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Go Green!
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Eastern Shore Sanctuary
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May 07, 2006 13:00 PDT
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BraveBirds Times Online
Green Spring 2006
Online newsletter of the Eastern Shore Sanctuary & Education Center
Go Green
May is the prettiest time of the year here in rural Maryland.
Honeysuckle and wild roses climb towards bloom time; wisteria and wild
buttercups are already there. Usually, the chicken yards are green
again too but this year, due to low rainfall, swaths of the foraging
yards are still dusty and brown. Slowly, slowly, the plantain and other
hardy plants that people call weeds are gaining ground. Watching their
struggle against what isn't even a full-fledged drought, we can't help
but think of the struggles of plants, animals, and peoples in regions
dried out by desertification.
We started out this year with a newsletter issue that urged sanctuary
friends and supporters to devote some of their time to the urgent
emergency of global warming. We renew that call this spring. Whatever
else you are doing or not doing, you can't afford to ignore this. Polar
bears are drowning because ice floes are gone and many other animals
are at risk because of the destruction or distortion of their habitats.
Islands are disappearing in the Pacific and we saw with hurricane
Katrina just who is going to get hurt by the increasingly erratic
weather that continued climate change is sure to bring.
Whatever else you do, do these three things:
1. Reduce your own CO2 and methane emissions by driving less
frequently, using less electricity, and going vegan if you've not
already done so. Go further by reducing consumption, reusing and
recycling everything possible, and buying whatever you can locally.
2. Talk to everybody you know. Start by saying, "I'm really worried
about global warming. What about you?" Then, listen and respond with
empathy. After that, you can share your own feelings and tell what you
have done and are going to do.
3. Devote a set amount of time each month to working for local,
national, or international policies and practices that will do
something to mitigate climate change. If you can, go further and donate
funds to organizations working for such policies or practices.
Big, Big, Book
At long last, the new anthology "Igniting a Revolution: Voices in
Defense of the Earth" is available from AK Press. With 45 contributors
— including Eastern Shore Sanctuary cofounder pattrice jones; sanctuary
friends such as Josh Harper, homefries, Marti Kheel, and Adam Weissman;
notable environmentalists such as Rosalie Little Thunder, Jeffery
“Free” Luers, and Bron Taylor; and well-known dissidents such as
Ashanti Alston, Fred Hampton Jr., and Ann Hansen — the second anthology
edited by Steve Best and Tony Nocella offers an engaging and diverse
set of perspectives on radical environmental activism. And, at 440
pages from 45 very different voices, the book is a great value for
readers who like to stretch their minds.
For a full table of contents, go to:
http://www.drstevebest.org/papers/exerpts/Igniting_A_Revolution/
IAR_TOC.php
To buy the book directly from AK Press, go to:
http://www.akpress.org/2006/items/ignitingarevolutionak
Or, even better, order it through your local bookstore, to give them
the idea of stocking it. If you can't or don't want to buy the book for
yourself, donate a copy to your local public library or at least
suggest that they purchase it. Since the animals are often oddly left
out of radical environmentalism, this book belongs on as many shelves
as possible.
Hawk!
Here at the sanctuary, the roosters are very loud. All day long, they
keep in touch with each other by crowing, just as their wild relatives
in the forests of Asia still do. The sentinels of the flock, roosters
use alarm cries to alert the other birds when they sense danger. The
alarm cry for an aerial predator actually sounds a lot like the word
"HAWK!"
When a rooster shouts, "Hawk!" all the other birds run for cover. Many
repeat the alarm cry to make sure that everybody knows. The resulting
cacophony makes it clear to anybody with ears to hear: "This is an
emergency!"
If only people were as smart! Every day seems to bring more news that
climate change is an escalating emergency. "Hawk!" shout the
scientists, "Hawk! Hawk! Hawk!"
And we do -- what? Maybe make some minor changes in our lifestyles?
