Should We really Eat Meat??

Well.. I guess you all know my opinion by now, if you feel you need to turn your body into an animal graveyard, then yes, I guess you should.. But most importantly you should examine why it is that you feel there is a necessity to be a walking grave.. And I mean, seriously question.. Not just quote replies that you have learned by heart, but examine them thoroughly with an open mind, and I believe anyone with a logical thinking process and natural inquisitiveness will sooner or later realise just how bizarre the practice of flesh eating truly is.



Anyhow.. I was surprised to stumble upon this online survey where you get to answer a simple "yes" or "no" to is meat eating necessary, and even more surprised to see that almost 30% of the participants agree that it is unnecessary.. I am sure that this must be way higher than the general population.. I'm guessing that it's mostly people of a somewhat alternative mindset that actually stumble onto the survey in the first place.. Anyhow, here's the link to it:

Should we eat meat?

While on the subject of meat, I also read recently that Southern Carolina scientists are working on somehow growing their own bio-engineered meat in a laboratory.. Yeah, now there's self sufficiency! Now if only they realised just what a nonfood it was, be it 'ficial or artificial.. Still, at least if they were to succeed in doing so, it might theoretically be a way to minimise animal cruelty suffering that's part and parcel of the flesh trade. Read more here.

Over in the UK, they've begun selling dog meat on farmers markets. That should have a few people up in arms.. For some reason, many meat eaters seem to take offense at dog meat, proving in a way just how consistently illogical they have a tendency to be.


Whale. - Breakfast or fellow earth citizen?
Well.. Honestly I think this whole "omnivore" phase has just gone on far too long.. If you'll pardon my French, people eat literally any old shit. Virtually anything that moves, and most of what doesn't too.. It's amazing what a bit of salt and fat can do to turn nonfoods into apparently appealing dishes. I'm reminded of that Charlie Chaplin movie where in the midst of winter, with nothing around to eat, he eats the sole of his shoe..

Actually I recently also heard of this medical condition called "Pica", that mostly seems to afflict young children and women.. not that it's at all common mind.. But for some reasons those afflicted with Pica experience cravings for most definite "nonfoods", like this one woman below, who is addicted to eating couch cushions.. (Maybe the majority of the world suffers from the same affliction.. A world full of Picarians, addicted to eating the stuffing out of other beings!):

Topsy-Turvy World - 17 - Striving for ones best.

Some people make bizarre resolutions with completely nonsensical goals in mind.

This woman had a vision she could be the worlds fattest mum, and set about fulfilling that vision..

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-20026674-10391704.html



At one point she proposed that ideally she could weigh in at half a tonne, and just recently, she was witnessed to have eaten 30,000 calories in one sitting. [Top that Harley!!],

WHAT SHE ATE

2 portions of 25lb oven roasted turkeys 2 portions of 15lb maple glazed hams 10lbs of roast potatoes 5lbs of mashed potatoes 5lbs of chopped carrots 5lbs of sweetcorn 5lbs of roasted butternut squash 5 parcels of house-baked bread 4 pints of cranberry relish 4 pints of home-made gravy 5lbs of herbed stuffing 1 tray of mixed green salad including salad dressing.

CALORIE TOTAL: 30,000

She's already in the Guinness World Records book as the world's fattest mother, when she gave birth in 2007 weighing more than 240kgs.. (Apparently more than 30 medics were needed to deliver her daughter Jacqueline during a high-risk Caesarean birth), and she reckons she can push it at least another 160kgs..

What a weird goal!? I mean, I can sort of understand people seeking fame, but doing so at a clear risk of ones sacred bodily temple is beyond me. In her own words she states:

I love eating, and people love watching me eat.. It makes people happy, and I'm not harming anyone.. [Yeah Right!]

I'm sort of at a loss for words.. This woman has a beautiful young daughter who most likely, at the rate she is going, will soon be motherless. I just don't get people. What possesses them to fully kid themselves that such directions are at all commendable..

