Australian livestock exports to Egypt have been suspended following the release of footage showing extreme animal cruelty during the slaughter process.
The video was obtained by animal welfare organisation Animals Australia, which passed it on to the Federal Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF).
"I was horrified," DAFF's deputy secretary Philip Glyde said. "I don't think anyone could condone the mistreatment of animals, let alone the cruelty that appears to have occurred in this footage.
"It's quite shocking. We have to go back and think again about why and how this has happened and need to take corrective action to make sure it doesn't happen again."
The live cattle trade with Egypt has a controversial and bloody history.
In 2006, the Egyptian trade was suspended after video showed cattle having their tendons slashed before slaughter.
Four years later, trade resumed under strict conditions, where cattle could only go into approved systems.
some alternative Mothers Day greetings
- Summer Girlfriend/Boyfriend
There in June - I need one of these for Summer
- I'm off to see this today as it has just been released in OZ
And speaking of Good Food this was in The Age today;
Australia at 21st place with Attica in the worlds 50 best restaurants.
"Attica, headed by chef Ben Shewry, was the ‘Highest New Entry’ at the World’s 50 Best Restaurant awards in London overnight, after it assumed a history-making ranking for a Victorian restaurant of 21. The only other Australian restaurant to be recognised in the annual awards organised by Britain’s Restaurant Magazine was Sydney’s Quay restaurant, which slid from 29th position last year to 48th in 2013."
The symptoms of distress — of this need to understand oneself and one's universe — can of course be ignored, but finally one does have to face himself honestly and endure a plague-like period of readjustment to the truths one must live with. Within existential philosophy this examination period is mandatory. It is actually a reassertion of Socrates' "the unexamined life is not worth living."
There seem, however, to be few positive or concrete symptoms of distress before man comes to terms with his existence in the universe. On the contrary, there seem to be only negatives and nothings to confirm this distressed feeling. One must reach rock bottom and begin questioning a faith that began long ago to cope with the revelation of the frauds of Santa Claus, of stork-delivered babies, and the perfection of, at least, one of our parents. Everyone finally seemed composed of a measure of hypocrisy, greed, and selfishness. People become, simply, human. And with honest consideration even the superhuman becomes suspectedly human. The universe is ever silent. Prayer seems much less than even 50-50 certain. God's whimsy confuses.
Cheat reading Cliffs notes on The Plaue - Thanks Del
Love Camus
Hugh Mackay asks, and to some extent answers, this question in his new book, The Good Life.
"If we fall for the idea that the good life is only about having a good time, or ‘doing well’, or even being ‘happy’ (in the superficial emotional sense), our moral compass is bound to wobble. ‘No one can promise you that a life lived for others will bring you a deep sense of satisfaction, but it’s certain that nothing else will"
"Given our society’s current obsession with feel-good definitions of happiness, and the damage we’re inflicting on our kids by teaching them that self-esteem is their most precious possession, it’s not surprising that our minds tend to leap to self-serving interpretations of ‘good’. This, after all, is the Age of Me – an ugly blip in our cultural history where competition usually gets more marks than co-operation, and self-interest is rated more highly than self-sacrifice. Look after Number One! – that’s the slogan we like to chant. Winners are grinners! and ‘loser’ the ultimate insult"
So what is the Good Life?
Steven Van Zandt was cast by David Chase in The Sopranos, despite never having acted before. His other gig is as a guitarist for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. But his role as strip club boss Silvio was deemed so successful that he landed the lead role in Lilyhammer (the incorrect spelling is meant to convey western misconceptions about how to pronounce the Norwegian town).
I'm currently addicted to this show. Has anyone else seen it? I have been there in the mid 90s just after the olympics.
Wise guys gotta luv em ;-)
Jared1 needs to tee up with Catsy - because both are tender hearted romantics who get burnt and write love lorn posts
Courageis?
What is courage? Some say that it’s a quality of the mind and spirit that has the power to overcome danger, pain or hardship. Regardless of your definition of courage, one thing is for certain… it comes in many forms:
•A girl standing up for a classmate as the rest of the class ridicules him—even if by doing so, she risks receiving the same treatment.
•A man rushing into a fiery wreck to rescue perfect strangers at the cost of burns that may scar him for life.
•A woman stretched across the thin ice of a river, arms straining to rescue someone else's dog.
Stories like these are all around us. They may be ours, a family member's or a friend's. Wherever they come from, they carry at the heart of them, inspirational messages that are worth sharing, so that maybe one day others can draw their own inspiration from them. These are the stories that help us understand who we are and appreciate what we have. They enable us to put life in perspective and they can help guide us the next time we face a challenge - big or small.
I'd like to use this space to share your stories of courage—to help someone (and me) through rough times.
This is where we start the positive discussions.
***
Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.
George S. Patton
a post on Beckett reminded me of this classic old ad for our international film festival
an oldie but so georgeous
Australian rock legend Chrissy Amphlett, best known as the singer of the Divinyls, has died in New York aged 53.
The charismatic frontwoman was surrounded by family and friends at her home when she died on Monday morning.
Her husband of 14 years, former Divinyls drummer Charley Drayton, says Amphlett died of breast cancer and multiple sclerosis.
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