Enlightened fighters

Good piece about former dogfighters and others happily enlightened.

Fixing the cheap, immoral food system

The U.S. agricultural industry can now produce unlimited quantities of meat and grains at remarkably cheap prices. But it does so at a high cost to the environment, animals and humans. Read the article here. By the way, most animal agriculture takes place in horrid factory-like conditions, not like the farm shown in this photo.

Throwaway economy's high cost

Facts and figures on the high cost of our throwaway economy here.

Farm Sanctuary: saved from the slaughterhouse

"Rescued from slaughterhouses, stockyards and other “food animal” production facilities, these creatures find themselves in a bucolic idyll run by vegan activists.... They are more interested in improving the appalling conditions under which animals become food." Good folks running an interesting alternative farm - read on.

Spiritual vs. material gospel - great book

In "American Gospel: On Family, History, and the Kingdom of God," Erik Reece offers a more sensible interpretation of scripture, one that compels acting like Jesus on earth instead of banking on a free ticket to heaven. From another review: "Reece, author of the award-winning Lost Mountain, is the son and grandson of Baptist preachers. His own religious world-view, however, comes not from traditional Protestant Christianity, but from American thinkers such as Walt Whitman, Thomas Jefferson, William James and the lesser-known scientist Lynn Margulis.... He is searching for a form of Christianity that he can live with, since he believes that the usual sources are unhelpfully dogmatic. The primary tension is a classic one: the struggle between the material and spiritual worlds...." Details here.

Babies smarter than you think

Babies are smarter than you think - evidence here.

Science breakthroughs podcast

We discovered this resource at the American Chemical Society's national conference. Bytesize Science was conceived for smart kids, but adults will be able to understand it too. Dogs' companionship, super-floating boats, paper stronger than iron...podcasts and vids about energy and other science topics. Check it out here.

Energy vs. nature

Thought-provoking Newsweek article on animal casualties from new energy technologies and ways to reduce the carnage. Companies and govt can take more steps to protect wildlife and ecosystems...and each individual can help by trying to reduce their energy consumption (which will save you money too). Article here.

Veggies for longer, healthier life

If you want to live longer -- avoid heart disease, Alzheimer's disease and cancer -- then pick and choose your foods with care to quiet down parts of your immune system. Meaning mostly plant-based foods. LA Times story here: http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-anti-inflammation17-2009aug17,0,3196484.story

Detroit's latest remodels

Robin's latest travel piece in various print and online editions of the Examiner newspapers. Here's the Washington DC edition.

Crunch: feel hungry yet?

Do chips taste better when an ad describes their crunch? Is popcorn more flavorful if its aroma is featured in an ad? Yes, says U of Michigan researchers with a tasty assignment. They report that multisensory advertising - ads that describe taste, smell, texture, sight and sound - enhance consumers' taste perception. Why? Because taste is generated from multiple senses.

Dog Tip: Teaching beats jerking

Force-based corrections are popular because they can yield instant results. But most often, the instant results are confusion, a temporary end to the behavior, possible fear-based aggression, and fear of your approach. In her Your Dog article, "Teach Instead of Correct," Pat Miller offers expert guidance, including some of the tips noted here.

Art fair fare - found in Ann Arbor

Robin's Ann Arbor Art Fair finds - in Campello's Daily Art News.

Superhero snuggies, mystic vases at Renwick Invitational

Staged Stories: The 2009 Renwick Invitational in D.C. Robin's latest review in various editions of the Monday Aug 10 Examiner. Click here.

Pit Bull Blues

Same song, 2 videos. One from Happy Tails Rescue; the other features the Eugene, OR singer/sw John Shipe.

Public Lands Day...Rocky Mountain High

Robin's latest in the Examiner's print and web editions in San Francisco, Oakland, Northern Virginia, suburban Md. and Washington DC.

