BOB LINDEN of www.GoVeganRadio.com asks:

Can Lierre (Liar?) Keith read?

See her try to read from her book of lies "Vegetarian Myth"
- this Thursday, 7:30PM, Pegasus Books,  2349 Shattuck, Berkeley

I will be out of town and cannot attend. If  YOU do, could you please email me
any information about what she claims to be the basis for any of her anti-vegan
propaganda, any studies, any "science", any whatever...

Bob@...

Please plan to attend the KPFA board meeting December 5 (location to be
announced) to protest the station's lack of free speech and its censorship of
vegan, animal rights, and environmental programming, while presenting anti-vegan
propaganda  - this book -as a premium prize for donating to the station.

If you want to support a voice for the animals in the media embracing vegan
issues, improved human health, and environmental sustainability - instead of
donating to KPFA, please make a tax-deductible donation to GO VEGAN RADIO, a
project of 501c3 International Humanities Center. Donate online, or get details
at www.GoVeganRadio.com

Jill Vickerman has just read and signed the petition: Justice for Dusty!

You can view this petition at: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/tell-a-friend/5929035

Message from Jill Vickerman:
-----

Please sign the petition "Justice for Dusty!". There are some very sick human beings out there...

ThePetitionSite.com provides tools and empowers individuals to make a difference and effect positive change through online activism. Get connected with the causes you care about, take action to make the world a better place, and start your own petition at http://www.ThePetitionSite.com!

ThePetitionSite.com is powered by Care2, the largest and most trusted information and action site for people who care to make a difference in their lives and the world. www.care2.com

An Ahimsa ThanXgiving - Fast  2009

Namaste

Oh, no! Here it comes again!
Those dreaded holidays where Vegans "waffle" between:

A) Going to a family get-together and literally suffer through hours of staring
at dead carcasses, watching as others gulp down – not chewing – these abused
souls;
B) Going to a family get-together and endure all those not so casual comments
about anti-Veganism;
C) Not going to these gatherings and trying to arrange a dinner for like-minded
folks;
D) Not going to these gatherings and staying by themselves with their Tofurkeys;
E) Not going to these gatherings and wondering if we hurt the feelings of
unconcerned/uncaring humans;
F) Not going to the dinners, but arriving afterwards for “dessert;�
G) Any other actions you wish to fill-in;
H) Not going to these gatherings and fasting.

That’s right! I said FASTING.

I will be fasting this ThanXgiving again - this has been a tradition since 1998.
I hope some list members will be joining me on this day of torture, death,
greed, selfishness and debauchery by doing the same.

My fast is in HONOR/REMEMBERENCE/REVERENCE of the MILLIONS of animals that are
tortured and abused, then slaughtered just for this one (1) day alone in the
U.S.

I am not discussing one (1) day fasts. My fasts run from Wednesday until Sunday.

Fasting achieves numerous benefits. It is a wonderful way to clean out the body
as far as health is concerned.

Spiritually, it also cleanses the soul.

Originally, fasting was used to 'get closer to a higher being.'

It was also used to rid sick bodies of diseases. This was copied from watching
animals when they are ill.
They either eat greens or nothing at all.

Modern times has shown fasting to be a form of protest.
Gandhi also used fasting to bring his point across.

My fasting tradition has came about when I could no longer go to family
gatherings for this 'holiday' and sit around a table infested with dead carcass
and by-products.
Even the 'religious' holidays were laughable as we traipsed to our building of
worship only to march back to a home full of death, abuse and chemical
irresponsibility.

Previous years had folks pointing out that this is a time for family and friends
getting-together to show their love and thankfulness.
But, who needs a "Hallmark" holiday for this occasion?
We can get together the other 364 days of the year without the excuse of a
'holiday.'

I have had numerous opportunities to join like-minded folks for a holiday feast,
but prefer to not look upon this holiday as a festive occasion. Why? Because it
also represents false facts throughout American history. Native Americans were
thwarted into slavery and near-annihilitation by the 'white man' in the name of
'god.' Recent findings are coming out that there was no turkey - or even any
kind of 'meat' - at the dinner; only fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains.

Then, back to modern times, it always bothered me that after these dinners, the
male attendees would gather together in front of a television set to watch the
bloodsport known as 'football,' leaving the women (slaves again to the 'white
man') to clean up and watch
after the children.

You are invited and welcome to join my discussion
list:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SoFlaVegans/
[We are really more like an informational "newspaper" with at least 25 postings
daily!]

Starting soon (way before "ThanXgiving") there will appear articles, information
and guides about the history and hypocrisy of ThanXgiving, as well as how to
cope with the upcoming holidays (Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Xmas, New Year's).
Additionally, you will find ways to fast safely and wisely.
For those who wish to “celebrate� and not fast, you will find literally
hundreds of recipes and tips, as well!

As we ready ourselves for Fur-Free Friday, I wish everyone who is willing to
“take the plunge� the best of luck in a successful and quick fast, and may
all of our efforts pay off!

= = = = = = = = = =

Here are my other discussion lists that also contain tons of information in each
of their categories – DAILY!!!
Please research the message archives for information you are seeking and what
you have missed:

Everything Yoga!
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Yoga-With-Nancy/

American Sign Language and Deaf Culture
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SignSoFla/

Alternative Schooling Within The School System
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SoFlaSchools/

Om Shanti

Live Simply So That
Others May Simply Live
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Yoga-With-Nancy/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SignSoFla/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SoFlaVegans/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SoFlaSchools/

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49260

ECONOMY-US: "Green" Jobs Should Be Black and Brown Too
By Haider Rizvi

NEW YORK, Nov 13 (IPS) - The Barack Obama administration's drive to promote a
"green" economy is not working in the interest of poor people in the United
States, especially those who belong to minority communities, according to a new
study by a leading think tank.

"The communities of colour are hardest hit [by joblessness]," said Terry
Keleher, who co-authored the report, "Green Equity Toolkit: Standards and
strategies for advancing race, gender and economic equality in the green
economy".

"They can benefit from the emerging green economy. But that is not happening,"
he told IPS.

