Skip to content

Posts from the ‘Gray Matters’ Category

On Altruism and Compassion in Economic Systems

Next year’s Mind and Life Conference is called “Altruism and Compassion in Economic Systems: A Dialogue Between Economics, Neuroscience and Contemplative Sciences.” Here’s a quote from the homepage of the conference’s site, CompassionEconomics.org: “The ongoing global financial crisis shows clearly…

Read more

Emme Loves Ami!

Finally, it arrived–a medium-size bag (4.4lb for $22.95 + shipping) of Ami vegan cat food (via Vegan Essentials). It was with some trepidation that I opened the bag and offered chunky Emily some of the animal-free tasty morsels. And to…

Read more

On Discounts on Adoptions

Here’s a Gray Matter for you (or maybe not): A humane society near me is doing a cat- and dog-adoption promotion this month. You can adopt a dog for $75 rather than $100, and if you adopt a cat for…

Read more

Does Vick Deserve a Second Chance?

Do you agree with the New York Times’ William C. Rhoden in “The Case for a Second Chance for Michael Vick?” And I’m not just referring to Vick here. Let’s deconstruct the concept: Do you think that people who have…

Read more

On Surreal Lobster Advocacy

My self-appointed job in this blog is to think critically about how our human lives intersect with those of sentient nonhumans, in action and thought. Yesterday I received an e-mail alert from the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF) regarding…

Read more

The (Re)Veganizing of the Greyhounds

I have fed Charles Hobson Booger, III and Violet Rays every type of diet from raw (as in, turkey necks and chicken backs) to pre-made raw (comes in patties with greens and bones and supplements in it), to homemade vegan…

Read more

On Dominance and Animal Birth Control

Yesterday, regarding being a minority within a minority, mikey commented (among other things): While I am fairly new subscriber to this blog, therefore not knowing your particular stance, I’ve often felt like a minority within a minority for my stance…

Read more

What Friends are For

So this was in my e-mail box this morning. Now what? How ridiculous is it that “On the Psychological Continuum,” to say nothing of an article against rabbit fur, is on the same page as Gabriella’s Fur Den? The ads…

Read more

On the Erosion of Personal Responsibility

In “Big Food is Copying Big Tobacco’s Disinformation Tactics, How Many Will Die This Time?” Fen Montaigne writes about the similarities between how big food is denying its negative impacts on health to how big tobacco did the same. What…

Read more

On Different Results of Direct Action

There is a profound difference between what Sea Shepherd does and what the Animal Liberation Front does, but there are also similarities, and those similarities increase in number if a direct action by the ALF (or anyone else) is an…

Read more

Another Painful Lesson at Project Treadstone

I keep thinking: Okay, I have experienced enough to write a thorough guest post for Stephanie at Change.org on feral cats and TNR. Then something else unexpected happens. I think I have to just write the post and leave it…

Read more

Two New Peter Singer Interviews

First I have to again say that Peter Singer was influential in the veganization of Mary Martin: in my evolution from cat person to animal person during my college years. For me and my delicate, cat-person sensibilities, college was a…

Read more

On Florida Legislation

Florida’s legislative session began last week and some rather odd tax exemptions are now under review including: nets used by commercial fisheries; generators used on poultry farms; fuel used to heat the huge warehouses in which chickens raised for meat…

Read more

On Diabetes and Autism?

I wrote a guest post about diabetes in “pets” at Paw Talk called “Lessons Learned” which was published over the weekend. I think it’s important to reach out to the pet people, as many have already demonstrated their desire to…

Read more

Chime in on Subsistence Cultures

Here’s a question from a new-ish reader. Chime in with your thoughts and help Newish Reader work through the issue. I’ve been vegan almost 2 years and . . . I consider myself probably an ‘abolitionist’ but I’m still learning…

Read more