Manuj Chandra
"मेरी खामोशियों में भी फ़साना ढूंड लेती है, बड़ी शातिर है ये दुनिया बहाना ढूंड लेती है, हकीकत जिद किये बैठी है चकनाचूर करने को, मगर हर आंख फिर सपना सुहाना ढूंड लेती है"
Website URL: http://www.kranti.org/connect/community/profile.html?userid=62
Friday, 05 March 2010 00:08
The Religionization Of Science
Science has become commercialized and technology has become a puppet in the hands of multi-national corporations, who, buy the instruments of law are suppressing data that hurts their bottom line.
Recently I finished watching a documentary called "Killer at Large" that contains the congress hearing of the Sergeant General of the US and how his duties were obstructed by those who profit otherwise.
I care deeply about science and rationalism, and it hurts to see modern applied science turned into witchcraft. No, I am not a creationist...just a seeker of truth who is loosing faith in commercial science by the day. I'm very sorry to say, but for me it has now boiled down to "faith". Someone must muster the courage to address the religionization of science even at the cost of being ridiculed and labeled.
Peer-reviewed papers after peer-reviewed papers are ignored for cataloging because the archives too are funded by the corporations.
Forget the separation of church and state, we need a separation of the industrial complex and science.
These are just a few of the examples where even the skeptic community has lied through their tooth.
They use intellectual arrogance and esoteric terminology to earn credibility and confuse the public.
Science, our only hope of learning the truth has been reduced to a corporate tool to protect corporations from liabilities.
IMHO, Science should always remain publicly funded and patents should be abolished. Science, which was meant to serve the interest of public is now being exploited to serve a handfull of powerfull corporate lobbies.
I refer to the tyranny of science. The old horrors are being brought back. Though we no longer torture in the name of God or in the name of the State, we torture in the name of science! - John Cowper Powys, English novelist
Resources
Reductionist Research
The Corporation
Latest in Clinica Nutrition
Food Matters
Wednesday, 03 March 2010 22:03
Did Wasps Discovered Penicillin?
Wasps learned how to use sophisticated antibiotics millions of years before the invention of penicillin, research has shown.
Sunday, 28 February 2010 09:34
Got Propaganda?
You’ve seen the advertisements. Trim celebrities like Elizabeth Hurley and Beyoncé tell you that eating three servings of dairy a day will help you lose weight. Thousands of Americans were duped into thinking that dairy product consumption is associated with weight loss because of this slick advertising campaign, which has cost the dairy industry more than $200 million. But now, in response to a petition filed by PCRM with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2005, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and two national dairy organizations have agreed to halt this advertising campaign because existing research does not support the weight-loss claims.
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Health and Nutrition
Saturday, 27 February 2010 21:10
Diet For A New America
This is the award-winning 60-minute public television documentary of John Robbins' Diet For A New America.
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Friday, 26 February 2010 11:49
Settling The Soy Controversy
Soy products are remarkably versatile. Manufacturers have found ways to turn them into soymilk, veggie burgers, hot dogs, ice cream, yogurt - you name it. One day, they'll probably turn soy into snow tires.
Because soy products are so widely consumed, some people have raised the question as to whether they are safe. The biggest question mark was whether they affect the risk of breast cancer and, for women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, whether they would help or harm their chances for survival.
Because soy products are so widely consumed, some people have raised the question as to whether they are safe. The biggest question mark was whether they affect the risk of breast cancer and, for women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, whether they would help or harm their chances for survival.
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Saturday, 20 February 2010 15:23
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Activists “Protest for the Cows” on February 20th in Jnanabharathi college campus, Bangalore
Recently, the honorable government has made a move to plug some loop holes in the existing Law to prevent the slaughtering of cows. This attempt was met with a protest by the Bangalore University PG and PhD Students' Association on Thursday, 18th Feb, 2010 by cooking and eating beef, right there on Jnanabharathi campus.
Kranti and other Animal Rights organization support the position of absolute and complete abolition of all unnecessary cruelty towards all sentient beings which resonates with the verdict of Honorable High Court of Allahabad in Mohd. Habib & Ors. V. State of U.P. & Ors. (Writ Petition 38469 of 1994): The Court is of the view that the Constitution of India does not permit any citizen of claim that it is his fundamental right to take life and kill animals. A butcher may have his profession, but he cannot claim it as a fundamental right by the Constitution. Otherwise, it will be a negation of the tenets of our Constitution. The Constitution of India has a Chapter on Fundamental Duties. This is Chapter IV-A. Article 51A(g) ordains "compassion for living creatures".
