Not sure how to feel...

I just read a posting on Michael Moore's website (the political instigator, not the fabulous London chef!) entitled "An Open Letter to President Obama from Michael Moore" which extolls the President not to swell troops numbers in Afghanistan. Since he wrote this letter, of course Pres. Obama did decide to increase troops in Afghanistan. I do not entirely agree with MM. First (and I would not say this in public because Americans go apeshit) I do not "support our troops" as the mantra goes as a matter of course. I do feel great compassion for individual soldiers and for their families, but I do not support the troops as a rule. You cannot be against war and for warriors as the same time. All these wars are sad shams and it's a shame that predominately poor, underprivileged young kids have no other option for money and education that to join the armed forces. I don't find that admirable.

But, more to the point - I think we're in the shit in Afghanistan and pulling out might make it worse. I will admit I don't know enough about the situation to really make good predictions, which is why the Pres and the Generals should be in the decision-making process. I don't think we should be fighting wars in the first place, but since we're there, we should finish the job. I am a HUGE fan of MM, but he really is given to unfounded histrionics sometimes. Iraq was the War of Mistakes, but that does not mean Afghanistan necessarily is... I am not entirely sure about any of this though, what do you all think?

Petland is evil! Do not shop there...

... but in good news, petitions do work!

The transparent nature of Facebook, the rapidity of internet social action, and the magic of petitions have worked to close down an animal torture house in Akron, Ohio called 'Petland.' Here is the story in the Examiner. Basically, animals are not fed or cleaned at all, so they resort to cannibalism to live, and then they are drowned, frozen or beaten to death. In this case, a wonderful young lady named Elizabeth Carlisle gleefully drowned two rabbits, who were already dying from malnutrition and fighting, before urging her colleague to take a picture, which she then posted on Facebook. Petland employees themselves have been sickened by this evil, selfish, inhuman and depraved corporate policy. Read about their experiences here as this is not an isolated incident by any means.

If you know Elizabeth Carlisle, seen above, be sure to give her a piece of your mind! I hope her parents are so proud, they did a wonderful job raising her.

Now Petland officials claim that this is in outright opposition to their policy: "Petland will in no way, shape or form tolerate any abuse of animals in its care. We are outraged of this gross violation of Petland's animal care standards," according a written statement issued by the company. "Petland policy demands that medical treatment and protocol is to be provided and determined by the store's consulting veterinarian and not be undertaken by an employee. Petland policy also dictates that no animal be euthanized in ANY manner by any staff member."

But that is only policy on paper. If employees are being threatened with termination for merely CLEANING CAGES then clearly Petland itself is guilty of gross abuse. And even if the company has the best intentions, they clearly cannot control their employees and should still be banned from selling live animals.

Please click here to sign a petition to get Petland to stop selling rabbits in all their stores. When this story broke, the public outcry was so strong and immediate that the Akron location was permanently closed down! Petland has been in hot water the past year for buying dogs from puppy mills, but of course their policy of greed and cruelty continues unabated. PETA and Care2.com have spearheaded the petition movement.

So what can you do? Sign the petition. Write to the county judicial system in Akron and demand that Elizabeth Carlisle be prosecuted to the very fullest extent of the law -- she was indeed brought up on charges of animal cruelty, and will appear in Akron Municipal Court on August 17th. But most important, DO NOT EVER BUY ANIMALS FROM PET STORES. Ever! There are millions and millions of healthy and lovely dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, birds etc etc in the SPCA, shelters and farms across the country. If you do shop at stores like Petland, you are personally responsible for things like this happening. Those lovely animals are then euthanized because they cannot find owners, when you guys buy pets instead from stores that in effect are gulags or prison camps. Does that make sense?!? Once again, err on the side of compassion.

Paint a vulgar picture

I was just futzing around on Facebook and as I belong to PETA’s group, I read one of their update articles. I am SO sickened, disgusted and upset, I cannot do anything else but think about what I just read; and I guess the best way to work through it in my mind is to blog it. So off we go, time for more Goddess ranting… PETA has a new campaign called “McCruelty: I’m Hatin’ It” to expose the insane and cruel methods McDonalds still uses in their ‘meat production.’ Be warned – the video is quite disturbing but REAL and true and based on undercover cameras from real chicken slaughter houses. You know, the kind you patronize every week when you buy their evil.
McCruelty: I'm Hatin' It--Learn More.

