Wailin' Sarah Palin

Photo Credit: We For Animals

D. A. Kolodenko's column, Presently Tense, in this week's San Diego Citybeat is titled, "Animal rights and wrongs -- Sarah Palin's Hypocritical Speechwriter." Matthew Scully wrote speeches for many Republicans including Sarah Palin's turn at the Republican National Convention. It's amazing that a person who penned a book (in 2003) titled, Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy could pen a speech for a "lifelong animal killer."

Read the entire column here: Animal rights and wrongs

Sarah Palin's disregard and abuse of animal welfare has been reported by U.S. New and World Report, The Los Angeles Times, and the Huffington Post. Let's expose this wolf in sheep's clothing and the senseless violence she embodies.

I also want to share this email I received:

Eve Ensler, the American playwright, performer, feminist and activist best known for "The Vagina Monologues", wrote the following. Please read.

Drill, Drill, Drill

I am having Sarah Palin nightmares. I dreamt last night that she was a member of a club where they rode snowmobiles and wore the claws of drowned and starved polar bears around their necks. I have a particular thing for Polar Bears. Maybe it's their snowy whiteness or their bigness or the fact that they live in the arctic or that I have never seen one in person or touched one. Maybe it is the fact that they live so comfortably on ice. Whatever it is, I need the polar bears.

I don't like raging at women. I am a Feminist and have spent my life trying to build community, help empower women and stop violence against them. It is hard to write about Sarah Palin. This is why the Sarah Palin choice was all the more insidious and cynical. The people who made this choice count on the goodness and solidarity of Feminists.

But everything Sarah Palin believes in and practices is antithetical to Feminism which for me is part of one story -- connected to saving the earth, ending racism, empowering women, giving young girls options, opening our minds, deepening tolerance, and ending violence and war.

I believe that the McCain/Palin ticket is one of the most dangerous choices of my lifetime, and should this country chose those candidates the fall-out may be so great, the destruction so vast in so many areas that America may never recover. But what is equally disturbing is the impact that duo would have on the rest of the world. Unfortunately, this is not a joke. In my lifetime I have seen the clownish, the inept, the bizarre be elected to the presidency with regularity.

Sarah Palin does not believe in evolution. I take this as a metaphor. In her world and the world of Fundamentalists nothing changes or gets better or evolves. She does not believe in global warming. The melting of the arctic, the storms that are destroying our cities, the pollution and rise of cancers, are all part of God's plan. She is fighting to take the polar bears off the endangered species list. The earth, in Palin's view, is here to be taken and plundered. The wolves and the bears are here to be shot and plundered. The oil is here to be taken and plundered. Iraq is here to be taken and plundered. As she said herself of the Iraqi war, "It was a task from God."

Sarah Palin does not believe in abortion. She does not believe women who are raped and incested and ripped open against their will should have a right to determine whether they have their rapist's baby or not.

She obviously does not believe in sex education or birth control. I imagine her daughter was practicing abstinence and we know how many babies that makes.

Sarah Palin does not much believe in thinking. From what I gather she has tried to ban books from the library, has a tendency to dispense with people who think independently. She cannot tolerate an environment of ambiguity and difference. This is a woman who could and might very well be the next president of the United States. She would govern one of the most diverse populations on the earth.

Sarah believes in guns. She has her own custom Austrian hunting rifle. She has been known to kill 40 caribou at a clip. She has shot hundreds of wolves from the air.

Sarah believes in God. That is of course her right, her private right. But when God and Guns come together in the public sector, when war is declared in God's name, when the rights of women are denied in his name, that is the end of separation of church and state and the undoing of everything America has ever tried to be.

I write to my sisters. I write because I believe we hold this election in our hands. This vote is a vote that will determine the future not just of the U.S., but of the planet. It will determine whether we create policies to save the earth or make it forever uninhabitable for humans. It will determine whether we move towards dialogue and diplomacy in the world or whether we escalate violence through invasion, undermining and attack. It will determine whether we go for oil, strip mining, coal burning or invest our money in alternatives that will free us from dependency and destruction. It will determine if money gets spent on education and healthcare or whether we build more and more methods of killing. It will determine whether America is a free open tolerant society or a closed place of fear, fundamentalism and aggression.

If the Polar Bears don't move you to go and do everything in your power to get Obama elected then consider the chant that filled the hall after Palin spoke at the RNC, "Drill Drill Drill." I think of teeth when I think of drills. I think of rape. I think of destruction. I think of domination. I think of military exercises that force mindless repetition, emptying the brain of analysis, doubt, ambiguity or dissent. I think of pain.

Do we want a future of drilling? More holes in the ozone, in the floor of the sea, more holes in our thinking, in the trust between nations and peoples, more holes in the fabric of this precious thing we call life?

