VIETNAM: LIVE PIG CHOPPED IN A BRUTAL FESTIVAL AT NEM THUONG VILLAGE

Source: Images of Pets

                         BRUTAL FESTIVAL IN VIETNAM

Source: Occupy for animals!

This is one Vietnamese festival that makes even non animal lovers cringe. 

Every year, at a village near Hanoi, a pig is brutally chopped into two so that people can smear banknotes with its blood in the belief that it would bring luck. 

Photo By KHAM/REUTERS

Farmer Nguyen Hung Truc waves battle flags as he portrays Doan Thuong, an anti-royal military general who lived in 13th century, during a festival at the Nem Thuong village in Bac Ninh, about 40 km (25 miles) north of Hanoi, January 28, 2012.

Organized by the villagers, the festival is held on the sixth day of the first month of the lunar calendar to worship the village's deity Doan Thuong.

Every year, thousands of people from the village and nearby villages will gather to smear the blood of the pig on their banknotes in the belief that it would bring luck in the new year. The festival is known as the most brutal in the country and is condemned by many, including some who called on the government to stop the festival.

Photo By KHAM/REUTERS

Villagers play traditional music as they take part in a festival at the Nem Thuong village in Bac Ninh, about 40 km (25 miles) north of Hanoi, January 28, 2012. 

Photo By KHAM/REUTERS

A pig is carried around the village during the festival...

Photo By KHAM/REUTERS

  

Photo By KHAM/REUTERS

Photo By KHAM/REUTERS

Photo By KHAM/REUTERS

A participant hacks the pig with a sword...

Photo By KHAM/REUTERS

Photo By KHAM/REUTERS

Villagers smear blood on banknotes...

Photo By KHAM/REUTERS

Source

Protest-letter
to the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam 

To whom it may concern 

I wish to express my deep concern about animal cruelty being conducted in the name of tradition in Vietnam.

On 28th of January 2012 - like every year - citizens at Nem Thuong village have celebrated their cruel festival during which a pig is brutally chopped into two. Every year, thousands of people from the village and nearby villages gather to smear the blood of the pig on their banknotes in the belief that it would bring luck in the new year. The festival is known as the most brutal in your country and is condemned by many, including some who called already on your government to stop the festival.

No one can adequately explain why these practices are carried out year after year – except to say they are "traditional". This however is not a valid argument to continue these practices.

I urge the Government of Vietnam to abolish the above practice for the following reasons:

1.  It hurts the animals – contrary to what many believe, animals suffer tremendously before and during such festivals.

2.  It hurts us - cruelty against animals harms society as a whole; it signals and normalizes insensitivity in children who can become numb to the suffering of living beings. It is also known to influence certain people to commit violence to other humans.

3.  It is bad for tourism - as tourists are abhorred by such practices, the festival will have an adverse effect on tourism, an industry which provides the country with much-needed financial returns. Those foreigners who experience or come to know of this practice leave Vietnam confused and with a heavy heart, rather than uplifted by its paradoxical beauty and friendliness.

I implore you to end these violent practice and help Vietnam move towards a truly peaceful country in keeping with its international image.

I trust that you will support these measures (which are becoming more widespread around the world) and thus promote non-violent cultural practices in Vietnam. Until such a time, however, I regret that it will be necessary to boycott Vietnam both as a tourist and by way of commerce and to encourage others to participate in a boycott as well.

Yours sincerely,


.....................................................................
please sign with your name and address



INSTRUCTIONS:
Please copy and paste the above text (or chose you own words) and send it to the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam using their contact form on their website:
http://www.vietnam.gov.vn/portal/page/portal/English/contact 
You can also send an email to the embassy of Vietnam in your country, or to your country's embassy in Vietnam. Email addresses can easily be found using the following online portal:
http://www.embassyworld.com/embassy/Vietnam/vietnam.htm 

  The Petition

Please SIGN our ONLINE PETITION to be delivered to the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnamhttp://www.gopetition.com/petitions/ban-the-brutal-festival-at-nem-thuong-village-vietnam.html

Thank you very much for your signature and for speaking out against this brutal tradition.

Source link:
http://www.occupyforanimals.org/the-brutal-festival-at-nem-thuong-village-vietnam.html

HUMAN CARNIVORES: COOKING MEATS IS RISKY FOR YOUR HEALTH

Chef cooking meat. Source: International Business Times.

