i’ve been doing some reading on the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act.  to start off with – is there any other business that warrants its own law to protect it from citizens?  there’s not an automotive enterprise terrorism act (even though we own 80% of the american auto industry), there’s not a banking industry terrorism act, only an animal enterprise terrorism act.  sure, you could say it’s necessary because of animal rights protesters, but if our government enforced the laws it has enacted to prevent the insane, unbelievable, incredibly inhumane torture and abuse of animals, animal-rights activists would likely be less violent in their opposition.

instead of protecting animals from violence and murder, they protect rich businessmen from the consequences of their cruelty.  they protect property over animals.  i mean, i ought not be surprised, they promote a diet of animal products despite the very real possibility, probability in fact, that animal products are dangerously unhealthy.  lactose intolerance has been linked to so many other symptoms and ailments that it’s ridiculous.  hmmm…maybe that’s part of the issue – all of these other symptoms and ailments mean more prescriptions and increasing revenue for drug companies – which, by the way, are some of the worst offenders of animal cruelty, through animal testing which provides incomplete and often inaccurate results.

wow, i’m all over the place!  and i haven’t even thought about the disparate sentencing and such.  anywho, the original point:  in a hearing about the AETA back in 05, Dr. Tom O’Connor of North Carolina Wesleyan College is quoted as saying that ecoterrorism involves extremist views and groups aimed at inflicting economic damage on those profiting from the exploitation of the environment.  i’m sorry, but in a world run by those with money, is there any other way to reach them and make a point?  is there any other way to get their attention?  the AETA actually makes it a separate crime to cause damage of the property of any person having a connection to an animal enterprise or to place a person in “reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury.”  but i’d like to point out, which i may have done before, but animal-rights groups have caused about $200 million in property damage and have injured or killed exactly NONE.  so is the fear of death truly reasonable?  and even worse, don’t the laws against vandalism, stalking, threats and intimidation, etc cover these acts?  why do animal abusers get extra protection?  that’s stupid, unnecessary, and an excuse to greater punish those that speak out against cruelty and abuse in order to keep the public from being made truly aware of the depths of our depravity in dealing with animals.

and since i don’t know how long it will be before i can spend the time writing a real and detailed bitch about sentencing, i’m just going to throw this out there real quick.

there’s a man in seattle that i’ve read about – he’s been arrested 112 times, 80 something of them felonies.  he keeps getting released and then arrested again for selling drugs.  he’s been arrested on the same day as his release for selling drugs on the courthouse lawn.  michael vick (boy do i have a lot to say about that one at another time) not only raised poor animals for fighting – a cruel and vicious action in and of itself – but he also electrocuted, drowned, and hanged dogs.  he got 23 months – less than 2  years, and served 18 months.  jacob conroy ran a website that gave information regarding the companies that financially supported, insured, etc., huntingdon life sciences, a lab proven to perform cruel and unnecessary testing on animals.  jacob is serving 3 1/2 or 4 yrs.  for conspiracy to commit crimes.  isn’t that a little like being prosecuted for your thoughts and beliefs and speech?  others arrested with him were also sentenced to 3-4 years.  and jake is just one of my favorites.  there are so many others.  animal-rights activists are considered a top priority of the fbi.  what about that guy that murdered the abortion doctor?  what about the rest of the eric rudolphs, timothy mcveighs, and weaver families?

people who abuse animals are also more likely to abuse people (read Slaughterhouse by Gail Eisnitz for proof and examples).  but we don’t care about that because that doesn’t affect the bottom dollar of animal enterprises, drug companies, banking, etc.

ok, i have shit to do today, so that’s it for now.  go read Slaughterhouse, read the AETA, whatever.

