Happy 30th Anniversary PETA!
Posted by Michelle Moquin on September 27th, 2010
How coincidental. I was planning on writing about PETA today since they are celebrating their 30th anniversary. And speaking of anniversaries…”Happy Anniversary to you too Doug!” :) And then I discovered all of the chatter this morning on my blog in regards to “meat”.
I support PETA in their efforts and yet I am a meat eater myself. You might ask, “Well how can that be Michelle? Aren’t you being a bit hypocritical or contradictory in your statement?” Well, let me explain something that most people may not know about me unless they know me personally or they have been reading here for quite some time: I am not against eating meat. I enjoy meat and so does my body.
What I am against is the torture and inhumane treatment of animals. My thoughts are this: If an animal is going to give its life to nourish and sustain me…and if you really want to be real here, the animals are not giving us their lives, we are taking it…the least we can do is honor the animals and give them the best lives they could possibly have in captivity until they are slaughtered for our consumption. Hence, the only meat I eat is from a farm that I know has treated and killed the animal humanely. I am very passionate about this.
I respect vegetarians, (and vegans). I respect PETA too, and the people who support PETA. How could I not? They are in total support of animals, and I have a strong affinity for animals. However, this entire world is never going to go vegetarian, I still support their efforts because I believe in much of what they stand for and they bring to light the wonderful world of animals. They teach us that animals have feelings too and should be treated with love, kindness, and respect. They give the animals a voice. So whatever they can do to protect the animals, I am all for it.
That being said, although the world will never stop eating meat, can we at least treat what we eat kindly and with respect? Can we give the animals a good life before their lives end? Can we eat less meat and treat it as a once a week “treat” instead of indulging in it daily? If one eats less meat, one can afford to be picky about the meat they eat and purchase only meat that is humanely treated, grass-fed, free range, organic..etc.
The more we demand it the more farms will have to change to meat our needs ( pun intended:) Have a conscious when it comes to nourishing your temple. It’s good for the animals and it’s good for you.
To me animals are precious gifts from the Gods. And if we honor those gifts and treat beings that are less intelligent than ourselves with love, kindness, and respect, we will be given the opportunity to learn some amazing things if we choose to. Animals are wonderful teachers; so much more than just food for our stomachs, they are food for thought.
PETA 30th Anniversary: Celebrities Baring It All For Animal Rights (PHOTOS)
On Saturday, animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) celebrated its 30th anniversary in Hollywood, California. Countless celebrities were in attendance for the gala, hosted by Alec Baldwin.
PETA, which claims to be the largest animal rights organization with more than 2 million members and supporters, was founded in 1980. In 1981, PETA embarked on a laborious legal struggle, the Silver Springs monkey case. The efforts resulted in the first arrest and criminal conviction of an animal experimenter in the United States, and the first confiscation of abused laboratory animals.
After such landmark results, PETA rapidly grew into an international force for animal rights, notorious for using sensational and controversial methods to raise awareness. The organization has become especially well known for its camaraderie of celebrity support, with famous personalities often stripping down for nude photo shoots to bring publicity to PETA’s campaigns.
Whether you adore or abhor PETA’s often dramatic and contentious tactics, one thing is certain — they sure know how to get people’s attention.
We’ve rounded up 30 years of actors, actresses, musicians, athletes, models, comedians and even adult film stars campaigning for PETA. While you may remember iconic PETA publicity from the likes of Pamela Anderson, Cindy Crawford, Anna Nicole Smith, and Alicia Silverstone, some of these forgotten ads may surprise you, like when Andy Dick, Bea Arthur, Justin Bieber and even Dennis Rodman lent their reputations to the organization.
Which of PETA’s celebrity star supporters from the last three decades was your favorite?
Readers: I couldn’t post all of the photos but you can click here and scroll through them yourselves, if you choose to.
Phillip: At first I struggled a bit with your comment. My mother once fed me horse meat at a time in my life when horses played a strong part in my life. I was thoroughly disgusted and wouldn’t eat it because I kept thinking about the horses I was currently riding. I don’t think my mother did it intentionally to hurt me; she just wasn’t thinking.
