April 2010
1 post
USA Restaurant Chains Must Disclose Calories on...
One little-known but important law that’s been passed along with the U.S. health care bill: restaurants with more than twenty locations will have to post calorie counts of all items on their menus. This change promises to discourage sales of high calorie coffee drinks as much as it harms sales of Big Macs.
The big losers here are going to be fatty cheese and red meat items. Expect people...
May 2009
15 posts
Erik's Guide to College
When I was a little kid, Tuesday nights were the nights my dad didn’t come home until very late. He’d depart his office job and go straight to the local drug store, where he’d work as the nighttime pharmacist until closing. He was making this sacrifice so that one day he could afford to send me to college.
It was all a product of his depression-era Jewish childhood that taught...
Interlude -- Meet the CEOs
If we’re going to get anywhere protecting farmed animals, it’s vital to have some understanding of the people we’re up against.
Factory farming has taken over farmed animal production for a number of reasons, the most important of which is that the top firms are run by world-class businesspeople. These people have reached leadership positions by demonstrating the skills to be...
Why We're Gong to Win, Part One: Us
As I’ve already written, I’m far from being the animal protection movement’s most effective or most skilled activist. But I do think my position within the movement perhaps offers me a deeper perspective on our prospects than most activists have. Our prospects are incredible —- and we’re about to see the animal protection movement go on an unbelievable tear. Let me...
“Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.”
– His Holiness, the Dalai Lama
Who Wants to be an Animal Millionaire?
One of the most important things I could possibly accomplish is to help other animal activists think in larger terms, and develop more substantial ambitions. If you’re going to take action for animals, you might as well choose tasks that will affect as many animals as possible.
We’ve got ten billion animals raised and slaughtered each year in the United States, and only a few...
On (Not) Cashing In
I’ve decided to not attempt, for the moment, to derive some income from this tumblelog. I just removed the Amazon affiliate links from the dental floss and Sonicare mentions in my previous post. I don’t want to create the impression that I have a financial interest in mentioning a given product here. At some point, if this tumblelog takes off, I’ll need to think about deriving...
The Foundation of All Activism
Now that we’ve gotten most of the preliminaries out of the way, it’s now time to start addressing activism. So let’s start at the very beginning. This post will address the fundamental, basic technique upon which all animal protection work rests. Please move your chairs a bit closer, and listen carefully while I pass on this crucial bit of knowledge. Ready?
Dental floss. ...
“There are ten billion farmed animals getting their throats cut each year in the...”
Thesis Statements
For some reason I don’t care enough to think about, the term “thesis statement” used to piss me off back in high school.
The gist of a thesis statement is that you’re summing up in a sentence or two an argument that you intend to prove over the course of your paper. The way writing is typically taught is that you’re encouraged to come up with forced to provide your...
Asking for Help
One of the things I want to accomplish with this tumblelog is I want it to create more pathways for two-way and multi-way communication. Vegan.com is my soapbox. I want this site, by contrast, to be a source of dialog.
And I can’t begin to tell you how scared I am of having dialog. There are vegans who seem to exist for the sole purpose of giving other vegans ulcers.
One of the best...
“What are you doing right now to lift yourself beyond your comfort zone, and take...”
– Distillation of my past few tumblelog posts.
Acting, Not Planning
One of the big changes in the world that the Internet has made possible over the past few years is that it rewards people who take action today, rather than sit back and plan, and plan, and plan.
I’ve been turning over the idea of doing some sort of blog for the past couple of months. But until a few hours ago, I hadn’t even decided what platform to use. WordPress was the natural...
The Climbing Gym
Almost exactly a month ago, I joined a climbing gym.
I doubt there’s ever been anything that’s ever attracted me less than climbing. But the place is $45 a month and just a few blocks from my house. I knew if I joined, I’d go every day, and quickly get in better shape. And I figure my being healthy and mentally fit is easily worth $45 a month to the animal protection...
The Downward Spiral →
Being in animal rights, it’s easy to focus entirely on the animals and forget to take care of yourself. Life offers all sorts of ways where you can lose touch with your heart. Becoming a drug addict is one way; putting activism above all other things is another. There’s something about this photo set that pulls me in.
Beginnings
Beginnings are terrifying.
You lie in bed knowing what you want to do, but time keeps rolling by and you keep waiting for things to take shape. Maybe they take shape, or maybe they won’t. But the clock keeps ticking and you keep dying a bit with each day that passes. Unless you jump in, overcome your fears and hesitation, and begin.
For me, this beginning will be different. See, my...
