vegansaurus!

The Empire State Building Shines Red for The Cove!  »

I just read on Ecorazzi that tonight the Empire State Building will be lit up in red to honor the poor dolphins and to promote the message of The Cove. The event was planned by racecar driver Leilani Munter. And John Leguizamo will be there along with the director and producer of The Cove. This is super-cool!

I’ll try to get a pic for everyone! Ew, that means I have to leave my house. Well, I’ll try to post a pic from NYT or something.

Guest post: Japan resumes whaling, I resume crying  »

I’ve been following the updates from Taiji, Japan on Twitter—Taiji is where The Cove was filmed, and where every year dolphins are slaughtered in a cove for low-priced and mercury-laden meat after the ones suitable for “fun” (read: awful) places like SeaWorld are picked out and sold for tens of thousands of dollars. Sad things happen there. Sea Shepherd is in Japan bearing witness to the dolphins killed in Taiji in the hopes that the world will take notice and put pressure on Japan to stop it.

This created chunks of sadness in my Twitter feed—between videos about cute cats and Vegan MoFo blog posts—and now I’ve started seeing tweets about this as well: Japan is going to resume its “scientific” whaling program after stopping it due to pressure from groups like Sea Shepherd. (I put “scientific” in quotes because that’s totally not the case.) Why you gotta do me like this, Japan?!

Officials announced on Tuesday that Japan will resume whale hunting in the Southern Ocean this winter, and stated their intentions to protect their ships.

“The Fisheries Agency will send a patrol boat and take increased measures to strengthen the protection given to the research whaling ships,” Fisheries Minister Michihiko Kano said at a news conference Tuesday.

Fortunately, the Sea Shepherd crew are a bunch of badasses and don’t plan to make the hunt easy for Japan.

They will have to kill us to prevent us from intervening once again…. We will undertake whatever risks to our lives will be required to stop this invasion of arrogant greed into what is an established sanctuary for the whales.

That’s from a statement by Sea Shepherd leader Paul Watson, who says that more than 100 people will be in the Southern Ocean to block the Japanese whaling fleet. How can you help? For starters, you can support Sea Shepherd so they can continue their work. You can sign a petition against whaling at Whales Revenge. You can write to your government reps to make it clear you don’t support whaling, and you want them to make their lack of support for whaling known as well. Adopt a whale from the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society. And you could talk to people about why whales are awesome and whaling is not, and encourage them to take action too. Highly recommended: following Sea Shepherd’s updates, online and/or Twitter.

Have any other suggestions on how awesome Vegansaurus readers can fight whaling in the Southern Ocean? Tell us about them in the comments!

photo by John Krzesinski via Flickr

This week certainly has been trying; thank goodness it’s time for the link-o-rama!  »

This is Wilson, a bunny from Harvest Home Sanctuary. He could be your best new bunny pal, if you are in Berkeley tomorrow! HE HAS HIS OWN BUNNY TO CUDDLE!! Wilson is a meta-bunny! Read about where and when to find him below.

Event-y things!
Your Vegansaurus loves bunnies; what about you? This week, the SFPD confiscated 23 bunnies from a pet store—it’s illegal to sell them in the city—and you can adopt them from Animal Care and Control starting tomorrow, Saturday June 19, at noon. Harvest Home Sanctuary is also holding a rabbit-adoption event in the East Bay, in conjunction with the House Rabbit Society, on Saturday! You can meet rabbits at Berkeley’s 4th Street Shopping District, at 1824 4th St., from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

News-ish items!
What the FUCK: Miami is building a new stadium for the Florida Marlins, which will include two saltwater aquariums as part of the walls around home plate. “To safeguard it from impact, Lexan—the material used for bulletproof windows—will be installed in front and in back of the acrylic panels.” I’m sure that the animals living in those aquariums will totally appreciate the thickness of the material, seeing as how it has to be designed to withstand fucking BASEBALLS BEING THROWN AT IT.

