I think I might need an organization as misleading as HSUS to help me with my fundraising for the Pelotonia. Or maybe one of the 10 minute infomercial (<-- can't believe that's an official word now) welfare requests. They're sure good at tricking people into donating. I'm just not especially good at asking people for money; it's been something I've struggled with all my life. We never negotiated for allowances with our parents. Our 4-H projects always sold to the people who bid the highest, but not because we had ever sent them letters asking them to buy our animals. If we sent a letter, it was asking them to support the fair and the youth in general, but never just us. Even when I worked at Farm Bureau and my job was specifically to recruit sponsors, I still struggled with asking people for money. Any amount was fine with me just so long as they were giving of their own good will.
But now here I am again, asking for money. My Pelotonia profile says it all: I'm riding to raise money and awareness for cancer research in Ohio. Our Ohio hospitals are making huge progress in treating and preventing cancer and this research will provide hope to many people this year, next year and next decade. Has cancer affected my family in the past? Heck yes, it has. That's the main reason we live in Ohio now, because we moved here to support my grandpa as he fought and ultimately won his battle with cancer. This year two of my friends have also been fighting cancer, both with great outlooks. And a friend at Amanda's church is in a huge struggle this year as we pray for a miracle.
So that's why I'm riding. I don't do cancer research, nor am I a nurse or a doctor, nor am I superb at comforting those who suffer. But I am athletically built enough that I can ride the miles. And so I ride, because that's my part in this. I ride so that you and others know that we are trying to fight cancer and help those who suffer. But riding isn't enough, I have to also actually raise the money for the ride.
And that's where asking comes in. The hardest thing that I have to do for this Pelotonia, harder than the training or the bike search (which is now complete!) is the asking for money. I've posted to Facebook, contacted old friends and even sent out letters now to corporations and politicians, organizations and well-connected friends. And now I'm back to here. If you read this blog and can even spare $5 or less, please consider donating. This link will take you to my profile where you can choose to donate or not after reading mine and other peoples' stories on the Pelotonia website. Please consider giving to support this huge effort which encompasses nearly 4,000 riders.
Showing posts with label HSUS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HSUS. Show all posts
22 June 2011
18 May 2011
Record Lows
This has been a weak of temperature shock to say the least. We really rocked the high 80's last week into the weekend, with enough sunshine to finally dry up the ground in a hurry. My fear of a sudden drought onslaught was disappointed by the rain which began a cold front a mere 10 minutes after the garden was in. This preceded what is now a couple of days with record lows for the month of May. Needless to say this has not been great for plant germination.
Of course, not all of the plants are struggling through this weather. Our indoor plants are doing well, and this includes our future upside down tomatoes which show such phototrophic aptitude that they switch sunlight orientation over the course of a meal when we rotate the dish they're sitting on. Our morning glories have shown their typical determination as well, even surviving an upset of the plant basket by Betsy when she thought she was going to catch a toad. Hopefully our warmer weather little guys will hang in there because I don't want to have to start all over.
Speaking of record lows, Amanda informs me Kasich's approval rating is currently at 38%. And who honestly approves of a guy who has been pulled over for not yielding to an emergency vehicle, publicly called a police officer stupid, rejected an agricultural deal with HSUS which people worked a year on, and who never knew our driver's licenses had changed colors? How far removed is this guy from real life? I have friends in other states who even know our licenses are pink.
Of course, not all of the plants are struggling through this weather. Our indoor plants are doing well, and this includes our future upside down tomatoes which show such phototrophic aptitude that they switch sunlight orientation over the course of a meal when we rotate the dish they're sitting on. Our morning glories have shown their typical determination as well, even surviving an upset of the plant basket by Betsy when she thought she was going to catch a toad. Hopefully our warmer weather little guys will hang in there because I don't want to have to start all over.
Speaking of record lows, Amanda informs me Kasich's approval rating is currently at 38%. And who honestly approves of a guy who has been pulled over for not yielding to an emergency vehicle, publicly called a police officer stupid, rejected an agricultural deal with HSUS which people worked a year on, and who never knew our driver's licenses had changed colors? How far removed is this guy from real life? I have friends in other states who even know our licenses are pink.
