I’m paraphrasing, of course.
Video and petition here.
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Tagged: michelle obama 2008 elections video petition msm racism misogyny
C’mon, you know you want it.
Support Rep. Kucinich’s Articles of Impeachment @ Democrats.com:
We’ve waited years to find one Member of Congress brave enough to stand up for our Constitution, for which generations of Americans have fought and died. We are thrilled and honored that Dennis Kucinich has chosen to be that one genuine patriot.
Of course, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (CA-8), Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (MD-5), and Democratic Caucus Chair Rahm Emanuel (IL-5) all remain adamantly opposed to impeachment - despite the overwhelming evidence of High Crimes, including the “Phase II” report by the Senate Intellligence Committee and Scott McClellan’s new book.
And when Rep. Robert Wexler (FL-19) called for Judiciary Committee hearings on Kucinich’s Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Cheney in January, only 17 Democrats joined them: Neil Abercrombie (HI-1), Tammy Baldwin (WI-2), Michael Capuano (MA-8), Yvette Clarke (NY-11), Lacy Clay (MO-1), Steve Cohen (TN-9), Peter DeFazio (OR-4), Keith Ellison (MN-5), Sam Farr (CA-17), Raúl Grijalva (AZ-7), Luis Gutierrez (IL-4), Barbara Lee (CA-9), Gwen Moore (WI-4), Jim Moran (VA-8), Mike Thompson (CA-1), Ed Towns (NY-10), and Lynn Woolsey (CA-6).
So Kucinich’s heroic efforts will be in vain unless we inundate Congress with emails and calls (202-224-3121) showing our full support for Rep. Kucinich’s 35 Articles of Impeachment.
Via People for the American Way (PFAW):
“I do.”
After 55 years together, lifelong progressive activists Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon proclaimed their commitment at 5:01 pm last night and became a legally married couple in the eyes of the state of California.
Del and Phyllis, and more than 20 other couples, fought a long battle challenging the constitutionality of California’s marriage law. And on May 15, they won, on the basic principle that all Californians are equal under the State Constitution, and none of them should be discriminated against.
Today we’re celebrating this milestone with these remarkable women, and with other couples like them. In many wedding ceremonies, friends and family pledge to support the couple in their new life together. I’m asking you to join as a witness to history by adding your name and comments to a guestbook in celebration of Del and Phyllis and the thousands of other gay and lesbian couples tying the knot in California. We’ll be presenting Phyllis and Del with a hardbound version of the book as a wedding gift.
If the photos coming out of California since Monday don’t melt your heart…well, you don’t have one.
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Tagged: Del Martin Phyllis Lyon gay marriage california people for the american way pfaw action alerts glbt
A PDF file with the full articles of impeachment is available here.
And, speaking of impeachment, go sign this petition from American Freedom Campaign. Like, last month.
Fire-breathing liberal, indeed.
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Congressman Robert Wexler - contact@wexlerforcongress.com
Date: Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 3:06 PM
Subject: Wexler Co-Sponsors First Bush Articles of Impeachment
Our effort to hold the Bush/Cheney Administration accountable has taken another dramatic step forward. Last night, Congressman Dennis Kucinich introduced the first Articles of Impeachment ever to be introduced against President Bush. It includes, in total, thirty-five Articles detailing this Administration’s blatant abuse of power. Today, I enthusiastically co-sponsored this vitally important bill.
I am grateful for Dennis’ leadership on this issue and for the steadfast support that countless Americans have given to both of our efforts to redeem our government and expose the crimes of Bush and Cheney.
I will now expand my efforts to secure impeachment hearings in the Judiciary Committee for these new Articles of Impeachment against President George W. Bush.
Many of the charges against President Bush are well known – and would shock the conscience of everyday Americans if only the national media would be willing to report on these stark facts.
The Articles present a stunning narrative of offenses that have go well beyond previous crimes committed by any US chief executive. In fact no President or Vice President in history has done more to undermine our constitution.