Sure beats me.. Nothing beats this guy though:



And then there was the guy Paul Stone, that has filed a lawsuit against Britain's National Health Service, claiming they owe him big-time because, back when he weighed only 420 lbs., he asked for help, and idiotic doctors had the audacity to advise him to eat sensibly and exercise.  He became so distraught at their insensitivity that he quickly inflated to 980..

Read more in: The Sun

Actually, I have sympathy for this guy, he clearly was crying for help, and instead of being given it, was told to go and help himself, which is all well and good if one can, but getting off of such intensely destructive habits eating such as these guys have, generally requires help, a retreat, a temptationless environment, guidance, counseling, education, support and more.. It'd be like telling a heroine addict seeking help "Go home and stop taking the stuff".. Fat lot of good that'd do them..

Crazy World News - 9 - Mysterious global deaths of Birds and Fish

Gleaned from the popular press, I've been reading about the bizarre cases of common species of birds and fish dying mysteriously.. Dropping dead from the skies, or, in the case of the fish, being washed up on shore, dead on arrival, with no yet apparent satisfactory cause of death known..

I think the first of the most recent reported cases was the small town of Beebe, Arkansas, where New Year's revelers spent the holiday weekend cleaning up several thousand blackbirds that littered their town landscape.. making dents in roofs and cars as they plummeted dead earthward.

Tests were done, but no official cause of death could be ascertained, though seemingly the birds died from shock caused from some unknown clearly traumatic experience.. Some initially hypothesized that an annual firework display was a likely cause, but given that blackbirds are not prone to flying at that time of night, this explanation seems rather unlikely.

Barely days later, more than 500 red-winged blackbirds and starlings were found dead strewing a stretch of highway in Point Coupee Parish, near the city of Labarre, in Louisiana, just under 600kms south of the Arkansas incident.

A disgruntled shark seeks revenge on a sonic boom tester.

Also recently in roughly the same neck of woods, about 83,000 dead and dying drum fish washed up along a 32km stretch of the Arkansas River, about 160km west of Beebe. .

Both birds and fish were sent away for detailed biological analysis, but so far nothing conclusive has been made public, with the only official verdict being that "They died from massive trauma". Which leads me to suspect that the government or military have once more been conducting their experiments with no consideration taken for possible environmental consequences.. Rather like that bout of washed up whales and dolphins that occurred on several occasions a while back, with conspiracy rumours abounding on how at the time the military were conducting something called "sonic boom" testing, which with the whales reliance on sonar for navigation, completely disorientated and unduly over stressed them to the point of many dieing traumatically.. again with no official reason ever given for the apparent bizarre happenings that I am aware of. Who knows what effect that particular supposed testing may or may not have had on other sea life.

Across the oceans, up in the icicle land of Sweden, a similar incident was reported in the town of Falköping, where up to 100 jackdaws suddenly fell from the sky for no obvious reason, and over in Italy it was reported recently that over 700 dead birds fell from the skies, in their case, countless turtle doves were scattered about the town of Faenza, many with strange blue marks in their beaks that some officials suggested may have been signs of hypoxia.

Dead fish washed up en masse onto the shores of New zealand, and according to the Huffington Post, an estimated 2 million fish are dead and floating in the Chesapeake Bay (Maryland,US). Hundreds of tons of fish have washed ashore in Brazil since last Thursday. Fish found washed ashore in New Zealand had many that were missing their eyes, (returning boats reported witnessing a carpet of dead fish floating belly up in the sea!). And in the UK,  An estimated 40,000 dead crabs were also reported to have washed ashore on Englands' beaches. While each countries supposed scientists have theories as to why this is happening, the fact that it's happening all over the world at the same time has not been explained, and leads this particular blogger to assume there is likely an explanation that will never be made public.

Sure, it could be that each incident is unrelated, but the more you search around for it in the news, the more cases seem to be surfacing, and with an intensity that seems beyond coincidence..

What's going on??

Crazy World News - 8 - Inter species marriage.

