Showing posts with label farm animals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label farm animals. Show all posts

Monday, July 16, 2012

The Fight Against Animal Cruelty Starts at the Industrial Farm

If you were a farm animal, which of the following fates would you prefer:

(a) an athletic life full of attentive care by humans, and fine
veterinary care, punctuated by involvement in athletic events that
carry a small chance of violent, spectacular death … or

(b) a monotonous existence within an industrial animal-fattening
facility, pumped full of drugs, and penned in claustrophobically with
other creatures destined to become bacon strips, chicken nuggets or
dog food — brought to an end, inevitably and anonymously, by the
assembly-line killing machines of a commercial abattoir.
...
The Stampede comes once a year. But decisions about what to eat come
several times per day. If you’re serious about being kind to animals,
you can begin with your next meal.

--
full story:
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/07/15/jonathan-kay-the-fight-against-animal-cruelty-starts-at-the-industrial-farm-not-at-the-stampede/

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Advocates Educating about University Meat Problem!

By David Cantor


In many states, from Florida to Hawai’i to New York,
Responsible Policies for Animals members and other advocates
for animal rights and plants-only eating are using special
RPA fliers to inform land-grant university (LGU) supporters
of the need to get those massive, popular institutions out of
the meat industry – including dairy, fish, eggs, and feed.
It’s easy, fun, and inexpensive to use RPA’s LGU fliers! –
and crucial for ending increasingly inhumane treatment of animals
and the worsening human and environmental destruction linked to
meat.
Based on sports and social life more than education– which
LGU meat programs corrupt by teaching that using animals can
be humane, that humans naturally eat from animals, and other
false tenets of carnism – LGU alumni, students, parents, and
others promote LGUs with their automobiles.
Anyone who wants a supply of RPA’s LGU fliers for LGU
automobiles lets RPA know -- at RPA4all@aol.com, 215-886-7721,
or P.O. Box 891, Glenside, PA 19038, USA.
RPA quickly sends colorful & convenient fliers tailored to each
advocate’s state – headed, for example, “Get Cornell University
on the Good Food Track!” (New York). The fliers explain the
LGU meat problem and provide names and addresses so LGU
supporters can write to the LGU and the governor.
RPA e-mails advocates their LGU's car-accessories Webpage
URL. That makes it easier to spot LGU cars. Advocates then
spot cars with their LGU’s decals, magnets, license-plate frames,
and more – and place fliers on their windshields. Advocates
may also politely approach people wearing LGU garb and ask
them to accept a flier. Once they start looking, advocates find
an amazing number of LGU-promoting autos.
Advocates may request new supplies of fliers at any time and
share them with friends to help spread the word.
America’s LGUs are the single biggest problem for nonhuman
animals, humans, and ecosystems due to their college-of-
agriculture meat-industry programs, misleadingly called
“animal science.” Meat is not agriculture, and raising animals
for food prevents production of the foods people need.
Institutions – not facts about animal abuse, human health, and
ecosystem disruption – are the most powerful factor in whether
people eat from animals. And our LGUs are the most powerful
institutions ensuring that people keep to the extremely
inhumane, health-destroying, ecologically devastating
standard American diet, known to experts as "SAD."
It is not assumed that many LGU promoters will jump at
the chance to fix their LGU’s meat problem. But they must
know they are responsible for harm being done by the
institution they promote and that their LGU is a big reason
for the destructive diet they and their families consume.
And some are sure to discuss the fliers with others,
including at the LGU they love. They must question their
LGU’s meat problem – in almost all cases complete with
slaughterhouse and sales of meat, ice cream, cheese, and
other “animal science” atrocities on campus.
Additional ways to participate in RPA’s groundbreaking
10,000 Years Is Enough campaign to get our LGUs out of
the meat industry:
Write to the main land-grant universities of all 50 states
and the governors of all 50 states – lists at Campaigns page
of _www.RPAforAll.org_ (http://www.RPAforAll.org
) or by request at
_RPA4all@aol.com_ (mailto:RPA4all@aol.com
,
215-886-7721, or P.O. Box 891, Glenside, PA 19038, USA.
Write to your elected representative and senator in your
state legislature and your elected U.S. representative and
senator. RPA is glad to assist you in obtaining contact
information. It is also available at state and U.S. legislature
websites.
Send RPA any replies to your letters – P.O. Box 891, Glenside,
PA 19038, USA. Write follow-up letters.
RPA assists many people with letter-writing.
Support RPA. RPA members keep the 10,000 Years Is Enough
campaign going. As long as massive, popular, prestigious
LGUs serve the meat industry and promote carnism, there is
no way out of the extremely inhumane, health-destroying,
ecologically devastating meat industry. Additional information
about the campaign and RPA: www.RPAforAll.org
http://www.RPAforAll.org

www.ExpertsOfConscience.org
http://www.ExpertsOfConscience.org

www.EatForSports.org
http://www.EatForSports.org

David Cantor is founder & director of Responsible
Policies for Animals, headquartered in Glenside,
Pennsylvania.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Lucky Dies at 23




The world's oldest sheep has died in Australia at the age of 23 -
twice the normal life expectancy - after succumbing to a record
heatwave.
Lucky hit the Guinness record in 2007 and was a celebrity in her
hometown of Lake Bolac, near Melbourne.
The ewe had died on Monday at the farm where she had been found as a
little lamb, her owner Delrae Westgarth said.
Lucky was hand-reared from birth after being abandoned by her mother.
She went on to have 35 offspring of her own.
"She used to come and howl at the back gate, torment the dogs and that
sort of thing," Mrs Westgarth told public broadcaster ABC.
Lucky, a Polwarth-Dorchester cross, succumbed to a weeklong heatwave,
as temperatures soared above 30C (86F).
"We brought her into the shed where she was reared and put air
conditioners on her," Mrs Westgarth said, but she did not survive.
Lucky - who became toothless and arthritic in her old age - had been
buried under her favourite nectarine tree, Mrs Westgarth added.
A copy of her Guinness World Record certificate is on the wall of Lake
Bolac's tourist information centre, which carries Lucky postcards,
bookmarks and wool samples for sale, the Melbourne Herald-Sun reports.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals

Jonathan Safran Foer's book Eating Animals changed me from a twenty-year vegetarian to a vegan activist. I've always been shy about being critical of others' choices because I hate when people do that to me. I'm often interrogated about being vegetarian (e.g., "What if you find out that carrots feel pain, too? Then what'll you eat?").

I've also been afraid to feel as if I know better than someone else -- a historically dangerous stance (I'm often reminded that "Hitler was a vegetarian, too, you know"). But this book reminded me that some things are just wrong. Perhaps others disagree with me that animals have personalities, but the highly documented torture of animals is unacceptable, and the human cost Foer describes in his book, of which I was previously unaware, is universally compelling.

