Saturday, August 29, 2009

Episode 41 Chickens

Episode

Chickens

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken


Hello and welcome to another quality episode of Jay Wont dart's podcast, where I talk about things that live in my backyard.

My intro was from over population is a myth .com . I'd mentioned overpopulation as being a danger in an earlier episode, perhaps I were wrong, going to over population is a myth.com doesnt take very long, so why not?

My father recently bought home some chickens, two hens and a rooster. Im against having pets, but having spent time with these lovely birds, I'd find it hard to send these chickens on their way. I've never really liked cats or dogs, I find them noisy and messy, but birds and insects have always been very dear to me.

I'll read from wikipedia,

"Chickens are omnivores.[9] In the wild, they often scratch at the soil to search for seeds, insects and even larger animals such as lizards or young mice[10].
Chickens may live for five to eleven years, depending on the breed.[11] In commercial intensive farming, a meat chicken generally lives only six weeks before slaughter.[12] A free range or organic meat chicken will usually be slaughtered at about 14 weeks. Hens of special laying breeds may produce as many as 300 eggs a year. After 12 months, the hen's egg-laying ability starts to decline, and commercial laying hens are then slaughtered and used in baby foods, pet foods, pies and other processed foods.[13] The world's oldest chicken, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, died of heart failure when she was 16 years old.[14]
"


At the back of this house, there are a few brick sheds, a glasshouse and a chicken coup are the main ones. If you go to my flickr account, which I'll link to on my blog, jaywontdart.blogspot.com , you can see photos and even videos of the chickens and where they are living. I'll play the audio from the videos in this episode, but its much better if you see the chickens for yourself! I tried to record the noises they make by taking my laptop into the chicken coup, it was a little difficult, I didnt want to get smeared chicken poo on my PowerBook, but I somewhat pulled it off. They are very quiet, but you can make them out, they often make little noises to talk to each other, they like to stay near each other at all times.

This is one clip I made of the chickens talking to each other.

Here I am feeding the rooster grain, he pecks food from your hand.

Having just been moved here, they are still very nervous about where they now live. The chickens stay together at all times, and I think they must be very scared of us. I try and be as nice as I can to them, I call out before I go into the chicken coop, so I can get them used to my voice, so they know to expect someone to come crashing through the door that had been close for the previous hours. I feed them grain and chicken mash, and put water in a large saucer for them to drink from, although I still havnt seen them drink yet.

The hens in particular are extra scared, boy chickens, roosters, and girl chickens, hens, are very different from each other, its kind of like the 1950's, where women stayed at home and raised the children, while the men were police, chasing bad guys and protecting the community. The hens seem almost petrified if they are ever out of sight of the rooster, they really need him to lead them. I think this is because they trust him so much, and they are so very nervous at the moment, having just been bought here, I hope if future they will confidently walk further away from him.



On my flickr account, you can see this video, where I give a little tour of where these chickens live.




Looking up chicken care websites, many start off saying that chickens are lovely animals to keep as pets, and then once they get to a suitable size, you kill them for meat! Cripes! One site had a indepth tutorial on how to kill them, how to pull their guts out right. On the site, the ads were to do with
Grisley "related resources" panel

"
Related Resources
Meat Electric Grinder Meat Rib Brat Lamb Chop Lamb Eel Meat Grinder Oyster Wings Ostrich Brain Crabs Sushi"



I was reminded of a podcast episode debating veganism and a standard diet including animal byproducts. In this debate, the person who eats animal products defends it because he sees chickens as very stupid animals. This is from the Debate Hour podcast, which you can find a few free episodes on iTunes by searching for "debate hour".



What a load of rubbish, chickens are very much living, feeling animals. I do notice that they move oddly, every move a chicken makes is a jerk, they dont move smoothly, they whirr and click, as if they have gears with cogs inside their bodies, they have to stop at certain points, as the cogs catch. This looks pretty odd, the way they jerk so much, but its endearing, not something to hate them about. Its a bird thing. Chickens definitely care about each other, as I said, the hens really want to stay with the rooster. When a Rooster finds food, he will often call the hens over to eat, he looks after them. And of course, we all know how maternal hens are, its used as a description of mothers, "you're like a mother hen", as women age, they become "broody", when they want to settle down and have children. Chickens may not be as smart as some animals, but theres no doubt they feel just as well as any animal, including people. From being around chickens, theres certainly no reason I can see for eating them.

Thank you for listening.

You can find the script for this episode, as well as downloads for every episode of Jay Wont darts podcast at jaywontdart.blogspot.com

If you want to contact me, even just to say you listened, send an email to jaywontdart@gmail.com, j a y w o n t d a r t @ gmail.com, I'd appreciate it.

Have a super happy day, bye.





Sources
=======

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Episode 40 Don Gorske: Big Mac Lover

Episode 40

Don Gorske Big Mac Guy




Hello and welcome to Episode 40 of Jay Wont darts podcast. My intro was from King Of the Hill.

This episode is about Don Gorske, I'll start by reading from Wikipedia.

From Wikipedia

"Don Gorske of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin is an American "Big Mac enthusiast" who has eaten over 23,000 Big Mac hamburgers in his lifetime,[1] winning a place in the 2006 Guinness Book of Records in the process. He claims the Big Mac constitutes 90% of his total solid food intake. He is featured in the documentaries Super Size Me (2004) and Don Gorske: Mac Daddy (2005). He is the author of 22,477 Big Macs (2008).

History
Gorske claims that after getting his first car, the first place he went was to McDonald's on May 17, 1972[1] he purchased and ate three Big Macs at lunch time. He then returned two more times that day to consume a total of nine Big Macs the same day he discovered the sandwich. He further claims to have eaten 265 Big Macs in the following month, an average of 8.5 Big Macs per day. If true, this would be equivalent to over 4,600 calories and 247 grams of fat daily, for a total of 143,100 calories and 16.9 pounds of fat in one month. He also claims to drink almost nothing but Coca-Cola and, according to Super Size Me, he rarely eats the fries. At first, Don kept all the boxes of Big Macs he ate in the back of his car.
In 2003, Don Gorske ate 741 Big Macs, an average of 2.03 Big Macs per day.
On August 17, 2008, Gorske ate his 23,000th Big Mac at his favorite McDonald's restaurant in Fond du Lac.[1] He claims that since he ate his first Big Mac, there have only been eight different days in which he did not eat a single Big Mac. One of these days was the day his mother died, and he did not eat a Big Mac to respect her request.[1] Other days included a "Snow Day" when McDonalds was unable to open due to snow, a Thanksgiving, days he was traveling and could not find a McDonalds, and various days Gorske had to stay at work past midnight. Gorske has since started keeping an "emergency stash" of Big Macs in his freezer for emergencies and snow days.[4] Don Gorske also records when and where he eats his Big Macs in a notebook that he carries with him all of the time. Gorske has kept every burger receipt in a box.[1]
"


Now, I want to mention a major reason why I chose to do an episode about Don Gorske. The guy eats all that fastfood, he says it makes up 90% of his food intake, so he basically eats just 2 burgers a day, along with liquids. The guy looks damn thin, he looks quite a lot like a hippie, if you imagine a hippie with "John Lennon" style round glasses, and brown hair in a bowlcut style, although he has a ponytail at the back. I'm mentioning Don because hes evidence that fast food is a sure cause of obesity, I really dont like hearing people who complain that big companies have forced everyone worldwide to become fat and lazy. I think what people eat is their own responsibility, although I have read books such as Fast Food Nation, and have watched Super Size Me, I'll play clips from that movie later. I do see a definite link between eating fatty foods and becoming fat yourself, but I really dont think its fair to blame mcdonalds when you choose to eat there 3 times a day. Don Gorske is a very quirky case, and I'd love him to go Vegan, but he sure isnt unhealthly from what I can tell, or from his health statistics that he tells people. I mention this because large animal welfare groups like PETA advertise going vegetarian as a way to lose weight, they often use the fact that vegetarians and vegans generally are slim, as if the only way you can be NOT FAT is if you dont eat animal products, apparently they have never seen Don Gorske.