02 March 2011
Mass Media... (duplicate post)
... is the sole difference between agricultural corporations/commodity groups and the HSUS. Of course, many people have realized this already as concerned "agvocacy" groups and individuals scramble to educate people on the appropriate and effective use of social media outlets to spread the truth about animal care on America's farms today. And don't get me wrong, this is very important and will lead to better communication on the part of farmers in the future, but this doesn't solve the problem of now. It doesn't help get out the word to counter the lies which spread like weeds on MiracleGro.
Back in the winter (and yes, it's March and 50F outside so I can say that today), Feedstuffs ran a series of articles written by a reporter who got on farm after the chicken footage was released. His articles served as a powerful expose to the creative artwork that went into fabricating the "footage" used to accuse the farm of animal neglect and abuse. Like so many other videos that HSUS, PETA and Mercy for Animals are using to build up their tsunami of uninformed, but extremely concerned consumers, the release turned out to be framed. And after the media hype about the video release had passed and it was found to be posed, who was left to report the truth?
One reporter, as previously mentioned, did a real good job of covering facts and telling the truth and for that he ought to be commended. The same is true for the Smithfield video release back in December, and if you have any interest in reading facts about what happened, follow the link to read some true reporting. The unfortunate thing is that in the end, how far will this article really get? The media has lost the thread on this story long ago. Heck, look how long Egypt stayed on the news and how quickly they trailed off again, eclipsed by some new and unknown TV airtime and advertisement opportunity. Read this if you care about the truth, and then share it. If you want more people to read and to know, you'll have to share it yourself, face-to-face, or wallpost-to-wallpost, or however word gets passed along these days.
Back in the winter (and yes, it's March and 50F outside so I can say that today), Feedstuffs ran a series of articles written by a reporter who got on farm after the chicken footage was released. His articles served as a powerful expose to the creative artwork that went into fabricating the "footage" used to accuse the farm of animal neglect and abuse. Like so many other videos that HSUS, PETA and Mercy for Animals are using to build up their tsunami of uninformed, but extremely concerned consumers, the release turned out to be framed. And after the media hype about the video release had passed and it was found to be posed, who was left to report the truth?
One reporter, as previously mentioned, did a real good job of covering facts and telling the truth and for that he ought to be commended. The same is true for the Smithfield video release back in December, and if you have any interest in reading facts about what happened, follow the link to read some true reporting. The unfortunate thing is that in the end, how far will this article really get? The media has lost the thread on this story long ago. Heck, look how long Egypt stayed on the news and how quickly they trailed off again, eclipsed by some new and unknown TV airtime and advertisement opportunity. Read this if you care about the truth, and then share it. If you want more people to read and to know, you'll have to share it yourself, face-to-face, or wallpost-to-wallpost, or however word gets passed along these days.
06 December 2010
Cry...
... because you're human ... because you've felt this kind of pain ... because you can't imagine feeling this kind of pain ... because you are powerless to fix this broken life ... because there are so many more of them. They call out for help, broken, lost in this world of pain and suffering. I think one thing that made the 9/11 tragedy so terrible for so many people is because it bridged the gaps.
Every day bad things happen - all around the world. But this attack was on a symbol of hope, this was an emblem of international cooperation. And it was a symbol of the wealthy as well as representative of the land of promise for those less fortunate. This bridged the gap between politics, religion, ethnicity, country of origin, age, sex, race - and it dumped us all into a feeling of vulnerability.
Tomorrow will be 69 years from the date of the last attack on American soil before 9/11. 69 years to ease the pain and yet there are still people scarred forever by the impact of this attack. It's been over 9 years since 9/11, and these scars still scream fresh pain in many families. And many similar incidents occur all of the time around the world.
