poliphilo | Why Do We Find It So Hard To Be Excellent To One Another?

Another reason not to be cheerful- some person or persons unknown (look how restrained I'm being) bashed in the passenger window of the car and rifled through the contents.

It had to be kids, or very low-level drunks or druggies, because the really valuable stuff- the tax disc, the disabled parking permit- was left behind. They took a small amount of money and a cheap mobile phone. What really hurts is the bill for repairs.

I'm always amazed by how much debris a broken window generates. You'd think you'd be able to reconstruct two, three, four windows out of all the chunky grit I swept up.

It's a bad, bad, bad, bad world.

Which brings us to factory farming. I'm not particularly sentimental about animals, but when the lid gets lifted on the food industry the things that are revealed ain't pretty. The big Bernard Matthews factory where they had the outbreak of bird flu is situated way out in the middle of nowhere- as well it might be. OK, turkeys are stupid, great , animated feather dusters, but to keep them like this- by the million in artificially illuminated sheds can't be right, can it? I don't know if it's cruel, exactly, but it certainly shows no respect. Living things shouldn't be reduced to this.

Which is why I don't eat meat. Yes I know the workers who pick my veggies are exploited too, but one has to take a stand somewhere.

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I know how much trouble a broken car window causes. When the driver's window of my van got smashed out (in Baltimore, Maryland), it cost me over $200 to get it repaired. All because I was trying to save a $6 garage charge and park on the street. *sigh*

Sorry to hear this happened to you, too.

$200- yes, that's roughly what it's going to cost us. We could claim from the insurers but then we risk losing the no claims bonus.

Such are the hazards of urban living.

Yeah, what's up with that, anyway? You pay for the insurance, but can't claim against it because then they raise your rates! It's such a racket!

It's all about them raking in the loot. It's like gambling; the odds are always stacked in favour of the "house".

I had a window bashed in on my truck once. The real problem was, there wasn't anything to steal and the damned thing was unlocked. I actually posted a sign once I got the window fixed (assuming that the bastards could read, which may have been a bit too much to assume) "Nothing to steal, but the car is unlocked anyway. Please close door when you leave."

I like that notice...

But I don't think we dare leave the car unlocked. That would simply attract so-called "joy-riders".

I agree with you about the obscene way that Agri-business has degraded and debased our food, but I can't give up meat. I do however work very closely with our local Organic Farmers Union (Saare Mahe) as their lamb and chickens are raised humanely and the vegetables are grown without pesticides.

I've discovered, since becoming a veggie, that I really don't care for meat at all.

I'm much happier eating baked potatoes and humus and vegetable curry.

But I don't see any moral problem with eating meat (it's what the human animal is designed for) provided the relations between animal and farmer/hunter are non-abusive.

Someday when you're looking for a new idea for vacations bring your family to Estonia - to Saaremaa, I wont try to persuade you to eat meat, but I will try to show you a place where people live with rspect for the land the creatures they share it with.

Sounds good. :)

Over here we're beginning to re-learn that kind farming ethic. I guess you Estonians never forgot it.

When I lived in Los Angeles, my car (the one I still have) was broken into THREE separate times. They shattered windows, pried doors, and ripped apart the dash, to steal the cd player, each time.

I'm sorry this happened to you.

And yes, it's cruel. Sadistically cruel.

It's the second time it's happened to us in six months. The first time the car was parked in the centre of town, the second time it was just across from the house.

There was a news item shortly before Christmas about a couple of factory farm/abattoir workers in the UK who had been playing "baseball" with live turkeys. Sick.

Big city living has its hazards. We´ve had the car broken into several times while parked on Seville streets. Once, when my daughters were small, only the birthday present that my daughter was going to take to a friend´s party that day was stolen. How cruel can you get?

I´m sorry you´re going through this hassle again.

I so agree about the turkeys and other "industrial meat operations". Sadly, I like my meat but not as much as I used to and I only look for ecologically raised (ie small scale) sources.

What would a thief have done with a child's birthday present? Sad.

I'm lucky. It's no hardship for me to do without meat. And I've found perfectly acceptable veggie substitutes for bacon and sausages- which are the only things I might miss.

Once, when my daughters were small, only the birthday present that my daughter was going to take to a friend´s party that day was stolen.

It's stories like these that make me hope the whole "karma" concept is true.

Stealing a little kid's birthday present must have some godawful karmic payback.

Yes, anybody who does something like that should feel the wrath of the universe.

Which is why I don't eat meat. Yes I know the workers who pick my veggies are exploited too, but one has to take a stand somewhere.
With ya all the way. You do have to take a stand, and at this stage, the thought of putting that much suffering in my mouth makes me want to puke.

I try and avoid airmiled fruit and veg, too, but life without bananas? no.

With me it's oranges. I couldn't do without them. And last time I checked there wasn't a homegrown variety.

Why Do We Find It So Hard To Be Excellent To One Another?

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