Maybe Mars once looked like this!
From a colleague currently in California.
From a colleague currently in California.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Friday, June 01, 2007
A Vesak reflection
Vesak commemorates the birth, death and enlightenment of the Buddha, more simply "the Buddha's birthday". It is traditionally celebrated on the first full moon of the fourth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. In 2007, there are full moons on both 1st and 31st May - Malaysia chose the former, Singapore the latter. Today is thus a public holiday in Singapore. A much-needed cool breeze is blowing through the open window after a short afternoon storm.
One of the good acts one can do on this day is to liberate caged birds and animals. A time to reflect on some startling figures:-
"Killing for meat takes place on a scale difficult to comprehend. Britain alone killed 883 million animals for food per annum at the end of the century, made up of 792 million chickens, 35 million turkeys, 18 million ducks, 18.7 million sheep, 16.3 million pigs, around 3 million cattle, 1 million geese, 10,000 derr and 9,000 goats. The United States kills 8 billion chickens a year." In Britain that is about 2 million chickens killed every day.
(Source: The Shock of the Old: Technology and Global History since 1900. David Edgerton, Oxford University Press, 2007, p. 174).
In related vein, "as we multiply, so do all the things associated with us, including our livestock. At present there are about 1.5 billion cattle and domestic buffalo and about 1.7 billion sheep and goats. With pigs and poultry, they form a critical part of our enormous biological footprint upon this planet." In addition, it is estimated that methane production by ruminants contributes more to global warming than does transportation.
(Source: International Herald Tribune, editorial, Dec 28th 2006)
No easy answers.
One of the good acts one can do on this day is to liberate caged birds and animals. A time to reflect on some startling figures:-
"Killing for meat takes place on a scale difficult to comprehend. Britain alone killed 883 million animals for food per annum at the end of the century, made up of 792 million chickens, 35 million turkeys, 18 million ducks, 18.7 million sheep, 16.3 million pigs, around 3 million cattle, 1 million geese, 10,000 derr and 9,000 goats. The United States kills 8 billion chickens a year." In Britain that is about 2 million chickens killed every day.
(Source: The Shock of the Old: Technology and Global History since 1900. David Edgerton, Oxford University Press, 2007, p. 174).
In related vein, "as we multiply, so do all the things associated with us, including our livestock. At present there are about 1.5 billion cattle and domestic buffalo and about 1.7 billion sheep and goats. With pigs and poultry, they form a critical part of our enormous biological footprint upon this planet." In addition, it is estimated that methane production by ruminants contributes more to global warming than does transportation.
(Source: International Herald Tribune, editorial, Dec 28th 2006)
No easy answers.
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