24 Comments:
Why do you even listen to Jason Lewis, Honey Bunny? I mean, that'd be like me watching Hanna Montana or something. I'm sure I wouldn't undertand that show either. Why torture yourself?
»» Submitted by »»» mazasapa at 5:59 AM on March 24
Perhaps she likes to listen in every now an then to see if Mr. Right has anything to say that is, well, right. It is helpful to get information from a variety of sources, if for no other reason than gaining some insights to fellow Americans with differing points of view.
»» Submitted by »»» justpbob at 6:47 AM on March 24
mazasapa, i explained why i "listen" to jason lewis in my blog: pure comic relief.
My guess is that Mr Lewis less because the loudest voice wins the argument. It's either that or he's trying to drown out the voices in his head.
»» Submitted by JC65 at 7:07 AM on March 24
I stopped in at Mr. Lewis' little anti-tax party at the Capitol last year. Interesting people.
»» Submitted by »»» justpbob at 7:10 AM on March 24
That wasn't an anti-tax party, bob. That was a pro-freedom party. And alas, no booze. But plenty of smokes.
»» Submitted by »»» mazasapa at 8:07 AM on March 24
I don't know what sort of ratings Jason Lewis pulls but maybe a guy's gotta shout if they're not too high.
On his second trip through the TC's that carpetbagger has gotten a lot more shrill. The saving grace is that mostly, the people in his sights are Republicans who haven't passed some kind of purity test that he's imposed on them.
He's sure trying to take down Pawlenty.
»» Submitted by The Rat at 8:13 AM on March 24
That was a pro-freedom party
I thought we already had one of those in early July....
»» Submitted by »»» justpbob at 8:14 AM on March 24
I can't speak for Mr. Lewis' shows ratings, Rat, but that station has terrible ratings since they went to the talk radio format. They have replaced many of the on-air personalities (in some cases several times), but just can't seem to get any traction in this market.
One of the shows they tried was a PM drivetime pairing of Brian Lambert and Sarah Janecek. It didn't last long, but you have to admit it was an interesting experiment.
»» Submitted by »»» justpbob at 8:24 AM on March 24
Don't forget, Sunday was also MacGyver's Birthday - he turned 57
i gotta admit jason lewis knows his economics. but i love the way he is crying about all the republican elected offcials that are shirking their duties as conservatives, in his opinion.
»» Submitted by baker. at 10:16 AM on March 24
Re the Walk for Animals...it's cool that people want to help animals, but they may want to consider donating to a no-kill shelter like Animal Ark, which also sponsors an annual walk for animals in August. The Humane Society of Golden Valley is sadly quite resistant to changing their outdated approach to humane issues, which leads them to needlessly euthanize thousands of healthy animals every year.
»» Submitted by Tib at 11:07 AM on March 24
Memo to Humane Society: Send all animals we were unable to find homes for to Tib, who has volunteered to house, fed and pay for vet care.
»» Submitted by »»» justpbob at 11:36 AM on March 24
@ Tib - the AHS recently started accepting Pit breeds, so it seems policies are starting to change.
»» Submitted by shortyJ at 12:33 PM on March 24
The 5 metro area Humane Societies have merged into one to become a more effective organization against animal homelessness, and they have changed many of their policies. The website offers no information regarding euthanization (draw your own conclusion), however, joining forces has enabled them to create additional programs like multiple temporary fostering options. The AHS is a dedicated nonprofit that relies on donations and volunteers. It's a personal choice, of course, but I'd rather send more money to the very efficient AHS than to some of the smaller local shelters if it means stopping a pet from being euthanized. As someone who used to work directly with both the AHS and several other unnamed local shelters, I know my dollar gets stretched further the well-run AHS versus some of the crazy cat lady outfits. I'm not denouncing them all--I do donate to several different shelters every year--but I've seen first-hand how poorly a few of them are run.
If you're torn about where to donate your extra coins, remember that you can drop them in the kitty at any PetSmart or Petco. 100% of that money gets distributed locally to various shelters. PetSmart does bigger fund drives throughout the year, and Petco has a "Round Up" program, which gives every customer the option to round up their purchase to the nearest dollar, with the extra change going into the kitty.
»» Submitted by »»» alexis at 1:19 PM on March 24
Animal homelessness? Well, as good as term as any for strays and feral dogs and cats.
I'm glad we adopted Mr. B a few years back -- that little guy is just the sweetest dog in the world.
