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Archive for the ‘activism’ Category

NASA Scientist Resigns Over Monkey Experiments

Thursday, August 5th, 2010

In response NASA’s (National Aeronautics and Space Association) plans, announced late last year, to use squirrel monkeys in a series of new radiation tests, and after first attempting to get them halted, NASA engineer April Evans has resigned from a job she’s made clear she really enjoyed.

I think we can all applaud her self-sacrifice, especially in these hard economic times, and lend our voices to the cause in support.
(See below for a couple ways to do so.)

But first, I should mention, I also find myself applauding NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, Jr.—at least in the following exchange. How he handled being interrupted, and at such close range, by an animal rights activist at the International Space Development Conference (ISDC) earlier this year was admirable.

So true! The ACLU gets heat all the time for speaking up for those with whom many of us disagree, but they’re just seeing the bigger picture that we all have those rights and silencing and censorship are not the answer.

As for the tests, they would seem cruel and completely unnecessary; don’t we already know what happens to people due to radiation at a wide range of exposure levels?

Take action today, either thru PETA or the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM). Actually, the recipients of each are different, so let’s use both these routes!

Posted in activism, animal rights | 1 Comment »

Animal Cruelty in the War On Drugs

Wednesday, May 12th, 2010

It’s not just people who are traumatized and brutalized in the senseless “war on drugs” in the US and abroad. This video has been rightfully making the rounds on the web of late as people have been shocked awake (once again) at what’s entailed in enforcing it.

What you’re seeing here is a no-knock raid executed and filmed by Columbia, Missouri police on a man they thought was a big-time dealer. Turns out, he only had a small, personal use quantity of pot in his possession. Meanwhile, the family pets, a little corgi and a caged pit bull took bullets, the latter dying from its wounds, while his seven-year-old and wife looked on.

The chief of police has vowed to change SWAT team and drug warrant procedures in the face of the ensuing outrage.

Recommended Reading
Ain’t Nobody’s Business If You Do: The Absurdity of Consensual Crimes in Our Free Country by the late Peter McWilliams

Read Online

Buy at Amazon.com

Posted in activism, animal rights | 4 Comments »

Forced Pharmacology

Monday, August 31st, 2009

In a recent post over at Natural News, Mike Adams, the “Health Ranger,” raised the alarm (or maybe I should say yet another alarm), this time over a recent bill making its way — so far successfully — through the Massachusetts state legislature.

It’s called the “Pandemic Response Bill” 2028, and describes the circumstances whereby flu vaccinations and quarantines could be mandated by government force, ostensibly in preparation for a potentially greater swine flu outbreak.

It always a little scary when lawmakers even hazard to consider such unConstitutional measures, but allow me to paint a little silver under that cloud… If it’s challenged and makes it to the US Supreme Court, there is some precedence in favor of the individual. I’m thinking specifically of Sell v. U.S., Case No. 02-5664, which I followed with interest some six years ago.

In that case, Dr. Sell, a dentist, was found incompetent to stand trial on Medicaid fraud charges. The prosecutor sought have him forcibly drugged with anti-psychotic medication to make him so. In the end, the Supreme Court ruled in the doctor’s favor, upholding his, in the words of Richard Glen Boire, Director of the Center for Cognitive Liberty & Ethics, “fundamental right of every American to control his or her own thought processes.”

What are your thoughts on this bill and similar altruism by force?

Posted in activism | 3 Comments »

Raw Done Light Across America

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

Being unemployed certainly hasn’t meant being without work. I’ve actually been very busy, and you’ll be hearing about some of these labors of love over the next couple months as they take shape.

For starters, I now have everything in place to kick off the latest book project. This is going to be a lot of fun, and I want YOU to participate! Let’s see who and what’s un-cooking (the healthy, low-fat, way) across the country.

We all know how diverse regional cuisines can be, but they’re seldom translated into raw versions. Instead, a certain, heavy, homogeneity seems to prevail. Whether you agree or think I’m wrong, that’s perfect. Show us what you’ve got!

