Vegans Kill Cockroaches (Vivisection, Agriculture & Activism)

26 April 2016 [YT link]

Well… the title itself is long enough to serve as the description: the video offers some real talk on vivisection, agriculture and activism, with challenging contrasts between idealism and pragmatism, as (hopefully) veganism becomes a crucial part of ecology in the 21st century.

The Ethical Omnivore: Melanie Murphy. (vegan / vegans / veganism)

24 April 2016 [YT link]

Vegans on Youtube Talking About Veganism on Youtube

24 April 2016 [YT link]

A conversation that contrasts new media to traditional media, and asks where "we" are all going, in the digital vegan demimonde. This is a half-hour of content that DOES NOT repeat the material posted in an earlier, 10-minute video (recorded on the same day), titled, "Vegans: A Conspiracy for Social Change?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Brtd_F9rr8s



The Vegan Cheetah's channel is here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSDjC2eMJQBwu2QATm8bZNA/videos

The Vegan Mojo: Real Politics vs. Swimwear

23 April 2016 [YT link]

The Vegan Mojo's channel is here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8AHR0py0U4-Kl6gRDcn16g/videos



Related to this conversation (in a peculiar way) is my own earlier video on Cocaine (and the changing scientific understanding of Cocaine, etc.):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w14YA2vyHMc

Vegans: A Conspiracy for Social Change?

22 April 2016 [YT link]

A conversation (about veganism and effective activism) with "The Vegan Cheetah". You can find his channel here:



https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSDjC2eMJQBwu2QATm8bZNA/videos

The Agony of Activism: Zahria 269 (vegan / vegans / veganism)

21 April 2016 [YT link]

Eisel Mazard (à-bas-le-ciel) interviews Zahria269 about veganism (and almost nothing else!) for a solid hour-and-a-half. The conversation begins with reflections on her involvement with the "Pig Save" movement (of slaughterhouse vigils) in the U.K., and covers various topics with an emphasis on the psychology of veganism itself.



Note that this video is also available as an audio-only (MP3) podcast for download: https://archive.org/details/Zahria269-interview-Eisel-Mazard-2016



About 50 minutes into the conversation, a particular photo of free-range conditions (for chickens in Europe) is mentioned. You can see that picture here: http://tinyurl.com/jmpfukq

Vegans: skepticism, dogma, democracy & paradox.

20 April 2016 [YT link]

The video alluded to on calcium (in a vegan diet) by Jake Eames, is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlHvgACxBcg



(This was à-bas-le-ciel (Eisel Mazard) in 2016, in his final month in Victoria, B.C., Canada.)

[政治學] 1920: mass-murder on the border between Russia, Japan & China.

17 April 2016 [YT link]

In Japanese, this event is known as the 尼港事件; in Chinese, the general location is the 阿穆爾河三角洲, in the town of Nikolaevsk-on-Amur (Николаевск-на-Амуре, Nikolayevsk-na-Amure). It is a fascinating case-study in terms of both international geopolitics, and revolutionary violence. It shows us a great deal about human nature in general, and on the aspects of human nature that come to the fore (again and again) in the context of a newly-established Communist regime.



https://medium.com/@eiselmazard/1920-the-other-russo-japanese-war-70deb2972c42

The Appeal to Nature Fallacy (vegan / vegans / veganism)

17 April 2016 [YT link]

This has become a popular idea (really just used as an insult), but (1) not every use of the concept of nature is a fallacy, and (2) in practice, it may not be useful at all to snub someone by telling them that they're lapsing into "an appeal-to-nature fallacy" even if they actually are.

Ignorance, Activism & Optimism (vegan / veganism / vegans)

16 April 2016 [YT link]

Here's the link to "Vegan in Japan" (the channel quoted in this video): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGY7OMXN8N2gAJHXiyJY9Lw/videos?sort=dd&view=0&shelf_id=0

Vegans "Being Taken Seriously"?

