gdp's Comments

And the Plot Thickens... : Eating Animals – Jonathan Safran Foer

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 13:56:07 +0000

I think this book is very important because it does invite the reader to question many pre-conceived opinions about foods they take for granted. For me, one of the first questions was to ask myself what I considered "humane." It turns out "humane" doesn't quite mean what I thought... "Humane" means to be concerned with the alleviation of suffering. But when they are delivered for slaughter they are healthy, not in aging pain, nor are they diseased or damaged. They are in every way, young and fit for life... So I thought really, there is no pain to alleviate. "Humane" just isn't the accurate word to describe taking an innocent life for the flesh. It gets much more complicated when we consider that there really is no "need" to eat animals. As we are discovering there are many more healthier alternatives. So the want of their flesh then is reduced to the "pleasure" of eating it... So can that really be "humane" either? Your inquiry about how these things could have been kept hidden for so long... Well, I think the truth is that most people just don't want to know - Or rather they don't want to "know" in a conscious sense where they might have to act upon their values. It's a deeply ingrained habit that starts with our earliest indoctrinations. I'd highly recommend reading The World Peace Diet by Will Tuttle and Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows by Melaine Joy for a closer look at the ways and whys of why we do. Finally, I agree that Australia might have better conditions for more animals raised as "food" - But then there is the horrible way that so many sheep and goats are transported to the middle east that almost negates all that "humane" treatment that a country might want to claim it gives to their animals. It really is a very cruel practice. And once the animals reach their destination they are killed in merciless ways. Just search "live sheep exports" on youtube and you'll see what I mean. I'm glad I read this book, it reaffirmed what I already had hunches about... I can live fine on a plant strong diet and need not worry about the external costs to sentient life. Thanks for inviting comment. :)

Daily Camera.com: : Local rabbitry producing rabbits for restaurants and home cooks - Boulder Daily Camera

Sun, 27 Feb 2011 12:22:00 +0000

Your specific questions: "So what is wrong with marrying off 12 year old girls to geriatric men, exactly?" Well, the fact that the girls would have no freedom of choice... They would be "slaves". I "... who are we to say that is wrong or right?" Well than I guess you would have no problem with war, violence or anyone's enslavement or exploitation. Seems to you the power that has the might or numbers is the ruling factor of ethics. You know there are cultures of "gangs" and "bullies" that roam the streets and neighborhoods --- Guess you'd say this is perfectly fine as it's their "culture". No? Doesn't work when you're the victim? That's odd. "Take a starving person, drop them in that rabbitry with a knife and you've done a very kind thing, from most cultural perspectives. Maybe just not yours?" Seriously... Are we talking about "starving people"? Or are we talking about new "cuisine", "food trends", "gourmand" chefs and white table cloths? Starving people would be quite grateful for the food that the rabbits (and other "food animals") are fattened on. Quite grateful indeed.

Daily Camera.com: : Local rabbitry producing rabbits for restaurants and home cooks - Boulder Daily Camera

Sun, 27 Feb 2011 12:11:14 +0000

I don't know how you perceived "more empathy" for a rabbit than a child(?) Honestly, if children were being bred, confined and killed for "fun" on an industrial scale, with the whole world thinking this practice was just "grand!" --- I'd be right there protesting that wrong just as loudly. You see in my (chosen) world there would be no victims at all. Zero would be acceptable. Yours however has many little footnotes and many little (and not so little) exceptions to that rule. Your kindness however, is meted out in fractions, degrees, circumstances and excuses for denying it. Actually wildflowerseed your world looks very much the same as the one we have now... Only viewed through rose-colored glasses. Promoting a whole new "product" of "local" bunny flesh does not engage people in the rights of others to simply live. Instead it is much more likely to further entrench folks into the nasty habits their already in. The best place to advocate for a different world for people and animals is to do so on your plate and encourage others to do the same. Not just "switch out" which victim to eat next.

Daily Camera.com: : Local rabbitry producing rabbits for restaurants and home cooks - Boulder Daily Camera

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 17:26:47 +0000

Sorry to hear of your son's illness - Glad he recovered. But I still stand by my assessment that there is nothing "kind" in killing innocent life. And nothing "respectful" in forcing life to die. I consider all using and taking of life as abuse. I suppose that's because I view it with empathetic eyes - I see/feel what the life that so wants to live must be experiencing. No one wants to die... This is the common thread we all share and the one that I wish to value as a guide to living the Golden Rule. And besides in some sort of abstract sense it almost seems more unkind to take a life that is content and good... Perhaps it is best if you MUST eat animals - To deliver them from the hell-hole, warehouses they suffer in? Maybe a happy life ought to be left to continue? And "mercy" ought to be given to the factory farmed ones? As you see my point is... Take a happy life or a miserable one - Both are equally cruel.

