Eco journalist Fred Pearce travels to over 20 countries to find out how the items he used in his every day life are produced. (Keep in mind that this talk was presented in Cambridge, MA to a lay group of people… the questions are the end are funny in the naiveté they exemplify)

Animal right activists like PETA claim that owning pets is a form of abuse which would be abolished in their version of utopia.

Here’s my run down of where I stand when it comes to pets. I own two cats and if I had a stable living situation I would own more. I’d probably own dogs too. I use the word “own” because it’s an easy way to express the relationship between pets and humans. For the most part, my cats own me as much I own them, except that by virtue of having a number of faculties that are more developed the sense of responsibility I feel towards them is not reciprocated.

The first principle in this relationship, I come first.

Is putting myself first a disservice to my cats? My short answer: As long as the cats’ food necessities are met and I provide an environment where the cat seems relaxed and comfortable I’ve fulfilled my obligation. Some people of course go further, they take in many cats so that their first cat doesn’t feel bored (me), they buy special toys or furniture for the cats (me), they buy premium food for their cats (me), they hire cat sitters when they go away…

What about taking cats to the vet? I’ve read angry comments directed towards people who adopt a cat and then skimp on vet visits. Is this “animal abuse”? I say no. Veterinary care is not natural – in nature animals do not get vaccines, booster shots, flea treatments, deworming and blood work. Perhaps, one may argue, that since we are responsible for removing pets from nature in the first place (through domestication) we should be held responsible for their health. To this I say that some of us humans have moved too close toward treating companion animals as children and too far from treating food animals as beings with needs.

When I pick up my cat and she squeals, I don’t always put her down right away. Is this a form of abuse? I decide it’s not abuse but a tax she pays being my pet. As she comes back a minute later and rubs against my foot, she doesn’t even remember her own distress.

Every time we open the front door one of my cats runs outside. I make her wear a bright collar with a name tag just incase she gets lost, or more likely, in case a good samaritan passing by thinks she’s lost. I know it’s probably uncomfortable for her (although she doesn’t seem to be conscious of it) but I think it irritates her anyway because it’s caused the fur around her neck to wane. Irregardless, she’ll wear the collar consistently throughout the warm weather because it makes me feel better.

My cat also has a history of fighting with street cats so I don’t let her stay out too long and usually she comes back when called. I feel a little bad denying her time to explore and breathe fresh air – but the costs (in time and veterinary bills) of taking care of her if she is injured by another cat and the unpleasantness (and possible health risks) of sleeping with a dirty cat in my bed keep me motivated to limit her time outside.

Do I show bad judgement in letting her go outside in Brooklyn? I say that not all measures to prevent accidents and death are in the best interest of cats or me. I want my cats to explore and take some risks (although in the end I always put a stop to their explorations and risks).

Sometimes when she goes out I forget about her and hours later a neighbor will ring our door bell to remind us that our furball wants to come inside. Should I feel bad? I would never (I hope) forget about a child in my care who went outside to play, but a cat is not a child (worry not – I don’t forget to feed them!) We all know that there’s a cost to everything and for my cat, the cost of running outside means that sometimes we humans will forget about you for a couple of hours.

I always have trouble ending my thoughts, but what I want to say is this: We put too much human pressure on our pets and too much pressure on ourselves sometimes to treat them thus. I love my kitties and will miss their company when I’m away in Azerbaijan in two weeks.

Besides the cramped airplane full of rude (and loud European***) passengers and sitting next to a woman who kept yawning with her mouth open and foul breath… American Airlines lost my luggage…

Maybe packing a blender was not my best idea, considering its base can sort of look and feel like a bomb to oversensitized security experts.

On Friday, I arrived at JFK at 1:45pm, early enough for my 2:55pm flight for which I had already checked in online. All that needed to be done was check my bag and proceed through security. Easy enough, although I felt annoyed about paying that $25 charge for checked luggage.

6 hours later in the baggage claim at SFO I waited with the 100 other passengers, trying to keep myself awake and positive after the unnerving trip. Because of some electric problem the bags took over half an hour to come out. I waited and waited until at some moment the realization that I was no longer surrounded by people and moving luggage took hold. “Are all the luggages out?” I tensely asked two workers were removing two unclaimed bags from the conveyer belt.

I dashed to the AA office. “Where’s my luggage” I demanded in an unfriendly pathetic drawl. The woman, seemingly unaffected by my rudeness, explained: “It was selected by homeland security for a random check and will be forwarded to SFO on the next flight, due to arrive at 9:40…”

“So I should wait at the airport!?” I chirped (or barked), the ensuing tightening of my throat restricting my speech.

