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Intelligent beings captured and forced to live in tiny space, then made to perform daily to entertain the masses. Sounds like slavery? PETA thinks so and they're suing ... on behalf of killer whales against SeaWorld:
LinkIt is reportedly the first time a US court has heard legal arguments over whether animals should enjoy the same constitutional protections as humans.
SeaWorld's legal team said the case was a waste of time and resources.
The marine park's lawyer, Theodore Shaw, told the court in San Diego: "Neither orcas nor any other animal were included in the 'We the people'... when the Constitution was adopted."
He said that if the case were successful, it could have implications not just on how other marine parks or zoos operate, but even on the police use of sniffer dogs to detect bombs and drugs.
Peta says the killer whales are treated like slaves for being forced to live in tanks and perform daily at the SeaWorld parks in California and Florida.
In the new Super Mario 3D Land game, Mario has special abilities when he wears the Tanooki Suit - but think about it. Where did he get such a suit? From a dead Tanooki, a Japanese raccoon dog, of course!
PETA, understandably, is upset over the unnecessary killing of an imaginary videogame character and has made its displeasure known by releasing this fun little Flash game: Mario Kills Tanooki - Thanks Jay!
No stranger to controversy and publicity stunts, PETA is back – and this time, the animal rights group is putting money where its mouth is: PETA is offering a $1 million reward to the first scientist to produce and bring to market lab-grown meat.
Scientists around the world are researching or seeking the funds to research ways to produce meat in the laboratory—without killing any animals. In vitro meat production would use animal stem cells that would be placed in a medium to grow and reproduce. The result would mimic flesh and could be cooked and eaten. Some promising steps have been made toward this technology, but we’re still several years away from having in vitro meat be available to the general public.
PETA is now stepping in and offering a $1 million reward to the first scientist to produce and bring to market in vitro meat.
Would you eat lab-grown meat? Link
Got milk? On the surface of it, there’s nothing healtier than a glass of milk – no preservatives, no artificial colors, no high-fructose corn syrup – just good ol’ nutritious milk … Or is it?
… almost 8,000 years after nomadic herders realized they could tug at the udders of slow-moving livestock, we still aren’t sure how much of the stuff we should be drinking. The USDA recommends three cups of dairy a day for all adults, but the science behind milk hasn’t been settled. "This is one of the most complicated and interesting areas of nutrition," says Dr. Walter Willett, chairman of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, "and we don’t have all of the answers."
Many high-profile nutritionists — often working with large research grants from the dairy industry — say that milk in great quantities is an essential part of the daily diet that can help prevent osteoporosis, heart disease, cancer and other illnesses. "Anything less than three glasses a day, and you won’t get all of the nutrients that you need," says Connie Weaver, head of food and nutrition at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. Most of Weaver’s funding comes from the National Institutes of Health, but she’s also supported by the National Dairy Council.
On the other side, groups promoting animal rights and veganism — including PETA and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine — say that cow’s milk is a nutritional nightmare that doesn’t belong in the human diet. "It’s gross," says Dr. Neil Barnard, author and founder of the PCRM. "Milk is nutritionally perfect for one purpose: feeding a calf," he says. "The idea that we should be drinking milk from a cow is just bizarre."
Willett, one of the world’s most prominent nutrition experts, doesn’t belong to either camp. From his viewpoint, one or two cups of milk each day is a safe, reasonable and nutritious goal. "But beyond that," he says, "the benefits are unclear, and there may be some risk."
Chris Woolston did a special report for the Los Angeles Times: Link
Aaron Jamison, a colon-cancer patient, expects to die in only a few months. Because of the costs associated with his care and expected cremation, he was quite worried that his wife would go into debt. So he did something he thought would solve the problem: sell ad space on his urn.
Thanks to good ol’ capitalism, he was able to raise more than his original $800 goal, as well as a pair of tickets to the Ellen show.
One advertiser is familiar: PETA bought an ad to push their agenda, even beyond the grave.
