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“No Option” is not an option for vegans

If you have never heard of the word “vegan,” this is the definition: someone who has acknowledged the fact that animals are fully conscious individuals who desire freedom and as such, warrant the same fundamental right to be free, not to be treated as property or unnecessarily killed. Vegans, therefore, abstain from using animals or their products as much as is practical in modern society. However, people have often self-identified as “vegans” to simplify many needs: food allergies, doctor’s orders, plant-strong health (well planned whole foods, plant-based diets can prevent, arrest, reverse or otherwise positively impact 15 of the top16 causes of death), sustainable consumption, energy conservation, ecological preservation, food security etc. Demand for vegan, organic, non-GMO options are rapidly rising trends of the informed consumer, not a fad. Those who require vegan options would be delighted to dine anywhere and not treated like an afterthought or discriminated against outright. What a wonderful thing it would be to walk into any restaurant and see clearly identified vegan options for every course of a meal.

Pink Lagoon

The fetid muck never goes away It lingers for generations Once a place of peace and beauty Nothing now survives the pepto-bismol pit Bit by bit, by bit they all succumbed with searing nostrils, burning lungs to satisfy our voracious appetite. Pink lives, sentient and shy, robbed of their young, their trusting eyes broken, their gentle nature plundered. Here your terror ends -- but mine begins -- where the trail of dead fouls air and land. Your while bones littered about. Your bodies swollen or exploded. Incomprehensible the deed. Inconceivable the spill. Unthinkable the toll, beneath the odor's first layer. An unwholesome tang, insidiously nauseating and frightening at its core. Deep-sweet and high-sour. the effluvium charms only black flies and bloodthirsty savages. There are no frogs in this lagoon. There are no fish in this lagoon. There is no life in this lagoon.

Now Is the Time to Start Reading Transformers Comics

The Transformers toy/cartoon/comic book/terrible action movie gestalt is observing its 30th anniversary this year, and time has made it a seemingly impenetrable mess of characters and backstories. But while the movies have been less than stellar examples of the storytelling craft, in the comic book world it’s never been a better time to dig giant robots. With their big cross-series “Dark Cybertron” storyline coming to an end, IDW is giving new readers a great jumping-on point as they reestablish their storylines in the aftermath and challenge some of the very basics of the Transformers status quo. While the Transformers comics of the 80s were good, they were ultimately designed to sell toys to the 8-12 set. Modern-day Hasbro realizes that the people who grew up with these characters are ready to see them in a more adult light. But where that could have meant pointless cursing and violence, IDW Publishing instead presents complex stories of political machinations and personal relationships.

The Loss of John Judge Hits Hard

Our society has lost a great activist today with the death of John Judge. No one spoke more clearly, strongly, and informedly on political power, militarism, and activism for positive change. While John lived nextdoor to Dennis Kucinich -- and with one of the best views and one of the best collections of political books and documents -- in Washington, D.C., it was as staff person for Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney that he advanced numerous causes of peace and justice and accountability for the powerful on Capitol Hill. On impeaching Bush and Cheney he was there first. John's expertise reached back into history and across continents. From the Kennedy assassination to conscientious objection to how-a-bill-becomes-a-law, he was a person to turn to for information and wisdom who was never anything but helpful, friendly, cheerful, and energetic. He could describe the hiring of Nazis in Operation Paperclip and the creation of the Cold War and then suggest that perhaps the Nazis actually won World War II. He could explain the creation of standing armies in such a manner that you knew without a doubt that either our society was insane or you were.

Why We Need Media Critics Who Are Fiercely Independent

The most renowned media critics are usually superficial and craven. That’s because -- as one of the greatest in the 20th century, George Seldes, put it -- “the most sacred cow of the press is the press itself.” No institutions are more image-conscious than big media outlets. The people running them know the crucial importance of spin, and they’ll be damned if they’re going to promote media criticism that undermines their own pretenses. To reach the broad public, critics of the media establishment need amplification from . . . the media establishment. And that rarely happens unless the critique is shallow. The exceptions can be valuable. The New York Times publishes articles by a “public editor” -- an independent contractor whose “opinions and conclusions are her own” -- and the person now in that role, Margaret Sullivan, provides some cogent scrutiny of the newspaper’s coverage. But on the whole, the media critics boosted by big media -- inward-facing ombudspersons and outward-facing journalists on a media beat -- have been conformists who don’t step outside the shadows cast by the institutions paying their salaries.

