GUN VIOLENCE

GUN VIOLENCE

Lately, every time you turn on the news, there is another mass shooting, another murder, another gang shooting, or another police involved murder.  Our world has become very violent.  I blame the NRA for a good portion of this violence.

The NRA was established in the late 1800’s to promote gun safety.  In the 1980’s, however, gun sales started to decline.  Gun corporations started taking over the NRA. Now the NRA’s board of directors is filled with CEO’s of gun corporations.  They turned the direction of the NRA from gun safety to promoting gun ownership. They take their members’ dues and use it for lobbying. They managed to successfully reverse and block any gun restriction laws presented by congress. They pushed open carry laws in states.  It is now easier in most states to buy a gun than it is to vote. Gun sales have skyrocketed. This climate of everyone having a gun is a main cause of the violence.

Police have to accept a major portion of the cause too.  Police departments are not properly screening candidates for aggression or racism problems. They are not properly training their policemen in handling tough situations. They are over arming them with military style equipment, giving them the impression they are fighting a war instead of protecting and serving citizens.  So many police are either angry or scared when they approach suspects. The climate of everyone owning a gun increases the violence. Their fear is increased if they are even slightly racist.  When someone is shot 9-15 times, that indicates either aggression, anger, or fear.

Our society bears a good portion of the violence blame.  We are conditioned since birth to think that certain people or species are of less value than ourselves. If we do not grow out of that thinking, we are more likely to disregard the lives of others.  We are conditioned since birth to eat violence and to think it tastes good. "Hate on your dial" shows like Fox News, 700 club, and talk radio promote hatred, violence, racism, sexism and animal cruelty.   Commanders in war always have their soldiers eat huge portions of meat before battle, because they know it will make their soldiers more aggressive and more violent.

Groups that are trying to promote peace and rights for all are often put on the FBI’s terrorist lists. Animal right groups who have killed zero people are considered terrorists, while violent groups, like anti-abortionists who have killed 100’s of people, are not on the list.

We are all one tribe, one people, one species—Earthlings. No matter what race, sex or species we are, we are all connected.  The loss of one of us touches all of us. The sooner we realize this; the sooner the violence will end.

If you truly want to end the violence, start living a more compassionate life yourself.  Go vegan and know true peace.

For more information:

Please watch Earthlings at Earthlings.com

Please read Our Conscious Planet by Neil Pine and World Peace Diet by Will Tuttle. 

TRADITION VS MINDFULNESS

Tradition vs Mindfulness

So much of what we do is done by tradition, without any thought as to why we do it. Yet, most of our traditions aren’t really traditions. They started out as really good advertising campaigns. The tradition of diamond engagement rings started in 1938 from an advertising campaign created by DeBeers diamonds.  Our traditional Santa started as an advertising campaign for Coca-Cola in 1931. We think vitamin C cures colds and that orange juice is nutritious (even though it is mostly sugar) from advertising.

 Killing and eating turkeys for Thanksgiving started in the 1860’s from promotions by the turkey industry. People ate them only at Christmas because they were cheap and could feed a lot of people. Wealthy people considered turkey “peasant food”.  Commercial beef wasn’t eaten by people until the late 19^th century.

 Our Christmas celebration, started from Pagans celebrating the Winter Solstice. Historians state Jesus was born during the summer months, not winter. Christian churches could not stop Christians from celebrating this Pagan holiday, so they made it Jesus’s birthday. Decorating our houses with lights started in the mid-20th century again from advertising campaigns.  We have been programmed by advertisers just to do these “traditions” without any thought as to why we are doing them.

We continue to think dairy products build strong bones, even though study after study has shown people who consume dairy products are at a higher risk for bone fractures. We continue to think we need to eat meat for protein, even though study after study has shown meat eaters have a much higher risk for heart disease, diabetes and cancer, and that plant proteins are much easier for the body to process. We have been taught to ignore the suffering of animals and kill billions of them every year without regard.

Slavery was traditional. Stoning people was traditional and in some countries, still is. Spanking children with belts use to be the traditional way to punish bad behavior. It took many years of public outcry to get these traditions out of the mainstream.

As we mature and leave home to become our own person, we must examine our “traditions” and find out why we do them. Traditions that do not sit well with our souls must be dropped.  We cannot use “It’s tradition” or “We’ve always done that “, as excuses for bad behavior.  We must consider if others suffer from our traditions.

Mindfulness is being aware—aware of what you are doing and how it affects others. It is taking responsibility for your actions and your choices. Being aware means researching what you are doing and what the consequences are. It means making necessary changes.  It is taking control of your life back from corporations and their propaganda. It puts you in the driver’s seat.

