I have been awarded the Sunshine award by my good friend Shayla. The rules for accepting, are to thank the giver (THANKS, Shayla!) & link back to them, answer the questions below, and nominate other worthy blogs. The questions are:
1. favorite color?
purple
2. favorite animal?
cat
3. favorite number?
7
4. non-alcoholic drink?
green smoothie
5. alcoholic drink?
none
6. facebook or twitter?
neither
7. passions?
art
8. giving or receiving?
both
9. favorite city?
Cocoa Beach, Florida
10. favorite TV show?
Partridge Family
I can't think of anyone else to nominate..
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Monday, May 6, 2013
A WORTHY CAUSE
Undercover investigations have exposed patterns of horrific animal welfare abuses on factory farms and slaughterhouses, and led to criminal convictions and public health investigations. Rather than addressing these problems, a powerful organization called the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) wants to criminalize anyone who brings animal abuse to light.
I have documented this extensively in my many years of journalism about the repression of animal and environmental advocates. You can read more about ALEC at GreenIsTheNewRed.com. ALEC wants to make it a crime to document patterns of animal abuse. It thinks the solution is to have zero checks and balances on this huge industry, and leave it up to factory farms and slaughterhouses to regulate themselves.
In the past, whistleblowers (not farm owners or inspectors) have documented baby chicks being ground up alive, workers urinating near a live hanging area, and turkeys and pigs being sexually abused. Investigators caught a major school lunch meat supplier abusing cows who were too sick to even walk; this lead to the largest meat recall in US history. The Big Ag industry desperately want to put a stop to these investigations for one reason: money.
This bring us to "ag-gag" bills which target whistleblowers, undercover investigators, and journalists. They have been introduced in 9 states this year, and last year they became law in 3 states. Some go so far as to criminalize anyone who "possesses" or "distributes" photographs and YouTube videos. As NPR reported, this isn't just about animal activists: these bills put journalists at risk.
Who is behind this? Big Ag corporations, working with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). ALEC has a model bill that labels whistleblowers, investigators, and those who share the footage as "terrorists." You may be familiar with ALEC because this is the same force behind many efforts to weaken environmental protections and silence free speech online. If you care about safe food, environmental and animal protection, transparency, workers' rights, or citizen-powered action, we need your voice!
Corporations want to use ALEC and "ag-gag" bills to keep the public in the dark. But consumers have a right to make safe, healthy, and humane decisions about what they buy.
Please sign to tell ALEC to back off and stop criminalizing those who are trying to stop animal cruelty.
I have documented this extensively in my many years of journalism about the repression of animal and environmental advocates. You can read more about ALEC at GreenIsTheNewRed.com. ALEC wants to make it a crime to document patterns of animal abuse. It thinks the solution is to have zero checks and balances on this huge industry, and leave it up to factory farms and slaughterhouses to regulate themselves.
In the past, whistleblowers (not farm owners or inspectors) have documented baby chicks being ground up alive, workers urinating near a live hanging area, and turkeys and pigs being sexually abused. Investigators caught a major school lunch meat supplier abusing cows who were too sick to even walk; this lead to the largest meat recall in US history. The Big Ag industry desperately want to put a stop to these investigations for one reason: money.
This bring us to "ag-gag" bills which target whistleblowers, undercover investigators, and journalists. They have been introduced in 9 states this year, and last year they became law in 3 states. Some go so far as to criminalize anyone who "possesses" or "distributes" photographs and YouTube videos. As NPR reported, this isn't just about animal activists: these bills put journalists at risk.
Who is behind this? Big Ag corporations, working with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). ALEC has a model bill that labels whistleblowers, investigators, and those who share the footage as "terrorists." You may be familiar with ALEC because this is the same force behind many efforts to weaken environmental protections and silence free speech online. If you care about safe food, environmental and animal protection, transparency, workers' rights, or citizen-powered action, we need your voice!
Corporations want to use ALEC and "ag-gag" bills to keep the public in the dark. But consumers have a right to make safe, healthy, and humane decisions about what they buy.
Please sign to tell ALEC to back off and stop criminalizing those who are trying to stop animal cruelty.
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Monday, March 25, 2013
ANIMAL ABUSE
Below is a letter I sent to the editor of my local newspaper.