“You didn’t let me finish…. it will be delivered to you… write down your hotel or local address here…”

She said it would be delivered by 1am. When it wasn’t delivered at 1:30am I called the baggage claim department. They knew nothing. At 7am I called again only to be told that my bag was not on the previous flight possibly because “of a lack of space” and that it would be forwarded on the next JFK-SFO bound flight.

So what am I suppose to do without clean underwear or my toothbrush? What about those books I packed, half of which belong to the library? And what if my luggage is really lost? What will I wear to the Kiva training that’s being held all next week? And if all these things can be replaced with a shopping expedition (oh how I hate shopping!) my face oils can’t! I have terribly dry skin on my face and normal creams cause pimples, so what am I suppose to do?

AA can’t tell me anything about my bag besides the fact that it’s “suppose to be forwarded.”

No one warned me that my bag was not on my flight, despite obviously having this information in their system by the time I stepped foot into SFO.

I really hope I get my bag. But regardless I will never ever ever ever fly American Airlines again because they are incompetent…

EDIT 4/11/10 5:20pm
AA located my bag! Woohoo!!! They located it in JFK. It was never forwarded to SF because during or after the inspection by homeland security the ticket with my name and destination was lost. They say it will be forwarded any time now, but I seriously doubt this. It’s been over 10 hours since they told me and the bag’s still in NY with no word from JFK. Good work AA! To AA’s credit though, they have given me an allowance of $150 to buy necessities, a nice sum if you’re on the beach and need a bathing suit, dress and a few toiletries, but not enough if you’re in an unfamiliar city and need more formal clothes to attend a 5 day training in. The part of the process I’ve found most interesting is how thoroughly they inspected my luggage once it was found without identification. When the woman from baggage claim customer service asked me to name a few items in my bag which she then entered into a database… she was able to list another dozen items that were in my bag, from the names of my books to my little glass bottle of eucalyptus oil that was packed in my little bag in the little pocket of my bag!!!

George Carlin on Airport Sercurity (before 9/11)

check out this guy… angry at American Airlines for delaying flights because of safety issues.

EDIT
An interesting online discussion ensued with friends and acquaintances who disagreed with my view that the president’s census declaration was disrespectful or erroneous. They proposed that living in a country where skin color determines how (some) people treat you – Obama may feel more black than white because people treat him like a black man when they see him. Also, in a few discussions about this, some people did not even know that he is biracial! One friend clearly said to me “no one has the right to judge the way another person identifies himself, whether it be sexually, politically, racially or otherwise.” I’ll have to consider this point further before I consent agreement…

If you’re like me and feel guilty every time you experience these possessive and obsessive feelings towards your lover here are some interesting tidbits about the biochemical process of love.

Love is an addiction.

Scientists have discovered that the same chemical process takes place when we fall in love as when we become addicted. People in love have lower levels of serotonin and marked suppression of neural circuits associated with the way we assess others. Lower serotonin levels are also found in people with obsessive-compulsive disorders, possibly explaining why those in love “obsess” about their partner.

In 2000, Andreas Bartels and Semir Zeki of University College, London, analyzed the brain activity of students who said they were madly in love. The results demonstrated that the brains of people deeply in love do not look like those of people experiencing other strong emotions (such as anger), but instead like those of people snorting cocaine. Love, in other words, uses the neural mechanisms that are activated during the process of addiction.

What about those “can’t think of anything but you” feelings?

Researchers using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to watch people’s brains when they look at a photograph of their object of affection found increased blood flow in areas of the brain with high concentrations of receptors for dopamine (which is associated with states of euphoria, craving and addiction). High levels of dopamine are also associated with norepinephrine, which heightens attention, short-term memory, hyperactivity, sleeplessness and goal-oriented behavior. In other words, couples who focus intently on the relationship and often on little else are acting biologically.

The dopamine, norepinephrine and phenylethylamine we’re releasing. Dopamine produces a feeling of bliss, while norepinephrine is similar to adrenaline and produces the racing heart and excitement. Together they produce elation, intense energy, sleeplessness, craving, loss of appetite and focused attention.

Sex and emotions.

Oxytocin is released when people orgasm during sex, helping create an emotional bond between the partners. Oxytocin is also associated with mother/infant bonding, uterine contractions during labor in childbirth and the “let down” reflex necessary for breastfeeding.

Endorphins are released during sex, producing a general sense of well-being, including feeling soothed, peaceful and secure. Their release helps form a chemical bond between lovers. On the other side, when people feel isolated from their loved one, the brain shuts off endorphin production resulting in anxiety.

Sex also stimulates the release of vasopressin whose production has been linked to monogamy in mammals.

