Chicago Based Animal Groups- Free Publicity From Louisiana Dogs And Cats While Ignoring Chicago

                                      Recently people from Chicago went to Louisiana to rescue dogs and cats that were left homeless from the flooding. And of course this received free, positive publicity for some of the Chicago based animal organizations involved. Meanwhile, in the vast high crime neighborhoods of Chicago, where resources are poor, untold numbers of dogs and cats suffer greatly from unaddressed animal cruelty, from unaddressed dog fighting, or from harsh lives living on the streets.                                    
                                      Chicago has one of the lowest ratios in the United States of animal control officers to its population, ensuring countless strays will never be removed from the streets and that countless animals that are wounded and injured, whether by getting hit by cars, or from wounds inflicted by humans, or some other cause, will never be helped in a timely manner. Animals suffer greatly in Chicago, just as do many people, in the high crime, high violence gang infested neighborhoods that remain for many out of sight, out of mind.
                                       Law enforcement continues to ignore dog fighting and animal cruelty, with very few exceptions. Token police forces are not only ineffective at best, but they allow law enforcement to continue to ignore these easy to enforce crimes. Animal organizations that claim to investigate animal cruelty are ineffective at best, and oftentimes harmful(which is addressed in another blog), in addiction to providing law enforcement an excuse to continue to do little to nothing. Advocacy for an effective, appropriate police response to animal cruelty and dog fighting continues to be completely absent.
                                     There is a sad irony in Chicago based animal organizations continuing to ignore, with few if any exceptions, what takes place in Chicago while seeking maximum publicity in Louisiana.

Venezuela Is Losing Its Talent

                                   On top of all the other problems nations have to deal with, nations get ruined by incompetent men and women with over-sized egos. Venezuela is a resource rich country that should be prospering. It should not have been brought to the verge of economic collapse, but such is the legacy of incompetent, strongman leadership. Now Venezuela is experiencing brain drain (where countries lose their talent), which will drive it further into poverty and economic ruin.

The "No Kill" Movement That Ignores Or Minimizes Real Cruelty; One Pet's Sad Fate

                                           In the news was a story regarding a pet pig that the owner gave away to someone that responded to an ad on a well known web site. The person that "adopted" the pet pig later proceeded to hit it with an axe that stuck in the pig's back, shoot it with a small calibre rifle, and beat and punch the helpless animal in the face and head assisted by his friend. This all took place outside, witnessed by neighbors who called the police and also recorded by phone some of what transpired. One witness said the pig cried and screamed from the excruciating pain. The so called adopter(s) claimed they intended on killing the pig for meat. (Killing for food should be as quick and painless as possible).  A witness claimed the pig was tortured for no reason other than for the sadistic joy of the human handlers. If the owner of that pig had any love for her or his pet, he or she should never have put their beloved pet in that situation.
                                           Thankfully the police did the right thing and arrested the offender(s), a rare event when it comes to animal cruelty.
                                            The pig probably lived a pampered, easy life, learning to love and be comfortable around humans. The pig was unprepared for the horrible reality of falling into the hands of sadists.
                                            The pig's owner probably cared for his or her pet pig, and then found he or she could no longer care for it. The pig's owner then did what a lot of owners of pets do when they find for one reason or another they cannot keep their pet, whether it is a dog, cat, bird, pig or some other animal. Which is give their pet away hoping that it ends up in a nice home. Because the alternative for some pets, which is to be humanely euthanized, is in the eyes of many so called animal lovers the absolute worse thing that can happen to an animal. But there are fates far, far worse than humane euthanasia(an unfortunate reality but not cruelty).
                                               Real cruelty, which the entire no kill movement seems to callously ignore or minimize, is a million times and more worse than humane euthanasia. Many are the times when animals are adopted and placed into homes and situations that guarantees a life of pain and misery along with horrific deaths that no living animal should have to experience.

The ISIS Genocide Against The Yazidi, One Girl's Sad Story

                                          A Yazidi teenage girl was captured by ISIS Islamists, who raped her repeatedly, and exchanged her between themselves. She eventually escaped her tormentors. Fearing capture again, she set herself on fire in order to make herself so undesirable that the Islamist men would never abuse her again.
                                           What was the sin of this poor girl to have suffered so much and to have been driven to disfigure herself? Her people, the Yazidi, are an ancient people with a culture and religion that goes back thousands of years. And now it has been decimated in a world that does not tolerate minority religions.
                                         A girl had to pay the price for the evil of men who in the name of their religion believe they have license to rape and kill with impunity. A girl had to pay the price for an indifferent, cruel world that stood idly by in silence while genocide unfolded. Thousands of Yazidi girls and women are still held captive, raped and abused daily.

