| Tuesday, November 24, 2009 |
| PETA, just another welfare org.... |
So I thought this was some PR smear against PETA, until I found it at their own blog:
In a perfect world, lobsters and crabs would be able to do their deep sea thing without being preyed upon by humans hell-bent on turning sea life into seafood. Unfortunately, we live in a woefully imperfect world in which crustaceans are routinely boiled alive or cut open while they are still conscious. That's why we're hoping that the Crustastun will catch on. A less cruel method of slaughter, the Crustastun uses a low-voltage current to instantly render crustaceans unconscious and to kill them within five to 10 seconds. I don't think that I need to tell you what a huge improvement this is over the three minutes of pure agony that lobsters suffer though when they are cooked alive!
.... Knowing that this method will spare our crustacean comrades untold agony, we recently reached out to Tucson's Child & Family Resources concerning its upcoming annual lobster dinner fundraiser. Last year, another organization reached out to the event's organizers and tried to get them to dump the lobsters from their menu. The organizers refused, but this year we convinced them to allow to us to provide them with a Crustastun to use. The inventors of the Crustastun will be on hand to train the staff in how to use the device, which is easy to operate and guarantees the lobster a quick and painless death. And while we don't condone this event and we hope that the organization's future fundraisers will not include harming animals, we're glad that we can at least help reduce the suffering of these lobsters.
Okay, this alone would be bad enough, but what actually happened at the event was that the CrustaStuns never arrived, and the lobsters were boiled alive anyhow.
Now, I'm sure we can go around and around with this all day long, but I think any animal rights activist who's ever argued with a meat-eater knows that it's a hell of a lot harder to convince the one who eats free range animals to give it up, because the free-ranger believes that treating animals badly is okay just as long as it's done in a hipster organicy kind of way rather than as badly as they imagine it's done by hicks in Hicksville. If we start letting welfarists rule the day, animals will never enjoy the freedom and dignity they deserve -- I mean, hell, would YOU want to be fenced in all your life, kept pregnant all your life and have your children snatched from you for slaughter, only to be slaughtered yourself in the end? Would all this magically become okay just because you occasionally get to see the sun? Yeah, didn't think so.
Another thing I found interesting though profoundly irritating is this idiotic blog in the Phoenix Times (really, do they hire their bloggers at Hank's Corner Pub and have them write before they get a chance to sober up?). The top photo is a play on PETA's brain-dead anti-woman campaigns, and it's pretty goddamn clear from the entry that A) The schnockered-off-his-ass author is familiar with PETA's titty campaigns and B) is very much against animal rights. Which leads us to the probability that C) TITTY ADS DON'T WORK! AT ALL!
I'm going to say it again: An organization that can't even be bothered to care about the most basic of human rights isn't going to truly give a shit about animals, either. Compassion is compassion, and you either have it or you don't. Clearly, PETA has none, for humans OR animals.
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posted by The Venerable Vegan Empress @ 6:20 AM   |
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| Wednesday, October 21, 2009 |
| Like you care, PETA |
So, PETA's started a new website that aims to convert Muslims to veganism and vegetarianism by condescendingly telling Muslims all about their own religion. Their reason for doing it now? An October 2009 Pew Forum study showing that nearly one in four people on the planet is Muslim. Not because, you know, they care about Muslims or respect their religion or think Muslim people are important on their own, regardless of how large a percentage of the population they are. And if PETA had been paying attention, they wouldn't need a Pew study to tell them that Muslims make up a large portion of the world.
I'm also wondering how long it will be before the Muslims they target start to notice that PETA's tactics are not exactly in line with Islamic values. I'm going to guess not long.
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| posted by The Venerable Vegan Empress @ 5:49 PM |
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| Wednesday, October 7, 2009 |
| Care to elaborate, Daily Telegraph? |
Battle scars ... Jess Origliasso / Pic: Facebook Source: The Daily Telegraph SHE wasn't doused with paint or sent a threatening letter, but Veronicas twin Jess Origliasso was not unscarred when she left a photoshoot with PETA this week. The bleached star, who caught animal rights activists' attention by wearing a jacket saying "f . . . fur" earlier this year, was left with a cut above her eye after doing the hands-on campaign. Jess and sister Lisa will head home in the coming weeks to start pre-production on their anticipated third album - three years after writing their last offering Hook Me Up. "We're taking our time to experiment and push the assumption of what people think they know about The Veronicas," she said.
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| posted by The Venerable Vegan Empress @ 7:40 PM |
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| Uh oh, does PETA know about this? |
(Not a post about anything PETA has done lately, but something that reminded me of them...)
