Kaylee can’t decide between Jane Goodall’s The Chimpanzees of Gombe and Owen & Chiras’s Natural Resource Conservation, sixth ed. What’s a gal to do!? CC image via ME on Flickr.
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Vegans, feminists and (especially) vegan feminists, listen up! Via Bitch Media and MP: An Online Feminist Journal come two shiny opportunities to contribute to feminist projects – and advocate for your nonhuman sisters at the same time!

First up: Bitch Media, which recently established a Community Lending Library in Portland. Currently boasting over 1,000 books, the project welcomes donations of feminist titles. Seeing as animal advocacy oftentimes dovetails with feminism, the Lending Library is a great way to get animal rights books into the hands of non-veg feminists. So if you’ve got a spare copy of The Sexual Politics of Meat or Sistah Vegan gathering dust on your bookshelf, why not donate it to this totally rad community project? (Those with BookMooch or similar accounts can also swap books to donate directly to the library…by which I mean “ship to,” as Bitch isn’t currently listed as a member/charity on BookMooch.)

But wait! There’s more! In its latest newsletter, Bitch announced that it would also like to build up its zine collection. Woman, feminist and/or vegan zinesters, read on for details on how to get a copy of your own zines (or your favorite zines) onto the shelves of Bitch. (Peace to All Creatures, anyone?)

Biblio-Bitches Rejoice! Zinesters Unite!

The Bitch Community Lending Library is open and ready for new and returning card holders to drop by. Open from 5-8pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Monday-Friday by appointment, you will have a chance to browse more than 1,000 titles of feminist literature, research and writing (and maybe even take a few home?). You can also take the time to meet Bitch’s library coordinator, Ashley McAllister, who has been hard at work adding new titles, filling the shelves and familiarizing herself with the subtleties of issuing cards.

One of the first things that Ashley wants to do in the library is start a collection of reader-donated zines. Bitch started its life as a zine and will always have a soft spot for the format, so we’re excited to honor self-publishing by creating a dedicated space for zines in our lending library. We’re adding a zine library to the 1,000-plus books already in our collection, and excited to share the breadth of self-published materials with our members.

If you’re either a zinemaker yourself or have a zine collection that you’re looking to either pare down or donate entirely, let us know! We’re looking for zines made by and for feminist thinkers, activists, and fans, though they don’t have to be “grrrl zines” per se. Whether your zines were Xeroxed back in 1992 or just last month, we’d love to have them. If you’ve got a large collection that you want to ship to us, please contact Ashley McAllister at ashley [at] b-word.org. Otherwise, just write “zine donation” on your envelope. And look for upcoming blog posts featuring zines that show up in our mailbox!

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At a February 20, 2010 pigeon shoot at the infamous Philadelphia Gun Club, [...] a member of the Club viciously yelled at two female activists saying, “Go fuck yourself you rotten cunt!”

SHARK discovered that the assailant was Richard Shackleton and that he was town attorney for Long Beach Township, NJ. At the April 9th Long Beach Township committee meeting, we confronted him about what he had done.

What he said was shocking: “I’m happy to say that, what I said, I meant every word of it.”

When offered a chance to apologize he said, “Absolutely not.”

At this point, Shackleton had compounded upon his original insult by taking pride in hurting his victims. And again, during a television newscast, he refused to apologize for his vile comments.

Referring to his despicable use of the “c” word, Shackleton said: “I think that’s what she is and I think she deserved it.”

Quite possibly you’ve already heard about Richard Shackleton, a pigeon shooter and solicitor for Long Beach Township, New Jersey, who hurled gendered slurs at two female activists – and then, when confronted by SHARK members at a Long Beach Township committee meeting, refused to apologize for the comments? No? Then keep reading for SHARK’s ongoing reports on the situation, complete with links to recent media coverage and opportunities to take action.

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Last year, Nathan Winograd and the No Kill Advocacy Center offered up free copies of Winograd’s book Redemption: The Myth of Pet Overpopulation and the No Kill Revolution in America to any elected official who requested one. Since then, Winograd has released Irreconcilable Differences: The Battle for the Heart & Soul of America’s Animal Shelters, an anthology of essays related to animal rescue and the no-kill movement. As with Redemption, elected officials can receive a copy, free of charge.

The details and fine print:

The No Kill Advocacy Center is offering free copies of Irreconcilable Differences: The Battle for the Heart & Soul of America’s Animal Shelters to any elected official.

We need to change the way shelters operate and our director is willing to pay for it! He has generously donated “as many copies as it takes” of his award-winning book to get City Council Members, Members of the Board of Supervisors, Mayors, Assemblymen, Senators, County Commissioners, or any elected official to read it. All they have to do is ask for it.

