Saturday, September 30, 2006

So I've decided to give up meat... again...

Alright, so I'm probably not going to go cold-turkey (pun somewhat intended) - it's going to take some time to revise my cooking habits, meal planning process, etc. Especially since I have two other people to think about, neither of whom I'm comfortable enforcing my own ethical decisions on 100%, so there will have to be some compromises made. For myself, I'm going to work on cutting out meat - substituting w/ meat alternatives. For the rest of the family, I'm going to start buying meat products from local farmers that use more humane methods of raising and slaughtering their animals.

This hasn't been an easy decision. Prompted by a paper I had to write for my applied ethics class, I had to look closely at my own views on eating meat. When I started out writing the paper, I was of the mind that eating meat could be an ethical action, dependent on the treatment of the animal. Through lots of reading, pondering, and lengthy discussion/debate with Andrea and Birch, I came to realize that my lines of argument on the issue were flawed. I'm not saying that I am 100% confident that I've come to the absolute correct conclusion, but I do think I'm a lot closer than I was a week ago.

Here's the final draft of the paper I submitted (and yes, it's very short - we're only allowed 260 words to state our argument, support it, object to it, and refute the objection):

Eating non-human animals is ethically wrong because it causes unnecessary suffering in a sentient being. When we eat meat to satisfy a preference, or because we choose not to use other alternatives, we are causing unnecessary suffering. We do not need to eat meat to have a healthy diet, and when we choose to, we are assigning more value to our taste preferences over the preference the animal has to continue to live and to not be inflicted with harm. How can we possibly argue that our dietary preferences are worth more than an animal’s right to life and freedom from unnecessary suffering?

One could try to argue that an animal can be raised in such a way that reduces it’s suffering, and perhaps even allows it to live a “good life”, and in that case killing the animal (in a humane way) for human consumption would not be wrong. However, while this may be a convenient feel-good argument, it does not change the fact that the animal is killed long before its life would have naturally ended, and that cannot be said to satisfy the interests of the animal. Also, we need to ask ourselves what right we have to determine when an animal has lived a long enough life, whether it be good quality or not.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Mmm Mmm Good

There is no better nacho than a Doritos Sweet Chili Heat. That is all.

First Day of Grade 1


First Day of Grade 1
Originally uploaded by allyson_hamilton.
Well, this is going up a couple of weeks too late, but I just got around to actually plugging the camera in. Doesn't she look so grown up?

We're going through clothes like mad these days. This morning, she tried to put on a pair of jeans that were HUGE when she got them for Christmas last year, and they don't fit anymore.

I'm either going to have to get really good at finding steals on eBay or take out a line of credit to keep her in clothes for the next few years!

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Wow. Just. Wow

I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.

FYI

So, I was reading one of my favorite blogs tonight (for the first time in months... damn my short attention span!), and I found something will probably leave me shaking my head for days.

It was a post full of hate mail the author has received from her readers. Many of them resorting to the same lines: "blah, blah, blah" "your blog is crap" "get off the internet" "you're boring".

Now, I have to wonder what kind of wierdo goes to the trouble of e-mailing a blogger to tell them that they don't enjoy the blog. Why bother? Why not just move on? It's not like there aren't another billion blogs out there!

So here's the FYI point: If my blog ever bores you, don't waste your time and mine telling me so. Just stop coming. If you think I've got nothing notable to say - don't read it. It's really that simple.

Now, if anything on my blog excites you or incites you, I wanna hear about it. But don't come crying to me if what I have to say just doesn't interest you.

Added: It came to me as I was falling asleep last night that there was one more thing I wanted to say. It's free. So STFU. ;)

Sunday, September 17, 2006

I Like Like

defective yeti: I Like Like

Like, me too!

Saturday, September 16, 2006

It's all about the vagina...

vagina-info.gov

Loved this.

In the defense of feminism?

I didn't intend to start out this blog by discussing anything deep, but a thread on Sybermoms incited what has been a several hour trek through the blogosphere, and I felt the desire to bring my own spin to it.

This thread linked to this article on Salon that summarizes a debate currently raging regarding this
photo of a popular feminist blogger posing with a group of other popular left-wing bloggers and former President Bill Clinton.

Some are criticizing Jessica for even attending the luncheon - they question why someone who describes herself as a feminist would choose to meet with a "sexual harrasser". Many of these people feel that the Lewinsky scandal trumps all of President Clinton's extensive work in promoting women's equality. Of course, whether you hold this view has much to do with whether you feel that what happened with Bill and Monica was between two consenting adults and thus is none of our business, or if you feel that he abused his position of dominance and thus was engaged in harassing behaviour.

Worse than that criticism though, are the folks that are chiming in regarding Jessica's physical attributes. I won't go into detail regarding the comments, as you'll read them yourself if you follow the links, but I was disgusted to read some of the cattiness coming from other women - most of them purporting to be feminists themselves. Particularly Ann Althouse, the one that started it all. Her comments are downright abusive and she should be ashamed of herself.

I must say that this morning's reading has inspired me to dig deeper into the finding out what the feminist movement is all about, both in terms of the political movement and philosophical theories of feminism. If anyone has any particular sources they'd recommend for reading, let me know in the comments.

I have more to say, but I'm tired and my brain is slightly jumbled from too much coffee and not enough food, so I'll continue later.

Added: Wow, I just read a comment on another blog that says what I've been trying to say in a much clearer way, so I'm just going to link you straight to it: comment by geoduck2