The human cost of factory farming -- both the compromised welfare of slaughterhouse workers and, even more, the environmental effects of the mass production of animals -- is staggering. Foer details the copious amounts of pig shit sprayed into the air that result in great spikes in human respiratory ailments, the development of new bacterial strains due to overuse of antibiotics on farmed animals, and the origins of the swine flu epidemic, whose story has gripped the nation, in factory farms.

I read the chapter on animal shit aloud to two friends -- one is from Iowa and has asthma and the other is a North Carolinian who couldn't eat fish from her local river because animal waste had been dumped in it as described in the book. They had never truly thought about the connection between their environmental conditions and their food. The story of the mass farming of animals had more impact on them when they realized it had ruined their own backyards.



Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/natalie-portman/jonathan-safran-foers-iea_b_334407.html

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Foie gras served at Alex Salmond’s Bute House-Action Alert from Viva UK!


Stop foie-gras being sold at Bute House
Viva! has discovered that the First Minister of Scotland – Alex Salmond – has been serving foie-gras at official dinners, even though its production has been condemned by his own Government – and it would be illegal to produce in Scotland. See the Viva! and Sunday Times expose here.
Please write to Mr Salmond and ask him to keep torture off the menu at Scottish political events. Use our pre-prepared email, or write your own.
Email: scottish.ministers@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
"Dear First Minister,I am very disappointed to read that you have served foie-gras at your official residence, Bute House – and I respectfully ask you to refrain from doing so in the future.
Foie-gras is the grossly enlarged liver of a duck or goose and is essentially a disease, marketed as a delicacy. Birds raised for this 'gourmet' cruelty are force-fed enormous quantities of food through a long metal pipe, three times a day. This process of deliberate and painful overfeeding continues for up to a month by which time the birds' livers have swelled to ten times their normal size. Every year, around a million ducks die during this period of force-feeding.
Foie-gras is not produced in Britain, as the Government has made it clear that its production would contravene existing animal welfare regulations. Therefore it is sadly ironic that it has found its way to your dinner table. It is a strange way to represent Scottish hospitality – and its inclusion on the menu appears to suggest you approve of the cruel methods of production. I hope this is not the case.
Please can you assure me that foie-gras will be off the menu at Bute House in the future?
Yours faithfully”






Ales Salmond has been criticised for serving foie gras at official dinners even though the dish is condemned as cruel by his own government.

Production of the pâté, which involves enlarging the livers of ducks and geese by force-feeding them, breaches animal welfare law in Scotland.

Foie gras it has been banned by several leading high street stores including Harvey Nichols, House of Fraser, Waitrose, Tesco and Sainsbury’s. The Prince of Wales has also removed it from the menu at his residences.

However, Salmond, who is on good terms with the prince, has twice offered guests the dish this year at his official residence, Bute House.

In February, during a function for Chinese visitors, chefs served pan-roasted foie gras, pumpkin purée and truffle and Madeira jus.

At a dinner for members of the Scottish business community, the same month, guests were offered roasted cannon of fillet, oxtail and foie gras-filled dumpling.

Justin Kerswell, the campaigns manager for Viva, an animal welfare charity, said he was astonished that the first minister had allowed foie gras to appear on the menu.

“It’s sickening to think that ducks and geese are suffering the pain and terror of forcefeeding to grease the country’s diplomatic matters — especially as it’s a cruelty so abject it would be illegal to produce here,” he said.

Martin Shaw, the star of the BBC drama Inspector George Gently and the actress Jenny Seagrove, both of whom are Viva supporters, said there was no place for the dish in Britain.

“The production of foie gras is one of the cruellest and most degrading forms of animal torture. We should affirm our humanity by banning its use,” said Shaw.

Seagrove added: “Ducks and geese have been torn from the wild, and forced into cages so small they can’t even move their wings where they endure the pain and the terror of force- feeding. And for what? An unspeakably cruel dish masquerading as a delicacy.”

The force-feeding of geese and ducks to harvest their fattened livers has been banned in many countries besides Britain, including Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Czech republic, Finland, Poland, Italy, Israel. Ben Bradshaw, when UK animal welfare minister, called for a consumer boycott of the product.

While it is natural for migratory birds to gorge themselves to sustain their energy during long flights, opponents of foie gras say the delicacy involves unacceptable cruelty because birds are restrained while metal tubes force grain down their throats.

A Scottish government spokeswoman said that foie gras could not be legally produced in Scotland: “The methods of force-feeding used would create serious animal welfare concerns and would be considered to be a breach of the Welfare of Farmed Animals (Scotland) Regulations 2000.”

Critics complain that on some farms an elastic band is placed around the bird’s neck to prevent it retching up the food, with ducks force-fed up to 1lb per day and geese up to 2lb per day.

Critics say force-fed birds can suffer from disease and injuries including heart disorders, tearing of the intestines and rupture of liver cell membranes.

Spanish farmers have produced what they describe as an “ethical" version where the birds are allowed to overeat by themselves before being slaughtered. But this accounts for a tiny proportion of foie gras, which is mainly produced in France, Hungary and China.

A spokesman for Alex Salmond said: “The contents of the two menus were provided by an outside Scottish catering company, not at the request of ministers, and ministers have issued instructions that Scottish produce should be served at such engagements.” FULL ARTICLE:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article6879391.ece

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Petition: Abolition of the European Union's economic support of livestock and fishing industries

Promoted by: Nutrition Ecology International Center (NEIC)

- To the European Commission - which created the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)
- To the National Ministries of Agriculture EU Council - responsible for the allocation of CAP payments
- To the European Parliament - responsible for the Community's total budget

GIVEN THAT

- The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) subsidizes the livestock and fishing industries with billions of Euros each year by various means of support;

- High meat consumption generates:
1) A significant increase in so-called diseases of affluence, tumors and cardiovascular diseases in industrialized countries.
2) Impoverishment of resources and consequent malnutrition in the Third World.
3) Deforestation of tropical forests to make way for cattle pastures and to cultivate soy for animal feed
4) Enormous environmental impact caused by consumption of energy, water, chemical and pharmaceutical products, by animal waste released into the atmosphere, the soil, seas and groundwater.

- Some European products can economically ruin producers in poorer countries who cannot compete with prices which have been artificially lowered through CAP (dumping).

THUS

The tax money from European citizens subsidize ill-considered productive choices, with great direct and indirect negative impact on human health, the environment and world economy.

THE UNDERSIGNED EUROPEAN CITIZENS ASK:

An end to CAP funding for livestock and fishing industry, in order to avoid the problems mentioned above and to promote instead the consumption of healthy plant based foods with far less environmental impact, thus leading to a diminished fiscal drag at the European level.

FORM TO SIGN THE PETITION:

Insert here the information to sign, please. All fields must be filled.

The data acquired via this form are solely for archival purposes and the aims stated in the petition. http://www.nutritionecology.org/news/petition_cap.html

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Live sheep trade not valuable enough

The live sheep export trade is not delivering big dividends to the WA economy that local meat processing would, a report has found.