PETA will pay $200 for the space on Jamison’s urn. The ads will read “I’ve Kicked the Bucket-Have You? Boycott KFC” and “People Who Buy Purebred Dogs Really Burn Me Up. Always Adopt.”
Link – via mediabistro | Aaron’s blog
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How does PETA follow up on its controversial Tiger Woods ad? Why, with the Octomom, of course!
The fame-seeking mom, who gave birth to octuplets last year, now has 14 mouths to feed and a mortgage to pay off. According to the Associated Press, she is in default on a 450,000 balloon payment on her house, and it could be just days before it goes into foreclosure.
So PETA came along and made her an offer she apparently couldn’t refuse: She will get $5,000 and all the veggie dogs the single mom and her 14 kids can eat in one year if she will put up a sign in her front yard reading, “Don’t let your dog or cat become an ‘Octomom.’ Always spay or neuter.” The sign features a cat nursing a litter of kittens.
Our very own Jill Harness thinks its ironic:
What’s next, Snoop Dogg telling kids not to smoke marijuana? Janis Dickinson speaking out on botox?
But I think it’s just PETA being clever. Here’s what the organization has to say about it:
Massive media attention is aimed at covering Octomom’s every move, and it’s time to put that attention to good use.
Feeling low? Is Stuff On My Cat just not cheering you up any more? Perhaps you need to move on to In Almost Every Picture 8, a collection of images taken by one Japanese man of his rabbit balancing an array of items on his unusually flat head. It’s hard not to enjoy seeing the fluffball hold up drinks and desserts –unless you’re in PETA.
Link Via CuteOverload
Good news: Tiger Woods return to advertising. Bad news: Involuntarily and for PETA.
Moments after his sex scandal was revealed, companies pulled their Tiger Woods ads and the golfer went from ubiquitous to pretty much invisible. Is Tiger’s days as product endorsement champ over? Not to PETA!
The animal-rights group came up with the "cheeky spay-and-neuter" billboard above (without the golfer’s approval) that will surely bring a resurgence to all those bad Tiger Woods jokes:
It will be a challenge to find an advertiser to put up the sign, acknowledged Virginia Fort, a campaigner with PETA who is working on the project.
"It’s a fun, tongue-in-cheek approach. We hope these billboard companies will understand," Fort said.
She said the billboard isn’t meant to offend the golfer, his family or fans, but to prevent millions of cats and dogs from being euthanized at shelters each year. [...]
"We’re sure Tiger will appreciate our attempt — from a story that’s distracted the world and followed Tiger — to turn it into something positive for little tigers," she said.
On February 2nd of every year, people wait to see if their local groundhog comes out of its winter nest. The superstition says that if the groundhog sees its shadow, it will be scared and run back into hiding, and we will have six more weeks of bad weather. If the groundhog stays out, better weather is on the way. The most famous groundhog in the US is Punxsutawney Phil, who is escorted out of his pen with pomp and ceremony every year. However, PETA doesn’t think this is a good idea.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals says it’s unfair to keep the animal in captivity and subject him to the huge crowds and bright lights that accompany tens of thousands of revelers each Feb. 2 in Punxsutawney, a tiny borough about 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. PETA is suggesting the use of an animatronic model.
But William Deeley, president of the Inner Circle of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, says the animal is “being treated better than the average child in Pennsylvania.” The groundhog is kept in a climate-controlled environment and is inspected annually by the state Department of Agriculture.
Deeley considers this a publicity stunt. Link
(image credit: Flickr user faz the persian)
Think you’ve got problems? They ain’t nothin’ compared to Santa’s problems. Bella English of Boston.com outlines the sleighful of problems that the jolly Saint Nick has got:
Just the other day, the American Medical Association released a study showing Santa’s body mass index to be “dangerously high’’ at 30 percent, which makes him obese, which puts him at high risk for a heart attack, which means he should not be flying at high altitudes.
Not only that, but Lou Dobbs on his radio show recently suggested that Santa, because he lives in the North Pole, is not a US citizen and therefore should not be allowed to fly over our country, much less land on rooftops. He’s asked the Immigration and Naturalization Service to look into the matter. [...]
