Posts tagged Michigan

Waffle Party In The News

May 26, 2010 · Filed under Animal Rights, vegan · Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Julia at Real Detroit Weekly interviewed me about the Waffle Party this weekend in Pontiac … coincidentally this weekend is also the Movement Electronic Music Festival in Detroit.  So, who knows, we may have a lot of people just show up! We have to be ready.

Also, the Press Release was printed last weekend in the Oakland Press & it’s been posted on several community boards.

Got your irons ready? Get set … GO !!!

MENU:

Waffles

Sweet Toppings:

Choclate Sauce, agave & maple syrup, vegan whipped topping, strawberries, blueberrie, and black berries, chocolate chips, coconut flakes, Earth Balance, flax ….

Savory Toppings:

We’re going Mexican themed here: Local guacamole  & salsas, black beans, lettuce, cilantro, soy sour cream, hot sauce, Daiyva Cheeze

Plus more …

Here is an excerpt from the interview:

How’d the idea come to be?

There’s this group of people in Pittsburgh who have been doing waffle parties since the ’90s. It sounded like a lot of fun. … I’m vegan, and I’ve only lived [in Michigan] for about a year and a half.

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Greening Healthcare …

March 24, 2009 · Filed under Environment · Tagged , , , , , , ,

And … the blog has been silent.  Apologies!

Something I’ve started working on a bit – greening the hospital I work at in Michigan. The hospital is 100 years old, though the building is newer.  Right now it’s a far cry from LEED-certified.  For now, I’m going to post a few links here for anyone who’s interested in what it takes to green healthcare, or business [see below].

Also, I’m interested in any grants – federal or state – to aid in making hospitals more environmentally friendly, or grants for urban gardening, green roofs, LEED etc. We are not a non-profit however, as most hospitals are,  so it may take some extra looking. Should be contacting the DEQ this week …

 

Also, please check out Motherhouse. Not sure the best was to put this, but it’s a retirement home for nuns, in Monroe Michigan. They’ve done an absolutely amazing job turning it into a sustainable, healthy, peace-based community.

Other Web Sites:

    Live Roof (HorTech) – http://www.liveroof.com/

  Michigan Green – http://www.michigangreen.org/index.html

  Michigan Dept. of Natural Resources – http://www.michigan.gov/dnr

  Michigan Dept. of Environmental Quality, Recycling Info – http://www.michigan.gov/deq/0,1607,7-135-3585_4130—,00.html

  Metro Health Hospital, Grand Rapids. The only LEED-certified full service hospital in Michigan – http://www.metrohealth.net/locations/hospital/green-thinking/leed-certification

  SE Michigan Directory of Waste Recycling Companies (20 page PDF) – http://www.michigan.gov/documents/deq/deq-ess-recycling-cwr-semichigan_214702_7.pdf

   Green Earth Technologies – http://www.getg.com/index.php

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Call to action! Stop U of M testing on live dogs!

February 26, 2009 · Filed under Animal Rights, Social Justice, vegan · Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

I won’t be able to be there but I want to spread the word about this:

*Physicians Comittee for Responsible Medicine

 

Dear PCRM* Supporter,

You can still help end the University of Michigan’s use of live dogs for trauma training. In recent weeks, supporters like you have sent more than 19,000 e-mails to university administrators asking them to end the use of live dogs in the school’s Advanced Trauma Life Support course. However, the decision-makers at the University of Michigan don’t seem to be getting the message that most of these courses are taught with advanced medical simulators-not with live animals.

That’s why PCRM will lead a demonstration at the University of Michigan (U-M) on March 5, just two weeks before the school’s next scheduled Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) course. Please join us and bring your dogs!

What: Physician-led peaceful demonstration at U-M
When: Thursday, March 5, 11 a.m.
Location: Southeast corner of S. State St. and N. University Ave., Ann Arbor, MI
Parking: Please use nearby public parking.

Signs will be provided. Please make sure to dress warmly. No RSVP is required

Please forward this e-mail to your friends and family within driving distance of Ann Arbor and ask them to join you at the demonstration.

Documents obtained by PCRM under the Michigan Freedom of Information Act reveal that U-M is using lost or surrendered pets from Michigan shelters for its ATLS course. At U-M, this course involves cutting open live, anesthetized dogs and practicing emergency medical procedures. After the training session, the animals are killed. All of this happens even though the school owns a validated nonanimal teaching method as part of its state-of-the-art medical simulation center.

