If Advertising Told The Truth

not my original image, this one is from Animal Liberation Victoria

Animal Liberation Victoria: Fighting for animal rights
– campaigns against all animal abuse

(Part 2) The Vegan Community – why it is a myth… next stop full-on cult.

I recently wrote a post about my experience with the so-called “vegan community” (The Vegan Community – and why it is a myth). I say “so-called” because there didn’t seem to be a lot of love in the room, not a lot of community spirit, when I expressed a different opinion.

I heard some stories, and got some interesting comments on that post, so this is part 2.

With permission I am posting Denderah’s comments here, so many brilliant words that say what others feel.

Denderah wrote:

I have been insulted more by vegans than meateaters. I have supported a prisoner and even visited him at the prison. He has always written back and responds to all letters of support. However I feel I could go every minute of the day doing something in support of prisoners and in the end be worn completely out. I am only a pen pal as he says not one of the important circle of activists who get things done. And I accept that. He doesn’t know me. But just exactly how long can I go on sending checks for his commissary letters to his lawyer and everyday letters and books and so on before I say to hell with this? If I didn’t communicate no one would communicate with me. So it is give give give on the one-way street to nowhere. I was told by one of the “gurus” that my reluctance to show support to prisoners of war was tantamount to treason and wait until I was in prison and no one would pay me any attention to me. I don’t intend to do anything that merits a prison sentence. But I digress…I agree with your post. I feel very alien to this vegan community-can never do enough and this pen pal business is less than satisfying-kind of like a one-sided relationship where only one side gets the goods and the other side is drained to nothing. I was a happy little vegan before I got mixed up in this. But I think I should just go my own vegan way.

….tantamount to treason? are you …. kidding me? There is a self-appointed vegan-animal rights guru out there, sitting in their faux-ivory tower passing judgement on others, but treason?

Denderah also wrote:

And the checks were accepted by a New York liason who said they would inform the prisoner. But I heard nothing more about them nor anything from him that he was aware funds had been paid into his commissary. No thanks either about the letter to his lawyer that we were asked to write for sentencing leniency though copies were sent to him. It is not that I want a personal relationship with people but I get this feeling about this organization that there is an elite hierarchy and the peasants pay homage and do what they are told.

those that can do, those that can’t bully …
it seems that this guru and his inner circle are beginning to set themselves up as the Chosen Ones, vegans Anointed People, who shall interpret for the Commoners what makes a good (ie devout) activist, in much the same way the ancient priests decided who or what behaviour made one a good christian.

And, Denderah recognised that for what it really is…. an elite hierarchy and the peasants pay homage and do what they are told which is not liberating anyone.

However, it is the actions and words from the hierarchy which show a worrying picture of what it is like inside the modern animal activist community

From these above comments and others, a pattern of abuse, bullying, threats and ostracism is beginning to be made clear.

It is time the “vegan community” (if such a thing can ever exist) recognise this behaviour for what is it…

Cult-like bullying.

When you use emotionally loaded words such as treason in an attempt to change a persons behaviour, you are stepping into cult territory, using tactics that cults use to control their victims, oops, “members”.

Do what we say, when we say, follow the rules, never challenge the leaders, never ask questions, never disagree – or you are OUT of the community. Act the same, think the same, and if anyone steps out of line, let the swarms on online trolls swoop.

Like, really? This is how adults behave?

—————————————————————————————–
And a message for the “Gurus”, and all their little brainwashed handmaidens, drones, sock-puppets, attack dogs, troll-patrols, and hangers-on who think that bullying, harassment, abuse, vampire-style energy sapping distractions and death-threats is what being an activist is all about. Hint: THAT IS NOT ANIMAL LIBERATION.

If you waste our time with these little games of yours, real-world and on-line, we are not defending animals, your actions let the abusers continue what they are doing.

When you attack an animal activist for thinking differently to you, you are an animal abusing collaborator and enabler.

Because like a cult, they would rather people think the same, act the same, donate to the same people and worship the same gurus, and surveillance of other activists becomes their main priority, and saving animals doesn’t even enter the picture.

The Barbi Twins – Animal Rights Activists – the movie

Every seemingly small effort can make a large impact on the plight of our animal friends. 
http://www.twinbunnies.com/

The Barbi Twins (follow on twitter @Barbi_Twins or facebook Barbi Twins or visit the website http://www.twinbunnies.com/, or read their books eg: many are listed on amazon) are tireless campaigners for the rights and lives of animals everywhere.
They are not afraid to take on anyone: from Presidents to animal abusers in their defence of animals, and they don’t shy away from what others may see as controversial subjects.

This is their movie Rescued and Rehabbed in 5 parts, enjoy:

I have no connection to the Barbi Twins, other than admire their ceaseless work saving animals.

attention Camille Marino #vegan #animalRights

I dont like the woman, I think when she cheers for dead babies that is not any kind of animal rights that I want anything to do with, and her supporters are just straight up nasty bullies to me for disagreeing with her…

but I have been approached because people think I dont like her enough to take my disagreements with her outside my blogs and target her.

People have extremely personal details about her, that I think someone in some sort of anti-animal rights group or law enforcement, I dont know, is ramping up efforts to shut down her group Negotiation Is Over.

