I want buy a mug in ofa store, but I have a problem: I live in Italy, so, I don't understand what I must do.. Can I pay with euro money? Can I buy something in ofa store? Can merchandise come here, in Italy?
Thanks to everybody!!!
Me, too.
Just think...
As disabled or elderly folks, we can't always do everything we'd like - or need - to do for our critters. If we lived in a community of other animal lovers, we would have neighbors who understood our plight and could help us. Conversely, we could help them when they need it.
That's what community is all about.
Wouldn't it be great to know that, if you had to go in the hosptal, or just caught a bad cold and needed to rest for a few days, that there would be someone close by who is familiar with the care and feeding of your pets?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jul/09/climate-change-debate-human-activity
Those who haven't made the connection between climate change and human activites haven't read enough about it. Also, the oil companies propaganda has probably influened them. Propaganda is most effective when the originators have hiden where it is coming from. The Rush Limbaugh ditto heads have been given the words to say and the permission to say them. Informed people need to keep speaking up. The debate has not been won.
Just a little disclaimer and some more info about us here...
First, if you think, looking at the picture of me and my horse, that I don't look disabled, think again. That picture is nearly 10 years old, and if you look closely, I was wearing a back brace then. Since then I have had 3 cervical discs replaced with "spacers" (the FDA has not yet approved the actual disc replacements yet - see the next paren), and been diagnosed with 5 herniated lumbar discs (awaiting FDA approval of surgical techniques successfully used in Europe for years), emphysema, arthritis and a myriad of other health problems, including a TBI (traumatic brain injury) that affects my cognitive abilities.
My poor old horse ain't gettin' any younger, either. He was mildly foundered years ago, and has an arthritic shoulder from a fall we took. The last time I was on his back was to ride him to the polls, fully tricked out in banners and flags for our candidate, on Election Day 2006 to vote for Texas Governor. The 5 mile round trip was about all either of us could manage. Both our tails were dragging by the time we got home - but we made our statement!
Second, I am not noted for my tact nor my political correctness. Just to support that statement, I'll say that Jack Nicholson and Bill Mayer are two of my favorite celebrities. That should tell you something! So, if you're easily offended, you can leave - don't go away mad, just go away. Don't complain; I do enough of that all by myself!
On the other hand, if you're serious about helping elders and disabled persons obtain better living conditions, then you'll just have to overlook my abrasive personality, and look at the beauty of this plan. Yes, of course, this is a self-serving enterprise, but if I can help myself AND help others at the same time, I can die peacefully, knowing I have left a legacy of good.
Http://savingtails.blogspot.com only outlines the PAL Community; I have published more details of the plan in other places, but I'll be darned if I can remember where ... I guess I'll have to re-write it. (A mind is a terrible thing to lose.)
Finally, I am in serious need of organizational help for this project! If you have the skills and/or funds necessary to help us obtain 501c3 status, funding, grant writing, advertsing, lobbying, or just want to help by being a supporter, please join my team in groups, blogs, causes, or wherever you find me. I may post on Facebook (see Critter Link), MySpace, Twitter, and wherever else I am.. Meanwhile, you may be able to find PAL by Googling "savingtails" , "critterlink", "Critter Link" or "PAL Community".
Addendum: My keyboard is worn out and sticky, and I'm a lousy typist, so I make lots of typos that i don't always catch. Please pardon me; I do the best I can.
Mitakuye Oyasin (We are all related),
CritterLink
http://www.globalchange.gov/
13 United States Agencies agree: humans are causing global climate change.
We had a wonderful National Health Care Service Day together, raised $105 plus a waist-high box full of precious supplies for Casa De Los Ninos (a local children's transitional crisis housing center with a warm, supportive environment), saw adorable dogs sporting their Obama gear and shared from the heart about our health care stories and why we care so much!
Bo, the President's new furry companion, would have been proud of his canine brothers in Reid park!
Great job everyone! I cannot thank you enough for making this a wonderful event!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anoxic_event
We are probably headed for another anoxic event unless we intervene.
The Black Carbon Emission Act regulates soot. When soot lands at the poles it speeds up the melting of the ice caps. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-1760 It also causes health problems. Please write your rep to suppot passage of it out of the energy committee.
