Do you support the rights of whales and dolphins?

If you support animal rights, sign the Declaration of Rights for Cetaceans: Whales and Dolphins:

Based on the principle of the equal treatment of all persons;
Recognizing that scientific research gives us deeper insights into the complexities of cetacean minds, societies and cultures;
Noting that the progressive development of international law manifests an entitlement to life by cetaceans;
We affirm that all cetaceans as persons have the right to life, liberty and wellbeing.
We conclude that:

1. Every individual cetacean has the right to life.
2. No cetacean should be held in captivity or servitude; be subject to cruel treatment; or be removed from their natural environment.
3. All cetaceans have the right to freedom of movement and residence within their natural environment.
4. No cetacean is the property of any State, corporation, human group or individual.
5. Cetaceans have the right to the protection of their natural environment.
6. Cetaceans have the right not to be subject to the disruption of their cultures.
7. The rights, freedoms and norms set forth in this Declaration should be protected under international and domestic law.
8. Cetaceans are entitled to an international order in which these rights, freedoms and norms can be fully realized.
9. No State, corporation, human group or individual should engage in any activity that undermines these rights, freedoms and norms.
10. Nothing in this Declaration shall prevent a State from enacting stricter provisions for the protection of cetacean rights.

Agreed, 22nd May 2010, Helsinki, Finland

Do you support this declaration? Click here to add your name.

If you’re not vegan yet, I bet this movie will convince you

Or maybe not, who knows! But this movie does seem to be very convincing to a lot of people. See if it works for you, maybe!

Community screening SATURDAY in Ithaca:

DOVE (Demonstrating Our Values Through Eating) & Club Veg Film Series
FORKS OVER KNIVES: Join the Conversation That’s Changing the Way America Eats

Saturday, April 13th, 7 – 9 PM

At the First Unitarian Society of Ithaca ANNEX Building, 208 East Buffalo Street, 2nd floor, Ithaca

FORKS OVER KNIVES examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting our present menu of animal-based and processed foods.

“A film that can save your life” ~ Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

“I Loved it and I need all of you to see it” ~ Dr. Oz, The Dr. Oz Show

“Great movie” ~ Mark Bittman, New York Times columnist

“Convincing, radical, and politically volatile” ~ John Anderson, Variety

Who: Open to the public, childcare available
Cost: FREE (optional desserts and popcorn available for sale)
Reservations: Reservations for childcare REQUIRED by Wednesday April 10th.
Reservations for attending helpful for setup purposes. Reserve by emailing clubveg@gmail.com. For more information call 272-1126 before 10 PM
Make sure to include your name, number in your party, if you want to reserve childcare (and how many children and what ages).

DOVE & Club Veg planning meeting precedes the movie starting at 5:30. If you would like to get involved with DOVE (Demonstrating Our Values through Eating) an Action Team of the Unitarian Social Justice Council OR Club Veg as a volunteer, come to a meeting for volunteers. Delicious vegan dinner available for $10/each. Reservations required if you would like to order a dinner. See reservation information above.

Conference: “A Politics of Disability, Animal Liberation, and Queering”

Dear vegans of today: Thank you for being awesome. This is so incredibly far beyond anything that was happening when I was an 18-year-old baby vegan. How far we’ve all come!

1st Annual Conference “Engaging with Eco-ability”
Binghamton University, New York
April 27 and 28, 2013

Theme:
A Politics of Disability, Animal Liberation, and Queering

The 1st Annual Conference “Engaging with Eco-ability” will be hosted at Binghamton University April 27th & 28th, 2013. The conference will be organized and moderated by Anthony Nocella II and JL Schatz. The goal of this conference is to lay the groundwork for an edited book that’s part of the Critical Animal Studies series published by Lexington Books.

Sponsors include Binghamton University English Department, Binghamton University, Institute for Critical Animal Studies, and Students for Critical Animal Studies.

More info / RSVP on Facebook.

New vegan book club starting up in Ithaca

Via the Ithaca Vegans group on Facebook:

For those of you not on the meetup website I am starting a vegan book club and discussion group. The first date is for Sat. May 4th at 3:00. I suggested the first book, The Lucky Ones by Jenny Brown founder of Woodstock farm animal sanctuary. We will also discuss what else everyone wants to read. If you are interested let me know. – Stephanie

Happy birthday César Chávez

Happy birthday to the late, great César Chávez: a labor rights and environmental justice activist, and a vegan. He said,

I became a vegetarian after realizing that animals feel afraid, cold, hungry and unhappy like we do. I feel very deeply about vegetarianism and the animal kingdom. It was my dog Boycott who led me to question the right of humans to eat other sentient beings.