The report, released this week by the Oakland, California-based Applied Research
Center, says that a vast majority of green jobs are being filled by white men,
even though there is no scarcity of talent among people of colour and women of
all ethnicities.

According to Keleher's findings, which he concluded in collaboration with his
colleague Yvonne Liu, African Americans and Latinos comprise less than 30
percent of those employed in green industries and economies.

"Gender disparities are even starker," said Liu, who found that African American
women are employed in only 1.5 percent of the energy sector workforce. The
numbers are even worse as far as Asian and Latino women are concerned. Their
share in jobs stands at 1.0 and 0.7 percent, respectively.

The term "green economy" refers to businesses that care about environmental
protection, energy efficiency, preservation of biodiversity, community
self-reliance, and sustainable development.

Soon after taking office in the White House last January, President Obama
declared that his administration was determined to boost green businesses across
the nation, creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs throughout the country.

Last February, the Obama administration earmarked 200 billion dollars of the
787-million-dollar American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for creating green
jobs programmes.

Keleher and Liu decided to investigate whether those 200 billion dollars have
made a difference in the lives of poor U.S. citizens, and found it a harder task
than they had anticipated.

"Tracking funds from the Recovery Act has proven to be difficult, because there
is no centralised, authoritative source of where the money is going to and what
it's being used for," Liu told IPS.

The act does not require recipients to stipulate race and gender in their data.

However, the report's authors said their findings regarding recovery allocations
by race, gender and class are "troubling". A sample of their analysis shows that
the funds are not reaching those hardest hit by the recession.

The report mentions several cases where both the authorities and recipients
seemed to lack concern for compliance with U.S. anti-discrimination laws. In
Florida, for example, African Americans received only about two percent of the
total contracts. Latinos got six percent, and women received less than two
percent.

Amid the lingering economic recession, the U.S. unemployment rate has jumped
over to more than 10 percent. On Thursday, President Obama publicly acknowledged
that unemployment has continued to climb despite relative economic growth in the
past three months.

"The economic growth that we've seen has not yet led to the job growth that we
desperately need," Obama said. "This is one of the great challenges." He has
invited corporate officials, economists and labour leaders to take part in an
upcoming summit on job creation.

According to the U.S. Labour Department, currently, nearly 16 million people are
unemployed. The centre's research shows that a vast majority are people of
minority communities.

One recent study by the Economic Policy Institute shows that with regard to
poverty rates this year, Latinos and Asians have shown marked increases by 1.6
and 1.4 percent. Last year, about one-third of all Black and Latino children
lived in poverty. Millions of single mothers are also suffering from joblessness
and hardship.

Both Keleher and Liu argue that the Obama administration should continue its
quest for economic recovery and the efforts to promote a green economy. But,
they insist that such efforts are not likely to produce positive results if
millions of jobless people from minority communities are not offered equal
opportunities.

The authors prepared a comprehensive guide for policymakers, labour leaders and
community activists to work together to help the new administration devise a
more equitable policy on job creation in green industries.

They hold that green jobs must be well-paid and contribute directly to
preserving or enhancing environmental quality. "If a job improves the
environment, but doesn't provide a family supporting wage or career ladder to
move low-income workers into higher-skill occupations, it's not a green-collar
job," said Liu.

She notes with concern that many green companies are behaving the same as
traditional firms whose profit is mainly derived from low labour costs. "The
hourly wage for a green job can be as low as 8.25 dollars [per hour]," said Liu,
"which what one Los Angeles recycling centre pays its workers."

Keleher thinks that this situation can be overcome if policymakers, labour
leaders, and community activists decide to work in unison to create sustainable
and equitable models for economic development, employment and the environment.

"We believe that race and gender equity would not happen by chance," he told
IPS. "It requires continuous attention and concrete actions."

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/30841581/climate_rage/
Climate Rage
The only way to stop global warming is for rich nations to pay for the damage
they've done - or face the consequences
NAOMI KLEIN Posted Nov 11, 2009 8:29 AM

One last chance to save the world — for months, that's how the United Nations
summit on climate change in Copenhagen, which starts in early December, was
being hyped. Officials from 192 countries were finally going to make a deal to
keep global temperatures below catastrophic levels. The summit called for "that
old comic-book sensibility of uniting in the face of a common danger threatening
the Earth," said Todd Stern, President Obama's chief envoy on climate issues.
"It's not a meteor or a space invader, but the damage to our planet, to our
community, to our children and their children will be just as great."

That was back in March. Since then, the endless battle over health care reform
has robbed much of the president's momentum on climate change. With Copenhagen
now likely to begin before Congress has passed even a weak-ass climate bill
co-authored by the coal lobby, U.S. politicians have dropped the superhero
metaphors and are scrambling to lower expectations for achieving a serious deal
at the climate summit. It's just one meeting, says U.S. Energy Secretary Steven
Chu, not "the be-all and end-all."

As faith in government action dwindles, however, climate activists are treating
Copenhagen as an opportunity of a different kind. On track to be the largest
environmental gathering in history, the summit represents a chance to seize the
political terrain back from business-friendly half-measures, such as carbon
offsets and emissions trading, and introduce some effective, common-sense
proposals — ideas that have less to do with creating complex new markets for
pollution and more to do with keeping coal and oil in the ground.

Among the smartest and most promising — not to mention controversial — proposals
is "climate debt," the idea that rich countries should pay reparations to poor
countries for the climate crisis. In the world of climate-change activism, this
marks a dramatic shift in both tone and content. American environmentalism tends
to treat global warming as a force that transcends difference: We all share this
fragile blue planet, so we all need to work together to save it. But the
coalition of Latin American and African governments making the case for climate
debt actually stresses difference, zeroing in on the cruel contrast between
those who caused the climate crisis (the developed world) and those who are
suffering its worst effects (the developing world). Justin Lin, chief economist
at the World Bank, puts the equation bluntly: "About 75 to 80 percent" of the
damages caused by global warming "will be suffered by developing countries,
although they only contribute about one-third of greenhouse gases."

