Vegan Stories: Professional Boxer David Haye

One of the Most Powerful Videos I've Ever Seen - And It's Just Someone Talking!!!

There is NOT one ounce of gore, not one drop of blood, not one scene of animal abuse in this video, but it is one of the most extraordinarily powerful videos I've ever seen. It's actually a video of a woman talking (!!). How can that be powerful, you ask? Well, watch it! 

The "talking head," in this case, is Kate Cooper, Marketing Consultant to the Food Industry. Watch how she reveals the "secrets behind food marketing," and - equally important - watch the reaction of the audience as they grow increasingly disturbed by what she says. 

What makes this video so incredibly effective is that the end is stunningly powerful, yet you do NOT see it coming. I promise you: It will leave you speechless.

The video has only been on YouTube for a few weeks and it already has 2 million views. I can see why.

Watch it! Please! No blood, no guts, no violence! Just the sheer power of words.

The Video That Started Me Blogging Again...

For those of you who haven't seen the tragic footage inside of a North Carolina Butterball turkey processing plant, I highly recommend watching it. Hard as it is to witness, it is important to see this kind of footage so we understand precisely what we're up against.

The facility, near Fayetteville, has been the scene of some of the most horrific conditions imaginable. Abuse includes dropping baby turkeys alive into meat grinders, throwing them, and mishandling them in various ways.

Predictably, Butterball brought in hired goons with academic credentials - the worst kind of defenders of evil, because they hide behind their expertise to perpetuate injustice - to defend their vile practices. Butterball's Orwellian "Animal Care and Well-Being Advisory Council" (a.k.a., the War is Peace, Slavery is Freedom, Violence is Kindness Council) has a group of academics on call who trumpet Butterball's "humane" treatment of animals (and in the process, these folks render the word "humane" completely meaningless).

For the record, their board of "Experts" includes Dr. Temple Grandin (Colorado State University), Dr. Jesse Grimes (North Carolina State University); Dr. Michael Martin (North Carolina State University); Dr. Yvonne Thaxton (University of Arkansas) and Dr. Joy Mench (University of California-Davis).

Apparently, Dr. Mench drew the short straw and stepped forward to defend this ghastly form of assembly-line murder. Said she:

The undercover hatchery video I reviewed did not depict animal mistreatment. As with any operational process, there is always room for learning and improvement, which is why our council encourages Butterball to continue its ongoing associate training programs to ensure top-notch turkey care. (source)

That's too sickening even to be a joke. "Top-notch turkey care"??? Are you serious. HELLO: This is a facility where they throw living beings into grinders. I've got a question for Dr. Mench: How would you like to be tossed into a giant grinder that slices and dices and hacks you up into mincemeat? Since you wouldn't characterize that as "mistreatment," I'm sure you would voluntarily take that plunge? What a load of rubbish!

And what has been the response of Butterball and their government supporters in North Carolina? There is now talk about strengthening anti-whistleblower laws even more. Never mind the horror show that is happening inside of the Butterball plant. These lovers of "free enterprise" want to go after animal rights activists who go to work in these plants and film these nightmarish conditions. Why? Because they realize the truth of Paul McCartney's words: "If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian."

The men and women who take great risks to film these conditions are the heroes and heroines of our times. They deserve the highest praise possible. They are revealing the truth, despite the efforts of those in power to build the walls higher and thicker, to keep the outside world from seeing their ultra-violent mass extermination machines that are called factories.

This is why I'm back on the blogging circuit. Indefinitely. To keep quiet while this sickening orgy of death is continuing unabated is just too painful. As long as I have a voice, and as long as I can use it, I'm going to speak out against this madness. It is the worst kind of profiteering of all: the kind based on misery, violence and, ultimately, death. Even if speaking out against it does not stop it, we still must do it. Because looking the other way at these crimes is too painful, and too inhumane.

Words of Wisdom

On Celebs Who Go Vegan, But Not For the Animals

J-Lo and fur coat. Jennifer Lopez is the latest celebrity to convert to veganism for reasons that have nothing to do with animals. 

It seems like at least once a week, you hear about a celebrity who "goes vegan."