Off grid with goats at Funky Butte

"I've spent the past three years trying to get petroleum out of my life and live locally. Where I differ from many locavore cruncholas is in my determination to do these things without giving up digital-age comforts..." More here. And here. From this funny smart guy's blog: " For most of human history, this poop-to-pasture method of fertilizing worked just great for everyone. I wonder who the first farmer was who said, “Hey, lay some of those carcinogenic chemicals on me. That sounds like a good plan”? My guess it had something to do with a skilled carcinogenic chemical salesman offering free samples."

Healthier, humane meat from the lab

A pioneering group of scientists are working to grow real animal protein in the laboratory, which they not only claim is better for animal welfare, but actually healthier, both for people and the planet. It may sound like science fiction, but this technology to create in-vitro meat could be changing global diets within ten years.

Please shop with compassion: dollars are votes; vote vs. cruelty

Slaughter of factory farm animals is not humane. If you won't go veg, please buy only from sources that treat and slaughter humanely.

Agriprocessors 2004 @ Yahoo! Video

Dogs at least as smart as 2-year-old children

Dogs can count. They can also understand more than 150 words and intentionally deceive other dogs and people to get treats, according to psychologist Stanley Coren, PhD, of the University of British Columbia. He spoke Saturday on “How Dogs Think” at the American Psychological Association’s annual convention.
Coren has reviewed numerous studies to conclude that dogs have the ability to solve complex problems and are more like humans and other higher primates than previously assumed. He says dogs’ mental abilities are close to a human child age 2.5 years.
The intelligence of various types of dogs does differ and the dog’s breed determines some of these differences, Coren says. “There are three types of dog intelligence: instinctive (what the dog is bred to do), adaptive (how well the dog learns from his environment to solve problems) and working and obedience (the equivalent of ‘school learning’).”
Data from 208 dog obedience judges from the United States and Canada showed the differences in working and obedience intelligence of dog breeds, according to Coren. “Border collies are number one; poodles are second, followed by German shepherds. Fourth on the list is golden retrievers; fifth, dobermans; sixth, Shetland sheepdogs; and finally, Labrador retrievers,” said Coren.
As for language, the average dog can learn 165 words, including signals, and the “super dogs” can learn 250 words. “The upper limit of dogs’ ability to learn language is partly based on a study of a border collie named Rico who showed knowledge of 200 spoken words and demonstrated ’fast-track learning,’ which scientists believed to be found only in humans and language learning apes,” Coren said.
Dogs can also count up to four or five, said Coren. And they have a basic understanding of arithmetic and will notice errors in simple computations, such as 1+1=1 or 1+1=3.
Four studies he examined looked how dogs solve spatial problems by modeling human or other dogs’ behavior using a barrier type problem. Through observation, Coren said, dogs can learn the location of valued items (treats), better routes in the environment (the fastest way to a favorite chair), how to operate mechanisms (such as latches and simple machines) and the meaning of words and symbolic concepts (by listening to people speak and watching their actions).

Saving civilization – free book

Thumbs up: “Entering a New World,” in Lester R. Brown, Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2008), available for free download at http://www.earthpolicy.org/Books/PB3/index.htm. Get it, read it, do something good each day.

Manon Cleary's amazing pastels on view

An art show not to be missed if you're in DC. Here's what artist Anne Marchand says about Manon Cleary's amazing exhibition. On view Tues.-Sat. through Aug. 22 at Addison/Ripley in Georgetown at 1670 Wisconsin Ave. NW.

Meat of the problem

Meat production is harder on the planet than is driving gas-guzzlers. Excellent report on the effect of diet on the climate, land, civilizationin the Washington Post. Read it here.

If your pet could talk

Check out "If Your Pet Could Talk" at Pets.com. Dr. Suzanne Hetts, who has commented in some of Robin's Dog Tips, helped PETsMART create this interactive guide consisting of a quiz, videos, and interactive exercises to help pet parents interpret behavior and better understand what our furkids.

