Responsibility? what’s that?
Responsibility? not quite yet
Responsibility? what’s that?
I don’t want to think about it; we’d be better off without it
So much on my mind, I have to say paying close attention to our government this week was excruciating............................
While I watched the hearing for HR 6598 a song kept creeping into my head, Responsibility by MxPx. The lyrics remind me of every irresponsible horse owner who refuses to see they hold the power in their hands to finally run the horse killers off. But that would mean they would have to think when breeding, or buying or trading a horse. Why think of the future? Why think of being responsible for a living being who is immediately affected by your inability to live up to an unspoken promise?
The Pro Slaughter camp really have shown their true colors over the last week. Cheating on a poll on Washington Watch, a committee member admitting he did not care if they got to HR6598 because he was against it, calling horse rescues under the guise of needing to place horses, and let's not forget the 288 horses that will go to slaughter every day this week while another chance for the horses slipped through the cracks. What happened to Due Process? Whether in a court of law or on Capitol Hill we as Americans should be able to have our concerns heard. First Larry Craig (Minnesota Bathroom Visitor) stalls S311 in committee and now in a committee chaired by an Anti Slaughter supporter the newest version of the bill is still not getting it's fair chance.
So as for our leadership in DC? I have come to the conclusion. After I watched the entire committee hearing on HR6598, I sat back and realized that there is a reason we have a DO NOTHING CONGRESS, regardless of who is in power. I am dismayed to see the people, that we as voters, have allowed to run our government continue to destroy what our country was founded on. Sometimes I seethe with such anger when I hear the words of Goodlatte or read how once again Stenholm was able to blur the lines of reality. And then it hits me. This is just one issue that I have watched very closely. There are thousands of issues that our government is very good at not dealing with, brushing under the rug, or completely destroying with amendment after amendment. And let's not forget the continued partisan squabbling and arrogant men and women who rarely can agree on anything for the betterment of our country. Watching the proceedings of an immigration law discussion get dragged out for hours and hours after the committee started late and took a 45 minute lunch it all became very clear to me. We are paying the people in Washington full time wages for doing a part time job. They have perks thrown at them by every interest group, they get treated like kings in there hometowns, and they continue to give themselves raises every chance they can while people like my husband who works 7 days a week, leaving the house at 7 am and often getting home long after dinner time and hasn't had a raise in three years!!
There are people out there who have been out of work for months and will soon see there unemployment benefits end and will more than likely find themselves with repossessed cars, foreclosed homes and sadly some who will have to turn to living in their parents homes or in shelters while they struggle to get themselves back on their feet. These are people with degrees and years of experience who have worked so hard for what they have. And who is getting a bail out? High risk investment companies who played with other people's money. How does this make sense? Insurance companies who continued to raise rates and then give their executives $20 million bonuses!! This type of irresponsible, pass the buck business has become the status quo whether it is big business or horse breeders who are sending horses to slaughter for being the wrong color.
We have President Bush who has lost all credibility, the man has even lost his own party's respect and trust, come on TV and tell everyone he is talking with his advisers? The same advisers that have advised us into this debacle? Please enough already. I know when this is discussed on the hill, in hearings and on the floor of our great Capitol building it will takes weeks and weeks, if not months, then DC will go on Thanksgiving break, then they will go on Christmas break, then they will go on Winter Break. They get more vacation then my kids do.
So the purpose of my rant?
If the government refuses to take care of it's own people than how are we ever to think they will do the ethical thing when it comes to our National herd [especially when there is hard cold cash being stuffed into their pockets]? If they, (our ELECTED officials) continue to leave Washington with unfinished business we will lose everything WE have fought for. It's bad enough that we can't get an animal cruelty bill passed what happens when there is a bill on the table to protect Senior Citizens or Kids from predators and it's forgotten so our government whiners...err, leaders can get on the first plane to Disney World.
Now as for the second half of the song Responsibility, I have a message for our government leaders:
You think I'm so simplistic
I'm onto you and your tricks
I'm still young and I'd like to stay that way
'Cause growing up won't make everything okay
I'm still young and I'd like to stay that way
I've got a voice and I've got a lot to say
I've got a lot to say. . .