This just in: At the opening of the Copenhagen climate talks yesterday, a special session was called to discuss a newly discovered greenhouse gas. “It seems that reindeer droppings from the long flight give
off methane, adding to the monumental climate gas problem,’’said one noted scientist. A committee is studying whether to charge Santa a new carbon emissions tax, which will, of course, be passed along to consumers.Speaking of reindeer, PETA is protesting the lengthy work hours of the reindeer, whose journey spans many time zones. The animal rights group is also looking into reports that Rudolph was targeted for bullying by the others not because of his red nose but because he is gay.
Meanwhile, Dasher has denied rumors that he tested positive for anabolic steroids, but he has refused to take a lie detector test.
More Santa shenanigans at the very funny Santa, NO! Tumblr blog (may be NSFW, you’ve been warned)
By now, I’m sure you’ve all have heard the fly swat heard ’round the world. Late night talk show hosts had a field day making fun of President Obama’s artful swat of a persistent fly that bugged him during an interview.
Enter PETA to the fray: the animal rights group decried Obama’s display of unchecked executive power and suggested that next time he used a humane fly catcher instead:
“We support compassion for the even the smallest animals," says Bruce Friedrich, VP for Policy at PETA. “We support giving insects the benefit of the doubt."
Friedrich says PETA supports "brushing flies away rather than killing them" and was disappointed that the President had gone ahead and squashed the pesky fly.
This afternoon PETA sent a Katcha Bug, a device which traps bugs and allows their safe release back into nature to the White House.
Good thing it didn’t happen to Cheney – he’d have used his shotgun fo’ sho’: Link
Ingrid Newkirk, co-founder of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), is so dedicated to her cause that she is determined to continue her campaign for animal rights even after she’s dead.
In fact, she even plans to hold … nay, participate, in a BBQ of sorts … in a very unique way. Here’s her "Unique Will" (her words, not mine):
Upon my death, it is my wish that my body be used in a manner that draws attention to needless animal suffering and exploitation. [...]
a. That the “meat” of my body, or a portion thereof, be used for a human barbecue, to remind the world that the meat of a corpse is all flesh, regardless of whether it comes from a human being or another animal, and that flesh foods are not needed;
b. That my skin, or a portion thereof, be removed and made into leather products, such as purses, to remind the world that human skin and the skin of other animals is the same and that neither is “fabric” nor needed, and that some skin be tacked up outside the Indian Leather Fair each year to serve as a reminder of the government’s need to abate the suffering of Indian bullocks who, after a life of extreme and involuntary servitude, as I have seen firsthand, are exported all over the world in this form;
Link – via The Presurfer (Image: David Shankbone /Wikipedia)
Whether you love PETA or hate them, you still may find the humor in their new campaign to change the word for “fish” to “sea kittens.” Maybe they took the word “catfish” a bit to far, but you have to wonder is a fish still a fish by any other name?
Personally, I find this to be further discrimination against ugly animals. If they con you into thinking fish are like adorable little kitties, will it really get you to stop eating more fish? As for me, go ahead and dish me up some delightful meowing sushi, I’m hungry.
A 20-pound lobster named George will be returned to the sea after a stay in a New York restaurant. From his size, the lobster is estimated to be around 140 years old. George was caught off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada and was on bought by City Crab and Seafood for $100. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) sent the restaurant a request to set George free.
Restaurant manager Keith Valenti said there was never any intent to harm the lobster, and the decision to keep it in the tank was made to offer customers a little something extra.
“We bought a big lobster, started taking pictures with kids and it worked out real well,” Mr Valenti told Reuters news agency.
But it was a “no brainer”, he added, to agree to the request to return George to the ocean.
“We never intended him to be sold, just draw attention to the restaurant, and he did.”
George was scheduled to be released in the waters off Kennebunkport, where lobster trapping is prohibited. Link -Thanks, Geekazoid!