Climate debt is about who will pick up the bill. The grass-roots movement behind
the proposal argues that all the costs associated with adapting to a more
hostile ecology — everything from building stronger sea walls to switching to
cleaner, more expensive technologies — are the responsibility of the countries
that created the crisis. "What we need is not something we should be begging for
but something that is owed to us, because we are dealing with a crisis not of
our making," says Lidy Nacpil, one of the coordinators of Jubilee South, an
international organization that has staged demonstrations to promote climate
reparations. "Climate debt is not a matter of charity."

Sharon Looremeta, an advocate for Maasai tribespeople in Kenya who have lost at
least 5 million cattle to drought in recent years, puts it in even sharper
terms. "The Maasai community does not drive 4x4s or fly off on holidays in
airplanes," she says. "We have not caused climate change, yet we are the ones
suffering. This is an injustice and should be stopped right now."

The case for climate debt begins like most discussions of climate change: with
the science. Before the Industrial Revolution, the density of carbon dioxide in
the atmosphere — the key cause of global warming — was about 280 parts per
million. Today, it has reached 387 ppm — far above safe limits — and it's still
rising. Developed countries, which represent less than 20 percent of the world's
population, have emitted almost 75 percent of all greenhouse-gas pollution that
is now destabilizing the climate. (The U.S. alone, which comprises barely five
percent of the global population, contributes 25 percent of all carbon
emissions.) And while developing countries like China and India have also begun
to spew large amounts of carbon dioxide, the reasoning goes, they are not
equally responsible for the cost of the cleanup, because they have contributed
only a small fraction of the 200 years of cumulative pollution that has caused
the crisis.

In Latin America, left-wing economists have long argued that Western powers owe
a vaguely defined "ecological debt" to the continent for centuries of colonial
land-grabs and resource extraction. But the emerging argument for climate debt
is far more concrete, thanks to a relatively new body of research putting
precise figures on who emitted what and when. "What is exciting," says Antonio
Hill, senior climate adviser at Oxfam, "is you can really put numbers on it. We
can measure it in tons of CO₂ and come up with a cost."

Equally important, the idea is supported by the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change — ratified by 192 countries, including the United
States. The framework not only asserts that "the largest share of historical and
current global emissions of greenhouse gases has originated in developed
countries," it clearly states that actions taken to fix the problem should be
made "on the basis of equity and in accordance with their common but
differentiated responsibilities."

The reparations movement has brought together a diverse coalition of big
international organizations, from Friends of the Earth to the World Council of
Churches, that have joined up with climate scientists and political economists,
many of them linked to the influential Third World Network, which has been
leading the call. Until recently, however, there was no government pushing for
climate debt to be included in the Copenhagen agreement. That changed in June,
when Angelica Navarro, the chief climate negotiator for Bolivia, took the podium
at a U.N. climate negotiation in Bonn, Germany. Only 36 and dressed casually in
a black sweater, Navarro looked more like the hippies outside than the
bureaucrats and civil servants inside the session. Mixing the latest emissions
science with accounts of how melting glaciers were threatening the water supply
in two major Bolivian cities, Navarro made the case for why developing countries
are owed massive compensation for the climate crisis.

"Millions of people — in small islands, least-developed countries, landlocked
countries as well as vulnerable communities in Brazil, India and China, and all
around the world — are suffering from the effects of a problem to which they did
not contribute," Navarro told the packed room. In addition to facing an
increasingly hostile climate, she added, countries like Bolivia cannot fuel
economic growth with cheap and dirty energy, as the rich countries did, since
that would only add to the climate crisis — yet they cannot afford the heavy
upfront costs of switching to renewable energies like wind and solar.

The solution, Navarro argued, is three-fold. Rich countries need to pay the
costs associated with adapting to a changing climate, make deep cuts to their
own emission levels "to make atmospheric space available" for the developing
world, and pay Third World countries to leapfrog over fossil fuels and go
straight to cleaner alternatives. "We cannot and will not give up our rightful
claim to a fair share of atmospheric space on the promise that, at some future
stage, technology will be provided to us," she said.

The speech galvanized activists across the world. In recent months, the
governments of Sri Lanka, Venezuela, Paraguay and Malaysia have endorsed the
concept of climate debt. More than 240 environmental and development
organizations have signed a statement calling for wealthy nations to pay their
climate debt, and 49 of the world's least-developed countries will take the
demand to Copenhagen as a negotiating bloc.

"If we are to curb emissions in the next decade, we need a massive mobilization
larger than any in history," Navarro declared at the end of her talk. "We need a
Marshall Plan for the Earth. This plan must mobilize financing and technology
transfer on scales never seen before. It must get technology onto the ground in
every country to ensure we reduce emissions while raising people's quality of
life. We have only a decade."

A very expensive decade. The World Bank puts the cost that developing countries
face from climate change — everything from crops destroyed by drought and floods
to malaria spread by mosquito-infested waters — as high as $100 billion a year.
And shifting to renewable energy, according to a team of United Nations
researchers, will raise the cost far more: to as much as $600 billion a year
over the next decade.

Unlike the recent bank bailouts, however, which simply transferred public wealth
to the world's richest financial institutions, the money spent on climate debt
would fuel a global environmental transformation essential to saving the entire
planet. The most exciting example of what could be accomplished is the ongoing
effort to protect Ecuador's Yasuní National Park. This extraordinary swath of
Amazonian rainforest, which is home to several indigenous tribes and a surreal
number of rare and exotic animals, contains nearly as many species of trees in
2.5 acres as exist in all of North America. The catch is that underneath that
riot of life sits an estimated 850 million barrels of crude oil, worth about $7
billion. Burning that oil — and logging the rainforest to get it — would add
another 547 million tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

Two years ago, Ecuador's center-left president, Rafael Correa, said something
very rare for the leader of an oil-exporting nation: He wanted to leave the oil
in the ground. But, he argued, wealthy countries should pay Ecuador — where half
the population lives in poverty — not to release that carbon into the
atmosphere, as "compensation for the damages caused by the out-of-proportion
amount of historical and current emissions of greenhouse gases." He didn't ask
for the entire amount; just half. And he committed to spending much of the money
to move Ecuador to alternative energy sources like solar and geothermal.