This display of inhumanity was justified by the Bangalore University PG and PhD Students' Association with unlawful and sophistic arguments that eating is one of their basic 'rights', and the government shouldn't interfere with one's eating habits.
"We don't want the government to implement the ban on cow slaughter. All these years, there has been no problem, now how has this become an issue?" asked Mohan Das.
"We eat beef. We decide whether we want to continue or not. Who are they (government?) to decide?" etc.
In short, some people hold an opinion that eating sentient beings is their fundamental "right" and that no one should interfere with their "right". This line of reasoning is flawed at a level of multiple dimensions as will be highlighted below.
Kranti and other Animal Rights organization support the position of absolute and complete abolition of all unnecessary cruelty towards all sentient beings which resonates with the verdict of Honorable High Court of Allahabad in Mohd. Habib & Ors. V. State of U.P. & Ors. (Writ Petition 38469 of 1994): The Court is of the view that the Constitution of India does not permit any citizen of claim that it is his fundamental right to take life and kill animals. A butcher may have his profession, but he cannot claim it as a fundamental right by the Constitution. Otherwise, it will be a negation of the tenets of our Constitution. The Constitution of India has a Chapter on Fundamental Duties. This is Chapter IV-A. Article 51A(g) ordains "compassion for living creatures".
This display of inhumanity was justified by the Bangalore University PG and PhD Students' Association with unlawful and sophistic arguments that eating is one of their basic 'rights', and the government shouldn't interfere with one's eating habits.
"We don't want the government to implement the ban on cow slaughter. All these years, there has been no problem, now how has this become an issue?" asked Mohan Das.
"We eat beef. We decide whether we want to continue or not. Who are they (government?) to decide?" etc.
In short, some people hold an opinion that eating sentient beings is their fundamental "right" and that no one should interfere with their "right". This line of reasoning is flawed at a level of multiple dimensions as will be highlighted below.
A) LAW:
As mentioned above in a citation to the verdict of the Honorable High Court of Allahabad and also of Chapter IV-A. Article 51A(g)...It shall be the fundamental duty of every citizen of India to ... have compassion for all living creatures.
(This, in spirit, exempts fruits and vegetables because as per our current understanding of Science, no Central Nervous System has ever been isolated in the Plant Kingdom and it is an accepted scientific result that plants are incapable of suffering and emotional and/or physical pain)
(This, in spirit, exempts fruits and vegetables because as per our current understanding of Science, no Central Nervous System has ever been isolated in the Plant Kingdom and it is an accepted scientific result that plants are incapable of suffering and emotional and/or physical pain)
B) ETHICS:
Oxes and Cows are highly sensitive and intelligent creatures who have all the basic needs that humans and other such animals possess. They enjoy their families, nurture, suckle and raise their young. It is a violation of their fundamental rights and an act of crime against nature to have their families broken and their lives prematurely terminated in an inhumane manner for food, clothing or otherwise.
They argue that eating animals (cow) is a matter of personal opinion or choice, but we disagree - this is not about your opinion versus our opinion, this is about animal suffering. You can't discuss your "personal choice" of eating animals and cows while leaving animals completely out of the equation.
They argue that eating animals (cow) is a matter of personal opinion or choice, but we disagree - this is not about your opinion versus our opinion, this is about animal suffering. You can't discuss your "personal choice" of eating animals and cows while leaving animals completely out of the equation.
