Sea Shepherd

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Kindness

Are all people cruel? Have everyone of us ruined the planet? No, we have not. I do what I can and hope that leading by example it will change things. I don't eat animals, one of the biggest problems on our planet today. Understand this, the pigs eat more fish than humans do. If humans stopped eating meat the rest of the planet would not starve to death! I get really annoyed when people that eat meat get up and say they are doing all they can. Bullshit. I was not always vegan. I understand now the effect it has on our planet.

A fair look at the evidence shows that humans are optimized for eating plant foods, according to the best evidence: our bodies. We're most similar to other herbivores, and drastically different from carnivores and true omnivores. The science shows that the more meat we eat, the sicker we get -- heart disease, cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, and every other major degenerative disease. It's hard to argue that meat-eating is natural given the negative effect it has on our health.

Our so-called "canine teeth" are "canine" in name only. Other plant-eaters (like gorillas, horses, and hippos) have "canines", and chimps, who are almost exclusively vegan, have massive canines compared to ours. (See picture below.)

Our early ancestors from at least four million years ago were almost exclusively vegetarian.

Our omnivorism means we're capable of eating meat (useful from a survival standpoint if that's all that's available), but our bodies aren't geared for it to be a normal, significant part of our diets.

The animals most similar to us, the other primates, eat an almost exclusively vegan diet (and their main non-plant food often isn't meat, it's termites).
Our teeth, saliva, stomach acid, and intestines are most similar to other plant-eaters, and dissimilar to carnivores and true omnivores.

Among animals, plant-eaters have the longest lifespans, and humans are certainly in that category (and yes, this was true even before modern medicine).

We sleep about the same amount of time as other herbivores, and less than carnivores and true omnivores.

The most common cause of choking deaths is eating meat. Real carnivores and omnivores don't have that problem.

The meat-eating reader already has half a dozen objections to this before s/he's even read the rest of the article, and I will address those objections specifically, but first let me address them generally: It's human nature to want to feel that what we're doing is right, proper, and logical. When we're confronted with something that suggests that our current practices are not the best ones, it's uncomfortable. We can either consider that our choices may not have been the best ones, which is extremely disturbing, or we can reject that premise without truly considering it, so that we don't have to feel bad about our actions. That's the more comfortable approach. And we do this by searching our minds for any arguments we can for why the challenge must be wrong, to justify our current behavior. This practice is so common psychologists have a name for it: cognitive dissonance.

Think about that for a moment: Our feeling that our current actions are correct isn't based on our arguments. Rather, our actions come first and then we come up with the arguments to try to support those actions. If we were truly logical, we'd consider the evidence first and then decide the best course of action. But often we have it in reverse, because it's too difficult to accept that we might have been wrong.

Vegan bodybuilders shatter the myth that vegans are skinny and malnourished.

This is particularly true when it comes to vegetarianism. It's easy to identify because the anti-vegetarian arguments are usually so extreme, compared to other kinds of discourse. A person who would never normally suggest something so fantastic as the idea that plants can think and feel pain, will suddenly all but lunge for such an argument when they feel their meat-eating ways are being questioned, and they're looking for a way to justify it. It's human nature.

I used to be in the same position as most readers probably are now. Long ago my eating habits were challenged by a an animal rights conference. I didn't want to consider it fairly, because I wanted to keep eating meat. I'd grown up eating it, and I liked it. So I came up with various weak defenses to justify my behavior. But deep down I knew I was kidding myself, and practicing a form of intellectual cowardice. When I considered the arguments honestly, I stopped eating animals. There was really no other logical choice. That was 9 years ago and it was absolutely the best decision I ever made.

So I challenge you: stop trying to figure out ways that I "must" be wrong even before you've bothered to read the rest of this article. Instead, read it, and actually consider it rather than reflexively trying to come out with ways to dismiss it out of hand. You can certainly still disagree after you've considered all the evidence -- but not before.

Most meat-eating readers will find it necessary to try to defeat me, at least in their minds, so let's agree that that would mean providing more and better evidence for your position. The evidence favoring a plant diet for humans is clear, convincing, and overwhelming. There is definitely some evidence for the other side, to be sure, but it's simply not nearly as strong.

Dairy farms, one of the most cruel hell holes on earth, beat and abuse animals that are giving their life for others. Veal calves are taken from their mothers at birth. The mothers that mourn the lose of their baby! The milk meant for their child is consumed by the only mammal on the planet that drinks another's milk. Mammals are meant to be weaned not meant to drink milk their entire lives! Got Milk is a farse!

So many teach their chidlren that animals are property and not living beings. They make a beautiful dog into killer and then the dog is killed for doing what it is taught! What kind of logic is that? My children have always been taught to respect nature. I spend more time trying to save a dog by the side of the road then I do trying to find a job! I have rescued everything from turtles, yes even snapping turtles, to horses. I usually do this on my own dime. People need to wake up and take responsiblilty for their actions. If you teach violence and hate that is what you will get.

Teach Love!

Thursday, May 12, 2011

If you never see another movie, see this one

http://www.witnessfilm.org/

In the award-winning documentary THE WITNESS, Eddie Lama explains how he feared and avoided animals for most of his life, until the love of a kitten opened his heart, inspiring him to rescue abandoned animals and bring his message of compassion to the streets of New York. With humor and sincerity, Eddie tells the story of his remarkable change in consciousness. To learn more, visit the official film site for The Witness

Shark Fin Soup Ban in San Fran?

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The push to ban shark fins in California has received a celebrity endorsement that could influence public opinion, especially in the Chinese American community.

Houston Rockets center Yao Ming is a super star on and off the court, especially in the Chinese community. So people listen when he makes a public service announcement, like the one he filmed in San Francisco Thursday.

The PSA is the second in a series of for the shanghai-born Yao, who is campaigning against shark finning, the practice of cutting off a sharks fins to use them in soup, a luxury dish in Chinese restaurants.

Yao has joined with the organization Wild Aid, promising he will never eat it again and he is urging others to do the same.

But an expert at the Chinese Historical Society says the soup has been an esteemed delicacy for centuries. A proposed ban on shark fins chips away at tradition.

"That sort of thing is one of the dozens of little things people use to erode someone's cultural identity," Charlie Chin said.

But it is Asian American Assm. Paul Fong, D-Mountain View, who is co-author of the legislation to ban the sale and possession of shark fins.

"A culture giving up a soup is minor compared to the major disaster that could happen to our environment if sharks leave the ocean," Fong said.

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, who has said he opposes a ban, was more open Thursday.

"I'm willing to learn what it is that people are suggesting is the objective of banning and I'm open to that," he said.

A statewide poll of Chinese American opinions about the ban is expected to be released Friday.