I'm going to try to make this about social media but really it is about animal rights

I know that previously I have mentioned my position on animal rights, but I have never really discussed it at length. This past week, Idaho decided it would pass a nasty ag-gag law which makes it illegal for undercover investigators to take jobs in factory farms and expose the cruelties that exist there.  This anti-whistleblower law is just one more way for giant corporations to protect themselves from the public finding out about this type of cruelty. While we're at it, they are trying to hide this and this and most recently this as well.

Here is what I need you to know. Animal rights activists are decent, caring, compassionate people the same as everyone else. We just happen to know too much and have not been able to put our blinders back on and ignore the heinous and totally abhorrent cruelties that are such an ingrained part of our society. Let me tell you how it feels to know and see and feel and have everything around you constantly telling you how wrong you are. That because of "tradition" and taste we must perpetuate the merciless suffering of this underclass. It. Is. Crippling...somedays. Other days, amazing things like this happen.

We are painted as extremists because we expect others to be who we know they are, decent, caring, compassionate people. We live on the fringe and are bullied and harassed because we expect people to be able to answer for themselves. To be able to give us good reason why their life is more valuable than another.

Yesterday my soul was full being surrounded by like-minded people who share my values and wish for a world free of cruelty. I have the amazing opportunity to work with organizations who, like me, wish to change the world.  Today, I only see the fight ahead and how steep the hill we all must climb is. Maybe it's the weather, but today I need you to know my truths.

This is where social media comes in to this post. Since this horrible bill has been introduced and passed there have been about 1,000 petitions going around on various social media sites asking for support of a bill veto and to boycott Chobani yogurt who sources almost all their dairy out of Idaho. Chobani had previously asked Idaho Governor Butch Otter to veto the bill and to support transparency in the food industry. Obviously this failed because prosecuting activists for exposing atrocities in the agriculture industries in now law in Idaho. Today, an Idaho Senator is eating his words and Chobani now has to make a choice to either continue sourcing their milk from Idaho and possibly lose a large portion of their customer base OR take their business elsewhere and support more "humane" practices.

This is a call to action. This is me begging for people to take a stand and not let corporations win this time and to stand by their values because I need to believe that change can happen today. So, if you are a yogurt consumer and purchase Chobani yogurt please keep the pressure on them to move their business out of the state because money is all these people understand. Don't purchase any Chobani products until this is resolved because we all have the right to know how our food is sourced.

WEEKLY UPDATE: Below are photos from yesterday while I was at Lighthouse Farm Sanctuary refueling my soul with the good I know exists in certain places. I hung out with cows and goats and the sweetest sheep that followed me around like a puppy named Crackerjack. It is good to be around my people of all species. Thanks for reading and if you have any questions about adopting a plant based, animal free diet please comment below via email attached to this blog.

Virtual worlds helping people with disabilities

Disclaimer: I hate video games. No, don't try to talk me into reconsidering and yes, I mean ALL games. Once a year my wife busts out guitar hero and I complain and piss and moan until her impromptu jam session is over. I don't understand them and I have far too short of an attention span to sit for hours essentially twiddling my thumbs. That being said, and maybe I am the last person on earth to learn about this, but there is a virtual reality social "gaming" site called Second Life. Now, I use the term gaming loosely because it is more of a social media platform where people go hang out and chat and create. Still not my cup of tea, but cool for those who enjoy this type of stuff.

I also just learned about the awesome work and research people are doing with this platform with people who experience different levels of ability. In the virtual world many of these people may have been previously isolated because of their disability, they can now log on and hang out, attend support meetings, and many choose to swim/dance/travel in this virtual realm. While their physical world experience may be limited, their virtual world life is limitless.

Poking around on the internet for a bit produced Virtual Ability Inc. as a leader in this work. They have created a collaborative community where people with a wide range of disabilities can find and share information and resources. Many people have even found meaningful ways of providing themselves income in these virtual worlds by designing clothes or homes for other users. This is something to take note of because the Unemployment rate for people with disabilities, age 16 and over is double that of the general US population.

While not diminishing the work of these organizations and what they are offering this vulnerable population, we must also discuss access to these resources. As above mentioned, people with disabilities are nearly twice as likely as people without disabilities to have an annual household income of $15,000 or less.  This means that people with disabilities are also twice as likely to live below the poverty line.

With these type of statistics, these services are only going to be available to a limited population of those living with disabilities. In thinking about it that way, these virtual services are a privilege and are not addressing the larger issues people with disabilities are facing. I have to be honest, while researching this topic I was smacked in the face by my privilege once again. I rely too much on my belief that our society, our government will provide a safety net for our most vulnerable populations.

So what is it that we can do to better serve and support people with disabilities? How can we work to improve the lives of all disabled Americans, regardless of social class? If you have insight on this topic or work in this field, please comment below and drop me some education.