10 things you can do to help bees

This morning I started to read Bee Deaths From Colony Collapse Disorder On The Rise As Researchers Point To Pesticides on Huffington Post, and then I realized I’d rather find out how I can help, instead of just feeling bad about the problem. Here are some suggestions I found on the interwebs.

1. Stop buying GMO, non-organic food, and support organic agriculture instead. Buy used and/or organic clothing.
2. Learn about where your food and clothing comes from and how much pesticide went into its production.
3. Stop using pesticides in your own lawn and garden.
4. Sign petitions banning pesticides, and support the use of organic alternatives.
5. Encourage your local government to do more to help bees.
6. Attract bees by planting clover, flowering trees, and herbs that bees like. Provide a water source so they can take a drink when they visit.
7. Let your veggies go to seed after harvest, to help fatten up your bee neighbors for the long winter.
8. Educate yourself about bees so you can be more sure of how you relate to them and what you might like to do to help them.
9. Pass on your knowledge about bees. Your voice is powerful, and the bees can’t speak for themselves! Make sure that kids understand that bees are an important part of their ecosystem.
10. Provide bee habitat, but make sure you’re keeping bees and humans safe from hurting each other by marking bees’ homes.

    The only one I saw folks mention elsewhere that I didn’t put here was “become a beekeeper / support your local beekeeper.” I don’t feel that it would be my place to confine and manipulate others and take things they make, or to encourage others to do that. It takes the average worker bee her entire life to produce just one twelfth of one teaspoon of honey. They make it for their colony, not for us.

    If you do choose to use bee products, please make sure they’re locally produced and that you feel good about the way the bees are living, from birth to death. Since your decision impacts the lives of other beings, you may want to educate yourself about some of the ethical problems with beekeeping, honey, and beeswax. Thank you!

Should animal lovers eat Peeps?

“say no to peeps” by Ari Evergreen

Did you know that Easter Peeps are made out of boiled skin and other byproducts of the farming industry? Please find out where gelatin comes from if you’re supporting its production – it involves animals suffering and losing their lives.

Never fear, vegan Easter is sweet! You can get vegan marshmallows and easter candy. You can make Devilish Potatoes (via Mercy for Animals) instead of deviled eggs, dye and hunt for vegan eggs, or make a vegan Easter basket. Start some seedlings for a spring garden or plant a tree or flower bulbs.

Easter is supposed to be a celebration of renewal and new life, and is often celebrated in a very child-centered way. Rather than objectifying and exploiting rabbits, chickens, cows, pigs, and other animals, why not set an example for children that demonstrates our respect for others of all species, and for the earth that we all call home? In the words of William Blake, “For Everything that lives is holy, life delights in life.”

How many sharks do humans kill, in one hour?

Infographic showing the number of humans killed by sharks, worldwide, in a year (just 12), vs. the number of sharks that humans kill every hour (11,417), by Joe Chernov and Robin Richards. Click here for more info about these numbers and where this graphic came from.

Click to see the big version, which is pretty shocking.

If you feel for the sharks, please, share this graphic, take action against shark finning and overfishing, and if you haven’t yet, go vegan!

“Who is smarter: a person or an ape?”

“New research shows that we have grossly underestimated both the scope and the scale of animal intelligence. Primatologist Frans de Waal on memory-champ chimps, tool-using elephants and rats capable of empathy.”

Via Josh

Photo: Thomas Cheng and a dog, from the article

Why eat eggs?

I just watched the short film Story Of An Egg after reading about it on Huffington Post. I found myself sympathizing with the farmers who are trying to find more ethical ways of farming eggs, and I used to love eating eggs myself – but I can’t help but be unsettled by the assumption that we have to go on exploiting animals to live happy, fulfilled, healthy lives.

Watch 2013 Festival | The Story of an Egg on PBS. See more from PBS Online Film Festival.

Eggs can be a great source of nutrition for humans, it’s true. But do we need them – are plant-based proteins just not enough for us? Can we justify our need?