Largely because of the beauty of the Yasuní, the plan has generated widespread
international support. Germany has already offered $70 million a year for 13
years, and several other European governments have expressed interest in
participating. If Yasuní is saved, it will demonstrate that climate debt isn't
just a disguised ploy for more aid — it's a far more credible solution to the
climate crisis than the ones we have now. "This initiative needs to succeed,"
says Atossa Soltani, executive director of Amazon Watch. "I think we can set a
model for other countries."

Activists point to a huge range of other green initiatives that would become
possible if wealthy countries paid their climate debts. In India, mini power
plants that run on biomass and solar power could bring low-carbon electricity to
many of the 400 million Indians currently living without a light bulb. In cities
from Cairo to Manila, financial support could be given to the armies of
impoverished "trash pickers" who save as much as 80 percent of municipal waste
in some areas from winding up in garbage dumps and trash incinerators that
release planet-warming pollution. And on a much larger scale, coal-fired power
plants across the developing world could be converted into more efficient
facilities using existing technology, cutting their emissions by more than a
third.

But to ensure that climate reparations are real, advocates insist, they must be
independent of the current system of international aid. Climate money cannot
simply be diverted from existing aid programs, such as primary education or HIV
prevention. What's more, the funds must be provided as grants, not loans, since
the last thing developing countries need is more debt. Furthermore, the money
should not be administered by the usual suspects like the World Bank and USAID,
which too often push pet projects based on Western agendas, but must be
controlled by the United Nations climate convention, where developing countries
would have a direct say in how the money is spent.

Without such guarantees, reparations will be meaningless — and without
reparations, the climate talks in Copenhagen will likely collapse. As it stands,
the U.S. and other Western nations are engaged in a lose-lose game of chicken
with developing nations like India and China: We refuse to lower our emissions
unless they cut theirs and submit to international monitoring, and they refuse
to budge unless wealthy nations cut first and cough up serious funding to help
them adapt to climate change and switch to clean energy. "No money, no deal," is
how one of South Africa's top environmental officials put it. "If need be," says
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, speaking on behalf of the African Union,
"we are prepared to walk out."

In the past, President Obama has recognized the principle on which climate debt
rests. "Yes, the developed nations that caused much of the damage to our climate
over the last century still have a responsibility to lead," he acknowledged in
his September speech at the United Nations. "We have a responsibility to provide
the financial and technical assistance needed to help these [developing] nations
adapt to the impacts of climate change and pursue low-carbon development."

Yet as Copenhagen draws near, the U.S. negotiating position appears to be to
pretend that 200 years of over-emissions never happened. Todd Stern, the chief
U.S. climate negotiator, has scoffed at a Chinese and African proposal that
developed countries pay as much as $400 billion a year in climate financing as
"wildly unrealistic" and "untethered to reality." Yet he put no alternative
number on the table — unlike the European Union, which has offered to kick in up
to $22 billion. U.S. negotiators have even suggested that countries could fund
climate debt by holding periodic "pledge parties," making it clear that they see
covering the costs of climate change as a matter of whimsy, not duty.

But shunning the high price of climate change carries a cost of its own. U.S.
military and intelligence agencies now consider global warming a leading threat
to national security. As sea levels rise and droughts spread, competition for
food and water will only increase in many of the world's poorest nations. These
regions will become "breeding grounds for instability, for insurgencies, for
warlords," according to a 2007 study for the Center for Naval Analyses led by
Gen. Anthony Zinni, the former Centcom commander. To keep out millions of
climate refugees fleeing hunger and conflict, a report commissioned by the
Pentagon in 2003 predicted that the U.S. and other rich nations would likely
decide to "build defensive fortresses around their countries."

Setting aside the morality of building high-tech fortresses to protect ourselves
from a crisis we inflicted on the world, those enclaves and resource wars won't
come cheap. And unless we pay our climate debt, and quickly, we may well find
ourselves living in a world of climate rage. "Privately, we already hear the
simmering resentment of diplomats whose countries bear the costs of our
emissions," Sen. John Kerry observed recently. "I can tell you from my own
experience: It is real, and it is prevalent. It's not hard to see how this could
crystallize into a virulent, dangerous, public anti-Americanism. That's a threat
too. Remember: The very places least responsible for climate change — and least
equipped to deal with its impacts — will be among the very worst affected."

That, in a nutshell, is the argument for climate debt. The developing world has
always had plenty of reasons to be pissed off with their northern neighbors,
with our tendency to overthrow their governments, invade their countries and
pillage their natural resources. But never before has there been an issue so
politically inflammatory as the refusal of people living in the rich world to
make even small sacrifices to avert a potential climate catastrophe. In
Bangladesh, the Maldives, Bolivia, the Arctic, our climate pollution is directly
responsible for destroying entire ways of life — yet we keep doing it.

From outside our borders, the climate crisis doesn't look anything like the
meteors or space invaders that Todd Stern imagined hurtling toward Earth. It
looks, instead, like a long and silent war waged by the rich against the poor.
And for that, regardless of what happens in Copenhagen, the poor will continue
to demand their rightful reparations. "This is about the rich world taking
responsibility for the damage done," says Ilana Solomon, policy analyst for
ActionAid USA, one of the groups recently converted to the cause. "This money
belongs to poor communities affected by climate change. It is their
compensation."

[From Issue 1091 — November 12, 2009]

-- 
  jonathan b.st.thomas
  jonathan1957@...

-- 
http://www.fastmail.fm - The way an email service should be

CLIMATE AND CAPITALISM
An online journal focusing on capitalism, climate change,
and the ecosocialist alternative.

WHAT'S NEW at http://climateandcapitalism.com

FOOD SUMMIT FAILS BEFORE IT STARTS
http://climateandcapitalism.com/?p=1275
Despite record-high harvests, the number of hungry people continues to
rise – and the world's rulers do nothing

CARBON TRADING: A SPECTACULAR FAILURE
http://climateandcapitalism.com/?p=1273
Free-market ideologues still trumpet the virtues of carbon trading,
but a host of NGOs, businesspeople and even government bodies now
admit that it has all gone badly wrong.

MOST VULNERABLE NATIONS SEEK CLIMATE JUSTICE
http://climateandcapitalism.com/?p=1268
Final Draft of declaration issued November 11 in the Maldives, by the
Climate Vulnerable Forum, comprising the 11 countries considered most
vulnerable to climate change.

