Angry Vegans

Great review here from Erik Marcus on a Max Fisher article. Particularly the second point (on "angry vegans") is something everyone who chooses not to consume animal products needs to consider carefully.

Wow.

Canadian Parliament Votes to Include Seal Products in Olympic Uniforms

It should be noted that the Canadian Olympic Committee told them to suck it.
I will rarely quote PeTA, but I think their spokesperson's words are pretty bang on here:
“We feel it's perfect because it shows how completely out of touch the Canadian government is with the rest of the world”

Two Quick Links

Bad Day to be a Mink

Animals Receive Awards for Services to Human Beings

Da Bears

Asiatic Black Bears (or Bandal Kom: "Half-moon Bears"), Jeju Island, South Korea:

Sick Pigs

This will probably be my one and only post about the Swine Flu.

First, point on the flu's likely origins. This NYT Letter makes the rather obvious point that I haven't seen on any of the major news broadcasts: namely that these outbreaks are the result of confining massive numbers of weak, vulnerable, genetically homogeneous animals together in filthy pens and barns.

GF has a post about the Agricultural Lobby trying to force the media to stop calling the virus "Swine Flu".

Finally, The Swinal Solution? Egypt has a unique approach to solving the Swine Flu crisis: kill all the pigs. This idea is even worse than that pun, but before we get too disgusted, a little perspective. I remember the outrage in the 90's - during the Mad Cow "scare" - over all those images of cow carcasses on forklifts and backhoes, field after field of dead animals ("oh, the bovinity!"). Of course, those cows - and these pigs, I'm lowering my voice though this part isn't really a secret - they were going to die anyway. The only difference for these guys is that their flesh will not then be devoured by a bunch of strange and crafty bipeds.

Animal Crackers: A New Beginning

Hopefully, it will be more successful than this one.

Welcome to the new blog. All the old material has been carried over from a.r. hub, so things will carry on as usual. I've got a couple of posts I'm working on, but since I've been out of action for a while, here are a few points of interest from the last few weeks:

First, lots of discussion re: Obama's decision not to adopt a shelter dog. Check out Stephanie at Change, and also this fantastic cartoon from The Washington Post.

Rush Limbaugh, of all people, has recorded some public service announcements for the Humane Society of the United States. And the conservative base is not amused.

Opposing Views has posted an interesting panel discussion titled "Is an Animal a Legal Person". (thanks to Mary Martin for the link).

Finally, the folks at Animal Visuals are doing some great stuff. The virtual battery cage is a fun place to spend some time, and this gives the stats a little more tofu than the counter to the right:

Animal Crackers: The Final Chapter

This will be my last post until April 24th, when I hand in my final paper (which is on Free Range Standards in Canada, and which I plan to post here). Mark it on your Calendars. After the 24th, I'll be back with daily postings. I'll still be around to respond to comments until then. Here you go:

Friday: Michael Jackson: Kids Are Not Enough
Saturday: Mass Killing: Fun For The Whole Family!
Sunday: Opposing Views: Should Animals Be Kept In Zoos?
Monday: An AR FAQ From That Vegan Girl, With Which I Largely Agree
Tuesday: Vegan at Heart. An interesting idea, this. I decided to try it out but they stopped coming after the first message. Maybe you'll have more luck.
Wednesday: Michael Albert on Outreach
Thursday: Animals Asia on Bear Bile Farming. When I come back, I'll post some pictures I took a couple of years ago of some bears I was able to rescue from the "bile track"

Animal Crackers: The Humour Edition

Have a great week:

Friday: McDonald's Out of McNuggets, Woman Calls 911 (with audio!)
Saturday: Video: Should Animals Be Doing More For The Animal Rights Movement?
Sunday: Video: Da Ali G Animal Rights Panel
Monday: The Onion: Lab Rabbit Strongly Recommends Covergirl Waterproof Mascara For Sensitive Eyes
Tuesday: Another Blow To The Vegan Utopia?
Wednesday: Is This Humour? I have No Idea What This Is, But Don't Watch It Unless You Have 8 Minutes And 48 Seconds To Spare, Because The Climactic Ending Really Is A Must See
Thursday: Three Cartoons:

Animal Crackers

The break continues as I focus on not failing out of law school. Another week of animal crackers:

