It may seem benign, but don't believe it. Pigeon racing is a deadly 'sporting' hobby in Britain, a way to have a flutter or win a modest purse, while in many other countries it is an industry. PETA affiliates recently released the findings of undercover investigations in both the US and the UK, during which investigators …

Last Thursday night at The Ebell of Los Angeles, PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk kicked off her Naked Truth U.S. speaking tour to a packed house that included Sam Simon, Jennifer Tilly, Christian Serratos, Tony Kanal, and host Kevin Nealon. And listeners were moved.

While …

Whether this new month is coming in like a lion or a lamb, March 1 was National Pig Day, which, according to its cofounder, has been set aside "to accord the pig its rightful, though generally unrecognized, place" as a smart and social animal. George Clooney and his dear departed companion pig would agree.

And …

Ordinarily, resolutions are far too ambitious. I mean, isn't it pretty unreasonable to give up chocolate, especially the kind with hazelnuts in it? And if you buy an exercise bike, chances are, before long, it's going to end up as a place to hang your laundry when the dryer is broken, or it'll be posted on Craigslist.

So, why not …

In a recent appeal to hunters to support gun control in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, NPR sports commentator Frank DeFord called hunting "a perfectly reasonable sports hobby." But not one of those placating words describes hunting accurately. A "perfectly reasonable sports hobby" is flag football or even ping pong — not a pastime …

Hope springs eternal, no matter how slim the odds. You can see that in the long lines for Powerball tickets, despite how cold it is outside in most of the 42 states where the jackpot has climbed to hundreds of millions of dollars.

No one can be blamed for wanting to win a windfall that makes Skyfall, another form of entertainment …

PETA has pushed hard over the years to reduce the sum total of suffering in the meat, dairy, and egg businesses, because to reduce suffering makes a whale of a difference if you are a pig or chicken on a factory farm, and we've stopped protests outside, say, Burger King or McDonald’s, when they've agreed to reforms that made animals …