Wolves in the Rockies have been delisted from the Endangered Species List. 
It doesn’t matter what political party is in power, animals always finish last – not just in the U.S., but around the world. 
Now the wolves are being hunted, because humans think that two-legged animals have more rights than four-legged animals and they think that only humans can balance Nature, only humans can determine a healthy wolf population, and humans, not wolves, should be controlling the populations of prey species like elk. 
The mind reels. 


           
Strip down a human to what a human really is, to what s/he really has: pathetic excuses for “claws,” the lack of fangs for killing prey and eating flesh, and no protection from the elements in the form of fur or thick hair. 
Humans are essentially weak and helpless creatures who have always used animals for their own advancement. 
We haven’t evolved as other species do, by adapting and slowly creating better, stronger physical features to survive. 
Instead, we have used donkeys to carry our loads, we have used horses to travel long distances with speed, we have used elements of the earth to create bows and arrows and blades for killing animals that we should be prey to (like the wolves). 
We have placed ourselves so proudly atop the food chain while at once detaching ourselves from the life intertwined in this universe and, more specifically, on this planet. 
Our exploitation of other animals has made us even lazier than we intrinsically are, and therefore even weaker, focusing instead upon development of industry, money, and technology. 
Those things evolve, while we do not. 
Even women have lost their connection to their own bodies, using, for example, birth control pills that pump hormones into their systems to make them have fewer menstrual cycles in a year, completely altering the body’s natural rhythms without a second thought. 


And yet humans still think that they can decide, using their unreliable charts and graphs, how many animals of a given species have a right to life; that 600 wolves, for example, in a region covering three states, are sufficient. 
600 humans surely wouldn’t be sufficient for survival, so why would it be enough for wolves? 
It is enough, according to those people’s standards, because it keeps the wolves from killing the pet dogs people leave outside unattended and from eating the cattle and sheep that are ranched. 
A solution, from a vegan like myself: If you understand that the farm animals shouldn’t be raised for food, then you wouldn’t have to keep them, and then you wouldn’t have the problem of them being attacked by wolves and you wouldn’t have to feel so self-important in keeping the wolf numbers down. 


A few of us have raised our consciousness and recognized the connection we have to all life on this planet, from the tiny organisms living in the deepest, darkest depths of the vast oceans to the birds that migrate through our skies from one hemisphere to the other. 
If only all of us would evolve, mentally and spiritually, to that place, then we may once again begin evolving physically to better adapt to this changing planet. 
Until then we are doomed to an artificial existence, working against Nature until She shakes us off, as George Carlin stated, “like a bad case of fleas.” 


Deepak Chopra once said: “The old paradigm was survival of the fittest. 
The new paradigm is survival of the wisest.” 
It’s time we all realize that Truth, for our own survival as well as the survival of other species that support our very existence on this aching Earth.     

- Lisa Selvaggio

            Some people will say that humans are superior to animals in the sense that people have an imagination. 
They can imagine things that are not there, they can plan ahead and look back, and they can create something that is completely new. 


           
While watching a show on Animal Planet that tracked a lion pride in Africa, I noticed how a lion cub, after having eaten her mother’s kill, started playing with the leftover flesh and fur of the carcass, pouncing towards it, running from it, and attacking it as though it were prey. 
Is this an example of imagination on the lion cub’s part? 
I think so. 
Clearly the animal is training for the future, for the days when she will be the one on the hunt for food, but what’s also clear is that the cub has the ability to imagine that that piece of animal skin, once belonging to the animal she just devoured, is something other than itself. 
In the cub’s mind, it is something alive and it is a prize to be had. 


           
Anyone who owns a pet can probably attest to their animal’s imagination as well. 
A young cat chasing a string or walking away with a toy mouse in its mouth, acting as though it has just had a triumphant kill, clearly knows that the mouse is not edible, yet pretends as though it is, in much the same way that a little boy will play with “army men” toys, yet in their minds be right in the thick of the action. 
Doesn’t that count as a form of imagination? 
If the animal couldn’t imagine, then the toy mouse would simply be a toy. 
For both the human child and the animal, it is all a part of growing up, of training the mind and body for the future, for survival.

           
Just because animals may not feel the need to build skyscrapers or travel into outer space does not mean they lack imagination and creativity. 
They build their shelters differently, using the Earth and nothing more. 
They don’t have labs to create synthetics and break down materials into their simplest, elemental forms to be recreated into something different. 
Perhaps they don’t bother re-evaluating the way they do things because they’ve been doing it with such a high level of success for hundreds or thousands of years, sometimes longer than humanity has even been around. 
Why fix something if it’s not broken, right? 
They evolve as they should, with least effort; and with the changes of the planet, not against it. 
So a bird species may build a nest the same way over and over again, but it’s because that species has already spent the time perfecting it, and it works. 


Humans, on the other hand, misuse their imagination and creativity. 
Missiles and weapons used for destruction; irradiation of food, land, and sky; poisonous building materials; prescription drugs and vaccines laced with chemicals that alter the body’s natural processes and create more disease; waste in outer space; and plastics that never break down---these are some of the things that human imagination has created. 
I’m not sure we should be so proud. 


           
In the end, there is not much differentiation between the human animal and animals of other species, if you truly observe their behaviors and don’t simply attribute it all to instinct. 
I think there is a level of intuition, imagination, and connection to the Source of Life that animals understand on a level that we have not yet touched. 
They look too different, and they don’t speak our language, so we automatically assume that they are dull and mindless creatures, following deeply embedded instinctual codes of survival. 
But I give them much more credit than that. 
Our horrendous laboratory testing of animals may yield results that prove they dream as we do, or that they have cognitive abilities beyond what we first imagined, but all of that is unnecessary if only we stopped and observed, truly observed with an open mind and heart, just how perfectly adapted other species are at surviving. 

           
And I’m sure the caged animals being exploited by humans imagine themselves free, or they wouldn’t be fighting to be back in their wild habitat, they wouldn’t be sad in their isolation, they wouldn’t cry, and they wouldn’t go mad. 
I’m sure the elephants, who visit the spots where their kin were laid to rest, have the ability to remember the past. 
I’m certain that the ape who keeps holding her baby, imagining that it is still alive days after its death, can remember and can wish that it isn’t true, just like we do when we lose a loved one. 
And I’m sure all the animals of this planet that we are quickly destroying, thanks to our “imagination,” can envision a future, if only in their minds, of the way it should be---maybe because they can remember, in their soul memory, what it was like before we creatively began to take the world apart.   

- Lisa Selvaggio

           
Becoming the person I am today has taught me many things, not only about animal-related issues and myself, but also about other people, namely friends. 
I’ve come to realize that when you become as entrenched in a belief or way of life as I am, your true friends are the ones who have enough of an open mind to accept you for who you have become, and are willing to let you be. 
I can say I’ve lost some friends over the past few years, one or two of which can probably be attributed to my vegan lifestyle and their disagreement with it. 
I can also say that on my music magazine’s Facebook page, we’ve lost “friends” because we would post about an animal issue and someone felt the need to debate us on it as opposed to simply letting us promote what we feel. 
Everyone, from strangers on the internet to friends and family, feels the need to start up an argument about my eating habits or my feelings toward other species. 
I don’t incite these arguments; people just seem to feel they need to defend their lifestyles and so they’ll often ask why I am the way I am and proceed to give reasons that I’m wrong. 
If I don’t push my opinions on them, why do they feel the need to debate me in the first place? 
I really think that it’s because they feel the need to defend themselves around me because I live a radically different life from theirs. 