Eve Ensler, September 5, 2008

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COMMENTS:

Thank you for publishing Eve Ensler’s letter and informing me about Sarah Palin vs animals. It has always been a mystery to me how one can say he loves God, yet hurts his creation.

Vegan Shrimp Helix

At the 2007 Natural Products Expo in Los Angeles, VegeUSA had a large booth with samples of their product. We sampled all their products and I liked a few even though I don't crave meat analogs and certainly don't crave any animal flesh.

Our local market, Windmill Farms, had these products on sale and I picked up a few packages. I made a cajun rice dish last night which calls for soysage. I substituted the vegan shrimp. It was interesting and fine in the dish. There is a firm texture to the product, somewhat how I remember shrimp to feel in your mouth.

I thought I'd look up the main ingredient after water, Curdlan Gum. Chemistry-wise, "Curdlan gum is a microbial fermentation extracellular polymer prepared commercially from a mutant strain of Alcaligenes faecalis var. myxogenes." If you then look up Alcaligenes faecalis, it's a mutant of soil bacteria and produced some inhibitory activity against Sarcoma and carcinoma in a cancer study in 1978.

Still, I think I'll stick to whole foods that I can pronounce and not the highly-processed glucans. Many studies have also linked the vegetarian and vegan diets to health benefits. [smile]

Now is the time to ask yourself

Why do you eat meat? The Humane Society of the United States investigated a Southern California slaughtering plant and documented many unfit cows being tortured and abused. Dr. Michael Greger explains in this video how these practices can contaminate a large quantity of meat. He even wrote in 2003 how USDA regulations do not go far enough.

While you many be outraged, disgusted, saddened by these practices, this is business and there is a demand for the product. By simply asking yourself at every meal: Do I need to eat this piece of meat? you are making a conscious decision to continue or to end these practices.

"Veganism in a nutshell" explains the top five reasons people go vegan (abstain from meat and animal products). What we choose to eat has an impact on human rights, animal rights & abuse, the environment, and our health. I first went vegetarian for the selfish reason of health. I choose to be vegan for the far-reaching impact it has on many facets of our lives.

You already don't eat much if any beef? Congratulations! So you know that you may lose your taste for a food after cutting it out for two weeks. Now how about showing some respect for chickens and fish, the "Rodney Dangerfields" of the animal world. Dr. Neal Barnard of PCRM discusses the benefits of a vegan diet on a variety of health issues, most recently diabetes.

You may choose to close your eyes, but please don't close your mind.

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Tuesday, March 11th, 2008 Wall Street Journal article on page B1 ("Oversite 'Flaw' Led to Meat Recall") explains factory farming as a business with suppliers and quotas: "The plant for years was a major buyer of older, spent dairy cows from the many dairy farms in the Inland Valley, about 40 miles east of Los Angeles." and "In a statement he gave to Chino police before he was arrested, Mr. Navarro said he felt pressure to ensure that 500 cows were slaughtered each day. If he didn't meet that quota, he said, Mr. Salas would get angry."

The Good Good Pig

This was my favorite book read this summer, "The Good Good Pig" by Sy Montgomery. She lives in southern New Hampshire and adopted a runt of the litter. He was named after the conductor "Christopher Hogwood" and lived 13 1/2 years longer than most pigs. Most pigs don't make it through the winter and rather get a one-way trip to the slaughter house. This was a sweet sweet story of how "Chris" started out the size of a cat and was nursed to survive and entertain for 14 years. Neighbors and local restaurants would save their "slops" and Christopher would develop a true foodies palate, rooting out his favorite morsels first, savoring every taste out on "pig plateau." Christopher was not the biggest pig that ever lived, but he grew to estimates of over 700 pounds. "As Christopher's girth increased, so did our doubts about who was in charge at our house. Not only was Chris destined to vastly outweigh us, but we faced a growing realization that our pig was dangerously, possibly diabolically, brilliant."

Top 10 things learned in 2006

In no particular order, I look back on experiences and lessons learned in 2006.

1. "You like sunshine and fresh air." This was actually a fortune written on a little slip of paper inside a cookie. Fortunately, we live in San Diego.

2. Organic Athlete is a great group to join to get out and get some sunshine and fresh air. Running, biking, and as I hear it, swimming for those motivated triathletes.

3. Straining your ankle hurts, immobilizes you, and takes at least three weeks to heal before you can get back to almost walking normally.

4. There will be other half-marathons.

5. Everything that grows has protein. All Vegan store has a lot of great cookbooks and reference books. Eating more raw foods (at least a salad a day) makes me feel good and is good for you.

6. The H3 machine at the San Diego blood bank allows me to feel great after donating. They separate components they need (Apheresis (ay-fur-ee-sis)) and replenish fluids at the end of the process. I just wish they had Newman-O's in the canteen.

