PETA to Morrissey: To Sirloin, With Love

61. TMZ are you for real? First of all what a sophmoric point to even be wasting time on. I mean, I am addicted to this website, but when I took the poll (which by the way makes it appear that if you disagree with TMZ you must think vegetarians want to marry a slab of steak), I was once again not surprised to see that most of your "viewers" agree with what ever drivel you pass their way. Not that it even needs to be pointed out, but obviously veggies have to integrate themselve in everyday environments which means that on occasion they have to frequent proprietors who also sell meat. Find me a veggie that has successfully stayed 10 feet from meat at all times! This must be a slow news day!

Posted at 2:40PM on Apr 16th 2008 by jadelynn

62. I personally can go to sleep at night knowing that an animal wasn't tortured and killed to fill my stomach.

To all you fellow veggies out there - you ARE making a difference! It takes discipline and a good heart to make the decision not eat meat and you should all be proud. Don't listen to the haters on here or anywhere else! You're wonderful!!!

Posted at 2:43PM on Apr 16th 2008 by Aja

63. If you want to call PETA out for hypocritical behavior, why don't you ask why they kill nearly *ALL* of the animals that are placed in their care. I was a PETA member since the 80s but couldn't support or justify their complete lack of ethics when it comes to companion animals. Two of their employees were actually charged with animal cruelty for killing abandoned pets.

Posted at 2:46PM on Apr 16th 2008 by Avalon

64. Dumb story TMZ.

Posted at 3:42PM on Apr 16th 2008 by tracey

65. PETA has no idea what they are talking about - they just want publicity. They have some valid points but overall they are publicity mongers and no one should take what they say seriously without doing your own research. If you really want to support animals & animal rights, support the Humace Society. PETA is for trendy people who like to follow the crowd.

Posted at 3:06PM on Apr 16th 2008 by JAS

66. Aja, you are retarded, have more name calling posts than anyone else, and I believe the description you would LIKE to apply to me is what psychologists call transferrence. You have actually described yourself... and..based on comment 60, and you are pious and pompous to boot.

I'll be sure to give my Pilates instructor your schrewd , albeit unseen physical assessment of my body habitus RFLMAO.

Posted at 2:58PM on Apr 16th 2008 by Clue4U

67. What s the PROBLEM here?
I myself, being a longtime veggie, have eaten salad and drank coffee in steakhouses and other non-vegetarian restaurants with friends....As long as you do not show a picture showing him to actually eat MEAT, this is no news!

Posted at 3:08PM on Apr 16th 2008 by German Duckie

68. Clue4U - Being proud and encouraging is not the same as pious and pompous. And you are incorrect. I am quite thin, fit, and very attractive. I can see you're also quite sensitive. Sorry to have hurt your feelings.

Posted at 3:04PM on Apr 16th 2008 by Aja

69. This isn't about vegetarians eating in steakhouses...I'm sure plenty do. But, PETA actively employs scare tactics and aggressive ad campaigns targeting those who eat meat or wear fur/hides. They had an ad campaign that compared the plight of cows in slaughterhouses to concentration camp prisoners and slaves, but it's ok to eat in a steakhouse, surrounded by meat....which came from cows.....who were killed in slaughterhouses? You've got to be kidding me. Then again, they did have Dita von Teese do an ad campaign....a woman who wears fur like it's her job. PETA is weird.

Posted at 3:04PM on Apr 16th 2008 by lins

70. PETA isn't an activist organization. it is an extremist social network. nothing but a trend club and excuse to be a platform for celebrities to bash one another from.... and gain publicity.

here's an actual good animal rights group http://www.ari-online.org/

Posted at 3:07PM on Apr 16th 2008 by fathead

71. I've been vegetarian for decades and believe it is both cruel and unnecessary to kill other animals to feed humans, but if I took the TMZ view that it's "hypocritical" to eat from places that serve meat - I'd be dead of starvation by now. Where in the world could I eat in this society?!? Where could I even shop for groceries?!?

A steakhouse is no different than a burger joint (where I have indeed found vegetarian food to eat) or any other typical restaurant, for that matter. Most of us do not have purely vegetarian restaurants and stores in our areas anyway. We read labels, ask about ingredients, and cope. We even live with carnivores (gasp!) and have dead animal products in our own kitchens (double gasp!) for others in the house to eat. We even work for carnivores (gasp again!) and some of us even work with dead animal products in restaurants and stores (gasp! gasp! gasp! the horror!) to pay the bills. I have even waved minced dead cow in the face of a feline friend to distract her from a live chipmunk on her planned menu, fully aware of the irony and contradictions (life is complicated, deal with it).