Daily Camera.com: : Local rabbitry producing rabbits for restaurants and home cooks - Boulder Daily Camera

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 14:28:19 +0000

I've not eaten flesh in more than 8 years... I think I've had "tofu" 3 times since - You're way off base in assuming what plant based foods vegans consume. ;)

Daily Camera.com: : Local rabbitry producing rabbits for restaurants and home cooks - Boulder Daily Camera

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 14:27:03 +0000

I don't understand how citing archaic practices that took place 200 years ago has any relevancy here. Not at all. Nor does it make sense to base our acts on what the Inuits or bushmen do... There are cultures that marry off 12 year old girls to geriatric men... Would you use this example for doing the same here in our Western "civilized" society? No. So why do the same in regards to our treatment of nonhumans? I think it is way past time to evolve away from seeing animals as "resources." With all we know now about their sentience and similarities to "us" - It's high time that we acknowledge and act on this information. There is no difference in "local small farmers" or Smithfied/Tyson/Cargill - The principle is all the same - just on a larger scale. All of you claim great "care" for the animals you butcher. They are high-fa-luting placebos meant to cloud the basic issues... These animals are held victim to frivolous wants - We do not "need" to kill them and consume their carcasses. It's just not necessary and can't be justified no matter how "nicely" the deed is done. Sorry, I do not respect your decision to kill innocent animals without cause. It violates everything I know to be rational and kind.

Daily Camera.com: : Local rabbitry producing rabbits for restaurants and home cooks - Boulder Daily Camera

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 05:12:33 +0000

So sorry to sound "preachy" but there are innocent victims here caught in the thrill of your "feel goodness". Since you had your say... Here's mine: There's never "beauty" in death or killing. And the legal "might" to take these lives might exist... But you stand very far from the moral "right" to do so. Finally the idea of equating animal "loving" to meat eating is absurd. You love the mythical idea that your somehow "kind" and thoughtful in your frivolous want of another's flesh. Not buying it. Oh... And in case you ask - I live in Florida and grow most of my own food too (year round) - However, I have several vegan friends in extreme northern states who do not live on "processed" vegetarian foods. It's a simple matter of thinking ahead - Just like how the local "foodies" did 2 centuries ago... Only with a wider variety to "squirrel away" for the winter months. Did you ever hear of a pantry full of beans and a freezer full of veggies? It's not hard to think ahead when you realize the consequences of not doing so. Sleep well dreaming of wringing bunnies necks "wildflowerseed".

http://countercurrents.org/ : I Have Never Seen The Sun And I Never Will By Mary Hamer

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 00:12:26 +0000

Thank you for writing this compelling piece! What is necessary to do in the processing of dairy products is kept safely hidden from most consumers. Most decent people would never opt for "veal".... But unwittingly devour milk, ice cream and butter, all without an understanding of the connections to the cruelties inflicted on baby calves. Sadly, we should all know better - Nature has a perfect design in providing puppies with dog's milk, calves with cow's milk, and human babies human milk. What an abomination of horrors we cause when we exploit this most natural system. Poor suffering calves and cows of the dairy industry... Too many alternatives to ever justify "using" the innocent in such a way! Please opt for a compassionate plant based diet.

CSMonitor: Commentary : Recalls of eggs and meat: Will you change your shopping and eating habits? - CSMonitor.com

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 10:27:36 +0000

The meat industry spends hundreds of millions of dollars lying to the public about their product. But no amount of false propaganda can sanitize meat. The facts are absolutely clear: Eating meat is bad for human health, catastrophic for the environment, and a living nightmare for animals. Want to create a better world? Eat like you mean it - Go Vegan http://www.nonviolenceunited.org/veganvideo.html

NBC-WKTV News Channel 2 - News, Weather, Sports - Utica, New York Utica, New York : Cows take a tour through Remsen after escaping dairy farm | NBC-WKTV News Channel 2 - Utica News, We