           
People are really interesting. 
They’ll say a delicate ecosystem of small mammals and plants is at risk because of, for instance, a deer overpopulation that eats all of the vegetation. 
As a response to the problem, brought about by urban sprawl and predation, they decide to cull the deer. 
What I see here is a species that needs to look in the mirror. 
We are the ultimate invasive species. 
We are killing this planet wherever we go, from the cutting down of forests to the breaking apart of mountains to the dumping of waste in the oceans. 
It must be something to be another animal, to see Homo-sapiens encroach and destroy everything in their path, to see their population grow out of control to the point that they may not be able to sustain themselves any longer. 


           
I have to laugh when I hear people talk about a fragile ecosystem in distress or being threatened by an overpopulation of another species, all the while dumping trash into landfills and polluting the oceans with plastic that kills, and destroying the atmosphere with smokestacks and taking up valuable land to house cages upon cages of animals that will be destroyed inhumanely for their fur, and covering everything in concrete. 
Any chance humans get to plow over a forest for farmland or for a shopping center or for more homes, in an effort to sustain the ever-growing population, they take it. 
Yet they don’t seem to see the destruction left in the wake of these actions. 
But the deer you must fear, they will eat away the delicate balance and so they must be hunted and controlled – yet another thing humans never learn: try to control one species with your mathematical equations and graphs, but it never works, and another species is always thrown off balance. 
You can’t do what Nature can do, and it’s not your job.
           
So let’s have a debate, but look in the mirror first, and look at humanity and what it has done and what it continues to do, and see the effects of the actions. 
If you still feel that things don’t need to change, that one individual making a change can’t make a difference, let’s talk.     

- Lisa Selvaggio

           
There is the one caught in the trap, its leg held hard, unable to break free and in excruciating pain. 
The breath, the life, the walking in the wilderness called home, the pulse, the blood, and then snap! 
The pain, the confusion, the agony, the blood that spills out. 
And the endless cries for help that never comes, the heart beating faster, the blood pouring more swiftly. 
Then the attempt to break free by chewing at the hard metal trap. 
The blood from the mouth, the teeth breaking, the gums gone numb. 
Until death comes with its slow approach, welcomed, or a fast blow to the head by the profit-hungry soulless monster. 


           
That is just one scene shown as part of the footage in the Tribe of Heart documentary titled “The Witness,” showing one man’s revelation of his connection to animals and then his plan to expose the cruelty behind the fur industry. 
This is just one scene, amidst the others of animals ranging from foxes to hares to ferrets. 
Then the scenes, filled with animal cries of those raised on fur farms in barren cages, cannibalizing each other, going mad with grief and a need for freedom that will never come. 
The man, heartless, grabbing the animal after cornering it, anally electrocuting it so as to preserve the coat that will be used for some human’s “fashion.” 
These scenes I can never get used to. 
They will always leave me breathless, tears streaming down my cheeks, wrenching and twisting my heart. 
Even just typing this makes me hands shake and my head weak. 
Because I have always been repelled by fur, I have never understood its purpose, never seen its supposed beauty after its been ripped from the animal it rightfully belongs to. 


           
I sit at the dinner table at Christmas, and the women who love to try to prove to others that they are richer than they are discuss their dreams of mink coats before moving on to a discussion of old furs no longer used for clothing but rather turned into stuffed animals. 
I cringe and hold it in. 
They know who I am, they know what I am about, and yet they continue talking, almost to spite me, it seems. 
But it’s family, and I have to keep my cool. 
You can’t just run away from these people when you’re done arguing, you have to face them again. 
“That’s how it used to be,” they say after someone bursts forth with, “If you want a stuffed bear, why don’t you just go out into the woods and club a bear cub and leave it at that, so that the seal can keep being a seal and the fox could be a fox!” 
I can’t help but laugh at this comment, since it is really ridiculous that they take an old coat because “the fur starts to decay” and use it in a stuffed animal that isn’t even the same species. 
“But that’s how it was, they didn’t have synthetics back then, it was all fur,” they try to justify, as if they were born in tribal times instead of the 1950s. 
“No synthetics” – I doubt that much (see this site for proof). 
I think humanity had gotten to the point by then that it didn’t need animal skins anymore to keep warm. 


           
At work, a coworker walks out into the cold winter weather of the northeast wearing a big fur hat someone brought back for her from Russia. 
I feel it, asking if it’s real, saying “how could you” as she confirms it is real. 
She replies that she doesn’t care about the animals killed for fur, because she never fed them, never cared for them, and so they mean nothing to her.  Yet, t
his woman owns horses. 
I’m sure she would hate to see one of them end up in an illegal slaughterhouse to be used as meat, despite the fact that she’s a meat-eater, as I’m sure she wouldn’t want it killed just so someone could use its mane.  The horse is the same as any other animal, captive or wild, yet she cares only because she has claimed ownership over it.     


           
What will it take, I wonder, for people to realize that fur is not necessary, and it shows nothing of their status or wealth but everything of their ignorance and inability to empathize with animals that deserve to live – have a right to life – as much as the dogs or cats that they pamper with spa treatments and cute little outfits? 
What will it take for people to view the footage I view and make the goddamn connection? 
What will it take for people to understand that the cow, the pig, the chicken, the fox, the rabbit, the mouse, the bird, the reptile, the fish, and the pets they keep are ALL animals – thinking, feeling, knowing beings, living and evolving just like the rest of us? 
When will people stop making the distinction between the animals they can eat, the animals they can keep, and the animals they can skin? 
When will the brainwashing end, and when will people wake up, and what will it take? 
When will people realize that using animals, especially in cruel ways, is not a topic for debate? 
But most importantly, when will people realize that humans are animals too, equal and no better than the rest on this planet?

           
I don’t know if the day will ever come when an animal is respected and not trapped or raised for its fur, but I will work nonetheless to spread education about what goes into making those coats people love to show off. 
They may not see the bloody corpse of an animal that was skinned alive, or the animal caught in the elements with no way of breaking free, or the caged innocents with absolute fear in their eyes. 
I see those eyes on the screen and they haunt me. 
I see the images and they replay in my mind as the mindless chatter goes on outside of me and I try my best to be respectful as they continue to walk all over me. 
I see the blatant sadism and I question how people could be that way, as others justify it and think nothing of the violence and hatred. 
And then they wonder why people are so cruel towards each other. 
They, and their snide remarks about my lifestyle, my lifestyle which breeds life, not death. 
They make jokes or start arguments because they are afraid that they are wrong, and so they feel the need to justify their actions without even being provoked. 
And so my anger rages, and the passion burns brighter, and I promise those animals that I will try, at least try, to help them, even though I’m not quite sure yet just how I will.   

           
There is the one who was alive and feeling, whose life was stolen for someone else’s selfish want. 

- Lisa Selvaggio

*Also showcased under Featured Editorial of The Animals Voice January 2010 e-newsletter http://www.animalsvoice.com/enews/01-10.html
*Also featured on All-Creatures.org at www.all-creatures.org/articles/ar-whose.html

These words fall upon deaf ears. 
I wonder if my task is futile. 
Finding then grabbing onto inspiration to have it end there? 


