compassionategirl

what is happening here

That sandwich looks BEYOND AWESOME. It might just be worth a trip out there. Thanks for this awesome post.

You're awesome Kollision. Keep up the great work. Natalie

yup

Activist tip for the day: When you are waiting in a line up anywhere, whether in a bank, school, grocery store or whatever, and you are in earshot of other people, pretend you are talking to somebody on your cell phone and get the animals message out there!!! Mention that you saw disturbing footage of how animals are treated on factory farms and slaugherhouses, mention documentaries like "Meet your meat", "The witness" etc. Talk about how you found out how animals are actually skinned alive for their fur, talk about KFC cruelty in graphic detail, etc. Nobody will know that there is nobody on the end of that phone line, and that you are really talking to dead air!! Another good place to talk to your "imaginary cell phone friend" about the plight of animals is when you are sitting in a bus or subway. Basically, anywhere where there are people within ear shot. When I was doing that the other day, the lady in the bank line up inquired further about "Meet your meat." Hopefully, my conversation with my "imaginary friend" got her thinking. This is a great tip on how you can get the animals message out to people without directly talking to them for those of you that are shy or nervous. It is like you are talking on your phone to a friend and minding you own business, not "preaching" directly to anybody. But if you speak clearly and loudly enough (without sounding too loud and thereby making it too obvious), people who are in earshot cannot help but hear you. :wink

Hey ruthless, You are obviously not really ruthless since you came around and opened up your heart to the suffering of animals. Congratulations on achieving levels of compassion, charity and altruism that most people cannot even comprehend. You should be EXTREMELY proud of that accomplishment, and you are a shining example for others to follow. Your wife must be very proud and thrilled that you have taken up a cause that is obviously dear to her. Natalie

