phillipeb

I found out that vegas also has hostels that are relatively cheap as well. 19 bucks for a night but its shared rooms. or 39 bucks for a private room. If i went down i would most likely do this option.

That would be super fun. I love getting a 'townies' perspective on a locale. I always wondered about the gay bars and clubs actually. it has been my experience when going to popular destinations the gay scene is pricey and not worth it. I have been a vegan for 5 years as well actually,so congratulations! Quick Question: Do you know if the vegan doughnut place uses refined sugar? I went there one year and gorged myself but that was before i found out about the sugar issue. I am a fan of shows as well as gambling and drinking so i think this could definetly work as a trip idea. let me talk to a few friends and see if anyone would like to accompany me. They are not vegans unfortunately but are use to eating my 'bird food'. I know they enjoy it though, even if its deep down inside. What would you say, as far as expenses go, as to how much i should bring in money that is not including the hotel?

when i checked on the rates for the week day it came out to 139.99 a night. i choose the arbitrary dates of: july14th-18th Also if we chose an off season time i could get my familys timeshare it would be good for 4 people or so. More if we snuck them in. it costs anywhere from 25-50 a night and its lush.

Dude im down. That sounds like a perfect price. Are you at all a gambler and or a drinker? Its hard to tell what people are into on a fitness site. What would you go down for? shows? shopping? Do you live in vegas?

It is definitely ingrained into my mind now as to when it is. Yeah i bought a decent amount of books there. I even found a quasi religious book about natural medicinal cures. Good to know i can cure or treat leprosy if and ever i encounter it. How is the healing going form the parkour?

I live in Salt lake city which is pretty close to vegas. I wouldnt mind taking a trip down there sometime this summer. Any ideas on when an ideal time to go is based on price fluctuations?

Actually your reasoning is a bit flawed just based on mathematics. if a=b and b=c then a=c. If you were fired for joining a union and then knowingly repeated the same process means that you should at the very least know that this is a possibility. While it is true you did not actively seek to get fired you engaged in behavior that had taught you previously to expect and outcome there by choosing to take your chances with said outcome, effectively giving you a choice. btw i believe in unions and i don't believe in the death penalty but i belive in discussion.

beat me to it Im your man.

The interesting thing about societal laws and the contracts there in are that we are of course born into these contracts without our consent but we are also able to construct opposition to the contract as well as leave the country where the contract is enacted. So in effect the person in question had the right to choose whether or not he did based on preconditioned societal factors of right and wrong. Having failed to either understand or aknowledge them placed him in that confine.

potter those are really nice bikes. Ill race you in one of these though: http://gadgets.boingboing.net/dsc00106.jpg http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/04/23/monocycle-is-the-cha.html

Hey guys, I was given a raleigh bicycle and in the process of repairing the inner tube i had to use vulcanized glue or something, which made me think wow what products should i use that are vegan in order to fix my bicycles? Potter? tasha? anyone?

For some reason raw oatbran irritates my throat.

arguing that everyone or thing has a right to live conversely gives rise to the logistical argument that it also has the right to choose to die. That being said the statement makes perfect sense.

I will definitely be there....again I have already had a false start, I thought it was last weekend. Boy was i surprised when i showed up in my studious yet smart looking clothes laptop at the ready to take notes and blog about it. Confusedly I looked online only then realizing i had the wrong weekend. Good thing there was a library book sale in the basement of it would have been an epic fail on my part. On another note it was cool meeting you dontxhide last week.

thats an awesome deal. Good luck in the search. I dont know many vegans here but it would be great once i start gradschool to find a place with other vegans. Ho hum ill visualize this for my future.

i usually do cooked oatmeal with a bananna and a scoop of peanut butter and a bit of agave nectar.

Yes they definetly do stress tests on the Monkeys before the choose the most genetically gifted monkey for space travel. The thing is there are ways to test radiation effects without live animals. You can monitor levels of radiation in regards to what spectrum and concentration in any given area. So the simian tests are unwarrented

http://tspweb02.tsp.utexas.edu/webarchive/08-06-01/Images/0806apes.jpg.jpg

I tried pimping myself out for the animals but they sent a petition asking me to stop.

Good to know guys thanks for the input. I thought about the stress vs travel acommidations but i did not think about the quarantine. During my studies i may be away from my animals for only 6 weeks tops but as i get into the actual working field of archeology i could be gone for up to 6months at peak season. I would hate to do that to my companions.

