One of the ads on the "Latest Discussion Threads" is a video of Paul McCartney.

[ZombieHorde]

In this video, Paul McCartney suggests, "If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian."

Obviously, not all meat eaters get their meat from a store, some hunt or raise their own, but most U.S. citizens do get their meat from a store which got its meat from a slaughterhouse.

Here is a link to the ad...(graphic content warning)
http://www.meat.org/index-1.asp?c=gwduba0410

I think the video is really interesting and made me think about the chicken chili I had for lunch.

How do you feel about the video?

Is the video accurate?

Is Paul McCartney a good guy trying to enlighten us, a demagogue pushing half truths, a paid actor who couldn't care less, or a fool being used by some dubious animal rights activists?

[BrklynLiberal]

1. One thing he is NOT is a paid actor who couldn't care less.

He has enough money to buy and sell anyone who would want to pay him to say that.

He has been a strict vegetarian for decades.
Sir Paul has been a long-time advocate for the prevention and awareness of the meat industry’s inhumane treatment of animals, and he lets us know that “Suffering is suffering, however you slice it. Eating meat is bad for our health, it’s bad for the environment, and it directly supports appalling cruelty to animals. The decision is yours.”

Read more: http://www.looktothestars.org/news/3744-paul-mccartney-brings-glass-walls-to-the-golden-globes#ixzz0k5BGXjR6

more quotes..including Sir Paul's..
http://www.richardking.net/VeggieQuotes.pdf

[zbiker]

2. in truth coming

from a rural background here in the west i can definitely say that some abuses to livestock occur, but the vast majority of what i seen portrayed in this black and white portrayal is bunk. you can definitely tell that it was shown and edited to try to make it appear as if every animal on the planet raised for consumption is being battered and/or abused. believe me this is NOT the case.
thanks paul but i will keep my rib steak and side of baked potatoes thank you very much :)

[emulatorloo]

3. A great song of his from 1993 on animal experimentation - LOOKING FOR CHANGES

LOOKING FOR CHANGES
by Paul McCartney

I Saw A Cat With A Machine In His Brain
The Man Who Fed Him Said
He Didn't Feel Any Pain
I'd Like To See That Man Take Out That Machine
And Stick It In His Own Brain
You Know What I Mean

I Saw A Rabbit With Its Eyes Full Of Tears
The Lab That Owned Her Had
Been Doing It For Years
Why Don't We Make Them Pay For Every Last Eye
That Couldn't Cry Its Own Tears
Do You Kmow What I Mean

When I Tell You That We'll All Be
Looking For Changes
Changes In The Way We Treat Our Fellow Creatures
And We Will Learn How To Grow

Well I Tell You That We'll All Be
Looking For Changes
Changes In The Way We Treat Our Fellow Creatures
And We Will Learn How To Grow
When We're Looking For Changes

I Saw A Monkey That Was Learning To Choke
A Guy Beside Him Gave Him Cigarettes To Smoke
And Everytime That Monkey Started To Cough
The Bastard Laughed His Head Off
Do You Know What I Mean

When I Tell You That We'll All Be
Looking For Changes
Changes In The Way We Treat Our Fellow Creatures
And We Will Learn How To Grow

When We're Looking For Changes
We're Looking For Changes
We're Looking For Changes

===============

ON EDIT: and it ROCKs too

[MagCynic]

4. Omnivore for life

Meat is part of a healthy, balanced diet. We have incisors and cuspids for a reason. Having said that I'm surprised animal abuse and cruelty continues to happen at slaughterhouses. There's raising cattle, pigs, and chickens for food humanely. And then there's flat out torture. I'm surprised this isn't a bigger deal with the FDA.

[flvegan]

5. Hold on...

Now I'm ready...

[a la izquierda]

6. I'm going to have to borrow this!

[msongs]

7. nice bingo card nt

[MagCynic]

8. Except

that there's nothing inherently wrong with eating meat. Nice bingo board, though.

[flvegan]

9. Your concern is inherently noted.

[ZombieHorde]

12. Technically, there is nothing inherently wrong with killing a baby in its stroller.

For example: I am fixing my roof when I slip and drop my hammer off the roof. The hammer tragically lands on a baby's head, killing him or her. Technically, my actions were not unethical, but killing babies in their strollers is generally extremely unethical.