These charges are broad, with 35 separate allegations including the deliberate lies regarding WMDs that led us to war and the approval of illegal wiretapping of American citizens. The Articles also include new allegations of high crimes – including the explicit approval for high Administration officials to violate treaties and US law banning the use of torture.
FYI…saw this in NOW’s newsletter and thought y’all might be interested.
Expose the Lies: Protect Birth Control
Anti-contraception action is on the rise. On June 7, anti-woman forces will stage a national protest against birth control and NOW will be there to counter their campaign of misinformation and lies. Here is what the American Life League and the the “Pill Kills” campaign is saying:
“Because the pill weakens the immune system, it can cause bacterial infections and can make a woman more susceptible to the AIDS virus.”
“…the most popular form of birth control, the pill, can kill innocent preborn children. If there is a chance that human beings are going to be murdered, I am going to do everything in my power to help prevent that from happening.”
“[T]he condom’s biggest flaw is that those using it to prevent the conception of another human being are offending God.” It continues, “furthermore, each and every act of marital intercourse must be both unitive and open to procreation. Any action, including condom use, which has as its purpose to render procreation impossible is intrinsically evil.”
Visit The Pill Kills website to learn more about the lies.
The NOW National Action Center is calling on you to mobilize a local protest to tell the truth and protect birth control.
WHEN: Saturday, June 7
WHERE: Any clinic in your community under siege. Check out the protests in your area.
Shorter godbags: “The condom’s biggest flaw is that it works. ZOMG think of teh sperm!!!!1!!1!”
Every wasted seed is a tear falling from Jesus’ cheeks. Yes, I hate Jesus. I thought that was a given?
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Tagged: now birth control holidays observances june 7 day of action contraception godbags national organization for women protest action alert feminism misogyny reproductive rights
Via Elaine, I discovered that today is Bloggers Unite: Human Rights day…and a bit belatedly, at that. Since it’s almost midnight, and I need to get to bed like 30 minutes ago, I thought I might post three very specific actions you can take on behalf of human rights causes. (For more resources, check out my Get Active! page. Keep scrolling for the human rights resources…they’re there, I swear.)
1. Write Yahoo! to protest their aiding and abetting in human rights violations.
Via Amnesty International: “Shi Tao, a Chinese journalist, is serving a ten-year prison sentence for sending an email to the U.S. Yahoo! helped put him there. They provided information to the Chinese Government, which led to his unjust imprisonment. Yahoo! needs to hear from people like you and me in droves. Corporations like Yahoo! are very sensitive to public outcry. We must tell Yahoo! that we won’t stand for violating privacy and ask them to use their influence to secure Shi Tao’s release.”
Visit www.savedarfur.org to learn more about the conflict in Darfur and take action. Two good places to start: the current initiatives (Urge China to help end genocide; Secure helicopters for the Darfur peacekeepers; and Get peacekeepers get on the ground) and activist resources pages.
3. Infiltrate a vegan potluck.
Waste the FBI’s anti-terra funding on TVP chili and chocolate-on-chocolate vegan cupcakes (they’re taking over the world, dontchaknow?), have a terra-ific veg*n time and report back nothing. It’s a win-win, my ski-masked friends.
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Tagged: human rights civil liberties bloggers unite save darfur yahoo green is the new red green scare genocide
Republican Sen. John McCain, campaigning through poverty-stricken cities and towns, said Wednesday he opposes a Senate bill that seeks equal pay for women because it would lead to more lawsuits.
Senate Republicans killed the bill Wednesday night on a 56-42 vote that denied the measure the 60 votes needed to advance it to full debate and a vote. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., had delayed the vote to give McCain’s Democratic rivals, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, time to return to Washington to support the measure, which would make it easier for women to sue their employers for pay discrimination.
McCain skipped the vote to campaign in New Orleans.
“I am all in favor of pay equity for women, but this kind of legislation, as is typical of what’s being proposed by my friends on the other side of the aisle, opens us up to lawsuits for all kinds of problems,” the expected GOP presidential nominee told reporters. “This is government playing a much, much greater role in the business of a private enterprise system.” […]
McCain stated his opposition to the bill as he campaigned in rural eastern Kentucky, where poverty is worse among women than men. The Arizona senator said he was familiar with the disparity but that there are better ways to help women find better paying jobs.
