I was checking out profiles and I ran across one Sara, a quite attractive young woman, with seemingly good taste in clothing, and sparse furnishing (if it is her residence), which I entirely respect and admire.  She's straight, single, slender and doesn't drink or smoke.  Awesome.

  Oh, wait, she's a Libra and I'm an Aries (let's pretend astrology is fact).  Darn, we are opposites.  That's my least compatible sign.  Well, there's always at least one fatal flaw.

  Oh wait, again.  There's hope, because astrology may not be actual hard fact.  Let's go on.  She's agnostic and doesn't want kids.  Cool.  I'm diggin' it with a spoon.

  Her heroes are Eminem, Mariah Carey, and Christina Aguilera?  ...  Okay, so the horse just died.  I'm going to beat it for just a moment longer.  Music of choice is Hip Hop, rap, and salsa.  Okay, the stick I'm using to beat the horse just touched hip hop, so I'm going to throw it away and wash my hands.

  But there's some blog entries to check out.  Namely, "Let's stop eating our brother animals. Let's not eat our friends".  Oh, the gleam in my eye returns.  Can it be true?  *gasp*  It is.  An animal rights (be nice)... supporter.  Always guaranteed to be a predictable source of amusement.  Well, not entirely predictable, but one of two things will always happen, but that comes later.

  I read the first paragraph, and I had everything I needed.  If you haven't read it already, here it is:

"Why is it hard for some people to understand that pigs, cows and chickens are individuals with feelings too?They experience love, happiness, loneliness and fear just like we do.   Why do some people think we humans are superior than animals ?  We are actually not!!! Animals have just as much right as you and I to stand and breath, the same clean air, drink the same water and any other right we as humans think we deserve."

  Let me just say that it's nice to know the air is clean again.  The environmentalist doomsayers had me worried.  But anyway... I didn't keep a copy of my comment, and you bet your bippy I wish I had, but I'll give you my best recollection.  It went something like:

  You do realize that, if humans have the same rights as animals, and we humans, being animals, should not eat our "brother animals", then it means that we should stop other animals from eating each other, don't you?

  But if we are not superior to them, then we have no right to do that.

  Logic kind of sends your theory flying out the window.

  I think that's pretty darn close.  So, I go on about my day and later I check back to see if there was a reply, and what's this?  *gasp again*  My comment has been deleted?  Why, whatever for?

  One of two things is going to happen when you blow someone's absurd belief out of the water: They're either going to continue trying to support it with a greater volume of sound, emotion, and words that are irrelevant or just incorrect, or they will basically just quietly put their head back in their dream world.  I'm not sure which is more annoying.

  So, here's the low-down on so-called animal rights.  It's a great big juicy pile of crap.  But maybe you want the more elaborate version.

  Let's first address the issue of superiority.  It's a pretty darn vague word.  We sure are superior at building skyscrapers.  That whole opposable thumb thing sure does let us do a hell of a lot more than, well, any other animal, relatively speaking.  And then there's the whole intelligence thing, but really, all this is just gravy.  Facts are fine, but logic is fun, and in most cases, it's not that kind of superiority being talked about.

  For anyone to decide superiority, or lack thereof, in some non-fact-based sense, like morals or something, then that person must be arrogant (and you know non-human animals aren't arrogant).  The person deciding superiority and inferiority must not only know that such absolutes exist, but they must also know exactly what they are.  Basically, they have to be god.  (that's pretty darn superior, if you ask me)

  You know what else is arrogant?  The idea of rights.  If you're religious, then you might believe that rights are determined by your deity of choice.  The U.S. constitution says that all men are created equal and have inaliable rights endowed by their creator... life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and whatnot.

  But since that's not actually a proven fact, then the idea of rights stands as a human invention.  Of course, if god did bestow rights upon all the animals, and they were all equal, there's still the matter of the fact that millions of them are eating each other left and right.

  So, what makes you superior enough to dictate what rights anything or anyone has.  The constitution, while technically arrogant, is largely an agreement among the creators of a new government.  The looked at religion and human behavior and then drew a conclusion, and there was STILL slavery.

  Animals cannot definitively communicate their feelings to humans.  They don't have the intelligence to comprehend the concept of rights.  How do you know they all want to have the same rights, much less the ones you decided to give them?  If animals actually have any rights, it's mostly logically the right to behave exactly as they will.  Same for humans.  You make your choices.  You experience the consequences.

  You want to not eat animals?  That's your business.  You want to impose your personal human values onto all other animals, including humans?  Hey, maybe you have that right.  But if you think we all have the same rights, then that means I can impose mine on you.

  Oh and there's just one more thing of interest about the young Sara, who deleted my comment.  Check out what she wrote in her "Who I'd like to meet:" section.

"Independent thinkers, with a mind of their own. People with strong opinions and perspectives that are the result of their own experiences and reasoning and not the result of what others may have told them. People who don't mind to say what they mean and mean what they say, people who are real, and keep it real. People who are proud of who they are. People who are not affraid of what the rest would think or say. Original, hard-to-find people the kind with a big heart, the kind you can really trust who won't say you're this and this and that to comeback and stab you in the back. People who want to have an effect on the world. People who are not affraid to tell you what they really think about you, but think twice before saying something that could hurt you. No nonsense people. Philosophers, writers, and artists souls."

  Just another fucking hypocrite.

  Now, if anyone disagrees with ME, would like to express your strong opinion, use your reasoning, and proudly say what you mean in a no-nonsense manner, then I not only welcome it; I encourage it.  And I don't give a shit if you think it will hurt me, because it won't, because I'm not my emotions' bitch.