While searching for the cartoon in the previous post, I found others by Tom Toles. Here are a few that I liked, for a variety of reasons, in no particular order. Click on them if you’d like to see a larger version:
I found the following about a week ago, and sent it to my listservs, but didn’t post it here for some reason. As I told the veg’n listserv, I forsee a vegan world by 2108 — not because people will care about how animals are raised and killed by then, but because, if there is any credibility to this prediction, there won’t be any animals left to eat. As it is, scientists predict that the oceans will be stripped of all sea animals by 2048. So this isn’t that far a stretch. It comes from Russia Today.
May 19, 2008, 5:30
Mankind set to wipe out all animals by 2108: report
Every year one per cent of the Earth’s animals die because of the activities of humans. That’s according to research released by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). Scientists are now urging emergency action to prevent mankind from destroying his fellow creatures.Between 1970 to 2005 the total amount of flora and fauna on the planet decreased by more than a third. Many species died out completely during these years while others are on the brink of extinction.
The study says the world’s species are declining at a rate ‘unprecedented since the extinction of the dinosaurs’. ZSL scientists say the current extinction rate is up to 10,000 times faster than that recorded in fossil records. The main reasons are environmental pollution, agricultural activities, urbanisation and hunting.
However, WWF ecologists believe there is still time for animals and plants to be saved.
They are making dealing with extinction their top priority at the UN Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Germany will host the meeting from 19 to 30 May 2008.
(Click to hear the Gregorian chant of Dies Irae. It won’t take you away from this site.)
I’ve tried to stay out of partisan politics on this site. So I won’t say much about the candidates here, except that I won’t let the unnecessary anti-White racist rhetoric that a couple of pastors “preach” from their pulpits, most unfortunately from Barack Obama’s own church, affect my opinion of him, who I voted for in the primary, and hope to vote for in the general election. But on the topic of Father Pfleger’s “sermon” last Sunday that hit the Internet this week, I agree with the Clinton campaign, that “Divisive and hateful language like that is totally counterproductive in our efforts to bring our party together and have no place at the pulpit or in our politics,… We are disappointed that Senator Obama didn’t specifically reject Father’s Pfleger’s despicable comments about Senator Clinton, and assume he will do so.”
If I didn’t know better, I would think that both Rev. Wright and Father Pfleger were working for the Republicans, for all the damage they’ve caused to Obama’s credibility and his presidential campaign in a “guilt by association”, “where there’s smoke there’s fire” sort of way.
I would have thought that Father Pfleger would have known better, after the recent media coverage over the Wright flap.
If Obama loses the election, I will blame both pastors for introducing racist hate-speech into the presidential race that didn’t need to be there, and for casting public doubt about Obama, because he belongs to that church where their “sermons” were preached. Most unsettling, where that church is concerned, is that the congregation seemed to laugh and clap at Pfleger’s theatrical mockery.
I can’t even find the words to describe my disgust over this. Not only did Pfleger do damage to Obama, and offend Clinton, he misused the pulpit and misrepresented his own Church — policy, spirit, reputation, and calling to represent God in the world — and maybe even (is anyone listening?) could cause the IRS to look into whether or not Obama’s church should lose its tax-exempt status for its repetitious pandering politics as it’s “gospel message”.
I used to consider Pfleger a force for good, when I’d hear about him in the news, speaking out on various issues, like guns. Now I see him as a part of society’s problems, because his “sermon” illustrates that he feeds on stirring up racist attitudes, instead of unifying communities. This is the 21st Century. I realize that racism is still alive and well in this country. But it’s people like him, who speak like it’s still 1968, that keeps the fires stoked. (And in case he isn’t noticing the buzz, the videos on the Internet are also feeding the anti-religion crowd, who seem to enjoy finding examples of Christianity at its extremist worst to prove their point that religion is an abuse of power.)
Pfleger has hurt his own reputation as a community activist. I now see him as part of the problem, and not part of the solution. And I wonder if he has “issues”.
Maybe Barack Obama should be allowed to preach at his own church. It would be interesting to see if the congregation would welcome his message as warmly as they accepted Pfleger’s. And if not, then maybe he needs to find a different church.
I suspect that a sermon by Barack Obama would be less political than a rant by either Wright or Pfleger.
(I’m happy to be an Episcopalian, where our clergy seem to understand very clearly the importance of keeping secular politics out of our pulpits, and where the sermons tend to tie in with the Lectionary readings, with the goal of building up the community of faith. We have our own problems. But this doesn’t seem to be one of them.)
June 1st update: I heard that Obama resigned from that church. Here’s an article: Obama Resigns 20-Year Affiliation With Trinity Church.
“I’m not denouncing the church and I’m not interested in people who want me to denounce the church,” he said, adding that the new pastor at Trinity and “the church have been suffering from the attention my campaign has focused on them.”