That is why those serving our country overseas are such heroes to me - both those on forgotten bases and training camps, and those on the front lines. The supply managers and those with the responsibility to rebuild following devastating events. These heroes risk their lives every day because they don't want anyone to have to suffer in the way in which so many people have. It makes me so angry inside every time I hear this song that I can't even cry, despite the fact that to not cry when exposed to that much sorrow in the form of another human is unreasonable and against human nature. Angry that there is no way to fix the fact that this and other tragedies have happened. Angry that there is no compassion for fellow man to prevent these atrocities in the first place. Angry that there are Americans more concerned about whether their dog can sue someone in court than they are about the suffering of their own; they are unwilling to even recognize the cry of desperation every day.
30 November 2010
Symposium Reflections (duplicate post)
Since I just got home not too long ago from the 2nd Annual Animal Welfare Symposium at the wonderful State 4-H Center on Ohio State's campus, I thought I'd take a few minutes to share my reflections on the afternoon in a semi-sequential format.
1) The people and the atmosphere were much less hostile than last year, given the passage of Issue 2 and the HSUS deal struck over the summer to allow for the Livestock Care Standards Board to operate as it was intended. I felt like the questions were much less heated and much more focused on actual learning. It was a nice change, even from the meeting this summer. It was also really nice to work a short standards board update into the afterlunch. Interesting to note is the discussion about how Ohio will probably not make it by the December deadline for a referendum on some current housing systems. However, we were also told that HSUS has been doing a lot of meeting with other involved organizations relative to the summer deal and that there was a good understanding of how much work had been put forth to get where we are currently.
2) The people running the symposium are great. It was well organized, in a great facility, and attended by over 300 people this year. As anticipated, the food was almost the best part of the day and Mike did a great job keeping the technology up and running so the day went off without an obvious hitch. Awesome.
3) The first speaker had some good information about opinions of Ohioans related to Animal Welfare. She just struggled severely with expressing anything clearly or in any consideration of time. She mentioned early that as an Easterner she spoke very fast. Frankly, I thought she might've spoken a bit fast, sure, but she didn't say a whole lot more than if she'd spoken more slowly and deliberately. The Q and A also helped clarify a lot more of her work, but some questions which I thought were fairly important to the research and the presentation were not answered at all and the audience was left questioning the value of the first presentation, of which I am sure there was some but it was difficult to sort through some poor representation of her hard work. It's always tough to elaborate thoughts to the satisfaction of your audience in such a short time period.
4) All the rest of the speakers did a fine job and spoke about relevant information, doing a good job of holding the audience's attention. If my chair hadn't been so uncomfortable, I could've sat there all day. There was little that wasn't worth hearing, even the information that I've already heard a few times. Hearing discussions does a good job of keeping issues current in my mind.
As the week rolls on, I'll be taking study breaks to give short synopsi of different speakers on my agriculture specific blog, the topics they discussed and my related opinions. However, in the near future the presentations will be posted. I encourage you to follow the link and watch the powerpoints yourself. It's always better to do your own thinking.
1) The people and the atmosphere were much less hostile than last year, given the passage of Issue 2 and the HSUS deal struck over the summer to allow for the Livestock Care Standards Board to operate as it was intended. I felt like the questions were much less heated and much more focused on actual learning. It was a nice change, even from the meeting this summer. It was also really nice to work a short standards board update into the afterlunch. Interesting to note is the discussion about how Ohio will probably not make it by the December deadline for a referendum on some current housing systems. However, we were also told that HSUS has been doing a lot of meeting with other involved organizations relative to the summer deal and that there was a good understanding of how much work had been put forth to get where we are currently.
2) The people running the symposium are great. It was well organized, in a great facility, and attended by over 300 people this year. As anticipated, the food was almost the best part of the day and Mike did a great job keeping the technology up and running so the day went off without an obvious hitch. Awesome.
