Hi there - my introduction

[Guest guest]

I just wanted to introduce myself for those who don't yet know who I

am. My name is Virgil Butler, " The Cyberactivist. " I used to work

for Tyson in their slaughterhouses and as a catcher before that. Now

I fight against them and anyone else that is hurting animals. Big

change for me, huh?!

 

I have been vegetarian for about a year or so now, and am working on

becoming vegan. The only eggs I eat come from our own chickens here

on the place (or from a neighbor's in a pinch.) I never buy any from

the store at all - EVER! I consume very little dairy, but do

occasionally eat some cheese if soy cheese is unavailable. I love to

try new recipes, so I was quite happy to receive an invitation to

join this group. Thanks for inviting me.

 

I have a blog where I have told of my experiences at Tyson (in the

early archives) and spread information of use to activists

everywhere. It can be found at http://cyberactivist.blogspot.com/ if

anyone is interested in reading my story. There is a lot of good

information there to use in arguments of why people should not eat

meat, especially factory-farmed meat. There have been quite a few

people that have written me to tell me that reading what I had to say

about the horrors in the Tyson slaughter plant was enough to make

them give up meat forever! It gets quite graphic in some places, so

I warn anyone that is very sensitive about that now.

 

I also have my own called Activists Against Factory

Farming, and I am a member of over 20 other . I am quite

a busy activist - both for animals and the environment. For that

reason, I tend to do a lot of reading, but don't usually jump in and

comment a whole lot. In the busiest times, it may be a few days

before I see messages in a group, but I always answer personal emails

as soon as I see them. I only mention this because I try to make

sure that everyone knows that I am not ignoring anyone if someone

makes a post that requires an answer from me. I just probably

haven't seen it yet. But I will eventually and get back to you as

soon as I can. If there is ever anything pressing, just feel free to

shoot me off an email, and I will get back to you as soon as I see

it. I am usually only online in the morning, then I am outside

working in the afternoons.

 

I live in the woods on the Ouachita River in Arkansas, where my wife

and I are trying to build our cabin. We had our lumber sawed up out

of trees that either fell in the ice storm a few years ago or were

killed by pine beetles. I cut the logs myself, and it's mostly just

the two of us building the cabin, with a little help here and there

from family. (I have a photo page showing pics of all this, too.

Link on the blog or at my group.) I haven't been able to find any

other steady work since my last night at Tyson on November 12, 2002,

so we work at whatever we can find whenever we can find it - mostly

clearing brush, cutting firewood, etc. Luckily for us, we don't need

much! LOL! Right now we are living in a 28' travel trailer until we

can get that cabin built. Pretty rough living, but at least we have

a roof over our heads. We are happy, anyway, even if we are severely

financially challenged. We don't think of ourselves as poor because

we have so many things to be thankful for that money can't buy -

especially each other. And we live in this beautiful place next to

her mother and grandmother. We all kind of take care of each other

here. Ain't love great?!

 

Since we went vegetarian, we have become SO much healthier and

happier! We both lost weight, our energy and stamina improved

tremendously, my high blood pressure dropped into the normal range,

etc. And we have learned of a whole new world of tasty foods out

there that we had never tried! Yum! I am really looking forward to

reading some of the new recipes people here have to share because we

LOVE to EAT! Thanks again for inviting me.

 

Virgil

[Guest guest]

hello -

 

i'd like to say hi to the new folks and thanks for sharing your introductions.

 

it didn't long for me to see that rawks.

 

 

scott - vegan 11 years

 

 

 

Virgil [cybergypsy1964]

Wednesday, March 10, 2004 2:58 AM

 

Hi there - my introduction

 

 

I just wanted to introduce myself for those who don't yet know who I

am.

[Guest guest]

Wow! That was great, and I am glad you joined us.

I would like to check out your group about factory

farming. Could you post a link and maybe even add

one in our link's section? I think that is an issue

many of us here are concerned about; and not just

because we are vegetarians, but because of the damage

we have heard it causes to our planet.

Thanks for taking time to share with us about your life.

I hope you will enjoy this list. We have many friendly

and helpful people here that freely share their wit and

wisdom.

namaste.

 

~ PT ~

 

North European wind-lore teaches that the quality

of the wind at the moment of the first breath determines

the character of that life.

~ Nigel Pennick, 'Celtic Sacred Landscapes'

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~~~>

, " Virgil "

<cybergypsy1964>

wrote:

> I just wanted to introduce myself for those who don't yet know who

I

> am. My name is Virgil Butler, " The Cyberactivist. " I used to work

> for Tyson in their slaughterhouses and as a catcher before that.

Now

> I fight against them and anyone else that is hurting animals. Big

> change for me, huh?!

>

> I have been vegetarian for about a year or so now, and am working

on

> becoming vegan. The only eggs I eat come from our own chickens

here

> on the place (or from a neighbor's in a pinch.) I never buy any

from

> the store at all - EVER! I consume very little dairy, but do

> occasionally eat some cheese if soy cheese is unavailable. I love

to

> try new recipes, so I was quite happy to receive an invitation to

> join this group. Thanks for inviting me.

[Guest guest]

Sure. Here is the link:

activistsagainstfactoryfarming/

And I did put it in the links section, as you requested. You are

very right that the issue of factory farming is much more than just

an animal cruelty issue. These places are also ruining the

environment as well as peoples' lives. I can remember when the Tyson

plant I worked at killed off a creek that I had enjoyed in my younger

years. This was actually one of the few times that the EPA stepped

in and did something about it. The fine didn't bring back the life

of the creek, though. And it didn't help the fact that this creek

flowed into a lake where a whole community draws their drinking water

from. It also creates a situatiopn where people are more likely to

become violent to other people, too. You just kind of get numb to

the whole idea of violence, so you become more prone to hurt others.