15 April 2016 [YT link]

A lot of vegans complain about "never being taken seriously", but what level of respect (or "seriousness") can we really expect in these interactions? Although I really do relate to vegans feeling that they're constantly insulted and challenged by meat-eaters… but the reality is, often enough, we're also the ones doing the challenging… and the people we're talking to didn't sign up to attend an animal rights conference. Discuss.

Is Ethical Veganism Reasonable? Sustainable? Oppressive?

15 April 2016 [YT link]

A response to an ex-vegan! David J Kelly has rejected veganism, and posed some questions for the movement that we all _should_ be able to answer… but can we? Can you?



The cartoon in the thumbnail is by "Vegan Sidekick", who publishes books of collected cartoons on vegan themes (under that name).



Here's the link to video I'm responding to. Really, you don't want to click on this link. You think you do, but you don't. Not really. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqQ_pnLPAG4

Is Durianrider a Paranoid Schizophrenic? He says so. (Vegan / Vegans / Veganism)

13 April 2016 [YT link]

Shout out to "Just Another Vegan", who is quoted in the video:

https://youtu.be/OV_T6dr4ljs

Pet Ownership as SLAVERY (vegan / vegans / veganism)

11 April 2016 [YT link]

Veganism is not the moral baseline: the wilderness is the moral baseline. The only ethical "treatment of animals" is recognizing their autonomy in their own habitat --and (for practical reasons) in 2016 human beings need to adopt laws to protect that habitat (and to limit human encroachment into it). There is no moral way to reduce a wild animal to being a human plaything: neither in the case of a "pet dog", nor "a pet monkey", nor "a pet lion" (and arguments to the contrary, making exceptions for dogs, are, indeed, "speciesism" of the most odious kind). It does not matter if you justify a "captive animal" as a "companion animal", and it does not matter if you (as a human) define the conditions of their captivity as "happy": the only moral relationship with animals is with wild animals. Animals that have been crippled (neutered, etc.) so that they will conform to behaviors imposed on them by humans (training, domestication, etc.) can never provide a "moral baseline" for vegans/veganism. Never.

Talking to the Vegan Cheetah about Activism, Education, Life (& Veganism)

10 April 2016 [YT link]

ALSO AVAILABLE AS A PODCAST (MP3), i.e., downloadable in audio-only format: https://archive.org/details/Vegan-Cheetah-and-Eisel-Mazard-April-2016



The conversation opens with questions of effective activism, and proceeds to various topics concerning both "digital veganism" and "real life" (including education, career-ambitions, and vlogging while working a day job). Inevitably, there is at least one anecdote about Cambodia included.



Here's the link to Cheetah's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thevegancheetah/?hl=en

He's active on Youtube, but, lately, his primary platform is "Stre.am".

Goals in Life OTHER THAN Vanity / Being Durianrider

09 April 2016 [YT link]

There is more to life than just the "permanent vacation" of athleticism, sport, self-indulgence, and vanity. And not everyone dreams of "cashing in" on their physical appearance on the internet. Not everyone. ;-)



BTW, I did make an earlier titled, "Riding a Bicycle is Not the Meaning of Life", although, in fact, it largely consists of anecdotes from my experiences with long-distance cycling. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcw2X0EyJlk

Vegans on Issues OTHER THAN Veganism

09 April 2016 [YT link]

Inevitably, this video actually is about veganism… but it responds to some peculiar questions I've gotten from my fellow vegans… starting from and ending with questions of ethics.

Why Do I Study Languages? Advice Nobody Wants to Hear [Ep. 003]

08 April 2016 [YT link]

This is episode #3 of, "Advice Nobody Wants to Hear".

However, this is not providing advice on how to study languages: it is reflecting on why I've spent so much of my time studying languages, with reflections on my experience in university (past and present) that might be useful for some.

Organizing Dissent: Digital Veganism vs. Real Life Vegans

08 April 2016 [YT link]

"In a sentence, the problem with digital veganism in this respect, the problem with the internet view of the world is that people come to regard weakness as strength: people think that defining yourself more narrowly (and in connection to one of these political causes) makes veganism stronger, and it doesn't, it makes it weaker."

Vegans don't own pets: domestication and evil.

