Cruelty thro Live Export

To The Hon Kevin Andrews,

I am writing to you about the live export of millions of Australian sheep for slaughter to the Middle East.
In 2008 alone, over 35,000 sheep died on sea voyages from Australia to the Middle East.

They'll spend weeks at sea in a crowded and poorly lit pens, vulnerable to injury, heat stress and disease. For sheep that have enjoyed space and have had little human contact, the long and gruelling road and sea journey can be terrifying. Tens of thousands of sheep die during the journey every year because they fail to recognise the unfamiliar pellets as food.

Live exports is jeopardising Australia’s international reputation as a country with high standards of animal welfare. Our animals deserve better. Australia is a nation with generally high animal welfare standards but the only way to truly protect the welfare of Australian animals is to end live exports.

Humanely killing sheep as close to the farm as possible will benefit both the animals and Australia. The cruelty of live export is unnecessary, with Australia already having a significant and growing export trade in chilled and frozen meat from animals that have been humanely transported and slaughtered in Australia. More emphasis on chilled meat export will increase trade growth in this area and create more Australian jobs.

I am calling on the Australian Government to end live exports, and I urge you to do everything in your power to bring an end to this cruel and unnecessary trade, for our economy, our jobs and for the safety and wellbeing of our animals.

Attach your name and send in a similar letter now, by clicking on this banner.

It will only take a few minutes and all u need to do is choose the sentence order and enter your area code.

"Ive lived in the Middle East, and i use to choose Australian lamb while over there, there is a viable alternative, which shouldnt raise any concerns from their side regarding the slaughtering, there do exist slaughter houses which function according to the islamic way in Australia, why not get that part of the job done here? Even Islam is against the torture of these animals, so its a win win win situation on behalf of Australia, the Sheep, and the Middle East."(mbf)

Capitalist Nuclear Family

"The gender roles associated with the capitalist family – strong, aggressive male and nurturing, passive female - pervade all of society through the education system, the mass media, entertainment and so on. No individual can escape them, even if they do not live in the so called nuclear family, whether they marry and have children or not. It is the inequality between men and women, the contradiction between the ideal life of happiness and bliss the family seems to hold out and the reality of long hours of work, the struggle to make ends meet, the constraints on social life because the lack of decent child care facilities and son on which make the family a site of frustration and oppression. The use of women’s bodies as sex objects reinforce old ideas of women’s responsibility to satisfy men’s needs. And it is not just men who view women this way. All studies of attitudes show how women internalize this view of their role, causing feelings of guilt and inadequacy if they do not come up to their husband’s demands."

Rape, Sexual Violence and capitalism
by Sandra Bloomworth
(intro)

Triggered a thought in my head;

The family unit in islam, is not a precise point cornered brick room either, by that i mean not defined by the mum, dad and kid(s). The concept of a family has more fluidity and flexibility than that, ie a family could consist of a mum, n dad, kids, grandparent(s), or in the case of divorcee or a widower, a single parent, kid(s), aunty, aunty’s husband and grandparents. It would still be considered a family unit. This is in place as a social support structure so that there is always family to rely on, in case of old age, financial difficulties, baby sitting etc..That why even in marriage, whole families get adopted into this social support network, and this becomes a basis of the community. Its not a pre-requisite of religion, but it seems to exist where this religion is.

And as i was told recently, the nuclear family is a relatively new concept that arose after WWII thanks to capitalism...ill need to research that further tho.

The Meaning of Art

According to Trotsky, "art, it is said, is not a mirror, but a hammer: it does not reflect, it shapes. But at present even the handling of a hammer is taught with the help of a mirror, a sensitive film which records all the movement... The deeper literature is, and the more it is imbued with the desire to shape life, the more significantly and dynamically will it be able to 'picture life..."