I agree with those of you that emphasized that vegetarianism and veganism are NOT just diet choices, or even lifestyle choices. In my view, whether a person has no moral qualms about killing another innocent and defenseless creature for frivilous reasons like gluttony speaks DIRECTLY about the quality of their heart and measure of kindness and compassion contained within it. I would never date a murderer, so, subject to the qualifications I set out below, why would I date a meat eater? Killing a living creature is murder, plain and simple, even if that creature ain't human. Perhaps I feel that way because I am not speciest, as most if not all meat eaters are. IN fact, speciesm is what makes animal exploitation in all its various forms possible. And, at the risk of being controversial, I might add that it is that same "us versus them", "they are different from us, they are not like us" attitude that makes genocides and holocausts possible. I know this because my great grandparents were massacred in the Armenian genocide in 1915 by the Turks, who justified the mass slaughter of men, women and children on the grounds that Armenian people living in Turkey at that time were "inferior" beings to the Turks in Turkey. That "Us versus theM', "they are not like us", "we are superior" attitude is one that is extremely dangerous and should be rejected by everybody, not adopted let alone encouraged. Unfortunately, most humans have that attitude. A few short decades ago, it was used to justify genocides and holocausts, like I said earlier, and even slavery, etc. As somebody whose people were oppressed and slaughtered, I cannot understand why any human being whose "people" have experienced oppression and exploitation cannot empathize with the plight of animals, since animals are BY FAR the most oppressed, exploitated and abused class of beings on the face of this planet. So when I see Armenians or other formerly oppressed groups wearing fur or eating meat, I get ESPECIALLY enraged and ed. Never mind, sympathy, where is the empathy of these people? Just because consumers who eat meat are not the actual people who slit a cows throat and hang it upside down until it bleeds to death, or scald a pig alive, that does not mean that they are less culpable than the actual butchers. There is no morality in paying somebody else to do something that you cannot even bare to watch, and most people (I would like to think) would not be able to watch, up close and live, the slaughter of innocent animals and not be affected by their squeels and shrieks in terror and their physical struggles to escape their executioners. If they can so watch and be utterly indifferent, then they must have hearts of stone and ice water for blood. BUt again, most people are generally decent and so I think that like one of you said, it is a matter of habit, of convenience, and of the feeling of superiority over all other life forms on earth that allow people to exploit animals and not lose sleep over it. But in view of the fact that eating animals is not necesary or even good or you, meat eating is a purely gluttonous exericse, and wearing animals, whether in the form of leather, fur, wool or silk, is vanity plain and simple. As far as smoking and drinking, I used to smoke but quit several years ago. However, I will light up a cigarette once in a blue moon if I am feeling extremely stressed (so I cannot say that I am 100% smoke free). yes, it is stupid and so feel free to hit me on the head if you ever see me. And I enjoy an occasional Martini, shaken, on the rocks with exactly 9 olives, or a glass of red wine. While these may not be good for me, they cannot be compared with meat eating because I am only hurting myself by engaging in these choices, NOT innocent animals who are utterly at my mercy. People do have the choice and freedom to do whatever they want, and indeed, meat eaters, smokers and drinkers will defend their actions on this ground. BUT in my view, your choice and freedom stops at the point where you begin causing suffering to others beyond just yourself, particularly where those others are vulnerable and defenseless against you and your kind. Conclusion, I would date a meat eater if I knew that the reason why they ate meat was not because they genuinely did not care about the suffering of animals. This is because, as many of you stated, I would hope that I could positively influence them into seeing the "light" as I eventually did. I would hope that this evolution in consciousness would come sooner rather than later though. And make no mistake people, it IS an evolution in consciousness. Vegetarians, and even more so vegans, are more evolved humans than their meat eating, fur and leather wearing counterparts. This is an inescapable conclusion, although one to which most meat eaters are not receptive. The reluctance to see it as an evolution in consciousness, though, is understandable - nobody likes to think of themselves as a neanderthal or anything other than a good kind person. That is why vegetarians/vegans are looked up by society with such hostility. It is because they represent an uncomfortable and inconvenient choice: either change your lifestyle, or your self-image, but you simply cannot have it both ways - the facts don't support it because there is nothing kind or moral or decent or civilized or "un-neanderthal" like about eating animals for the simple reason of pleasing your palate. Meat eating for that reason is one of the most blatant examples of human selfishness and self-indulgence. However, even though I would, and have dated meat eaters, I would NOT date anybody who I realized genuinely had ZERO charity and mercy in their hearts for innocent creatures. I would like to think that few people on this earth fall into the latter category. Interestingly enough, Mahatma Ghandi, one of the most peaceful men on earth, would go on hunger strikes and subject himself to suffering in order to try and change his opponents hearts. Ghandi reasoned that people had two components: their "inner essence", and their "outward personality." Often, indeed in most cases, a person's outward personality clashes with their inner essence (whether they themselves realize it at the time or not). According to Ghandi, a change of heart in your opponent is possible only when this inner essence is different from the outward personality. And when a person does undergo a change of heart, that means that their outward personality has finally gotten in sink with their inner essence. When I studied Ghandi many years ago, I really did not fully appreciate the meaning of any of this. When I first became vegetarian, what he was talking about finally made more sense to me. My inner essence finally was in sink with my outward personality. It is like "I met myself for the first time" when I realized that I was NOT cool with eating or wearing animals, even though I had been doing so without much thought for the first 22 years of my life. So compassion, empathy, kindess, integrity are musts for me in a man. of course, you need chemistry as well. I like a man who is not so "happy go lucky all the time" because frankly, that irritates me. Sometimes, one must be serious and since I am an extremely pasionate and intense person, I look for those qualities in others. LOYALTY though, is probably right up there with compassion. Finally, nothing to me is sexier than a big strong fit guy who is tough with people and can kick anybody's ass, but is gentle with animals and is mezmorized by, and drawn to, the innocence and vulnerability of the non-human animals with which we share this earth. I guess you can summarize it by saying a reverence for innocent life. And, it is difficult for me to admit this because it is going to turn the stomach of most of you but if it helps animals or the environment then I will take that chance. To any of you out there that think you are too much of "die hard carnivore" that you simply could never give up indulging your lust for animal flesh, I GUARANTEE that nobody out there was a bigger, more die hard meat addict than I. Without getting into too much detail so as to turn all of you off and make you sick to your stomach, I could eat RAW seasoned ground beef without so much as blinking, and I would have all my carnivorous meals pretty much as rare and bloody as possible (not because I was evil, only because I liked to indulge my lust for animal flesh). And, unlike most meat eaters, I did NOT get sick of eating meat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. No other food interested me - not pasta, not bread, not pizzas. Just steak, especially prime rib, BBQ chicken, bacon (I could even bacon raw), etc. So don't anybody give me this CRAP about how THEY are too die hard of a carnivore and it would simply be too much to ask of them to give up animal flesh. I think I could pretty much have "carnivored" anybody under the table, and I guarantee that I could have made the most avid meat eating neantherdal pale in comparison to me. MY POINT: If I could become vegetarian (being the vampire that I was), I guarantee that ANYBODY could become vegetarian. But, after I viewed the video "Meet your meat"and really put my mind to the fact that my lust for the taste of animal flesh was causing the death and suffering of literally billions of animals a year, and since because in my inner essense I was a compassionate girl, I stopped eating animals just like that, cold turkey. When you are confronted with the facts and images of the suffering you have no other choice but to stop. If you don't, you are inexcusably failing to carry your moral weight, which, in turn, must be carried by others who care about the delicacy of the planet and the vulnerability of the creatures with which we share it. And even while I ate meat, I was NEVER proud of it like most meat eaters curiously are. I was saddened that I liked meat so much . TO all "proud" meat eaters, at least have the courage to admit the obvious: there is nothing to be proud of a habit or addiction that causes suffering and death to billions of innocent beings, directly contributes to world hunger, and is responsible for grave environmental degradation!! We will leave my thoughts on the religious aspects of vegetarianism for another day, but there is much to be said about that as well.

