Sunday 22 May 2016

What I Value About Chinese Culture.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjymJGAPFQ4

NOTE: this blog will not be updated for many months, as I will be living in China.  You can find me via Patreon in 2016–2017:  http://patreon.com/a_bas_le_ciel

H.M.U.

On Community.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vYVTg5EQfY

Veganism: Don't Debate the Details.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05V_v2Qd8G0

Vivisection, an insider's perspective


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcsmFd5Ur3Y

Imposing on Girlfriends and Boyfriends.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MwvNwQGaqA

Two Vegan Activists from Two Generations. [1hr+]


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0YwTARMCXk

Vivisection: the next 10 years.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXocDLHSZsE

Arbitrary "Lines" in Ecology, Ethics, and Animal Rights.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0p_C55fIAso

Gary Yourofsky & the question of pluralism

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7JcY8Sr3Tc

Democracy: the Opportunity for Non-Violent Change.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwyJmL-02aQ

1954-1979: The Wars in China, Cambodia & Vietnam.


Activism vs. "Digital Nomadism" (a Political Autobiography of sorts)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C_QOI5zNh8

My Daughter & My Divorce, 2016.





On youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3la7XP8viw
Audio-only, on archive: https://archive.org/details/my-daughter-and-divorce-2016-reflections

Tana Mongeau is Right, Freelee is Wrong.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooPOZs9xU4o

Ecology: Pragmatism & Local Activism


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUR0MYwAL3Q

Patreon Channel Opened / Announcement


On youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyVfuA9t7vE

And, of course, on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/a_bas_le_ciel

Thursday 12 May 2016

Vivisection, a Letter to E.M.

Below is an anonymous letter received from a biologist, quoted and discussed on my youtube channel.

Hi Eisel 

I’ve thought about mailing you for a while and have never got around to it, but your recent video ‘Vivisection: the next 10 years…’ made me think of a couple of points I’d like to share with you.

I’m a recent graduate, working in a comparative immunology lab, and about to start a PhD in global health at a major UK university. I’ve been vegan for just over a year and was vegetarian before that. A few years ago, I went on a 4 day training programme on murine/mouse experimentation, and it was about this time I went vegetarian. The guy doing the training was vastly experienced in animal research, having worked on everything from rats to pigs to dogs, and spent the 4 days delivering material on anaesthesia, minor surgery, euthanasia, animal behaviour etc. Although he had not trained formally as a biologist (i.e. started out as a young animal technician and worked his way up), I was amazed at how much he knew about animals. On the first day, he gave an introductory talk that touched on perspectives regarding animal research, and to my surprise, he actually touched on the hypocrisy of meat eaters who are against animal research (I’ve attached the graphic he used in his presentation, which shows the magnitude of animals killed for food vs. animals killed by cats vs. animals killed for research). This really made me think deeply about my carnivorous diet, and shortly after I came home, I went vegetarian. Although it was a while before I went vegan, I’m still grateful to this guy for making me realise, whether he meant to or not, that I could no longer justify by decision to eat meat. 

Saturday 30 April 2016

Against Violence: Against Gary Yourofsky.

On Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UKixnfBwMk

Gary Yourofsky is Wrong: Vegans Kill Insects

On Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMajjkraYj0

What if Beauty is Irrelevant? (Pt. 2 of 2)


On Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQxUAdSITlo

What if Science is Irrelevant? (Pt. 1 of 2)


On Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhF7GbUHClM

Dealing with disrespectful questions (as vegans)


On Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtfudw6t2Mc

Vegans Kill Cockroaches (Vivisection, Agriculture & Activism)


On Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6-5kQJSZZE

Talking About Veganism on Youtube (with Cheetah)

 
The full title being, "Vegans on Youtube Talking About Veganism on Youtube": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuiuOMiFwtQ

Melanie Murphy: The Ethical Omnivore

On Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a12lBXpTe0

The Vegan Mojo: Real Politics vs. Swimwear


On Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-rQ1vJukjI

Vegans: A Conspiracy for Social Change?


On Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Brtd_F9rr8s

Thursday 21 April 2016

The Agony of Activism: talking to Zahria 269


An hour and 30 minutes long, on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne6BMFTjZ44

The conversation is also available as an audio-only (podcast) MP3 for download: https://archive.org/details/Zahria269-interview-Eisel-Mazard-2016

Vegans: skepticism, dogma, democracy & paradox.


If found this one is difficult to summarize, and difficult to put a title to.  Veganism, like democracy, is imperfect, and susceptible to criticism; but that makes it all-the-more-important, and makes it important that we (i.e., vegans) don't preach it as a religion (to be believed in), but instead explain it, while being honest about its limitations and flaws.  On Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4z6PKSYrjE

The Appeal to Nature Fallacy


This video addresses several logical fallacies, all over-used within the vegan-demimonde, some overused by the world at large: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTfayLc4o7U

Ignorance, Activism & Optimism


On Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-OLAyGZVrQ

Is Ethical Veganism Reasonable? Sustainable? Oppressive?


This is actually a response to an ex-Vegan's critique/rationale: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHKc2fXHadg

The Question of "Being Taken Seriously"


Vegans "Being Taken Seriously", on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKIeX_zay0Q

Friday 15 April 2016

尼港事件: an Essay on the Nikolaevsk Massacre, 1920


A fascinating and horrifying event in the world's history, transpiring where the borders of Russia, China and Japan overlap, and involving all three: https://medium.com/@eiselmazard/1920-the-other-russo-japanese-war-70deb2972c42

Thursday 14 April 2016

Pet Ownership and/or/as Slavery

On Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrpNQ-kzy50

Talking to the Vegan Cheetah (Video and/or Podcast)


Over one hour long (there's a link to the audio-only version, downloadable as an MP3/podcast, below the video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP1nkuON9NY

Goals in Life OTHER THAN Vanity & Issues OTHER THAN Veganism

Two videos recorded after writing my final exam for the semester:

Goals in Life OTHER THAN Vanity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml5zqRTZmkk


Vegans on Issues OTHER THAN Veganism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEaM8UEf9jM

Organizing Dissent: Digital Veganism vs. Real Life Vegans


On Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5ZOprf09UE

Why Do I Study Languages?

Why Do I Study Languages? Advice Nobody Wants to Hear [Ep. 003]
On Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8m01_AMjZI

Vegans don't own pets: domestication and/or/as evil

On Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOawDbvCPjw

Saturday 26 March 2016

Monday 21 March 2016

"Being a Nice Guy" vs. The Vegan Jerk


The minor agonies of the whole man-of-principle thing (and refusing to wear wool suits), in an era when being an uncompromising character is considered a bad thing.  On Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCIn_Xs-VLI

On Freelee's Credentials (or Lack Thereof)


Freelee's Credentials: Half-Truths & Pseudoscience.  This one actually contains quite a few digressions (with all due humility) on my own credentials, and on the struggle to make it clear (in newspaper interviews, job interviews, etc.) what exactly your credentials are (and aren't).  On Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNzElhpjgjQ

Sunday 20 March 2016

Beauty is Meaningless.

On Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkRtcb4cryM
I somehow managed to include the word "atavistic", in these reflections. ;-)

Friday 18 March 2016

Air Pollution, Catching Up With Kunming

The graphic above is a snapshot of air pollution at a particular moment in time: circa 11:30 AM (Beijing time), 17 degrees Celsius in Kunming, in mid-March, 2016.

However, you'll notice that Kunming is actually less polluted than many of the surrounding cities, at least at this moment in time.  Remarkably, air-pollution in 西雙版納, 德宏, and many other (small) cities has caught up with Kunming, and has even exceeded it.

I wonder if Kunming has upgraded its power-plants to take some measures to ameliorate air-pollution that haven't yet reached the smaller cities.  Those smaller cities are often presented to tourists as offering cleaner air than the regional capital; but, at least for the moment, that seems to be untrue.

Vegans Kill Rats. REAL TALK.


On Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piNb3mIGTv8