 When you are mindful of what you eat, you are fully aware of the suffering and torture on your plate.  It is as if you tortured and slit the throat of the innocent animal yourself.  You are aware of the planet destruction your food choices cause.  You soon will find the taste of death unpalatable.

Being mindful, you are aware of the freshness of fruit and vegetables and the vibrate taste of life that comes with every bite. It is the most wonderful feeling to eat healthy and know that nothing suffered or died. It feels great to know that you are bringing peace to our planet as well as ending planet destruction.  Thinking for yourself is the feeling of true freedom. 

FERRET MILLS

FERRET BUSINESS

Animal agriculture is about exploiting and using animals for profit. Animal agriculture views animals as inventory and nothing more. Their only concern is making money from the animal. We have all heard of puppy mills and the horrible cruelties that they inflict on dogs. But so many more animals that are sold at pet shops come from mills. Rats, lizards, snakes, hamsters, guinea pigs and ferrets. These mills are all part of animal agriculture and are only concerned about money, not the animals.

My son has a pet ferret named “Twitch”. When my son comes for a visit, he often brings Twitch along. I love ferrets. They are sweet, very tame and playful. A group of ferrets is called a “business”. About a month ago, Twitch became ill, and I took him to the vet for my son. Our family vet, Elmbrook Veterinary Clinic, has great experience with all types of animals. I take my ducks to him when they get ill.  He told me Twitch probably had a cancer which is very common in ferrets. Life span of a ferret normally would be 10-12 years, but in today’s pet shop ferrets he is only seeing 5-7 years. Their life spans are nearly cut in half because of the way they are bred.

Most pet shop ferrets come from ferret mills. Marshalls, Triple F Farms, Path Valley, and Real Canadian Ferrets are the main ones. These ferret mills not only make money selling ferrets to the major pet stores, they sell ferrets to labs and universities to be used in animal testing and experiments. Marshalls not only has a ferret mill; they operate a puppy mill where they sell dogs for animal testing. These mills have multi-million dollar contracts with universities and labs, including the CDC. Medical schools will often use ferrets to teach students how to shove breathing tubes down babies’ throats.

These mills are only interested in one thing—profit. Many will spay, neuter, and descent their ferrets themselves, without a vet. Vets cost money. Ferrets are raised in overcrowded, dirty conditions. Their cages have wire bottoms and very often young ferrets will fall through the wires and be killed. The cages are stacked on top of each other, so waste from the upper ferrets hit the lower ones. Often the temperature in their quarters will reach over 100 degrees. It’s very much how factory farms and egg farms treat their larger animals.  Peta did an undercover investigation into Triple F farms in 2011  http://www.peta.org/features/investigation-exposes-cruelty-ferret-mill/

http://investigations.peta.org/animals-gassed-frozen-petco-petsmart/?utm_campaign=Pet%20Trade%20Investigation%20&utm_source=PETA%20E-Mail&utm_medium=Alert

These ferret mills practice closed colony breeding where animals are kept in cramped cages and there is often incest. It only takes a few generations of such poor breeding practices before genetic weaknesses, abnormalities, diseases, and a shortened life span show up.  A few of the diseases ferrets eventually get from these poor breeding practices are cancer, adrenal disease and insulinoma. 

Ferrets are typically taken from their mothers at an early age, packed into crates, and trucked for days or flown hundreds of miles to dealers and then to pet stores, often without adequate food, water, or ventilation.

At the pet store they are put into cages with many other ferrets. They usually do not get a proper diet or enough space to move around. Ferrets that are not sold are either killed by the pet store and thrown in the trash, used by the pet store as live feed for snakes and reptiles, or sent back to the mill for a credit. If they are sent back to the mill, the mill will kill them and they will wind up as livestock feed. This is the fate of most of the small mammals that do not sell at pet stores.  

So what can we do? We can stop buying animals from pet stores and instead get pets from rescues and shelters. We can stop buying products that use animal testing. This will put these mills out of business. It is up to us, the consumer, to show these businesses that the lives of others matter, that animals are not the same as toasters.

While the vet could not do much for Twitch, we started him on Essiac tea and he is improving greatly. He is running around and playing again. Essiac tea may not cure his cancer, but it has greatly improved the quality of the days he has left. 

Please note, I am not a vet and am not giving medical advice. 

READ THIS BEFORE YOU DONATE TO HEIFER INTERNATIONAL

READ THIS BEFORE YOU DONATE TO

 HEIFER INTERNATIONAL

This time of year we are bombarded with charities asking for donations. One charity that tries to hit me up for a donation every year is Heifer International. Heifer International takes your cash donations to buy livestock to give to people in underdeveloped countries. While their intent is good—trying to teach people to feed themselves in these countries, the concept is ill-conceived.