Having been involved in grassroots animal welfare/rescue/rights for 20+ years, I was one of those people who eagerly and anxiously awaited news on what Barack and Michelle were going to do in regards to adopting a puppy for Sasha and Malia. I was a lead dog, if you will, in pushing the idea that they should adopt a rescue and preferably a shelter dog. I was heartened by Barack's comments that HE really wanted to get a rough and tumble shelter dog. But! as usual I was careful to not just hear what I wanted to hear. I was acutely aware of the other issues President Obama laid out when discussing the new family member.
First, during the campaign, Barack always stated that he had promised the girls a puppy. A puppy. P.U.P.P.Y. Right off the bat, we knew this was going to rule out a whole lot of rescue dogs who tend to be older. This is fair enough for young girls getting their first dog. I got a puppy as a kid, too. There's something about being young and getting a young animal. You can relate to it. And you can grow up together. By the time I was 30, I started liking the idea of adopting adult dogs. They come pre-trained and you miss all that puppy teething, high energy bother.
Secondly, and really importantly, Malia has allergies, so her parents wanted to be sure she had a pet she could be close to and comfortable with. I won't argue whether or not hypo-allergenic breeds truly exist. Let's just agree that some breeds cause less allergic reactions than others. I know, for instance, that I am allergic to some cats. Not many. But occasionally I run across one that just makes me miserable. Anyway, this issue was a key issue in selection of the dog and rightly so. Consider if they chose a dog to find out later that it made Malia sick. One of three things would happen here and none of them good: Malia would have to suck it up and be miserable OR the dog would just have to not spend time with the family when Malia was present OR the dog would have to find a new home. This is a scenario that is not uncommon and all too often the dog ends up in a shelter or a back yard. (In fact, I know animals that were left behind in Katrina because a family member in the evacuation vehicle was allergic.)
Now, because of my involvement with the animal community and my involvement with the Obama campaign, people who are unhappy with the choice of Bo have felt it necessary to take this issue up with me and I have received a range of reactions from "I'm very disappointed" to "Obama broke another promise and killed a shelter dog". Well. As one who was calling for them to adopt a shelter dog, I understand a little disappointment. But I got over that pretty quickly. Look. The little guy, in my mind, IS a rescue. He didn't fit in with his first family, so he ended up with THE First Family. I hear all sorts of conspiracy theories about how this is a set up and the dog was really bred for the Obamas. I don't really buy that, but even if it were true... to harp on that would be to miss our opportunity as members of the animal welfare community. We can scream about conspiracy because we wanted a different outcome or because it feels good, but what message then are we sending when we have the platform to send a message... that this person most of our country really admires tricked us all so he could get a purebred... and if you're going to emulate him, well, then it's your turn to fake a need to get a purebred?
OR shall we point out to people the many things the first family did right in adopting a dog?
They planned ahead and waited to adopt until the family had time to train it and take care of it. They prepared the children for the responsibility that they all would need to share as they welcomed a new family member into their home. They did their research and found a breed that would suit their needs... regarding allergy issues, trainability, disposition, personality, space requirements and energy levels. They didn't go shopping around to breeders, but instead adopted an already 6 month old dog - which means half its puppihood has already passed. And they found the dog through a friend with whom they have a really close personal connection... and who has health issues of his own such that he may not be around for too long.
The standard put on this president for adopting a dog is beyond anything any other president has had to live up to pet-wise. He never promised to adopt a shelter dog, he said he hoped to get one. He advocated against puppy mills and by all accounts, this dog is not from a puppy mill. It appears to be from a responsible breeder. I won't argue whether or not responsible breeders truly exist. We will never get rid of "breeds" altogether. Dog people are forever going to like certain breeds or even need them for utilitarian purposes.
The pet overpopulation problem is not caused by breeders or breed lovers or President Obama. It is caused by unmanaged stray populations, puppy mills, irresponsible breeders and owners who do not spay/neuter their pets for reasons ranging from ignorance to laziness. Period. Dogs and cats are euthanized in the hundreds of thousands in this country because people don't know about the existing holocaust, or don't care, or because they let their animals roam freely thus allowing them to reproduce indescriminantly or land themselves with the dog catcher (which "displaces" whatever dog was previously in that kennel... a euphemism for euthanasia).
The Obamas did their due diligence and did the best they could... and didn't do half bad, I think. Give them a break. They are first time pet owners. They will learn more as they go. Like we all have had to do.
