A selection of my political opinions and rants.
Animal advocates often moan about politicians because they don’t care about animals. They also complain about how existing legislation for animals is often biased in favour of those abusing animals. I share these frustrations. I also believe there’s a way forward for the animal rights movement to ensure our elected representatives and governments do care about animals and act effectively on their behalf. I advocate a strategy to put animals into politics.… Read More
I will be a speaker at the MANCEPT Workshops, which is an annual conference in political theory organised under the auspices of the Manchester Centre for Political Theory. My presentation,… Read More
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s decision to remove from its website information about animal welfare is an assault on the democratic rights of citizens who care about animals. It signals to commercial and other interests that their use of animals are even more protected from public scrutiny and accountability.… Read More
I wasn’t in a position to listen to all of yesterday’s debate in the House of Commons on the question of bombing Syria but I did hear the first hour… Read More
Musician and astrophysicist Brian May recently launched a new campaign from his charity the Save Me Trust. It’s called Common Decency with a mission to reform Britain’s democracy. We want nothing less than a… Read More
Animal advocates know the spectacle of exhibiting animals in a zoo or in any other form of display is an affront to the animals’ welfare and their intrinsic value as… Read More
After more than one year of meetings between academics and animal advocates which was prompted, in part, by my call for an animal rights think tank at the Minding Animals… Read More
Martin Lacey from the Great British Circus spoke out in support of animals performing in circuses but refused access to the BBC to film the animals in his care. A… Read More
Rumours of Margaret Thatcher’s departure from this mortal coil continue. I wrote about my anxiety on how to react to the news of the inevitable here. Here’s another take from… Read More
Further to my post two days ago which detailed the UK government’s ideological agenda determining that it would be too much regulation to prohibit animals from performing in circuses, respected… Read More
The joy expressed worldwide on the news of Osama bin Laden’s death is simultaneously understandable and disturbing. Understandable because, like everyone else in the USA on September 11, 2001, it… Read More
Further to Jonathan Porritt’s critique of the UK’s environmental movement’s response to the government’s forest fireside sale which is now been chopped (forgive the puns), he commented (before the government’s… Read More
Here is the trailer for an interesting new film, Nonviolence for a Change, which is commissioned by the Turning the Tide programme of Quaker Peace and Social Witness. There’s also… Read More
Leading environmental campaign Jonathon Porritt critically assesses a dozen of Britain’s environmental/green/wildlife non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and their reaction to the British Government’s proposed sale of historic forests. A combination of… Read More
embedded by Embedded VideoYouTube Direkt… Read More
Very interesting feature article in today’s Guardian, “A tale of two herds,” which juxtaposes the proposed mega-dairy for Nocton, Lincolnshire and the treatment of a small herd of cows cared… Read More
The Independent publishes today, The Great Animal Rights Betrayal, a front page lead story continued onto pages 4 and 5, which includes several side bars under the banner, “The Betrayals,”… Read More
Science does not operate alone in its own universe. Regardless of how much scientists assert their work is objective, their research, as, indeed, is everything, is viewed subjectively in the… Read More
I enjoyed this week’s brief interview in The Guardian with sociologist Zygmunt Bauman. I thought the following was particularly insightful–especially the bit I highlighted. I don’t see why what he… Read More
The BBC reports in No plans for hunting ban vote before 2012, MPs say: There will not be a House of Commons vote on repealing the Hunting Act before 2012,… Read More