Animal agriculture is the number one polluter of our planet. Fifty one percent of greenhouse gases come from animal agriculture. It is the major cause of water pollution. Seven thousand square miles of the Gulf of Mexico is a dead zone, caused by the run-off from animal agriculture. Absolutely nothing can live in this dead zone. Dead zones are affecting our Great Lakes also. Animal agriculture is responsible for 91% of rainforest destruction. It has destroyed millions of acres of land in the United States. Is this really something an impoverished, underdeveloped country needs?

Animal agriculture is the major user of water and is responsible for the current droughts we are facing today. Half of all the water used in the US is used in animal agriculture. According to the University of California, it takes 5200 gallons of water to make one pound of beef, 1000 gallons to make one gallon of milk, 1639 gallons of water for one pound of pork, and 820 gallons of water for one pound of chicken. By contrast, a pound of potatoes uses only 23 gallons, a pound of wheat uses 25 gallons, and a pound of tomatoes uses 23 gallons. Most of the countries Heifer International gives animals to face water shortages and drought. It takes 16 pounds of feed to make one pound of beef. People in underdeveloped countries need food more than cows. How can Heifer International expect people, who cannot even feed their children, to feed the cows, pigs, chickens, goats that they are given?  Does it make any sense at all to introduce animal agriculture to these countries? Animal agriculture is not sustainable for countries like the US or Europe. Why would anyone think it is sustainable for underdeveloped countries?

People in underdeveloped countries face oppression and violence on a daily basis. Most people do not think of this, but raising and slaughtering animals for food perpetuates violence and oppression.  The way men treat women is directly connected to the way we treat animals. Oppression of animals started in the Middle East and look how women are treated there.  When we treat animals with violence and oppression, we will start to oppress and be violent toward people. Many books have been written on this subject. “An Unnatural Order: Roots of Our Destruction of Nature” by Jim Mason, and “World Peace Diet” by Will Tuttle PhD are both good, informative books that cover this subject intensively.

The way animals shipped overseas are treated is horrendous. They are treated more like products than living beings. They are beaten, overcrowded, underfed, and violently killed. There are no laws that protect them in overseas shipping. Why sponsor more animal cruelty for Christmas?

Eating animal products causes many diseases in humans. According to the PCRM (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine), dairy, meat and egg products cause osteoporosis, diabetes, allergies, cancer, obesity and numerous other diseases. Ebola, aids, and Hepatitis all were traced back to meat eating.  People living in underdeveloped countries do not usually have access to medical treatment.  Do we really want to inflict these illnesses on people living in these countries?  

According to a lecture given on “TED” by Joy Sun, the majority of people who receive these animals sell them right away for money.  TRU TV’s show “Adam Ruins Everything” states the best way to give is to give money directly to the people who need it.  So this year, instead of supporting charities like Heifer International or Oxfamgifts.com (a charity that copies Heifer International) find charities that improve the world instead of destroying it.  Givedirectly.org gives money directly to the needy. Givewell is a good source to find respectable charities.  You can help people and our planet, you just need to be informed.

HUNTING PROMOTES VIOLENCE

HUNTING PROMOTES VIOLENCE

 

There comes a time in life, when you must reflect upon what you were taught, whether what you were taught is true and how what you were taught affects your current life. That time is long past due when it comes to hunting. Hunting propaganda seems to be passed down from generation to generation. Talking with a hunter can be a most exasperating experience. Most hunters will call themselves “conservationists”. They will proudly take pictures or display their kills. Since childhood they have been taught that this is appropriate behavior. This is what you do to be “a man”. They then teach their children to kill and their sons learn that they are not men unless they have killed something. Daughters are taught to kill to show they are just as good as men. It is very sad, that they actually believe these things.

Hunters will call themselves “conservationists”.  Nothing could be further from the truth. Hunting hurts all species. Hunters are looking for a proud trophy, something to show the world how great they are. So they kill the biggest and healthiest of the species. This leaves the sickly and weaker to breed, making gene pools weaker. Chronic Wasting Disease was directly caused by hunting. When wolves, coyotes, and other predators hunt, they go after only the sickly and the weak. Unfortunately, hunters kill these animals and leave nature a mess.

Hunters will tell you how they control populations. Again, nothing is further from the truth. As I mentioned above, killing the biggest and healthiest leaves only the sick and weak left to breed. In predators, this can be devastating to their populations. Here in Wisconsin, we have a deer hunting season. Hundreds of thousands of deer are killed in a two week period. This artificial population decrease actually increases the deer population, as pregnant deer will increase the number of fetuses they carry to accommodate the lower population. This is called “compensatory reproduction”. States with the most deer hunting, have the highest deer populations. In a natural world, there isn’t such a thing as “overpopulation”.