PETA has put together an UNHappy Meal which teaches children that not only will the contents of their McDonald’s Happy Meal damage their own health, but is a big ol’ box of animal suffering and human cruelty. Read more about this UNHappy Meal here. I saw this bit of text on the website “PETA's spoof of a McDonald's chicken sandwich box features the image of a knife-wielding Ronald McDonald, along with pictures of birds who have been mutilated and scalded alive and information about controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK), the less cruel method of slaughter that PETA is asking McDonalds to adopt.” and decided to follow the link to CAK. That is when I became glad I haven’t had breakfast yet, because surely I would have vomited.

So, kind friends, let us explore what does happen in the vast majority of poultry slaughter houses in the USA (all following quotes taken directly from the PETA website):

- Electric immobilization, the conventional method of slaughter in North American poultry slaughterhouses, causes an array of animal welfare, economic, and worker-safety problems. The process involves dumping and shackling live birds, running them through an electrically charged bath of water to immobilize them, slitting their throats with a machine, and defeathering them in tanks of scalding-hot water.

- Birds endure bruised and broken wings and legs and can suffocate when they are dumped and shackled.

- Frustrated workers often commit gratuitous acts of abuse and have been documented tearing live birds apart, spitting tobacco in their eyes, spray-painting their faces, stomping on them, punching them, kicking them, and even sexually assaulting them.

- Electric current levels are too low to render birds insensible to pain, and all birds are conscious as their throats are slit.

- Those who miss the blades—and millions do each year—are scalded to death in defeathering tanks.

- This abuse is permitted because the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, the only federal law designed to protect animals from abuse at slaughter, doesn’t protect chickens or turkeys. Chickens and turkeys make up more than 95 percent of the animals slaughtered in the U.S.—9.5 billion chickens and turkeys are slaughtered each year, compared to about 100 million pigs and 45 million cattle and sheep.

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!!! They sexually abuse the birds?!? I cannot even fathom or wrap my mind around this one. The people who work in these factories have no souls, no brains and no consciences – I shudder to think what their karma must be like. I do applaud PETA, however, for pointing out how the typical methods outlined above are also dangerous for the workers themselves.

Now, I know some of you think of PETA as a radical, leftist terrorist organization who wants to take your fur coats, hotdogs and good ol’ American fun away from you. I will say you’re wrong, we do not want to spoil anyone’s fun – least of all, the animals'. Selfishness and absolute gratification are not good American values that need any defending.

I am somewhat pleased to report that more humane methods of killing, such as CAK advocated above, are the norm in Europe and in my home, the UK. While I am still categorically against the taking of animal life for any reason, at least if they are still to be slaughtered, the method of death should be less evil.

Whenever I post a little blurb on Facebook about the cruelty of eating meat or the benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle, I ALWAYS get little self-conscious, defensive (but friendly) replies from my friends, nervously defending their own meat-eating choices. 99% of the time it reads something like this – ‘well, we really don’t eat meat all that often, only once a day/ week/ month, but I try to be environmental otherwise…” In other words, they know I'm right deep down, but want me to think highly of them anyways. I love my friends a ton and I know they are generally good people, but…

I am sick of dicking around. IF YOU EAT MEAT YOU ARE A BAD PERSON. IMMORAL, CRUEL AND SELFISH TO THE MAX. No more hand-holding, ethical relativism or ass-kissing. You just cannot eat animals and retain any degree of conscience today. And if you feed it to your children, you’re a double shit. And please do not accuse me of crude self-righteousness here. That is not what this is about, and as I still eat fish once in a while, I'm in the same unethical shithead boat as the rest of you. Plus, I have thought deeply about all these issues, and think about them every day. I’m too smart to merely be up on my ethical high horse here. And so what if I am?!? You’re the shithead who practices cruelty on a daily basis, then licks the delicious BBQ sauce right off your fingers.

PLEASE please please chose compassion and humanity over cruelty and selfishness. It won't cost you anything! Thanks for reading and listening and thinking...

