Vegans vs. food snobs

[Re: “Fuck Canadians and vegans,” Nov. 1] It is very disturbing to hear Anthony Bourdain compare vegans with the Hezbollah. In times of increasing violence, environmental degradation, poverty, human rights violations and animal cruelty, people who speak out against violence and oppressive behaviour should be applauded. Vegans work very hard to make the world a better place for humans and animals.

Vegans are a diverse group of people: people of all races, classes, ethnicities and political beliefs who simply reject consuming the flesh and bodily fluids of animals.

This past week was World Vegan Day. Internationally, people celebrated living a cruelty-free and sustainable life. In choosing veganism, people choose to say no to violence (billions of animals are tortured, castrated, dismembered and skinned alive for meat/dairy), unequal food distribution (causing world hunger), climate change (UN states that a meat-based diet is one of the largest causes of global warming) and disease (mad cow disease, avian bird flu, SARS, cancer, heart disease and obesity), vegans should be very proud. Each vegan saves 95 animals a year!

In painting an ethical group of people as extreme, radical and violent, Mr. Bourdain and other food snobs take the spotlight off of the real issue in question: animal cruelty. The reality is that in order to put meat on the table, animals are kept in small, filthy cages, living in their faeces, with no veterinary care, inadequate food and water, castrated, teeth ripped out, skinned and scalded alive, blead to death etc.

Each year in Quebec, over 500,000 ducks are tortured, have metal pipes forced down their throats and often vomit up blood. This cruelty takes place to fatten up livers and make foie gras. I urge people to think a little harder, look at our undercover videos filmed in Quebec (www.gan.ca) and make your own decisions.

Who are the real perpetuators of violence? Who seeks to gain profit from this abuse? Consider pointing the finger at the real extremists, the real abusers. The police are currently investigating animal abuse at several foie gras facilities. If the cruelty upsets you, please consider joining our campaign against foie gras. Boycott IGA and help make a difference.

>> Lucas Solowey, Co-President,
Concordia Animal Rights Association

Bill 101 vs. hipsters

[Re: “Goodbye Montreal, again” Letters, Nov. 1] Along with Ms. Del Balso I am appalled by the amount of hate mail printed in your Letters section. But in spite of all the Zionist-anti-Zionist, hummus and falafel rage, guess who were the ones being labelled “brownshirts” and “Nazis” that particular week? The Parti Québécois leaders!

Publishing Mr. Gregory Azeff’s diatribe couldn’t be a better way of pouring oil on the accomodements raisonnables controlled fire. I suggest you guys at the Mirror meditate on the true sense of article 319 (2) of the Criminal Code, and see if Mr. Azeff’s comments can ever be defended under 319 (3). If you don’t exercise your judgment, you’ll end up being found guilty by association sooner than you think.

As to Mr. Azeff-in-exile, I shall remind him that the Quebec language issue is as cyclical as the seasons. Every 15 years or so, Quebecers have to reaffirm the French fact to newcomers, or those who are just too young to remember history.

In 2007, this statement could apply, for instance, to the Toronto-bred Pop Montreal prefab hipsters who settle in the 514 because “it’s sooooo coooool.” Unless we teach them about Bill 101 and the fragile balance it established back in ’77, their knowledge of local culture will obviously remain limited to mundanities such as “poutine” and “dépanneur.” They’ll miss everything about Paul Piché and Beau Dommage and—I’m becoming sarcastic I should stop right here.

>> Pierre-Etienne Paradis

Stop the brainwashing

Concerning your whole Palestine/Israel back and forth, I am very disappointed by my fellow human beings. Both Israel and Palestine are hampering the future for generations to come in that region.

The problem is that there are two types of brainwashing machines controlling the populations of this area, and both machines are competing for land and glory. These brainwashing machines exist only in the minds of the brainwashed. The brainwashed even like being brainwashed so much that they brainwash their children, indoctrinating them to not ask questions, think that doubt is bad, and believe in archaic writings by men who didn’t know that the world wasn’t flat.

I, and many others, would consider this child abuse. There is only one peaceful solution to the Palestine/Israel problem and that is to turn off the brainwashing machines. How do we do this? I don’t know for sure, but maybe we could demand embargos on both Israel and Palestine until they form secular governments. It sounds kinda weak, but it’s a start.

All there is to say in conclusion is that human rights should veto human nonsense.

>> Will Peters

Correction:

The correct contact number for the Queer É Action collective’s Radical Queer Week is (514) 475-JOIE.

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