07 April 2016 [YT link]

The temptation, of course, was to have the subtitle read, "domestication and/or/as evil". :-/



Previous videos that have discussed the subject:

(1) Domestication vs. "the Wild": Vegans & the A.R. Paradigm. https://youtu.be/AtP98bAejow



(2) Vegans and the Indigenous Issue: Hunting, Domestication & the Concept of Evil.

https://youtu.be/ijsSdEP9zLE



(3) This also came up in my two hour interview with V.V., available as an MP3-only podcast (because it is so long), in addition to the usual video/youtube format:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Nkdq6T8IRE

Durianrider & Freelee: Lies & Faith-Healing. (Vegan / Vegans / Veganism)

06 April 2016 [YT link]

"The Ugly Truth about Durianrider" (a link mentioned in the video): http://anthonycolpo.com/the-ugly-truth-about-harley-durianrider-johnstone/



For Durianrider's current (2016) claims that he was diagnosed with this disease (and that he miraculously cured it), see: https://youtu.be/nC4Of_hH9M8



For my own (earlier) video on Freelee's credentials, alluded to here, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNzElhpjgjQ



The quotation from the Rich Roll podcast follows after the 15 minute mark, and you can find that source here: http://www.richroll.com/podcast/rrp-53-durianrider-how-to-thrive-perform-athletically-on-a-high-carb-low-fat-vegan-diet/

Erin Janus vs. Freelee vs. Angie Varona.

01 April 2016 [YT link]

Elect Angie Varona. No, seriously: she's a political science major, with a background in nutrition on her transcript, etc. --she's a lot more electable than anyone we've currently got in the race.

Matters of principle: "Innocent until proven guilty".

01 April 2016 [YT link]

In the context of reckless accusations, threats of violence, etc. (within "the vegan community" in Chiang Mai that I hear so much about), here are some reflections on the importance of skepticism, tolerance, and presuming that people are innocent until proven guilty.

Vegan vs. Noam Chomsky (on Animal Rights)

30 March 2016 [YT link]

I suppose this could have been titled, "Why Noam Chomsky is not Vegan", but the range of examples primarily concern vivisection, research on primates, etc.



I can actually recommend a relatively enjoyable film on that subject (the ethics of primate research, etc.) that does not rely on gory/horrifying images of scientific experiments (i.e., it tells a story and talks about the issue without giving you nightmares), titled "Project Nim". http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1814836/



And if you're interested in Noam Chomsky, you might be interested in the one-and-only other video I've made about him, reflecting on his (past) support for Communism in Cambodia (i.e., the Khmer Rouge). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRUIK8jq4l0



[Note: this video was uploaded a second time, because the original had a peculiar speed-error, playing somewhat too quickly.]

Henya Mania vs. Freelee & Joe Best.

27 March 2016 [YT link]

What I actually have to say about Joe Best is much more reasonable than you might assume (more reasonable than he might assume, too), and it always has been. This is a four-minute snippet from an interview that will soon be uploaded in full, and, yes, Henya herself appears on-screen (briefly!). ;-)



The link to the full conversation (about an hour long) between myself and Jason is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC-TI4ZLZC0

Talking to Jason Pizzino on Thailand, Life & Politics. (Vegan / Vegans / Veganism)

27 March 2016 [YT link]

ALSO AVAILABLE AS A PODCAST (audio-only MP3): https://archive.org/details/Eisel-Jason-and-Henya-2016



Eisel Mazard (à-bas-le-ciel) talks with vegan fitness vlogger Jason Pizzino (with a brief appearance from "Henya Mania", a.k.a. Henya Perez). The conversation covers Thailand, life & politics, but also --inevitably-- recent controversies with Freelee and Durianrider. At the time of the recording, Jason and Henya were trying to make clear that their commitment is to veganism ("just veganism") and not to any particular diet, and their goals are, ultimately, to help the animals, not to promote an athletic lifestyle. What, now, is the (practical) way forward for vegans after the collapse of most of the hopes that had been attached to the Chiang Mai scene? This was recorded with one party in Israel, and the other in Canada.