I left this part out of the Wikipedia article, because I wanted you to think he weighed a metric ton.

"Gorske is 6 foot 2 inches tall, 185 pounds, and claims a cholesterol level of 140."

Im interrupting here, for every other country in the world, hes about 1.8 metres tall and weighs 83kg's. That makes his Body Mass Index, BMI, about 23.8, almost 24. A BMI is not amazingly accurate, very muscular people can be reported as being obese, for example, but its the best way to somewhat compare weights of people, to roughly group them as underweight for their height, average for their height, or overweight for their height.

Reading from the site I used to calculate Dons BMI,
• Underweight = <18.5
• Normal weight = 18.5-24.9
• Overweight = 25-29.9
• Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater

At just under 24 he would be on the heavier side of a normal weight for his height, normal being 18.5 to 24.9 . He looks quite thin, so he could have a lot of dense muscle, he definitely doesn't look like he has a double chin or a fat belly.

Back to wikipedia,
"His claimed average daily consumption of two Big Macs amounts to 1,080 calories, according to the nutritional information published by McDonald's[2]; this does not take into account his energy intake from fluids. The USDA recommends about 2,200 calories per day.[3] Gorske consumes mainly calorie-rich food, and he maintains a stable weight by eating fewer calories than the average American."


Ok, I dont think thats a healthy way to eat, "sure you can eat anything you want, as long as you only eat half the calories that you are meant to", I dont think that sounds healthy. I dont recommend that anyone eat mostly hamburgers every day for years. Im talking about Don Gorske because I find him interesting, he has such a weird Guinness book of records style life.

My first clip is an AP news story about Don,



Don works as a Prison Guard. I've heard reports that Don is OCD, Obsessive Compulsive, and that perhaps he feels he needs to eat Big Macs every day, its a routine hes gotten stuck in and wouldnt be able to quit. However, he did apparently go without a Big Mac on the day his mother died, it was one of her wishes, so at least for major things like a parents death, he can go without Big Macs.

Reading about Fon du Lac, no doubt Im pronouncing the name wrong, it means Foot of the Lake in french, its a small city of about 42 thousand people. Another famous resident of the city is King Camp Gillette, his first two names are odd, but you might remember his surname, Gillette, he invented the safety razor and founded the Gillette company.


I also found two idiot guys talking about Don Gorske, they run a morning zoo type radio show apparently. you can find them at http://www.thefrickandfrackshow.com/ , its odd watching a video of these two fat american guys put down a thin american who eats almost nothing but fast food.

<2 guys talking clip>


My last clips will be from Super Size Me, a documentary about director Morgan Spurlock eating nothing but Mcdonalds for a month. These clips are about Don Gorske.




Before the end, I'd like to thank a second listener for contacting me, on Twitter, BigBadEd mentioned finding my podcast on iTunes while looking up No Agenda related podcasts, BigBadEd said hes not vegan himself, but was interested in what I talk about. BigBadEd is a British guy who lives in America, and who thought about moving to New Zealand. Well BigBadEd, I hope you come and visit sometime, I'd love to show you around Invercargill, population 50,000 on a good day, home to the southernmost Mcdonalds in the world, as well as the southernmost Vegans! I hope that cancels out the Fast Food vibes.

my outro will be about guns being given away in America when you buy a car.

Thank you for listening.

You can find the script for this episode, as well as downloads for every episode of Jay Wont darts podcast at jaywontdart.blogspot.com

If you want to contact me, even just to say you listened, send an email to jaywontdart@gmail.com, j a y w o n t d a r t @ gmail.com, I'd appreciate it.

Have a super happy day, bye.







Sources
=======
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Gorske

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fond_du_Lac,_Wisconsin

http://everything2.com/title/Don+Gorske

Morgan Spurlock, Supersize Me
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_Spurlock

BMI
http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/

AP story
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsEC9OjOBwc

2 guys talking http://www.thefrickandfrackshow.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9T-vxNCrQo&feature=player_embedded

Monday, August 17, 2009

Episode 39 Dog Eating=Lamb Beheading=Cat Dissection

Episode 39


Dog eating = Lamb beheading = Cat dissection


Hello and welcome to Jay Wont darts podcast, where I cover shocking animal treatment worldwide, and that includes Nuclear Free, Gods Own, clean green New Zealand.

My intro was from episode 100 of No Agenda.

I'd been planing to talk about the topics of this episode for months, I've heard many stories of animal abuse that are all equally shocking, but I wanted to fit them together somehow. I've decided to do this episode now, because animal treatment has been in the New Zealand news. Just today, it was reported a Tongan man living in Auckland New Zealand had killed his dog. This has been on the mainstream news, and will be talked about for weeks to come. Also, a boys pet lamb had its head cut off, and he found it dead. This made national news. I would like to mention another shocking animal story, in America its apparently quite common to dissect cats, actual pussy cats, in high schools and universities. I cant imagine that happening in New Zealand, although its hard to imagine anyone cutting open cats.

First the New Zealand stories.


Lamb Beheaded

This story was reported on by a Taranaki newspaper, I dont know where exactly this happened, but its somewhere in Taranaki, New Zealand.

"Pet lamb beheaded in paddock

A little boy went out to cuddle his pet lamb and found somebody had cut its head off.

"Who could do such a sadistic thing?" his mother Mandy Kalin is asking.

The Dorset Horn ram lamb was about six months old and had been bottle-reared by the three children. Braith, aged 4 1/2 years, had claimed it for his own and named it Shaun (after the Wallace and Gromit character).

On Tuesday evening Braith went out with his dad Jason to feed the animals on their lifestyle block near Eltham. Shaun wasn't running about on his chain.

"Dad, why has Shaun got no head?" Braith asked. "Why isn't he moving?"

Shaun was dead and his head with its little horns was missing. They later concluded the head must have been wrapped in a towel taken from the clothesline, because there was no blood.

Nobody was home during the afternoon and Shaun had no fear of humans.

Mrs Kalin said she wanted the sick person responsible for the killing "to know that this was a little boy's pet and he made this horrible discovery himself".