On the sea creatures tip, let’s talk about whales. Japan, what is your goddamn problem? Some groups are hardcore protesting showings of The Cove, while you’re bribing the fuck out of members of the International Whaling Commission?! Just disgusting. Apparently 95 percent of people in Japan have never eaten whale—just drop it already. EVERYONE JUST FUCKING DROP IT. Norway and Iceland, you too. Maybe Pierce Brosnan will convince you? Maybe.

Egg production is supremely fucked up; for one, “egg production” is a tidy euphemism for “forcing hens to lay eggs.” Even “free-range” is a lie: the Humane Society filed a complaint against Rose Acre Farms this week because the conditions the company’s chickens live in are fucking horrific, certainly not the “humane and happy environment” full of “happy” chickens Rose Acre is selling people.

Look, they grow vegetables at the North Pole! Yes, even iceberg lettuce (not that that’s funny, per se). Here are some tips on storing your lettuce so as to keep it fresh and crispy as long as possible. Oh and try not to feed anyone juice boxes or fruit cocktails, as even the “organic” ones are full of lead.

Matt Baume “meets the city’s most unlikey pets” in the Bold Italic; the founder of Slow Food USA wants to integrate slaughterhouses, by way of mobile units, into cities. That’s what I want on my streets—the sounds of mass-murder! Definitely the solution is more, smaller slaughterhouses in urban areas. Alternatively, we could do like U.S. Designer of the Year John Bartlett and stop participating in terrible systems of death.

Terrible system of the week: wildlife photography. It is mainly a lie; the animals are bred in captivity, rented out for pictures, and often sold on the exotic-animal black market. The feature in Audubon magazine on these horrific, depressing, disgusting practices is shocking. And gross. You absolutely must read it.

OK right, everything continues to be really awful, and I’m sorry about that. Science says that good things happen to people who do good things, though, so keep on doing your part for the animals. Be as cynical as you like; the key is not losing your empathy (I think).

Awesome art, crazy-ass email, superlative videos, puppy birthday AND MORE in this week’s link-o-rama!  »

Hey, let’s wish happy birthday to my parents’ dog, Oliver, who turns three big years old today! Oliver (at left, shown here with his older brother, Beauregard) works as a therapy dog, has a charmingly insouciant underbite, and wants to be your bestest friend. Happy birthday, little fellow!

Fun times vegan-style events!
The Out of Place art show at SPACE Gallery (1141 Polk St. at Hemlock Street) tonight, Friday Mar. 12, features your Vegansaur Jonas! It costs $3 and runs from 8 to midnight, and will be catered by Black Orchid Bakery. Is there enough culture in your life? Probably not, you philistine, so get over there and appreciate some damn art.

On Saturday, Mar. 13, you can attend “The Nutrition Prescription” lecture by Donald Forrester, M.D., presented by the San Francisco Vegetarian Society, at the Institute of Aging at 3600 Geary Blvd. (between Arguello Boulevard and Palm Avenue). The lecture begins at 8 p.m. and costs $10, or participate in the veg potluck at 6:30 p.m. and pay just $2. Contact the SFVS for further information.

Late update: The LGBT Army of Compassion will hold a demonstration against animal cruelty on Sunday, Mar. 14 from 8 to 9 a.m. in the northeast corner of the Heart of the City Farmers Market (UN Plaza) in San Francisco. Brochures (such as this pdf) and signs will be provided. For further information, contact the LGBT AC.

Washington, D.C., home of scrumptious vegan baked goods and now Hush Supperclub, a vegetarian Indian “underground restaurant” that sounds amazing.

Items of social and political import!
Phil Bronstein isn’t sure about the ethics of an animal abuse registry when animal abuse is condoned every day in our kitchens and laboratories.

The ethics of zoos come again under scrutiny as the three polar bears who live in San Francisco get older and become more difficult and expensive to “keep.”

Switzerland denies animals dedicated legal counsel. Apparently Swiss animal protection laws are ” among the strictest rules anywhere,” but proponents don’t think they’re enforced enough to matter. Keep trying, Switzerland.

