Final Exit

Well as some of you may have noticed I have not been that active with online AR in recent times, this is mainly because I am trying to do more real world activities over online stuff. Along with this evolution of action for myself I have decided to finally hang up the ARB & Dev Ious Boots.

I will be adding some of those activists I know and respect on my own personal FB.

Cheers to all those who have supported ARB over the years it has been a blast at times :)

Anyone wishing to use the Animal Rights Book (ARB) name for animal rights is free to do so, they can also use the ARB graphics if they want on the condition that it is always connected to the animal rights movement!

I am currently considering blogs, websites or other online work but this will be under my own name and not that of ARB or Dev Ious

ARB over and out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Family Values....

Last night I had another one of those fucked up Q&A sessions with my meat eating sister and her other half which resulted in me leaving scratching my head once again wondering how on earth I am related to these people. From conversations with other AR activists and vegans/vegetarians I know I am not the only one that is thinking of getting onto one of those madcap chat shows and demanding a DNA test.

The conversation started quite innocently with an aunts concern for her niece, she asked me how my daughters job hunting was coming along. My daughter is at college and is looking for some evening or weekend work for extra income but due to the economic situation in the UK hasn't had much luck so far. I explain she is struggling to get any work but is trying her best, this is when the by now boring attack on the AR lifestyle and vegan diet is slipped in. Through conversations with me and my daughter she has learned that my daughter who is an AR activist and vegan would never work for certain companies or industries such as Mcdonalds, KFC, Burger King ect...... because this would go against her moral beliefs.
So now my sis says if my daughter wasnt so stubborn she could get a job at McDonalds who are always looking to employ young students, STUBBORN?????
I bite my tongue and once again try to explain (all the time knowing I will never again get this wasted 5 minutes of my life back) why it is so morally wrong for my daughter to work in such a place blah blah fucking blah........

I can see from the way I am talking to the back of her head and she is concentrating more on facebook farmville than what I am saying that its not really getting through. "Would she work in a supermarket"? she asked, I explained of course she would as long as it wasnt the meat or fish department. "they sell meat in supermarkets" was her reply! By now my head is starting to hurt a little and my eyes are meeting in the middle, keep in mind I have been through about 100 similar conversations with my sis and all end in the same way, she doesnt get it! I then try to explain the facts about McDonalds having horrendous animal welfare ethics (in the sense they actually have none) and as a business they contribute massively to the meat industry therefore are considered an enemy in the eyes of any true animal rights activist.

I then get the lecture from both my sis and her other half about doing anything to keep a roof over our heads and paying the bills with the comment "even cavemen had to find a cave and supply food", they insisted morals should not come into the equation. I sighed and asked them if they were starving or homeless would they sell a 6 year old child into slavery so they can eat or pay the rent? Of course the answer was no and tensions were raised, they then proceeded to tell me that was not the point while I tried to point out the reason they wouldnt sell the child into slavery to fund their own financial comfort is because it would be morally wrong!

Thinking I had made a good point and slightly hoping I got through a little (forgetting my past failures for a second) I cross my fingers. Nope, instead I got a strong defensive wall and them trying to make me realise I hadnt understood the conversation and there was no point in having this conversation if I wasnt going to listen to them.

So there it was, a pointless waste of energy and time yet again. Why do I keep wasting my time trying to explain the rights and wrongs of mankind to people who just cannot or will not understand it? I suppose its a little obsession about my love for the animals and the AR movement as well as a huge chunk of hope that one day I may actually break through that hard shell of ignorance and plant a seed in the soft centre of their heart. At the end of the day what is the point of the animal rights movement if we dont have hope, a lot of what we wish for cannot be achieved without hope!

Vegans against PETA

I just seen this logo plastered all over facebook by the twilight zone admin Carolyn Bailey linked to a blog post from the Gary Francione wannabe Dan Cudahy. If it wasnt so serious and sad this would be absolutely hilarious, another of the online hermits attempts to divide and conquer! I'm no psychic but I could easily predict this group of self obsessed idiots will soon be starting a new campaign called "Vegans against Vegans" but then again arent they already active in this? We all know they spend their time speaking out against every action by activists that they deem inappropriate under the false pretence its bad for the movement! They claim ownership of an animal rights movement which in many ways clashes with their so called belief system.

