CrispyQ

I agree with this. We can set an example, we can educate, we can encourage, and we can be supportive - and we absolutely should do all these things. Unless something is against the law and we have legal recourse, that's the best that we can do. Being judgemental serves no purpose for anyone involved. Michelle, that was perfectly stated. on edit: Here's a link to a site that sells vegan cat & dog food. My little cats eat the vegan chow (regular, not the cheeze - they didn't like the cheeze flavor) & they love the canned food. There's also a supplement that you can add to your own home cooked food. I haven't tried that yet as I barely have time to cook my own food. http://www.vegancats.com/ Admittedly, BadCharlie still eats meat food. He will be the last meat eater I live with. In the future, I will not justify the harm to one animal for the benefit of another, but for now I do. ===

One point frequently overlooked with the electronic voting issue is that if they are manipulating the elections (& I believe they are), they will also be able to manipulate the Democratic primary results. In essence, the Republicans will select both major party candidates. I believe this is one reason why they are pushing Hillary so much in the news. They want her to be the dem candidate. On edit: Thom Hartmann is one of our best progressive voices. "Unequal Protection" was one of the best books on corporate power & how they are subverting our government to their interests. Jay, The other book you were speaking of is "The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight" another excellent read. This year for the holidays everyone on my list is getting his book "We the People: A Call to Take Back America." The book is written in comic book fashion & is a quick read, but is a great primer of what our founding fathers intended for our country & the evil that is coporate personhood & how it is destroying our republic.

Cheese has very addictive properties. It was the last non-vegan thing in my life & I admit, I still have cravings for it. It is also an all-American comfort food, so there are lots of issues going on with her regarding cheese. Google "Is cheese addictive?" for more articles than the one listed below. http://www.healthdiaries.com/blogs/vegetarianblues/archives/2004/09/casein_and_cheese_more_addictive_than_chocolate.html snip... Why is cheese so addicting? Certainly not because of its aroma, which is perilously close to old socks. The first hint of a biochemical explanation came in 1981, when scientists at Wellcome Research Laboratories in Research Triangle Park, N.C., found a substance in dairy products that looked remarkably like morphine. After a complex series of tests, they determined that, surprisingly enough, it actually was morphine. By a fluke of nature, the enzymes that produce opiates are not confined to poppies -- they also hide inside cows' livers. So traces of morphine can pass into the animal's bloodstream and end up in milk and milk products. The amounts are far too small to explain cheese's appeal. But nonetheless, the discovery led scientists on their search for opiate compounds in dairy products. And they found them. Opiates hide inside casein, the main dairy protein. As casein molecules are digested, they break apart to release tiny opiate molecules, called casomorphins. One of these compounds has about one-tenth the opiate strength of morphine. The especially addicting power of cheese may be due to the fact that the process of cheese-making removes water,lactose and whey proteins so that casein is concentrated. Scientists are now trying to tease out whether these opiate molecules work strictly within the digestive tract or whether they pass into the bloodstream and reach the brain directly. ===== Will you see this friend again? If so, perhaps you could start your own anti-cheese campaign with her. You can start by showing her any evidence you find that cheese is addictive. If I recall, you posted a great macaroni & cheeze recipe. Next time you make it, scoop a small serving into a little plastic bowl & give it to her, along with the recipe. Or invite her over for vegan grilled cheeze sandwiches or one of Vegan Madre's great vegan pizzas. Show her that there are vegan alternatives to cheese. Filling that 'comfort food' void is half the battle, I think.