Friday, September 19, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
IReport About HR 6598
For some reason CCN flagged my report and did not release it for over 4 hours. It finally is up.
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-88520
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-88520
Horse Slaughter Bill Receives Added Support – Pro-Slaughter “MYTHS” Dispelled
September 17, 2008, Wellington, Florida Today Victoria McCullough will be in Washington D.C. to speak at the Judicial Committee on Behalf of H.R.6598 The Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act of 2008.
On May23, 2008 Victoria McCullough and members of Pure Thoughts Inc. Horse & Foal Rescue traveled to Sugarcreek, Ohio to attend one of the gruesome weekly kill-auctions held every Friday. This was the day The Triumph Project was born; all the horses were saved from slaughter. The Triumph Project was not just about saving the horses that day. It is about changing the future of the horses and horse slaughter by raising awareness through tested and proven facts. Former Representative Charlie Stenholm, (now a lobbyist for the pro-slaughter campaign) would like the country to believe that the horses going to slaughter are “old and infirm.” Pro-Slaughter would also like us to believe that disposing of 90,000 horses a year would be impossible and economically not feasible for horse owners. Both of these statements could be construed as crucial to the cause IF they were true. Horses that are sent to slaughter have been labeled “unwanted” when really they are inhumanely DISCARDED, with no accountability or responsibility to the owners.
Contrary to Mr. Stenholm’s statements, the proven facts are the following:
Total Horses Purchased 163 (all horses that were destined for slaughter)
Number of old and infirm horses from that total 7 (4.3% of the horses purchased were old or infirm and needed to be humanely euthanized, all due to neglect)
Cost to euthanize and dispose of ALL old & infirm horses $1225
In addition, in less than 3 ½ months since their purchase from auction almost half of these horses have been placed in forever homes and successfully adopted, which shows they are not unwanted horses.
In regards to Victoria McCullough’s continued fight against slaughter the following statement was made. “I firmly believe that the present economic crisis is a very clear tutorial that in arrogance we have lost a sense of human definition and traded our once core fundamentals for self-serving elements. How we treat our children, our elderly, our pets and companion animals give us our identities I would prefer to endeavor to reach for alternatives to restore our compassion and sensitivities. To slaughter young healthy beautiful horses, ponies, foals and mares in foal and to overuse and abandon work animals that have given their lives in service is purely barbaric and unjust in our country of opportunities and dreams. I am in Washington to fight for the environment; the human environment. Cruelty such as this is intolerable and I have promised the horses that we have saved from slaughter to illuminate the injustice corruption and senseless mass disposal that has lingered in back rooms permeated by greed. These one hundred and sixty three horses spared on May twenty-third will save many many more; they and I have been reborn.” Victoria McCullough for The Triumph Project
The Triumph Project - The Davis McCullough Foundation funded the Triumph Project as an awareness campaign to enlighten the world through unified efforts, both in the United States as well as abroad, of the betrayal of our equine ally. Throughout history, horses have served us by escorting us to battle, tilling our fields, drawing our carriages, and enriching our lives as our companions and friends.
Pure Thoughts Inc. - is an all-volunteer 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to saving the lives of horses, yearlings and foals that were intended to go to slaughter for human consumption. These horses would have been brutally tortured and slaughtered. Pure Thoughts Inc. Horse & Foal Rescue also rescues horses from starvation, abuse and neglect, any horse in need. To date, over 1150 innocent equines have been saved and we will continue to fight for the horses. We cannot do this alone...we need your help!! Please help us and others save these beautiful animals and please remember in your thoughts the ones we were unable to reach.
Jennifer Swanson
561-254-0415
Jswan0415@aol.com
www.PTHR.org
Jennifer SwansonPure Thoughts Inc.Horse & Foal Rescuewww.PTHR.org19181 Capet CreekLoxahatchee, FL 33470Saving the life of a horse may not change the world...................but it will change that horse's world.
September 17, 2008, Wellington, Florida Today Victoria McCullough will be in Washington D.C. to speak at the Judicial Committee on Behalf of H.R.6598 The Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act of 2008.