While a handful of institutions like U-M continue to use live animals, the American College of Surgeons, the ATLS oversight body, has approved nonanimal models like the TraumaMan System, Synman, and human cadavers for these courses. Across the United States and Canada more than 90 percent of ATLS courses are taught using only human-based simulators.

Please visit SaveMichiganDogs.org to learn more. Thank you so much for your support. If you have any questions, please contact me at rmerkley@pcrm.org.

Best regards,

Ryan Merkley
Manager of Humane Education Programs

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
5100 Wisconsin Ave., N.W., Ste. 400
Washington, DC 20016 Phone: 202-686-2210
E-mail: info@pcrm.org

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Sharing a piece of Rumi

November 24, 2008 · Filed under The Absurd, What I'm Reading · Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

A Delicate Girl

 

The terrible grief of being human! Let

us drink it all, but with a difference.

 

We sit with Junnaiyd and Bestami. The

moon rising here cannot be covered with

 

cloud. There are no deaths for lovers.

Who is the self? A delicate girl that

 

flows out when we draw the sword of

selfless action. This earth eats men

 

and women, and yet we are sent to eat

the world, this place that tries to fool

 

us with tomorrow. Wait until tomorrow,

which we outwit by enjoying only this

 

now. We gather at night to celebrate

being human. Sometimes we call out low

 

to the tambourine. Fish drink the sea,

but the sea does not get smaller! We

 

eat the clouds and evening light. We

are slaves tasting the royal wine.

 

—————————————-

Right now it is snowing heavily on Pontiac. Makes me miss upstate a little … trying to figure out the immediate future is slow going. Each little thing dependent on the next on the next on the next … etc.

—————————————–

Some Kiss We Want

 

There is some kiss we want with

our whole lives, the touch of

 

spirit on the body. Seawater

begs the pear to break its shell.

 

And the lily, how passionately

it needs some wild darling! At

 

night, I open the window and ask

the moon to come and press its

 

face against mine. Breathe into

me. Close the language-door and

 

open the love-window. The moon

won’t use the door, only the window.

———————-

 

Someone who does not run

toward the allure of love

walks a road where nothing

 

lives. But this dove here

senses the love hawk floating

above, and waits, and will not

 

be driven or scared to safety.

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Some deer were made widows…

November 18, 2008 · Filed under Animal Rights · Tagged , , , ,

Welcome to Michigan! This past weekend was opening weekend for deer-hunting season .. yee haw! (?)

But seriously – 10% of Michigan residents hunt (for food?) … I made the mistake of planning a 2 1/2 hour driving trip on Monday. I got to see some carnage firsthand. I saw at least ten bleeding and open bodies of these beautiful creatures strapped to the backs of cars, thrown in truck beds, or otherwise contorted to fit onto fiery transport machines so that their ‘owners’ could haul them home, triumphantly slice the flesh from their bones and freeze them in pieces. Later they will slowly consume the anguish of being caught and killed during the height of mating season. They will create caricatures of the magnificent animals out of their heads to hang on the wall as an announcement that “I am man – conquerer of nature!” Meanwhile, their wives hold ‘deer widow’ parties and actual deer really are made widows.

No more to say for now …

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Michigan

November 13, 2008 · Filed under The Day to Day · Tagged , , , ,

Seems I might actually have and audience here … As my life becomes scattered, geographically, there must be some centralized narrative for those I’m no longer in daily contact with …

HOLLA!

Anyway.

Monday I moved into a cute little 1950s house with my cousin (through marriage) and her seven-year-old son (part of the time). It sits on 5 acres, in a suburb of Detroit, right next to a highway. There are two pear trees in the backyard, which are obviously too late to harvest, but I thought it charming. We eat homemade Indian food almost every night, I finally have my own closet and my own room, just a little space of one’s own, right?

By the graces of good karma and influential family, it appears that I will be starting a job next week, one dealing with people mainly, and NOT computers, so I am happy about that.

This is some kind of commercial mecca … strip malls and housing developments EVERYWHERE. Definitely lacking the personality of upstate NY… My best discoveries so far have not been the Banana Republic and J. Crew, where I will probably never shop, but the Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s that are both 5 miles from my house, and the nearby Salvation Army (which is clean, organized and cheerful).

It seems that people really come out of the woodwork when we go through transitions … have been talking to several people the past few days and I really appreciate the support. It is quiet, a kind of mini-vacation, and I miss the familiar faces and friends I have in Utica.

Right now we’ve got to prepare for the family Thanksgiving & Christmas and some other functions to be held at my aunt’s house here. When I say family, I mean several grandparents, seven sets of (my) aunts & uncles with their various children etc., so it’s no small occasion. I am thankful to be so near to them now.

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