article: Support Public registries for Animal
Abusers.Contact your representatives
asking them to enact an animal registry
in your state. Communities have good
reason to be concerned about the
whereabouts of animal abusers.In story
after heartbreaking story.Abusers repeat
their violent crimes against helpless
animals and often on to victimize people
as well. Mandatory registration and
community notification for convicted
animal abusers will make a dramatic
difference in keeping offenders away from
potential new victims by allowing animal
shelters and humane societies to more
thoroughly screen potential adopters and
by alerting the public to whereabouts of
dangerous abusers.In 1997 Boston's
Northeastern University and the MSPCA did
a study that found 70% of all animal
abusers have committed at least one other
crime and that 40% had committed violent
crimes against humans.Studies also found
that a history of animal abuse was found
in 25% of male criminals,30% of convicted
child molesters,and 36% of domestic
Violence cases and 46% of homicide
cases,30% of convicted child molesters
and 48% of convicted rapist admitted
animal cruelty their childhood. Let's
make a difference now. Keep your animals
and community safe by supporting the
petitions that will require animal
abusers to register with their
communities. For more information go towww.ExposeAnimalAbusers.org
Tara Rose
article: Support Public registries for Animal
Abusers.Contact your representatives
asking them to enact an animal registry
in your state. Communities have good
reason to be concerned about the
whereabouts of animal abusers.In story
after heartbreaking story.Abusers repeat
their violent crimes against helpless
animals and often on to victimize people
as well. Mandatory registration and
community notification for convicted
animal abusers will make a dramatic
difference in keeping offenders away from
potential new victims by allowing animal
shelters and humane societies to more
thoroughly screen potential adopters and
by alerting the public to whereabouts of
dangerous abusers.In 1997 Boston's
Northeastern University and the MSPCA did
a study that found 70% of all animal
abusers have committed at least one other
crime and that 40% had committed violent
crimes against humans.Studies also found
that a history of animal abuse was found
in 25% of male criminals,30% of convicted
child molesters,and 36% of domestic
Violence cases and 46% of homicide
cases,30% of convicted child molesters
and 48% of convicted rapist admitted
animal cruelty their childhood. Let's
make a difference now. Keep your animals
and community safe by supporting the
petitions that will require animal
abusers to register with their
communities. For more information go towww.ExposeAnimalAbusers.org
Tara Rose
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
AUTUMN
The leaves of Autumn. The seasons of my Autumns. They passed me like the wind rushing by- leaving impressions in my mind of delicate memories fragile as dry petals breaking apart in my hands. ~ I sigh to hold it close in my heart but like a mist it rises and fades, Still of so many precious ones that were angels they will never leave me they are a part of me always.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
THE CRYSTAL STAIRWAY
As I seek the Crystal Stairway to a place that is unseen only i can envision it wrapped up in the hazy cloud of my dreams But I have a story to tell of my climb as only I can tell it through this space and time.~ My life has been no crystal stairway through the steps of my life I have stumbled upon splinters. Some of the stairs have been broken some have had nails .And to step upon the piercing agony of your soul reaching for something more. Only to be left as a word unspoken. Cold and in a room alone. No, my life's been no crystal stairway~ But I keep climbing as I'll keep reaching high above me for a serenity unknown.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
HOMELESS
He died on a freezing night. December 16. ~The Homeless~ It's easy to think "it's what they choose" or "it's their bed, let them make it", but it isn't always that simple. Only much more complex. I saw him under the bridge many times and was greeted by him every morning. He told me of his experiences in Vietnam and expressed that he was getting too old to bear living outside in the cold. He spoke of the ferocity of the unbearable winds that come through the bridge's openings at night. He said that was the toughest part for him versus the snow. I asked him if there was any chance he would ever get out of this Hell. And he said, "Soon, very soon." Next month, in fact, he was hopping on a bus to California. "What's waiting there for you?" I asked. "The beach," he answered, with satisfied conviction and a faraway look in his eyes. Why did I doubt him? I then replied: "Make me a promise you will go."
And he did just that.
~DEATH~
It was not meant to be. Upon arriving at 7 AM on the morning of Sunday, December 16, 2012, the friendly and familiar voice was to greet me no more. A cold and dead veteran is the image that would shroud me that day. Lying in his lonely bed beneath a city of violence. The traffic over his head. As strangers drove indifferently towards their busy days. How easy it is to forget a homeless person with no warm hearth to break their bread. Goodbye Dear Ed. Thank you for always calling me "Hon" and wishing me a good day. Although you left this earth the night before the first December snow would arrive, I was glad in a way that you had escaped the rest of the harsh winter outside. But as the soft white blanket covered the stark reality of a tent set up to shelter a life, I could almost hear an angel sigh.
Rest in peace, my Dear Friend.
THE BRIDGE HE LIVED UNDER
And he did just that.
~DEATH~
It was not meant to be. Upon arriving at 7 AM on the morning of Sunday, December 16, 2012, the friendly and familiar voice was to greet me no more. A cold and dead veteran is the image that would shroud me that day. Lying in his lonely bed beneath a city of violence. The traffic over his head. As strangers drove indifferently towards their busy days. How easy it is to forget a homeless person with no warm hearth to break their bread. Goodbye Dear Ed. Thank you for always calling me "Hon" and wishing me a good day. Although you left this earth the night before the first December snow would arrive, I was glad in a way that you had escaped the rest of the harsh winter outside. But as the soft white blanket covered the stark reality of a tent set up to shelter a life, I could almost hear an angel sigh.
Rest in peace, my Dear Friend.
THE BRIDGE HE LIVED UNDER
Monday, December 17, 2012
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