Unless Miley Cyrus Returns to Twitter, Fuzzy Will Die

Every celebrity has lunatic fans, but pole-dancing tween queen Miley Cyrus seems to have inspired a particularly fervent devotion among the completely unchained. First there was her extremely creepy stalker, and now she’s got someone threatening to kill their beloved cat if she doesn’t come back to Twitter.

Why did Miley leave Twitter? Who the hell cares? Oh, wait. This dude (or chick?) clearly does. And if Miley doesn’t come back by November 16th, Fuzzy is going to get it.

The other day I asked myself: ‘What can I do to bring Miley back to Twitter?’ Fan video? Petitions? Letters? That never works. Heck, Miley even made her own video about never wanting to use Twitter again. Then I looked at my cat, Fuzzy and I realized, maybe Fuzzy can help. Fuzzy can make the ultimate sacrifice for this cause. It was very difficult for me, you see, as I sincerely love Fuzzy. But my mind is made up. I could always get another cat, but nothing can replace Miley’s tweets for me!

The idea is very simple. I’ve set a deadline of November 16, 2009, when Fuzzy will part with his life and become a meal. I intend to make a cat dish according to our ethnic cuisine. Check out the Recipes section for more information. Also, you can view some pictures of Fuzzy here.

I do not consider myself a cruel person and I do love my cat. Fuzzy will receive quick and swift death and I’ll try to minimize his suffering.

Wondering what, exactly, this unnamed psycho fan is going to do with Fuzzy? Well, you need look no further than MileySaveFuzzy.com, where he/she has posted a recipe for ‘Braised Cat’. This fan swears that it isn’t a hoax or a joke (though, you know how that goes).

Hey, eating cats is as normal as eating chickens in some parts of the world – and there’s not necessarily anything wrong with that. In fact, it’s kind of messed up that we place such sentimental significance on certain species and are totally blasé about the treatment of the ones we eat.

But eating your pet for Miley freaking Cyrus’ TWITTER ACCOUNT? Maybe you should marinate yourself and let Fuzzy put you out of your misery.

Link [MileySaveFuzzy.com]

Amazon Deforestation Plummets 46%

Brazil pledged to slow down deforestation in the Amazon, and many environmentalists were highly skeptical – but new figures show that the logging rate did actually decrease dramatically between August 2008 and July 2009. Deforestation Detection in Real Time (DETER) and the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) say that deforestation rates dropped by a remarkable 46%.

Increased policing probably has a lot to do with it – the Brazilian government initiated 650 probes into illegal deforestation and arrested 298 people. However, this lower figure probably has something to do with the state of the global economy as well. When things pick back up again, the rate of deforestation will likely go through the roof.

There are already signs that this will be the case. June 2009 saw a stunning increase in Amazon deforestation, with an area the size of Los Angeles cleared in a single month. Though demand for timber products is still part of the problem, the biggest cause by far is cattle ranching, responsible for 80% of deforestation in the Amazon. Most of that beef is exported to Russia, Iran and Venezuela.

Though an appetite for meat is the main driver, vegetarians shouldn’t get too smug. Soybeans are the second leading cause.

Link [Treehugger]
Photo credit: The Guardian

‘Ronald McDonald’ Opens Up About Cruel Slaughtering Practices

“Who cares about those PETA pricks, and who cares about the chickens? They’re just animals!” That’s what ‘Ronald McDonald’ (Andy Dick) had to say about McDonalds’ slaughtering practices to famed celebrity interviewer Jiminy Glick (Martin Short) in a new video from FunnyorDie.com.

Dick makes for quite a frightening, deranged-looking Ronald McDonald as they discuss boiling chickens alive. “What I say to the chickens is, ‘You deserve a break today. In your legs.”

Check it out:

The video is hilarious, but they’re actually calling attention to a real problem. As Ecorazzi reports,

“McDonald’s U.S. and Canadian chicken suppliers abuse birds using a cruel and outdated method of slaughter. Birds often have their bones broken and their throats cut while they are still conscious, and many birds are immersed in tanks of scalding-hot water while they are still alive and able to feel pain.”