What qualities associated with the best in mankind aren't expressed by animals? By Barbara Cook Spencer from the April 11, 2008 edition Brookline, Mass. - Moving a cow by chaining it to a tractor and dragging it by its leg says a lot about how we perceive and value animals. When the Humane Society video that showed this and other brutal slaughterhouse treatment made the rounds on the Internet a few weeks ago, it caused public shock and led to a federal investigation. But there's a deeper lesson that all of us – whether or not we eat meat – need to take to heart: we degrade ourselves when we degrade animals. Much as bullies demoralize themselves when they dominate or ride roughshod over those who are meek, vulnerable, or defenseless, it should be obvious that human beings are the ones demoralized by the commission of inhumane acts. Over the years, many have been caught up in the debate over what is, or is not, man's obligation to animals. But the debate is transcended by the growing realization that neither our civilization nor our planet will survive unless human beings grow richer in moral qualities like mercy, kindness, compassion, and temperance. Yet in order to establish a platform for speaking out against cruel and painful laboratory experiments and slaughtering techniques, animal rights advocates are often asked to prove that animals have a moral sense and can feel physical and emotional pain. But even if animals could be proved amoral and immune to pain, human beings would have no basis for even careless treatment of them. Most of us were taught as children to take good care of inanimate objects, even though they feel no pain and have no moral sense. We are taught to treat fine books with virtual reverence. We are taught that it is actually a crime to vandalize buildings, cars, and other inanimate objects. But even setting aside the degradation brought upon the humans who commit acts of cruelty, research has consistently revealed evidence of the morality and sentience of the nonhuman world. By now documentaries abound in which we can see earth's creatures disciplining members of their own species for "crimes" within their communities. Conversely we've also seen them care for each other, as well as for members of other species, in the most intelligent, unselfish, courageous, and tender ways. This evidence of morality in nonhumans tells us that mankind and "creature-kind" are inextricably woven together, not separate "worlds" attempting coexistence. We may not be linked by trunks and tusks, wings and beaks, but I have yet to think of a single quality associated with the best in mankind that is not expressed by animals and often – as with loyalty, sincerity, wisdom, and forgiveness – more perfectly. Our differences appear to lie more in the complexity with which we express our commonly held qualities. In fact, the caring, thoughtful observation of animals has taught, and can continue to teach, vital lessons about what we ourselves are and what we can accomplish. We learn from an elephant, for example, that power and gentleness are not incompatible. We learn from any gazelle the naturalness of grace. Our dear canine or feline friends teach us that happiness doesn't come from outside ourselves – from the act of acquisition – but is something we bring to the simplest object or experience. From birds, we've learned the concept of flight. And from any animal we can learn that we don't outgrow childlikeness when we enter maturity, because childlikeness is a quality of thought, not a condition of age. In fact, when we abuse childlike qualities in animals – when we take advantage of trust, sweetness, simplicity, or innocence, for example – we are well on our way to the abuse of children. For decades researchers, child and animal protection professionals, and educators have been pointing to the correlation between the treatment of animals and the treatment of children. But it's perhaps the almost inexplicably deep love that we're able to share with creatures that explains what a magnificent symphony we can be. Symphonies aren't composed of inferior and superior tones and passages. Their beauty is in the unity of the simple and complex, the obvious and subtle, the audacious and demure. What matters in music is that each tone or passage be allowed to contribute its full value, however meek that value. In the same way, our moral obligation toward animals isn't a question of what a superior being owes an inferior one. Unselfish affection takes the simple and complex, the bold and the meek in creation, accords each creature its full value, and blends all into a single symphony. Treating animals with the utmost dignity and respect is really the "Golden Rule" of conduct toward all species. • Barbara Cook Spencer is a writer who lives in Brookline, Mass. http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0411/p09s01-coop.html?page=1

Russia has a long history of scientific discovery and space exploration through the use of animals. Beginning with space dog Laika in 1957, the space program expanded to run tests on other dogs (many returned safely to Earth) and eventually monkeys. Although the monkey testing program was stopped through lack of funding in the mid-1990's, the nation has announced plans to send the closest relation to humans to a place where no man has gone before: Mars. And here's us thinking it will be a human first stepping onto the Martian surface… http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/monkey_mars.jpg I must admit, I had to read the story twice before I believed it. Russia wants to send monkeys not only into space, but to Mars. I had an idea that monkeys (or more specifically macaques) were used in space missions in the past, but in my mind this was in the past and would be considered cruel in this day and age. But hold on, aren't macaques used in medical experiments the world over anyway? Why is it so shocking that macaques should be chosen to pioneer interplanetary travel before mankind? These questions are emotive (and controversial) and will cause much debate internationally. Many will believe that the experimental testing on animals in the ultra-modern world of space travel will seem barbaric, but there are some serious problems we might definitively answer through the use of macaque space travel. First and foremost, due to the interplanetary radiation we expect to be bathed in during a transit to Mars, by studying a macaque's physiology during the long journey we may be able to learn how the human body will react to larger than normal doses. The fact remains, monkeys are genetically close to humans, its little wonder that we turn to them for answers. To this end, monkeys at the Sochi Institute of Medical Primatology, at Vesyoloye near the Black Sea, have begun the selection process for the ultimate medical animal testing experiment. The institute has a long history of involvement in the Russian and Soviet space program. Sochi was the training facility for the first monkeys into space in 1983. Abrek and Bion had a five-day trip around Earth and were returned safely in Kazakhstan and rehabilitated to live "normal lives". Two years after this historic flight, monkeys Verny and Gordy spent seven days in space. In 1987, Dryoma and Yerosha spent a record breaking (for a monkey-assisted flight) two-weeks in space. Interestingly, Dryoma was given to Cuban leader Fidel Castro as a gift. Following this, in 1989, 1992 and 1996, three two-week flights were carried out until funding for the project ran out. Now experiments have been continued on Earth to simulate weightlessness. Now, to revitalize Sochi's history of macaque space flight, they are beginning a two-year program to select 40 monkeys to be sent to the Institute of Biomedical Problems in Moscow so tests can be continued into aerospace biomedicine. This will culminate in a possible primate mission to Mars. Critics of the program are frustrated by the use of animal testing in any capacity, but remain realistic about the situation. "Humanity sacrifices more than 100 million animals a year in the name of health and beauty. It's time to think of an alternative to experiments with animals," says Andrei Zbarsky of the conservation group the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). This will be a controversial measure by the Russian space program and they are expecting resistance from their European partners. Although monkeys and other animals are used in medical science here on Earth, it might prove too distasteful and cruel for most, but possibly the only means to measure the physical impact on the human body after a long trip to Mars. http://www.universetoday.com/2008/04/14/russia-to-send-monkeys-to-mars/

badass picture!

eggplant freaks me out. Its like a weird plant baby all bulbous and strange. I don't mind babaganoush but other than that the idea of eggplant is a no go. Although i had good success with white eggplant, it still left me a bit unsettled.

i found this site that has cheap bicycles and parts. from 1 buck up. http://www.qbike.com/