Source: NCBI

AIRBORNE MUTAGENS PRODUCED BY FRYING BEEF, PORK AND A SOY-BASED FOOD

Thiébaud HP, Knize MG, Kuzmicky PA, Hsieh DP, Felton JS.

Department of Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Davis 95616, USA.

Food and Chemical Toxicology

Volume 33, Issue 10, October 1995, Pages 821–828

Abstract

Airborne cooking by-products from frying beef (hamburgers), pork (bacon strips) and soybean-based food (tempeh burgers) were collected, extracted, tested for mutagenicity and chemically analysed. The fumes generated by frying pork and beef were mutagenic, with 4900 and 1300 revertants/g of food cooked, respectively. No mutagenicity was detected in fumes from frying tempeh burgers.

Bacon fried to a well-done but non-charred state was eight times more mutagenic in a microsuspension Ames/Salmonella test (TA98 with S-9) than hamburgers and about 350 times more mutagenic than tempeh burgers.

Among food samples cooked to a well-done, non-charred state, bacon strips had almost 15-fold more mass (109.5 ng/g) than that of the beef, whereas no heterocyclic amine (HCA) was detected in the fried tempeh burgers. 2-Amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP) was the most abundant HCA, followed by 2-amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (MeIQx) and 2-amino-3,4,8-trimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (DiMeIQx).

No 2-amino-9H-pyrido[2,3-b]indole (A alpha C) was detected in the food samples fried at about 200 degrees C, although it was present in the collected airborne products. The total amounts of HCAs in the smoke condensates were 3 ng/g from fried bacon, 0.37 ng/g from fried beef and 0.177 ng/g from fried soy-based food.

This study indicates that cooks are potentially exposed to relatively high levels of airborne mutagens and carcinogens and that long-term sampling inside restaurants and kitchens may be warranted in order to assess the potential risk of prolonged exposure.

Link:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7590526

NB. Abstract (modified for easier reading)
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Read more:

2-Amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine 

2-amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline 

2-amino-3,4,8-trimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (also found in fish meats)

REPORTAJE DE ALIMENTOS TRANSGENICOS CENSURADO EN CHILE

Gundhramns Hammer

25 de septiembre de 2012

                      

El hombre árbol. Fuente: El Rastreador de Noticias.

Las compañías de biotecnología están empeñadas a reestructurar el genoma de cuanto organismo caiga en sus manos. Se supone que los organismos modificados genéticamente beneficiarán a toda la humanidad en general y la prensa pagada por intereses económicos nos venden esa utopía.

Pero lo que pocas veces los medios de comunicación nos cuentan es los efectos negativos sobre la salud y el medio ambiente. No nos dicen claramente que en definitiva las plantas transgénicas (ej., maíz Bt) son organismos resistentes a herbicidas (Roundup Ready), los cuales son nocivos para los humanos y demás seres vivos. 

En otras palabras, la producción de los alimentos transgénicos requiere el uso intensivo de productos agroquímicos, incluyendo herbicidas. Cuando consumimos maíz transgénico, por ejemplo, también comemos herbicidas. Así de claro. 

Las plantas transgénicas más ampliamente cultivadas son algodón (Gossypium spp.), la soja (Glycine max), el arroz (Oryza sativa), el maíz (Zea mays) y la canola (Brassica napus).

El siguiente reportaje nos informa sobre los alimentos transgénicos y las implicaciones de su consumo en la salud humana y su efecto en el medio ambiente:

Disclaimer: the posting of stories, commentaries, reports, documents and links (embedded or otherwise) on this site does not in any way, shape or form, implied or otherwise, necessarily express or suggest endorsement or support of any of such posted material or parts therein.

STARLINGS (STURNUS VULGARIS): GREAT AIR ACROBATS, MELODIOUS SINGERS AND VERY IMPORTANT TO FARMERS

By Hugo M. G. von Österreich und von Toskana

Member of the Union of Concerned Scientists (USA)

September 21, 2012

We have countless of miracles right in front of our own faces wherever we care to look at on this beautiful planet. All we have to do is open out hearts and pay more attention to our surroundings. And behold them!! 

One of these miracles is the aeronautical display of thousands of starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) flying up and down like a single entity and yet separate before they settle for the night on Ot Moor in England (Video 1).

