Monday, January 24, 2011

Kitty



Here is another one of the stray kitties I'm feeding. I noticed she was sleeping on my Amish rocker so I put a little blanket on it to make her more comfortable. As you can see, she is a beautiful slate gray with yellow eyes. She needs a name. I'm thinking of calling her Cinza which is Portuguese for gray or silver.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Why I support PETA

This was copied from an email I received from PETA listing some of their accomplishments in 2010.

NASA halted its plans to use dozens of monkeys in painful and deadly radiation experiments. The decision followed more than a year of intense campaigning by tens of thousands of PETA supporters, including Sir Paul McCartney, Bob Barker, and Alicia Silverstone.

Two large chicken suppliers agreed to switch to a less cruel chicken slaughter method called "controlled-atmosphere killing." The move will potentially spare millions of individual birds the pain of being scalded and having their throats cut while they're still conscious. Thanks to years of pressure from PETA, more restaurants and grocery stores than ever have started to demand that their suppliers use this method.

In the largest seizure of exotic animals in history, authorities confiscated more than 26,000 animals from international animal dealer U.S. Global Exotics, Inc., after a seven-month PETA investigation produced evidence of horrific conditions.

As a result of public outrage generated by a PETA investigation at the University of Utah, legislators in that state voted overwhelmingly to overturn an archaic law that required animal shelters to sell animals to laboratories for use in painful and invasive experiments. Utah was one of only three states that still required "pound seizure."

The world's largest shoe manufacturer, Nike, and its upscale brand Cole Haan announced that they will no longer use exotic-animal skins in their lines. The move came after PETA presented video footage to Nike executives documenting the suffering inflicted on animals used in the exotic-skins trade.

High-end women's fashion retailer Cache agreed to pull all real fur clothing from its stores after PETA showed company representatives footage of abominable conditions on fur farms.

Animal-testing facility Professional Laboratory and Research Services surrendered more than 250 dogs and cats and shut its doors after a nine-month PETA investigation revealed that animals were routinely denied veterinary care and subjected to painful procedures without being given proper anesthesia.

And who could forget 2010's massive oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico? Many shelters in the area were flooded with animals during this tragedy. Pamela Anderson and PETA were able to help by paying for veterinary care for 50 dogs and 30 cats and transporting them to PETA headquarters, where they were all adopted.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

This video was created by the Finnish Library Association to celebrate their 100th anniversary. Be sure to turn up the volume.

Castile Soap


I switched from using regular shampoo to liquid Castile soap a few years ago. It's so much cheaper and leaves my hair feeling much nicer than regular shampoo. I also tried it out on the dogs and it left their hair soft and silky without any perfume. Perfume is a real problem for my sensitive little Ginger.
Today I found this recipe for a nice green automatic dishwasher detergent made with Castille soap.

1/2 cup liquid castile soap
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
3 drops tea tree oil
1/2 cup white vinegar

Stir all ingredients together until blended. Store in a squirt top bottle. Use 2 tablespoons per load of dishes, shake well before use.

Jon Stewart takes down Sarah Palin

I've been taking a break from watching my favorite news shows (Olbermann and Maddow) Watching them leaves me angry, and scared for our country because of the hateful rhetoric from the right wing crazies. I know that they are all not crazy but the ones who seem to make the news are. Now I watch HGTV. I love House Hunters, Property Virgins, and Holmes on Homes. I also love watching Cupcake Wars (so much better than real wars) and some of the other cake baking competitions on TLC. I can watch TLC again now that Sarah Palin's Alaska is over.
Anyway, I can still watch Jon Stewart's take on the news because he always make me laugh and that's a good thing. Here is a clip from his show:

Sunday, January 9, 2011

In the Crosshairs



As you can see from this graphic, Rep. Gabrielle Gifford is on Sarah Palin's target list along with 20 other members of congress who supported reform. When she was criticized for releasing the list Palin said: "Don't retreat, instead reload." Now it looks like someone has. Fortunately, Rep. Gifford survived the attack. Unfortunately, 6 other people were killed and 14 were wounded.

To be fair, we don't know yet why the shooter targeted Gifford, but the hate and bigotry in this country, thanks to people like Sarah Palin, is sure to inspire this type of violence. I also wonder what would happen if a Muslim put out a hit list and one of the people on the hit list was targeted. I doubt if he/she would be walking around free today.

Here is a little bit about the youngest victim of yesterday's attack, 9 year old Christina Taylor Greene. She was born on September 11, 2001 and was featured in a book called Faces of Hope about babies born on 9/11. She was interested in politics and went to the event to learn more about the political process.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Spicy Crisp-Roasted Chickpeas


I found this really easy recipe on Salon.

1 can garbanzo beans, drained, rinsed and thoroughly dried
¼ teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (more to taste)
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons olive oil

1.Toss everything together and spread on a baking sheet. Roast at 400 degrees for 40 minutes or until completely crunchy.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Helping Dogs in China


My niece Erin, who is in China told me about a dog (maybe a few cats too) rescue organization that was started by an American living in Beijing. One reason I haven't wanted to go to China or any other Asian country is because of the animal abuse. I see enough of that here. That's why it was so nice to see what is being done there to help homeless dogs. Here is a link to this great organization (which gladly accepts donations) http://lingyang.org/ . I sent a small donation in this morning and got a personal reply back within a few minutes. This cute little guy is looking for a forever home. If I was there I would probably provide one for him.