Goats in Mythology: Amaltheia

Of Amaltheia, Aratos (a 3rd B.C. poet) wrote : Sacred goat, which, in story, didst hold thy breast o'er Zeus.AMALTHEIA was the she-goat nurse of the god Zeus who nourished him with her milk in a cave on Mount Ida in Krete. When the god reached maturity he created his thunder-shield (aigis) from her hide and the horn of plenty (keras amaltheias or cornucopia) from her crown.

Amaltheia was placed amongst the stars as the constellation Capra--the group of stars surrounding Capella on the arm (ôlenê) of the Auriga the Charioteer. The goat on the arm no doubt represented the stormy aigis-shield of Zeus. The rising of Capella marked the onset of stormy weather for the Greeks. Indeed, the word aigis denoted both "stormy weather" and "goat-skin," hence their close connection in myth.

The Theological Necessity of Goats

Good news for those trying to reach God by way of the goat:

On 31 July 2009, a federal appeals court decided that Euless, Texas law enforcement officials violated the religious rights of Jose Merced, a practitioner of Santeria, when they prevented him from sacrificing a goat.

“A federal appeals court reversed a lower court’s ruling on Friday that barred a Santeria priest from sacrificing goats in his Texas home, saying a city’s decision to prohibit the ritual violated the man’s religious rights … “It’s a great day for religious freedom in Texas,” said Eric Rassbach, Merced’s lawyer, in response to the three-judge panel’s ruling. Merced said by practicing his faith in the privacy of his own home, he didn’t harm anyone. “Now Santeros can practice their religion at home without being afraid of being fined, arrested or taken to court,” Merced said.”

Merced, a Puerto Rico native and a practitioner of Santeria since childhood, had sued in Fort Worth federal district court, arguing that Euless’s selective enforcement of its laws violated his religious freedom rights under the First Amendment and Texas state law. He also relied on a 1993 Supreme Court case, Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah. Merced’s sacrifices were performed in a humane manner, utilizing a method that is approved as humane by federal statute. Most of the animal meat was consumed in a ceremonial dinner and the leftovers were disposed of neatly.

Santeria is an Afro-Caribbean religion based on the traditional beliefs of Nigeria’s Yoruba tribe, who brought it to the New World as slaves. In Cuba, it merged with some Christian beliefs and evolved into modern day Santeria, where its gods, or orishas, are reached through animal sacrifices. Santeria priests are trained to perform humane ritual sacrifice and the animals are consumed in a communal meal after the ceremony.

Goats at the Movies: DRAG ME TO HELL

From the New York Post review: "Drag Me to Hell is pure cheese. Goat cheese." And that was a negative review! We have to see this movie.

GMD

goatkillers: the true cost of green energy

I'm spending the entire weekend sleeping in protest. GMD

Wind farm 'kills Taiwanese goats'

Abnormal noises could affect growth and feeding of the goats, officials say

A large number of goats in Taiwan may have died of exhaustion because of noise from a wind farm.

A farmer on an outlying island told the BBC he had lost more than 400 animals after eight giant wind turbines were installed close to his grazing land.

The Council of Agriculture says it suspects that noise may have caused the goats' demise through lack of sleep.

The power company, Taipower, has offered to pay for part of the costs of building a new farmhouse elsewhere.

A spokesman for the company said the cause of the goats' deaths still needed to be investigated, but that it doubted the goats died from the noise.

One night I went out to the farmhouse and the goats were all standing up; they weren't sleeping Farmer Kuo Jing-shan

Before the wind farm was built about four years ago, farmer Kuo Jing-shan had about 700 goats.

Shortly after the electricity-generating turbines were installed, the 57-year-old says his animals started to die. He now has just 250 goats left.

Penghu is notorious for its strong howling winds. Mr Kuo said the stronger the wind, the louder the machines became.

"The goats looked skinny and they weren't eating. One night I went out to the farmhouse and the goats were all standing up; they weren't sleeping.

"I didn't know why. If I had known, I would've done something to stop the dying," he told the BBC's Cindy Sui in Taiwan.

Plausible

A local livestock inspector from the agriculture council said that Mr Kuo was the only farmer to have reported such large-scale deaths.

He said his claim was plausible because of all the farmers in the Penghu archipelago, his farm was closest to the wind turbines - only 40m away.

"Abnormal noises could affect the normal growth and feeding intake of animals and cause them to suffer sleep deprivation," Lu Ming-tseng said.

Mr Kuo said the power company had offered to help him move but that there would be no compensation for the loss of his goats.