3) The first speaker had some good information about opinions of Ohioans related to Animal Welfare. She just struggled severely with expressing anything clearly or in any consideration of time. She mentioned early that as an Easterner she spoke very fast. Frankly, I thought she might've spoken a bit fast, sure, but she didn't say a whole lot more than if she'd spoken more slowly and deliberately. The Q and A also helped clarify a lot more of her work, but some questions which I thought were fairly important to the research and the presentation were not answered at all and the audience was left questioning the value of the first presentation, of which I am sure there was some but it was difficult to sort through some poor representation of her hard work. It's always tough to elaborate thoughts to the satisfaction of your audience in such a short time period.
4) All the rest of the speakers did a fine job and spoke about relevant information, doing a good job of holding the audience's attention. If my chair hadn't been so uncomfortable, I could've sat there all day. There was little that wasn't worth hearing, even the information that I've already heard a few times. Hearing discussions does a good job of keeping issues current in my mind.
As the week rolls on, I'll be taking study breaks to give short synopsi of different speakers on my agriculture specific blog, the topics they discussed and my related opinions. However, in the near future the presentations will be posted. I encourage you to follow the link and watch the powerpoints yourself. It's always better to do your own thinking.
05 October 2010
Duplicate Post (Commenting)
Occasionally, I post something worth duplicating onto another blog. This would be one instance and to spare you the extra click, you can read today's agblog entry here...
In my opinion, it is commenting on other people's work and ideas that both challenges and strengthens their positions and arguments. Additionally it is through these challenges that other people are led to make up their own minds about critical issues in the world around us. This leads to a two-fold point on commenting on blogs.
Firstly, it is absolutely vital to comment only with true facts. Too many times there are extremists on either side of the issue who let their feelings get the better of them and then they end up just spouting off a bunch of over-exaggerations which serve only to promote greater intellectual chaos among the new faces to a debate. This is not helpful and can often be even worse than the obvious falsities promoted by extremists in their blogs to start with. If you can't make a point with sure facts and strong arguments, then please don't waste my time by moving your mouth or typing a lot.
Secondly, censored comments have a good ideal at their origin. However, if you over-censor comments such as the Making Hay blog does, then it destroys the point of your article in the first place, that is, if you were actually interested in debate. However, both Wayne Pacelle and Gene Baur have proven time and again that they are not truly interested in debate. It seems that they would rather force their opinion down the throats of intelligent people by first mis-educating the masses about the "truths" that they would like to share about animal agriculture. Is there truth to what they say? Sure, there is some truth to what they say, but not enough.
There must always be truth to something that people will believe, but in a radical rights movement such as theirs, misleading information will propagate their position much quicker and easier than debating facts. The facts would lead too many people to be moderates, thus causing too many people to be willing to work things out between groups. Instead, Pacelle, Baur, and their colleagues use their propaganda to trick people into a much faster ideological movement. The thing about movements is that they run out of time and energy. If you can't find something new to lie about, then you will finally run out of steam. What's amazing is how good HSUS and their groupies have been about coming up with misinformation to keep their groups on the move.
This is where I get back to my second point on commenting. If you have to go to the effort to block my IP address from even loading up the comment option on your blog, doesn't that mean you're scared to discuss the issue with me? It was bad enough when you deleted my comments during the censoring phase, but now you've cut straight to the greater efficiency and stopped me from being able to even submit my comments in the first place.
It's a shame that you're scared of people seeing the other side of an issue. People are smart enough to think for themselves; you don't need to be doing that for them. What's even more shameful is your blatant fear of my comments which have been posted here in my blogs for people to see since they would never be published on your blog. There is no foul language or hate for your organization proposed in my comments; I've even bordered on over-conciliation at times. Yet, you continue to dodge the obviously less-experienced and thus poorer equipped debater of the two of us.
If you're too scared to speak up for what you "believe in", then you'd better find a new cause to support.
In my opinion, it is commenting on other people's work and ideas that both challenges and strengthens their positions and arguments. Additionally it is through these challenges that other people are led to make up their own minds about critical issues in the world around us. This leads to a two-fold point on commenting on blogs.