UPDATE ON "THE GLOBAL FIGHT FOR CLIMATE JUSTICE"
http://climateandcapitalism.com/?p=1255
Canada's leading publisher and distributor of progressive books will
publish a North American edition of "The Global Fight for Climate
Justice: Anticapitalist Responses to Global Warming and Environmental
Destruction."

Jill Vickerman has just read and signed the petition: One of Yellowstone's beloved wolves killed - Don't let her death be in vain

You can view this petition at: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/tell-a-friend/5909420

Message from Jill Vickerman:
-----

Please sign this petition "One of Yellowstone's beloved wolves killed - Don't let her death be in vain". This is urgent, please add your voice.

ThePetitionSite.com provides tools and empowers individuals to make a difference and effect positive change through online activism. Get connected with the causes you care about, take action to make the world a better place, and start your own petition at http://www.ThePetitionSite.com!

ThePetitionSite.com is powered by Care2, the largest and most trusted information and action site for people who care to make a difference in their lives and the world. www.care2.com

Hi Green Vibrations,

I am a Casting Producer for the show Wa$ted on the Planet Green network. I
wanted to email you about this opportunity for vegan families.

The purpose of our family-friendly show is to help families go green. We are
specifically looking for families in the N.Y. tri-state area where one
spouse/partner is vegan and the other disagrees with it and one may be more
environmentally friendly than the other. Also, one should be producing excessive
waste (use of aerosol cans, paper, plastic, cardboard, garbage), doesn't
recycle, uses vast amounts of electricity, etc…

Our show comes in with free eco-friendly products and makes behavioral
adjustments to their current daily routines. Then, we come back and assess how
strictly they've adhered to a green home environment. It's a fun opportunity
plus, there's a cash prize and lowering ones carbon footprint will help lower
bills.

It's a great platform to share people's views on the environment. Please let me
know as soon as possible if you know of any great families available, as we are
looking to meet with them right away. If interested please send me a message or
call 917-606-3867.

Thanks,

Billy Ward
Casting Producer
Planet Green's WA$TED
917-606-3867
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/tv/wasted/

Hi Green Vibrations,

I am a Casting Producer for the show Wa$ted on the Planet Green network. I
wanted to email you about this opportunity for vegan families.

The purpose of our family-friendly show is to help families go green. We are
specifically looking for families in the N.Y. tri-state area where one
spouse/partner is vegan and the other disagrees with it and one may be more
environmentally friendly than the other.  Also, one should be producing
excessive waste (use of aerosol cans, paper, plastic, cardboard, garbage),
doesn't recycle, uses vast amounts of electricity, etc…

Our show comes in with free eco-friendly products and makes behavioral
adjustments to their current daily routines. Then, we come back and assess how
strictly they've adhered to a green home environment. It's a fun opportunity
plus, there's a cash prize and lowering ones carbon footprint will help lower
bills.

It's a great platform to share people's views on the environment.  Please let me
know as soon as possible if you know of any great families available, as we are
looking to meet with them right away. If interested please contact me at
Billy.Ward@... or call 917-606-3867.

Thanks,

Billy Ward
Casting Producer
Planet Green's WA$TED
917-606-3867
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/tv/wasted/
Billy.Ward@...

Some stunning relevant pictures:
http://www.bestlifeonline.com/cms/uploads/1/sea-turtle-deformed_1.jpg

http://apps.pathology.jhu.edu/blogs/pathology/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/garbadg\
\
e.jpg

http://dejaloops.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/plastic-beach-03.jpg

http://myecoaction.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/great-pacific-garbage-patch.jp\
\
g


The article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/10/science/10patch.html?_r=2

Afloat in the Ocean, Expanding Islands of Trash
By LINDSEY HOSHAW
Published: November 9, 2009
ABOARD THE ALGUITA, 1,000 miles northeast of Hawaii — In this remote patch of
the Pacific Ocean, hundreds of miles from any national boundary, the detritus of
human life is collecting in a swirling current so large that it defies precise
measurement.

Light bulbs, bottle caps, toothbrushes, Popsicle sticks and tiny pieces of
plastic, each the size of a grain of rice, inhabit the Pacific garbage patch, an
area of widely dispersed trash that doubles in size every decade and is now
believed to be roughly twice the size of Texas. But one research organization
estimates that the garbage now actually pervades the Pacific, though most of it
is caught in what oceanographers call a gyre like this one — an area of heavy
currents and slack winds that keep the trash swirling in a giant whirlpool.

Scientists say the garbage patch is just one of five that may be caught in giant
gyres scattered around the world's oceans. Abandoned fishing gear like buoys,
fishing line and nets account for some of the waste, but other items come from
land after washing into storm drains and out to sea.

Plastic is the most common refuse in the patch because it is lightweight,
durable and an omnipresent, disposable product in both advanced and developing
societies. It can float along for hundreds of miles before being caught in a
gyre and then, over time, breaking down.

But once it does split into pieces, the fragments look like confetti in the
water. Millions, billions, trillions and more of these particles are floating in
the world's trash-filled gyres.

PCBs, DDT and other toxic chemicals cannot dissolve in water, but the plastic
absorbs them like a sponge. Fish that feed on plankton ingest the tiny plastic
particles. Scientists from the Algalita Marine Research Foundation say that fish
tissues contain some of the same chemicals as the plastic. The scientists
speculate that toxic chemicals are leaching into fish tissue from the plastic
they eat.

The researchers say that when a predator — a larger fish or a person — eats the
fish that eats the plastic, that predator may be transferring toxins to its own
tissues, and in greater concentrations since toxins from multiple food sources
can accumulate in the body.

Charles Moore found the Pacific garbage patch by accident 12 years ago, when he
came upon it on his way back from a sailing race in Hawaii. As captain, Mr.
Moore ferried three researchers, his first mate and a journalist here this
summer in his 10th scientific trip to the site. He is convinced that several
similar garbage patches remain to be discovered.

"Anywhere you really look for it, you're going to see it," he said.