So although you are killing stray animals, humanely cooking them and feeding them to humans, because I have a special love for dogs, it is something that I could never eat. The one caveat: unless I was stranded, starving and on my death bed. However I know that some countries find it weird that we eat cow which they consider “sacred”, and they eat dog which many of us here in the U.S. consider our “children”. Hence the reason for “wincing” that Ai-shi commented on.
In all cases, I go back to looking to see if the animals is treated and killed humanely, because to me that is what is most important. I am trusting that you are killing them humanely as you stated. And I am also hoping that just because you think they are stranded, you are actually making sure.
I say this because we befriended a dog that seemed stranded. Only to find out that the dog escaped the caretaker’s home when the caretaker had an accident and got scared from the ambulance siren and the people running into the house to help. The dog got nervous and ran out the front door with no collar. Thankfully he landed on the doorstep to a woman who worked for me, she couldn’t keep him and asked us to help. We tried to find the owner and after no such luck, decided to keep him. It was when we took him to the SPCA that we discovered he had a “microchip” implanted in his back. The owners were so delighted to get him back. He was not stranded but extremely loved and missed. I hope you are just as careful.
Got to run – Peace out…
Lot of xoxo
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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September 27th, 2010 at 11:02 am
my brothers ideas.
If an animal strays onto one of our properties, it will be his last. We have a small terrier who alerts us to any intrusions. We immediately go into action and snag the critter. Pit bulls are our specialty because their owners really feed them well. But we are great cooks so we make do with what we catch.
Phillip
September 27th, 2010 at 11:17 am
PUT YOUR DREAMS TO WORK
Do you know that you can train your brain to deliver very specific insights about decisions you’re struggling with, problems you can’t seem to solve or even ways you might smooth out a difficult relationship by literally “dreaming up” a solution?
With added purpose and intention, the tradition of dream analysis can take on a whole new level of meaning for you.
Guiding your dreams is a unique area, so I spoke with two experts on how to do it — Judith Orloff, MD, a board-certified psychiatrist, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA and author of Second Sight:
An Intuitive Psychiatrist Tells Her Extraordinary Story and Shows You How to Tap Your Own Inner Wisdom… and Christina Bjergo, MS, LAc, a qigong expert and author of the new book, The Tao of Tarot:
“The Way” to Health, Happiness and Spiritual Illumination through Qigong Dreaming.
Dr. Orloff (you may remember her from another recent story — “Use Your Intuition to Guide Your Health,” Daily Health News, January 19, 2010) told me that it was by using this technique that she decided to attend medical school.
At a time when she was trying to figure out what to do in her career, a dream pointed her in the direction of what she now recognizes as her “true calling.
” Working with an intuitive researcher from UCLA during what she calls her “hippie phase,” she dreamed of herself as a medical doctor and psychiatrist who helped legitimize intuition in medicine.
This was especially surprising because she’d never had an interest in science or medicine… and it is exactly what she has done with her medical career.
DREAM WEAVER…
You can start dreaming productively tonight, but you’ll be more likely to gain valuable information if you do some advance preparation. Here are some suggestions…
If you are not already in the habit of doing so, set aside five or 10 minutes daily to sit in silence and just focus on your breath, in and out.
This will help you learn to pay attention to your interior state, without distraction.
Start a “dream journal” where you will record your dreams.
Dr. Orloff suggests buying a really beautiful notebook “to honor your commitment” and adds that she likes to use a pen that lights up so that if she happens to awaken in the night she can write down her dreams without having to turn on a light. Keep these by your bedside.
Consider designating a “dream buddy” with whom to discuss your dreams.
Dr. Orloff advises selecting someone you trust, who will enjoy and feel comfortable with this type of conversation.
Sharing your dream life in such a way increases your attention and focus and — who knows? — you may find that he/she has insights you’d not have come up with on your own.
Plan to build some time into your morning routine to linger in bed.
Even a few minutes is helpful (though longer is even better) to allow you to bring your dream, in as much rich detail as you can recall, into your conscious mind.