And, yes, you can learn more about it at PETA.org.

Link [Ecorazzi]

Enjoy Pothole Possum Stew at the RoadKill Cook-Off

Weird food festivals are gaining popularity among Americans, who are generally more known for enjoying a rather limited diet than for being gastronomic adventurers.  There’s Honolulu’s Spam Jam, Raleigh’s BugFest and Gilroy’s Garlic Festival, but perhaps most interesting of all is the RoadKill Cook-Off held in the small town of Marlinton, West Virginia every year.

From CNN.com:

It’s RoadKill Cook-Off time, where past years’ crowds have sampled dishes like Pothole Possum Stew, Fricasseed Wabbit Gumbo and Smeared Hog with Groundhog Gravy.

The RoadKill Cook-Off is so popular that it fills all the motels and hotels in the county when it takes place on the last Saturday in September, said David Cain, who runs the event and samples all the dishes.

“There are some that are better than others, but I’ve never really had anything that I really didn’t like,” Cain said. “But there was one year they cooked a rattlesnake in some kind of stew, and … there was no way I could taste that one.”

The RoadKill Cook-Off began in 1991, when organizers thought it might boost attendance at the main event: the Pocahontas County Autumn Harvest Festival.
Did it ever.

About 10,000 people from all over the country came to last year’s gathering, Cain said. All dishes featured in the festival must have animals commonly found dead on the side of the road — such as deer, squirrels and snakes — as their main ingredient. But the meat doesn’t have to be actual roadkill.

“Judges will deduct points for every chipped tooth resulting from gravel not removed from the RoadKill,” the official rules warn. “All judges have been tested for cast-iron stomachs and have sworn under oath to have no vegetarian tendencies.”

It could be argued that eating roadkill is the ultimate green way to be a meat eater. And it’s not just rural folks living in extreme poverty that will peel a recently-dead raccoon off the road and make it dinner. Some environmentalists see it as equivalent to foraging or dumpster diving.

Fergus Drennan, star of the BBC program The Roadkill Chef, explains:

Drennan describes himself as a vegetarian, saying he’s got “issues” with animal husbandry, and won’t eat creatures that are raised for slaughter. Ones killed by accident on our roads, though, are “just another resource”.

“One of the few things that I tend to avoid are cats and dogs,” he explains. “In theory, I’d have no problem with eating them. But they’ve always got name tags on their collars, and since I have two cats, it’s a step too far.

It makes sense – it’s all about using what’s available. Eating roadkill has an even lower environmental footprint than being a conventional vegetarian who buys groceries at the market, plus, it’s free.

So, do the popularity of festivals like the RoadKill Cook-Off mean more Americans will become open to the idea of foraging for food? Probably not – it’s all about the novelty factor for most. But it’s an intriguing idea.

Link [CNN] +[The Independent]

Kangaroos Too Cute to Kill, Some Australians Say

Kangaroos are a novelty to us non-Aussies, but for residents of Australia, they’re a common sight. Maybe even a little too common, according to some; there are so many kangaroos in some parts of the capital city of Canberra, officials want to start shooting them. But not all Australians have hardened their hearts to these fuzzy, hopping mammals – some are protesting the proposed cull, saying the animals are just too cute to kill.

From Sky News:

More than 80% of those polled in a government survey thought the wild kangaroos should stay. Authorities have tried giving them vasectomies and oral contraceptives, but to no avail. They say trucking them off to new and distant pastures will cost too much.

The debate comes as it was revealed 17% of drivers in the district had admitted colliding with a kangaroo at least once.

Recent stories of an unwelcome pouched visitor bounding through a closed bedroom window onto a family in bed has raised calls for a urban cull.

Barry Stuart, who runs a kangaroo abattoir 220 miles north of Canberra, shoots more than 25 on most nights with a licence from the government.

“They’re a beautiful bloody animal,” said Stuart, 60.

“You don’t like to destroy them, but when the time comes, you’ve got to do it.”