"Skin Trade" film event; Circus cruelty caught on tape

The Open the Cages Alliance will screen “Skin Trade," a new documentary about the fur industry on Saturday, August 8, from 1 to 9 pm, at St. Stephens Church in Washington, D.C. 1525 Newton Street, NW. Mobius Strip and Ryan Harvey will perform at the benefit; admission's on a sliding scale starting at $10 Details here.

The doc exposes the scope of the global fur trade and cruelties occurring at fur farms, seal hunts and Asian animal markets. Fur industry advocates get their say – and so do people of conscience including clothing designers, models, and rock stars who know that skinning animals is not a cool concept.

On a related note, more proof of the cruel treatment of elephants in circuses: new vid from Ringling Bros.

Visit RinglingBeatsAnimals.com

Tullio sculptures: Sensual meets spiritual

Check out Robin's review of the amazing new exhibition of Renaissance sculpture on view at the National Gallery of Art. It's in the Monday editions of the Examiner newspapers; click here. Also on the online editions.

Green Beer and Food: Eco lessons from the brewpub

Robin's Eco Simple column in this Sunday's Examiner newspapers looks at an Ann Arbor brewpub that has greened its operation from beer-making to food sourcing. Results include local, healthy and tastier food and award-winning beer. In the Washington DC and San Francisco/Oakland regional print editions of the Examiner and in the paper's online and e-dition.

Red meat and poultry boost body burden

People who eat meat and poultry have significantly higher levels of common flame retardants compared to vegetarians. The findings (from a 2009 studyreported in the latest Environmental Health Perspectives) indicate that food may be a more important source of the contaminants, known as PBDEs, than previously thought. PBDEs are omnipresent in the environment This is the first large-scale study to examine the contribution of red meat and poultry to dietary PBDE body burden in the US.

Beer/peer pressure

B/peer pressure. When college students think other undergrads drink a lot of alcohol, they drink more themselves. New research suggests that peers exaggerated about how much they drink, students drink less. Reviewers evaluated 22 studies that involved 7,275 students. The review appears in the current issue of The Cochrane Library

Whale of a story

Fantastic piece of feature-writing in the New York Times Magazine this week from great journalist Charles Siebert. Treat yourself and be sure to read it. He also has a new book out called The Wauchula Woods Accord: Toward a New Understanding of Animals.

Curry and vitamin D may help ward off Alzheimer's

New research involving humans suggests a form of vitamin D, together with a chemical found in turmeric spice called curcumin, may help stimulate the immune system to clear the brain of amyloid beta, which forms the plaques considered the hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.

New Humane Food database and locator

The World Society for Protection of Animals has set up the first searchable humane food database, making it easier to find animal-friendly food products at local grocery stores across the U.S. Visit and bookmark FindHumaneFood.org

Think about it: the food you buy has a profound impact on the lives of animals. More and more people are trying to choose humanely when they visit restaurants or shop in stores. To help relieve the confusion, WSPA has ranked humane food labels, such as "cage free," "free range," "grass fed" and "organic."

Storefront Churches

Robin reviews the new Storefront Churches exhibition at the National Building Museum. In the July 16 print and online editions of the Washington Examiner.

Cool beans: ADA endorses veg diet

Vegetarians knew it, vegans knew it, nutritionists are now speaking up in praise of plant-based diets. A carnivore discusses the endorsement and her thoughts on changing eating habits

Cats domesticated themselves

"They had the wits to notice that the first human settlements were full of uncleared garbage strewn about by their slovenly inhabitants and so were overrun with rats, mice and sparrows. The full story here. And in other cat research today: "Researchers found that purrs of hungry cats included a higher-pitched sound, somewhat like a cry or meow. They played recordings of these purrs from 10 cats to 50 human volunteers. Even people who'd never owned a cat found them to be more urgent and less pleasant than contented purrs from the same animals." The full scoop here.