Recession hits pets hard too

I just read the most thoroughly heartbreaking article today on msn.com: Recession takes its toll on man’s best friend. "As more families are forced to sell their homes, an increasing number of pets are being left behind in shelters or, worse, empty houses. Though it is difficult to put an exact figure on the number of abandoned pets, shelters across the country say they are seeing double-digit percentage increases in the number of animals left in their care. The Humane Society estimates that more than 3 million animals will be euthanized this year... Shelters across the country are taking steps to stop the influx of abandoned animals. In Richmond, Va., the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals offers to board pets until families get back on their feet. They also have pantries and clinics that provide free pet food and veterinary care to pet owners who don't want to give up their animals, but can't afford to care for them at the moment. During the past several months, the Richmond SPCA has seen a 15% to 25% increase in the number of pet owners who come in and qualify for its free services."

Isn't this just devastating? Part of me wants to go find those families and severely beat the shit of them hourly, and part of me feels so badly for them. I cannot imagine what it would take for me and my husband to give up our dog and cats; basically I never would, but as much as we are hurting in this economy, I probably will never have to face that decision. I would like to wag my finger about being a responsible pet owner -- I mean, really, these witless fuckheads are just leaving pets in the houses they abandon! would they leave their own children behind if they got too expensive?!? -- but this economy (our very own parting gift from the incompetent Bush administration) has bitten all of us in the butt.

So one thing I can ask you to do is PLEASE donate whatever funds you can manage to your local SPCA, Humane Society, rescue organization or shelter. Also, you can donate for free, with just a simple click a day, on the following internet sites; the Animal Rescue site and the Care2 site. And if you are interested in adopting a pet for your own house, the shelters are full to bursting with wonderful, healthy animals who need a home. Buying an expensive purebred from a pet store, or an evil abhorrent puppy mill, is socially irresponsible at best. I have a HUGE issue with buying purebred dogs and cats, when there are millions of beautiful mixed breed animals that are all but free in your local SPCA or shelter. And have your pet spayed/ neutered too, please. You can look in your local papers and CraigsList as well for pets who need a good home.

Here are photos of my own gorgeous pets

Donderdag – Veggie Dag

Well I have to say, Europe rocks! The lovely city of Ghent, Belgium, has made every Thursday a vegetarian day for city officials, schools and other organizations. What a wonderful idea! Over a million people in Taiwan also pledged to start a meat-free diet last year. 

Please read more about this special initiative here, but in the meantime, here are some snippets from the article...

"The Belgian city of Ghent is 30 miles west of Brussels, with a population of around 200,000. Just over a week ago, this small city committed to taking a major step forward in environmental responsibility, setting an example for the rest of the world to follow... City officials have declared that meat intake is a major contributor to pollution, and say that making one day a week meat-free 'is good for the climate, your health and your taste buds.' Tom Balthazar, a Ghent city councilor who is backing the initiative, quotes the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), when he says that meat production is responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gases. Ghent's officials are teaming up with Belgium's national vegetarian organization, EVA (Ethical Vegetarian Alternative), and adopting Thursday as a vegetarian day for officials. From September, the city's schools will be making a meat-free meal the "default" option every Thursday. At least one hospital wants to join in....'If everyone in Flanders does not eat meat one day a week, we will save as much CO2 in a year as taking half a million cars off the road, said the EVA..."

National Vegetarian Week/ Happy Birthday Morrissey!

It is National Vegetarian Week! 18 – 24 May, 2009

“National Vegetarian Week (NVW) is the annual awareness-raising campaign promoting inspirational vegetarian food and the benefits of a meat-free lifestyle.” http://www.vegsoc.org/nvw/

Since I am seeing Morrissey next weekend (first-time concert goer, life-long fan!!!) who is one of the most visible advocates for the vegetarian/ vegan lifestyle, I think it’s time for another blog. Lots of vegetarian events this week… it’s National Vegetarian week in the UK and all sorts of stores, cafes and restaurants are offering expanded vegetarian options. Also, Morrissey’s 50th birthday (Friday 22nd May) is today and there are vegetarian-inspired celebrations going on in the UK. Morrissey has also been named the UK’s Favorite Vegetarian in a nationwide poll, beating Sir Paul McCartney for the very first time.

