Hey everybody! I've got a special guest blog for you today, written by Adrianne, peta2's Liberation Project Coordinator. You see, in addition to hosting Christmas, Hanukkah, and other holidays, December also boasts one of the most important times of remembrance—Human Rights Month. Now, here's Adrianne, to put it all in perspective.

Enjoy!

bobster855 / cc

On December 10, 1948, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Rights—a document that articulates the need for "recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world." It was soon after that they decided to name the whole month Universal Human Rights Month.

Could you imagine living in the U.S. during a time when slavery was okay? What about being eight years old and doing hard labor in a coal mine? If we think about it, all of these situations in history were considered okay at one point, and views from people against such atrocities weren't exactly welcomed. Speaking out against such events would have yielded the common response "they are just slaves" or "they are just children" or "they are just women."

I sure am glad we think differently about the way we treat each other now, but there is still more to be done. What about how the animals are treated? Just as people have continued to fight throughout history for human rights justice, we must continue to strive for animal liberation, so that their suffering will also come to an end.

Besides, who says you can't speak up for human rights and animal rights at the same time?

If we consider the ways workers are treated in the meat industry, it's pretty difficult not to want to speak up for both. Working in slaughterhouses has been named the most dangerous job in America. Imagine, for example, having chickens moving so fast through the assembly line that they are often still conscious when they are put into the scalding tank. Workers in slaughterhouses are often injured while handling these terrified animals. When workers speak out about their injuries, many are fired. Indeed, all animals—whether human or nonhuman—experience the hardships of this bloody business.

So when you are telling your friends about why you decided to go vegan, remind them that nobody should have to kill for a living.

Squidoo / cc

A few weeks ago, we were thrilled to report that Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) agreed to stop using homeless cats obtained from Odessa Animal Control in deadly medical training exercises, but we weren't sure whether or not Texas Tech had abandoned the practice of shoving plastic tubes down the throats of cats altogether.

Well, now it's official: News reports confirm that TTUHSC will no longer use cats for this training! This victory really belongs to the more than 30,000 (!) compassionate people who took action against TTUHSC, including thousands of Texas Tech students.

With 2010 fast approaching, we've got a lot to celebrate, but there are still countless animals who are being tortured and killed in experiments.

Let's start the New Year by riding on the wave of our TTUHSC success by urging Arizona State University to stop cruel classroom experiments on animals! At ASU, rabbits have holes cut into their necks, are injected with various drugs, and then are killed. Take action now!

Quick! Think on your toes! What things in life do you hold dear? Is it friendships, family, even just plain ol' freedom? All good things ... and pretty essential, right?

Frogs imprisoned in Brookstone's tiny tanks being so brilliantly marketed as "Frog-O-Spheres", are denied all of those things, even though they desire them as much as you or I. Why? To make a quick buck, of course.



Brookstone, what will it take to get you to stop supporting cruelty to animals? It's not just us at PETA who are concerned—it's your own employees, your costumers, and millions of others who've seen our recent undercover investigation into the supplier that your "Frog-O-Sphere" prisoners come from—where these frogs were seen thrown around carelessly, and even tossed into the garbage while they were still alive. Brookstone, the complaints don't just come to us, they come to you. Check out some of the more concerning/awful/just-plain-dumb comments from the "Frog-O-Sphere" review page on Brookstone's website:

"Our family cat knocked over the tank and 'played' with the the frogs for over three hours. I was able to find the frogs (scattered through the house), who were still alive??"

"It's hard to keep track of which frog ate however many pebbles and making sure the other one got enough ... I guess it's not that crucial though ... "

"My grandsons received this as a gift and we thought the 'living gravel' was the packing pouch of black/brown stuff. We almost killed the frogs before we started"

"A lot of people on here have said that their snail has died. It's VERY common for the snail to die, they told me that at the store".

Luckily, due in large part to e-mails and calls from people like you, Brookstone stopped selling snails in their tiny frog prisons, but frogs are still dying for Brookstone. Please call Brookstone and ask them why, after undercover investigations, employee concerns, and comments from their own customers about frogs suffering and dying, they refuse to stop selling animals. Ask Brookstone to do the right thing now.

The Libby Awards are quickly approaching and we still need to hear from you!

This year, so many actors, athletes, and other celebs stepped up for animals. Whether they posed for ads, signed petitions, blogged, or helped spread the word in other ways, we're glad they're using their celeb status to help animals.

Now we want to know who YOU think should walk away with a Libby. Tell us who you would nominate for the following categories:

Best Internet Personality (Christine Dolce a.k.a. Forbidden, was last year's winner)
Most Animal-Friendly Athlete (Mac Danzig was last year's winner)
Person of the Year (Pink was last year's winner)

Comment below with who you want to nominate and don't forget to check back in January to see if your faves made the cut and vote!

