...and Compassion for All : THE FRONT PAGE ONLINE

Apologies, again, for the delay in updating the blog. Usual reason: stuff hitting fans and all that. Here's last week's musings on the Cove, compassion, and the human ability to feel - or not to feel - empathy for other living creatures.

...and Compassion for All : THE FRONT PAGE ONLINE

TFPO column: the fur may now be faux, but so is johnny weir’s conscience

This week's column at TFPO is all about figure skater Johnny Weir's outrageous love of real fur and a kerfuffle you may have read about.

Also, more commentary on the topic over at The Fashionoclast.

general update and new TFPO column

My apologies for the inconsistent updates, but life has been on the wee bit erratic side. The Ladder will continue with a new installment next week, and since this week's column didn't post on time I was delayed in linking to it here. Without any further delay, I give you...

Not Another Obama Column

Tomorrow: a review of Where the Wild Things Are.

TFPO column: smashingly good music within reach

A break from politics with a brief detour into music - this week's column at TFPO s exactly what the title says it is:

Smashingly Good Music Within Reach

I should probably add that by "within reach" I mean within the LA area.

TFPO column: A Transit Romance – can we say goodbye to bus advertising?

This week's The Recreational Nihilist topic: that damnable advertising on buses.

A Transit Romance – Can We Say Goodbye to Bus Advertising?

TFPO column: prisoners of gravity - US BoB vs NASA

The US Box of Business takes on NASA at the Supreme Court in a feeble attempt at satirizing one of the most ridiculous things I've read in the news lately - and there's a whole lotta ridiculous out there.

Prisoners of Gravity: US BoB vs NASA

TFPO column (the disturbing incident of the child) and new MO in rotation

This week's Recreational Nihilist column is more of an expression of despair than anything else. The title, I think, speaks for itself.

The Disturbing Incident of the Child in the Movie Theatre

And this month is Morbid Outlook's 17th anniversary. My contribution involved more In Rotation music reviews. Clickety-click right here for reviews of GPKISM, Waves Under Water, and more.

TFPO column: we have a budget...what next?

I've been under the weather this week, to abuse a clichéd turn of phrase, so this week's column is a just a mild musing on a topic that isn't generating nearly as much outrage and attention as it should. It did post on Monday, as scheduled; I've just been tardy with the blog. Sorry.

On to this week's question, then, at The Front Page Online:

We Have a Budget...What Next?

TFPO column: men should share the contraceptive burden

I don't have much by way of a preface for this week's column, other than to say that it is a rare response to another TFPO contributor. What can I say? The gentlemen asked for comments and ideas. Asking a bloviating columnist for an opinion is like asking a politician to kiss babies, only less sleazy. The title, I think, gives it away.

Men Should Share the Contraceptive Burden: A Reply to Mr. Hennessey

TFPO column: evaluate this - when marketing is medicine

Note: I accidentally put in the wrong hyperlink to my column. That has been corrected.

The topic of skepticism came up in a recent discussion with a friend who was under the impression that skepticism is nothing more than total doubt. There's the skeptic, running around and pissing on everybody's truth claims, laughing maniacally as balloons pop and dreams come crashing down. But there's a flip side to this caricature, namely, that of the incredulous fellow whose mind is so open his or her brains leak out like pudding from a microwave.

In fact, skepticism is a middle ground. Rightly associated with the scientific method, the best and most reliable method of obtaining knowledge of the natural world, skepticism is all about evidence-driven reasoning. The Skeptics Society lays it out very well in their mission statement. And with that preface, this week's topic is precisely about the need for skepticism in situations when marketing takes the place of medicine found in science.

Evaluate This: When Marketing is Medicine

TFPO column: miss solar system pageant runner-up defends claims that 2 + 2 = 5

The topic really doesn't need more discussion or, for that matter, attention. So, without pomp and commentary, I give you this week's column at The Front Page Online:

Miss Solar System Pageant Runner Up Defends Claim That 2+2=5

TFPO column: guantanamo detainees and the nuremberg trials' legacy

The more I read about the Nuremberg trials, the more I am struck but how much the world has changed in such a relatively short period of time. Of course, 50+ years can be a lifetime, and I wasn't born during or even immediately after WWII. Yet, on reading Justice Jackson's opening statement, or essays on the nature and impact of Nuremberg written by witnesses to the trial or academic experts, it seems clear that the paradigm has shifted. Perhaps it is precisely because we have no direct experience of the horrors of WWI and WWII.

I am reminded of a time in university when I spent an evening with acquaintances. It was an unusual evening in many respects, but the conversation was lively. At one point, when I was ready to call it a night, I wearily suggested that truth and justice were, if not identical, than related. That didn't go over too well, for whatever reason, yet I don't think it was a particularly revolutionary or special observation. Indeed, justice and truth must go hand and hand, whether for other people's behaviour or our own.