As of this announcement, only little ‘ole NH is in green. Though, to be honest, I haven’t decided on the particulars of my local flair yet, so if there’s a New Hampshirite out there who wants to steal my spot…

So, come on, fill out the rest! Hop on board, and tell your friends from other states to join in. To get all the details, visit the campaign page at Raw Done Light Across America.

You don’t have to be from the US to participate, but as soon as the map says so, we’re going live!

Posted in activism, food | No Comments »

Downsized so Downsizing

Sunday, February 1st, 2009

Well, I reckon the Big R (recession) has caught up with me—just last week, I was laid off from my software engineering job of 9 years.

I prefer to say I was “actionized” (as in the corporate lingo, resource action). It sounds better, and I hope that’s exactly what it does. If there’s a silver lining here, it’s that it may spur me on to consider entrepreneurial ventures aligned with my life calling.

In the meantime, I’m downsizing big time so as to give myself the most time to make something happen. For example, tonight’s Superbowl is the last hurrah for the TV. I’ve been “threatening” to cut the cable ever since reading Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television by Jerry Mander so many years ago. Finally, I’m doing it.

I also figure my menu is due for a shift to less expensive produce and bulk foods. To that end, it’s butternut squash instead of organic carrots; more broccoli, lettuce, and cabbage, over collards and kale; bananas; and bulk rice and beans. Yesterday, I put the strategy to the test. I wanted to see if these simple changes would make the savings mindless. Well, I think it did, a little. Coffee and some plums put me over a modest goal. Bringing a calculator along would’ve made it easy.

Speaking of keeping track of food costs, I had a story queued up in my drafts that I meant to post some time back. It’s about a challenge my alma mater (UNH) gave the students to see if they could live healthily off the daily allotment from the state’s Food Stamp program. The called it, appropriately enough, The $3.13 A Day Food Challenge. (If you add in the other 30% a SNAP recipient is supposed to contribute themselves, that’s still just $4.47/day or $31.30/week.)

Remember: You too can publish through Vegan Done Light! Check out what Patricia had to say about her experience writing Wake Up To Spice: “All I had to do was cook and write the recipe down, and Erin, while consulting with me every step of the way, magically made everything happen.”

Posted in activism, food, misc | 10 Comments »

Buy Nothing Day

Thursday, November 27th, 2008

My family will not be buying anything on Black Friday. In fact, as last year, we will not be exchanging gifts at Christmas. Without any little ones — indeed, this branch of the family tree appears to stop at me and my sister — it had slowly become obvious there was little sense in swapping things of equal value when none of us really wanted anything anyway.

Let me tell you, it’s much less stressful to just spend time together, sharing conversation, games (billiards with my stepdad, cards and dice with all), good food, and spirits! As it was, in years past, I’d taken to doing my shopping entirely on-line in order to avoid the crowds.

While we’re on the topic, when it came out in 2007, I immediately added What Would Jesus Buy? to my Netflix queue. Well, I finally got around to watching it via their instant streaming option. Quite a funny movie with, of course, a good message against wanton consumerism. It was interesting to see what happens behind-the-scenes of such a large-scale, cross-country protest. (It looked exhausting!)

Want more information on Buy Nothing Day? Check out the Adbusters site. Lots of articles and videos, including this one, which I thought you might enjoy. It’s hard to make out the stats being presented though. Maybe someone could reply with what they caught?

Quoting co-founder of Adbusters Media Foundation, Kalle Lasn,

“A simpler, pared-down lifestyle — one in which we’re not drowning in debt — may well be the answer to this crisis we’re in. Living within our means will also make us happier and healthier than we’ve been in years.”

I say, three cheers for the internet; there is so much it has enabled us to read, view, and do, all without wasteful packaging <Ahem> OK, notwithstanding the massive amounts of technological junk overflowing landfills through a combination of planned obsolescence and Moore’s Law.