Schein Language
Last week’s Forward had a story chronicling the animal rights work of Hannah and Philip Schein, PETA employees who met at a Hillel in the late 90s. Apparently, the two have found a niche investigating kosher slaughterhouses. Since 2002, the Scheins have engineered nearly 20 investigations.
The Scheins have also directed their attention to more glamorous initiatives (though to be fair, it’s hard to get any less glamorous than kosher slaughterhouses). Hannah had a brush with fame when, after PETA won a dinner with Beyoncé, she and another employee sat down and confronted the singer about the use of fur in her clothing line. Apparently, Beyoncé has not been seen in fur since.
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submit a comment05.05.08 at 10:05 pm
These investigators are doing great work. The video footage of cows having their tracheas ripped out (at AgriProcessors) and of shackling and hoisting (at a South American slaughterhouse) exposed people to the ugliness of the meat industry (even for kosher meat) and helped bring about some changes in terms of reducing unnecessary animal suffering (tsa’ar ba’alei chayim). Of course, the best way for people not to contribute to cruelty to animals killed for food is to go vegetarian. For more info — and to see video footage from some of the undercover investigations — visit www.HumaneKosher.com.
05.06.08 at 3:05 pm
One can definately make a case for certain standards in slaughtering methods within industrial institutions. I believe those represent our attitudes towards life in general. Legislative initiatives should reflect a common appreciation for what is humane.
That being said, human beings are omnivores, that is a biological predetermination. The idea that we should attach a moral value to our biological state of being is truely a sign of our times…a statement of an effete decadence and radical disconnect between humans and the natural order manifesting itself as poseur defiance in the face of a percieved ineffectual place in history. Guilt over our lives being so easy. What these people need is a good old fashioned catastrophy so they can deal with real problems instead of having to create them in their heads.
Oh yeah and FUCK PETA. I’m gonna go cook something meaty and deeeeeeliscious.
05.08.08 at 1:05 am
Bah @ veganism.
If we weren’t eating all those cows we’d need to kill them off anyway, apart from contributing to greenhouse gases and deforestation, they serve no purpose.
Besides, I’d be happy drizzled with mayonaise, nestled in a bed of lettuce and snugly wrapped in a sesame bun, I’m sure the cows would be just has happy.
05.08.08 at 1:05 am
Hesed. so first I thought you had an “ appreciation for what is humane.”
Yeah, then….” FUCK PETA “ ??
it seems that you really don’t mind eating or wearing something that had a mother.
05.08.08 at 5:05 am
It’s just that I dont see anything inhumane about killing an animal, eating it and then using its various bits a pieces for something utilitarian. I’m talking about a humans state of being as an omnivore being completely ammoral.
Granted, how some of these people run their businesses is just fuckin shameful, in that there is a definate arguement for a call to morality. So dont tell me how aweful some of these places are, I know already and acknowledge that these particular people who treat animals the way they do are shitbags…but that doesn’t make people who eat meat and wear leather shitbags…that just makes them human.
There are plenty of of good animal advocacy groups out there, PETA is not one of them. I’m not gonna get into it, it’s late and my rant about these crackpots would be too long. I encourage people to do a little digging and find out the truth behind them. I say “fuck PETA” because I dont think someone should be able to casually mention them in a positive light, in a public forum and have it go unchallenged….much in the same way I wouldnt let someone talk about the great humanitarian efforts of Hamas or Hizbollah without challenging it. There’s more to PETA than their “we just love little kitties” public personna.
05.08.08 at 2:05 pm
so, Googled PETA. After the predictable, about celeb supporters,
found PetaKillsAnimals.com. Shocking stuff .
OK Hesed, I agree now “ fuck PETA.”
But what I cannot agree with , is your humans will be humans philosophy. .....” people who eat meat and wear leather shitbags…that just makes them human.” Really??
05.08.08 at 5:05 pm
I dont see how there is anything to agree or disagree with. I didn’t choose to be a human, I didn’t choose to be an omnivore, I didn’t choose my place in the food chain, I didn’t choose the countless selective pressures which brought our (that means you too) species to this place in our evolution.
