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I include insects in my animal rights philosophy. I try to avoid accidentally stepping on insects. Also, when I find an insect in my home, I try to carefully carry the insect outside without injuring him. With regards to animal rights, the distinguishing characteristic between plants and animals is that animals possess consciousness, whereas plants do not. Although I can not prove it with absolute 100% certainty, I believe that at least certain insects are also conscious. By this, I do not mean that insects discuss philosophy, but simply that they feel sensations such as pain and hunger. For this...

Perhaps I'm being a bit presumptuous in posting this so soon after the election. Then again, it's never too early to begin the political postmortems. Especially when we have a genuinely solid candidate for the twelth district of New York who will be running once again for the same seat, which is currently held by the underwhelming Nydia Velasquez. I was thinking of turning this thread into sort of a travelogue-in fact, "Cacique" already has a series of neat digital photos that he captured while we were on the campaign trail-detailing the myriad adventures, debates and amazing encounters that I've...