Scandalous voices are heard. 
The reward reaches the one who is the whore, selling the self to the great distraction, the grinding machine, its teeth grating. 
White-collar criminals, liars poisoning the blind who indulge in their own misdirection, misinformation. 


They could change, if only they knew. 
They could find a way to break the spell, unbind themselves from the falsities. 
Instead they carry on, inhibiting themselves and taking me prisoner as well. 
I, forced to live in their cage, struggle to pry the bars apart and step through. 
And my words fall upon deaf ears, so the eternal struggle continues with nothing more than a dubious promise made to oneself of some reward in the next plane of existence.

The need for glamour and material possessions outweighs the raw emotion and passion, and blood and flesh and bone is needed to fill the void created thereof. 
The derivation of pleasure from someone else’s pain, from some form of destruction, from the mushroom cloud that paints the sky. 
And we all choke on the smoke of our own stagnation as I bellow my words upon brainwashed ears unwilling to hear my Truth. 


Drums beating the wrong rhythm—war drums—enticing violence. 
Ignorance breeding itself and bigotry in young minds, 21st century hate. 


The skin that shows itself if only to attract a camera’s lens and produce a name in the paper, not realizing it has been sold to the patriarchal scheme that enslaves and claims possession of the desperate and astray. 
And too many words fall upon indifferent ears, unwilling to wake.

So I become mad with ambition, refusing to change, refusing to fall prey to the game they all play so well, refusing to partake in the dying, refusing to buy their lines of deceit. 
The world can fabricate its own artificial nature, but I refuse to bow down, be taken. 
I refuse to become enslaved, to be led by gluttonous killers. 
The Spirit rages within and refuses to forget its Source; the Woman is still connected to the breathing pulse of Life. 

            So these words may fall upon deaf ears, but they are Alive!

- Lisa Selvaggio

      Everything stripped clean across the barren land---clarity in death, when the cold winds blow harshly, biting the skin raw, as the sun in its brightness lies about its warmth.  Everything here sleeps except the broken, the tired, the lost, seeking salvation in dreams of water that does not freeze.  Seeking a spark to illuminate and light the way.  Craving to hibernate, to hide away, but having to take stock because things will only continue to fall apart even after the seeds have cracked open into buds when the soil breathes new life. 
     
All the friends that said their promises, and all the friends now gone.  Memories buried in snow, which covers the ground with a false sense of purity---don't step in it for fear of ruining the blanket and releasing all those emotions again.  Stuffing everything down to instead focus on survival. 
     
Fighting oneself more than the cold.  The snow can fall and the icicles can hang all they want, waiting for something, someone, to help change things, to help bring back the time lost.  But the world seems too far gone, and every continent's been bought, so there is no escape.  And the heat from the fire is stifling.
     
The cold is real but there is something artificial about the air, about the clouds that cover the clear blue horizon.  Life is slow, yet there is a promise for growth and renewal---an empty promise that will soon be forgotten once realized unfulfilled, buried under the slush that transforms into slick ice at night to fool the careless wanderer.  The crisp leaves replaced by cracking sheets of ice lining the concrete, hiding amid the blades of grass.  A need to tread carefully.
     
The promise of Winter's end---the season may slink away for its own repose, the snow will melt and set the flowers free---but life may still hold ice and bitterness for me...

- Lisa Selvaggio

      I try to find inspiration among the falling leaves of my life, trying to look past all that's coming down and apart around me.  Just for a few moments, those leaves soaring past my window are free, released from the grip of the branches and flying through the air; following, being guided by the wind, effortlessly.  But I can't help but see them fall to the ground, crushed and decaying.  Is life nothing more than a struggle for freedom that, once attained, lasts but a while before you're forced back to the ground again? 


      I walk through the big city, and it's cloudy with a little bit of rain, as it always seems to be when I'm here, no matter what time of year it is, and the wind is blowing harshly.  The trees here have already been stripped of their leaves, and it seems that here there are still jobs to be had as the people hustle past.  There are plenty of distractions: the skyscrapers touching the clouds, the bright lights and giant video screens, the taxis hurrying by, buses' horns blowing.  But all I hear is the crunch of the leaves below my feet and the only thing that steals my gaze for more than a mere second is the tiny sparrow and its mate searching for food in what little spot of vegetation there is along the concrete sidewalk; the tiny birds struggling to make it through another day, just like all of us.  Blank stares of the passengers on the train or ferry, going home after a desk-ridden day at the office after the sun's long been set, fill no void, bring no inspiration except to stay away from that life as best as I can.  But the tiny birds, I have to stop and look.  Maybe I'm strange.  Maybe I'm just really lame.  But it's the truth.


     This big city has nothing to offer me.  It's in the solace of the trees that I find my rhythm and flow.  And maybe there's an opportunity there in the concrete floors and walls, maybe I'm missing out on something, but all I can think is, bring that opportunity here, amongst the blades of grass and leaves beneath my bare feet and then I can settle for it.  But trade this green for everything paved, and trade this air for a stifled room?  I may be forced to do it, but I don't want to.  And that's probably what all those emotionless faces on the subway said before life got too real.  And it's beginning to get too real for me, as I find myself standing closer and closer to the edge, and I'm damn scared of heights. 


      Thus is the dull life of the human.  To awake to the alarm, the jolting noise, not the sun or the birds' songs, and to spend most hours of the day directed by someone who claims to have more rights than you and dictates your paycheck.  Distracted by the chatter, by the price check, by the bills and the banks, by the cookie-cutter education we all supposedly need.  And in the meantime, our bodies ache because we don't have time to take care of ourselves and we get so bored and boring because there's no mental stimulation, just the same old every day. 

      That's why the birds distract me and grab my attention.  For some reason, even though they struggle too, they just always seem more alive.  It just always seems like the leaves in their lives don't float and fall, they continue gliding higher and higher.  That's why I try to find my way like the musician or photographer who tours the world, whose canvas is the open sky and the mountains caressed by the sea, not the pages of a ledger book.  Their faces are full of color, and their hands have something real to offer, something that's just as full of life as what inspires them.  The clatter of the keyboard and the ringing of the phone do not compare.  It is all in the pen, the brush, the instrument, and the flash.  Harnessing the wind and grabbing your leaves before they sink down, before the color is gone and the branches are bare.

- Lisa Selvaggio
 

            With animals, there is no judging. 


     
     
It doesn’t matter how tall I am, or how skinny I am, or how attractive I am, or how strong I am. 
All they see is my eyes, all they feel is the gentleness in my touch, all they hear is my soothing, understanding voice. 


     
     
They don’t care what I do for a living, or how big my house is, or how much money I make. 
All they know is that I am there when they need me to be, that I care, that they can count on me. 
All they need to know is that I will never hurt them and will give them a safe place to rest. 


     
     
Despite my shortcomings, I have always found forgiveness from animals. 
I cannot say the same for people. 
Animals have never backstabbed or lied to me, because their actions always exude their innermost feelings and honestly seeps out from their skin. 
I have never been betrayed by them, finding a companionship that never wavered instead. 
Nor have I ever felt used by them, but rather my kindness returned tenfold by actions of unconditional affection.