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i would really like to go off about my family right now – my mother is infuriating, her sisters are morons (2 of the 3 anyway), i just really don’t like most of the folks i’m related to.  i think i’m supposed to say i love them, i just don’t always like them.  but let’s be honest, (because honestly, no one but me is reading this!), i don’t really think i love them either.  i mean, what does it matter that we have a branch in common on the family tree?  who cares if we have other relatives in common – that’s ALL we have in common!

the annual family picnic is coming up.  i’m supposed to go.  it’s the first time i’ve been in the state for a picnic in about 7 years.  not that i haven’t seen them all – i’ve seen several of them quite recently, all most all of them last winter.  but here’s the problem.  i mean, aside from just not wanting to go.  they’ve given me a hard time about being vegetarian for years, so i don’t even want to think what they’ll have to say about me being vegan.  and there will be some fruit and green salad – otherwise, lots and lots of stuff i don’t eat and that i don’t even really like to be around.

it’s hard enough to be around my friends when all i want to do is talk about the latest ridiculous thing the government has done or another way they are persecuting animal rights activists.  it’s super tough to not remind them that the burger they are eating used to have big brown trusting eyes that watched her friends murdered in front of her, watched the slaughterhouse workers as they slit her throat because she wasn’t “stunned” properly and was therefore fully conscious while they cut her, and very possibly while they pulled the skin from her head.  or that the chicken is actually a dead shit-covered e.coli bird.

and i want to tell them that there are numerous people in prison, right now, for “conspiracy” to commit crimes – not for commiting crimes but for thinking about them, and even more in prison for all sorts of shit – which is actually the next blog.  so, when i have to struggle to not be such a bright fucking ray of sunshine around my friends – the people i choose to be around, the ones i love and like, how am i supposed to be civil and pleasant around people that i’m not particularly fond of?  people that could never in a million years comprehend giving up steak just to keep a few silly animals from dying – i mean, that’s what they’re there for.

even my mother went off on me yesterday when i made a comment about what people think of “us” as in animal-rights/animal-lover/vegetarian/vegan types.  “oh, so you’re one of them now?  you’re grouping yourself in with those people?  so she will clearly be listening to anything i say, just in case it involves animals/vegans/PETA/e.coli/famine/global warming/pesticides/hormones/etc.

Bruce, from PETA, was here for a book signing awhile ago, and discussing how to best advocate for animals.  and he would probably be totally disappointed by my attitude about the whole thing.  he recommends being nice, not combative, willing to talk and answer questions without preaching or getting irritated.  and i should totally be able to do that.  but i just don’t want to!

so there.  just one reason i feel like beating the shit out of someone today.

anywho, all that got me to thinking. there are times that i just cannot afford mangoes or pomegranates, or even berries when they aren’t in season. so i might go a month or more without eating a pomegranate. but when i go get one, it’s amazing – tastes even better than i remember and it sure as hell doesn’t make me feel like hell. it’s the same with vegetables ya know. so why is it that when you go a month without milk or any other dairy product, going back to it makes you feel like hell? hell might even be too nice…stomach in knots, keeping you awake that night, nauseated or worse. it nearly makes me wish it would just kill me, rather than cause all the pain. yet, if you go by what all the commercials tell you (commercials paid for by the dairy associations of course), you need milk – hell you should have 3 glasses a day! you need the calcium, the vitamin d, it does a body good, right? it’s hard to believe that dairy is good for me, when it makes me so sick if i go even a short time without it.

and if that isn’t enough to make me avoid dairy – this is – animal protein leaches the calcium from your bones! a study paid for by the national dairy council itself released a study showing that fact. and yale studies reported that the highest occurrences of osteoporosis were in countries that consumed the most animal foods. and dairy has been linked to everything from anxiety and ADHD to obesity, heart disease (cholesterol is only found in animal products), and some cancers!

the foods that are truly natural for humans to eat don’t make us sick. carrots are not associated with cancer – i have never read anything that suggests eating carrots regularly will increase your risk of cancer or heart disease. i haven’t seen anything on a link between apples and cancer either. which leads me to believe these are good things to eat…not carcinogenic, not artery blockers, no trouble digesting them, no need for pills to allow my body to digest them…sounds great to me. and dairy and other animal foods make me sick. they make lots of people sick, hence the need for lactaid and lactose free dairy products. so there ya go – dairy is not good for you.

and have you actually thought about what you’re drinking? no wonder i get nauseated at the mere thought of milk. i’m in my 30′s – i don’t drink breast milk. DISGUSTING! blech. you’ve probably heard it before, i had even before i quit using milk in baking (i quit drinking it about 25 yrs ago but breaking the baking habit was tough). humans are the only species on the planet – yes ONLY - that drink breast milk as adults. we’re also the only species to drink the breast milk of another species. and by the way – eggs are essentially chicken periods. even more disgusting!

so enjoy your breakfast tomorrow – your omelette with cheese, your toast with butter, and your glass of milk. and remember this when you are in recovery after your triple bypass.

