So probably this is day-old news to many of y’all, but yesterday Stephanie Ernst stepped down as the Animal Rights blogger at change.org. While her progressive-before-its-time voice will be missed in that very mainstream space, the shiny part is that she’s already up and blogging at a new venue. And she’s kindly asked me to join her!

Along with Deb of Invisible Voices, Animal Person Mary Martin, and Animal Place’s Marji Beach (who also blogs for Animal Place and at For the Pits), I’ll be a regular contributor to Stephanie’s new project, Animal Rights & AntiOppression. Tag line: Challenging oppression and injustice, against nonhuman animals, humans, and earth — one vegan, environmentalist, feminist, social-justice-loving, all-around-progressive post at a time.

Already, there are a number of wonderful pieces up, so I invite you to hop on over to challengeoppression.com, have a look-see, and share your thoughts. If you’d like to stay up-to-date on future plans and new features, Stephanie has set up a mailing list on Yahoo, as well as a Facebook fan page.

Of course, I’ll still continue to blog here as well, so don’t go getting all teary-eyed or anything. (I kid, I kid.) I’ve got a number of posts in the works – so many that I’m getting a little anxious just thinking about all that writing I’ll probably never get around to. So before I work myself into an anxiety attack, go check out the new digs. More to follow, I’m sure.

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The Vegan Ideal: Our Bodies and Lives

In a series of posts, Ida dissects and rejects the cissexual “colonization” of transsexual bodies and experiences. While transphobia and cissexism are primarily linked with physical violence and systemic discrimination, discounting and silencing the voices of transsexuals – often in favor of cissexuals’ own mis-/un-informed theories and assumptions – is problematic as well. Unfortunately, transphobia and cissexism are all-too common in a number of “progressive” circles – including animal rights and vegan communities. Here, Ida takes vegetarian-ecofeminists to task for their transphobic attitudes.

This isn’t exactly light reading, but I encourage y’all to read each piece anyhow, and with an open mind. If you find transsexuality a difficult concept to grasp, consider this: given your position of not-knowing (read: ignorance), isn’t it best, then, to trust the thoughts, experiences and feelings of those most intimately affected by transsexuality – i.e., transsexuals themselves – and to place their voices in a position of primacy?

Part 1: Our Bodies and Lives: Transsexual Knowledge and Resistance;
Part 2: Our Bodies and Lives: Transphobic Trauma, Transsexual Healing; and
Part 3: Our Bodies and Lives: Questioning Cissexual Politics.

Steven @ L.O.V.E.: Toward vegan language and

Stephanie @ Animal Rights: Not It and That and What — She and He and Who and Whom

The importance of language – including word choice, pronoun usage, framing, writing in the active vs. the passive voice, etc., etc., etc. – is a subject we haven’t discussed nearly enough on this blog. Fear not; a review of An Introduction to Carnism – in which language assumes a starring role – is forthcoming, and once I’m able to return to Animal Equality: Language and Liberation (a year after beginning it, perhaps? oy!), I expect that you won’t be able to shut me up with the language “policing.”

Until then, Steven outlines four reasons why animal advocates should – must! – concern ourselves with language. Also check out Stephanie’s piece on pronoun choice and objectification.

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Fuck PETA, and fuck the ASPCA.

And yes, I’m a little late on this one, but that’s what happens when you step away from the internets for 20 minutes to shave and shower.

While we’re at it, let me apologize to y’all for ever – on any planet, in any and every universe galaxy* in the cosmos – defending PETA, even when the defense was just. Because this shit? Holy Christ. PETA’s jumped into the pornography business, full tit. (Full tilt, I mean. Wait, what did I say?)

Misogynists, speciesists, pimps and animal killers – who needs ‘em?

* Updated 11/19/09: Yes, I’m a dolt.**

** Also: I left a comment on the aforementioned PETA blog post, politely chastising the author for failing to mention Pets Alive’s eagerness to take Oreo off the ASPCA’s hands. That was last night. Twelve hours later, and my comment has yet to be approved. I’m not holding my breath.

