David Shankbone's Comments

@evilbeagle - she hasn't condoned the ALF, she also refuses to publicly condemn them, as we discussed in my interview:

http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Ingrid_Newkirk,_co-founder_of_PETA,_on_animal_rights_and_the_film_about_her_life

Make of that what you will. And obviously with such an answer as to her ALF stance, anything *can* be made of that by any side, support or oppose PETA.

From my perspective, it is difficult to get people to think about the suffering humans inflict on animals unless we keep them as our pets. Your nod to factory farming is appreciated. I agree - I think that slaughter should be humane.

By the way - I still eat meat. Though I really think I'm going to end that. Ingrid once sent me a box of refrigerated vegan food in an effort to sway me. It did, for a bit, but then I fell back into steak. I don't eat much meat; hardly any. However, I went out to an organic farm in Israel and I have to say, even when its done humanely, I think my own personal choice is that I just don't want to eat other animals anymore. I kind of fell for this baby goat:

http://blog.shankbone.org/2009/03/26/keeping-up-with-the-blog-from-israel/

Cheers, evilbeagle. I think the one thing we should at least all agree upon is that we should be killing humanely, and not ripping off the skin of live animals as they hang to be slaughtered. Hopefully at least humane slaughter is something we can agree upon? The cost-effective methods are there, and in use. Just not by everybody.

David
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Thank you for crediting my photograph of Ingrid. I interviewed her for Wikipedia/Wikinews back in 2007, and I found her one of the sweetest, most intelligent, kindest people I have ever met. We only had one interaction, but when I was scheduled to go to Brazil for Wikimedia and I couldn't find someone to watch my dog that week, she offered to have her Mom watch him for me. She barely knew me. I was not a member of PETA, and I eat meat.

Yes - Ingrid is an activist and she is passionate about her love of animals. Whilst most of us could not relate to what she has desires to do with her remains, it's not a sign of lunacy. It's a sign she believes in what she does, and wants to go out making a statement. We should all be so lucky to feel so intensely about something we think is so right--animal rights, in her case--that we are willing to dedicate our lives to that cause as opposed to sit in our cubicles day in, day out, pushing paper and drinking our apple martinis.

The last eight years we all sat around watching as the U.S. advocated torture, held people for years without trial, spied on our own citizens, allowed unchecked Wall Street greed, started a war based on lies, had one of our most important cities leveled by a hurricane, and re-elected the people who undertook it all. We all did nothing.

Frankly, I wish there were more people like Ingrid - at least she isn't bombing buildings. She an activists. She has beliefs. And she expresses them with her life. I find it admirable, she has my deepest respect, and she is a friend even though I don't believe completely in everything she and her organization advocates. That's a pretty damn amazing person.

It's too bad most of the posters above simply want to judge.

David Shankbone
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  • Member Since 2012/08/11


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