Why I am Vegan

If a picture is worth a thousand words,
here are thousands and thousands of "words"
explaining why I am vegan.








In case you can't tell what's going on here, these fish
are being squeezed so tightly in this net that all of
their eyes are literally bulging out of their heads.
















Can anyone look at those pictures
and say they feel good knowing this
is what they are eating?

There is no escaping it.
If you are eating meat, dairy or eggs,
you are contributing
to some of the most inhumane
and violent treatment
of living beings on the planet.

Not to mention that a plant based
diet is much more healthy and
more environmentally friendly
than eating animals and their excretions.

It makes me feel good that I can look
at the pictures below and say,
"This is where my food comes from."

How dare they treat us like this!!!

Roxana Saberi an Iranian American - Born in America - Moved to Iran about six years ago to work as a corespondent for NPR and BBC news.

She was recently arrested by Iranian authorities, tried, convicted of spying and sentenced to 8 years in prison.

According to some accounts I've read, the trial was held in secret and lasted a matter of minutes.

Her father says she was coerced into making false statements.

It has also been reported that her lawyer was not with her when she appeared before the judge.

We should be OUTRAGED that an American citizen is being treated so unfairly!!! This woman is being denied her basic rights!

What kind of country locks people up for 8 years without a proper hearing, without proper evidence, with "coerced" testimony...oh...right...um...never mind.

When will Washington's priorities actually reflect the prioities of the majority of U.S. citizens?

How long is it going to take Washington to realize that we need to get out of Iraq and Afghanistan now? The only thing we've truly accomplished is to weaken America in about every way you could possibly measure. And of course we've made some private contractors incredibly wealthy. And in some cases it's been contractors who have done everything they can to side step their obligations to pay U.S. taxes by locating their headquarters someplace like the Cayman Islands.

I'm really surprised congress hasn't taken the financial meltdown in the country as an excuse to discontinue these increasingly unpopular and costly debacles.

I think the Democrats have gotten so used to being called weak on defense, that they feel like they have to keep up this posturing to look like they are ready and willing to kick butt.

Meanwhile we keep flushing millions and millions of dollars down the toilet every month.

Now we start paying for Gitmo.

Time to say "I told you so" to anyone who ever thought our indefinite detention and mistreatment of prisoners was justified.

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Damn, this world sucks sometimes.

I can't believe it's been another year already. Time for this horrific bloodbath again.

This year the Canadian government has approved the slaughter of 338,200 seals.

The Bush disaster plagues us still.

Can someone tell me why the people running KBR aren't in jail?

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Rachel Maddow speaks truth to power.

I've got to say, I am getting very frustrated with the self righteous tone the Republicans are taking as they try to block President Obama's stimulus package. They talk as though the election that just happened (wherein the American public resoundingly rejected the republican approach to the economy) never even happened!

Obama has tried very hard to be include the Republicans in the development of this bill, and he's basically been slapped in the face by the Republicans for his effort.

It's time for Obama and the Democrats to straight-arm the republicans to the sidelines and get on with the business that the American citizens elected them to do.

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I just don't get it.

Why would anyone find shooting animals enjoyable?

Inauguration Day

Well, it's finally happening. The end of eight long long years.

I'm watching the news this morning and the crowds on the mall in Washington DC are amazing. It's really exciting. In about 2 hours Barack Obama will be President.

Putting it in perspective

On February 14, 1990 NASA's Voyager space craft turned around and took this photograph of Earth from 6.054 billion kilometres away.

In this reading from his book, Carl Sagan puts this pale blue dot very eloquently in perspective.

In my lifetime?

Since the election I've heard a lot of people saying they never thought they'd see an African-American president in their lifetime.

I now find myself wondering if I'll ever see Gay people treated fairly and equally in my lifetime.

I really hope so.

How sad that a movement to take away people's rights is lead and supported almost exclusively by church groups. People that get together every week to talk about how important love is, and to talk about how important it is to treat others how you would like to be treated are now celebrating the fact that they have succeeded in taking away the civil rights of other people.

Still Sad and Still Mad

Well, just because Barack Obama won the election there's no danger of me changing the name of my blog to "Happiness and Joy".

This morning I woke to the news that Proposition 8, the California ballot initiative to amend their state constitution to prohibit gay marriage has passed. Not quite all the votes have been counted yet, but it looks like it is going to pass.

So, while we took a step forward as a country by choosing the more liberal and inclusive candidate for President, when you get down to the ground level, there are still a lot of people in this world who think it's their job to force their intolerant views on others.

This must be quite a blow to all the people in California who have worked so hard for so long for equal rights.

A new page.

Well, what a night.