Vegan Protein Supplement Review (Many Brands)

26 March 2016 [YT link]

A review covering many different brands/options:

• IronVegan / Iron Vegan.

• Vega One.

• Vega Sport.

• Vega Proteins & Greens.

• Manitoba Harvest Organic Protein.

• Genuine Health (Brand), Vegan Proteins+.

• Progressive Organics Brown Rice Protein.

Ethics: Vegans, Vasectomies, Flexitarians… questions of good and evil.

26 March 2016 [YT link]

This could have been split into two separate videos, but I tried to make a "unified" point about both (1) anti-natalism (i.e., vegans refusing to have kids, and claiming that others should follow their example, and (2) the vaguely pro-flexitarian attitude that Unnatural Vegan and Tobias Leenaert have proposed (incoherently, in my opinion). As is stated in the first few seconds of this video, I think the underlying problem is one of dealing with questions of ethics in our (21st century) culture, and of stating subjective claims in contrast to "global" (or even cosmological) claims about right and wrong.



And, yes, this video does (INEVITABLY) digress into examples from Laos and Cambodia. I could challenge myself to go for a month without mentioning either one. A month is a long time. ;-)

Interview, à-bas-le-ciel vs. "The Violent Vegan"

24 March 2016 [YT link]

ALSO AVAILABLE AS A PODCAST (audio-only MP3): https://archive.org/details/Eisel-Mazard-2016-Interview



Eisel Mazard (à-bas-le-ciel) has a conversation with the youtuber known as "The Violent Vegan". The conversation returns to issues of vegan activism repeatedly, but also includes various comments on life, politics, religion (including Theravāda Buddhism), and the difficulty of trying to assemble a social movement (on even the smallest scale) out of people of contrasting personalities and political beliefs. The discussion is slightly less than two hours long, recorded on March 23rd, 2016, with one party in England, and the other in Canada.



And here's a link to the other guy's channel, BTW: https://www.youtube.com/user/Jacobazariah/videos

Crohn's Disease: the secret to Durianrider's diet. :-(

22 March 2016 [YT link]

Fundamentally, "…people with Crohn disease are at risk of malnutrition, because their intestine cannot absorb all the nutrients they need from their diet." [Source:] http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/condition/crohns-disease



Eating a diet largely consisting of bananas and other high-fiber, carbohydrate-based foods has been found by some studies to help people cope with the disease (but please note that research is still ongoing, and, e.g., the extent to which the disorder is an autoimmune dysfunction is still debated). [Source:] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/519185



On Crohn's disease in general, and with a description of the type of steroids typically used in treatment (and their side-effects, etc.):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Management_of_Crohn's_disease



Suddenly, Durianrider's more absurd advice (quoted in an earlier video) that a person getting zero exercise should be able to eat unlimited calories without gaining weight (etc.) "makes sense" in reference to his own, direct experience: Crohn's disease would fundamentally change the way he perceives diet, exercise, weight-gain, and how much he needs to eat to feel energetic (etc.). His needs (and his ability to gain weight) will be radically different from those of an average/healthy person.



His experience with the disease might have given him some terrible experiences with the side-effects of cortico-steroids, and, more generally, the extent to which people suffering from the condition will have extreme changes in their (subjective) health corresponding to (sometimes minor) changes in their diet.



For someone with Crohn's disease, switching to a vegan, high-fiber diet, could indeed come as "a revelation", if their former diet had been aggravating their symptoms. What he says about fatigue, having enough energy, etc., suddenly "makes sense" when you know that he has Crohn's disease (even though it is TERRIBLE advice for 99% of the population!).



