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Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Several things to consider.

First I want to bring attention to the carnage we inflict on our fellow beings with those metal monstrosities we use to get around with...automobiles. I found a couple of resources that provide some tips on reducing the chances of harming others when you're driving. You can read them here and here. Slow down, stay focused on your driving...please.

Next...we are in the month of culturally celebrated carnage...that "holiday" that centers around the murder of turkeys. For me this time has rapidly morphed into a dreaded experience because of all the killing and the juxtapositioning of happiness and togetherness and celebration with the horror of the killing. However...this year there's something a little different being injected into the cultural cacophony. While I have not seen it myself, there is a new children's animated movie out called Free Birds. One description of the story:  "The movie tells the story of two turkeys, Reggie and Jake, who travel back in time to take turkey off the first Thanksgiving menu — and save billions of lives going forward."

I'm really impressed that this movie has popped up on the scene...if it indeed does present a clear objection to killing. I hope it is as is advertised and if so it offers a glimmer of hope during a rather grim season. Apparently the Farm Sanctuary thought enough of it to partner with the movie folks for the Farm Sanctuary Adopt A Turkey campaign.  Cool beans!

And finally just a little piece of writing I ran across that presented some studies about differences in visual perception between human females and human males. Apparently "...guys required a slightly longer wavelength of a color to experience the same shade as women and the men were less able to tell the difference between hues." It made me feel a little better about being fashion and decorating challenged.

If you get a chance, please write a letter to your local newspaper urging a Thanksliving holiday...killing is no reason for a celebration. And...if you're living vegan...thank you....and if you aren't....well....there's no better time to start than now.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is great and I love the phrase "cool beans"!

Bea Elliott said...

Thanks for the tips on safer driving. I think we all know how it can wreck a day if there was an accident that harmed someone. I remember a country road I was driving on. It had an uninterrupted canopy of oak branches that made you feel like you were in a tunnel. Everything about the day made me smile, and then in a quirk of a second I hit a cardinal. I know her mate was in a near by tree 'cuz I heard his frantic chirps when I picked her up. She died in my hands a minute later. I wept inconsolably for hours. I'm sure her grieving partner did as well. Cars can really suck sometimes. My incident happened some decades ago - Not a one since... Maybe it taught me some of those tips to drive more thoughtfully. (?) Good from bad I guess.

Go Free Birds! It's a great that Farm Sanctuary is teaming up to advocate for our precious turkey friends!

And veganelder I don't know that you lack any decorating sense... You envision a world of peace, kindness and equity - Sounds like a gorgeous planet to me! ;)

Christine said...

We don’t have thanksgiving here in the UK of course but a similar massacre of turkeys occurs each Christmas and increasingly at Easter. It was this annual blood bath that finally made me decide to become vegetarian and eventually vegan. The film may well help raise awareness about the reality each year as I imagine people cook turkeys at this time of year because they have always done so and fail to recognise the cruelty involved and what amounts to the mass slaughter of sentient beings. Murdering turkeys and other birds at Christmas time is to my mind an appalling way to celebrate the birthday of a person whom many believe to be a man of peace. The Massacre of animals and religious festivals seem incongruous in the extreme.

Thank you for links to articles with tips to avoid harming animals. We have the same problem here in the UK with animals killed by speeding motorists and my husband and I have rescued two rabbits and a bird that were injured as a result of careless driving, though sadly it has to be said that some people do nothing to avoid hitting an animal and some may even deliberately do so.

veganelder said...

Thank you for commenting DEM, Bea and Christine.

DEM: Thanks! :-)

Bea: Cars...don't get me started. And as for decorating...maybe I could do ok with the non-tangible...but colors and fabrics and forms, well, my talented artistic wife cringes. :-)

Christine: Yes, equating celebration with killing innocent beings...maybe it's just another harmful way to reinforce the contradictions we are culturally brain-washed to accept and ignore. Culturally induced depravity is still depravity.

With a few exceptions...maybe...I suspect that the disappearance of cars would be a positive (everyone and everything considered) and not a negative.

Unknown said...

[ Smiles ] Amen to that, my vegan friend!

veganelder said...

Thank you for commenting Renard. And thanks for the affirmation.