So in this case, PETA is right. It's not WHERE you eat but WHAT you eat that defines a vegetarian. Maybe TMZ staffers should eat more fresh fruits and vegetables to clear their heads, and then they might generate fewer non-stories like this one. :)

There's also the problem of where to eat when there is a mix of carnivores and vegetarians in the group. I would much rather encourage steakhouses to have vegetarian options on the menu, to keep everybody happy. If they get enough vegetarian customers or just customers that want an occasional break from dead animal, then they will expand the vegetarian options. That's exactly what has happened with fast food joints as well - they added options not involving dead animals because their customers wanted it. Stay a customer and you can have some clout in changing things. Boycotters also have a place in encouraging change, but it's a very personal decision about which way to do it.

This is true in so many other areas as well-- for example, some scientists refuse to work on military projects (considering how often the politicians go beyond "deterrence" and actually use the &%^$ things developed on such projects to attack rather than defend), others decide to stay within the weapons laboratories in an attempt to be a voice of reason in the programs and minimize the potential damage. You can be against the inevitable mass murder and mayhem of modern warfare and decide either way.

I'm sure everybody (except maybe TMZ...) can come up with plenty of other similar situations in their own lives, where a properly ethical decision can be made in two very different directions. It's often not the exact line in the sand that you draw that's important, but rather just the act of consciously drawing a line. Parents certainly know this in dealing with their kids, which is why two good parents can have very different rules.

Posted at 3:11PM on Apr 16th 2008 by jwoolman

72. 66. This isn't about vegetarians eating in steakhouses...I'm sure plenty do. But, PETA actively employs scare tactics and aggressive ad campaigns targeting those who eat meat or wear fur/hides. They had an ad campaign that compared the plight of cows in slaughterhouses to concentration camp prisoners and slaves, but it's ok to eat in a steakhouse, surrounded by meat....which came from cows.....who were killed in slaughterhouses? You've got to be kidding me. Then again, they did have Dita von Teese do an ad campaign....a woman who wears fur like it's her job. PETA is weird.

Posted at 3:04PM on Apr 16th 2008 by lins

dita was there for an ad for PETA's new program "animal birth control" which will spay and nueter animals to keep the population of stray animals down... its not like she was doing an add against fur or the slaughtering of cows and chickens...in her and PETAs defense. i don't think she involved with the more radical pursuits of PETA. however, then it makes you wonder why they would still have her represent them at any rate since she still wears fur. If i were them i would see her as a luke warm activist. be hot, be cold, but don't be luke warm. i think she is more for the ethical treatment of domestic pets.

Posted at 3:13PM on Apr 16th 2008 by fathead

73. 65. Clue4U - Being proud and encouraging is not the same as pious and pompous. And you are incorrect. I am quite thin, fit, and very attractive. I can see you're also quite sensitive. Sorry to have hurt your feelings.

Posted at 3:04PM on Apr 16th 2008 by Aja

_____________________________________

You are right, proud and encouraging are not the same thing as pious and pompous, but sadly you were the latter and not the former.

I'm sure you are fit and er attactive, cough, cough. And if you get some sort of pleasure imagining me as less than that, then by all means, whatever makes you happy when you're not on your Lithium. I wouldn't want to say or do anything that would conflict with any coping skills your questionably credentialed psychiatrist may have given you.

Posted at 3:14PM on Apr 16th 2008 by Clue4U

74. Clue4U - You're just so sad. So pathetic and so, so sad.

Posted at 3:17PM on Apr 16th 2008 by Aja

75. German Duckie - the issue is not with vegetarians, in general, eating at steakhouses. The issue is specifically with PETA saying it's ok to eat in a steakhouse while at the same time authorizing members to show videos, on the street, of animals being slaughtered in a slaughterhouse to discourage people from eating meat. Or, pelting those who wear fur with fake blood and flour and the like. Or, launching aggressive internet hate campaigns against celebrities who wear fur. If this organization has views extreme and unflexible enough to authorize those kinds of tactics, then how can a member be comfortable sitting in a steakhouse, knowing where the meat came from? If your gonna talk big talk, then you have to walk the walk. And to everyone commenting on how this is not news, let me remind you that this is TMZ - if you want news that's important, go to CNN.com

Posted at 3:18PM on Apr 16th 2008 by lins