Ladies and Gentlemen Happy Hump Day

Life is better than good.

-Cara

The Big Pink – Velvet

Monday.

-Cara

2010 New York City Pride

Being so gay was so fun this year.

Gay Slide Show – http://www.flickr.com/photos/angel_girl_x/sets/72157624249364871/show/

Gay Details – http://www.flickr.com/photos/angel_girl_x/sets/72157624249364871/detail/

I loved it.

-Cara

Just So You Know There Are Options

I am the last person to judge, but… ;] I was just reading this article on the NPR site entitled, Web 2.0 Suicide Machine: Erase Your Virtual Life. It is all about deleting your web 2.0 life using this Web 2.0 Suicide Machine. Killing your Facebook, Twitter and the like. I mean they change your password, your profile picture and don’t give you said information, they un-friend and un-follow everyone…there is literally no turning back. Isn’t it exciting?

The site has become wildly famous, so much so that they were featured in the critically acclaimed series, South Park. :] Facebook has even sent them a cease and desist letter. It gives me a warm feeling.

It may be a time for me to think about this whole social network thing going on, reassess the situation as they say. I will test the Web 2.0 Suicide Machine using my personal Twitter account and record it for this entry. Be right back. Okay, my first attempt was unsuccessful, the servers it seems are too busy. Too many people are unplugging themselves. I guess it will have to wait. Ugh, now it is killing me… Let me go do something else.

Alright, so far it is a no go and I am tired of trying. I will destroy my Twitter account later today if possible, maybe even my MySpace, Linkedin (these are simple as I rarely use them) and someday, yes, someday possibly my Facebook! Until then I will post this entry on my Facebook Wall (I said it!) to see if anyone else secretly wants to break free.

See you on the outside.

-Cara

Happy Pride Weekend New York City

Let’s get it started with some music…

Heads Will Roll by The Yeah, Yeah, Yeah’s.

:]

-Cara

Nneka – Something to Say

Be attentive.

…and no the video is not my work. ;]

Happy Friday.

-Cara

Adlai Stevenson’s ”Nature of Patriotism” Speech, 1952

Adlai Stevenson “The Egghead” NYC 1956 ©George S. Zimbel 1956/2007

“The tragedy of our day is the climate of fear in which we live, and fear breeds repression. Too often sinister threats to the Bill of Rights, to freedom of the mind, are concealed under the patriotic cloak of anti-communism.”

– Adlai Stevenson, August 27, 1952

Things have come full circle, now instead of anti-communism they call in anti-terrorism. Take a moment to find out what rights we have lost as a country, as a people, in the name of anti-terrorism. When you do, let me know. I will start the list below.

1. NSA Warrant-less Surveillance Controversy – concerns surveillance of persons within the United States incident to the collection of foreign intelligence by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) as part of the war on terror. Under this program, referred to by the Bush administration as the “terrorist surveillance program”,  part of the broader President’s Surveillance Program, the NSA is authorized by executive order to monitor phone calls, e-mails, Internet  activity, text messaging, and other communication involving any party believed by the NSA to be outside the U.S., even if the other end of the communication lies within the U.S., without warrants.

Adlai also said earlier in the same speech, “For it is often easier to fight for principles than to live up to them. ”

Ain’t that the truth.

-Cara

The Nature of Existence

In case anyone is interested The Nature of Existence is playing at the Quad in New York, at least till June 22nd. I’m going to check it out.

Here’s what it’s about…in case you hate trailers. :]

What if you asked the religious experts, gurus, scientists, and everyday people of the world why we exist? Why are we here, and what are we supposed to do about it? What started the Universe, and was it a mistake? Does God exist, and why does he seem so interested in our sex lives? After exploring the phenomenon of Trekkies, filmmaker Roger Nygard took on The Nature of Existence. Nygard wrote down the toughest 85 questions he could think of, roamed the globe to the source of each of the world’s philosophies, religions, and belief systems, and interviewed people who have influenced, inspired, or freaked out humanity.

-Cara

Don’t Let Big Oil Off the Hook

Let’s use this Democracy we are so blessed to have. It will work if you work! Sign this petition that Care2.com hosts, urging the U.S. Senate to pass strong legislation that will lift this $75 “chump change” million dollar cap, and make BP and other multi-billion dollar polluters responsible for the damages their disasters have on our communities, environment and shared resources. Stand up and be counted.

Target: U.S. Senate
Sponsored by: Food and Water Watch

Fishing boats are docked, seafood prices are skyrocketing and oil is still washing up on the shores throughout the Gulf of Mexico. We may not know the full impact of the BP oil rig explosion, yet one thing is clear: the oil spill is BP’s fault and they should pay for the harm they’re causing.

The current law puts a $75 million cap on how much an oil company has to pay in the event of a disaster. Unfortunately, the fishing communities, restaurant owners, tourism industry and other individuals affected by the oil spill have already lost more.

Urge the U.S. Senate to pass strong legislation that will lift this cap, and make BP and other multi-billion dollar polluters responsible for the damages their disasters have on our communities, environment and shared resources.

It’s time to bring electric cars to the forefront, solar panels, wind power, water power…

Do something.

-Cara

Then They Came For Me

Martin Niemöller, a German theologian and pastor, on a visit to the United States after the war. A leader of the anti-Nazi Confessing Church, he spent the last 7 years of Nazi rule in concentration camps. United States, October 4, 1946.

