Is soy milk weird? You decide..

Your mind can be your own worst enemy...

 

Meateater logic

Gun nut goes nuts...

So here's the video everyone loves to hate today... Piers Morgan interviews gun advocate and radio host Alex Jones.

OK, so the guy lacks personal skills. (I mean the gun nut, not specifically Piers Morgan.) And I do not agree with his life choices. However...

There is a genuine risk in a society where public citizens have powerful weapons. There is also a genuine risk to the public good when you have a corrupt government plus the military armed far more heavily than the public.

The Second Amendment

The Second Amendment of the US Constitution is meant to allow individuals to protect themselves from random baddies AND to give them power when the bosses try to push them around. When the Constitution was written, this was a very sensitive point.

Obviously, the US has turned its evil genius to making far more destructive weapons than existed when the 2nd amendment was created. It's an established culture of violence, and glorified violence.

Yes, it is crazy to allow the public to have auto and semiauto weapons. It's also crazy to let the military have them, unless you value violence and destruction over peace. Piers asks, "Why do people need them?" Follow that thought. Consider the US gun death statistics inside the US.  Now consider deaths by US guns outside the US.

For defense? Yeah, right.

(And Piers is behind the times when he exposes Alex's opinion on 9/11. It's not just nutcases questioning the official story in the 9/11 demolitions.)

Shooting the 99%

Our local hero Alex is afraid of giving up his power - he has good reason.

How would we feel if the automatics were banned from US citizens, then we watched the Occupy movement gain real strength? Imagine 10,000 marching on the capital demanding that the illegal mortgage foreclosures be reversed, only to be mown down by the military for the government in the name of stability? Would we wish there were some well-armed freedom fighters?

I do not know the answer. I hate guns. But I know we need to go deeper and higher than ridiculing the angry scared gun nuts.

The Shifting Definition of the Second Amendment
Second Amendment Debate

Holiday togetherness tips - with a difference

Credit: http://greywolf.critter.net

It's the time of year for families to get together - like it or not.

Usually I hang around with a bunch of people who share my interests and values. It's comfy.

Family holiday gatherings are a lot more random, with folks from all backgrounds, generations, and views. And this lasts for hours. Or days.

Even two-party political differences can be explosive. As an activist with an armload of causes, I'm an accident waiting to happen. What to do?

1. Expect the expected

Somebody is going to say something. Or do something. Whether it's Uncle Joe's (or Aunt Mary's) casually sexist comments, or the hilarious jokes aimed at the vegans over the dead animals, or the weird way you're raising your kids, or the shock and disgust when someone finds out you're still breastfeeding that big girl...

And most somebodies will be drinking.

If you have any buttons, assume they are going to get pushed. So plan for it. What are you gonna do?

Oooh, Christmas colours!

2. Attack 

Tempting, isn't it? Maybe if you get all your ammunition ready and turn the place into Ground Zero, nobody will bother you for the rest of the holidays in case they set you off again. Curl up with the vegan chocolate (that you bought) and your new book.

I don't really recommend this, as it will probably scare the kids. But most families will have survived bigger holiday dramas and you had to watch, so...? 

Fa la la la la, la la la la!

3. Ignore

This isn't wimping out. It's the real life equivalent of "Don't feed the trolls."

Family members know you pretty well, and some people enjoy starting a fight. Hey, sometimes I enjoy starting a fight.

Noncommittal grunts and pleasant smiles are a winning strategy that will bring Peace on Earth...and frustration where it will do the most good.

4. Educate

Don't expect to convert anyone in the silly season. Nobody's going to listen to the necessary lengthy background info - you'll be wasting breath you could be using to sing carols or something. If you trip and fall into a deep discussion, save your strength with this:

These are complex issues. I've done a lot of reading on this over the years - I'll send some stuff to you and we can talk about it later.

They may or may not read anything you send, but you're off the hook either way. You'll still have the energy to go back for that last bit of cranberry sauce before someone else does.

5. Hang around with the kids

Christmas magic is all about the kids anyway, right? They know how to have fun.

And you might get some ideas into their developing minds while their parents are away at the eggnog.

And More?

How do you plan for a Happy Holiday?