In its research, ACIL Tasman discovered live sheep dispatched overseas is worth 20 per cent less to the economy than sheep processed domestically.

They claimed this was due to the capacity to add value in Australia.

The report said for every $100 of output created by the West Australian live export industry, WA's gross state product is $81 higher, but for every $100 created by the WA meat processing industry, it is $101.50 higher.

However, the research claims Middle Eastern governments benefited from the live export trade because frozen sheep meat was subjected to a 5 per cent tariff in most major live sheep importing countries.

The report said winding back live sheep trading could benefit WA towns where sheep meat processing plants are already located - such as Australind, Bunbury, Coolgardie, Esperance, Geraldton and Gingin.
Full article: http://www.animalsaustralia.org/media/in_the_news.php?article=577

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Animals Australia-Donations Needed

Millions of animals have been exported from Australia only to be killed 10,000 Km from home... Animals Australia is the only organisation conducting investigations to expose the cruelty endured by these animals in the Middle East. Without us, they have no-one. Please give generously to enable our investigators to continue this vital work and expose the cruelty of live animal export.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Call Subway to End Cruel Slaughter!Action Alert!



Stop Halal killing without pre-stunning
78 Subway stores across the UK are selling Halal meat from unstunned animals it has emerged. Animals killed in this way have their throats cut whilst fully conscious; bleeding to death in abject terror and pain. The suffering and welfare implications of it are so extreme that the Government’s own welfare advisory body – the Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC) – have now twice asked for it to be banned.
However, there is an important distinction: the majority of Halal meat in the UK comes from animals that have been stunned – which, in essence, means it is no different from the slaughter of any animal in the UK. Despite this, Subway are selling meat from unstunned animals, imported from Ireland, even though there is widespread availability of Halal meat from animals that have been stunned within the UK.
Although no slaughter is humane – and many animals regain consciousness during the slaughtering process – pre-stunning undeniably causes less suffering on the whole.
Viva! continues to ask people to reject all slaughter and move towards a vegan diet, but please take this opportunity to persuade Subway to wash their hands of this horrific practice once and for all.
Below is a pre-prepared email, but please feel free to write your own polite letter to Subway and take a stand against slaughter without pre-stunning.
Address:
SUBWAY® - UK & Ireland Head OfficeSubway Realty LimitedChaston HouseMill CourtHinton WayGreat ShelfordCambridgeshireCB22 5LD
Email: info@subway.co.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1223 550820
“Dear Subway
As a customer of yours I am very concerned that you are selling meat from unstunned animals in your 78 Halal accredited outlets across the UK, and I ask you to seriously reconsider this move.
I, of course, support the principle of multiculturalism but also believe that slaughter without pre-stunning should not be tolerated for any reason. In fact, slaughter without pre-stunning is illegal in the UK – the only exception is for so-called religious slaughter. It is my understanding that the Halal meat you are selling is accredited by the Islamic Foundation of Ireland, which, according to their website, are against the stunning of animals prior to slaughter.
However, animals can still be stunned and declared Halal. Indeed, the Halal Food Authority (HFA), supports slaughter with pre-stunning in the UK. But slaughter without pre-stunning means that hundreds of thousands of animals each year face the intense suffering of having their throats cut while conscious. The government’s own advisory body on animal welfare – FAWC (Farm Animal Welfare Council) – described this as “unacceptable” and recommended that slaughter without pre-stunning was banned in the UK. It said: “Such a massive injury would result in significant pain and distress.” It re-iterated this within the last couple of months when it published its report on poultry at slaughter. This report stated that birds killed in this manner are likely to remain conscious for 20 seconds or more after their necks are cut. FAWC said that they were in agreement with prevailing international scientific consensus that slaughter without pre-stunning causes pain and distress.
I oppose all slaughter, and believe that the only true way to end the suffering of animals is to stop eating them. Very many Muslims share these concerns and embrace vegetarianism.
However, if you insist on serving Halal meat at your stores, please move over to HFA accredited meat from pre-stunned animals. Otherwise I will be boycotting all Subway stores across the UK, and encourage my friends to do likewise.
Yours sincerely”

See also:
Read Viva!'s report on Religious Slaughter, Going for the Kill
Find out more about mainstream slaughter
Read Viva!’s official document responding to the Government’s statement on slaughter
Action:
For contact details and specimen letters, click here.


Viva! Vegetarians International Voice for Animals8 York Court, Wilder Street, Bristol BS2 8QH, UKT: 0117 944 1000 F: 0117 924 4646 E: info@viva.org.uk

WAYNE PACELLE-HSUS



EPA Must Regulate Factory Farm Pollution
Posted: 23 Sep 2009 01:00 PM PDT
As the federal government grapples with responses to the climate change problem, there’s an effort afoot on Capitol Hill to give a free pass to animal agribusiness. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has determined that worldwide animal agriculture accounts for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, and with the United States raising 10 billion of the world’s 65 billion land animals used for meat, eggs, and milk, our industry is by far the largest contributor to the problem.
Yet, when the U.S. House in the summer took up a major climate change measure, House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) extracted a promise from the bill’s authors that agriculture would not have any obligations to take any remedial action or abide by any limits. In fact, agriculture would not only get a free pass, but they’d actually get further subsidies—credits under the cap and trade system—for remedial actions they take voluntarily. So no pain and all gain.
USDA
These bills do not merely provide Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) with yet another free pass, they completely strip the EPA of its existing authority to regulate greenhouse gases from CAFOs. What’s more, during the annual funding process for the Environmental Protection Agency, certain farm-state lawmakers, led by Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and Rep. Tom Latham (R-Iowa), offered amendments to prevent the EPA from being allowed to gather any data on the contribution that animal agriculture makes to climate change.
This is unconscionable. Policy makers should be informed by science and data, yet some lawmakers are so in the pocket of agribusiness that they don’t even want data gathered. These lawmakers are working against the principles of sound science and transparency.
We are tired of seeing this political spectacle play out, and earlier this week, we joined with a number of environmental and public health organizations to petition the EPA to regulate air pollution, including greenhouse gases, from CAFOs. The EPA does not currently require such animal factories to meet any testing, performance, or emission standards under the Clean Air Act, which defines the agency’s responsibilities for protecting and improving our nation’s air quality. The EPA says there are 18,800 CAFOs, with millions of pigs, cattle, and chickens kept often in intensive confinement. The agency has announced that beginning in January, the largest CAFOs (those emitting more than 25,000 tons of greenhouse gases from manure) will have to report on their emissions, along with other major sources such as oil refineries and coal plants.
CAFOs are significant contributors to air pollution. Their emissions of methane and nitrous oxide—two greenhouse gases—as well as hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, represent a serious threat to public and environmental health. Alarmingly, emissions from these agricultural “smokestack operations” are on the rise, especially as the animal agribusiness sector becomes more concentrated and oligarchical.
Our petition took the form of a 69-page submission detailing the scientific and legal basis for the EPA to incorporate the regulation of CAFOs into its remit. Numerous scientific surveys, including the U.S. Inventory Report adopted by the EPA, establish that CAFOs meet the standards for regulation under section 111 of the Clean Air Act as a source that causes or contributes significantly to air pollution endangering public health and welfare.
The petition explains that reducing emissions of major pollutants from CAFOs, massive industrial facilities confining animals in warehouse-like conditions, will improve human health, reduce suffering of farm animals, protect habitat for wildlife, and reduce the effects of climate change and other environmental problems. Regulating air pollution from CAFOs will also create a strong incentive for new CAFOs to employ production methods that reduce emissions.
Importantly, the petition is geared only toward the top industrial level polluters. In addition to being an environmental and public health blight, CAFOs economically harm small farms committed to better animal welfare and environmentally sustainable practices. Once CAFOs have to comply with environmental and health standards, we will have a level playing field that helps small farmers compete.
Like so much of our work, the CAFO petition puts us at the intersection of animal welfare, environmental protection, public health, and transparency. The terrible truth about CAFOs is that they threaten not just the quality of life, but life itself. It is reasonable to expect the federal government to pursue the common good and to hold this industry no more or less accountable than other polluters. To entirely exempt them makes a mockery of the legislative process, and reinforces the perception that Congress does not do what’s right, but what is ordered up by special interests.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Animal rights fight heads to voters