Stop, video time! It’s JSF on Ellen’s Thursday, Mar. 11 show! [note: if you can’t see the video, please visit the link-o-rama at Vegansaurus.com!]

Oh, does someone think s/he invented the Elvis cupcake? Sorry, vegans have been doing it for four years, now.

OK Canada, for most of the items on this list of “10 foods of the future,” you’re cool again. Or at least acceptable (we don’t go in for that “non-traditional fish” or “new fabricated cuts of meat” nonsense).

Probably better that you eat Canadian meat, anyway (if you’re going to eat DEATH and all) as the U.S. is one of the top-five” least safe food producers in the world, along with China, Turkey, Iran, and Spain. I am SO PROUD.

Seriously, Walnuts? “Vote McCain, because BACON!” You nasty.

OK, Bob Barker has always been a total sleazy lecher, but his love for animals is pure and true: he just gave $2.5 million to renovate a building on Sunset Boulevard in L.A. for PETA—it’ll be called the Bob Barker Building, natch.

Beloved blog Sociological Images present maps that illustrate where animals for food and crops for food are grown in the U.S. Fruits, nuts and vegetables and chickens come from California!

That milk that makes you roll your eyes every time you open the fridge because ew is from California, too, right? Maybe not! Make your friends and relations find out where their dairy products originate at where is my milk from (also useful for soy milks).

Read the first article from The Awl’s vegetarian columnist, Jaime Green! It’s about visiting a Manhattan farmers market in the winter.

If little Oliver weren’t too stubborn/dumb(?) to play any version of “fetch” (because “fetch” does NOT mean “I throw the ball and you chase after it and hide it”), I would have definitely gotten him this for his birthday. [link and photo from Pawesome!]

Food & Wine magazine is shocked to find Berliners eating vegetarian food, as opposed to “Wiener Schnitzel and Currywurst.” Being very well traveled vegans, we are not.

Did you know that East Asian people eat CATS and DOGS? How SAVAGE!! The Chinese government is at present “considering legislation” to ban eating these particular animals, which is probably good considering how awful their living conditions are prior to slaughter. It of course does NOTHING for the rest of the animals raised for consumption in China, but as long as our precious puppies and kitties are protected, we can all sleep at night, right?

Holy Mary in a handbag, have you read this insanator email from an anti-The Cove wacko to Rich FourFour? It is the craziest best: “The humans being protecting wolfs(the whales / dolphins)is the devil! Devil! Devil! Devil! Destroy the devil for protect the human fish! The shark is a friend of the fish. The shark eats only the fish that dead / was damaged.”

Despite the horrors of whaling, Slate, however, wants you to know just what dead whale meat tastes like—and did you know that “many schools of Buddhism favor eating whales”? SEE, IT’S OK BECAUSE THOSE HIPPIE WEIRDOS SAY SO.

How about another photo? Party penguin has stripped off his dress whites and is ready to get down! [Photo via Andrew Evans of National Geographic]

Delightful Ruben Studdard went vegetarian 18 months ago, switched to a vegan diet six months ago, and lost 100 pounds! Man, when I went vegan for keeps I lost like zero pounds, WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME, AMERICA, WHY DO I STILL HAVE FLESH ON MY VEGAN BONES?? Seriously, we’re super-happy for you, Ruben, keep living your wonderful, cruelty-free life.

DYING OF AWESOME: this amazing retort to Abby’s “Vegan Boys Are the Worst” called “Vegan Boys Are the Best,” complete with KAZOO SOLO, by Brownbird Rudy Relic of SuperVegan!

“The Cove” and “Food, Inc.” up for Academy Awards!  »

We reported that they were short-listed and they fucking made it! YES! Our heart belongs to The Cove but we reallllllly hope one of them wins. AND YES, we know the awards are totally ridiculous and the winners are usually just whomever the production companies pimped the most, but it’s still exciting. Pass the popcorn, bitches!

