Another retarded idea by the fine people at PETA.

[Kasarn]

PETA trying to make fish cute as a joke to raise awareness is SERIOUS FUCKING BUSINESS.

For the record, here are two actual animal rights organizations:

http://www.aspca.org
http://www.hsus.org/

(SPCA, International was, in the past, a front for a troubled SPCA in Montreal--I don't know who they are today)

Obviously you haven't consulted the astroturfers your libertarian buddies at the Center for Consumer Freedom because HSUS is as bad as PETA! In fact, they're worse because at least PETA does something for the animals. HSUS doesn't actually do anything! Whatever money HSUS has left over after paying for advertising and terrorism goes straight into their pockets! Non-profit indeed! Multiple exclamation points!!!

[Jigsaw Forte]

It gets worse.

PETA: Change school name to cuddly Sea Kitten High

PETA Asks University To Change Mascot Name; Letter To President Urges School To Change Sailfish Mascot To Sea Kitten

Yeah...

[Amber Williams]

Awww...how cute. I was wondering how long it would take for PETA to turn this into a full blown publicity stunt to try to get more attention.

PETA is kind of like the Phelps and Jack Thomspon, they need the attention of others and the news media to survive.  It must be nice to be able to just flail around and know that even if everyone thinks you are being foolish, that all the worlds paying attention to you and even the worst publicity still means your name and group is getting recognition. 

The fact that this board is now turning into PETA gossip central only proves this fact.

[superluser]

The inevitable: The Penn and Teller show about PETA. (not safe for work, mainly language, probably some gore, too.  I haven't seen it in a while)

[Kasarn]

Awww...how cute. I was wondering how long it would take for PETA to turn this into a full blown publicity stunt to try to get more attention.

PETA is kind of like the Phelps and Jack Thomspon, they need the attention of others and the news media to survive.  It must be nice to be able to just flail around and know that even if everyone thinks you are being foolish, that all the worlds paying attention to you and even the worst publicity still means your name and group is getting recognition. 

The fact that this board is now turning into PETA gossip central only proves this fact.

Activists need to stay in the media to have their agenda heard? Amazing.
PETA has an agenda. Most people who care know what it is: the good, the bad and the batshit insane.
PETA's critics also have an agenda. They just pretend like they don't and refuse to disclose any conflicts of interests.

The inevitable: The Penn and Teller show about PETA. (not safe for work, mainly language, probably some gore, too.  I haven't seen it in a while)

Penn and Teller are members of the Cato Institute. What exactly would you expect them to say about any left wing group? They also think that recycling is a scam, that smoking is good for you and they hate religion (lol, hyperbole).

That's pretty much what one would expect from a libertarian who believes in a person taking responsibility for their own actions. If we did, then recycling, smoking and human/animal rights wouldn't be an issue and religion would just fade away.

[superluser]

Activists need to stay in the media to have their agenda heard? Amazing.
PETA has an agenda. Most people who care know what it is: the good, the bad and the batshit insane.
PETA's critics also have an agenda. They just pretend like they don't and refuse to disclose any conflicts of interests.

Who pissed in your Cheerios?

No offense, but you seem to be taking this extremely personally.  I think we know that a lot of the anti-PETA people are just as nutty (if not nuttier) than PETA.  The Penn&Teller thing quotes, inter alia, Dennis Prager (yes, that Dennis Prager), who is not the most sterling example of intelligent thought.

But PETA is certainly doing bad things.  We can see that, regardless of the people making accusations.  Regardless, PETA is not actually interested in doing anything to help animals.  Their money goes to things like lawsuits claiming that cows aren't happy.  The sea kitten thing will probably devolve into PETA filing frivolous lawsuits soon.  They are a bunch of idiots who just happen to be well heeled and enjoy publicity that drives money away from the issues that they pretend (I assume that they pretend--the other option is that they are insane and think that such suits have a chance of winning) that they actually care about.

