of
action keeps reappearing as more drugs are being sold, more strip clubs
are being built, and more individuals are getting jealous. There is a
story of O.J. Simpson, who killed his ex-wife and the man he thought was
her boyfriend. O.J. was motivated by jealousy over the fact that some
other man was more successful with his ex-wife than he was. Jealousy
over women is a very common cause of evil. It has nothing to do with
money, but everything to do with status and being jealous of another
man’s greater success with a particular woman.
The idea that money brings eternal joy in the media causes bad
behavior. When we look at actor Heath Ledger, who played a gay cowboy, it is
clear that factors other than Brokeback Mountain could have influenced
his decision to feature in that movie. Jake Gyllenhaal also has a
history of unfulfilling joy in his life. Gyllenhaal expresses mixed feelings
about the experience of being directed by Ang Lee in Brokeback
Mountain. Gyllenhaal said, “You know it’s flattering when there is a rumor
that says I am bisexual. It means I can play more kinds of roles.” He goes
on to say, “I’m open to whatever people want to call me. I’ve never
been attracted to men sexually, but I don’t think I’ll be afraid of it if
it happened.” Both adults had long histories of acting as well as
psychiatric treatment. Now here is another deception individuals say all
the time and it is really another way of redefining joy so we can
excuse that we do not have it, “Joy isn’t something that comes from
the
circumstances–joy is something that comes from within.” The Apostle Paul
talks about joy more than anywhere in the book of Philippians. The
Holy Bible teaches joy comes from things that happened. The Apostle Paul
explains his joy while he is in prison, and he shows that there is good
about these circumstances that have given joy. He says, “Here I am in
prison and I’m seeing what’s happening in your lives.” He goes on to
say, “I see the Gospel is being preached and I rejoice in that.”
So often we think the more money you have means the more peace you will
have in life. Rap artist P. Diddy’s lyrics state, “The mo money that
comes around, the mo problems we see.” Those lyrics
are absolutely
right on point.
Peace means not struggling or striving, but being in a state of
relaxation. Individuals often take vacations because they want to relax or
take a break from their hard working job. They say, “They go on cruises to free their minds,” but they are on the Internet checking their e-mails
to meet their concerns. In the book of Philippians Chapter 4 Verse 4,
Paul says, “Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: Rejoice!
Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be
anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with
thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which
transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ
Jesus.” Peace is a divine attribute. It is a quality of the soul. It
cannot remain with greedy people. It fills the pure heart. It deserts
the lustful. It runs away from selfish
people. It is an ornament of a
white dove. Peace is a state of quiet. It is freedom from
disturbance, anxiety, agitation, riot or violence. It is harmony, silence, calm,
repose, and rest. Specifically, it is the absence or cessation of war.
Peace is the happy, natural state of man. It is his birthright. War is
his disgrace. Everybody wants peace and is clamoring for peace; but
peace does not come easily. Even if it comes, it does not last for a long
time. Peace is not in money, estate, bungalows, and possessions. Peace
does not dwell in outward things, but within the soul. Money cannot
give you peace. You can purchase many things, but you cannot purchase
peace. You can buy soft beds, but you cannot buy sleep. You can buy good
food, but you cannot buy good appetite. You can buy good tonics, but you
cannot buy good health. You can buy good books, but you cannot buy
wisdom. Many are working today for the promotion of world peace, without
having peace in themselves. Their loud propaganda, big talk, and lectures
cause more confusion, conflict, and discord.
David Myers and Edward Diener, both professors of psychology, found
that while people’s personal income has more than doubled between 1960 and
1990, the percentage of people who describe themselves as happy has
actually declined. Those who equate more money with greater happiness
are proven to be wrong by recent studies on happiness. Research has
shown that more important for our happiness are the non-material things,
such as satisfying relationships, work where one feels valued and
recognized, good health, happy family life, feeling loved, and enjoyment of
music, nature, poetry, sports, or literature. Unfortunately, many of us
spend all our time in trying to
make more money, which doesn’t leave
any time for pursuing the things that can really make us happy.