MAKE DREAMS WORK FOR YOU
Ready to start having productive dreams? Dr. Orloff suggests that you begin with a question — just one, but a specific one.
At bedtime, after you’ve turned out the lights, direct your thoughts to a vexing problem or a creative challenge — for instance, how can I improve my marriage or how can I heal my back pain?
Limiting your effort to one question helps to concentrate your creative efforts — but try not to be intense about this. Just fall asleep and enjoy the state of sleeping, allowing yourself to relax and be open to whatever your dreams may bring — or not bring, as the case may be.
If you awaken during the night, quickly record your dreams.
Don’t worry if they don’t seem to make sense and don’t analyze them — just write down whatever you remember.
You can examine your notes later for clues to issues or problems in your life.
Be silent and stay in bed for at least five minutes when you wake up each morning to prolong your stay in the state between sleep and alertness.
Bjergo suggests trying this qigong technique to connect with your dreams. Upon awakening in the morning, lay in your bed, face up, hands relaxed over your belly.
To get properly balanced, a woman should place her left hand on top of her right, a man his right hand on top of his left.
Focus on the movement of your breath, and let your belly rise and fall naturally. This can often bring back details from dreams you had the night before — and there’s a bonus, too: This will also help your energy flow all day.
When you feel ready, write down whatever comes to mind — including a narrative of any dreams that you remember, along with the details that stand out and even those nonsensical odd intrusions that seem to make no sense whatsoever.
Also describe how you feel now, as well as how you felt in the dream — some dreams are happy and invigorating, while others invoke anxiety, sadness or any number of other emotions.
Now, examine your dreams for answers — direct or indirect ones — to the question you posed before falling asleep.
Follow this routine for a week and see what answers come your way.
Over time, you may find that you can detect certain themes in your dreams. Does the same person or situation continuously present itself?
Ask yourself what in your life might be represented in your dreams — even beyond the questions you’ve asked at night. Are there clues about any unresolved issues in your life? What healing needs to occur?
And, if you really have difficulty remembering your dreams, Dr. Orloff has one more suggestion:
Try making your bedtime request the statement of an intention rather than a question, such as I will remember my dreams.
Another idea: If you aren’t feeling ready to deal with the mystical aspects of intentional dreaming, try it by asking a practical question, combining your intention with something specific you really want to know — such as, I will remember in my dreams where I left my glasses. Let me know how it works!
Source(s):
Christina Bjergo is a licensed acupuncturist, renowned body-dream-work instructor and Grand Master of Sacred Serpent Spiral Qigong.
She is based in Vancouver, Washington, and is an international motivational speaker teaching others how to incorporate dreaming in their lives for greater health, joy and spiritual insight.
Bjergo is author of The Tao of Tarot: “The Way” to Health, Happiness and Spiritual Illumination through Qigong Dreaming (O Books).
Judith Orloff, MD, is a board-certified psychiatrist and assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles.
She is author of Second Sight: An Intuitive Psychiatrist Tells Her Story and Shows You How to Tap Your Own Inner Wisdom (Three Rivers Press), and the New York Times bestseller Emotional Freedom (Harmony). For more information about dreams, http://www.drjudithorloff.com.
September 27th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
Hi Misch : ) I’m glad you’re eating happy animals though…
…I’ll disagree, politely, as with aliens who claim we are a cattle planet and eat us, it really doesn’t make much diff at the end of the day if you smile and treat me nice whilst you kill me nicely, not to me on the receiving end anyway, I might even be pissed that you acted kindly and then offed me : )
so on that note and based on the responses here – hmmm, I will continue to eat mostly veggie with some shrimp/cold water fish/free range chicken, though I’m ready for those veg/soy chicken/meat replacement products now just so I’m sure of what it is I’m getting : ) bc apparently we just do not know what we’re getting ever, could be dog/cow/horse or pit bull, and sorry…that thought just put to written word kind of grosses me out. I have always been suspect of unrecognizable BBQ now I know why…ick…
Have a roadkill free day : ) Luv, Zen Lill