Natalie Portman @ The Huffington Post: Jonathan Safran Foer’s Eating Animals Turned Me Vegan and

Carol J. Adams: A vegan-feminist lament

Natalie Portman – a newbie vegetarian-to-vegan convert, thanks to Jonathan Safran Foer’s welfarist Eating Animals (zuh?) – recently caused a stir when she compared the consumption of “meat” to the consumption of women, i.e., in the form of rape:

He posits that consideration, as promoted by Michael Pollan in The Omnivore’s Dilemma, which has more to do with being polite to your tablemates than sticking to your own ideals, would be absurd if applied to any other belief (e.g., I don’t believe in rape, but if it’s what it takes to please my dinner hosts, then so be it).

Naturally, Portman’s remark(s) unleashed a torrent of speciesism – to which Carol Adams responds with a vegan-feminist lament.

(This is the point at which I’d normally swoon over Ms. Portman – but I’m still somewhat heartbroken over her Jane Hancock on the “free Polanski” petition.)

Striking at the Roots: Carol J. Adams on Activism, Veganism and Models for Change

In what’s shaping up to be a series (see also: Mark’s conversation with Andrew Zollman of LGBT Compassion), author/activist Mark Hawthorne interviews vegetarian (vegan?) / feminist Carol Adams. The two touch upon sexism within the animal rights movement, masculine vs. feminist models of change, the gendered nature of animal exploitation, and guerrilla activism. Keep it coming, Mark!

Stephanie @ Animal Rights: Are American Rodeos More Acceptable Than Spanish Bullfighting?

Stephanie details an alarming trend: as Spanish animal advocacy groups work to bring an end to bullfighting, promoters of American rodeos are promoting the “sport” as a “humane” alternative. Clearly, the question she poses – Are American Rodeos More Acceptable Than Spanish Bullfighting? – is a rhetorical one, and the answer is a resounding hell no! Here, colonialism meets speciesism, and everyone loses. Save for the colonizers, of course.

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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 know y’all hear this entirely too often, but it’s been a long time since I last posted an intersectionality link roundup. Too long! What can I say? VeganMoFo monopolized my October. (But seriously, we have to stop intersecting like this.)

Alas, many of these links are a little older, but still worth a look.

Jennie @ That Vegan Girl: Vegans and vampires and

Breeze Harper @ Vegans of Color: Twilight and Vegetarian Vampires? New Philosophy book…

Though I’ve shied away from the Twilight series due to its not-so-subtle misogyny, I may have to reconsider, given the books’ allusions to vegetarianism. Nor is vegetarianism an uncommon theme in vampire fiction. In the first link, Jennie explores vegetarianism and veganism in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight, as well as the HBO TV series True Blood (which is based on another series of books, Charlaine Harris’s The Southern Vampire Mysteries). In the second, Breeze Harper of VOC points to a new anthology on the subject, Twilight and Philosophy: Vampires, Vegetarians, and the Pursuit of Immortality, which has since been added to my wishlist.

Ari Solomon @ The Huffington Post: The Feminist’s Dilemma

Vegan entrepreneur and dudely feminist (or pro-feminist/ally, if you prefer) Ari Soloman argues that the plight of nonhuman animals is indeed a feminist issue. Using the lives and deaths of “dairy” cows as an example, he posits that the human exploitation of nonhuman animals is oftentimes gendered, with the females of the species suffering especially brutal and prolonged abuses – all because they’re capable of perpetuating the species/industry. Naturally, I agree.

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Here are a few links I’ve been sitting on for awhile. So much to discuss, so little time. Oh, the life of a B-list blogger!

In no particular order:

1. Flu Factories: Tracing the Origins of the Swine Flu Pandemic

Dr. Greger, whose Bird Flu: A Virus of Our Own Hatching I reviewed several years back, was kind enough to send me a copy of his latest project, Flu Factories: Tracing the Origins of the Swine Flu Pandemic. Flu Factories is a one-hour presentation by Dr. Greger on the H1N1 influenza pandemic; it’s available for purchase on DVD, or for free viewing (in 40 parts!) on the HSUS’s website.