Now there are MANY reasons that a person CAN CREATE in order to justify being a vegetarian…you dont like the taste of meat, you’ve been conned into thinking its bad for you, you’re protesting the animal/labor/enviromental cause of the moment…whatever, those are all VALID reasons to not eat meat.
IT IS NOT A VALID REASON, however, to advocate vegan/vegetarianism on the premise that it is immoral to kill and eat an animal for your own sustenance. Since killing and eating an animal for your own sustenance is an ammoral act, how can abstaining from doing it be a moral act? These “meat is murder” people who actually believe that because they dont kill and eat animals that this somehow translates into a statement about their morality should get their fucking heads examined because they may have a serious dissociative disorder. I’m not being dramatic either, these “meat is murder” people are potentially dangerous, this has been well demonstrated and documented.
Go ahead, be a vegetarian…just know that your decision to not eat an animal doesn’t make you a good person AT ALL.
05.08.08 at 10:05 pm
I’m a vegan, I only eat vegetarians.
Animals eat other animals, it’s part of the natural order.
Seriously, what are we gonna do with all the cows if we stop eating them…slaughter them all as they serve no other purpose and they’re an environmental nightmare I would think…at least killing them for food is a more efficient use of our time…and their life.
If G-d didn’t want us to eat meat, he wouldn’t have made it so delicious :P
05.09.08 at 3:05 am
These “ potentially dangerous “ “ meat is murder people “ .....
are they arriving with the killer tomatoes??
( need more info please Hesed. )
05.09.08 at 6:05 am
Murder is considered to be one of, if not the highest crime in society. Somehow these people have convinced themselves that people who eat meat are murderers. Their “Holocaust on your Plate” campaign equated non-vegetarians with Nazis and the chicken we eat with the Jews who were murdered. What possible affect do you think this could have on a persons perception of their fellow man? Do you think that this is a healthy mental attitude to have towards the majority of people in this world? Do you think it could drive a person to criminal sociopathy? Like say for instance vandalism, firebombing, violence, death threats and other forms of terror intimidation?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Coronado
http://www.activistcash.com/biography.cfm/bid/3369
These are the kind of people who end up on top of clock towers with high powered rifles. Does PETA try to help these people? No, they write them checks to fund what some might call terrorism. (namely the FBI)
http://www.consumerfreedom.com/news_detail.cfm/headline/2339
Go to their website, find a formal denunciation of terror as a tactic to achieve “total animal liberation”. Here is just one quote of PETA top brass. (I’m not gonna list them all)
“Arson, property destruction, burglary, and theft are ‘acceptable crimes’ when used for the animal cause.”
— PETA co-founder Alex Pacheco lists the “acceptable” tactics to fight for animal rights, Associated Press
http://www.fbresearch.org/AnimalActivism/violence.htm
You obviously didn’t dig very hard before.
05.09.08 at 3:05 pm
true I didn’t dig to bedrock. When I hit PETA shit, I stopped digging.
Seriously these meat is murder people are potentially dangerous.
But when you chomp away on that meatyness, is it real to say that you are making a cow happy? (Puck)
05.10.08 at 2:05 am
Seeing as animals lacks the capacity to feel anything even remotely approaching human emotion…who really cares what the cow is feeling?
The important thing is, as I chomp away on that meatiness, that it makes me happy.
If cows want me to stop eating them they can evolve the capcity to talk and ask me themselves ;)
05.10.08 at 3:05 am
waiting for that to happen Puck.
Meanwhile, continue keeping those cows “ happy “ (as you said earlier ) “nestled in a bed of lettuce “ “ and snugly wrapped …”
between your jaws.
05.10.08 at 8:05 am
I’m an environmentalist, just doing my bit to reduce methane emissions…one burger at a time.
05.10.08 at 11:05 am
Yeah…you are a regular Al Gore.
05.11.08 at 7:05 pm
Yes, Al Gore without the massive estate spewing thousands of tons of carbon emissions into the atmosphere every year while I jet around telling people how badly we all need to reduce our carbon footprint :P
Seems kinda like a PETA activitst decrying the consumption of meat whilst chomping down a Big Mac (or Le Big Mac).