COLUMBUS - Issue 2 sounds innocuous enough: It would amend Ohio's
constitution to create a statewide board to develop standards for
livestock care and safety.

But opponents see something more nefarious: an attempt to stop animal
rights groups from getting their own statewide ballot initiative that
would be far more protective of animals.

The question of how to care for cows and chickens is not something
Ohioans usually vote on. But it's part of a national fight over animal
rights.

--
full story:
http://communitypress.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20090920/NEWS01/909210339/Animal+rights+fight+heads+to+voters

Friday, September 18, 2009

Lindy McDowell: Why it's good children see a lamb led to slaughter

Rule number one: never give your dinner a pet name. The intriguing case of Marcus the lamb, hand-reared by a group of primary school children before being sent to the abattoir for recycling into prime cuts has divided the nation.

Either this is callous barbarity which will leave the little ones (human) traumatised for life.

Or it is providing them with an informative lesson on the origins of their food.

Some parents of children at the school in Kent tend very strongly to the former interpretation. Marcus, they say, had been petted and bottle-fed by their children who are now distraught and plagued by sleepless nights having finally grasped the reality of the poor wee lamb's harsh fate.

Headmistress Andrea Chapman, however, counters that Marcus had been introduced to the school's farm precisely in order to teach children where their food came from and to educate them about 'all aspects of farming life'. (The school is set in a farming area.)

With commendable sangfroid, she adds that the plan was always for Marcus to be processed into chops which would be raffled to buy piglets for the school farm. These little piggies would in turn go to market - or the slaughter house - where they too would be transformed into main courses.

What's more, she adds, the children themselves, by overwhelming majority vote, were the ones who had chosen to send Marcus to the abattoir.

Oddly, given I've been a vegetarian for most of my life, I find myself on the headmistress's side in this strange row.

I say 'strange row' because the same supporters who decry the execution of Marcus will doubtless be discussing his fate over their own meat dinners. Or as they queue for the fast food Happy Meals that put a smile back on the faces of the distressed young.

If Marcus and his fate prompts some children to ask relevant questions about the ethics of food production that can only be a good thing.

For example, those millions of vacuum packed chickens on the supermarket shelves, all precisely the same size - how did the "farmers" engineer that?

To me, whether or not you choose to eat meat is your own business.

But what should concern us all is the way animals are treated before they're sent for slaughter.

In that respect, Marcus was one of the lucky ones. He was well cared for, not force-fed or pumped full of steroids and chemicals.

He had the run of the place.

Unlike many of the other pre-packed cuts on supermarket shelves, he wasn't cramped in some confined space throughout his, granted, too short life.

Some parents may have genuinely felt it was an overly harsh lesson for some of the younger children. But bleating over the fate of one lamb with a human moniker while filling the fridge with poultry, pork, beef and fish that didn't merit first name terms - or concern about their well-being - is an odd sort of hypocrisy.

And there are worse things than exposing children to the realities of how Marcus got into the mint sauce.

The vCJD scandal is just one example of what happens when intensive farming puts greed and profit before compassion and common sense.

That horror happened because people then, as now, preferred not to ask questions about our food chain.

Shy away from educating children, keep consumers in the dark - and it's not just Marcus you're sending like lambs to the slaughter.



Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/columnists/lindy-mcdowell/why-its-good--children-see-a-lamb-led--to-slaughter-14493965.html?r=RSS#ixzz0RWqsDnDu

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Animal Aid’s Slaughterhouse Investigation Debunks “Humane Meat” Myth

In yet another blow to animal agribusiness, the UK animal rights nonprofit Animal Aid recently released video footage taken inside three randomly chosen British slaughterhouses. Between January and June 2009, the group captured scenes using hidden cameras they had installed at JV Richards (Rietfontein) Ltd in Cornwall, AC Hopkins (Taunton) Ltd in Somerset and Pickstock Ashby Ltd in Derbyshire. The abuses depicted are shocking to most viewers, but apparently just another working day for slaughterhouse employees. From some 40 hours of video, Animal Aid compiled a 10-minute clip, which you can see here. Among the scenes are pigs and sheep being kicked, shoved and dragged into the stun room, which was packed with frightened animals. Tormented animals slip, fall and cry out. In one instance, a ewe is stunned and killed while her young is still suckling her. Animal Aid believes that millions of animals across the UK are suffering untold torture inside slaughterhouses, and they are calling on the government to require ongoing training and assessment for all slaughterhouse workers and for cameras to be permanently placed inside slaughterhouses. Kate Fowler, head of campaigns at Animal Aid, says the video disposes of the myth that slaughter in the UK is, or can ever be, humane.

Kate kindly took time to answer some questions about this investigation.

From what I understand, this investigation was inspired by the “humane meat” myth, which seems to be as common in the UK as it is here in the US. Who there is driving the fiction that animals can be raised for meat without suffering?

The insistence that slaughter in the UK is humane comes from a variety of sources. Unsurprisingly, the industry insists that all is well and, as the government’s agencies are supposed to monitor slaughterhouses, they also state that their checks ensure high animal welfare standards in abattoirs. They couldn’t very well tell the truth and admit that animals suffer horrifically and routinely at slaughter because that would be a tacit admission that they are not doing their job properly. Other deniers include celebrity chefs and TV companies who have, in recent months, tried to boost their profile and ratings by showing slaughter on mainstream television. Of course, the slaughter they show is typically a single animal brought into a mocked-up abattoir where time is taken to ensure standards are adhered to and best practice is observed. This is a million miles away from the chaos and terror of real slaughterhouses and gives false assurances to the meat-eating public.