Over the past couple of weeks, what I am hearing is louder and more detailed than anything Ive heard before.

My suggestion to Camille, if they have tried to use me, they will try others – be aware of any new person who wants to be your best friend online.

This feels different from other times Ive been approached to dish the dirt on other animal rights activists.

In the past Ive been fed rumours that people have asked me to blog, in an attempt to discredit her, I think anyone who knows Marino has heard the rumous, but I refused to do that because they were not something I knew personally, and I doubt theyre true.

And just because I dislike her methods, doesnt mean that I agree with what appears to be an organised targeting of ARAs.

If someone knows her, possibly pass on the message.

What people Really want to know about vegans

The following is a look at some of the search terms people have used to find this blog.

i am going to be deleting some so called animal activist, as they do nothing to help me in fight for the rights of animals info.
I’m right there with you.

Rage against the vegans
That might make a great band name.

is it possible to know that you are eating humanely slaughtered meat
Yes, it is possible to know, the answer: IT’S NOT. humanely slaughtered meat is an oxymoron, the taking of a life of a living being is never humane.

alicia silverstone eats cheese
Yep – (and there were many searches for that phrase)
If I was at a party and there was a tray of cheese sitting there and I had had drinks, then I might have a bite Alicia Silverstone.

alicia fake vegan
I’m sure if she ever stopped eating cheese she would be a fabulous vegan, but until then…

can vegans eat cheese once on a while
celebrity vegans can, and continue to be vegan. But for the rest of us commoners, that would make us vegetarian.

elsie shrigley
How many vegans don’t know who Elsie Shrigley was? Elsie Shrigley, along with Donald Watson coined the word VEGAN, and was one of the original founders of the Vegan Society, in the United Kingdom in 1944.

dolores huerta non violent protests
Never heard of Dolores Huerta? Have you ever heard of César Chávez?
Huerta co-founded the National Farm Workers Association along with César Chávez, and in many of the strike actions and non-violent protests, Huerta was side by side with Chávez.

who drink rat milk?
An episode of The Simpsons (Fox), used milking rats as an example of the way the local school was cutting costs, by buying rat milk from the local mobster, Fat Tony.

what are some of the things meat eaters are doing to fight back?
I didn’t know meat eaters were a recognised Oppressed group in todays modern society.

milk is murder go vegan
I’ve heard the saying Meat is murder, Milk is Rape but given what happens to male calves born to dairy cows (they become veal), I would say this is more accurate…. Milk is murder, so please, go vegan.

until every cage is empty. no compromise
Agree. 100%.

mcdonald’s planet destruction
That should be there new slogan, replace Over 1 billion served to planet destruction with every burger sold

morbidly obese vegan
Was someone looking for information about morbidly-obese vegans? I personally don’t know any. I’m sure they are out there.

human de-evolution to junk food
I love this one, I like to think it sums up so much of what is wrong with modern western society. Too much junk food is causing humans to de-evolve. As does this:
evolution of man to obesity

i am proud be a vegan
Yah! Me too!

animal liberation proud to be a vegan
Love it.

jamie oliver made me vegetarian
Then Jamie Oliver has achieved more than some people in this world.

I’ve been told that I can’t call myself because I watched Jamie Oliver, but, to each their own.

genetically modified children
Apparently, that’s Monsanto’s next step in their quest for world domination.

when can you start calling yourself a vegetarian
When you stop eating animal flesh – this does include chicken, bacon and all seafood.

girl power go vegan
This means something to someone, but I like it.

Image via Wikipedia

do you have to be a vegan to work in peta??
NO, but you do have to like killing animals to work for PeTA – they euthanise “unwanted” cats and dogs. If people donated to a no-kill shelter instead of PeTA there would be less animal deaths.

international vegan conspiracy
Yep, right up there with the faked moon landings and Tupac and Biggie working at a 7-11 in New Zealand.

On the other hand, maybe there is an International Vegan Conspiracy, a network of vegans secretly working to overthrow the capitalist Animal Agriculture industry.
…. When I write my vegan manifesto, I might borrow this phrase

howard zinn is more critical of civil disobedience than civil obedience.

civil disobedience. As soon as you say the topic is civil disobedience, you are saying our problem is civil disobedience. That is not our problem…. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is the numbers of people all over the world who have obeyed the dictates of the leaders of their government and have gone to war, and millions have been killed because of this obedience.
Howard Zinn: The Problem is Civil Obedience (1970)

we are not nonviolent because we want to save our soul
Is this a statement about the use of Direct Action?

or was someone looking for this:
If you are cut down in a movement that is designed to save the soul of a nation, then no other death could be more redemptive. – Martin Luther King Jr

jimmy cliff the oppressors are keeping me down
Jimmy Cliff, sang in The Harder They Come:
Well, the oppressors are tryin’ to keep me down
Tryin’ to drive me underground

cool animals to have as pets
Not on this blog – try a rock, or a potted plant.

bovine liberation
liberation fish and turtle
I support all liberations – Set the Cows Free! Save the Turtles! Ban the Fishing!