I don’t believe the church and the new pastor have been suffering from the attention Obama’s campaign has focused on them. I believe they are suffering because of the kind of outrageous preaching that goes on there. They have really painted a picture of themselves. (Their reaction toward Pfleger’s message was more than polite.) I’m glad Obama finally resigned.
And this: UPDATE” Father Pfleger: ‘They Want To Kill Me…It’s Been Ugly’
…I can post what interests me
One thing I was Googling for today, was trying to find out how long a dandelion lives. What I found was a bunch of “pro-weed” sites that extolled the virtues of weeds, either from an edible, medicinal, or biodiversity perspective. Someday I’ll post them, because we are so arbitrary about which species we consider worth protecting and caring for, and which species we consider worth eradicating. (Although I did plant clover in the pathway of my garden, I’m not necessarily ready to raise dandelions as a crop. But maybe I’ll consider eating them as an alternative to lettuce. They are pretty nutritious. The time may come when I decide to plant them in the shadiest corner of my veggie garden where even the lettuce doesn’t do too well.) I don’t particularly mind dandelions in my yard, until they go to seed. But I’m thinking it is those seedy weeds that might feed the birds — like thistles whose seeds are among the more expensive wildbird seeds. So there should be a place set aside for those things that most people feel the need to destroy out of some culturally ingrained wish for a weed-free lawn. Or maybe I should set aside the seeds for next winter…. But for now, I just want to post a few pictures I took today, and don’t necessarily want to crowd up my “veganic farm” page with them. So “page down” if you’d rather get to earlier posts.
So, I guess I should have added a description of what each of the pictures is of. The first is a weed or a wildflower growing in the NW corner of my house. The second is of my new blackberry & blueberry plants growing in front of my “church window trellis”, which shows the allium and the reddish & bluish purple columbine in my “park”. The third is the “newer” section of patio that my dad & brothers made about 45 years ago, where whatever can, grows in the cracks of the rocks. It is currently overgrown mostly with “wild” orange columbine. The fourth is my “potato” garden, which is sharing space with corn, nasturtiums, and now, broccoli, cauliflower, red and green cabbage plants. The 5th is my Square Foot Garden in the foreground of the veggie garden area. The 6th is the older shadier part, where I have garlic, 5 varieties of peppers, two varieties of tomatoes, strawberries, peas, cucumbers, eggplants, bush beans, beets, broccoli, clover, 4 varieties of lettuce, and oats planted, along with something that came up from last year that is probably radishes. (We’ll see what actually thrives in that small area.) In the Square Foot Garden, I planted either seeds or seedlings of: 1) yellow crooked neck squash; 2) cucumbers; 3) nasturtiums; 4) peas; 5) 1 head lettuce with other lettuce seeds around it; 6) amaranth; 7) 1 yellow bell pepper seedling, with 1 tiny green bell pepper plant from seed; 8 ) 1 cabbage; 9) cilantro; 10) green onions; 11) beets; 12) bush beans; 13) cayenne peppers; 14) jalapeno peppers; 15) carrots; 16) 1 broccoli seedling, with 1 tiny broccoli plant from seed. This is a “science experiment” in feeding the world. If I can do it, anyone can. And if some of the stuff doesn’t come up, I’ll move the seedlings in the other part of the garden. Next year, I either have to start the seeds earlier, but maybe in a cooler place so they don’t get gangly, or I’ll phase out the seed idea, and just buy a mixed flat of seedlings from a garden shop. We’ll see how much I trust them not to be genetically modified yet. (This year, the flat I bought included at least 4 plants each, of: grape & Better Boy tomatoes, green bell, jalapeno & cayenne peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, red & green cabbage, head lettuce and eggplant. I traded some extra cabbages with my sister-in-law for a couple of yellow bell peppers and some banana peppers.)
This is from 5/29. Compare this with the pictures I took on 6/8, especially how much the potatoes grew in 10 days.
I first saw this video on Grist’s food page (which is worth checking out — especially this one on the ban on slaughtering downers not keeping them out of the food supply). So I looked for the Mark Bittman video on You Tube where I could add it to my site, too. Please watch. This is a non-vegetarian speaking to our issues, in a way that I hope other non-vegetarians can hear.
Two minor quibbles:
1) Kindness to animals isn’t a red herring. Concern for the ways the 10 billion farmed animals in this country are raised in confinement, fed an unnatural diet laced with antibiotics and growth hormones, and slaughtered (not to mention the unnecessary animal abuse that every undercover investigation reveals to the public) are the very reason many people go vegan. And although I agree that we have to reduce the number we raise before we can worry about being kind to those who are left, because it is impossible to treat 10 billion animals kindly when they are slaughtered so horribly, it is the attitude that one will not support cruel industries that can help drive down the numbers of animals killed for their flesh. Health and environmental perspectives might work better with more people, because those involve implications that affect people personally. But I would not consider an intentional goal of a cruelty-free lifestyle, and refusing to support industries that profit from exploiting/killing animals to be a red herring at all — or even secondary. It is an ethical choice.
