This is Máxima Acuña de Chaupe. She who won the 2015 Goldman Environmental Prize, and her campaigning has been recognized internationally. She has also been beaten by police, harassed, and suffered years of violence and intimidation for her efforts to stop the construction of an open-pit gold mine on her land in Northern Peru.
Sadly, stories like this are only becoming more common. [click to continue…]
Punk rock has probably been the single most powerful influence on my life. I grew up in Texas, in what was (at the time) a pretty small town. Reading liner notes, picking up zines or AK Press bookmobile books from shows, and finding political punk completely changed me. I devoured everything I could get my hands on, and ordered plenty of records blindly just because I knew they were political. I never really cared about fashion or “the scene”; what was most radical to me about punk rock was that some bands weren’t just angry, they were articulating why they were angry and saying I had a right to feel that way, too.
When Old Lines approached me about working together on a project, we immediately were on the same page about all this, and started talking about records that influenced us. Stuff like the Man is the Bastard split with Mumia Abu-Jamal, Propagandhi’s use of Noam Chomsky lectures in their song “The State Lottery,” and the split 7″ I did with Rise Against, “The Eco-Terrorist In Me.”
The guys from Old Lines proposed doing something a bit different, though, and I’m really proud with how it all turned out. [click to continue…]
Undercover investigations by animal protection groups have completely changed the national discussion about food. By working on factory farms and documenting egregious animal cruelty, and also standard farming practices, these investigations shine a spotlight on what the agriculture industry wants to keep hidden from consumers.
One of these investigators, Mike Wolf, spent almost four years working in animal agriculture and documenting animal cruelty. His investigations include hog farm suppliers to Smithfield and Hormel, which combined, have resulted in dozens of criminal cruelty charges. Mike is now the Investigations Manager at Compassion Over Killing, where he oversees investigative efforts into meat, dairy, and egg facilities.
I sat down with Mike talk about what he’s learned as an investigator, what changes these investigations have created, and what’s next in light of new ag-gag laws criminalizing these whistleblowers. [click to continue…]
“What I am about to show you is very difficult to experience; once you have been inside, there’s no turning back, ” narrates Jose Valle just before he walks you into a pig farming facility in Mexico. “This is your last chance to leave.”
The ominous warning marks the beginning of a new documentary investigation by Animal Equality, an animal protection organization, and Condition One, a virtual reality production company. The film, Factory Farm, premiered at Sundance Film Festival, but is seen here for the first time.
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