Here is a site with good info on helping the animals in NOLA. http://www.animalrescueneworleans.com/ snip... 11/19/05: Your Help is Still Needed There is no legally binding ban on volunteers coming to Louisiana to help feed, water and humanely capture abandoned animals on the streets. Animal Rescue New Orleans volunteers have experienced no legal problems. No volunteers are canceling their trips and we are still urgently recruiting people. The animals who need our urgent assistance were both stray and companions prior to Katrina and are not always immediately visible. Most don’t come out until dusk and then roam well into the night. They are afraid and many are starving. more... NOVEMBER 14: A day of hope for the animals! Organizers Jane, Rob and Pia worked with a tireless team of ARNO volunteers to save 13 cats, 17 puppies, and 22 dogs. For one dog, the wait was finally over... Over several days, this dog was marooned on a canal ledge inside a well, surviving on MREs the National Guard kindly tossed his way. After contemplating the best way to retrieve him, rescuers realized they’d need to lower themselves into the well. But as Rob lowered a ladder down toward the dog, the terrified little guy panicked and jumped into the water. In a split second, Rob bolted in after him. Soon the dog was safely inside Rob’s grasp and hauled up the ladder to dry ground. === There is good info on this page if you or someone you know is planning to go to NOLA to help. There is also info for needed supplies & monetary donations. I don't have lots of spare cash, but I can certainly spare something to help a dog like the one above. Also, I'm sending this to my vet & encouraging them to donate supplies or cash to help these needy animals.

How nice of them to respond in a way that indicates they didn't even bother reading your message. Arghhh!!!! I don't know. I can't sit idle & not do anything, but sometimes I wonder how effective corresponding to these people is. I feel your frustration.

Kicked to remind everyone that the animals need our voice. I tried calling several times & have yet to get through, but I did modify the letter Nat posted, faxed it & then sent it snail mail. I will try again this week to get through via phone.

Hey Jenn, congrats on that little milestone. Sometimes the little ones motivate us the most. I too am not a morning person. My mother is a bright & happy person at 5:30 in the morning. When I was a kid, she would start knocking on my bedroom door at 6:00am. "You're sleeping your life away!" she would say. She didn't find it very funny, when I went into her room one night at 11:30pm, woke her up & said, "You're sleeping your life away!" However, she did stop trying to force me to her circadian rhythm & finally respected that I had my own.

You're certainly in a philisophical kind of mood today! I want to add that I think a person who grows is a person who constantly challenges their beliefs. That's not to say that you can't conclude that the beliefs you hold are still valid for you, but you must be open to questioning them or they become simple dogma.

Mine represents the most noble creature on the planet.

Family values at work. "My family is valuable; yours is not."

I love the Tao Te Ching. I carry it with me always. I especially like the Stephen Mitchell version. Two other books you may consider: The Tao of Pooh & the I Ching. What I like most about Taoism is it's philosophy that man cannot extract himself from nature & live in harmony. What we do to one, we do to all. I look forward to hearing about your discovery of the Tao. === ps - Thanks for that tidbit about St. Francis - I didn't know that.

That rocks! I loathe Walmart - I loathe it. I had to buy a new car battery the other day. I was at the local car repair shop & he was kind & told me I could probably buy it cheaper at Walmart. I told him I don't shop at Walmart - I disagree with their business policies which are harmful to their employees & our local communities. "I sure wish more people thought like you do!" he told me. The young kid standing next to him gave me a thumbs up.

Great story! Annie Dodge is lucky she ended up in the yard of vegetarians or her fate could likely have been quite different. Interesting how many of the bovines escaped the slaughterhouse, jumping fences, running through city streets. They want to live every bit as much as we do. Thanks for sharing!

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/11/16/sparrow.domino.ap/ snip... AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) -- The Dutch animal protection agency said Tuesday it is investigating the shooting death of a sparrow that knocked over 23,000 dominoes during an attempt to set a world record. The ill-fated bird flew into an exposition center, threatening to derail a world record Monday, before it was chased into a corner and shot by an exterminator with an air rifle. The bird was a common house sparrow -- a species placed on the national endangered list last year. more... The Endemol production company, which organized the Domino Day event, defended the killing. The organizers wanted to break their own Guinness World Record of 3,992,397 dominoes set last year by toppling a chain of 4,321,000 blocks. Around 200,000 dominoes were left to go, and the bird knocked down 23,000 of them. Endemol spokesman Jeroen van Waardenberg said organizers made a "split-second" decision to shoot down the bird. "That bird was flying around and knocking over a lot of dominoes. More than 100 people from 12 countries had worked for more than a month setting them up," he said. the only good part of this sad story... A Dutch website called Geenstijl offered a $1,200 reward for anybody who knocks over the dominoes ahead of time to avenge the bird. === So 23,000 upright dominoes are more important than the life of a small bird - one on the endangered species list, no less. This pisses me off so bad!

