INVADERS AT THE GATES

The location of the invasion was well hidden even though the site was plainly in view. Though the battle may have been engaged for some months or even years, since it was carried on in silence and was easily ignored. The signs along the way dropped adjectives and adverbs or perhaps added other words that were often easily misunderstood. We're so fascinated by these invaders we pay them for all the ammunition they require and welcome them into our homes. Their uniforms, that feature every delightful color of the rainbow, we also pay for, and yet many of us try to survive on minimum wages with problems trying to pay for our own food and shelter.

Poisonous unseen killing bullets come along with the invaders but we choose to ignore them. How could we fear the innocent, though calculated smiles of those colorful supplies entering our homes. We have many wonderful well-educated scientists and thus can allow ourselves to feel superior in many ways. With lessons learned from history these minds will recognize any Trojan Horse that might enter our territory. We all certainly remember the large hollow wooden horse described by Vergil. The horse was filled with Greek soldiers and left at the city gate of the enemy. The Greek soldiers emerged during the night, opened the gate, and invited the rest of their troops in and burned the city. This sounds similar to the "Fifth Column" we heard about in a more recent war.

Some researchers and teachers found time to do extra research and may have missed socializing, texting, and other pleasures. Perhaps this was better for health reasons anyway because our invaders came to the parties. Check out the fine print on many of these colorful food packages and advertisements. Some may wonder if the food and drink being eaten contained words in the ingredient list that looked questionable. Words like potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate were puzzling for some who were consuming the foods. But many CEOs of food companies said they added TCPS (Taste, Convenience, Pleasure and Shelf life) to many foods stocked on our supermarket shelves.

Who can forget the handsome male mounted on his steed (not called Trojan as far as we know) galloping over green hills and planes while under the picture lurked the packages of cigarettes that suggested the smoker might enjoy a similar pleasure while smoking them. That handsome rider died of lung cancer many years ago. Is it possible that additives needed for shelf life and convenience are among the silent invaders that enter our bodies with our food, take up residence, create a major cancer site, and spread through the bloodstream to all parts of the body. The body is faced with a battle zone within that our great health care system is sometimes unable to conquer with surgery and other therapies and thus be overwhelmed with too many of these unseen killing bullets. A century ago these additives were not used and it would be interesting to know what the health system might have cost per person at that time.