The Ticking Time Bomb Of Overpopulation and Degradation

                                             Decades ago, in what is now called the population bomb, a scientist predicted that out of control population growth would outstrip the ability of the earth to feed billions of people, resulting in mass hunger and starvation. Technology has thus far been able to ward off the prediction, leading people to believe that what the scientist predicted is wrong. Perhaps the jury is still out, and it is premature to make that conclusion.
                                               We are not controlling our population. Sensible family planning is countered by religious dogma that believes there is no limit to population growth, no matter how overcrowded, degraded, polluted, contaminated and poisoned this world is already. No one seems willing to take on this religious dogma, no matter how destructive it is. Instead, people have children way beyond their ability to feed, clothe, adequately shelter and educate their children, often depending on the charity of others, which only perpetuates a bad situation.
                                                A lot must go right for the world to feed the soon to be ten billion people that will be on this planet. There must be adequate soil, rain, weather, political and economic stability, a healthy environment, things that already are changing. Healthy bees, bats, birds and other animals are needed for pollination or insect control, and already the world is losing vast populations of each. Can humans continue to grow in number while at the same time continue to destroy habitat, poison and degrade the environment, pollute and over exploit the resources of oceans and land, and expect the earth to continue to provide? Overpopulation and degradation does not result in abundance.

God Is Not A Psychotic, Bloodthirsty Savage

                                        No one can say what there is after death. No one can say what is God. No one can say what higher power, or spiritual force created and rules this universe. People can only say what they were taught to believe, or what it is they choose to believe. But this I know for sure- God is not a psychotic entity that will welcome murderous, bloodthirsty humans that murder, rape, torture and deliberately cause others to suffer and be in pain.  There are demented people that in the name of religion do these evil things, believing God is glorified by their ruthlessness and bloodlust.

The Gains Of War And Terror For Muslims And Non Muslims, The Unpursued Gains Of Goodwill

                                               Where there is war between Muslims or between Muslims and non Muslims, in places as Kashmir, parts of Mindanao in the south of Philippines, South Thailand, North Nigeria, Israel/Palestine, parts of Kenya, Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, Libya, Iraq, Somalia, Darfur,  and many other places, if  peace, goodwill and reconciliation are pursued as aggressively as has been war and terror-which has brought nothing but death,destruction and poverty- there will be hope for the future.

Islam, House of Peace Or House Of War, Gaza,S.Philippines,S.Thailand, Conflict And Crisis

                                            A modestly dressed woman in her early thirties was sitting near a lake. When I exited from the water, where I was swimming, she asked me if the water was safe to swim in. We then proceeded to have a conversation. She had an accent which I did not recognize, and informed me she was from Algeria.
                                            During the course of what turned out to be a lengthy conversation which covered religion and politics, she stated the the following: ISIS is not Islamic. Islam is a religion of peace. But her definition of peace and my definition of peace turned out to be quite different. The main difference between what she believes and what ISIS espouses is the extreme to which ISIS resorts to violence, and the willingness of ISIS and other Islamists to violently spread Islam, while she believes Muslims are justified in the use of violence only to retake lands that were once Islamic.
                                             She said that when lands become under Islamic control, they must forever remain under Islamic control. When the conversation turned to Israel and Palestine, she said that the only way this conflict can end is for Muslims to rule, and for Jews to submit to the laws of Sharia as applied to the status of  non Muslims living under Islamic rule. When I suggested territorial compromises, she made it clear that the Islamic position, not just her position, is that there can be no two state solution. I said that this was the recipe for endless war. She reiterated her point that when lands are under Muslim control, even if Muslims lose control over those lands, they must be returned to the Islamic fold. I said this meant endless war not only for Israelis and Palestinian Arabs, but also for Muslims and Christians in South Philippines, Muslims and Buddhists in South Thailand, Muslims and Hindus in Kashmir, and many other places.
                                               She accused Israel of killing babies and children in Gaza, stating that Hamas and Palestinians have the right to fight, while the Israelis do not have the same right. When I asked her why the responsibility for civilian casualties does not fall on the side that chooses to wage war, especially when they do this from densely populated civilian areas( to say nothing about using the civilian population as a shield), she returned to her argument that it is the duty of Muslims to defend and take back their lands. I pointed out that most Israelis are the descendants of Jews that were driven out from Arab Muslim and other Muslim majority lands, and they do not consider it their right or duty to wage war and terror against the Muslims that took their lands. Why does the right to wage endless war only extend to Muslims, I asked. She replied again that a fundamental duty of Muslims is to defend and regain their lost lands. I then said, If all the Buddhists, Hindus, Christians, Jews and everyone else wages war against Muslims to regain lands that Muslims took from them, the whole world will be engulfed in war.
                                                I asked her again why this right to wage jihad or war does not extend to Jews, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus and others that have had their lands taken by force by Muslims. She stated that because Islam is the only true and correct religion, other religions can live in peace under Islamic rule, but it must be Muslims, not anyone else, that rules in the lands that are now or that have been under Islamic control.
                                                Regarding the United States, she said that this land is not possessed by any religion, and has never been ruled by Islam, so there is no need for conflict.
                                                 I will not get into the reasons why some people believe certain conflicts are only political in nature, not religious, and ignore everything that clearly shows otherwise. Religious conflicts are near impossible to stop. They can be stopped, but it does not begin with the premise that compromise is impossible, that one religion must dominate and rule over the others, and that war and violence are acceptable in the implementation of this domination.