"I want that person to feel bad about the terrible thing he has done.

"The kids are petrified. It's not something we can hide from them, we've had to tell them what happened. The other sheep in the paddock, which was also on a chain, wasn't touched. If the lamb had been killed for the meat while they were grazing on the roadside, I could possibly understand it, but not this."It's not something a normal, straight person would ever do."

Jason Kalin has told the police he suspects somebody with a grudge was responsible, but can't discuss the details. The police told him there have been no other such incidents in the area."


Ok, I feel this story is awful, so do most people. My point is, whats the difference between this baby sheep, and all the other sheep killed in New Zealand every day? That a little boy loved this particular sheep, and that he doesnt cry about all the other sheep in New Zealand who are slaughtered, I dont see that as a big difference. Im not heartless to the child being upset, but to me, this sheep is just one out of many who are horribly killed everyday. This was reported on in mainstream New Zealand news, we can all agree killing a pet sheep is awful. But, these same newspapers will advertise butchers, often I see ads in The Southland Times featuring the latest cheap meat at local butcheries. Theres an ad on the Golden Oldies radio station thats on at work, it has the Beef + Lamb Theme song, that Im told used to be a T Rex song, "dum dum dum we love to boogie", you know what I mean. Now whenever I hear that song, I think of meat. On this particular radio ad, the voice over guy uses a real Southern Bloke voice, he talks "kinda like this mate, a real tough southern bloke, not like those jaffas in auckland mate, nah mate, hes a REAL man who eats meat and drinks speights beer!".

The guy mentions the "bloody good meat prices, top quality, you pay, just less". Does anyone else hearing the ad notice the words "bloody" and "meat" the way I do? Its not a nice image, I dont want to buy something thats bloody, or meat. I know its just the kiwi slang, saying somethings "bloody" doesnt mean is dirty, its used like "damn", as in "damn good".

Also, how are these prices so low, how can a farmer offer cheaper meat at the same quality? Id assume the easiest way would be to care less about the animals needs, not spend so much taking care of an animal, instead reduce your costs and pass it on to the consumer.

This is why I dont agree with Animal Welfare, when the farmers are for Animal Welfare, you know its bad. When people who promote Animal Welfare eat animals themselves, its obvious its not going to eliminate people killing animals, is it? I dont know any Abolitionists who eat meat, so Animal Abolition must be a better, common sense position to take on these issues.




Tongan Man cooks his pet dog to be eaten.

I happened to hear about this through the TradeMe message board. I'll play a TVNZ news clip about the story.


aww isnt that nice, instead of eating their unwanted animals, now they will dump them at animal shelters. Real progress being made.

The story has been all over the internet, and I expect it to be bought up in newspapers nationwide in coming days, old media is always late to the party.

Basically the issue is, its apparently not illegal what the man did, he killed the dog "humanely", im doing quote movements with my hands as I say that, "humanely", with a bonk on the head. The dog was then cooked outdoors. I've seen photos of the dog, and it doesnt look like it were cooked at all, it has a couple of patches on it, but its not singed black from head to tail, and it doesnt look like it was even gutted. People online are furious, I often go to the Trademe Message board to see what the nation is talking about. On the Trade Me Message Board, you mostly see right wing racist remarks, blaming the government for making everyone too "soft", "everything these days is too PC, all this politically correct bullshit, in my day we beat our kids for reading books and getting smart, and now we have this internet thing and the violent video games have made all the toddlers into Charles Mansons, its those weed smoking hippies in the Green party who are to blaaaaaaaaame". You can never expect a serious discussion on the message board, its an auction site, not a dedicated forum, there are few tools on the forum, and yet it is by far New Zealands most popular local site, and the place people go to talk about politics and whats happening.

Im really impressed with the number of people who mention that dogs are no different than any other animal killed to be eaten. Its really made me feel like I have some support, like Im not the only one advocating leaving animals alone. Others have mentioned not eating any animals, but they dont get taken seriously. The other side blames all the Pacific Islanders and Asian people for eating dogs, and they cant seem to get it that when it comes to animals, all men are Nazis as Isaac Bashevis Singer said. I wish I could make them believe me when I say all animals are equal, all should have the right to live their lives, but they seem to deny any similarities. Some arguments I've seen are that "we dont do that in New Zealand", as if we are good people and people overseas who eat dogs are terrible. I dont understand how anyone can say things like that.

I also have the SPCAs view on this event, listen to what they talk about, they clearly mention animal WELFARE, and mention how difficult it is to change the law, as it could make all animals un killable. What an awful world that would be, if it were illegal to kill cows and chickens and pigs and sheep and dogs......



There we go, confirming animals are legally just peoples property, you own them, and can do anything you want to them. Yet another reason to reject animal welfare, and instead focus on creative vegan education, as the wise sage on NZ Vegan says.

Researching this episode I've found other websites that talk about eating cats and dogs. Apparently its common to eat dogs in Tonga. I found one website that had a tourists account of eating dog. I'll read the full post , the website url will be in my notes.

"Kai Kule – Eating my first dog. October 13 2007

Don’t come over for lunch, the dog we planned to eat has run off. We are looking for it.”

Mau, the talking chief of the village has arranged for me to “Kai kuli” or eat dog. His cousin has been fattening one up and today was the day.

Disappointed I ate lunch with my host family.

It was a few hours later that Mau called back. “They found the dog!”

My host mom, Sila bounced us over the unpaved road to Mau’s cousin in the four-wheel drive van. We could already smell roasting flesh rising from a hole dug in the back yard. A traditional Tongan umu, it’s fire fueled by coconut husks. All that remained were the coals and red-hot rocks heated by the fire.

A heap of steaming intestines lay on a banana leaf before dogs and pigs devoured them. The hide was already gone, only patches of dark hair remain. A bag made fro a leave held the chopped up heart, which along with the head went into the umu.

A layer of sticks supported another layer of leaves and an old carpet. Once the carpet covered the hole, one of the men shoveled dirt over it to complete the umu.

After a short trip to the beach we returned to the house. The men opened the umu releasing the greasy smell of roast meat. Banana leaves tossed into the yard served a our picnic table as the sizzling carcass was picked up with sticks and dropped in our midst. A few quick hacks with a knife to dismember the dog, a few shakes of salt into piles on the leaves and we were ready to eat.

A prayer in Tongan and everyone started to rip into the food with their bare hands. My host mother, Sila, announced that it was a “greasy dog”. I had just taught her the English word a few hours earlier.

It took only a few minutes and the ribs lay bare. One of the men ripped open the leaf bag and we all reached in to try the pieces of heart.

Grease covered my hands and face. Beneath my nails dog sat dog meat. No – there are no napkins here…

This was a great chance to share a cultural experience with some of the men of the village. I now have Mau’s phone number and am comfortable sitting next to him at the Kava circle. I am learning to network in Tonga."





Cat Dissection.