This is an emergency! Why don't we act accordingly?
That's the question that Eastern Shore Sanctuary cofounder pattrice
jones raised in an April presentation at the Staten Island Unitarian
Universalist church. Drawing on published research about why people
have and haven't gotten involved in the struggles against perils such
as nuclear war and global warming, pattrice shared four reasons for
inaction: don't know about the problem; don't understand the problem;
don't know what to do about the problem; and don't feel that actions
will make a difference.
All of these come into play when it comes to global warming. Because of
the news media's deceptively even-handed coverage of oil-industry
sponsored skepticism, many people truly do not know that climate change
is not a "controversy" but, rather, a reality. Others do know that it's
a problem but don't understand that it is caused by greenhouse gasses
like CO2 and methane. Many confuse climate change with the hole in the
ozone layer and mistakenly believe that all they can do is not use
aerosol cans. Others do know that greenhouse gasses are to blame but do
not know where they come from and thus cannot conceive of personal or
policy changes that would be helpful.
The discussion in Staten Island centered on the fourth reason for
inaction: lack of hope. When inhibited by despair, the best thing to do
is experience and discuss the feeling directly rather than pretend it
isn't there. Then you can move on and do what needs to be done. As
pattrice is always saying, we have an obligation to be hopeful because
if we don't have hope, then there really is no hope. Sometimes, it's
necessary to act as if we have hope even if we don't feel it at the
moment.
Rainy Day Radical Feminism
Hope in hard times was evident at the 3rd Annual Animal Liberation
Theory and Action Conference, which was held on a rainy weekend in
April in Syracuse, NY. Sanctuary cofounder pattrice jones spoke at the
"Igniting a Revolution" book release event, summarizing her chapter
entitled "Stomping with the elephants: Feminist principles for radical
solidarity." Pattrice also spoke on the panel about feminism and
earth/animal liberation and was lucky enough to catch a showing of
"Crossing the Species Border," which is a multimedia workshop
connecting feminism and animal liberation. Produced and moderated by
the activist known as "homefries," the workshop offers a gut-wrenching
and thought-provoking tour of the connections between speciesism,
sexism, and racism.
You can invite "Crossing the Species Border" to your campus or
community and pattrice recommends that you do. Visit
http://www.crossingthespeciesborder.org for more information.
Upcoming Events
Pattrice will be speaking at the Agricultural History Society annual
meeting on 15-17 June at MIT and at the national Animal Rights 2006
conference in DC on 10-14 August. The AR2006 conference will feature
more than 90 speakers including Lorri Bauston, Karen Davis, Karen Dawn,
Christine Garcia, Dawn Moncrief, Lauren Ornelas, and Erica Meier.
Follow the the links below for program and registration information.
AHS annual meeting:
http://web.mit.edu/conferences/www/AHS/ag_hist_info.html
AR2006:
http://www.arconference.org/
Sanctuary Update
We recently welcomed 10 former fighting cocks who were rescued under
the auspices of In Defense of Animals. Now, the long process of
rehabilitation begins. The process by which we teach the birds to live
peacefully with other roosters is not difficult but is very
time-consuming.
Thanks to a generous anonymous donor, we have just dug two true ponds
for the ducks, who previously had to make do with kiddie pools, and
installed a bigger and better coop for "broiler" hens. This will allow
us to take in many more of the Katrina birds currently housed by Farm
Sanctuary. The birds will move in as soon as their blood tests prove
them to be disease-free so that they can cross state lines legally.
Between the new hens and the new roosters, we're going to be very busy
for the remainder of this spring. But we won't forget about global
warming. We hope you won't either.
