rights - Forum - The Frugivore Diet

Best way to make a difference for animals + vegan entrepreneurship

2017-06-21T02:12:13.000Z

Hey Guys,

I hope you're all doing well. I wanted to know what do you guys think is the best way to make a difference as a vegan? I've pondered this question for a long time and always am because it's the most important thing for me, to make a difference. I've asked couple of President of non-profits like MFA, Farm Sanctuary, Vegan Outreach, etc and I read a book called "Being Great At Doing Good" by Nick Cooney, a guy from MFA that talks about the subject and from what I've taken from these conversations was that starting a business and giving my money to non-profits, could make a really big impact, a bigger one than possibly going to be a speaker and talk about animal rights. I've always been interested in starting a business, but this made me realize that I could serve the animals while doing it. The speaker routes seem interesting as well and the great Gary Yourofsky in a total inspiration because he made more of a difference than a lot of organizations in my opinion, but I don't know anyone else that has had as close to as much success him, so that's why I think that going and starting a business might be a better way. Besides that, there's nothing that prevents you from speaking animal rights even though you're starting a business. I just want to serve the animals as best as I can because the truth of the matter is that when I die, I want to be remembered as someone who cared for animals and that did his best to save as many of them, that's the most important thing for me. I wanted to get your guys opinion on the subject.

Thanks a lot and have an amazing night,

Claude

HIGH SCHOOL ANIMAL RIGHTS CLUB

2015-10-18T19:44:06.000Z

I am starting an animal rights club at my school and I need to write a 'club proposal' for the principles.

I need to include animal organizations that we would fundraise for and donate to and also activities we could do!

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

new vegan youtube channel☺ daffy peaches

2015-07-13T06:54:03.000Z

Hey guys!I started a vegan youtube channel less then 2weeks ago called Daffy peaches. Would love it if you could check it out! I've been uploading daily. When I' back from holiday in a few weeks and have wifi again, I will link the video's here aswell.See you there greetz daphne

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it's not food! it's violence!!

2014-09-24T00:53:15.000Z

here is a great video uncovered by bigG:

One Voice for Animal Liberation (DxE August)

A committed band of activists is on a mission to change the world for animals. But they need your help.

With Eddie Lama of The Witness, distinguished critical theorist John Sanbonmatsu, and activists from 31 cities in four continents, DxE is setting out to show the world that we are no longer afraid to say what we believe: that every animal has an equal right to be safe, happy, and free.

Languages featured in this video include:

Chinese
Danish
English
Farsi
French
Georgian
German
Hebrew
Hindi
Irish
Japanese
Portugese
Russian
Spanish
Turkish
The cries of the animals

Over 60 cities in 17 countries have joined the #ItsNotFoodItsViolence campaign. Join the growing network:

http://directactioneverywhere.com/nex...
https://www.facebook.com/directaction...

the excuses stop right here!

in friendship,

prad

Vegan, OK... But vegan activism?

2013-12-27T06:11:56.000Z

Hey guys,

This was a question on my mind for some time after coming across this lifestyle. Since moving to the Bay Area, I have found myself amongst not only vegans but animal rights activists.

Since this was an issue I myself was confused about for some time, I figured I would post this interview here from a PhD animal rights activist about why it is our responsibility to speak out for animals. Anyone who is confused or curious about how to answer questions and criticisms of meat-eaters should definitely watch because he covers the basics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N_BIJB5koQ&feature=youtu.be

They called DCS on us for feeding our kids 811 HCLFR VEGAN!! Teacher crosses the line and pays for them to have school lunch against our wishes.

2013-10-08T14:58:41.000Z

Last week, our four minor children were pulled from their schools by the US Government's Department of Child Services in Bluff City, TN and questioned about the amount of protein they have daily, what foods they eat and how they feel about it. They were allowed to return to class, but we are still under investigation at this moment, believed to have been prompted by a teacher/coach. She actually went so far as to put money in their lunch account telling them they need to eat the school lunches. (against our wishes and without even consulting us with her concerns about their nutirition) The school no longer offers salad bar b/c not enough kids were eating it, they say. There are very few fresh, raw vegan options, so our kids take their lunch, mostly fruit or salad. It's how we eat anyway but they couldn't bring left overs and heat it up even if they wanted to b/c they removed all microwaves from the lunch rooms b/c so many kids were bringing their lunch and they were losing the revenue. This is for real. The students have become more of a profit center to them and the institution of learning and education no longer the primary role. This seems crazy, but the culture here is predominated by cattle raising, tobacco farming, hay growers, GMO corn farming precious people, but to them, we are aliens trying to starve our children and they don't understand. (We live near the rural Appalachian area where I believe we are in the top 10 in the country for obesity, tobacco use is widely accepted, students openly smoking and dip on high school buses, diabetes and heart surgery are an accepted and expected part of life by age 30, for many.) My home was inspected by the US government after the coach reported concerns that we don't let our kids have school lunch, "that our kids are only allowed to eat fruit, have nutrition problems and weight loss" which they do not. They searched our refrigerator, pantry and every child's room to determine their well-being, had us sign over access to their medical records to prove that I take them to the medical doctor regularly and that they are in fact healthy. I am not concerned about the investigation because ALL of our children are thriving athletes, very fit, with sports physicals to prove it. Our daughter on her team has actually gained 4 lbs since starting volleyball. She is, however, tall, slender and very fit. She is 13 yrs old, 5'5" and weighs 104lbs with plenty of muscle. Many of the kids here are overweight and even obese, weighing 250lbs at 13 yrs old. It is very sad. It is how they have always lived and many of the parents are morbidly obese like their previous generations. They are sweet, sweet people. Don't get me wrong. And all of them, obviously, are not obese. I would just like to have a lovingly conversation to educate the lady coach about why we do not give our children money for the school lunch and our rights to do so. She put the money in her lunch account after only seeing her with fruit for lunch and told her she needs to eat eggs, meat and dairy for protein becuase her volleyball serve was not as good lately. This was even after our daughter repeatedly explained to her that we don't eat anything from an animal, that we get all essential vitamins, protein/amino acids from raw fruit, veggies and greens. How can I help her understand so she will back off from harassing my kids? Besides showing her all of Doug Graham's books, which I have, DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY GOOD STATS ON HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE LIVING THIS 80/10/10 HCLF RAW VEGAN FRUITARIAN LIFESTYLE WITH THRIVING HEALTH? Besides giving her links to the many websites with forums and communities of people living this way, I was curious what that number is because I'm sure it is impressive. I can show her the professional athletes that Doug lists in his book, but there are many families like ours living vibrantly without animal products. Perhaps we will be the catalysts to get the salad bars back in our schools in Sullivan County and force them to include vegan options if they want us to buy their food. Besides not having healthy raw options, these already obese kids have pizza, hamburgers,fried french fries and a fully stocked ice cream dessert cart AS A DAILY MENU OPTION over the meal of the day. They are killing this generation. They only have one semester of PE where the kids actually have to "work up" to being able to run/jog/walk ONE MILE by the end of the 18 weeks because for many kids they can't even complete a mile run. Part of their PE requirement is taking a bus to the bowling alley, where they kids have to pay to bowl (?free public education) and they serve deep fried oreos and other concession stand food. They consider bowling to be physical education, "a lifelong sport" according to the principal. (They won't take money from the budget to provide buses for school sports practice and games, but they will for bowling, b/c that is something everyone can do (oh and they get to munch on fried food in between.) It's just an old mindset that I will likely not change, but would like to be allowed the right to raise my kids the 80/10/10 RV way without interference from the school staff. Can anyone give helpful, positive advise on how you have or would handle this opportunity? These are pictures of the four they pulled out of class for "nutrition problems". They train every day and have games/meets once or twice a week. They would not be able to do that successfully if they were under-carbed or lacking protein!