“They need the education and training, particularly since more and more women are heads of their households, as much or more than anybody else,” McCain said. “And it’s hard for them to leave their families when they don’t have somebody to take care of them.
“It’s a vicious cycle that’s affecting women, particularly in a part of the country like this, where mining is the mainstay; traditionally, women have not gone into that line of work, to say the least,” he said.
In other words, women on average aren’t earning less than men because of gender (and racial) discrimination; we’re earning less because we’re stupid and uneducated. We deserve it.
Way to woo the ladies, Johnny boy.
Oh, and regarding his asinine comment that the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act would “open us up to lawsuits for all kinds of problems,” I’ll echo what Cara said: “um, assholes, that’s the point.” Fucking. Duh.
CREDO Action has a petition to McCain here. Be nice.
[Previous stops on the Straight Talk Express: one, two and three.]
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Tagged: john mccain 2008 elections straight talk express women feminism misogyny fair pay gender discrimination civil rights fair pay act Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
(Crossposted, without comentary, here.)
Sigh. Over the years, I’ve posted about countless injustices perpetrated against animals and the earth at easyVegan.info. So few of them make their way over here, because…well, because there are so. fucking. many. of them. Each case is as brutal as the next…routine abuses on factory farms, puppy mills, circuses, etc., etc. etc., all dismissed as “business as usual”; the abandonment of companion animals en masse in the wake of war, natural disasters and the mortgage crisis; seals clubbed to death for their fur, wolves shot from the air to “protect” cattle, “poultry” suffocated in the midst of bird flu scares. It’s fucking endless. Each issue is so fucking heartbreaking that, taken as a whole, a particular story has to be damn near crushing before I feel like posting on it over here, on my non-AR blog. Jax’s murder is such a story.
On April 14, New Orleans Police Officers were responding to a (false, it turns out) burglary alarm in the Lakeview neighborhood. While canvassing the area, they invaded the home of Jax and Scarlett, two Doberman Pinschers. They pumped eight bullets into 4-year-old Jax, with the justification that he lunged at them first. Problem is, Jax had recently undergone spinal surgery; his vet testified that it would have been impossible for Jax to “lunge” at anyone.
Neighbors called Jax’s guardian, Dr. Patrick Coleman, who rushed home to find Jax dying in his backyard. Rather than aid in CPR, the NOPD officers ordered Coleman to “restrain” Jax’s sister Scarlett - again, in their own fucking home. Scarlett was terrified, cowering in the corner of her home, watching her companion die. Jax bled to death while the officers allegedly laughed and snickered. And then, rather than call another set of officers to investigate the incident, the officers involved in the shooting collected all the evidence themselves. Coverup, anyone? (Not that a coverup is especially necessary; animal abuse is like rape in that the perpetrators are very rarely bought to justice. Animals and women, disposable objects in a disposable society. Men hate you and your dog.)
I very rarely get emotional while reading and posting about animal issues; I try to disassociate a bit, otherwise I think I might be crippled by the sorrow and helplessness. Not just in regards to animal issues, but especially in regards to animal issues - in the “Oppression Olympics”, non-human animals win, paws down. For all my silly beliefs about who should have which rights, I most often get mocked for my support of animal liberation causes. I mean, pffft. You think allegedly “liberal” men disdain feminists, GLBT allies, anti-racists, et. al.? Try being an animal advocate in liberal circles. Even members of the other marginalized groups don’t get - don’t want to see - how their own oppression is linked to that of animals.
But I started blubbering like a baby when I read this one. I have five dogs and a cat, all of whom are loved like children by their otherwise childfree parents. They’re my babies. I’d do anything to protect them, to keep them safe and happy. And so did Dr. Coleman, even installing an alarm system to look after his Jax and Scarlett when he couldn’t. And it was that alarm system that brought the officers who murdered (yes, murdered) Jax. It hurts my heart to think what that must feel like.
