It's a gorgeous spring day here in Brooklyn, with the sun shining, daffodils pushing toward the sky, and the temperature considering hitting seventy. It's the kind of day that makes you want to ride your bike. (Unless you're Samo and contentedly lying on a catnip toy.)

That's just what our friend Josh Hooten (from Herbivore!) is going to do. Next month he's leaving Portland on only two wheels and heading 600 miles South to Farm Sanctuary in Orland, CA.

Why on earth would someone want to ruin a perfectly nice spring bike ride by making it last 600 miles? Josh says that it's to celebrate his ten years of practicing veganism. A visit to Farm Sanctuary is what helped him take the leap those many years ago.

If you feel so inclined, you can sponsor Josh's ride—he's trying to raise $10,000 for Farm Sanctuary, and is more than half way there.

You can read all about "Team Herbivore" on Josh's blog, where the tagline is "Low Class, Sore Ass." (I want to know what you can expect when you click on that link!)

And, if you're a Facebooker, which I assume must be an accepted term by now, you can become a fan of the Farm Sanctuary ride. While you're there, become a friend of Lantern!

I have nothing new to offer on the topic of this day, this anniversary. The train this morning was filled with people remembering where they were, how they experienced it. And the papers are full of the sorrows that remain, and the wars still being waged using 9-11 as some sort of "reasoning."

I have nothing new to offer, but knowing the significance of this day to so many people around the globe, I offer links to others, who have been able to put words, images, videos and numbers together.

• Baghdad Burning



• September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows


• Six Years of 9/11 as a License to Kill


• Here is New York: Remembering 9/11


• Iraq War Images Uncensored by AfterDowningStreet.org
  ***WARNING: These are extremely difficult!


• Iraqi Casualties and American Casualties in Iraq


• Veterans Against the Iraq War


• Quiet candlelight vigil in Union Square

Support the NYU dining hall's monthly vegan nights. Here's the latest, via SEAL, NYU's animal rights club:

NYU's all you can eat vegan buffet night is this Thursday and will
feature a Thanksgiving theme. Stop by and eat all the tofu turkey,
stuffing and potatoes you can handle, in addition to their regular
pizza, nuggets and salad bar. The buffet is only $9 and is open to
everyone, not just students.

WHEN: Thursday, Nov. 16, 4:30-8pm
WHERE: Hayden Dining Hall, 33 Washington Square West

Just a note to say thank you to all of those (about thirty in all) who showed up to hear Heather Rogers and Elizabeth Royte talk about trash and our disposal of it at our Lantern/Satya sponsored event a week ago. Heather and Elizabeth accurately showed the complexities of a society that values disposability and collective amnesia over conservation and the successful long-term handling of our natural resources. In fitting celebration, Lantern managed to make the event zero waste, which was, really, the least we can do.

Lantern is planning an event on Sudan for June, although we haven't confirmed who's going to speak or where it's going to be yet. But visit this blog page and our events page frequently and we'll be sure to let you know as soon as we do!

Yours truly, as well as Satya editor Catherine Clyne, current staffer Mo Wyse, Lawrence Carter-Long, writer Mia MacDonald, and former Lanternite Anne Sullivan, found ourselves among some bold-face names yesterday at the launch party for the newly reconstituted Jivamukti Yoga Center, now located only a few asanas away from Lantern's offices on Broadway between 13th and 14th streets.

Long-time yogi Sting was there with his partner, fellow activist Trudi Styler, as was Julia Butterfly Hill. Also present was Ingrid Newkirk of PETA, vegan hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons and his on-again-off-again wife Kimora Lee, Karen Dawn of Dawnwatch, Dan Piraro and Ashley Lou Smith, and our very own Mark Whitwell. Also spotted among the crowd were actors Matthew Modine and Elizabeth Barkley, writer Jack Kornfield, and Asha Puthli, probably the foremost exponent of Indian song today.

En-chanting entertainment was provided by mantra rock stars Krishna Das and Michael Franti. Sharon Gannon and David Life, the co-founders of Jivamukti, and authors of a book that Lantern distributes, also introduced folks to Dharma Mittra, who performed yoga to the adoring crowd. Jivamukti Yoga Center now has a vegan juice and snack bar run by Matthew Kenney, founder of Pure Food and Wine, and more accommodating space for you to stretch and hang. It's the perfect place to call Om.

