I have two not-so-random songs for your listening pleasure tonight: Morrissey’s Meat is Murder and Me and a Gun by Tori Amos. The first video has some fairly graphic images of animal abuse, and the comments thread for the second is riddled with misogynist trolls. So watch and/or browse with caution.

And since these are both somewhat depressing choices, some loldogz after the jump. Smile, it be Friday, yo!

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This week, I’ve only got one video for y’all, since it’s my birthday and I really shouldn’t be wasting it on the internets. My lone offering is Spoon’s The Underdog, which has always reminded me of Dennis Kucinich. Whenever it’s on the xm, I just close my eyes and imagine it’s his theme song, blaring in the background while he’s sworn into office on a copy of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. Then I snap out of it and curse the two-party system.

Oh, and if you’re feeling generous and looking to shower me with birthday gifts, why don’t you send some cash BETA’s way? BETA = Beirut for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, and they could sure use it more than moi:

Hezbollah fighters, their guns blazing, seized control of west Beirut on Friday after three days of deadly street battles with pro-government foes pushed Lebanon dangerously close to all-out civil war.

Convoys of triumphant Shiite opposition gunmen firing into the air and flashing victory signs took to the streets after routing Sunni militants loyal to the Western-backed government of the divided nation.

As the fighting eased, the army and police moved across areas now in the hands of Iranian- and Syrian-backed opposition forces which have been locked in an 18-month power struggle with the ruling coalition.

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Great feminist-minded country dominated my mp3 player yesterday, so I’m in a hardy candy kind of mood today. Here are three of my favorite country songs (mostly oldies, the newer stuff generally doesn’t do it for me): Loretta Lynn’s “The Pill”, Jeannie C. Riley’s “Harper Valley PTA”, and The Dixie Chicks’ “Goodbye Earl”. You’ll have to excuse the awful misogynistic video for “The Pill” - ’twas the only listen-able video I could find. Well, not so much “excuse” as “ignore” or “don’t watch, just listen”.

And to round out to selection, NOFX’s “Clams Have Feelings Too”. I think this is one of the songs NOFX initially wrote to mock the concept of animal rights, but the band’s singer did go veg in the late ’80s, and the track is included on PETA’s compilation album, Liberation: Songs to Benefit PETA. And really, I think it’s a relatively animal-friendly song either way.

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Friday Activist Vlogging = Friday Veggie Vlogging, but with extra awesome inclusiveness. In addition to animal-friendly musak, I’ll be posting feminist, green, pro-GLBT, anti-racist, -sizeist and -ageist, and otherwise librul/progressive songs. Hopefully in multiples every Friday.

Fridays through Sundays are also awfully mofo busy for me, so this should be much easier than trying to cram in a substantial post or a link roundup. Again, we’ll see how long this lasts. And if you don’t hear from me again ’till Sunday, it’s because I’m busy doing first time homeowner stuff, like cleaning up the junk pile the old owners left in the back of the property. (There’s literally a kitchen sink back there, no lying.)

Suggestions? Send ‘em to me! Dog knows I could use ‘em.

This week’s entry is inspired by the site Stuff White People Like and, more specifically, Elaine’s series of posts on their posts on veganism, dog-love and other so-called white yuppie concerns. Because, like, only privileged white people can be bothered to exercise compassion through their food choices.

Like, um, this guy:

Who’s “kickin’ it” to a song by…dead prez, “a critically acclaimed underground hip-hop duo…they are largely known for their hard-hitting style combined with Socialist and pan-Africanist lyrics, focusing on revolution, institutional racism, critical pedagogy, police, capitalism, education in the United States, prison systems, religion, activism against governmental repression, and corporate control over the media, especially hip-hop record labels.” [Via Wiki]

Oh, and a vegetarian lifestyle, borne from the silly idea that “oppression is oppression.”

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Say it with me now: Awwwweeeee!

ME WANTS!!!!!1!!!1 ME WANTS NOW!!!!!1!!!1

Because CNN apparently does not allow embedding of “their” videos (Zum, iReports, anyone? Not really “theirs”!), you’ll have to go to CNN to experience the cuteness. Here’s a direct link. Which I could only retrieve by emailing the video to myself. Seriously, WTF CNN? Even Comedy Central has hopped onto the embedding bandwagon. It’s 2008, for dogsake.

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Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare video cnn dog canine sheep pet companion animal ethology animal behavior animal emotions love interspecies bonding animal rescue

And since Dr. Stephen Colbert, DFA is just as refreshing as the wet stuff (and also due in no small part to the crazy amount of yard work I have to do today), I’ll let him give you the lowdown on WWD. Here are all five segments of Thursday’s Colbert Report Special ReporT, “Watershift Down: Getting the Sea Monkey off America’s Aqua-Back.”