As I write this, the libertarian douchebag and I are hunting around for alarm systems right now for that very purpose. We live in a small town that hasn’t seen a murder in dog knows how long, and break-ins are rare. Yet I hate leaving the animals alone; what if there’s a fire? Who will rescue the dogs? Four-legged children aren’t exactly a top priority in an emergency situation. There are some heroic firefighters who might risk their own lives for those of Ralphie, Peedee, O-Ren, Kaylee, Jayne and Ozzy, but I wouldn’t bet their lives on it.
And yet Jax was shot, murdered in his own backyard. On his own property. In his home. I get the fear that so-called “dangerous” breeds engender in some people (”bigots” would be the proper term…if dogs were given human consideration, that is), but Jax was on his own fucking property. Certainly a dog should be safe in his own backyard?
By the by, this isn’t the first dog shooting scandal to hit New Orleans. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, St. Bernard Parish Deputy Sheriff Mike Minton and Sergeant Clifford “Chip” Englande were videotaped shooting companion animals whose guardians had been forced - sometimes at gunpoint - to leave them behind. Charges against both have been dismissed. This is not be to confused with another case, in which companion animals left (supposedly in safety) in four schools elementary in St. Bernard Parish were gunned down, execution style. The case(s?) is still open.
If you’d like to learn more - and I hope you do - all of the relevant alerts are available on easyVegan.info. Search for “St. Bernard Parish“.
Please also email NOPD, Mayor Nagin, etc., and demand that Jax’s killers are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and that measures are put in place to stop such an atrocity from happening again. Jax, Scarlett and their father deserve as much. This was a needless, senseless killing. A tragedy. And it could happen to any one of us, our animals, our children, our family.
And then put down that burger, because the cow you’re eating had a family, too.
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Update, 4/18/08:
After doing some further research on the case - because, as I mentioned at Elaine’s place, I can’t stop blubbering about it - I want to correct two mistakes, one minor, one not so much.
The officers fired eight shots at Jax, but according to his vet, only four hit their mark. Minor quibble.
Now for the more significant correction. The shooting apparently started in Dr. Coleman’s fenced backyard, where the officers first found Jax and Scarlett. Once the officers started firing bullets at the dogs, they ran into the house through the dog door. The officers either followed the dogs inside, into their home, their refuge, and kept pumping bullets into poor Jax, or somehow fired into the house from outdoors, as shell casings and/or bullets were allegedly found inside the home as well as out.
When Dr. Coleman arrived on the scene, he found Jax crumpled in a corner of his home (the living room?; in any case, not the backyard as I previously stated), bleeding to death beside a terrified Scarlett. It’s unclear from the new reports whether the officers were inside the home when Dr. Coleman arrived, or if they followed him inside. In any case, it’s at this point that the officers prevented Dr. Coleman from performing CPR in order to “restrain” Scarlett.
Which begs several questions: if they were so freaking scared of Jax and/or Scarlett, why follow them inside, into their own home, into a confined space? Likewise, if Scarlett was acting in a threatening manner while Dr. Coleman was trying to save Jax, why not just leave the fucking house instead of pester the no doubt hysterical and otherwise occupied Dr. Coleman? I mean, even if Dr. Coleman’s efforts to save Jax were futile, couldn’t you at least let the poor man be with his beloved companion in his final moments?
Heartless fucking monsters. How I wish I knew their names, because they need to be slurred far and wide.
As far as I can tell, the incident is under investigation - but not the shooting, just the officers’ conduct (coverup) afterwards. Whether this was a “justified” shooting or a clear case of animal abuse is not even up for discussion. Which means we have to make it an issue.
Because he likes them uneducated and complacent? Hey, just my guess.
Watch the video, sign the petition, and spread the word.
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Tagged: john mccain war war on terra gi bill education 2008 elections straight talk express
UPDATE, 4/15/08, via the National Wildlife Federation (NWF):
The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to approve the National Landscape Conservation System Act by a vote of 278-140! This Conservation System protects wildlife in 26 million acres of majestic landscapes and watersheds across the America. We could not have succeeded without your support!
