Day 72: Thanksgiving massacre

Between You, Me and the Lamp Post

Day 72: Thanksgiving massacre

When a hundred people die individually, nobody knows, nobody cares. When a hundred people die together, it makes the news and it’s called a tragedy. 

When millions of turkeys are slaughtered, we call it Thanksgiving. 

Do you understand the picture above? We love cats, and dogs for that matter, but we mercilessly slaughter barn animals.

Why is that some animals are loved and others are killed without a second thought? 

Is it because cats and dogs are cute and barn animals are not? What does that say for people? Do those of us who are beautiful or at least good looking have more right to live than those of us less attractive?

A few days ago, millions of turkeys walked around happily. They felt the warmth of the sun, pecked at bugs in the grass, and enjoyed each other’s company. Today they sit golden brown on your table. Do you ever think what happened to them between then and now? They were grabbed and slaughtered.

If a million turkeys were killed, and each turkey had one liter of blood in him or her, that means a million liters of blood was spilled. Do you ever wonder what happens to so much blood? I Googled it and this is what I found:

It is taken to rendering plants with blood processing facilities, or disposed of in sewers (which lead into the nearest water body), in landfills or spread over land. Some amount is used to make human food and animal feed.

Frightening isn’t it, blood is disposed of in sewers that lead into the nearest water body ... that means blood ends up in rivers, lakes, and oceans. So when you swim in a river, lake or ocean, you’re actually swimming in blood.

Equally disgusting is the fact that some blood is used in human food. I Googled that too and found that blood is used in:

Pig or cattle blood is most often used. Typical fillers include meat, fat, suet, bread, rice, barley and oatmeal. Varieties include biroldo, black pudding, blood tongue, blutwurst, drisheen, kishka (kaszanka), morcilla, moronga, mustamakkara, sundae, verivorst, and many types of boudin.

So today, on Thanksgiving, don’t just give thanks for family, friends and all the good things you enjoy in life, thank the turkey who gave his life, for you. 

   

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Day 60: What’s the difference between a tiger and a turkey?

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 60: What’s the difference between a tiger and a turkey?

Last Saturday a tiger was shot dead in Paris, France, after escaping from a circus. The media reacted with outrage. People made comments such as

You KILLED an animal from GOD because he escaped from your torture and confinement!!! The GUN should be turned on all you CIRCUS freaks!!!!! Karma will visit you all! 

I cried my eyes out over this story, it's just so sad, and I'm trying to think of how to help other animals who are subjected to this kind of cruel captivity, and I keep thinking it's more than just this one owner, it's apathy, and lack of awareness and knowledge. I would say, don't shoot the owner (although I feel that way too), but take him to task, legally, and in so doing, change the laws around this behavior. Talk about this, petition, make the world aware. We must use our voice and speak for those who can't and change our attitudes and culture.

Another Innocent Animal Murdered ~ Why? Because he escaped being held a slave and wandered, the streets of Paris, probably trying to find his way back to his home ~ Because of HUMANS this Animal lost his breathing life ~ He lost his living Life when he was caged as a slave for this circus ~ Shame on all who keep Animals captive for their own selfish profits ~ RIP Beautiful Tiger

While I’m as outraged as thousands of others about caging this animal and killing it when it escaped, this incident got me thinking. 

Two days before the tiger was killed it was Thanksgiving in the United States, a day for which millions of turkeys were slaughtered but nobody said a word because the media didn’t report it. Did it occur to anyone to give thanks to the turkey as it sat golden brown on their dinner table?

What’s the difference between a tiger and a turkey? Is it because a tiger is a beautiful cat and a turkey is just a bird? What does that say about the human race? Do only the beautiful get to live? Man am I glad I’m not a turkey.

And it’s not just turkeys. Every day millions of animals get slaughtered (some after spending their entire short lives in cages) and hunters take to the field to kill. Why is nobody outraged about that?

Many will argue that animals are there to provide food for humans. To a certain degree, I agree but a lot of this meat gets wasted. How many turkeys were not eaten because of an argument that disrupted the meal? How many turkeys ended up in the bin because they were undercooked or burned? How many half-eaten turkeys were throw away because the bird was too big for the family? 

Every day we throw away food, whether it be beef, pork, chicken, or whatever.

What makes these animals any less than a tiger?

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Thank God I was awake

Some claim that Thanksgiving was celebrated in Canada as far back as 1578 when Martin Frobisher survived a long journey in his quest to find a northern passage from Europe to Asia. Others state Canadian Thanksgiving wasn’t properly observed until 1957 when it was established that this holiday would be celebrated on the second Monday of October.

https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/canada/thanksgiving-day

Personally, I didn’t celebrate Thanksgiving. Being born and raised in Belgium, the holiday doesn’t mean anything to me. Other than that, I’m not fond of the traditional food … turkey.

That being said, that doesn’t mean that I’m not thankful for a number of things. Family, a few good friends, a great number of acquaintances, a reasonably good health, and life in general. We should always keep in mind … no matter how bad it gets, there’s always someone who is worse of.

As for giving thanks … yesterday I did exclaim “Thank God.”

Let me explain.

After going to bed, I prepared for half an hour or so of reading. Reading helps me relax. Propped up against two pillows I picked up my Kindle (I’m getting quite used to electronic reading) and continued with “The Melody Lingers On” From Mary Higgins Clark. An excellent read by the way.

Suddenly, through my eyelashes, I saw something. When I looked up I saw that it was a medium sized spider coming down from the ceiling on an almost invisible thread.

Good Lord, with considerable speed I scrambled out bed all the while calling for my son, “Dieter … Dieter … DIETER!”

He could hear that something was wrong, so he quickly pulled on his jeans and t-shirt and came to my room.

“Look, a spider,” I said, “Go get a shoe.”

Even though there are plenty of shoes in my room, but Dieter went to go get one of his own.

The spider, perhaps knowing of his imminent demise, didn’t waste time. While it has almost reached the duvet of my bed, it quickly clambered back up again on his thread. So fast was he that by the time Dieter came back with a shoe, the spider was back on the ceiling.

Dieter climbed on my bed, aimed the shoe at the spider and … true to male form, he missed and the spider fell on the duvet. This had me screaming in panic. If the spider couldn’t be found, I could never sleep in this bed again.

Fortunately, the nasty creature was spotted and Dieter proceeded to knock the spider over the head again and again until it was dead and I said, “Thank God I was still awake.”

Can you imagine if I had gone to sleep without reading a few pages of my book first? That monster would have come down from the ceiling and landed on my bed, free to wander around. Eeeeewwwww!!!!!

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