An animal’s mistrust or anger towards me is never hidden, so I always know when to approach slowly and with caution. 
With animals, there is always a boundary you don’t cross, a line of respect never to be forgotten, and it’s the lack of words between our kinds that makes it so. 


There is no need to fear for an “act” from an animal, no need to fear insincerity. 
Their emotions are real, never contrived. 
If they fear, are jealous, are angry, are unsure, are secure, are content, or are trusting, they show it in their eyes, in their ears, in the way their bodies are positioned, as long as you know how to read them. 
There are no actors among animals. 


In their wild homes, I tread with care, because I am the one who needs to fear, the one in their territory, and their wildness and fear of my kind keeps their eyes from fully understanding my intentions. 
There’s that line you don’t want to forget, that boundary line you don’t cross. 
The wild ones don’t need me to comfort them, they don’t need shelter from me; they just need their freedom and my respect, my admiration from afar at the splendor of their existence and their roles on this delicate planet. 


Yet on those rare occasions that a wild baby or injured one needs my care, I know they will know my intentions are pure and they will respect and appreciate me in return, remembering that, although humans have done them so much harm and disregard, there are a few of us who care. 


From the closest people in my life, from family to friends, I have been tormented by their disapprovals, by their attempts at forcing me to live the life they dream for me, by their eyes full of lies that led me to believe I could trust them, and by their disappearance from me with no good reason. 
And so I have felt a stronger connection to those with whom I cannot share a conversation, with those who challenge me to show my feelings through my actions alone, and with those who are with me for such a short time yet always manage to teach me something new. 


Animals deserve our respect and compassion as much as we deserve it from each other. 
We can learn so much from them that would help us be more peaceful and be more honest. 
We could learn to respect boundaries, learn to show one another how we really feel instead of being amateur actors in our everyday lives. 
We could learn how to be gentle but firm, and learn how to live with, not against, the Earth. 
If only people would realize that words are unnecessary and truth can be found in the eyes and hands that reflect understanding and tenderness… 



- Lisa Selvaggio 

*Also featured on All-Creatures.org at www.all-creatures.org/articles/ar-judgment.html

People often ask me if it was hard to go vegetarian.  I will admit, I did try to go vegetarian once but failed.  I have no shame in admitting that, as I feel it further proves that even if one fails at it, s/he can always try again and make it work.  I'm not sure how much time passed between my failed attempt and my successful attempt.  Maybe it was just a few months, maybe closer to a year or longer.  All I know is that I had been learning more and more about the cruelty inflicted upon animals on factory farms and was not able to go on knowing I was contributing to it by buying meat.  

           
The moment it changed for me, though, was when I came across a music video (I'm not sure where on the internet I found it) by a band called Madison Park.  The song, "Opus One," is about factory farms and the animals who suffer on them, and the video is full of footage taken undercover of the waste products, environmental destruction, and pollution created by the industry, as well as the animal abuse that abounds on these so-called farms, from chicks thrown out alive in garbage bags to starve, suffocate, or be crushed to death, to a calf lying on the floor unable to get up as a man whipped his side.  The video had me crying, telling myself I couldn't do it anymore; I couldn't and wouldn't contribute to this suffering anymore.  And that was it.  That night, I decided to go vegetarian.  And just like that, I eliminated all meat from my diet (to clarify, anything that has a face, including all fish).

            
 I had not eliminated dairy or eggs from my diet, though, until I learned more about the connection between the meat and dairy industries -- how dairy cows are made pregnant to produce milk, their babies stolen and used for meat or more dairy; how male chicks are discarded because they don't produce eggs and don't grow fast enough, and the females lay eggs in tiny barren cages after their beaks are sliced until they, too, are slaughtered for meat.  It wasn't long at all, maybe a couple of months, before my cow's milk turned into soy milk, almond milk, and rice milk, my whey protein shake became a rice protein shake, and my cheese became rice cheese or soy cheese.  It wasn't long before my Italian family was feasting on my vegan manicotti at holidays or I was baking vegan cakes for birthdays.  

           
Was it easy to go vegetarian?  It was easy because my heart was behind it.  It is so easy saying no to meat and dairy when you see the images of suffering and death in the back of your mind.  It is also easy to understand the health benefits of a vegetarian diet, and the even better benefits of a vegan diet done right.  It is simple to refuse a meat-containing dish, especially after some time has passed and the look and smell of raw and cooked meat becomes disturbing.  And it's fun to delve into new flavors, new cultures of food, and experiment to bring new dishes into your diet to enjoy, or tweak old favorites that still satisfy.  

           
The hardest part about being vegan is the lack of convenience when you're out and need to grab a bite to eat.  It's much easier for a carnivore to stop in any restaurant and find a decent meat dish, but it's harder, sometimes impossible, to find a good vegetarian meal, never mind vegan.  But if more people become vegetarian or vegan, demand will increase, and more restaurants will spring up serving veg cuisine, and already existing ones will offer more options.  And sure, it may be a little more expensive to buy certain vegan products and foods as opposed to conventional, but it's worth it for the health and environmental benefits.  And the money you save from not buying meat and contributing to suffering, pollution, and illness can easily be allocated toward the purchase of these alternatives.  And yet again, if demand increases, maybe prices can decrease as well.  

            
 As a vegan, I don't feel I'm missing out, but instead feel that others who are still stuck in the old ways of eating and living are missing out in so many ways.  It's definitely worth the ride into this lifestyle that appreciates all life, including your own.  Whether you try it out for your health or for the lives of other innocents, the important part is trying, whether it's going cold turkey like I did or eliminating meat from your diet little by little.  What you may realize is that it's one of the best decisions you'll make, for yourself, for the animals, and for the Earth.      

            This particular blog was inspired by a very short news article I read today on CNN.com entitled “Pet Bear Kills Pennsylvania Woman.” 
The article, found here, is very short, so I’ll go ahead and paste it right into this blog, in addition to the link I just provided:

 

“
A 37-year-old Pennsylvania woman died Sunday after being mauled by her pet black bear, authorities said.


Kelly Ann Walz was attacked when she entered the bear's cage to feed the 350-pound animal and clean its cage, according to Pennsylvania State Police. The bear lived in a 15-by-15-foot steel and concrete enclosure on Walz's property in Ross Township.


The bear wasn't the only unusual animal living on the property, an official with the State Game Commission told CNN affiliate WFMZ-TV. The homeowner had a permit to keep a Bengal tiger and an African lion, and the property routinely passed inspection and had no violations, he said.


A neighbor shot and killed the bear that attacked the owner, state police said.


An investigation continues.”

 


           
I understand that it is in cases like these where animal activists are misunderstood, and so I hope no one will think me insensitive, but there is a part of me that cannot feel sorry for this person. 
She chose to keep a black bear in an enclosure the size of a small livingroom, made of concrete and steel, and on top of that, also had a tiger and a lion, in Pennsylvania. 
I can’t help but get angry at the selfish ignorance of people like her, who keep these wild animals under these types of conditions and then wonder why they snap, like the woman whose chimp attacked her friend and nearly left her for dead this past year. 
And it always ends with death for the animal, without fail. 
The animal can’t speak for itself and plead for its side of the story to be heard, so it rarely ever gets a second chance.