7. Cockroaches can't get into plastic zipper bags.

8. Ball python snakes like to hibernate in fluffy Santa caps.

9. Professional Organizing gives me some interesting stories. Ethically, I keep these stories generic.

10. On the special occasions when they let you into the Spreckle's Organ Pavilion during a concert, such as the 92nd anniversary, standing next to the pipes is very loud.

Homework for 2007: Try not complaining at all, out loud or in your head, for seven straight days. Or on the positive side, gratitude.

Quote: "We say that life is like a marathon race, but the former can only be run once."

-- Marathon, A novel by W. William Winokur, (c) 2005, p. 442.

Earth Day WorldFest

It was a chilly and inspiring day at the Los Angeles WorldFest on Saturday.

I learned from the bio-beetle guy that no modifications were made to his VW diesel beetle. Bio-diesel is a solvent which will break up sediment. After the second tankful, I would need to change the fuel filter to clear out the deposits. Just about 3 more years on my warranty, then I can switch to bio-diesel (VW does not honor it; invalidates the warranty).
Short-haired dogs sitting still were compelled to purchase T-shirts from the All Vegan booth to cut the chill.

Heidi from San Diego kept warm by generating some of her own natural power.

In the birthday zone

On Monday morning, I woke up picturing the Ramona landscape and wanting to take a hike in the area. Using the San Diego Reader website, I was intrigued by their picture of Cobbleback Peak, better known as Mount Woodson. You can read Jerry Schad’s description of the area in the San Diego Reader column, Roam-O-Rama. The lower half of this steep 1.5-mile hike was more picturesque. The landscape was more interesting from that vantage point, not just because the top was home to many communication towers. An old co-worker lived in this area. I can’t wait to learn of his favorite hikes.

On Wednesday, Joy, the owner of All Vegan store, surprised me with a trip to Stephanie’s Bakery for lunch. She has added pizza to the menu and it is outstanding! We each ordered a pizza to try both the red sauce and the pesto topping. For the red sauce, Joy chose veggie sausage and artichoke hearts. For the pesto, I chose sundried tomatoes and mushrooms.

The real surprise came when the pizzas arrived. There was melted vegan cheese on top! I make pizza at home and drizzle it with olive oil. The Follow-your-heart vegan cheese was melted (the secret is a hot oven) and so flavorful. Both pizzas were delicious; with twelve or so toppings to choose from, I have so many combinations to try in the future.

No, the real surprise came when Maria walked out with an inscribed chocolate birthday cake. They even lit a candle and had me make a wish. The chocolate cake was so moist and rich. Combine that with a nice raspberry sauce between layers and any wish will come true.

We’re having a Santa Ana winter which means many warm, dry days. Near the ocean, it was 10 degrees cooler, a very pleasant 75 degrees. So today we chose to eat in the back patio area. Snuggled in a corner was a sweet little neighborhood cat. He was very friendly and welcomed us, but then did what all cats do best, found a nice sun spot for a cat nap.

Parakeet found at All Vegan store

While we were up in Hollywood at the 25th Anniversary PETA Gala, Larry was back in San Diego minding the All Vegan Store. On Sunday afternoon, he went outside to toss something into the trash can. Turning back to the store, he noticed a little parakeet sitting in the shade on the sidewalk. He was able to coax the little bird into the store, where she sat at the desk and sipped a little water from a puddle that Larry poured out.

With the bird safely inside resting, Larry called our neighbor who has four cockatiels. She brought over a cage. The little birdy was very relieved to see the cage and hopped inside. There was a spray of millet that he dove into and also used the water bottle. She then took her to Birdland to get proper parakeet food. It was Birdland’s knowledgable staff who identified the parakeet as a female. We posted “found” signs along Park Boulevard and notices on Craig’s list and SignOnSanDiego, but got no responses.

The little parakeet has a new loving home and she even plans to get the sociable bird another bird friend for the large cage. Now what to name her? There’s stickers in the store that show a little chick and say “I am not a nugget”. How about li’l Nugget? Nah. Percy, one of our cats, wants to say “Yummy”. Nope. She now goes by the name of “Katarina”.

PETA 25th Anniversary gala

As a very generous thank-you for volunteering at the All Vegan store, Joy was a Bronze Food Sponsor and invited us to come join her at the Paramount Pictures studio lot on the New York City stages. I have been anticipating this day for weeks and it’s finally here! As if the gala was not enough, we had a thai massage at Pho-Siam and then brunch at Madeleine Bistro. More on that later, back to the gala.