I don't exactly know why you have such hate for the Humane Society.  Actually, I would be very interested in hearing why you claim that they are terrorists.

EDIT: Actually, it looks like I might have been wrong about HSUS.  Like I said, please convince me.  I've been wrong before.

[Kasarn]

lol. You didn't look up the Center for Consumer Freedom, did you?

My point is that a lot of information about PETA (edit: and HSUS) comes from the CCF and they are basically an astroturfing group.

[Alondro]

I could never eat a cat.  I've known too many that were very affectionate with gentle dispositions and my current cat Lucky is a prime example of how high their intelligence can go in individual animals (of all of them, he's the only one who demonstrates a recognition of self in a mirror) and I've had a number of them.  And as far as lions and tigers, not only am I very fond of them, and there's the fact that they're being wiped out as it is, but so far the only reasons anyone can give me for eating their meat is either for some bizzare belief in their magical properties or as some chest-thumping nonsense to prove they are superior to the big carnivores (in which case, should I prove my superiority to such people by killing and eating them?  I mean, if that's all it takes, I could get rid of alot of inferior people that way.)

I also could not eat a dolphin, or a gorilla, or a chimpanzee (getting a wee bit close to cannibalism there, regardless.  Once yer 99.6% of the way there genetically, why not go the remaining 0.4%?), or an elephant, or a grey parrot because those animals have scientifically demonstrated self-awareness in the mirror recognition test.  Their intelligence approaches too close to the line of basic human level for comfort.  Whales also demonstrate higher intelligence, especially orcas and humpback whales, so they are also off the menu.

Other things I won't eat simply because to me they are gross.  Like molluscs.  They stink and look disgusting.  Never... going... to eat... EVER!  And then there are other meats that I would eat, but they are expensive and I see no reason to waste my money for high-priced food that I'm just going to crap out the next day.  Give me alot and make it cheap!  I don't go into that whole 'delicacy' and 'status' nonsense.  Frankly, I think much of that is some kind of delusion.  I mean, caviar... it's heavily salted fish eggs.  I've seen it close up.  It looked and smelled even worse than molluscs.  

I think lobsters are a perfect axample of this delusion.  Long ago, they were considered a waste product of fishing.  A pest, essentially.  They were fed to cheap labor in the fishing industry.  There was actually a law stating that you could only feed your employees so much of it.  And then someone got the bright idea to call this large sea-bug a 'delicacy'.  And suddenly people couldn't get enough of it.  It's still just a big bug to me.  

Then there are the certain Cantonese delicacies I mentioned a long time ago, such as "Three Scream Mice".  These are the kinds of things I must label as animal cruelty.  One involves a live donkey being tied by its four legs, and then having boiling water poured over its legs until its flesh begins to fall off.  Another involves a monkey having its head cut open while alive and its brain is eaten.  Those animals clearly CAN feel pain, and ARE feeling pain as they scream throughout the process until they die.  These are the sorts of things I'd expect from a not-quite-yet-but-soon-to-be-cannibalistic Hannibal Lecter.  

Simply put, I do not wish anything that I eat to suffer.  All creatures must eat, and to eat something else must die, be it animal or plant.  But I, as a being with the knowledge that other things are also alive and that some have the capacity for suffering, must do all in my power to ensure that what I eat is not made to suffer unduly.  To do any less would be an insult to the intelligence and capacity for compassion and empathy of which my highly advanced brain is capable.  Simply because lower animals may kill prey in savage ways does not mean I should lower myself to their level.

I would eat deer, but I'd have to go hunting, and it takes too much time.  And deer, as tame and friensly as they can be sometimes, are quite stupid no matter how you look at it.  

And as for other meats I've tried, goose looks very oily and smells odd.  I've had duck, it's kinda meh.

So I mainly stick to chicken, beef, and turkey.  No pork for religious reasons (mainly) and secondarily because I've had it twice accidently because it was in something... and the taste let me know something was off immediately.  It tastes very strange to me.  I just don't like it.

