Meet Mr. Zuke and Mr. Pepper

George might have had too much time on his hands yesterday. He says he was hard at work decorating the distribution shed.

Celebrate National Dog Day

What's not to love about honoring dogs? Visit National Dog Day to learn more about the day and the meaning behind it.

Walter and Norman want you to!

Why I'm Vegan #1826

My friend, Roni from DaisyWares, participated in this rescue. She is such a courageous activist. When posting the video on facebook, Roni quoted one of her friends, "These are incredible sweet, gentle hens. They're from an egg farm and have already been mutilated, debeaked. While we cherish the lives we save, we never forget the brothers who are killed the day they are born, and the sisters who aren't so lucky, who are slaughtered by the tens of millions each year...for a product."

Quotation of the Day

"What you can do is often simply a matter of what you will do,"

~Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth

My belief in this sentiment (excepting the few environmental or external factors that may genuinely constrain behavior such as war, extreme poverty or illness, for example) is one of the reasons I get so frustrated when people are unwilling to just do. Often, I hear people tell me "I could never give up meat," or "I could never give up dairy." I mentally shake my head and think, "Oh, yes, yes you could, yes, you can, and you would be so much better off." Maybe next time, I should respond with Thomas Edison's quote, "If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves."

Conversely, I've always believe that if I wanted to do something, I could do it. This is a photograph of my room when I was a teenager. Ignore the Jim McMahon and Chicago Bears paraphernalia. Instead, take a look at the green sign: Of course I can do it, the question is: do I want to? 



What is it that you WANT to do, that you CAN do, that takes nothing less that you DECIDING to do it?

Asking for Disaster

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Suffer through the ironically place Exxon advertisement promoting fracking to see a story on the proposed Tar Sands pipeline featuring an interview from Bill McKibben, who is trying with some success to inject principles of civil disobedience into the environmental movement. I found McKibben extremely inspiring when he visited Ithaca College last year.



I am glad that McKibben and other leaders in the environmental movement are protesting the pipeline in DC, gaining media coverage, and educating the public. I wish I were there. I hope his words inspire you.

At the same time, I believe this story is written. The pipeline will be constructed, in 10, 15, 20 years, it will burst, because, don't kid yourself, it will, and the animals and environment will suffer. It will happen. It is inevitable. Remember this?

What about this?

Like this vision of the future?

Because as a whole we are selfish and short-sighted, I expect the pipeline will be approved, and when we face a disaster on the scale of the BP oil spill - or worse - we'll be shocked and ask how did this possibly happen? It's so sad and tragic. But  if you support the pipeline, or if you do nothing to stop it, you are saying, my short-term economic comfort is more important to me than anything else. I know you don't believe that, right? Prove it!

It is our actions - YOUR ACTIONS - today that can prevent a future disaster. Go to Tar Sands Actions RIGHT NOW. Sign the petition and donate money if you can. Send this letter to your friends and family. Learn more about the problems inherent in the pipeline at Dirty Oil Sands. Know that you did everything in your power to prevent the suffering you surely abhor.

Ithaca: Dog Wash Fundraiser!

Please take gently used collars and leashes to donate to Loving Leashes. If you have some to donate but can't make it to the dog wash, let me know and I'll arrange to pick up and deliver them.

Quotation of the Day

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius--and a lot of courage--to move in the opposite direction."

~Albert Einstein

नमस्ते

Quotation of the Day: Current Events Edition

Ten year-old Ta'Kaiya Blaney, after studying the environmental effects of the proposed TransCanada Keystone XL Pipeline, has worked to prevent its construction, including releasing a song to raise awareness.  Ta'Kaiya has more sense than most business and political leaders. On our side of the border, a group is conducting civil disobedience in Washington DC in the hopes our leaders will not agree to allow the pipeline in the U.S. Please visit Tar Sands Action to support the cause and learn what you can do to help.

“Oil pipelines and tankers will give people jobs, but if there is an oil spill like the [BP spill] in the Gulf of Mexico, that will take other people’s jobs and the wildlife will die,” 

~Ta’Kaiya Blaney

Read article at Yes Magazine.