Interested in learning more about the areas included in the National Landscape Conservation System?
Please visit www.conservationsystem.org
Stay tuned, as we now expect the bill to go to the Senate for their consideration.
My rep voted NO. Gawd, sometimes living in the stick sux.
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With a Congressional vote coming up this Wednesday, Drew at The Wilderness Society asked me to ask you to contact your rep and urge them to grant permanent protection to the National Landscape Conservation System.
Just what is the the National Landscape Conservation System, you ask?
In June 2000, the National Landscape Conservation System - the most innovative American land system created in the last 40 years - was established to protect the crown jewels of the public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
The 26 million-acre Conservation System includes more than 800 individual units: 15 National Monuments, 13 National Conservation Areas, Steens Mountain Cooperative Management Protection Area in Oregon, Headwaters Forest Reserve in northern California, 38 Wild and Scenic Rivers, 183 Wilderness Areas, more than 5,100 miles of National Scenic and Historic Trails, and 604 Wilderness Study Areas.
The mission of the National Landscape Conservation System is to “conserve, protect, and restore these nationally significant landscapes that have outstanding cultural, ecological, and scientific values for the benefit of current and future generations.”
The Conservation System offers the spectacular qualities of the National Parks and National Wildlife Refuges. But the System represents an innovative shift from conventional management: protecting large landscapes-entire ecosystems and archaeological communities-not small, isolated tracts surrounded by development. Arizona’s Agua Fria National Monument contains hundreds of archaeological structures and sites; to understand the story these sites tell, the monument includes surrounding lands where their inhabitants traded, hunted, and farmed. Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument encompasses 800,000 acres, including parts of the watershed of the Grand Canyon.
The National Landscape Conservation System Act (HR 2016), which moves to the House floor on April 9th, will if passed formally establish the proposed Conservation System. You can take action and urge your rep to vote yes on HR 2016 here.
To learn more, visit www.conservationsystem.org - or check out this nifty video intro from The Wilderness Society:
And be sure to spread the word!
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Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare environment environmental environmentalism environmentalist action alerts the wilderness society wildlife conservation nature National Landscape Conservation System National Landscape Conservation System Act National Landscape Conservation Act west American west American southwest National Parks National Wildlife Refuges National Parks System news in the news video youtube
I hope I don’t need to say as much, but just in case: the threats of violence were/are totally uncalled for, not to mention counterproductive. My “fillet o’ buhbie” comment was not in anywayshapeorform a threat, and should not be taken as such; rather, I was simply pointing out the discrepancy in how violence against human and non-human animals is viewed. You can say that this animal is teated better than that human subgroup ’til yer blue in the face, but repetition does not magically transform hyperbole into facts.
Also worth stating: I may rant a good game, but I’m fundamentally a pacifist, and don’t wish real harm on anyone. (Except those pesky feti. Always invadin’ my womb n stuff. What’s with that?)
Previous IDA alerts here and here.
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: DawnWatch - news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Tue, Apr 1, 2008 at 1:28 AM
Subject: DawnWatch: Animal slaughter art exhibit closes under peaceful protest, then threats — SF Chronicle 3/30/08
Last week, a San Francisco art exhibition that included animal cruelty was in the news. This Sunday’s San Francisco Chronicle, March 30, included a lead article (by Ilana DeBare, pg B1) headed, “Art Institute halts exhibition showing killing of animals; Workers threatened; video unclear about why deaths filmed.”
The article opens:
“Citing threats of violence by animal rights activists, the San Francisco Art Institute said Saturday that it is canceling a controversial exhibition that included video clips of animals being bludgeoned to death, as well as a public forum it had scheduled to address the controversy.
“”We’ve gotten dozens of threatening phone calls that targeted specific staff people with death threats, threats of violence and threats of sexual assaults,’ said Art Institute President Chris Bratton. ‘We remain committed to freedom of speech as fundamental to this institution, but we have to take people’s safety very seriously.’
“The exhibit that sparked the controversy was a one-person show by Paris artist Adel Abdessemed called ‘Don’t Trust Me,’ which opened March 19.