Friday: Interview with Dr. Neal Barnard of PCRM
Saturday: The Iditarod's Trail of Dog Deaths
Sunday: The Onion: "I'm Thinking About Getting a Dog to Neglect"
Monday: Opposing Views: Is Animal Testing Justified?
Tuesday: Your Dairy Dollars at Work
Wednesday: I Can't Believe it's Vegan! (very cool site)
Thursday: Whale Hunting: A Saga of Cheating, Bribery and Greed

Three Views From A Jeju Fish Market

O-Il-Jang, Jeju City, South Korea

O-Il-Jang, Jeju City, South Korea

O-Il-Jang, Jeju City, South Korea

BONUS!
This one I can't claim as my own. It was taken by my buddy Aidan at a market in Seoul

Another week of links tomorrow...

Hiatus

It may seem early for me to be taking a hiatus from this, but I've got exams coming up, and really can't afford to have my focus taken away from them for the next three weeks-ish. Sooo, I'll be coming back once a week for the next three, to drop a week's worth of random, compelling links on you. Here they are for the coming seven days:

Friday: ARPO Press Release re: 5$ fine for Drowning Cat
Saturday: Satya: How To Be An Activist (Going to the Dogs)
Sunday: Vegan Break: Bagel Time
Monday: Never Born, Never Killed Cows Don't Pass Gas Either
Tuesday: Bizarro
Wednesday: Leukemia Patient on Animal Testing
Thursday: Plenty of Fish in the Sea? Think Again

Down On The Farm

Two today from Leslie Bisgould, one of Canada's few animal rights lawyers.

The first, titled Anything Goes, is a detailed analysis of Canadian law respecting the treatment of farmed animals. Print it off, give it a read and some thought. It's an important report. One of many money quotes comes as she is discussing Canada's voluntary codes of practice for animal industry:
"As one reads the Codes and their recommendations in favour of or against particular practices (such as recommendations that containers of live animals not be dropped or thrown; that animals should not be unloaded by tilting the box of a dump truck; that hitting a calf on the head with a blunt instrument is no longer an approved method of rendering a calf unconscious; that animals must not be lifted by the head, ears, horns, tail or fleece; or to ensure there is no backlog at the point of entry where live, unwanted chicks wait to be shredded by a high speed macerator), it is apparent that, unless some piece of legislation specifically says otherwise, these practices may lawfully occur and do; if they did not, there would not be any reason to make recommendations in regard to them.

All of this raises a question which may be somewhat beyond the scope of this paper, but is unavoidable at this juncture: what kind of daily existence must be experienced by animals whose care-givers have to be told not to lift them by the head?"

Second, a much shorter article about human and nonhuman animals, meat, and language, called We All Are Meat. A money quote, you ask?

"In fact, the most intimate experience most of us have with animals begins when they are dead and we eat them."

The Final Nail?

EU vote could lead to tight ban on Canadian seal products

Whether or not this is the final nail in Canada's commercial seal hunt coffin may depend on our government's success marketing dead seal products to Asia. Bewilderingly, the will to do so appears to remain strong. I'm inclined to think our tax dollars would be better spent promoting the creation of sustainable, ethical jobs for our country's few remaining commercial sealers.

Even if this does mark the end, whether or not this should be constituted a "victory" depends on how it's interpreted in the fashion world. Is it likely to raise awareness of the inherent cruelty of fur generally? Or will Europe's cold simply replace their seal with more mink and chinchilla? If a drop in seal "production" is just replaced by a spike in the sale of skins of other dead animals, that's not a victory.

Thoughts?

Two From Opposing Views

Lots of interesting stuff over at Opposing Views. Here are a couple of great debates for you to chew on.

First, PeTA and Gary Francione take on "The Reason Foundation" and "The Center for Consumer Freedom" in:

Should We Eat Meat?

Next, Francione weighs in again, this time up against The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), in:

Should We Keep Pets?

Feel free to give your own take in the comments.

Meat, Pets

Meat Dog, Jeju City, South Korea

Pet Dog, Jeju City, South Korea

Pet Dog, Jeju City, South Korea

Jeffrey Masson discusses Temple Grandin silliness at change.org

Peter Singer debates law and economics god Richard Posner

A cow goes bad