Two recipes in one week! A regular Martha Stewart, I’m becoming. Or not.

For today’s dish, I started with a recipe for Comforting Potato Soup from the International Vegetarian Union (IVU). I’ve made this for dinner a few times now, tweaking the recipe a little each time – but the photo’s from my first try, when I followed IVU’s directions to the V. Yeah, I’m a cheat. What of it?

The recipe below is more of a chowder-y consistency; I wouldn’t really call it soup. Though, it’s pretty simple to switch from one to the other: if the soup’s too liquid-y for you, add some extra flour; too thick, throw in a little more water or soy milk. This is a hard one to mess up.

IVU’s Comforting Potato Soup version is yummy, though I do prefer my own incarnation. Work with what you’ve got in the pantry; it’s a versatile meal.

Creamy Potato -n- Corn Spowder (Soup +/ Chowder)

Ingredients

1 medium onion, chopped
1-2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
3-4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 cups water + extra to taste
2 cups soy milk (plain or vanilla) + extra to taste
3 tablespoons whole wheat flour + extra to taste
1-2 cans creamed corn
sea salt, seasoned salt, or freshly ground black pepper, to taste/for garnish

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Action Alerts

Boca Egg Facts .com: Act Now to Help End Animal Cruelty: Urge BOCA® to Stop Using Eggs!
“Compassion Over Killing is teaming up with Mercy For Animals and the Animal Protection & Rescue League as well as compassionate people everywhere to ask BOCA® to stop using eggs in its product line. [...] BOCA® has long been a leader in supplying delicious vegetarian foods to a growing market. Unfortunately, while its competitors Morningstar Farms, Lightlife Foods, Tofurky, Gardenburger, and Garden Protein have either reduced the amount of eggs they use or simply don’t use any eggs at all, BOCA® hasn’t yet moved on this important issue of animal cruelty.”

Cure CVS: Tell CVS: Have a Heart, Unlock the Condoms
“This Valentine’s Day, in CVS stores across the country, condoms are locked behind glass cases. Public health advocates criticize this practice, saying it creates a barrier which could decrease condom use. Even more worrisome than CVS’s practice of locking condoms is where those locked cases are located: locked condoms have been found disproportionately in minority areas. Send a Valentine to CVS and tell the company to change this unfair, discriminatory practice.”

Deep Roots: Help Animals in Indiana – HB 1468
“Indiana House Bill 1468 passed through committee yesterday and is entering a vote in the House of Representatives in the next week. It is important that everyone contact their representative to let them know that you support HB 1468 because it will strengthen what is now a very weak animal cruelty code and will help put a stop to puppy mills in the state.”

Earthjustice: Stop Oil and Gas Leases of the “Polar Bear Seas”
A Bush-era landmine is ticking away in the “Polar Bear Seas”—last haven of America’s threatened polar bears—and we urgently need you to help defuse it. Our government is about to lease more than 73 million acres of these vulnerable Arctic waters for the kind of oil and gas development that destroys animal habitat and disrupts Native Alaskan communities. Amid cries of “Drill, baby, drill,” this leasing scheme was rushed through late last year with almost no consideration of its devastating potential impacts. Fortunately, President Obama is on to this plan and wants to know what you think of it. So let’s tell him … now … before things spin out of our control.”

Indict Bush Now .org: Sign the IndictBushNow Referendum
“I want the Obama administration to appoint a Special Prosecutor to investigate former President George W. Bush, Vice President Richard B. Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales for high crimes and misdemeanors, and to have the case prosecuted accordingly.”

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Right before I got sick last week, I made another batch of those super-awesome “Best Oat Cookies that Ever Existed,” courtesy of satan at VegWeb. I wanted to try a healthier version – especially considering how quickly I scarfed ‘em all down before – so I tweaked the recipe a bit: I cut the sugar nearly in half, added an extra banana, and threw in some dried cranberries along with the chocolate chips. The new batch came out even better than the original; the sweetness of the dried fruit more than made up for the lost sugar. I hope to try it again when I’m able to procure some dried cherries and blueberries, maybe some apricots, too. Alas, the only dried fruit currently residing in my cupboard is cranberries, so I guess the extra-loaded version of this recipe will have to wait.