Weeding and eating

"You have some lovely dandelions," said my mother. "Yes," I thought, "the yard is full of them." "So, do you mind if I pick some for lunch?"

"Ummm, sure..." Have all the weeds you want. Weirdo.

But I think Mom would be proud of me now. I've discovered the joys of harvesting wild greens in my own backyard.

Chewing it over

Since I got braces, I can't indulge in my usual crunchy carrots, apples, or even a basic lettuce salad. I believe that food is best eaten in its natural state, but I've had to compromise on this one.

I got apple back on the menu in the mornings by processing a couple with a soft banana and eating the result like a lumpy pudding. That way, I still get the fiber as well as the juice. And then I remembered green smoothies.


I can eat so much bitter raw nutritious green stuff, with pleasure, combined with sweet fruit like apples, bananas, and oranges. I used storebought cabbage and garden kale and parsley. And when those started to run out, I looked outside the garden box and saw those lovely dandelions. Thanks Mom!

I can harvest a couple of cups full of dandelion greens any morning I choose - easily equal to a package of greens from the store. And I finally remembered I have mint growing wild in the backyard. It's not just good for free tea, it's a nutritious yummy green leaf.

As our local vegan nutrition expert said in our last Vegan 101 class, the biggest problem with greens in your diet...is eating them.

More wild greens

Resources for learning about gathering wild greens are as common as weeds - there's even one for New Zealand. Hey, we've got puwha growing in the shady spots!

Would you ever gather your backyard bounty?

The REAL reason not to eat animals is...

First, there was How the Health Argument Fails Veganism. Then, How the Ethical Argument Fails Veganism.

In honour of World Vegan Day (and Month), we are going to sort it out once and for all. The real reason not to eat animals is definitely:

The animals

Obviously, it's the animals!

Veganism means man has no right to exploit the creatures for his own ends. That was Donald Watson's whole point.

Every year, tens of billions of animals exist in hopeless conditions, are literally tortured by their keepers, and die horribly, simply to feed humans.When animals are bulk commodities, animal abuse for money will be the rule, not the exception.

How can you be an animal lover and eat animals?

Human beings

OK, we sure don't want to hurt animals, but not all farm animals are treated so badly - some farms are very kind. The human beings you know and love are more important. When your family and friends eat animals, they are much more prone to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, food-borne infection, and a host of other chronic and deadly diseases.

Photo: Kevin Carter

This is not only horribly sad for us, but impossibly expensive. In the US alone, healthcare costs are upwards of a trillion dollars and rising fast. We never seem to have enough money to do the important things. Let's save lives and money.

And what about the humans we don't know? 60% of humans in other countries (or even our own) do not have enough to eat. We're not helpless. From a Cornell ecologist...

"More than half the U.S. grain and nearly 40 percent of world grain is being fed to livestock rather than being consumed directly by humans..."

Plant foods simply cost less to produce, which means more people fed. Please, don't feed the animals, feed hungry humans instead. It's the least you can do, and the best.


The whole world

Actually, the big picture is paramount. We all have to have somewhere to live, or all these arguments about ethics and health just end up as details.

Intense animal agriculture is the number one reason for deforestation and soil runoff, and excess animal waste is polluting natural waterways and land alike. Farmed animals are crowding out native wildlife, upsetting the entire natural balance of the world.

There is no Planet B. Eating animals like this is unsustainable. That's what's important.

Arguments fail veganism

One of these viewpoints may well seem strongest to you - it may have been what changed your mind. But to turn the tide on animal consumption, we must stop competing for the right reason.

We are a tiny and underfunded minority, and can't afford to fight vegan wars. When we cleverly undermine other vegan points of view, we mostly provide ammunition for the mainstream to dismiss us entirely.

They're all good reasons. Each one appeals to different people with different values. Together, they're compelling. We need that wide appeal...if we want a vegan world (and not just World Vegan Day)

Bill and Lou

Vegans, make the most of the media frenzy over Bill and Lou, the Green Mountain College mascots. Rarely have animals been so featured as individuals, esteemed and named, yet destined for slaughter under the public eye.

Here's a picture worth a thousand words for your friends and family...

Share widely and well...