PROVOKED

It's Been A While...

2015-05-26T19:18:00.001-04:00

The last post I wrote was about attending the VegFest in October 2014... I never mentioned though that I was accompanied by my partner, best friend, soul-mate, hero and husband... I never mentioned that Darryl went to nearly every event with me... Or that he was also a very sick man.

I was on the phone last night till well after 1 a.m. talking to a dear friend... She suggested that it might be time to return to the concerns that were important in my life before I became Darryl's widow in December.

I thought once that learning of the injustices regarding species preference was the most painful thing I'd encounter in my life. Well I never was prepared for how the loss of my truest love would devastate me so. I was a total mess for quite some time. Even now as I return to this laptop/internet after months (lifetimes?) of absence, I journey into the folders of almost forgotten images, and I'm in crisis. Memories, tears, heartache, longing, everything. I miss him terribly. :( Still. :'(

In my mis-thinking, I wanted to keep this added grief out of the already miserable realities that my online community (family) is already burdened with... I wanted to return "whole" and able. Ready to roll up my sleeves and charge on, exactly where I left off... But I haven't reached that point and I don't know if I ever will. Sigh.

Best I can do if any will tolerate, is to work through what I can in ways that may or sometimes may not integrate well with my vegan experience. I've never mourned a spouse before. I'm still sluggish at seriously caring for anything else more than myself and my poor 51 years-young better half. Yes, I still want to talk about the horrors our species inflicts upon others. The Eternal Treblinka. But sometimes I may just want to talk about Darryl and his influence and support of me. I'd like to talk about how his chef skills adapted to vegan cooking so easily. And how his love of reason and fairness lead him to mindful living... And of all the dogs, cats, birds, snakes, squirrels and cows he rescued... His generosity and kindnesses. Yeah - He was a great guy alright. <3

For now I'm so sorry if I've caused worry... I didn't know how to take this awkward first step back. There are so many variables to catch up to. I intend to try.

Thank you before hand for your concern and tolerance through my silent absence and clumsy apology. I didn't mean to be gone for so long. I'm still here. Still vegan. Still learning.

Learn and Celebrate with the Bite Size Vegan at the Central Florida VegFest

2014-10-23T10:08:00.003-04:00

What a great time to be in Florida! Yeah... Not only has the weather been gorgeous but in just a few days on Saturday Oct. 25th I'll be attending the 9th Annual Central Florida VegFest. As in every year I have attended there will be lots of incredible booths filled with goodies, useful vegan information, delicious food and outstanding speakers.

I am thrilled that this year's speakers will include Emily Moran Barwick who is the sharp mind behind Bite Size Vegan. Her 3:00 PM talk will be on Veganizing Via Video: Effective Digital Activism & The Bite Size Vegan Story.

In this day in age people connect the most through digital means and social media. We are a visual culture with a waning attention span and it's important that those working to spread the message of veganism find ways to educate within this paradigm. Emily will share with you her personal journey with video activism, including her inconvenient tech-phobia and missteps, as well as speak to the key components of developing your own digital activism. She will also share some of the Bite Size Vegan videos and save time for questions.

Emily says "my hope is to help people really look at our reasoning behind what we do to animals; to examine our justifications more deeply than 'that’s the way it’s always been'.

I'm taking notes! ;)

In the meantime if you can't attend this fabulous VegFest celebration --- Check out her awesome videos that pack so much useful information in an easy to swallow little nugget... Below are two of my favorites - The first is from the Vegan Ethics and Morality Playlist:

And this 3 minute gem is jam-packed with cleverness, talent and truth!

For me hearing Emily speak in person will be the highlight of this VegFest... I'm certain her humor, enthusiasm and well-reasoned communication will make its due impact here in Florida... I know her high energy is just the jump start I need!

Thank you Bite Size Vegan for all you do and for coming down to the Sunshine State! :D

Observing Oblivion in the Real World

2014-10-02T11:07:00.000-04:00

I can't think of an activist who isn't familiar with overload, burnout, compassion fatigue and despair. And as pattrice jones writes in Aftershock these are matters not to be ignored. We're supposed to do what heals us so we can fight another day. And so that's what I've been doing for a whole summer's worth of days. I took an unplanned sabbatical that began with the routine opening of my email to click through the roll-call of victims. As had happened everyday for years, the sorrow for them was the first thing I put on in the morning. But this particular morning something inside me pleaded for a reprieve from the stories of abused cows, tortured pigs, slaughtered whales, imprisoned bears, and horribly treated birds. These stories piled on top of another so much that it began to smother me... I had forgotten what made me happy. What made me have hope... I could be of no use to myself or any cause in such a state... And so that's how my long disappearance from the web began.