Oatmeal Banana Cookies (was: Best Oat Cookies that Ever Existed)

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon + a little extra to taste
1/2 of a teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of brown sugar + a little extra to taste
1/4 of a cup of regular white sugar + a little extra to taste
Slightly less than 1/3 of a cup of vegetable oil
1 banana, mashed to liquid (the riper, the better)
1 banana, mashed to chunks
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1/2 to 1 cup of water or soy milk (I used Silk Pumpkin Spice; Soy Nog will also work well)
2 1/4 cups of quick oats
1 handful, give or take, chocolate chips to taste
Several handfuls, give or take, dried fruit (cranberries, cherries, blueberries, apricots, etc.) to taste; for this recipe, I used about 4 handfuls of dried cranberries

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Action Alerts

American Freedom Campaign: Tell Attorney General Holder to open a criminal investigation of Bush administration crimes
“On February 9, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) called for the establishment of a “Truth Commission” to look into various unconstitutional actions by the Bush administration. As Leahy described the commission, “such a process could involve subpoena powers and even the authority to obtain immunity from prosecutions for anything accept perjury in order to get to the full truth.” We don’t want “the truth.” We already know the Bush administration authorized torture. We already know they conducted warrantless wiretapping in violation of federal law. We already know Bush administration officials defied congressional subpoenas. What more do we need to know?”

Animal Rights @ Change .org: Millions of Animals Dead or Injured in Australia’s Wildfires
“There’s no easy reading here. If you are able to donate to Wildlife Victoria’s emergency fund, to help the injured survivors, many of whom are also without habitat now and at risk of starvation, in addition to being at risk from their injuries, please click here.”

Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR): Stop the Abuse of the State Secrets Privilege
“In a key case seeking justice for victims of extraordinary rendition – the policy of outsourcing torture – the Justice Department under President Obama stated on Monday that it would continue to use the “state secrets” privilege to attempt to bar five victims from seeking justice in U.S. courts. Join us today to tell Attorney General Eric Holder to stop abuse of the state secrets privilege to cover up criminal behavior and torture and keep the claims of torture victims out of court.”

Farm Sanctuary: End Cruel Confinement Nationwide: Enact a Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Law
“Farm Sanctuary urges states, counties and cities across the nation to ban this type of cruelty, with local and state-wide laws requiring enough space to give chickens, pigs and calves room to at least turn around, stand up, lie down, and spread their limbs. [...] Ask lawmakers in your community to sponsor a bill or ordinance ending cruel confinement practices.”

Kinship Circle: 2/11/09: Horse Slaughter Bill Is Back In 111th Congress
“The Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act of 2009 (H.R. 503) is back on the legislative calendar, after moving through the Judiciary Committee with bipartisan approval in the last Congressional session. Please help pass this measure to ban the possession, shipping, transporting, purchasing, selling, delivering or receiving of a horse or horseflesh for human consumption.”

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Valentines Day? Meh. I’ve never been very big on the holiday. Through most of high school, I was boyfriend-less, and thus predictably unimpressed with February 14th. The husband and I have celebrated it on and off over the years, but mostly in a half-assed kind of way: vegan chocolates here, a dinner in there. One problem I’ve always had with V-Day is the idea of forced, scheduled romanticism. Why should the Mr. and I only go on dates or surprise one another with gifts on February 14th, eh? And why do so on a day in which the prices are all jacked up and the theaters and restaurants, obscenely crowded?

Additionally, in the few years since my budding feminism has blossomed into a thorny, black, man-hating rose, I’ve actively resisted engaging in a commercialized, wasteful and largely heteronormative holiday. Diamonds? Roses? Tacky Bandit Bears? Bargained sex? IBTP.

So, in keeping with my previous re- evaluation and -imagining of the wintry holidays, I’ve been thinking about celebrating Valentines Day in a different way. While I try to pamper my furkids – i.e., my dogs – on a daily basis, I thought it might be fun to celebrate them this Saturday. After all, there is no doggeh equivalent of “Mother’s Day” or “Grandparent’s Day” – so why not transform a lackluster holiday into it?

