Ceallaigh's Blog
You heard me. Vegan french toast.
Why is it activism? Well, the vegan part is mostly self-explanatory. Being vegan is better for us, better for the animals and better for the planet. The french toast part is mostly because it's a rainy, autumn Saturday, and I'm thinking about the good we all try to do every day, online and offline.
For instance, some of my online friends post regular alerts about GMO foods. Others care about the bee blight. Still others are vegan grandmas who post delicious recipes. I have LGBT activist friends, too, and friends who are dedicating their lives to sustainability. I have friends who step in to care for companion animals while their humans are away, veterinarian friends whose good work cannot ever be over-stated, friends who are studying for the ministry and friends who are teaching their children Gaelic. I have a husband whose vegan activism is the brilliant crystalization of an engineer's mind with a compassionate heart.
In this edition of Activism Updates, I'm delighted to host my friend and fellow blogger, Lance Frizzell-Reynolds, who writes on Humanist Pagan, sustainability and LGBT issues, among other things. I have always found his work erudite and inspiring, and I'm honored he agreed to write for my blog.
This edition of Activism Updates will introduce you to the issue of fracking in Nova Scotia and empower you to protest against it.
What Fracking Is
Fracking is the extraction of shale gas and other hydrocarbons held in dense rock formations using modern hydraulic fracturing techniques, including the combination of toxic chemical slickwater, high pressure fracturing and horizontal drilling. These extraction techniques come with serious risks, including:
∗ Risks to drinking water, including the use and contamination of huge volumes of water with toxic chemicals, and risk of well contamination from methane and other substances.
∗ Risks of contamination of streams and rivers and soil from fracking fluids and fracking waste through accidents, extreme weather, or poor practices.
∗ Risks to human health from exposure to airborne toxins at multiple stages of production, exposure to toxic waste, and exposure to toxins through drinking water or soil.
This edition of Activism Updates is of the link spam variety, containing opportunities for activism in Canada and the United States.
Canadian Residents and Interested Friends
Senator Mac Harb reports via the Huffington Post that he has received a humanitarian award from PETA for introducing Bill S-210 to end Canada's commercial seal slaughter. He writes:
My heart is moved by all I cannot save:
so much has been destroyed
I have to cast my lot with those
who age after age, perversely,
with no extraordinary power
reconstitute the world.1
This weekend, I attended the Spiritual Activism: Soil and Soul retreat held at the Tatamagouche Centre and facilitated by Isle of Lewis native Alastair McIntosh, who is perhaps best known for his work that advanced land reform on the Isle of Eigg and helped stop the proposed Harris superquarry in a National Scenic Area.2 Since then, he has devoted his life to the connections between place, spirituality and the people who inhabit them both by proposing a spirit-infused ecological activism.
Please Note: My work on the next ConLangs 101 entry is ongoing, but it will probably be another week before I post it, and I'll be moving to a monthly posting cycle for that series going forward. The research and writing for those entries is somewhat time-intensive, and there has been some minor movement in my efforts to place my novel series (though certainly nothing reportable as yet), so I'm eager to stay on that task. Thanks for understanding, and I hope you enjoy this Activism Update. ~ C.S.M.
In this edition of Activism Updates, I'm reviewing Will Potter's book Green Is the New Red: An Insider's Account of a Social Movement Under Siege. Potter is a journalist who begins investigating the "Green Scare" after being threatened with a domestic terrorist label for participating in a peaceful leafleting campaign against animal testing lab Huntingdon Life Sciences. His investigation leads him to associate the targeting of environmental and animal activists with the McCarthyism of the 1950s, and while he doesn't gloss the sabotage of property some activists have perpetrated, he does make a compelling argument against the escalation of anti-green rhetoric by uncovering its origins.
My husband and I take very different approaches to activism. While I'm more rescue and writing focused, he's an advocate and excellent vegan cook. Together, we make a fairly well-rounded team, but until now you've only heard from one of us. That changes with this guest entry, which will hopefully be one of many going forward.
I asked him to write something about our love for human animals, since vegans are often accused of sacrificing them in favor of the non-human variety. What he gave me was the following excellent discussion of the physical and psychological benefits of the vegan diet. So without further preamble, I give you my husband and fellow activist, Sean P.O. MacCath-Moran.
Two weeks ago, I rescued my first baby squirrel of the season. His mother had apparently built a nest in the frame of a parked car, which had driven off with the baby inside. It's entirely possible that his brothers and sisters fell out while it was in transit, but this fortunate fellow landed in a parking lot near a municipal enforcement officer, who called Hope for Wildlife, which called me.
I'll doubtless be seeing this sort of thing more often in the weeks to come, and I know that by late May, the mammal and bird nurseries at the Hope for Wildlife farm will be filled with young animals. So I thought this might be a good time to discuss the rescue of injured and orphaned wildlife babies and offer a few pointers.
Your Initial Investigation
When you encounter wildlife babies on their own, it's important to answer the following questions first before intervening on their behalf.
I wrote in 2011 about the Atlantic Canadian seal slaughter here and here, so I won't repeat myself in this entry. However, I do want to point you to the new Humane Society International infographic on the topic, which encapsulates a tremendous amount of information in just a few words and pictures. I've linked that infographic to the left. I also want to provide you with some information I've just received from Nick Wright, the Humane Society International Canada's seals campaigner, which I found very helpful in understanding the mechanics of the seal slaughter.
What It Is
There are ostensibly three seal slaughters in Eastern Canada every year. The first is the slaughter of gray seals, most notably on Hay Island nature reserve, which takes place in late February/early March. This is the smallest of the three; the 2011 Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for Hay Island was 1900, of which roughly 1000 were killed. The Hay Island TAC for 2012 was set at the same number, but this year only 8 animals were killed. The second is the slaughter of harp seals in in mid-March in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where the TAC was set at 105,000 last year. However, because of dwindling sea ice in the region, only 1200 animals were killed. This year the TAC was again set at 105,000, but early reports indicate only a few thousand were killed. The third is the slaughter of harp seals in early April at The Front off the coast of Newfoundland, and this is the largest of the three with a TAC last year of 250,000, of which only 37,000 were killed. It also might be helpful to point out that when you read about TAC numbers for gray seals and harp seals, you're reading the TAC numbers for the whole season in every region where the species is slaughtered (i.e. 60,000 for gray seals on Hay Island, Eastern Nova Scotia and the Gulf of St. Lawrence combined, and 400,000 harp seals in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, The Front and Labrador).
This edition of Activism Updates focuses primarily on permaculture and sustainable gardening, especially with organic/heirloom seed. It's also more locally-focused, because I believe local action is the very best kind. Also on offer is an abbreviated list of the organizations that send me alerts by way of e-mail and social networking, so that you can use them in the formulation of your own action strategies, if you like. Most of them advocate animal rights and environmental issues, but I'm also a big fan of the transition movement, and I've included a local link or two, as well.
Permaculture for Transition Workshop - April 14-15
What It Is
From the Web Site: We're going to spend lots of time introducing some of the most accessible and effective solutions out there in permaculture, applied as design. Here's a few we will highlight: