I recently reviewed Dorothy Hayes’ Animal Instinct for the Vegan Freak Radio podcast. In recent days I was contacted – out of the blue – by Dorothy with very positive comments on this review (Bob and Jenna were also very generous in theirs). The email included the following: Thanks for the most in-depth review thus far of Animal Instinct. You understood my efforts on several levels, for which I am eternally grateful! …. This one gets a frame!’ and ‘I’ve sent it to several magazines and will keep you posted on developments. When I exhibit my novel in LA this October at Tom Regan’s conference, …

On Friday, I randomly stumbled a cross a community notice for the local monthly Critical Mass bike ride – about an hour before it was due to start. My first reaction was to get my bike ready. My second was should I bother. I have tried to give some thought to why I had the second reaction, with it obviously being more than the simple implications it embodies. I rationalised that I should attend to support alternate transportation, the provision of safer and dedicated bike routes and that, as I am on the other side of the world to where I am from – very much out of my comfort zone – I might mee…

Today I listened to an interview with the outspoken US commentator David Horrowittz. He is a self described moderate conservative – I am not sure what the moderate refers to. He considers his very vocal and forceful critic of the ‘left’, which encompasses, it seems, everyone espousing a semblance of progressive ideas, to be based on passion. The left is mistaken and he adopts the tactics of the radical left in attacking them. The left is ‘a religion and delusional’… He was a member of the radical left in his youth, later converting to conservatism, apparently in response to political assassina…

This weekend moved into a new place, I relocated from staying with friends in what amounts to an affluent/aspiring affluent/student neighbourhood to an area bordering on one of the very much less-than-affluent areas of the city I am currently in. This city also has the lowest average income and highest unemployment rate (so I am told) in Canada. I am finding this to be a huge culture shock. Staying with friends for a couple months, all I did was walk to school/work through this secluded/sheltered bubble, negating seeing the devastating impacts of the exploitative economic system we are effecti…