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Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Sewer Reminder

Wednesday at the SLO Botanical Gardens, the Sierra Club, the San Luis Bay chaper of the Surfrider Foundation and San Luis Obispo Green Bild, will be hosting a presentation of John Todd of John Todd Ecological Designs "ECO Machine," a wastewater treatment system that may or may not be added to the County's Consideration List. The Botanical Garden's presentation is Wed, Feb 6 at 6 pm ($20 donation). There will be another presentation at the Los Osos Community Center, Thursday, Feb 7 at 6 pm. ($5 donation).

Reason #4,308,293,1002.50 to be a Vegan

Better put down that Big Mac and step away from the counter. a slaughterhouse in Chino was stopped after it was discovered they were using "downer cattle" i.e. cows so sick they can't walk to their deaths so had to be fork-lifted to the killing machine, or had to suffer getting water blasted up their nostrils (waterboarding for cattle now?) to get them to their feet so they could be killed and ground up into hamburgers which were then sent to our public schools for their lunch program.

Eeeeuuuuuu? Not only eeeuuuuu for the sheer inhumanity of it all, but "downer" cattle may well carry not only whatever is "downing" them but may be suffering from mad cow disease. Eeeuuuuu? You betcha. You wanna eat that meat? Feed it to our kids? And that's just one slaughterhouse. Funding for the USDA inspector programs has consistently been cut, there simply aren't good mechanisims in place to oversee this sort of thing, plus under the "conservative" Republican Mantra of NO GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS, this kind of stuff is par for the course, because profit takes prescedence over public health -- downer cattle are cheap; making sure there are no downer cattle is expensive -- expensive eats into profits. Sick or dead kids don't. Case closed. Eat up!

Vote Early, Vote Often, Get Your Dead Uncle To Vote, Cousin Mazey, Too

It is always a supreme irony to me to hear people whining and sniveling about how awful "Washington" is. When you ask them, did you vote for this or so Representative or Senator (you know, the people who are actually writing the laws the person's whining about,) too often I'm told, "Uh, no, why bother?"

Duh. The collective wailing by the country about how awful George Bush is or how the country's going in the wrong direction is just plain silly. The voters had an opportunity to not only vote Bush out of office, they had an opportunity to vote INTO office, a veto-proof Congress and/or a congress bent on accountability and setting things right by doing their Constitutionally mandated job of oversight. The voters chose to keep the status quo: same Prez, a veto-able Congress still filled with Kool-Aide drinkers on both sides of the aisle, people with a vested interest in CYA and maintining the status quo until the clock runs out and they can dump the whole mess on whoever gets elected next time.

Is this any way to run a country? Apparently.



6 comments:

Maria M. Kelly said...

Please watch this video so that if you are undecided or "don't care" or "don't believe it matters", then give your vote to Barack Obama because we do believe and we do care and we welcome the toss of your cynical vote because maybe, just maybe, you'll believe again that Democracy only works when the people participate- All the people.

http://www.dipdive.com/

One people....
Maria M. Kelly

Mark said...

Ann,

As a 40 year and still active member of the time honored food supply chain, I was deeply moved and alarmed by the abusing of the distressed/sick and frightened cattle who could not stand on their own legs until slaughtered. That is not the way "downer" cattle are to be handled and I suspect that after the investigation plays out those responsible will be held to account for there actions. The Company has ceased all operations at this time until the investigation is completed.

It was a bad day for the entire meat industry when the news hit. It just goes to show what can happen as "Dan Blesky" recently wrote in the Feb/Mar issue of THE ROCK on page 12 Stickin' It to the PZ "Once the greed sinks in it corrupts. don't get me wrong, financial success is good, but not at the cost of the corruption that will likely overwhelm even the most well intentioned".- Mr. Blesky wrote that about "The small fraction of the engineering community that is composed of large corporations".

To tell you the truth, what has been going on in Los Osos is even more disturbing because it is affecting human beings, because it is continuing and because it needs to be stopped.

The fact that I slaughtered my first steer in a commercial slaughterhouse when I was 12 tears old, is what gives me the perspective and right to make the comparison.

Mark said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mark said...

A little primary thinking:

1. Hillary wins the Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States

2. Naturally, she wants to choose as her running mate, someone with a lot of knowledge and experience in government and foreign affairs, someone who is a seasoned campaigner who could bring a lot of strength to the ticket. Who better than Bill, her husband?!!!

3. Hill and Bill go on to win the election in November and the Democrats maintain control of the House and the Senate.

4. Hillary is sworn in as President on January 20, 2009. The next day, after all the inauguration parties are over, she calls a press conference to make an announcement: she is resigning as President!!! Bill, as the Vice President, immediately becomes President!!! This is all perfectly legal under the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, for it states that "no person may be elected as president more than twice". Bill is not being elected for a third term but is merely serving out the remainder of Hillary's term---all 4 years of it.

5. But wait! There's more! The following day Bill calls a press conference to make an announcement. He has chosen someone to fill the now-vacant office of Vice President. Guess who he picks? Why, Hillary, of course!!!

Is there anyone out there who thinks they haven't thought of this??

Mark said...

A little research shows:

The relationship between the 22nd and 12th amendments
Some have questioned the interpretation of the Twenty-second Amendment as it relates to the Twelfth Ammendment ratified in 1804, which provides that "no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States."

While it is clear that under the Twelfth Amendment the original constitutional qualifications of age, citizenship, and residency apply to both the president and vice president, it is unclear if a two-term president could later be elected—or appointed—vice president. Some argue that the Twenty-second Amendment and Twelfth Amendment bar any two-term president from later serving as vice president as well as from succeeding to the presidency from any point in the United States Presidential Line of Succession. Others contend that while a two-term president is ineligible to be elected or appointed to the office of Vice President, he or she could succeed from a lower position in the line of succession which he or she is not excluded from holding. Others contend that the Twelfth Amendment concerns qualification for service, while the Twenty-second Amendment concerns qualifications for election. Neither theory has ever been tested, as no former president has ever sought the vice presidency, and thus, the courts have never had an opportunity to decide the question.

Bev. De Witt-Moylan said...

SAVE THE DATE:

Saturday, MARCH 15, 6 PM

Sample Vegetarian Food
View "Peaceable Kingdom"

The Great American Meatout is a day set aside to alert the public of the destructive impacts of intensive animal agriculture upon consumer health, world food supplies, environmental, quality, wildlife habitats, and farm animals. By choosing not to eat meat for just one day you help save million of animals' lives. In the U.S. alone, approximately 40 million cattle, 100 million pigs, and more than 9 billion chickens and turkeys are abused and killed each year for food.

This event will take place in the "Training Room" at The Tribune, 3825 S. Higuera Street.

For more information call 544-1580.