In Germany, they came first for the communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a communist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me, and by that time, there was no one left to speak up.

—Martin Niemöller

See.

-Cara

Beer – Vegan or Not

I stumbled across this site VeganVanguard.com which brought to my attention that some beers are not vegetarian/vegan. Turns out certain beers are filtered using products derived from animals. For example, isinglass (one of the oldest sources of gelatin) is a substance obtained from the dried swim bladders of fish. It is a form of collagen used mainly as a as a fining agent for wine and beer. Then there is also other types of gelatin used for the clarification of wine and beer derived from the collagen inside animals’ skin and bones. Say what?

VeganVanguard.com compiled a list that you should go check out. They have the “yeas and neighs and awaiting replies” list for your perusal. If you don’t see your brew here and want to know more, contact the manufacture and ask.

Three non-vegan beers listed were:

Barley Creek Brewing Company

Website: http://www.barleycreek.com
Concerns: This breweries specialty beers are fined using isinglass. Some of their specialty beers also contain animal products in the ingredients. All other types of beer from this brewery are fined using gelatin. Farmer uses the spent grain as feed.
Correspondance: 11/06/03
1. Are there any animal products or byproducts (honey, etc) contained in any of your beers?
“Yes (a few of our specialty brews)”
2. Are there any animal products or byproducts (isinglass, gelatin, etc) used in the manufacture (such as in the filtering or fining process) of your products? While materials used in fining do not end up in the final product, strict vegans have an aversion to the use of animal products in situations as such.
“Yes (Isinglass for cask conditioned brews & Clear Fine, a gelatin for the others)”
3. What does your company do with the waste grain after it is used?
“Farmer gets the spent grain after a brew and uses it as feed. We feel it is better than filling up land fills with it.”

Bayhawk Ales

Website: http://www.bayhawkales.com
Concerns: This brewery’s products are filtered using animal products some of the time. However, their Stout and Hefe Weizen beer are unfiltered and therefore considered vegan.  Aside from being filtered with animal products, Honey Blonde Ale contains honey which some vegans choose to avoid.
Correspondance: 5/26/03
“85% of the time our beers are not fined with animal products. We have two beers that are never filtered, Stout and Hefe Weizen. To the best of my knowledge, no animal products ever come in contact with these two beers. We do employ Honey in our Honey Blonde Ale. Regarding our spent grain, this has always been a source of great concern to me. Unfortunately at this point in time, we have to dispose of it with the regular garbage.”

Lucky Labrador Brew Pub (Portland, Oregon)

Website: http://www.luckylab.com
Concerns: Only the beer “Organic Golden” is vegan. Spent grain is used as livestock feed by a local farmer.
Correspondance: 6/13/03
“We have one vegan beer, Organic Golden, that is 100% organic (no finings). However, we recently heard that processed Carbon Dioxide has minute traces of non-organic substances. We have not confirmed this though. Do you know? Our grain is picked up by a cattle farmer and an organic farmer.”

You can see more of their list here.

In my search for cute, funny old school beer ads I found this other site Barnivore, a vegan wine, beer and liquor guide. I wanted to make sure Schlitz Beer was vegan before I used their ad in this entry. They are. :] This site is more extensive, check it out.

Cheers.

-Cara

Save Orphan Bears

Here is another Care2.org petition. This one is about saving bears in Russia! Please take a second to read about this important issue, and join me in signing the petition. They are trying to reach 50000 signatures – please sign here: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/534/084/459

Target: Prime Minister Vladimir Putin

Sponsored by: International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)

During Russia’s annual bear hunt, hibernating mother bears are lured out of their dens by dogs to be shot and killed, leaving their infant cubs to freeze or starve to death. Each year, den hunting leaves up to 4,000 cubs motherless. Some of these homeless cubs end up as pets to local villagers, while others are taken as cruel props for entertainment or to be eaten in restaurants. Most are abandoned and left to die.

You can give these tiny bundles of fur a second chance at life. Please urge the Russian Prime Minister to ban the cruel practice of den-hunting.

It is one thing to hunt bears in the summer, but it is cruel to wake them and kill them during hibernation. It is just as disgusting as hunting wolves from the air.

Please ban the practice of den-hunting of bears in all of Russia.Den hunting — waking hibernating bears, driving them out of their dens and then shooting the frightened and confused animals — is not only cruel to the bears shot, but also to the orphaned cubs left behind.

Den hunting kills thousands of bears each year and orphans many thousands more. In some areas of Russia, and in Western and Eastern Europe, brown bears are already extinct. The bears being hunted in Russia are from the last healthy population in the world.

Here is the petition, http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/534/084/459

Thank you for your consideration of ending this cruel practice.

-Cara

A Moment From Easy Rider

Billy (Dennis Hopper): Man, everybody got chicken, that’s what happened. Hey, we can’t even get into like a second-rate hotel, you dig? They think we’re gonna cut their throat or somethin’. They’re scared man.

George (Jack Nicholson): They’re not scared of you. They’re scared of what you represent to ’em.

Billy: Hey man. All we represent to them, man, is somebody who needs a haircut.

George: Oh, no. What we represent to them is freedom.

Dennis Hopper is dead. His was a journey for sure.

R.I.P.

-Cara