Satya magazine is hosting three events in May that Lanternites (yes, you are a Lanternite, like it or not!) might be interested in attending.

On Wednesday, May 3, British actor Mat Fraser will compere "Born Freak: An Evening with Mat Fraser," in which he will explore why disabled performers like himself survived by working in freak shows, traveling in carnivals across the U.K. and the U.S. This is a copresentation of DisThis! and Satya. Info: 6:30-9 pm (screening starts at 7 pm). DCTV, 87 Lafayette St (between Walker & White Sts). 2 blocks South of the Broadway Canal Street subway stop. RSVP: 212-251-4092. Learn more about the film: http://www.disthis.org/BornFreak.htm.

Satya's May issue will explore all aspects of trash. You're invited to attend a party on Thursday, May 18, with Satya and Recycle This! in celebrating the many voices and resources combating NYC's disposable culture. Enjoy light refreshments and mingle with activists and members of the Satya staff at this fun, educational, waste-free party. Info: 6:30-8:30 pm, Time's Up! 49 E. Houston (between Mott & Mulberry Sts). Info: www.satyamag.com; 718-832-9557.

Then on Tuesday, May 23, there's a film screening of Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage, a 19-minute documentary by Heather Rogers that explores the history and politics of garbage. Discussion panel to follow. This is presented by Satya and us, Lantern Books! Info: 6:30-8:30 pm, Whirlwind Creative Gallery, 330 W. 38 St (between 8 & 9 Aves), Suite 511. For more about the film and panel, click here or see our Events page.

On Tuesday evening, twenty-six folks gathered at Whirlwind Creative's gallery to discuss the issue of disability and the media. The event was sponsored by Lantern, Media Rights, and the Disabilities Network of New York City. You can read more about it here.

During the evening, I mentioned the statue of Alison Lapper currently sitting on a plinth (she's in the upper left-hand corner next to the fountain) in Trafalgar Square in London. As you'll notice, Alison is not your usual political hero or member of the Royal Family, whose statues adorn that part of London. First of all, she's female, she's pregnant, and she's naked, and, as far as I know, did not subdue any enemies of Britain's centuries-long Imperial "project."

She also has no arms and has stunted legs, and, when the statue was put in Trafalgar Square it immediately generated controversy, not least, perhaps, because people were unused to seeing disability portrayed in such monumental form. That was until somebody pointed out that Admiral Lord Nelson, Britain's greatest sailor, whose Column towers over Trafalgar Square, had only one eye and one arm.

Just in case you didn't see the event listed on the calendar posted on our home page, I wanted to remind you about this month's free Lantern film screening. It's tonight at 6:30pm in the Whirlwind Creative Gallery (at 330 West 38th Street, btw 8th & 9th Aves, Suite 511, NYC).

With the help of folks at the Disabilities Network of NYC and MediaRights and the support of Whirlwind Creative, we'll screen Fast and Reliable and The Kids Are All Right. After the screenings, Lawrence Carter-Long, DNNYC Network Co-ordinator will moderate a discussion on the idea of challenging the "charity mentality" in light of the portrayal of disability in the media.

I apologize for the late notice, but there's a great conference on community supported agriculture (CSA) going on Saturday April 8 at the Columbia University campus. Just Food is presenting a CSA in NYC Mini-Conference. The conference offers great workshops, a lunch with CSA farmers, and the opportunity to pow-wow with folks in the NYC community.

Workshops highlights include:

• CSA as part of the Community: Learn how to get more people involved in your CSA.
• The Complete CSA Experience: Explore ways to expand what your CSA offers.
• Food Education at Your CSA: Bring cooking demos to your CSA to help members figure what to do with those new veggies.
• CSA Kids: Get the next generation involved.
• Explore the Bigger Picture: Organic Labeling from a Consumer’s, Producer’s and Activist’s Perspective.

Don't miss the fun cocktail party/ CSA City Fair that will follow at 4:30pm! It'll feature some great food from local restaurants, including Counter.

If you'd like to attend, please RSVP before noon today either online, by email, or by phone (212-645-9880, x221 or x233).