Reading Animal Aid’s lengthy report on this investigation made me sick. What do you see as the most shocking animal welfare violations at the three slaughterhouses?

There are many animal welfare violations that appear to breach the law, but we didn’t set out to reveal illegal practices. What we wanted was to show a typical day in typical slaughterhouses, and the most shocking scenes weren’t necessarily those that breached welfare regulations. The images that haunt me still are of the animals ― particularly the sheep ― in the stun room at two of the slaughterhouses. Their fear was extreme and abundantly apparent: one sheep was so desperate to escape the fate she had already seen her flock mates succumb to, that she leapt through the hatch and into the slaughter area where she landed in the blood pit below her bleeding and shackled mates. Other sheep and pigs ran and ran, looking for any chance to escape. One sheep leapt up the walls while a pig attempted to climb the door. The fear the animals feel is something that cannot be “smoothed away” with increased monitoring ― it is a horrific inevitability in commercial slaughterhouses. Other shocking violations included stunning a ewe while her lamb suckled her, bringing a ewe to slaughter in a wheelbarrow because she was too sick to stand, and almost all pigs at one abattoir being stunned improperly the first time so they suffered electric shocks severe enough to floor them but not powerful enough to render them unconscious. Absolutely shocking.

Why did Animal Aid choose to install a hidden camera in each location rather than send someone in undercover to record slaughterhouse practices?

There are a number of logistical reasons for obtaining the footage the way we did but, most importantly, any person in the stun or slaughter area may change the behavior of other workers around him. We wanted no distractions, no behavior modifications, no excuses for why the workers acted in the way they did. We wanted to see what happens on a typical day ― not what happens when a new “worker” is in the room. The footage we obtained shows genuine slaughterhouse practice, and that can’t be denied.

What has been the response from the meat industry?

Extraordinary. Animal Aid has conducted many investigations over the years, but never have we had so many industry insiders queuing up to offer information about the facilities that they work in! We expected an industry backlash with denials and mud-flinging, and we did get a little of that. But by and large, the industry has thrown its hands up and admitted we did find serious issues. How could they deny it? Now, everyone is blaming someone else: farmers are angry at the way “their” animals are being killed, slaughterers are blaming the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) over its lack of enforcement and the MHS inspectors blame their management for not supporting them. We have certainly shaken things up and we’ll have to see how it all settles. But in the meantime, we are pursuing every avenue that could lead to improvements in the fundamentally flawed slaughter system.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was upset that Animal Aid didn’t report the slaughterhouse abuses to them right away. Why did you release the video evidence to the public before alerting the RSPCA?

Over the years, we have interrupted our investigations (and by so doing increased the risk to our investigators who were still filming inside facilities) to report the most shocking cruelties to the RSPCA. Not only have they never prosecuted on the basis of our evidence, they have publicly given the “all clear” to the farms involved. We even filmed inside an RSPCA-approved chicken farm ― a so-called “Freedom Food” farm, where tens of thousands of birds were crammed into a squalid unit in the same way that “standard” birds are reared. The level of leg and hip deformities in that shed was extreme, and I think it is probably the most shocking chicken farm I have ever seen. Even then, with its own reputation at stake, the RSPCA did not prosecute. I have little faith that the RSPCA would have stepped in to help the animals in the slaughterhouses. But aside from that, I believe what we filmed is typical of slaughterhouses right across the country. It is not the case of a “bad apple” that can be prosecuted and then everything will be well. The problems, the abuses, the suffering, are endemic and inevitable and the RSPCA feeds into that by sanctioning farms and promoting meat consumption.

How does Animal Aid want slaughterhouses or legislators to respond to this investigation?

What we have shown is that the system currently in place does not protect the welfare animals at the time of slaughter ― and there is no way that it could. (And of course, by the very nature of slaughterhouses, it does not protect the rights of animals ― quite the opposite.) The MHS is clearly failing in its role to protect the welfare of animals in abattoirs and that is why CCTV needs to be installed in all slaughterhouses. Even then, it is unlikely that the authorities would agree to release the footage to an independent board who has the welfare of animals as its primary motive. But I believe it would be a good step towards ensuring best practice. And there must be ongoing training and independent assessment for all stun operators and slaughterers. Currently, training and assessment is usually done in-house and there is no re-training or re-assessment ever. I would also like to see people who have violent or sexual convictions barred from working in slaughterhouses.

What can the public do to help?

Their role in eliminating animal suffering is much clearer and is guaranteed to be effective: stop eating them.

For more information about this investigation, and to support the work of Animal Aid, please visit www.animalaid.org.uk

Video Exposes Cruelty, Rotting Corpses With Live Birds in Cages at Dunkin'Donuts" Egg Supplier

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, animal protection
charity Compassion Over Killing released a new investigation inside an egg
factory farm owned by Michael Foods, a company that supplies eggs to Dunkin'
Donuts. While employed at the facility in August, a COK investigator used a
hidden camera to document conditions for hens in this factory farm, which
confines more than one million birds inside barren wire battery cages.

Footage from inside Michael Foods shows:
-- Hens immobilized in the wires of their cages, unable to access food or
water
-- Decomposing and "mummified" corpses left in cages with live
birds
-- A Michael Foods employee decapitating a hen

-- Birds suffering from overcrowding, severe feather loss, and untreated
injuries


Michael Foods is one of the country's largest egg producers, supplying eggs to
several national restaurant chains.


--
full story:
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS132992+15-Sep-2009+PRN20090915