Here she at age 12. She has grown several inches this year but looks even more healthy, has muscle and plays aggressive volleyball every day.

Wow amazing.... kitten saved by firefighter

2013-09-29T15:32:59.000Z

http://youtu.be/CjB_oVeq8Lo

Found this on youtube, just about brought a tear to my eye... This just proves the soft spot we automatically have towards animals. Kudos and love go out to the brave firefighters out there.

I am in need of your help please!

2013-08-22T12:13:33.000Z

Hey fruit lovers,

It’s with a heavy and frightened heart that I’m posting this today. A friend of mine and his traveling companion were arrested in Cairo, Egypt on Friday. Dr. Tarek Loubani an emergency room physician and filmmaker Professor John Greyson were on their way to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza’s North Rimal District as part of an ongoing collaboration with The University of Western Ontario to help train local physicians advanced cardiac life support and advanced trauma life support. Prof. Greyson came along to possibly film a documentary on Tarek’s work.

Tarek has made the trip to Gaza many times before in the past through Egypt but this time when they got off their plane ready to continue on to Gaza they were told that the passage has been closed for the next few days and they are going to have to stay in Cairo till it re-opens. They made arrangements to stay at a hotel and with the heavy military presence along with multiple check point they found a cab. This cab did not make it through one of the check points and the two men were forced to walk the last 2 km to their hotel. Unable to find the hotel they walked into the police station to get directions. The police, now in a very defensive state due to all the violence, almost immediately arrested the two and they were “roughed up”….read the cops beat them up.

And now they wait in prison, with no charges or reason for detainment. We are very concerned for their safety and are asking for the public to stand up for the men that have always been the ones to stand up for others.

You can sign the petition here

http://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/canadian-government-help-free-tarek-and-john

And here are some links to facebook groups and event pages

https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/372290702900642/

https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/1409779849241538/

http://tarekandjohn.com/about/

Please forward this on to your friends asking them to also sign the petition

And I’ve pasted a sample letter that can be cut and pasted into an email that you can send to The Egyptian Embassy in your area.

Easiest way to find the email address of your local Ambassador is to Google

Egyptian Embassy in - your country- contact info

We need to keep the pressure on to ensure the safe release of these men.

Thank you for all your help my fruity friends.

Dear Ambassador:

Please accept this letter requesting further information and release of both Dr. Tarek Loubani and Mr. John Greyson. It is our understanding that the two Canadian men were detained on August 16, 2013, without evidence or reasons for the arrests and sent to Tora prison in Cairo. If correct, this detainment is in violation of Article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which Egypt is a signatory, stipulating that “no one shall be subject to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile”. We also request that you provide the two men with all required amenities during detainment in accordance with international human rights principles.

Further to information of the nature of the charges, because both men are Canadian citizens and due to the heightened state of emergency in Cairo, we request that you release them into the custody of Canadian officials. This act will ensure the security of the two Canadian citizens, access to justice pursuant to international human rights laws, continuity in the administration of justice and would also be a demonstration of good faith to Canada.

Dr. Tarek Loubani, is a valuable representative of Canada on the international stage, sharing his medical knowledge to save lives wherever needed. He is a strong advocate for human rights and a dedicated, skilled doctor. Absent official charges, his release to Canadian consular officials would be consistent with the type of goodwill he has provided to the world throughout the duration of his career.

We trust that you will take immediate action on this contentious international issue and release both Dr. Tarek Loubani and Mr. John Greyson.

Respectfully,

International AR Gathering (Belgium)

2013-08-07T12:24:35.000Z

Who is going to the International Animal Rights Gathering in Belgium, August 16 to 18?

http://www.argathering.net

There will be workshops and other happenings. It will be well-worth attending, and good to be surrounded by people who actually give a damn about animals and the world.

