Believe It or Not, I’m Happy
There have been more than a handful of instances when readers felt a desperation in my tone. And I do think it’s there, but I think it pertains more to my feeling that the masses don’t appear to be going…
Posts from the ‘Gray Matters’ Category
Oct 5
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Sep 22
On Border Walls and Sentient Nonhumans
I’m filing this under Gray Matters (among other things) because, embarrassingly, I don’t think I know enough to say I know exactly what I believe. Immigration. Lou Dobbs is really angry about it–that much I do know. There are 50-something…
Sep 19
On Two Recent Direct Actions
Two things happened last week that made me think about how effective direct action can be. They both involved phone calls, e-mails and other forms of pressure to not hold an event. 1. The Cole Bros. Circus, which is not…
Sep 17
Do You Like People?
Eleni Vlachos of Porch Life Productions (and “Seeing Through the Fence”) is also a musician (she’s a singer, drummer and strummer in Beloved Binge). Check out Beloved Binge’s MySpace page, and particularly the song “I Don’t Like People.” I don’t…
Sep 13
Late to the Party: On Kids
I had some unscheduled time yesterday and used a portion of it to see what animal people are talking about and one thing stood out as surprisingly controversial: having kids and even hating kids. (I started with Ryan, who led…
Sep 6
Is Matthew Scully a Traitor?
I used to be Matthew Scully. As a ghostwriter, for about six years I wrote for people with whom I strongly disagree, and it was the most lucrative time of my career. I understand the mentality that you can change…
Aug 29
On Painting Cats
There I was, listening to the local news while working yesterday (sometimes I keep the television on in the great room to distract the dogs from the sound of the neighbor’s dogs) and I hear the anchor woman say: “You…
Aug 22
Baby Whale Off Sydney “Put Down”
What to eat today? Easy. Need new dress shoes. Where to buy? Easy. (Though when you factor in the environment and workers’ rights, definitely more expensive. Like close to a hundred times more.) Whether or not to kill a baby…
Aug 15
On Cockfighters and Religion
Today, the Washington Post was kind enough to provide two spectacular specimens to deconstruct, one of which is actually a deconstruction of a third specimen, making my job quite easy for today. In “Dawn in Louisiana: With Cockfighting Outlawed, a…
On Interviews, Quizzes and Coyote Decoys
Bea directed me to eInterview.org, “a Social Psychology Network partner site headquartered at Wesleyan University.” There are currently two interviews you can take: one on Diet & Lifestyle, and the other on Race & Advertising. The technology is fascinating and…
Aug 13
On HAC-Human Animal Conflict
Roger directed me to “Mad Cows (and Livid Lambs)” from Sunday’s Telegraph, which has some fantastic quotes. Here are a few, and they’ll give you the gist of the article: After centuries of being eaten, evicted, subjected to vivisection, killed…
Aug 11
On Donor Activism
I’ve touched on this imperfect idea before, but stay with me for a moment. You know how with shareholder activism, people who want to change something about a company buy lots of shares (it doesn’t have to happen exactly like…
Aug 8
On Infighting and Asceticism
Riddle me this: When is infighting infighting, and when is asceticism asceticism? Infighting I have four questions as a result of the recent discussions about counter-protests, infighting, Will Potter and lettuce: Is it infighting when the groups don’t have the…
Aug 5
On PeTA and Friends of Animals, Part Deux
I’ve been very busy with the early arrival of a new extended family member, Evan Levi (6lb. 3 oz., 19.5″ of perfect gorgeousness), so I haven’t had much time to participate on my own blog. The hospital has wireless Internet…
Aug 4
On Banning Dog “Meat” and Vegans Who Eat Fish
I was thinking about the banning of the flesh of dogs for human consumption at the 112 Olympic restaurants for the games, and thinking that it was speciesist, as dog “meat” is being banned because Westerners value dogs more than…