On May23, 2008 Victoria McCullough and members of Pure Thoughts Inc. Horse & Foal Rescue traveled to Sugarcreek, Ohio to attend one of the gruesome weekly kill-auctions held every Friday. This was the day The Triumph Project was born; all the horses were saved from slaughter. The Triumph Project was not just about saving the horses that day. It is about changing the future of the horses and horse slaughter by raising awareness through tested and proven facts. Former Representative Charlie Stenholm, (now a lobbyist for the pro-slaughter campaign) would like the country to believe that the horses going to slaughter are “old and infirm.” Pro-Slaughter would also like us to believe that disposing of 90,000 horses a year would be impossible and economically not feasible for horse owners. Both of these statements could be construed as crucial to the cause IF they were true. Horses that are sent to slaughter have been labeled “unwanted” when really they are inhumanely DISCARDED, with no accountability or responsibility to the owners.
Contrary to Mr. Stenholm’s statements, the proven facts are the following:
Total Horses Purchased 163 (all horses that were destined for slaughter)
Number of old and infirm horses from that total 7 (4.3% of the horses purchased were old or infirm and needed to be humanely euthanized, all due to neglect)
Cost to euthanize and dispose of ALL old & infirm horses $1225
In addition, in less than 3 ½ months since their purchase from auction almost half of these horses have been placed in forever homes and successfully adopted, which shows they are not unwanted horses.
In regards to Victoria McCullough’s continued fight against slaughter the following statement was made. “I firmly believe that the present economic crisis is a very clear tutorial that in arrogance we have lost a sense of human definition and traded our once core fundamentals for self-serving elements. How we treat our children, our elderly, our pets and companion animals give us our identities I would prefer to endeavor to reach for alternatives to restore our compassion and sensitivities. To slaughter young healthy beautiful horses, ponies, foals and mares in foal and to overuse and abandon work animals that have given their lives in service is purely barbaric and unjust in our country of opportunities and dreams. I am in Washington to fight for the environment; the human environment. Cruelty such as this is intolerable and I have promised the horses that we have saved from slaughter to illuminate the injustice corruption and senseless mass disposal that has lingered in back rooms permeated by greed. These one hundred and sixty three horses spared on May twenty-third will save many many more; they and I have been reborn.” Victoria McCullough for The Triumph Project
The Triumph Project - The Davis McCullough Foundation funded the Triumph Project as an awareness campaign to enlighten the world through unified efforts, both in the United States as well as abroad, of the betrayal of our equine ally. Throughout history, horses have served us by escorting us to battle, tilling our fields, drawing our carriages, and enriching our lives as our companions and friends.
Pure Thoughts Inc. - is an all-volunteer 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to saving the lives of horses, yearlings and foals that were intended to go to slaughter for human consumption. These horses would have been brutally tortured and slaughtered. Pure Thoughts Inc. Horse & Foal Rescue also rescues horses from starvation, abuse and neglect, any horse in need. To date, over 1150 innocent equines have been saved and we will continue to fight for the horses. We cannot do this alone...we need your help!! Please help us and others save these beautiful animals and please remember in your thoughts the ones we were unable to reach.
Jennifer Swanson
561-254-0415
Jswan0415@aol.com
www.PTHR.org
Jennifer SwansonPure Thoughts Inc.Horse & Foal Rescuewww.PTHR.org19181 Capet CreekLoxahatchee, FL 33470Saving the life of a horse may not change the world...................but it will change that horse's world.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PLEASE CROSS POST :We need comments ASAP.Both the ABC and NBC local affiliates here in Palm Beach covered the vote for H.R. 6598. We need to get the grassroots campaign going to let them know we want more info and to please cover more of this story.Channel 5 NBC reporter email: Jennifer Rivera: jrivera@wptv.com WPTV Station Email Contact: pnroghaar@wptv.comPhone:( 561) 655-5455Channel 25 ABC:To Make Comment: http://www.wpbf.com/station/index.htmlTo Call: 561-694-2525 It does not matter if you live in the viewing area. Tell them you heard that the station was reporting on the bill H.R. 6598 and you want to thank them and ask them to continue their coverage of this NATIONAL ISSUE. In order to get something like this picked up nationally there has to be a large audience reaction to a local story. We have our foot in the door here. We have TWO TV Stations that have reported on this today and they both are partnered up with CNN. Come On Everyone Consider This Part of The Call In Day!! Do It For The Horses!
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