December 2011
1 post
5 tags
A maddening example of discrimination against... →
theethicalman:
One of the great and incredibly misinformed aspects of conventional living is the belief that adhering to the status quo renders one ideologically neutral. For some of these (by loose definition, very average) people, that fallacious premise rationalizes the tyranny of “personal choices,” in which a convoluted principle against spreading one’s principles – usually amounting to the...
October 2011
2 posts
8 tags
4 tags
June 2011
1 post
2 tags
“What do you get when you mix utter ignorance and a mind able to ask,...”
– David Brin, Earth
February 2011
1 post
9 tags
The Reagan Admin's response to AIDS in 1982, years...
Q: Larry, does the President have any reaction to the announcement -- the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, that AIDS is now an epidemic and have over 600 cases?
Mr. Speakes: What's AIDS?
Q: Over a third of them have died. It's known as "gay plague." (Laughter.) No, it is. I mean it's a pretty serious thing that one in every three people that get this have died. And I wondered if the President is aware of it?
Mr. Speakes: I don't have it. Do you? (Laughter.)
Q: No, I don't.
Mr. Speakes: You didn't answer my question.
Q: Well, I just wondered, does the President ...
Mr. Speakes: How do you know? (Laughter.)
Q: In other words, the White House looks on this as a great joke?
Mr. Speakes: No, I don't know anything about it, Lester.
Q: Does the President, does anyone in the White House know about this epidemic, Larry?
Mr. Speakes: I don't think so. I don't think there's been any ...
Q: Nobody knows?
Mr. Speakes: There has been no personal experience here, Lester.
Q: No, I mean, I thought you were keeping ...
Mr. Speakes: I checked thoroughly with Dr. Ruge this morning and he's had no -- (laughter) -- no patients suffering from AIDS or whatever it is.
Q: The President doesn't have gay plague, is that what you're saying or what?
Mr. Speakes: No, I didn't say that.
Q: Didn't say that?
Mr. Speakes: I thought I heard you on the State Department over there. Why didn't you stay there? (Laughter.)
Q: Because I love you Larry, that's why. (Laughter.)
Mr. Speakes: Oh I see. Just don't put it in those terms, Lester. (Laughter.)
Q: Oh, I retract that.
Mr. Speakes: I hope so.
Q: It's too late.
Acknowledgement: This transcript was quoted at the beginning of Jon Cohen's book, Shots in the Dark: The Wayward Search for an AIDS Vaccine, 2001. http://www.amazon.com/Shots-Dark-Wayward-Search-Vaccine/dp/0393050270
January 2011
1 post
11 tags
T.E.M. STYLE: Win a prize package from The Ethical... →
Via The Ethical Man:
A great organization called Vegan Mainstream wants to increase their FB page by 1,000 followers in the next 36 hours. Ambitious to be sure, but I think they can do it. For one thing, it’s tied in to a compelling theme that resonates with the vegan movement’s fashion insurgence — “Veganism: The New Black.” For another, we at The Ethical Man are providing a… modest… and...
December 2010
4 posts
3 tags
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100 shows for Haiti: Lights Resolve, Sainthood...
Folks, we’ve got an amazing show coming up on January 6th. Not only will there be three great bands (including Derrick Sherman of Brand New), but it will be for the worthy cause of helping Haiti get back on its feet after last January’s devastating earthquake. With 100 shows happening around the country, we have a chance to make a big difference together.
Here are the details:
What:...
5 tags
WatchI’m hesitant to bring a side argument of the vegan movement (so-called “welfarism” vs. so-called “abolitionism”) to the fore, but this is just too good not to post. Enjoy.
1 tag
Nell for Full Time Fabulous →
Via theethicalman:
Remember when I asked you to vote to support my friend Nell’s pursuit of a fashion blogging position with Sunglass Hut? Well, it paid off. Nell was selected as one of ten finalists to compete in a grueling, hardcore, winner-take-all, month-long blog-off. And deservedly so. Her experience, sophisticated aesthetic sense, and inimitable drive make her uniquely qualified. My...