In the video linked to below, D.R. sincerely says that eating A HUGE QUANTITY of carbs will "cure" chronic fatigue syndrome; from anyone else, this would just sound crazy (or stupid… certainly unscientific)… but it is actually easy to imagine how someone struggling with Crohn's disease could perceive things this way.

https://youtu.be/kTgozmZCHcU?t=1m5s



If he were honest and scientifically-rigorous about it, Durianrider's experience probably could be useful for other people with Crohn's disease to learn from (and they may be the only people who really could/should eat 30 bananas per day!)… but, instead, he has been dishonest, insulting and extremely aggressive, (1) imagining himself to be miraculously cured, and (2) dismissing anyone who doesn't get results similar to his own as secretly eating hamburgers (etc.), claiming that gaining weight on his diet is "impossible" (etc.)… when, in reality, his perspective and experience are shaped by an extreme and incurable disease. Sad.



It already was a strange irony that a guy who had been diagnosed with anorexia (and as an ex-drug-addict, etc.) was in his position (of leading a fad diet)… but it is even more ironic that this role is being played by someone with such a serious illness, with such a conflicted attitude toward his own illness, and who projects his own experience (struggling to eat enough to feel energetic, etc.) onto people who do not share the digestive problems (malabsorption-of-nutrients, etc.) of Crohn's disease.

80/10/10 vs 90/5/5 (Doug Graham vs. Freelee & Durianrider)

22 March 2016 [YT link]

Unnatural vegan on the 80/10/10 diet, and the importance of brushing your teeth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hg7g8...



The earlier video alluded to on Freelee's credentials (or lack thereof): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNzElhpjgjQ



Quote: "Well, my name is Dr. Doug Graham. I have a doctorate degree in chiropractic and a doctorate in natural health."

Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/024860_hea...

The Vegan Jerk (vs. "Being a Nice Guy")

21 March 2016 [YT link]

The whole "uncompromising life-of-principle" thing has been out-of-fashion for a few centuries… and business-suits made of wool have been (tragically) in-fashion for about the same length of time.



This video offers some self-critical commentary from someone on the (unfashionable and) "uncompromising" side of that equation.

Freelee's Credentials: Half-Truths & Pseudoscience.

20 March 2016 [YT link]

Beauty is Meaningless.

20 March 2016 [YT link]

Beauty is not virtue. Beauty is not strength, and even strength doesn't make you a great leader, nor even a good one. These things are so simple, and we're warned about them as children, but many people wrestle with them throughout their whole lives. Here are some reflections of mine on the subject.



Oh, yeah, and #nomakeup. ;-)

Who Are The Most Effective Vegan Activists In Modern Day History?

19 March 2016 [YT link]

Ecology is my generation's struggle: we don't have the luxury of leaving it for the next generation to address, and we don't have the luxury of defining activism in terms of "lifestyle", vanity, sport and self-indulgence.



Some reflections on effective activism ("effective altruism"), recorded at 4:00 AM, as an response to Durianrider's comments:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbt242Y7NMY



I also allude to one of my own, earlier videos (from just a few days ago), titled, "Passion vs. Organization"; the link for that is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uRcs6iBXbw

Passion vs. Organization: Henya vs. Durianrider.

17 March 2016 [YT link]

A discussion of effective activism (for veganism and ecology) that, as always, veers into minor questions of the meaning of life. No matter how rewarding you may find it to attend a particular demonstration today, you have to ask yourself what it is leading toward, 5 years from now, when the charm of protesting at that restaurant (or even that slaughterhouse) will have worn off. Passion only takes you so far, and then we have to wonder about how organization can take you further.



The link to an earlier video is mentioned in passing (title: "Veganism: Neither Anti-Capitalist Nor 'A Privilege'"), and you can find that video here: https://youtu.be/QiuBSwTFD1U

Gifts for my Daughter

17 March 2016 [YT link]

If you'd like to see the earlier video alluded to (of my daughter playing with some of the gifts I brought her in December, under 5 minutes long), click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mclB...

Vegans Kill Rats. REAL TALK.

17 March 2016 [YT link]

Tolerance: an under-rated virtue.



Cf. my earlier video on related themes (from just two weeks ago): "Domestication vs. 'the Wild': Vegans & the A.R. Paradigm" = https://youtu.be/AtP98bAejow



Technical note: in reference to the early space program, I very briefly mention the Kuiper belt… but I was actually thinking of the Van Allen Belt (sort of makes sense either way… I guess). So, F.Y.I.,

(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Allen_radiation_belt

(2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuiper_belt

Permanent Vacation: Freelee & Durianrider "Save the World".