"It's a pain to relocate, but what can I do. I can't survive with the wind turbines," he said.

trying to wrigley their way out

In a recent news: Dead Goat Hung at Wrigley Field

Police find goat hanging from Harry Caray statue

By  PEGGY CASSIDY

A dead goat was found hanging on a statute of Harry Caray outside Wrigley Fieldearly Monday on the North Side, and it's not the first time. 

A similar incident occurred in 2007, police said.

A 911 call at about 2:40 a.m. Monday led police to the goat hanging from a rope on the arm of a statue of Harry Caray at the intersection of Clark and Addisonstreets, according to Town Hall District police.

Police took the goat down and disposed of the remains. It was not known how the goat died and nothing at the scene was damaged, police said.

There is not a "no trespassing" sign in the area and a surveillance camera located nearby is not set on the statue. Police said a similar incident also occurred in 2007, when a butchered goat was found hanging from the statue.

No one was arrested in Monday's incident.

On Oct. 6, 1945, the Billy Goat Curse was cast upon the Cubs when tavern owner Billy Sianis bought a box seat for his goat, Murphy, for Game 4 of the World Series at Wrigley Field to help promote his establishment. When he was ordered to remove the goat, he claimed to place a curse on the team that would prevent it from ever hosting another World Series at Wrigley Field.

The Cubs led the Series 2 games to 1 until losing to Detroit that day, 4-1, and eventually lost the Series 4-3 -- and have never returned.

What the owners and fan have yet to learn is that it's all about respect.

Sam Sianis, nephew of Billy the Goat, states: "The invitations that have been issued so far have been mere publicity stunts. If the Cubs opened the stands to goats because they genuinely liked them and wanted to share the game with them, the hex would be dispelled."

Follow this link for a detailed history on the atrocious treatment of goats at Wrigley stadium. http://www.karlschatz.com/yearofthegoat/archives/000092.shtml

The Empire Goats Back

We've always suspected there were goatmasters in high places. But this goes beyond anything even I could have dreamed. From livecelebritygossip.com:

Movie veteran JAMES EARL JONES has a secret passion for goats. The actor, who picked up a Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement honour in Los Angeles on Sunday night (25Jan09), grew up on a goat farm in Mississippi and admits he still rears the creatures. Jones, the voice of Darth Vader, has a goat farm in upstate New York and admits he'd like to turn his herd into food items. He explains, "I threaten to (eat them) but my family says, 'No.' We don't eat pets.

An existential dilemma, to be sure, and one we've all faced.

So. Darth Vader is a goatmaster. At first the notion struck me as exciting (obviously), but also completely random. But as I got to thinking, I couldn't shake the feeling that somehow I should have seen this coming. That somewhere, in all the imagery and symbolism of the Star Wars universe, I missed a sign, a clue of some sort, that might have hinted at the Dark Lord's "secret passion".

Which naturally led me to Wookieepedia, and the discovery of three amazing new breeds of intergalactic goat that somehow managed to stay under our radar:

• The Choreamnos (or Blasé Tree Goat) - a lazy Endorian tree dweller who rarely moves except to eat leaves.
• The Mesa Goat - the sure-footed herbivore native to the highlands of Teyr.
• The Cophrigin Horned Goat - a herbivorous quadruped from the Outer Rim world of Cophrigin 5 (pictured here)

I also learned about Goatgrass, which, as you'll recall, was a favorite food among Gran, though it was also used in more mundane cooking, as when Porcellus would present goatgrass-stuffed gamwidge to his master. Good times.

How I missed these clues the first time around I'll never know. But at least now I know why my goatdar went off when I read the James Earl Jones story. And as a bonus, I'll never miss that Cophrigin 5 question on Jeopardy ever again.

GMD

Keep Keep Bleating, Stop Stop Bleeding

Do you have a problem with dangerous blood clots?  How about hemophilia, severe respiratory disease, or debilitating swollen tissues? 

Anyone afflicted with one of these deadly diseases takes medication, daily.  In addition to being extremely expensive, the medications also have dangerous side effects.  Talk about a rock and a hard place. Enter in the ever nimble goat.  As we know, goats are sure-footed and able to navigate the rockiest of mountains, the steepest of peaks, and the highest of trees.  So what other animal could rescue you from that rock and hard place, carry you on his back, and deliver you to the land of good health and happiness?  None other animal.  

When your body can't make the protein required to prevent/form blood clots, keep you breathing, or stop your tissues from swelling, a goat will make it for you. 

Too bad Queen Victoria didn't live on a farm.

New Old-Fashioned Drug Makers: Goats