November 2010
9 posts
6 tags
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Urgent: Vote for Nell! →
Our great friend Nell is in a position to win an amazing fashion blogger position with Sunglass Hut. She’s near the top of the pack, but she needs our votes to bring it home. Voting ends tomorrow, so please — take a minute (literally 60 seconds) to vote right now. Once you’ve voted, you’ll receive an email requiring a single-click confirmation of your vote. And that’s it — you’re done.
Nell...
5 tags
Bipartisanship is for suckers
Obama spoke yesterday, doing his best to self-destructively misinterpret the recent election results:
I neglected some things that matter a lot to people, and rightly so [such as] maintaining a bipartisan tone in Washington…
No. No. No. Nobody cares about bipartisanship. Nobody. They care about results. The only reason you think otherwise is because Republicans have learned they can cow...
13 tags
“Proposition B is very similar to Obamacare. They’re expecting all the breeders...”
– Anita Andrews, director of the so-called Alliance for Truth, who wouldn’t know truth if it was staring her in her stupid, stupid face. Prop B recently passed with only 52% of the vote (a shamefully thin but good-enough margin) in Missouri, establishing basic minimum care standards in large pet...
6 tags
Mix is DONE.
MIX. IS. DONE!
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“Will either side draw the right lessons from this midterm election? Mr. Obama,...”
– NY Times Editorial Board, today (link). The key piece of this passage is the part about neglecting the base. We’re the ones who donate, who talk to friends, who create grassroots media, who blog, who write letters to editors, who comment on articles — in short, who are influential....
5 tags
Dear President Obama & other "bipartisan"...
This is addressed to those of you who compromised. Who “threw bones.” Who fawned. Who laughed. Who shook hands. Who capitulated.
Over and over, you got one Republican senator to vote for priority legislation in committee only, at the expense of more effective policy.
You did all of this to look moderate. To win votes come election season. How’d that work out for you?
Do you...
9 tags
“Ask the experimenters why they experiment on animals, and the answer is: ...”
– Charles R. Magel, highlighting one of the many contradictions animal exploiters embrace to rationalize their cruelty.
5 tags
October 2010
12 posts
10 tags
WatchI steal something of yours. You accidentally retaliate in the smallest of ways. I torture and kill you in response.
Does that sound right to you on any level?
As the above video depicts, a village in India surrounded, tortured, and killed a terrified baby elephant. See, these village people don’t like elephants, because elephants trample their crops — you know, the crops those people...
5 tags
The Rallies to Restore Sanity and/or Keep the Fear...
• Time spent sleeping last night: 0 hours • Travel time to get to HuffPo Sanity Bus pick-up spot: 1.25 hours • Wait time to board a bus and depart NYC: 1.5 hours • Travel time to RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.: 5.5 hours • Travel time to rally site: .75 hours • Time spent at rally site: 2 hours • Travel time to get back to RFK Stadium for bus departure: 1 hour • Travel time back to NYC: 5.5 hours...
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“The sows who perished in Sunday’s fire had spent their entire lives in a...”
– Gene Baur (head of Farm Sanctuary), on the fire that destroyed a large pig confinement barn Sunday afternoon in Iowa (via veganmatters)
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What do HERE (that's us!) and Paul McCartney have...
Apparently, we both come to mind when thinking of artists that stand up for something important. MTV affiliate OurStage had this to say:
Whether through music or using their voices to speak up on behalf of a cause they believe in, be it animal rights (HERE, Paul McCartney) or civil rights (Beautiful Small Machines, Pink), education reform (Lil Mama, John Legend) or the environmental crisis (Green...
5 tags
Who wants more high-profile anti-fur fashion... →
(via theethicalman)
I know I do.
Normally, most of us don’t have a say in the matter. But, right now, we can vote for my animal-loving friend Nell as she tries to win an amazing high-profile fashion journalist position. She’ll be a stronger voice for animals than just about any other mainstream fashion commentators.
Let’s get her there! All we have to do is vote.
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nomoreundead asked: can you guys come out to california?
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The GOP outdoes themselves.
Just saw this Google ad for the Republican party:
Ungrammatical stream-of-consciousness blather, punctuated only by badly misunderstood concepts — is this how Republican operatives think? Or is this how their base thinks (thus making this an effective ad for the GOP)? I’m inclined to think both.