She asked me how i felt, as a vegan, about soy as a commodity crop and thus destroying small farms.  EXCUSE ME??? i had to ask her to repeat the question – it was too ridiculous, surely i misheard her.  but no.  soy is a commodity crop, so small farmers turn to soy as a way to profit, or sell their farms to larger established soy farms.  this eliminates the small family farm that raises a variety of crops or a few animals or whatever.  ok…seriously?  you’re an omnivore!  corn anyone?  corn is fed to beef cows in factory farms – that’s ALL they are fed.  it’s actually quite unhealthy for cows – it is not their natural diet.  and it takes 5lbs of grains and corn and such for each lb of meat.  or for vegans, it takes 1lb of grains for 1lb of grains.  the amount of grains that are used to feed animals raised for consumption could feed the entire population of the world.  and it takes 4000 gallons of water per day for an omnivore – that takes into account the water to grow the crops for feed, the water for the animals, etc.  it takes 300 gallons for a vegan.

so anywho, back to my point.  it is true that soy is a commodity crop.  it’s also true that commodity crops do indeed have an effect on small farms.  but to imply that my diet and habits as a vegan are more detrimental on small farms than an omnivore’s diet is insane!  where do i buy my produce?  from the small local natural foods store – almost all of it is locally grown.  or there’s the farmer’s market – also local produce.  even the veggie plants i bought for my own garden – locally grown.  and her?  the supermarket – it’s all from mexico, chile, wherever it’s in season and cheap  (which means it also requires a great deal of fuel for transport, contributing to environmental damage as well).

whatever – she didn’t want to hear it.  and then…her parents stayed here one night so they could catch an early flight out to go visit her.  and guess what!  her dad argued with me about vegetarianism!!!  WTF???  according to him, animals are just as cruel and violent as humans if not more so, so it is perfectly acceptable to kill them.  for example, lions, mountain goats, and more fight to the death to be the dominant male.   so how does this compare?  i don’t even mean comparing it to our treatment of animals in factory farms and slaughterhouses – i’m talking about the violence we inflict on each other!  so, this lion pride…there are two males fighting for dominance and to lead the pride.  two males, both in danger in what is most likely a fairly matched duel (lions aren’t stupid enough to go up against someone that could kill them with a swipe of a giant paw, right?).  those two fight each other.  they don’t bring anyone else in on it.  one doesn’t come up behind the other and rape it and slit its throat.  one doesn’t pull out a sniper rifle from a mile away and take the other out.  dogs fight too, and cats, and all of them.  but again – it’s a reasonably fair fight, and it involves just those few animals involved in this little disagreement.  when my dog and your dog get into a fight, my dog doesn’t call all the neighbor dogs and tell them that your dog is out to kill them all and if they don’t gang up on him, he will kill them and their women and children…there is no civil war in the dog park on saturdays.  and if your cat has an addiction to catnip, she’s not really interested in selling catnip to the kittens next door to feed her habit.  and those two male lions that were fighting earlier?  it stayed within that pride.  they didn’t call in the elephants and the wild boar and hyenas and start a jungle war.

and they don’t usually fight cuz they are sadistic sons of bitches.  when my dog beats the hell out of your dog, he doesn’t cut off your dog’s ear and take it as a souvenir and put it in the closet with the ears of all the other dogs he’s fought this year.  trust me, i searched his room and everything.

so there are just a few of my thoughts on animal-rights and the stupidity of people who refuse to admit i make sense.  and can i just say…omnivore’s never fight fair.  when they come at you with their various arguments, some of which i’ve referenced in other posts, they don’t want to hear all the facts because they might have to admit that you are right and they are selfish and stupid for insisting on that burger for dinner last night.  they won’t watch the video of the undercover investigation at the slaughterhouse, or read the book that gives facts on the diseases and other health issues associated with an animal based diet.  they want no part of the truth…but they are more than happy to try to bury you in their lies.

i grew up going to church – sunday school and all that.  i remember being upset when i was about 3 or 4 because i learned that the Jews were G-d’s “chosen people” and i wanted to know what i had done before i was even born that pissed him off enough to not “choose” me.