12 March 2016 [YT link]

Gratitude vs. ambition: instead of feeling gratitude for the difference you don't make (while enjoying whatever advantages you've got in life), you could feel some ambition to go ahead and make things change (whether it's in Thailand or anywhere else).



For a more in-depth discussion of these issues (with many practical examples of activism, organization, and questions of "what can we do now?"), you can see my "advice" video, on "activism and ambition", here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlDRJ8SPZjM



I'm happy to cite my sources. Special thanks to Vegan Ava, who is quoted on gratitude: https://youtu.be/WSnTdel2wU8



Thanks, also, to "2gether Vegan", for the outdoor footage: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZU91lDlDM1cjJXDWXLJseQ/videos



And, of course, a big shout-out to my #1 fan, Joe Best: https://www.youtube.com/user/BestTransformation/videos

His channel is called "the best transformation", and he's showing us all how to "transform" a reputation based on rape-allegations, womanizing, and being a bad landlord, into a leadership role in that vegan "community" I hear so much about… all while he continues to eat meat and dairy on the side, and to complain that he feels rejected by vegans (complaining that he never should have called himself vegan, that he now doesn't use the word vegan, etc.). It's quite an impressive "transformation", on the whole. ;-)

Stupidity is REAL (vegan / vegans / veganism)

11 March 2016 [YT link]

Here are links to two contrasting articles (very lightweight and easy to glance over) on India's beef ban, connected to one of the points made in the video:

1. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ash-murthy/i-am-a-liberal-and-india-beef-ban_b_8136760.html

2. http://www.firstpost.com/india/im-vegan-work-animal-rights-oppose-maharashtras-beef-ban-2183609.html



Oh, and by the way, to answer a common question: à bas le ciel is pronounced, "à bas le ciel".

India's Beef Ban & Vegans in Power (Hypothetically Speaking).

10 March 2016 [YT link]

Well… what happens if/when we're the ones doing the oppressing? No, I'm not trolling: India's "Beef Ban" is one of many events that raises the question in a meaningful way, even though it is on the distant horizon of the barely-hypothetically-plausible.



Here's a typical American perspective on "the beef ban" in India (as described in the video):

http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2015/10/13/448182574/indias-ban-on-beef-leads-to-murder-and-hindu-muslim-friction



Two further examples:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/17/world/asia/cattle-become-a-trigger-for-sectarian-violence-in-india.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/18/opinion/sunday/manil-suri-a-ban-on-beef-in-india-is-not-the-answer.html?_r=0

Should Meat Be Illegal? Vegans & State Power.

10 March 2016 [YT link]

In recent videos I reflected on the extent to which anarchism had gone out of style (as a leitmotif in Animal Rights and veganism), and, in this video, I'm instead discussing what the role of the state is (or might be presumed to be) in vegans' vaguely-stated plans for social and ecological change.



As a society, we'd like to eliminate cigarette smoking… and yet we've had the maturity to attempt to pursue that goal without making tobacco illegal. Is the end-goal of veganism to make meat illegal in the same sense as heroin or cocaine? I doubt it, but there are some complex issues to be debated, from several (incompatible) perspectives.

Personal Life: Languages, Career, Education, etc.

10 March 2016 [YT link]

The inevitable "personal update" video.

Activism vs. Lifestyle-ism: Politics can be Ugly or Beautiful.

07 March 2016 [YT link]

Political activism isn't always ugly: it can be creative, and even beautiful. We can ask questions about effective activism on a large scale, but also on a personal scale: what is effective activism for you, personally, in your circumstances, now and in the next few years?