If other people want to eat snakes and crocodiles, be my guest but don't ever think you'll get me to try it!

And Mab, if you eat a lion... I will have to harm you.  There will be no choice; it's a matter of honor.  

PS:  PETA is more interested in making sure people can never own pets and everyone on earth becomes vegan than doing anything useful.

[Amber Williams]

I dont really care for eating carnivores...mainly cause most literature tends to indicate they dont taste all that good. And really, I dont like the idea of eating any animal that is struggling to survive as is. I'd much rather nom on the more plentiful things and leave the more exotic things to try to keep themselves around.

Really if you ever want to see me throw tizzies in the world, mentioning how some people are slaughtering an endangered critter in order to grind it up for aphrodesiacs is a pretty speedy way.

Though I admit...I do make exception to pandas. Cause OH HOLY HELL pandas.  Just let them freaking die out.   I swear they have like...zero survival abilities and the only reason they are still around is because they are a country's mascot and people think they are cute.  Ugh...seriously.

I have had deer...its pretty decent.  I enjoy most meats I have eaten simply for their individual sake...not because I feel they have prestige or any real class to them. I have had lobster and I have eaten groundhog, I've eaten insects and I have eaten rabbit...odds are if there wasn't legal or health repurcussions I would try just about anything once.   I swear if mammoths were still alive I would likely try to eat one of those.

[Turnsky]

I dont really care for eating carnivores...mainly cause most literature tends to indicate they dont taste all that good.

we eat shark, here. 

[Reese Tora]

The inevitable: The Penn and Teller show about PETA. (not safe for work, mainly language, probably some gore, too.  I haven't seen it in a while)

Thanks for that link, I know someone who will also find taht show interesting.

On another forum I'm part of, we've had discussions about the eating of cats in China and this stunt by PETA, and one of the things that came up (in the thread about China) is that eating other carnivores can be a vector for disease.  I think it's a problem that could be avoided by proper care and sanitation in raising cats, like with a cat farm of some sort (similar to how properly raised pigs will have a low likelyhood of bearing parasites harmful to humans.  Of course, there's a problem with pet napping and feral cats taken from the streets being used in China... you really wouldn't know where it's coming from.)  I don't think I could ever eat cat meat unless I knew I could be as sure with it as I am with the other meat I eat that I'm not going to get sick from eating it.

[superluser]

My point is that a lot of information about PETA (edit: and HSUS) comes from the CCF and they are basically an astroturfing group.

Are they the ones behind petakillsanimals.com?

If so, then I looked them up a long time ago, before I forwarded that URL.  Yeah, they're a bunch of astroturfing dips (my uncensored opinion of them can prove what a true vulgarian I am), but I knew PETA was a bunch of jerks before I encountered these people.  I knew that by reading PETA's own words.

But let's look at some independent sources:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0725/p11s02-lire.html
http://www.newsweek.com/id/134549/

PETA is killing animals, and while that's not necessarily a bad or immoral thing, it is an extremely hypocritical thing for them to do.

You're just trying to poison the well.  I know where my information comes from, and I know how to separate fact from fiction.  I think the parties on both sides of the PETA debate are muppets, and I just want to point out that there are actual good organizations out there, like the ASPCA (and the RSPCA for those of you on the other side of the pond).

On another forum I'm part of, we've had discussions about the eating of cats in China and this stunt by PETA, and one of the things that came up (in the thread about China) is that eating other carnivores can be a vector for disease.

Very good point.

[Elieana]

My nephew use to have two goldfish... A black one, and an orange/black tipped one... The black one stole all the food, so the orange one died (which was sad because it was awesome looking!). Then, my nephew, being the cute little 2 year old he was, said "Won't Blacky---(he was also very creative!)---be lonely without his friend?" So, my mother went back to the pet store and bought two small silver fish to "play" with the goldfish. I woke up for school one day, and the gold fish had decapitated one of the silver fish, and was working on the second (and let me tell you, the thing was still alive because it was twitching...)!