While I haven’t yet had a chance to view the entire video, if it’s anything like Bird Flu (and, judging from the chapter titles, there looks to be much crossover, particularly in the areas of biology and history), it’s bound to be both illuminating and terrifying. Although Dr. Greger doesn’t take an explicitly animal rights/vegan position in Bird Flu (nor do I know anything about his personal politics, his position at the HSUS notwithstanding), he does emphasize the role that factory farming – and, to a lesser extent, animal agriculture in general – plays in zoonotic diseases, including the influenza (avian and swine). If you can ignore the speciesism (e.g., in the quoted resources), it’s well worth a watch.

Embedded above is a clip from the presentation: Chapter 2, the 1918 Flu Pandemic.

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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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There are several “actionable items” – not quite action alerts, but rather opportunities for participation, if that makes sense – I’ve been meaning to share, but just haven’t had the time to blog about in depth. Rather than neglect these projects altogether, here’s a handy-dandy roundup. Please scan through each item and help out where you can; these virtual volunteer opportunities are perfect for activists who have more extra time than they do money!

1. Science

It really chaps my rotund hide when speciesists claim that animal advocates are “anti-science.” Being all diverse and stuff, I’m sure the animal rights and welfare movements are home to a fair share of science-averse humans, but for the most part, we’re hardly anti-science. On the contrary: many of us harness the power of scientific research to demonstrate that veganism is a healthier alternative to “meat” and dairy consumption; that nonhuman animals can experience complex thoughts and emotions; that our exploitation of nonhumans animals is both unnecessary and harmful; etc., etc., etc. (you get the idea). On the whole, I don’t think we’re any more anti-science than our omni counterparts.

Personally, I love science; once upon a time, I wanted to be a clinical psychologist, specializing in anthrozoology and world vegan (then vegetarian, but wev) domination. I still peruse research articles and scientific journals (of a social nature) on occasion, just for the fun of it. No, it’s not science per se that I take issue with. Rather, I object to the imprisonment, torture, killing and exploitation of sentient, non-consenting animals, usually for redundant and frivolous research.

So I’ve become increasingly interested in “vegan” science, particularly in supporting such endeavors whenever possible. For example, I would love to donate my body to science when I die. The thought of spending my “afterlife” rotting away on a body farm somewhere brings a smile to my face; doubly so if my remains can save a nonhuman animal from being birthed, tortured and killed in the name of science. Oooh, Dr. Brennan, pick me, pick me!

Anyhow, when I saw an ad for research volunteers in the latest issue of Best Friends magazine, I immediately fired off an email to Dr. Frank McMillan to see how I might help. He pointed me to five open surveys, all of which are related to studies he’s conducting at Best Friends (as described here):

Dr. Franklin McMillan has been the director of well-being studies at Best Friends since October 2007. As director of well-being studies, Dr. Frank assesses and studies the mental health and emotional well-being of animals who have endured hardship, adversity and psychological trauma. Through these studies, he hopes to learn what the effects of trauma are – the psychological injuries and scars – and how best to treat them in order to restore to these animals a life of enjoyment rather than one of fear and emotional distress.

He is currently conducting such studies on cats from the Great Kitty Rescue in Pahrump, Nevada – an institutionalized hoarding situation – and the fighting dogs taken from the estate of former NFL quarterback Michael Vick.

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Action Alerts: Animal & Environmental Advocacy

Born Free USA: Help Stop Trapping on National Wildlife Refuges

CARE: Senate Addresses Climate Change: Voice Your Support Today

Center for Biological Diversity: Help Protect the Grand Canyon From Uranium Mining

Center for Biological Diversity: Protect Polar Bear Critical Habitat

CREDO Action: Tell Senator Kerry: Protect the EPA in the climate bill.

Defenders of Wildlife: Tell the EPA to Protect Imperiled Wildlife from Poisons!

In Defense of Animals (IDA): Obama Administration Proposal Is BAD For Wild Horses

In Defense of Animals (IDA): Tell TLC To Cancel “My Monkey Baby”

Kinship Circle: 10/22/09: Don’t Let EPA Kill More Prairie Dogs; Comments must be received on or before October 23, 2009

Kinship Circle: 10/20/09: Two Dogs Shot At Point Blank Range In New York

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