Haven't been paying much attention to this issue lately; is there evidence that Sea World is abusing animals, or is it just that they are kept in captivity and that whole deal, or something else?

I don't really know. According to Blackfish the documentary, in the "live animal show" industry:

-The abuse starts when they capture the animals. Killer whales stay in the same social group for years, sometimes their whole lives, and they are relentlessly pursued so that they can be forcibly removed from that group, and they know it has happened and so does their mother and the rest of the group.

-Almost any captivity is abuse. They are confined to very tight quarters, particularly at night when the tourists can't see them. They go into a small steel box, too small to even turn around in, and are kept in total darkness all night. They live to perform, for applause and a mouthful of fish.

-Rebellious animals are separated from the others and they gradually go mad from loneliness and boredom. They're supposedly very intelligent and possibly more emotionally intelligent than humans. (I'd say their attempts to murder their trainers are possibly just an attempt to communicate that something is seriously wrong with their lives in captivity.)

Does that apply to Sea World, or smaller zoos and aquariums?

"SeaWorld has been facing strong opposition for some time from animal rights activists like PETA and others, which not long ago culminated in a controversial and strongly anti-SeaWorld documentary titled Blackfish in July of 2013. In the film, the park is criticized for practices and incidents, including trainer and audience safety accidents, and the use of an Orca that killed a trainer." http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Calif...nvestor-Lawsuit

Not sure I believe much of what PETA says...

Dolls named Annabelle.....
Beaotches be cray cray!

Cash-register receipts, because ink made from an endocrine disruptor. I imagine the same applies to ATM receipts.

http://theweek.com/article/index/205472/cash-register-receipts-too-toxic-to-touch

CYM, if I may be so bold (and sorry if I missed the answer to this question amongst the insanity of this thread), are you married?
If so, does your SO share these fears/concerns/quirks/eccentricities?

significant others can kill you

^^ as evidenced by the show Snapped.

“Ain't no sense worryin' about the things you got control over, 'cause if you got control over 'em, ain't no sense worryin'. And ain't no sense worryin' about the things you don't got control over, 'cause if you don't got control over 'em, ain't no sense worryin'.”


--Mickey Rivers

Yes. Yes, many of them.

There's nothing to worry about, except whether you're sick or well. If you're well, you've got nothing to worry about. If you're sick, your only worry is if you're going to live or die. If you live, there's nothing to worry about. If you die, the only thing to worry about is if you're going to heaven or [censored]. If you go to heaven, there's nothing to worry about. If you go to [censored], you'll spend so much time greeting your old friends, you won't have time to worry. So don't worry.

Aerosol cooking spray, because contains propellant, a neurotoxin. Mmm, nothing else gives home-cooked food the flavor of rocket fuel quite like a little blast of cooking spray on the nonstick pan.

“Similarly, cooking spray, which is made from various types of oils combined with lecithin (an emulsifier), may use nitrous oxide as a propellant; other propellants used in cooking spray include food-grade alcohol and propane.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrous_oxide
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lecithin

Comply - do you just look for this stuff all day?

No. Unfortunately I could have come up with this entire list (minus the links) given a blank sheet of paper and a pencil, and about 20 to 30 minutes' time.

The average kitchen sponge, because much dirtier than your average public restroom seat.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/articl...-PARALYSIS.html
http://webcenters.netscape.compuserve.co.../kitchensponges

I actually agree with this one and try to limit my use of sponges.

Be sure to visit Happy's poll on page 2 of this thread.

all you have to do is nuke the sponge before you use it.
Learned it from my sil who does it every time he's going to wash dishes. Yes...he washes the pots and pans that don't fit in the dishwasher and all the delicate stuff that shouldn't go in.

Sponges creep me out.

I find sponges less offensive than dishrags...no idea why. I do, however, include the sponge in the dishwasher load every time it gets run and nuke it every couple days in between DW runs.

I have to say, I thought that I was germaphobic, but CYM you have me beat by a mile. I wonder how you leave your house everyday!

The Packers game play last Sunday nearly killed me.