Eastern Shore Sanctuary & Education Center
13981 Reading Ferry
Princess Anne, MD 21853 USA
410-651-4934
http://www.bravebirds.org
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<center><bold>BraveBirds Times Online
Green Spring 2006
</bold></center><bold>
</bold><center><italic>Online newsletter of the Eastern Shore
Sanctuary & Education Center
</italic><bold>Go Green
</bold></center>May is the prettiest time of the year here in rural
Maryland. Honeysuckle and wild roses climb towards bloom time;
wisteria and wild buttercups are already there. Usually, the chicken
yards are green again too but this year, due to low rainfall, swaths
of the foraging yards are still dusty and brown. Slowly, slowly, the
plantain and other hardy plants that people call weeds are gaining
ground. Watching their struggle against what isn't even a full-fledged
drought, we can't help but think of the struggles of plants, animals,
and peoples in regions dried out by desertification.
We started out this year with a newsletter issue that urged sanctuary
friends and supporters to devote some of their time to the urgent
emergency of global warming. We renew that call this spring. Whatever
else you are doing or not doing, you can't afford to ignore this.
Polar bears are drowning because ice floes are gone and many other
animals are at risk because of the destruction or distortion of their
habitats. Islands are disappearing in the Pacific and we saw with
hurricane Katrina just who is going to get hurt by the increasingly
erratic weather that continued climate change is sure to bring.
Whatever else you do, do these three things:
1. Reduce your own CO2 and methane emissions by driving less
frequently, using less electricity, and going vegan if you've not
already done so. Go further by reducing consumption, reusing and
recycling everything possible, and buying whatever you can locally.
2. Talk to everybody you know. Start by saying, "I'm really worried
about global warming. What about you?" Then, listen and respond with
empathy. After that, you can share your own feelings and tell what you
have done and are going to do.
3. Devote a set amount of time each month to working for local,
national, or international policies and practices that will do
something to mitigate climate change. If you can, go further and
donate funds to organizations working for such policies or practices.
<center><bold>Big, Big, Book
</bold></center>At long last, the new anthology "Igniting a
Revolution: Voices in Defense of the Earth" is available from AK
Press. With 45 contributors =97 including Eastern Shore Sanctuary
cofounder pattrice jones; sanctuary friends such as Josh Harper,
homefries, Marti Kheel, and Adam Weissman; notable environmentalists
such as Rosalie Little Thunder, Jeffery =93Free=94 Luers, and Bron =
Taylor;
and well-known dissidents such as Ashanti Alston, Fred Hampton Jr.,
and Ann Hansen =97 the second anthology edited by Steve Best and Tony
Nocella offers an engaging and diverse set of perspectives on radical
environmental activism. And, at 440 pages from 45 very different
voices, the book is a great value for readers who like to stretch
their minds.
For a full table of contents, go to:
=
http://www.drstevebest.org/papers/exerpts/Igniting_A_Revolution/IAR_TOC.ph=
p
To buy the book directly from AK Press, go to:
http://www.akpress.org/2006/items/ignitingarevolutionak
Or, even better, order it through your local bookstore, to give them
the idea of stocking it. If you can't or don't want to buy the book
for yourself, donate a copy to your local public library or at least
suggest that they purchase it. Since the animals are often oddly left
out of radical environmentalism, this book belongs on as many shelves
as possible.
<center><bold>Hawk!
</bold></center>Here at the sanctuary, the roosters are very loud. All
day long, they keep in touch with each other by crowing, just as their
wild relatives in the forests of Asia still do. The sentinels of the
flock, roosters use alarm cries to alert the other birds when they
sense danger. The alarm cry for an aerial predator actually sounds a
lot like the word "HAWK!"
When a rooster shouts, "Hawk!" all the other birds run for cover. Many
repeat the alarm cry to make sure that everybody knows. The resulting
cacophony makes it clear to anybody with ears to hear: "This is an
emergency!"
If only people were as smart! Every day seems to bring more news that
climate change is an escalating emergency. "Hawk!" shout the
scientists, "Hawk! Hawk! Hawk!"
And we do -- what? Maybe make some minor changes in our lifestyles?
This is an emergency! Why don't we act accordingly?