By the way bobbycore, I hope your having better luck with the KFC demos than we are up here in Toronto (Canada). The senior execs from Yum Brands did not even have the guts to walk through the front door where we were protesting and into the building. He entered through the back - what a coward!!!! Protetsing in the headquarters of KFC must be extra tough - what has public reaction been luck. I would imagine that the residents there are "proud" of being the hometown of KFC, as sick as that is. P.S. Did you read the post about the five year old wisdom? It is in relation to a KFC protest. Natalie

Hi guys!!! I am so happy that a few of you are down with this idea!!!! Wow, I cannot wait to meet and party with all you compassionate amazing people. Okay the only info I have off hand right now is that it is $500 for the whole night including everything, like a gourmet full course dinner, and mingling with compassionate and awesome stars all night like Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger, Stella and Paul McAurtney, Alex Baldwin, etc. The date is Spetember 6th (if I am recalling correctly) and it is at paramount picture studios in Hollywood. ALl the info is at peta25.com. CHeck out the honourary committee (which is all the stars that will be attending and whom we can mingle with). All the while supporting animals, and experiencing some of this best gourmet vegan food on the planet - wow. I think we need to purchase tickets by the end of this month though, and we may be able to get a group rate if we all go as part of "Vegan BodyBuilding and Fitness". That I will inquire into and post on it again. But everybody start saving for this gala from now because it ain't cheap. But the animals are worth it in my opinion!! I will make this my vacation for the next two years. So check out peta25.com for the details, and I hope more of you will be down with this idea as well, so we can truly make it a vegan bodybuilding and fitness get together as well and all go together!! Natalie

Hi Kollision, It is $500 for the gala. This expensive, but at least it includes a full course gourmet vegan meal prepared by some of the finest in North America, drinks (I think), and a full evening of migling with stars like Charlize Theron, Kim Basinger, Alec Baldwin, Wendy Malick, Alicia Silervstone, Bill Maher, Gillian Anderson, Carmen Electra (I think), and a whole bunch of others. IT includes an awards ceremony, red carpet stuff, etc. FOr more info on this gala go to PETA25.com. I would LOVE to save my money towards this event and attend. BUT so far, you are the only one that has responded (not that your not enough ). I think Ash (Chesty Leroux had mentioned some time ago that she is unable to make it. But maybe things have changed? ANd what about Rob? And everybody else on this site that is interested in going to this star-studded event to help animals. SO RESPOND TO THIS POST ALREADY PEOPLE!!!!