Australians have even been urged to start eating kangaroos, a national icon, on an industrial scale as an alternative to livestock since there are so many of them. This would cut back on the number of factory farms in the country, which would curb greenhouse gases. And, if Australians can’t bear to eat an animal they feel sentimental about, the rest of the world will do it for them – Russians reportedly eat more kangaroo than Australians and it’s a popular dish throughout Europe.

Whatever your opinions about eating kangaroo meat, it could be a better option than just shooting them. But these majestic animals, while sometimes a nuiscance, certainly don’t pose a threat to humans aside from the possiblity of crashing into one with your car.

Australian citizens have until May 11th to voice their comments about this issue, so if you’re an Aussie, make sure you get your say.

Link [Sky News]
Photo credit: Daily Mail

Meat-Eating Environmentalist: A Contradiction in Terms?

So, you’re an ardent environmentalist. You wear organic clothing, live in a small energy-efficient home, ride your bike to work and always remember your reusable bags when shopping. But for all of your efforts, your carbon footprint is still huge – thanks to your diet, which is full of hamburgers, steaks and ham sandwiches.

Nobody’s perfect – we’ve all got our little slip-ups and areas in our lives where we know we could improve. For some people it’s taking long hot showers in winter, or using paper towels. But, meat eating is a biggie. It has a much greater impact on the environment than using a little more energy than you should every now and then or occasionally wasting paper. Then there are the impacts on human health and animal welfare.

Consider these facts:

• The livestock sector is responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions globally.  Cows emit vast amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere – and the impact of these emissions is greater than that of CO2 from cars.
• Animals raised for food in the U.S. produce 130 times more excrement than the human population.
• Each and every year, factory farms dump 220 billion gallons of hormone-, antibiotic- and bacteria-laden animal waste onto farmland and into waterways.
• Pfiesteria, a microscopic organism that feeds off the phosphorus and nitrogen found in manure, is a lethal toxin harmful to both humans and fish. In 1991 alone, 1,000,000,000,000 (one billion) fish were killed by pfiesteria in the Neuse River in North Carolina.
• Since 1995, an additional one billion fish have been killed from manure runoff in estuaries and coastal areas in North Carolina, and the Maryland and Virginia tributaries leading into the Chesapeake Bay.
• Overuse of antibiotics in animals is causing more strains of drug-resistant bacteria, which is affecting the treatment of various life-threatening diseases in humans.
• Raising animals for food consumes more than half of all the water used in the U.S. It takes 2,500 gallons of water to produce a pound of meat, but only 25 gallons for a pound of wheat.
• Raising animals for food is the number one cause of deforestation around the world, thanks to the huge amounts of land needed for grazing and growing animal feed.
• Animal feed is grown by intensive farming operations that use massive quantities of pesticides while producing problems such as pesticide resistance in insects and weeds, and pollution of nearby water supplies with toxic chemicals. Those pesticide residues also accumulate in animals’ fatty tissue.
• 20 times more land is required to feed a meat-eater than to feed a vegetarian.
• Overgrazing has turned a fifth of all pastures and ranges into desert.

All of this leads to a simple question: can you be an environmentalist and still eat meat?

In response to facts about the meat industry’s impact on the earth, meat-eating greenies have responses that range from “it’s too tasty to give up” to the evasive “it’s my choice”. You’ve got to admit, these excuses sound an awful lot like the ones given by so many Americans to explain away their all of their environmentally harmful choices. You might scoff at a Hummer owner saying “it’s too fun and cool to give up” and “it’s my choice and I’m entitled to it”, but aren’t you effectively doing the same thing?

Eating meat isn’t inherently un-green or unnatural. Yes, humans have been eating meat for centuries, yadda yadda yadda. But it’s been a long time since we raised and slaughtered our own food animals on our own land, which had a far smaller carbon footprint. People in industrialized countries (especially the U.S.) eat way more meat than they used to, as well. Demand is growing, so the number of factory farms is growing, too. Does mean that free-range, grass-fed, organic meat is necessarily the answer to all of these pressing problems? Not exactly.