Right on! Welcome VegHead!

Your little girl is adorable! Great shot of her with the weights!

Megan, I'm 5'8" & I would love to be taller. And what is it about our culture that we feel uncomfortable being with a guy who is shorter than we are? When I was in college I had a girlfriend who was 6'2". She was gorgeous! When the group of us would go out, she got all the attention! And ditto on the women's sizing.

Luke is beautiful! And Max is so cute I just want to kiss him on his head! I love dogs; I adore them! They are such wonderful creatures! I love my cats dearly, but I really miss having a dog. But old Bad Charlie doesn't need any dogs running around at this time in his life & I owe him the best I can give. "If there are no dogs in heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went." --Will Rogers

The boiling of lobsters is so inhumane! What's worse is the gleeful look on the people's faces & they await their cruel dinner. It amazes me that anyone would think these great creatures don't feel pain. Here's a great lobster site that I keep bookmarked for those times when you encounter ingorance about lobsters. Lot's of great info here! http://www.lobsterlib.com/fascinating.html I read recently (Worldwatch?) that because the demand for lobsters is so great they are being harvested earlier & earlier in thier lifespans & there are some areas where there is great concern that the lobsters are not reaching full maturity & able to reproduce quickly enough to survive. "When the last whale is gone, the whales will suffer no more." Sadly it will be the same for these wonderful creatures.

I tried this & I definitely felt the work in my back more! It was difficult to keep that form while letting up on the weights, but I think with practice it will become easier. Thanks!

I, too, enjoy partaking of cannabis product on occasion. I especially enjoy cooking or cleaning house when ripped. Go figure, but anything that inspires me to clean house can't be all bad.

Good to have you on board, Elizabeth!

This is an interesting article & it's nice to see someone dispel the notion that veg*ns are susceptible to B12 deficiency. I have read before that B12 can be found in dirt & a good way to get it is it is to not scrub your veggies so thoroughly. I do agree with Jay, though, what is the harm in taking a weekly dose of B12? My personal experience leads to me agree with the doctor that argues that vitamin B12 deficiency is typically caused by lack of absorption in the intestinal tract rather than a lack of this vitamin in the diet. I would like to read more about restoring intestinal flora. I suffered a serious B12 deficiency in 1985. I spent 6 months off work, 4 months of it in a wheel chair. My original doctor diagnosed me with MS. He said a few other things that made me suspect, so I got a second opinion. The new doctor immediately did a full blood panel & within weeks of beginning 3 times weekly B12 injections I started to get better, although the entire road to recovery was easily a year. It was during my recovery year that I went vegetarian & started eating healthier. I now make a point of consuming miso & drinking small amounts of apple cider vinegar every day. Both are great for digestion, although I don’t know if they are helpful to restore flora. I also take a sub-lingual B12 once a week. It bypasses the digestive system & all the issues with absorption. It was my first (& hopefully last!) experience where I came to appreciate the saying: When you've got your health, you've got everything.

Aubrey Organics -- purest most natural products on the market, IMHO. Here's their products page: http://www.aubrey-organics.com/categories1.cfm They have customer testomonials on many of the individual product pages that I've found helpful. Also, the "Travel A Go Go" kit is a nice way to test their skin care regime. All of their products use all natural ingredients & all are not tested on animals. With the exception of 1 or 2 products, all their stuff is vegan. 10 SYNTHETIC COSMETIC INGREDIENTS TO AVOID: http://www.aubrey-organics.com/about/treat_10synth.cfm I've been using AO products for about 5 years now & cannot tell you how much nicer my skin is! I saw results in less than 2 weeks of using their stuff. They are a little pricier than grocery store products, but much less than department store prices. You can order online or many HFS have their products.