Welcome to Gaia! ::

so whats everyone up to today?

My parents were in France while I was wiping cat puke off the toilet floor.

And today my parents returned, my mother turned 50 and I got a shirt from Paris.

Humans are as much different from a cat as a cat is from a dog, no more, no less.

I do know that they do.

You are mistaken. People is not for merely humans. At one point, only mean were people. Women became people because they were seen as sancient beings with an identity (or something like that). Other animals poses these characteristics as well. Everyone knew that women were humans but they weren't seen as people, so obviously people means something different. Just as women were raised above being worthless non-intities, so should animals. No one will ever be able to convince me that animals are not concious, intellegent peope. My cat was my life. She believed she was a human and acted accordingly. She learned English. It was obvious that she understood it, despite her being unable to repeat most of it, due to a difference in vocal abilities. She did, however, attempt to speak English and was successfull in saying a few words. She could say miolk, yeah, and meh (which she seemed to believe meant no). She could also say mama clearly, but only said it once after I asked her to, and didn't seem to understand what it meant. This is a very emotional topic for me, especially since she died a few months ago.

Isn't it? stare That kind of summerizes my life.

But hey, my mom turns 50 only once.

I'm sorry to hear that. sad I have a cat, too, but I can't say understand since I've never really lost anything. I hope I won't hurt your feelings by arguing.
Puff of Smoke, was it your cat? I remember seeing that name in someone's sig.

Now that you mention the woman-thing... I've never thought it that way. But women are still of same race as men. I don't think an animal could be a human because human is the name for our species. I also couldn't be a cat. And it is true that animals, cats, for instance, learn to associate words with things or actions. But as long as animals are inable to communicate in our way they can't be placed in our society as ( i.e. politically ) equals.

Of course an animal can't be human. People does NOT = human. It is a different word. That's like saying a cat can't be female. It's rediculous. Female and male do not = human. Person does not = human. Are you telling me that if a sencient alian came to Earth, they'd have no rights, simply because they aren't human? When they talk in law books it is about people not humans, to allow for such things.

That is rediculously unfair. Humans can't make the same sounds as cats and therefore, according to your logic, humans are inferior to cats. The sounds one is able to make have nothing to do with whether or not they are equal to another. Cats can not sign, so they can not talk to us like that, either. Instead, they use tone of voice to show us what they want. Can you not tell what your cat wants by the tone of their voice? And do you not feel heard when you speak to him/her? Does your cat not react to the way in which you say your words? Cats use tone to reley the information, and use your tone of voice to determine what your words mean. Just as a French person in a French community in NS will learn Frenchj because they are surrounded by more English communities then French ones, so will a cat learn English as well as catese. My cat was tormented by the other cat in the house and was not allowed out by that other cat. That left her isolated, so the majority of people around her were humans. We humans showed her love so she chose to be like us rather then like the mean cat. She lived as a human would. She got very upset when she was told she couldn't sit at the table, but hide when we told her she couldn't sit on the table. She understood that one was acceptable for humans and the other not. Because of her choice to be human, she also made a greater attempt them most cat's to learn the language. Just as most humans don't usually bother to learn catese more then the basics, cats don't usually bother to learn English. Puff, successfully learned much of our language, despite the great differences in our ways of thinking. She tried to speak it, and had she had a machine like that guy with the ubber high IQ, she may have succeeded. Unfortuniately, she did not have that technology. She did the best she could with the technology she had and bridged the gap better then any human ever has. She succeeded where humans failed. She should have the same rights and priveledges that any human has.

What I'm trying to say is, that animals do automatically deserve some rights that humans do, like the right to live in safe and peace, but they cannot get involved with things they don't understand. If cats learn to understand human society and can handle the responsibilities they deserve to have all rights we have.

Then again, I'm not so sure animals would choose to live as humans if they could choose. We shouldn't make animals more human, we should make ourselves more like animals.

I have to go now. I hope you don't think I'm a total jerk. I appreciate your devotion.

Bye bye to both of you. 3nodding