------------------------------------------------------- CONVENTION OF THE GOAN DIASPORA FROM GOA INTO THE WORLD Lisbon, Portugal June 15-17, 2007 Details at: http://www.goacom.org/casa-de-goa/noticias.html -------------------------------------------------------
Hi Arnold, With the elections in Goa reaching a fevered pitch, few on this forum will be interested in our discussion on non-political affairs for the next week or so. However, I am honoured to be placed in the same league as the esteemed Dr. Helekar who stands head and shoulders above me when debating scientific minutia. If Thomas Huxley was known as Darwin's Bulldog and the current champion of evolutionary thought, Richard Dawkins is called Darwin's Rottweiler, then I would propose Santosh be given the title of Darwin's Pitbull (after the legendary fighting dog which locks onto it's victim) and I will accept being Darwin's Chihuahua (which is my canine personality after taking the quiz on Tickle .... http://web.tickle.com/dog/index.jsp ) Having lived most of my life as a meat-eater and belonging to a profession that has manipulated the physiological processes of domesticated animals for a living in the interest of providing us with animal proteins, the almost fanatical compassion towards sentient beings by the Buddhists and Jains was incomprehensible. But after converting to vegetarianism about 5 years ago, I began to make the connection between the meat on my plate and the dominion over the creatures of the earth that humankind was granted by their Benevolent(?) Creator. Vegans are considered by many to be unhealthy tree-huggers with a couple of screws loose for their obsessive avoidance of all things of animal (and even insect ie. honey) origin. But some of the most enlightened people of modern times were aware of the great price animal exploitation and harvesting exacted on the psyche of the human 'soul'. Several sites maintain lists of prominent vegetarians eg. http://www.veganwolf.com/famous_vegetarians.htm In fact, one of my favourite quotes comes from the father of our great nation, the Mahatma was of the opinion that "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated". Our tired morality has somehow been preoccupied with matters sexual. Those who are interested in this topic should beg, borrow or steal a copy of Matthew Scully's book "Dominion: The Power of Men, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy' http://www.matthewscully.com/ The connection between vegetarianism and religion (NOT just Hinduism) has been well documented. http://www.ivu.org/religion/ However, it (predominantly the monotheism of Christianity) has also been used to justify meat consumption and the factory farming we are now seeing mushrooming out of control in the west. It's impact on all aspects of life from the health of the individual to international economy (particularly of third world poverty) to the health of the planet have been elucidated for decades to no avail. The fishing industry is not immune to criticism based on the damage mechanized trawlers are doing to fish stocks around the world. This was the main topic of a recent issue of the National Geographic magazine. It is astounding to learn of the amount of 'bycatch' that is discarded in the harvesting of our beloved prawns. http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0704/feature1/gallery4.html If you have a high speed connection you MUST watch this compilation on NGS. http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0704/sights_n_sounds/index.html And on the compassion front, stores like Bass Pro http://www.basspro.com/ are doing booming business (competing with the mega churches for disposable incomes ;-) by pandering to our base desires to show off our ability to outwit, outfox and outsmart lesser beings with hooks, bait, spreadshot, telescopic rifle sights, hollow nose bullets, traps and other evil creations. Sadly.... Kevin Saldanha Mississauga, ON. On 5/27/07, Arnold Noronha <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Fri, 25 May "Kevin Saldanha" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: Re: [Goanet] Mark Twain's Celebrated Jumping Frog of > Calaveras > I'm an occasional recreational fisherman who is guilty of this cruelty. > You're absolutely right about the sadism inherent in this angling sport. > Unfortunately, we don't think of the ugly aspect of the sport as we go to > challenge the creatures of the waters for an outing and pastime in the bosom > of Nature. The true angler's real objective is catching fresh air and > sunshine with the charm of solitude and maybe some good company of fellow > anglers. > As you have scientifically revealed, it's amazing how many forms of life > come from the same genetic tree. Metaphorically, Man is the 800 lb gorilla > dominating practically all other forms of multi-cellular animals and > vegetation. As you scientists tell us, we are indisputably on top of the > food chain and masters the ecological domain of Nature on this planet. It's > so ironic and poetic justice too that despite all our strength and brains we > live in dread of those ephemeral microscopic organisms such as microbes and > viruses because Nature has given them the power to destroy us so called > Masters of the Planet Earth. > It always fascinating to get erudites like you and Dr Helekar to express > authoritative opinions on matters of heredity and other biological facts. > Pardon me if it appears I'm trying to infringe on your ambit. I have deep > respect for persona of your genre in scientific matters wherein my knowledge > and understanding is very limited. > > Regards > Arnold > -- Be impeccable with your word - Don Miguel Ruiz http://www.nderf.org/4AgreementsReview.htm ------------------------------------------------------- Goanet recommends, and is proud to be associated with, 'Domnic's Goa' - A nostalgic romp through a bygone era. This book is the perfect gift for any Goan, or anyone wanting to understand Goa. Distributed locally by Broadway, near Caculo Island, Panjim & internationally by OtherIndiaBookStore.Com. For trade enquiries contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------------------------------------