Hunting parties are big here in Wisconsin. Hunters get together, get drunk and go off to hunt. I imagine they get their “courage” to kill from a bottle. How can something that you have to get drunk to do be anything worth doing? You may say there is something very wrong with these people that they make a party out of killing. But this makes perfect sense. It takes great courage to go against the norm, against the status quo. Having a lot of people doing the same thing makes it easier, even if it’s doing something wrong. In 1951, Solomon Asch did a conformity study. He found that 75% of his subjects would give an obvious wrong answer just to go along with the majority of the group. So even though, these hunters think they are being “tough” by killing innocent animals, they are cowards. They need a group.

Bow hunting is the most inhumane hunting. 50% of animals are cripple and not recovered. They die agonizing deaths from blood loss and infections.

Psychology and criminology studies have shown that violence toward animals often leads to violence toward people. Albert Schweitzer wrote,” Violent acts against animals are considered recognized as indicators of a disease of the psyche that is not limited to animals. Anyone who has once accustomed to the life of any living being as unworthy of life, there is a risk that one day he also comes to the conclusion that human life is worthless.”

It is interesting to note, that the one common denominator with most of the school shootings, is hunting was big in the families of the shooters. Parents encourage violence of their children, and that is what you wind up with. Teaching children to hunt, should be considered child abuse. There is definitely something wrong with people who derive amusement from an animal’s fear or suffering. Serial killers often start by abusing animals, including hunting them.

States like Wisconsin, continue to encourage hunting for one simple reason—money. Animal agriculture encourages hunting because animals like deer, wolves, bears, bison, etc. either threaten or compete with their livestock. We can end this barbaric practice very simply. Go vegan. Let’s take the money and power away from animal agriculture. Let’s stop encouraging animal abuse. Let’s start encouraging and teaching compassion.

THE HOLOCAUST

THE HOLOCAUST

When I was a child and learned about Hitler and World War II in school, I was curious as to why so many people would allow the Jewish holocaust. It was a wonder why people would inflict such horrors on other people.  Then I read about the Milgram experiment.

In 1961 at Yale University, Stanley Milgram conducted a series of psychological experiments. His goal was to measure the willingness of participants to obey authority figures. It consisted of an authority figure, “a teacher” or someone that obeyed the authority figure, “a learner” or the person who was shocked. The “learner” was someone who pretended to be a volunteer, but was actually acting. The “teacher” would repeat words and the “learner” was to select a match to that word. If the “learner” picked the wrong choice, the “teacher” was ordered by the authority figure to administer an electric shock to the “learner”. Each participant was in separate rooms.  The “teacher” would keep giving stronger and stronger electric shocks to the “learner”. Finally “the learner” would say “I need to stop. I’m going to have a heart attack”.  The authority figure would urge the “teacher” to administer the deadly electrical shock. In 65% of the cases, the “teacher” would reluctantly administer the final shock. Reluctantly yes, but he still flicked the final switch.

This experiment was repeated by the Discovery Channel’s “Curiosity” in 2011 episode “How Evil Are You?” They found that 72% of their subjects would administer the final shock.

This is very disturbing considering we have a holocaust going on today. One that no one wants to see or acknowledge.  Every hour, 6 million animals are killed. They live horrid, tortured lives, and have violent deaths.  I think most horror movie writers base their movies on the lives of farmed animals. 

During the 12 year Nazi reign, about 11 million people, Jews, Gays, etc. were killed.  We do that to animals in less than 2 hours, every single day.

In all the wars total, throughout history, approximately 82 million people were killed. Every YEAR, 96 BILLION land animals are killed and about 3 TRILLION fish.  A holocaust of death every year.

The Milgram experiment is important, because it shows how this holocaust continues.  You allow it. It is wrong, you know this much killing is wrong, and yet you allow it. You are obeying authority. Every day we are bombarded with advertisements “Eat Meat”, “Drink Milk”. We have become to believe we need those things to live.  We don’t. In fact, many researchers have found we are healthier and live longer if we do not consume meat, dairy or eggs. The PCRM (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine) has done many studies that show this. Meat and dairy causes many diseases such as cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, allergies, and obesity. Animal agriculture is also the number one polluter of our planet and number one destroyer of rainforests.

When you put items in your grocery cart, stop and think.  Do I really want to be a part of the holocaust? Do I really want to hurt my health, the planet, and other living beings?

http://www.pcrm.org/health/diets/pplate

http://www.jhsph.edu/news/news-releases/2004/farm-moratorium.html