This article was in the Miami Herald, you can find this story at Miami Herald.com

A teen accused of killing 19 cats must be held for 48 hours as doctors conduct a psychological evaluation, a judge ruled
Alleged cat mutilator Tyler Weinman is no stranger to feline anatomy -- he dissected the animals last year in class at Palmetto High.
That revelation came Monday, the same day a judge ordered Weinman, 18, to stay in jail for 48 hours pending a psychiatric evaluation. He is accused of slaughtering 19 house cats across South Miami-Dade.
Palmetto High anatomy teacher Lynn Evans, a self-described animal lover, said she was shocked to learning her quiet former student had been arrested and charged with cruelty to animals.
''I don't know how we can bridge the gap between a controlled [classroom] situation, to what this disturbed young man has done,'' Evans said in an interview, adding that about 8,000 of her students have dissected cats during her 24 years of teaching anatomy.
The investigation into the mutilated cats -- found strewn throughout South Miami-Dade -- has for weeks riveted South Florida, terrorized pet owners and sparked massive media attention.
Weinman was charged Sunday with 19 counts of felony animal cruelty, and 19 counts of improperly disposing of an animal body.
Back at Palmetto High, students and staff were still stunned by Weinman's arrest.
Anatomy Class
Evans, the anatomy teacher, said that dissecting dead cats -- the packaged corpses are distributed by biological supply companies -- is common because the animals have an internal body structure similar to humans.
''Decades of people in the anatomy field have started with dissecting cats,'' she said.
Investigators, still chasing leads that could net more arrests, were mum on whether Weinman's classroom training played a role in the teen's alleged crime spree. Prosecutors say they have a suspected motive, but cannot release details.
''We are aware that he attended the anatomy class,'' said Von Zamft, who declined to comment further because of the ongoing probe.
"

As I mentioned at the start of this episode, its apparently common in America to dissect cats in high school and university. PETA wrote an open letter to the principal of the boys school. I'll read part of PETA's letter.

PETA's Open Letter RE Cat Killer

"You may also be aware of the well-established link between animal abuse in adolescence and
subsequent violent behavior toward humans. For example, serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer
attributed his fascination with murder and mutilation to classroom dissections. In the last
interview before his death, televised on Dateline NBC, Dahmer stated, "In ninth grade, in biology
class, we had the usual dissection of fetal pigs, and I took the remains of that [pig] home and kept
the skeleton of it, and I just started branching out to dogs, cats." According to Dahmer, he enjoyed the excitement and power he experienced when cutting up animals and fantasized about
cutting up a human body.

This disturbing cycle of violence can be curtailed by instilling respect for animals in students at
Palmetto High. A good place to start is to provide them with humane science lessons in place of
lessons that teach students to treat animals as "objects" that can be used and abused at will. "



In America, companies provide dead cats, sealed in bags, to dissection classes. Large companies do nothing but procure animals, and prepare them to be killed.

I'll read from one companies websites, the Carolina company, links are in the notes.

"Why dissect a cat?
Computer-assisted learning and the use of plastinated specimens can supplement dissection, but they cannot give a complete idea of what an organ or organ system is really like. Dissection is the best way for students to obtain knowledge of tissue characteristics, such as strength, composition, color, and texture and to understand the 3-dimensional relationships of organs and organ systems.

One of the best specimens to use for exploring mammalian anatomy is the cat. It is large enough for its internal organs (which are much like our own) to be found easily and for its blood vessels to be traced, but not so large as to present special difficulty in storage and handling. Preserved cat specimens are also reasonably priced and readily available.

How does Carolina obtain its cats?
Animal shelters licensed by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) supply us with euthanized cats that would otherwise be destined for the landfills were they not reutilized for science classrooms. The USDA, under the Animal Welfare Act, governs the procurement of animals. Carolina is proud to have an outstanding USDA inspection and compliance record, and we are committed to treating all animals in a humane manner.
"

Did you like the words used? "reutilized" is a good one, as in cats had an original purpose, are worthless dead, but oh wait! look! Carolina dead cat company to the rescue! They REUSE dead cats, isnt that great? Very green, Carolina really cares for our environment, because we only have one mother earth you know! Cripes, what a load of trash! Theres no nice way to explain a bunch of kids hacking up kitty cats.

I've heard reports from well known sources that many of these preserved cats are infact Mexican pet cats, that vans go about villages with a siren going off, alerting people to bring out cats to be sold. People will trap cats, knowing the van will be doing its rounds soon. These poor mexicans will sell cats for about a US dollar, and then companies that sell the preserved cats, will make much, much more than that. I've seen these preserved cats selling for about 50 US dollars, thats about 70 dollars NZ lets say. A lot of money really, there are some kits for a full classroom that are over 500 US dollars. Im told the cats are drowned, then are injected with preserving fluids, they are drained of blood and have resins injected into their ateries etc to make them more visible, easy for teachers to point out to students, as the cats are hacked at.

Carolina has a website where you can buy cats, dogs, and fetal pigs. They sell preserved sheeps organs, although i didnt see any full preserved sheep for sale.

Do you know what I find so odd about this? That Carolina is so open about what they do, as if this is totally normal, to be cutting up cats and dogs who were abandoned at animal shelters, left to die. They even have a Twitter account, shocking huh?

http://twitter.com/CarolinaBio

They have over 50 people following them.

In america, I'm told over 100,000 cats are dissected every year. Included in my notes are graphic pictures of how the cats are stored in bags, legs all stretched out as if in pain, and how they are cut up. I really hope you will look at these upsetting photos, because it really puts everything into perspective. Its all well and good talking about these problems, but I believe that these photos will really move you, its so obviously a cat in the photos, no different than all the other cats people have as pets. Looking at photos of animal abuse lets people decide for themselves whats happening, theres not any bias passed on by a story teller, instead you see the event frozen in time, as a photo.


I hope you've listened all the way through this episode, I know its a difficult topic. I wish people would see that cats, dogs and other pets are no different than any other animal, as these stories appear in the mainstream media, I hope to promote veganism. So far, I've only been met with ridicule, with people telling me Im nuts for not eating meat, but I'll keep at it, it doesnt take that much effort to be heard online, and if just one person decides to become vegan because of me, then its truly worth my time.

Thank you for listening.



You can find the script for this episode, as well as downloads for every episode of Jay Wont darts podcast at jaywontdart.blogspot.com

If you want to contact me, even just to say you listened, send an email to jaywontdart@gmail.com, j a y w o n t d a r t @ gmail.com, I'd appreciate it. My outro is from No Agenda 117

Have a super happy day, bye.













Sources
========

Tongan man cooks dog
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/no-charges-man-barbecued-dog-2919419

tv3 video
http://www.3news.co.nz/SPCA-concerned-after-dog-eating-incident/tabid/572/articleID/116902/cat/41/Default.aspx

eating dog in tonga
http://tongaadventure.blogspot.com/2007/10/kai-kule-eating-my-first-dog-oct-13.html


Cat Killer
http://blog.peta.org/archives/2009/06/does_high_schoo.php

Cat dissection photos etc
http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Labs/Anatomy_&_Physiology/A&P201/Cat_Skinning/Cat_Skinning.htm

Carolina dead cat supply company (my words)
http://www.carolina.com/product/221481.do
http://www.carolina.com/category/teacher+resources/dissection+activities+and+resources/cat+dissection.do
http://www.carolina.com/product/455572.do


http://bio.bd.psu.edu/cat/

cat dissection facts
http://www.sniksnak.com/aavs3.html

PETA letter, from PETA

Cat Killer news stories from Miami Herald,

Monday, August 10, 2009

Episode 38 Animal Farm


Episode 38

Animal Farm



Hello and welcome to episode 38 of Jay Wont darts podcast, where I share my favourite books, kind of like a tall white vegan Oprah.