Pet Airways launches from BWI and others

An airline just for the furry kids...details here.

Three-headed fish on the coast

Fact sadder than fiction: 3-headed fish now being found. Details here.

New mobile tool to find alt fuel stations

If your vehicle uses any kind of alternative fuel, you can now find stations nationwide with a new tool that works with mobile phones, PDAs and computers. Robin's Sunday Eco Simple column in the Examiner newspapers has the scoop. NOTE: the paper chopped off the end of the mobile device URL. It is: http://www.afdc.energy.gov/stations/m

Fly the pet-friendly skies...

Story here

Amazon watch

As many as 4,550 of the more than 50,000 plant species in the Amazon will likely disappear because of land-use changes and habitat loss within the next 40 years, according to a new Wake Forest University study appearing in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Altitude adjusting for high-elevation exercise

How to adjust to higher elevations and avoid altitude sickness...Robin's new piece from Albuquerque's Sandia Mountains in various editions of the Examiner - in print and online.

Meat preservatives linked to dementia

Report appears here.

Cussing reduces pain

Why do people swear? “Swearing has been around for centuries and is an almost universal human linguistic phenomenon” says Dr Richard Stephens, proposing that swearing can increase pain tolerance. His UK-based Keele University team asked volunteers to submerge hands in ice water for as long as possible while repeating a swear word of their choice. Then they repeated the experiment using a more commonplace, non-swear word. The volunteers were able to keep hands submerged in the ice water significantly longer when saying the swear word. Researchers believes a pain-lessening effect occurs because swearing triggers our natural ‘fight-or-flight’ response. The accelerated heart rates of the volunteers repeating the swear word may indicate an increase in aggression, in a classic fight-or-flight response of "downplaying feebleness in favor of a more pain-tolerant machismo." Illustration courtesy of the talented Surfdoggie

Painterly Visions

Some of our art commentary is being picked up on Twitter feeds and on other respected online publications such as Painterly Visions, which is edited by Anne Marchand. Anne is one of the brightest shining lights on the Washington, DC artscape – check out her work here and her Cityscapes here. And she was instrumental in the window murals project that kept the spiritual embers glowing at Eastern Market (a Capitol Hill D.C. icon) between its destruction by fire in 2007 and its reopening last week.

Robin's in Bark mag

Robin has a Florida panhandle travel story in the July/Aug. issue of Bark. It's listed in the online edition, but for the content, get a print issue at a newsstand near you.

Artful Animals - new family exhibit

Just opened at the African Art Museum on the mall (10th and Independence Ave SW) in D.C. Aimed at children but also interesting for adults, the exhibition includes 130 objects that give you a cross-section of art from various African cultures and a variety of perceptions of nonhuman animals’ roles, from symbols of power to embodiments of deities to earthly neighbors welcomed, feared or exploited. Includes free activities for kids and a clever lesson involving a mirror. Runs through February 21, 2010. Shown here: a helmet mask of wood from the Loma peoples of Liberia and Guinea, and an oil painting from appx 1950 by Republic of Congo article Kaballa depicting mother crocodiles protecting their eggs. For racier fare, the Mami Watts water spirit goddess exhibit is worth a visit...the last room's full of surprising, stunning finds.

This plant waters itself

University of Haifa-Oranim researchers have identified the "self-irrigating" mechanism of the desert rhubarb, which enables it to harvest 16 times the water expected for a plant in this region. It's the first example of a self-irrigating plant worldwide.

Check dog food labels: fluoride alert

A new Environmental Working Group report reminds us to look at the ingredient lists for packaged foods. Read it here.

Da Vinci's horse and Renaissance idols on view

Now’s a good time to check out the National Gallery of Art’s cluster of new focus exhibitions. Small but incredible bronze statuettes of the rearing, muscular Budapest Horse – and how modern tech tools have been applied to solve a mystery: whether at least one was cast from a spectacular model by Da Vinci. A collection of smart and richly executed oil paintings by Judith Leyster proves that women in the early 1600s could get access to places some would assume to be off-limits to ladies. With their direct stares and sly expressions, the subjects evoked an earworm of George Thorogood’s “Bad to the Bone.”

