posted on December 9, 2000 08:21:11 PM
potato-there may not be one clearinghouse for this info. between the VA and medical searches for head wounds it shouldn't take long to find this. i remember seeing this over the years in medical books. a program on tv the other night was about a guy who had a bullet in his head and couldn't have it removed because the surgery would kill him. krs- i guess that is what makes a man a man.
posted on December 9, 2000 08:32:05 PM
It's strange that I found this thread this evening. I live in a ranching area, and it's not uncommon to see dead cows on the side of the highway, waiting for the 'dead cow' truck to pick them up.
Driving home today, I saw one, and being alone, got to thinking. We are not disturbed to see a dead cow, cows are bred to be killed and eaten. But the one time I ever saw a dead horse, it had a devastating effect on me. Perhaps because horses are trained to be our 'partners', not our dinner? Every dead dog or cat on the highway upsets me, skunks and snakes don't.
I know this is kind of off topic, but what I'm trying to say is that each of us has a definite opinion on hunting, based on our own experiences with hunting, and with animals. My husband used to hunt, but after 20 years with me and my animal farm, he found he could no longer shoot animals. His experiences with the orphan animals we've raised have totally changed his feelings about hunting. Not to say that hunting for sport is wrong, just that we all come to this discussion with very deeply ingrained attitudes about it.
posted on December 10, 2000 06:55:23 AM
When the eagle swoops down upon the unsuspecting hare, there is no cruelty involved. It is simply using the best weapon it has to meet its need for food.
Man, being the top of the predator chain does likewise. While it may not be necessary to bloody one's hands in American society to obtain food, there are many who prefer wild game.
It is illegal to shoot or otherwise maim pets and many of the animals in the wild. Those who run around with guns shooting at everything they see with wild abandon are not "hunters". They share symptoms of mental disease with the sociopaths of this world.
There is an excellent book, "Of Wolves and Men" by Barry Lopez that opened my eyes to the nature of predators and man's place in that chain.
posted on December 10, 2000 08:32:56 AM
Kitsch1: Let me go on record as saying I don't eat meat, ever, no matter what, no matter when. ESPECIALLY STEAK.
posted on December 10, 2000 01:09:08 PM
There is this religious order in India that won't eat anything but vegetables, nuts and fruits. They have these super soft brooms they cary with them and sweep the group before taking each step so they wont step on and kill any insects.
They are aware that insects are killed in the harvesting of food so they will not do any of the harvesting themselves. Still tho....bugs are killed, and they eat the fruits of the never ending circle of life and death.
They allow rats to overrun their temple and leave bowls of milk for the sacred rats to drink from, and they themselves then drink from this milk the rats have swam in.
There is no middle groud, if you eat, something died because of it.
posted on December 11, 2000 08:16:45 AM
Marwin's observation that we can isolate and segregate is based not only on Western concepts, it is also based pretty much on 20th C. Western concepts. The eating of of horseflesh was commonly accepted in Europe and the US before the 20th. C, most often out of necessity rather than preference. Horseflesh was also used quite a bit in the "dust-bowl" Southwest of the 1920s but it wasn't widely advertised.
Linda_K, my reference to "redneck hunters" who go out blast at Bambi after drinking a couple of six-packs was NOT derived from a stereotype. They were drawn from actual acquaintances of mine who believe that anything worth doing well should be preceded but several brewskies. Scary? Damn straight. But the animals are safer for it. BUT, this group is the exception, not the rule.
BTW, where did Marwin's post about having Government regulate the world ecology go? Did I imagine it, or have a couple of posts disappeared?