There are many ways you can toss Valentines Day to the dogs (or cats, rats, gerbils, pigs…whatever species your kiddos belong to). Dogs Deserve Better, for example, holds an annual Valentines Day card drive for chained dogs. During “Have a Heart for Chained Dogs Week,” Valentines – complete with informational brochures, coupons for dog food, etc. – are delivered to the “owners” of chained dogs, with the ultimate goal of freeing these animals and bringing them back into the home. You can donate money to fund the effort, or volunteer by submitting the addresses of homes that have chained dogs, creating or delivering Valentines, and gathering donations of coupons and such. If your heart belongs to a species other than canine, you can donate your time or money to help a local or species-specific organization on or around the 14th.

As for your own furkids, here are four ways you can pamper them this Saturday. Since I’ve got five dogs, these are all canine-specific, but you can adjust accordingly.

1. Take your dog for a walk or hike. Set some time aside for a leisurely stroll, walk, run or hike – or some combination thereof – and let your dog lead the way. Allow her to walk you, wherever she chooses to go (within reason, of course). If she wants to spend five minutes sniffing and marking that tree at the corner of the street, let her. It’s her day, remember? Just enjoy her company, the beautiful weather, the sights and sounds.

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This morning, Mary at Animal Person blogged about the closing of the Guam Greyhound Park, a racetrack which was “home” to about 250 greyhounds. Animal rescue groups were not consulted beforehand or involved in initial efforts to place the greyhounds; instead, the owners/management of the Guam Greyhound Park simply gave the dogs away, for free, to anyone willing to take them.

From www.guamgreyhounds.org:

On November 7, 2008 the 32 year old Guam Greyhound Park, with approximately 250 greyhounds at the racetrack, abruptly closed. The closing was in response to the results of a failed initiative on the November 4 ballot which would have permitted casino style gambling on the racetrack property. John Baldwin, owner of the racetrack, who had tried to get similar initiatives passed three times in the past six years, claimed the racetrack was losing $100,000 a month.

On November 24,the Guam Greyhound Park started a public giveaway of 150 of the racetrack’s greyhounds. Dogs were given away free to anyone who came to the track. None of the greyhounds were spayed or neutered. No record was kept of who got the greyhounds, how many each person took and no legal transfer of title was made. Obviously, no standard adoption process was in place: no home check and no information about greyhound behavior or care.

It has been reported that many people took the free greyhounds believing they would make good guard dogs. Some of the islands dog fighting “fans” took greyhounds to bait fighting dogs or to breed, thinking it would make the fighting dogs faster or quicker. It didn’t take long for the greyhounds to show up stray or in very bad circumstances. The following updates from Guam Animals In Need (GAIN) volunteers, Dave and Noni Davis, tells a vivid story of this immense tragedy. GAIN (the only animal rescue on the island) has now found these giveway greyhounds starved and even dead.

GAIN’s stories of trying to rescue these discarded dogs are striking:

We received a call from a passerby about two dogs tied to a boat in Umatac – down at the very southern part of the island. I spoke to the owner and he said he got them from the race track in the first week when they started giving them away. He took a male and female to breed them for later on and also to guard his fishing boat. They were both emaciated and when I questioned him about feeding them, he said he didn’t know how to care for them anymore, because they wouldn’t eat what he gave them. With some friendly persuasion I convinced him to sign them both over to GAIN. He wanted to be assured that we won’t use them to race and then ” make money out of them”. I informed him that they are now officially retired and will never race again.

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Just for the record – and because it’s starting to feel like all-PETA, all the time around here, Dog help us all – this shit is so unbelievably uncool:

NEW YORK – “Is this really the KKK?” somebody asked the woman in the white robe and the pointy hat.

Crowds gawked at a table set up outside Madison Square Garden on Monday afternoon, where People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals was protesting the start of the Westminster Kennel Club show. PETA contends that the American Kennel Club promotes pure-breeding of dogs that is harmful to their health.

“Welcome AKC Members,” read a banner hanging from the table — with AKC crossed out and KKK written above it. Two PETA protesters dressed as Ku Klux Klan members, while other volunteers handed out brochures that read: “The KKK and the AKC: BFF?” [...]

Most passers-by seemed more puzzled than offended, though those who didn’t stop walked away thinking they really had seen the KKK. The most common reaction was to pull out a cell phone and start snapping photos.