First there was the Russian Siberian guy, Boris Gabov, who sought permission by asking the president if he might be permitted to marry his beloved cow claiming that all the girls in the village had left already, moving to the city..

I'm unaware if the president ever replied, but likely this mans ridicule was not nearly as bad as a young Balinese guys, who caught with his pants down with a cow, was consequently forced to marry it by other locals. Apparently he passed out from the humiliation of the ceremony, and his new wife, the innocent victim, was immediately drowned (I thought the Balinese were Hindu and that thus the cow was considered a sacred animal!). I always found the Indonesians to be a majoritively bizarre lot.. (see: The Jakarta Globe).

In a somewhat similar incident, a Sudanese man was also forced into marrying an animal, in his case, it was a goat. Unlike In Bali, it's still possible the couple have remained together. (See: BBC News)

Those last 2 aren't exactly cases of people willingly entering into wedlock with different species, but bizarrely enough, that happens sometimes too.. Just relatively recently a millionairess British woman, and self proclaimed nonpervert, Sharon Tendler, of her own free will, married a dolphin in Israel. (See: Sydney Morning Herald) - How did she know that the dolphin wasn't already married? I thought they were supposed to be monogamous creatures..

Then, over in Taiwan, there's the story of the Taiwanese office worker who unable to find a suitable partner, and tired of waiting, decided instead to marry herself. (See: Taiwanese Woman Marries Self).. She's even honeymooning by herself in Australia.

Then if you think that's weird, there's a Japanese guy, who so engrossed in his virtual make believe fantasy world of some alternate reality game he plays on his Nintendo, has now married his virtual girlfriend.. (See: Japanese guy Marries Virtual Girl).

Enough already? One last one first though:

The most recent example I've seen of clearly one sided obsession that leads some humans to act strangely with mostly full disregard for their objects of desire, is a British guy who is in love with and wishes to marry his christmas tree.. (See: Man In love with Christmas Tree)

Actually, wikipedia even has a page dedicated to human-animal marriages:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human-animal_marriage

It would certainly seem to me that in such cases, humans, as per usual, generally have little respect for other species, doing with them as they wish with no real thought or concern given to the welfare or desires of the animal in question..

Questioning greens on a fruitarian diet.

OK.. on the subject of greens, a friend has just emailed the following question: "What i would like to learn is that greens are not only unnecessary, but harmful to human bodies. This would be great information. Do you have an article on this, please paste me a link.". and, also relatively recently, another friend asked me "I'm just wondering if you had a list of reasons as to why greens are not an optimal food for humans? One of my clients keeps saying she is *craving* greens and I highly doubt it..".

OK, the first thing I'd like to establish is that much as I am heavily left brain centric, I consider myself to be more a man of faith than a man of science, and if all you're after is a simple yes/no answer, then I'll cut straight to the chase and tell you I don't know of any scientifically sound writeup as to why greens might be consistently harmful, or either for that matter, why someone might legitimately be craving them.

You've likely heard me quote this before, that Doug Graham once stated that if you eat only fruit, and no nuts, greens etc, you will die, and as far as I know, he also gave no valid explanation as to why he believes that. Personally, I want to make it clear, that being more someone of faith, than science, I don't like to state anything as stone cold fact. I'm just a bod with opinions who blogs them, is all, and I'll be the first to admit that they (my opinions) may not always be correct - even if I stand firm to them, and remain convicted that they are, this doesn't actually make it categorically the case.

Actually, even the so called "scientists" among us, are at heart really people of faith, for at the end of the day, it is in science they place their faith, and we all know how fickle a beast science can be. Some theories may have been reached that are difficult to dispute as fact, but concerning nutritional science, I believe we are barely scratching the surface. If you want to prove that meat is necessary for human consumption, there is internet information that will fully support that theory, blinding you with science to essential amino acids and B12s, and more. If you want to find support for the opposite, that too is out there.. they all try to blind each other with their own brands of science, each one trying to outsmart the other.

