- New York Times: At Preakness, Not Everybody’s Idea of Fun
It sounds like the Preakness has gone to shit. Their new mascot is "Kegasus," half horse, half beer-bellied man. His slogan is "a ten-hour party to celebrate a two-minute race." That's an event you won't be catching me at. - Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel: Walker seeks to stop defense of state’s domestic partner registry
Gov. Scott Walker wants to eliminate hospital visitation rights for gay couples. What a horrible human being. What was that about "family values" that Republicans used to prattle on about? - The Globe and Mail: Why you should eat horsemeat—It’s delicious
There are very few logical arguments against eating horse meat, and a great many in favor of it. Though I personally don't care to do so (I own chickens, ducks, and a horse—my experience with each leaves me happy to eat the former two), it seems terrible that so much horse meat goes to waste every year, especially in the U.S., where a patchwork of laws and court decisions make it difficult to turn into food for humans.
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Three things should give you pause before comsuming hrsemeat: the usually-ignored requirement of proof that the horse NOT have been given specific medications or vaccinations within a specified period prior to slaughter; the fact that they are usually jammed into double-decker trailers & not given food or water during the trip to slaughterhouses in Mexico or Canada (after all, why spend the $$, right?) & the inhumane practices of most slaughterhouses. Mares have given birth on slaughterhouse floors, & horses are often not completely dead before the rendering process starts. I’m no PETA fan but sending animals who have been trained to be human companions to such a fate certainly gives me pause. YouTube videos taken surreptitiously from the interiors of over-the-border slaughterhouses are disturbing.
“I slaughtered this horse last Tuesday. I’m afraid she’s startin’ to turn.”
“Damn! We’re in a tight spot!”
I don’t think anybody’s proposing on simply chowing down on whatever horses the knacker man has dragged in. :) Rather, the thinking is that many people could benefit from a change in that whole industry, such as it is.
Not incidentally, a huge percentage of cows are unfit for consumption, for the same reasons…yet they’re sold as meat every day. Ugh.
Kegasus, I love it. The aviator sunglasses, the Jesus do, very well put together. Proof that one man’s class is another man’s crass.
Eating horse meat in the same series too? Perhaps they should serve it at Preakness for the novelty. Or do they already? And is it horse meat or horsemeat? Horsmeat sounds like it would be a candidate for the Electric Company.
I missed that Maryland gave them $5 million. Wow! Priceless!
Actually conditions in many cattle slaughterhouses have greatly improved. The entire beef industry, from the farm to the counter at the grocery store, has benefited from the efforts of people like Temple Grandin. Those with an economic stake in beef have been coming to realize that when conditions are better for the cattle, they gain better and yield more pounds of better quality meat, and, a better profit margin. Then they realize that, hey, it’s better for the people when cattle are treated respectfully, too. A better environment for the cattle is also a better environment for the people that handle the cattle, which lowers their stress level too, and they get and stay healthier. Consumers are demanding better food produced with better methods, and, the industry will adapt, and, eventually, abuses will be the exception, not the rule. In Virginia, the Beef Quality Assurance program is helping on all of these issues. In the end, if you want to eat food you can feel good about, know you farmer!
Hell yes.
@Jay: well said, & Temple Grandin is certainly a leader in the field. I hope you’re right & that eventually abuses will not only be the exception but will not exist anywhere.
Peshaw! You can’t have horse racing without drinking! They may drink their hooch from crystal at Montpelier, and hide their whiskey in a tall glass under a fancy hat at Lexington, but the buzz is part of the event. This is antebellum NASCAR my friends. Baltimore is a beer drinking, port city without the pretense, why should their horse racin’ be any different, or fancy!
And in a sign that the times have changed, everyone discusses local farming and nobody tries to defend that horrible human being in Wisconsin.
Two years ago, on this blog, that wouldn’t have happened.