Sara Kaffashi - Environmental Economist in Southeast Asia

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sara-Kaffashi/289976778037

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That's 169.9 on a TYPICAL scale of 1 to 5.

World Day for the Abolition of Meat

It's global.

World Day for the Abolition of Meat

Organize your event in your city and post info on the Facebook wall (below)

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=254021199199&ref=mf

• The next World Day for the Abolition of Meat will be held on 30th January 2010 (Saturday).
• This day is intended as a means of promoting the idea of abolishing the murder of animals for food. Worldwide six million sentient beings are killed for their meat every hour!
• That figure doesn't even count the fish and other sea animals, which of course are included in the demand for the abolition of meat.
• Meat consumption causes more suffering and death than any other human activity and is completely unnecessary.
• Many groups will mobilize to promote the abolition of meat (and other animal products). They will not only advocate vegetarianism and veganism to individuals but will call for society to abandon the practice of killing animals for food. We hope that this initiative will strengthen the animal rights movement over the years.
• It is important to address people not only as consumers but also as citizens like the anti-slavery activists who, although only a small minority, not only sought a boycott of sugar produced by slaves but also clearly expressed the idea that slavery should be banned.

It is important today to question society as a whole about the murder of animals for food so that it can no longer avoid a public debate on the legitimacy of this practice.
On 30 January conferences, street actions, leafleting, and information stands will be organized to spread the idea that the consumption of meat cannot be justified ethically and should therefore be abolished just as human slavery was in its time.

You CREATE an event.  Have you created an event where you are?

I suggest a do-it-yourself event like a barrage of any set of media sources with carefully-crafted e-mail messages about how meat is needless, tastes for meet can be satisfied TODAY with other foods (and in vitro meat is in the offing, which means that even carnivorous animals can have food without killing other animals - in the foreseeable future; no ETA is yet available), and a world without animal agriculture is the kinder, gentler world that the survival and development of human life requires.

That simple rationale can be endorsed by all dietary vegans without violating any humans 'rights' or claims or preferences or socially-conditioned tastes, which I think is ALL that most resistance to the abolition of animal agriculture is about.

Our Planet Weekly - Week of September 27th, 2009

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Week of September 27th, 2009

You are receiving Our Planet, our FREE newsletter, because you provided your e-mail to us at an event, on emagazine.com, or through the mail. If you do not wish to receive Our Planet, please use the link above to un-subscribe. NEWS THIS WEEK Brighter Idea Than the CFL May Soon Hit the Market Reported by Jessica Rae Patton Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), though far more energy efficient than their incandescent forbears, leave a lot to be desired. Go to all articles - Go to this article Grizzlies Make the List Reported by Jessica Rae Patton According to the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, "In the past two years grizzly mortality has risen alarmingly...[and] their future remains precarious." Go to all articles - Go to this article   Reporting by Jessica Rae Patton THIS WEEK'S COMMENTARY Igniting Activists It's the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day-Are You Ready to Get to Work? Last year, Earth Day took some heat by online green scorekeepers, but this year-the celebration's 40th-it's reasserting its prominence. By Brita Belli Go to all articles - Go to this article IN THE CURRENT ISSUE OF E GREEN LIVING Lessons from Etsy Tips for Taking Your Eco-Ideas Online Get crafty with home-biz tips from these eco-entrepreneurs. By Jessica A. Knoblauch Go to all articles - Go to this article CURRENTS Surviving the Downturn Environmental Nonprofits Face a New Economic Reality Environmental nonprofits are riding out the recession by joining forces-and office space. By Kristin Bender Go to all articles - Go to this article EARTHTALK Week of 9/27/09 Dear EarthTalk: As I understand it, hair salons are pretty toxic enterprises on many counts. Are there any efforts underway to green up that industry? Dear EarthTalk: Not long ago there were concerns about honey bees disappearing. Are the bees still disappearing, and if so do we know why and do we have a solution? Go to this week's EarthTalk WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT This content is brought to you as a free public service by E/The Environmental Magazine, which is published by Earth Action Network, Inc., a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization. Our address is 28 Knight Street, Norwalk, CT 06851. We ask that you: Subscribe to our magazine ($24.95/yr. US) Order a Free Trial Issue Make a tax deductible donation   Commentary Archive – News Archive

Believing Untruths - The Dangerous Lack of Critical Thinking

Monday, August 31, 2009

Believing Untruths - The Dangerous Lack of Critical Thinking

Sharon Begley has written an important essay in Newsweek, “Lies of Mass Destruction,” that every educator should read. Begley explores the strange, but ubiquitous, tendency of people to believe untruths even when there is massive evidence to contradict them. Whether it’s the persistent belief among many that Saddam Hussein was responsible for the 9/11 attacks, or the current beliefs about “death panels” (among other misinformation) in the pending health care reform proposals, we humans consistently believe things that simply are not true.

At the risk of raising the ire of my readers who believe in many unsupported things (and I’m not naming any of these for fear of inciting that ire), I can only say that Begley has just touched the tip of the iceberg. We believe in countless unfounded, unproven, even preposterous ideas and religious dogmas (not to mention what might make for good scifi or fairy tales), and many of us don’t even flinch when we present these unfounded beliefs as truth and seek to proselytize.

One of my favorite bumper stickers reads: “Don’t let your mind be so open your brain falls out.” I worry that between the poles of open-mindedness and close-mindedness (often resulting in the same sorts of beliefs in untruths), there lies a vast arena that we are failing to cultivate: critical thinking.

Critical thinking was a hot button subject in the 90s, and every school was eager to ensure it was teaching this skill. Now it’s been relegated by many “back to basics” proponents as soft, liberal, untestable and far less important that passing those standardized tests.

But it is dangerous to neglect critical thinking. An inability to access information critically, especially in an Internet age of massive information and misinformation, leads to an inability to participate honestly and realistically in a democracy.

In the 20th century, a few dystopian novels, such as Brave New World and 1984, exposed the danger of mass thought. Ironically, there are plenty of people who believe silly things who consider themselves disciples of such books, whether on the left or the right. They may believe in unfounded conspiracies or false information, perceiving themselves as the true critical thinkers and the rest of us as duped.

The only solution I see to this pervasive tendency among people is to commit fully and wholeheartedly to cultivating critical thinking and inculcating healthy skepticism among youth. Yes, it means they may question their parents beliefs. Yes, it means they may question their teachers. Yes, it means they may question entrenched institutions and systems. It also means they may question peer pressure, advertisers’ unhealthy manipulations, and the health value of their cafeteria food (I just had to throw that in).

If we teach the next generation to be deep and hard-working thinkers, we will give them perhaps the most important skill people need to create healthy, productive, fair and just societies and systems.

~ Zoe Weil

Image courtesy of rossgram via Creative Commons.