           
Although there are no photos, and the police claim the property passed inspection, I dread to think of the conditions these animals live in. 
Bears, lions, and tigers are massive animals made of nothing but muscle who need miles of space to live out their lives, yet people, and the government that allows for such ridiculous permits, feel that it’s okay to keep these predators under lock and key in someone’s backyard. 
The governments that allow people to keep these animals should consider the safety of the people. 
As long as these leaders are going to dictate what we can and cannot consume, if we can or can’t own guns, etc., all in the name of our “safety,” then it should be common sense to outlaw the keeping of wild animals as pets. 
The animals suffer indefinitely, no matter what some people will tell you about how they’re treated, and the humans often suffer consequences as well.


           
There are sanctuaries across the United States and around the world that rescue and take in wild animals who were formerly kept as pets in horrendous conditions. 
It happens all the time, and their goal is to give these animals a better place to live out the rest of their lives because it’s usually too late to release them back into the wild. 
When people refuse to continue caring for these animals, or when they simply cannot afford to anymore, they pick up and leave them behind to die slow deaths without food and water in their tiny enclosures, sometimes with no sunlight. 
Some make it out when they’re rescued, some don’t, and some that do make it have permanent damage from diseases or injuries from which they will never recover. 
Let’s also not forget the ones that are sold off to canned hunts or are shot and killed for their fur or so someone can hang their head on the wall.   



           
I call it selfish ignorance because people who do things like this are just that: selfish because they want to keep these cute and cuddly animals while they’re young, disregarding the lives they are meant to lead, and ignorant because they don’t know what these animals really need in terms of space, diet, enrichment, companionship, etc., and they don’t even think about how uncontrollable they’ll be once they reach maturity. 
Do I feel sorry for these people? 
How can I? 
Am I siding with the animals? 
Yes. 
Am I crazy for thinking this way? 
No. 



Keeping wild animals should be a criminal activity; the fact that it isn’t is precisely where the problem begins. 
Despite non-profits lobbying government to ban the breeding and trade of animals like big cats, for instance, different states have different laws and they are all too vague and filled with loopholes to make a difference. 
This woman’s life did not have to end this way, nor did that bear’s. 
Her family and friends did not need to suffer the loss of her. 
It wouldn’t have happened if we had federal laws prohibiting the breeding, trading, keeping, canned hunting, and use of wild animals in any way. 
But people are selfish, and people are ignorant, and people think that we should control these powerful creatures, and people think that they have the right to keep them in captivity to “see and learn about them.” 
If keeping an animal in captivity should teach us anything, it should be that wild animals should never be kept in captivity. 

- Lisa Selvaggio

Wow, it feels like it's been forever since I updated this blog with a new entry. Probably because 2009 has been a terrible year and nothing has gone right so far.

I'm here to let you know that there is still hope, though, for all those scraps you have lying around the house since the holidays. Every year we create tons of garbage from wrapping paper, boxes, food scraps, etc. Well, what if we could help our own lives along as well as that of the Earth and the species we co-exist with? Instead of putting all that trash into a landfill where it takes even longer to break down, use it in your own yard to help preserve hibernating plants and local wildlife that need shelter.

Here are just a few ideas to help you utilize your trash, and some pointers on how to avoid create as much next year:

1. Cardboard Boxes:
Just about every gift you buy these days comes in a cardboard box. Dolls, video games, appliances, they all come boxed up. Instead of sending all that cardboard to the dump, or even to the recycling plants, why not give it a second life in your garden? If you're anything like me, 2009 was so hectic you probably never got around to properly winterizing your yard. Take the cardboard boxes and cut them into sheets or strips and use them as a layer of mulch to protect delicate root systems below the ground from the penetrating frost. Even if you've already had some snow this year, there is probably still time to add this insulating layer. One important note, though: If you are going to then top the boxes off with some soil or wood chips to weigh it down, strip off any printing that is on the box. Most boxes are made separately from their printed wrappers, which are glued on during assembly,  so they should be easily removed with a sharp knife and some patience. The reason is that color inks contain traces of heavy metals that are bad for the biology of your soil, as well as harmful to your plants (and to you if they bear crops), so make sure to only use the bare cardboard. If the boxes are only printed in black and white, then it should be fine.

2. Wrapping Paper:
Most wrapping paper is color and is probably best kept out of the garden. Plus, it's very light and easily blown away, creating litter everywhere. Instead, why not shred it up and use it as the cage liner if you have a pet bird? It'll can save you a few trips to the pet store to buy cage substrate, and can then be thrown away when it is soiled. It's not a permanent fix, but at least it gives it one more cycle of use before it gets sent to the trash heap.

3. Ribbon:
You know those few feet of ribbon that came wrapped around your gift from your crafty Aunt Edna? Why throw it away? If you grow any tall varieties of vegetables in the summer and need to support them so they stand up straight, why not save the ribbon for tying the plants to the stakes? It may not look very pretty at first, but after a few weeks when the plants have grown in and start flowering you probably won't even be able to see the ribbon. If everyone reused just a few feet of ribbon we could save literally thousands of miles of it from ending up in landfills every year (source). What would be even better is if you choose to wrap a gift for someone else with ribbon, choose a cloth ribbon instead of plastic or nylon. Cloth ribbon will biodegrade much easier in the long run.

4. Christmas/Holiday Tree:
Yes, I use the term "holiday tree" because Christmas is not the only holiday that uses a tree. There is also the Yule, which is arguably the source for most modern Christmas traditions, but that's a topic for a separate blog entry. Anyway, according to Earth911.com you can recycle your real tree (obviously, don't do this with artificial trees) by dropping pieces of it into a local body of water (check with local regulations first!). If you have a pond in your yard you can drop a few tree limb clippings in there to help with aeration and nutrients, as well as providing shelter for your fish, if you keep any. There is also the option of chopping the tree up for firewood. If you have a fireplace in your house, or a fire pit in your backyard, this is a great way to utilize that tree because as we all know, you pay $6 or so for a small bundle of firewood that lasts you one night. A full tree could get you through a few weeks if it's big enough.  You could also use some of the tree limbs and stack them cross-crossed in a corner of your yard, away from other buildings, as shelter for small mammals and ground-nesting birds.

5. Food Scraps:
This one might seem like a no-brainer, but many people forget to compost or to find other ways of using scraps. Big family dinners produce big family waste when they are over. Why send all that garbage to decay somewhere else when you can let it decay in your yard and improve your soil quality? Better soil quality means less money has to be spend on fertilizers in the next growing season. Get an indoor composter, if you don't like the idea of having a pile of rotting garbage in your yard, it's a great way to use up scraps of food, like that leftover quiche that you never really wanted in the first place. Did your health conscious sibling get a juicer this year? If so, ask if you can have the dried pulp that the machine stores after each use. Fruit and vegetable pulp makes great compost because it's already shredded up and partially broken down. Less surface area means quicker decomposition, and a faster turnaround on that nutrient rich natural fertilizer. If you start from now you might have a decent sized batch ready for your spring planting.

6. Shopping Bags:
Lots of people these days are using cloth or canvas bags to go shopping, but many still leave the house without them or won't shell out the $5 that some stores are asking for a plain bag with their name on it. Why pay $5 when you can get reusable bags for free? They may not be cloth, so they will wear out faster, but you can reuse a lot of those large paper department store bags the next time you go shopping. If you buy a large item from a big chain store like Macy's (for example) they may give you a large paper bag with their logo on it. Why not use those the next time you go shopping? You can keep light groceries in those bags if they are made well. If they seem too flimsy, you can still recycle them, or even use them turned inside out as wrapping paper for next year's presents.