Thoughts on Marcus' Murder

I wrote this sometime back. In the wake of what happened to this innocent being, I thought it relevant to repost. The "vote count"� the kids took where all but ONE wanted this baby killed, is extremely disturbing. For the one which held out against all the others, and voted to save Marcus's life, that individual should be publicly commended by every UK animal rights group and receive an award.� Maybe this would bring some well deserved shame upon the other children and their parents for supporting this barbarism.~How Society and the Educational System Foster Psychopathic Behavior in Kids~Each day around this nation [and indeed the world], one can find endless stories of horrific animal cruelty--torture and murder so vile it defies imagination- -conceived of and carried out by kids as young as 4 years old. There appears to be a proliferation of fresh-faced psychopaths, spawning faster than the poisonous spores of a Frankenstenian experiment gone awry. Where and how does this evil take root?The answer is simple yet multifaceted.The most obvious cause for such blatant disregard for life, is lack of compassion and empathy passed on from parent to child. Generations of individuals perpetuating cruelty toward non-humans based on a multitude of flawed and erroneous notions: religious bias--animals were put here to [ab]use and consume; tradition, culture, misleading pseudo-scientific propaganda-- humans need animal testing and experimentation for their benefit--and a general acceptance that non-humans are inferior to us and thus deserve whatever demonic behavior we decide to impose upon them.This, in light of the fact that few studies have ever been done which place emphasis on the intrinsic value of non-humans, themselves. Nearly every study ever conducted using animals as subjects, is based solely on how they can be exploited for man's benefit. Given this reality, how can human beings state with unequivocal certainty that animals do not function on a level equal to--yet different from ours? Should animals continue to be forced to suffer, due to man's own ineptitude at being unable to decipher their depth and complexities?Such societal biases easily become "fact" in childrens minds when they remain unchallenged by parents, teachers, clergy, government officials and peers. The ingrained habits of 'culture' and 'tradition' perpetually take preference over common decency and basic logic. Our society condones and perpetuates these backward attitudes as kids move through the educational system and are further [continuously] indoctrinated by a violent and callous media.A 5 year old has the ability to process this information and subconsciously accepts the actions of the 'majority' as the truth if s/he is not taught otherwise.The educational system is failing kids in particular, and humanity in general, when it refuses to address the ongoing decline of simple compassionate values and behavior within our young. Instead of learning our lessons from the tragic events of Columbine and Virginia Tech, we scratch our collective, clueless heads. Each time a massacre occurs it becomes fodder for discussion, but unfortunately the REAL problem is never addressed. Instead, the media panders to the sickest segment of society which continues to promote hunting programs for preschoolers- -gun-toting toddlers void of the capability to fully comprehend suffering and death; preteens in 4-H programs, taught that non-humans are nothing more than meat to be sold to the highest bidder and objectified as 'products'-- and now so called "survival" classes which teach impressionable minds that it's acceptable for both teachers and students to partake in the torture and killing of fully-complex beings as unlimited in their individuality and capacity for suffering, as any human. As if this despicable behavior isn't generating enough moral ambiguity, it's the very individuals which these kids usually admire and want to emulate--their teachers--who are guiding them toward reprehensible, sociopathic and murderous behavior.Programs which foster cruelty and death have absolutely NO business within school curriculums. If society is to survive and advance, it is imperative that Humane Education Programs become part of every child's schooling. We must work toward completely ridding the educational system of programs designed to desensitize kids to the suffering of non-humans. Unless and until this happens, we will continue churning out monsters devoid of all feeling--and hastening our own destruction in the process.
Brennan Browne

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Kids send Marcus the lamb to slaughter

LONDON (Reuters) - A group of schoolchildren who reared a lamb from
birth and named it Marcus has overridden objections by parents and
rights activists and voted to send the animal to slaughter.

Marcus the six-month-old lamb has now been culled, the head teacher of
the primary school in Kent confirmed on Monday, after the school's
council -- a 14-member group of children aged 6 to 11 -- voted 13-1 to
have him killed.

The decision has provoked fury among animal-loving celebrities, animal
and human rights campaigners and the parents of some of the children,
and led to threats against Lydd primary school and its teachers,
according to a member of staff.

Around 250 children at the school take part in a program designed to
teach them about rearing and breeding animals.

The educational farm was started this year, with Marcus being hand-fed
by the children. The children also look after ducks, chickens, rabbits
and guinea pigs.

The intention had been to buy pigs with the money raised from
slaughtering Marcus, but those plans have been put on hold following the
furor created by the lamb's culling. The school said the program may now
have to be stopped.

"It's all up in the air," said a member of staff. "There's been so much
pressure on us as a result of all this."

Despite that, the school said there had been overwhelming support among
the children, the staff and most of the parents to have Marcus -- a
castrated male who could not have been used for breeding -- sent to the
slaughterhouse.

But opponents branded it heartless and cruel, with animal rights
campaigners asking why Marcus could not have been used to teach the
children about wool, and human rights campaigners worried about the
emotional impact of Marcus's death on the children.

A popular talkshow host offered to buy the lamb and give it sanctuary
and Facebook groups sprung up to rally support to keep Marcus alive. But
the children had the final say. The school defended the children's
decision, calling it educational.

"When we started the farm in spring 2009, the aim was to educate the
children in all aspects of farming life and everything that implies,"
the school said in a statement.

"The children have had a range of opportunities to discuss this issue,
both in terms of the food cycle and the ethical aspect... It is
important for everyone to move on from this issue, so the children can
focus on their education."

http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE58D4LR20090914

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Save Marcus the sheep! PLEASE PASS WIDELY!

PLEASE CONTACT THE SCHOOL AND KENT EDUCATION AUTHORITY TO CALL FOR COMPASSION AND NOT INSTILLING IN CHILDREN THE IDEA THAT ANIMALS ARE COMMODITIES.

Appalling comments of the headteacher at link below.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/8248718.stm
Lydd Primary School, Romney Marsh
Telephone Number: 01797 320362
Fax Number: 01797 321814
Address: Skinner Road
Lydd
Romney Marsh
Kent
Post Code: TN29 9HN
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -
There is no e-mail address for the school, but please in addition to contacting the school contact Kent Education Authority at address below.
enquiriescfe@kent.gov.uk

Friday, September 11, 2009

ACTION ALERT:"Happy Cows" in California? Not with Schwarzenegger

Last February, a bill that would ban the practice of tail docking dairy cows, S.B. 135, was introduced in California by Senate Majority Leader Dean Florez. The bill has since passed through both the state Senate and the California Assembly with bipartisan support.

However, the bill still needs to be signed by Gov. Schwarzenegger, whose record on animal welfare is shady at best with his previous proposals to shorten shelter stays, ignore puppy mills and tax veterinary care.

Tail docking is performed to (supposedly) prevent the spread of leptospirosis to dairy workers, along with promoting udder health of cows. Various procedures to remove the tail are performed with no painkillers, and typically involve severing the tail off, or using a band to cut off circulation, causing the tail to fall off on its own.

However, the process of removing up to two-thirds of the tail is considered cruel, inhumane and unnecessary by many and has been banned in several European countries.

Scientific findings have also concluded that there is no benefit to cows having their tails docked in regards to the health of cows or people and that docking also causes additional stress for cows during fly season. Neuromas, or growths of nerve tissue, may also appear, which indicate tail docking can cause chronic pain, according to the AVMA.

The bill to end tail docking is also supported by Humane Society of the United States, the California Veterinary Medical Association, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the California Farm Bureau and the California Cattlemen's Association.

Despite having no arguments, Schwarzenegger has openly mocked this bill on his twitter page, along with making a video to prove his point, with the stance that no one should be bothering with cow tails when the economy is suffering.

I bet that the 1.8 million dairy cows in California would beg to differ with the governator. It also seems completely inappropriate for someone in his position to blatantly ridicule the suffering of animals and the work of animal welfare supporters. Especially considering that the bill would end an inhumane practice, while having no fiscal impact on the state whatsoever.

If signed into law, California would be the first state to ban tail docking in dairy cattle.

You can contact the Governor’s office to urge him to sign the bill by emailing governor@governor.ca.gov or by calling 916-445-2841.

SAMPLE MAIL

Email the Governor Online http://gov.ca.gov/interact

: governor@governor.ca.gov

Governor Schwarzenegger,

In reply to your stance “that no one should be bothering with cow tails when the economy is suffering, we would like to tell you that neither cows nor any sentient being needs to suffer just because our economy is suffering.