That's the question that Eastern Shore Sanctuary cofounder pattrice
jones raised in an April presentation at the Staten Island Unitarian
Universalist church. Drawing on published research about why people
have and haven't gotten involved in the struggles against perils such
as nuclear war and global warming, pattrice shared four reasons for
inaction: don't know about the problem; don't understand the problem;
don't know what to do about the problem; and don't feel that actions
will make a difference.
All of these come into play when it comes to global warming. Because
of the news media's deceptively even-handed coverage of oil-industry
sponsored skepticism, many people truly do not know that climate
change is not a "controversy" but, rather, a reality. Others do know
that it's a problem but don't understand that it is caused by
greenhouse gasses like CO2 and methane. Many confuse climate change
with the hole in the ozone layer and mistakenly believe that all they
can do is not use aerosol cans. Others do know that greenhouse gasses
are to blame but do not know where they come from and thus cannot
conceive of personal or policy changes that would be helpful.
The discussion in Staten Island centered on the fourth reason for
inaction: lack of hope. When inhibited by despair, the best thing to
do is experience and discuss the feeling directly rather than pretend
it isn't there. Then you can move on and do what needs to be done. As
pattrice is always saying, we have an obligation to be hopeful because
if we don't have hope, then there really is no hope. Sometimes, it's
necessary to act as if we have hope even if we don't feel it at the
moment.=20
<center><bold>Rainy Day Radical Feminism
</bold></center>Hope in hard times was evident at the 3rd Annual
Animal Liberation Theory and Action Conference, which was held on a
rainy weekend in April in Syracuse, NY. Sanctuary cofounder pattrice
jones spoke at the "Igniting a Revolution" book release event,
summarizing her chapter entitled "Stomping with the elephants:
Feminist principles for radical solidarity." Pattrice also spoke on
the panel about feminism and earth/animal liberation and was lucky
enough to catch a showing of "Crossing the Species Border," which is a
multimedia workshop connecting feminism and animal liberation.
Produced and moderated by the activist known as "homefries," the
workshop offers a gut-wrenching and thought-provoking tour of the
connections between speciesism, sexism, and racism.=20
You can invite "Crossing the Species Border" to your campus or
community and pattrice recommends that you do. Visit
http://www.crossingthespeciesborder.org for more information.
<center><bold>Upcoming Events
</bold></center>Pattrice will be speaking at the Agricultural History
Society annual meeting on 15-17 June at MIT and at the national Animal
Rights 2006 conference in DC on 10-14 August. The AR2006 conference
will feature more than 90 speakers including Lorri Bauston, Karen
Davis, Karen Dawn, Christine Garcia, Dawn Moncrief, Lauren Ornelas,
and Erica Meier. Follow the the links below for program and
registration information.
AHS annual meeting:
http://web.mit.edu/conferences/www/AHS/ag_hist_info.html
AR2006:
http://www.arconference.org/
<center><bold>Sanctuary Update
</bold></center>We recently welcomed 10 former fighting cocks who were
rescued under the auspices of In Defense of Animals. Now, the long
process of rehabilitation begins. The process by which we teach the
birds to live peacefully with other roosters is not difficult but is
very time-consuming.
Thanks to a generous anonymous donor, we have just dug two true ponds
for the ducks, who previously had to make do with kiddie pools, and
installed a bigger and better coop for "broiler" hens. This will allow
us to take in many more of the Katrina birds currently housed by Farm
Sanctuary. The birds will move in as soon as their blood tests prove
them to be disease-free so that they can cross state lines legally.
Between the new hens and the new roosters, we're going to be very busy
for the remainder of this spring. But we won't forget about global
warming. We hope you won't either.
<center><bold>Eastern Shore Sanctuary & Education Center
</bold>13981 Reading Ferry
Princess Anne, MD 21853 USA
410-651-4934
http://www.bravebirds.org</center>=
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