Come along!

injustice against austrian animal rights activists

2013-07-31T20:12:33.000Z

this item in from michael regarding the horrible persecution of animal rights activists in austria.

the witch hunt from a few years ago which resulted in total acquittal is about to start again!

those who support the violation of animal rights, have no hesitation to violate human rights either! oppressors are remarkably non-speciesist!

see the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeSsTK0amMI

write to:

Werner Fayman (Prime Minister) kabhbk@bka.gv.at
Michael Spindelegger (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) michael.spindelegger@bmeia.gv.at
Beatrix Karl (Ministry of Injustice) beatrix.karl@bmj.gv.at

use this convenient link to send email to all three.

additional links:

International website with information about everything surrounding the trial in English: https://www.Shameonaustria.org (english - under construction, will go online in August 2013, see http://www.vgt.at/index_en.php for a few english news items on the case by the NGO VGT until then)

Contact email for additional information: tba

German website on the trial: https://tierschutzprozess.at/ (german)

Wikipedia article on the trial: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiener_... (german)

Websites of persecuted NGOs:
BAT: https://www.basisgruppe-tierrechte.org (german)
VGÖ: https://www.vegan.at (german)
VGT: https://www.vgt.at (german and english)

The Complete Higher Regional Court of Vienna appeal verdict: http://www.animal-liberation.at/image... (german)

Amnesty International Statement: https://195.202.179.11/staytuned/NORM... (german)

Documentary 'Der Prozess' ('The Trial'): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2107685/

in friendship,

prad

Animal Rights Gathering UK (Aug. 2-4)

2013-07-30T16:44:46.000Z

The Animal Rights Gathering will this year be held over the weekend of August 2 to 4 in Nottinghamshire.

The details can be seen at:

http://www.argathering.org.uk/

There will be many workshops on relevant topics as well as other happenings.

I'll be there camping throughout. Anyone else?

Man says "All You Animal Activists,**** YOU" and Shoots Horse

2013-03-23T01:22:19.000Z

http://vimeo.com/62395510

Info and details on description of the video, but I'll paste it here just in case they delete the video

Man says "All You Animal Activists, FUCK YOU" and Shoots The Horse Point Blank!

""All you animal activists, fuck you""

Call to Action!

Last night we showed the shocking video of Tim Sappington shooting a horse to make a point against all animal activists who might get in his way. He stated "All you animal activists, fuck you" and then shot the horse at point blank range. This could be considered a hate crime against all of us who have spoken out against the Roswell NM horse slaughter house. The owner of the slaughter house intends to hire 40-100 people, and Tim is the first employee of Valley Meat Co.

We must all band together and put a stop to this. What Tim did may very well be the catalyst to ending the possibility of the horse slaughter house in Roswell, but we must join together to make that happen.

Here is the link to the unedited video, warning, it is graphic: vimeo.com/62395510 Send this link to law enforcement and any news outlets you can think of.

Below you will find a list of phone numbers to call in Chavez County where the slaughter house is planning on opening.

Sheriff - Non-Emergency 575-624-7590 - Administration 575-624-6500

Janetta B. Hicks, District Attorney - Phone: (575)622-4121 - Email: 5thDA@da.state.nm.us

Chaves County Manager - Stanton L. Riggs, Esq. - Phone: 575-624-6602 - Email: sriggs@co.chaves.nm.us

We don't necessarily agree with everything that PETA and HSUS do, but they are the nations largest animal welfare organizations and do have armies of lawyers and followers:

PETA 757-622-7382, option 2 email: peta.org/about/contact-peta/email-form.aspx

The Humane Society of the United States - Phone: 202-452-1100 - email: humanesociety.org/forms/contact_us/contact_equine_protection.html

Contacting the news may generate interest in this story, yesterday Fox News put out a poll on horse slaughter, so they may be very interested in the story:

FoxNews Hotline - Phone: 888-369-4762 - Email: foxnewstips@foxnews.com.

Since this is a possible hate crime crossing state lines, the FBI may be interested in doing some investigation:

FBI - Albuquerque, NM 87107 - Phone: (505) 889-1300 - Public Corruption hotline: (505) 889-1580 or online tip line: tips.fbi.gov/

Another action is getting horse slaughter outlawed nation wide. Support the following bill that will end horse slaughter and export once and for all.

Please make a brief, polite phone call to your U.S. Representative and two U.S. Senators to urge co-sponsorship of H.R. 1094 S. 541, the Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act that ends the cruel slaughter of America's horses as well as their export for slaughter abroad.

You can find your representative at this link:
action.humanesociety.org/site/PageServer?pagename=electedOfficials_federal.

You can say: "I would like you to please co-sponsor and support H.R. 1094/S. 541, the Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act to protect our nation's horses and keep the food supply safe for consumers."

We know we are asking a lot of you, but this is extremely important. We must be a united voice for those that have no voice.

Please share and like this post as much as possible to spread the word.
— with Maitri Pamo, Olga Müller, Jesse Nemerofsky, Nelson J. Meilak and Yougenia Ahern.

SAD eaters act more pretentious than vegans.

2013-02-20T14:40:04.000Z

I finally had the last straw with a now former friend who had such lack of respect for life and ARAs that I couldn't take seeing him around on my FB one more second.

Why do SAD eaters want respect out of us for their choices when I catch the mantra of "vegans are so stupid" every friggin' day?

"Dear SAD eater, I do respect your choice, but I care more about your own well being that I would say some harsh things only because I want to save your life. But if you resort to anti-vegan comments my respect and tolerance goes out the window."

Signed, A vegan who cares

Who controls the rights to the seeds planted in the ground? A 75-year-old farmer takes the agricultural giant to court to find out

2013-02-10T06:03:58.000Z

Indiana soybean farmer sees Monsanto lawsuit reach US supreme court

Who controls the rights to the seeds planted in the ground? A 75-year-old farmer takes the agricultural giant to court to find out

guardian.co.uk, Saturday 9 February 2013 11.36 EST

Monsanto insists it maintains patent rights on its genetically modified seeds even if sold by a third party with no restrictions put on its use. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

As David versus Goliath battles go it is hard to imagine a more uneven fight than the one about to play out in front of the US supreme court between Vernon Hugh Bowman and Monsanto.

On the one side is Bowman, a single 75-year-old Indiana soybean farmer who is still tending the same acres of land as his father before him in rural south-western Indiana. On the other is a gigantic multibillion dollar agricultural business famed for its zealous protection of its commercial rights.
Not that Bowman sees it that way. "I really don't consider it as David and Goliath. I don't think of it in those terms. I think of it in terms of right and wrong," Bowman told The Guardian in an interview.