Many scientists believe there is a garbage patch off the coast of Japan and
another in the Sargasso Sea, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Bonnie Monteleone, a University of North Carolina, Wilmington, graduate student
researching a master's thesis on plastic accumulation in the ocean, visited the
Sargasso Sea in late spring and the Pacific garbage patch with Mr. Moore this
summer.

"I saw much higher concentrations of trash in the Pacific garbage patch than in
the Sargasso," Ms. Monteleone said, while acknowledging that she might not have
found the Atlantic gyre.

Ms. Monteleone, a volunteer crew member on Mr. Moore's ship, kept hoping she
would see at least one sample taken from the Pacific garbage patch without any
trash in it. "Just one area — just one," she said. "That's all I wanted to see.
But everywhere had plastic."

The Pacific garbage patch gained prominence after three independent marine
research organizations visited it this summer. One of them, Project Kaisei,
based in San Francisco, is trying to devise ways to clean up the patch by
turning plastic into diesel fuel.

Environmentalists and celebrities are using the patch to promote their own
causes. The actor Ted Danson's nonprofit group Oceana designated Mr. Moore a
hero for his work on the patch. Another Hollywood figure, Edward Norton,
narrated a public-service announcement about plastic bags, which make their way
out to the patch.

Mr. Moore, however, is the first person to have pursued serious scientific
research by sampling the garbage patch. In 1999, he dedicated the Algalita
foundation to studying it. Now the foundation examines plastic debris and takes
samples of polluted water off the California coast and across the Pacific Ocean.
By dragging a fine mesh net behind his research vessel Alguita, a 50-foot
aluminum catamaran, Mr. Moore is able to collect small plastic fragments.

Researchers measure the amount of plastic in each sample and calculate the
weight of each fragment. They also test the tissues of any fish caught in the
nets to measure for toxic chemicals. One rainbow runner from a previous voyage
had 84 pieces of plastic in its stomach.

The research team has not tested the most recent catch for toxic chemicals, but
the water samples show that the amount of plastic in the gyre and the larger
Pacific is increasing. Water samples from February contained twice as much
plastic as samples from a decade ago.

"This is not the garbage patch I knew in 1999," Mr. Moore said. "This is a
totally different animal."

For the captain's first mate, Jeffery Ernst, the patch was "just a reminder that
there's nowhere that isn't affected by humanity."

Travel expenses were paid in part by readers of Spot.Us, a nonprofit Web project
that supports freelance journalists.

Homeless dogs and cats--who were bought from local animal shelters--were used in
invasive, painful experiments. In one study, a litter of kittens born to a cat
bought from a shelter died after they had a chemical injected into their brains
to cause fluid to build up.

Please click the link below to help urge the University to stop experimenting on
animals who depend on shelters to protect them from harm.


To take action on this issue, click on the link below:
https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?s_oo=6_HlaNXNx51MjMIMGs6etA..&id=2673
If the text above does not appear as a link or it wraps across multiple lines,
then copy and paste it into the address area of your browser.

Jill Vickerman has just read and signed the petition: Restore Coastal Louisiana

You can view this petition at: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/tell-a-friend/5894185

Message from Jill Vickerman:
-----

Please sign the petition "Restore Coastal Louisiana". The wetlands are important to us all wherever we live in the world.

ThePetitionSite.com provides tools and empowers individuals to make a difference and effect positive change through online activism. Get connected with the causes you care about, take action to make the world a better place, and start your own petition at http://www.ThePetitionSite.com!

ThePetitionSite.com is powered by Care2, the largest and most trusted information and action site for people who care to make a difference in their lives and the world. www.care2.com

From BOB LINDEN
www.GoVeganRadio.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
please distribute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Tis the season for holiday charitable giving, and with today's economy - every
dollar donated FOR the animals must go TO the animals.  This year, please DO NOT
donate to what is called the "Humane Society of the United States", which by the
admission of its CEO, Wayne Pacelle, is NOT for animal rights, does NOT promote
the vegan lifestyle, is NOT against all hunting, zoos, and circuses, DOES
support purchasing dogs from "responsible breeders" (?), DOES support (the
impossible) "humane" slaughter, DOES support (the impossible)"certified humane
eggs", promotes veal entrepreneur Wolfgang Puck. HSUS has accepted $50,000 from
the Philadelphia Eagles to rehabilitate Michael Vick's image (after saying
Vick's dogs could not be rehabilitated and should be killed, after accepting
million$ saying it would care for Vick's dogs - even though they were not in its
custody), DOES partner with animal experimenting Procter & Gamble and Iams dog
food, and botched the Katrina rescue and doesn't account for half of the
donations it received for it.

Unbelievable? Hear it in Pacelle's own words and own voice in an interview from
the Sept 5 broadcast of "GO VEGAN WITH BOB LINDEN", available and archived at
www.GoVeganRadio.com. See below for details, and read what the most respected
voices in animal advocacy have to say against the "hu-MAINLY ABOUT THE MONEY"
society, its $120,000,000 in annual revenues, its six-figure salaried
executives.

There are so many more deserving organizations that really work for the animals.

Please DO NOT DONATE to H$U$
Please DO DONATE to credible animal rights organizations, rescue groups, or
GO VEGAN RADIO
- a project of 501c3 International Humanities Center
PO Box 475414
San Francisco, CA 94147

http://goveganradio.com/veg/ 1003/Listen_to_Past_Shows.htm

5 September 2009
Listen: Broadband | Dial-up | Flash Player
Download this show to your computer: [Instructions]
High quality (128kbps) | Low quality (32kbps - small file)
Guests:
Steven Best (Associate Professor of Philosophy & Humanities, University of
Texas, El Paso)
Topics:
"Is the Humane Society of the United States Part of the Meat Industry - Or
What?"
- a discussion with Steven Best, Associate Professor of Philosophy & Humanities,
University of Texas, El Paso, co-editor of "Terrorists or Freedom Fighters?
Reflections on the Liberation of Animals", author of"Igniting A Revolution:
Voices In Defense Of The Earth", and co-founder of the Institute for Critical
Animal Studies"
Dr Best and Bob analyze a recent interview featuring HSUS prez & ceo Wayne
Pacelle, and the impact of $120,000,000 in annual donations diverted from
grassroots efforts on behalf of animals to a mega-corporation that - by its own
admission - does not support animal rights, does not prmote veganism, is not
against all hunting and zoos, supports slaughter, aligns itself with the
livestock industry and regards it as a noble profession.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~`
Money Mysteries Part 1: Hurricane Katrina HSUS Fundraising

Published on 05 April 2009 by ESaunders AR-HR.com in Animal Rights, Human
Responsibility, Legislation
(1)

   Its tough times all around, making it difficult not to focus on the idea of
money: who has it, how they got it, where they spend it and why.  This led me
back to the memory of the contraversy surrounding HSUS fundraising for Hurricane
Katrina and the inquiry started by the Louisiana State Attorney General.

