the blog.
2016 Presidential Election: The Aftermath
No words can express what I truly feel.
Watching the votes being counted last night made me increasingly apprehensive. I was in utter shock. I never once expected to see any competition from Trump. Everything I thought I knew was being flipped on its head.
Eventually I fell asleep. Hoping with all of my might that when I awoke the tides would have turned. That the remaining states would come in for Hillary and the nightmare would be over.
No words can express what I truly feel.
Watching the votes being counted last night made me increasingly apprehensive. I was in utter shock. I never once expected to see any competition from Trump. Everything I thought I knew was being flipped on its head.
Eventually I fell asleep. Hoping with all of my might that when I awoke the tides would have turned. That the remaining states would come in for Hillary and the nightmare would be over.
I woke at 7am and checked the news. And my worst fears were confirmed.
Since then I've felt a weight, a deep uneasiness that can't be shaken.
All of this, and I'm not even an American.
I live in Toronto. Why should I care? What impact does the POTUS have on my life?
Unfortunately, a substantial one.
First of all, I have many dear friends who live in the United States of America. I am afraid for them. For the women, for those in the LGBTQ+ community, for the many of them who aren't white. What does this mean for their rights? For their freedom? For their lives?
This fear cannot be overstated.
But it's more than that.
I'm afraid for myself.
I'm afraid for the entire world.
Will Trump's influence cross the border? Inspire bigotry and hate in my beloved country?
Toronto is one of the most diverse cities in the world. As I rode the streetcar home from work, I looked into the faces of people from all walks of life. And what I saw broke my heart. They all had the look of someone whose spirit has been broken. They all looked afraid.
As I walked home in the dark I wondered; will violent crime go up? What about sexual assaults? Am I safe?
I hate this deep fear that has come over me, and I hate the man who has caused it.
What will we do know?
How will we help those Syrian refugees in need of protection?
What will happen to the millions of immigrants who now call the USA home?
How far will we turn back the clock on women's rights?
What new level of racism and intolerance will be reached?
How many more members of the LGBTQ+ community will die?
What will become of our Earth when the leader of the number one emitter doesn't believe in climate change?
How will we protect ourselves against a military many times our strength, if we must?
What will happen to our economy?
These questions spin around in my head with nowhere to go.
Many Americans made their decision based on one thing: what they wanted. Not once did they consider how their actions will surely effect everyone.
We all have to live in this world together.
But what will our world become?
#LastWeekInVegan Toronto Pig Save Trial & Before The Flood Review
The world is a confusing place. Let's talk #LastWeekInVegan!
The world is a confusing place. Let's talk #LastWeekInVegan!
As always, watch the video here or on YouTube!
ONE Happy World Vegan Month!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BMSKmJJBlA1/?taken-by=elizabethturn
Why not go vegan for the month of November? Here are some posts that might help:
Archive of helpful posts no matter where you’re starting your journey: http://plantbasedbride.com/start-here
How to go vegan YT video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wp8uKYTVSoI
Ten reasons to go vegan: http://plantbasedbride.com/blog/ten-reasons-to-go-vegan
The vegan food pyramid: http://plantbasedbride.com/blog/vegan-food-pyramid
Vegans vs protein: http://plantbasedbride.com/blog/vegansvsprotein
TWO Taiwan to end cosmetic animal testing by 2019
http://vegnews.com/articles/page.do?pageId=8579&catId=1
My #BeCrueltyFree article + petition: http://plantbasedbride.com/blog/lets-help-canada-becrueltyfree
THREE can you REALLY be a healthy vegan?
FOUR Morrissey Urges Australia to End Live Animal Export
http://vegnews.com/articles/page.do?pageId=8580&catId=1
FIVE Pig Save Trial
Bite Size Vegan’s video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DD-OmpfVAM
SIX Before The Flood Review
Watch the full documentary here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90CkXVF-Q8M
My Makeup Details:
Concealer: Kat Von D Lock It Concealer in Light 18
Bronzer: Too Faced Chocolate Soleil
Blush: Too Faced Love Flush in Your Love Is King
Highlight: Milani eyeshadow in Bella White
Eyeshadow + Brows: e.l.f. Mad for Matte Palette (see my review here: http://plantbasedbride.com/blog/elf-mad-for-matte-review)
Powder: Cover FX Blotting Powder Light
Lipstick: Dose Of Colours Liquid Lipstick in Stone
Eyeliner: Kat Von D Tattoo Liner
Lashes: House of Lashes Iconic Mini
Which story did you find most interesting? Have you seen Before The Flood, and if so, what were your thoughts on it?
Until next time,
Minimalist Office Transformation & Tour
Today I'm giving my office a major overhaul! My husband and I moved our bedroom into my old office, and I moved my office into our old bedroom. The room turned into a disaster zone, and I took the opportunity to minimize my belongings and reorganize what was left to get a wide open office space without the clutter!
Today I'm giving my office a major overhaul! My husband and I moved our bedroom into my old office, and I moved my office into our old bedroom. The room turned into a disaster zone, and I took the opportunity to minimize my belongings and reorganize what was left to get a wide open office space without the clutter!
Watch the video here or on YouTube!
I hope you enjoy this video and check out my minimalism playlist for more minimalism videos!
Until next time,
The Humane Meat Myth
As more and more information regarding the cruelty of factory farming comes to light, the general public is clinging to the idea of 'humane' meat as an alternative.
The problem? Humane meat doesn't exist.
As more and more information regarding the cruelty of factory farming comes to light, the general public is clinging to the idea of 'humane' meat as an alternative.
The problem? Humane meat doesn't exist.
Excluding the possibility of cultured or clean meat becoming available and then affordable in the future, we have no way of producing meat for human consumption humanely.
Let's first look at the definition of humane:
hu·mane
(h)yo͞oˈmān/ adjective
having or showing compassion or benevolence.
"regulations ensuring the humane treatment of animals"
synonyms: compassionate, kind, considerate, understanding, sympathetic, tolerant.
So, for something to be humane, it must be compassionate.
The question becomes, is it actually possible to raise and kill animals for meat compassionately?
The answer is no.
Compassion requires concern for the suffering of others, and a refusal to contribute to that suffering.
Animals can and do suffer, not just on factory farms, but on all farms.
All farms that raise animals for meat see their animals as commodities, not as individuals. Anyone who placed the health and happiness of an individual before profit would never kill someone they purport to care about.
What about standard farming practices that cause unnecessary pain and fear? What about branding, dehorning, castration, and the separation of babies from their mothers hours after birth?
These practices are standard, meaning they are not seen as cruel and are widely practiced throughout the animal agriculture industry.
And then, of course, there is always that nagging fact that for us to eat meat, we have to murder an individual. No matter how 'happy' a cow may be during her life, even after all of those standard practices in farming that cause her to suffer, she will still be slaughtered long before her natural death would have occurred. Cows, pigs, and chickens feel terror and pain when they are killed - this is not speculation, it is a fact.
Even the transportation to the slaughterhouse is a traumatic one. Packed into a truck with no room to move, often subjected to extreme heat and/or cold, and forced to urinate and defecate where they stand leads to confusion and terror.
All animals, no matter where they are raised, will end up in a slaughterhouse that uses the same practices as every other slaughterhouse. Practices that routinely cause individuals to be skinned or dismembered alive. How can this unnecessary and violent end to their lives be seen as anything else but suffering?
How could this ever be considered humane?
Until next time,