The process of removing up to two-thirds of the tail is considered cruel, inhumane and unnecessary by many and has been banned in several European countries.

Scientific findings have also concluded that there is no benefit to cows having their tails docked in regards to the health of cows or people and that docking also causes additional stress for cows during fly season. Neuromas, or growths of nerve tissue, may also appear, which indicate tail docking can cause chronic pain, according to the AVMA.

The bill to end tail docking is also supported by Humane Society of the United States, the California Veterinary Medical Association, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the California Farm Bureau and the California Cattlemen's Association.

We urge you to sign the law and let California be the first state to ban tail docking in dairy cattle.

Îthank you for your time,

Your Name & Country
POLL 2 VOTE:Â Should Schwarzenegger sign this bill?
http://www.care2.com/causes/animal-welfare/blog/-happy-cows-in-california-not-with-schwarzenegger-around/

If a child can "get it", why can't adults?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1q3gvVLCBE

Sunday, August 23, 2009

ARE WE REALLY CATTLE?

by Peter Chamberlin
August 20, 2009
Have we really become "We the sheeple," or are we still human beings? The planet is dying under the thrall of a small minority of men who think of the rest of the human race as "cattle," livestock for them to buy and sell.
The ruling class behaves much like a spoiled child, if they don’t get to have everything their way all of the time, they throw this massive temper tantrum and threaten to upset the whole game. They have gotten their way in everything for so long that they have fallen under the spell of their own propaganda. They believe that we are sub-human animals, who should be herded into the best outcome possible. But, have the rest of us begun to accept this as well?
As members of the human herd, most of us recoil at the "bovinian" suggestion, but consider just how much we do behave like a herd. We willingly accept being treated like a herd, trusting our lives to politicians because we appreciate not having to make hard decisions for ourselves, being contented as cows, as our leaders and their hired hands drive us down a path to destruction, for the sake of them making a few dollars more in profit.
Preserving profits for the ruling elite is the only motivation (other than media-manipulated patriotism and nationalism) compelling us to fight our resource wars in Asia and Africa. The leaders of the entire world pretend that we are there to fight against terrorism, even though they know that the terrorism comes with us, their hope being their own little "piece of the action." The American way is to wage war with dollars, as well as bombs.
What the hell is the matter with people? Has everyone so bought-in to the propaganda that leads them to their own deaths that they believe the lies that control us? Willfully following sell-out leaders, who are leading their own countries to death and slavery is more than merely suicidal, it’s something a dumb animal would do.
Does the herd even think of itself as human anymore? Would it really matter what the herd thought about anything, anyway? Nothing will change as long as we willingly accept this idiocy. We have not changed. We are still human beings. Our feelings and concerns for ourselves, our families and our friends are legitimate, and just as real and as valid as those shared by the ruling class elitists who send our sons and daughters into battle to control the gas and oil, just like everyone who is being targeted by our government as it sends forth Special Forces and their "Islamist" counterparts to kill, not in the name of freedom, but to seize unfair economic advantage!
The entire "conflict" within the "arc of crisis" that is schemed over by Brzezinski and friends is manufactured for our entertainment and distraction. It is foolishness to look at "militant Islamists" and the CIA Special Forces teams who are sent in to fight them as two separate entities, without realizing that they are one and the same.
In Central Asia, the scary "Islamists" appear, as if by magic, wherever the oil companies have an interest. Theories are floated that the sudden rush of militant extremists in western China and the former countries of the Soviet Union is explained as an unfortunate by-product of Pakistan’s anti-Taliban offensive, as militants trained in Pakistan’s FATA Region return to their native countries.
From Russia to China and southwards, attacks begin in targeted nations and then someone appears in the national media to warn of the "Islamist" threat. News stories begin to appear of running gun battles and explosions, linking all of them to the "militant" threat. Attacks are made upon adversaries of the United States and those countries then become blacklisted as unstable for development and the subservient, media dutifully reports that our enemies have been attacked our other enemies.
Whose interests does this serve—crazy militants, with their warped dreams of a "caliphate," or American oil companies, who are trying to undermine China, Iran and Russia? The "powers that be" are playing a very dangerous game with all of our lives.
How long will the countries targeted by American/Islamist limited warfare continue to tolerate this bold assault? China, in particular, is presently bound by the economic chains that have been forged with the United States. How much longer will it continue to abide provocations in Xinjiang and other Chinese interests from Central Asia, to Pakistan, to Africa? It would be extremely unprofitable right now for China to haul the United States before the UN Security Council or to take military actions in retaliation for this low-intensity war that has been waged upon them. But that will not always be true. When the American house of cards finishes collapsing all bets will be off.
Our new administration in Washington has been empowered with as mandate for change, yet the only change that they have opted for is to accelerate the plans for world conquest in Central Asia. The only real impediment to that plan is the American people. Will the people continue to tolerate Obama’s impersonation of Bush and allow this obscene escalation of the neocon wars?
The ruling class fears an aware, vigilant majority. They know the people’s power and they tremble before it. It is only the people themselves, the "sheeple," who fail to realize the awesome powers delegated into our hands. It upsets the self-appointed whenever anyone begins to regain any measure of that control back, depriving the secret rulers of their illegitimate power to dictate the terms of our lives. The worst thing of all for them would be if all people everywhere were suddenly allowed to start thinking for themselves, with everyone making their own decisions.
The human race finds itself in an extremely unusual dilemma; if the best-laid plans of mankind’s finest minds succeed, then humanity may cease to exist. If the plan that has been crafted by the finest minds, financed by the world’s greatest "benefactors" and supported by nearly every government on the face of the planet, succeeds, then "humankind" may cease to exist, to be replaced by a new master-race parasitic species and its new sub-human host species (the living remainder of the "useless eaters").
A great moment of crisis has been manufactured for us. The decisions that have been made have maneuvered us into a kill box, so that the harvesting of the "useless eaters" may begin.
If mankind as a whole cannot embrace a new benevolent identity and move forward together, then, thanks to our enslavement to technological advancements, our old malevolent identities are positioned to destroy all life on this planet. A decision to change must be made on a societal level. The world cannot change, humanity cannot evolve to the next level, until someone leads the way. The self-appointed leadership of the "free world" has to either lead the way or get out of the path of others who understand the path to mankind’s salvation.
The way of force must be replaced by the path of cooperation. This is not a direction that is presently coming from the United States; it is entirely an Asian phenomenon. The Western Darwinian world of domination by the strongest has brought us to the point of economic collapse and unimaginable humanitarian catastrophe. The rulers of this old order have one solution to all problems—more force, the closed fist. There is a better way.
Wherever the models of supply and governance are breaking-down, force is the immediate solution, the only solution offered. If all the people cannot be fed, then obviously (only to inhuman thinkers) there must be too many people, therefore, we must thin-out the herd of "useless eaters" (non-productive members of society). Simply helping the people in need would not be "profitable." The United States, as the leader of the developing world, must have more energy and other strategic resources available to it than the rest of the world, therefore, we are justified in moving those resources out of the Middle East and Central Asia into our hands, whatever is required to do so (taking by force).
Likewise, in domestic policies such as health care and education reform, it is "wasteful" of limited resources to supply high-dollar medical treatments to those patients whose health will never improve, or expensive educations to students who are less than "exceptional." The way of force embraces such cost-cutting ideas, depicting them as moral choices, since limited funds are not "wasted" on life-supporting treatments for the terminally ill, or on educational opportunities for mediocre students ( those should be wasted the ignorant cousins of the elite).
This is the thinking of the old order that has put us in our current dilemma. The "selfish man" having his way when he really shouldn’t, has created a real threat to all mankind. The selfish must give way to the needs of the entire community.
A new generation of selfless leaders is arising to meet the challenge posed by the dying order. Where "selfish man" cannot conceive of anything but a profit-based international order, "new man" cannot accept thinking that does not contain a human element, a compassionate direction. The old malevolent thinking is violence based, whereas new man cannot conceive of killing his fellow man. Selfless leaders of the humanity movement have great difficulty in understanding the thinking of the heartless corporate extortionists. There is a basic disconnect between the thinking of the old man and the "new man" who is rising-up amongst them. This gives the new man the advantage, if he can only take advantage of it.
This brings the situation down to where we witness a rising minority of "new men" facing-off against a persevering minority of the super-wealthy, who are perhaps even more dedicated to preserving their old selfish order of mankind, whatever the potential costs. The leadership of the rising humanitarian order is trying every reasonable means at its disposal to overturn the old order, while the leadership of the house of profit is using every means in its limitless bag of tricks to destroy the threat.
Through economic and military coercion the United States has persuaded the world into allowing it almost free rein in shaping international institutions and the ideas that are acceptable to world opinion. We have created an illusory image of ourselves which hides American war crimes and crimes against humanity behind a hypocritical mask of humanitarianism and "foreign aid."
Membership in America’s club requires a sell-out of their countrymen from the leaders of the nations that are seeking our "aid packages" or entrance into our economic system. The sell-out is to embrace our manufactured image, blinding themselves to the reality that our leaders create. The real image of America, one of double-dealings and secret wars, is hidden from the world by common consent. The pay-off for these leaders is the personal fortunes that each of them has acquired and gained notoriety for in their home countries.
By letting Americans determine which words and opinions are "politically correct" in acceptable discussion in the media, crimes are hidden and false realities become the foundation of public debate. In this way, internal debate bends to accommodate the false American reality. This American power to simultaneously bully and seduce their way in the world, extending into the basic rights of the Nations involved, has allowed our inept leaders to force upon the world the situation we face today. Further bullying and super-scheming by Obama and Brzezinski will not achieve American objectives of total power. Another way must be found.
It is only a matter of time before America is taken out of the world’s way. It is inevitable that the world will embrace the way of international cooperation, over the American way of secret and open conquests. The only alternative to a world centered on meeting its own needs is the present course we are trapped on, one wherein the victor claims all the spoils of war. That world cannot be attained within our technological environment (do the math). Nature will continue, either with us, or in spite of us.
The world needs a life-changing moment, one that will force all thinking humans to make life-changing decisions, so that we can all emerge from it as a different people, new men and women.
Everything is now black and white, not black or white as it should be. The way forward is for each of us to begin to see both sides, or all sides, of contentious issues. Life has conditioned us to divide everything new into categories, based on determinants of fear, greed, or other motivators. We have to understand that these are the motivators of children, or animals, not adult human beings. There are so many simple solutions to be found by those without blinders, with two eyes to see.
The world will solve its problems and go on, as long as we don’t prevent that from happening. The question of whether we will continue to seek to force the world to accept American domination, or if we will learn to play well with others, will determine whether or not we are accepted into the new order that is now emerging in Asia and beyond.
The energy supplies and other natural resources that are being fought over will be moved to markets, no matter what. Fighting to claim them, or to keep others from obtaining them, is a backwards policy, meant to enrich the few at the sake of the many. All of this will change.
Whether or not this Nation will be part of the new world alliance is a question that each of us must answer. Will we passively allow the United States to perish from the face of the earth or develop into the full-blown pariah nation that have been becoming, that we will deserve for impeding the advancement of the human race, or will we stop the madness and deception by altering our leaders’ commitment to their present path? Or, will we interfere with their petty plans?
Barack Obama has a very clear choice to make, whether he is going to be remembered as humanity’s emancipator from war or as history’s last tyrant? Obama has to decide what means more to him, pursuing a path that will engender hope in the entire human race, or pursuing his own ambition. Will he take a stand for freedom and human decency by ending all of our wars right now with the stroke of a pen, or will he continue to drag us down the path of total war in Central Asia, the path that we were bound to by the former tyrants, Bush and Cheney?
- peterchamberlin@naharnet.com
Credit:http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m57143&hd=&size=1&l=e