Lantern's next event will be a screening followed by discussion of images of the disabled in the media. If you want to prep yourself beforehand, here are a couple of events featuring Lantern friend Lawrence Carter-Long that you may want to check out.

First, on April 3, from 10 am to 12 pm (with lunch to follow) join Lawrence in a panel discussion on humor and disability, as part of the Columbia University Disability Studies group. The location is the appropriately named Alfred Lerner Hall, Broadway Room (enter Columbia at 115th St. and Broadway. Follow path and take the first right to building entrance). You need to RSVP to guarantee a seat.

Secondly, join Lawrence, the Disabilities Network of NYC and ConnecTV at "disTHIS!" the launch of a new monthly film series devoted to demystifying disability. It's on Wednesday, April 5 at the ConnecTV studios at DCTV, 87 Lafayette St (between Walker and White), from 6:30 to 9pm.

Friend of Lantern, food security activist, and Brooklyn-based writer Anna Lappe is going on the road with Brooklyn-based chef Bryant Terry of b-healthy to promote their new book, Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen.

Grub is a practical and inspirational book on bringing healthy, organic, bioregional food to inner city communities quite literally starved of good food for decades. So, check out a copy, and wherever you are in North America over the next few weeks, stop by and say "hello" to Anna and Bryant. Oh yes, and buy their book! You can see the schedule here.

Twenty-five people joined us at Whirlwind Creative gallery on Tuesday night for a screening of The Future of Food, Deborah Koon Garcia's 2005 film on the dark side of genetically modified foods. Everyone had questions and comments for panelists Sangamithra Iyer and Emanuel Goldman. Sangamithra, who is Assistant Editor of Satya magazine and a licensed professional civil engineer with a focus in geoenvironmental issues, offered both local and global perspectives of the dangerous social-political impact of genetic engineering. Emanuel, who is a Professor of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics at New Jersey Medical School, had a slightly different perspective. He welcomed the possibilities that genetic engineering offered vegans, like the potential for a casein free of animal products.

The screening was the third installation of the monthly film series organized and hosted by Lantern at the Whirlwind Creative gallery. Next month on Aprl 18th, we'll join forces with the Disabilities Network of NYC and MediaRights to bring you a couple of films on the presentation of disability in the media. To stay informed, use the banner on the top of the page to sign up for our NYC Events mailing list.

Action Against Hunger is hosting a free screening of Heart of the Congo, a documentary which chronicles how a handful of AAH aid workers try to help Congolese refugees who have lost everything at the end of a war. Following the screening, a panel discussion will take place focused on ways to bring water and food to women and children during times of crisis. Click here for more info.

Tuesday March 14th, 6pm at The Katie Murphy Amphitheatre, 27th Street & 7th Ave, 1st Floor of Building D, NYC. RSVP here

I'm reposting this, because it's important:

New Yorkers Support South Dakotans and Oppose Abortion Bans!

As you probably know, South Dakota has just banned abortions in all cases except if the woman's life is endangered. There is no exception for rape, incest, or if the woman's short- or long-term physical or psychological health is endangered. There is no exception for broken condoms or missed pills. There is no exception for a women's right to control her body, her fertility, and her own life.

Come join with other furious New Yorkers and show that we won't stand by as our rights are taken away state by state. There will be an impromptu protest on the 14th St. steps of Union Square (across the street from the Whole Foods) tonight at 6:30pm! Unaffiliated with any organization, we are just a group of concerned New Yorkers who can't stand by and do nothing.

You may also want to check out Planned Parenthood's Take Action page.

PS: Bill Napoli--because unless you're a religious virgin, you deserve to get raped.

I just found out that my favorite band in the entire world, PIG, is touring North America this summer.

After pinching myself repeatedly, I discovered that I was not, in fact, dreaming.

The last actual Pig show was five years ago, and the last US tour was nine years ago. And I'm pretty sure this is the first tour that Pig is headlining... ever.

Pig makes really brilliant, beautiful, witty, dark, and disturbing "industrial" music. I've spent the past year trying to collect his huge back-catalog of work via eBay (my fellow Lanternites have been wondering why I keep getting so many packages...). I hadn't even dared to dream of something so wonderful as a tour.

I really do think I just died and went to heaven.