Jaydn Cole

My heart swelled with joy when I saw the first cactus. I said ‘hello’ to every one of them, and, considering there were a million, it took a while.

American artist Jan Ironside’s signature impasto technique is immediately recognizable in her flower portraits. With the use of vibrant and complimentary colors, Ironside uses her palette knife to create texture and a mesmerizing 3D quality to each piece. By thickly layering oil paint and using different shades of light and dark, the artist is able to create dimension on a flat surface to an extremely delicate and dainty subject.

“I can’t be vegan, I love cheese”

Dairy industry is as evil as meat. No less harm for animals. Does it look natural that calf can’t drink milk so you can taste your piece of cheese? 

That calf is wearing a nose tag. Nose tags are put on calves so that they are able to stay with their mothers longer, but are unable to nurse. They don’t NEED to nurse as they get older, they just get greedier and pushier and will bash up the cow’s udder and bruise it with their noses.

This nose-tag is so that calves can stay with their mothers, their mothers can remain pain-free and healthy, and nobody is stressed.

Also, nose tags like that one don’t go through the cow’s septum.  They basically work like those fake septum rings for humans.

In addition to weaning the calves, another use for nose tags is protecting non-lactating cows.  Sometimes weanlings or even adult cows will suck on themselves or other non-lactating cows; this can cause internal teat scarring bad enough to prevent that teat or teats from ever working.  I’ve seen this happen, and it’s ugly, probably at least somewhat painful, and, if bad enough, would lead to the cow being slaughtered at a very young age because she can’t produce milk, has chronic mastitis, and/or can’t be milked with automatic milking equipment.  So, nose tags actually prevent animal cruelty.

Also that if you really want good quality beef/pork/eggs/milk/etc you don’t abuse your animals. Ever. That’s not the point and if you want to make any kind of money off your career choice, you are going to treat those creatures better than you treat yourself. You’ll call a vet five times for an infection in your herd before you visit the hospital for a missing foot on your own leg. 

Longest Walk 5 – War on Drugs Arrives in Palm Springs

Native youth declaring war on drugs in Indian Country Published February 18, 2016 PALM SPRINGS – Into its sixth day, the Longest Walk 5 – Was passed through on Thursday morning, February 18, 2016, in Palm Springs with some 125 people as it walks across America to declare war on drugs usage among American Indians. Flags representing various tribal nations walk through Palm Springs, California The…

Need a cheat sheet for wizard finance? We got you

Based on the calculations of an inspired fan, we put together a list of how many galleons you can expect to shell out to peep the next Chudley Cannons game.

Mexican Indigenous Ask Pope to Apologize for Massive Genocide

The Purepechas of Michoacan released a statement asking Pope Francis to apologize for the killing of 24 million Indigenous people.

The Supreme Indigenous Council of Michoacan, Mexico, accused the Catholic Church of being complicit in the killing of over 24 million Indigenous people. Some 30 Indigenous communities of Michoacan, Mexico, have released a statement demanding Pope Francis apologize for the genocide committed with the complicity of the Catholic Church against their people during the Spanish invasion of the Americas in the sixteenth century as well as the fact that they have been victimized for over five centuries.

“For over 500 years, the original people of the Americas have been ransacked, robbed, murdered, exploited, discriminated and persecuted,” the Supreme Indigenous Council of Michoacan said in the statement.

“Within this framework, the Catholic Church has historically been complicit and allies of those who invaded our land,” they added.

Various Purepechas communities from Michoacan demanded that the pope make a public statement apologizing for the church’s role in the genocide and ongoing disappearance of the Indigenous people of Mexico.

The council also denounced that with weapons and the help of Catholic missionaries, a culture, language, religion and other European values were imposed on the people of Mexico.

"The Bible was the ideological weapon of the Conquerors,” they added ahead of the pope’s visit to Mexico, which begins Feb. 12.

The Spanish intervention and invasion of the Americas represents one of the biggest acts of genocide in history, they said.

“The arrival of the Europeans meant the interruption and destruction of various original civilizations, which had their unique ideas and concepts of the world, our own government, writings, languages, education, religion and philosophy,” the statement added. The “European invaders” caused the death of 95 percent of the the total Indigenous population within 130 years after the unfortunate arrival of Christopher Columbus and Hernan Cortes, the council noted.

They highlighted that before the Spaniards arrived to the Mexican region, there were about 25.2 million Indigenous people, and that after 1623, less than 700,000 were left.

The pope is scheduled to visit Morelia, the capital of Michoacan, Feb. 16.