Oprah...

I tried. I really did. I wanted to give Oprah the benefit of the doubt. I wanted to think that maybe something about veganism would come about on her show today. And I really wanted my next entry to be positive and not ranting. Unfortunately, wrong on both counts.

I should point out, I am not an Oprah watcher nor fan. Her "Favorite Things" shows drive me over the edge with it's opulence. But, she does have A LOT of viewers. On today's show, which talked about factory farms, she had Lisa Ling (I'm not sure why) and Wayne Pacelle (President of the HSUS) as guests, as well as a host of "farmers". The show essentially gave three viewpoints: Those of the HSUS which included all of your basic welfare thoughts, larger cages, free range, blah fucking blah. Those of the factory farmers, who had the gall to state on national tv and on video that they thought animals on factory farms were better cared for than those on a traditional farm. And finally "free range farmers" who believe that as along as the chicken/pig/veal calf had a good life, it was fine to off them. Whatever.

Again, I believe that most of the show was bullshit. What really got to me was this: during a discussion about how this woman could afford free range eggs but not free range chickens, not once was it suggested that maybe she didn't need the eggs or the chicken. Not once was going vegan mentioned on the show.

The show had many moving video clips, at least I thought they were moving. They showed pigs in gestation crates while their "caretaker" talked about how comfortable they were. The pigs were lying on cement. I wouldn't be comfortable on cement. They showed a film of veal crates and the burns veal get from sitting in their own urine and feces. They showed hens in battery cages, I think you get the picture. Unfortunately, then they showed pictures of "humane" farming methods. Which makes people think it is okay to kill something, as long as you treat it well before it goes.

Dog Fighting in Green Bay

Well actually in Allouez. Which is the village where I live.

http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=7127683

I know I have ranted about this in the past, but there was a woman on the news tonight discussing the case. She said something like: 'It is a horrible thing to do to those dogs and it's a sin'. Do not quote me on this because, I am not sure exactly what she said, but I know the word sin was lodged in there.

Any one know where I am going with this? Any one? Bueller?

I know I did it for years and years and years. I compartmentalized animals. There were animals I ate and animals that were companions (although, I called them pets back then). I don't know when it became so clear to me, but now I am almost unable to understand how a person can eat one animal and love another.

I honestly have no idea where this post is going. On one hand, I think it is great that people are starting to see that animal abuse is real. I am impressed that the stories are starting to get some coverage locally. Micheal Vick isn't an aberration. Dog fighting is real and is probably happening some where in your community.

On the other hand, well, see above. Compartmentalizing, eat one-love the other. I think you get it.

Maybe I am looking for progress too fast. Maybe it has to start some where and dog fighting is where it will start for some. I ask that when you look into the eyes of your dog, cat, bird, ferret, or what ever companion you have, imagine them all alone in a veal crate with no room to move. Imagine them in line watching others like them being slaughtered. Imagine them being bred over and over again and just used as commodity.

"Eat Meat to Go Green'

Does this sound weird to you? It certainly does to me!

This is a news story that was run on June 4th. (http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?f=00&g=50e35cb1-1cdc-40d2-a7f8-1b337df84dc8&p=hotvideo_m_edpicks&t=c24&rf=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18819436/&fg)

Apparently they are now making diesel fuel out of animal fat. Which in theory is great. But does any one think about the fact that it takes fossil fuels to farm? Fuel is needed to work the fields that are used to feed the cattle. Fuel is needed to transport the cattle from the farm to the slaughter. Fuel is then needed to transport the meat to the store. I guess I am missing a piece of the equation here. I don't understand how these two fuels (making it out of animal fat and using it to farm) are going to cancel each other out. It takes 260 gallons of fossil fuel to provide a family of four with beef for a year (Vegan Freak, pg 47). How does this add up?

