Alfred Hitchcock had it right.

After two months of Gulf Coast oil spill-inspired volunteering at the seabird sanctuary and hospital, I have come to the conclusion that Hitchcock’s The Birds (story by Daphne Du Maurier) is no fiction. More probably, it is an unauthorized biography of some poor fool who thought helping birds at his or her local sanctuary was a relaxing feel-good way to fulfill civic responsibility.

No, the truth is, the birds are out to get us! Or, at least me ….

Now why would this animal loving, 2 cats in the family, avid campaigner against animal abuse and careless environmental degradation say such a thing?!?

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I thought it was an easy question ….

And after ummmmm….like …(I’m 29 … I tell ya, 29!) … 30 plus some odd years on this earth you would think that I’d know better.

Every day for going on 15 years I have spent hours focused on a constantly (r)evolving variety of human and environmental rights issues as part of my “day job.” This tends to put me in regular contact with academics, government officials, activists, specialists and others equally (and often more) focused on the issue at hand.

Most often the issues I am writing about are near and dear to my heart on a personal level as well (hence, my propensity to suddenly ejaculate massive amounts of passionate information on subjects that have little to do with the actual conversation I am having at the time). Many of my live and virtual friends find this endlessly interesting and a bit odd. As a result, I tend to attract a lot of questions and requests for explanation on issues.

That started me thinking (yes, yes, I know … that’s always a dangerous undertaking):

What does the average person know about human and environmental rights? What are the issues they think about? And then, finally, what are the issues that your average person passionately believes everyone else should also be aware of?

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A piece of positive news for the animal kingdom to close out 2009 and welcome 2010

Australian and American researchers believe they have uncovered the cause of a cancer that has decimated the world’s Tasmanian devils populations, pushing the marsupial towards extinction at a frighteningly quick rate. Scientists hope to use the information to formulate a cure in time to save the species.

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