when i was older i was actually involved in a church.  it felt real, but you start paying attention to the world around you and discover that the world sucks.  it seriously sucks ass.  and the more you know the worse it is!  the world is full of civil wars, genocide, slavery, child abuse, animal abuse, domestic abuse, child neglect, cheating, stealing, beating, road rage, sports rage, and it just keeps going!  we never run out of ideas when it comes to causing pain and destruction but we sure seem to be at a loss as to how to fix things.  so sitting in church on sunday morning lost it’s appeal.  it wasn’t the typical where is G-d in all this, why isn’t he doing anything to fix it.  the problem was, if christians are supposed to be the “caretakers” of this earth, why the hell are they not the ones out there doing anything?

so what does this have to do with exhausting families you ask?  well, in all honesty, it’s not fair to single my mother out for this, she’s just the most recent example.  i got the “you are starting to scare me” talk.  it was short and relatively painless this time – just smile and nod.  and as i said, this was from my mother, but i’ve heard it elsewhere in the past.  here’s the gist of it:

it’s not that there is anything wrong with your interests or pursuits.  it’s fine to be concerned with animal rights or politics.  but not at the cost of your soul.  if you have time for volunteering or being involved in these causes, you should make time to go to church too.  surely there is one around here that you would feel comfortable with, why don’t you try this one, or that one, or we go here, maybe you’d like it.

and here’s my jumbled response (be patient, my mind wanders):

There’s more to cruelty-free than going vegetarian (or even better, vegan), like paying attention to whether your favorite products are tested on animals, or even if the parent company tests.  PETA provides a great list of safe products, I strongly recommend checking it out.  If the products you’ve been using are tested on animals, write to the companies asking them to change their practices and go cruelty-free, and then switch safe products until they do.  Johnson & Johnson have yet to end animal testing, same with Proctor & Gamble.  I used to be a fan of Lancome products, but L’oreal tests on animals, so Lancome, Biotherm, Maybelline, etc are all off limits now.  And although I wasn’t a fan of Estee Lauder for years thanks to their spokesperson Elizabeth Hurley (she’d rather die than be as fat as Marilyn Monroe – now gee, that’s a good role model), they don’t test on animals, so it looks like I’ll be switching back.  All the Kirkland Signature products by Borghese are not tested on animals which is fantastic when you are poor!  Yay Costco!

Anywho, I didn’t mean to go off on a tangent.  But it just goes to show how influential bands like Rise Against are.  AFI too – I can’t forget them (how could I?)…Davey was the sexiest vegetarian in 2007.  Both bands are vegetarian or vegan, support animal causes, and are just damn good bands.  I just wish they’d been around when I was in high school and maybe I’d have been more involved back then, rather than the half-assed efforts I actually made.  Better late than never.

So watch the video but be prepared to be disgusted, nauseated, and depressed.  Hopefully you’ll also be motivated to fight against the seal slaughter in Canada, the dolphin slaughters in Japan, factory farms (swine flu anyone?), animal testing, dog-fighting and all other ways that humans abuse animals.  And just try looking into a cow’s big brown eyes before your next burger; and hope that there are still dolphins around to circle and protect you should a shark come near; hope that the land destroyed to make room for more factory farms doesn’t result in major landslides, and remember that the grains used to feed those animals you are eating could more than fulfill the needs of all the people on the planet.

http://www.peta2.com/OUTTHERE/o-riseagainst_video.asp?c=11

but this is where i’m kinda the typical girl – the lifetime movie network kinda girl.  i’ve  always wanted kids, in fact i want the whole husband, kids, dogs, organic garden, sheep to make my own yarn (with febreze towers for after it rains), pygmy goats cuz they’re cute, and cows cuz they’re awesome and totally huggable.  but i really really suck at relationships.  all relationships – even friendships.  so i gave up on the man part, i’ll just have young, good-looking ranch hands at the happy cow ranch.  but to do this whole thing sin un hombre, i want to adopt.  but adopting doesn’t reduce the risk of breast cancer.  i’d make some changes to this little plan of mine for my little celebrity crush (aka obsession), but that’s pretty much it.

so unless there is some cosmic collision of unparalleled proportions that causes my world to splash over onto yours (aka reality), resulting in the miraculous fruition of my teenage fantasies of a punk rock vegan brood with my favorite punk rock vegan boy becomes a reality (in the outside world, not just in my head), i’m pretty much screwed in the reducing the risk of breast cancer by breeding.