A dear friend of mine recently told me that not only does she read my blog, she is strongly considering going vegetarian, in large part because of my blog. YAY! That is so gratifying and I am really proud of her. There are many reasons to embrace a cruelty-free lifestyle, and you will find of range of these answers if you query individual vegetarians; ethics, environmental concerns, religious dicta, compassion, health and weight loss, a protest of the meat industry and its practices, solidarity with the poor, and just plain “I don’t like meat.”

I have one main reason I do not eat meat, and that is ethics. I personally think it is categorically WRONG, especially in the developed ‘First World’ to raise, pen, torture and slaughter other living, sentient beings just for a tasty morsel. How unbelievably selfish is that, to think an entity exists just for my taco salad? I believe all sentient beings have the same right to life that I have, and that human animals are not better in any way than non-human animals. I deeply consider the horrendous lifestyle which “farm” animals must suffer, before they are brutally killed, as a grave error of the human race – a terrible accretion of ‘bad’ karma. The word compassion comes from the Latin for "to suffer with" and I really put myself in the place of these poor animals. But I do know how hard it is, I myself can be a hypocrite -- I do eat fish sometimes.

I would say environmental concerns are a very close second for why I do not eat animals. You have heard all the statistics, but here they are again: A Smithsonian report says that  The United States imports roughly 200 million pounds of beef from Latin America every year. Aside from the fuel used in transport, grazing land is needed for all of these animals. Where does all that land come from in a densely forested region? The answer: from clear-cutting forests and rainforest. The necessity for more grazing land means that every minute of every day, a land area equivalent to seven football fields is destroyed in the Amazon basin. For each hamburger that originated from animals raised on rainforest land, approximately 55 square feet of forest have been destroyed. And its not just the rainforest. In the United States, more than 260 million acres of forest have been clear-cut for animal agriculture. With increased per capita meat consumption, and an ever growing population, we can only expect to see more deforestation in the future.

And the global effects of meat consumption don’t stop on land. Animal production consumes an amount of water roughly equivalent to all other uses of water in the United States combined. Besides grains, animals need water to survive and grow until they are slaughtered. One pound of beef requires an input of approximately 2500 gallons of water, whereas a pound of soy requires 250 gallons of water and a pound of wheat only 25 gallons. And this is to say nothing of the poisonous runoff of agricultural farming into the oceans.

"Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances of survival of life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet." - Albert Einstein

And more than 1/3 of all fossil fuels produced in the United States go towards animal agriculture. Did you know that the production of one calorie of animal protein requires more than ten times the fossil fuel input as a calorie of plant protein?!? This means that ten times the amount of carbon dioxide is emitted as well. Considering how many people are starving on a daily basis in our world – billions – it is unconscionable to eat meat. You cannot justify this massive waste of land, water and resources, and the terrible carbon footprint meat consumption leaves. You just cannot. The only reason I have been proffered as to why someone eats meat is, simply, because “I like it, it tastes good.” That is NOT good enough. So what if you like it?!? What makes you so special? What makes your privilege of eating meat more important than another being’s right to life?  Rapists love to rape, but that doesn’t make it acceptable. I love to lay in bed all day and eat cheese curls, but that doesn’t mean I will or can or should.

But there are many other reasons to stop eating meat. My husband, for example, became vegetarian a few years ago, on his own accord, and I could not be prouder of him, even though his reasons are different than mine. In the US, we were watching a documentary on PBS about mammal cognition, intelligence and emotion, and he suddenly realized he could not, in good faith, eat them. His protest, however, is a boycott of the meat industry itself. For example, if he ordered a dish in a restaurant that turned out to have meat in it, he would eat it, because the animal is already dead and he sees no point in wasting it. I, however, would refuse it (and I always ask about ingredients to avoid this, but slips happen) because I will NOT have animals particles in my body. And the sin upon the restaurant’s head for falsely representing their menu items.

It is much easier to be vegetarian in the UK than in many parts of America, in my experience, it should be said – this may very well come from the great numbers of Indians/ Hindus here, not to mention a concern for Halal & Kosher practices. All restaurants have multiple vegetarian offerings, and even the local sandwich shops have more interesting and inventive ideas about meat-free cuisine than one would expect. That being said, it is all but impossible to be vegan here. ALL vegetarian foods here are loaded with cheese, butter and mayonnaise, which is so frustrating for those of us fighting the battle of the bulge, not to mention for our vegan friends. There is a great respect for local, organic, humane farming practices here, which is a small step in the right direction. But don’t be fooled by this, the UK still engages in brutal, inhumane, mass-market meat “production” that puts those diabolical pork farmers in the American South to shame.