“Along with a variety of other elements, the show included a series of video loops of animals being bludgeoned to death with a sledgehammer in front of a brick wall. The animals killed included a pig, goat, deer, ox, horse and sheep.”
While the headline and opening lines of the article suggest that the exhibition was removed only because of threats of violence, further on we read:
“Abdessemed’s show, one of about a dozen public exhibitions that the 650-student school hosts each year, had opened fairly quietly. But as word spread among animal rights groups, more than 8,000 people sent e-mails to the institute slamming the show. Institute officials temporarily closed the show Wednesday and scheduled a public forum for Monday.
“But then the tone of some of the e-mails turned violent, Bratton said, with threats against individual staff members, such as, ‘We’re going to gather up your children and bludgeon their heads.’ Officials decided to shutter the exhibition permanently, the first time in the institute’s 137-year history that a show was closed for safety reasons. They also canceled the forum.
“”Some of the people who said the most threatening things said they would be present at the forum,’ Bratton said.”
FYI: SFAI has apparently canceled the exhibit; according to this article, “a public forum [SFAI] had scheduled to address the controversy” has been nixed as well. I’m assuming that it’s the same forum IDA is referring to in this alert; I don’t think it was canceled until Saturday or Sunday, after the alert was released. Either way, I’m crossposting it as an update. (Sorry for the delay, I still haven’t quite recovered from Thursday’s dental surgery.)
The SF Chronicle article also provides some additional info about Abdessemed and the exhibit:
Art Institute officials said Saturday that Abdessemed had shot the videos at a farm in rural Mexico that routinely slaughters animals in the way he depicted. They said the videos were part of a social critique. “One of the things this exhibition was pointing to was the difference in production of food resources between industrialized production in the U.S. and in poorer countries,” said Bratton.
But the exhibition was a far cry from straightforward exposes like Upton Sinclair’s classic muckraking book, “The Jungle,” or the Humane Society’s video footage.
The show did not mention that the videos were shot in Mexico or provide any historical context. Other parts of the exhibition included large neon sculptures and a video of Abdessemed hanging upside down from a helicopter while creating a drawing based on a 19th century French painting.
“Those killings were done gratuitously, not like someone documenting a slaughterhouse,” Katz said. “It sends a terrible message to Art Institute students that it’s OK to go out and do similar things.”
So I still don’t buy this bullshit about “Don’t Trust Me’s” grand social goals. If Abdessemed wanted to draw attention to animal cruelty, he would have provided some contextual info. A half dozen animals, bludgeoned to death against a quaint brick background, played on a loop with no commentary, is a snuff film. These deaths were staged for the camera, in stark contrast to the thousands upon thousands of undercover videos taken by animal rights advocates over the past few decades. If you want to draw attention to animal cruelty, you use existing footage. If it’s not purty enough for you, rework it. But if you go stage a few cases of animal abuse specifically for your exhibit, you’re an animal abuser, not some kind of visionary.
(You can read the previous alert here.)
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: In Defense of Animals - takeaction [at] idausa.org
Date: Fri, Mar 28, 2008 at 1:14 PM
Subject: In Defense of Animals Denounces Snuff Video at Art Exhibition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
In Defense of Animals Denounces Snuff Video at Art Exhibition
Animal Protection Organization calls for public to attend Monday’s SFAI Forum
San Francisco, Calif. - Following an overwhelming public response to an action alert from In Defense of Animals (IDA), the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) has suspended the Adel Abdessemed exhibition of animal torture videos entitled, “Don’t Trust Me.” IDA’s President Elliot M. Katz characterized the exhibit, depicting the bludgeoning deaths of tethered animals, as a snuff video.
IDA and its members will also speak up at SFAI’s public forum, scheduled for Monday at noon, and IDA is encouraging the public to attend and speak.
What: Public forum to discuss this exhibit
When: Monday, March 31st, Noon
Where: San Francisco Art Institute Main Campus (in the lecture hall), 800 Chestnut Street, San Francisco
UPDATE, 3/29/08:
Nonstarvingartists.com has a description of the exhibit here, as well as an editorial about the whole “killing-animals-for-art” phenomenon here.
