I’m pretty sure that Fluffy didn’t knowingly volunteer for vivisection any more than any human would no matter how altruistic the goal might be.  And, I doubt very much if Fluffy was induced by a can of tuna. No, Fluffy was probably handed over for experimentation by someone who was no longer interested in a fluffy kitten once it grew into a full grown cat, or else Fluffy was raised in captivity for the purposes of “torture” for the “higher good of humankind.”

It seems to me with all of the “virtual” assistance available today that the archaic practice of using “real” animals as guinea pigs for medical research would have been abandoned.

As a healthcare provider I respect life, all life, animal as well as human.  As the debate continues as to what constitutes torture, perhaps it is time that we define the nature of torture as it pertains to animals as well as to human beings.

Technorati Tags: animal research, animal torture, vivisection

If we, humans, pulled by our noses by unconscionable scientists, hadn’t been so busy chemical-coating and irradiating natural fruits and vegetables (and at this point and the current growing methods, I use the term “natural” loosely) after growing them in mineral-depleted soil or confining them to artificially-lit greenhouses, fruits and vegetables today would taste fabulous (the way they used to…even before I was born), and it goes without saying that they would be far more healthy for the human body.

Perhaps it would be more advantageous for every living thing on the planet, if scientists would just come up with a way for industrialized human beings to be “tricked” into feeling satiated and satisfied with the naturally diverse and abundant cornucopia that is health, itself, within their reach every day in the industrialized world. Maybe they could just be “zapped” so that they would once again love the smell of roses, appreciate the taste of broccoli, and savor the taste of strawberries to such a degree that the overfed and over-pampered classes wouldn’t continue to crave more and more. Instead of the recurrent chant “give me something I don’t have,” (like a rose that smells like rootbeer!) there would appear a quiet contentment. Then scientists and researchers could focus on  those things that have transformative power, ways to assist the rest of the world’s people who every moment are lacking even the basic necessities of life.

Technorati Tags: health, natural foods, science and research

As the story goes, after “The Catcher in the Rye” sold millions, with Salinger’s picture (such an intriguing, seductive face) looking out from each dust jacket, Salinger became “sick of seeing” himself and demanded that his photo be removed from future editions. I guess you could say that the vivid face he left us with, instead, was not his, but that of Holden Caulfield. No doubt, that teen-aged face is etched differently in the mind of each of us, but even through the veil of diverse gray matter, we’d all recognize him still.

It is strange that we feel such a collective loss of someone whose face we haven’t seen in over half a century. But, I suppose it is because we know that along with the loss of his vivid face, we’ve forever lost his vivid mind as well.

Technorati Tags: Holden Caulfield, J.D. Salinger, vivid face