Want to organize for the New Year?

Here are two articles for organizing your closet and making sure your closet keeps you healthy...

7 Ways to Organize Your Closet, the Eco-Way (hint: it's doesn't involve buying stuff, because consumerism is anti-"green"!)

Healthy Green Closet

"That's so gay"

Ha. New ad council campaign. Personally, I also wish people would stop saying retarded and lame. Both words are insensitive to the disabled community. Anyway.



Here's the website, if you're interested.

New year, new you: Go vegan!

Happy New Year! Day one of Animal Defense League's Top Ten New Years Resolutions!


For the first day of the new year, we're asking you to go vegan! Stay vegan! Talk about veganism to your family, friends- everyone!


If you’re not vegan, you’re not doing the single most powerful action you can to boycott animal cruelty. Think about it- every time you sit down to eat (or grab something to go), you can make a difference!

Do you still eat or use animal products, and/or participate in animal exploitation in other ways? We suggest you educate yourself about what you’re doing. Here are some very introductory resources.


ARTICLES, Specific-Focus

What About Fish?

What’s Wrong With Cheese?

What’s Wrong With Honey?

What About Humane or Organic Animal Products?


BOOKS, General

Generation V: The Complete Guide to Going, Being, and Staying Vegan as a Teenager by Claire Askew

Vegan Freak: Being Vegan in a Non-Vegan World by Drs. Jenna and Bob Torres.

(both books can be ordered here for 15% off the cover price)

Becoming Vegan: The Complete Guide to Adopting a Healthy Plant-Based Diet by Brenda Davis & Vesanto Melina

Introduction to Animal Rights: Your Child or the Dog? by Gary L. Francione

Redemption: The Myth of Pet Overpopulation and the No Kill Revolution in America by Nathan J. Winograd


FILMS, General

Earthlings (sometimes it is available on Google Video or You Tube, but please, support this amazing documentary!)

A Life Connected (free to watch!)


WEBSITES, General

Go Vegan Now

Peaceful Prairie Blog

(both of the above websites are run by Peaceful Prairie Animal Sanctuary)

An Animal Friendly Life

Animal Emancipation

Animal Rights: The Abolitionist Approach

Vegan Frequently Asked Questions

Vegans of Color

Happy New Year!

I've been listening to this song compulsively. So, as the first post of the new year, I revert to being a 15 year old and, thus, post song lyrics!

"Prayer of the Refugee" by Rise Against

Warm yourself by the fire, son,
And the morning will come soon.
I’ll tell you stories of a better time,
In a place that we once knew.

Before we packed our bags
And left all this behind us in the dust,
We had a place that we could call home,
And a life no one could touch.

Don’t hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don’t need your help now,
You wont let me down, down, down!

Don’t hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don’t need your help now,
You wont let me down, down, down!

Down!

We are the angry and the desperate,
The hungry, and the cold,
We are the ones who kept quiet,
And always did what we were told.

But we’ve been sweating while you slept so calm,
In the safety of your home.
We’ve been pulling out the nails that hold up
Everything you’ve known.

Don’t hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don’t need your help now,
You wont let me down, down, down!

Don’t hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don’t need your help now,
You wont let me down, down, down!

So open your eyes child,
Let’s be on our way.
Broken windows and ashes
Are guiding the way.

Keep quiet no longer,
We’ll sing through the day,
Of the lives that we’ve lost,
And the lives we’ve reclaimed.

Go!

Don’t hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don’t need your help now,
You wont let me down, down, down!

Don’t hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don’t need your help now,
You wont let me down, down, down!

Don’t hold me up…
(I don’t need your help, I’ll stand my ground)
Don’t hold me up…
(I don’t need your help)
No! No! No!
Don’t hold me up!
(I don’t need your help, I’ll stand my ground)
Don’t hold me up!
(I don’t need your help)
Don’t let me down, down, down, down, down!

Barriers on the Border

The US Department of Homeland Security has been rushing to complete 670 miles of border barriers by the end of 2008. DHS plans to install nearly 110 miles of 18 foot high concrete and steel structures along the Texas/Mexico border, but something has put construction behind schedule: local opposition. In this exclusive FSRN documentary, we travel with Shannon Young to the Texas-Mexico border to hear from locals about their take on the physical barrier slated to divide the region's sister cities.

Listen to it here.

F/U on Micheal Vick's Dogs...

Quite possibly the only time you'll see me link to a Sports Illustrated article in a good way...

THE DOG approaches the outstretched hand. Her name is Sweet Jasmine, and she is 35 pounds of twitchy curiosity with a coat the color of fried chicken, a pink nose and brown eyes. She had spent a full 20 seconds studying this five-fingered offering before advancing. Now, as she moves forward, her tail points straight down, her butt is hunched toward the ground, her head is bowed, her ears pinned back. She stands at maybe three quarters of her height.

She gets within a foot of the hand and stops. She licks her snout, a sign of nervousness, and looks up at the stranger, seeking assurance. She looks back to the hand, licks her snout again and begins to extend her neck. Her nose is six inches away from the hand, one inch, half an inch. She sniffs once. She sniffs again. At this point almost any other dog in the world would offer up a gentle lick, a sweet hello, an invitation to be scratched or petted. She's come so far. She's so close.

But Jasmine pulls away.

Read the rest here.

Feeding The Hungry Without Exploiting Animals

A friend was looking for vegan food charity, and after checking a few promising groups, we seem to have found one!

Check it out and donate!

Veg Fam Charity (yeah, they need to work on that name).