Tag Archive: life


Animal Legal Defense Fund Files for Tony the Tiger’s Freedom

Filed Under: New
Nov.24, 2010

Until recently, unless you were familiar with I-10 in Louisiana, you probably weren’t familiar with Tiger Truck Stop in Grosse Tete, where a tiger named Tony has been condemned to life in a cage, inhaling diesel fumes amid bright lights and the noise of engines, 24 hours a day, with people crowding around to witness his sad existence.

But thanks to a dedicated group of individuals who decided this tiger has served enough time under the ownership of Michael Sandlin, people around the world are fighting for Tony’s freedom. More than 10,000 members of the Change.org community have asked the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to deny Tiger Truck Stop’s permit when it comes up for renewal in December. Without the permit, authorities can remove Tony and place him in an accredited sanctuary, like Big Cat Rescue in Florida.

Now the Animal Legal Defense Fund has stepped in and filed a legal petition on Tony’s behalf. ALDF is asking the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to revoke and deny renewal of Michael Sandlin’s permit to keep Tony. They’re arguing that the permit is in violation of state law, in violation of Iberville Parish ordinances, and that LDWF’s granting of the current permit was unlawful.

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Netflix Fails at Describing “Boys Don’t Cry”

Filed Under: New
Nov.17, 2010

When I watched the movie “Boys Don’t Cry,” I was moved. It’s a rare occasion to see a movie about a transgender person, and even more rare to see a movie with a transgender person that is easy for transgender people to relate to.

In the movie, transgender teen Brandon Teena lives his life as a man, until locals discover that he was born female. The movie is a great commentary on what it’s like for transgender people, especially those living in towns that aren’t necessarily accepting.

Netflix, though, doesn’t seem to understand that the movie is about a transgender person. Their description of the movie is highly inaccurate and offensive. They refer to Brandon Teena using female pronouns and say that he “passes herself off as a boy… until the truth is revealed.” The description also says that the character shows “one woman’s voyage of self-discovery.”

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Top Ten Things That Never Would Have Happened If I Didn’t Make It Past High School

Filed Under: Funny, New
Nov.04, 2010

This is the second in a series of posts by Change.org writers, reflecting on the bullying or harassment they experienced growing up, by compiling a top ten list of the things in life that got better once they made it out of some rather homophobic settings. Check out the original piece in this series here, and if you have your own list, please feel free to include it in the comments.

1. College: Nothing in the world beats suffocating parents and intolerant high school mates than a good dose of college freedom. It’s miraculous how in a matter of literally minutes you can go from total dependence to utter freedom. You can shed everything that you don’t like about your life when you walk through that campus entrance and create a safe, like-minded environment with friends, potential lovers, and even classes that suit your little gay heart. College is the ultimate equalizer and if you can only hang on until then, things can instantaneously get better the moment you lay those extra long twin fitted sheets on your dormitory bed. (Not to mention that in college, I got laid a lot and had the best time of my life).

2. Graduate school: I know, sounds like a dorky second choice, but for me, graduate school was the most enriching experience of my life. This was a time in my life when I pushed my brain (and my time management skills) to the max. I also made lifelong friends with some pretty amazing artists and anarchists and intellectuals. I made connections that would help me in my career in media and that I still hold on to and value today. Plus, I got to attend the high-brow, snooty academic cocktail parties, where I sipped red wine and talked about the state of society and how dreadfully wrong everything and everyone was. Plus, those parties always had awesome cheese spreads.

3. Love: I Loved. And I lost. And I loved again, and lost again. But what did that famous, insightful writer once say, “Better to have had your heart ripped out of your chest and stamped on with a stiletto than never to have had that sloppy make-out session in the bathroom of the gay bar at all.” I paraphrase, but I would not for a second trade all of the loving and losing I experienced since high school. Sure, the relationships I’ve been in weren’t all perfect — hell, none of them were — but they were all worth it.

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The Not-So-Sweet Side of Honey

Filed Under: Economy, Health, New
Sep.09, 2010

Tonight marks the start of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. For those who aren’t familiar, honey plays a big role in the holiday tradition: Apples are dipped in honey to ring in a sweet new year.

Honey, of course, comes from bees. Though not the cuddliest members of the animal kingdom, they’re still animals (although the vegan community is divided on the question of eating honey). Whether you’re an omnivore or on the anti-honey side of the vegan debate, unless you eat a strictly local diet, commercial beekeeping plays a role in your life.

The “liquid gold” only accounts for a small percentage of the bee economy; in the U.S., honeybees are primarily used to cultivate plant production, including fruit, vegetables and nuts. You may imagine bees freely coming and going from hives, pollinating nearby crops and keeping ecosystems healthy. On a local level, that’s true. But in a world of concentrated animal feeding operations and genetically modified crops, Big Ag has managed to make the poor little honeybee just another cog in the factory farm system.

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Physican’s Committee for Responsible Medicine Launches 21-Day Vegan Kickstart

Filed Under: Health, New
Sep.06, 2010

Today is the first day of the Physican’s Committee for Responsible Medicine 21-Day Vegan Kickstart, a three week vegan diet plan.

All Kickstart participants receive a free daily diet plan in your inbox every morning, complete with recipes, tips and video messages from doctors and nutritionists. The Kickstart menu is based on the Power Plate, the PCRM’s vegan alternative to the USDA food pyramid. The Power Plate is divided into four recommended food groups: fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes.

Anyone can try a vegan diet for a three weeks, remember when Oprah did? The Vegan Kickstart website explains: “Whether you are transitioning from a vegetarian to a vegan diet, changing your lifestyle because of diabetes or heart disease, or just want to lose some extra weight, you will notice some amazing improvement in your health.”