If you do raise and kill your food animals yourself, congratulations. That’s just about the greenest way you could possibly remain a meat eater. Purchasing meat from a nearby small farm that offers grass-fed meat that travels a mere handful of miles to your door is a close second. But that ‘free-range’ meat from the grocery store isn’t necessarily the same thing.

Part of the problem with ‘free-range’ meat is that these animals require even more land than conventionally raised livestock. As Friends of Animals explains, space for animal agribusiness doesn’t need to be expanded. It needs to be phased out. Deforestation and desertification is a major problem, as is taking up so much land that could be used to grow more efficient, calorie-dense food for more people. If demand for free-range meat increased, these problems would get even worse.

From Friends of Animals:

Already, most of the landmass of the contiguous United States is taken up by agriculture — primarily for resource-guzzling animal processing. Worldwide, the demand of six billion humans for physical space is vastly expanded as animals are bred into existence to be food commodities. These domestic animals now outnumber us by an estimated factor of three to one. There is nothing sustainable, let alone kind, about animal agribusiness.

Plus, never underestimate the greed of corporations eager to cash in on your concern.  The USDA doesn’t regulate “free-range” or “free-roaming” beef products (nor do they effectively regulate the quality of meat in general).  While you might want to believe that the expensive free-range steaks you’re buying from Whole Foods came from happy cows that spent their lives outdoors enjoying sunshine and fresh air, that’s not necessarily the case. The USDA does require “free-range” animals to have access to outdoor areas, but doesn’t specify how long they spend out there or how much room they get.

True grass-fed beef may be healthier, but the term ‘grass-fed’ isn’t regulated by the USDA, either. That means companies can claim that their animals are grass-fed even if grains still make up the majority of their diets.

Don’t confuse “free-range” and “organic” on meat labels. Certified organic meat must be free of antibiotics and growth hormones. And, if you’re concerned about the treatment of animals, be aware that animals raised organically aren’t necessarily treated any better than those raised at big conventional factory farms.

That leads us to the unpleasant reality of livestock mistreatment. Even if you’re not a bleeding heart, animal-rights kind of person, you can’t deny that locking animals into tiny crates to wallow in their own excrement, mutilating them and then slaughtering them in inhumane ways is shockingly cruel. PETA is oft maligned, and they certainly have their faults, but their videos don’t lie. Just because you choose to be ignorant of these things doesn’t mean they aren’t happening.

I can hear you already: “I’m not going to stop eating meat, no matter what you say.” When it comes down to it, whether or not you eat meat is still a personal choice. But, if you’re at all concerned about the environment, at least cut back on the amount of meat you eat – and buy it from a local source if you can (if that’s not possible, check out meat CSAs and delivery services). Seek out truly grass-fed, free-range and hormone-free meat and eat it only a few times a week, and you’ll at least be taking an important step forward.

Grass-Fed Beef Resources:

West Coast sources
East Coast sources
Midwest sources

Vegetarianism Resources:

Protein in the Vegan Diet
Go Veg: Vegetarian and Vegan Information
VegWeb.com: Vegan Recipes and Cooking Tips

Factory Farming Facts and Information:

OrganicConsumers.org Disturbing Facts on Factory Farming and Food Safety
Vegan Outreach: Animal Mistreatment at Factory Farms

Photo credit: Flickr user dogfrog + Cornucopia.org

PETA President Wills Her Body to Become BBQ & Leather Goods

PETA did it again. Stomach-turning publicity stunts are nothing new to the animal rights organization, but the latest one will make you lose your lunch (fair warning). PETA President Ingrid Newkirk has willed her body to the group along with a gross list of instructions on what they should do with each body part after she’s dead.

From Treehugger:

The Bizarre Will of Ingrid Newkirk

Here’s an abridged list of Newkirk’s directions for PETA to follow with her body:

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

Will does not specify who is to be served at the event, or whether there shall be beach volleyball.

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.

c. my feet be removed and umbrella stands or other ornamentation be made from them, as a reminder of the depravity of killing innocent animals, such as elephants, in order that we might use their body parts for household items and decorations;

Got to give Newkirk credit for creativity for that one—umbrella stands? However, from here on out, things take a turn for the worse . . .

d.That one of my eyes be removed, mounted, and delivered to the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a reminder that PETA will continue to be watching the agency until it stops poisoning and torturing animals.