I have much catching up to do not only on my own blog but others as well. I appreciate the efforts some have made in contacting me to ask "is everything ok?". In the near future I intend to answer those queries either personally or here - If anyone is reading still. (?)

For just this day as an ice-breaker, I want to recap an observation I made while embarking on this self-prescribed hiatus from the virtual world. Because so much of my activism was on-line I had to remember (if possible), how to communicate with this "real world". No - Better still, I had to discover what was "real" in the world and what was real in me.

Through blog posts, stories, campaigns, petitions, memes and so on, the virtual world is the headquarters for animal related information. And so this cyber-world set the tone of my mood everyday for years... For me the question became what is the "real world"? Could I still "fit in"? Could I "pass" as someone unaware and/or uncaring? What is it they do that gets them by? These are the people I'm supposed to influence and persuade... But I had forgotten who they are in the "real world". Forgive me for the use of the generic pronouns "they" and "them" as I have no choice because of the divide from what I've come to know as "us" or "we", or "me" who are cognizant and concerned.

And so I refrained from the news of the massacre. I thought for sure this was a good way to re-experience the "real world". Their "RW".

I initially set out for a two week experiment that turned into a months long examination. I changed my routines so I'd have a chance to interact more with the neighbors I knew and those I'd yet to meet. I deliberately began my day "untainted" by animal troubles and the tolls in the "virtual world".

Conversations of weather and flowers became the norm. It was just small talk that I didn't and wouldn't search for opportunities to interject one of the three pillars of veganism into. There were no stories of health improvements due to a vegetable diet... No remarks about how the environment could improve by eating animal-free, and certainly no stories of the millions of lives taken during our short conversations... Just pleasantries. Just their "real world".

This is what I saw in my 100+ days of the "RW": They walk about isolated and blissful. All forms of nonhuman exploitation is totally devoid from their sphere of knowing. I never brought up the subject of the unseen blood-baths and neither did they. Not once. Ever. Even those who knew me... Those who I had prior conversations with - Neither "friends", family or strangers ever brought up the topic of the animal slaves and murders. Never once.
Yet the leather shoes are real. The toiletries and chemicals tested on animals are real. The cellophane-wrapped blood-products are real. So where was the evidence of all these real victims in the "real" world? Invisible. That's the "magic" of the RW. The fast food jingles reinforce the ruse. The bombardments of ads and commercialization let them hide from who was bound, stabbed, blinded, used-and-done for these consumables.

I didn't really need four months to figure this out... But I'll admit the allure of their inside-out, up-side-down "RW" is intoxicating. The fantasy of forgetting. Or not knowing -at all, is hypnotic. It's a privilege of pretense we are all born into. It's where silence is an armor and blindness a gift. As schemed, I never shattered their illusions. I thought for certain something, some incident, some truth would slip out on it's own. But it never did. Not once.

And so everything in their RW was exactly as I remembered from years ago: Sheltered and in dumb denial, this works great for them. The unspoken pact to remain quiet keeps everyone content. It's the perfect tonic of not knowing. If you want to escape the facts that millions of our fellow beings are trapped, seized, raped, caged, shot, and eviscerated everyday, every second - Then the "real world" offers that script! :/

This different RW perspective taught me many things, at least how to bite my lip and still smile... But more importantly it's convinced me that if not "me", "we" and "us" to tell "them" of what's missing - Of what's been corrupted --- Then who? And when?

I did a lot of thinking in the last few months... I untangled lots of knots and took mental notes of the process. I'm eager to escape back to the "virtual-world" to tell of them.

Oblivion

Dr. Steve Best on Animal Liberation - It's Not (just) About Kindness... It's About Justice

2014-07-17T22:07:00.000-04:00

Essays - Vegetarianism, Environmentalism, Animal Rights

A Snap-Shot of the Cruelest Food in the World... Say Cheese!

2014-06-10T22:33:00.000-04:00

I am born of French descent. I was raised with the daily taste of countless varieties of "formage". Hardly a meal was had without a slice, a wedge or chunk. My first job was at Hickory Farms where I sampled dozens of "gourmet" cheeses from around the globe... But this is why it's all repulsive to me now... This is why it's so very easy to say NO! to dairy:

Honestly... If I can do it - Anyone can! Ditch dairy. Find your ethical core. Live kindly. Go vegan.

Rejoice In Closing The Last Slaughterhouse!

2014-06-02T09:11:00.001-04:00

This vastly improved headline comes from a story listed here.