And then there’s ”An Antiquity of Imagination: Tullio Lombardo and Venetian High Renaissance Sculpture.” Stuffy? Not on your life. The stories behind the works created by Tullio (c. 1455-1532) and his brother make them that much more fascinating. Imagine a time when sculptors and painters engaged in scrimmages over which is the more worthy medium? When sculptors tried to prove their superiority by striving to create likenesses of beings, mortal or mythical, so mesmerizing that onlookers would feel sympathy, compassion, infatuation, even love?

Robin’s writing more about this for a print publication, but in the meantime, plan a visit to NGA's West Building at 6th St. and Constitution Ave. NW in DC.

The new Land Art

This Sunday in her Eco Simple column for the Examiner newspapers on the east and west coasts, Robin focuses on contemporary Land Art from the new generation of environmental artists. Try to catch the LAND/ART festival running now through early December in Albuquerque. Click here for the San Francisco edition ... or here for the DC edition. Shown here: one of Basia Irland's Ice Books set afloat to reseed eroding waterways, and “Sandhill Cranes at 80 Camino Todos Los Santos, Corrales, New Mexico,” part of a project by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith and Neal Ambrose Smith.

Fruit skins instead of exercise?

Good news for those who don't get enough exercise: A human-based study by U of South Carolina researchers shows that quercetin, an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compound found in the skins of red apples, red onions, berries and grapes significantly boosts endurance and maximal oxygen capacity (VO2max) in men and women. Details to appear in the June 24 online issue of the International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. Researchers cite quercetin's ability to boost the immune system and increase mitochondria (the powerhouse of the cell) in muscle and brain. Here's the study.

Enviro-friendly public servants

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) just sent us a letter: "Male fish in the Potomac are now producing eggs; high levels of birth control hormones are found in frogs and are working their way up the food chain. Pharmaceuticals are increasingly polluting our waters -- and it is perfectly legal." PEER was established to help public employees who want to report what's going on but fear jeopardizing their jobs. PEER's holding an online auction of fine artworks to raise money. Check them out here. UPDATE: PEER recently released evidence that EPA Admin Lisa Jackson tried to block publication of a scientific paper that called for more stringent federal warnings on PFOA when she headed NJ's environmental agency.

How food makers seduce

In today's New York Times, Tara Parker-Pope writes of former FDA chief Dr. David A. Kessler’s new book, “The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite.”: At the FDA, he accused cigarette makers of intentionally manipulating nicotine content to make their products more addictive. "Dr. Kessler finds some similarities in the food industry, which has combined and created foods in a way that taps into our brain circuitry and stimulates our desire for more.... [B]y combining fats, sugar and salt in innumerable ways, food makers have essentially tapped into the brain’s reward system, creating a feedback loop that stimulates our desire to eat and leaves us wanting more and more even when we’re full... [H]e offers descriptions of how restaurants and food makers manipulate ingredients to reach the aptly named “bliss point.” Foods that contain too little or too much sugar, fat or salt are either bland or overwhelming. But food scientists work hard to reach the precise point at which we derive the greatest pleasure from fat, sugar and salt.” Results include “hyper-palatable food that requires little chewing and goes down easily.” Read more.

Cashing in on wildlife

Wildlife Property Repository is the resting place for 1.5 million victims of illegal trade. They sit on shelves or in boxes as bracelets, shoes, pelts and ... Read this new LA Times report here.

Art of the Ordinary: Eggleston, free Corcoran Saturdays

See Robin's review about new new William Eggleston retrospective...and details about free admission to the Corcoran in D.C....here in the Examiner. Yep, his dolls shot was a Big Star album cover.