If we receive a letter on official stationary from them asking for a copy, we’ll send it free, no strings attached.

Limitations:

1. Letter must be postmarked by April 30, 2010 and sent to our address.
2. Request must be on official stationary (No e-mails, telephone calls, or third-party requests).
3. One book per letter and per elected official.
4. This offer is only valid for elected officials in the U.S.
5. There are no exceptions or extensions.

Please let your elected officials know about this opportunity. A leader in the no-kill movement and a vegan, Winograd is a fierce and outspoken champion of nonhuman animals – of all species.

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Last updated 7/5/10 @ 8:20 PM CDT

While the recent earthquake (and resulting tsunami) in Chile has received less coverage – at least in regards to subsequent relief efforts – than that in Haiti, I was able to find some information on animal-friendly organizations that are providing help with disaster relief. Please feel free to share any additional information in the comments!

1. Vegan Bake Sales for Chile: As of this writing, I can’t find a post dedicated specifically to vegan bake sales to benefit Chilean quake survivors on the PPK blog, however, a search of the forums does bring up a few relevant threads. Head on over to the PPK to organize and announce your own bake sale for Chile!

2. Food for Life Global is on the ground in Chile, providing vegan and/or vegetarian meals to quake survivors:

BBC, Feb 28 — The death toll from Chile’s earthquake has more than doubled to 708 and is expected to rise further, President Michelle Bachelet has said. Previously about 300 people were estimated to have been killed in Saturday’s 8.8 magnitude quake – one of the most powerful recorded. Massive damage is hampering rescue teams as they struggle to reach those still buried in the rubble.

Food for Life emergency relief teams in the area are mobilizing to provide help. Donate now!

3. In Defense of Animals (IDA) reported on 3/18/10 that it will be sending aid to Chile:

On February 27, Chile experienced a magnitude 8.8 earthquake, followed by two tsunamis and several weeks of aftershocks.

IDA has already committed $5,000 to Socorro Animal Chile, SACH (Animal Relief Chile), a coalition of Chilean animal protection organizations. SACH sends three veterinarian-led teams into the field daily. We would like to send SACH even more assistance, as the need is enormous. Please help IDA continue to respond to natural disasters by contributing to our Disaster Relief Fund.

Funds IDA raises to help animals in Chile will be used to provide:

* Emergency sheltering for rescued animals
* Search and rescue efforts
* In-field sustenance (food/water program)
* Animal transport
* Temporary clinics to treat animals
* Support for spay/neuter and adoption programs

4. Finally, Kinship Circle has proven an excellent source of information on animal rescue and disaster relief efforts in Chile. All related Kinship Circle alerts are crossposted below. I’ve added additional links where necessary; the most recent alerts appear first, followed by earlier ones. You can also view a photo log of Kinship Circle’s rescue efforts in Chile on Flickr, @ KCChile.

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Last updated 5/23/10 @ 9:30 PM CDT.

“WSPA – Haiti Earthquake Relief Efforts: This picture was sent on to the WSPA emergency relief team, by a photographer who is in Haiti. Domesticated animals play a significant role in Haiti, both in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake and in the lengthy road to recovery.” Photo via the WSPA on Flickr.
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Faced with a natural disaster of this magnitude, there’s not much to say. So let’s not say anything. Instead, let’s do.

Below I’ve compiled a list of 1) action alerts, 2) at-home fundraisers and volunteer opportunities and 3) organizations in need of monetary donations and volunteers abroad in order to assistant in the relief efforts in Haiti. As you will see, this guide is heavy on animal rescue and animal-friendly organizations – because, hello, vegan blogger here! – however, I have included resources for human-related groups as well. In particular, the action alerts section does not discriminate.

I’ll update this post in the days and weeks to come, so please bookmark it and visit often. As of 2/8/10, I have moved it off the main page, since updates have slowed.

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Caution: Major spoilers ahead.

While The Men Who Stare at Goats is by no means an animal rights or overtly anti-vivisection movie, it does (happily!) have a few animal-friendly moments.

Based on a 2004 book of the same name by journalist Jon Ronson, the film is a dramatized account of Ronson’s investigation into “psychic” warfare experiments conducted by the U.S. military in the ’70s and ’80s. Ostensibly a story for the skeptic set (indeed, that’s why the husband and I saw it in the theater), the film also at turns sentimentalizes the “free love,” hippie sensibilities and mysticism of the ’60s and ’70s. (Indeed, it concludes on a disappointingly “anything is possible if you believe” note.)