My intros were from No Agenda episode 117 and the song Optimistic by Radiohead, its one of the many songs that refference Animal Farm, I'll play another for the outro.

George Orwell is known most for his story Nineteen Eighty-Four, but I prefer his earlier work Animal Farm. Animal Farm is a wonderful book mostly aimed at the Soviet Union and Communism, basically all the main characters are based on real life political figures such as Lenin, Karl Marx and Stalin. Other Farms represent the US and UK, and several collective flocks of animals represent social classes of people.

In the preface of a 1947 Ukrainian edition of Animal Farm he explained how escaping the communist purges in Spain taught him quote, "how easily totalitarian propaganda can control the opinion of enlightened people in democratic countries." This motivated Orwell to expose and strongly condemn what he saw as the Stalinist corruption of the original socialist ideals.

In that preface Orwell also described what gave him the idea of setting the book on a farm

" ...I saw a little boy, perhaps ten years old, driving a huge carthorse along a narrow path, whipping it whenever it tried to turn. It struck me that if only such animals became aware of their strength we should have no power over them, and that men exploit animals in much the same way as the rich exploit the proletariat."

Thats a great quote that also relates to animals rights.

One night, Major, an elderly pig on Manor Farm has a strange dream, that the animals could better themselves, and live freely instead of being repressed by humans such as Mr Jones, their farmer. Jones often gets drunk and is not attentive to matters of his farm. The animals begin a revolution and rise up against their oppressor, the humans. And yet, by the end of the book we see things have not worked out so well for all the animals. I'll read part of Major's speech.




There are two main quotes best remembered from Animal Farm.

The shortest and easiest to remember is

"Four legs good, two legs bad"

Another is the original commandments given out by Major,

THE [ORIGINAL] SEVEN COMMANDMENTS:

1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
3. No animal shall wear clothes.
4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.
5. No animal shall drink alcohol.
6. No animal shall kill any other animal.
7. All animals are created equal.


The last commandment is morphed by the end of the story into

ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL
BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.

I love the ending of the book, the way the pigs change is amazing, I really dont want to spoil the ending for you, its reason enough for you to read this short story.

In Animal Farm, the pigs are generally treated as the most intelligent animals, and probably the sheep are the most dim witted, the sheep act as cheer leaders, mindlessly shouting slogans taught to them by the ruling politician. The pigs start off as being rule by Napoleon and Snowball, Napoleon is more concerned about himself, while Snowball thinks up grand plans to better all animals. Napoleon gathers his own secret police, who on his command drive out Snowball, I love how the secret police come into being, I never expected it, and yet its so logical. I wont spoil that surprise for you.

Napoleon takes control as a dictator, he has the other remaining pigs work for him, there are a few named pigs such as Squealer who acts as second in command, and distributes propaganda and Minimus, who writes songs singing praise of Napoleon.

One of my favourite characters is the minor figure of Moses the Raven, he only shows up a couple of times in the book, but is very important symbolically. I'll read from novelguide.com's character guide, the webpage is in my shownotes which you can see on an iPod by going to the lyrics or you could go to my blog www.jaywontdart.blogspot.com to read my full notes which have sources at the bottom.
"
Moses: Moses is perhaps Orwell's most intriguing character in Animal Farm. This raven, first described as the "especial pet" of Mr. Jones, is the only animal who doesn't work. He's also the only character who doesn't listen to Old Major's speech of rebellion.

Orwell narrates, "The pigs had an even harder struggle to counteract the lies put about by Moses, the tame raven. Moses, who was Mr. Jones's especial pet, was a spy and a tale-bearer, but he was also a clever talker. He claimed to know of the existence of a mysterious country called Sugarcandy Mountain, to which al animals went when they died. It was situated somewhere up in the sky, a little distance beyond the clouds, Moses said. In Sugarcandy Mountain it was Sunday seven days a week, clover was in season all the year round, and lump sugar and linseed cake grew on the hedges. The animals hated Moses because he told tales and did no work but some of them believed in Sugarcandy Mountain, and the pigs had to argue very hard to persuade them that there was no such place."

Moses represents Orwell's view of the Church. To Orwell, the Church is just used as a tool by dictatorships to keep the working class of people hopeful and productive. Orwell uses Moses to criticize Marx's belief that the Church will just go away after the rebellion. Jones first used Moses to keep the animals working, and he was successful in many ways before the rebellion. The pigs had a real hard time getting rid of Moses, since the lies about Heaven they thought would only lead the animals away from the equality of socialism. But as the pigs led by Napoleon become more and more like Mr. Jones, Moses finds his place again. After being away for several years, he suddenly returns and picks up right where he left off. The pigs don't mind this time because the animals have already realized that the "equality" of the revolt is a farce. So Napoleon feeds Moses with beer, and the full-circle is complete.
Orwell seems to offer a very cynical and harsh view of the Church. This proves that Animal Farm is not simply an anti-communist work meant to lead people into capitalism and Christianity. Really Orwell found loop-holes and much hypocrisy in both systems. It's interesting that recently in Russia the government has begun to allow religion again. It almost seems that like the pigs, the Kremlin officials of today are trying to keep their people motivated, not in the ideology of communism, but in the "old-fashioned" hope of an after-life. "



I like Moses because he is one of only a few minor characters who dont directly speak, I dont remember him ever actually talking directly in the book, its always mentioned by the narrator what Moses told the other animals, but we never hear him directly speak. One other minor character is similar to this, the cat, who never does any work, but will show up when there is food, I dont think we hear the cat talk directly either, the narrator mentions her telling the sparrows just out of her reach, that they are all equal comrades after the revolution, and that if one of the sparrows wanted to, they could sit on her paw. I'm glad none of the birds take her up on her offer.




Another of my favourite characters is Benjamin the donkey. He is quite old, and never has anything positive to say, he doesnt speak much but is present at all the major events. Benjamin never believes the revolution will change anything, when asked why hes not enthused, Benjamin explains, "Donkeys live a long time. None of you has ever seen a dead donkey." by which he means he has seen alot of how things work and that the future will not be in the animals favour. Another quote is "Only old Benjamin professed to remember every detail of his long life and to know that things never had been, nor ever could be much better or much worse— hunger, hardship, and disappointment being, so he said, the unalterable law of life." "


Probably the most tragic character in Animal Farm is Boxer, the strong work horse. He is not intelligent and has trouble remembering what he has learnt, he cant remember the alphabet and so cannot read or write, but believes in his leaders. Boxer has a personal motto of " will work harder!", which could be a nod to the book The Jungle, which is an expose on the meat packing industry of the early 20th century.