My approach is very different. Much as I once absorbed the protein books after turning vegan pushing 25 years ago, being able to recite the 9 essential amino acids names, and state their individual functions and effects their presence (or lack of it) might have upon human physiology, I soon saw that it was effectively all nonsense, and realised the truth is not complex. The truth is simple. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to get nutrition right. That, to me at least, is the truth.

But it's my truth.. my belief, if you will, and I am not robbing anyone else of their free will to find their own, even if it should vastly contradict mine. That is the individuals prerogative.

Back in the 60's there was that big hippy movement, seeing in the advent of supposed free thinking, live and let live, love, peace and flower power.. Unfortunately it came accompanied with its fair share of mind altering drugs and psychedelics, baring with them apathy and a gradual loss of ability to fully think straight, but I believe they were fully on the right track with the love and peace thing.. They saw the innecessity and folly of wars, some realised that we are all brothers and sisters, and one giant family. Others even took another step and embraced compassion for fellow animal species, turning vegetarian, and an even smaller minority likely saw yet beyond that, and adopted vegan diets and lifestyles, avoiding as much as they could all animal suffering. These were awakening people. At least, some of them were.

What they were experiencing was a widening of their circles of compassion. Where we go from initially being predominantly egocentric, to extending an enveloping sphere of love and compassionate protection around immediate family, to experiencing sympathy and empathy for friends and acquaintances, and yet further for members of other races, countries, ethnicities, beliefs, cultures, and supporters of other football teams etc.. Seeing them all as human and worthy of respect and dignity.. Widening the circle yet further, we learn to embrace other species too.. Seeing there is no real logical reason why they, purely based upon their difference of appearance and or intellectual capacities, should be any less respectfully treated and honoured.

The good thing about the circle of compassion, is that it sees no boundaries. One can forever keep extending the outer limits. Looking beyond the mistreatment and abuse of animals inherent throughout most of society as we know it, we can see the destructive effect our presence has on the environment and the rest of nature, and do our darnedest to try and minimise it. In defense of keeping the circle tight, people will often argue that you can't possibly ever encompass everything, and thus it's pointless even trying, but this argument is so irrelevant. Even if there are compromises and things still "get hurt", that is not reason for us to not make efforts and grow through doing so. It does not make us hypocrites if we acknowledge that there are times where our presence is unavoidably linked with the hurt of others. As we grow, we can learn to avoid such situations, not judging each other, but judging actions. Again, I'm not saying that anyone has to live their lives any given way, only stating how I chose to live mine, and how I chose to see mine progressing, and yes, how I believe the world would be better off, if others followed suit.. None of us are perfect, least of all me, (and i speak from experience!) but that should not prevent us from trying to improve ourselves.

Floating like an otter, and hopefully
breaking the monotony of my monologue.

But I've wandered off course from the greens topic. My point is, it is my belief that the old much quoted Beatles refrain "love is all you need" is true. It is love that makes the world go around. Not vitamins, colostrum, glycogens, omega 3s or fat soluble acids.. Even the most hardened cold blooded killers in the animal kingdom, crocodiles and the like, if it were not for love, they too would not survive. See how protectively the mother looks after her hatched young. guarding them with love until they are big enough to fend for themselves. Some might argue that this was some form of instinct, not love, but maybe in such cases, instinct and love are one and the same.. Of course, crocodiles are hardly brimming, bubbling and overflowing with love.. far from it, their circles of compassion barely extend beyond their known family within immediate territorial range, but this still doesn't stop love being the predominant driving force that keeps the species continuing.

Now armed with my "love is all you need" belief, and again, I emphasise the word belief, (because much as I myself stand firmly convinced I'm fully on the right track, I don't really know anything!), I think that taken to it's logical conclusion the universe must work and be at it's most harmonious and gentle, balanced when this principle is fully embraced, accepted and worked upon.