and all this time i thought g-d hated me.  gosh, what was i thinking???

today was also like the fifth day of bright blue, clear and sunny skies!  fanfreakingtastic!!!  while i worked around the house and yard, the windows were open with a cool (pollen-filled) breeze flowing through the house.  it was beautiful.  and then tonight, i had to go into the city for a meeting, which i’ll get to in a minute.  but the drive was great – a little slow, but ya know, that’s how it is during rush hour, it’s to be expected.  the sun was reflecting off the water, slightly dangerous but still beautiful, the mountains were out and glowing, i saw a heron in the wetlands area near the university, and i was listening to Rise Against, which is one of my favorite cds, and the only band consistently in my rotation that is not AFI.

and this meeting i went to?  i signed up to volunteer with a wildlife conservation group that sets up cameras in the mountains to document the reclusive grizzlies, gray wolves, wolverines, black bear, and on and on.  i’m totally excited to work with them.  i’m kind of a fan of animals and all, ya know?  they are so much better than people – they don’t lie, they don’t cheat, they don’t buy houses they can’t afford and send the market into a drastic downward spiral, they don’t take your money and give it to rich fools, they don’t drive 45 in the fast lane or cut you off because they are on the phone, they don’t even tell you to shut up you’re being rude or anything!  when they attack people, you can almost always bet on the person being to blame, they just do what they are supposed to do.  i LOVE them.

so tonight was training and deciding on groups and trails.  i’m not much of a backwoods kinda girl – at least not yet.  it would be neat to get in shape and prepare for next year.  in the meantime, i’m doing a few of the day trips.  so we get to set up cameras in areas that are animal friendly, document populations, where they go, what they do, stuff that the wildlife groups and the forestry service and such use to keep the animals safe and keep track of their numbers and all that.  then once the cameras are set up we take turns going out to check on them, change batteries, change memory cards, and then send all the photos to the group.  as volunteers we get to see all those pics – how cool is that?

on my way home, i drove through a few of my favorite neighborhoods – places i haven’t been in more than 7 years!  the sun was setting turning the mountains and water gorgeous shades of pink and violet.  i passed the old cemetery i used hang out at – they have an amazing old tree, limbs so huge and low they make perfect chaise lounges for reading in.  and the park we used to go to – to watch fireworks, have picnics, take pictures, and roll down the big green hills.  i drove past the house all the musician boys lived, many moons ago.  that place used to be such a dump – the new owners or renters have made some major improvements.

my little detour reminded me of all the great stuff in this city – things that may or may not still be around, but are at least worth looking for.  it will never be as great as the “good ol’ days” but it might be good again.  if i can ever get a job, that is.

now it’s time to pay up and there’s not a damn penny to my name.  AIG got BILLIONS, that silly little bridge in rural missouri got millions, there’s the awesome smelly pig research that got more than a million, and the broadband service for rural america that i keep bitching about.  then the automotive industries got BILLIONS – and by the way, a quick side note…i’m a big fan of unions.  personally, i say anything that walmart fights so hard against is a great thing.  i could go on for days about unions, but only this is relevant…detroit automakers pay workers about $75/hr – that’s about twice what foreign automakers pay workers.  i think $75/hr is a bit extreme.  and when a company is about to go bankrupt and the entire regional economy will fall into disarray, that seems like a really good time for unions to step up to the plate and say, “hey, so we totally think we deserve this pay and we’ve fought really hard to get it, BUT, we don’t really want to destroy the company so we’ll make some concessions.  if the execs will take pay cuts, we’ll discuss temporary pay cuts until we can bring this mess to an end.”

i’m back to my point – so, the automotive industries got billions, and a bunch of other people got billions of dollars.  i can’t get a job, as i’ve mentioned once or twice, and i’ve blown through my savings, which i believe i’ve mentioned, and now the IRS wants MY money, which is gone *POOF* into the clouds (also known as phone bills, gas, insurance, medications, groceries, etc).  so if i don’t pay my couple grand they feel they are owed (i disagree, what the heck have they done for me?), they will hound me, garnish wages once i get a job, throw me in jail if they have to, etc. etc. etc.  but the feds bailed out failing companies and then let those same companies pay MILLIONS and MILLIONS in bonuses.

is there anyone that can explain this to me?