This really is an issue that affects everyone, whether you eat meat

or not.

 

I guess the fact that I have seen so much personally as far as this

industry is concerned is the very reason that I have become so

dedicated to doing something about it. It's not just something I

read about or saw on a video. I lived it. Not to mention that I do

feel a certain need to atone for the fact that I was a part of it for

far too long. Guilt is a great motivator for change. It feels like

I was a whole different person living a whole different life back

then. Which I guess I kinda was. It hasn't really been that long

since I worked in that cesspool, but it sure feels like it.

Sometimes I still wonder how I did it for so long.

 

There's a whole little subculture and strange mentality that goes

with working in a place like that. I have had many people ask me

about that, so I discussed this issue at length on my blog. What

makes someone able to kill thousands of innocent creatures night

after night after night and what it does to your mind and life. It's

a living hell that I was lucky enough to escape. Many truly believe

that they have no choice, no hope. I know that I felt that way.

Even though the place was killing me, albeit slowly. All of us

stayed sick all the time from all the sick chickens that were run

through that plant and sold to the unsuspecting public.

 

I can tell you that it didn't take me long to not want to eat any

more chicken after starting that job. After leaving that place and

coming forward with my story, I was surprised to find out that it was

not so unique after all. What WAS unique was the fact that I was

willing to hang my name on it. After I found out that similar

stories occurred at plants everywhere, including those that processed

beef and pork, it didn't take me long to decide to become a

vegetarian. Now, just the thought of eating meat is sickening. I

hate to see the commercials featuring it that show the " juice "

running out of it. Nasty!

 

Thanks for your interest. I invite everyone who is interested to

join that group. The membership is open, but we recently went to

moderation after being descended upon by trolls that were quite

disruptive to the group and began attacking members, trying to drive

them off. After they actually succeeded in doing so to a couple of

people, we voted to put the group on moderation to keep such nasty

hate-filled posts out of it. Now it is back to being the way it

should be - talking about the issues surrounding factory farming -

instead of attacking individual members with hate.

 

I don't know why this issue is so threatening to certain segments of

the population, but there have been several people that have gone out

of their way to try to destroy my credibility, spreading lies and

twisting facts to smear my name. Especially a few of the locals.

What they have actually ended up succeeding in doing, though, is

showing people how very afraid they are of me. I just saw too much.

I got pics and undercover videos, too, to back up my claims. No one

can dispute that, and they know it. The more Tyson and the local law

attacks me, the more I know I am hurting them. They come to the

group and my blog every day. In fact, Tyson's spokesman, Ed

Nicholson, actually joined the group, believe it or not! He has

actually even posted there a few times. Amazing, huh? If they

weren't worried about what I was saying, then why would they go that

far??? I know many of their dirty little secrets, and have been

telling them to anyone who would listen - including their illegal

activities - like bribing officials and issuing false papers to

illegals. With PETA's help, we even managed to put together enough

ironclad evidence to bring charges against several people at the

plant for animal cruelty. We handed them the case on a silver

platter. But, of course, nothing was ever done. Can't say as I am

too surprised, though. Many of the cops themselves own Tyson chicken

houses. And Tyson is THE major employer around here. They just kept

on threatening to shut the plant down and wreck the whole economy

around this small rural area. That was enough to scare everyone else

into inaction. There are still people afraid to be seen talking to

me. When they see me in the store, they turn and head the other way

as fast as they can. Tyson even went after the members of my family

that still work down there. It got pretty ugly around here for

awhile. Death threats and tampering with my truck also occurred.

But, I will not be stopped, and I will not shut up. What they are

doing is wrong, and I intend to fight it until my last breath.

Unless, of course, I win before that. Wouldn't that be nice? A

world in which there were no more factory farms? What a wonderful

world that would be! One can always hope...

 

Namaste,

 

Virgil

" The Cyberactivist "

http://cyberactivist.blogspot.com/

 

The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not

to hate them, but to be indifferent to them:

that's the essence of inhumanity.

-----George Bernard Shaw

 

Sometimes the majority only means that

all the fools are on the same side.

---- Unknown

 

Whenever you find you are on the side of Majority it is time to pause

and reflect.

-- Mark Twain

 

, " ~ PT ~ "

<patchouli_troll> wrote:

> Wow! That was great, and I am glad you joined us.

> I would like to check out your group about factory

> farming. Could you post a link and maybe even add

> one in our link's section? I think that is an issue

> many of us here are concerned about; and not just

> because we are vegetarians, but because of the damage

> we have heard it causes to our planet.

> Thanks for taking time to share with us about your life.

> I hope you will enjoy this list. We have many friendly

> and helpful people here that freely share their wit and

> wisdom.

> namaste.

>

> ~ PT ~

>

> North European wind-lore teaches that the quality

> of the wind at the moment of the first breath determines

> the character of that life.

> ~ Nigel Pennick, 'Celtic Sacred Landscapes'

> ~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~~~>

> , " Virgil "

> <cybergypsy1964>

> wrote:

> > I just wanted to introduce myself for those who don't yet know who

> I

> > am. My name is Virgil Butler, " The Cyberactivist. " I used to

work

> > for Tyson in their slaughterhouses and as a catcher before that.

> Now

> > I fight against them and anyone else that is hurting animals.

Big

> > change for me, huh?!

> >

> > I have been vegetarian for about a year or so now, and am working

> on

> > becoming vegan. The only eggs I eat come from our own chickens

> here

> > on the place (or from a neighbor's in a pinch.) I never buy any

> from

> > the store at all - EVER! I consume very little dairy, but do

> > occasionally eat some cheese if soy cheese is unavailable. I love

> to

> > try new recipes, so I was quite happy to receive an invitation to

> > join this group. Thanks for inviting me.