Anyhow, along with all the “flower power” comes not a little tree- and animal-hugging. Goat-hugging, to be more specific: because the army’s more “practical” experiments involve trauma training carried out on live animals, the medical school’s in-house goats also play a role in the aforementioned psychic experimentation – the purposes of which isn’t nearly as sadistic as the trailers let on.

Lest I get ahead of myself, here’s a brief synopsis, via Wiki:

The film follows Ann Arbor Daily Telegram reporter Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor), who one day interviews Gus Lacey, a man who claims to have psychic abilities. Bob shrugs Lacey off as crazy. Soon after, Bob’s wife leaves him for his one-armed editor. Bob, out of anger, flies to Kuwait to investigate the Iraq War. However, he stumbles onto the story of a lifetime when he meets Special Forces operator, Lyn Cassady (George Clooney). Lyn reveals that he was part of an American army unit training psychic spies (or “Jedi Warriors”), trained to develop a range of parapsychological skills including invisibility, remote viewing, cloud bursting, walking through walls, and intuition.

The founder of this unit, Bill Django (Jeff Bridges), traveled across America in the 1970s for six years exploring a range of New Age movements (including the Human potential movement), because of a vision he received after getting shot during the Vietnam War, and used these experiences to found the New Earth Army. In the 1980s, two of Django’s best recruits were Lyn Cassady and Larry Hooper (Kevin Spacey), who developed a lifelong rivalry because of their opposing views of how to implement the New Earth Army philosophy; Lyn wanted to emphasize the positive side of the teachings, whereas Larry was more interested in the dark side of the philosophy.

In the early 2000s Bob and Lyn embark on a new mission in Iraq, where they are kidnapped by a criminal gang. They escape with fellow kidnapping victim Mahmud Daash (Waleed Zuaiter) and get rescued by a private security firm led by Todd Nixon (Robert Patrick), but get caught up in a firefight between Todd’s security firm and a rival security firm; this would later be known as the “Battle of Ramadi.” Mahmud, Bob and Lyn escape from the firefight and go to Mahmud’s house, which has been shot up by soldiers. From there Bob and Lyn leave to continue on Lyn’s vague mission involving a vision he had of Bill Django.

Here it’s worth noting that Cassady recounts the story of Django and the New Earth Army as his Iraqi adventure with Wilton unfolds in parallel. Both tales begin on a light, humorous note, eventually taking turns for the worse. While the trailers and media interviews done in promotion of the movie tend to emphasize the New Earth Army’s more nefarious projects, Django began the program with the best of intentions: namely, achieving world peace through love and understanding. A laudable goal, to be sure – even if its implementation proved somewhat ridiculous.

However, Hooper eventually betrays Django, assuming control of the New Earth Army in order to corrupt it. (Think of Django as Obi-Wan Kenobi to Cassady’s Luke Sywalker and Hooper’s Darth Vader.) The peace, love and understanding of Django’s ’60s and ’70s give way to the greed, militarization and subjugation of – what? The Reagen ’80s? The Clinton ’90s? The Bush ’00s? All of the above? Take your pick! (The Men Who Stare at Goats is, if not anti-war, at least anti-torture.)

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Because I’ve been a terribly neglectful blogger as of late – and because this isn’t likely to change any time soon, or at least not this week – I have an extracurricular activity for y’all. The challenge, should you choose to accept it, is this:

How Do You Help Animals?

We’re all able to help animals…

But we don’t need to be a full-time activist or have a rare talent to do so. Every day activities that we do at home or work can go a long way in making a difference for animals in need or educating others about animal suffering.

[The American Anti-Vivisection Society] AAVS hopes to inspire all of our readers by publishing the many ways our members and supporters help animals in every day life. For example, do you: bake delicious vegan treats for your carnivorous co-workers? Use your sewing talents to help keep animals in shelters warm? Volunteer your accounting skills for a grassroots group? Offer fresh veggies grown in your garden to give sanctuary animals a tasty treat? Photograph animals in shelters to help them find homes? Donate gently used animal rights literature and publications to your local library? Or maybe you help animals in another creative way.

If so, please submit your story in 250 words or less, along with your name and complete contact information, to aavs [at] aavs.org by Monday, December 14, 2009.*

*By submitting your story, you grant the American Anti-Vivisection Society permission to use your name and written submission, in whole or in part, in the AV Magazine or any other AAVS publication, print or electronic.

The photo at the top of this piece is from the lovely and talented Ari Moore, who – along with her partner, the equally lovely and talented Shira Golding, and in collaboration with The Dacha Project and Shaleshock Citizens Action Alliance – produced a “short environmental zombie thriller” called Frac Attack: Dawn of the Watershed in order to protest natural gas drilling in Ithaca, New York. (How’s that for a run-on sentence, hmmm?) Total awesomeness, though team shirari makes me feel like some kind of slacker. You can learn more about the project on the film’s website or Facebook fan page.