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 22:39:57 +0000

Actually, "humane" means to have a desire to alleviate suffering. No conditions as to whether the suffering is experienced by One on 2 legs or 4. The only thing that is absolutely "equal" with humans and nonhumans is that we all desire to live. We all value our lives equally. The cat, frog, man and cow all stand together with the desire to avoid pain and to avoid harm/death. But if you're basing your empathy or "respect for rights" on the ability to be rational... What say I use a brain-dead person for organ harvesting? They aren't "aware" or "rational". What about an infant? A pig, a dog, a lamb, a chicken are all more "rational" than a human baby too. If that is your standard - you see the error - Yes? No one is saying that leaving animals alone makes man "subservient" to nonhumans. We are not talking about a life-boat situation. No one here in the *civilized* world's LIFE depends on killing/ eating animals. No one who chooses plant based nutrition over flesh is elevating animals to any degree whatsoever. If anything indeed we would do our own species a great service to evolve from the caves and the claws... We're not going to let our dentures dictate our morals now are we?

NBC-WKTV News Channel 2 - News, Weather, Sports - Utica, New York Utica, New York : Cows take a tour through Remsen after escaping dairy farm | NBC-WKTV News Channel 2 - Utica News, We

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 22:24:45 +0000

It's your heart (attack).

NBC-WKTV News Channel 2 - News, Weather, Sports - Utica, New York Utica, New York : Cows take a tour through Remsen after escaping dairy farm | NBC-WKTV News Channel 2 - Utica News, We

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 19:21:45 +0000

Actually 65% of all the grain and crops grown are reserved for "fattening" animals before they fatten humans. If you are sincerely concerned with the plants... Or the animals - You'd still choose to get the nourishment from plants directly... To cause the least amount of harm - and feed more people. It is a meat based diet that is depriving about 1 billion people of grain and resources in order to live. The food that is fed to cows, pigs and chickens could feed humans instead - so it is a meat based diet that is contributes to the genocide of humans... About 1 person every 8 second dies of starvation... Meanwhile in the Western world we gorge on tasty sausages and "cheap" burgers. So who bares the shame?

NBC-WKTV News Channel 2 - News, Weather, Sports - Utica, New York Utica, New York : Cows take a tour through Remsen after escaping dairy farm | NBC-WKTV News Channel 2 - Utica News, We

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 18:15:11 +0000

I am absolutely serious - It takes little to no time to have empathy. Sorry, at 57 years old I still can't help doing what I was taught to do as a child and that is to have compassion for those who cannot speak for themselves. It costs absolutely nothing to be kind when you can. But if you're really curious about the real life of a "dairy cow": search "The Dark Side of Dairy".

NBC-WKTV News Channel 2 - News, Weather, Sports - Utica, New York Utica, New York : Cows take a tour through Remsen after escaping dairy farm | NBC-WKTV News Channel 2 - Utica News, We

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 18:13:46 +0000

Well Coolin it was YOU who first mentioned "happy cows". You obviously have some kind of pre-conceived notion or a desire to believe a certain way about "cow feelings" or you wouldn't be so desperate to believe what "tv" has told you. If you'd like to know truth you can go to humanemyth.org or any of hundreds of youtube videos OR some recent investigations like the one in Vermont where a group of workers were found beating up and dismembering day old calves while they were still conscious.... Or the recent dairy investigation in Ohio done by "Mercy for Animals" where it was shown on video the milking cows being stabbed with pitch forks, punched in the face and in the udders.... You didn't see that? It was on national news a few months ago. Really, it's all around - All you need to do is have an open mind to discover reality.

NBC-WKTV News Channel 2 - News, Weather, Sports - Utica, New York Utica, New York : Cows take a tour through Remsen after escaping dairy farm | NBC-WKTV News Channel 2 - Utica News, We

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 17:35:55 +0000

And you believe this because they told you so? Research a bit and you may discover differently.

NBC-WKTV News Channel 2 - News, Weather, Sports - Utica, New York Utica, New York : Cows take a tour through Remsen after escaping dairy farm | NBC-WKTV News Channel 2 - Utica News, We

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 17:29:27 +0000

Ahhh... But for how long are the cows "safe" from the threat of the unweaned adult human predators?

NBC-WKTV News Channel 2 - News, Weather, Sports - Utica, New York Utica, New York : Cows take a tour through Remsen after escaping dairy farm | NBC-WKTV News Channel 2 - Utica News, We

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 03:56:33 +0000

I agree arcane6155 - It's not only becoming "dinner" - but it's also the artificial insemination. The confinement. The constant pregnancies - only to have your newborns stolen from you. It's the milk "machines' - The heat. The loss. The boredom. The life of a "happy cow" at the dairy before she becomes the "happy cow" at the slaughterhouse. Go Vegan. ;)