Ah, and now pork – SWINE FLU IS A RESULT OF THE MEAT INDUSTRY! If you eat pork and other farmed meat, you are, yourself, contributing to swine flu! Of course you cannot get such influenzas from eating meat, but they come from the meat production industry, via humans (pig farmers) who work with the animals. Are you proud of yourself? I should also point out that pigs are highly intelligent and have evolved great social skills.

“People should not be eating animals… Every so often Mother Nature takes an opportunity to remind us that eating animals and/or factory farming eventually bites us back.” - Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog.

To find out more about the daily ‘life’ of factory farm animals, please read http://www.hsus.org/farm/

To see quotes from all major world religions that support vegetarianism, please see

http://www.nansealove.com/Quotes.html

“The eating of flesh extinguishes the seed of great compassion.” 

The Mahaparinirvana Sutra

Today is International Day Against Homophobia

Connecticut. Maine. Iowa. California. Massachusetts. Vermont, Oh My!

I am a rabid believer in the separation of church and state – the way the Founding Fathers wanted it – and now that the horrors of the Bush Regime can be rolled back, I read this great news recently in The Washington Post (Jacqueline L. Salmon, April 10, 2009): “Faith organizations and individuals who view homosexuality as sinful and refuse to provide services to gay people are losing a growing number of legal battles that they say are costing them their religious freedom. The lawsuits have resulted from states and communities that have banned discrimination based on sexual orientation. Those laws have created a clash between the right to be free from discrimination and the right to freedom of religion, religious groups said, with faith losing.”

For example, “A Christian photographer was forced by the New Mexico Civil Rights Commission to pay $6,637 in attorney's costs after she refused to photograph a gay couple's commitment ceremony.” This brings up a clash of freedom from persecution vs/ freedom of religion. I personally think religions that preach hatred and intolerance do not deserve to be protected, but luckily there is this thing called The Constitution in the USA. You remember The Constitution, don’t you? It’s that piece of paper Cheney used to wipe his ass. “But gay groups and liberal legal scholars say they are prevailing because an individual's religious views about homosexuality cannot be used to violate gays' right to equal treatment under the law.”

And in other news… Oh Horrors! Marriage has been re-defined and then the sky fell down! Oh wait, no it didn’t.

Webster’s Dictionary has modified its definition of marriage to include both same-sex and other-sex couples. So marriage has literally been re-defined – to the chagrin of all you homophobic shit-for-brains out there – and the world did not fall apart. My very happy heterosexual marriage was in NO WAY made less by this, in fact I think it elevates all marriages. Here is what Wesbter’s said about it:

"We often hear from people who believe that we are promoting – or perhaps failing to promote – a particular social or political agenda when we make choices about what words to include in the dictionary and how those words should be defined," associate editor Kory Stamper wrote in response. "We hear such criticism from all parts of the political spectrum. We're genuinely sorry when an entry in – or an omission from – one of our dictionaries is found to be offensive or upsetting, but we can't allow such considerations to deflect us from our primary job as lexicographers."

In other words, objective, educated people are seeing the reality of the modern world, and describing marriage as it IS, not as they think it OUGHT to be. Maybe we should tell Miss California…

Meat kills.

Have you put that pork chop down yet?!? No? My mean, judgmental rants haven’t helped yet, eh? : ) Well now, the most corrupt, drug-pushing pimp in history, the US Government, says that we should adhere to a plant-based diet. Re-he-he-heally?!?

This report (24 March, 2009) ran in Reuters, by Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor, and detailed the results of The US National Cancer Institute Study about the effects of red meat consumption on general health. Here are some of the findings of the thorough, careful study. (I have tried to find documentation about the study itself, but it seems it’s not yet published. However, click here to read the full Reuters article):

- “Even when other factors were accounted for -- eating fresh fruits and vegetables, smoking, exercise, obesity -- the heaviest meat-eaters were more likely to die over the next 10 years than the people who ate the least amount of meat.”

- “The quintile [of study participants] who ate the most red meat had a higher risk for overall death, death from heart disease and cancer than the men and women who ate the least red meat.”