Either way, in the next few weeks Bowman and Monsanto's opposing legal teams will face off in front of America's most powerful legal body, weighing in on a case that deals with one of the most fundamental questions of modern industrial farming: who controls the rights to the seeds planted in the ground.

The legal saga revolves around Monsanto's aggressive protection of its soybean known as Roundup Ready, which have been genetically engineered to be resistant to its Roundup herbicide or its generic equivalents. When Bowman – or thousands of other farmers just like him – plant Monsanto's seeds in the ground they are obliged to only harvest the resulting crop, not keep any of it back for planting the next year. So each season, the farmer has to buy new Monsanto seeds to plant.
However, farmers are able to buy excess soybeans from local grain elevators, many of which are likely to be Roundup Ready due to the huge dominance Monsanto has in the market. Indeed in Indiana it is believed more than 90% of soybeans for sale as "commodity seeds" could be such beans, each containing the genes Monsanto developed.
Bowman, who has farmed the same stretch of land for most of the past four decades and grew up on a farm, ended up on Monsanto's radar for using such seeds – bought from a local grain elevator, rather than Monsanto – for year after year and replanting part of each crop. He did not do so for his main crop of soybeans, but rather for a smaller "second late season planting" usually planted on a field that had just been harvested for wheat. "We have always had the right to go to an elevator, buy some 'junk grain' and use it for seed if you desire," Bowman said.
To put it mildly, Monsanto disagrees. The firm insists that it maintains patent rights on its genetically modified seeds even if sold by a third party with no restrictions put on its use – even if the seeds are actually only descendants of the original Monsanto seeds. To that end it sued Bowman, eventually winning a legal settlement of some $84,456 (£53,500) against him for infringing the firm's patent rights. Monsanto says that if it allowed Bowman to keep replanting his seeds it would undermine its business model, endangering the expensive research that it uses to produce advanced agricultural products.
On a website the firm set up to highlight its arguments in the case, Monsanto insists a Bowman victory at the supreme court could "jeopardize some of the most innovative biotechnology research in the country" in industries that range from farming to medicine. It says protecting patent rights fully is vital to preserve a commercial incentive to develop and refine new products.
But Bowman has numerous supporters who believe his case could help reform aspects of commercial farming – that is now dominated by huge corporations rather than small or family-run business – to vital reforms. Bowman's legal team intends to argue that the case could open the industry to greater anti-trust scrutiny, arguing that large corporation's vice-like grip on farming and control of seeds needs to be loosened. "It opens up these transactions (buying seeds) to greater anti-trust scrutiny by the Department of Justice. Right now they are sheltered by patent trust protection," said Bowman's lawyer Mark Walters.

Campaign groups are also eager to back the case. This coming Tuesday, farming campaign groups the Center for Food Safety and Save Our Seeds will release a joint report examining the modern seeds industry. The organizations are enthusiastic backers of Bowman's cause. Debbie Barker, a program director for SOS, said a Bowman victory at the supreme court could nudge the industry towards opening up and treating seeds as a common resource, not a fiercely fought-over commercial battleground. "It would help with wider reforms," Barker said. SOS believes Monsanto and other major firms are less concerned with protecting interests in research than in their lucrative business model. After all, just three firms now control more than 50% of the global seed market.

Yet, despite the vast sums of money involved in modern farming, it is ironically Bowman's own lack of cash that has seen the case end up at the supreme court. Monsanto has a long record of reaching settlements with commercially pressured farmers it targets for patent infringements. But when the firm sued Bowman, he was already bankrupt after an unrelated land deal went wrong. Thus, he had little to lose. "I made up my mind to fight it until I could not fight it anymore," he said. "I thought: I am not going to play dead."

"Who wants a salad when you can have a steak?"

2012-12-09T02:00:59.000Z

If anyone truly believes that life is "unfulfilling" without animal cruelty at every meal, tell me, so I know which hand to use in smacking you back into reality. To add insult to injury I was talking to some locals around my home and one said a pleasant remark:

“Humans outrank animals, and if you say otherwise, you're the enemy and a species traitor!”
Well congratulations shitbrick on knowing nothing about the movement.

“I have a very low tolerance level for stupid bullshit”- George Carlin

When people say things like the previous section, I want to pepper spray my brain. If you have any crazy responses for those who know nothing about the animal rights movement please share your interesting and creative responses in the comment section below, or on my website.

No matter who is in office...grassroots pressure from the people is needed now more than ever..."There can be no daily democracy without daily citizenship." -Ralph Nader

2012-11-07T22:33:40.000Z

"There can be no daily democracy without daily citizenship"

-Ralph Nader

An issue close to my heart is closing the SOA (School Of The Americas) because the military is forcing these citizens of Latin America to allow corporations to destroy their land and water for short term profits. Many people realize that indigenous rights are closely linked with environmental sustainability issues.

The elections are over and however you feel about them, one thing is certain: changing the bipartisan U.S. foreign policy towards Latin America and pushing back militarization is a long-term project and it depend on pressure from the grassroots. We need to mobilize and build mass movements that get people in the streets. We need your support to make it happen. As a thank you, we will send you a copy of the map of U.S. Intervention in Latin America and the Caribbean (see below).

The 2012 November Vigil is taking place in 9 days, from November 16-18. It is our chance to set the agenda for justice right from the start (no honeymoon this time around!). Let's remind President Obama and the powers that be that we will not stop, that we are winning, and that they have another opportunity to join the right side of history! (Many groups are still making their travel and lodging plans: get connected!) We will be their in our thousands demanding that the Obama administration close the SOA/WHINSEC and begin new relationships with Latin America. If you have stood vigil at the gates of Fort Benning before, now is the time to mobilize others in your community to join you. If you have never come to the November Vigil before; this is the year! Make history and be part of the largest annual anti-militarization convergence in North America. Come take a stand for justice, peace, dignity and self-determination.

