Via the World Wildlife Fund:

Thank Paraguay for Forest Protection

All activists: Thank Paraguay for protecting the Upper Parana Atlantic Forest, home to jaguars, harpy eagles and other threatened species, and urge the government to extend its Zero Deforestation Law, which is due to expire soon. When you fill out the form to take action, we will add your name to a petition that includes the letter text shown.

Click here to take action (or learn more via a very annoying Java popup!).

Via the World Wildlife Fund’s Passport Panda:

Forests are amazing storehouses of biological diversity, housing over two-thirds of all known terrestrial species.

Yet each year around 13 million hectares of natural forest are lost. That’s 25 hectares every minute, the equivalent of 36 football fields.

Once spread over half the earth, forests now cover only a quarter of the planet’s land surface.

One of the main causes of this destruction is illegal logging, which is fed by high demand for timber in Europe and in countries such as Japan, the United States and China. This wood then ends up in our shops and ultimately our homes. So your garden furniture or wooden flooring may have in fact contributed to the destruction of the world’s most valuable rainforests.

But you can help stop this – Businesses will ultimately listen to their customers.

Click here and take the pledge to buy good wood!

The Summer 2006 issue of Friends of Animals’ Action Online is now available. The TOC is copied below; you can either click on the links to read the features, or view the entire newsletter here.

Action Online: Summer 2006

In My View

Behind the Bird Trade

The True Story of Agave Nectar

Spotlight on Squirrels

Movement Watch Special Edition: Still Killing Them With Kindness

Cheers and Jeers

Capers in the Churchyard: Animal Rights Advocacy in the Age of Terror

Nellie McKay’s Brilliant Voice for the Animals

Other Voices: Dr. John McDougall

Veganism: Liz Lovely Cookies

Breeding a Name Brand: The Dog Hybrids

Restaurant Review: Yuan Fu Vegetarian Restaurant

Merchandise Catalog

And feel free to share your thoughts on these (or any other) stories in the comments section!

Those dozen or so readers who have been with easyVegan since the beginning (meaning, June ’06) know that I just came back from twenty-one glorious days of vacation a few weeks ago. Well, I finally have the inevitable vacation pictures available for perusal over at Flickr. Just a tad bit late, yes, but in my defense my little sis managed to infect me with her germies right before I left, so I’ve spent most of the past two weeks in bed or, during my more lucid moments, doing mindless dreg work on the ‘puter. I’ll only post a small selection here, so if you’re one of those sickos who actually enjoys looking at other people’s vacation slideshows (gasp!), check out my Road Trippin’ ’06 set on Flickr.

First up – THOSE VEGAN DONUTS from Ronald’s Donuts in Las Vegas:

Yes, yes, I know – one of the donuts does have a huge hunk missing. It’s in my belly. Well, technically, I guess they all ended up in my belly, but that half was ingested in the seconds before I snapped the pic. You see, I was so excited by the presence of VEGAN DONUTS that I wolfed half of ‘em down before I even thought to take a picture.

Luckily, we bought a second batch before our departure:

Have you ever seen anything so beautiful? It brings a tear. (Guess you’ve gotta be a veg*n to understand.)

Sadly, the donuts didn’t fare too well on the plane ride back. I still ate ‘em, though. Hey, it’s hard to completely annihilate such sweetness.

Interestingly, Grist ran a story on green/veggie food options in Sin City not long after we returned to Kansas. It wasn’t a huge kick in the arse – having spent an afternoon researching vegan eateries on Happy Cow before the trip, I was well-versed on all the guilt-free options available in Vegas – but it was fun to note which of the featured businesses we had hit up during our weeklong stay. We went grocery shopping at the new Whole Foods mentioned in the article, and ordered lunch from Rainbow’s End Natural Foods & Café. It isn’t nearly the dealio as is Ron’s Donuts (c’mon, what trumps VEGAN DONUTS!?), but it definitely rocks the strip. Certainly, Vegas is unexpectedly welcoming to veg*ns – just don’t go there during the summer months. Trust me.

And DO stop by Ronald’s, at least once. Screw the diet, it’s worth it.

While in Vegas, we also…

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Here’s the TOC from IDA’s 07-26-06 newsletter.

Click on the links to take action, or read the whole newsletter online.

