Jewish date: 28 ’Elul 5769.
Today’s holidays: Laylat Al-Qadr.
Worthy causes of the day: “Help us hold the line: All major advertisers have left Beck: Help us keep them from returning” and “Send a Message to The New York Helmsley Hotel”.
Before discussing any topics today, I would like to note that the Days of Awe, Ro’sh hashShanah (one of the Jewish new years; we have four) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) will be here very soon. One of the themes of these holidays is repentance. In that spirit, I would like to apologize to anyone I have inadvertently offended. I am human and have my own share of faults, and I make my fair share of stupid mistakes to try to avoid repeating in the coming year. (YHWH help me, please!) I also grant forgiveness to all of those who have inadvertently sinned against me, whether or not they apologize; there are enough problems in this world, and I do not want to make them any worse by bearing a grudge which will seem stupid and pointless in the long run.
Topic 1: “Honey, call the exorcist.”:
Basement Cat, of course, is a joke. But he is a joke with roots in the idea that black cats are connected to evil, as the familiars of witches or otherwise. I have no idea where this notion comes from, and if anyone has any idea, please let me know.
Topic 2: “Scientists targeted by opponents of animal research speak out”: My problem is with the people who are opposed to animal research. Firstly, unless these people are strict vegans, they seem to be inconsistent since they find it unacceptable to harm or kill an animal for the sake of helping humans yet acceptable to kill an animal for their own pleasure. (Humans do not need to eat meat in order to live.) I will presume that some of these people are strict vegans, but this leads to the second problem: animals in the wild regularly do horrible, cruel things to each other, such as hunt down and eat each other. Why are only humans subject to censure for cruelty to animals? Why are these people not up in arms over predations of lions, tigers, and bears? Humans are just as much animals as the rest of the animal kingdom. Why are humans being held to a higher standard? Thirdly, some animal rights activists commit acts of violence against or murder those who perform research on animals. However, since, as mentioned, humans qualify as animals, attacking or murdering a human is attacking or murdering an animal—the very sort of behavior these people are supposed to be against. Fourthly, these attacks and murders are done without any evidence of immediate danger or fair trial. As such, there is no guarantee the victims are in any way guilty of the offenses they are accused of, and people who may have done nothing to hurt non-human animals may be harmed in the process.
Topic 3: “Jewish New Year (1994)”. Just a topical Dry Bones cartoon for Ro’sh hashShanah.
Have a minimally-stressful day.
Aaron
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