a tear fell down my face right now, literally.
Yep, I’m the same way watching anti-cruetly videos.

baby sheep ugg kill
Yep, that’s about it. Ugg boots kill sheep. Ugg boots are made from the skin of a sheep. And really, how unattractive is wearing dead-sheep on your feet.

palm oil animal death
Again, straight to the point in four little words.
The destruction of forests for palm oil, destroys the habitats of many species, the orangutan, the most famous.

most evil companies mccdonalds
Another four-word search that sums up the issue.

terrorism act against vegans
That would make a change, usually it is the animal rights vegans accused of being Terrorists.

militant vegan slogans
From other searches:

• go vegan or else
• animal liberation human liberation
• those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable JFK
• i am vegan
• martin luther king jr one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws
• animal rights it is time to act
• animal eaters are killing the earth

and
alien alliance with earth
Yep, when humans find intelligent alien life, they’ll probably fire up the BBQ and eat them.

Warning: Animal Rights Blogger is Agent of State Repression

by Red Glitter and Ed MacLeod

Interrupting our series on Vegan Bootcamp: 101 days of Animal Rights Activism, with a little detour
– to alert the AR community of a divisive agent of state repression who is currently operating under the guise of Animal Rights Blogger.

And just who is this lowest of the low? This scum of the earth, this running dog of imperialism, this state collaborating, disciple of Francione, Orwellian nightmare? . . . . Apparently it would me.

As the old saying goes – why am I always the last to know!

And exactly what was my crime, that made me such a divisive enemy of Animal Rights and agent of state repression, Orwellian nightmare and Francione disciple?

This: Dr Steve Best “borrows” BBC homage to British Suffragettes.

well, simply, I pointed out, and quite correctly, that a blogger (Steven Best, who many people have told me is required reading to be a real animal rights activist) had blatantly, I repeat BLATANTLY, plagiarised a 2003 BBC webpost.

But apparently plagiarism is completely acceptable if you are famous.

Or, if you are ripping off the British.

Or something that is more than five years old.

A thorough look at the stats on this blog post that he apparently keeps stumbling over every where he goes – was viewed by 5 people in all of february and 12 on 12 April. (I would suggest that a large portion of those statistics is Best himself, when he left a comment).

And if 17 people viewing this post is going to be such a divisive influence on AR – then AR is HUGE trouble. Huge. Big.

This is the accusations against me:

I keep stumbling on this absurd and divisive blog post, with posts by others still i do not even know personally, and a few perhaps Francione disciples exploiting this “scandal” for its full Owellian, hate-fest potential.

I am going to ask you to kindly remove it, because it serves no purpose, it erroneous and slanderous, and also somewhat comical when you learn the truth of this egregious (!!) scholarly fallacy and breakdown, which is: I posted it to FB with full credits to the BBC, not too hard to do; someone posted it to my blog, not me, and they forgot to add the BBC link up front with the full credits and by-line.

That’s it! That’s all that happened, and yet this is worth venemous posts bouncing around the net and even Twitter, denigrating 30 years of scholarly work and publications, based on something I myself never posted, and which was nothing but a referencing oversight and typo. Pretty clear where the real flaws and flawed ones are in this movement. Try to get a sense of priority folks: there is a holocaust and ecological .rapidly unfolding, other small items such as those marginalia.

You had the information you needed thanks to the person who showed you the FB version of this to know it was a fabricated or non-story, and yet you ran with it, and kept it in the glaring light of defamy on this page.

Enough already, no? Remove this blog and every other one replicating the same innane, baseless claims, if someone had just come to ask me, it could have been corrected and put to rest before the proverbial tempest in the teapot.

We don’t need state repression and corporate power to destruction the animal liberation cause, this is symptomatic of how well a job the “enlightened activists” do all on their own.

Thank you.

Or is not really plagiarism if you attribute it some other place? It seems so.

Mr Best had written on his WordPress blog the 2003 BBC article in question, which was copied WORD-FOR-WORD, this was apparently attributed on his facebook page.

I say apparently, not to dispute his claims, but because there was no link on his blog, no mention of click this for more information, no “source found here”, no directing readers to facebook for more information. So whether there was a correct attribution on his facebook page, readers of his blog that are not members of his special friends on facebook club would actually have absolutely NO WAY to find this out for themselves.

For the 6.999990 billion people on the planet who do not follow Mr Best, I am not really sure how the rest of are suppose to see that proper credit.

Ah but as he points out, a commenter on my original blog about it, had alerted me to the fact that it had been attributed on his facebook page. And I replied at the time – I do not follow him.

But strangely, even bizarrely perhaps, in my country, people only comment on blog posts AFTER they have been published. To say that I was corrected – as to where the actual attribution was – by a comment on the blog piece as a reason for NOT publishing, I’m not quite sure I understand. The laws of physics as they apply to me, is that time moves forward.

And, under Newton’s Third Law of Thermodynamics, which is sometimes known as the action-reaction law, for there to be a reaction (ie, in this case, a comment on the blog) there has to be an action (ie, a blog).

I obey the laws of physics, so I can’t really not have published something in the first place, based on information that comes in as a result of posting it. You see what I’m getting at?

Now, I know that I don’t teach at university like Mr Best, (if he doesn’t teach at a university, mea culpa, I could not be interested enough to read his wiki page) and my students are only in highschool, but if a student of mine handed in an assignment which was copied word for word from someone else, but attributed it correctly in the assignment for another class, I am almost sure that I would not give them a pass mark.

The reasons for his blog post having all the distinguishing features of a lack of attribution is a) it was attributed some place completely separate and accessible to only a handful of people with Mr Bests permission (accepting a friend request) and 2) even if there was no attribution, that is okay too because even though it is his name on the blog, he didn’t post the post, and c) whether he looked at what was posted by someone else on his personal blog, under his personal name later on and noticed there was no attribution, that was not attributed at the time I took the screen caps, is unknown to me – but this is all sounding a bit like a dog ate my homework.

As Mr Best tells me “remove this blog post”, um, I’m not really sure that advocating censorship of those who point out what appears at first glance to be a case of “homage with lack of attribution” is quite up there with campaigning against repression, (that is against for those who missed it), not advocating for.

Pointing out a lack of credit is Orwellian, repressive and defamy, yet demanding I remove it, is un-repression.

I think you and me, Mr Best have two very different dictionaries, because mine doesn’t say anything about censorship being just like freedom and liberation.

and while I’m at it – Heaven forbid someone in AR has a different opinion to someone else, lest they be accused of divisiveness.

The accusation of divisiveness, I have found, is generally leveled against those who disagree with us, regardless of whether they in fact are divisive or not. Accusations like like are used as a means to stifle debate or a free exchange of ideas. If we go around accusing everyone who doesn’t worship at our feet of being divisive, then we are going to find that the next generation of ARAs are obedient unquestioning automatons who are unable to think for themselves because divisiveness is seen as a negative and conformity is encouraged. It’s also a good way to get people who don’t agree with you to shut the hell up, or maybe stand up to bullies who use censorship to silence dissent.

You, Mr Best are a US American, right? Land of the free, Home of the baseball, and first amendment free speech and all that?

Or does free speech not apply when people point out that posts are exact replicas of a 2003 BBC post – I must have missed the day that the US Supreme Court (or whoever) amended that little constitutional guarantee for United States Americans, “free speech for all, except for those who correctly identify instances of copy and paste without credit by famous people”.

And as for calling me a Francione disciple – um, only if that helps you sleep better at night, to believe that everyone who disagrees with you must be a “disciple” of Mr Francione. Because apparently only people who are a – what was that insult Francione disciple in other words – One who embraces and assists in spreading the teachings of G Francione – could possible find plagiarism noteworthy.

And has been said about Mr Francione – by… oh honestly who gives a damn who said it first, it may even have been you, but attributing sources is so repressive, so let’s just skip over that: “The Guru and his disciples come together in a dance of doctrine and dogma. Like Christian fundamentalists, Francione and his followers believe they possess the Truth …”

and if anyone would like to know who said that, the attribution is on my facebook page, besides, just because someone put a bunch of words together in a particular order why should that mean no else is entitled to use those exact same words in the exact same order – talk about repressive copyright. No, seriously, putting a credit on a bunch of words that is borrowed from someone else really is complete and utter fascism at it most basic.

And you know, Mr Best, for you to desire accuracy, when, oh I don’t know, someone, has said that only Francione disciples believe they possess the truth, would kind of suggest that I’m not the only “Francione disciple” in this conversation … because well, let’s face it, no one else desires “the Truth” (attribution: who gives a damn) do they.

I have never really thought the whole Truth thing was exclusive to Francione disciples, but there you go, learn something new every day.

Seeking accuracy is so oppressive. Having to write a credit on something is such an Orwellian nightmare. And pointing out the obvious is absurd.

What frightening times we live in, indeed.

Copyright is theft, its implying that someone can own a word-order, and once you start owning word-orders it’s just a hop-skip-and-jump from speciesism. So, yes, Mr Best, I am beginning to see your point – owning a piece of work as an author is repression of the highest order, and compare that to owning animals, they are so similar. Don’t know why I failed to see it so clearly before.

And as you point out, Mr Best there is a holocaust going on – not just against the billions of animals in the world slaughtered daily, but also against billions of words, trapped for ever in books and webpages. Owned! Its lexical slavery! It is intolerable.

Set my language free!

We will not have total liberation until all words are free.

But hey, let all vegans and ARs copy and paste without credit as much as they desire, let us all ignore that pesky little thing known as copyright, because we are all perfect. And apparently to point out that someone might have had an entire article published on their blog, under their own name, but actually taken from a BBC website by someone who is not them is being divisive.

What a ridiculous accusation.

Almost as ridiculous of calling it “absurd” to highlight that a 2011 blog post was in fact a 2003 blog post from the BBC.

I kind of have a little trouble accepting that plagiarism is so inconsequential that to point it out is “absurd”. Even more absurd is to suggest that only Francione disciples would care about proper credit for the author of a piece of written text. Because adding “BY THE BBC” is conformity and repression.

And I guess, that knowing all this, and that you think giving credit where it belongs is absurd and repressive, you, Mr Best would have no problem with anyone else in the entire world copying and pasting something you wrote and pasting it on their own personal blog, as long it is attributed correctly in, oh, some completely separate location? Is that fair to say?

And as for removing it, and every other one replicating the same innane, baseless claims, if it baseless, I would remove it, but it isn’t. And, if it has been replicated, all over the net, then perhaps it is a case of someone taking it without my knowledge, which, doesn’t seem to be plagiarism or copyright or anything, so let people take my words. I have no more power over them, or claim to control them, once they are posted as, apparently, the BBC has over their words once they are published.

And if calling someone out – and completely accurately – for not attributing a blog post which was borrowed word for word is “DEFAMY” (attribution: S Best, because I like to give credit where it is due, I refuse to own that spelling mistake) then, your response is just as inaccurate, yawn-inducing, ludicrous, ridiculous, insulting, divisive and defamy.

Although, Mr Best, lets you and me talk about DEFAMY – since English is not my first language, and since Google translate didn’t really tell me what DEFAMY actually means for those of us struggling with English, I am going to assume you mean, defamation, or defamed, maybe defaming, perhaps defamatory, or just plain old ordinary defame

Although perhaps your response was a fraction more “DEFAMY” (attribution: S Best) because where mine was accurate – there was absolutely No BBC credit on the blog post, NONE, ZERO, ZILCH, शून्य and no link to a credit on the facebook page – whereas, calling me a Francione disciple is actually inaccurate.

And I know how much of a perfectionist you are when it comes to accuracy, well, apparently except where blog posts on your own blog are concerned.

As an ordained clergy person, to suggest that I am a disciple of another, a mortal, damages my reputation, and my immortal soul, not just on this earth but in other realms, for now and eternity, as much as the suggestion that a vegan is meat-eater or wears silk.

And while I can’t claim to be an expert on the laws of “DEFAMY” (attribution: S Best) as they apply in the USA, I do know that where I am, the laws of defamation are based on threestandards
one – are they true? and what you said about me IS NOT,
b) are they believable, YES it MIGHT be, and
third: are they likely to damage my reputation in the eyes of at least one other person, I believe that you use the phrase “Francione disciple” in a derogatory way with the sole intent to damage my reputation, and according to EFF: “any individual or entity who considers damage to their reputation has or is likely to occur, as a result of material published, may sue the publisher/s of the material.”

Whether or not I believe the words “Francione disciple” (attribution: S Best) to be a description that damages my reputation is irrelevant, what matters is that someone else might believe it and therefore damages my reputation.

A quick look at my past posts would show that I spend as much time pointing out where I disagree with Francione as I do agreeing with him, which could in no way be mistaken for being a “Francione disciple”, where as the accuracy my comment, that your blog post had no credit, is easy to judge, one only has to look.

The following, are defences of “DEFAMY” (attribution: S Best) in my jurisdiction:
Defences that may be successfully pleaded in relation to a defamation action vary throughout Australian jurisdictions. Depending on the jurisdiction, these may include:

* truth/justification
* fair comment (e.g. an expression of an honestly held opinion or a criticism on a subject matter of public interest)
* absolute privilege (this attaches to the occasion, not the statement or speaker, such as during parliamentary proceedings, judicial and quasi-judicial proceedings, executive communications and communications between spouses)
* qualified privilege (e.g. fair and accurate reports of parliamentary proceedings, judicial proceedings, public meetings concerning matters of public interest/concern)
* consent (e.g. where the plaintiff expressly or impliedly consented to the publication of the particular imputation)
* triviality (e.g. where the circumstances/occasion of the publication were trivial to the extent that the person defamed was not likely to suffer harm)
* innocent dissemination (e.g. applicable to re-publishers/re-distributors such as newsagents/book sellers, including potentially to ISPs/ICHs. The defence in Clause 91 of the BSA is also relevant to ISPs/ICHs.)
* etc
Source: because I attribute words that I copy and past from someone else EFF

BTW: I know that I said I would happily remove it, but I retracted that on my facebook page, you didn’t see that? I mean, that is the way blogging works, right, you can say something on facebook to qualify what is written in a blog, right?

So, if any part of this is inaccurate, that is because the really, truly accurate version of events is on my facebook page, which there is no excuse for anyone and everyone not seeing.

And, before anyone directs any hate mail towards me, or accuses me of being an Orwellian, divisive, repressive, Francione disciple if meant as an insult, or whatever, let’s just say the whole thing was copy / pasted from … oh, who knows, some place else… I just chose to not attribute it, because it makes me seem so much smarter to not attribute work that was written by someone else.

There is no copyright on this, because apparently owning your own words is oppressive and repressive and Francionish and Orwellian. So I’m taking these words out in the wild and releasing them . . .

Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, words are free at last. (which I just invented, so no attribution required)

Camille Marino – why do people keep asking me about her?

Camille Marino does not know me, and I do not know her.

We are both vegan bloggers, but each of us write about very different things.

I would doubt that there is any issue that would cross paths on.

I do think that her blog Negotiation is Over and the facebook site for have very many valuable things to offer Animal Rights and Vegan theory.

She is a tireless campaigner for animals and also justice, not just in her own neighbourhood but around the world.

She is a brave and courageous outspoken woman, who I believe put animals first, and what people think of her second. (This is what I believe based on her writings, never having met, I can’t know for sure)

This is why her comments yesterday about suicide bombers left me and my activist friends, asking “is this a joke?”, “did we miss something in the translation?”

I disagreed with her, I said so. But on other occasions I have agreed with her, and also said so.

A couple of times I have disagreed with things she has put on her blog, but that does not mean I disagree with her personally or what she is trying to achieve. And most of the time, I don’t disagree with her tactics.

However, just because I disagree with things she says on her blog sometimes – and I only notice these things because others are talking about it, does not mean I am trying to suggestion I am perfect or tear her down.

I also disagree with Abolitionist Vegans and Gary Francione on occasion and speak out. Not to cause divisions, but to provide more than one view point.

If I truly thought she was a disservice to Animal Rights, I wouldn’t provide links to her blog. All voices in the fight are valid, even if we disagree sometimes.

Just sometimes I speak out against things I disagree with. If people are talking about issues of veganism and animal rights, that’s a good thing. The more voices the better. Who knows what one thing might trigger someone to take that step to becoming vegan.

I Am Vegan – there is power in a word

So, you have decided you want to be an Animal Rights Activist… then say it loud, say it proud, shout it from the mountain tops — I Am Vegan.

Assuming that you are Vegan, saying “I am Vegan” is a powerful statement.

I Am Vegan, it is more than what you do, its more than how you see yourself, it is you saying you want to stand with every other vegan out there with a shared desired for justice for animals in this world.

It is more than a label – it is a statement of who “I AM”.

Whether you meet any other vegans, it doesn’t matter, you are someone who identifies with what a vegan is. And when you say I Am Vegan, other vegans will know exactly what you mean:

The word “veganism” denotes a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude — as far as is possible and practical — all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of humans, animals and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals. – Elsie Shrigley and Donald Watson (1944)

For a more indepth unpacking of what this definition mean to me, see Vegan.

Deep within human mythology and history, naming something gives a person power over that which is named. In the Abrahamic religion, in fairy tales, in popular culture (the power of the name in The Usual Suspects, for example; or The Doctor in Doctor Who: “I named her. The power of a name. That’s old magic“).

In choosing to label – or name – yourself a Vegan, you are taking the power contained within that concept and bringing it into your own life.

This can be especially important at a time when Animal Rights Activists are being cowered with anti-terrorist laws, such as the draconian AETA in the United States.

AETA (Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act) makes virtually every form of protest against animal cruelty a terrorist act – Including the advocating of veganism (diet and lifestyle) and taking photos on a farm and taking animals across state lines for the purpose of avoid vivisection.

The criminalising of compassion, the use informants and collaborators, wire taps, email hacks, sock puppets, and the hyper-surveillance by vegans against other vegans creates a culture of fear. This can leave some people reluctant to say what they really think.

Vegans might begin talking about being “strict vegetarian”, “plant based diets”, “compassionate / green lifestyle” – or just avoid the word completely, after all, we don’t want to scare the meat eaters.

Are You Afraid of the Word “Vegan”? some are, and it’s time more people opened the door to the “vegan closet” they’ve been hiding in, and dare to step out into the light.

Maybe, then less people might hide in there, finding comfort in the dark, with all the others too reluctant to acknowledge the “way of being that dare not speak its name”.

Being Vegan is not scary, or weird, or dangerous or “extreme and not sustainable” but when vegans don’t use the word, it gives the impression that there is something wrong with people who are vegan.

And when we stop using the right words, what is left? Neutral, bland, average, non controversial, inaccurate, tergiversate (evasions or ambiguities) words, spoken by people unwilling to act for fear of making a mistake.

If vegans are too unwilling and reluctant to describe themselves as Vegan, then how will they ever find the courage to act on animals behalf.

It’s time to scream it from the roof tops, I Am Vegan, it doesn’t mean you are a terrorist, it means you are a compassionate human being.

By reclaiming the word “Vegan”, we can unite as vegans with a common goal – the elimination of the use of all animals – we can begin to undo some of erroneous assumptions created when people such as “Veggie Girl” start to divide vegans into militant=bad and non militant=good. By dividing vegans this way, she is in effect saying there are some that are not like her, when they stand up against milk and humane meat they are being “militant” and not all vegans are like that. That is “those” vegans over these, “those” militant ones, when that is exactly what Vegan is.

Splitting off vegans into groups according the vegans we like and those we don’t reduces the power of the word. Vegan is what it is, why are we trying to redefine it.

When certain celebrities continue to eat dairy and eggs and call themselves “vegan” and no one stands up, we are losing the power of the word vegan.

Think of how many times you have heard about fish-eating vegetarians, or bacon-eating vegetarians, or chicken-eating vegetarians. If vegetarians eat fish, bacon and chicken then the word has lost all its meaning.

Are we going to allow VEGAN to get devalued the same way, by people who says that a cheese eating vegan is about “being flexible that way makes more people comfortable“?

The word vegan cannot be taken-over and watered-down by cheese-eating, fur-wearing celebrities, or criminalised by governments trying to win elections by whipping up fear by deliberating confusing animal rights with terrorism.

We must protect the meaning of the word Vegan, so that when someone says “I am Vegan” there is no confusion. No longer hiding our belief in concepts of justice, animal rights, animal liberation or veganism opens it up to others to ask us questions.

Being vegan is a journey not a destination.

Living a vegan life is a step towards the reduction and suffering of animals.

Speaking for myself, I cannot separate vegan from animal rights, for me, being vegan means support AR (Animal Rights), and supporting AR means being vegan. I try, but I cannot see how someone can call themselves an “animal rights activist” unless they are a vegan.

If you fight for animal rights, you fight for the rights of all animals, there are no exceptions for those you think taste good or those who aren’t cute. A concept I explore in more depth here: If you start a debate with “I fight for animal rights, but I’m no vegan” don’t expect applause

(While I think someone can be vegan without fighting for animal rights, I don’t think it is possible to call yourself an animal rights activist if you consume the products of animals bodies, particular dairy, eggs, honey which require the deaths of those animals to produce the “by”-products.)

I cannot separate animal rights and veganism.

To me it is simple, the most basic right is to not be killed and eaten by someone more powerful, exploited for any purpose.
As the Abolitionist Vegan Lee Hall says:
Veganism is Direct Action (Lee Hall’s Vegan Means)
Vegan Baking as Direct Action … (Lee Hall’s Friends of Animals)
Veganism as Direct Action (Abolitionist Online, where Lee Hall writes “Above all, the key change is diet, for it is absurd to discuss the rights of animals as we eat them. The vegetarian movement employs the most direct action of all”.)

I would disagree with Lee Hall here, only in as much as, the vegetarian movement inflicts intolerable cruelty on animals, especially those that are eaten, the dairy, egg and honey industries necessitate unspeakable cruelty and slavery, and to me, that is not RIGHTS.

And second, I would suggest going beyond Diet, and living a vegan life.

Other than those two minor quibbles, I would agree wholeheartedly with Hall, we can’t speak of animal rights while we eat or use them or the products of their bodies.
Make the move, go vegan, be vegan, be a proud vegan, and you are already involved in Direct Action.

From the I Am Vegan archives

Next post in this series: Civilian’s Guide To Direct Action

*Sock puppets: an online identity used for purposes of deception within an online community, either multiple identities for the one person or a governments use of false online personalities to spread US government “information” and security

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Post 2011 ‘Vegan Animal Liberation Alliance’. Copying and distribution of this entire article, text and / or graphic, is permitted in any medium, but please include the credit:
Written by RedGlitter of VALA https://redglitterx.wordpress.com/
or at least a link to this page, that would be nice

Vegan Bootcamp: 101 days of Animal Rights Activism

This post is the first in a series that will cover Animal Rights Activism from as many angles as possible. Tactics, techniques, methods, historical figures, current controversies, inspirational essays-quotes-graphics, campaigns, movements – from education, agitation, resistance to revolution.

People don’t care if you’re upset. They care when you organize. – Al Sharpton

It was Gandhi who said “if you do nothing, there will be no result“, so, the time for talking is over.

Now is the time to act. It’s time to get organised.
First, you have to make the decision that you want it… no, it’s more than that, you NEED it, you NEED to be an Active participant in the struggle for Animal Rights.

For many ARA’s (Animal Rights Activists) that I have met, they can’t live any other way. They simply cannot live a life without putting the fight for animal rights front and centre of almost everything they do.

Today, is about making that decision. You know you want to, have to be an Activist. You can no longer sit by and do nothing while animals are suffering. You have reached a point in your life where you must do something.

If you hear about some unspeakable horrendous act of cruelty against an animal, or you hear about the billions upon billions of animal killed for food each year, or any other act of abuse and you find yourself saying “Somebody must do something… and I think that somey will be me.” then it’s time to learn, act, think, agitate and bring about changes in the world.

And if you already are an AR Activist, then you will know that you have made the right decision.
For Animal Rights Activists, there are two questions:

–1–

What do we want?

–2–How will we get it?

This can be summed up simply as “Objectives” and “Tactics“.
1. Objectives (the ENDS)
What those Objectives / Goals are may vary between individuals; long term education or short term direct action*, local or global, educate one person or agitate for a change in legislation.

2. Tactics (the MEANS)
Tactics, strategy, methods, plans, to-do-list, techniques – using the most appropriate method for your personal circumstance and objectives. This will vary depending on the desired outcome.
Although, I will cover these in more depth in a follow up piece soon, ‘Planning a Campaign’, a few quick words about Objectives and Tactics.

Getting 5000 names on a petition isn’t an objective, a petition is a tactic to achieve the specific goal. If spending time, money and energy on doing something doesn’t get you close to your goal, then why are you doing it?

Raising awareness is not an objective – you raise awareness, and then what? – you raise awareness so that people will change their behaviour, raising awareness is a tactic.

Networking, socialising, hanging out on social networks are not objectives, that are part of a tactic. Ah, you say, but I like hanging out with my friends. Ok, we all need down-time, some hours to switch off and recharge the brain, let go of the negative tension.

Knowledge without action is useless; action without knowledge is dangerous. – D. L. Chu

What’s Next?

Once you have your Objectives and planned your Tactics, then comes another crucial part of all . . . ACTION.

Napoleon Bonaparte, the French military and political leader said: “A Revolution is an idea which has found its bayonets.” (or as I say: A revolution is a theory with an army.)

Or to paraphrase a leading animal welfare advocate “The philosophers can debate the revolution, but the Bandits must carry it out”.

This is not a suggestion that violence is necessary for a Vegan Revolution** – instead, after all the theorising about Animal Rights, the thinking, planning, debating, in the end, the work still needs to be done.

The military call this “boots on the ground” – those people will to carry out the plans, physically do the work – and often times in AR Activism, the person deciding the plan of action is the same person who is carrying it out.

Activism doesn’t require a lot of people, just dedicated people doing what needs to be done.

As Margaret Mead said: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

Do it, and don’t be distracted by people who would tear you down. The haters for some reason are unable to act on their own, and so seek to destroy those who are.

Lead, follow, or get out of the way. — Thomas Paine

Time to stop Feeding the Trolls.

I think most of us have met an ARA at some point, who you just know doesn’t do anything practical, they are “Facebook Crusaders”, you know, the kind of person who says to you:
‘See here, in this 1984 essay you wrote, you said “factory farm”, but all farms involve cruelty… what are you some kind of enabler or something, you are as Evil as a viviesector’.

The Anti-Activists attack you, and other ARAs all of the time, they follow you from blog to blog, from forum to social network, always reminding you of the time you said “factory farm” not “farm”.

They never work on a campaign of their own. You start to think – is this All that you do? have all the animal exploiters suddenly disappeared, and left you with so much free time that you can launch character assassinations on people who are actually doing something for the animals!

And then finally when you tell them you are not wasting any more of your time debating them, you are walking away – they declare they have “won”.

Facebook is not the battle, Facebook is a tool. If these TROLLS think they have “won” something by harassing animal rights activists, then they are not in it for the Animals.

And, what do you “WIN” by continuing to engage with them – nothing much.

If the Anti-Activists are distracting you, they are stealing your time and energy that you could use saving animals. See the trolls for what they are – COLLABORATORS.

You can accomplish a lot of good in the world if you don’t care who gets the credit for it. – Myles Horton

Next post in this series: Rules For Radicals
The phrase “Vegan Bootcamp” comes from the book, ‘Vegan Bootcamp: Guide to Animal Rights Activism’, it inspired me to do a series of posts on AR activism.

*Direct Action
Although some people think direct action means ‘violence’, that is not necessarily so:
Lee Hall “Veganism is direct action“.
**Revolutions can be peaceful.
There are some who hear the word “revolution” and think Molotov’s and Kalashnikov’s, balaclavas and bombs, however, Revolutions can be peaceful, they are simple a change. It could be a change in government, it could be a change in thought process.

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Post 2011 ‘Vegan Animal Liberation Alliance’. Copying and distribution of this entire article, text and / or graphic, is permitted in any medium, but please include the credit:
Written by RedGlitter of VALA https://redglitterx.wordpress.com/
or at least a link to this page, that would be nice

Alert: Seal Shepherd is back

WARNING

Every year, when the annual seal slaughter in Canada rolls around, so do the warnings against the man known as “Seal Shepherd”.

https://twitter.com/sealshepherdlie/status/49162397386162177
click Retweet to tweet directly from this page
For continuing and breaking updates regarding this fraud: follow @sealshepherdlie on twitter

The profile picture he tends to favour most often is a generic image of a 2009 Suzuki GSX R1000 K9,

if you see this image on any save the seals / Animal Rights social media accounts and the person is not talking about motorbikes, proceed with caution

One of the best blogs that go into great detail, with lots of research is SpookieCats

– Seal Shepherd – One Man, Dozen Of Accounts, Emails, Profiles and Personalities

– Michael McDade aka Seal Shepherd aka Seal Shepherd aka Seal Shepherd X: SOCIOPATH
(although, where is the consistency, killing seals is bad, wearing leather is good as he does in one of the pictures on this page – because he is not about consistency, he is about cyber bullying women, abuse, and raising money to “save seals”)

– Seal Shepherd – the New Stalker, Bully and Cyberpath

– Seal Shepherd. Confused Animal Savior or Manipulating Sociopath?
here he claims he is not an animal rights activist, and thinks such people are ridiculous,

This: is Rescue Ink’s warning against Seal Shepherd

– Negotiation Is Over: WARNING ALL ACTIVISTS: THIS MAN IS DANGEROUS

the exact same Negotiation Is Over post is reproduced here “Cyber Stalking by Michael McDade (Seal Shepherd)
(Btw, Ann Berlin, completely off topic, but since Ive had to put up with your abuse before and hope to reference you as little as possible, Im taking this opportunity to say that defending the use of animal products, such as butter, even if it is by the real Sea Shepherd doesn’t make it vegan, regardless of how many whales Sea Shepherd saves, And how different is your claim to be “Animal Liberation Front Worldwide news and information resource” any different from McDade’s claim to be the boss of ALF in Canada?)