The effects of vasopressin on one of nature’s truly monogamous animals: the prairie voles. Before mating, the male vole is friendly to male and female voles alike. Within 24 hours after mating, the male vole is hooked for life and defends his partner jealously.  However, when given a compound to suppress the effect of vasopressin, the voles lose their devotion to each other and the males fail to protect their ladies from the threat of other males.

“Lovesong” – Ted Hughes

He loved her and she loved him.
His kisses sucked out her whole past and future or tried to
He had no other appetite
She bit him she gnawed him she sucked
She wanted him complete inside her
Safe and sure forever and ever
Their little cries fluttered into the curtains

Her eyes wanted nothing to get away
Her looks nailed down his hands his wrists his elbows
He gripped her hard so that life
Should not drag her from that moment
He wanted all future to cease
He wanted to topple with his arms round her
Off that moment’s brink and into nothing
Or everlasting or whatever there was

Her embrace was an immense press
To print him into her bones
His smiles were the garrets of a fairy palace
Where the real world would never come
Her smiles were spider bites
So he would lie still till she felt hungry
His words were occupying armies
Her laughs were an assassin’s attempts
His looks were bullets daggers of revenge
His glances were ghosts in the corner with horrible secrets
His whispers were whips and jackboots
Her kisses were lawyers steadily writing
His caresses were the last hooks of a castaway
Her love-tricks were the grinding of locks
And their deep cries crawled over the floors
Like an animal dragging a great trap
His promises were the surgeon’s gag
Her promises took the top off his skull
She would get a brooch made of it
His vows pulled out all her sinews
He showed her how to make a love-knot
Her vows put his eyes in formalin
At the back of her secret drawer
Their screams stuck in the wall

Their heads fell apart into sleep like the two halves
Of a lopped melon, but love is hard to stop

In their entwined sleep they exchanged arms and legs
In their dreams their brains took each other hostage

In the morning they wore each other’s face

“Let food be your medicine” -Hippocrates
“We may find in the long run that tinned food is a deadlier weapon than the machine-gun.” -George Orwell

I’m stubborn about what I eat. Food for me is not just fuel for the body but health, sentiment, pleasure, culture and an entity whose production & access continues to guide politics throughout the world.

I refuse to eat all processed food that contains high fructose corn syrup and I try to avoid dairy products because I think they mess with my hormones (and milk is for babies!) I also try to avoid soy because I don’t consider it a “healthy” alternative to meat or carbohydrates…. it’s just a cheap filler used in processed food. My ancestors did not eat soybeans so chances are that my instinct that I don’t digest them properly is correct. So my staples are: raw salads, fruit, nuts, oils, bread, butter, and occasionally potatoes, rice and fish.

So when I go out there’s always a personal dilemma I experience about what I’ll eat. But talking about my diet has always discomfited me. It seems so obvious that people should eat whole foods that when I try to explain my reasons I am overwhelmed by an ineffable and steadfast fanaticism. And so here is a speech by Dr. Robert H. Lustig about the ill-effects of high fructose corn syrup, the misguided obsession over fat and ill-health, and the political intrigues of the 20th century that transformed the way we eat in America….

My poster made from an amazon shipping box, laminated with scrap paper, drawn on with markers & crayons from junior high school days

So what’s wrong with the circus and seeing all those cute exotic animals do cute things on stage?

Undercover investigations have revealed that the training involved to get animals to perform as well as the lifestyle circus animals are subjected to are cruel and abusive.

ELEPHANTS According to one ex-elephant-trainer, violent training methods are the only way an elephant can be trained to perform in circuses. Young elephants are stretched out, slammed to the ground, gouged with bullhooks, and shocked with electric prods as they struggle, cry and scream in pain. Furthermore elephants are deprived of healthy living environments and prolonged chaining (inactivity leads to osteoarthritis or a chronic foot problems). When the circus travels, which can be up to 11 months of the year the they are chained in filthy, poorly ventilated boxcars. At other times when they are at the breeding compound in Florida, they have access only to a fraction of the property where they are confined to barns and small, barren outdoor paddocks.

CATS Lions, tigers, leopards are subdued via hunger and underfeeding so as to make them more responsive to treats. They too live a life of constant travel in cramped quarters and often lacking adequate veterinary care. What do you think it takes to make a tigers, who like most animals is deathly afraid of fire to jump through a ring of fire? Fear-driven training: punishment, whips and beatings.

BEARS Many are kept muzzled and chained. They commonly have their noses broken while being trained or have their paws burnt during training when they walk on hot plates to make them stand on their hind legs.

