“All beings tremble before violence. All fear death. All love life. See yourself in others. Then whom can you hurt? What harm can you do?” (often attributed to the Buddha.)
I love this quote, but I keep thinking that perhaps the person who said it (or composed it), might have mistaken Planet Earth for another planet or universe where people actually gave a crap.
The Catalan Parliament just outlawed bullfighting. Awesome. There’s a video here showing the law being voted on.
I never knew this before, but the Constitution of India is, it seems, the first constitution in the world to include consideration of other Earthlings:
“It shall be the Fundamental Duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the Natural Environment, including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife and to have Compassion for all living creatures”.
Article 51 – A (g) of Constitution of India
Just discovered the No Meat Athlete, one a growing number of blogs about plant-powered peak performance.
Check out the section on the Tarahumara diet: The Tarahumara Make 100-Mile Runs Seem Like a Piece of Cake—Now Their Superfoods Can Be Yours.
Although not vegetarian per se, the Tarahumarans have an almost completely plant-based diet, and are not only some of the healthiest people on the planet, but are super runners who are known as the “people who live forever.”
A friend recently asked, what could a person do with a PhD in Philosophy if he didn’t want to work in academia? I suggested opening a business as a freelance philosopher, and pitching his services to businesses, individuals, businesses, schools, doing public lectures, etc.
I always thought it would be really cool to be a Freelance Philosopher and provide services to individuals, companies, schools and governments as such. Many, many issues, in life – personal, professional, organizational – come down to moral or ethical quandaries. Philosophers, especially those with a focus on moral philosophy, have a lot to offer in this regard. These questions often end with “What should I do? What should we do?” They’re often questions of subjective right/wrong, and could make a huge impact on one’s life.
Maodou Needs a Home
How would one do this? You certainly wouldn’t be the first to do it. Others already have. Print up a business card that says, “Philosopher” on it. Make website and brochure with your services listed. Then advertise like hell and visit companies and schools to pitch your services. You could lecture, for a fee, on certain topics of use to schools, governments, companies. You could give back to the community and build your reputation by providing free lectures and talks at community centers, schools, etc. Of course, you would probably join the group for freelance philosophers on LinkedIn.
And, if one actually did this for a couple years, he or she would then build up a wealth of experience of applied philosophy, or practical philosophy, in that they could start to see the results and impact of their consulting services with their clients.
Maodou, the dog above, is not a freelance philosopher, but she needs a home, so those of you Beijingers with a space in your heart and home, click on her awesomely cute nose to see more photos of Maodou at IdogIcat. (If you can’t read Chinese, just contact me for more details
UPDATE: Apparently, Marx kept trying to run away from his new home. Last I heard, he’s run away again. ANGELA, if you hear anything, keep us posted.
Thanks to Angela, who happened upon Hutong Robot by chance, the little dog formerly known as “Diu-Diu” is now named Marx and has an awesome new home, with three other doggie pals, on a farm outside Beijing. Marx a rough first year of life, that brought him a lot of cruelty from human beings, but thanks to his loving rescuers (who literally got him out of police custody), he now has a new family.
Thanks to his foster parents Lenore and Tobias, and some help from the email list of the Beijing Vegan Social Club, this lucky hutong dog just got himself a great new home with his new guardian Patricia.
According to this report, “NASA plans to spend nearly $2 million to blast monkeys with radiation, which can cause brain damage, blindness, cancer, and death.”
This is obviously a big bummer.