THIS WEEK'S SHOUT OUT: One of my derby wives (I'll explain that in a later post) helped me tremendously with this post. She is a vocational trainer for people who experience disability. She is a kind, gentle, hilarious, slightly twisted lover of all things food and fun and she teaches me something new everyday. Stormy Dawn, thank you for all your help and not just for the research for this post. Stormy also made her first roster and played in her first public bout last night! She has worked so hard and played honorably. Final score: 111-222 us.

 

Stormy tossin' all that weave.

I love social media

So, I tend to be a bit of a cynic. I know, shocking right? Well today I am going to try and be less cynical since it is Valentine's Day and the eve of my one year wedding anniversary. I am feeling all sentimental and lovey so I decided to write about why social media isn't all that bad. If your lucky, maybe I'll make one of those "top 10 reasons I love...." lists.

Firstly, the internet is hilarious and you can find years worth of useless shit to keep you scrolling. Cat meme's may be my downfall along with videos of cute baby animals and cows. While these things are great, social media, if used properly, can do some really awesome things like advance social movements or create communities of support.

Sometimes social media is used to raise awareness about important issues and I love it when it happens in funny or offensive ways.

It also gives me a voice to spout off and tell whoever is listening what I think and feel and know and need to share. Today I need to share this:

I am keeping this post short, light, and fun because quite honestly I want to get back to spending time with my wife. We both work very hard and we don't get a lot of quality "us time."

WARNING! This is about to get sentimental. I love my wife. She is a total rockstar and a ten on every measurable scale. She is patient and kind and listens to hours of me ranting about social justice issues, all while doing the laundry and caring for our three very needy cats.  Since meeting Joy my life has gotten exponentially better every year. She is the tree I tie my kite to and undeniably my soul mate (whatever that means). For everyone out there, I hope you take the time to recognize, thank, and  appreciate all that your partner/friend/lover/whoever does for you at least on this day.

I love love and want to hear your stories. Got a good love story? Comment below and spill your squishy, sentimental guts all over my blog.

Happy Valentine's Day yall and happy first wedding anniversary Joy Marie.

Someone's been naughty...

As I approach the end of my education and am preparing to launch into my big kid career, one of my concerns is my online presence. I know that these days what comes up when our name is Google searched can be as important as what is in our cover letter and resume. So I did it. With great trepidation I typed in my full name to see what would surface.

Full disclosure: I am no saint...by a long shot. Those of us who grew up in an era of uncharted social media territories (Prodigy chat rooms and early myspace yo) may have been a little too forthcoming in things we put out there, or not protective enough of what we let others put out there about us. Ya'll can read all my gritty, filthy secrets and stories someday when I publish my memoirs. Until then, I would like to know that something I did in my early 20's (good lawd) isn't going to surface and keep me out of the running for my dream job.

Now I am not the most tech-savvy person out there. Typically when I acquire new technology I immediately hand it over to my wife and let her figure it out and then explain it to me. This is not one of those cases and I must forge ahead on my own. Just today I searched myself and a couple of not-the-worst-pictures-in-the-world-but-I-would-prefer-they-didn't-pop-up photos surfaced. My next thought was "what the hell do I do now to get rid of them?"

Luckily Google was there to help! I searched "how do I remove an image from Google" and this tasty treat popped up Google image removal. This video provides several options for image removal to ensure you flush out all your nastiest indiscretions and don't end up on some twerk team website from 2009 (you know that was a crazy spring break). Next you want to build a shiny new non-twerk related social media profile and this little website offers some great tips for where to start The Ladders.

We are all creating our own personal brand and the main rule to remember is that everything on the internet lives in perpetuity. Think before you post and don't put anything out there that you wouldn't want your (future) boss to see. After today, hopefully all you will find about me through a google search is this adorable photo of my niece Reagan and I. It helps that I also share a name with a famous actress who eats up the first 2 pages of search results. ;)

Good luck in your future internet cleansing endeavors and comment below if you have any additional tricks or tips!

 

WEEKLY UPDATE: As you all know I play roller derby with the greatest team in the world, the Flat Track Furies. I am just coming off of a long string of injuries (broken toe, bursitis in my knee, hip problems because I'm old) and was just getting back in the groove and feeling confident. Of course things are going too well and I fall and roll my ankle (while not doing anything...seriously I was just standing there) and sprain it. Boo. Suckfest. Great, more time off and more playing catch-up with a bunch of ladies who workout like a million times a day. Well, apparently the Furies are just not meant to skate without me because by some stroke of mother nature luck, the bout this weekend got cancelled due to a freak snow storm (which never happens here in Eugene). This means that by next bout I will be healed and ready to skate! This is a picture of me on the floor after I hurt my ankle.