Dubuque, Iowa – Then and Now
Carrie Feldman
My first girlfriend lived in Dubuque, Iowa. I met her at a summer speech camp between 9th and 10th grade (yes, I was a geek), and we wrote letters for months after that. So the idea of sending a letter off to a girl in Dubuque would, until today, conjure thoughts of young love and Smiths songs.
But now, the young woman who needs a letter sent to her in Dubuque is there as a political prisoner (yes, we have them in the U.S. too). Her name is Carrie Feldman and she is only four years older than that girl to whom I sent my impassioned teenage letters. She was transferred over the weekend from her cell in Muscatine, Iowa to Dubuque County Jail where she is being held in segregation “for an unknown amount of time, on 23-hour lockdown, and she is no longer allowed visits from anyone other than immediate family.”
Her crime? She, along with Scott DeMuth, was “subpoenaed to a federal grand jury in Iowa investigating animal rights vandalism from 2004. They both refused to cooperate with the grand jury, and were put in jail. Carrie is still being held on civil contempt of court.” She’s been imprisoned since November 17, 2009.
Chalk vs. Aerial Bombardment
Will Potter at G
reen is the New Red has a quick rundown of actions the government considers terrorism and those it has called the actions of lone wolves. What would the reaction be if an animal rights activist flew a plane into a federal building to protest government subsidies of the meat industry? In the case of the Austin IRS building, government officials were quick to issue statements saying it wasn’t terrorism. But some still consider chalking sidewalks to be equivalent to 9/11.
And the most important point is that an animal rights activist would never commit such an act because harming any living being, human or non-human, is strictly forbidden by the principles of all recognized groups.
Tease Me
This is the teaser for the film that we posted to our facebook page when it was created. It’s also done its duty as a placeholder on our Coming Soon website.
This image of liberators busting through the blackness was the first image I felt really solid about when writing this draft of the script. For many weeks it was all that existed of the script as I tried to decide what would happen after they burst through that door. Funny enough, it no longer opens the film. The editing process put it a few minutes in.
Animal Acres Farm Sanctuary Gala Videos
This is the video we did for the 2009 Animal Acres Gala (in two parts). It’s a good intro to the work that farm sanctuaries do. Consider finding one in your area and volunteering or donating. Here’s a list by state -
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