Firstly, it is absolutely vital to comment only with true facts. Too many times there are extremists on either side of the issue who let their feelings get the better of them and then they end up just spouting off a bunch of over-exaggerations which serve only to promote greater intellectual chaos among the new faces to a debate. This is not helpful and can often be even worse than the obvious falsities promoted by extremists in their blogs to start with. If you can't make a point with sure facts and strong arguments, then please don't waste my time by moving your mouth or typing a lot.
Secondly, censored comments have a good ideal at their origin. However, if you over-censor comments such as the Making Hay blog does, then it destroys the point of your article in the first place, that is, if you were actually interested in debate. However, both Wayne Pacelle and Gene Baur have proven time and again that they are not truly interested in debate. It seems that they would rather force their opinion down the throats of intelligent people by first mis-educating the masses about the "truths" that they would like to share about animal agriculture. Is there truth to what they say? Sure, there is some truth to what they say, but not enough.
There must always be truth to something that people will believe, but in a radical rights movement such as theirs, misleading information will propagate their position much quicker and easier than debating facts. The facts would lead too many people to be moderates, thus causing too many people to be willing to work things out between groups. Instead, Pacelle, Baur, and their colleagues use their propaganda to trick people into a much faster ideological movement. The thing about movements is that they run out of time and energy. If you can't find something new to lie about, then you will finally run out of steam. What's amazing is how good HSUS and their groupies have been about coming up with misinformation to keep their groups on the move.
This is where I get back to my second point on commenting. If you have to go to the effort to block my IP address from even loading up the comment option on your blog, doesn't that mean you're scared to discuss the issue with me? It was bad enough when you deleted my comments during the censoring phase, but now you've cut straight to the greater efficiency and stopped me from being able to even submit my comments in the first place.
It's a shame that you're scared of people seeing the other side of an issue. People are smart enough to think for themselves; you don't need to be doing that for them. What's even more shameful is your blatant fear of my comments which have been posted here in my blogs for people to see since they would never be published on your blog. There is no foul language or hate for your organization proposed in my comments; I've even bordered on over-conciliation at times. Yet, you continue to dodge the obviously less-experienced and thus poorer equipped debater of the two of us.
If you're too scared to speak up for what you "believe in", then you'd better find a new cause to support.
10 June 2010
Sticker Fingers, among other things (long blog)
Last night we biked to Sticky Fingers up in Cheshire. Interestingly enough, there is a sticky fingers website, but this is not the correct place. Anyhow, it's a decent ride, and Katherine went with me. Mapmyride.com says that I burned 577 calories on the trip. That'd be great except I biked there to get ice cream sandwiches and bring them back. Anyhow, I doubled my mileage limit since I started training, and it was quite easy, especially with the new bike.
Now on to my list of other items (I should credit Sara Long at MSU for most of these links in her excellent weekly newsletter. Let me know if you would like to receive it):
1) Apparently Australia is having a drunk parakeet problem? Who knew parakeet's could get drunk? The better question now is... who's going to figure out how to stop it? It seems that they are treating parakeets everyday for hangovers, but then I was reading what they called a hangover food and that is never what I would've eaten...
2) This BP oil spill continues to infuriate me, especially after I found pictures of some of the killed wildlife. I saw that last week before this new "increased oil collection" happened, BP had been told to spend 1 billion on fixing the environment. What about now that they have increased the amount lost per day?
3) Local humane societies voice frustration with HSUS's dishonest accounting and name stealing. Awesome, it's too bad you're not in Ohio to help with the vote.
4) For those of you who know me long-term, you will understand my interest in this new research related to BSE.
5) What is it with Zoos killing Giraffes? I feel like this happens too often. They don't belong here, why don't we send them back?
6) Check out these NatGeo pictures of their shark elevator in action.
7) Finally, at the end of a long list of links worth reading - this is a new kind of billboard which advertises through smell.
My ride for tonight looks to be 16 miles long, and my weight is back to 237. I don't know what it will take to lose it, but maybe drinking coffee will help? I apologize, I was going to add a picture of my new bike, but it will have to happen next time. I have been cut off on this blog.