Yes these people are a small minority of invaders to the REAL movement and in reality we shouldnt worry about which part of AR they are campaigning against now but at the same time I have always said there are potentially excellent activists out there being fed this bullshit and buying into it. PETA isnt perfect and a long shot short of being the organisation we would all like to see them be but isnt there much more important targets to be concentrating our energy on?

Soon we will see the twilight zone and its insane admins joining forces with the People Eat Tasty Animals idiots in their unbalanced attempts to bring down or discredit PETA

There are enough anti PETA groups out there without the vegans who hate vegans getting in on the act. I say these people are a disgrace not only to the movement they claim to be a part of but the animals they claim to be here for, can they really get any lower?

Thankfully the real AR movement continues great work while these fools play with their distractions on the sidelines and the majority of AR activists are dedicated to the animals. My advice to anyone new to the movement is to avoid these people like the plague and stay focused on what's important. The animals need us more than ever and bashing other orgs or groups who are primarily on the same side is as much use top the animals as vivisection is to human health!

Pete Bethune Hub Guest Chat Review

Yesterday on the AR Social Hub we were lucky enough to have as our guest Mr Pete Bethune, the captain of the Ady Gil sea vessel which was sank by a Japanese whaling ship during a Sea Shepherd Campaign early 2010. he then single handedly boarded the Japanese whaling ship responsible for the attack on the Ady Gil which led to his arrest and trial by the Japanese authorities. now he is back and proving himself as a worthy speaker and campaigner for a number of issues including Animal Rights. before the chat I had heard from a certain group who had entertained Pete as a guest on their site that he was a hypocritical meat eater out to make a quick buck off the back of his sudden fame within the environmental and AR communities. To be entirely honest I would not have asked Pete to be a guest on the hub so soon after he had been a guest on another site. However pete had been invited before by the WAAR administration and I fully respected that.

The guest chat with Pete didnt get off to the best of starts since due to a misunderstanding about times Pete was late coming onto the Hub. As always with these open chats (no predetermined questions) it was a little chaotic at the beginning but once things had settled down hub members asked Pete some excellent questions and I have to say he gave respectable answers.

There were questions about his time in Japanese custody to which Pete told us the Japanese were excellent hosts and very friendly, all apart from a sergeant who was a little rough with him. Then came a question about whether or not there would be an Ady Gil 2, Pete explained the problem of the costs of such an undertaking for Sea Shepherd but he was unsure at the present time whether this would be possible. he did say SS were trying to secure another ship to the value of $1 million at the moment. Then the issue of Pete's dietary lifestyle came into play, he was asked to comment on how he could be so emotionally attached to the plight of other living beings when he himself is not vegetarian or vegan. At first I have to admit his answer surprised me, he stated he had only eaten meat twice since his liberation from Japan. There was a definite silence in the hub chat after this and I am pretty sure most activists in there where thinking the same thing. How could Pete say this as if it were a good thing, how could such a prominent figure in the world of AR have such views. Pete then continued to explain that he was trying very hard to lead a full vegetarian lifestyle which would eventually lead to a fully vegan diet for him. I am sure there were still mixed emotions about this in the chat but for me if its a case of encourage or depress I always think it best to encourage. Pete said he was trying to be honest with us and I must admit I admired his bravery to come into a dedicated animal rights site like the hub and yet still announce his struggle with his dietary lifestyle. As I said in the chat yesterday I fully believe veganism to be a stepping stone journey which has to be given encouragement throughout the journey by those who have made that journey, to ridicule or repel such travellers only serves to alienate possible vegans from completing that journey.

Before I knew it we were well over the hour mark and although Pete was willing to hang around an unfortunate incident occurred with other activists (not loyal members of the hub) who decided to make the situation difficult.

Overall the guest chat with Pete Bethune was highly interesting and I am glad I was able to attend. I found Pete to be both an admirable and honest person who I hope makes that journey to veganism to enhance his AR activism. Thanks to Pete for being the Hubs guest and to the members for making it a remember-able guest chat.

As the hubs first guest chat I look forward to more :)