Let the brutal act of killing the last pig, cow or chicken be relegated to the dust bins of a perverted, ugly history. You can help close all the slaughterhouses down by opting to be vegan.

"In all the round world of utopia there is no meat. There used to be. But now we cannot stand the thought of slaughterhouses. And in a population that is all educated and at about the same level of physical refinement, it is practically impossible to find anyone who will hew a dead ox or pig. We never settled the hygienic aspect of meat-eating at all. This other aspect decided us. I can still remember as a boy the rejoicings over the closing of the last slaughterhouse." ~H.G. Wells

The last slaughterhouse/battle field has closed. Now we can all have peace.

PETA - The Wacky Relative That Sometimes Gets It Right

2014-05-19T09:39:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned here almost two years ago I don't often post much from the PETA camp... But I could find nothing in what Ms. Kirk has to say in this video that I disagree with. Can you?

If you do disagree and believe that violence towards nonhumans is acceptable... Please re-examine why you think that. Please question your premises with a critical eye. Please put yourself in the place of that other animal in order to come to a better conclusion. If you refuse to do so... You are a danger to us all.

As often as Herman had witnessed the slaughter of animals and fish, he always had the same thought: in their behavior toward creatures, all men were Nazis. The smugness with which man could do with other species as he pleased exemplified the most extreme racist theories, the principle that might is right.
Isaac Bashevis Singer, Enemies: A Love Story

*Thanks to VeganElder for the title inspiration

Catskill Animal Sanctuary - On Mothers, Cows and Milk

2014-05-11T18:51:00.000-04:00

Chickens, Tornado-Trophies and Other Twisted Ironies

2014-05-02T10:20:00.001-04:00

This sea of white feathers and dead bodies is a scene from the devastation left by recent tornadoes in Mississippi. The article headline says "scores" of chickens were killed. Then it continues that out of more than 220,000 birds "few remain alive". I'm not going to nit-pick this little inconsistency - But it's there. And this isn't the only "poultry" facility that's been destroyed. Tyson owns around 1,500 such warehouses in Miss. alone.

According to Meatingplace Tyson Foods has deployed cook teams to help feed the relief workers left to clean up the debris and corpses. The irony here of course is being surrounded by carcasses and eating them at the same time. It would be so helpful if Tyson served vegan meals instead. But you know that's not going to happen...

I landed on this other image at Weather.com as I was checking to make sure folks I love in the mid-west were okay... They were and are - Thankfully. But this scene struck me on so many levels... There's an irony to a trophy deer head that survives a twister, but whose body was ravaged by a single shot... There's also something perverse in wanting to save such an item that represents such loss. Loss from the sad killing and loss from the vicious storm.

I also think what it must be like for countless nonhumans everyday whose habitat and homes are devastated by bulldozers and other razing machinery... And those who dodge bullets and live in fear of the human-made destruction. Surely we have made a wicked world for them. :/

Now all this is not to say that I don't have profound sympathy for human loss as well. Every which way it's tragic and that's just my point. With all that is unfair in life; With all that is unkind and violent in nature... Do we have to add to it?

You can do so much to reduce and avoid the twisted harms in life by simply living as an ethical vegan. Thanks and safety to those who are living in such a way.

Did You Trick Your Meat To Death? Fear Not! Go Vegan Instead!

2014-04-24T03:32:00.001-04:00

I'm sorry gentle readers... But as luck would have it there's yet another post that includes the opinions of the meat industry's darling - Ms. Temple Grandin.

The crux of the matter is that consumers are afraid that the animal-targets are afraid! Consumers want to be assured that the deed is done without the animal's knowledge or fear. Wouldn't want any bad juju in that burger right?

I guess it all comes down to how cunningly you set the stage for the murder... No rattling chains or slippery floors to panic the poor unsuspecting victims. No doubt these folks are masters of trickery and foolery. But you dear meat-eater can trust them, so they say!

You know... A good friend of mine lost his sister in a car accident. It was instant. Guess the drunk driver shouldn't have been held accountable as she never knew what hit her... Literally. ***** Just because you can "sneak up" on an another and snuff them without their knowledge doesn't make the act of killing an innocent being any less violent or offensive.

A final thought to ponder... For every "calm" cow or pig that is sacrificed to the throne of human gluttony there are hundreds of hysterically frightened, out of their minds-scared, petrified birds that often die of heart attacks when they are slated for "humane slaughter". Looks like the meat industry isn't going to utter a word about the issues regarding these panicked "chickens".

