This is from last year, but I just found it again, after looking at the other two videos I just posted.

This is a full-length documentary, but worth setting apart some time to watch.

Click here for a list of weeds that can be used as fertilizers for your garden.

The list shows which weeds or plants add nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, boron, copper, manganese, sulfur, iron and/or silicon to the garden soil.

(Some of them have been recommended elsewhere as cover crops, too — green manure that is turned into the soil either during the growing season, or in the spring before planting again.)

I have a garbage can full of “brewing” dandelion “sun tea”, which I’ll use as a fertilizer on my garden, once it starts smelling “agricultural”, and I’m sure that the seeds aren’t likely to sprout if they end up in the dirt. Eventually, I’ll throw the solid left-overs in my compost pile.

(Calcium can be found in things like gypsum or limestone. I learned that if I put some around my tomato plants it is supposed to keep the tomatoes from getting the black spots on them that look like rotten spots at the bottom. It worked last year, so I guess it’s true.)

In light of my “Dangling Carrot Veganic Farm”, I thought this looks like an interesting ad for/from the Episcopal Church, for putting one’s faith to work.

From Russia Today:

May 19, 2008, 5:30

Mankind set to wipe out all animals by 2108: report

Every year one per cent of the Earth’s animals die because of the activities of humans. That’s according to research released by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). Scientists are now urging emergency action to prevent mankind from destroying his fellow creatures.

Between 1970 to 2005 the total amount of flora and fauna on the planet decreased by more than a third. Many species died out completely during these years while others are on the brink of extinction.

The study says the world’s species are declining at a rate ‘unprecedented since the extinction of the dinosaurs’. ZSL scientists say the current extinction rate is up to 10,000 times faster than that recorded in fossil records. The main reasons are environmental pollution, agricultural activities, urbanisation and hunting.

However, WWF ecologists believe there is still time for animals and plants to be saved.

They are making dealing with extinction their top priority at the UN Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Germany will host the meeting from 19 to 30 May 2008.

The following Press Release from Farm Sanctuary was posted on 5/14, but didn’t migrate with my other pages. I’m readding it, since I’m disgusted with Chicago politics. Mayor Daley said this was the “silliest” ordinance they ever passed. I say, Amazon.com still sells foie gras from Evelages Perigord in Canada, which was the subject of this undercover investigation that exposed animal abuse above and beyond the confinement & forcefeeding necessary to produce enlarged livers for the self-indulgent elite. I have been boycotting Amazon.com since I found out that they profit by trading in animal cruelty.

While looking for the video, I found this from CBS Problems Raise Fowl Abuse Issues. There is a video on that site, too. It is heartening to know that chefs in Florida have pulled it from their menus when they found out how abusive it is. Too bad the Chicago chefs have been finding ways around the ban for the past two years, and are so jubilant that they can openly put it back on their menus.

Chicago City Council Reverses Foie Gras Ordinance Effectively Endorsing Animal Cruelty

Devastating Decision to Defy Popular Sentiment and Allow the Sale of this Notoriously Cruel Product Comes in Advance of Legal Case that Could Have Protected the Ban

Chicago, IL – May 14, 2008 - Farm Sanctuary, the nation’s leading farm animal protection organization, today issued a statement on the Chicago City Council’s decision to repeal the ordinance that banned foie gras in 2006. Since that time, the Illinois Restaurant Association, led by Mayor Daley’s former chief of staff, has relentlessly politicized this popular humane measure, filing a lawsuit to overturn the ban in 2007, which they lost, then appealing to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in June 2007. Oral argument in this appeal was scheduled for Tuesday, May 27. Thomas Tunney, who today proposed the repeal, is the former head of the Illinois Restaurant Association and owner of Ann Sather restaurants.