I am not trying to compare eating a hamburger to killing human babies, I am trying to point out a weakness in your argument. Right and Wrong, ethically and generally speaking, comes from motivations more than actions.

[MagCynic]

13. ...

Well yes there is something wrong with killing a baby. I'm just saying the act of cooking the meat of a dead cow isn't morally or ethically wrong. I'm also saying there should be stricter regulations of how these animals should be treated in being raised for food.

[DoBotherMe]

10. LOL!

That's better than a drinking game! Dana ; )

[Omaha Steve]

11. Paul and Linda looked up one day while eating lamb chops

They had lambs running around in the yard. They stopped eating meat that very day.

[elocs]

14. Well what do you know? The meat lovers join hands with the freepers to sing "Kumbya".

I bet a veggie freeper would be as rare as a compassionate Republican. Yes, you can mess with somebody's civil rights or health care, but don't mess with their meat. That really makes them angry, defensive, and touchy. The video does make you think and that is another thing that freepers don't like--being made to think.

I once thought the ability to have empathy and compassion were two of the attributes which separates us from the freepers and teabaggers and Republicans, but maybe not. Evidently they only apply with many of us to Homo sapiens, cats and dogs, monkeys, and maybe a dolphin or whale. Oh well.

I can at least respect those who believe they are being clever in their put-down of vegetarianism because they love to eat meat. At least they are being honest and not trying to justify this country's over-consumption of meat as being good for either people or the planet.

[DeschutesRiver]

15. I made a choice to raise my own, for as long as I remain a meat eater

when/if I can no longer do this, I will not eat beef. But for now, I remain a beef eater so long as it was raised and slaughtered by us.

I think Paul McCartney is entirely sincere about his beliefs in this regard, and I admire that. He has been doing it his way for decades - it isn't just a paid for pretend belief. He puts out his message, and anyone who hears what he says and has it resonate with them might then choose to follow a different path in this regard.

[ZombieHorde]

16. How do you slaughter your cows? I am a current meat eater, so I won't judge you. nt

[DeschutesRiver]

17. We have a small herd

mommas, babies, yearlings and a pretty large and good tempered bull. They graze, and roam and do whatever the heck they want to do, whenever they want to do it, on hundreds and hundreds of acres, for all of their days until the last minute of their life.

The standard way is to put the selected cow into a pen & call the mobile slaughter guy to do the shot. What we prefer to do now is to call the mobile guy and tell him we plan to do a slaughter, and to expect our call for pickup. DH takes his rifle, and if we can find the herd grazing near a road where the mobile slaughter truck can reach, he does the shot there himself. He cuts the neck to bleed out the cow and calls the mobile man, who comes with the truck to remove the hide, etc, hang it and take it back to the shop for aging, cutting, wrapping, and then freezing until solid.

It doesn't always happen on the day we expect it to (say he finds the herd hundreds of acres away from the nearest road). Doing it this way doesn't risk causing anxiety in an animal that is used to free grazing, and might think that the closed gates of the pen where he usually eats hay in might not signal anything good. Our herd does come into a large pen every am/pm to eat hay when snow is on the ground, but they can come/go at will. And they know it when there is a change, like separating them and closing one or two inside. So this way, they are living an ordinary day right up until the minute when they are not.

It is always a hard thing to do - can't explain it very well, but there is a sadness we feel in being the ones to choose the day and manner of death of another that people who buy their meat in packages at the local store never experience, I think. I know these animals. I hike out on our land frequently, and even on this large acreage full of hills and ravines, I often cross paths with them. I see them either from the house or while I am feeding the horses almost every day.

After a slaughter here, we have our own way of giving our thanks for the animal that sustains us, and to a universe where it is sometimes hard for us to reconcile the taking of a life to support another, yet that is what we do, and there is no reason to not give thanks to the animal whose life we've taken. I think McCartney's & other vegetarian/vegan's ways are fine; I think my way is fine; I think people who eat what others slaughter for them is fine.

I know there is a ton of judgmental thought out there about such things, but it isn't important to me because this is my own highly personal decision, and the only person who has to be right with it is me.