If you're a fan of hardcore music, you can't deny the unmistakable sound and intensity of New York hardcore (Agnostic Front, anyone?) As one of the key bands in the NYHC scene, Merauder has been keeping it real for over two decades, and they're still going strong. Since the beginning, the hardcore and punk scene has been particularly sympathetic to animal rights issues, with many band members and fans following a vegetarian or vegan diet. One of those band members? Merauder and Cold Existence's own ... Bobby Blood!


John Joseph of the Cro-Mags and Bobby Blood

We caught up with Bobby before his European tour with Merauder to get his take on animal rights. Check it out ...

What prompted you to become vegetarian/vegan? Were there any bands, books, etc. that influenced your decision?
I was always extremely attached to animals even as a child. I was always allowed to have one dog when I was a kid and we always adopted them from animal shelters. My mom says trips to the shelter were a major ordeal and that I would be upset for weeks afterwards because I wanted to set all the animals free. Then during the ages of 11 and 12 my mother and step father moved away from the city and had a small farm going on of about 1.5 acres. We had cows, chickens, pigs, etc. I became very attached to a calf that was born in our back yard that I named Mr T. I raised him, he was my cow. He would chase me around the yard and we would play all the time. Well the day came that my step father had him butchered. It was horrible. They shot him, hung him up by his back legs, and cut his throat to bleed him out. I only knew for a couple of days that he was going to be butchered and even though it was the last thing in the world I wanted to witness, I just could not let my pet go through that horror without me being by his side.

When I entered the military I was about 30 pounds under weight for my height and they put me on a special diet including meat products to get me up in weight. While I was stationed in South Korea I took up the sport of Boxing which I continued for 5 years after I completed my 4 year military tour. I was mistakenly led to believe that meats, particularly poultry, were a necessity for the human body—especially for athletes—and continued to eat meat products. Once I stopped boxing and started playing music again, I shared a tour package with the band The Judas Cradle who would set up and play animal rights videos at their merch booths. My turning of a blind eye to the meat industry once again began to erode, and the guilt of supporting the industry started to fester. I eventually became the drummer of the band First Blood which is led by Carl Schwartz who is a devout vegan and a person of knowledge when it comes to animal rights. The final straw came after I had left the band and was touring through California in another band. Driving through Northern California we passed an enormous cattle ranch where there were thousands of cows waiting to be slaughtered. It brought back those old feelings for my cow Mr. T instantly. I immediately returned to vegetarianism for a few months then converted to veganism which I remain to this day. It is a life-long commitment now—I will never go back.

Of all of the major animal rights issues (animals used for food, clothing, experimentation, or entertainment), which one is particularly close to you and why?
Food use is probably closest, however experimentation is a close second—and probably only second because I never witnessed it with my own eyes. Being in the military however, I was always aware of certain trauma testing being done both on and off the record, particularly in Iraq. I find that extremely unnecessary, cruel and horrific. Just plain disgusting.

If a fan came to you and asked for your thoughts on how to switch to a vegan diet or how to get more involved with animal rights, what would your advice be?
My advice would be to seek nutritional knowledge from a neutral source. Obviously it is in the Governments best interest to “market” animal products as being anything from healthy to environmentally sound, etc. There are unimaginable amounts of money to be made from the meat industry and the government wins twice when you die of colon cancer or heart disease before or soon after you reach the ever increasing age necessary to collect social security and retirement funds. Knowing this, you can expect there to be much more biased nutritional information available than there is neutral nutritional information. As for animal rights, I would suggest they become involved in groups like PETA who are dedicated to animal rights and then to choose their own level of involvement in which they wish to participate. Anyone who wishes to follow my example: What I do is continually seek ways to further my involvement and education in animal rights, thus streadily increasing my contribution to the cause day by day, year by year. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. In my personal opinion, any reduction in any activity that creates a demand for an industry responsible for animal abuse is a good thing, and there is always more you can do!

What do you have coming up that we can be look forward to?
As a musician and film maker I truly appreciate the chance to plug the many exciting activities on the horizon for my projects. Without diverting much attention, I’ll just say I play guitar in my band Cold Existence from Las Vegas and I play drums for Merauder out of NYC. Check them out on myspace for everything going on from the new Cold Existence video and EP to the Merauder tour of Europe I leave for tomorrow. Anyone who reads this and comes to any tour dates or film festivals I am part of, I urge you to please come and speak to me about animal rights at any time whether you seek information or wish to give me information. Both are always very welcome and I will always make time to talk.

*****

There you have it ... proof that Bobby Blood is the nicest "tough guy" ever! Even better? You have the chance to win some rad Merauder merch! For your chance to win a copy of Merauder's God is I CD and a t-shirt, leave a comment explaining how you first got involved with animal rights. Comments must be received by January 18. A winner will be chosen at random and notified on January 25.

