Voters decide whether animals need more space

From the Washington Post, via Los Angeles, California.

I have written a few articles in the past about the cruel and inhumane confinement that many animals on factory farms exist in. I will continue to write them until I feel the message has gotten across, and similar initiatives have passed in all fifty states.
I personally believe that battery cages, gestation crates, and veal crates, among other factory farm atrocities, are cruel and unnecessary punishment of innocent animals. Just because we're going to eat them doesn't mean we have to torture them first. I hope everyone visits Farm Sanctuary and sees what I'm talking about.
If you think I'm right about cruel confinement that's great. If you don't, that's okay too. But either way I hope you read the article, and do a little research about the humane and food safety issues behind this ballot measure.
What really rankles me is the amount of money people have put into campaigns to either support or defeat this measure. I can never understand why people throw all their money at campaigning instead of just going out and DOING the thing. With the money both sides have thrown at the problem, they could have probably gotten together and done a lot to come to some sort of compromise on the issue. Like raised the money necessary to help large-scale egg-farming operations convert from battery cages to a cage-free operation. Why do people always have to use their money to FIGHT?
Again, my personal thought, everything comes down to the consumer. If the consumer shows the operator that they want a different product, or they are willing to pay for something to be done differently, the operator will eventually have to bow to the consumer. So California voters, if you want cage-free, antibiotic-free, disease-free laying hens laying your eggs, get out the vote and tell them so.
My final thought on factory farms: I don't like'em. I believe in local economy, and supporting your local farmers, not giant corporations. For a few months now I've been getting the majority of my eggs from seven free-range hens of varying breeds we keep on our farm, and they do me just fine. However, if anyone knows the secret to getting hardboiled farm fresh brown eggs to peel cleanly, I'd be obliged to know it.

Still on my blacklist: Dairy Cow tail-docking. When will it stop?

Sarah Palin VP?!?!

You have GOT TO BE F*CKING KIDDING ME.
I go on vacation, and the world goes crazy? I figured it would survive without me for a week, at least!
What in the name of all that is holy is John McCain thinking? Palin is more of a right wing whack job than he is! The woman's track record as a Governor (an office she's only held for TWO YEARS) is appalling. Her policies on conservation atrocious. And McCain wants us to believe that he cares about Polar Bears and Wolves and the sanctity of our National Parks?
Here's what Defenders of Wildlife President Rodger Schlickeisen had to say:

Shocking Choice by John McCain

WASHINGTON-- Senator John McCain just announced his choice for running mate: Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska. To follow is a statement by Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund.

“Senator McCain’s choice for a running mate is beyond belief. By choosing Sarah Palin, McCain has clearly made a decision to continue the Bush legacy of destructive environmental policies.

“Sarah Palin, whose husband works for BP (formerly British Petroleum), has repeatedly put special interests first when it comes to the environment. In her scant two years as governor, she has lobbied aggressively to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, pushed for more drilling off of Alaska’s coasts, and put special interests above science. Ms. Palin has made it clear through her actions that she is unwilling to do even as much as the Bush administration to address the impacts of global warming. Her most recent effort has been to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove the polar bear from the endangered species list, putting Big Oil before sound science. As unbelievable as this may sound, this actually puts her to the right of the Bush administration.

“This is Senator McCain’s first significant choice in building his executive team and it’s a bad one. It has to raise serious doubts in the minds of voters about John McCain’s commitment to conservation, to addressing the impacts of global warming and to ensuring our country ends its dependency on oil.”

And I thought the Bush administration was bad! All I can say is I hope that by making this utterly idiotic choice (an obvious push to get female voters!) John McCain has just committed political suicide.

Save the wolves, don't elect Senator Pearce!

Ahh, the power of copy/paste. A letter from Defenders of Wildlife:

Dear Deborah,

Once extinct in the wild, wolves in the Southwest are struggling to survive. Just 52 wild Southwest wolves remain, making them the most endangered wolves in the world.

But for years, New Mexico Congressman Steve Pearce has led efforts to eliminate these very wolves from the wild. Now, he wants to be the state’s newest Senator -- and gain even greater power in Washington.

We can’t let this wildlife villain win.

Donate now to help us go door to door in New Mexico and educate voters about Steve Pearce’s terrible voting record against wildlife and the habitat it needs to survive.

An overwhelming majority of New Mexicans -- 7 out of 10 -- support the recovery of highly endangered Southwest wolves.

But Rep. Steve Pearce has gone to extremes to eliminate these magnificent animals from the wild. He stooped to new lows last year, spreading lies and innuendo about Southwest wolves in a failed plan to kill recovery efforts for these struggling animals.

In a Congressional hearing, Rep. Pearce even went as far as to assert that “the most provocative thing to a wolf is a baby crying or laughing” -- an outrageous claim without a shred of truth or basis in fact.

Is this the kind of person that belongs in the U.S. Senate? Together, we can help ensure that this anti-wolf extremist won’t win.

Your secure, online contribution to Defenders Action Fund will support our grassroots outreach and public education campaign to win for our wolves -- and defeat Steve Pearce -- this fall.

Already, our campaign has knocked on the doors of more than 25,000 voters in New Mexico -- and with your help we can reach our goal of 75,000 by summer’s end.

Please help us win this crucial campaign. Your support of…

$25 buys 60 door hangers to be posted in key precincts throughout the state.
$52 represents one dollar for every wild wolf left in the Southwest.
$75 pays for a canvasser’s shift to reach 80 voters in New Mexico.
$150 helps secure airtime for our hard-hitting TV ads.
Another Amount can help us win for Southwest wolves in November.

Two years ago, thousands of Defenders Action Fund supporters helped defeat Rep. Richard Pombo, the powerful chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee. It was one of the greatest victories for wildlife in decades and it sent shockwaves through Capitol Hill.

This year, you can help us do it again by defeating another wildlife villain.

Steve Pearce’s record is clear. He wants to eliminate the few remaining Southwest wolves in the wild -- and he’s willing to go to extremes to do it. But it's not just wolves threatened by Pearce's antics: his dismal votes on conservation issues earned him a 0% on Defenders Action Fund's Conservation Report Card.

Steve Pearce is wrong for New Mexico, wrong for our wildlife and wrong for the U.S. Senate.

With your help, we can expose the truth and stop Steve Pearce’s anti-wolf crusade.

Sincerely,

Rodger Schlickeisen
President
Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund

Aerial Gunning Update: Please help stop it!

I wish I had the time to keep up with my goal of four or more LG articles a month, but with spring coming and the days getting longer my own days get longer as well! Never the less, here is the latest on Alaskan Governor Palin's anti-democratic attempts to continue the aerial slaughter of wolves and bears in Alaska.
As I've mentioned before, twice in the past when it has come to a vote Alaskan voters have voted AGAINST aerial gunning, and twice they have had their decision overturned. What is the point of living in a democracy if our votes mean nothing? And horror of horrors, Governor Palin is being considered for VICE PRESIDENCY? That's it. I'm moving to Canada. Mr. McCain, you should be ashamed of yourself for even thinking a bout it! Governor Sarah Palin is a politician of the worst sort, running smear campaigns against defenseless wildlife, and secretly trying to push bills through legislature that would strip Alaskan voters of their right to weigh in on key wildlife issues such as aerial gunning! Even if you care nothing for wolves it would be wrong to allow this sort of fascist manipulation to continue.
As always you can donate to Defenders of Wildlife to help them continue to run ads exposing Governor Palin's attempts to neuter Alaskan voters, or you can simply personalize and sign this handy petition.