C) RELIGION:
When people get married, they refer to their in-laws as father and mother, even though they are not their biological father and mother. Same is true for adopted human children. In the same spirit, all of us have consumed the milk of a cow at one stage of our life or another and its our moral, legal and spiritual duty to show an attitude of gratitude towards these humble and noble creatures. If we take something from somebody, we must also give something back. This is an acceptable social norm. Keeping this in mind, the murder of Cows and Oxen is forbidden by all religions:
He who slayeth a cow is the same as he that killeth a man; he who sacrificeth a lamb is the same as he who slayeth a dog. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. - Isaiah 66:3, The Holy Bible
A good deed done to an animal is as meritorious as a good deed done to a human being, while an act of cruelty to an animal is as bad as an act of cruelty to a human being. - The Prophet Muhammad sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam
...Beef is disease. - The Prophet Muhammad sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam
The highest religion is to rise to universal brotherhood; and to consider all creatures your equals. - Guru Nanak
For the sake of love of purity, the Bodhisattva should refrain from eating flesh, which is born of semen, blood, etc. For fear of causing terror to living beings let the Bodhisattva, who is disciplining himself to attain compassion, refrain from eating flesh...It is not true that meat is proper food and permissible when the animal was not killed by himself, when he did not order others to kill it, when it was not specially meant for him. Again, there may be some people in the future who...being under the influence of the taste for meat will string together in various ways sophistic arguments to defend meat eating. But...meat eating in any form, in any manner, and in any place is unconditionally and once for all prohibited...Meat eating I have not permitted to anyone, I do not permit, I will not permit. - Lord Buddha, Lankavatara Sutra
All breathing, existing, sentient creatures should not be slain, nor treated with violence, nor abused, nor tormented, nor driven away. This is the pure unchangeable Law. Therefore, cease to injure sentient beings. - Mahavira, Yogashastra
It is forbidden, according to the law of the Torah, to inflict pain upon any living creature. On the contrary, it is our duty to relieve the pain of any creature, even if it is ownerless or belongs to a non-Jew. - The Code of Jewish Law
He who desires to augment his own flesh by eating the flesh of other creatures lives in misery in whatever species he may take his birth. - Mahabharat
He who slayeth a cow is the same as he that killeth a man; he who sacrificeth a lamb is the same as he who slayeth a dog. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. - Isaiah 66:3, The Holy Bible
A good deed done to an animal is as meritorious as a good deed done to a human being, while an act of cruelty to an animal is as bad as an act of cruelty to a human being. - The Prophet Muhammad sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam
...Beef is disease. - The Prophet Muhammad sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam
The highest religion is to rise to universal brotherhood; and to consider all creatures your equals. - Guru Nanak
For the sake of love of purity, the Bodhisattva should refrain from eating flesh, which is born of semen, blood, etc. For fear of causing terror to living beings let the Bodhisattva, who is disciplining himself to attain compassion, refrain from eating flesh...It is not true that meat is proper food and permissible when the animal was not killed by himself, when he did not order others to kill it, when it was not specially meant for him. Again, there may be some people in the future who...being under the influence of the taste for meat will string together in various ways sophistic arguments to defend meat eating. But...meat eating in any form, in any manner, and in any place is unconditionally and once for all prohibited...Meat eating I have not permitted to anyone, I do not permit, I will not permit. - Lord Buddha, Lankavatara Sutra
All breathing, existing, sentient creatures should not be slain, nor treated with violence, nor abused, nor tormented, nor driven away. This is the pure unchangeable Law. Therefore, cease to injure sentient beings. - Mahavira, Yogashastra
It is forbidden, according to the law of the Torah, to inflict pain upon any living creature. On the contrary, it is our duty to relieve the pain of any creature, even if it is ownerless or belongs to a non-Jew. - The Code of Jewish Law
He who desires to augment his own flesh by eating the flesh of other creatures lives in misery in whatever species he may take his birth. - Mahabharat
D) NUTRITION AND HEALTH
Eating meat has been linked with various types of heart diseases and cancers. Countries with the largest consumption of meat have heart diseases and cancers as their top two killers. Health care industry in U.S.A is a one trillion dollar industry. Unless we want India to emulate this pattern of sickness, we must encourage people to stick to a plant based diet only.
E) ENVIRONMENT
Having a system in place that gives people the "right" to eat animals at a global level is ridiculously taxing on the environment. To funnel our food supply through the animals means growing more food than we need and this means greater destruction of the rain-forests and pollution of the water bodies and air. Consider the following facts to evaluate the second-hand damage for non-meat eaters.