With about $6 billion dollars, the elections were the most expensive elections in history and they diverted attention and money to various candidates and political parties... as a result, we need your financial contribution now to help cover the cost for the stage and sound equipment, for the rental of the Columbus Convention Center for the November convergence, to set up a media office, and more. Click here to make a donation.If you pitch in $15 or more, we will send you a copy of the U.S. Intervention map as a thank you for your donation.

Thank you!!
http://SOAW.org/

The design team of ILC.iNK created an extraordinary bilingual and union-printed map of U.S. interventions in Latin America and the Caribbean. It lists the Republicans and Democrats who were U.S. presidents at the time of the interventions, which makes it a great educational tool and reminder following the re-election on President Barack Obama; to create real change in the bi-partisan U.S. foreign policy towards Latin America, it'll take more than elections but the kind of hard and persistent grassroots organizing that has brought the victories that we are seeing in Latin America.

Click here to receive your copy of the map of U.S. Interventions in Latin America and the Caribbean as a thank you gift for your donation.

Please share the various issues you are working on!

Would it be classified as extremism if an animal did it?

2012-11-02T03:07:58.000Z

When animal rights activists break the law on behalf of animals it's called extremism. However if a farm animal attacked a farmer, or a vivisection animal attacked a vivisectionist, would that be classified as extremism? The animal may carry out acts that are similar to what some animal rights activists are known to do; i.e. damaging property and assaulting animal abusers.

Let's take the scenario of a piglet about to have it's teeth removed without anaesthesia (a horrifying operation carried out everyday in pig factory farms all over the world). Now if an animal rights activist saw this happening and bit the farmhand's finger off, this would be considered immense extremism despite being rather trivial compared to the acts of horror carried out by farmers. However, if the piglet bit the farmhand's finger off, would that really be classified as extremism on the part of the piglet? If someone was about to rip your teeth out surely biting their finger(s) off would be an entirely reasonable reaction. Poetic justice even.

In conclusion should animal rights activists be considered extremists just for doing what the animals aspire to do anyway? A Buffalo would not be considered an extremist for killing a lion that attacked it, and humans are not the only animals who try to defend species other than themselves from attacks.

Is this hippo an extremist?

Scientists Proclaim Animal and Human Consciousness the Same

2012-09-03T06:53:39.000Z

Here is a great article some of you may be interested in.

http://www.care2.com/causes/scientists-proclaim-animal-and-human-consciousness-the-same.html

Would love to hear your thoughts on this.

A True Story: My Journey With Toronto Pig Save

2012-07-31T14:57:36.000Z

This is my story. A true story of how I became an ambassador for the animals. Hi I am Michael Lanfield. I am an animal rights activist, writer and public speaker.

Anyone can be a hero.

Preview Trailer

My Journey With Toronto Pig Save

No Meat and Potates

2012-05-26T08:19:36.000Z

I've been trying to say "Light two candles w/ one flame" instead of "Kill two birds w/ one stone", ever since my family pointed it out.

But then, I came across a situation where I wanted to say "Meat and potatoes".

Does anybody know a more vegan friendly alternative saying for "Meat and potatoes"?

Any insights are truly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Dr David Sztybel

2012-04-23T18:45:08.000Z

I met David nearly 20 yrs ago when he was a budding philosophy grad student who had taken up animal rights. We used to show up at the same protests. My students adored him because of his witty straight-forwardness in dealing with hecklers who whined about our efforts to stop animal abuse.

Two decades later, David is a veteran philosopher with a long list of accomplishments. Not only has he made significant academic contributions (some of his peers think he has the best-going animal rights philosophy), he doesn't leave the lay people behind either! He provides topics suited to a more general audience as well as numerous teaching aids.

David is relatively unique in that not many philosophers build their credibility on the topic of animal rights. For most, animal rights is a side-dish. However, David takes it on as a main course and as such he is a pioneer in the most important area of social justice in history!

Animal rights is foundational to civilized behavior of humans for it challenges us to choose between cruelty and compassion. The ramifications of that choice will determine the destiny of this species.

We encourage you to frequent his comprehensive site:
Dr David Sztybel

You'll find not only much to learn, but also much to use!

in friendship,

prad

The ignorance and mis-education when it comes to dairy, meat and eggs...

2012-02-27T23:55:04.000Z

It is amazing how many people have no idea... totally absolutely NO clue!!!

A week or so ago I sent the famous Gary Yourofsky speech ( in case you haven't seen yet, it is a must! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es6U00LMmC4 ) to several loved ones, and my aunt wrote me back, in complete shock of the entire speech and the additional footage... she is a 61 year old woman of good intelligence, but had no idea about what goes on. She even said she used to think that cows get milk from eating grass (not from being constantly pregnant and lactating for their baby calves)... in school they taught her that cows eat grass and in their stomach this turns into milk. When you first think of this, that someone actually believed this for her entire life, you might think, wow... not the smartest cookie in the jar! But I started thinking more and more, that most people who are still eating meat are seriously misinformed and just ignorant to what goes on in slaughter houses and dairy farms, etc. partially because they have been taught wrongly (we can thank the meat and dairy lobbies for that) but also because people really do not want to take the blinders off, they like being ignorant. I have seen it time and time again with people, whenever I want to tell them something about the meat and dairy industry, they shut off... some even plug their ears and loudly go "LA LA LA!!! DON'T WANT TO HEAR!" that is how much they like the convenience of not changing, not knowing...

But when you know, you can do something about it.

When you know better, you do better.

To get back to my 61 year old aunt, she sat the whole speech and the slaughter house footage through, and said she was so appalled she was going to change to soy yoghurt and rethink her meat-usage.

Yes soy is not ideal, and "rethinking" doesn't mean anything yet, but the seed has been planted.

Over the years that I have been vegan and interested in the health aspects, I have slowly influenced my parents... my father was very very anti everything vegan in the beginning, "adoring" meat and dairy, and just keeping the blinders shut tight, but over the years I have managed to instill some of my knowledge into him, and lately he has been saying to my mother that he wants to become vegetarian... we all know vegetarians are just not grown up yet, because grown ups become vegan, but hey... it is a step! A HUGE step if you know my dad :)

My mother has been on my side for a long time, but has had trouble putting it into her own life, but we have had so so many conversations and I have told her about so much of what I know, that she is slowly moving towards a completely vegan diet... something I am really proud of.