Boxer is by far the strongest animal, being the largest male horse, he pulls every heavy load and protects the farm with his strong kicks. He has an awful fate that almost makes me cry every time I read the book. Boxer collapses having worked himself to death. I'll read that passage now.






I'll play a clip that explains Animal Farms plot better.



I hope you've enjoyed this episode, I really do hope everyone listening decides to read Animal Farm, its only about 112 pages in length, you can read it at a leisurely pace over a weekend. There are even websites online where you can read the full text for free! One copy can be found on http://www.george-orwell.org , I'll include that in my notes, as well as the ebook I downloaded, the full text of Animal Farm on my computer, it takes up just one fifth of a megabyte. No doubt this episode of my podcast will end up being a hundred times that, sorry to waste your hard drive space! Theres so much to learn from Animal Farm, the best thing to do is just to read the story yourself.



My outro song will be the song Animal in Man by the rap group Dead Prez. You might recognise them from this songs backing music from Chapelles Show, I like political hip hop music, and started liking Dead Prez when I heard their message , at least one out of the two is vegan, the other is possibly vegetarian. At live shows they are known to throw out apples to the crowd. The outro has some harsh language in it, its a retelling of Animal Farm.


Thank you for listening to my humble podcast.

You can find the script for this episode, as well as downloads for every episode of Jay Wont darts podcast at jaywontdart.blogspot.com

If you want to contact me, even just to say you listened, send an email to jaywontdart@gmail.com, j a y w o n t d a r t @ gmail.com, I'd appreciate it.

ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL
BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.

Have a super happy day, bye.





sources
======
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_Farm

http://www.novelguide.com/animalfarm/themeanalysis.html

full story!

download html ebook here
http://www.gutenberg.net.au/ebooks01/0100011.txt

or full story chapter by chapter here
http://www.george-orwell.org/Animal_Farm/index.html

animal farm synopsis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aybo5lYPx4s

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Episode 37 First Listener Email!

Episode 37, First Listener Email!

Hello and welcome to an EXTRA special episode of Jay Wont dart's podcast, where for the thousand or so people who've came across my podcast, I've received one email!

I use Feed Burner for my RSS feed and stats, normally I only consider iTunes subscribers to matter, people who want to hear my every episode, you guys are my real fans, who are there for the scare good episodes, and all the terrible ones! Thank you all.

I have a little over 20 main subscribers, mostly Windows iTunes users. Some of my most popular episodes have been listened to by over 300 people, which is pretty cool considering I'm just some weirdo talking about nothing in particular!

I dont know how many of these statistics are actual dedicated listeners, but one day recently I had 19 people in America, 5 hits from the UK, 4 from Germany, 3 from little old New Zealand, 2 from Israel, 1 Australian hit, 1 from Luxembourg, 1 from Austria and another 1 from Mexico. Its pretty amazing to think my voice has been heard all around the world! I dont know how many of those hits were just looking at my feed, and maybe not even hearing a single episode, but they have came across my podcast somehow or rather.

This episode is to thank one wonderful American woman, the first person to email me! Heres the message she left me



Oh wait, that was just a lame joke, heres an actual message, from an actual listener to my podcast, all the way from the other side of the world.



A very big hello to Bea Elliot, who lives in Florida, in the U S of A. You've really made me happy Bea, thank you for contacting me, especially with such a positive message! I'd like to mention Bea's newest blog, Once Upon a Vegan, which you can find if you go to http://beaelliottvegan.blogspot.com/ , thats b.e.a, e.l.l.i.o.t.t vegan . blogspot.com, bea elliot vegan . blogspot . com . Bea is working on a podcast which I hope will be on iTunes soon, I really cant wait to hear her future episodes, I love meeting other podcasters, especially other vegan podcasters. A big thank you to Bea for having the courage to email me, and especially for recording her comment like I suggested, for me to use in this very special episode.

To all my other listeners, I think theres another 18 not counting myself, why not say hello? If you send in an audio clip of yourself, I'll play it in a future episode, its a bit like ringing into a radio station, you can tell all your friends "dudes, I was on jay wont darts podcast maaaaan!" to which they will say..."whats a podcast?".

If you like my podcast, I'd also like listeners to give me a rating on iTunes, if you go to my iTunes podcast page, just search the name of my podcast, "jay wont dart" on the iTunes store, and leave a very short review, complete with a 5 star rating! With enough reviews, shouldnt take more than one or two, I'll be better featured on iTunes, and will hopefully get more listeners!

Thank you very much for listening.

You can find the script for this episode, as well as downloads for every episode of Jay Wont darts podcast at jaywontdart.blogspot.com

If you want to contact me, even just to say you are my second actual listener, send an email to jaywontdart@gmail.com, j a y w o n t d a r t @ gmail.com, I'd appreciate it.

Have a super happy day, especially if you're names Bea Elliot of Florida.

bye!

Episode 36 Anti Smacking Bill

Episode 36


Anti Smacking Bill

Hello and welcome to another episode of Jay Wont dart's podcast, where I mention my opinion on the Trademe Message Board and made fun of for being vegan.

This episode, I'll talk briefly about the Anti Smacking bill thats caused grief in New Zealand.

My intro was from No Agenda 104.

Before I forget, hi to anyone from the TradeMe Message Board who's listening, I wish I could have gotten some recordings from you to play, no matter what side you are on. Hi to wayne472, merrigj, mikey853nz, and anyone else who is listening from New Zealand.

I could be wrong about details I mention in this episode, so feel free to correct me, I'll give out my email address at the end of this episode.

A little background about New Zealand politics for international listeners. In New Zealand we have MMP, which is a system in which several small-ish parties can band together and become a government, its not "X vs Y", if party X doesnt have enough votes to govern alone, it can get support from party gamma, so it has enough votes to be the government.

In New Zealand, we do have two major parties, one centre left, one centre right, Labour on the left, and National on the right. Labour had been in power forever, but had increasingly been under siege from National gaining more votes each election, Labour would rely on smaller left wing parties to hand it extra votes to cross the line into power again. Generally both major parties get 80 odd percent of the votes, roughly 40 percent each for Labour and National. Labour, the major left wing party normally campaigns on more healthcare and more education, with more liberal ways to get ahead in life, more benefits, welfare and affirmative action for minority races. National, the major right wing party normally campaigns on law and order, lowering taxes and keeping a more old fashioned, work hard to get ahead in life and dont complain attitude.

The Green party is a fairly large small party, probably the third largest party overall. The Greens focus on climate change, pollution, helping people break the cycle of poverty and affirmative action. They are quite left wing overall. The Green party is quite interesting, I think, always having two leaders, one male, one female! The Green's often have crazy and well known MP's, dope smoking rastafarians who ride skateboards, people who get tears in their eyes at the thought of Genetic Modification, or radical feminists who spend most of their adult life on welfare, get arrested in protests, and tell others how to live their lives. I'm being bit mean with my descriptions of the Greens, but they are normally the most crazy MPs in parliament.