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Action Alerts: Animal & Environmental Advocacy

1Sky: Step Up on Climate, Obama!

350: Sign the call to save a mountain and choose a new future.

ASPCA: USA: Limit Use of Non-Therapeutic Antibiotics in Food Animals

Animal Welfare Institute (AWI): Letters needed in support of the Pet Safety and Protection Act and the Refuge from Cruel Trapping Act

AVAAZ: G20: CLIMATE FINANCE NOW

Defenders of Wildlife: Prairie Dogs at Risk: Tell the EPA to Do its Job!

Defenders of Wildlife: Protect Polar Bears and the Places They Live

Farm Sanctuary: “Pardoned” Turkeys Deserve Real Refuge

HSUS: USDA: Protect Veal Calves from Abuse

In Defense of Animals (IDA): Free Billy

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I just spotted this notice from Farm Sanctuary in my inbox and thought I’d share. Tune in to Fox tonight at 8PM Eastern time, where the “darkly comic procedural drama”* Bones will feature undercover factory farm footage secured by Farm Sanctuary and specially requested by the show’s star – fellow vegan Emily Deschanel.

Alas, I won’t be watching. Though I adore Bones, I’m somewhat of a newbie fan, and am only halfway through Season 4 on DVD. Tonight’s episode will languish on my DVR until the Mr. and I catch up. So no spoilers, mkay?

———- Forwarded message ———-
Date: Thu, Nov 5, 2009 at 4:04 PM
Subject: TONIGHT: Hit Fox Show “Bones” to Spotlight Farm Sanctuary Factory Farming Footage

Kelly,

Very exciting news! Tonight’s episode (8pm/7 Central) of the hit FOX show “Bones” will be spotlighting Farm Sanctuary footage of cruel factory farming practices. Please see below for full details. Make sure to tune in and please spread the word!

All the best,

Meredith

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Farm Sanctuary Footage of Cruel Factory Farming Practices Spotlighted on Hit FOX TV Show “Bones”

NEW YORK, NY – November 5, 2009 – Tonight’s episode of the hit FOX television show “Bones” (airing at 8pm/7 Central), starring vegan actress and Farm Sanctuary supporter Emily Deschanel, will prominently feature factory farming footage secured by Farm Sanctuary, the nation’s leading farm animal protection organization, as part of a plot-line surrounding a murder that takes place at a chicken farm.

The footage, which was requested by Deschanel, will educate thousands of mainstream viewers about the cruel conditions animals are forced to endure on factory farms. The episode also features a character who rescues a pig and asks her coworkers for donations so that she can sponsor her at a sanctuary.

To further raise awareness of the horrors of factory farming, FOX is featuring a special message from Deschanel on their website (fox.com/bones/) urging people to support Farm Sanctuary by sponsoring an animal in need.

To learn more about “adopting” one of Farm Sanctuary’s rescued animals, please visit farmsanctuary.org.

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In lieu of my vegan story (it’s World Vegan Day, peoples!), I bring you a week’s worth of vegan links. The day was a gorgeous one, and probably the last of the season, so I spent most of it outside. Please forgive me! I swear, I’ll share my vegetarian/vegan conversion story…I want to say “tomorrow,” but “someday” is a safer bet.

But. If a picture is indeed worth a thousand words, this photo more or less sums it up.

Now about those links…

Action Alerts: Animal & Environmental Advocacy

ASPCA: USA: Support the Pet Safety and Protection Act! [Please consider contacting your representative and senators directly, without using the ASPCA's feedback form. The sample letter provided by the ASPCA is horribly speciesist, and they do not allow users to edit it on their website.]

Best Friends: Sign up for a free Jinni account, and Jinni will donate 10 cents (up to $10,000) to Best Friends

Center for Biological Diversity: Help Save Walrus From Massive Stampede Deaths

Dawnwatch: “Eating Animals” — CNN, Wall Street Journal, NPR with Jonathan Safran Foer — 10/30 — 11/1/09

DawnWatch: Sunday papers on home slaughtering and meat tax 10/25/09

Defenders of Wildlife: Stop the Invasion of the Exotic Wildlife!

Earthjustice: Help Protect Children From Toxic Pesticides

easyvegan: Scientists, Poets, Changemakers and Heroes (Volunteer Opportunities & Action Alerts)

Ecological Internet: Madagascar’s Protected Rainforest Hardwoods Continue to be Selectively Logged

Environment New Mexico: Protect the Grand Canyon!

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