The guy I am seeing has gone completely vegan in a very short amount of time, it started with me showing him Earthlings and because of how passionate I am about veganism and raw foods/health, I always share little flashes of the things I learn, and I think it seeped in, because he went off of meat, and then slowly started adjusting his lifestyle to also excluding the eggs and dairy :D it is so delicious kissing and tasting someone who is vegan :P

He is now even teaching other people about their own hypocricy and ignorance in full force haha

If everyone who is vegan puts effort into educating people they love about the truth, we can make massive changes. I know a lot of vegans already do this, because being vegan is not just about not eating or wearing the animal products, but it becomes such a strong passion and life-philosophy that you can't help but share it.

The only thing that I think is important, is the way you approach people. If you scream at someone they will not want to hear what you have to say, and worse, it may go towards the exact opposite direction!

I believe in leading through example... show people what you feel, but don't be religious about it. Most of the people on this site ate meat or dairy at one point in their life. EVERYONE is capable of change.

Today I posted this on my facebook:

"I have figured out that 90% of the people who consume meat, dairy and eggs do so because they are ignorant to what goes on in those places of animal slavery and death, the misinformation (which starts in school and is spread out through various media sponsored by lobbies) is so big that most people have no idea about the actual harm they are causing to others and themselves. The other 10% just doesn't give a damn. Time to take the eye patches off, dearlings xx inform yourself and find out which percentage you are."

with the documentary Earthlings added.

I got one reply/like... which is funny, because when I post a nice picture of myself I get many many likes in a short amount of time.

People don't like being confronted with this, but I do feel it is my job to at least try... I am not being mean, I am not trying to ruin their lives, I am just trying to open their eyes.

What I write about the 90% of the people who consume animal products simply being ignorant and the 10% knowing (somewhat) but not caring... I think this is pretty correct. There are people who work in those places of death called slaughter houses, there are people who "LOOOOOOVE" their meat, and don't give a damn. Those people are just plain ugly on the inside/psychopathic and need professional help. But I like to believe that deep inside, everyone wants to be at peace with themselves, their animal friends and the planet.

It just makes sense.

how to do animal rights

2012-02-02T19:24:15.000Z

this is an excellent and free book on the web, by the generous and knowledgeable activist ben isacat:

How to Do Animal Rights

it provides a lot of information as well as practical guidance.

it's a great place to start!

in fact, here's a study group for it:

how to do animal rights study group!

the pace is roughly one chapter per week with various supplemental materials as explained in the docket.

we invite anyone to join it, though if you want to participate in the discussions as opposed to just reading them, you will need to join the yccbb forum by contacting the pradmin.

the way the activity will proceed, it will useful for anyone: beginner to expert!

in friendship,

prad

Two-alarm fire at Sandy fur breeders business

2011-12-19T22:58:06.000Z

SANDY — A blowtorch being used to thaw a frozen pipe apparently started a two-alarm fire at a feed plant Monday, causing significant damage.

The fire at Fur Breeders Agriculture Co-op, 8550 S. and 700 West, started just before noon. The blaze sent a large plume of black smoke into the air that could be seen across the valley.

There were many pallets, animal feed and packaging materials in the building that burned, Sandy Deputy Fire Chief Bruce Cline said.

The plant makes feed for minks, according to officials. A line carrying liquid used to help in the that process froze. A worker tried to thaw it by using a torch, but accidentally started a fire.

Firefighters quickly went into a defensive mode after they arrived, meaning they could only fight the fire from the outside of the structure. Cline said one problem was the flames had spread to the attic and there were multiple roofs on the building.

Another concern was a large ammonia tank near the structure fire. The tank had a cooling system, however, and was not damaged, Cline said.

The building belonged to the same company that was the target of a pipe bombing by animal rights activists in 1997. Six members of the Animal Liberation Front were charged for igniting six pipe bombs at the Fur Breeders Co-op, but at a different building, 8720 S. 700 West. At least two were sentenced to federal prison.

The ALF confirmed in an email it was not responsible for Monday's fire.

Sometimes beautiful things happen without any intervention... sit back and enjoy this one.

Great animal rights activism fiction movie :)

2011-11-07T22:11:56.000Z

Saw this with a friend the other night and found it very inspiring and entertaining. Fiction (not documentary), but includes appearances from some real people in the scene such as Tonya Kay.

Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB0ITQfWjfk

Seen it?

Know of other good ones?

St. Louis Cardinals 2011 World Champs led by VEGETARIAN manager Tony La Russa who is a staunch animal rights activist!!! :D

2011-10-29T04:22:12.000Z

La Russa graduated with a law degree from Florida State University and is a vegetarian. He is fluent in Spanish and is a passionate advocate for animal rights, having founded the Tony La Russa’s Animal Rescue Foundation with his wife, Elaine.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2011/1028/Cardinals-game-6-win-means-manager-Tony-La-Russa-s-journey-continues

You see, Tony La Russa is a true animal advocate. In addition to managing the St. Louis Cardinals, he founded and heads Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF)--one of the most successful animal shelters in the country. And if you think he's just some wealthy sports figure who threw money at cause and slapped his name on a building, you're sadly mistaken.

Listen to the Road to Rescue interview with ARF founder Tony La Russa on Animal Radio Network.

http://dogtime.com/road-to-rescue-tony-larussa-arf.html

McDonald Kids Watch Slaughterhouse Videos!

2011-10-07T22:19:04.000Z

Hello Family,

I just finished uploading another video. This one entails me going to McDonald's, showing videos of slaughterhouses to kids, and seeing and hearing their reactions. Did we make some new vegans today?

Please share the video and subscribe!

The flaws of straightedge locavorism vs veganism?

2011-08-21T08:12:41.000Z

I have a friend who is threatening me to lose respect for her by her recent choice of locavorism over veganism.