If you’d like to learn more about World Water Day (this year’s theme: Sanitation), check out www.worldwaterday.org and www.worldwaterday.net. Also, you can read more about the awesome Dean Kamen here. (If you only watch one clip, make it Stephen’s interview with Dean, which is the fourth one down below.)

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Here’s the video, in case ya missed it:

I thought it went swimmingly, with nary a boo to be heard. I mean, I know Dr. Colbert’s crowd is fairly liberal, but even most libs poo-poo vegetarianism.

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Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare peta people for the ethical treatment of animals ingrid newkirk stephen colbert the colbert report comedy central video eat me cannibalism

The bloggers at PETA2 want to know what your favorite AR song is.

I chose The Sexual Politics of Meat by Consolidated - that would be the second segment on this vid:

What’s Your Cut? by the Barks is pretty mofo awesome too.

So, what’s your cut, veg*ns?

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Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare video blogging music videos vlogging youtube music videos the barks consolidated the sexual politics of meat what’s your cut vegan veganism vegetarian vegetarianism feminism misogyny racism homophobia

I cannot watch this clip too many times. LOLZ all around.

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Tagged: roger clemens vegetarian vegan the colbert report stephen colbert comedy central video lolz

Obviously, I’m a wee bit late on this one, but in my defense, IDA only sent out this alert 12 hours or so prior to the broadcast, so I didn’t even open the email until after the fact.

Anywho, here’s the vid if you’re interested. Not quite as cool as submitting your own Q’s (such as, “Dennis, how could you even consider Ron Paul as your running mate? Like, WTF, dude!?”), but still. Check it out.

h/t to Connecticut for Animals for the video link.

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Here’s something you probably didn’t know…

Throughout the developed world the business surrounding death has often been an uneasy topic of discussion. Originating in the mid-19th Century, the modern funeral has evolved into an economic and cultural monster, with a vast network of supporting industries and myriad options for your earthly remains.

This original GOOD Magazine animation takes you inside the business of death.

More on the business of death and eco-friendly burials here (or jump right on down to the list of DIY/consumer orgs, here).

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Tagged: death dying environment green good magazine you tube animation green burials cremation pollution climate change global warming

Ingrid Newkirk, the founder of PETA, is the subject of Matthew Galkin’s documentary I Am An Animal. The film won the Hamptons International Film Festival’s Golden Starfish for Documentary Feature. Before accepting the award, filmmaker and subject spoke with Plum.

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Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare peta people for the ethical treatment of animals ingrid newkirk video i am an animal hbo documentary interview

As promised…a week late, but no less sweet. Dennis Kucinich! Emptying his pockets! On The Colbert Report!

After the jump, Stephen announces his candidacy. Colbert/Kucinich ‘08, anyone?

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Emptying his pockets, even!

Don’t miss it! *

* I’m sure I’ll post the vid tomorrow, so I guess you can miss it, after all. But seriously - don’t miss it.

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Tagged: Dennis Kucinich Stephen Colbert The Colbert Report Comedy Central video blogging vlogging animals animal rights animal welfare Department of Peace

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: PCRM Legislative Coordinator Kyle Ash - kash [at] pcrm.org
Date: Sep 28, 2007 10:40 AM
Subject: The Farm Bill: What You Don’t Know CAN Hurt You

Ever wonder why cheeseburgers are so cheap? Or why school cafeterias still serve more meatloaf and hot dogs than fruits and vegetables? The answer may surprise you.

The Farm Bill, America’s primary federal food policy, keeps high-fat, cholesterol-laden pork, beef, cheese, and other unhealthy animal products cheap and widely available. That’s why I hope you’ll take action today to help spread the word about PCRM’s new hard-hitting Farm Bill commercial.

The Farm Bill doled out more than $70 billion in food subsidy payments from 1995 to 2005, and more than three-quarters of that money went to producers of meat, sugar, oil, dairy, alcohol, and feed crops used in meat production. Fruit and vegetable farmers received less than 1 percent of government subsidies. To make matters worse, the federal government purchases Farm Bill surplus foods like cheese, milk, pork, and beef for distribution to food assistance programs—including the National School Lunch Program.

As you may know from my previous e-mails, the House of Representatives made only minor changes to the subsidy system when it passed its version of the bill in July. Now that the Senate Agriculture Committee is expected to begin marking up its version of the Farm Bill in October, PCRM and other groups are calling for sweeping changes. PCRM has been calling attention to the problem with a new television ad about the Farm Bill, which directs people to StopChildhoodObesityNow.org. Our ad has been covered by The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, MSNBC.com, and many other media outlets. As the bill comes before the Senate over the next month, I’ll need your help to send a strong message about reform.

www.youtube.com/user/PCRM

Here’s how you can help:

1. Watch PCRM’s new Farm Bill ad on YouTube. Make sure to share it with your friends!
2. Forward this e-mail to your friends and family and let them know why they should care about the Farm Bill, too.
3. Call and e-mail your senators. Urge them to make healthy changes to the Farm Bill.

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