Just so you know ... by commenting here, you're acknowledging that you've read and agreed to our privacy policy.

Also by commenting, you are agreeing to the following terms and conditions.

Good luck!

What's the number one thing you can do to save animals, the environment, and improve your own health? You've gotta know this one by now—go vegan! Pledge to try veganism for the new year, and we'll send you an e-mail every day for the first week of 2010 to give you advice and tips on eating out, cooking at home, and snacking it up, of course!

With investigations like this, and this, breaking in 2009, who doesn't want to give up eggs and dairy? I mean, male chicks being ground up alive? Mother cows in the dairy industry being shocked and stabbed? C'mon. No compassionate person can stomach that cruelty—and with so many healthy, animal free, and completely delish alternatives, you don't have to!

Look, it took me literally years, sadly, to go from vegetarian to vegan, and I had every excuse in the book not to kick my cheese habit. I know you can think it's impossible—but we promise, it's definitely not, and it's worth it! You'll never again have to think about the suffering of an animal every time you eat, and you'll be eating healthier for yourself, and the earth.

Need more inspiration? ...


Pledge to stop supporting cruelty to animals in 2010—try veganism and ring in the new year cruelty free! We're with you every step of the way!



P.S. Already vegan? Awesome! Don't forget to share this pledge with everyone you know on Facebook!

Does the name Back to Normal sound familiar to you? Well, you may recall the name because one of their songs was on the peta2 MySpace player recently, and they were on peta2's top friends on MySpace. Back to Normal is a pop-punk band from Chesapeake, VA, and they have been kicking some ass for animals with great outreach for the Next Big Thing program.



Last week some peta2 staff members headed out to their show to get some McCruelty petitions signed, and give out the awesome free stuff. Thanks to the great attendance, the peta2 table got some great attention and everybody had the opportunity to sign the petition! This reminds me of how I used to set up information tables at local shows in Phoenix, AZ. It's super easy; especially since peta2 will hook you up with free literature packs, and if you're on the Street Team you can get points for some sweet peta2 merchandise and more.



Make sure to check out Back to Normal and let us know what you think! Also, if you're in a band and wanting to work with peta2 you can shoot an e-mail to NextBigThing@peta2.com for more information. Hope the holiday season is treating you all well!

While you're waiting for Christmas dinner, send this e-card to your friends and remind them to be kind to animals this holiday season.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sieanas-pictures/ / CC BY 2.0

Oh, Christmas—the time of shopping, wrapping, snow days, and dinners with friends and family full of yummy food. I'm sure Christmas lists the world over are filled with requests for new bikes, hoodies, shoes, iPods, skateboards, and on and on and on. The vegetarian twins of Tokio Hotel have a different wish though. This holiday season they want only to enjoy a delicious vegetarian duck for dinner!

In an interview with a German magazine, twins Bill and Tom said of their holiday plans, "We celebrate Christmas eve traditionally, at home with our family and the dogs. We are vegetarian, and our mother must pull a vegetarian duck out of her sleeve."

Good luck with that one mom! I think I'll be sticking with vegan eggnog and cookies this year. What's your favorite holiday dish?

This week, we're handing over to one of our amazing peta2 interns, Annie! She just so happens to love food about as much as we do. As a peta2 Street Teamer, she even sent us cookies—all the way from Mexico. Yep, she definitely knows how to win our hearts! Annie, take it away! - Rachel

Hey guys!

When I was a little kid, I hated seafood. I remember going to the beach and seeing that it wasn't the cleanest place to get my lunch, but my family loved it. So when I became vegan, I decided to try to make something my family and my sister would enjoy, and something that she could take to school with her and that was, of course, vegan!  That's how  this tuna sandwich was born. I know what you're thinking—"tuna?! But eating fish doesn't make you a vegan", and you are totally right, eating fish doesn't make you a vegan, that's why this is a vegan tuna sandwich—no fish were caught in the making of this sandwich!

You wouldn't eat your dog, right? Well a study done by an Oxford University scientist showed that fish learn faster than dogs, isn't that cool? Show your love for the sea kittens with this dish. The ingredients are so simple and you can find them pretty much everywhere.

I present the Tu-NOT! Sandwich ...

• 1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 2 tablespoons of vegan mayo
• 1 teaspoon of mustard
• 2 tablespoons of red onion, diced
• 1 tablespoon of pickle relish
• Salt and pepper to taste

With the back of your fork, smash the chickpeas (or you can use a food processor if you are fancy like that), until they are all mashed and no whole beans are left. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix. Taste as you go, so that you can adjust the flavors as you want them. I like adding hot sauce, tomato and lettuce and putting it between two slices of bread.

And while you are eating your sandwich, check out the internships at PETA. I'm an intern and I'm having a blast here, while learning so much! I can't wait to see you here!