I wasn’t going to mention this latest offense – I’m so, so sick of talking about PETA – but it landed on one of the larger feminist blogs today, so meh. Lest I be branded a shill for PETA (zomg, I defend them on occasion!), perhaps I’d better weigh in.

While I think the comparison that PETA’s making is a valid one – namely, that the AKC is akin to the KKK inasmuch as the two fetishize a “pure,” “master,” genetically superior strain of beings (be it “race” or “breed”), going to unconscionable lengths to achieve this racist/breedist dream – certainly they can do so without parading around NYC in sheets and hoods, no?

Not only is the Klan gear unnecessary for their analogy (the comparison works quite well without it, methinks), it’s also distracting from the message – the controversy lands on NBC, yes, but the discussion becomes more about PETA’s racism than the AKC’s destructive policies.

Most importantly, by donning a potent, contemporary symbol of racism, PETA (yet again) demonstrates their complete lack of sensitivity and concern for marginalized groups other than non-human animals. While I don’t expect them to join in marches for the Jena 6 or crusade for better public housing for the urban poor – after all, they are an animal rights group – I do expect them to refrain from engaging in other “isms,” including racism. Gleefully foisting such an infamous, lasting symbol of hatred upon the public, some of whom may be traumatized by the experience (because of both the collective, ancestral and individual, first-hand experience with this hatred) is inexcusable. It’s racist, plain and simple. And any attempts to justify this behavior with appeals to the “oppression Olympics” (e.g., “but animals have it worse!”) or by claiming that the ends somehow justify the means (“at least they got us talking about it”) are privileged at best.

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Action Alerts

Amnesty International: Opening the Door to Truth
“Our chance to learn from, fix and never repeat the policies that brought us torture, illegal detention, Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib is passing us by. President Obama has already issued orders to close Guantanamo Bay and end torture. Though the orders are a major step in the right direction, they don’t tell us how the world’s most powerful democracy chose to renounce human rights and the rule of law. Show Washington that the public wants our nation to take responsibility for past mistakes and that we do have the stomach for a full investigation.”

Amnesty International: Put women’s rights at the center of U.S Foreign Policy
“Hillary Clinton has been appointed as Secretary of State. During her confirmation testimony she said “the United States must remain an unambiguous and unequivocal voice in support of women’s rights in every country, every region, on every continent”. Urge Secretary of State Clinton to demonstrate her commitment to women’s rights by urging her to create an Office of Gender Integration under the highest-ranking officer for U.S. development assistance.”

Animal Welfare Institute (AWI): Stop the U.S. from Conspiring to Overturn the Commercial Whaling Ban
” Last year, we alerted you to the negotiations taking place behind closed doors over a whaling deal, with the U.S. front and center of the discussions. The “fruit” of the negotiations is a document that was released last Monday. Civil society is finally able to see that, as expected, a resumption of commercial whaling is part of this deal. The U.S. Commissioner to the International Whaling Commission (IWC), Dr. William Hogarth, who is also the current IWC chair, has co-drafted Suggestions on the Future of the IWC. His compromise boils down to a non-binding agreement between the IWC and Japan to allow for a commercial quota of minke whales to be taken from Japanese waters…”

Audubon: Birds and Climate Change: Ecological Disruption in Progress
“Our recently-released Birds and Climate report clearly shows that climate change is affecting birds – and our world – now. For the past 40 years, as our climate has warmed, birds have shifted their winter ranges further and further north. This ecological disruption is yet another wake up call that we must act quickly to solve the climate crisis. The birds’ northward movement is another signal that climate change is here and action is needed now.”

Center for Biological Diversity: Act Now to Save Desert Tortoises
“Last year, the Army moved more than 750 tortoises off of pristine desert lands in order to expand its Fort Irwin army base in California’s Mojave desert. Not all tortoises were monitored, but of those that were, more than 90 of them died — many eaten by starving coyotes who had lost their typical prey base of squirrels and rabbits due to epic desert drought. [...] Now, the Army and the Bureau of Land Management are rushing to move more tortoises in 2009 in order to rid the expanded Army base of more of their tortoises. The federally threatened desert tortoise population cannot withstand yet another ill-conceived and hastily implemented translocation.”