- “For overall mortality, 11 percent of deaths in men and 16 percent of deaths in women could be prevented if people decreased their red meat consumption to the level of intake in the first quintile.” I also contend that taking meat out of your diet is better for your psychic (or spiritual, if you like) health. Many Buddhists believe that when you eat a sentient being, you also eats that being's karma - and since it's a hierarchical karmic ladder, the lower you eat on the karmic chain, the worse karma you yourself ingest. In other words, that chicken has tons of poopy karma, otherwise they wouldn't be a chicken -- and you just ate it.

- “The U.S. government now recommends a ‘plant-based diet’ that stresses fruits, vegetables and whole grains.”
- “…‘farming animals for meat causes greenhouse gas emissions that warm the atmosphere and uses fresh water in excess,’ [a nutrition expert] said. ‘I was pretty surprised when I checked back and went through the data on emissions from animal food and livestock,… I didn't expect it to be more than cars.’”

- And here’s a real shocker: “The meat industry denounced the study as flawed.”

Here is as good a time as any for me to embrace so-called Social Darwinism: maybe all the meat eaters should continue on their path, and eventually you’ll breed yourselves out by dying early! There are too many damn people on the planet anyways, so why don’t you guys just go ahead and select yourselves out of the equation?

March 10 is Tibet Day

March 10th Statement of H.H. the Dalai Lama (Published: Monday, 9 March, 2009)

"Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the Tibetan people’s peaceful uprising against Communist China’s repression in Tibet. Since last March widespread peaceful protests have erupted across the whole of Tibet. Most of the participants were youths born and brought up after 1959, who have not seen or experienced a free Tibet. However, the fact that they were driven by a firm conviction to serve the cause of Tibet that has continued from generation to generation is indeed a matter of pride. It will serve as a source of inspiration for those in the international community who take keen interest in the issue of Tibet. We pay tribute and offer our prayers for all those who died, were tortured and suffered tremendous hardships, including during the crisis last year, for the cause of Tibet since our struggle began..."

For full version visit
www.longlivehhdl.ning.com
www.dalailama.com (Official Website of His Holiness the Dalai Lama)

Happy No Losar! Tibet news

In solidarity with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, and Tibetans the world over, I am choosing not to celebrate Losar this year. You can read more about it here. 

As His Holiness the Dalai Lama continues to age and suffer from some illnesses, the question of his successor looms large for Tibetans, Buddhists and lovers of peace the world over. His Holiness himself has said in numerous writings that the 15th Dalai Lama may very well be found in the Tibetan diaspora community -- for example, in the 90s, a reincarnation of a high monk (called a tulku) was found to be reincarnated in a young boy in Seattle. These two articles report that the next reincarnation of His Holiness could be a female, and that installing the Karmapa Lama as regent should hold back Chinese agression while the search for, education and maturation of the new HHDL can be established.

"By naming a young and popular regent now, the Dalai Lama could assure a smooth transition to a figure who has become like a son to him, while dashing Chinese hopes of simply outwaiting the Tibetan exiles. He might also help to head off a full-blown power struggle over succession. As it is, any new leader—or joint leadership—will have to balance sectarian rivalries, win over alienated youth in Dharamsala, mollify the demands of sympathizers abroad and possibly deal with rival claimants to the title of the next Dalai Lama (each with his own powerful tutors and advisers)." 

Read the full article here.

Now the Karmapa Lama is the head of a different, I suppose rival, sect of Buddhism. In a sense, the Dalai Lama is only the head of his own sect, the Gelug-pa (Yellow hats - this is my school) and that groups happens to be the most powerful sect in Tibet. So that might bring up some sectarian fighting. As for female incarnations...

"The Dalai Lama didn't name a successor at the recent gathering of 600 exiled Tibetan leaders in Dharamsala, India, but triggered a wave of speculation by saying that he "may even choose a young girl," noting that he believes women have a greater capacity for compassion. If that happens, experts say it would be the first time a female outside the United States led a major world religion. It also would signify Tibetan Buddhism's capacity to evolve with the times.