The latest convert to veganism is pop diva and actress Jennifer Lopez, a.k.a. J-Lo. J-Lo went vegan earlier this year, and she is now crediting the diet with leading to her abrupt 10-pound weight loss. She explained her reasoning recently to Access Hollywood:

I'll be honest with you guys, since I had the babies about six years ago, I had that really stubborn 8 to 10 pounds on me. People are used to seeing me be kind of thickish, but when I started eating [vegan], right away I dropped like 8 to 10 pounds. It was a real change, but more than that I felt better and people were like, 'Your energy's better,' ... everything's better.

In the Access Hollywood interview, there was one word J-Lo never mentioned: "animals." It's clear that Lopez did not embrace veganism for ethical reasons. She merely wanted to get rid of that 8 to 10 pounds she put on when she had babies. In fact, at one point in the same interview, J-Lo advises, "The truth is, even if you're 70-80 percent vegan, it's so much better having those vegetables, greens, plant-based stuff. It's going to change your health."

I know what you're thinking. "Huh? 70-80 percent vegan???" One cannot be 70-80 percent vegan, any more than one can be 70-80 percent kind, or 70-80 percent ethical, or 70-80 percent of anything that demands an entire lifestyle commitment. You either live that life or you don't.

What J-Lo probably should've said is "even if your diet is 70-80 percent plant-based." But I imagine these matters having to do with semantics are lost on the singer/actress. She is clearly not an ethical vegan. She is not doing it for the animals. In fact, J-Lo has been a target in the past of anti-fur protesters for constantly wearing fur coats.

I don't want to pick on J-Lo. Lots of celebrities have "gone vegan" for reasons that have nothing to do with animals. One of the recent big vegan crazes is the so-called "22-Day Vegan Diet." Such entertainers as power couple Jay Z and Beyonce have gone on it. Ashley (High School Musical) Tisdale has started on it.

Two years ago, actress Michelle Pfeiffer went vegan, after being inspired by a documentary about Bill Clinton's conversion to veganism. Al Gore also embraced veganism, citing concern over his health and "environmental ethics." (source) Singer Alanis Morissette claimed to be a vegan - then clarified that she was "80 percent vegan" - for health reasons. The liberal MSNBC commentator Al Sharpton told Oprah Winfrey that he went vegan and plunged from 305 pounds to 135 pounds (he actually looks too gaunt, in my opinion) as a result of an exercise regimen and a "sugar free vegan diet." (source)

Samuel L. Jackson

Samuel L. Jackson recently boasted of 40-pound weight loss from veganism (to his credit, Jackson also cited the film Forks Over Knives as an influence, and has mentioned cruelty to animals as a motivating factor in his decision).

With the exception of Jackson, all of these vegan celebs have something in common: Animals aren't really on their radars.

There are a fair number of vegan celebs who put animals front and center in their justifications for being vegan: Woody Harrelson, Natalie Portman, Joaquin Phoenix, Russell Brand, Casey Affleck, Olivia Wilde, Ellen DeGeneres, Emily Deschanel, Russell Simmons, James Cromwell, the list goes on. These celebrities have been especially laudable in their unwavering commitment to the animals.

But the question arises: Are celebrities who embrace veganism for reasons that have nothing to do with animals helping the cause?

I believe they are. Hear me out. Sure, they treat veganism as a "flavor of the month." It is also true they're misusing and abusing the word in a way that reduces it purely to a dietary term, rather than an ethical lifestyle (which it is). How does one be a 70 percent vegan? It's impossible! And yes, their lack of compassion, their refusal to even devote a single sentence to the suffering of sentient beings, is troubling.

However, on the flip side, at least the health-conscious vegan celebs who avoid the "a" word are choosing the right diet. Remember when the Atkins Diet was all the rage and people were eating meat from sunrise to sunset? Ew. That disturbing trend gave rise to the dreadful bacon-eating hipsters who are so abundant these days. You know the type? They have bacon on everything: sandwiches, deserts, salads, pasta - you name it, they top it with bacon. I won't go so far as to say, "There's no getting through to these people." I used to eat bacon. Obviously, someone got through to me.