Torture is Mainstream Now

As Rebecca Gordon notes in her new book, Mainstreaming Torture, polls find greater support in the United States for torture now than when Bush was president. And it's not hard to see why that would be the case. Fifteen years ago, it was possible to pretend the U.S. government opposed torture. Then it became widely known that the government tortured. And it was believed (with whatever accuracy) that officials had tried to keep the torturing secret. Next it became clear that nobody would be punished, that in fact top officials responsible for torture would be permitted to openly defend what they had done as good and noble. The idea was spread around that the torture was stopping, but the cynical could imagine it must be continuing in secret, the partisan could suppose the halt was only temporary, the trusting could assume torture would be brought back as needed, and the attentive could be and have been aware that the government has gone right on torturing to this day with no end in sight.

GOP's shameful treatment of the powerless

The Bible's injunction that we shall be judged by how we have treated the "least of these" (Matthew 25:40) appears in different forms in virtually every religion or faith. And surely the measure of a country is how it treats the most vulnerable of its people -- children in the dawn of life, the poor in the valley of life, the ailing in the shadows of life, the elderly in the dusk of life. This week, the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on the Republican budget proposal put together by Rep. Paul Ryan, chair of the Budget Committee and Mitt Romney's running mate. The vast majority of Republicans are lined up to vote for it, with possible exceptions for a handful who think it does not cut enough. It is a breathtakingly mean and callous proposal. The Republican budget would cut taxes on the wealthy, giving millionaires, the Citizen for Tax Justice estimates, a tax break of $200,000 per year. (Ryan tells us only what tax rates he would lower, not the loopholes he would close to make his proposal revenue neutral. But CTJ shows that even if he closed every loophole, it wouldn't make up for the revenue lost by lowering their top rate).

One Nation the U.S. Actually Should Liberate

"Secretary Kerry? It's Ukraine on the phone asking about liberation again. Have you been able to get them a reference letter yet from Libya or Iraq or Afghanistan? How about Vietnam? Panama? Grenada? Kosovo maybe? Ukraine says Syria says you have a reference letter in the works from Kosovo. No? Huh. They said they'd accept one from Korea or the Dominican Republic or Iran. No? Guatemala? The Philippines? Cuba? Congo? How about Haiti? They say you promised them a glowing reference from Haiti. Oh. They did? No, I am not laughing, Sir. What about East Timor? Oh? Oh! Sir, you're going to liberate the what out of them? Yes sir, I think you'd better tell them yourself."

Some nations the United States should probably not liberate -- except perhaps the 175 nations which could be liberated from the presence of U.S. soldiers.  But one nation I would make an exception for, and that is the nation of Hawai'i.

Jon Olsen's new book, Liberate Hawai'i: Renouncing and Defying the Continuing Fraudulent U.S. Claim to the sovereignty of Hawai'i, makes a compelling case -- a legal case as well as a moral one. 

Unequal education: Is anyone listening?

The Department of Education just released its annual study on civil rights in our education system. The report, Attorney General Eric Holder summarized, "shows that racial disparities in school discipline policies are not only well-documented among older students but actually beginduring preschool." Pre-school? Yes, from preschool on, boys of color are disproportionately afflicted by suspensions and zero-tolerance policiesin school. They are more likely to be disciplined, more likely to be suspended, and more likely to be held back a grade. Suspended students are less likely to graduate on time and more likely to be suspended a second time. They are more likely to drop out, and to end up in trouble. The report shows that preschool is not a reality for much of the country, particularly in poorer districts. Where it does exist, students of color -- blacks and Latinos -- are more likely to be suspended. This has been documented repeatedly in older grades, but now we learn it starts even in preschool. And that's not all.
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