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Each egg from today’s egg factory farms represents 22 hours of hell for a hen. - PETA
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In this edition...
Environment - Earth Week Focus |
 'Nobody on this planet' will be untouched by climate change - IPCC head |
| World court orders halt to Japan's 'scientific' whaling |
| To fight climate change, the entire world will have to eat less meat |
| Whales find good company |
| Deforestation in the Andes triggers Amazon "tsunami" |
| Healthier, more efficient food systems could slash farm emissions - study |
| Our planet's future is in the hands of 58 people |
Health |
| Vegetarian diets lower blood pressure best |
| High-fat diet increases breast cancer risk |
| Video: Preventing asthma with fruits and vegetables |
| The scary story of how milk ends up in your glass |
Lifestyles and Trends |
| Chinese demand for shark fins takes a nosedive |
| Video: Today Show puts 'meatless' meat to the test |
| All kinds of vegan weddings |
Animal Issues and Advocacy |
| Video: 10 questions with Farm Sanctuary's Gene Baur |
| Introducing Esther the wonder pig |
| Animal sentience: 9 ways pigs are smarter than your honor student |
| Love dogs, eat chickens? |
| Animal sentience: Elephants preen in front of mirror |
| Interview: Jane Goodall on being a Disney ambassador |
Books and Perspectives |
| The vegan birth and the birth of the 'Circles of Compassion' vision |
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(Excerpts are included from current news stories. Click on the "Full story" link to read the full article.)
Environment - Earth Week Focus 
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'Nobody on this planet' will be untouched by climate change - IPCC head
Full story: Reuters
At Monday's [March 31] launch of the latest report from the UN climate panel, its chair Rajendra Pachauri said "nobody on this planet" will be untouched by the impacts of climate change. He said climate change will reduce water availability, cause species to migrate, harm crop yields, and bring more damaging extreme weather. The poor and vulnerable will be most affected. Authored by more than 300 scientists, who examined 12,000 publications, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report [drew] on a much larger body of research than the last such study in 2007. However, there was still time to limit the risks threatened by a warmer planet, Pachauri said. Here are reactions from humanitarian, development and green groups to the report...
Read more... |
World court orders halt to Japan's 'scientific' whaling
Full story: Reuters
Judges at the highest UN court ordered Japan on Monday to halt whaling in the Antarctic, rejecting the country's long-held argument that the catch was for scientific purposes and not primarily for human consumption. Tokyo said it was disappointed but would abide by the decision, while activists said they hoped it would bring closer a complete end to whaling around the world.
Read more... |
To fight climate change, the entire world will have to eat less meat
Full story: The Atlantic
Serious about battling climate change? Then you might want to consider going vegetarian. That's because it's looking like world temperatures will continue to climb unless people stop chowing on so much meat and dairy, according to new research from Sweden... The scientists' analysis, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, takes the contentious step of suggesting methane emissions be cut by pushing up the price of meat through a tax or emissions trading scheme.
Read more... |
Whales find good company
Full story: IPS
Posters with the words "Do you know who caught your seafood?" are now appearing on buses, trains and other venues in Boston. They are part of a campaign organised by a coalition of U.S. environmental groups called Whales Need Us, to draw attention to the links between Icelandic whalers and fish sold in the U.S.
Read more... |
Deforestation in the Andes triggers Amazon "tsunami"
Full story: IPS
Deforestation, especially in the Andean highlands of Bolivia and Peru, was the main driver of this year's disastrous flooding in the Madeira river watershed in Bolivia's Amazon rainforest and the drainage basin across the border, in Brazil. That is the assessment of Marc Dourojeanni, professor emeritus at the National Agrarian University in Lima, Peru. The homes of more than 5,000 Brazilian families were flooded when the Madeira river overflowed its banks. Cattle ranching [is] one of the major drivers of deforestation.
Read more... |
Healthier, more efficient food systems could slash farm emissions - study
Full story: Reuters
Annual greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture could be cut by more than half by 2030 if the world follows strategies such as eating less beef, reducing food waste and managing soil nutrients better, a report from climate experts said [April 15]. The biggest opportunities for curbing planet-warming emissions lie in Brazil, China, the European Union, India and the United States, according to the research published by two consulting firms, Climate Focus and California Environmental Associates.