PRIMATES These highly intelligent animals who share so much in common with us are deprived of the companionship of family and many are forced to live in small cages.

“No matter how well are treated in the circus, the wild animals suffer enormously, much more than those kept in captivity in Zoos. The animals have very little space at their disposal in the mobile circus cages or menageries, where elephants and zebras are bound. To this, the continuous stress of the circus life adds, with its tours, when often, after the show ends, the tent is dismounted and all is loaded, transported to another city, reinstalled and another show follows. During the transportation, animals can experience excessive heat or cold, or lack of water.

“Virtuosity numbers executed by elephants and bears are realized with a lot of patience and … cruelty from the trainer and his/her helpers. Of course, cruelty must be masked in our days, and the trainer (who can be a sexy young woman) may have just a stick. However, the stick is made of steel and, skillfully handled, can cause pain to the bears. For elephants, small but sharp hooks are used, handled with discretion by the man that apparently caresses the animal. Electric whips are even more efficient.“

Source

On their website FAQ Ringling writes…

How does Ringling Bros. feel about local legislation banning the use of animal acts in some towns?
A: We believe that these bans are unnecessary and take away a treasured part of the circus experience that patrons tell us they support and love. (Fortunately, such communities are the exception, not the rule.) By banning performing animals, the town is effectively saying that our experts are not fit to handle the animals they have devoted their lives to caring for. We can’t say it enough: Ringling Bros. loves animals as much as you do!

Really?! So love is taking animals away from their natural habitats and hurting them for profit? I had a discussion about this with my dad who dismissed my concerns by saying that if the circus feeds these animals, there is nothing to be discontent about….and that if the lions and elephants were so miserable, they would be aggressive and unmanageable.

But that is why violence must be used, especially with younger animals when they are most vulnerable. To scare them into submission. So when these animals are older and larger, the fear has been so painfully reinforced that they are manageable.

In nature, elephants don’t stand on their heads, walk trunk-to-tail, skip, crawl, or twirl, and adult female elephants do not mount one another. Tigers don’t hop on their hind legs and roll over in unison. In order to force wild animals to perform difficult and confusing circus tricks, trainers use whips, sticks, and bullhooks.

The animal circus seems like such a primitive venture to me. Sure it was entertaining for our ancestors to watch animals perform seemingly impossible feats like stand on a ball (even I can’t do that!) but our generation has infinite more possibilities to be entertained thanks to technologies like the internet and easier travel. Back in the Roman era it was considered fun to throw men inside the Colosseum and watch the lions devour them. It was a great place to bring the family and instead of popcorn they probably snacked on grains. Today, many of us condemn such entertainment as a violent and immoral fancy of our ancestors, and yet we justify subjecting (intelligent) animals to suffering in the circus for our entertainment.

But circuses are fun for children?

The children do not see the animals’ natural behavior patterns, intelligence, food gathering patterns, social interaction and other remarkable behaviour they exhibit in the wild… All they see are animals performing unnatural tricks learnt under difficult and painful circumstances.

Circuses portray animals as freaks and curiosities, devoid of context or dignity…

Of all the things that bother me, this is the only one I’ve protested against. Because all the others (meat eating, gm foods, industrial agriculture, environmentalist concerns, materialism) can be justified in some way, but holding animals captive in circuses and training them to do things they would never do if they were not pressured and threatened to is cruelty no ifs or buts. I’m not talking about animal treatment in the developing world, but here in America having enough to eat has meant that we can devote ourselves to other matters such as self-improvement and morality. So to be so cruel here gains a poignancy that’s absent in the developing world. (Although most animals held captive in the developing world have more access to the outdoors than American circus animals do, and their trainers lives’ are more intimately connected to their animals than those of the Americans’)

At the protest I saw many folks from PETA, mostly women. They were standing in a line on the side holding up signs and distributing elephant coloring books and pamphlets. I introduced myself and walked away. I didn’t want to be associated with PETA, and I didn’t think their positioning was very effective. Only later did I learn where us protesters were allowed to stand and considering these limitations maybe their strategy was effective. In any case, I stood directly in front of Madison Square Garden, my back leaning against the taxi line gates, my fluffy pink hat on my head (for attention & privacy). I stood from 6:30 to 8:30pm, my sign beneath my chin and the deserting sun above me. A few people stopped, mostly parents with children and a few took photos. One of the photos taken of me may have been by Ringling employees or security as these men looked like unlikely patrons of the circus in their formal clothes. No one accosted me and I never had to prove my assertions besides a few casual remarks and suggestions that they do their own search online. One of the hardest things was keeping myself from smiling foolishly, because standing alone amidst all those people felt strange and when I met their gaze I’d laugh at the strangeness of the situation. The police did not bother any of us and when I asked them later if there were so many of them because of us they said no and that basketball games had more police and more chaos.

