Vegetarian Star

Eating burgers in public, killing flies, darn it, Mr. President, what has gotten into you?

Barack Obama is under fire again from the animal rights group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals for swatting at and…gasp… killing a fly during an interview.

After hearing of the murder, PETA responded with the statement, “He isn’t the Buddha, he’s a human being and human beings have a long way to go before they think before they act.”

Some supporters of PETA are even laughing at this response and saying, in more or less words, “Give me a break!”

One commenter on TMZ.com said, “I’m a PETA supporter and I always stand up for what they do because in most cases, they do it out of caring for animals. But this makes me feel embarrassed.”

PETA has issued another statement, further explaining their stance.

“When the media began contacting us in droves for a statement, we obliged, simply by saying that the president isn’t the Buddha and shouldn’t be expected to do everything right—if not for that, we would not have brought it up. It’s the media who are making a big deal about the fly swat—not PETA. However, we took the opportunity, when asked, to point out that we do offer lots of ways in which to control insects of all kinds without harming them, including the humane bug catcher we sent President Obama. There is even a chapter in PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk’s book Making Kind Choices about how to rid your home of “uninvited guests.”

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“Our objective is to sink the Japanese whaling fleet economically, and for the last three years we’ve cost them their profits. 305 whales saved this year, 500 last year, 500 the year before, and we’re gonna keep this up. As long as we’re persistent — we don’t retreat — I think we can bankrupt them. That’s our objective. ”

—-Captain Paul Watson, star of the Animal Planet series Whale Wars, which tries to stop Japanese whalers from killing whales in the Southern Ocean. Watson and the crew recently did an interview on Larry King Live, where he revealed his ultimate goal of destruction-the whalers’ wallets!

via Ecorazzi.com

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Darren Aronofsky was the director for the The Wrestler, about a former athlete (Mickey Rourke) wishing he were still in his glory days.

Who would think the director for such a tough guy movie has a soft spot for such large animals?

The Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus are set to park themselves on Coney Island soon and Aronosky has written a letter to Taconic Investments, the company donating land for the circus, to reconsider that offer.

Aronosky wants Taconic to send the circus packing or at the very least impose some restrictions to ensure animals are mistreated less, that include:

1. Prohibiting the use of electric shock prods and bullhooks on elephants
2. Provide the elephants with soft surfaces to sleep, eat, and walk on at all times when they’re not performing
3. Prohibit the chaining of elephants except during medical care

Read the rest of Aronosky’s letter at peta.org.

Regardless of the natural conditions that can be mimicked, any animal performing in a circus is still not in an ideal habitat. Can animals ever work in this capacity and be healthy? Is there a way to create a healthy circus, where animals can be admired for their beauty and ability to learn?

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The new Fox drama Mental featured an animal rights scene on its debut episode this week.

Mental features a psychiatrist named Dr. Jack Gallagher (Chris Vance), who arrives at a hospital with some unorthodox approaches to patient care (the first episode he got naked in front of his staff and the police to calm a schizophrenic man who was also naked. Yes, it gives a whole new meaning to the “put yourself in the patient’s shoes” motto.

Dr. Gallagher is like his sister (or rather brother) Fox TV Medical doc Dr. House without the attitude (and without the clothing?), as he sends his residents to patients’ homes and into their lives outside the medical office to investigate possible connections to their current illness.

Dr. Gallagher’s residents speak to the family of the schizophrenic man, one of which is a younger brother who happens to be standing on the street passing out pamphlets and discussing harp seals and global warming.

When CBS’ The Mentalist featured an animal rights protest scene, we suspiciously thought Owain Yeoman slid some dollars in the producers pocket to change the script a little.

But maybe network television is catching on that the veg and AR movement is more common than once thought. Or Yeoman is running down the street to ABC on his break and slipping dollar bills in their pockets too.

Either way, it’s good to see the AR movement being portrayed on network television in a positive manner versus a crime solving TV show with agents tracking down extremist who are burning buildings or worse.

Mental airs on Fox Tuesdays at 9/8c.

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With the innocent face that Bristol Palin possesses, it almost seems too cruel to make fun of her.

After all, she is her own person, too young for the world to attack her simply because she shares genes with a particular 2008 vice presidential candidate the media loved to pounced on as well.

It’s downright unfair… And funny, hehehe.

The Spoof is at it again, this time choosing to poke fun of Canada governor general Michaëlle Jean slaughtering a seal, then eating its raw heart. Sounds like Jean’s got motherly instincts.

“Using a traditional Inuit ulu blade Palin, 19, chomped her way through the palpitating organ in an apparent gesture of one-upmanship with her moose-slaughtering mother Sarah.”

“”Yummy!” Bristol told press reporters who witnessed the sacrificial rite this weekend. “And so full of rich nutrients it almost makes ya wish you’re pregnant again!””

Apparently Bristol’s ex boy and baby daddy Levi Johnston is much, much older than we all thought. Find out his real age at Thespoof.com.

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Let’s face it, animal rights activists have to have thick skin.

When your motives are questioned, your tactics are ridiculed, and the cops are just waiting to shackle you at the slightest feeling the peaceful protest is turning ugly, it takes a lot of balls to get up routinely and stand up for creatures who cannot.

Not to mention those insane outfits!

From priests to fake bloody meat to animals to even getting downright naked, animal rights activists show no shame in dressing for the occasion to get the point across. Not a problem at all for vegan singer Chrissie Hynde.

“I don’t mind standing next to a guy dressed as a carrot chanting, ‘We’re not leaving ’til the cows come home,” Hynde told the Sunday Mail.

Or, standing next to a KFC chicken.

“If you’re willing to make a bit of a fool of yourself to make your point – that’s what you have to do.”

Whether it’s protesting KFC, McDonald’s or the mulesing industry, Chrissie has proven she never fails to pay her dues to the fools’ club.

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Pamela Anderson is a work hard, play hard kind of gal and she proved this recently while attending the Vienna’s Life Ball AIDS event with other celebrities like Katy Perry, Bill Clinton, and Eva Longoria.

Before heading off to the ball, Pamela found time to chat with Austria’s justice minister, Claudia Bandion-Ortner about animal rights and free speech. It appears Austrian police are attempting to classify animal rights groups as criminals. When Pamela heard this news, she wrote a letter to Bandion-Ortner, asking for her assistance to prevent the potential censure of free speech.

The justice minister then invited Pamela to spend some quality one on one time with her, where she assured Pamela, she’d monitor the situation closely.

It helps to know people in high places.

via peta.org

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Gillian Anderson would like the X Files on animal abuse in testing laboratories closed forever.

The actress has personally written a letter to every Member of the European Parliament (MEB), asking they take steps necessary to protect animals involved in research.

The Parliament is considering a law that could improve the conditions of laboratory animals in Europe.

Gillian is insistent that the law contain the following protections for animals:

• Promote effective, humane and relevant methods to replace animal experiments. This must be at the heart of EU policy.

• Ensure that no experiments are conducted on animals unless a licence is issued by government authorities in advance (this is already the law in many European countries and is vital for animals’ protection).

• Ensure that no animal is ever exposed to severe, prolonged pain.

• Make real progress towards ending the use of all non-human primates in experiments and take decisive

Read Gillian’s entire letter at blog.peta.org/uk.

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