First, the more lighthearted stuff:
I need a black dress shirt for my concerts this weekend. I'd prefer not to buy one. I have a shirt in the proper shade of purple, but it's in a box somewhere. So, anyone got a nice, not-shiny, black button-down shirt that I can borrow for this weekend? Pretty please?
I managed to get a pass to a showing of the movie The Producers for on Monday. The movie starts at seven, we'd need to be there by about six. First person to say they wanna go, gets to come with. The pass is for just two people.
In other movie-ish news, Food Fight! is hosting a fundraiser next Wednesday. 7pm, Hollywood theatre. $3 to see History of the World Part 1. It's a Mel Brooks movie, and I haven't seen it. It's a benefit for Lighthouse Farm Sanctuary. I can think of worse ways to spend the Winter Solstice.
Okay, now the more serious stuff:
There's been some discussion (relatively civil) in my LJ, about medical experiments being done on animals. So far I've managed to not get all AR(animal rights) on my friends. I don't want to alienate them. I don't want to get into arguments about it. I don't want to live up to people's expectations of The Obnoxious Vegan, any more than I want to be an example of The Man-Hating Feminist.
But I'd like to state the philosophical reasons for feeling the way I do. Most of these ideas are taken from Pete Singer. He wrote (among other things) the book Animal Liberation, which is still one the best on the subject. He's far better at explaining these things than I am, and I highly recommend his stuff. Some of it is excerpted over
here for perusing.
Anyone who's had a pet, or been around animals, knows that animals can feel pain (and here I'm talking about literal physical pain). If you accidentally step on the cat, or trip over your dog, they let you know they're experiencing physical pain.
How is an animal's pain different than mine? Or, what makes it less important than mine? Pain is pain is pain, whether we're talking about a rat in an experiment, a starving abandoned dog, a chicken getting its beak cut off with a hot knife, or me breaking my leg.
I don't want to knowingly do anything that causes pain on the part of another animal, human or otherwise. I don't think my pain is somehow more important than any other creature's pain.
Any justification I can think of, or that I've read, for using animals for medical research; would justify using severely retarded humans. Because they're stupid? Because they won't remember it? Because they experience pain "differently"?
I'm going to come out and say it: I think causing animals pain for medical research is wrong.
As far as food goes, I think that raising an animal in conditions that cause anguish and pain during most if not all of its life, and often then killing it, just because I think their flesh or milk or eggs taste good, is wrong. Don't kid yourself: If you buy your meat or eggs or milk at the grocery store (often, even if it's organic or otherwise labeled--except for the word "organic," none of it regulated), you are causing non-human animals to lead shitty miserable lives to please your taste buds. Hell, for that matter, you're causing
humans to lead miserable lives. Slaughterhouse workers have the highest rate of injury of any kind of work, and nothing is done about it because most of them are undocumented immigrants who can't complain.
I'm really freaking tired. Rehearsal went way over the time it was supposed to end, and I was on my feet all day at work too. So I'm crawling off to bed now.
In other news, getting my tear drains plugged makes my RGP lenses just fine. Unless something goes freaky, I'm going to be permanently switching to contacts. I hadn't worn them for a week, so I have to increase my wear time slowly again, but I should be able to wear them during my concerts. Kick ass.
EDIT: Have corrected who made the movie. Whoops. *lol*
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