Read more... |
Our planet's future is in the hands of 58 people
Full story: IPS
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the third and final part of a report on April 13 in which it says bluntly that we only have 15 years left to avoid exceeding the "safe" threshold of a 2°C increase in global temperatures, beyond which the consequences will be dramatic... Ten countries are responsible for 70 per cent of the world's total greenhouse gas pollution, with the United States and China accounting for over 55 per cent of that share... The U.S. Senate is made up of 100 members, and this means that you need 51 votes to kill any bill for a fossil fuels tax. In China, decisions are taken by the seven-member Standing Committee of the Central Committee. In other words, the future of our planet is decided by 58 persons. With the current global population standing at close to 7.7 billion people, so much for a democratic world!
Read more... |
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| Health
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Vegetarian diets lower blood pressure best
Full story: Live Science
Scientists are reporting results that might boil the blood of some people on the Atkin's and other low-carb diets: Vegetarian diets rank as superior in reducing the risk of high blood pressure, or hypertension, and subsequent heart damage, the study found. The research, by scientists in Japan and the United States, was a meta-analysis of 39 high-quality, previously conducted hypertension studies from 18 countries, with a total of more than 21,000 participants. The researchers found that people who avoid meat had consistently lower and healthier blood pressure levels.
Read more... |
Live Science - February 24
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High-fat diet increases breast cancer risk
Full story: Live Science
Women who eat a diet high in saturated fat may be at an increased risk for several types of breast cancer, a new study finds. Women whose diets included a lot of fat - particularly, a large amount of saturated fat from animal products - were more likely to develop certain types of breast cancer, compared with women who consumed less fat, the research found. The study included data from 337,000 women ages 20 to 70 in 10 countries in Europe; the women were followed for an average of 11.5 years.
Read more... |
Video: Preventing asthma with fruits and vegetables
Video source: NutritionFacts.org
 A study involving more than a million kids suggests the striking worldwide variation in childhood rates of allergies, asthma, and eczema is related to diet - specifically consumption of fruits and vegetables vs animal products. [5:44]
Watch video... |
NutritionFacts.org - April 16
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The scary story of how milk ends up in your glass
Full story: One Green Planet
While it may make for uneasy reading, it's important for people to realize that the dairy industry are superb marketing experts, and the traditional idyllic view of a rural family run dairy farm is a far cry from reality for the vast majority of cows. Cruelty, suffering, pus, chemicals, and hormones are all present in the milk which makes its journey to your glass through these mechanized dairy prisons.
Read more... |
One Green Planet - April 25
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| Lifestyles and Trends
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Chinese demand for shark fins takes a nosedive
Full story: Care2
China is the global epicenter of the shark fin trade, but surprising statistics show that reputation (along with the shark finning industry) may be on its way out. According to the Hong Kong chapter of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the volume of shark fin products imported into Hong Kong in 2013 dropped by a whopping 35 per cent Export of processed shark fins out of Hong Kong also decreased by nearly 18 percent. That drop is even more pronounced when looking at the volume of shark fins shipped from Hong Kong to other parts of China... It also shows that shark finning bans around the world are working, both to expose the barbaric, wasteful practice and create awareness of the ecological impact.
Read more... |
Video: Today Show puts 'meatless' meat to the test
Video source: Today Show
 As interest in plant-based specialty foods continues to grow, accompanied by billionaire backers, like Bill Gates and the founders of Twitter, it's no surprise that national media are more frequently producing spotlight segments on some of the industries most popular vegan fare. Today Show correspondents, Matt Lauer, Al Roker, Carson Daly, and Tamron Hall were put to the taste test to see if they could tell the difference between animal-based meats and plant-based meats. Check out the results. [Thanks to Meatout Mondays for sending to us.]
Watch video... |
All kinds of vegan weddings
Full story: The Vegan Truth Blog
This feature shines a light on the diversity among vegans. Their wedding, their style - some conventional, some unconventional. The thread that binds them is the vegan ethic (no small thing) and the Love feeling that was conveyed through each uplifting Vegan Wedding story...
Read more... |
The Vegan Truth Blog - March 25
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| Animal Issues and Advocacy
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Video: 10 questions with Farm Sanctuary's Gene Baur
Video source: Time
 Farm animal activist Gene Baur on cheap food, annoying protestors and the rise of giant sexless turkeys.
Watch video... |
Introducing Esther the wonder pig
Full story: MFA Blog
If you haven't already, it's time you meet Esther the Wonder Pig - Mercy for Animals favorite new internet star! When Esther was adopted, her family was told she would only grow to be about 70 pounds. What they found out was that Esther is actually a full-size pig just like the ones suffering on factory farms... The pig you see and love is just giving it back to us like any pig would if you let them. They're terrified and heartbroken in those farms - all you have to do is look into their eyes to see it. We want to give your food a face, and make it harder for you to turn a blind eye to what you're supporting with every burger or slice of bacon you eat. [Esther on facebook.]