What are some good solid points that one can make about veganism over localvorism? Sorry that I don't have any factual data between the two at the moment, but I do believe being vegan and local are ideal, however locavorism is unrealistic since it's impossible to follow 100%, not to mention the lack of compassion there.

Any thoughts? MANY THANKS!!

Excellent article! 'Time to Wake Up' by Will Tuttle

2011-08-17T20:28:37.000Z

Time to Wake Up

OK, everyone! It’s time for us to pay attention. It’s long been obvious that there are apparent forces spreading economic, environmental, and social devastation. Since 9-11, the pace has accelerated noticeably, and since Obama took office, the frequency and intensity of direct attacks on our freedom, our ecosystems, our health, peace, and economic security have further increased.

The question that everyone throughout our local district in the galaxy must be asking (and maybe placing bets on) is whether the humans on Earth will wake up, grow up, and act up, or feebly submit to de facto enslavement and ecocide. Will we awaken from our seeming complacency and distractedness, and grow up out of our disempowering gullibility? And how do we do this?

The precious and hidden key to everything is learning to understand and remove the toxic program that has been injected into all of us through our meals since infancy. It is a program of disconnectedness, elitism, exploitation, infantilization, numbing, and ultimately, our own enslavement. The vegan meme of radical inclusiveness, awareness, kindness, and concern for others is studiously ignored (and feared) in the mass media and popular discourse, but I believe that we know deep down it’s the only gate that leads to a positive future. Everything else is disaster, and horrific disaster at that.

Let me explain. I’ll try to summarize the essence of it in a few paragraphs.

There is no question that we are facing systemic breakdown and collapse across the entire spectrum, including environmental, economic, cultural, and medical. Environmentally, rainforest clear cutting is accelerating to over one acre per second to clear land for meat and dairy production, excess fishing capacity is utterly devastating marine ecosystems, animal agriculture is driving habitat destruction and the consequent spike in species extinction and loss of genetic diversity, and is the primary driving force behind climate destabilization, as well as water scarcity and pollution, air pollution, and soil erosion, just for starters. Economically, the gap between the super rich and everyone else is exploding, as jobs and housing opportunities evaporate and the world’s two main currencies, the dollar and the euro, destabilize and head increasingly into hyper-inflationary disaster. Culturally, the U.S. is now engaged in six wars, with increasing rates of post-traumatic stress disorder and violence that ripple throughout our planetary culture, added to the economic and environmental stresses that cause the increased breakdown of family structures. Medically, we find the general physical and psychological health of the world’s population declining in the face of environmental breakdown, nuclear and electromagnetic radiation, polluted and dwindling water supplies, forced vaccination programs, and increased meat and dairy consumption leading to epidemics of obesity, starvation, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, kidney disease, osteoporosis, and autoimmune disease.

Embedded within this multidimensional crisis are many other factors, such as the despair and genetic damage caused by genetically engineering organisms, the emergence of super bacteria and viruses through antibiotic resistance and corporate-military engineering, increasing violence toward women and children, with proliferation of pornography, pedophilia, and slavery rings, as well as spreading famine and malnourishment, and the rampant increase in psychiatric drugs for depression, anxiety, insomnia, autism, ADD, OCD, PTSD, bipolar disorder, and so on.

There are two main points that must be understood in looking at all this so that we can change the causative behavior and attitudes. One is that the law of cause and effect is in operation here: as we sow, we inevitably reap. Our routine violence toward trillions of animals for meat, fish, dairy products, and eggs is the primary driving force behind not just the environmental devastation on our planet, but also behind the cultural, economic, psychological, and physical disease we experience as well. We sow seeds of not just cancer, obesity, diabetes, and heart disease with our violence toward animals, but also of drug abuse, family breakdown, war, hunger, slavery, and exploitation because this is precisely how we behave toward cows, chickens, fish, and other animals for food, by the hundreds of millions every day. We are killing over sixty billion mammals and birds for food annually, plus an estimated one to two trillion marine animals, as well as untold billions more animals who are killed as collateral damage as their habitats are destroyed and pesticides ravage global ecosystems. Three quarters of the food we grow is fed to imprisoned animals for meat and dairy, while roughly a billion people are chronically hungry and starving. The scale of the industrial killing machine of animals for food is so vast, it is mentally incomprehensible. Inevitably, the violence and heart-hardening required by this killing machine boomerang in countless ways.

We are called to understand that animal agriculture is not only the driving force behind the many crises we are facing, but is also the driving force behind the underlying mentality that both causes these crises and is unable to effectively deal with them. On the surface level, eating animal foods is the primary contributor to forest and ocean destruction, species extinction, climate destabilization, resource depletion, genetic pollution (corn, soy, and cotton, the main GMO crops, are used mainly as feedstock), air and water pollution, disease, hunger, sheer violence, and yet even these obvious and critical connections are minimally made and discussed in either the mass media or the alternative media, or in popular culture.

The deeper level is virtually completely invisible: that eating animal-sourced foods is the primary contributor to the way of thinking and being that creates these problems. For example, what is the mentality required of a culture that routinely kills and eats 75 million animals daily (very conservatively) as we do in the U.S.? It is precisely the mentality that devastates the landscapes we inhabit, ecologically, culturally, psychologically, and spiritually. We are all forced from our earliest days to participate in ongoing daily rituals in which beings are reduced to things—pieces of meat—and this mentality of reductionism, commodification, exclusion, privilege, domination, and exploitation, routinely injected into us in the most powerful ways, by literally eating them, creates an essential inner environment of disconnectedness, numbing, low self-esteem, insecurity, and competitiveness that lead inevitably to complacency, gullibility, and the planetary disasters we are creating. This is our essential wound: the brutal suppression of our inner feminine wisdom, which I refer to in The World Peace Diet as Sophia (the Greek goddess of wisdom). With Sophia repressed by forcing us all to eat the flesh and secretions of enslaved, terrified animals, we become complacent and gullible, and in fact, according to sociologists, there is literally more human slavery today, both actually and proportionately, than in the nineteenth century before human slavery was supposedly abolished.

