Sea Lions, Eliot, George, Soulfarm, rocks

Saturday, 19 March

Read it and weep (or how to kill a million seals in 3 years)

Simultaneous demonstrations in over 50 countries were held Tuesday in protest of the opening of the seal-hunting season in Canada.

Some 1 million seals are expected to be shot or clubbed to death (or whatever other unfathomably cruel way to kill the helpless creatures they’ll come up with next) in the next three years in accordance with the Canadian government’s official quotas.

I looked at the horrifying photos again and again, but I was still unable to understand: What type of mindset does a person have to be in to swing a bat full-strength at the head of a screaming seal? Can someone help me out here?

Hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of animals are slaughtered each day for a variety of reasons: Food, sports (‘look at the dead deer dad, cool!) clothing, etc.

We have grown so accustomed to this habit of killing everything and anything, that it all seems very natural; the animal is slaughtered, we eat it (or wear it) – end of story.

I am not nearly gullible enough to think this will ever stop – but it can be reduced significantly, and protests such the those that took place in front of Canadian embassies worldwide do make a difference.

Fox-hunting was recently banned in Britain, proving not all is lost.

Most people would say that killing animals is nature’s way and that animals hunt each other for food, but last time I checked, I didn’t see a cow or chicken kill other animals for food (or for leather wallets), so how does slaughtering them by the millions fit into the equation?

If you’re saying to yourself, (or saying it out loud): ‘Who is this self-righteous chump and how is he qualified to preach to me on anything?’

Truth be told, I’m not. But there are many others who are, and you would be surprised at the quantity and prominence of the people who expressed vehement opinions on the issue:

Abraham Lincoln: "I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being."

Pythagorus: "As long as man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower beings, he will never know health or peace. For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seeds of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love."

Vincent Van Gogh: "Since visiting the abattoirs of S. France I have stopped eating meat."

Leo Tolstoy: "A human can be healthy without killing animals for food. Therefore if he eats meat he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite."

Think about it.

Eliot for president

You heard it here first, New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer will be the first Jewish president of the United States (In the meantime, the Democrat must win the race for New York governor in 2006, presumably against three-term incumbent Republican George Pataki. Additional hurdles for Spitzer: Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton, and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.). The crusading Spitzer has taken on numerous well-entrenched industries important to his home state - like the insurance industry - and has exposed bid-rigging and cronyism (at the least) and criminality (at the worst). His latest takedown is Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, a major philanthropist to Jewish causes, who just stepped down as CEO of AIG Insurance under pressure. Greenberg's eldest son Jeffrey was forced out of insurance broker Marsh & McLennon last year.

Rocking out

Soulfarm rocked out at Jerusalem’s Yellow Submarine Monday night. The U.S.-based group is best described as a cross between "hippie rabbi" Reb Shlomo Carlebach and the Grateful Dead (question for the fans: did the Dead and the Reb ever meet?). There are other influences, too: we heard a little Santana, Dire Straits, David Broza and Gaelic, and Middle Eastern sounds. The young, American, yeshivish crowd made us a little despondent at our approaching senescence. If you are in or near Tel Aviv Wednesday, the group is definitely worth seeing at Club Barby (if you go, write us, and we’ll post a follow-up. We’re curious to know if the same type of crowd shows up in TA as was in the Holy City). By the way, where were you, Jonty?