7. Flowers:
Some people put out large flower centerpieces at their dinner tables when hosting holiday dinners or parties. If the flowers are real, they inevitably wilt and dry out, and wind up in your garbage can. Instead of just throwing away those flowers, why not let them dry on a paper towel, or hang them in a doorway for a few days, and then leave them outside in your yard where they can become food for squirrels and chipmunks? If the flowers release seeds when they are dried, they will also help to feed any birds that don't or have not yet migrated for the winter. In fact, if you are going to use your tree clippings to provide shelter to our furry or feathered friends, you can leave the dried flowers near the opening or right inside the shelter area as an incentive for them to move in.

8. Give Better Gifts:
This may seem like an odd piece of advice, but think about it. How many times did you get a gift that you didn't necessarily ask for, but thought was cool anyway. In the long run, since it wasn't something you had anticipated needing, or getting, you don't have as much use for it as you thought you might, and you don't want to be rude and give it back for an exchange, so you keep it. It collects dust for a while, and a few years later when you're cleaning out your closet you find it and decide it's safe to throw away now because enough time has passed. Now think about how many of the gifts you give suffer the same fate. Or worse yet, even the gifts you give with the best intentions of fulfilling someone's request, if they are made poorly, can break and become trash quicker than you anticipated. Why not give a better, more durable, useful gift? If you can't think of anything that fits that description, then why not skip giving an item and give an experience? Trinkets and baubles only take up space and become trash later on, but memories can last a lifetime if they are good ones. Why not give someone tickets to a concert or sporting event. Maybe they like the theater? There are many cities that have their own theater districts that put on some great musicals, plays, or operas. You can even just give someone a gift certificate to a nice restaurant. You are still giving them a very nice, thoughtful gift, but you won't be contributing to the tons of garbage we produce every holiday season, which can typically be 25% higher than the rest of the year.

Think these over, perhaps you already do some of them. Maybe you can implement some of them today, in order to secure a cleaner tomorrow.

That's all for now, Happy New Year everyone!
-Rob

Just a quick request to anyone reading this blog. I recently entered a few of my shots of Cradle of Filth guitarist Paul Allender into the Billboard Magazine "Ultimate Music Moment" Contest.



While the main categories are awarded by a panel of judges, there is a Fan Favorite section where the public can vote. The winner will be published in Billboard Magazine and the Photo District News publication when the contest is over. I'd really appreciate it if everyone could take a minute and sign up with your email address to vote.



PLEASE CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE IMAGE.



I need lots more votes to beat out the leader right now. Every little bit helps. If you have a Facebook or Twitter, or any other networking site, please urge your friends and family to vote as well.



You can only vote once per email address.



Thanks!



Also, even though I don't always agree with PETA's tactics. They did do a very cool thing by interviewing Paul Allender himself about his views on animal abuse. You can see it here:


Learn more about Cradle of Filth at peta2.com.





More soon!

Since yesterday's entry on Vegan Jalepeno Poppers was such a success, I thought I would share another recipe with all of you. 



Since I stopped eating eggs, I would often crave an egg and cheese sandwich for breakfast. I would make them every so often in the morning to give me that protein boost I need to start the day. But since eggs are about as ethical as back alley abortions, I will not eat them anymore. But still, when you've grown up your entire life eating a certain way, and certain foods have become your favorite, you do start to crave them sometimes.




Well, I've got some good news and some bad news. The bad news first: If you look around the web for vegetarian/vegan scrambled eggs, you get a lot of recipes that use tofu, but the list of ingredients usually topples some of the more petite sky scrapers out there. The list of steps and things you need can be enough to make you just eat a banana as you run out the door for work. Here's the good news: I had figured "it can't possibly be this involved to make some scrambled tofu!" And it wasn't! I've been making this for about 2 months now, and unless I accidentally didn't season it with enough salt or pepper, you would never know it's not real eggs.




Want to know how to make it? Here you go:




What you need:




1/3 of a pound of Firm Tofu (can be drained, but for this particular recipe it actually won't matter)
Salt
Pepper
English Muffins or Bagels
Vegan Rice Cheese Slices (American or Cheddar)
Vegetarian Bacon (optional)
Hot Sauce (optional)




I prefer Tabasco sauce for the hot sauce, and personally, I use english muffins, though small frozen bagels do work just as well.




So here is what you need to do:


1) Put a small amount of oil in a frying pan or skillet and put on medium heat

2) Put 1/3 of a pound of tofu into a plate and using a fork, mash it in from the corners, and up and down each side into the middle, until it creates crumbles that are consistent with the size and shape of a typical scrambled egg serving

3) Cook tofu in pan until lightly browned.

4) Toast english muffins or bagels, and cook bacon in your desired method.

5) Place bacon strips on bottom half of muffin or bagel, then tofu, then season with salt and pepper and tabasco if desired.

6) Top off with a slice of cheese, close muffin with it's top, and enjoy!




See? Simple, no need for yeast and turmeric and all that other stuff that people say you need just to make it taste like eggs.




The secret here is that if you make a sandwich of egg whites, they have no flavor of their own, they, much like tofu, are very bland and take on the flavor of whatever seasonings you use. So by seasoning with different flavors that are common to real egg sandwiches, you're getting all the tastes, and none of the snotty yuckiness that are eggs. Goes great with a cup of coffee or orange juice.




This recipe usually can make 2 sandwiches if you spread the tofu out well. On top of that, it's got all the same amounts of protein as real eggs but without the cholesterol. And if you use Extra Virgin Olive Oil in the pan you're also coating it with beneficial Omega 3s.

Right now we're at the edge of 2 seasons overlapping. One slowly gives way to the other every year and if you're like me you're deeply immersed in both. That overlap time can be a time of slight confusion coupled with excitement. I'm obviously talking about the summer growing season and football season!

So now that we've FINALLY gotten some summer-like weather here in New Jersey (all of June was rain, July was abnormally cool) I'm seeing my backyard crops finally perk up and yield their proper amounts. On top of that the NFL pre-season starts in a week and it's time to consider what kind of tasty, green-conscious and animal-friendly snacks I shall be indulging in as I root for another NY Giants Superbowl win.

So I take a stroll through my yard and look at the various meals that are possible. One thing that I've missed ever since going mostly vegan is jalepeno poppers. It shouldn't have taken me this long to realize that they'd be easy to make, but it finally dawned on me to give it a try. The truth is there are some vegan alternatives that are great, and almost just as good as the real thing that we all grew up eating, and then there are some that no matter how hard they try, they just can't quite get right.

So here is a quick recipe I threw together last night to try and test the palatability of vegan poppers.

You'll need:
6 Large Jalepeno Peppers
1 Block of Vegan Cheddar Cheese (or Monterrey Jack Cheese) - your favorite brand will do. 
    *NOTE: Most of the blocks of "vegan" cheese still contain casein, a milk protein. Your searching will depend on how strict you are as a vegan*
Tempura Batter (can be bought in a box or prepared at home from scratch. Very easy to make)
Plain Bread Crumbs
Olive Oil
Vegan Sour Cream

What you do:
1) Remove the ends from the peppers. If they are really large, cut them in half to make 2 tubes, and remove the core and seeds
2) Cube the vegan cheddar and slide inside the pepper tubes.
3) Dredge the poppers in the tempura batter and then immediately roll in bread crumbs
4) Fry in a deep fryer or a frying pot for about 3-4 minutes at around 350 degrees
5) Remove from oil to a paper towel on a plate to drain and cool slightly.
6) Serve with vegan sour cream on the side for anyone who can't take the heat.