Now on to my list of other items (I should credit Sara Long at MSU for most of these links in her excellent weekly newsletter. Let me know if you would like to receive it):
1) Apparently Australia is having a drunk parakeet problem? Who knew parakeet's could get drunk? The better question now is... who's going to figure out how to stop it? It seems that they are treating parakeets everyday for hangovers, but then I was reading what they called a hangover food and that is never what I would've eaten...
2) This BP oil spill continues to infuriate me, especially after I found pictures of some of the killed wildlife. I saw that last week before this new "increased oil collection" happened, BP had been told to spend 1 billion on fixing the environment. What about now that they have increased the amount lost per day?
3) Local humane societies voice frustration with HSUS's dishonest accounting and name stealing. Awesome, it's too bad you're not in Ohio to help with the vote.
4) For those of you who know me long-term, you will understand my interest in this new research related to BSE.
5) What is it with Zoos killing Giraffes? I feel like this happens too often. They don't belong here, why don't we send them back?
6) Check out these NatGeo pictures of their shark elevator in action.
7) Finally, at the end of a long list of links worth reading - this is a new kind of billboard which advertises through smell.
My ride for tonight looks to be 16 miles long, and my weight is back to 237. I don't know what it will take to lose it, but maybe drinking coffee will help? I apologize, I was going to add a picture of my new bike, but it will have to happen next time. I have been cut off on this blog.
01 June 2010
Fired up
I finally couldn't take it anymore. Props to the OPA for getting me onto OFBF's facebook page. Here's someone's comment and my response relating to several of their other scathing remarks and disdain displayed to other pro-animal farmers.
Edie Olson
Why does it seem that the people here that are opposed to this initiative cannot give a straight answer about why they do not want the proposed standards for these animals?
Me
Edie. I oppose the standards that activist groups are attempting to force upon livestock producers because I have yet to see compelling scientific evidence that these standards actually improve the well-being of the animals. It's not just about the government forcing regulations on producers but it is additionally objectionable that activist groups with little actual experience with animals suppose that they have the right to tell hard-working people with generations of livestock experience how they can best care for animals. Without the proof that this will actually provide better care for the animals in the long-run, I refuse to support ballot-based activism that disrespects both the scientific process and legitimate government support for deliberated actions designed to uphold and improve animal well-being. Otherwise, this will just become another issue with similar results as banning horse slaughter. Ask PETA what they think about HSUS's efforts towards horse slaughter. Two vice-presidents in a row actively denounced it on behalf of their organization. Ask horsemen/women what they think about how the bill has "improved" the well-being of American horses. If you refuse to use rational, scientific approaches to improving animal care then you risk the results following the general trend of eventual failure and harm to increased number of individual animals that correlates to HSUS's interests.
Edie Olson
Why does it seem that the people here that are opposed to this initiative cannot give a straight answer about why they do not want the proposed standards for these animals?
Me
Edie. I oppose the standards that activist groups are attempting to force upon livestock producers because I have yet to see compelling scientific evidence that these standards actually improve the well-being of the animals. It's not just about the government forcing regulations on producers but it is additionally objectionable that activist groups with little actual experience with animals suppose that they have the right to tell hard-working people with generations of livestock experience how they can best care for animals. Without the proof that this will actually provide better care for the animals in the long-run, I refuse to support ballot-based activism that disrespects both the scientific process and legitimate government support for deliberated actions designed to uphold and improve animal well-being. Otherwise, this will just become another issue with similar results as banning horse slaughter. Ask PETA what they think about HSUS's efforts towards horse slaughter. Two vice-presidents in a row actively denounced it on behalf of their organization. Ask horsemen/women what they think about how the bill has "improved" the well-being of American horses. If you refuse to use rational, scientific approaches to improving animal care then you risk the results following the general trend of eventual failure and harm to increased number of individual animals that correlates to HSUS's interests.
24 May 2010
Read this...
I just wanted to give a shout out to Trent Loos for another good commentary article which I just received from Feedstuffs online. The link is below, I hope that you can access it. Otherwise, just contact me and I will send it to you.
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