For more information check out these websites for more information or do your own online search.

Baby elephant training
Ringling claims v. Reality (with documentation)
Big Cat Rescue Essays on Circuses

Consider visiting these fun and animal-free circuses…

Bindlestiff Family Cirkus

P.O. Box 1917 New York, NY 10009 212-726-1935 1-877-BINDLES cirkus@bindlestiff.org bindlestiff.org

USA, Canada, and Europe in the spring and summer

This is a vaudeville-like show that performs mostly at festivals and other events and offers workshops and exhibitions in schools and universities.

Circus Center

755 Frederick St. San Francisco, CA 94117 415-759-8123 info@circuscenter.org circuscenter.org

California—the San Francisco Bay area

This circus is an exquisitely choreographed adventure of acrobatics, aerial work, dance, and clowning that relies on grit, not glitz, to get its magic across. It provides scholarships to low-income children to attend its annual circus camp and distributes free tickets to nonprofit organizations. It provides free shows for community festivals, neighborhood fairs, and civic celebrations.

Circus Finelli

522 Haight St. San Francisco, CA 94117 mail@circusfinelli.com circusfinelli.com

Internationally, based in the San Francisco Bay Area

Four unruly women clowns present a Slavic, slapstick cabaret with daring comedy and dangerous cutlery. See the sights to entice and delight: juggling, acrobatics, contortion, dance, and disaster. All set to the tune of European accordion, and vaudeville ukulele. Ring Mistress Madame Vinaigrette hosts.

Circus Luminous

2778 Agua Fria, Unit D Santa Fe, NM 87507 505-992-2588 mail@wisefoolnm.org wisefoolnm.org

New Mexico (will work with other groups in the Southwest)

This is a dazzling and original production featuring daring young women on the flying trapeze, innovative choreography, elaborate costumes, and a turn-of-the- century look.

Circus of the Kids

9042 Shoal Creek Dr. Tallahassee, FL 32312-4076 1-866-CIRCUS-5 bruce@circusofthekids.com circusofthekids.com

USA, year-round

This circus is all about kids. They are the performers and are involved with the costumes, selling tickets, makeup, etc. The program is democratic, and there is no such thing as being too fat, too thin, or not smart enough to participate. The point is for the kids to feel good about themselves and to be challenged. This professional, intense, and strenuous circus allows ordinary kids to become stars.

Cirque Dreams

Cirque Productions Variety Arts Management 3803 N. 29th Ave. Hollywood, FL 33020 954-922-0888 info@cirqueproductions.com cirqueproductions.com

Internationally, in theaters and casino showrooms; on cruise ships, tours, and television; and at theme parties, festivals, fairs, trade shows, and corporate events

This is a combination of fantasy circus and Broadway dream in a European-style variety show with mesmerizing music, dazzling costumes, and limitless imagination. Customized productions are available upon request. Neil Goldberg’s Cirque has performed at corporate events for MCI, GE, Aetna Insurance, and Motorola as well as at numerous fundraiser galas for large charitable organizations.

Cirque du Soleil

8400 Second Ave. Montréal H1Z 4M6 Québec Canada 514-722-2324 contact@cirquedusoleil.com cirquedusoleil.com

Internationally, year-round. Cirque du Soleil has permanent shows in Las Vegas and Florida

This circus offers a blend of music, dance, and stunning athleticism that takes the audience on a metaphorical journey. It breaks all the rules, and its art is in a constant state of evolution. Cirque has won more than 100 awards and distinctions from various organizations and institutions for originality in its shows and excellence in management. There are more than a dozen Cirque productions.

Cirque Éloize

417, rue Berri Montréal H2Y 3E1 Québec Canada 514-596-3838 eloize@cirque-eloize.com cirque-eloize.com

USA (fall), Canada, and Europe

This circus combines theater with acrobatic performances, poetry, and circus thrills. Acrobats, clowns, jugglers, trapeze artists, and musicians team up to create a rich and subtle tango of emotions. Cirque Éloize has also developed a strong expertise in providing modern circus entertainment for private galas and corporate events.

Cirque Plume

37, rue Battant Besançon 25000 France 33-3-81-81-38-80 info@cirqueplume.com cirqueplume.com

USA and Europe— large venues only

Performances combine music, dance, comedy, and gymnastics.