So yeah, lady. Real compassionate.

But! On a side note! Loot at my cute little sea kitten!

[superluser]

But! On a side note! Loot at my cute little sea kitten!

In my life, I have stumbled on two nearly universal truths:

1.) Pie does not have tentacles
2.) Sea kittens do not have unicorn horns.

Seriously, that thing's about as anatomically correct as this fellow:

[Elieana]

2.) Sea kittens do not have unicorn horns.

My parents always said I could be anything I wanted to be... So I chose to be God.

SO I CAN MAKE UNICORN-SEA-KITTENS

[superluser]

My parents always said I could be anything I wanted to be... So I chose to be God.

SO I CAN MAKE UNICORN-SEA-KITTENS

That's fine, but what message does PETA send when the only way to make fish cute is by pretending that they're something that they aren't?

[Elieana]

That's fine, but what message does PETA send when the only way to make fish cute is by pretending that they're something that they aren't?

Good point. Well, in my honest opinion all of these little "groups" of people fighting for these rights and those rights have become more of a "dividing the people" with different beliefs instead of the original idea of "equality".

[Reese Tora]

Seriously, that thing's about as anatomically correct as this fellow:

[/img]http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk221/spyke678/lolwut5B15D.jpg[/img]

You just hatin' on Ursula Vernon.

[Zedd]

All I can say about sea kittens is this..FINGER LICKIN' GEWD!!!

[Brunhidden]

Though I admit...I do make exception to pandas. Cause OH HOLY HELL pandas.  Just let them freaking die out.   I swear they have like...zero survival abilities and the only reason they are still around is because they are a country's mascot and people think they are cute.  Ugh...seriously.

A Wisconsin radio show host actually had a brilliant idea that suits this thread perfectly, it was thus

To save the panda, we must eat the panda


make sense? the philosophy was once the American public acquire a taste for a food they will not let hell nor high water deprive them of it. panda aphrodisiacs and breeding programs would make them the equivalent of the turkey, which has about the same survival skills anyways. example, do you think for a moment that the chicken will ever become endangered? i think not, we love shoving it down our throats far too much to ever let them die.







i am almost tempted to state all the various animals ive eatten, leaving out which ones were roadkill or not, but the list would probably not reflect that well on me




oh yes, side note- for most of my life ive wondered if penguin tastes like chicken or fish. i then one day met a person who ate some by accident, was abhorred by it, and admit it tasted 'like fishy chicken'

for further reference beaver tastes like honey ham and raccoons taste like feet....

[Alondro]

The problem with the 'no survival skills' argument is that the panda was surviving quite well until people destroyed most of its habitat.

There are thousands of endangered species in exactly the same predicaiment.  Gorillas are a perfect example.  Outside of their normal habitat, they'll die without intense human supervision.

We shouldn't condemn an animal to either extinction or becoming part of our food supply simply because we've irresponsibly bulldozed where they live.

Now we have the exact opposite problem in NJ with deer and Canada geese.  They are super-adaptors, able to survive on almost any non-poisonous plants.  Also, they have benefited from the almost complete elimination of natural predators.  They have spread and multiplied to the point where they're actually causing destruction of the forest and water ecosystems.  The deer wipe out large swaths of forest understory and prevent young trees from ever getting a foothold.  Their numbers now exceed those estimated in early Colonial days!  Save a tree... slaughter Bambi.     And the geese... HAVE YOU EVER SEN HOW MUCH POOP THOSE DAMN THINGS LEAVE ON BEACHES!!!   

This is a case where getting people interesting in eating more of them is the best choice, other than reintroducing large predators such as cougars and wolves... which is never going to happen because they'd start eating children... and people have a problem with that for some reason... 