This is the most reprehensible violation of human(e) decency! Eating flesh is NOT NECESSARY! If you are not vegan yet don't comfort yourself with taking life in a "gentle" manner. All life-theft hurts the one who's life is stolen. Whether they fear that loss or not doesn't change the crime!

Why harm when you don't have to???
Please be courageous in your ethical code. Go Vegan.

Don't Hurt The Pig In The Box!!! Having a Few Laughs With the Pork Industry

2014-04-21T22:19:00.000-04:00

If you care for a laugh... You can watch Ms. T. Grandin demonstrate the many permissible ways to handle pigs when they are being moved about.

You certainly must NOT hurt the pig in the box though!

And you must NEVER drag a "pig, sheep or beef":

Of course the wickedly UNfunny thing is that down that long line of moving pigs, it's perfectly acceptable to mutilate/rape them, electrocute them, hoist them by their legs, slit their throats and disembowel them... That's just peachy in their line of business!

Now my humor may have a bit of a twist to it... But the pig industry thinks their practices are hysterical:

Truth is - They're a vulgar bunch - Aren't they?
Quite a laugh they have at the expense of innocent lives.

Let's not hurt pigs on or in boxes... Let's not harm anyone!
The only permissible way to treat others is found through living an ethical vegan life!

Easter Celebrates Fertility - The Cruelest Fate For Rabbits

2014-04-17T01:52:00.002-04:00

The pagan celebration of Easter is rooted in the fertility and renewal of spring. Tragically this gift of life is the cruelest curse to the rabbits who are a symbol of this holiday.

Gentle readers, if you eat cows, pigs or birds you have absolutely no call to condemn the rabbit industry. But I can and will:

Rabbits suffer from the same hardships every other farm animal suffers from such as: space deprivation, poor ventilation, manipulated lighting, and etc. Consequently they exhibit a range of neurotic behaviors such as fur-plucking, ear-biting and self-mutilation. They become obese, get inflamed feet, have poor bone density, develop gastrointestinal and urinary dysfunction.

Caged rabbits can suffer from ulcerative pododermatitis (also called "sore hocks") consisting of scab-covered ulcers on the hind legs. This is caused by the pressure of heavy body weight on a wire floor, or by excessive stamping of the feet by nervous rabbits.

In some cases the feces underneath the cages are never cleaned out. Prolonged exposure to fumes (particularly ammonia) from urine and feces, irritate the rabbits' eyes and respiratory tracts and predisposes them to disease.

In nature, rabbits’ way of dealing with dangers is by running and hiding in holes. The fact they can’t do it in the cages leaves them panicked with every change in the surrounding. When they are taken out of the cage or someone else is getting in or even to the slightest noise, rabbits often respond with digestive problems, in some cases hurting themselves or their babies, sometimes killing them.

Just to understand how hard the conditions in the rabbits farms are, 1 in 4 rabbits will die due to the intensive conditions before the age of 12 weeks (rabbit’s slaughter age) even though they can reach up to 12 years.

The industry’s way to reproduce more “meat bunnies” is by caging does and bucks (female and male rabbits) in a single cell cage and use them as a breeding stock. In the wild, rabbits form social colonies that usually consists of one to three males and one to five females. Domestic rabbits retain the full range of behaviors of their wild ancestors, so housing rabbits singly in barren cages causes physiological and behavioral problems. Young does are mated for the first time at the age of 16 weeks. Then they start their endless cycle of overlapping impregnation, gestation, birth, and nursing.

A typical litter consists of 8-10 bunnies which are taken away from their mother at 4 weeks of age.

The does are fertile 24 hours after giving birth and being re-mated before each litter is weaned.

Does have an average 'use-life' of about 18 months. During this period, they will produce 8-15 litters. The gestation lasts for 32 days. An average litter reproduces 6-8 successfully fattened rabbits (out of 8-10 born bunnies). The production targets are at least 50 rabbits per doe, per year. Bucks are usually kept until they are three to four years old.

When the breeding does' and bucks' productivity begins to fall, they are sold for low-quality meat production..

You may read the end of these bunnies miserable journey here.

You can remove your participation in the suffering of so many by simply making other choices. Whether it's rabbits, chickens, pigs, cows or any other exploited being... Please do so.

Love Life sticker available at Herbivore Clothing

Vegan Seeds are Plant Positive

2014-04-08T00:31:00.001-04:00

The majority of my online advocacy is spent either on other blogs, forums, Pinterest or Youtube where animals are the topic. I admit I deliberately look for opposing views. When I find suitable opportunity, I gladly volunteer to speak on behalf of the victims. It's what I do.