Although blog entries abound on this topic, I decided to go back to the true
information source, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) itself.  Upon
review of HSUS two year anniversary summary of the use of the funds and of their
2005, 2006 and 2007 income tax records, there appear to be valid questions about
the use of the funds donated for the purpose of helping animals affected
Hurricane  Katrina.

According to the HSUS, $34.6 million was raised for the assistance of Katrina
animals.  Yet according to 2005 income tax records, the year of Katrina, the
HSUS only dispersed $8.6 million in grants for its worldwide grants base
including its major grants to Louisiana groups.  The worldwide grants
distributed in 2005 were only $2 million higher than the levels subsequently
seen in 2006 and 2007, despite gross receipts of nearly $124 million and net
assets of over $200 million at the end of 2005.

Even by the numbers in the HSUS' own article, the funds dispersed for the
purposes of Katrina related activities total just under $18 million or 52% of
the funds.  The remaining amount,  over $16.5 million dollars cannot be
accounted for through HSUS provided documentation through investigation of its
tax records.

There can't be much, if any, activity related to Katrina affected animals stated
as the original purpose of the fundraising.  If the remaining 48% of the money
wasn't been used for Katrina animals, then what has it been used for? 
Unfortunately, the inquiry was called off shortly after the announcement of the
HSUS championed cockfighting bill being passed into law.  As a result, these
questions go unanswered and so they will remain.

  Copyright 2009 by Erica Saunders   http://AR-HR.com
All rights reserved

HSUS Katrina 2 year anniversary article

http://www.hsus.org/hsus_ field/hsus_disaster_center/
disasters_press_room/katrina_ anniversary/

HSUS 2005, 2006 & 2007 Tax records

http://www.guidestar.org/ pqShowGsReport.do?partner=seo& ein=53-0225390


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Browse > Home <http://www.nathanwinograd. com/>  / Blog Posts
<http://www.nathanwinograd. com/?cat=3> , The Truth About HSUS
<http://www.nathanwinograd. com/?cat=9>  / Michael Vick's new spokesman says
`You are a monster too!'
Michael Vick's new spokesman says `You are a monster too!'

October 17, 2009 by Nathan J. Winograd <http://www.nathanwinograd.
com/?author=3>
Wayne Pacelle, the CEO of the Humane Society of the United States and spokesman
for the most notorious animal abuser of our time <http://www.nathanwinograd.
com/?p=1174> , is digging himself into a deeper hole. The head of the nation's
wealthiest animal "protection" group is now arguing in newspapers across the
country, including San Francisco's, that we should forgive Michael Vick because
we are all "sinners when it comes to animals." Is Pacelle really that desperate
that he now says we are all monsters like Vick? Or perhaps, in a bit of Freudian
repentance, he is talking about himself: about how he lobbied the court to kill
Michael Vick's canine victims even as he was fundraising off of them
<http://www.nathanwinograd. com/linked/hsusblogs.pdf> ? The slaughter of the
dogs and puppies at Wilkes County, NC <http://www.nathanwinograd. com/?p=775> ?
Or the mass killing in Tangipahoa LA <http://www.nathanwinograd.
com/linked/hsusblogs.pdf> ? The round up and kill of cats in Randolph, IA
<http://www.nathanwinograd. com/linked/hsusblogs.pdf> ? Or any of the
innumerable places <http://www.nathanwinograd. com/linked/hsusblogs.pdf> 
Pacelle and HSUS minions have chanted `kill, kill, kill' in the face of proven,
successful, reasonable No Kill alternatives?
As for me, I've never stomped, electrocuted, hung, shot, drowned, or strangled
dogs, nor have I watched them tear each other to shreds and laughed. But Michael
Vick did, and he'd still be doing it to this very day had he not been caught.
[Read "Riding on Michael Vick's Bloodstained Coattails" by clicking here
<http://www.nathanwinograd. com/?p=1768> .]
Kathleen McGarr of Fix San Francisco, a group which has been trying to reform
the city's kill-oriented animal control and SPCA, says that when she read
Pacelle's claim that she is a monster like Vick, "I nearly fell off my chair."
McGarr's group has been fighting Pacelle who opposes their No Kill campaign in
San Francisco. In short, Pacelle says that No Kill is warehousing, leads to
animal suffering, and that San Francisco shelters should be allowed to continue
killing. Who is the monster here Wayne?
The Op Ed piece by Pacelle comes on the eve of his planned visit to San
Francisco where he will try to convince animal lovers that the most notorious
animal abuser of our time should be embraced. Here's my article about the visit
from the examiner:
Wayne Pacelle is coming to town <http://www.examiner.com/x-
16635-SF-Animal-Shelters- Examiner>
From the examiner: http://bit.ly/3gBFK7
October 16, 2009
As the Humane Society of the United States embraces the most notorious animal
abuser of our time and fights a proposal to save San Francisco's neediest
animals, the head of HSUS is coming to the City to raise money for his
Washington D.C.-based group.
The controversial head of the nation's largest and wealthiest animal protection
organization in the United States is coming to San Francisco for an October 28
"Town Hall" meeting. Wayne Pacelle, the CEO of the Humane Society of the United
States, will discuss, among other things, his new spokesman: dog-killer Michael
Vick, the most notorious animal abuser of our time.
Can anyone imagine the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence embracing
wife killer O.J. Simpson as a spokesman? Can anyone imagine the National
Organization to Prevent Sexual Abuse of Children embracing pedophile John
Geoghan as a spokesman? Can anyone imagine the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National
Network embracing rapist Josef Fritzl as a spokesman? It is unthinkable. And yet
Wayne Pacelle is asking animal lovers in San Francisco to embrace our movement's
version of Simpson, Geoghan, and Fritzl as a spokesman. It is beyond obscene. It
is unthinkable.
Pacelle says he will answer questions from San Francisco animal lovers about
this and other topics.
I have a number of other questions for Pacelle. Why did he, through HSUS:
1. Participate in the slaughter of some 150 dogs, including puppies, in Wilkes
County, NC?
2. Lobby to stop No Kill legislation in King County, WA?
3. Support breed discriminatory legislation in Indianapolis, IN that would have
led to the round up and killing of Pit Bulls?
4. Tell USA Today and Newsweek that killing in shelters is acceptable and that
No Kill was warehousing?
5. Mislead the public about an epidemic of dog bites to convey the view that
trying to save Pit Bulls was irresponsible and put children at risk?
6. Tell the court to kill Vick's victims even as he was asking people to give
HSUS money so he could "care" for them?
7. Leave New Orleans with tens of millions given to HSUS for the victims of
Hurricane Katrina even while those animals were still suffering?
8. Legitimize the slaughter of virtually every animal at Tangipahoa Parish
animal control?
9. Tell people not to adopt animals during the holidays, effectively accepting
the deaths of 1,000,000 animals as the alternative?
10. Tell the Randolph, IA community that HSUS does not have a problem killing
stray cats?
11. Claim that rescued dogs in Missouri should face a "pretty certain death"?
And especially important for San Francisco animal lovers, why is he opposing a
No Kill San Francisco? Pacelle recently sent a letter to San Francisco's Animal
Control & Welfare Commission equating No Kill with hoarding and opposing shelter
reform legislation that would save San Francisco's neediest homeless animals.
Unfortunately, Pacelle has long been an apologist and enabler of shelter
killing.
In the end, the real reason behind the "Town Hall meeting" might just have
nothing to do with animals. This "town hall" format is often little more than a
fundraising ploy which has been successfully used by other organizations to sap
money from local donors and thus away from local rescue groups, and into the
bank accounts of national organizations. And for HSUS, money doesn't appear to
be a means to the end of saving animals. It is the end in and of itself, the
animals be damned.