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When Victims Become Traffickers

Filed Under: Education, New
Aug.28, 2010

Burmese police announced this week that out of the hundreds of human traffickers they have arrested over the past several years, at least 100 of them were once victims. Sadly, trafficking victims becoming traffickers is not unusual. But what makes a person go from victim to trafficker?

Most of the 100 victims-turned-traffickers were trafficked from Burma into China and Thailand for forced labor, forced prostitution, or forced marriage. Once discovered, they were shipped back to Burma, sometimes deported, and usually with no compensation. Back in Burma, there were no support services for them, no money for counseling or job training, no help with medical bills or education. The lack of support for victims traps them in a vicious cycle. Some people end up trafficked again and again because they cannot break out of that cycle. Others eventually break the cycle, by becoming traffickers themselves.

Victims can turn into traffickers for a number of reasons. For those trafficked as children, there may be no other conceivable industry for them to enter other than the one they were sold into as a child, whether that’s commercial sex, brick making, or domestic service. So as an adult, they follow the only career path they’ve known and recruit other children into the same industry. Others many find that the only model of power in their life is the person who owns and controls them — their trafficker. When they look around for ways to empower themselves, becoming a subjugater of others is all they see. Still others, as is the case with many of the 100 Burmese nationals, may not even realize what they’re engaging in is against the law. They know the trafficking routes, brokers, and bosses from the time they were forced to work. That they should recruit others to do the same thing might feel like the natural extension of their previous “job.”

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When Victims Become Traffickers

Filed Under: Education, New
Aug.28, 2010

Burmese police announced this week that out of the hundreds of human traffickers they have arrested over the past several years, at least 100 of them were once victims. Sadly, trafficking victims becoming traffickers is not unusual. But what makes a person go from victim to trafficker?

Most of the 100 victims-turned-traffickers were trafficked from Burma into China and Thailand for forced labor, forced prostitution, or forced marriage. Once discovered, they were shipped back to Burma, sometimes deported, and usually with no compensation. Back in Burma, there were no support services for them, no money for counseling or job training, no help with medical bills or education. The lack of support for victims traps them in a vicious cycle. Some people end up trafficked again and again because they cannot break out of that cycle. Others eventually break the cycle, by becoming traffickers themselves.

Victims can turn into traffickers for a number of reasons. For those trafficked as children, there may be no other conceivable industry for them to enter other than the one they were sold into as a child, whether that’s commercial sex, brick making, or domestic service. So as an adult, they follow the only career path they’ve known and recruit other children into the same industry. Others many find that the only model of power in their life is the person who owns and controls them — their trafficker. When they look around for ways to empower themselves, becoming a subjugater of others is all they see. Still others, as is the case with many of the 100 Burmese nationals, may not even realize what they’re engaging in is against the law. They know the trafficking routes, brokers, and bosses from the time they were forced to work. That they should recruit others to do the same thing might feel like the natural extension of their previous “job.”

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When Victims Become Traffickers

Filed Under: Education, New
Aug.28, 2010

Burmese police announced this week that out of the hundreds of human traffickers they have arrested over the past several years, at least 100 of them were once victims. Sadly, trafficking victims becoming traffickers is not unusual. But what makes a person go from victim to trafficker?

Most of the 100 victims-turned-traffickers were trafficked from Burma into China and Thailand for forced labor, forced prostitution, or forced marriage. Once discovered, they were shipped back to Burma, sometimes deported, and usually with no compensation. Back in Burma, there were no support services for them, no money for counseling or job training, no help with medical bills or education. The lack of support for victims traps them in a vicious cycle. Some people end up trafficked again and again because they cannot break out of that cycle. Others eventually break the cycle, by becoming traffickers themselves.

Victims can turn into traffickers for a number of reasons. For those trafficked as children, there may be no other conceivable industry for them to enter other than the one they were sold into as a child, whether that’s commercial sex, brick making, or domestic service. So as an adult, they follow the only career path they’ve known and recruit other children into the same industry. Others many find that the only model of power in their life is the person who owns and controls them — their trafficker. When they look around for ways to empower themselves, becoming a subjugater of others is all they see. Still others, as is the case with many of the 100 Burmese nationals, may not even realize what they’re engaging in is against the law. They know the trafficking routes, brokers, and bosses from the time they were forced to work. That they should recruit others to do the same thing might feel like the natural extension of their previous “job.”

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Stray Dog Mistaken for Coyote Gets Released into the Wild

Filed Under: New
Jul.24, 2010

A police officer in Frankfort, Kentucky, picked up a stray dog and brought her to the local humane society. The shelter employees, who presumably see dogs every day, took a look at this one and decided that she was a coyote.

As a wild animal, the “coyote” couldn’t be kept at the shelter, so they called the police department to pick her up. At least one police officer had doubts about their assessment, but not being the animal professionals in this story, the department took the humane society at their word. They called up a wildlife expert for advice and were told that coyotes should be returned to the wild or killed.

One of the officers had taken a photo of the “coyote” before setting her loose behind a home improvement store, and the picture ending up matching the Lost Dog posters for Cooper, Lori Goodlett’s 11-year-old purebred Shiba Inu, who had escaped from her yard earlier this month.

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Hugs and Love to You!

Filed Under: New
Jul.13, 2010

Hugs, love, and peace to you today. You are more loved and important than you will ever know. Love yourself as you are, not as others expect you to be. You are a beautiful person. Hugs, love, and healing warmth to you. Now please pass that love to others today and everyday. And the more love you give out, the more you will be loved in return. May you be blessed every day of your life, and never know pain, fear, or worry. Hugs to you!
Hugs and Love to You!

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