First they came for the foie gras

We have the answer all of the "what next" gumflapping in the wake of local foie gras bans, and WF's new lobster policy, viz:

What’s next, no oysters? No sir—they’re alive! No more salmon roe—think of all those unborn salmon you're smearing on your toast and dotting on your blini! All the good salmon deeds that will remain undone! All that emotional life of the unborn chickens! Gone! Delicately poached and nestled on frissée!*

What's next? Now, the killjoys  have declared a fatwa on mouth-shaped urinals. At a McDonalds. In Holland no less.

 

AMSTERDAM

Netherlands — A McDonald's fast-food outlet in the south east of the Netherlands has agreed to remove urinals that are shaped like wide-open red lips.  The decision was taken after a shocked American customer complained to the McDonald's head office in the US.
Owner Giel Pijper said on Wednesday that the bright red, mouth-shaped urinals, named 'Kisses',  are works of art. But a different view is taken of them in  America. The urinals are being removed and will be sold off. "I'm not going to harp on about a pair of urinals," he said.

They are the work of Dutch woman Meike van Schijndel.  She is the designer at the Utrecht-based firm Bathroom Mania! Speaking to Expatica in 2004, she said the urinals were designed as a fun cartoon mouth and not as a woman's mouth.

She stressed that the idea her urinals represented a man peeing into a woman's mouth never occurred to her, nor to many men and women she had spoken to. Her company was inundated with orders after the Virgin Airlines controversy, Van Schijndel said.

Best of all, the caption for the picture above read as follows: "Degrading to women or toilet cartoon fun?" Why does it always have to be one or the other? I am not a ceramicist, but perhaps an alternative that would smooth ruffled feathers would be urinals shaped like geese with gavage funnels in place. Just trying to help.  (Thanks to the keen-eyed  Slobra for the tip.)

*As recently as 2003, Ruhlman was writing, some say quite well, about heart surgeons. Explanations for the Maddenization of Ruhlman are welcome.

Comments

[Millionaire Richard Quick]

They can have my grilled foie gras with cherry chutney and peppercorn brioche when they pry it from my gold, dead, and tastefully bejewelled fingers!

Richard Quick, Esq.

[debra van Culiblog]

Typically Dutch, 'I didn't realise that this could represent a man peeing into a woman's mouth!'. Doink. You should see what they do for St. Nick's up there (she says writing from down here) insisting that it is not racist.

David Sedaris' 6-8 Black Men

[Sharon Carlaine]

let's break down force feeding for a moment...

There are many physical effects of force feeding, just to name a few:

difficulty breathing
inability to walk or stand
lacerated or punctured trachea & esophagus
bacterial and fungal growth & infections on the lining of their organs
stomach and liver bursting
choking and suffocating on undigested food and/or vomit

And since the liver is so overwhelmed it can no longer function, which in medical terms is called hepatic lipidosis which in turn creates:

brain damage
eruption of the liver (if the liver explodes, no foie gras)
seizures
coma
severly large quantities of toxins released into the body

If this was at all a natural or welcomed occurrence, they could just put out excess food & they would overeat. The fact that this has to be forced to overeat shows how wrong it is. Also, they are being fed only corn and oil, which neither are obviously found in their natural diet, so their body fights to reject this mixture, and does not receive any protein or necessary vitamins to help their bodies fight.

To establish the facts, a hearing was conducted last month by the Council's committee on heath, where it fell to veterinarian Holly Cheever to lay it all out. The birds are force-fed with pipes, explained Cheever. "There is food spilling from the nostrils of these poor animals, who choke to death. As the [enlarged] liver fails, they develop a brain condition. You will see birds having seizures or in comas still being grabbed and force-fed."
-excerpt from the Chicago hearings

If these birds were treated this cruelly to feed the masses, maybe this could go unnoticed. They are performing these acts for only one organ, selling for up to $150 a plate.

Foie gras is also not even usually served on its own, other than in a mousse
dessert, or as an appetizer . It doesnt even fully feed a person. There are no school children getting nutrition due to duck liver, no impoverished countries living off the stuff. This is cruelty only for the rich & it is sick and disgusting.