Hi all, I was so inspired by this that I broke up with my boyfriend. A five year old handed a leaflet to a well-groomed, educated top KFC executive and said, as he handed the leaflet, "It is not nice to be mean to chickens either you know." THis was, as you can probably guess, at a KFC protest last week. THe top KFC ceo was at the Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame to accept an award (God knows for what), and as he was walking in, this insightful little boy said those words to him. I thought to myself how ironic, that such a young child could get it so right and such an educated man in an Armani suit did not know this basic moral and spiritual principle - that is, treat alll living things with kindness. Anyway, I went over to his parents and told them how impressed and inspired I was that they were raising their two sons to be kind and to go against the "status quo" and not to be afraid to stick up for defenseless, oppressed beings. Wow!!! SO I went home and I broke up with my boyfriend. Now I must admit that this was a long time coming but that was the straw that broke the person's back. And the source of the main conflict was this: there is NO way that I am teaching my children that the way society views its relationship with animals is correct. NO WAY I am teaching them that is okay to treat animals like commodities, here for HUMAN pleasure. My kids will revere all life, and will learn to walk on the earth as gently as possible and to "live and let live." My boyfriend claimed that he had no problem with that, but could not guarantee that his "family" would "understand" or "approve" or "be supportive" or "not sabatoge my attempts to instill these most basic yet imperative principles." So I said, "Then you need to marry a "Less Compassionate Girl", because my kids will be compassionate and brave warriors. Not candy asses that are afraid to do the RIGHT thing because of what others think or say.

Hey, Is that really you and are those really your abs? if yes, then I am impressed (as I obviously am with the measure of your heart). Later, Natalie

Hey Kollision, No the peta party is actually in Los Angeles. I am hoping that we could get a few of us here interested because it would be awesome to have such a great time while helping animals. But it will be expensive however, which is why I will have to make this my vacation for the year (or two), but I don't mind. It is supposed to be the party of the year - all while raising money to fight animal abuse all over the world. I hope more of us on this site respond expressing interest in going.

Dear everyone, AS s reminder, PETA 's 25 th anniversary star studded party of the year at Paramount Picture studios is happening in early Septmember. I would love to go, and it is of course for a GREAT cause. IS ANYBODY from this site interested in going? That question applies to everyone, but the only person that has expressed interest so far is Robert. P.S. Rob, are you still interested in going? It would be awesome if we could make it a vegan bodybuilding reunion/union as well where we could meet each other and party together for a weekend. Natalie (Toronto)

Hey y'all, if any of you come up here for the vegetarian food fair, let me know cause I live in Toronto so we can hook up. Natalie

I did not mean that we should voice our rage to PETA. PETA is obviously the one and only organization that consistently fights for animal rights. WHat I meant was that if any of you need more info about the campaighn or WHO to write to, contact PETA and they will give you the info needed. PETA can be contacted at [email protected]. CHeers, Natalie. ANd yes you can post my email and telephone number info as well.

PETA Breaking News Today, at a news conference in Washington, D.C., PETA revealed the findings of its 11-month undercover investigation into Covance, the international drug-testing giant (formerly known as Hazelton). PETA’s investigator worked as a technician inside the Vienna, Virginia, Covance laboratory, where she documented workers who were striking, choking, taunting, and deliberately tormenting terrified monkeys. She documented monkeys with broken arms left without proper veterinary treatment and animals in desperate need of euthanasia, who were kept alive and in agony just to please drug companies. Other primates, used in lethal irradiation experiments, developed open wounds on their stomachs. When PETA called the U.S. Department of Agriculture for help during our investigation, the agency took five days to respond. Please help these suffering primates, who live in constant fear of the next horrible thing that will happen to them. Read about our investigation and watch our video at CovanceCruelty.com now! (The above is a cut and paste from a PETA email). For more info on how you can help and who you can write to to express your outrage, email [email protected] or go to the above mentioned site and it will tell you contact info of who you can complain to.

Hey Kollision, I live in Toronto (Canada). I am sure there are lots of demos and protests in L.A. You are obviously very passionate about animal rights, so I strongly urge you to contact PETA and get on their "activist" list and also their email list. They will send you email updates about current campaigns to help stop cruelty, and will notify you of ANY protests and demos taking place for the animals in the LA area. YOU are obviously not obligated to go, but you can if you want to. I sense in your posts how passionate you are so I suspect that you, like me, would go to the demos whenever possible and be the voice for our animal friends. Start by emailing peta at [email protected] or call them at 757-622-peta and tell them that youo are an animal lover in the LA area and would like to be notified of protests in your area. They can also, if you wish, put you in contact with local activists. Hope you contact them - you definitely have that burning fire within that wants to get more active for the animals. GO WITH IT!!!