Theres also the Maori party, which normally focuses on getting more state assets given to Maori tribes and helping the Maori race, affirmative action. The Maori party is very modern, it was formed in 2004. The Maori party can be either left or right wing, but I often think of it as more Left wing aligning with Labour over National.

Those are the parties I think are the most important ,we have a handful of other large-ish small parties, but they dont matter as much to me personally and dont get a large percentage of the votes at election times.

The labour government, with help from smaller parties, had been in power for three terms , up until the 2008 election when National got in, with help from two minor parties.
Under the Labour government, green party member Sue Bradford had her private members bill about child discipline put into law. It changed Section 59 of the crimes act 1961 to now remove the defence of "reasonable force" for parents charged with assault on their children. This has been known as the "anti smacking bill" as it basically bans smacking your children, it is now a violent act that is not allowed. 113 Mps voted the bill in, only 7 voted against it, so all the politicians were basically fine with smacking being banned.

I have seen people stating that this law DOES NOT make smacking illegal, but in fact only prevents bad parents from beating their children. For this episode Im going along with the mainstream belief that this is a "Anti smacking bill" that wants all physical discipline from parents to be banned, that includes smacking.

National was initially against this bill, but with an addition of part 4, that police investigating claims of smacking could decide if what was done to the child was "inconsequentially" or not. If the police officer thought the child was no worse off from being smacked, they could choose not to prosecute the parents. This was sort of allowing smacking, althought it would be up to a police officer to judge whether the child had been hurt or not which could be risky for parents who wanted to smack their children.

The full section 59 now reads



All that makes my head hurt, I could never be a politician with all those confusing words. The parts I would think would let a parent hit a child are ruled over by other additions at the end. Parents ARE allowed to physically grab a child if they are about to walk into a busy street, they can hold them back from doing something dangerous, but they cannot hit a child afterwards, "bad child, im going to smack you". I've seen people who support the bill saying that smacking is actually fully allowed by this bill, and that what the bill known as the "anti smacking bill" is actually about is stopping parents giving an old fashioned "good hiding" to their children after some time, instead of smacking the child on the hand to stop them hitting another child, it actually means "wait till daddy comes home to hit you with his belt". Like I said before, Im going to focus on smacking, I'll assume this bill is to be against smacking children outright.

Theres been massive public outrage, with around 80 percent of the public apparently for smacking children, and only 20 or so percent against smacking children.

Labour had to have fears people would turn against it because of the anti smacking bill, it had been labelled too "politically correct" and also as a "nanny state", that wanted to control everything people could and couldnt do. Labour had ideas about banning normal incandescent light bulbs, and only having compact florescent bulbs that use quarter the electricity, the sort I use, as well as ideas about making showers have to be run at a lower pressure, they wouldnt have a lovely strong pressure, instead using less water to save on the amount of water used nationwide. People were very angry about both of these ideas, and the anti smacking bill certainly annoyed them even more. National ended up gaining power from Labour, National was against Labours ideas about banning bright light bulbs and strong showers.

National however, is keeping the anti smacking bill, which effectively prevents parents from smacking their children. A referendum was initiated by upset voters, which is happening at the moment, I got my voting paper yesterday. This referendum is going to cost the taxpayer over 8.9 million New Zealand dollars, I have no idea where the money is going, its just bits of paper that get a yes or no tick.

The question thats being asked is "Should a smack, as part of good parental correction, be a criminal offence in New Zealand?" which I think is confusing as hell. I've asked people who are for smacking, and who are against smacking, and people on both sides think its a bad question. It says "good parental correction" as if a smack can be that, something good parents do, but its also "a criminal offense". I think its a loaded question designed to make people vote No, that they are for smacking children, because the question makes it seem like you are making "good parents" commit a "criminal offense". I would think most people also feel a right they have is being taken away by The Man.

You've been very good putting up with my voice for so long, so I'll use a clip of someone else talking for a change, this is a Guide to the anti smacking bill I found on a anti smacking website I'll mention later on, I got this from youtube, its from before the referendum had been issued.




I liked that part "like it or not the bill is here to stay so adopting these techniques is the best way to stay out of jail", well actually a referendum is being held which could overturn the "anti smacking bill" and let parents smack their children again.

I'll play a 3 news story about the anti smacking bill and then the full debate that was on Campbell Live, afterwards I'll tell you my personal feelings about smacking, if I'm voting that parents should be able to smack their children, or not.

<3 news clip>


Ok, as promised, I'll tell you how I myself am voting on the anti smacking bill referendum. I personally am voting Yes, I am against smacking children as I believe it to be an act of violence, calling it "smacking" does not change that it is essentially just hitting another person to make them do what you want. I know many people who are for smacking will be angry that I consider smacking to be hitting, but if its not hitting, if its not physical discipline, then what is it? Its like the people who say they are vegetarian but eat fish! They consider fish not to be meat! They see a fish has eyes, a mouth, they eat and go to the toilet, they breed and have more baby fish, they feel pain, they see, hear, they can sense in ways we cannot, such as feeling disturbances in the water around them, but, "oh no, a fish is not an animal, a fish is a vegetable or something, its not meat!"

No, I say that smacking is the same as hitting, a light smack is the same as a light hit, if child X smacked child Y, even very lightly, we wouldnt let them do that would we? I wonder, if a child smacked another child, would a No Voting parent then smack child X? I think so.

If we dont tolerate children using violence, then why do we use it against them? If a mentally disabled person is "mentally 5 years old", would we smack them in the way we might smack a 5 year old? I dont think so. I've heard arguments that "oh, its a different relationship" as mentioned in the campbell live debate, but no, I dont agree with that, its no different, just as light smacking and light hitting are the same to me.

Now, to be clear, I dont think all parents who smack their children are blood thirsty murderers who come home at night and beat their partners and then kill their children with a coathanger. Im not being silly like that. To smack someone is to hit someone, and thats violence.

I dont see adults smacking other adults, why is that? There comes an age where parents generally dont smack their children, why do you think that is? I would assume its because the child is big enough to smack back, to hurt the parent. Its not fun hitting another person when you could be hit back.

I've already ticked Yes, that a smack should be a criminal offence, you can see a photo of my vote slip on my flickr account.

I know its hard for some parents who grew up being smacked, and who smack their own children, to see that other people have a problem with their behaviour. I was smacked as a child , and I'd be threatened with a smack too. "stop doing that, do you want me to smack you?" or that the parent would be going to get The Wooden Spoon, my mother would hit me with one large wooden spoon. It would be a threat for me, "im going to get the spoon", if I were doing something she didnt like, and sometimes if I did something accidentally that I knew she would hit me for, I'd plead "no mum, not the wooden spoon", although it probably just made me look more pathetic to her as she hit me.


I have a few clips from people supporting my idea that smacking children is violence. I asked No Voters, people who wanted to smack their children to appear, but they either didnt want to be recorded, or were unable to record themselves and send me an mp3. I honestly wish they were on here, talking to me personally, but I've played neutral clips, for smacking clips, as well as my own point of view against smacking clips. So I think this episode has been quite fair to all sides.

Here are two clips I got, both from fellow Vegans incidentally.




