for those whose imaginations aren’t already scary enough…

Just click on various objects throughout the room:

http://www.palinaspresident.us/

The following letter included below from the president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, Wayne Pacell, urges California voters to support the passing of Proposition 2 on Election Day– and all other voters not in CA to support it anyway ( most of your food probably comes from that region anyhow).

If passed, proposition 2, called a modest proposal by the New York Times for requesting the most basic of humane treatment for animals, would prohibit the confinement of animals in ways that prevent them from being able to stand, sit, lie down, turn around and extend their limbs.

“The fact that such fundamental decencies have to be forced upon factory farming says a lot about its horrors. We urge California voters to pass Proposition 2. We urge every state to enact similar laws,” writes the NY Times. You don’t have to be a vegetarian or a bleeding heart liberal to support this legislation. As the NY Times aptly puts it:

“Americans are becoming increasingly aware of how and where food is raised. With that should come real concern. The mantra of industrial farming has always been efficiency, but efficiency has come to mean a pregnant sow — millions of them — confined in a gestation crate barely 2 feet wide and only as long as she is. It means veal-calves rendered virtually immobile in crates barely large enough to contain their bodies. It means endless rows of laying hens kept in battery cages so small that the birds cannot even stretch their wings.

No philosophy can justify this kind of cruelty, not even the philosophy of cheapness.” Read the rest of this entry to learn more about Proposition 2 from the HSUS. Read the rest of this entry »

Did you know that some of the most common over the counter drugs can be fatal to your pets? According to the ASPCA, in 2007 the organization’s Animal Poison Control Center handled more than 89,000 cases of pets poisoned by household human medications.  To help pet owners prevent inadvertent pet poisoning — remember pets can get sick from simply eating a discarded tissue or cotton swab with medication on it– the ASPCA has prepared a list of the Top 10 Drugs that Poison Pets: Read the rest of this entry »

Greenpeace has published their latest “Guide to Greener Electronics,” with their most current ratings of technology companies’ use of pollution control, energy conservation, e-waste, recycling and chemical usage. The rankings show quite an interesting and perhaps unexpected outcome, with Apple ranking 13th out of 18 companies in “greenest” technology. Among the greenest manufacturers were Nokia and Samsung.

For the full list: Read the rest of this entry »

On Friday October 17 at 8:00 pm, the New Orleans-Birmingham Psychoanalytic Center (3624 Coliseum St.) will host a scientific presentation geared toward mental health clinicians, creative writers and readers of fiction alike. The speaker, Fred L. Griffin, M.D. — Training and Supervising Analyst with the NOBPC and Director of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Training in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Alabama School of Medicine– will discuss how his creation of a work of autobiographical fiction led to expanded self-understanding through the therapeutic process of writing.

In his presentation, “One Form of Self-Analysis: Processing Emotional Trauma through Creative Writing,” he will discuss how others may use this technique for both personal and professional/clinical purposes to process emotional trauma creatively.

Dr. Griffin has a private practice in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy in Birmingham, Ala. and writes and lectures in psychoanalysis, psychotherapy and the emergent field of narrative medicine, and is on the Board of Editorial Readers for The Psychoanalytic Quarterly.

The event is free and open to the public, and for those who’d like to attend there is some suggested light reading :

• Griffin, F.L. (2005). Clinical Conversations between Psychoanalysis and Imaginative Literature, Psychoanalytic Quarterly, LXXIV, pp. 443-462.

• Lusting, A. (1990). Morning till Evening. In Street of Lost Brothers. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, pp. 1-2

Continuing education credits, CMEs, are also available to mental health professionals at $15 for NOBPC members and $25 for nonmembers.

On Wednesday evening, Pennsylvania legislature passed an important bill at the urging of the ASPCA to protect and improve the lives of puppies born and bred into puppy mills. Though many animal rights advocates believe the bill doesn’t go far enough in the prevention of inhumane treatment to animals born and bred under conditions similar to those known to be used in commercial concentrated animal feeding operations, the bill does require some important first steps.

The bill calls for puppy mills to double the cage space required for dogs in Pennsylvania’s commercial breeding facilities, prohibits wire flooring and the stacking of cages, mandates exercise and twice-yearly veterinary exams for all dogs, and requires that animals be humanely euthanized by licensed veterinarians.

With the passage of the bill, Pennsylvania hopes to shed its reputation as the Puppy Mill Capital of the East, says the ASPCA. And the bill will certainly improve the lives of thousands of puppies bred for commercial profit in Pennsylvania. But let’s hope that it goes beyond that. Let’s hope this raises awareness among the public and puts a stop to the exploitation of defenseless baby animals for monetary gain.

Please see here to find 10 ways you can help fight puppy mills

This Wednesday October 15th, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm,  Global Green, the American Institute of Architects New Orleans Chapter and the US Green Building Council will host their monthly free panel discussion on “sustainability in the built environment,” for which the October session will discuss “adaptive reuse and renovation in local architecture.” The panel will discuss how architects approach sustainability in preexisting urban environments.

AIA New Orleans will host the session featuring a variety of architects who will provide examples and comment on methods of sustainability in urban locations, with emphasis on New Orleans’ historical architecture.

The panel will be held at the Tulane School of Architecture, Richardson Memorial Hall, Room 204, and will be hosted by Brett Petry,  of AIA, Marcel Wisznia, AIA, principal of Wisznia Associates and Jeffrey Smith, AIA, partner of the firm Holly and Smith Architects.

For information see here. 

From NPR.org:

Meet The Bailout Boss

The $700 billion man.

Chris Taylor, U.S. Treasury Department/AP Photo

The great big Wall Street bailout now has a boss, and guess where they found him? Neel Kashkari works with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson now, as assistant secretary for International Economics and Development. Kashkari, 35, came to the Treasury through the same route as Paulson, which is to say through Goldman Sachs.

He’ll oversee the Troubled Assets Relief Program and the Office of Financial Stability.

The Wall Street Journal runs down his curriculum vitae, with this note about Paulson:

Paulson likes to surround himself with people he’s comfortable with: people, mostly, from Goldman Sachs. Paulson’s inner circle already includes former Goldmanites Dan Jester, a financial institutions banker, and retired banker Steve Shafran, who focused on corporate restructuring at Goldman. It also included Robert Steel, who has since left Treasury to become CEO of Wachovia.

– Laura Conaway

I have lived in 13 different apartments within the past 7.5 years since I moved to New Orleans. I think that is a considerable accomplishment, or a statement on my ability to co-habitate (is that a word?) with others. My career as a shady gypsy began when I moved here to go to college and has since morphed into the average vagabond, noncommittal lifestyle of most twentysomethings these days. During this time, I’ve rented from slum landlords with 100s of properties throughout the city, to a sweet middle-aged man with an interest in gardening letting the other side of his vacation-home double. I’ve lived in an apartment where mold grew halfway up the walls, to a swank, newly renovated single suite in on-campus housing. I’ve lived in Uptown, the LGD, Irish Channel, Central City, Treme, Bywater and the Marigny.  Within my demographic, emotional and financial limits, I feel as though I’ve done it all. I’ve lived with best friends and strangers, one roommate and as many as nine!

Now that I’m in the middle of purchasing my very own first home in Holy Cross, I’ve begun to implement “best practices in homeownership” in my current apartment to prepare myself for the coming responsibilities. I’ve been taking stock of what I’ve learned in the past 13 apartments, and I recently made a new discovery.

Read the rest of this entry »

I was forwarded this by a friend; it contains instructions to re-post everywhere possible. I’m doing my part… only in New Orleans. I’ll be a ninja, in case you’re wondering.