I have to say, I really love Google News' way of picking pictures to go with their front-page stories. Like the other day, when they had an article about Gordon Brown accompanied by a picture of Tony Blair. But today has to be my all-time favorite so far:
Wait, is that Ronald McDonald in the picture accompanying the Pakistani military story? Has he joined their military? Are conservatives across America going to join PETA in branding Ronald McDonald a terrorist? Or maybe he's just also concerned about the US aid bill, to which I say, it's about damn time Ronald McDonald started taking an interest in international affairs. Before this, nobody knew ANYTHING about the guy, save that he has really shitty taste in food. Perhaps this will help humanize him a bit more for his audience, although I am not entirely convinced that middle America will appreciate learning that Ronald is siding with the Half-Breed Muslin Terrorist Conspiracy From Hell. Reading through the story, it does not once mention McDonald's or anything remotely Ronald-related, which means that I can a) continue to indulge my imagination in RM's connection to the Pakistani military (is he trading French fries for nukes? Can we somehow blame the French for this?) or b) I can Google and get to the bottom of this very important development. In my ongoing quest to Know Everything, I chose "b."
Well, I am now officially deflated. It turns out that Ronald is not involved in any sort of international intrigue. He -- or rather, a statue of him -- was actually just getting cozy with two guys in Islamabad who have opinions on the US aid bill, as mentioned in a different story in a New York Times blog. One would assume, then, that Google News must have a bot that picks the pictures to go with their stories, and that their front page editors drink a lot of whiskey throughout the day. And here I was totally hoping to see PETA pick a fight with the Pakistani military. Damn you, reality (and Google)!
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| posted by The Venerable Vegan Empress @ 5:03 PM |
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| Tuesday, August 25, 2009 |
| Today in passive aggressive backpedaling |
Well, at least I don't have to worry about having reason to close this blog any time soon. Remember PETA's atrocious ad shaming fat women for daring to exist outside of burlap sacks? Well, check out their latest bit of barfitude, put up in place of their prior fat-hating billboard. On its own, it's pretty standard PETA fat-hating fare, but check out this quote from one of PETA's typical hateful little bigots:
"Our goal is help overweight Jacksonville residents - the best way to do that is to go vegetarian. We're not trying to insult anyone," Ashley Byrne, a senior campaigner for PETA, told Huffington Post after the first billboard was put up. "Vegetarians look and feel better than meat eaters. This is a life-saving message."
Yeah, you little fucking spokestool, because I didn't get the message the first 2,403,211 times around that if you're ugly and vegetarian or vegan you're a big. fucking. failure, and the entire female population of the world, as well as many men, certainly don't hear often enough that the only thing that matters is how you look, not who you are or what you contribute to the world. You know what, Ashley? This thin yet ugly vegan is sick to fucking DEATH of your stupid little goddamn organization shaming me for not being the epitome of a HOT HOT HOT vegan. In fact, half of the reason why I absolutely refuse to do leafleting is because I know I'd make a bad example for veg*ans because of how I look, and if you've ever done animal rights activism you know that leafleting is one of the activities for which most AR groups desperately need volunteers.
And quite frankly, when I hear sentiments like this, I don't even feel like I'm doing a good thing by being vegan. In fact, I feel like by being ugly and vegan I'm doing more harm than good to the cause; I feel flat-out like a bad person, like a liability. And what about all those so-called hot non-vegetarians, and the other vegetarians and vegans who don't measure up? And what about the torture animals go through so we can live up to the beauty standards that Byrne and all of PETA promote? Are animals really better off in a world mindlessly and cruelly obsessed with looks and consumption, a world with a frankly carnivorous appetite that can only be satisfied through the most horrible forms of animal testing and torture? Are we really better off in a world that values looks over kindness, that offers us nothing in return for goodness and everything in return for beauty?
As we grow more obsessed with the shallow, harmful things of consumerism that PETA stands for, both animals and people suffer and die, and nobody seems to remember Paul Wellstone's simple yet truest truth: "We all do better when we all do better." A world full of people miserable because they don't "look" good will be cruel to animals, each other and the environment, will focus on buying and what they can do to reach that impossible zenith of beauty rather than working to change the world. Meanwhile, in a world where we're not distracted and driven to misery by the beauty industrial complex, where our actions and not our bodies or faces dictate how others view us, people will have incentive to be good and kind, and will have little to nothing to gain by exploiting animals, each other and the environment. That is the world I want to live in, not PETA's land of selfish Beautiful People.
