August 2008
18 posts
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Hypocrisy
One of the glaring hypocrisies of the mainstream progressive movement — which I cheer and aid during my “small-picture” moments — is its stated championing of reason, compassion, and humility, even while the vast majority of its members rejects those ideals everyday by supporting the meat industry.
As I wrote on DailyKos some time ago,* concern for animal welfare is in...
Vegan Drinks
We’ll be heading over to Vegan Drinks at Angels & Kings (on 11th St between Aves A and B, closer to A; 7-9 pm) tonight before band practice. Come hang out if you like.
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“If [McCain is] the answer, then the question must be ridiculous.”
– NY Gov. David Paterson, at the Democratic convention Tuesday evening.
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California's Proposition 2
This November 4th, California voters will have a chance to repudiate some of the cruelty of factory farming in their state. Californians: please vote YES on Prop. 2.
Proposition 2, otherwise known as the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act, states:
The purpose of this Act is to prohibit the cruel confinement of farm animals in a manner that does not allow them to turn around freely, lie...
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WatchWhat Britney really sounds like (thanks Aaron).
Holy shit.
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MM and KR 4ever
So, late yesterday afternoon, while running out of the office on an errand, I step out into the lobby, and standing before me as I round the corner is none other than Karl Rove, speaking with security about getting into the building.
(Maybe he’s writing a shitty Republican propaganda book for my publishing company’s shitty Republican propaganda imprint.)
I impulsively semi-exclaim,...
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“Americans have many fine qualities. A capacity to see ourselves as others see us...”
– Pat Buchanan, who apparently makes sense every now and again.
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Psychological disorder
Via the NY Times:
Jenny has had a hard life, even by elephant standards. She was orphaned at a tender age, stolen from Africa, shipped to America and sold to a circus, where a trainer notorious for his cruelty beat her to coerce her to perform.
When the Dallas Zoo took her in 22 years ago, she was a mess. For years, she suffered from depression and something like post-traumatic stress...
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WatchWe started watching BBC’s stunning ‘Planet Earth’ series yesterday before band practice. Truly awesome.
In the words of the uploader of the video above, this is “a montage combining video from BBC’s Planet Earth series and music from Nine Inch Nails’ Ghost’s album.”
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"Irreversible" →
“Canadian ice shelves have undergone substantial changes in the past six years, starting with the first break-up event on the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf, and the loss of the Ayles Ice Shelf,” said Dr. Luke Copland of the University of Ottawa. “These latest break-ups we are seeing have come after decades of warming and are irreversible,” said Dr. Derek Mueller of Trent...
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A farm boy compartmentalizes
Nicholas D. Kristof’s 7.31.08 op-ed in the NY Times, “A Farm Boy Reflects”, is a fascinating and valuable demonstration of moral cowardice.
Kristof won a 2006 Pulitzer Prize for his relentless and single-minded focus on the genocidal situation in Darfur, continually reminding readers of that slice of distant injustice. His aim was to shake us out of our daily routines and push...
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Meet Shmuel Herzfeld, keen moral observer
Shmuel Herzfeld, in the NY Times:
In May in Postville, Iowa, immigration officials raided Agriprocessors Inc., the largest kosher meatpacking plant in the country.
What began as an immigration sting, however, quickly took on larger dimensions. News reports and government documents have described abusive practices at Agriprocessors against workers, including minors. Children as young as 13 were...
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“The accumulated clutter of day-to-day existence — the lapses of...”
– Jon Krakauer, Into The Wild
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WatchWhoa.
Via LiveLeak
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Signs
Via the NY Times:
From Spain to New York, to Australia, Japan and Hawaii, jellyfish are becoming more numerous and more widespread, and they are showing up in places where they have rarely been seen before, scientists say… a signal of the declining health of the world’s oceans. …
The explosion of jellyfish populations, scientists say, reflects a combination of severe overfishing of...