To this end, it would seem natural that we try to minimise the destruction of plant life, as well as animals.. And it would seem that nature has indeed provided us with a way to accomplish such an end, by providing us with the sensory appealing fruit pulp that generally bears within it the seeds of the plant. This appears to me to be the pinnacle of foods, and the only food, as such, that is truly "given". Of course, let's suppose hypothetically one could sustain oneself on minerals, rocks and sand and gritty soil, then that too could be considered as valid ethical fair, but to be sure, nowhere near as appealing!!

I believe the essence of Eden, where all life forms interact and live harmoniously symbiotically side by side in a perfectly natural balance void of medi-evil food chains, hunter/predator, live and let die, survival of the fittest, pecking orders and alpha pack leaders. I cannot fully grasp every final detail, but this does not concern me, I have every faith that the kinks will iron themselves out, and that Eden can and inevitably (the optimist within me!) will become a reality.. at least for those that see fit to let it into their hearts.

I like to think that I am extremely fortunate reaching fruitarianism through predominantly ethical reasons. Having first gone through the revelation call of suddenly waking up to the reality of how animals are used and abused.. Unfortunately probably a good many of raw fooders don't have that same foundation. Many having never fully grasped veganism, and seeking purely benefits to their own health. I won't name any names, but there's a good many outspoken raw fooders, some that many consider leaders in the movement, that still push animal products on the masses, and there's no way their belief system could extend to seeing "just fruit" as a valid choice. Of course they may push their dried fruit potions on us, as super foods and the like, and love fruit too.. but let's face it, they don't even really get raw food. (dried and preprocessed is not raw!).

So what holds us back? because I know that I am not alone in feeling these feelings. I think there's an awful lot of fear involved. people doubt themselves.. they doubt their beliefs and their budding convictions.. they say "what if..?" And they are of course perfectly within their rights to do so.. Having doubts is part of what makes us human. Becoming fruitarian is about taking a leap of faith, because we're ahead of our time, and science is not ready to support us yet. Clearly science is predominantly backed by marketing interests.. Research is rarely done unless there can be some financial gain for someone somewhere, and until that changes, it's unlikely that someone will seriously bother to look into pure fruitarianism, and the way things are at the moment, if someone does, it is more likely that they would do so to discredit and disprove it.. The current powers that be resist change!

UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF PLANTS' RIGHTS

Was taken aback and pleasantly surprised to stumble upon this youtube video this morning (thanks Rudolf!):

It seems finally that the silent plight of plants is beginning to be heard. Reflected also, I believe by the increasing awareness among some of the truth of a fruit diet.

With the advent of humans on the scene, with likely especial emphasis on the most recent centuries of our existence, indiscriminate killing of plants, probably more fittingly labeled as "plant genocide", has become a global phenomenon. Even in the mid 80s when I turned Vegan, I remember reading a PeTA pamphlet that declared that rain-forest the area of Denmark (a country I was coincidentally living in at the time) was being felled each year, and although I no longer follow closely such saddening statistics, I have little doubt that the trend continued, and dread to think of the devastation and environmental plant destruction caused within the past 2 and a half decades alone.

Also, apparently, recently, the Swiss Government's Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology concluded that plants are worthy of some rights, and that they should be treated appropriately. A majority of the panel concluded that "living organisms should be considered morally for their own sake because they are alive."

So I immediately began wondering if this Ethics committee, and the authors of this declaration of plant rights could themselves be fruitarian, as to me, it seems that such a lifestyle would be the most compatible with someone who truly sympathises with the injustices plants are generally subjected to.

But after a little further research, including reading this less than favourable review of the Swiss Ethics group's conclusion written up and published a while back in the Weekly standard: Here. I noticed the immediate honing in on the discrepancy of the example given about the farmer who is harvesting monocrops as a supposedly ethically acceptable action, whereas were he to destroy wayside flowers, this would be considered morally wrong. Of course, clearly this team of philosophers haven't fully grasped the subject at hand, and still wish to justify their bread and cakes.

