Monkey Boy

Can you love animals and eat meat?

I saw this cartoon on living Living Vegan today and liked it because it so neatly summarised the reasons why I became a vegetarian.....I am going to have to get out those vegan recipes soon.

Markhor

Every now and then the animal of the day link throws up something very interesting. Today it is the Markhor (Capra falconeri). Interesting name.....interesting picture.....but what really cracked me up is that it is the national animal of Pakistan. Now I gotta be careful here...don't want to tramp on any Islamic toes...but come on guys...it's a Horny Old Goat and check out the bin Laden beard on the dude.

I reckon as the British colonialist were pulling out of the region in 1947 one of the outgoing government officials pulled a fast one on his newly elected counterpart when he suggested the Markhor as the national animal. The Queen and Prince Phillip must still chuckle about it over tea and marmalade at breakfast.

...heh hee...sorry all this....titter....titter....giggling....shew....I think I'm going for a little lay down.

Farewell Steve Irwin

Steve Irwin was killed earlier today in a freakish accident. While diving off Australia's Great Barrier Reef his heart was pierced by the barb of a stingray. There is only one other recorded stingray fatality in Australia, and that was in 1945.

It was an honour to watch someone who was so passionate about the environment and life in general. Steve you will be sorely missed .....and wherever ya are mate...clear out the crocs so it's safe when we get there.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5311298.stm

Ohne Scheiss Project

One of the blogs I visit regularly is the Wooster Collective a blog showcasing street art. It is amazing the ingenuity of some people. One bloke in Berlin is running the Ohne Scheiss Project which is to paraphrase: "a grass-roots effort focused on arousing solidarity between pedestrians to help them overcome the dog shit left by some Berliner dog owners."

So how is this doggy-doo-grass-roots-solidarity attained? Well, you walk around the streets with a poster of cunningly named stickers with which to highlight the offending turds. The cunning names: Hollyshit (sic), Hotshit (steamin'), Dirtyshit (ewuh) and (plain old) shit. (eer the comments in brackets are mine)

Well that's got my profanity quota up at least and as long as no one tries to ring monkey stools I should be okay.

Albert Schweitzer

I have been running the Albert Schweitzer quote under my title for quite a while now. So I thought it was time to change it...hopefully to something a little more light hearted. With all the war, crime and  horrific oil prices we could do with a laugh. But before taking it down here's a snippet I found on Schweitzer.....I particularly like the point about helping to alleviate suffering where we can.

The renowned humanitarian Albert Schweitzer, who accomplished so much for both humans and animals in his lifetime, would take time to stoop and move a worm from hot pavement to cool earth. Aware of the problems and responsibilities that an expanded ethic brings, he said, “A man is really ethical only when he obeys the constraint laid on him to aid all life which he is able to help … He does not ask how far this or that life deserves sympathy … nor how far it is capable of feeling.” We can’t stop all suffering, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t stop any. In today’s world of virtually unlimited choices, there are plenty of kind, gentle ways for us to feed, clothe, entertain, and educate ourselves that do not involve killing animals.

Eagle Eye Live Cam

Do you want to see a baby bald eagle hatch? Well Doug Carrick, a retired accountant.....not sure why that's relevant....., has set up the Eagle Eye Live Cam on Hornby Island. The site is currently getting 10 million hits a day.

News Story on CBC
Eagle Eye Live Cam

Brown Booby

This my friends is a brown booby - sorry I couldn't find a pair. Pretty neat eh?

Greenpeace have a number of pictures you can use as wallpaper so if you fancy something new to brighten your desktop pay them a visit.

Vegetarianism

Ever thought about becoming a vegetarian, vegan, fruitarian or maybe even that extremist of alternative diets the breatharian? (A breatharian survives on fresh air only...unfortunately adopters of this diet usually die within 10 day of “complications”). (BTW all these links go directly to WikiPedia and will not reroute you through any spam…porn…or swinging sites….Sooorrrrry.)

Well I have been giving it some thought lately...actually only since yesterday...you see in a bit of shameless self promotion I mentioned my Greenpeace post on the BlogMad forums (now there's a bit of shameless BlogMad promotion.) and someone posed the question "Wait, Greenpeace is a good thing?". Now it would have been easy to reply "Yes of course" but with millions of pages of information at my finger tips and a couple of spare hours between 1am and 3am I decided to do a bit of research....the result....Yes Greenpeace is a good thing because....blah, blah, blah....this is not the point of the post.

During the course of my research I was struck by the number of influential historical figures of various periods who were either vegetarian or spoke out in favour of vegetarianism...look I guessed the usual suspects such as Ghandi...but was rather surprised by Einstein and Benjamin Franklin. Here are a few of my favourites...and I have chosen this selection to illustrate whether you are a person of science, art, religion or politics some of your heroes where undoubtedly vegetarians.

Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet. --Albert Einstein

I have from an early age abjured the use of meat, and the time will come when men such as I will look on the murder of animals as they now look on the murder of men. --Leonardo da Vinci

My refusing to eat meat occasioned inconveniency, and I have been frequently chided for my singularity. But my light repast allows for greater progress, for greater clearness of head and quicker comprehension. --Benjamin Franklin (Politician, writer, scientist; 1706-1790)

A human can be healthy without killing animals for food. Therefore if he eats meat he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite. --Leo Tolstoy

Wherefore I say to all those who desire to be disciples, keep your hands from bloodshed and let no flesh meat enter your mouths, for the Lord is just and bountiful; who ordains that man shall live by the fruits and seeds of the earth alone. --Jesus, Gospel of the Nazirenes, Chapter 38, Verse 4

I do feel that spiritual progress does demand at some stage that we should cease to kill our fellow creatures for the satisfaction of our bodily wants. --Ghandhi

Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages. --Thomas Edison

Greenpeace

How I wish I lived in Cape Town....huh?.....It's windy, smelly, full of Capetonians, bad drivers, snotty waitrons and expensive bistros....oh yeah and when global warming raises the sea level a couple of metres they are absolutely farked...so why do I want to live there....in a word....Esperanza

What type of word is that? Well it's the name of the ship on the 'Defending our Oceans' voyage. The single largest expedition Greenpeace has ever undertaken. Currently she is docked in Cape Town and if you can get there they have time for 40 visitors this Saturday.......<pause of 3 minutes>......sorry I'm back....just been throwing myself on the bed and kicking my legs in frustration at living so far away in Jozi....(Joburg/Johannesburg/eGoli for the uninitiated...and if you still don't know what I'm on about <shrug>)...boy I wanted to meet those guys.

I've been following the voyage on the Ocean Defenders weblog. It has been traumatic and exciting. Since November they have harried, obstructed and generally been a nuisance to the Japanese whaling fleet down in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. They've been sprayed with hoses and rammed by a factory ship.....but they have stuck it out, saved some whales and got the pictures.

How do the Japanese get away with slaughtering 1000 minke whales in a whale sanctuary this season...."Sorry sir this 5000 tonnes of whale meat and blubber in my hold is an unfortunate byproduct of bona fide scientific research". Riiiggggghhht. Greenpeace have been "bearing witness" and taking pictures. What "scientific project" are the Japanese working on "How long it takes a Minke whale to die once being struck by a grenade tipped harpoon". That's sure to get someone a Nobel prize. (Andrew, the webmaster aboard Esperanza, posted on seeing a whale taking 15 minutes to die even after being harpooned, grenaded, shot and hauled out of the water.)

Did you know surplus whale meat is being used as petfood...WHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYY?

After Cape Town Esperanza is off to the West Coast of Africa to expose pirate fishing ships, I am particularly interested it what they witness here. Seems like a double injustice is being done, firstly against the environment and secondly against communities who depend on these resources but who do not have the means to protect them. The UK Department for International Development estimates that the revenue-starved nation of Guinea in West Africa loses US$100 million each year simply from pirate fishing vessels operating in their waters.

Anyway one of Greenpeaces goals is to get 1 million cyberactivists signed up as Ocean Defenders before the completion of their voyage in early 2007. That at least is something I can do from my home in Joburg.

There are pictures, screensavers and even an amusing Greenpeace Valentine card on the site. They also have a list of actions you can get involved in today as a cyberactivist.

Visit the site...sign up...make a link....come back and leave me a comment.... so I can check you did it....and if your still not tired after all that run around the block once.

BTW I think that 1 million can be grossly exceed...there are 28 million blogs on Technorati. Come on guys signup. It easy, painless and doesn't cost any money.

BTWBTW didn't mean to like...you know...shhewww...aggravate the dudes in C-Town...just a bit of poetic license. Sure man I know...like apart from the bad shit you like also have The Mountain, The Wine and the Franschoek Cheese Festival...oh yeah and the Good Sheet.

 

Thylacine

I have a new feature on the left right (it's late OKAY) of this post Animal of the day. Well while I was writing the Firefox post it changed from bat to thylacine. Seemed like an omen, the Tasmanian wolf (thylacine) is very doglike. This link changes every 24 hours so click it quick to read a bit about this fascinating animal and watch a short video of the last thylacine (Benjamin). Poor Benny died in 1936.

Makes you want to cry when you think about what is gone due to the ignorance of our ancestors. Unfortunately it can't be undone we just need to make sure our kids don't view us with the same misgivings.