Hey there! yes of course any one of you may copy my posts anywhere, anytime, on any site with the intention of helping animals' get their voices heard, or informing other people about their plight. YOu can take the credit if you want and claim the article or words as being your own. I really do not care about that- all I care about is that we reach as many people as possible with the animals' side of the story, which is the TRUTH. And to answer your other question posted elsewhere, I am from Toronto, Ontario, Canada and can be reached at 416-822-0060 or [email protected] or [email protected] (although I check email infrequently so if it is urgent it is best to call me). Take care everybody!!

No problem Kollision. I love doing my part to educate and inform, and I in turn love being educated and informed b/c let's face, everyday we can learn something knew. Even though we are all animal lovers and activists to some extent, everybody cannot possibly know everything. For example, like I said I only recently learned of the amazing stories of Captain Watson on the high seas, and that is even being an anti-fur and anti-seal hunt activist!!! I think that the animal and earth protecion movement can be strengthened if it was more co-ordinated and more aware of itself and the different actors and players within it. SO I love connecting people with other people or sources of info. For example, I was on the phone today with Physicians Committe for Responsible Medicine who are pro-vegan but have never heard of this website or of Robert. SO I gave them the info and encouraged them to direct to this website anybody they encounter that remains convinced that you need animal protein to gain lean muscle. I am hoping that they will contact Robert and maybe will even sponsor Robert. I am sure that only good can come of contact between veganbodybuilding and them.

Hey guys, I will post more info about Captain Paul Watson, and the late Robert Hunter and the website address of the Sea Shepherds (not even sure if I am spelling it right). I have their info at home. I want to also provide a link to access the 1970 footage where it shows these two brave warriors literally standing in front of the huge sealing ship, and in front of the harpoon targetted to kill an endangered whale. Truly inspiring, dramatic footage that will give you goose bumps and move and inspire you. The sad thing is that I had never even heard of Paul Watson or Robert Hunter until only recently. Of course I had heard about Greenpeace though, but note that the current Greenpeace only got a "B-" grade from PETA (the animal protecion organization that in my opinion is the most reliable and CONSISTENT) in its stance on helping animals). Has anybody else NOT heard of these two warriors? Please let me know - it will give me an idea as to how well-known this organization and their work is and what they might to do reach more people. By the way, please make sure that any environmental or "animal protecion" group is truly worth your support. For example, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is in part responsible and supports cruel and crude chemical tests on animals. Watching their weekend informercials to raise money, seeing all the animals they help on tv, you would have never guessed that. SO PLEASE educate yourself of the WHOLE story with respect to seemingly great environmental groups before you decide that you want to support their work. A good place to start is www.meangreenies.com. Here you will find report cards on some of the top ecological and enviro-groups, and you might just be shocked at what you learn. I know I was. I just called to cancel my monthly donation to WWF and told them I would gladly resume when they became more animal friendly and I also told them that I did not appreciate their rather misleading tv informercials!!!! That website again is meangreenies.com. Will get back to you with some awesome sea shepherd footage of some magnificent animals and the direct action taken to save them. Wow!!!