Although I've been called everything you could imagine, every now and then there's a positive end... Not all confrontations are met with offensive cussing:

Atrociously ugly video of bird "processing" plant

I guess this post is just to illustrate we never know who we're going to influence and in what way. It's also meant as a reminder that there are reasonable people who just need a bit more information to do what they know is right in the first place.

I hope everyone continues to sow seeds in their own unique way. And may our plantings thrive well beyond the last negative, life-stealing, "processing" plant.

Your garden starts here

Zombie Blood Addictions and Individuals Walking Alive

2014-03-31T00:05:00.000-04:00

I have the misfortune of living among many who are addicted to the entertainment of blood, violence and killing, such as fictional stories like the "Walking Dead" series. This juvenile, gore-fest of a show features pigs as food and/or sacrifice.. Then there is the carnage that happens as a matter of business-as-usual - Every Twelve Seconds.

Through this holocaust, whether set in an apocalyptic, pretend-world or right there in a "friendly", neighborhood meat-case, it's healing to know that there's a real man who has different intentions for his contribution to the world. If you haven't read the transforming story of Bob Comis from pig harmer to life-lover, life-giver, you'll do yourself a favor if you do.

The way it once was:

"Humanely raising and slaughtering pigs seems perfectly normal. In order to see the truth, you have to have to look askance, just like a pig does when it knows you are up to no good. When you see out of the corner of your eye, in the blurry periphery of your vision, you see that meat is indeed murder."

"Somehow we need to become the sort of beings who can see what we are doing when we look head on, the sort of beings who don't weave dark, damning shrouds to sustain, with acceptance and celebration, the grossly unethical. Deeper, much deeper, we have an obligation to eat otherwise."

And now it is that Mr. Comis has become the kind of person he aspired to be...
I offer a respectful, public bow and my deepest gratitude.

Why "Cheap Meat" Exists In Less Than Four Minutes...

2014-03-26T01:08:00.002-04:00

Or --- If you only have 2 1/2 minutes:

Dave Simon is the author of Meatonomics. No surprise too that he's also vegan. Here's an interview with him on Animal Voices.

"How can we say we are the most advanced species on earth when we continually choose profits over principles? How can we say we are the most advanced species on earth when we use and abuse animals when alternatives are available?" - Colleen Patrick Goudreau

It's Spring - I'm Turning Over a New Leaf

2014-03-23T21:51:00.000-04:00

I'm turning over a new leaf. Actually, a thousand-million of them (again)...

It's not the tropical image of Florida that sells vacation packages, but many of the palm trees here compete for that sunshine right next to immense and majestic live oaks. This time of year those trees turn a brilliant gold and shed every one of it's leaves... After that, the water oaks follow suit. And then comes what I call tree sperm, but technically they are "catkins". And they're everywhere!

a mix of leaves, catkins, Spanish moss, and spent azalea petals

The many pounds of pollen-rich catkins cling to the shingles on your roof and to the bottoms of your shoes... If you're lucky the March winds will blow some of them away. But most likely you'll have to rake, sweep, hose and bag to be shed of the bulk of them along with the leaves. This is not the casual orchid and hibiscus gardening hobby that I bargained for. It's a thankless job. But I love the shade these oaks provide... And I love the many birds, squirrels and lizards that call these trees home. So no matter how many leaves I'll have to continue to turn... The trees aren't going anywhere.

I suppose that's where I'm going with this post -

I started this blog about six years ago shortly after I re-examined my relationship with my fellow Earthlings. I wanted to share information and ideas. I wanted to document, record and report the atrocities I had been made aware of. I wanted to support and be part of an online community of fellow advocates. But most of all I wanted to have an outlet to express my feelings. My rage. My sorrow. My despair and my hopes... And in those years (and posts) the leaves kept falling.

So many in fact that it's been impossible for me to gather them all. All those thoughts I wanted to give meaning to in the way of selectively chosen words got lost in the drifts of dead things called "drafts". If you're a blogger - I bet you've got a few dozen too... They are in a way, unraked leaves aren't they?
But if you're like me though, some of these thoughts, discoveries and sentiments aren't really "dead" at all - They're still alive enough in your head to prevent you from clicking the final "delete" button.

And so it is that I'm sorting through the good "leaves", the ugly ones, the ones that still make me cry or laugh... Or grimace.

Just like raking though, you wonder where to begin. For me, since my house is on a corner it presents a challenge of marking the start-spot. The front? The side? The other side? The back? I'm tired just deciding! But here's the solution I'm intending regarding the future of this blog as I continue sharing my un-killed thoughts... Rather than struggle with profound, exotic and/or complex posts that include endless links (that most wouldn't follow anyway) I'm opting for quantity rather than exceptional quality. I'll try for both, but mostly what I want to say will be brief and done. And as in the past the mix will be with/without comment... As I post more frequently, I certainly can't expect the few loyal readers I have to dedicate time to acknowledge/approve my daily views.

I'm not trying to convince any vegan that their choice is valid. That point is made countless times by those with much more authority than I. But rather I'd just like to get back to my original intent: To have an outlet to express my feelings. My rage. My sorrow. My despair and my hopes. As I do this with more frequency, I hope I'll tackle the pile of uncomposted leaves that's still in my mind. Perhaps too more of this tactic might reach a nonvegan, and that would be a good thing also.

To close - there are some ways that leaves are not like vegan advocacy: With fallen leaves, more is not usually better. And unlike raking, spreading a compassionate message is never a thankless job.

With all the hopes of a new beginning - Happy Spring!

Through These Vegan Eyes... I See Someone

2014-02-26T00:13:00.001-05:00

From the Science Daily
Note that the photo credit was not error checked. This is a Bearded seaL.

A photo like this is difficult to look at. In just the moments it takes to focus on the all the details and issues, my brain is in a cascade of revelations:

I see someone.

He's cautious... Afraid.

He's been captured.

He's been manhandled.

Weighed and measured.

He's been confined... And isolated.

He's be prodded and documented.

Labeled and numbered.

Used and abused.

...Then put to work. For us. To record patterns of the eco-climate-destruction of our own making. And to be food... For us.

What a job we've given him.

Tasked by us. By force.
Utilized.

Snuffed.

Purposed and consumed.
Discarded and destroyed.

I see someone. Cautious and afraid as he should be.

I see someone who's been used enough and for too long.

This is his home too. And he has a right to live in it. Free.

He needs protection not for us but from us.

For the sake of all others who have had machines strapped to them... Or attached into them - Please make it stop by living an aware and a caring vegan life. It's the just thing to do.

Vegans Avoid Injuring Others

2014-01-31T20:29:00.001-05:00

Recall of Five Species Donkey Meat -

2014-01-02T11:33:00.000-05:00

Happy 2014! Health and Happiness is Wished to All!

Apparently though my best hopes have gone off track rather quickly. I'm afraid to start this new year off with such ridiculous and remorseful news. It confirms the lingering stupidity of carnists, the greed of corporations and the tragic murders of yet more of our fellow creatures.

At first I read this headline as "Wal-Mart recalls "Five-Species" donkey meat in China after tests reveal fox", so I'm going with it.

On behalf of all the donkeys, foxes, fishes and chickens, rabbits, dolphins, ducks, squirrels, cows, pigs, rats and cats, and muskrats, spiders, snakes, loons, and raccoon, horses, oxen, elk, deer, moose and goose, whales and quails and the like... Pretty, Pretty PLEASE! Don't eat any one!

A better wish might be for wisdom and compassion to all. :/

Happy Vegan Holidays - To You!

2013-12-22T00:23:00.001-05:00

All the fur, feathered and scaled creatures think your kindness is the best gift of all!

(To You!)

Benevolance or Greed - Utopia or Oblivion

2013-12-13T09:33:00.001-05:00

I stumbled on this insightful compilation by vegan advocate Raini Pachanko. He calls it Utopia or Oblivion. It's a studious observation of the condition of our planet and urges us to take serious solutions to the problems:

I'm particularly drawn to one line that sums up the root of our disconnect from other species. "It's baffling that we are following rules that were written while we thought the world was flat." I see this time and again that followers of one religion or another all justify their habits and actions in the name of deity worship. Faith-based dogma that perpetuates the notion that animals are here "for" us and not "with" us, allows for the most ugly practices.

Eidul'adha

Kaporas

From ancient superstitions to those judgments made in the Supreme Court the voices of reason that rejects harming others no matter what the guise, are dwarfed among those gorging on the blood and drowning in the ignorance of it.

And if anyone wants to claim that today we operate under different standards, well... They are just fooling nobody. It's all superstitious rationalizations for stealing defenseless lives.

The Price of Cheap Meat

We sacrifice babies to steal milk and to eat eggs. We sacrifice some piglets to eat others. We sacrifice wolves, coyotes, other wildlife and domestic dogs to eat lambs and cows. We sacrifice our oceans to feed livestock. And we sacrifice humans to eat meat. Greed and gluttony is our modern gOd. Insatiable consumption is our arrogant prayer.

It's repulsive. It's depraved. And any honest person secular or not, can see it's evil.

