Things to consider—

Since early 2011, Obama's been waging proxy war on Syria. Imported death squads masquerade as freedom fighters. The scheme's familiar. It repeats. It reflects US imperialism's dark side. In the 1980s, CIA-recruited mujahideen fighters battled Afghanistan's Soviet occupiers. Ronald Reagan called them "the moral equivalent of our founding fathers." He characterized Contra killers the same way. —Stephen LendmanFor over a century now US ambassadors have acted as fifth columns in the nations they are embedded in, their role chiefly to foster corporate and plutocratic power and coordinate machinations against any truly pro-democratic government.•••••"The dead end identity politics of SF Pride, which sells out a peace hero like Bradley Manning to curry favor with the American ruling class, is what I had in mind. The empire loves your tameness, irrelevance and cowardice, SF Pride. You don’t bother the American ruling class — a five foot two, 105 pound soldier does because he has a conscience and because he didn’t make comfort the guiding principle of his life...." —Randy Shields

Complex World: How to protest against killing contests without promoting them vexes animal defenders

 ABOMINATIONS, ACTIVISTS & HEROES, AMERICAN STUDIES, ANIMAL DEFENDERS, ANIMAL MARTYRDOM, ASSHOLES, BASTARDS & CRIMINALS, CONTROVERSY, ECOANIMAL  1 Response »
Mar 192013
 
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Special from ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2013:

How to protest against killing contests without promoting them vexes animal defenders
HolleySquirrelSlamProtest

MIAMI, Fla., HOLLEY, N.Y., ADIN, Calif., CHICAGO, Ill.––The Python Challenge was pushed by the Florida Wildlife Commission in the name of conservation, albeit without strong scientific support. The Hazzard County Squirrel Slam in Holley, New York, and the Pit River Rod and Gun Club’s Seventh Annual Coyote Drive in Adin, California, were promoted as opportunities to introduce young people to recreational killing, though older hunters were more in evidence. Pigeons netted off the streets of Chicago at instigation of Alderman James Cappleman were allegedly killed at pigeon shoots in Indiana.
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Film & Cultural Reviews: “The Hunter”, starring Willem Dafoe

 AMERICAN STUDIES, ANIMAL DEFENDERS, ANIMAL MARTYRDOM, BATTLE OF COMMUNICATIONS, CITIZEN TOOLS, CULTURE & CRITICISM, ECOANIMAL, PHILOSOPHY, SAVING THE PLANET, THE ANIMAL QUESTION  1 Response »
Mar 132013
 
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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  March 2013:

theHunter-Dafoe

The Hunter
Starring Willem Dafoe,  Frances O’Connor,  & Sam Neill.  Directed by Daniel Nettheim.  
Adapted from novel The Hunter by Julia Leigh.  Porchlight Films,  2011 (Australia).  U.S. release on April 6,  2012.

By Kim Bartlett & Wolf Clifton
A year after release,  the 2012 film The Hunter remains worth a second look.  Based on the novel The Hunter by Julia Leigh,  the film version stars Willem Dafoe,  Frances O’Connor,  and Sam Neill.  Dafoe,  a mercenary,  hunts the last living thylacine,  or “Tasmanian tiger,”  on assignment from a biotech company that hopes to isolate,  identify,  and somehow use the toxin that thylacines are said to have used to paralyze prey.   Continue reading »

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Which states protect animals the best (and the least?). Find out.

 ACTIVISTS & HEROES, AMERICAN STUDIES, ANIMAL DEFENDERS, ANIMAL MARTYRDOM, CULTURE & CRITICISM, ECOANIMAL, SAVING THE PLANET  3 Responses »
Mar 082013
 
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The Animal Defense League report (2010)
The ALDF Ranking (2010) [PDF]

Animal Protection Law Rankings in all 50 states and regions
aldf_rankings_2010_color_small_map_rev1

Animal protection laws are a reflection of where we stand, morally, as a society, in terms of respect for the animal world and nature itself.  By that standard we still lag considerably in comparison to other nations, not to mention countries like Costa Rica which have eliminated hunting itself.   Continue reading »

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Guest Editorial: Pi, Dorothy, and the qualities of humane leadership

 ACTIVISTS & HEROES, ANIMAL DEFENDERS, ANIMAL MARTYRDOM, ARTS & FILM, BATTLE OF COMMUNICATIONS, CULTURE & CRITICISM, ECOANIMAL, SOCIAL CHANGE  2 Responses »
Jan 312013
 
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Editorial from ANIMAL PEOPLE,  January/February 2013

By Kim Bartlett & Merritt Clifton

life-of-pi-0a

The title character in Life of Pi,  possibly the most memorable film in years with a pro-animal theme,  is a Hindu vegetarian boy raised in Pondicherry,  India,  whose parents run a zoo on leased land in the city botanical garden.  Pi in adolescence becomes preoccupied with a spiritual quest which leads him to become also–simultaneously– Catholic and Muslim.  As Pi explains,  “There are 33 millions gods in the Hindu religion..We get to feel guilty before hundreds of gods,  instead of just one.” Continue reading »

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EarthTalk®— Keeping Our Pets Healthy and the Cost of Too Much Jetting Around

 ANIMAL DEFENDERS, BETTER HUMANITY, CITIZEN TOOLS, CLIMATE CHANGE, ECOANIMAL, SAVING THE PLANET  Comments Off
Jan 232013
 
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EarthTalk®
E – The Environmental Magazine

Dog and Cat together wide angle

EarthTalk®
E – The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: What are some tips for keeping my dogs and cats healthy?
                                                                      – Kim Newfield, via e-mail

Believe it or not, our pets may be exposed to more harsh chemicals through the course of their day than we are. Researchers at the non-profit Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that pet dogs and cats were contaminated with 48 of 70 industrial chemicals tested, including 43 chemicals at levels higher than those typically found in people. Continue reading »

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The Real Reason the Power Went Out and Stays Out

 ACTIVISTS & HEROES, AMERICAN STUDIES, CLIMATE CHANGE, CORPORATE CRIMES, CORPORATE OWNED PARTIES, ECOANIMAL, SAVING THE PLANET  Comments Off
Nov 272012
 
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By Gail Zawacki. Republished with author permission from Reader Supported News.
SUGGESTED BY OUR COLLEAGUE ROWAN WOLF } REPOSTED FROM CYRANO’S JOURNAL TODAY

Photo by Rowan Wolf of tree death due to beetle blight in the region of Crater Lake, Oregon.

I live in New Jersey where it looks like the ecopocalypse has arrived.

It seems obvious that the sea-level rise and the size of the storm are related to the energy humans are adding to the system by burning fuel and releasing millions of tons of greenhouse (heat-trapping) gases into the atmosphere. That’s high school science and as obvious as plate tectonics. Remember when that was a controversy? Or that seat belts in cars, or helmets for bikes save lives? Asking if climate change has something to do with Sandy is like asking if smoking has something to do with lung cancer. Remember when people could say with a straight face that it didn’t?
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