But at least with someone starting a vegan diet for health reasons, even if they only plan to stick with it for 22 days, there is some hope that their commitment might become longer term (look at Al Gore, who only intended to become a vegan temporarily, and no anticipates that he'll be one for life).

Mark Bittman

And look at Mark Bittman, author of the VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00 cookbook. Initially, Bittman wrote his cookbook to encourage healthier diets. He now constantly wrestles with issues of animal ethics, even if he himself hasn't fully taken the big plunge into permanent veganhood (is that a word?).

For good or ill, in our contemporary culture of celebrity, people pay close - one might even say obsessive - attention to celebs - right down to what they eat on a day-to-day basis. The "foodie" culture is huge in North America and other parts of the world right now. It is true that some high-profile advocates of a "vegan diet" have focused almost exclusively on its nutritional value instead of animals.

Yet all of this attention to veganism has actually helped legitimize it. It has moved veganism into the mainstream. Twenty years ago, veganism seemed extreme. Vegan options were hard to find in stores, even harder to locate on restaurant menus. All of that has changed over the course of the last decade. Veganism has made a great leap forward.

So what do we make of a fur coat wearing "vegan" like J-Lo? Hey, she's reaching a far bigger audience than I am with this little blog mine. She could be extolling the virtues of putting bacon on everything. She's not. Other people will try veganism because she's doing it. And maybe one of those people will open his or her eyes to the suffering of our fellow sentient beings. Hell, is it naive or foolish to expect that one convert might even be J-Lo herself?

Whoever it is that's awakened, that is one more person in the trenches with us. One more light has gone on. That's one more man or woman who understands that what happens to non-human animals actually matters a great deal to us, both as individuals and as an entire species.

Back After a Hiatus to Blog as Much as I Can..

You may have noticed that I disappeared for a while. Judging from my last Blog post - in August 2013 - it has been nearly a year.

Good blogging is not easy. It requires a lot of time and thought and energy. I've been writing a lot over the past year. Alas, not much of it has been about animals. I've turned my attention to my fiction, which has, I'm pleased to say, really taken off.

But the plight of animals haunts me. Specifically, the horrific treatment of animals by human beings continues to vex me. I can't outrun it. I can't get away from it. I lose sleep over the treatment of animals.

One of the reasons I stopped blogging last year is because so much of what I blog about here is tragic. I'd always make an effort to post something happy, but in the end - let's face it - the giant historical record of human interaction with animals has been, on the whole, one filled with ghastly nightmares and unspeakable horror shows, and acts of kindness have been drops of water in the ocean, and grains of sand on the beach.

To deny this is to deny an essential truth about human beings. Whatever good comes of the human species, it is offset by giant factories and huge storage warehouses and massive tanker ships full of cruelty. There is no escaping human sadism when it comes to animals.

Those of us who are sensitive souls can do one of two things. We can run away from it, or try to shield ourselves from it.

Or we can reluctantly march into battle, a battle we'll lose, but one we ought nevertheless to fight, against our fellow human beings who are inflicting this cruelty.

Part of the battle, it seems to me, is to show the positive and healthy ways in which a growing number of human beings are interacting with animals in this day and age.

But it would be a lie - a big lie - to emphasize these happy interactions at the expense of more disturbing truths.

I'll blog as much as I can about animals, as much as my psyche and stomach and soul will allow. Blogging is one way to fight against the cruelty. Another is to educate ourselves. And still another is to take some sort of action to help the animals. Even little steps, small things, make a big difference.

I like to hope things are changing, moving in a positive direction. I'm not always sure of it. But I am sure of one thing. I want to return to the march to sanity. Because when I take part in it, I feel better. I feel engaged in something bigger than myself. Fighting for animals is one of the few things that makes me feel fully human again.

An Inspiring Video from the Saints at Edgar's Mission

Have you ever heard of Edgar's Mission? It's a wonderful farm sanctuary in Australia. They've been doing great work to help animals for years. More than 300 animals live at Edgar's Mission, which consists of 60 breathtaking acres in Victoria, Australia.

If you get a chance, check out Edgar's Mission's Website Here.