A million recipes, a whole bunch of videos, some adorable (rescued!) animals, another fruit in a cute shape AND MORE: Friday link-o-rama!  »

The Cute Show visits an alpaca farm. It is unsettling to hear the farm children talk about the little creatures in terms of fleece quality, but I advise ignoring them and focusing on the unbearable squeezeability of the alpacas. Look at their furry little legs and their fuzzy heads! Look at the little bitty blue-eyed deaf one! It’s only four days old you can pick it up and snuggle it LOVE YOU ALPACAS.

Colleen Patrick-Goudreau makes the best tuna salad and quesadillas you’ll ever eat: the kind without tuna or cheese! Yes, really. Instructional video and recipes here.

WAY better than the heart- and star-shaped cucumbers: buddha-shaped pears! Will someone in Europe please send us some? Label them “trinkets” or whatever on the customs form, you KNOW how California is about importing produce. Dear state of California, we promise not to let these pears’ seeds come anywhere near your fertile soil.

There’s going to be a small, open-air fall farmers market just around the corner from the White House!

Activism had some effect! Remember how in The Cove, some of the dolphins were sold to aquariums, and the rest were murdered to be sold for meat? Well! Because of international pressure created by audiences of the film, the Japanese town responsible for this horror show has promised not to slaughter the dolphins in the season’s first “catch” (ugh). Instead, the people say they’ll release the dolphins they don’t sell live. Yes that’s still far from ideal, but it’s a huge improvement over mass murder.

San Francisco city Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi introduced an ordinance this week to prohibit the procedure known as declawing on cats. For all the nothing that our local government seems to accomplish, this little piece of legislation is at least a little compensation:

“…[D]eclawing and tendonectomy are inhumane procedures that cause pain, anguish and permanent disability to a cat, and frequently result in behavioral and personality changes in cats subjected to those procedures. The primary benefit of the procedures—the convenience of pet owners—is outweighed by the cruelty of the procedures. It is inappropriate to remove parts of an animal’s anatomy, thereby causing the animal pain and suffering, and restricting and altering its natural behaviors, simply to fit the owner’s lifestyle, aesthetics or convenience, without benefit to the animal.”

We like our Board of Supes with a little righteous anger.

Make cheezy quackers with Celine of Have Cake, Will Travel! She’s adorable, they’re adorable, there is nothing not adorable (and delicious!) about this video.

The recipe for “Ultimate Vegan Hot Wingz” over at Vegan Dad looks too good! If I make these, don’t expect to get any! Just me and the hot wingz and LEAVE ME ALONE I’M STARVING.

Har har: Quarry Girl announces the release of their iPhone app, which allows you to just push buttons instead of talking to people. This is all you talk about anyway, right?

MORE DELICIOUS FOOD ALERT! Carrie at Map Mistress tells us how to roast perfect sweet potatoes (Hey! It’s almost fall! CAN YOU FUCKING BELIEVE THIS SHIT IT WAS JUST NEW YEAR’S!) and I know this was mentioned before but VEGAN CHEDDAR CHEESE BISCUITS over at It’s Faturday. That truly calls for a what what in the butt shout out.

Eater SF has a few photos from inside Gracias Madre, the vegan nuevo Latino restaurant by the Cafe Gratitude people. It’s set to open in “late summer 2009,” which technically means anytime between now and Sept. 21. Who’s taking me when it opens? I will eat raw vegan nuevo Latino ANYTHING, especially with those Gratitude nut cheeses, they are the best.

Hey, it’s National Cholesterol Month. You know who has super-duper excellent blood cholesterol? Vegans! Oh yes. Encourage all your non-vegan friends and family members to get their cholesterol levels checked, while you eat dairy-free ice cream out of the carton, in front of them. Because usually you are good and can keep your smugness to a minimum, but no one’s perfect, and basically the NIH is asking you to rub your better health in everyone else’s face, so why not?

A box turtle with prosthetic limbs. There is nothing more sweetly pathetic on this earth. [via Cute Overload]