No, I'm not trying to say that through adopting a fruitarian lifestyle, harm to plants would cease. At least, surely not initially, but certainly I have no doubts it could be greatly lessened. Much of a fruitarians fair obtained commercially is grown through very destructive farming methods, perhaps especially the annual monocrops of tomatoes and cucumbers. And to be sure, some degree of "weeding" will likely be necessary for a good while longer. I'm not in denial of any of that, but in the long run, even such annual foods could be grown sustainably, especially if people begin taking responsibility for their own food cultivation to as little or great extent as possible.

Fruitarianism would mean a shift toward fruit tree based agriculture, and ultimately shift the consciousness of humans to make them understand and apply better more biodiverse farming methods that are in harmony with healing the planet from the devastation we've cruelly and ignorantly inflicted upon it. Humans, animals and plants would all ultimately benefit.

Topsy-Turvy World - 16 - Truly Weird Diets

Now if you happen to consider fruitarianism as extreme and radical, perhaps you need to look around you more..

I mean, to me, the real reason why fruitarianism may be viewed as way out there, and unbalanced, is because generally speaking, the average diet of the average citizen has moved so far off the track of sanity, that the garden of Eden diet has suddenly become some whacko weird abnormality.. Whereas  the general run of the mill omnivorous diet has through time adopted a glow of normality that makes it difficult to see beyond it.

Recently a bunch of school kids in the US were taken on a field trip to see how "beef" was produced. Faced with the plain cold bloody goriness of the reality behind their burgers, the trip had to be cut short, with many children left traumatised from the experience.

Traumatized kids after a field trip to a slaughterhouse

From the loading bays, to the pneumatic bolt to the brain stunning process to the blood on the floor and anguished cries from the cows and stress loaded air, to the chained back legs and brutal "bleeding to death" end..

Now that's extreme! Extremely unnecessary! Read more of the pleasant days outing here:

http://newsweak.com/exclusive/school-field-trip-tour-of-slaughterhouse-traumatizes-children

Compare instead a trip to an apple orchard where apples are being harvested.. The kids would potentially have great fun and get home happy without the need for counseling.

OK.. I've just this second been informed via facebook, that newsweak actually provide 100% fictional stories, but fiction or not, the results of such a supposed day trip would likely result in a similar outcome..

But wait! Things can get even more bizarre, people all over the globe eat things that are just so weird it'd make any sane alien wonder just what's wrong with this planet..

I've even heard several reports of human fetuses being a valid culinary fair in certain parts of East Asia..  Apparently they're considered a delicatessen and, obtained through abortion clinics, fetch a high restaurant price. Some of the pictures supplied as evidence for this practise are pretty disturbing so if you search around for it, be warned.. Here's write up I recently stumbled upon..

http://www.weirdasianews.com/2007/04/02/cannibalism-in-china-acceptable-if-for-health/

From an online Swedish newspaper, I also read recently that people are even eating shit medicinally, - And not even their own!

http://www.aftonbladet.se/kropphalsa/mage/article8091641.ab

In my opinion not anywhere nearly as bizarre, in Italy one prized (and illegal!) dish eaten is called Casu Marzu, and is a decomposing sheeps milk cheese, infested with maggots! - Make sure you chew the maggots fully, as apparently they can survive the stomach acid and take up internal residency, -  even making use of diabolical mouth-hooks that can lacerate your stomach linings or intestinal walls as they attempt to drill through your internal organs! Yummy!

Over in China, if you're a russian roulette fan, one can feast on blood clams, they're found on the Shanghai black market at exorbitant prices, and are famed for harbouring hepatitis, typhoid, and dysentery, but only a small percentage (less than 10%), and supposedly delicious, so worth the risk (I think NOT!)..

Maybe in light of such meals, a bowl of strawberries doesn't seem so unappealing?!

Well.. some might point out that pointing from one extreme to another doesn't stop extremes being extreme, and I'm not denying that. I believe humans have somehow fallen from grace, and from living one-time purely natural healthy existences in a garden of eden setting where compassion and love ruled supremely, they have fallen into a deep dark pit of despair anguish and suffering fully reflected by demented food choices.. I do not believe the middle of these 2 extremes is a healthy balance.