I crossposted this over on easyVegan.info, where there’s now a comment thread. Despite Sue’s protestations, I still believe that all the info included in this alert is accurate, though the photo I found on Flickr may be of another exhibit, since it doesn’t quite match the stills at nonstarvingartists.com.
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Note to those who carelessly toss out some variation of the complaint that “animals are treated better than people” (usually taking the form of a lamentation that ‘x’ minority group is treated worse even than mere animals; e.g., “women are treated worse than animals” or “dogs are treated better than women!”): Does this mean that I can, say, fillet a baby and get away with my crime, just so long as I videotape it and call it “art”? No? Then STFU.
And for Chrissakes, it’s not as though Abdessemed has to go out and slaughter another six animals to make such an exhibit; animal abuse is everywhere. She could have aired any six of the hundreds (thousands?) of undercover investigations conducted by animal activists. How is exhibiting something you can find on YouTube with distressing frequency “innovative” or “art”, even? Yawn. She’s not an artist, she’s a sadist.
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: In Defense of Animals - takeaction [at] idausa.org
Date: Tue, Mar 25, 2008 at 1:27 PM
Subject: Tell San Francisco Art Institute to remove snuff video exhibit from gallery
The “Art” of Animal Cruelty
Tell San Francisco Art Institute to remove snuff video exhibit from gallery
Walk into the Walter and McBean Galleries in San Francisco’s posh Russian Hill neighborhood, and you may be shocked to see what passes for contemporary “art” these days. Six televisions display video images of six different animals — a doe, a goat, a horse, an ox, a pig, and a sheep — being bludgeoned to death with a large sledgehammer by “artist” Adel Abdessemed of Paris. Entitled “Don’t Trust Me,” this sick exhibit is Abdessemed’s and the Institute’s self-serving attempt to pass off the brutal abuse and killing of animals as legitimate artistic creation.
What such “artists” and their patrons overlook is that animals are living beings who feel and suffer just like we humans — and we are no more justified in taking their lives at will than we have the right to kill another person. Such abuse of animals may elicit horror and disgust in viewers, but that does not qualify it as art. Far from it — in fact, “Don’t Trust Me” represents the very worst impulses of the human imagination.
It takes no artistic talent or ability to kill animals, and Abdessemed should have never been given a venue for his sickening “work” in the first place. To their great discredit, the San Francisco Art Institute agreed to sponsor this exhibit, lending it an air of credibility, but what makes matters worse are the obscene rationalizations this venerable institution of learning and culture offers in defense of the sleazy snuff films. These include pedantic claims that such killings “regularly take place…in the real world, on a regular basis,” and that the installation “(makes) typical moral and cultural constraints seem beside the point.”
Such statements betray not only a lack of compassion and basic human decency, but also a fundamental confusion of true artistic creation with the destruction of life. Abdessemed’s work is of no artistic value, and rather than raise people’s consciousness about the cruelties committed against animals every day, it will encourage them to accept animal abuse as a way of gaining attention and notoriety.
To call someone who murders animals an “artist” is an insult to every real artist who refuses to rely on violence and shallow, sensationalistic gimmicks to express his or her vision. While the work of such murderers will surely not endure, their antics may encourage and incite others to torture and kill animals, so it is crucial that people of conscience voice our outrage over this monstrous display of cruelty.
Please Take Action to urge the San Francisco Art Institute to remove Abdessemed’s disgusting exhibit immediately, and implement a policy explicitly prohibiting exhibits for which animals were exploited or killed.
The Back Up Your Birth Contol Campaign is continuing to spread the word about Emergency Contraception (EC), the safe and effective method of backing up birth control.
The 2008 Day of Action is March 25th; Help get the word out about EC!
Across the nation over a hundred women’s health and medical organizations, students and individuals are gearing up for the seventh annual Back Up Your Birth Control Day of Action this year on Tuesday, March 25, 2008.
Seventh annual? Where the hell have I been?!