Greenwashing watch

Don't rely on government to police ad claims. More than 98% of supposedly natural and environmentally friendly products sold in the U.S. make false, unsubstantiated or misleading claims, environmental consultants testified before Congress recently. More here in the Guardian. And a report in today's USA Today states that since May 2000, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has taken legal action against only three companies for violating "Green Guide" guidelines about making enviro-friendly claims.

Licorice power: fights sore throats and fat?

Gargling with a licorice solution before surgery reduced postoperative sore throat and cough in a study appearing in the July issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia. Patients who gargled with licorice before surgery had fewer problems with postoperative sore throat and cough."Licorice, derived from the root of Glycyrrhiza glabra, has been used for many millennia as an alternative medicine for treatment of inflammation, allergies, and gastric and duodenal ulcers," Dr. Anil Agarwal and colleagues write. Licorice contains compounds with anti-inflammatory, anti-irritant, and anti-cough effects. The diluted licorice solution used in study is easily made and inexpensive, at a cost of pennies per patient. And here's a website about licorice; recipes include a sore throat remedy. Might licorice even fight fat? Check this out.

Artomatic: Amusement park of alt art, indie acts

If you're in DC this month, there's all kinds of big fun going on at Artomatic in DC. The event has taken over 9 floors of a big building with fantastic city views. It's right above the Navy Yard Metro stop for those not up for a pleasant bike ride to 55 M St SE. Here's Robin's piece about works she enjoyed by artists newly discovered at the indie art expo...appeared in Campello's Daily Art News. Shown here: photo of M/V New Carissa shipwreck off Oregon coast by Edward Hahn; Lioness Enlightened, a print by Johanna Mueller; The Guide, oil painting and beautiful myth by Tracey Clarke.

Lab animals' life - exposed by research scientist

Karen Dawn's post provides an excellent summary of and links to a five part series published this month in the respected online newsmagazine Slate. Written by research scientist turned science writer Daniel Engber.

* Where's Pepper? In the summer of 1965, a female Dalmatian was stolen from a farm in Pennsylvania. Her story changed America. (Also, interesting refererence to the original "101 Dalmatians.") Click http://www.slate.com/id/2219224/pagenum/all

* Man Cuts Dog. Pepper arrives at a laboratory in the Bronx. Click http://www.slate.com/id/2219225/pagenum/all

* Pepper Goes to Washington. The federal-level animal-welfare law is passed. It excludes exclusion of rats, mice and birds ... leaving 95 percent of animals tested with no protection against pain, suffering and inhumane conditions. Click http://www.slate.com/id/2219226/pagenum/all

* Brown Dogs and Red Herrings. Animal testing evolves. Click http://www.slate.com/id/2219227/pagenum/all

* Me and My Monkey. Confessions of a reluctant vivisector.
Click http://www.slate.com/id/2219228/pagenum/all

Reporters and undercover welfare advocates, and the public, have been blocked from seeing testing facilities. However, once in awhile, undercover video has been obtained, including fall 2001 footage showing "researchers marking newborn mice by amputating their toes and cutting the brains from baby rats without anesthesia. Rodents were trampled to death in overcrowded cages, left to die in garbage bins, or allowed to suffer with swollen tumors and open sores."

Reports Engber: "We regularly subject rodents to pain, starvation, solitary confinement, and grotesque disfigurement. Whatever misery they endure is multiplied across the hundreds of millions of rats and mice used in labs every year."

Don't want to think about? Understood. But better if people would stop such cruelty. Non-animal testing models not only exist; they are better. And time and time again, the lack of efficacy of animal testing has been shown.

Mainstream media spoof or reality?

Man Who Crossed Nation In Balloon Only Wants To Talk About Horse Abuse

Translating puppy talk

Was that a kiss or just a lick...why did Puppy duck his head...and many other pup communication questions answered in this excellent article in BARK by Dr. Nicholas Dodman and Lawrence Lindner. Click here.