Environmental violations by the meat industry add up to a rap sheet longer than War and Peace. - Sierra Club in their 2002 report on animal factories
A meat-fed world now appears a chimera. World grain production has grown more slowly than population since 1984, and farmers lack new methods for repeating the gains of the green revolution. Supporting the world's current population of 5.4 billion people on an American-style diet would require two-and-a-half times as much grain as the world's farmers produce for all purposes. A future world of 8 billion to 14 billion people eating the American ration of 220 grams of grain-fed meat a day can be nothing but a flight of fancy. - Durning, Alan B. & Brough, Holly, Worldwatch Institute
Water consumption (University of California Agriculture Extension)
1 pound of lettuce: 23 gallons
1 pound of tomatoes: 23 gallons
1 pound of potatoes: 24 gallons
1 pound of wheat: 25 gallons
1 pound of carrots: 33 gallons
1 pound of apples: 49 gallons
1 pound of chicken: 815 gallons
1 pound of pork: 1630 gallons
1 pound of beef: 5214 gallons
Life forms destroyed in the production of each fast-food hamburger made from rain-forest beef: Members of 20-30 different plant species, 100 different insect species, and dozens of bird, mammal and reptile species.
What a hamburger produced by clearing forest in India would cost if the real costs were included in the price rather than subsidized: $200
Calorie of fossil fuel expended to produce 1 calorie of protein from soybeans: 2
Calorie of fossil fuel expended to produce 1 calorie of protein from corn or wheat: 3
Calorie of fossil fuel expended to produce 1 calorie of protein from beef: 54
Amount of greenhouse-warming carbon gas released by driving a typical American car, in one day: 3 Kg
Amount of greenhouse-warming carbon gas released by clearing and burning enough Costa Rican rainforest to produce beef for one hamburger: 75 Kg
World’s mammalian species currently threatened with extinction: 25%
Leading cause of species in the tropical rain-forest being threatened or eliminated: Livestock Grazing
100,000 cows produce as much waste as a city of 1.7 million humans.
Number of people whose food energy needs can be met by the food produced on a 2.5 acre of land:
If the land is producing cabbage: 23 people
If the land is producing potatoes: 22 people
If the land is producing rice: 19 people
If the land is producing corn: 17 people
If the land is producing wheat: 15 people
If the land is producing chicken: 2 people
If the land is producing milk: 2 people
If the land is producing eggs: 1 people
If the land is producing beef: 1 people
Cattle alive today on Earth: More than 1 billion
Weight of world’s cattle compared to weight of world’s people: Nearly Double
Area of earth's total land mass used as pasture for cattle and other livestock: ½
US Corn eaten by people: 2%
US Corn eaten by livestock: 77%
US farmland producing vegetables : 4 million acres
US farmland producing hay for livestock : 56 million acres
US grain and cereals fed to livestock: 70%
Human beings who could be fed by the grain and soybeans eaten by US livestock : 1,400,000,000
Although most of the above statistics are from U.S, we must understand that its one earth and whatever happens to the rain-forests will have a worldwide impact.
Environmental violations by the meat industry add up to a rap sheet longer than War and Peace. - Sierra Club in their 2002 report on animal factories
A meat-fed world now appears a chimera. World grain production has grown more slowly than population since 1984, and farmers lack new methods for repeating the gains of the green revolution. Supporting the world's current population of 5.4 billion people on an American-style diet would require two-and-a-half times as much grain as the world's farmers produce for all purposes. A future world of 8 billion to 14 billion people eating the American ration of 220 grams of grain-fed meat a day can be nothing but a flight of fancy. - Durning, Alan B. & Brough, Holly, Worldwatch Institute
Water consumption (University of California Agriculture Extension)
1 pound of lettuce: 23 gallons
1 pound of tomatoes: 23 gallons
1 pound of potatoes: 24 gallons
1 pound of wheat: 25 gallons
1 pound of carrots: 33 gallons
1 pound of apples: 49 gallons
1 pound of chicken: 815 gallons
1 pound of pork: 1630 gallons
1 pound of beef: 5214 gallons
Life forms destroyed in the production of each fast-food hamburger made from rain-forest beef: Members of 20-30 different plant species, 100 different insect species, and dozens of bird, mammal and reptile species.