Let's shine a light on all the things they did RIGHT. Let's use this as a teaching moment instead of yet another time that the animal rights folks look like crazy zealots. I've lost enough battles and animals to know the pain of the trade. I face it everyday. But I won't blame our president for that. His family got a second hand dog that won't make their daughter sneeze or itch and made a donation to the Washington Humane Society. End of.
Welcome to your new home, Bo. May you live long and know great love.
Now let's let the president get back to solving this whole war/economy/environment thing... wherein human and non-human animals suffer and die everyday.
Here is a quote from the USA delegation!
"We are very glad to be back. We want to make up for lost time, and we are seized with the urgency of the task before us," Stern said to loud applause from the 2,600 delegates to the U.N. negotiations.
Proud of President Obama and proud to be an American! Go Obama!
I wish them the best... this world has not clue about what is the meaning of justice
please watch the report here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpksyMmSWlE
If you hate reading just watch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGITh9HPJ7g
ISRAEL ADMITS GAZA WAR CRIMES
JERUSALEM — An increasingly disturbing picture of the Israeli Defense Forces' (IDF) misconduct in the Gaza invasion has emerged as confessions from Israeli troops describe wanton destruction of Palestinian homes, humiliation of civilians, and loosened rules of engagement that resulted in high civilian casualties.
An Israeli defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to make the information public, said the IDF used 120-mm mortar rounds, among the largest, on a large group of civilians who had taken refuge for safety in a hospital. At least five blast patters indicating direct hits were found on the hospital floors.
Revelations of the IDF Gaza crimes have set off alarms in a nation where the military is revered. They also confirm Palestinian allegations that the IDF did not distinguish between civilians and combatants, and the admissions also confirmed international human rights groups' contention that Israel deliberately violated the humanitarian laws of war.
Israel launched the Gaza offensive on Dec. 27, 2008 in what it explained was an effort to end Palestinian rocket attacks in which four Israeli citizens were hit. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights, which conducted casualty count, reported a total of 1,417 people killed during the offensive, including at least 930 civilians.
Israel originally denied the findings, saying the most of the dead were legitimate targets, but offered no evidence to back up that allegation.
The Israeli government has insisted it did everything it could to prevent civilian casualties. But the IDF has now ordered a criminal inquiry into its own soldiers' reports that IDF troops deliberately targeted civilians, including children, by shooting them or by calling in air strikes, confident that the Israeli relaxed rules of war would protect them.
The inquiry is based on postwar testimony from IDF soldiers who were involved in the Israeli offensive and who were eye-witnesses. The findings were published in a military institute newsletter and leaked to two Israeli newspapers. The Haaretz daily published additional details. A transcript of the IDF soldiers' confessions was obtained by The Associated Press.
According to one account, an Israeli sniper killed a Palestinian woman and each of her two children after they misunderstood another soldier's shouted order and turned in the wrong direction. The sniper was not told that the family had just been released, and so he opened fire on them as they walked toward him.
In another account, an elderly woman was shot dead while walking alone on a road. The soldier who described the incident, identified only as "Aviv," said the woman was not a threat. "I simply felt it was murder in cold blood," Aviv said, according to the transcript. "The order was to take that woman out the moment you see her."
Aviv admitted in another instance his unit was sent to take over a house by bursting in, going up floor by floor and shooting to death anyone they saw alive.
"I call this murder," he said. "...they told us it was permissible because anyone who remained in the sector and inside Gaza City, was in effect condemned to death as a terrorist, because they hadn't yet fled." In the end, he said he managed to change the order so residents would be given five minutes to leave their homes, drawing protests from other soldiers. "Anyone who's in there is a terrorist, that's a known fact!" he quoted another soldier as saying.
(Note: The borders were closed and tenants had no place to flee to/ blogger)
In another incident, a large group of Palestinian civilians were herded into a school building and forced to stay inside "for their own safety." A few minutes later, Israeli artillery strikes were called in on the building.
Some 15,000 Palestinians packed the UN's 23 Gaza schools because their homes were destroyed, or they were designated a safe haven from the fighting. The UN had provided the IDF with GPS coordinates for all of them so they could be avoided.
The IDF reported the shelling of the school - the deadliest single episode in the first two weeks of the IDF invasion of Gaza - was a response to mortar fire from within the school building, and that Hamas militants were using the civilians as cover. The IDF had no additional comment.
