It’s coming on the time of year for the fourth annual International Eat an Animal for PETA Day, which Lair Simon has renamed Eat A Tasty Animal for PETA Day, which could become EATAPETA Day, but that’s really too cute for words, so of course, it’s going to catch on. But it’s International EATAPETA Day, because the blogosphere is international, and our reach extends from Australia to Zanzibar, all points between, and any points left out. You can register your activities on his site. It’s in beta right now, but go ahead.

From the original IEAFPD post:

PETA has started yet another offensive ad campaign. This one really reaches bottom—they are using Holocaust terminology, quotes, and pictures to liken the “slaughter” of animals to the slaughter of the Jews by the Nazis.

I’ve already received a letter from a child of Holocaust survivors who is, of course, extraordinarily offended. But here’s the thing: PETA is known for this kind of outrageous publicity stunt—and that’s what it is, an outrageous publicity stunt—and while I am also offended and outraged, there is absolutely nothing we can do that will make PETA change their ad campaign. I’m sure they knew exactly what they were doing, have a plan in mind, and, if they withdraw the campaign, will do it according to their deadlines and their decisions.

So let’s make up our own outrageous publicity stunt. Let’s designate Saturday, March 15th, as International Eat an Animal for PETA Day. Everybody set the date on your calendar, and either go out and enjoy a great steak, or cook one at home. Or cook up some chicken or fish or anything else that PETA wouldn’t want you to eat.

From this week’s Shire Network News podcast:

The Holocaust is regularly invoked in improper and offensive ways. The one that hit my outrage button the hardest three years ago was an ad campaign titled “The Holocaust on Your Plate.” It was created by the radical animal rights organization, People for the Ethical Treatment for Animals, or PETA.

The PETA ad campaign compared the slaughter of chickens for food to the slaughter of six million Jews by the Nazis. They traveled the country with a series of billboards that used Holocaust imagery next to images of animals. They lied to the American Holocaust Museum to obtain permission to use these pictures in their ad campaign.

It’s a well-known fact that PETA has always chosen sensationalism in their ad campaigns. They’re usually stupid and offensive, but this campaign caused enough pain that a child of Holocaust survivors wrote me a letter asking if there weren’t something we could do about it. That’s why I created the first International Eat an Animal for PETA Day (IEAPD).

The fourth annual celebration is coming up again on March 15th. On that day, I ask everyone who thinks PETA is offensive and over-the-top to eat meat or animal products like cheese in at least one meal. It’s the exact opposite of what PETA wants, and is our little protest to their offensive ad campaigns. Our theme (besides eating lots of meat that day) is “don’t get mad, get even.” IEAPD is gaining strength and notoriety every year.

Don’t get me wrong. I am utterly against animal cruelty. But I am also utterly against cruelty to humans, and especially against the misuse of Holocaust imagery to get a point across.

During the first IEATAPETA, a few friends and I actually gathered outside PETA headquarters in Norfolk with protest signs. It was a Saturday. Nobody was there. But we were.

For my second IETAPETA, Sarah and her children joined me for lunch at Brock’s. Her daughter Rebecca refers to all beef as “Yummy cow.”

There are plenty of posts from the past. Just Google IEAPD and this site.

Last year, I was on the Mac Watson show here at WRVA 1140. I’m hoping to reprise that, and maybe some others.

I would like to be perfectly clear. Animals like this are not on the menu. In fact, this particular animal (and her brother) will be treated to tunafish on March 15th. It’s a good thing to include your pets in International EATAPETA Day. PETA doesn’t like us having pets, either.

This year I’m actively seeking some kind of image we can use as a banner. I’ve had some submitted in previous years, but surely we can think of new images and slogans.

So, save the date, folks. And for you vegetarians out there, if you’re not strict vegetarians, there’s always cheese and eggs.

Why am I still doing this? Well, PETA is still offensive. When they stop, I’ll stop.

The good news: David Irving has been sentenced to three years in jail in Austria for Holocaust denial.

The bad news: Wait, there is no bad news.

The good news: He’s not going to be able to be a guest speaker at the Iranian Holocaust denial conference.

I’m sorry. I understand what Deborah Lipstadt says about freedom of speech, but I can’t help but be happy that such a disgusting man as Irving is going to jail, at least for a while, to pay for all the ammunition he gave Jew-haters the world over.

Osama Bin Laden has released a new audiotape in which he swears he’ll never be captured alive.

The tape appeared to be a complete version of one that was first broadcast Jan. 19 on Al-Jazeera, the pan-Arab satellite channel, in which bin Laden offered the United States a long-term truce but also said his al-Qaida terror network would soon launch a fresh attack on American soil.

“I have sworn to only live free. Even if I find bitter the taste of death, I don’t want to die humiliated or deceived,” bin Laden said. He also said U.S. actions in Iraq were comparable to the actions of the ousted Iraqi leader.

Hey, I’m cool with that. You too? Great.

Do us all a favor though, and die already. Now would be good.

So let’s see. In the past few days:

• Israeli border police thwarted a suicide bombing in Jerusalem as the terrorists were on their way to carry it out.
• Another senior Islamic Jihad commander was killed in a gunfight resisting capture by the IDF (continue doing so, guys, the only good terrorist is a dead terrorist).
• The rockets are still falling on Israel.
• In fact, rocketsfell at twice the pace in January that they did in December, putting the lie to the Hamas “moderation” claim.
• And mortars have been discovered in Bethlehem, preparatory towards firing them at Gilo, a Jerusalem suburb.

Hamas talks about a long-term “hudna.”

I repeat: What truce?

So it comes to this: Israel is cutting off the PA now that Hamas is the PA. The United States is asking for its $50 million back now that Hamas is the PA. Europe (with some exceptions) is hesitant to fork over the big bucks now that Hamas is the PA. So what is Hamas doing? Going out, kaffiyeh in hand, to the Arab states. And here’s what the Arab states are doing, now that Hamas is in charge:

Secretary-General Amr Moussa said foreign ministers from several Arab countries were to meet Monday in Algiers to examine a plan to send about $50 million a month to the Palestinian Authority. A final decision is not expected until Arab leaders meet in a summit next month in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.

The money is part of Palestinian funding the Arab League approved last year - before Hamas’ election victory in January. Saudi Arabia and Qatar have already contributed to the financially strapped Palestinian Authority and more money is on its way, Moussa said.

The $50 million monthly stipend, however, only represents what the Arab League initially pledged give the Palestinians during a summit nearly four years ago, and some Palestinians voiced skepticism that their fellow Arabs would come through.

“Since the Arab summit in Beirut in 2002, the Arab governments decided to give the Palestinians $600 million a year. That never materialized. The Arabs made promises, but never delivered,” said Samir Ghattas, head of the Palestinian Al-Kuds Research Center.

“It the Arabs did not pay (deceased Palestinian President Yasser) Arafat, why should they now pay Hamas?” Ghattas asked.

Noting that Hamas had its roots in the radical Muslim Brotherhood, Ghattas asked: “How can the Arabs give money to a Muslim Brotherhood which threatened them in each and every country. Do they have an interest in encouraging a Muslim Brotherhood movement to take over? The answer is no.”

A senior Palestinian official, who refused to be identified because he did not wish to embarrass fellow Arabs, agreed with Ghattas’ figures.

“The maximum that Arab countries have paid is $100 million of the $600 million they agreed to give,” he told The Associated Press.

But — but — I thought the palestinian cause was the premiere cause of the Arab world. Nothing is more important than establishing a palestinian state! Not Iranian nukes, not the genocide in Sudan, not the war in Iraq — all of these take a back seat to the palestinian problem.

Except, well, when it comes to forking over the cash. Looks like maybe their palestinian brothers — who were thrown out of Jordan, Kuwait, and Iraq (to name only three countries) and are refused citizenship throughout the Arab world — aren’t nearly as important as they are the hammer with which to bash Israel.

But then, anyone who is honest about the situation already knew that. The AP is almost honest here:

The head of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, said Sunday that Arab governments were considering providing the money to make up for the frozen transfers from Israel. Arab governments have not been among the top donors to the Palestinian Authority in the past, and some have failed to give pledged funds.

Wow. A sea change. Of course, then they call Ismail Haniyeh a “pragmatist,” but hey, Rome wasn’t built in a day. You can’t expect an anti-Israel bias to disappear overnight.