Thank you to both Bruce and Sam for appearing on my podcast.

Every Vegan I know is against smacking children. I think my vegan friends are against it, as they see it as a violent act, that a large adult is doing to a small and helpless child. I would think that practically all vegans, who are generally for peace and against all violence, would most likely be against smacking children.

My father went to school at a time when they boys got hit with a cane, the teacher actually physically hit children! Unbelievable! I know my older listeners might be laughing at me now, but I cant imagine teachers being able to hit children. Did they get hit if they didnt do their homework? I know that it certainly didnt stop the bad kids being bad, I've been told by a no voter, for smacking, that her husband would upset the teacher to make him hit them in class, and that they would hide under desks, and run about. They thought it was a great time, it didnt control them. Also, girls didnt get hit with a cane, because they were thought of as "weaker" than the boys I guess? Not sure. My father is left handed, and he wasnt allowed to write with his left hand, I think he would be hit with a ruler for doing that. Imagine schools today hitting little boys for writing with their left hand, which is natural for them, its no different than hitting them because of their race, or because they are gay! Unbelievable, I wonder if the average parent who believes in smacking also believes in hurting left handed children so they have to write like a right handed person. Imagine being the only left handed child in a class room of right handed people, imagine being told by the large male teacher, whos holding a ruler to hit you with, "you're gonna do what I tell you boy, you dont use that hand except for wiping your butt boy, do you want a smack? you want me to hit you? huh? think you're a fancy left hander now do you? hey?". Awful.

I found a website written by a young child

"If kids even once stepped out of line they were strapped or canned. If they got caught not working or doing the wrong thing they would stand you up at the front of the class and make you wear the dunces cap or make you hold out your hand to be strapped. If you were left-handed you were forced to use your right and if you did otherwise your left hand would be strapped until it was too sore to use.

If you were late for school you would be strapped the number of minutes late. The teacher always carried a ruler around to give any body who was not doing what they were told a hard rap across the knuckles. Children had no choice in the work they did or how they did it. Whatever teacher said to do was to be done. For being really bad you could be canned six times and that's where the saying six of the best come from.

Some teachers made you bend over and put your head under the black board so when they canned your back side if you raised your head you would hit it on the chalk ledge"

if I can see this is wrong, then I dont see why other people cant.

Theres evidence from polls that fewer people smack their children now than in the 1960's, its gone down dramatically. The use of physical discipline by parents has been reduced, you can hear that from the Campbell Live debate. The people in the debate were asked if they smack their children now less than they were smacked as a child, they all agreed. I doubt children have suddenly gotten nicer, more polite, dont old people say the opposite? And yet, I would assume that even parents for smacking children, smack them less than they were smacked growing up, and that often parents feel bad about smacking their children. We dont hit children for being left handed, or Maori anymore, so why hit them because they hit another child? An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind, as Ghandi said.

Here are some clips that are both for and against smacking, from well known people.

Tony Blair, former prime minister of the UK,



I dont think all people who smack their kids go on to beat them to a pulp, but a smack is still hitting, and thats violence against children.

Dame Kiri , a new zealand musician,


I dont think you should have to earn respect, you should be able to get it, it should be expected that you are a good person, you shouldnt be punished until you can prove yourself good, you should be treated with dignity so you respect your seniors, that you see everyone as equal.

Helen Clark, former Labour Prime Minister of New Zealand,


I dont agree with Helen Clark, and Labour was for this bill being passed while she were Prime Minister.

John Key, current National Prime Minister of New Zealand,

John Key is for smacking he says, he did it himself, and yet admits there are more effective tactics such as taking away a cellphone. Id hate to have my iPhone take away by mum and dad, but its better than being hit.

I'll also remind you that National passed this bill, with their addition that the police could judge if the child had been assaulted or not on a case by case basis.


last is Sue Bradford, the Green Party MP who came up with this bill, its her creation. She changes her mind all the time publicly if this "anti smacking bill" stops smacking or not, if its an illegal act or not, if she wants it banned or not. Im not a fan of hers, but I can agree with anyone who is against smacking children ,if Hitler thought smacking children was wrong, then I can be on Hitlers side of this single issue.



I'd like to mention two websites that helped me out with my views on smacking.

http://yesvote.org.nz/ vote yes for banning smacking and
http://www.voteno.org.nz/ vote no, which is for smacking children.

Theres also a stupid parody of the yesvote site, by people who are for smacking, they personally attack the positions of the yes vote people. This is linked to on every page of the novote site, they at least think its funny if they havnt actually made it themselves. you can find the silly parody at

http://yesvote.blogspot.com/


I personally agree with yesvote.org.nz, and disagree with voteno.org.nz , but I feel I should mention both sites for the help they gave me as useful resources, as well as for listeners to this episode, thats you, these two sites will help you make up your own mind.

I like the slogans that yesvote.org.nz uses, against smacking children, "hitting kids teaches kids its ok to hit", "if its wrong to hit an adult, how can it be right to hit a child", "is it right to have a law saying its ok to hit a child?" and my favourite question, "what happens when a 'little smack' doesnt work anymore?". I like that last one the best as its something I hadnt thought of before, if you smack your child for doing fairly minor things like spilling milk, or swearing, what do you do if they hit a family member? Do you smack them harder? What if smacking them doesnt work, if they laugh it off, or try and smack you back?

I played a clip of Prime Minister John Key saying he is for smacking children, and yet he also says that if the "anti smacking bill" is shown to be not working, he will change it. Many MPs voted the section 59 change, well basically every MP in the country, but now they say they are for smacking, yet its known as the anti smacking bill! Who knows how this will turn out, even if the forecast 80 percent of New Zealand want to be able to smack children, the government doesnt have to change anything! They could, if they are worried about not getting in next term, but that is years away.

I dont think that only terrible people smack their children, almost everyone I know is actually for smacking! I personally feel its wrong to use violence against anyone, but especially when you are much bigger than the person you are using it against, and they have no way to defend themselves. What can a child do? Say "please dont hit me?" thats not going to stop a parent smacking them. They are most likely too small to smack the parent back, they wont be allowed a tazer to defend them from violence like the police have, and they cant use pepper spray on mum and dad. So what happens? They just have to learn that mum or dad is always right because if you argue with them, they can hurt you physically, and theres nothing you can do about it. You are nothing, they could tear you apart if they wanted to, just like that. I think thats awful. I think children should have the right not to be hit by anyone, and that includes their parents.

Thank you for listening to this episode.

You can find the script for this episode, as well as downloads for every episode of Jay Wont darts podcast at jaywontdart.blogspot.com

If you want to contact me, even just to say you listened, send an email to jaywontdart@gmail.com, j a y w o n t d a r t @ gmail.com, I'd appreciate it.

Have a super happy day, bye.










Sources
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http://yesvote.org.nz/ vote yes for banning smacking
http://www.voteno.org.nz/index.htm vote no for smacking children

guide to the anti smacking bill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDFl83TNagM&feature=player_embedded

left handed children beaten
http://schools.reap.org.nz/ruapehu/kaitieke/99t3/disc.htm