Now, I came up with this completely out of the blue yesterday and I'm glad to say it was a success. I didn't have any left to take pictures of, so maybe the next time I make them I'll share an image or two. The great thing is that they come out exactly like the real thing, and possibly better. The cheddar I used was kind of mild, so I may try another brand next time. It's all trial and error but they're very easy to make and are great snacks for the big game, or a Ghost Hunters marathon.

Even though the weather in my area has been absolute crap for about a month on end now, I am surprised and happy with what I've been seeing around me.

It seems that in the face of an economic collapse, or a "recession" if you want to sugar coat it, people are turning to their yards for what they need.

There have always been the people who like to garden and grow vegetables in their yard when the weather is right, but then there are the people who didn't really care for all that work. But now that people have begun to feel the stinging of a failing economy, more people are doing what they can to be more self-reliant. This manifests itself in more people gardening and growing their own food, in whatever amounts, than what we've typical seen in recent years.

For instance, near my house there is a family whose front yard is so small it can't possible be more than 6 feet wide by 3 or 4 feet deep. Most people wouldn't consider using that for anything other than a small plot of grass and maybe some flowers. This year though, despite it's small size and awkward location (it's raised from the sidewalk quite a few feet and could be potentially dangerous to do any real work on) they are growing rows of crops. I'm not yet sure what they are growing, but it looks like they have a good 3 or 4 rows of plants already staked and on their way. They are also building a small wooden fence around the area to keep neighborhood jokesters out of their food.

In my own yard I'm growing a bigger variety than I have in recent years, which now includes berries, sage, and eggplant in addition to the usual assortment of peppers and tomatoes. I've got enough right now to last me until the Fall, and I can harvest the herbs as I need them and the other food as it grows in. I'm even trying to grow some Stevia, which is the hottest rage right now as a sugar substitute. The great part about Stevia is that it's a sugar substitute that isn't made from all kinds of scary chemicals that wreak havoc on your body. You can dry the leaves and then proceed to prepare it in a number of different ways, most of which I will at least be attempting before the Winter hits.

The point is that more people are learning that we in fact can be self-reliant, and take matters into our own hands when given certain circumstances. Sure, you can't grow everything you eat all year long, but think of how much you spend on groceries each week, now imagine if you could cut that down by a quarter, or even half, by just investing some time and elbow grease into the yard you're already paying for anyway.

And don't fret, if you don't own your house, or don't have a yard because you live in an apartment or condo or townhome, there are always potted gardens. There are many other alternatives out there, all you have to do is look for them, and if you don't find them ,just be creative. You can even grow plants indoors using an inexpensive fluorescent light fixture that plugs into a regular household outlet as a substitute for the spectrum of light that the sun gives off.

That's all for now, happy gardening!

-Rob

So after an eventful and stressful week or two, I finally get a night where I decide to not do anything that will make my mind reel. I decide to take it easy, just kick back, grab a drink, maybe watch some TV, watch the neighbor with the mental condition beat his dog in the middle of the street.... wait... what? That wasn't in the plan.

So there I am, all ready to relax and most importantly mind my own business for a little while and I get called over to the window to see a cop car in the middle of the street and my mental patient neighbor beating his dog. As it turns out the dog got off his leash that keeps him chained to a porch that is less than 10x10. The dog ran down the block, most likely in an attempt to escape the hell he was living in, only to be called back by his owner and smacked in the face several times. Well, anyone who knows anything about anything will tell you not to hit a dog. I like to think people shouldn't hit animals at all, but even so, you don't grab a year and a half old boxer by the collar and start smacking him in the face. As you would imagine, the dog retaliated and put a nice gash in this idiot's wrist. There was a cop car oh-so-conveniently stopped in the road right in front of this.

Wouldn't you know they called the whole damn cavalry. It seemed like every cop car in town came rushing to the block along with an ambulance for Mr. Tough-guy. So now the dog is chained back on the porch, every neighbor within eye or earshot is outside watching, and general confusion sets in. People are talking about how big dogs are dangerous, and how there are kids on the block, and how they were bit twice as kids and don't trust dogs, and all this other ignorant crap.

Basically, this guy and his girlfriend are both certifiable. No joke, they've both been committed, the woman multiple times. One time because she sent one of her previous dogs after a cop. The guy has restraining orders against him from his family, has been to prison for one reason or another, and jumped off a highway overpass and lived! These are people that clearly should not be owning animals, especially big breeds that need specific care and training.

There's more! This couple didn't buy the dog, in fact there have been multiple complaints about the dog from around town. It seems that the dog has been passed on from owner to owner without ever being registered with the town. People apparently can't handle him and keep giving him to whoever will take him. Lucky dog ends up with the two craziest people in town.

In the end, the dog was chained to the house as animal control was called. Once the dog saw the flashing lights and the snare poles he knew what was happening and started barking. Feeling threatened he went into self-defense mode (note how I don't use "attack mode," that's reserved for animals actually trained for attacking), and started snarling and jumping around the porch. Finally, after about 20 minutes of not being able to snare him, even with 2 poles, the police had to empty an entire can of mace into the dog's face to keep him from moving so they could snare him and put him in the truck. But that wasn't enough because minutes later one of the police officers on the scene greeted a friend of his who brought his small son, they were apparently called to come and see the dog. For no other real purpose other than to gawk; real respectful guys.

I understand that if you have a dangerous animal, you're going to want to know your kids are safe, but that's not really the point here. This story can happen to anyone, on any block, in any town. The point is that A. Crazy people should not be allowed to own animals, especially if it's the kind of crazy that involves prison time and adult diapers. And, B. If you can't handle an animal, don't just dump it off with the first nice looking person you see. You might have the best intentions in the world, but you have no idea what that unsuspecting adopter might have in store. Animals that get passed around like a hot potato can end up with a variety of trust and loyalty issues, which can sometimes manifest themselves in acting out in various ways. The best way to handle an unwanted or uncontrollable pet is to seek out a no-kill shelter that will be willing to work with your animal, or a breed-specific rescue group. Every state has rescue groups for just about anything, and if you need to travel a little bit, just understand that it could mean the difference between a happy life for the animal, or a tragic drug induced death after an episode like this one.

This poor boxer doesn't stand a chance now, he's been passed around so many times, has no real record of ownership, has a major psychological issue, or two, and now has shown his teeth (and tons of aggression) to a group of police officers. That dog will be dead by dawn and nothing will happen to the people who caused this end result in the first place. The abusive owner that was taken to the hospital for stitches and rabies shots will be let off the hook, as will his psychopath middle aged girlfriend. The chain of people responsible for the many homes the dog had will most likely never be tracked down. But what bothers me most is that this cycle continues all over the place; abandoned animals, passed around to people not prepared to deal with a given species or breed, and nobody with the common sense, or even the heart, to understand that certain animals need certain kinds of understanding. They aren't all "feed and watch" pets.

