Do you want to eat tortured cow?

The Humane Society released a video they shot last fall with an undercover worker showing workers mistreating downed cows. It's got some lawmakers in an uproar because of the potential of introducing disease into human food sources by slaughtering downed cows that you torture into standing (current law prohibits slaughter of cows that cannot stand on their own). I can maybe see the concern there.

My problem is the actual actions taking place. My little stint with vegetarianism didn't last more than a few months, but I still have a problem with aspects of the food animal industry. If we are going to raise animals as a food source, we have an obligation to make their lives as comfortable as possible. We are also obligated to make their death quick, as painless as possible, and not to freaking torture them! Jabbing them with prods and a forklift is torture. Better to captive bolt them on the spot and put them out of their misery.

It really is as simple as that. I don't know how a person could possibly argue otherwise.

I am "unchristian" and "unmoral"...

The following questionnaire was apparently a "science" project that a 6th grade student turned in. The teacher was very religious and accepted it. This in itself is very scary. I thought I would go ahead and answer his questions to see how moral I am.

Question: Do unchristians make less moral choices than Christians?

Hypothesis: The Bible is the perfect guide to life that shows us how to be moral people. Without believing in the Bible you can’t know God and he can’t guide you and give you rewards for being a good person. I think people who aren’t Christian will be less successful.

Experiment: I will interview thirty people and ask them if they are Christian. I will give them the same questions so I have a control sample. I think they are immoral if they score lower than 15.
Questions I will ask. There are 20 points available.

1. Have you ever spoke the name of our Lord in vain? - I use Jesus Fucking Christ pretty regularly, so yeah.
   
2. Have you ever killed another human being? - No, but there are plenty of scenarios I can imagine where I would be willing to.
3. Have you every lied? - More than I would admit to.
   
4. Have you ever had [sexual] relations before marriage? - Anybody who gets married without knowing they're going to have decent sex is asking for trouble.
   
5. Do you go to church every Sunday or once a week? - I have better things to do...like sleep.
   
6. Do you wish you had more stuff? - I have lots of "stuff" that I want. Money is the only issue.
7. Do you gossip? - I'm in vet school, which is like high school v2.0. It's all we do.
   
8. Do you give to charity? - A little, and only to organizations Christians like this kid think will burn in hell.
   
9. Do you listen to rap or heavy metal music? - I've been known to.
   
10. Have you ever had an abortion or been pro-choice? - Yes to both.
    
11. Have you ever read Harry Potter or Spiderwick Chronicles or the Golden Compass? - This has to be the best question in this "scientific" survey. Holy shit. This kid's parents are blinding him to a whole world of fiction. Yes, no, and yes.
    
12. Do you see movies with unwholesome content? - I don't watch straight-up porn, but yeah.
    
13. Do you pray every day? - I honestly can't remember the last time I prayed and meant it.
    
14. Do you believe that God is the creator of heaven and earth? - I believe it was an accidental collision of the right elements.
    
15. Are you overweight because you eat too much? - Yes, and it's because I don't believe in god.
    
16. Do you take pride in accomplishments other than service to God? - Nothing I do is in service to god, so anything I take pride in is inherently not in service to god.
    
17. Do you put God and Jesus first? -First for what? In line for picture day?
    
18. Do you view pornography? - No, but some of what I read could probably be considered porn. It's fun. You should try it sometime.
    
19. Do you practice temperance in every thing you do? - No. I in fact often act before I consider the consequences.
    
20. Are you quick to anger? - Yes, and what gets me fired up the most is belief in something intangible to the point that it shapes how you treat those who are different or don't share your beliefs.
    

Religion can be used to teach children to treat others with kindness, to accept people as they are. It can also be used to teach abominable prejudice, and that it is okay to ostracize those who do not follow your religious code. I'm cool with the former and absolutely not cool with the latter. Unfortunately, the latter are by far the more vocal majority. This poor kid is going to grow up and teach the same intolerance to his kids unless he learns to think for himself.

Blog for Choice 2008 - Why I vote Pro-Choice

Crap, I've been too busy with school again. I missed this year's Blog for Choice topic by a day, but I'm doing it anyway.

Why do I vote pro-choice?

-The only reasons to vote against it that I can see are religious or misogynistic in nature, and neither of those belongs in government (although they inarguably are).

-Sometimes women are put in a situation that, no matter how careful they are, they did not plan on. To force a woman to carry an unwanted child to term is a massive violation of individual rights.

-There are already enough unwanted children in the world.

-I myself have made the choice to have an abortion. I was 19, and I am still with the...well, sperm donor, and I was on birth control. It was not the right time in my life for that kind of responsibility (and yes, I've heard the argument that you choose to be responsible when you have sex, but let's face it...lots of people have sex who have no business being parents).

-To limit abortion rights would only create an environment for very unsafe abortions. With the current trend in sex education young women need the right to choose now more than ever. Perhaps if they were being taught safe sex procedures rather than abstinence we could limit the number of abortions needed.

I'm sure I could think of more, but I should really be using my lunch break to do something productive and school-related.

Danny Boy and Manuel

Kyle and I just got back from Des Moines where we watched an afternoon concert with Juj's Nordic choir and then ate dinner with Mom and Dad. It was such a fabulous concert I don't even know where to begin. I was enthralled from the first burgeoning chord that seemed to float upon the air. It was the first time I've been in a church since...Anna's wedding, so that was weird. I didn't burst into flames, though, so if there is a god he or she isn't as vengeful as some evangelicals would like to believe. The church had beautiful acoustics.