While Tibet has never witnessed a female Dalai Lama, scholars say other high-ranking lamas, like the Demmo Lama, have occasionally been reincarnated in female form. Still, while the 14th Dalai Lama's succession ideas are revolutionary (he's also mentioned letting Tibetans democratically choose to abolish the post altogether), it's uncertain whether the tradition-bound population would accept a female leader. Seems there are glass ceilings even on the rooftop of the world."

Read the full article here.

And while we're at it, a few mistakes and misunderstandings in these articles, and in the general Western conception of Asian Buddhism:

- the present Dalai Lama does not "name" a successor, he merely points those who find the new reincarnation in the right direction through mystical statements, his position at the time of death, and so forth. It's not a question of picking or appointing or nominating.

- The high lamas of Tibet (or gurus in other schools of Buddhism) ARE NOT GODS! HHDL is NOT a deity; neither he nor his people see him that way. What these lamas are is living manifestations of buddhas -- that is, enlightened beings who chose to live in samsara to help other sentient beings escape it. There are NO capital-G Gods in Buddhism, as it is NOT a theistic religion. Especially from a standpoint of what we would call "high theology," attachments to a God or gods of any sort is dangerous attachment, bad for karma, and will keep one mired in samsara -- that is Mara pulling the wool over your eyes. In what I call 'folk' or popular Buddhism, the animist gods of the native religions (Bon in Tibet, Shinto in Japan, etc) do play a part in the daily lives of practitioners; Tibet has a particularly vivid panoply of demons, ghosts and gods in their cosmology. But understand that this does not mean HHDL is in any way a living God, or "God-King" as he's often rendered in Western media.

- The status of women is Buddhism is sticky, touchy and not easy to tease apart. Mainly, if women are even allowed to join the Sangha in various Buddhist vehicles, their ordination is more difficult and it is felt they must be re-born as men to acheive enlightenment. That is really food for another blog, but here are many questions over which to ruminate in the meantime...

Reason #8745897 to stop eating meat

"When it comes to global warming, hamburgers are the Hummers of food, scientists say. Simply switching from steak to salad could cut as much carbon as leaving the car at home a couple days a week."

So says an article I read online today. I actually hate meat consumption almost as much as Hummers, but there are few things I hate more than Hummers. Appealing to people's sense of compassion is clearly not the way to go -- because most of you are educated adults, you know where meat comes from, you know the animals are tortured and slaughtered after leading a horrid life, and you still eat meat anyways, don't you? Appealing to your pocket-book hasn't worked either, which I find shocking as Americans don't give a shit about anyone or anything unless it affects their own bottom line. Meat is so much more expensive, on so many levels, than vegetables and grains. But could this environmental 'angle' work?

Now I know some of you, especially in the UK, are saying, "But I only buy organic, free-range meat." Bravo for you (I meant that sarcastically). Sure that is better for your health, but it does almost nothing to help the devastating environmental consequences of meat consumption, although the lives of the animals before they are murdered and consumed are marginally better. And you are still eating the muscle tissue of a sentient, sapient animal with thoughts and feelings and conscience. Cruel and gross. Is that what you want to teach your children?!

Back to the article; "That's because beef is such an incredibly inefficient food to produce and cows release so much harmful methane into the atmosphere, said Nathan Pelletier of Dalhousie University in Canada. Pelletier is one of a growing number of scientists studying the environmental costs of food from field to plate. By looking at everything from how much grain a cow eats before it is ready for slaughter to the emissions released by manure, they are getting a clearer idea of the true costs of food. The livestock sector is estimated to account for 18 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and beef is the biggest culprit. Even though beef only accounts for 30 percent of meat consumption in the developed world it's responsible for 78 percent of the emissions, Pelletier said Sunday at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science... Food is the third largest contributor to the average US household's carbon footprint after driving and utilities, and in Europe - where people drive less and have smaller homes - it has an even greater impact."

Don't you find that shocking?!?

For more information on how to eat a low carbon diet, visit www.eatlowcarbon.org.

And please, for the love of the planet - stop eating meat. Just stop it. You don't need it, it's bad for your body, your karma, your spirit, and the earth.

Tribute to Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Ashcroft, and the rest

"Masters Of War" Bob Dylan

Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain

You fasten the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud

You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins

How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand o'er your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead

Copyright ©1963; renewed 1991 Special Rider Music

Click here to view The Roots cover it to the tune of our national anthem.