IDA ACTION ALERTS

1. Help Baby Chicks Shipped Cross-Country

2. Government Plans to Approve Deadly Drift Gillnet Fishing

3. Rio de Janeiro to Vote on Animal Research Ban

CAMPAIGN NEWS & UPDATES

1. IDA Files Complaint with USDA on Behalf of St. Louis Zoo Elephant

2. Imperial Beach, Calif. Becomes Newest Guardian City

3. International Day for Korean Dogs and Cats a Success

(You can also Sign IDA’s petition urging the Korean Prime Minister to strengthen his country’s Animal Protection Law and prevent cruelty to dogs and cats killed for meat.)

An archive of past IDA eNews newsletters is available here.

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle – info [at] kinshipcircle.org
Date: Jul 26, 2006 6:59 PM
Subject: BEAR WITNESS: In 2005, HLS Still Brutalizes Animals

BEAR WITNESS. SPEAK. DEMAND. ACT.
(and cross-post widely)

A shocking report into what goes on behind the razor wire at Huntingdon Life Sciences written by two people who worked there in 2005.

SOURCE: This report was compiled by Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty
6 Boat Lane, Evesham, Worcs, WR11 4BP
ph: 0845 458 0630; email: info [at] shac.net
web: www.shac.net

Download 2005 video footage taken inside HLS: www.shac.net/MISC/Inside_HLS.html
Download entire report in pdf format (WITH PHOTOS): www.shac.net/ACTION/newsletters/Inside_HLS.pdf
Help the campaign: www.shac.net/MISC/Inside_HLS_What.html

If you didn’t receive Kinship Circle’s most recent anti-HLS campaign — TARGET: HLS Customer Actelion — request it at: kinshipcircle [at] brick.net

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———- Forwarded message ———-
From: API Newsletters – donotreply [at] api4animals.org
Date: Jul 26, 2006 11:08 AM
Subject: 2 Ways to Take Action to Protect Primates

1. Raise Support for the Captive Primate Safety Act: Contact U.S. Representative Today

Great news! The Senate unanimously passed this legislation and now it’s time for the House of Representatives to act.

Legislation is currently making its way through Congress to address the problem of the primate pet trade in the United States. The Captive Primate Safety Act — H.R. 1329/S. 1509 — would bar the interstate movement of chimpanzees, macaques, capuchins, and other primates if they are to be kept as “pets.” Some states already prohibit private ownership of nonhuman primates as “pets,” but since these animals are often moved between states for the pet trade, federal legislation is needed to curb the interstate movement of these animals. Take Action Today!

Go to www.api4animals.org/actionalerts?p=138&more=1 for more information.

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Via Friends of Animals:

Please take a moment to respond to a poll by the Wall Street Journal concerning the drilling in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge. You may also add your comments and join a discussion group on the drilling.

Click here to register your vote.

Currently, the tally is 52% in favor of opening the Refuge to drilling, with the “No’s” trailing behind at 48%.

Here’s the TOC from the 7/25/06 issue of The Sierra Club’s Currents.

You can read the whole newsletter online – just click here!

Sierra Club Currents – Clean Cars
Volume VI, #29
Tuesday, July 25, 2006

———————————-

Quote of Note:

“The minerals that lie under the sea off the coasts of this country belong to the Federal Government — that is, to all the people of this country…If we back down on our determination to hold these rights for all the people, we will act to rob them of this great national asset. That is just what the oil lobby wants. They want us to turn the vast treasure over to a handful of states, where the powerful private oil interests hope to exploit it to suit themselves.”

– President Truman, excerpt from a speech on revenue sharing, May 17, 1952

———————————————

(1) Energy Summer: Clean Cars

(2) Coal Rush: Stepping Back

(3) Take Action: Stop Polluted Pumping!

(4) Take Action: Protect Our Coasts!

(Crossposted on Hell Food.)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: DawnWatch – news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Jul 25, 2006 4:33 PM
Subject: DawnWatch: Washington Post on vegan diets and diabetes 7/25/06

The Tuesday, July 25, Washington Post, has an interesting article on the cover of the Health section (Pg F01) by Sally Squires, headed, “‘Good’ Carbs To the Rescue.”

It opens:

“People with Type 2 diabetes are advised to limit carbohydrates because of worries that too many carbs could overtax the body’s dwindling insulin production and lessen its ability to process glucose.

“Now some scientists are asking if a very-low-fat diet rich in healthy carbohydrates — whole grains, beans, fruit and vegetables — might be another option.

“The idea borrows a lesson from the heart disease field, which has shown that very strict vegetarian diets quite low in fat and very high in carbohydrates can help reverse arterial blockages.”

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