What a hamburger produced by clearing forest in India would cost if the real costs were included in the price rather than subsidized: $200
Calorie of fossil fuel expended to produce 1 calorie of protein from soybeans: 2
Calorie of fossil fuel expended to produce 1 calorie of protein from corn or wheat: 3
Calorie of fossil fuel expended to produce 1 calorie of protein from beef: 54
Amount of greenhouse-warming carbon gas released by driving a typical American car, in one day: 3 Kg
Amount of greenhouse-warming carbon gas released by clearing and burning enough Costa Rican rainforest to produce beef for one hamburger: 75 Kg
World’s mammalian species currently threatened with extinction: 25%
Leading cause of species in the tropical rain-forest being threatened or eliminated: Livestock Grazing
100,000 cows produce as much waste as a city of 1.7 million humans.
Number of people whose food energy needs can be met by the food produced on a 2.5 acre of land:
If the land is producing cabbage: 23 people
If the land is producing potatoes: 22 people
If the land is producing rice: 19 people
If the land is producing corn: 17 people
If the land is producing wheat: 15 people
If the land is producing chicken: 2 people
If the land is producing milk: 2 people
If the land is producing eggs: 1 people
If the land is producing beef: 1 people
Cattle alive today on Earth: More than 1 billion
Weight of world’s cattle compared to weight of world’s people: Nearly Double
Area of earth's total land mass used as pasture for cattle and other livestock: ½
US Corn eaten by people: 2%
US Corn eaten by livestock: 77%
US farmland producing vegetables : 4 million acres
US farmland producing hay for livestock : 56 million acres
US grain and cereals fed to livestock: 70%
Human beings who could be fed by the grain and soybeans eaten by US livestock : 1,400,000,000
Although most of the above statistics are from U.S, we must understand that its one earth and whatever happens to the rain-forests will have a worldwide impact.
CONCLUSION
Its our constitutional, moral, ethical and religious duty to prevent India from emulating these grave statistics in our country.
Kranti requests that such naive and inhumane display of ignorance on part of the Bangalore University PG and PhD Students' Association at Jnanabharathi campus should be severely dealt with by the suspension of involved students and the vice-chancellor for allowing this shameful event to happen under his watch.
We do not have the right or need to use animal products. Anything capable of feeling pain should not be put to pain.
Kranti requests that such naive and inhumane display of ignorance on part of the Bangalore University PG and PhD Students' Association at Jnanabharathi campus should be severely dealt with by the suspension of involved students and the vice-chancellor for allowing this shameful event to happen under his watch.
We do not have the right or need to use animal products. Anything capable of feeling pain should not be put to pain.
CONTACT
About Kranti: Kranti is a virtual organization working on animal rights issues in India. Kranti's main focus is to dispel "speciesism" by providing equal rights to all life forms that posses a central nervous system no matter how primitive.
REFERENCES
Health:
http://webarchive.human.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/
http://www.pcrm.org/magazine/
http://www.reuters.com/
Environment:
http://www.planetdiet.org/pdf/
http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/
http://www.amazon.com/Food-
http://www.worldwatch.org/
Friday, 05 February 2010 05:57
Do All Animals Sound the Same?
In a study in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, researchers adjusted animals' sounds for body size and metabolic rate, and found a surprising similarity of normalized calls throughout the animal kingdom.
Saturday, 30 January 2010 16:48
The Cove
Using state-of-the-art equipment, a group of activists, led by renown dolphin trainer Ric O’Barry, infiltrate a cove near Taijii, Japan to expose both a shocking instance of animal abuse and a serious threat to human health.
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Friday, 29 January 2010 06:07
A CEO and His Daughter
A CEO was having to babysit for his young daughter. He was trying to read the paper but was totally frustrated by the constant interruptions. When he came across a full page of the NASA photo of the Earth from space, he got a brilliant idea. He ripped it up into small pieces and told his child to try to put it back together. He then settled in for what he expected to be a good half-hour of peace and quiet. But only a few minutes had gone by before the child appeared at his side with a big grin on her face. 'You've finished already?' he asked. 'Yep', she replied. 'So how did you do it?' 'Well, I saw there was a picture of a person on the other side, so when I put the person together, the Earth got put together too...'
Friday, 22 January 2010 08:13
Peaceable Kingdom
Combining the gripping testimony of farmers breaking a long-held code of silence with rare footage demonstrating the rich emotional lives of farm animals, this new documentary from the award-winning filmmakers of THE WITNESS invites viewers on an epic journey of awakening conscience.
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