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| posted by The Venerable Vegan Empress @ 4:49 PM |
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| Monday, August 17, 2009 |
| PETA to world: Whales SUCK!!!11!!!!1!!!1! (And women still do, too...) |
I know I'm quite late on this and many others have already covered it, but I couldn't let it pass because it's one of PETA's more egregious stunts as of late. I shan't post a picture of PETA's latest piss-smelling billboard, but it's in Jacksonville, Florida and has an illustration of a fat-ish woman in a bikini. The emblazoned hate message on it is "Save the WHALES. Lose the blubber. Go vegetarian."
One woman in Jacksonville reported being so upset by it that she forwent a trip to the beach with her family -- and even though I'm vegan, and with street clothes on look reasonably thin, I can honestly say I'd probably do the same if I saw a billboard like that on my way to the beach. I simply do not look like a supermodel when I wear a bikini, and although I love swimming, I always feel horribly self-conscious in a swimsuit, such that things much smaller than this can tip my decision on whether to go to the beach. It's particularly shitty because I have a lot of upper body problems that could benefit from more swimming (ZOMG an unhealthy thin person!!! Call the Body Police!) but it is not often that I feel up to the emotionally grueling task of having my exposed body publicly judged while I'm just trying to enjoy myself. And quite frankly, the fact that PETA would probably claim the message isn't targeted at me doesn't make a whit of difference as to how hurt I feel when I see it; PETA's billboard is hurtful to ALL women and ALL fat people and ALL people who have eating disorders or body dysmorphic disorder, regardless of whether we're vegan, vegetarian or omnivorous.
Furthermore, what's with the fucking speciesism, PETA? How is trivializing the anti-whaling movement and appropriating it for your stupid everybody-hating billboard going to help any, you know, actual whales? The humorous context of "Save the Whales" on this billboard only serves to further the ridiculous, over-the-top way that environmentalists are portrayed and perceived in our culture. Also, as a commenter at Shakesville notes, "I really don't follow the logic of that billboard. How does losing weight 'save the whales' if by whales they mean fat people? Isn't their point that they'd be getting rid of fat people? Logically then this billboard should read 'Wipe Out The Whales'! But of course somebody might read that the wrong way and a cute animal (because they rarely care about any other kind) might get hurt. So instead they insult a significant portion of the population and look stupid."
Funnily enough, a few weeks ago a friend of mine sent along the following e-mail, and it seems appropriate to re-post it here. I don't know how true the story behind the French gym is, but what matters is the awesomeness of the words themselves:
Recently, in a large French city, a poster featuring a young, thin and tan woman appeared in the window of a gym. It said:
"THIS SUMMER DO YOU WANT TO BE A MERMAID OR A WHALE?"
A middle-aged woman, whose physical characteristics did not match those of the woman on the poster, responded publicly to the question posed by the gym.
To Whom It May Concern:
Whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, sea lions, curious humans). They have an active sex life, they get pregnant and have adorable baby whales. They have a wonderful time with dolphins stuffing themselves with shrimp. They play and swim in the seas, seeing wonderful places like Patagonia and the coral reefs of Polynesia.
Whales are wonderful singers and have even recorded CDs. They are incredible creatures and virtually have no predators other than humans. They are loved, protected and admired by almost everyone in the world.
Mermaids don't exist. If they did exist, they would be lining up outside the offices of psychoanalysts due to identity crisis.. Fish or human?
They don't have a sex life because they kill men who get close to them. Therefore they do not have kids either. Not to mention, who wants to get close to a girl who smells like a fish store?
The choice is perfectly clear to me; I'd rather be a whale.
The orcas are watching you, PETA, and they do not approve.*
*(Yes, I know orcas are not technically whales, but sometimes an empress just wants to post orca pictures, ya know?)
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| posted by The Venerable Vegan Empress @ 6:42 PM |
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| Vegans against PETA badges! |
Ahoy, vegans! I crawl out from under my rock to bring you vegans against PETA badges that you can put on your website, use as avatars, etc. As I have approximately no artistic skills, you can bet your last falafel that I didn't make them. A lovely blog reader sent them to me. They come in all shapes so they should be appropriate for whatever occasion or space you have. Kind of like a black cocktail dress, only soooo much cooler! (No offense to black cocktail dresses, of course.)
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| posted by The Venerable Vegan Empress @ 5:54 PM |
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| About Me |
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Name: The Venerable Vegan Empress
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If you have any ideas for an article here or would like to write a post, I'd love that! I work full time, volunteer and take classes at my city's university, so I don't work on this project nearly as often as I'd like. Just send me a comment with your contact info -- I approve all comments before posting, so if you include info that you don't want published let me know and I won't publish your comment.
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