Because It Made Me Grin
I share just a small fraction of the interesting, bizarre and downright creepy internet news stories that I come across in any given day. Today's news link will be no different.
PETA Cries Foul on KFC's Treatment of Chickens

And yes, this story is true and pure uncut comedy gold.
Sure, there's a real issue here (that of chickens being drugged, abused and then slaughtered inhumanely which isn't cool or good or laughable at all) but there's much that can and should be pointed out.

Things like PETA's director of vegan outreach, Bruce Friedrich. They have someone in charge of reaching out to the vegans? And the crux of the lawsuit is that KFC may be treating the animals legally but they shouldn't be lying about it on their website and in their ads. Oh and if they wanted to stop killing and eating chickens then that would be just fine too. Which really must be seen as an overriding and driving goal of PETA in any case. For what more ethical treatment of an animal could there be then to not slaughter it, cook it and eat it?

And the fact that PETA was indignant about their emails to KFC and their parent company, YUM Foods (which is a pretty sick and stupid name in its own right but we'll live it for now), about their deceptive wording on their site. And the fact that no one bothered to write them back. Which makes emminent sense really. If you were legally marketing and legally selling a good that a certain group of people had personal convictions against then would you really care about whatever they choose to yap about? I'm sure there are people within organizations like PETA that spend all day, everyday writing emails, newsletters and other missives to fast food companies and other organizations that they oppose.

And its their right to oppose them, don't misunderstand me at all. People in the USA can and should be able to protest whatever they choose to. Within limits and within the rules.

I eat with vegetarians all the time, I live with one and love one, and there's a more or less unspoken rule about the two camps. Don't piss on my dinner and I won't poo poo on your tofu (that one was for you, Ryan). Every so often some politico veggie ascends the soap box to yap at me about eating animals and how wrong it is. Some will try to disgust me by talking about the body parts I'm ingesting and how wrong it all is. None of this works. And, in fact, it can backfire horribly. Ever see a vegetarian recoil in horror because a meat eater decides to eat with his mouth open? So they can see the meat? Yeah. It puts an end to the soapboxing very, very quickly.

And strangely there's another facet to the issue. P is a vegetarian but eats seafood whenever we can. Lately I've been on a marinated skirt steak kick (well, more so than normal) and while I don't think she's overly tempted by it, I do know she can appreciate its alluring scent and how delicious it looks on the plate, the shiny glazed meat with drippings and charred parts (which are part of the experience for me and I wouldn't have it any other way).

As I've written before, I'm not a very selfish guy in general but get me around skirt steak and I don't want to share anymore. I want it all for myself. Its that good. It is, without a doubt, my most favorite food in the world, even surpassing my lifelong love affair with the God of Cheese, Reggiano Parmesano.

And on that tangent, I'll try to wrap this sucker up with a final thought. The inherent benefit of living with a vegetarian of never having to worry about sharing the skirt steak. She won't eat it so its all mine. ALL MINE! HAHAHAHAHA! Ahhhh, meat bliss!

Side Note/Question
I've been wondering this one for a while now and would like to pose it to the blogging audience, of which I know several are vegetarians.

Why is it more okay to yank fruits, nuts, vegetables and tubers out of the ground or lop them off a tree or other plant than to eat an animal? Is it because animals can display their desire to continue to live by running away or crying or whatever?

It can't be because plants don't feel pain, they do. Perhaps not in the same manner that you or I do, or that succulent fat chicken trying to run away from the chopping block but yes, plants do register and feel pain. Trees form scars where axes have hit them. Part of gardening involved pinching off parts to foster more growth in other areas.

So how can it be justified? My thought is that its more easily justifiable as the lesser of the evils and the fact that we've, as yet, not had to hear the screams of pain that plants make when they are plucked.

It reminds me of a Roald Dahl story I read years ago about an inventor who created a machine to listen to plant life. The inventor was shaken to his core by the screams of agony he heard when he tested the machine by whacking a tree with an axe.

Just because they don't have mouths to scream and legs to run away with doesn't mean that plant life isn't harmed terribly by the action of preparing it for consumption.

So how does that justification work?

My thought would be that the alternative would mean to eat rocks and they are notoriously low in digestable content. Perhaps that's the crux, digestable content. If its digestable then it must be alive or have been alive and if its been alive then it must have been able to feel pain and by feeling pain it is, effectively, the same as an animal.

Just some random thoughts but I would like to hear from some vegetarians about this to see if I can understand how it all works.