Apparently they will also be using cow shit to fuel a new ethanol plant. Again great, but get this, one of the by-products of the plant is "a wet corn product, that cows love to eat". Are cows even supposed to eat corn? I believe cows are supposed to eat grass and other leafy vegetables (That's where milk originally got it's calcium. What? Did you think the female cow just had some left over?) Now cows are eating a combination "including chicken feathers, blood, pork,fish, and soybeans." (http://notmilk.com/forum/859.html) and are supplemented with calcium. I guess corn is better then that crap, but come on.

If you watch the video, it shows a Texas beef farm. The cows look like they are in the desert on a high way. There is no grass to be found.

Apparently they are doing the same thing with Turkey waste. It then showed a turkey broiler house. I am not sure how the average human (eating meat or not) can watch this and think it is normal for turkeys to be housed this way.

The whole thing is pretty fucked up if you ask me. Watch the video, let me know what you think.

Disgusting

I was driving next to a cattle truck today on the way home from work. It makes my stomach turn. The worst is when their eyes stare out at you.

Don’t worry about being successful, worry about being faithful.

Okay, I was listening to VF Pod Cast (11-21-2005) at work. They had an interview with Karen Davis from United Poultry Concerns (http://upc-online.org/) (UPC). It was their pre-Thanksgiving pod cast and covered a lot of the treatment on Turkeys and other poultry (hmmm United Poultry Concerns, weird). Karen was absolutely fascinating to listen to and I learned a lot of things that I didn’t know about turkey farming. I wouldn’t say that it was “good” because actually it was really, really disgusting and disturbing. When I learned how the artificial insemination process takes place, I almost lost it. I cannot wait to meet some one who works for Butterball or Tyson. If you are the turkey masturbator, what is your actual job title? This is possibly the most disturbing thing I have heard in regards to animal right thus far. Visually I have seen a lot of disturbing things. I own Earthlings, and I have actually forced myself to watch it. I have watched Meet You Meat. Visually, these are about as disturbing is they get. This interview described parts of the poultry industry that I was completely unaware of and blind to.

Karen really had some very good points regarding animal rights. This interview really got me thinking about some of my “issues”. I have learned that there is a struggle between animal rights and animal welfare. Many of my blog readers will also know that I sometimes struggle with the concept of rights. I struggle for two main reasons. First, it seems like such a long, uphill battle. It seems like something that we will never win. The other main struggle that I have with the concept of rights is that of companion animals. (I can’t imagine not owning/having the companionship a dog). This Pod Cast really helped me out with both of these struggles.

Karen quoted a number of animal activists and authors. Two of them really stood out to me and helped me to work through some of my fence sitting regarding animal rights. The first one is the title of this entry. Colin McCarthy (an animal activist) said;

”Don’t worry about being successful, just be faithful”

during an interview. This simple quote inspired me. This is completely opposite of what most American’s are taught growing up. Phrases like; “eye on the prize” and “focusing on your goal” (at least for me) were heard over and over throughout childhood. This is not to say that I think vegans should forget why they are vegan or it should become a habit. It is just important to remember that we will probably never see success (true success, not welfare success) in our life time. Although remembering this may prevent burn out or keep you sane, it can drive you insane. How bad does it suck that we are working on such a huge, huge issue. I know it is easy for me to remain vegan because then at least my conscience is clean.

Antonio Gramsci (Italian writer and politician) called for:

“Pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will”.

To me, this quote also speaks volumes. So often vegan’s hear “You’re only what person what can you do?”, or “Things are never going to change, so why bother?” I think that it is also very easy to get down looking at everything around us. It is easy to get frustrated at the animal exploitation all around us. (Karen talks about a lot about this in the Pod Cast as well, check it out!). It is easy to wonder if any one really cares. It is beyond frustrating that people can know what goes on in the factory farm and still continue to consume animal products. In my small head, seeing images like those on Meat Your Meat should be enough to turn a lion vegan. But, alas, it’s not. So I think this quote is important for all vegans to remember. The world is pretty fucked up. It is insane that people can know what goes on and ignore it.

GBV - Out