2) The other is locovore as a red herring. I live in Illinois, and understand what he’s saying that it’s easier for people in California to buy locally-grown food. But local is subjective. And if I have my choice of buying something like garlic grown in California or garlic grown in China, I would consider California to be more local. Same with spinach, and so much else that is imported from other countries. I’ll buy blueberries grown in Michigan, but not blueberries grown in Chile. Nevertheless, this Spring, I’ve decided to “grow my own food” — or at least a sampling of many different things, which are not only being grown veganically, but will be as local as I can get. (I also don’t trust farmers’ markets, because in my town at least, some of the sellers get their produce at wholesale, from the same suppliers that the grocery stores get theirs from.)
Not everyone has the luxury of local farmers markets, or grocery stores that label the country or state of origin. Stores like Whole Foods that do label the country or state of origin tend to be more pricey, and not close enough for people to be able to make the trip. (My local Whole Foods is about 25 miles away. The only good thing is that it’s in the town where I work, so I can rush over during lunch if I really need to get something there that I can’t get at the store in my own town.)
Other than that (and I do get his points), I am extremely happy to hear him say things I would want the world to know on so many topics, and love how he puts meat and junk food together in the same breath. And if meat-eaters would listen to him, and get back even to the level recommended by doctors of eating a half a pound of meat a week, instead half a pound of meat per day, it would greatly reduce the number of animals raised for slaughter by 6/7ths — more than if a few new people chose to go vegan — more than a few who might give up meat throughout Lent. And that reduction alone might be enough to dismantle factory farming.
FWIW….
Click on the first phrase, and open in a new window, so you can sing along.
Once to every man and nation, comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of truth with falsehood, for the good or evil side;
Some great cause, some great decision, offering each the bloom or blight,
And the choice goes by forever, ’twixt that darkness and that light.
Then to side with truth is noble, when we share her wretched crust,
Ere her cause bring fame and profit, and ’tis prosperous to be just;
Then it is the brave man chooses while the coward stands aside,
Till the multitude make virtue of the faith they had denied.
By the light of burning martyrs, Christ, Thy bleeding feet we track,
Toiling up new Calv’ries ever with the cross that turns not back;
New occasions teach new duties, time makes ancient good uncouth,
They must upward still and onward, who would keep abreast of truth.
Though the cause of evil prosper, yet the truth alone is strong;
Though her portion be the scaffold, and upon the throne be wrong;
Yet that scaffold sways the future, and behind the dim unknown,
Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above His own.
For my own sake, I’m linking to this page, so I don’t have to dig around the April archive every time I want to add something to it. It’s my gardening “science experiment”. It is also an experiment to see how difficult it really would be to grow a variety of food in a small area, given the fact that I’m pretty inexperienced. I have a lot of reasons for wanting to try that, but won’t waste the space here to list them (again). If it turns out to be successful, I will.
From MSN: Oprah Winfrey goes vegan for 21 days
“How can you say you’re trying to spiritually evolve, without even a thought about what happens to the animals whose lives are sacrificed in the name of gluttony?”
– Oprah
From Farm Sanctuary Oprah Announces 21 Days Free of Animal Products
“Well, I feel like I got baptized in Vegan Land today.”
– Oprah
Veg for Life’s page on Oprah includes these quotes on the issue of spiritual progress and diet:
The Dalai Lama
“Life is as dear to a mute creature as it is to man. Just as one wants happiness and fears pain, just as one wants to live and not die, so do other creatures.”
Albert Einstein
“If a man aspires towards a righteous life, his first act of abstinence is from injury to animals.”
Mohandas Gandhi
“Spiritual progress does demand at some stage that we should cease to kill our fellow creatures for the satisfaction of our bodily wants.”
Albert Schweitzer
“While so much ill-treatment of animals goes on…while so much brutality prevails in our slaughterhouses…we all bear guilt.”
Even though only one of them was a Christian, I think their quotes should be “food for thought”, especially (if only) during seasons like Lent, or whenever Christians give some thought to their spiritual progress. And this should fit comfortably with the Greek Orthodox view. (In my opinion, giving up all animal flesh and animal by-products during Lent should be the expected norm for anyone who observes Lent, not just one vestigial option that has been largely forgotten, ignored, not talked about in our churches, and/or that has been trumped by a vast array of other good things people choose to do instead. I really can not understand why this wasn’t mentioned as even an example, in the World Council of Church’s “Lenten Fast From Violence”, whose name strikes me as a literal call to cut out the most obvious form of violence. This is as close as I could find, which is environmentally-friendly, insofar as it benefits humankind on some level….)
Number of animals killed in the world by the meat, dairy and egg industries, since you opened this webpage. This counter does not include the billions of fish and sea animals killed annually.
