Thanksgiving!

Hello everyone. I hope that you have nice families to spend your holiday with, a roof over your head and some yummy food to eat. I am very fortunate in that I do have these things, and Im very much looking forward to enjoying all of them this weekend. Well, I guess Im more mooching off of my girlfriends wonderful family, but they treat me better than my own, so same thing!



Anyhow, obviously there are millions of people in this country that dont have these things. I urge people to donate whatever they have, no matter how little or how great, to whatever local organizations that you have that can feed the needy in your city or area. Based off of my "eat the rich, hate the poor" blog, I honestly try to give to non religion oriented organizations, but that doesnt mean that churches arent feeding people as well, even if they offer a large helping of rhetoric for dessert.. However, food is food. I also urge people to not only donate at the holidays, but year round when you are able to. People are hungry all year, not just at the end of the year. If you somehow stumbled here from my bands page and you come see a show in Cincinnati sometime, bring a few canned goods. I promise not to eat them, I will donate them to the Freestore.



I always like to focus on the positive when I can, but there is something else that bugs me that I would like to talk about today, and its a topic that is a sore topic for many and it gets heated at times. I dont want to come off as preachy, and I do believe that each person can make their own choice in this matter.



What am I discussing is incorporating compassion and ethics at the dinner table. As America lines up to buy turkeys, millions of animals will lose their lives and go through pain that we could never imagine just because they were born. This is insanely unfair.



I want to get this out right now. People hear that I am a vegetarian(have been vegan) in the past and the first thing that they bring up is "HEY, PETA". Ok, as a supporter of their cause, Im going to say fuck PETA. They do some great things, they work very hard for what they believe and they save many animals a year. I have supported them in the past on some issues and I will no doubt support them in the future as well. However, I have grown to become quite disgusted with their use of sexist propaganda to get their word across. I dont understand exploiting one group to save another. PETA turns more people OFF of animals rights in the mainstream then on, and I dont think that you should take them that seriously because of some of the ridiculous things that they say to get attention.



So please, dont associate all compassion for animals with extremist and childish organizations.



Anyway, all of us feel pain. And, we dont like it. I can get into plenty of reasons why eating meat is a tad bit irresponsible; its unhealthy due to lax controls on pesticides fed to animals, with the money it takes to raise a cow to die we could grow food for hundreds to eat and live, etc. No, Im going to go with the simple reason. Pain. Animals in slaughterhouses kick, scream, cry, etc. They arent stupid, they know whats coming. Why should they have to be literally tortured so we can eat food that really isnt very healthy/safe? It doesnt make sense to me. I dont eat meat because I dont believe in inflicting harm on animals or people. I love my life and I appreciate every breath I take, and I will do everything in my power to see that animals can as well.


Sure, alot of us have pets. We love our dogs, cats, etc. We would NEVER eat them!! Why? Because they are cute, and society says its crazy because of that. Why should cows, pigs and chickens be literally brought on this planet to live a life of torture, and thats ok, but its wrong to eat a dog? Why is it tradition for the President to pardon a turkey? Its obviously pardoning it from death, and we acknowledge that, but we make a sadistic game out of it. Weird...



Sure, it tastes good to many people. Sure, I wont argue its human nature. Killing is in our blood. We dont kill people because its wrong, so why is that not the case for animals. After all, we are all in the same kingdom, and alot of what we eat are mammals, just like us!



Again, these are my thoughts, and I am doing my best to not preach and come off as "holier than thou". I just strongly believe in these things and I want to share them. Thanksgiving is a sad time for the poor little animals that have no idea why they are being dipped in scalding hot water. Sure, its food to us, but before that it was a living breathing, feeling creature. And it lived a miserable painful life for nothing. Bummer, no?



For information on a meat free life style, check out http://www.veganoutreach.org/. They are an amazing group doing great things.



Pass the stuffing, but lets pardon all of the Turkeys this year, k?



Happy Thanksgiving, Ill be bitching about things in a day or two!