It was one of the saddest days in the history of the world when the news reported the passing of Robert Hunter, the co-founder of greenpeace. Robert Hunter and Paul Watson in 1976 sailed to the icy floes of the Canadian East and positioned themselves between the sealing ships and the baby seal. In the face of imminent threat of danger and death, and with the icy ground breaking beneath their feet, the stood their ground firmly for the baby seals. Their refusal to be bullied out of the way forced the huge sealing ship to stop. Bob Hunter took direct action in the 1970s and 1980s standing between harpoons and endangered whales, took direct action on the high seas to save dolphins and other ocean life. Paul Watson stood with him in the defence of marine animals. THey were the ones that led the campaign in the 1970s and 80s to spray paint seals ith a non-toxic, unharmful dye to ruin the commercial value of the pelts of these beautifaul angelic animals. Their courage and fierce dedication to saving animals saved hundreds of thousands of lives. Greeenpeace strayed from the original vision of its founders, Paul Watson and the late Robert Hunter. So Paul Watson in the late 1970s formed the Sea Shepherds, a wonderful animal protecting group that sets sail on the high seas to take direct action against whale killers, dolphin killers, and the Canadian Seal Hunters. A few weeks ago, in fact, the Sea Shepherd's were attacked by the seal hunters of Canadian East Coast. It would be an honour and a privilege to join Captain Watson on his expeditions to take direct action to save marine animals from both legal and illegal hunting. Please visit the website of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society for more amazing stories and images of courage and true heroism, and for a biography on the late Rober Hunter, the original animal champion and eco-warrior. Mr. Hunter represented human nature and its best, and strived to protect our planet, our oceans, and every living thing on it. He was a gift to us all and he will be truly missed. I wish I had had an opportunity and honour and privilege to make his acquantance while he was still alive and thank him personally for inspiring and educating. Take care everybody, and read up on Robert Hunter's life. He was truly a hero and a warrior. You will be moved and inspired as I was.

hey all, Somebody had contacted me a while ago asking me for proof in the form of videos that circuses treated animals badly. Well, if you visit the following link, you will have the option thereafter of clicking on "wtach this" or something like that that shows screaming elephants being beatne by bullhocks and steel pipes. So if any of you out there need to convince a skeptical but otherwise decent person that circuses are NOT cool, please show them the video. The link is: http://www.peta.org/feat/atspring2002/carsonbarnes/index.html And just to clear up some common misconceptions, I was talking to a group of people yesterday at school, and they actually said to me that animals in circuses perform because they WANT to and because thet are HAPPY to and because they get rewarded for doing so with lots of treats and praise. It is hard and scary to think that this group was highly educated and otherwise quite intelligent. Obviously, though, they haven't a clue about circus reality. So it is time to once anfd for all end the common misconceptions about why animals perform in circuses. COMMON SENSE dictates that these wild animals would rather be runnng freely in the wild instead of traveling city to city in box cars in all weather extremes and performing tricks that are unnatural and terrifying to them. No wild animal WANTS to perform in a circus. ALL animals are terrified of fire, for one thing, and thus the only way to get tigers or other animal to jump through flaming hoops is to teach them that if they DON'T do the scary trick, they will be beaten and tortured. I was amazed to hear that there are people out there that think that you can get an elephant to ride a bike or a tiger to jump rthough fire with "praise and treats." Are you F$%^ing kidding me"? It takes a lot more than treats to get an animal to run TOWARDS and THROUGH a fire. Every instinct tells all animals to run AWAY from the fire, unless they know that they will have the crap beaten out of them if they do not do what their trainers have beaten them into performing. Treats - give me a break!!!!!!!! Furthermore, it also is not rocket science that these animals would rather be free with their families and among their own kind than perform in circuses for the idiots that patronize circuses. Animals in circuses are bored, lonely and sad - they often go stir crazy, rocking back and forth - it is truly a heart breaking site that these majestic wildlife have been reduced to what they are. IT is time to give them back their dignity don't you think? It is so barbaric and uncivilized. In the words of one really smart man, "But for the threat and fear of extreme physical punishment by their oppressors, animals would NEVER be part of a circus." So get real people and take off the rose coloured glasses. The animals are the ones that will pay the price for your continued ignorance of the true nature of circuses. if you love animals and want to see them and be close to the, visit an animal sanctuary or your local animal shelter and walk a lonely and bored dog on death row. You will make his day and get some exercise in the process. Although zoos are also far from benign, they are better than circuses, so if you INSIST and supporting animal exploitation, choose the lesser of two evils and skip the circus for the zoo. If anybody needs more convicning when it comes to circuses, contact me at: 416-822-0060 or at [email protected] or [email protected] but be warned I don't check my email frequently at all. Feel free to direct anybody else that remains skeptical to me and I will gladly provide them with info and personal experience along with eye-witness testimony. But really, like I said, none of that should be necessary - the answer is all in common sense people. Just think about it honestly and candidly, putting yourself in the wild animal's shoes. Let common sense be your guide. And in the time it took to write this, more animals in the "care" of Ringling Brothers or other circus and animal acts have been beaten and electrocuted to entertain us and bring in the $$$. Natalie