home

Cooking with Real Vegans: Episode Two is Out!

Check it out! We made Leslie’s Lentil Dal.

Bolivia and the Tao: Some General Thoughts

Verse 18 of the Tao begins with this sentence:

When the great Tao is forgotten / Kindness and morality arise.

(Translation by Gia Fu Feng & Jane English)

This passage came to my mind the minute I read the news that Bolivia is about to grant rights to “mother nature.” The story is all . . . → Read More: Bolivia and the Tao: Some General Thoughts

Excellent New Essay by Karen Davis, United Poultry Concerns

Read this when you have some time; brilliantly done, not only because of its perspective on Peter Singer, but also as a reminder that it’s all too easy to slide down terrifying slopes. Absolutely worth reading.

http://www.upc-online.org/thinking/peter_singer.html

Challenge to All Animal Rights Activists (Including Myself)

When I was involved with human-oriented social justice issues, paying attention to language was a big part of the work I did (along with the folks with whom I affiliated). Specifically, how should we refer to women? How should we refer to lesbians and other gay people? How should we refer to people of color? . . . → Read More: Challenge to All Animal Rights Activists (Including Myself)

Huge Cows and Sanctuary Workers on an Early Spring Day

I’ve got lots of thoughts running around in my brain lately, but haven’t had the energy to put them into a cohesive-enough form for a blog post, so I thought I’d take time to write about some things that are easy to articulate; namely, the animals and the folks who take care of them here.

. . . → Read More: Huge Cows and Sanctuary Workers on an Early Spring Day

Spiders and Why “Happy Meat” is Nothing but Cold-Blooded Murder

About 20 years ago, I lived on women’s land in Arkansas for a couple of months, and that’s when I intentionally murdered a spider. That event still looms in my mind as one of the worst things I ever did to another animal.

At one point in my stay, the women who lived there permanently . . . → Read More: Spiders and Why “Happy Meat” is Nothing but Cold-Blooded Murder

Minding the Gap: Ruminations About Liberation

I had a friend in Ann Arbor, Michigan who told me that as a black woman, she hated the pseudo-acceptance offered to her by so many white liberals in that college town. She said she would rather they were honest with their hatred instead of smiling in her face and quietly locking their car doors . . . → Read More: Minding the Gap: Ruminations About Liberation

More on Bird Brains…

Last time around, Miriam shared her reactions to the “news” that chickens feel empathy. Pattrice here, with a few more words on the subject of bird feelings, and the brains that generate them.

My first reaction to the news story was a flood of memories. The sanctuary’s original site was on a country road shared . . . → Read More: More on Bird Brains…

Chickens feel empathy! Are we surprised, and does it matter?

Check out this article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/8370301/Chickens-are-capable-of-feeling-empathy-scientists-believe.html

Now, while this will be almost unbelievable news to many people, the fact is, it’s not news to those of us who have spent a long time hanging around with chickens. In fact, it’s a no-brainer.

What’s also true is that not all chickens feel this kind of feeling toward . . . → Read More: Chickens feel empathy! Are we surprised, and does it matter?

Check It Out, Everyone! Cooking With Real Vegans Goes Live!

We’ve just launched our new cooking show! I won’t ramble about it now — check it out when you have ten minutes to spare, and I promise you’ll have a good time.