Juj had the solo in Copland's "In the Beginning", which chronicled the seven days of creation. First of all, I had no idea Copland had even done choral music, and secondly, it was awesome! All of his instrumental stuff has the same folksy sound, and this was great. Each day of creation had a different feel, and it was little details like when they were singing about the formation of the seas and the movement of the music felt like waves that really clinched my awe of the piece. Juj was nervous for the solo, and I knew why afterwards - it was insanely hard. She of course did an amazing job with note jumps that came out of nowhere and sounded wonderful. I didn't cry like I usually do, though, because the song was pretty upbeat and I was so nervous for her to get through it!

What did make me cry, though (and I mean tears streaming down the face) was when the choir sang Danny Boy. I never knew the lyrics before today, and it was absolutely haunting:

Oh Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountainside.
The summer's gone, and all the flowers are dying.
'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide.
But come ye back when summer's in the meadow
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow,
For I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow.
Oh Danny Boy, oh Danny Boy, I love you so.

But if you come, and all the flower's are dying
And if I'm dead, as dead I might well be.
Ye'll come and find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an “Ave” there for me.
And I shall hear, though soft you tread above me,
And o'er my grave shall warmer, sweeter be,
And if you bend and tell me that you love me,
Then I shall sleep in peace until you come to me.

I'm such a pathetic softie. I just keep telling myself it's what will make me a good vet.

For dinner we ate at Macaroni Grill and had Manuel, a beautiful Puerto Rican waiter. He was pretty fun, and I wasn't paying attention when he put cheese on my meal because I was talking to dad, so he just kept piling the cheese on until dad finally said I might want to say stop, and he and Kyle talked fried plantains.

I also got a surprise late Christmas present--a GPS navigator!! It is the coolest toy ever, and super-easy to use. I will never be lost again!

Kyle and I also stopped at the double decker Barnes & Noble before heading home.

All in all, it was a totally sweet day, and it is sweeter since I don't have class tomorrow. Ciao!

Words of the day 1/18

I don't know where my dictionary.com word is, but...

MW: He resorted to a bunch of weasel words to get around the issue.

Words of the Day 1/17

I never remember the words I don't know, so maybe if I use them in a sentence here it will be easier. :)

MW: His words were perfectly crafted to scarify, making her gasp in pain.
Dictionary.com: Kate severely upbraided the young boy she caught attempting to pocket an item in her store.

In other news, we got just enough snow to be a huge pain getting to class but not enough to cancel. *sigh*

Taking over the world

The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN, appropriately enough) will be taking over the Discovery Health channel, which currently has 70 million subscribers. What a bunch of crap. I love that channel, and now it's going to be that egomaniac 24 hours a day. I'm sure Gayle will run it at least part of the time, though...

Soy cansado

Today was our first day back, and it's a good thing we weren't bombarded with studying to do already because I can barely keep my eyes open. Allowing myself to go nocturnal over break (like staying up until 5 every night) was a poor choice. I can't even bring myself to read for fun, let alone crack open a textbook. I've pretty much just been sitting here since I got home, and it is probably all I will do until I go to bed. At least tonight I'll be able to get back on a normal sleep schedule!

Kyle Perkins is a vampire

Seriously. I'm reading the seventh book in Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series (All Together Dead), and a vampire named Kyle Perkins attempted (successfully) to assassinate a key witness in a trial against the Louisiana Queen. Needless to say he was exterminated. How weird is that, though? I had to go wake Kyle up even though he has work tomorrow to show him he's an evil bloodsucker, haha.

P.S. The highlighter is strictly computer-based...I would never so desecrate a book! The horror! :P

Tears make you more real

I just watched Hillary Clinton's choked up moment on CNN. It made me like her more, because it's one of the few times she hasn't been yelling into a mike. It made her seem human. I'm sure some pundits will use it as ammunition against women in politics, though, because we are TOO EMOTIONAL.

It didn't make me like her enough to want her for the Dem nomination, though. I really like Richardson, but going for people who actually have a shot I'd have to choose Obama right now. Clinton would be my second choice. I just really want to believe that someone can be in the White House and make a positive difference.

Sunday, Games, & Bad Breath

Woke up at noon to find myself alone in bed. Kyle passed out at 6 on the couch after playing games all night. He moved into the bed and got up at 4. All in all, a typical Sunday.

Even though I haven't finished NWN2, I've started The Witcher, which is a great game. The only problem is it crashes at very inopportune moments, such as immediately after beating a difficult boss before I've had a chance to save, leading me to quit in disgust. I doubt I'll finish it before school starts.

I'm calling the vet tomorrow to talk about Loki's nasty breath. When he was teething I was willing to let it go as possibly normal, but he's done now and he has gingivitis, which isn't normal for his age. I'm not really sure what they can do--maybe swab his mouth?--but it would be nice if something could be done. It doesn't seem to bother him but it can't be healthy.

I really have nothing else to say since it's still break and I've been vegging and ignoring real life as much as possible. I will mention that I'm glad the caucus is over so I'll stop getting 5 calls a day from the Dems...until the fall, that is.