Guantanamo Detainees and the Nuremberg Trials' Legacy

TFPO column: veganism isn't just a luxury

Since re-reading a past post on my concept of baseline veganism, I've been thinking about whether or not honey fits into the vegan jurisdiction or not. I've heard the bees are killed in the process of getting to the honey. I've also come across arguments that say, in effect, that bees are animals enslaved for the purposes of manufacturing honey. Since vegans are opposed to animal exploitation, it logically follows that we must consider a verboten animal product.

But while that particular debate goes on, this week's TFPO column takes on the broader issue of veganism and what I call survival logic.

Veganism Isn't Just a Column

And don't forget to check out the new fashion blog I'm writing with Aqua Catlin, The Fashionoclast.

TFPO column: what puppy mills and waterboarding say about us

Two brief comments about this week's column. First, I am aware that Obama didn't exactly follow through on his promise to get a shelter dog - his Portuguese water dog was a gift from Ted Kennedy (the American aristocracy, as Jessica G. put it). I didn't discuss it, not because I want to exempt the President from criticism, but because I'm keeping this sort of factoid for a future "State of the Presidency" column.

Second, the argument I set forth is not a new one. However, in light of recent news stories,it's well worth making the point again. It may even be worth repeating the point in the hopes that someday, somehow, it will actually sink in. Naturally, the larger point is that nothing is really changing from a cultural standpoint - and it has nothing to do with Obama. One can point to the failure of religion to foster progressive good in the world. One can also point to the failure of government and corporation. Whatever it is, the failure ultimately lies in us.

What Puppy Mills and Waterboarding Say About Us

film review (straight forward) and TFPO column

I apologize for the lack of substantial posts, but with an upcoming out-of-town trip, it's a bit of a challenge to keep everything together. But, fear not, there's plenty to read.

A review of a DVD release from Echelon Studios:

Straight Forward Cheat

(also at inkandashes.net)

And this week's column on the spiffy new Nano from Tata Motors:

The People's Car is Back

TFPO column, and a book review at Morbid Outlook

Cell phones carriers. Cable companies. The real Axis of Evil. This week's column:

In Search of an Honest Cell Phone Plan

And over at Morbid Outlook, my review of "Stingy Jack," a self-published book by R. Scott Taylor.

Clickety click right...here.

TFPO column: abolish pet ownership. replace it with...

One of the challenges in going vegetarian or vegan is going beyond nutrition to other elements of living, like clothing, or household items, or any number of thingsthat, counter-intuitively involve animal products. For example, did you know that animal products are often used in the wine-making process? Gelatin (made from the collagen found in animal skin and bones), egg albumen, chitosan (made from chitin, the structural element of crustacean shells), and others are used as finings - agents that help remove organic compounds such as protein and yeasts to improve a wine's clarity, flavour, and aroma. Although these finings may not end up in the wine bottle you buy at the store, the use of animal products has prompted the manufacture of vegan wines.

But this week's topic at TFPO is a bit broader in scope, namely, the notion of pet ownership. It came about from a discussion on Ron Reagan's show on Air America as to whether or not people should be allowed to own wild animals like chimpanzees.

Abolish Pet Ownership. Replace It With...

TFPO column: frédérik's guide to giving good stimulus (part 1)

Do we need any more proof of the GOP's fetish for sabotage than their glee at stifling the stimulus plan and using the whole fiasco as an opportunity to score political points? But never mind the bollocks - that's politics as usual, and Republicans have a shiny new pair of blinders on to hide that shiner Obama and the Dems gave them in November. Of course, none of that alleviates concerns about the economy. So, in these troubled times, I've distilled all the blah-blah la-z-boy economics on the intertubes to give you...

Frédérik's Guide to Giving Good Stimulus (Part 1)

new column: we're human, not rabbits or fruit flies

It's interesting to note the increasing and entirely justifiable outrage surrounding the woman with the octuplets, despite the fact that she's apparently being approached with book and movie deals (wtf?). But all that's just the tip of the iceberg in this week's TFPO column, because, dagnabbit...

We're Humans, Not Rabbits or Fruit Flies

new column: baseline vegans in napa

Happy New Year, folks. May 2009 be a good one.

I get back in the saddle with a report on what I did during the holiday vacation: wine sampling in Napa valley. Or, to be accurate, trying to find something to eat that didn't involve meat.

It’s easy to be vegan at home, when you have total control over ingredients, recipes, and cooking methods. Hard, as my wife and I expected on our recent trip to Napa, is venturing out into the world where eating is left to restaurants who are very much geared towards the fat-laden, meat-heavy, dairy-heavy, “Western” diet. Fortunately, we are what I’ve come to term “baseline” vegans, or bVegans, which means that while we use the vegan diet (no animal products) as a daily standard for what we eat, we have the ideological flexibility that allows for pragmatism – ethical, nutritional, and so on. Typically, this means that we normally eat vegan, but we’ll go to vegetarian, or sometimes further (only to fish, however, and only rarely), depending on the occasion.

Read the rest of Baseline Vegans in Napa: A Culinary Adventure Outside the Home Kitchen

Future blog posts will deal with more results from that goth and politics survey I did for Morbid Outlook (promise!) and the usual potpourri of this and that taken from the headlines and whatever whims I happen to be afflicted by.