Here's the link to the video mentioned (Steve Best vs. Gary Francione), titled, "The Paralysis of Pacifism": https://youtu.be/sHDTZniuzyc



There is also a link to an earlier video of my own that appears (briefly), on-screen, reflecting on the importance of having "just 5 people" organized (and trusting one-another enough to make something positive happen, as activists or otherwise). https://youtu.be/7UezI3u8iXA?t=5m50s



For a more in-depth discussion of these issues (with many practical examples), 30 minutes long, you can see my "advice" video, on "activism and ambition", here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlDRJ8SPZjM



I would really encourage people to click on that link, as it provides practical details/descriptions of the type of political activism I've been talking about in more recently (examples as diverse as starting a magazine, opening a restaurant, launching a legal challenge or directly lobbying city hall) --and it also explains why I put so much emphasis on "organization" as such (i.e., in contrast to believing that a bunch of isolated bloggers are going to change the world by individually uploading lifestyle photos, etc.).

Durianrider: real insanity, fake cure, bad diet.

05 March 2016 [YT link]

A few different sources are mentioned in the video, so I here provide links to them. Durianrider's own channel, of course, can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/user/durianriders/videos



The experience of the young woman who was formerly a model, and gained weight (but is now happy), etc., can be found on Durianrider's channel, here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQtH7Roy3Cs



The reflections on the Thai Fruit Festival from the young man who had a long history of diagnosed eating disorders (anorexia and orthorexia, I believe) is found here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aph7VGNiGgY



Powsimian's experience is also mentioned. He deleted a number of videos that were recorded while he was in a mental-hospital of some kind (and they mentioned both his diagnosis, and the specific psychiatric medication he was taking at the time). He has since been released from in-patient care, and you can find his channel here:

https://www.youtube.com/user/powsimians/videos

Domestication vs. "the Wild": Vegans & the A.R. Paradigm

02 March 2016 [YT link]

A glance back at the peculiar progress of the last 15 years, as Animal Rights has stumbled through a number of political "fashions".



You know, there was a time when names like Henry David Thoreau were considered a really big deal in A.R./ecology/vegetarianism (and the word "vegan" hadn't yet gained prevalence). I can't remember seeing a single youtube video in which Thoreau was even mentioned (definitely not by DxE, etc.), nor any of the surrounding issues of "anti-domestication-ism", generally idealizing "the wild", etc. etc.



Things change; and I haven't got a nostalgic bone in my body, to be honest.

Vegans and the Indigenous Issue: Hunting, Domestication & the Concept of Evil.

02 March 2016 [YT link]

The lesser of two evils is still evil. However, in praxis, a large part of habitat-conservation is linked to hunting, and a large part of self-determination movements for indigenous people (e.g., land-rights for First Nations) are --also-- linked to hunting.



This video reflects on the complex questions of wilderness vs. domestication (in how we conceptualize nature itself as well as our activism), and how they connect to the A.R. movement's peculiar (and changing) attitudes toward indigenous (First Nations) politics, etc.

Vegan Purse Review: Matt & Nat, designer handbag.

29 February 2016 [YT link]

If you'd like to see the earlier video alluded to (of my daughter playing with some of the gifts I brought her in December --and don't worry, the video is under 5 minutes long), click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mclBtU07DE



Matt & Nat is a vegan brand of designer purses (and no, this is neither a paid endorsement, nor an unpaid endorsement, as I lack expertise in this area). You can see their shop here:

http://mattandnat.com/shop/handbags/all-handbags

Alcohol & Caffeine: Unnatural Vegan is WRONG

29 February 2016 [YT link]

No offense. Hey, I said: "no offense".

Why are there NO COMMENTS below your videos?

29 February 2016 [YT link]

Meanwhile, for anyone who wants to talk, don't act like it's hard to find me: my e-mail is posted publicly (along with my real name) all over the internet: http://www.eisel-mazard.com/



I have plenty of quality interaction with my viewers (and plenty of y'all are quality people). Many of my videos refer to this (or reply directly to questions received by e-mail, etc.). The difference is that e-mail is written to me (directly), and thus rarely has the vapid and over-the-top quality of attempts to grandstand for attention (anonymously) in a comments section. To me, that's a meaningful difference. Maybe, if you can imagine yourself in my situation, that would be a meaningful difference for you, too.



But if not, hey: on your Youtube channel, you can play by your rules.