Julie Janovsky, Farm Sanctuary’s director of campaigns issued the following statement: “Farm Sanctuary is disheartened by the results of today’s Chicago City Council vote to overturn a humane measure backed by massive popular support. By repealing the foie gras ordinance, the City Council has effectively endorsed animal cruelty. When the foie gras ban originally passed by a landslide vote, Chicagoans were proud to live in a city that took a stand for humanity. To reverse a compassionate and admirable decision under pressure from political bullies and special interests shows a cowardly brand of cynicism unlike any we have seen in our efforts to give voice to the most vulnerable beings in our society – animals raised for food. By turning their backs on progress, the members of the City Council who voted for this repeal, the Mayor and the Illinois Restaurant Association jeopardized the chance for real change in our government, and disregarded society’s plea for compassion, integrity and justice.”

Foie gras (translated from French as “fatty liver”) is produced by force-feeding ducks and geese two or three times each day through a pipe shoved down their throats. The force-feeding can cause painful bruising, lacerations, sores, and even organ rupture. Due to this unhealthy and unnatural diet, the birds’ livers become diseased and swell up to 10 times their normal size, making it difficult for the birds to walk or even breathe. More information about foie gras can be found at www.nofoiegras.org.

Facts:

More than 15 countries have banned the sale and or production of foie gras due to the cruel process of producing it.

Veterinarians and other animal experts, along with religious leaders (including the Pope), businesses, (including Wolfgang Puck), and legal scholars, have called for an end to the cruelty of foie gras.

A Zogby poll conducted in September 2005 revealed 79 percent of likely voters in Illinois agree that foie gras production should be outlawed.

The Pew Trust recently released a two and a half year study by the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production which concluded that force feeding birds to produce foie gras should be banned based on animal welfare concerns.

217 restaurants in Illinois, including 84 in Chicago have signed pledges not to serve foie gras.

Farm Sanctuary is the nation’s leading farm animal protection organization. Since incorporating in 1986, Farm Sanctuary has worked to expose and stop cruel practices of the “food animal” industry through research and investigations, legal and institutional reforms, public awareness projects, youth education, and direct rescue and refuge efforts. Farm Sanctuary shelters in Watkins Glen, N.Y., and Orland, Calif., provide lifelong care for hundreds of rescued animals, who have become ambassadors for farm animals everywhere by educating visitors about the realities of factory farming. Additional information can be found at http://www.farmsanctuary.org or by calling 607-583-2225.

E. coli scare prompts beef recall in 11 states

• STORY HIGHLIGHTS
• Nearly 12 million cattle nationwide are being readied for slaughter this year
• Humane Society video showing slaughterhouse abuse triggered massive recall
• Inspector shortages, powerful meat lobby influence on USDA concerns advocates
• USDA considering installing cameras in 378 livestock slaughterhouses

Lawmaker: Nation’s food system is collapsing

• STORY HIGHLIGHTS
• Nearly 12 million cattle nationwide are being readied for slaughter this year
• Humane Society video showing slaughterhouse abuse triggered massive recall
• Inspector shortages, powerful meat lobby influence on USDA concerns advocates
• USDA considering installing cameras in 378 livestock slaughterhouses

On 5/16/08, this blog was moved to Word Press. Google seems to have lost all but the home page, because all my pages have new URL’s now. If you’re searching for anything on Google (or other search engine), like “Lift Every Voice and Sing”, please click on the “Cached” link, to access the old page(s).

Before I say anything else, if you’ve made it to this site, the easiest way to look for something is to use the “search” window toward the bottom of the right side bar. (For example, type in “A Religious Proclamation for Animal Compassion” to find my old posts on the topic, along with a talk or two by the various religious leaders.)

If you linked to any pages on my site, the link will be broken. You can use the “search” window to find the new page, and copy the new URL to correct your broken link.

I figured out how to add migrated old pages to the sidebar. But I’ve decided not to do that for now, because the “search” window will find anything on this site that you’re looking for. (And if any page you find has a broken link, it will still be findable with the “search” window.)