Read more... |
Animal sentience: 9 ways pigs are smarter than your honor student
Full story: Huffington Post
On today's factory farms, mother pigs spend most of their lives confined to cramped "gestation" crates that are so small, the animals can't even turn around or take a step in any direction. Piglets are castrated and have their tails chopped off and their teeth clipped without any painkillers whatsoever. All of this is done to animals whom scientists have determined are smarter than the family dog. Need proof that pigs are brainy? Here's just a sample of their amazing feats of mental prowess... Maybe I'm an incurable optimist, because I like to think that once people find out how smart, sociable, brave, and even silly pigs are, they won't want to eat them.
Read more... |
Huffington Post - April 15
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Love dogs, eat chickens?
Full story: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
One-thousand-two-hundred people attended the funeral for a police dog who was killed in the line of duty in Pittsburgh. You can bet that more than 90 per cent of the mourners ate animal flesh that day. JVNA Executive Director Jeffrey Cohan asked readers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to confront this double standard.
Read more... |
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - February 12
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Animal sentience: Elephants preen in front of mirror
Video source: Science Channel
 Humans are not alone in our capacity for self-awareness. We are part of a larger family of self-aware social animals that includes elephants and dolphins. Excerpt from Through the Wormhhole, narrated by Morgan Freeman.
Watch video... |
Science Channel - March 29
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Interview: Jane Goodall on being a Disney ambassador
Full story: Time
The reason that I agreed to [be an ambassador for Disney Nature] is because I think that these films they're making are so very important. They've spent the time with the animals, they really get to know them as individuals, and it's very, very important for the general public to understand as much as possible about a lot of these creatures - because we're going to need help from every quarter to save them... Q. How do you feel about the anthropomorphizing of the bears in this movie, giving them names and personalities? First of all, they didn't give them personalities. You cannot share your life in a meaningful way with a dog, a cat, a rat, a horse - I don't care what it is - and not know that animals have their own personalities. They're all different one from another and they have many qualities that they share with us, like emotions.
Read more... |
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| Books and Perspectives
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The vegan birth and the birth of the 'Circles of Compassion' vision
Full story: The Dodo.com
Going vegan is like a second birth. Like birth, it is painful and disorienting to be ejected from the warm security of the known and comfortable, and like birth, it's also liberating to begin a whole new life adventure of greater awareness. Freeing ourselves and emerging from the cultural trance injected into us by the societal food rituals that desensitize us and reduce our capacities, the vegan birth clears the way so that we can explore the deeper dimensions of consciousness. As we open to the hidden pain and trauma we inflict on animals and each other, we also open to more fully realizing the essential beauty, benevolence, freedom, and compassion that sing and shine as the heart of being and that are reflected in our world around us in all living beings.
This article is by Will Tuttle, author to The World Peace Diet and editor of Circles of Compassion: Connecting Issues of Justice, a new book of essays by leading authors and activists on the connections between human, animal, and environmental well-being. You can help fund publication.
Read more... |
Related Video:
Will Tuttle introduces 'Circles of Compassion'
More Books:
The mental life of plants and worms, among others
An interesting article, referencing a number of books, that explains part of why scientists think it exceedingly unlikely that plants have feelings or are conscious in any way more than, say, our blood cells are conscious. - New York Review of Books (April 24)
Also of interest:
Events:
May 19 - Richard Schwartz at 80 Celebration - Jewish Vegetarians of North America, Manhattan
June 27-30 - Taking Action for Animals - Humane Society of the United States, Washington, DC
July 2-6 - Vegetarian Summerfest - North American Vegetarian Society, Johnstown, PA
July 10-13 - Animal Rights National Conference - Farm Animal Rights Movement, Los Angeles, CA
October 10-12 - Lifestyle Expo 2014 - VegSource presents top health experts and delicious food in a beautiful setting, Los Angeles, CA
Petitions
Sunshine needs your help. A program operated jointly by the Canadian Government and the animal/dairy/meat industry contacted Sherry & Yan (Sunshine's people) in February, wanting to slaughter him as part of an "eradication program." Sunshine is a healthy, happy, member of their family, and lives on a vegan agri-tourism farm/animal sanctuary.
Save Sunshine
The National Farm Animal Care Council (NFACC) — the Canadian agricultural industry organization that establishes codes of practice for producers — is currently reviewing the turkey code. Mercy for Animals has created a petition asking NFACC to do the right thing and help prevent turkey abuse.
Speak out against turkey torture
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