Whatever the case, the explicit hating on “socialism” coupled with the...
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“One day the absurdity of the almost universal human belief in the slavery of...”
– Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (h/t Bina A.)
9 tags
September 2010
4 posts
4 tags
WatchStephen Colbert goes to town on conservative Justice Antonin Scalia’s ideas about the U.S. Constitution. Are we living in an age where a cable comedian has a greater commitment to formal logic than a Supreme Court Justice? You bet we are.
—Dan
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EXPOSED: Republicans and Tea Partiers plot to... →
The Republican Party of Wisconsin and local Tea Partiers, with the help of a conservative front group called Americans For Prosperity, are caught on tape laying down insidious plans to keep minority and student voters from participating at the polls this November. Why? Statistics. Minority and student voters are overwhelmingly more likely to vote for Democrats than Republicans. Those of us who...
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Men's Journal encourages veganism
Men’s Journal just earned some major kudos in my book. Check out this snippet from the Men’s Journal Guide to Going Vegan, which chronicles the most immediate health and wellness benefits of going vegan:
Week One:
Your entire body will feel lighter, as the meat built up in your gut is literally forced out by the deluge of fiber from all the vegetables. You will also feel less...
August 2010
7 posts
3 tags
“Natural men have a certain amount of grit about them. They sweat and they smell....”
– ChristWire, from their hilarious and certainly well informed list of warning signs that your husband may be gay. I’m confused, though… You see, I smell good — plus I tweeze and trim. But I don’t always keep my apartment clean, nor do I use face moisturizers. Does this mean...
5 tags
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“Senate District 56 Republians [sic] exist to promote our Republican principals...”
– The Republican Party of Minnesota Senate District 56’s mission statement, as presented by its official website. (Update: They’ve fixed the misspellings since somebody who isn’t a Republican actually noticed. Knowing they would, I took a screenshot.) Naturally, the mission statement...
7 tags
On Ted Stevens
Former Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) reportedly died yesterday in a plane crash during a killing fishing trip. In the wake of his death, the media will likely avoid accurate contentious discussion about Stevens’ record. So, we give you the real Ted Stevens, by his own deeds:
Ted Stevens repeatedly voted to reduce the government’s program roster and balance sheet — unless his...
6 tags
Soundgarden at Lollapalooza and "new" song release
Dan and I were in Chicago yesterday to see Soundgarden at Lollapalooza, standing front and center. It was incredible to see them together again, and the music — no shock to the many who still listen regularly — hasn’t lost any of its dark and powerful beauty.
And I just found out that there’s a bit more of that music to go around. A previously unreleased song (“Black...
5 tags
Investigation: Conservatives have been conspiring... →
Is it surprising that right-wingers — some of whom are the most batshit crazy conspiracy theorists around — would themselves conspire to censor progressive information and ideas?
Not really. This is what they do. Their highest principle is to gain power by whatever means necessary. They frequently point fingers without basis, only to be found guilty of the same alleged crime.
See the...
7 tags
Seriously, connect the dots.
I think the above exchange speaks for itself. Whoever is commenting here on behalf of FAIR Vodka needs to start thinking A LOT more deeply. It’s surprising really, given that FAIR is supposedly all about being conscious, with a stated commitment to fair trade and sustainability.
July 2010
16 posts
4 tags
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If you liked the brutally intense Inception... →
… as much as we did, then you might find this interesting.
6 tags
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“We are familiar with groups whose abuse we expose attempting to criticize the...”
– Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, rebuking the White House’s knee-jerk contention that last night’s carefully planned leak of over 90,000 documents relating to the war in Afghanistan has harmed America’s national security. (Broken record, anyone?) What’s it like to live...
7 tags
“I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.”
– Winston Churchill. I think the dogs and pigs are just being nice.
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“Health-care spending in the last year of life by the top 1 percent of Americans...”
– Ezra Klein - The Economics of Dying in One Graph (via rubenfeld). If I find myself dying at a time when my life has been well lived, then my death will be a short, inexpensive process — in other words, a dignified one.