The second main point is that the environmental, economic, cultural, and medical disasters are not just befalling us; they are being consciously engineered in order to enslave us, and our ongoing violence toward animals for food, and the complacency and gullibility that follow, drain our power to resist. Because we have been forced to eat meat and dairy from infancy, and have been wounded in countless ways by the many ramifications of this toxic cultural program, we tend to be easily dominated. Unable to stop the basic indoctrinated behavioral violence that defines our culture—paying for (causing) and eating animal cruelty and murder—we tend to be complacent, and have difficulty challenging the violence we see enacted around us, because we know deep down we are also guilty of being agents of violence ourselves. We tend similarly to be gullible and easily distracted. We’d rather not see the truth of the violence and misery we are consuming and causing daily, so we regularly practice not looking deeply, being willingly deceived by corporate, governmental, and institutional lies, and pretending blindness to what is actually happening because of our food choices.

This is our culture’s essential dilemma. Eating animal foods is not anyone’s free choice. It is behavior engaged in only because every institution in our culture has indoctrinated us from birth to do so, and it is behavior that is profoundly antithetical to our own best interests. Our complacency, gullibility and distractedness are effectively increased by corporate messages and governmental policies that constantly infantilize us. One primary characteristic of emotional maturity is the ability to delay gratification, but we are bombarded with messages to buy now, have now, and pay later. The media serves us a continuous stream of images treating us all like children who want only to be entertained and distracted with sports, celebrity scuttlebutt, sex scandals, and fragmented news bites, and the government increasingly warns us and controls us “for our security” as if we’re frightened, helpless children, while increasingly attacking our sovereignty. Underlying all this is a truly massive dairy industry that keeps us as adults still sucking at the breast we never got, drinking milk like infants who can’t bear to grow up, eating cheese, cream, and butter from violently abused mothers whose babies are stolen from them, whose milk and lives and purposes are stolen from them, and as we drink and eat the milk of these sexually abused mothers, we tend to remain gullible infants, believing and trusting the false and disempowering official stories concocted by the parental authorities. Until we question the false official stories we’ve internalized, especially those normalizing eating animal foods, we remain merely ironic in our quests for ethical maturity, social justice, and spiritual evolution.

Eating the large quantities of animal foods that we do is wasteful and expensive, and this leads inevitably to massive economic inequity. The medical/pharmaceutical bills are expensive. The fossil fuels, chemical fertilizers, pesticides, water, and other resources are expensive. The resultant wars are expensive. Every year, this amounts to hundreds of billions of dollars transferred from the many to the few—the military-industrial-meat-medical-pharmaceutical-media complex and the banks in the background. With their ballooning wealth, it is easy for the wealthy elite to buy legislation and governmental policies, and saturate and control the media conversations to the point where now in the U.S., just one-tenth of one percent of the population now owns more wealth than 90% of the entire population combined!

The apparent forces that would steal our lives, dignity, freedom, and purposes, and reduce us to dumbed-down micro-chipped servants that do their bidding are taunting us openly now, blatantly stealing from us, lying to us, and openly trashing our economy and ecology. We seem to be so gullible and compliant that we apparently don’t see their clumsy ruses to enslave us—the multiple false flag operations such as the 9-11 controlled demolition, the ongoing flood of assassinations and media charades, the chemtrail skies, fluoridated drinking water, mandatory toxic vaccinations for helpless infants, growing Homeland Security police state, the banker bailout and wholesale looting of our treasury and stealing of our homes and retirement funds, and the mocking irony that laughs while enslaving us under a black president.

By far the most empowering and effective action anyone can take today to halt this violence and inequity, and to reverse the enslavement of humanity, is to go vegan. As we sow, we reap. As long as we enslave and terrorize nonhuman animals, stealing their purposes for our own ends, we will find ourselves enslaved and terrorized and our purposes stolen from us by others for their own ends. As we say yes to kindness, respect, compassion, freedom, health, sustainability, mindfulness, justice, and peace in our actual behavior toward others, then and only then will we be worthy of living in a world that mirrors this.

Our world is a mirror. Our massive violence toward animals for food boomerangs ineluctably, and each and everyone of us can be part of the vegan solution. We can actually remove the toxic program that has been injected into us by our dysfunctional culture since infancy, and switch to a healthy organic, plant-based diet that uses a fraction of the resources and opens our heart to the interconnectedness of all living beings and the amazing beauty of life on our precious Earth. And we can dedicate ourselves to spreading the vegan message of radical inclusion and compassion, and help others to remove the toxic indoctrinated food program from their body-mind as well. There is no more noble and vital activity than this! Ultimately, it is the path to freedom, joy, abundance, and peace. What we want for ourselves we are called to give to others. Animals are not mere props in the human drama; their suffering is as significant to them as ours is to us, as we know in our bones.

We have today an unprecedented opportunity to transform our culture and ourselves by recognizing, living, and sharing the truth that we can all thrive on plant-based diets. Acting on this realization, we can launch a new human awareness rooted in and expressing compassion, health, inclusiveness, and freedom. Out of the ashes, a new world yearns to be born, and needs every one of us to contribute by going vegan, understanding why, and spreading the word.

We are all inherently wise, compassionate, powerful, and creative, but we’ve had the faculties of our hearts and minds slammed so hard by a violent culture that we have succumbed to complacency and gullibility. Let’s no longer be tools in the hands of violence. Let’s wake up, grow up, and act up, and live and spread the unyielding truth of our interconnectedness, and freedom and peace for all.

(For further information, please see The World Peace Diet. We also now offer a self-paced online in-depth study of these issues, and training to facilitate World Peace Diet study groups: http://worldpeacemastery.comThanks for being part of the solution.)

*********************************************************************************************

Will's tour schedule . If you get a chance to see him speak, please do and bring some people, he is one of the best animal rights speakers around, very interesting and inspiring!!!

'The Last Mountain' new film with Robert Kennedy Jr.

2011-06-10T21:36:19.000Z

Looks like a really great film with a very important message! Kennedy is one of my favorite activists!

http://thelastmountainmovie.com/video/