That’s not all – she also requested that her pointing finger be delivered to the owner of Ringling Bros. + Barnum & Bailey Circus, that her liver be vacuum-packed and shipped to France to be sold as human foie gras, and that her thumbs be removed and mounted to plaques to serve as immortal thumbs-up and thumbs-down PETA awards.

The rest of the will can be read over at the PETA website. It actually goes into the legal details on how to best accomplish her wishes. The will was actually released last year, but this is the first we’ve heard of it. Though nothing is really shocking coming from PETA, you gotta admit this one is an eyebrow-raiser to say the least.

Mmm, don’t you love the smell of wrinkled lady parts slathered in barbecue sauce sizzling on the grill?

Link [Treehugger]

Hamburgers are the Hummers of Food

When it comes to global warming, hamburgers are the Hummers of food. The reason? In a word, beef. It’s incredibly inefficient to produce and cows release insane amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. The more demand there is for beef, the more cows will be bred across the world. So, every time you take a bite out of a burger, you’re contributing to global warming in a way that’s almost as bad as driving one of those monstrous “I’m attempting to compensate for a small penis” mobiles.

Nathan Pelletier of Dalhousie University in Canada is one of a growing number of scientists studying the environmental costs of food, from the field to your plate, and he’s got a message for you: go veg, at least a few days a week.

From Yahoo News:

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.

That’s because a single kilogram of beef produces 16 kilograms carbon dioxide equivalent emissions: four times higher than pork and more than ten times as much as a kilogram of poultry, Pelletier said.

People are also eating way more meat than they used to. Meat was once a luxury in our diet, and now – particularly in America – it has taken center stage in most meals. Because of growing demand, meat production is projected to double by 2050, so we’ll have to cut meat consumption nearly in half just to maintain current emissions levels. That’s simply not enough.

Chris Weber, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, says switching to no red meat and no dairy products is the equivalent of cutting out 8,100 miles driven in a car that gets 25 miles to the gallon.

So, that begs the question of you meat eaters… is that burger really worth it?

Link [Yahoo News]
Photo credit: Big-Limos.com

“Our Daily Bread” Shows Where Food Really Comes From

Check out this disturbing clip from the Sundance Channel documentary film “Our Daily Bread” created by Nikolaus Geyrhalter. The film takes a look at animals, slaughterhouses and factories in order to clue consumers in to what goes on behind the scenes to make our pre-packaged foods.

As the Sundance channel website states,

With dispassionate objectivity, Austrian documentary filmmaker Nikolaus Geyrhalter lifts the veil on modern industrial food production to present a glimpse of a world few of us have ever seen – or are willing to think about. Avoiding conventional narrative techniques, Geyrhalter lets the images speak for themselves. The result is a coldly beautiful and often disturbing visual essay illustrating what goes on in slaughterhouses, manufacturing plants and large dusty fields to process and package our food.

PETA Fail: Runs Ad Comparing Greyhound Horror Killing to Animal Slaughterhouse Killing Horror

PETA has done it again.

In a not-so-surprising-for-PETA show of good taste, the animal rights group attempted to run an ad comparing animal slaughter to the brutal murder of Tim McClean, the 22-year-old who was beheaded by Vince Weiguang Li on a Greyhound bus in Winnipeg bound Canadian bus on July 30.

“His struggles and cries are ignored … the man with the knife shows no emotion … the victim is slaughtered and his head cut off … his flesh is eaten,” reads the ad, which can be seen on the organization’s website.

The ad was intended to run in the Portage la Prairie Daily Graphic. The newspaper refused it. Rightly so.

If PETA was intending to make themselves look like insane, insensitive radicals who write heavy-handed copy more befitting of Emily Bronte novels, they’ve succeeded. They’ve done a bang-up job of alienating pretty much everyone. Well done, guys. This was definitely a classy choice.

Link [Globe & Mail]