Fern Street Circus

P.O. Box 621004 San Diego, CA 92162 619-235-9756 info@fernstreetcircus.com fernstreetcircus.com

San Diego area

This circus provides free quality entertainment to underserved neighborhoods. Also provides free-of- charge circus and music instruction at city recreation centers. This is a professional circus and variety artist performance in a simple and whimsical setting.

Flying Fruit Fly Circus

609 Hovell St. Albury, NSW 2640 Australia 02-6021-7044 info@fruitflycircus.com.au fruitflycircus.com.au

Internationally, year-round

Performances are a blend of circus, dance, theater, and live percussion with attitude. Australia’s Flying Fruit Fly Circus has established itself as one of the world’s premier youth performing arts companies. Its mission is to promote and enhance the education and cultural development of young people by providing high-quality circus training and by producing and touring contemporary circus performances.

Flying High Circus

FSU Circus P.O. Box 3064026 Tallahassee, FL 32306-3064 850-644-4874 circus@admin.fsu.edu circus.fsu.edu

USA, primarily in the Southeast. Occasionally tours in the Bahamas, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Europe, the Virgin Islands, and the West Indies

Performances feature high-wire acts, juggling acts, bicycle tricks, and acrobatics. The Flying High Circus performs on the road for a number of sponsored events. Shows range from 30 minutes in length to more than two hours, for all kinds of gatherings—including fairs, public or private fundraisers, or conventions. Performances can be held indoors, outdoors, or under the circus’s own big top.

Gregangelo & Velocity Circus Troupe 225 San Leandro Way San Francisco, CA 94127 415-664-0095 info@gregangelo.com gregangelo.com

USA, year-round (mainly commissioned by corporations for special events)

Shows combine daring skill, comedy, dazzling aerials, interactive audience antics, and magic, with stunning costumes and music. This troupe offers custom shows for business promotions, private parties, fairs, festivals, aerial classes, and more.

Hiccup Circus

Hawaii’s Volcano Circus Educational Nonprofit Organizations RR 2, Box 4524

Pahoa, HI 96778 808-965-8756 graham@hiccupcircus.com hiccupcircus.com

Hawaii, year-round, and occasionally in California

This circus performs at community events and works with schools. It has a unique program offering educational services to the public, with emphasis on elementary and intermediate school-age children and teenagers, especially in underserved, isolated rural communities.

Imperial Circus of China

c/o Management One, LLC 7380 Sand Lake Rd., Ste. 350 Orlando, FL 32819 407-909-1013 john.regna@worldentertainment.net Imperialcircus.com

Internationally, year-round

Considered the best of all Chinese circuses, it has played an important role in cultural exchanges between China and other nations. Its excellent performances have been warmly welcomed and highly appreciated by audiences around the globe.

Lazer Vaudeville

631 Spruce St. Boulder, CO 80302-5017 303-413-8116 Lazervaudeville@earthlink.net lazervaudeville.com

USA (usually excluding the summer)

This circus works with schools and gives performances that are educational and entertaining. Performances are a mix of black light, juggling, lasers with magic, audience participation, acrobatics, slapstick comedy, and dance with object manipulation.

Les Colporteurs

66. rue Villiers de l’Isle Adam 75020 Paris France 33-0-491-425-080 colporteurs.fdp@wanadoo.fr

Performers include traveling dancers, illusionists, and air musicians. They create a spectacle that is altogether circus, theater, dance, and magic.

New Shanghai Circus

645 State Hwy. 165 Branson, MO 65616 417-334-8781 info@nscc.biz acrobatsofchina.com

USA, Europe, and Asia, with a permanent venue in Branson, Mo., at the MGH Performing Arts Center

This circus offers breath-taking feats of strength, endurance, flexibility, balance, contortion, and magic. In the spring of 1999, the circus was invited to the New Victory Theater in New York for 28 performances, which were all “Sold Out on Broadway!”

Russian American Kids Circus

The Brad Simon Organization, Inc. 122 E. 57th St. New York, NY 10022 212-980-5920, ext. 122 212-730-2132 barbara@bsoinc.com rakidscircus.org

Internationally, year-round

This is a fully staged professional circus whose stars happen to be children between the ages of 6 and 18. These artists fill the stage with a blur of spangles, dazzling audiences with soaring acrobatics, synchronized unicycling, expert juggling, daring aerial feats, and precision balancing.

7 Fingers

Les 7 doigts de la main 3506, ave. Laval Montréal H2X 3C8 Québec Canada

514-521-4477 info@les7doigtsdelamain.com les7doigtsdelamain.com

Europe, Canada, and large venues in the USA

The joyous, surrealistic universe of 7 Fingers is filled with the beauty of awe-inspiring aerialists, the startling precision of amazing jugglers, the breath-taking exploits of graceful acrobats, and the wit and humor of seven young international circus performers.

