More Clarity About Family Farms
In “Move to Limit ‘Factory Farms’ Gains Momentum” in today’s New York Times, we learn that farmers in Ohio have agreed to phase out gestation crates within 15 years and veal crates by 2017. I won’t get into whether I…
Posts from the ‘Current Affairs’ Category
Aug 12
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Aug 10
An Affront to the Idea of Family
I’m not one of those people who thinks family is composed of only humans or humans who are biologically related. That’s one of the reasons adopting wasn’t a stretch for me at all mentally. The idea of family is currently…
Jul 25
Please Share “Silencing the Lambs”
Thanks, once again, to James LaVeck and Jenny Stein of Tribe of Heart for kindly and carefully bringing attention to what should be a stunningly-obvious moment of hypocrisy by groups that exist to advocate for and save animals. I understand…
Diabetes and Vetsulin Recap
I somehow became the non-vet, go-to person regarding dogs and diabetes, I suppose due to my frequent blogging about Violet Rays (left), my greyhound who has been through diabetes, blindness (then cataract replacement), glaucoma and retina detachment. As you may…
Jul 6
On Nonhuman Animals and Human Babies
Surprise! On Friday, June 25, I received a call from an attorney who said a little girl was born the evening prior, her adoption fell through and she needed a family. And on Sunday, June 27, we brought her home!…
Jun 23
On Wipeout and Lion Burgers
Have you seen the ridiculous television show, Wipeout? There’s something hilarious about people intentionally putting themselves in a position to be beaten up like Wile E. Coyote. It’s all in fun, with much of the humor coming from the commentators…
May 26
Lessons Learned, The Finale
After all this time it seems that . . . the Island’s sideways world was a purgatory of sorts where the Oceanic 815 survivors were supposed to learn more lessons or go one way or the other (good or bad),…
May 25
Just Two Lessons Learned for Today
I’ve decided that 20 lessons is a good number to stop at, and today I’ll discuss what are probably the two most controversial ones, about the animal rights movement. Lesson #11 The Appeal of Cliques The first six Lessons Learned…
May 24
Lessons Learned From 4 Years of Animal Person, Part 2
Yesterday’s lessons learned were primarily about blogging. Today they’re about language. Lesson #7 Obsessing over language can become counterproductive. And this, coming from a person with a doctorate in Applied Linguistics. I can talk about language all day, every day….
May 9
Happy Mother’s Day!
Check out “On Motherhood and Pizza” at Animal Rights & AntiOppression, by yours truly, and have a Happy Mother’s Day!
Apr 7
Creature Update
As many of you know, 2009 was chock full of creature-related drama for me. From the feral cats of Project Treadstone to Charles’ back surgery to problems with Violet’s Vetsulin (insulin for dogs), we had more than our share of…
Apr 6
Animals Have Personalities? No WAY!
When I started blogging in May of 2006 I was very snarky. Snark defined blogging back then. And of course, as a (pop) culture whose sensibility has been formed by The Onion and The Daily Show, it’s no wonder. My…
Deadline Approaching for Animal Essays
“Creative Nonfiction is seeking essays about the bonds–emotional, ethical, biological, physical, or otherwise–between humans and animals. We’re looking for stories from a variety of viewpoints . . . For the past 16 years, Creative Nonfiction has devoted itself to publishing…
Mar 24
Operation Nix-the-Petting-Zoo, Part Deux
Coincidentally, last night was a board meeting for our homeowner’s association, and though I wasn’t on the agenda there’s always time for homeowner comments about, say, the petting zoo and pony rides that are scheduled for the spring “BBQ” (here’s…
Mar 20
Operation Nix-the-Petting-Zoo
After my long weekend up North I returned to a message from our neighborhood association announcing a picnic on April 11 on the Village Green. We paid a heap of extra money to live on the Village Green, so anything…