from DOG POLITICS:

August 22, 2007

HSUS & Wayne Pacelle -Vick's Dogs Must Die

It seems no reporter is safe from Wayne Pacelle, the HSUS talking head CEO, as
he pontificates his point of view on the fate on Michael Vick's remaining dogs.
And that POV, of course, is death.
Now is it just me or do you also find it insane that an organization that
purports to "protect" animals is in fact advocating for the death of animals?
Wayne Pacelle - Vick's Dogs Must Die
This week, a federal judge will decide the fate of Michael Vick's remaining
dogs, 53 pitbulls.
Mr. Pacelle, speaking for the world's largest and richest animal organization,
HSUS, apparently thinks these pitbulls should and must die.
In an article in the Virginian-Pilot earlier this week enetitled, "Deadline
Looms For Pitbulls Seized In Vick Investigation", <http://content.hamptonroads.
com/story.cfm?story=130640& ran=22638> Pacelle, the HSUS CEO, is quoted as
saying, " it does not make sense to keep these animals alive".
But wait - there's more.......................is it even more insane!
Or should we just call it plain GREED, that HSUS was begging for money to care
for these dogs just a few short weeks ago?
The HSUS Shell Game
That's right - HSUS was sooooooooo concerned about the fate of Michae'l Vick's
dogs that  it pushed the magic email button, sending out millions of email
messages in an on-demand beg-a-thon, pleading for donations to help them care
for Vick's dogs.
Ooooopsie, though - there was just one teensy problem that HSUS "forgot" to
mention:
Apparently HSUS didn't have custody of Michael Vick's dogs - and they still
don't.  That's right - HSUS got caught out - Wayne Pacelle got caught with his
pants down with that one.  It was a bold faced lie.
I Know You Are But What Am I?
In an attempt to answer a wave of criticism, Wayne Pacelle fired up his blog and
called those who dared to criticize him and HSUS  as greedy evil dog breeders,
front men for the meat industry, and probably dog fighters, so on and so on.
Yeah, Wayne - you sound like an immature 12 year-old kid brother - "I know you
are but what am I?"
Well, then Wayne  - I dare you to call me any of those names, for I am none of
those.  But I have a name for you, in fact several.
You are a snake oil salesman - a hustler in a pin-striped suit with a fancy law
degree, pimping out animals for power and profit. There is nothing in that
bottle of alleged snake oil of any value - it's filled with sugar water, so it
goes down real smooth.
You, sir, are nothing but a charlatan. You and HSUS are  bilking innocent animal
lovers out of millions in the name of kindness.  You sir, are a profiteer.

Dear Friends,

It is not too late to get involved with Gentle Thanksgiving. Join FARM
in publicizing the benefits of a vegan diet this holiday season by
getting active in your community.

Here are just a few ways you can participate:

- Request free handouts for distribution. Each one offers a free Veg
Starter Guide and weekly recipes. Give them to family and friends, and
distribute them at veg-friendly locations around your community. Request
some now at www.gentlethanksgiving.org/eventReg.php

- Sign our petition. Thousands have signed our letter to President Obama
urging him to pardon ALL turkeys destined for the White House this
holiday season.
http://animalrights.change.org/actions/view/urge_president_obama_to_pard
on_all_turkeys_this_holiday_season

- Host a public or private Gentle Thanksgiving dinner. Invite family,
friends, and acquaintances to join you, or hold a public vegan meal-
it's a friendly way to introduce the great taste and many benefits of a
cruelty-free diet to those around you.

Visit http://www.GentleThanksgiving.org for more ideas on how to get
active.

Thanks for helping us spread the message of compassion!

Sincerely,

Michael Weber
Outreach Coordinator

Gentle Thanksgiving is a campaign of FARM (Farm Animal Rights Movement),
a non-profit, national advocacy organization promoting plant-based
(vegan) diets to save animals, reduce global warming, conserve
environmental resources, and improve public health.