Am I crazy to think I can find a vegan roommate in New York City these days? How many of you live with other vegans? Did you try to have a vegan household and fail? How much of a priority is it for you? Me, I'm going a little bananas over the issue.

I've got a really nice place, for a reasonable price, in a nice part of Brooklyn. Just finding a roommate in general would not be that hard. But I've lived in a vegan house for many years now (longer than I've even been strictly vegan myself), and I've gotten pretty used to it. It really means a lot to me to live with another vegan. Not someone who is kind-of-sort-of willing to try to maybe be vegan in the house if that's the only way they can get the nice apartment. Believe me, Craigslist is hooking me up with plenty of such folks. And with even more who contact me without even mentioning the vegan thing (which is quite prominent in my listing). Does that mean they're so vegan they don't even think it's worth mentioning? Or does it mean they're too lazy or inconsiderate to even bother addressing the issue?

Obviously, not just any vegan will do; all the other stuff that makes a good match applies. They've got to tolerate my landgrabbing record collection, my curious cats, and my allergy to dirty dishes. But in exchange I'm willing to put up with all manner of idiosyncrasies from them, as long as we basically get along. That's what roommates is all about, right? (Well, and splitting the bills.) I'd settle for Felix and Oscar. I know we can't all be as tight as this odd couple:





So, what do you think? Should I give up? Do you have any encouraging or discouraging war stories to tell (either about the cutthroat NYC market or elsewhere)? And most importantly, do you know anyone who might be good for moving in with me? All the details are here.

Usually, I love reading the Huffington Post. However, in the past week they posted a surprisingly scathing blog entry calling Sea Shepherd a terrorist group.

However, the blog made all its arguments based on many assumptions that many people seem to be making about conservation lately, so it seemed worth it to address the blog.

For the first part of this post, we will first address the main themes of the Huffington blog, for the benefit of most readers. Afterwards, we will have, for anyone who has the time or curiosity, a much longer section analyzing every other argument made in the Huffington blog, as it does address other arguments against conservation law enforcing.


The main themes

The central theme of the Huffington blog is mentioned time and time again, and put succinctly in its eighth paragraph:

"Of course the whalers, whatever you may think of their activities, are operating legally. It is Watson and the Sea Shepherds who are the criminals."

So, although we've addressed this partially in previous posts, let's cover it comprehensively here.

Here is a list of illegal activities that the whalers are performing on video, much of which was outlined by Paul Watson:

This past week, soon after Canada started its annual baby seal hunt, Spain joined a growing list of countries that voted to ban all seal products in the European Union.

Spain voted against seal products for the EU on March 25, following close on the heels of Ireland's March 17 vote to ban all seal products. Several other European countries like the Netherlands, France, and Germany (as well as the EU parliament's internal market and consumer protection committee) have also voted to ban all seal products. Canada, whose annual seal hunt is the largest slaughter of marine mammals in the world (killing well over a quarter of a million seals per year), is becoming more and more isolated in its stance on the needless practice.

Even Russia announced banning its own baby seal hunt this March, and this year a Canadian Senator proposed to end Canada's seal hunt. A majority of Canada's population are opposed to the hunt as well.

Although the 2009 Canadian seal hunt has just begun, the Canadian hunters have already killed over 19,000 seals so far this season. For more information on Canada's hunt, The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has this helpful page on facts and information about the hunt.

And for more videos and photos on the annual hunt, here is Sea Shepherd's media page concerning the fight against Canada's seal slaughter.

On Tuesday, March 3rd, a Canadian senator made the unorthodox move of proposing an end to the annual Canadian baby seal hunt. The proposal has been getting less than an enthusiastic response in the Canadian government, but it's the first step towards ending the largest annual slaughter of marine mammals in the world, and you can show your support for this move.

Canadian senator Mac Harb proposed to end the annual commercial seal hunt, which results in the deaths of over 200,000 seals in Canada annually (over a quarter of a million seals in 2008), although no one in the Canadian senate voted to second his proposal.

Despite a lack of local support, Harb's proposal is indicative of the entire world's growing disgust of the baby seal pelt industry. For instance, a day before Harb's proposal, the European Union's parliament (internal market and consumer protection committee) voted to support the ban of all seal products. Not only that, but even Russia has now banned its own baby seal hunt, as Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin stated that the "bloody industry" should have been banned long ago.

Once again, the Canadian proposal has lacked support in Canada's government. But you can show your own support for the bill. To send letters of support, the e-mail address for Senator Mac Harb is harbsealbill@sen.parl.gc.ca, and his postal address (free postage since it's to the House) is:

Senator Mac Harb: House of Commons
Parliament Buildings
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada
K1A 0A6

For more information on the Canadian seal hunt, the marine conservation group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has a helpful page on hunt facts.

Dairy farmers slaughtered 30 percent more cows in January than in September and are sending the cows' remains to the meat market to cut losses, the Associated Press reports.

The cost of producing milk is now double the price to consumers and the industry is having trouble keeping up. "This could destroy our dairy infrastructure," Mike Marsh, CEO of the United Western Dairymen trade association, told the AP.

For a moment, imagine if the burden of Wall Street executives (and, hey, even that of dairy farmers) were alleviated using the same strategy farmers are using to lighten the self-imposed burden of their dairy cows. Those who proved to be worth much less than their paychecks could be sent off to slaughter and made into meat patties, or better, veal--us desk-tethered humans don't get much exercise--and sold to feed all the people who are furiously digging through their purses for a few more cents to afford a can of chicken noodle soup at Gristedes.