»» Submitted by »»» justpbob at 1:23 PM on March 24
And really, that's the main point: Adopt from shelters and spay/neuter. If you want to help the cause but can't take in an animal, kick in some extra change.
»» Submitted by »»» alexis at 1:30 PM on March 24
They also will take all your old blankets, towels and pillows.
Be sure when you are doing spring cleaning to remember that you can drop of stuff the Goodwill wouldn't take that is slightly dirty or old at the Humane Society.
»» Submitted by Mpls Simpleton at 1:33 PM on March 24
Exactly, they do not publicize their euthanization numbers, realizing that would be terrible PR (to publicize it, apparently not to do it). The Humane Society, as part of the established institutional structure, of course has a far larger budget and more visibility than the smaller shelters. I'm not saying that they don't do good things, they certainly do. However, I do not consider euthanization an effective weapon to fight animal homelessness.
For the record, Animal Ark is a progressive shelter currently implementing programs proven to reduce euthanization rates among healthy animals to zero in communities around the U.S. They are not a crazy cat lady outfit. The HS could learn from them and I hope they will.
And the only way the Humane Society is going to change their policies and approach is if they get pressured by donors and the community--which is what it took for them to belatedly transition their euthanization methods from gas to the more humane lethal injection.
»» Submitted by Tib at 1:42 PM on March 24
Tib, I assume you are a vegetarian, so this arguement will be lost on you, but we kill all kinds of animals all the time for food and very few people have qualms with it, why should we have qualms with the humane society killing animals that they feel will not find a home and will need long term institutionalization? I don't see a difference.
There are just too many animals, particularly cats, to house them all. While "fixing" an animal reduces this, it hasn't stopped the problem. Keeping animals in small cages for the long term is much more cruel then killing them, in my opinion.
»» Submitted by »»» kc! at 1:47 PM on March 24
Can anyone explain the Twins ticket levels to me? Is it better to sit in the home run porch, the upper club or the upper box? I don't want to spend more than $50 for two tickets, so those are the levels I'm looking at, but I don't really even know what the differences are...
»» Submitted by so... at 1:52 PM on March 24
of those 3 options, upper boxes are the best bet. you'll be pretty close to the action...but they are in limited supply, so the earlier you buy them the better.
the home run porch is fun and inexpensive, but it's about 1/2 mile from home plate. and if you have good (low) seats in the porch, you'll have to walk down about 50 rows every time you want to hit the bathroom.
»» Submitted by grote at 1:57 PM on March 24
There are two sides to the story Tib. As much as I hate to see any animal euthanized, sometimes it has to be done. When an animal is too sick, or too aggressive to placed in a home, what other options are there? Ideally, it would be great to send them to a sanctuary. But realistically, since there are not enough of those in existence, I don't know what else can be done. To remain a no-kill shelter, Animal Ark can turn away animals they don't feel are fit for adoption. Now where can these unwanted animals go? The AHS won't turn away animals, but as a result, cannot function as a no-kill shelter. They make every attempt to place an animal whenever possible. They have even established a program to work with animals (socialization, training, etc) that might have previously been candidates for euthanization. The org is not perfect, but continually getting better.
»» Submitted by shortyJ at 2:57 PM on March 24
Shorty, once Animal Ark gets up to speed with all their no-kill programs, yes, they will have to become an open admission shelter. Part of that program is to go out into the community with low cost or free spay-neuter and adoption programs, and also to have a socialization programs in place for pets with behavioral issues. In places where comprehensive no-kill programs have been put into place, very, very few animals are "unadoptable," and only those beyond medical or other treatment are euthanized.
It is a great fallacy that healthy animals need to be euthanized because there are not enough homes for them. The problem lies mainly with the way the old-school places operate. Here's a book about it if anyone's interested in finding out more. It's pretty inspiring stuff.
It's not an either-or, kc, there is an alternative to cage-for-life or euthanization, if the powers that be would be brave enough to abandon the status quo, which obviously isn't working, and try a new approach. And just because millions of livestock are slaughtered every year it doesn't logically follow that people should just shrug and say "oh well" about needless deaths of healthy dogs and cats in shelters, does it? There's enough compassion to go around, I would hope...but that's another whole topic.
»» Submitted by Tib at 4:24 PM on March 24
»»» = registered user. click on it to see the user's profile.
|
|
|