                                                       Video 1. Starlings on Ot Moor.

Thoughout the year and especially during Spring starlings gladen our souls with their melodious tunes (Video 2).

                                                           Video 2. Starling singing.


The Ecological Services of Starlings

Starlings are considered pests but this kind of thinking is totally wrong. New research is proving that these birds are very beneficial to farmers as excellent biological control agents. They are insectivores (Fig 1).

Figure 1. Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) with load of insects. Source: RSPB.

More than 57% of the annual food of adult starlings is composed of animal matter including insects, spiders, snails and other invertebrates picked up in the fields in the United States (Kalmach, 1928). 

In other parts of the world the intake of animal matter is much higher. For instance in New Zealand starlings consume up to 90% animal foods while only 10% consists of cereal and weed seeds. The study revealed the insect orders Coleoptera and Lepidoptera to be most important (Coleman, 1972,1977).

Fruit farmers see starlings as a nuissance. Nevertheless fruits such as cherries form 2.66% of the starlings annual diet, but this consumption is restricted to June and July when it forms 15-17%, as pointed out by some researchers in the United States. 

The value of the insect-feeding habits of starlings outweigh by far their fruit-feeding habits. In some areas of the United States farmers have discovered this fact and are now attracting starlings to their properties by placing nesting boxes in trees and fence poles. This way these birds can control the insects in the plantations.

The ecological services of starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) as biological control agents are very important and what is more they are free of charge to us! 

Read more...

Starlings are disappearing in Europe

Starlings are in trouble throughout the European Union including the UK. They are declining at an alarming rate. It is estimated that 40 million starlings have disappeared from this continent since 1980. 

In the UK, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has launched an important research project to find out the reasons behind the starlings decline. You can help by contacting the RSPB here.

Environmental pollution is most likely the culprit of their population crash. Whatever is affecting them in the end will affect us as well.

Let us show Starlings love and respect!

References

Coleman J.D. (1972). The Feeding Ecology, Productivity and Management of Starlings in Canterbury, New Zealand. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Canterbury, New Zealand. 121 p.

Coleman J.D. (1977). The Foods and Feeding of Starlings in Canterbury. Proc. New Zealand Ecol. Soc., 24: 94-109.

Kalmach E. R. (1928). The European Starling in the United States. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Farmer´s Bull. Nº 1571: 1-27.

SIN MAQUILLAR: EL MUNDO SUCIO DE LOS COSMETICOS

Fuente: This is South Wales

Fuente: YouTube

15/VIII/2012

Justo que esta semana se retiraban 11 cremas y lociones cosméticas de los supermercados Mercadona. por sus posiblemente nocivos componentes, OtraTVesPosible desvela, en pleno mes de agosto, cuando las TV´s de España se van de vacaciones, lo que realmente se esconde detrás de tantos y tantos cosméticos que nos untamos en piel, ojos, pelos, etc... Revelador, y muy preocupante. 

Que pena que el usuario español no tenga derecho a saber nada de esto, desde su televisor. Unicamente y ocultando la grave verdad, sin ir al fondo, sin explicarle el por qué exacto, que "11 productos cosméticos han sido retirados de Mercadona"...

Alemán/Español

Link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwbo0jkwPDQ&list=UUPh58_1IWrglAFxKlfAOgSQ&index=2&feature=plcp

QUEEN ELIZABETH II WILL GET £38M A YEAR FROM AN OFFSHORE WINDFARM: SHE OWNS THE SEABED

Source: Musings of a Pertinacious Papist.

A windfarm off the Kent coast is making the Queen of England richer. The Royals will get £37.5 extra income every year for green energy because the Crown owns the seabed.

Read the whole story Here

THE GREAT LAKES CONSPIRACY: BLUE GOLD, GREEDY BILLIONAIRES AND POWER TO CHINA

Water is so valuable that is known as Blue Gold. It is so precious that only 2% of the world´s supply is drinkable. We cannot live without it. Fresh water has become a strategic resource, so much so that in the near future wars will be fought over it.

Jesse Ventura and his team expose the conspiracy: Greedy billionaires rushing to control the drinkable water to sell it back to us more expensive than gasoline, the world oligarchs are buying the water rights to control nations and populations, and sneaky corporations are draining the Great Lakes dry.  The end game is to increase the power of China.

Let us see what Jesse Ventura has uncovered:

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