- Rob Acocella

Just a quick blog entry to mention that we've now added ad rate info to our site. Just go to the "Quick Links" section of the navigation bar for the drop down menu. From there you can click to view our ad prices. Banner location and pixel size information will be posted soon (as soon as we get all the details sorted out).

In the meantime, since we aren't set up to accept donations yet, consider helping us out and keeping us running by buying banner ad space for your company or website. 


We've also got special rates for non-profits. We're not just talking about the big organizations either, even if you just volunteer at a local animal shelter that needs a little exposure, we can give you a great rate. Our regular prices are also very affordable for everyone in this tough economy. A great chance to advertise those recycled bottle cap necklaces you've been making or those hand drawn illustrations and paintings you've been trying to sell.


That's all for now, I've got a million things rolling around in my noggin, just waiting for the dust to settle so I can decide what to write about next.


-Rob

So, I was doing some web surfing tonight and came across a great article on NaturalNews.com about chemtrails. I gave it a quick skim and decided it would make for a good blog and bulletin post on our Myspace pages.

Shortly after posting it I got a message from a friend of ours from Ohio saying how he sees them all the time. This is nothing new though, we've spoken with many people from around the country, and have even heard accounts from around the world of these nasty chemtrails appearing in the sky and the various results that people would encounter.

The truth is that in the end nobody will completely know what is going on wih these things until either:

1) The government agency responsible for them comes clean about what they are and their purpose

or

2) Some whistle-blower, ex-employee type spills the beans. Most people wouldn't even know about it because the news, as well as the person's identity would most likely be yanked from public view pretty darn fast.

There have been a broad range of assumptions as to what and why they are. All we know at this point is that water and soil samples taken after they appear have shown some high amounts of pretty nasty particulates and compounds, all of which are known to cause adverse reactions in the human body.

It seems like the word is starting to spread, even Discovery did a special on them about a year ago, although it proved to be little more than an hour of wasted airtime as it was probably edited to the point where it became completely inconclusive. We watched it and got little from it other than that someone, somewhere, wants you to think that (if you believe in them) they are a way of counteracting Global Warming. They claim the high amounts of aluminum found in the atmosphere and in water and soil samples due to these chemtrails are used to reflect UV rays back into space. The article I found tonight, however, has this to say about Aluminum:

"Aluminum causes extreme neurological disorders. Dementia, uncontrollable spasms, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's Disease can be caused by long term aluminum exposure. Breathing in those particulates over time is a definite long term hazard."

So, it's either for combating Global Warming, or to give us all dementia. If you ask me, that's far too broad a range of possible outcomes for me to feel safe just accepting these lines in the sky.

Whatever they are, all I know is that I've noticed people around me being much more irritable when they cover the skies, which lends itself to the theory that it's an experiment in controlling people's thoughts and moods. I also watch them as they spread out (unlike regular contrails, which dissipate in minutes) and completely cover the sky, changing weather patterns completely. As someone who enjoys nature, and as  photographer, sunlight is something I highly value, so when you start taking that away from me, I tend to notice, and since it causes me to watch the skies until the sunlight comes back, I take note of how long it takes, and it can sometimes take as little as a few hours, and sometimes it can go all day, sometimes multiple days if they're really putting thick layers up.

That's enough from me though, make sure you check out the article here: http://www.naturalnews.com/026200.html and form your own opinions.

Spread the word, the only way to combat this kind of thing is with outreach. We need to educate everyone that will listen.

-Rob Acocella

Animal Lovers

Everyone loves animals, some more than others, and in different ways. Some love them enough to free them and never eat them, others love them with a little salt and A1.

Here's a quick blog update from the road. Yes, I'm on the road, 1200 miles from home, and just HAD to come on here and add my 2 cents to a conversation topic that's already been done to death.

Few things are more annoying than this: You're laying on the beach just relaxing, getting some sun, listening to the waves crash, the chatter of the sea birds flying overhead, the wind blowing gently, and then suddenly it happens. With all of the vast expanse of sand stretching most likely at least a mile left or right of you, a group of people, usually young and loud, decide to set up camp a mere 4 feet from your chosen spot. Disturbing your peace, they launch into loud, obnoxious conversation of the high school valley girl kind (So, like, I was totally, um, what's the word, oh yeah ::snaps bubble gum:: tired last night, so I totally like, got some like, sleep). Then they start laughing, screaming, and doing all things possible to make you want to force-feed them fistfuls of sand.

That's one thing that is hard to beat, but for me, the nature lover that I am, there is always worse, and then, they do it. They bust out some cigarettes, and when they're done, right into the sand with the butts. Someone please explain to me why people do this. Even if you don't care about the fact that the fiberglass filter you're smoking through is non-biodegradable and will still be there 100 years later (if it's not swept out to sea due to beach erosion) and you don't care that hundreds of birds die needlessly every day from having stomachs full of plastic and other artificial parts that they mistake for food, what about your own investment? Yeah, sometimes the only way to make people see a reason to be more responsible is to put it into terms that they DO care about. Most beaches, even if they're free to get on, charge you some kind of rate for parking. For instance, in NJ, not only do you pay anywhere between $15-$50 for a full day of parking, but most beaches charge you a good $6 (at least!) just to walk onto the sand. In Florida, most beaches are free because they are run through municipalities of large cities that already bring in a lot of cash from tourism, but you still have to pay for parking.

Those parking and/or entrance fees go towards two main expenses: lifeguards, which are only on duty for certain hours and then it's "Swim at your own risk," and clean-up. So even if you're not from town and you aren't paying property taxes to the city for them to conduct basic local cleaning, you're paying good money to walk onto something that by all natural rights should be 100% free, and the reason is so that they can A.) save you from drowning, and B.) make sure there's no medical waste for you to drive through the sole of your foot when you least expect it.

Most people would reply to this and say, "Well yeah, I have the right to litter if I'm paying for them to clean it up, right?" In a way, you're actually right, but what about if you're in a party of 2 or more people and you only had to pay for parking. What if your whole group is doing that? Then your measly $1 per hour doesn't do a whole lot when you have a caravan of people dumping' their shit into the sand instead of using the trash bins that are typically spread out around the area in easy to access places. Plus, wouldn't it anger you if you were just a single visitor paying to be on the beach and then you see a whole family leaving tons of garbage behind? All that means is that next time around the prices will be higher because the cost-benefit factor is tilted and they can't keep up with all the waste people leave behind.

I pay to be on these beaches too, and unlike the typical sheeple out there, I actually care about what happens there and what we do to the planet that allows us to survive here. We have no more rights than anyone else to be alive and use what nature gives us, but we hoard it, and when we feel we've used all we can, we use theoretical slash and burn techniques to make sure nobody else can use what we didn't. Which is why after we're done repainting the pristine skies with high rise apartments and billion dollar hotels, we start charging for people to set foot on what the Earth gives us for free. We subsidize and privatize things that aren't ours to own and then we trash it because we feel justified since we have to pay. However, that's backwards thinking--we're paying because we've wrecked it all.

This turned out to be a longer entry than planned, so I'll leave you with this: Next time you have to pay in some shape or form to enter any kind of natural area, be it a beach, a forest, or a preserve of some kind, remember what you're paying for, remember why you're really paying, and just apply some basic responsibility and don't leave it worse than you found it. Eventually someone will be hired to clean it up, but they can't do their job if you keep making it worse.

-Robert Acocella