[Ryudo Lee]

You know, we eat alligator down here (tastes like chicken, seriously).  Actually, we'll eat just about anything down here, if it don't eat us first.  It's strange that we don't see much of PETA down here.  I'd love to see them try and muck around in the swamps to save the gators.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

You know, we eat alligator down here (tastes like chicken, seriously).  Actually, we'll eat just about anything down here, if it don't eat us first.  It's strange that we don't see much of PETA down here.  I'd love to see them try and muck around in the swamps to save the gators.

That'd be a useful way to filter the collection, yes.

Edit:
Actually, get them to wander down to Northern Territories, and save the saltie. Much more effective.

[Amber Williams]

We shouldn't condemn an animal to either extinction or becoming part of our food supply simply because we've irresponsibly bulldozed where they live.

Nope sorry. Giant pandas should still go extinct.  They deserve it.

[Tapewolf]

Nope sorry. Giant pandas should still go extinct.  They deserve it.

I agree.  They were a really bad idea.

[Sunblink]

Awww...how cute. I was wondering how long it would take for PETA to turn this into a full blown publicity stunt to try to get more attention.

PETA is kind of like the Phelps and Jack Thomspon, they need the attention of others and the news media to survive.  It must be nice to be able to just flail around and know that even if everyone thinks you are being foolish, that all the worlds paying attention to you and even the worst publicity still means your name and group is getting recognition. 

The fact that this board is now turning into PETA gossip central only proves this fact.

thank u <3

But seriously, I don't like PETA at all considering the overzealousness, hypocrisy, and foolhardy stunts that draw negative attention to animal rights activists in general. But this Sea Kitten thing just makes me laugh, hard. Dude, most of my favorite animals live underwater, but that's not going to stop me from eating sushi.

Nope sorry. Giant pandas should still go extinct.  They deserve it.

I agree.  They were a really bad idea.

I like giant pandas...

But every other bear can GO TO HELL god I hate bears they scare the piss out of meeeee.

[Pagan]

How 'bout a compromise? We kill the rest of the pandas and we save the captured ones. Those pandas are one of the few bragging rights Atlanta has. I don't want to give that up just yet, regardless of my opinion of the dumb bears.

And the most exotic food I've ever had once lamb once. It was nice.

[superluser]

But every other bear can GO TO HELL god I hate bears they scare the piss out of meeeee.

I would definitely recommend not viewing this picture, then.  It's so scary that they use it as a dietary aid.

[Amber Williams]

I like giant pandas...

But every other bear can GO TO HELL god I hate bears they scare the piss out of meeeee.

Bah. The only thing Giant Pandas have going for them is that they are considered so cute and distinctive people feel the need to preserve them more than anything else.

I fully realize I have a particularly harsh viewpoint coming up and that it is definately a minority opinion so I apologize in advance for people I may possibly offend.

I personally believe in conservation to a rational degree. To me, there is conservation and then there is retarded coservation.  Whether or not people will admit it, I feel humanity and its influence on the world and its ecosystem is something that should be factored but not considered foreign.  Just because change hasnt taken place over the course of thousands to millions of years...it does not mean that going extinct is something that cannot and should not happen.  Species die, environments change, things adapt.

There are some species out there that would continue to thrive without mankinds interference. To them, I say yeah...it is unfair of people to keep stomping them down and pushing them to the limits.  Then there are species out there who at this point are only alive because of humanities efforts.  In that sense, I view said animals no longer as wild creatures but in how they benefit mankind.  Things like chickens...cows...farm raised turkeys...and giant pandas. To me, giant pandas are so dependent on humanity that I view them in the same way that I view the average domesticated cow. Without people, odds are the race would no longer exist at this point.

And unlike cows, pandas. do. nothing.   They are a worthless subtype of species only still existing because China made them their mascot and people think they are cute.  Even if they were a bustling thrustling species before mankind...the fact of the matter is at this point they are so long gone that only sheer desperation of people keep them alive.

Which is why I am not going to feel at all bad should they go extinct. I find them a useless species that has outlived its time.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Which is why I am not going to feel at all bad should they go extinct. I find them a useless species that has outlived its time.

I feel that way about people, sometimes...