Buy.ology: A Review

Posted on February 25, 2009 by zoeweil

I just finished reading Buy.ology: Truth and Lies about What we Buy by Martin Lindstrom. As a humane educator, one of the most important skills I hope to impart among my students is the ability to think critically and gain freedom from manipulation and brainwashing. Thus, books such as this are very useful to me [...]

Filed under: accurate information, books, consumerism, critical thinking, media literacy | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

“Let’s Visit a Research Lab” – Another Example of Propaganda from the U.S Dept. of Health & Human Services

Posted on February 9, 2009 by zoeweil

In my last post on The Lucky Puppy coloring workbook produced by a U.S. government affiliate to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), I described the recent propaganda piece promoting animal experimentation directed at young children. I’ve been thinking about this disturbing behavior in the scientific establishment all day, and felt compelled to share another [...]

Filed under: accurate information, critical thinking, humane education, propaganda | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

The Lucky Puppy Coloring Workbook: Propaganda Instead of Humane Education

Posted on February 6, 2009 by zoeweil

A graduate from our Humane Education Certificate Program just emailed me the link to a new coloring book produced by the North Carolina Association for Biomedical Research. It’s called The Lucky Puppy, and it’s not simply a coloring book: it’s simple propaganda. Coming from a supposed scientific organization, it is also egregious.
In the story, two [...]

Filed under: accurate information, animal protection, critical thinking, humane education, propaganda | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Seven Keys to MOGO: Key 3: Make Connections and Self-Reflect

Posted on December 18, 2008 by zoeweil

As you buy gifts, food, wrapping paper, ornaments, etc., this holiday season ask yourself some questions. What are the effects of these purchase on other people, animals, and the environment? All your purchases will contribute to the economy, which is a positive effect in these hard times, but your money is your vote for the [...]

Filed under: MOGO (Most Good), accurate information, keys to MOGO | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

WebSpotlight: Worldmapper.org

Posted on December 5, 2008 by zoeweil

I highly recommend a visit to World Mapper, where you can view a remarkable collection of world maps, where territories are re-sized on each map according to the subject of interest.   Want to compare countries based on carbon footprint? Toy exports or imports? HIV/AIDS? Infant mortality? There are nearly 600 maps, and this fascinating, sobering, [...]

Filed under: accurate information, resources | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Speak Out So That Sarah Palin Will Speak Up

Posted on September 25, 2008 by zoeweil

So far, the McCain campaign is not permitting Sarah Palin to talk to the media on the record or to answer questions at open events, beyond a couple of selected venues (one of which was with a right wing conservative commentator, not a respected news anchor).  I presume they believe this is the MOGO (Most [...]

Filed under: accurate information, critical thinking, politics | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Breaking Through the Nightmare to the Vision

Posted on February 29, 2008 by zoeweil

I’ve just finished reading Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger’s new book Break Through: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility. I was one of the people who read their 2004 article, “The Death of Environmentalism,” and loved it. While some in the environmental community felt threatened by their call for an expansive, [...]

Filed under: accurate information, humane education, positive choices | Tagged: , , , | 3 Comments »

Statistics

Posted on December 4, 2007 by zoeweil

In the book, The Myth of Progress, author Tom Wessels shares the following from Bjorn Lomborg’s The Skeptical Environmentalist:
“Discussing forests, Worldwatch Institute categorically states that the world’s forest estate has declined significantly in both area and quality in recent decades. As we shall see in the section on forests, the longest data series [...]

Filed under: accurate information | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »