Cross posted at the Booman Tribune

Yesterday was my birthday, and it made me think of a lot of things. Since we're in the political realm I'll just share with you guys what I think is relevant. One of the things I have noticed over the years is how birthdays at one point in my life used to entail this feeling of complete unbridled joy. I remember waking up and just feeling the excitement of having a day in which each person I was close with dedicated a certain portion of their time just to celebrate me. Year after year this feeling seems to fade away, and is replaced by wanting to be around friends and family but not feeling the need for the attention and self-centered nature that the birthday originally entailed, but the nostalgia remains. So yesterday when I woke up and was officially twenty-four, I thought to myself, that this was supposed to be a special day, a day just for myself and a day where this is socially acceptable.

I conducted an online interview with Josh Balk of the Humane Society of The United States.  Mr. Balk is the Outreach Coordinator for the Factory Farm Campaign and was happy to answer of my questions about factory farms and his involvement in animal welfare.

What made you want to get involved with animal protection issues?

In high school, I saw a documentary with graphic footage of standard factory farming practices, including scenes of chickens having parts of their beaks sliced off and pigs being castrated without any painkiller. I pledged at that moment to fight against animal cruelty.

What do you do at The Humane Society of the United States?

In The HSUS's Factory Farming Campaign, I work with universities, food service companies, restaurants, and grocery stores to improve farm animal welfare. Unfortunately, most factory farm owners are not going to implement meaningful reform voluntarily, but their major purchasers--such as grocery and restaurant chains--can demand that they improve their conditions if they want to continue doing business with them.

More after the break..

I am not an Ayn Rand expert, I have read a book about her philosophy of "objectivism," The Virtue of Selfishness and her short novel Anthem.  My interest in her drew from the popularity of her work on college campuses, and I wanted to be able to discuss her work from an informed position.

I walked away from her work somewhat intrigued. She offers a different perspective on the world, one in which capitalism is justified as the proper moral system not just one of no alternative. However, after not having read her work for a while, looking back on it I have noticed how certain ideas of hers play out in ideologies of our day and I wanted to comment on what I personally judge to be negative aspects of her writing as well as some positive ones.

Summarizing most thinkers thought is usually not quite an easy task, but for Rand, it is not that difficult. As the title of The Virtues of Selfishness one can infer a lot about her ideology, Ayn Rand said

I found an interesting article in Lebanon's Daily Star, a English publication which can be read online.

Since I have been writing on the Daily Kos I have noticed that there are certain issues that just are bound to divide us more than any others. Whenever Israel or Palestine comes up this certainly seems to be the case.  While many times I hesitate to even get involved, I think it is important to point out the ambiguity of issue and at least attempt to complicate the issue from black and white perspectives that assign moral responsibility to only one side and hopefully provide a progressive prospective that strives to be free from cognitive dissonance.

In establishing a progressive prospective on how to frame the Palestinian-Israeli conflict we must address a) what are the values of progressives and b) how should we apply these to this unfortunate conflict. I believe progressives need to have coherent message to tell our leadership and the rest of the country and why not do it here, internally, on the Daily Kos.

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I have heard many similar reactions from people who have visited Washington D.C. Usually people are surprised with all the city has to offer and rave about the Smithsonian Museums. However, most people usually mention something that they didn't expect, the amount of homeless people right inside their nation's capital.

Having lived in the District for five years, encountering homeless people here is an every day occurrence.  Usually when I pass by a homeless person I am asked if I have any spare change. Sometimes I give money, other times I don't but whenever I don't give any money I feel guilty or at least bad for the situation of the person.  After this impulse arises a series of questions and justifications for contributing money or just staring straight ahead and going about my daily business.

More...

Earlier this month Mrs Pastor posted a diary which informed many of us that it was Mental Health Awareness Month.  She wrote about the issue of stigmas attached to mental health concerns, and she mentioned how:

I thought that diary was great, and I am glad so many people shared their stories.

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As one who values the ability of discourse to broaden our understanding and strengthen our hope for a better future, I have been increasingly frustrated with the media's portrayal of the right as pro-Israeli and the left as anti-Jewish. So the purpose of this diary is to state my position as a progressive, or rather a cosmopolitan, and explain the pitfalls of this description and the logic of the right.

One pattern that I can not help but notice is that many American intellectuals associated with the Left seem to have an approach to history and politics in which they look at the big picture, bring all the cards to the table, and then make a judgment concerning how to interpret this picture and which policy to adopt to remedy the ills of history. On the other hand, I see conservative writers focusing on a few historic facts which seek to only glorify America and fit within their ideology.

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I have spent time living in both Boston and Washington D.C.  When I studied political science in Washington, I noticed that much of the discourse in my classes had a Democrat versus Republican nature. There were a few students in classes that had views that could be called socialist but most of the discourse coming from the students on the left was quite moderate (economically, foreign policy, even historically).  I was surprised by the deficit of exposure to historical events that have been omitted from high school text books and opinions not shared in The New York Times.

However, in Boston I noticed that were more people who were exposed to histories and perspectives that were void from mainstream media and culture. The only problem was that it seemed that some in this population would then subsequently only "argue in bumper stickers"; the discourse would be limited to the ideas of the radicals, but there seemed to little talk about the actual facts of current policies and events, which the Democrat minded population often knows so well. More...

When I think why many people are Democrats, progressives, liberals, I think the common denominator is perhaps compassion. While compassion alone may not be a rallying word to persuade the masses to put down their Big Macs and stir fry some tofu, I think it is a starting place.

Vegans and vegetarians, like Democrats perhaps, develop their convictions from various experiences and different perspectives. I know some vegetarians who avoid meat for strictly environmental purposes; the amount of waste and filth produced by factory farms is enough of a reason for them to change their diet.  Some people believe that animals are not a means for human consumption and exploitation but an ends in themselves (the new Pope has emphasized the existence of an animal soul).  Others, view the issue from a utilitarian perspective of reducing suffering and promoting happiness.