269LIFE.COM

In this mix we also sacrifice any chance we ever had at being worthy of self-respect, dignity or honor. Let alone "mercy" from any gOd of a flat or spherical world.

“Why should man expect his prayer for mercy to be heard by What is above him when he shows no mercy to what is under him?”~ Pierre Troubetzkoy

Soon nothing will forgive us. Not the land. Not the air. Not the seas or the soil. Certainly not our fellow Earthlings. For what we do to others we do to ourselves. And may God help us for our Curse of Ignorance.

If you are living an ethical life I know you are as disgusted as I am with the worship of blood, money and human "privilege". Either you live ethically or "entitled". Vegans understand you can't do both.

Make Peace - Go Vegan

Compassion Is The Only Way To A Happy ThanksLiving Day

2013-11-28T09:29:00.000-05:00

With gratitude to all those who live compassionately. <3

Thanksgiving - Nothing Tastes As Good As Life Feels

2013-11-27T21:32:00.002-05:00

Okay all you bird cooking, turkey munching fans - Looks like today's your big day! The pressure's all on YOU, especially the chef/cook extraordinaire!

Here's assuming you've either found your thawed "fresh" bird (which could incidentally be up to 2 years "fresh"), or that you've dedicated a shelf in your refrigerator for a week or so, in order to defrost the carcass... You've made a meat locker of sorts in your fridge haven't you? Oh how cozy and inviting that must have felt when you went to grab your grapes or mustard. :/

Next we know you've absolutely got your recipe down on what ingredients you're going to stuff into the anal cavity to bake your special ass-bread. And make sure too that you pat that corpse down with all the right plant based seasoning, spices, flavorings and herbs... Wouldn't want a plain-old bland tasting bird - now would you?

Make sure you've sufficiently slaved over the hot oven, basting often with that stolen dairy butter. Burning one's own flesh on the rack or roasting pan is appropriate as well. The point is that this MUST be the meal a lifetime! It MUST be worth every single step of work, agony, and pain. For that's what it cost someone else.

Indeed, this meal MUST be so good that the stolen life MUST be removed from the consciousness of the diners. And what a relief that you didn't have to pay the hit-man directly! The unseen, invisible life-snuffer won't whisper a word about your pact. We'll have no momentary regrets or memories of the knife that slit the bird's neck. No snippet of thought that his/her entire life was pure misery. No... This is how deliciously decadent and juicy your turkey MUST be. It MUST be better than life - for that's what it cost. Someone's life.

You mustn't fail in any of these steps... The bird MUST be cooked to perfection. The aroma MUST bring the house down with groans of anticipation. It MUST be a visual Norman Rockwell portrayal of wholesomeness and down-home goodness. It MUST deliver and impart an atmosphere of sheer contentment and peace. 'Cause that's what the holiday is all about right? Being thankful for peace? But... But isn't that going to be very, very hard to pull off, even with your perfectly roasted and beautifully trimmed, murdered centerpiece? We sure hope no one remembers the violence it took to get this MUST-have, perfect meal going...

No. You're just going to have to do your best to cook and host the most delightful, worry-free, fantasy-meal of a lifetime. Because that's what it cost someone else. It cost them everything. It cost them their life. You MUST bring this bird's whole life existence and ending to culminate in an equal value or more of what it cost. If not, it's a sacrifice. It's a sham. A fraud. A waste. And a pity.

You MUST make this meal - Better than life itself: You MUST do the impossible!

No pressure now. Eat heartily... And watch for those small, sharp bones.

A Tradition Of Compassion - A Vegan Heritage

2013-11-24T22:24:00.001-05:00

There's this tradition:

Heritage Turkey Processing

Or you can make a new ones:

In Thanksgiving For the Birds, Colleen Patrick-Goudreau eloquently debunks the myths around the "traditional" foods surrounding Thanksgiving.

"Most people don't know that our contemporary customs at Thanksgiving, namely the serving of turkeys, were shaped and popularized by a magazine editor, Sarah Josepha Hale, in the mid-1800s. Whatever meaning we attribute to this Thanksgiving holiday is most certainly not lost (in fact, it is enhanced) by creating food-based rituals that affirm rather than take life, that demonstrate compassion and empathy rather than selfishness and gluttony, that celebrate the fact that no one need be sacrificed in order that we should eat."

And in Talking Turkey she speaks truth to power: "If you've never met them, turkeys are magnificent animals, full of spunk and spark and affection. I've introduced many people to the critters at farmed animal sanctuaries, and the animals with whom people have the most transformative experience are the turkeys. Every time. Never fails. Join me as I tell some stories of special turkeys I've had the privilege of meeting and as I explain why I'm still making amends to the animals, whose breasts, legs, and wings used to darken my dinner plate."

*****

“A farmer gave his son a hatchet and a turkey saying, "Take this bird out behind the barn where no one can see you and kill him.” Being an obedient son, the boy vanished behind the barn only to return several minutes later with the still very much alive turkey. “What is the matter?” asked the farmer. “Did you not understand my instructions?” The son looked his father in the eye and said, “But Father, everywhere I went the turkey could see me!” The son in this story has made the shift in awareness that we feel the people of this world need to understand. Just because a sentient being cannot talk does not mean they don’t have a point of view on whether they live or die.”

Seth Tibbott

President and Founder

Turtle Island Foods and Tofurky

You can read about Seth Tibbott, who has literally saved the lives of millions of birds, here, here, and here.

photo courtesy Leilani Münter for The Ghost In Our Machine

Thanks to all who have made compassion

part of the vegan heritage. :)

A Disturbed Turkey Party

2013-11-18T10:13:00.000-05:00

The captured image below is from a video titled The Turkey Party. The creator of this video also hosted the beheading of this bird by a very young, inexperienced executioner. No need to watch the gore... Suffice it to say that the crowd of guests got to witness this creature endure a series of brutal, inaccurate swings.

People excuse the habit of eating animals by saying that the victim doesn’t know, doesn’t feel, doesn’t care, is complicit, or isn’t even there. This one turkey certainly knew. Felt fear. Was terrorized. Resisted. And was definitely present in all of his desperate being until his exhausted end.

*****

And just like this video and the people who made killing a festive event, centuries ago people won lotteries for the opportunity to witness these acts of slaughter and relished seeing the final moments of expiring life.

Entertainment for the mob

And just like this video too, these public and legal murders weren't without their incidents of ineptness either:

In Britain, beheadings were carried out by the “common hangman”, who had very little practice or experience, which often led to unfortunate consequences. These axemen would often show up in a drunken state, no doubt to numb themselves from the task at hand. And just like the Turkey-Party-butchers the positions of headsman were often passed down from father to son.

In 1587 it took four blows to remove Mary Queen of Scot's head.

Robert Devereux Earl of Essex was executed at the Tower of London in 1601. Over 100 people witnessed the execution - three strokes of the axe were needed to sever his head.

Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury was dragged to the scaffold but refused to lay her head on the block. She struggled and was forced down. The inexperienced executioner made a gash in her shoulder rather than her neck. She leapt from the block and was chased by the executioner, with his axe in full swing. She was struck eleven times before she died. There were 150 witnesses to her execution.

The Execution of Lady Jane Grey (1834) Paul Delaroche

Anne Boleyn, Queen of England was terrified at the prospect of being beheaded by an axe. She was therefore granted some clemency and a swordsman was called from France to undertake the execution.

Queen Catherine Howard, pleaded with her husband King Henry VIII to supply her executioner with a block so that he could practice her execution.

In 1890 Anna Månsdotter of Sweden was executed. In her case, the blade of the axe passed through her lower jaw which was left attached to her neck afterwards.

The Execution of Sir Walter Raleigh by Severino Baraldi

The victims would pay the headsman large sums in hopes that he'd complete his job with swift precision. The victim was also expected to forgive the executioner.

"Please don't hurt me. I don't want to die!"

I realize that even today in the most primitive cultures such depraved violations of life and the sanctity of one's body still occur to humans, and most of us recognize it as barbaric and unjust. But these executions take place in "turkey parties" in hundreds of slaughterhouses every second. Likewise, the crowds huddle around the meat cases and tell the same lies, that the victims didn’t know, didn’t feel, didn’t care, didn't resist, or are made invisible. These deceptions let mobs make self-serving exceptions that trivialize butchery, under the guise-of-a-leap of "humane" faith.

"Anyone who says that life matters less to animals than it does to us has not held in his hands an animal fighting for its life. The whole of the being of the animal is thrown into that fight, without reserve."
(Elizabeth Costello, in J. M. Coetzee's book The Lives of Animals)

If you intend to have one of these sacrificed turkeys as a holiday celebration - Please don't fool yourself that this being didn't have a violent and painful death. Or that they didn't struggle and plead for their lives. No one consents to be killed. And we know their life was full of misery as well.

This is just one suggestion in thousands of options that will allow you to avoid the un-festive consequences of botched slaughters and the gloom that comes with all killing. On holidays and always, please consider kind, abundant, life-affirming vegan options instead. Thank you.

United Poultry Concerns

sources:

Execution by beheading

Executions at the Tower of London