During the fighting, the military acknowledged it loosened the rules of engagement aiming to reduce casualties among IDF troops.
At one point, six hundred Palestinian civilians were trapped under fire when Israeli forces refused to allow them to leave Gaza in safety.
Another soldier, "Ram", described what appeared to be a rift between secular and religious soldiers. "What I do remember in particular at the beginning was the feeling of an almost religious mission," he said.
"Their message was very clear: 'We are the Jewish people, we came to this land by a miracle. God brought us back to this land and now we need to fight to expel the gentiles who are interfering with our conquest of this holy land,'" he said.
(This kind of talk about God I find it funny/ blogger)
Earlier the IDF "severely reprimanded" an officer for distributing a religious booklet urging soldiers to show no mercy to their enemies. The army said the chief military rabbi had not yet approved it.
The published accounts revealed debate and soul-searching among the soldiers. Discussing the death of the old woman, one soldier, Zvi, said the shooting could be understood in the context of the battle zone. "Logic says she should be there," he said.
(Another funny remark about LOGIC!/ blogger)
IDF trooper Yossi said his unit was forced to clean up a home it had occupied on the same day that a Palestinian rocket wounded a mother and baby in an Israeli city. He said soldiers were unhappy, but they complied. "In the end, I was convinced it was the right thing to do," Yossi added.
(I thought Hamas' problem is that it fires rockets... it seems the real problem is that HAMAS DO NOT FIRE ROCKETS ENOUGH/ blogger)
Danny Zamir, the head of the military institute, called the discussion "instructive," but also "dismaying and depressing. You are describing an army with very low norms of value," he said.
The heavy Palestinian civilian casualties and widespread destruction during the three-week war provoked international outcry against Israel, which ceased fire on 18 Jan. 2009.
http://www.alternet.org/water/133200/breaking%3A_epa_halts_mountaintop_removal_permits/
GO OBAMA!!!! And the EPA!
Don't doubt Obama!!!!
Dove shooting legislation fails in Iowa again, WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS.
Being on the side of the doves is the right place to be.
Hi All,
Terri S. sent me this link to give spread around. I hope everyone will visit it and pass the link.
All you have to do is visit the animal rescue site and click on the box. They will donate a small amount of food to rescued animals for each click they get, and they are not getting enough clicks right now.
Please help them help animals. It's simple, quick and free, and does a world of good. Please pass on to others that might be interested in helping.
Thanks,
Terri S.
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=3
Loveya,
Duane
Dear Harold,Today Alliant Energy, parent company of Interstate Power & Light, announced it was canceling plans to build a massive coal-fired power plant in Marshalltown. The stunning announcement is a huge victory for environmental and other organizations that have been organizing for two years in an effort to halt the project.Read our news release (pdf).The Iowa Department of Natural Resources received more than 700 requests from people like you to extend the 30-day comment period and to require more than two hearing sites. DNR responded to this overwhelming outcry by extending the comment period to 90 days and adding five hearing sites. Facing the prospect of a long and drawn out comment period while the federal government is moving forward on carbon dioxide regulation pushed the project over the edge and onto the scrap heap of abandoned coal plant proposals.A very big thank you for protecting Iowa - messages from Sierra Club activists like you delivered today's victory. THANK YOU!Neila SeamanIowa Chapter Director
In a move that will subject a number of government projects to enhanced environmental and scientific scrutiny, President Obama is restoring a requirement that U.S. agencies consult with independent federal experts to determine whether their actions might harm threatened and endangered species.
The presidential memorandum issued yesterday, which marks yet another reversal of former president George W. Bush's environmental legacy, will revive a decades-old practice under the Endangered Species Act that calls for agencies to consult with either the Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on whether their projects could affect imperiled species. On Dec. 16, the Bush administration allowed agencies to waive such reviews if they decided, on their own, that the actions would not harm vulnerable plants and animals.
Obama, who visited the Interior Department to commemorate its 160th anniversary, said he had instructed Interior and Commerce Department officials to review the Bush rules. In the meantime, according to the memorandum, officials should "follow the prior longstanding consultation and concurrence practices" that call for independent reviews. "The work of scientists and experts in my administration, including here at the Interior Department, will be respected," Obama said. "With smart, sustainable policies, we can grow our economy today and preserve the environment."