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Via Portland IMC (and by way of Food Fight by way of the Veg Blog), comes this video of a recent Portland puppy mill protest. The Radical Cheerleaders for Animal Rights* staged a rather creative and entertaining demo in front of Scamps “pet” store (located in Portland’s Lloyd Center Mall), where they were promptly bullied, assaulted and subsequently “escorted” out by a team of absolutely Paul Blart-esque mall cops (minus the Kevin James cuddle factor, natch):

Writes Animal Defense Media at Portland IMC:

The Radical Cheerleaders for Animal Rights performed today in front of Scamps store inside Lloyd Center Mall to bring attention to scamps history of selling puppies from puppy mills. After the performance, an activist is aggressively detained by mall security resulting in angry shoppers expressing their disgust with the security guards.

Scamp’s Pet store (located in Lloyd Center) is fond of saying their puppies come from kennels that are licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) implying that this offers some level of assurance regarding health and humane standards. The reality is that thousands of dogs spend much of their lives in cramped, cold and filthy cages as “breeding stock”. In these USDA-approved conditions, adults and puppies are squeezed together, compete for food or water (if any is available) and endure a lifetime in tiny wire cages which damage their paws. They never get to feel the grass, have a toy, a treat, or chase a ball. Many go cage crazy running around in endless circles, driven mad by the frustrating hours of boredom and loneliness.

Scamps pet store was recently exposed in an undercover report by KGW Channel 8s Anne Yeager, who obtained veterinary records and interviewed multiple victims who have purchased sick and genetically defective puppies from Scamps. The story also tells how Scamps buys from puppy mills.

Incidentally, the husband rented a room to a mall cop for a short time when we first started dating. “Kevin” used to come home with tales of chasing down “perps” with his “partners” in the parking lot outside Kaufmann’s department store, complete with foot races and high-speed chases. It was all very Starsky and Hutch wanna-be. Quite sad, actually.

One night, while trying to impress some neighbor women, he shot himself in the foot with his own gun. Just sayin’.

Anywho, if you’d like to lodge a complain with Lloyd Center Mall, you can do so by phone at 503-282-2511; by fax at 503-280-9407; online at www.lloydcentermall.com/go/suggForm.cfm or by mail:

2201 Lloyd Center
Portland, OR 97232

* I love these broads! A little bit compassion, a little bit rock n’ roll. Totally fucking awesome.

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Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare action alerts portland oregon civil liberties mall cop rent-a-cop paul blart kevin james video blogging protest Lloyd Center Mall The Radical Cheerleaders for Animal Rights police brutality video

Sorry for the lack of posts this week, y’all. I’ve been sick since Monday night, and feel ill-equipped to do much more than the daily link roundups. I imagine that the maxim against blogging while drunk includes blogging while drunk on NyQuil. Anywho, I have a number of post ideas on the back burner, so hopefully I’ll be coherent enough by mid-week next week to resume my regular blogging schedule.

Until then, did anyone happen to catch the latest installment of ABC News’ What Would You Do? Basically, it’s a hidden camera type show, wherein ABC News sets up various discomfiting situations in order to determine how the observers stooges will respond. For example, one segment that got some play on the feminist blogs involved a couple (of actors) who were seemingly out at a bar on a first date. When the woman excused herself to the restroom, the man (quite obviously) slipped something in her drink. Cue the crazy.

I only caught the last twenty minutes or so Tuesday night’s episode, but that was more than enough to make me wish I hadn’t. In the last segment, “Dog Left Inside a Hot Car,” a large, fluffy Golden Retriever is left inside a car parked on a suburban street on a hot summer (spring?) day. (The car actually has a hidden A/C unit cranked, and the dog’s trainer is lying on the backseat floor, covered by a blanket.) The windows are cracked so the dog’s barks are audible, and the dog’s “owner” walks to and from the car several times in order to see whether observers will confront him. Strategically placed hidden cameras record passerby reactions.

Unfortunately, ABC News doesn’t appear to allow embedding (grrrr!), so here’s the part where I send you to their website to watch the video.

So, what are your thoughts? How do you think the passerby handled the situation? Did the results exceed your expectations, or fall short? And wtf about those firefighters, eh?

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