Monday, August 10, 2009

West Virginia Farm Is Save Haven For Cows

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -On farms across West Virginia, 204,000 beef
cattle now await slaughter. But at the International Society for Cow
Protection's 168-acre hillside farm in Marshall County, cattle are
treated far differently from those that are headed to slaughterhouses
and onto plates.

William Dove and his family keep 22 cows and oxen comfortable for
their entire lives and plan to chant the holy names of God to each
animal as it dies a natural death at their farm outside of
Moundsville.

Dove, a Hare Krishna, founded the cow protection society with his
wife, Irene, in 1990.

Visitors to farm and to the society's Web site (www.iscowp.org) are
encouraged to adopt an animal for $420 a year.
...
Dove said the violence done to animals is reflected in society at
large - in highway fatalities, in wars, in murders.

Visitors to the farm learn how to train oxen and how to do farm work with them.

"A lot of them already are vegetarians and some of them are vegans who
want to have dairy products in their diet but don't want to support
the factory farming," he said.

But Dove said some people still don't see the connection b etween a
piece of meat and where it came from. When kids come to the farm, they
can hug and pet the cows and "understand where their hamburger is
coming from."

"McDonalds wants to the kids to think it's a happy meal," he said.
"But if you took the kids to a slaughterhouse, those kids would become
vegetarians. 'This is where my Happy Meal comes from?' "

Dove, 63, became a vegetarian as a young man growing up in Hawaii and
reading the Bible. He did a lot of open ocean fishing for tunas and
marlins. Then he got to thinking.

"I am causing him so much suffering. He is fighting for his life so I
can have my tuna fish sandwich," Dove thought. "So I just thought, 'If
this is the suffering I am causing, I don't want to do it.'"

Since he began working with cows in 1974, several years after becoming
a Hare Krishna, Dove has found the animals have a definite
personality.

--
full story:
http://www.cattlenetwork.com/Content.asp?ContentID=337192