And dairy cows aren't the only bovines the farming industry is killing prematurely (by their standards). Bull calves shipped off to feedlots to reach a weight deemed appropriate for slaughter are also a liability to the cattle livestock industry; the costs of rearing the young cows are gaining on the returns. Farm Sanctuary is offering a $2,000 reward for information leading to the discovery of the party who dumped 30 bull calves on roads in San Joaquin County, Calif. Nearly 50 calves have been dumped on roads in that county since January.

Meanwhile, in Dabhel, India, where killing cows is illegal, five people were arrested on Tuesday, February 10 for cow slaughter.

This is the eighth blog post in the series documenting the February to March 2008 leg of the Sea Shepherd anti-whaling Antarctic campaign. Previous posts in the series are here. The following post was an email I sent just over three weeks into the voyage. The next update will come Thursday, July 24nd.

(A donations page, if anyone wants to help me pay for plane tickets to my next Sea Shepherd campaign)

From: Steve Irwin Vessel
Sent on: 3/9/08 11:22:14 +0000

Hey, things settling down a bit, phew. We took one last pass at the whaling
factory ship before leaving them to get the harpoon ships on the run. In
the media, the Japanese have had to defend using deadly force against us, so
this time they just used water cannons. Which did nada against us.

This is the seventh blog post in the series documenting the February to March 2008 leg of the Sea Shepherd anti-whaling Antarctic campaign. Previous posts in the series are here. The following post was an email I sent three weeks into the voyage. The next update will come Tuesday, July 22nd.

(A donations page, if anyone wants to help me pay for plane tickets to my next Sea Shepherd campaign)

From: Steve Irwin Vessel
Sent on: 3/7/08 10:51:57 +0000

Hey, quick update as I'm in a rush. We just had another clash with the
Japanese soldiers and this time they shot us to hell.

This is the sixth blog post in the series documenting the February to March 2008 leg of the Sea Shepherd anti-whaling Antarctic campaign. Previous posts in the series are here. The following post was an email I sent 20 days into the voyage. The next update will come Friday, July 18th.

(A donations page, if anyone wants to help me pay for plane tickets to my next Sea Shepherd campaign)

From: Steve Irwin Vessel
Sent on: 3/5/08 06:34:53 +0000

We've been keeping up with the Nisshin Maru for a few days now. Yesterday, we were surrounded by a HUGE pod of dolphins, minke whales, pilot whales, and giant humpback whales, all swimming together! They swam alongside our boat to say hello, and we circled around them to keep them safe from the whaling factory ship. There were whales from horizon to horizon.

This is the fifth blog post in the series documenting the February to March 2008 leg of the Sea Shepherd anti-whaling Antarctic campaign. Previous posts in the series are here. The following post was an email I sent just over two weeks into the voyage. The next update will come Wednesday, July 16th.

(A donations page, if anyone wants to help me pay for plane tickets to my next Sea Shepherd campaign)

From: Steve Irwin Vessel
Sent on: 3/2/08 23:30:24 +0000

We just engaged the factory ship just now. As long as we're on their tail,
they can't do any more whaling. They had a group of soldiers on deck and ready for the engagement, but they're in Australian waters breaking Australian law so what can they do? Shoot a boat full of Australians to prove they rule Australian territory?

Too much news piling up, so I'm just gonna spew it atcha:

• Jessica Simpson is "deeply hurt," "disgusted," and "upset" that Pamela Anderson called her "bitch" and "whore" for wearing that "Real Girls Eat Meat" T-shirt. Thankfully, Pam ain't apologizing (though she does claim she was only "kidding" ... we can let a little damage control pass, and still be proud of her, right?).
• A giraffe at a circus in Amsterdam led a jailbreak, helping 15 camels, 2 zebras, and some llamas and pot-bellied pigs escape. (They were later recaptured.) Anyone have links to pictures or video of this?
• The New Scientist tells us that "Rhesus macaques have been shown to possess yet another numerical talent once thought unique to humans – they can simultaneously count audible beeps and dots on a computer screen." Good to know, but can we stop experimenting on them, please?
• Ryan from VegBlog points us to a list of "The 20 Healthiest Foods for Under $1" and notes "17 of the top 20 (and 9 of the top 10) are vegan. Show this to the next dummy that says, 'Being vegan is too expensive.'"
• The Food Fight! Grocery blog continues to be your go-to source for headlines such as "Dog Meat Off the Menu for Olympics"", "Woman Shoots Herself While Trying to Kill Mice"", "Woman's fingertip bitten off at meat market". Go read. And buy some unhealthy vegan food that costs over $1 while you're at it.
• Lewis Cicero of Fairfield, Connecticut faced either execution or declawing after scratching some of his human neighbors in 2006. His guardian Ruth demanded a trial on criminal charges. The case was just dismissed, as Lewis has kept out of trouble under house arrest.
• The Discerning Brute checks in with some stylish non-silk ties, non-leather martial arts gloves, non-wool post-consumer recycled suits, and more.
• Boing Boing Gadgets points us to this fake Louis Vuitton Piglet Dog purse by artist Meryl Smith (see picture). I don't know where she falls on animal issues, but a lot of her work is animal-related, and her sad greyhound piece The Last Race is pretty affecting.