The video posted here shows volunteers with Edgar's Mission doing what they do best: Saving lives. They're saving the life of calf named Buddy. Buddy is indeed fortunate to be alive. He wouldn't be if it weren't for the heroic work of Edgar's Mission. I'm glad he made it. The world is a better place with Buddy in it.

Here's the story that Edgar's Mission posted on Facebook:

Yesterday evening, as the sun began to set the call came in- a calf had been sighted lying perilously close to traffic on the side of the highway. Reports told us the calf was unable to stand and was barely able to lift its head. Swinging in to action, our first hint of trouble came in the sight of flashing police lights and fast moving traffic, both of which caused our hearts to sink. Pulling our rescue vehicle to the curb, we caught our first glimpse of the bloodied and pitiful looking ‘Buddy’ who was caught not between a rock and a hard place but between a steep embankment and busy major highway. One bystander reported the calf had sustained two untreatable broken legs, however the full extent of his injuries was still unknown, although it was evident Buddy had fallen from a fast moving stock crate. Buddy was also much larger than we had anticipated. And if we needed any more to dampen our spirits, it soon came in the words, ‘The guy with a rifle is on the way.’ But we heard no fat lady singing and nor did Buddy, the fact that he had miraculously clung to life this long told us he wasn’t giving up without a fight. And neither would we. Pleading for a chance to save a life, the greatest lifeline Buddy could ever receive was thrown as our wish was granted. 

Thank you Edgar's Mission! You make the world a better place.

A Town in Texas That Loves its Chickens (in a good way!!)

The town of Bastrop, Texas (pop. 7,218), has become a huge chicken sanctuary!

No kidding! And from watching this video, the folks in town are fiercely protective of their Poultry Population!

They even have Chicken Crossing Signs in town!

"This is one animal loving community," says Kay Garcia McAnally, a city councilwoman from the town. "But they're especially proud of their chickens."

People will even run out into the middle of the street and motion to cars to slow down so they don't run over the local chickens. Townsfolk mourned the loss of one of their roosters when he got hit by a car.

Don't mess with the chickens of Bastrop, Texas. They are loved. In a good way!

I WAS A TEST TUBE HAMBURGER!!!

For the record: I'm thrilled to hear about the new Stem Cell/Petri Dish "Frankenburgers." If there's a chance these uber-costly hamburgers might one day plummet in price and take the place of millions and millions slaughtered cows, then I say hallelujah! Bring it on!

The unveiling of Frankenburger ("It's alive! It's alive!") this past Monday in London, England, proved to be a world event. It got loads of press from around the world.

The lab-grown delicacy turned out to be a moderate hit. You'd think for $400,000 to produce one of these, it would be the best meal in the history of the human race. Unfortunately, Frankenburger seems to suffer from an "image problem."

Meat eaters still seem to be somewhat grossed out by the idea of eating something grown in a lab (sadly, few have any qualms whatsoever with the mass murder of innocent, sentient beings).

Vegetarians who've weighed in are more of a mixed lot. I've read a few online say they'd eat it, if given the chance.

I have no desire to try one of these things, chiefly because I loathe the idea of having flesh in my mouth. Eating meat - whether it's from a lab or a slaughtered animal - now seems completely unfathomable to me. I can honestly that since I gave up chicken, pork, steak, etc. etc, I haven't looked back.

Still, I wish Frankenburger every success. I support it 100%. It beats the hell out of the alternative. I'm sure the poor, terrified cows facing imminent death in slaughterhouses around the world would prefer to live their lives in freedom and bliss while human beings feast on Frankenburgers.

No animal, after all, wants to die to become a meal for hungry humans.

Pigs the Way Pigs Are Meant to Live!

Here is a pair of heartwarming videos that show a different way that pigs can live. Instead of being emptied out of long trucks into slaughterhouses, they can live the good life of freedom like these beautiful pigs swimming in the crystal blue waters of the Bahamas.

Two things about this video are apparent: 1) Pigs love their freedom, the sparkling water, and the fresh air as much as we human beings do. 2) There is a wonderful, magical way that humans and pigs interact in this video that shows us a different way of these two species relating to each other.

Isn't this a much nobler way of treating pigs than sending them by the thousands, millions and ultimately billions to early, violent deaths?

I sure think so. So do they!