John McCain gave a very good concession speech last night. In fact if THAT John McCain had shown up for the campaign he may have had a chance of winning. It was the first time since the start of the campaign that he sounded sincere to me.

His speech was a good start toward healing the wounds caused by the campaign. But there are undoubtedly a lot of people out there that will be holding onto the distrust and fear of Obama that was sewn by the McCain campaign. I hope that through his words and deeds John McCain will continue to show his supporters that Obama is a President we can trust and that we can all work together.

As for President-Elect Barack Obama. He gave a very stirring speech last night in Chicago. People were watching and cheering, literally all around the world.

I really feel like this is the dawn of a new era for our country. I hope Barack Obama, his administration and the American People can live up to the promise.

McCain and Palin on message?

John McCain and Sarah Palin are both right on message.

The problem is they're on different messages.

How am I supposed to take John McCain seriously as a leader when he can't even keep his own campaign under control?

Samantha Bee and women's "health"

John The Candidate and Joe The Plumber

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha

OH MY GOD! The McCain campaign is so far off the rails that Fox News is getting scared by what they are saying!

The McCain campaign has actually put Fox news in the position of having to defend Barack Obama.

WOW!



Please Please tell everyone you know to go out and vote for Obama.

The McCain campaign has seriously veered off into lunatic territory now.

Change the country. Change the world.

We've always been at our best when we've had leadership that has called on us to look past our differences, to come together as a nation. - Barack Obama

This country needs an inspirational leader. This world needs America to have an inspirational leader.

John McCain's POW experience is an inspiring story. But John McCain of 2008 is not the guy to inspire the country and the world.

Barack Obama has worked hard to come from humble beginnings to achieve the American Dream. His whole life is an inspirational story.

Throughout this campaign John McCain has called Obama everything from a terrorist sympathizer to a socialist. In spite of these character attacks, Obama has responed with dignity and respect for his opponent. He's stuck to the issues.

He has also inspired many people to get involved in the process for the first time.

Please, vote for real change.

Waaaaaasup! New and improved.

As silly as this is, it's really kind of poignant at the end of the second one.

Eight years ago.


Today

Michael Moore makes sense to me.

For some reason this guy has been really demonized by the right. But I don't know why. He sure seems to sound pretty level-headed here.

The coveted Opie and Richie Cunningham endorsements

How could I not post this.

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

Leadership and Judgment.

Back in March the McCain campaign sent a letter to reporters informing them of John McCain's intentions for his campaign.

The following is from that letter -

Overheated rhetoric and personal attacks on our opponents distract from the big differences between John McCain's vision for the future of our nation and the Democrats'. This campaign is about John McCain: his vision, leadership, experience, courage, service to his country and ability to lead as commander in chief from day one.

Throughout his life John McCain has held himself to the highest standards and he will continue to run a respectful campaign based on the issues. We expect that all supporters, surrogates and staff will hold themselves to similarly high standards when they are representing the campaign.

That does sound like a great way to run a campaign.

Well, take a look at the latest mailer sent out by the Republican National Committee in support of the McCain campaign.


Front cover: TERRORISTS (with a picture of a huge airplane heading right at the window)
Inside: Barack Obama. Not Who You Think He Is.

When asked in an interview if he was proud of this mailer John McCain said, "Absolutely."

I guess the concept of "respectful" gets a little squishy when you see the election slipping away.

If McCain truly intended to run a respectful campaign, then what does it say about his ability to lead that he couldn't even keep his own campaign on track?

And if he's actually proud of that mailer then what does that say about his judgment?

If you have to keep yelling about how down-to-earth you are, then maybe you're not.

It seems the crux of Sarah Palin's campaign is to go around the country trying to convince everyone how down-to-earth she is. And nothing says "I'm just like you Joe the Plumber" like Louis Vuitton, Valentino and Armani. Given the recent flap about her very expensive wardrobe, I thought this video was particularly interesting.

From July-

KFC - Killing Friendly Chickens

Just one of my occasional breaks from the political scene to get on my vegan soap box.

BE KIND TO ANIMALS...DON'T EAT THEM!

At a KFC “Supplier of the Year” slaughterhouse in West Virginia, workers were documented tearing the heads off live birds, spitting tobacco into their eyes, spray-painting their faces, and violently stomping on them. This was discovered more than two years after KFC promised PETA that it was taking animal welfare seriously.

This video narrated by Pamela Anderson shows what chickens go through from the cradle to the bucket.



Mmmmmmmm yum.

Watch more videos at KentuckyFriedCruelty.com.

Obama when no one is watching

Really nice piece written on salon.com. Gave me goosebumps.

Sometimes you just have to laugh.

Vote for your favorite McCain/Palin haiku.