Random Thoughts 1-4-2009
Mahatma Gandhi
Unfortunately, the people of Israel and Palestine still don't get it.
It looks like the low gas prices have worked. Sales of large SUVs and pickups are increasing again because people can't resist the low prices. And those will be the first people to complain this summer when the gas prices jump again. Already there is talk of the federal government raising gas taxes by ten cents a gallon to help pay for much needed bridge and road repair.
ON CNN this week, the Jane Velez-Mitchell show did an entire episode on pets centered on puppy mills. Those who think they should buy a dog from a pet shop rather than adopt because they believe they will get a better dog need to see this show. Unfortunately, I can't find a link to the actual show, just references on animal rights sites, but CNN Headline News usually shows these programs multiple times.
Strange News
We often see news stories about whales and dolphins becoming disoriented and beaching themselves, or swimming up a river. Does this ever happen in reverse to land animals? Apparently, it does! In November there were two reports, one in England and one off the coast of North Carolina, of dogs found swimming about a mile from land and heading for the open sea. Both were said to be disoriented and uncooperative when rescuers tried to get them out of the water.
In November, a math-challenged crook in Washington state got caught and charged for breaking a window at a liquor store to steal a bottle of wine. He had tried unsuccessfully to break the window with a rock so he went to a nearby store and bought a hammer for $11 to break the window and steal a $9 bottle of wine.
Oprah recently did a show on puppy mills to try to educate the public about this horrendous abuse. I could not watch it, but I understand it was a great success and informed many people about this horrible abuse of animals. It encouraged people to vote to ban puppy mills and never buy a puppy from a pet store. I talk about puppy mills all the time and I am surprised how many people do not know what they are. Oprah is doing a great job in trying to educate the public about this. I find it so hard to understand that we are supposedly such an advanced society and, yet, we allow this sub-human treatment of animals. We are rapidly advancing in technology, but we seem to be loosing our compassion for all living things. We are supposed to be the caretakers of this planet and it's inhabitants. But most of us have lost sight of that and do not care about anything but themselves. It will be interesting to see how this all works out in the comming years.
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