We met at the Paramount Pictures studio lot and stopped for a picture in front of one of the many entrances. Adrianne and Bill (bookends) helped hand out the delicious Rose City Chocolates at the gala event. Joy (third from left) treated Carolyn, Alyse, me and Allison to an evening of great food and entertainment. Yes, yes, bad grammar, but that’s our order in the picture.

We arrived right when the gates opened at 6:30pm. Good thing, unless you like queues, because others in our party arriving later had to wait over an hour in the airport screening-like security lines. This was the only bottleneck in the whole evening. It was organized very well, probably looked good on paper, but the “arrival gate” was too small for the 2000-plus in attendance.

While waiting in line, I introduced myself to the other alphabetized individuals around me. Low and behold, meet Paul Wenner, inventor of the Gardenburger! The woman next to me was kind enough to take our picture. It was here night out, husband at home with their 4-year-old son.

The gala was held on the New York City stages. Many New York town houses lined the streets. Many delicious foods were offered by the food sponsors. We strolled around for two hours, sampling the many tasty vegan treats. Fortunately I was born with hollow legs. PlayFood offered delicious raw ice cream made from just cashew nuts, vanilla, and agave nectar (and water). That’s a lot of cashews, so creamy, and ow! head freeze! Maggie Mudd’s from the San Francisco area offered up their hard ice cream. I took Joy’s recommendation and sampled the Coconut Pecan ice cream. Dorell and Carolyn asked for a three-scoop sample. Many eyes rolled skyward as the chocolate, espresso, and pumpkin flavors were so luscious.

The more savory fares were quite extraordinary being that they were not in their own kitchens. Madeleine Bistro, where we were heading the next day for lunch, was easily my favorite. Very complex flavors in their beet tartare appetizer, grilled shitake mushroom skewers, and tacos. They really catered it right by offering many finger foods. Native Foods may have brought their entire restaurant to the Gala. They had table seating available and offered a menu of five full items from their regular menu including the Baja burger and spicy fries.

We were then asked to proceed to the front of the lot to where the stage was set up for the awards presentations. Pamela Anderson and Fred Willard hosted the event which went much like any other awards show you may have seen on TV. Big screen video presentations helped to break up the format. Many big names were not present to receive their awards, but offered video clips expressing their gratitude. Sir Paul McCartney and Morrisey were not able to attend. Andy Dick was very amusing and Jamie Lee Curtis was exceptional. We were then treated to a live performance by Polyphonic Spree and their bouncy hit “Light & Day”.

After the awards show, Sheila E. performed on the back stage. Showing my age, I’m not familiar with any of her work, but I love a live performance on the drums. She engaged the crowd with her heart-pounding tunes. She also held a live “American Idol” by inviting performers up on stage. One woman displayed great vocals! We danced, we tango’d, we ate more desserts.

Joy’s sponsorship of Rose City Chocolates from the All Vegan Store was a big hit. The delicate chocolates were a nice bite-size, but still rich taste. It was great to see chocoholics express their love for this confection.

We didn’t get back to the hotel until 3:30am. The coffee and chocolate kept me going throughout the night and into the next day as I had a fitful night’s sleep. Thank goodness I only needed to muster the energy for a thai massage and brunch. The one-hour Thai massage was the best thing for working on my tight shoulder area. Yes, they apply pressure with their hands, arms, elbows and feet. Like a thai restaurant asking the heat of the dish, you can have your pressure applied soft, medium, or hard. The session ended with a little lazy yoga where they guided you through some heart-opening poses.

At the Bistro, Dorell said that I looked radiant. I felt very blissful, not doubt aided by the beautiful decor and table settings. The food was amazing for that fact that these people worked the gala the night before and only got two hours of rest in between. I sat next to Dorell’s Mom-in-law and we agreed to split two dishes. We also order beignets for the table. More eye-rolling in ecstasy as we sampled these little donuts with a raspberry compote. The French Toast Napoleon was also served with the raspberry fruit compote layered in between, served with home fries, maple syrup, and whipped creme. Too much rich food in the past two days! I wrapped my half of the Madeleine Club to go to bring home to Larry.

Thank you, Larry, for covering the All Vegan Store while we were up enjoying this once-in-a-lifetime event. So many thanks to Joy and all you do to increase awareness, bringing the Last Chance for Animals San Diego information booth to street fairs and other events around San Diego. Volunteers talk to people about how to live cruelty-free, what to eat instead of meat, and other animal rights issues. More on Larry’s adventures next!

Vegan Potluck

Straining the brain with the "Cranium" game

Mellowing after the fresh coconut milk and chocolates

Vegan meet-up at Lestat's

Cynthia, Me, Hank, Quyen,

Chris, Lewis, Marilyn, Larry

Happy Thanksgiving

Vegan potluck at the Worldbeat Center

Thanksgiving day with Stacey