Swamp Circus Theatre

19 Wansfell Rd. Sheffield South Yorkshire S4 8BE England 44-0-114-256-0962 info@swampcircus.com swampcircus.com

Internationally

This is an all-human circus theater with an environmentally flavored artistic direction, a commitment to arts in the community, and a taste for adventure. Work is characterized by a unique blend of innovative, high- energy circus theater, live music, and ecological themes. Projects range from community-centered workshops to world-class big top touring extravaganzas.

I once told a Russian friend of mine that I have over $40,000 in available credit to my name. His flabbergasted reaction was that we Americans are stupid for not stealing this money and that if people had such opportunities in Russia they’d all take the money they could and never pay it back.

I tried to explain how the credit rating system works and the checks and balances that keep people from doing such things. He remained baffled by my naivete so I guess it’s another mark of my indoctrination into American society that the idea of simply running away with money never occurred to me and seemed preposterous.

So the Sapphire card tries to ensnare customers is by offering $100 cash back after the first purchase. Meaning all you have to do is spend a $1 and you get 10,000 bonus points which can be redeemed for a cash check worth $100 that will be mailed to your address days later. But it also promises other benefits such as travel and purchase protection.

I had a look at the guide to benefits printout that came with my card and found several very peculiar discrepancies between what is promoted and what really is available to customers. (Unfortunately I could not locate this document online and neither could my relative when he worked for Chase)

In the “lost luggage reimbursement” section, cardholders are covered only if the entire cost of the fare is charged to their account (reasonable). The maximum liability is $3000 per insured, of which no more than $200 can be for jewelry and fur. The following items are excluded from coverage: Animals, perishables, cameras and assesory equipment, eye glasses and contact lenses, prosthetic devices includin dentures and hearing aids, tickets, valuable papers and documents, credit bards and debit cards, securities, money, art objects, electronic equipment, business items, bullion or precious or semi-precious metals, household furniture, parts for motor vehicles… So what is covered then, just clothes?

In the “trip cancellation” section, there are a bunch of exclusions. The usual pre-existing condition clause is one of them, but so are: Accidental bodily injuries arising from participation in interscholastic or professional sports, loss caused by emotional trauma, mental or physical illness, pregnancy, childbirth, miscarriage, bacterial or viral infection. Even a doctors advice against traveling is not enough to obtain coverage. Coverage only works if you or your immediate family member dies or one of you suffers from a bodily disfunction unrelated to a pre-existing condition or a sports injury. Or if the airline defaults. Are these really benefits worth getting this card for?

In the “return protection” section, Chase promises to reimburse you the cost of any eligible item of personal property within 90 days if you dissatisfied with the item for any reason and the retailer will not accept it. However, the benefit is limited to $500 per item and up to $1000 per cardholder. The following are excluded from coverage: Animals and living plants, motorized vehicles and their accessories, tickets, computer software, jewelry, art objects, medical equipment, perishables and consumables such as rechargeable batteries, and seasonal items such as holiday decorations. So what IS included???

My recommendation? Don’t dive into the hype about this credit card, it’s just another round of Chase’s deceptive marketing.

So I decided to see how exactly international contributions were being spent and found this article boasting that the Haitian governtment is only getting a PENNY of every dollar the US contributes. So if the US has pledged to contribute $379 million (the current figure), that’s $379,000 that is being transferred directly into government coffers. But I’m not going to discuss the vices of the government because I don’t know enough and I cannot find reputable sources on Haiti’s government and corruption to confirm the allegations made by the media. However, something about how the money is being spent irks me…

“Each American dollar roughly breaks down like this: 42 cents for disaster assistance, 33 cents for U.S. military aid, nine cents for food, nine cents to transport the food, five cents for paying Haitian survivors for recovery efforts, just less than one cent to the Haitian government, and about half a cent to the Dominican Republic.”

I wish I had resources to calculate how much disaster assistance and military should cost, but 75% seems excessive. Since these are sectors in which foreigners are greatly involved (and compensated) I have the feeling that the pay scale has been adjusted out of proportion to compensate them “extra well,” which depending on your p.o.v. is a good or a bad thing. On one side, it may encourage more human resources to contribute to Haiti, on the other all it may be doing is wasting resources by overpaying!

“Of each U.S. taxpayer dollar, 42 cents funds US AID’s disaster assistance — everything from $5,000 generators to $35 hygiene kits with soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste for a family of five.”

They must be buying soap at Whole Foods because you can go to the 99 cents store and buy all those things for under $5, or if one’s buying wholesale probably for under $3.

Also considering that nearly 50% of Haiti’s population lived in extreme poverty before the earthquake and had to resort to eating mud to keep themselves from starving, I doubt they bothered about the state of their teeth. Shouldn’t the focus be on providing essential services – like clean water, running water, removing debris, rebuilding roads, encouraging community organizations and schools that would uplift people’s morale? Whoever thought that a hygiene kit is what Haitians need in such a situation probably lives a very very sheltered existence.

I donated to MSF because they provide medical care around the world to people in need. The money I gave may not go to Haiti per say, but it will be spent throughout the year on some similarly dire medical circumstances… and I think that alleviating preventable suffering is very important in the grand scale. To date though, MSF has been doing some good work in Haiti.

I recently read an article by Tim Wise, who according to himself is “among the nation’s most prominent anti-racist educators.” You can read the article here and visit his scary facebook page here.

The article starts with an assumption: “Whites generally have…white privilege” and that this privilege is “unearned.”

He speaks of white people as if we all share the same culture, ignoring the differences of experience among immigrants and others who are white skinned but do not belong to the “dominant culture”. To make an example of myself: i felt alienated a lot in my young years as a result of having parents who did not partake in the american (especially materialistic) lifestyle. No i wasn’t discriminated against for being from Russia per say, but (for years) my clothes did not fit in and the things the other kids did (go to the movies, mc’donalds, eat chinese food) i could not do and so those “dominant culture” kids kept away from me (resulting in perhaps depressed self esteem and poorer performance in school) It wasn’t an issue of poverty because we weren’t that poor. Doing these things was simply not a part of my parents culture. But Wise disregards such experiences or demotes them and i take issue with that. In any society where people of diverse backgrounds integrate, there will be a tug-of-war between this need to fit in and maintaining your own culture. This is normal and inevitable. It’s not a bad idea to mitigate the rifts somehow – but how?

“Indeed, one could even argue that students of color from lower-income backgrounds who strive and achieve, despite not having had the advantages so common to many white students, might actually be more deserving of admission than those who have had a wealth of opportunity since birth.”

So white children and wealthy children should be punished because of attributes they were born into/with? It reminds me of this moral dilemma story about the doctor with 5 sick patients who need different organs to survive, and one healthy man who comes to his office. Is killing this man and taking his organs to save the other patients justifiable? In the white/non-white student situation the consequences are even more muddy. Sacrificing one child for the sake of another doesn’t result in a 4x benefit.

“…families of color will be less likely than white families to have prior connections to independent schools. As such, they may not be aware of the steps involved in applying, or know which forms to fill out, or how to set up a school visit or evaluation for their child.”

Of course because white people (like me) have known from birth what forms to fill out. In fact I think there’s a connection in my pants!

“As for programming, though such events are often valuable, they can sometimes be little more than celebrations of the food and holidays of racial and cultural “others” — hardly the kind of efforts that erase the privileging of the dominant group. Learning about Diwali, Chinese New Year, or Kwanzaa doesn’t challenge the dominance of whites within our schools. In fact, because these celebrations sometimes allow students and families to view the traditions of non-whites as “exotic,” they may (absent a discussion of power and privilege) serve to reinforce the privileging of whites, whose traditions are deemed normal and mainstream, as opposed to the strange and fascinating rituals of “others.””

By definition he who is not me is “other.” I don’t understand what Wise is proposing in this paragraph. How should these occasions be celebrated so as to not reinforce “the privilege of whites”?

“Whites in independent schools typically have the privilege of feeling as though they belong. They can feel confident that their presence won’t be questioned or presumed to be the result of someone rigging the game on their behalf.”

“Privilege of feeling” sounds like an oxymoron! The reason that the presence of a non-white person may be questioned is because affirmative action DOES rig the system! Very often standards WERE lowered to foster diversity.

“Yes, schools may now have diversity clauses as part of their mission statements, but is the school’s commitment to diversity fully “operationalized” throughout the institution?…Are candidates for admission, faculty positions, or administrative jobs screened not only on the basis of traditionally understood qualifications, but also on their commitment to the mission of the school, including its focus on diversity and equity?”

Makes me think of ideologues interrogating candidates in a crazy horror style fashion.

“One way to foster healthy discussions about these subjects is to create affinity group structures, whereby people of color provide support to one another, and whites striving to be antiracist allies do the same. Although affinity groups are structured as intra-racial groupings, over time they can spark productive interracial dialogue as well because some of the conversation-stopping and tension-creating comments that might otherwise be made in mixed company can be tackled first in a less tense and more secure environment.”

Sure, separation will make us equal =/