Towards Freedom

About 3 times a year I send money to different dog and cat rescue groups to pull dogs and cats from high kill shelters, especially those who are still gassing former pets to death. It's pretty awful to see these once beloved animals turned over to shelters for such frivolous excuses as: "we just had a baby and don't have time to care for our cat", or "we are now working longer hours and it is a shame to crate our poor dog all day long". The list of reasons for dumping pets is endless.

(Image generated by Microsoft Designer.)

This article deals with confusion and distress that can materialize for humans who put cats on vegan diets.

You want to get good on the internet so you can get things done effectively and efficiently. This article will show you how.

Fallacious argumentations in animal rights and vegan discussions are identified according to the rules of logic. This guide exposes standard logical fallacies that repeatedly appear and demonstrates their invalidity.

Fireworks are a severe problem for many: wildlife, farm animals, pets, people with PTSD and anxiety. They are seen by some as a traditional and/or cultural means of celebration. Hence, jurisdictions often allow such activities which are a blatant abuse of an individual's basic rights.

Learning is an important fabric of who we are and what we are able to become. The process of leaning has the ability to change the world- for better or for worse.

Throughout history many great thinkers have commented on this subject and have ideas and learning techniques which if applied on a mass scale would revolutionize our educational system as we know it.

The following are thoughts and ideas each individual has contributed to the field of education.

More to come, as we welcome new contributions.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull, a novel by Richard Bach, is a much-loved classic that has touched the hearts of many. A tale of courage, truth and love, this eloquently written story is a rich and vibrant literary work. This book centers on the character development of Jonathan Livingston Seagull, who changes from a quiet and timid young seagull to an enlightened, brave and courageous being.

The story begins with Jonathan as a lonesome seagull wants to transcend the boring world of eating, mating and sleeping that most gulls live in order to survive. But he did not want to just survive, he wants to transcend all barriers and go beyond the limits of being a seagull.

I have left out names to protect the innocent?—or was that the guilty?

My initial introduction to municipal politics was the result of my friendship with a former president of our local clay court tennis club. This gentleman was very active, as a volunteer, on a number of community committees, including a regional committee on race relations. He suggested that I should become more aware of the issues that faced our community, including somewhat grandiose plans for the redevelopment of our surrounding area.

The Golden Rule is the only moral principle that grounds itself in objective observation. The primary three systems of normative ethics: deontology, consequentialism, and virtue ethics, all share the common failure to conclusively answer the question "Why should I care?" when they make claims of how individuals ought to behave. The Golden Rule, however, does not even ask that we care about the principle at all, it simply explains that when we act in a manner toward others that is inconsistent with how we would like to be treated, then we are being hypocritical and unfair. This replaces opinion with fact, so that the desires of individuals cannot be held above it. However, the Golden Rule does have some loopholes that ought to be addressed in order to form a more solid basis for morality.

We used to live near the water when we moved in 1995 to Duncan, BC on Khenipsen Road, beside a First Nations area. It was a very nice place, except for the hunting and fishing that took place there. Unfortunately, not only were these activities legalized, but there were many instances of illegal killings as well. That's what this is - killing regardless of the euphemisms used or the appeal to Indigenous 'rights' that are often put forth as an excuse to commit murder. [For more thorough discussions on this Indigenous issue, see KG's FAQ.]

In 2023 Parks Canada decided to slaughter all deer on Sidney Island British Columbia. This page provides information, resources, and updates on what is an unethical process on many levels. Sign the petition to Save the Sidney Island deer. The page is still in construction.

The following is a well-known tale from the Liezi attributed to Taoist Lie Yukou. It appears in various translations such as A.C. Graham's The Book of Lieh-tzu (p82 pdf) and Eva Wong's Lieh-tzu: A Taoist Guide to Practical Living. The following is quoted from the Thomas Cleary translation (details provided at the end):

Lung Shu said to the physician Wen Chi, "Your art is subtle. I have an ailment; can you cure it?"

The physician said, "I will do as you say, but first tell me about your symptoms."

Buddha asked his disciples to help the poor during a great famine. A very wealthy man spoke up, "Not all my wealth can feed the hungry - there are so many!"

Others talked loud and long with great consternation wondering how they could possibly solve such a dilemma even for the Buddha!

Then a young girl rose to speak, "Master I am a beggar. I shall feed the hungry as you ask!"

Nanak was a travelling guru. He visited many places in India, Arabia and Mesopotamia.

In Mecca is the Ka'aba, the sacred stone of the Muslims.

One morning nanak was found sleeping with his feet turned to the stone! Some Muslims were furious!

"How dare you be so insulting! How dare you sleep with you feet towards the face of God!"

Gently, Nanak says: "Very well then. Turn my feet to where God is not."

There is a fine story of a poor old lady who was selling some fruit she had gathered in order to make ends meet.

As she walked back and forth on the streets calling people to come and buy, the child Krishna, disguised as a beggar boy, walked up to her asking to eat some fruit from her basket.

She was a kind one and though it would cost her, she didn't refuse him. The child ate every one, thanked her and left!

"I'm too busy!" "I don't have time!" "I have too many things to do!"

Is this you?

Well, at least you aren't bored! One solution may be to do less, but Murphy's truism "Tasks always expand to fill the time allotted" ensures that you will only get less done in more time! Another solution is to use organizational tools that help you to work more efficiently. Though we can't make more time (there are only 24 hours in a day), we can make ourselves more effective.

A zen master was teaching a class.

One fidgety student was bored and gradually got irritated, because he had decided he couldn't grasp the ideas. This is not surprising since zen is not something to grasp. After all, when one asks "How do you carry zen?", the answer is often "in your empty hand."

In any case, such koans were not something this student wanted to deal with, so eventually he spoke out in frustration:
"I can't understand a thing you are saying."

Hey folks, here are a few I've recently done in the hopes of alleviating common concerns regarding feeding a cruelty-free, speciesism-free diet to our obligate carnivore friends. No reason to make the pigs and chickens pay for a problem that humans created, and the cats can be healthy and thrive while we're at it! Never before have we been able to "have our cake and eat it too." There are over 150 million cats in America alone (including strays) which makes it the single most numerous mammalian predator species on the continent. Letting cats hunt for themselves is devastating to local ecosystems, and enslaving billions of chickens, pigs, etc to feed them is just making the problem worse (hey, we created a hundred million cats, now we have to enslave a billion pigs and kill them just to keep all these cats alive! herp derp).

We examine the meaning of Compassion and find that:

The need for a complete understanding of compassion arises out of the following facts. People are mostly very indifferent to the plight of animals. But some are not. What is the difference between these two classes of people. It is that the indifferent people lack compassion for animals and the others have compassion for animals. Animal exploitation will persist until the balance shifts and compassion comes to predominate.