No Family Planning And Misleading Poverty Numbers; No Cause For Celebration

                                     A reputable magazine reports that the number of people living in extreme poverty in sub-saharan Africa fell from 58 to 48 per cent between 1999 and 2010. It also reports that the population in that area rose from 767 million to over 1 billion. The percentage of people living in extreme poverty has decreased, while the actual number of people living in extreme poverty has risen significantly.
                                     Africa's population is growing at a rapid, unchecked pace. Even if by percentage the numbers of people living in extreme poverty decreases, the total number of people living in extreme poverty will continue to increase. Events such as recessions, wars, drought and so forth will significantly reverse any positive poverty reduction momentum. Even if economies grow and there is relative economic and political stability, unchecked population growth will ensure that untold millions will continue to live in extreme poverty. Continued environmental degradation, which is greatly exacerbated by rapid population growth, will add to the numbers of the extremely poor, and keep those living in poverty mired in their difficult situation.
                                      Sensible family planning needs to be an integral part of any serious poverty reduction efforts, and any serious conservation effort.
                                 

Cigarettes And The Power Of Advertising To Destroy;On Full Display In Africa

                                   In many countries, smoking is on the decline. Not so in many countries in Africa, where cigarette companies find fertile ground to sell their cancer causing addiction. Instead of responsible advertising, the cigarette companies do what many other for profit and nonprofit organizations do- sell lies and distortions. Exaggerate the truth and hide the negative.
                                   The power of advertising to lead people to where they should not go is on full display in the world of cigarettes. Unlike many for profit and nonprofit entities that use advertising to mislead and separate a person from their money, the cigarette companies add the additional harm of giving the consumer a cancer causing addiction.
                                   Humans are more than one dimensional consumers, but not so in the manipulative world of advertising, best typified by cigarette advertising. Hook a living being on a harmful addiction, and it is all win win for the cigarette companies. The person buys the product, the company makes a profit, and the real cost; cancer, heart disease and the host of other diseases that result, are borne by society at large, not the cigarette companies.
                   

South China Sea; Nationalism Replaces Fish

                                              Like in many of the oceans and seas of the world, the South China Sea is treated like a piece of garbage. The fleets of fishing vessels, including trawlers and industrial scale ships, far exceeds the carrying capacity of the South China Sea. Governments are complicit in this mass raping of the South China Sea fish and other resources. Already large zones of the sea have been turned into dead zones. All life is getting pulled from the waters, killing all chances of replenishing fish for future generations.
                                              While the South China Sea is being depleted of its marine life, nationalism is driving the destruction of coral reefs, shoals, and islands that are being destroyed and turned into one country's outposts. This country in the end will be the ruler of a fishless, dead sea.
                                                Unless there is an aggressive drive to protect the seas and oceans with marine zones where fishing is prohibited, and marine life is given the opportunity to replenish itself, nothing will soon be left. Unless there is an aggressive effort to limit the number of industrial scale fishing boats and trawlers, and ensure that fishing catches do not exceed the carrying capacity of the South China Sea or any sea, fishing stocks will be depleted to the points of no return. Unless coral reefs, shoals and islands are protected, nothing will soon be left.
                                                 People need healthy seas and oceans. People need fish and marine life. We can eat fish. We cannot eat nationalism.

The Destruction Of Religious Minorities Under The Thumb Of Growing Islamic Intolerance

                                     Religious minorities living in Muslim majority lands are being crushed. There is news of a small, formerly isolated religious minority living in a South Asian Muslim majority country where the non Muslim culture and religion is being destroyed by Islamic invaders that respect no religion but their own, and do not hesitate to harm everyone else, including taking the non Muslim girls captive.
                                   The growing violence, terrorism, bigotry and intolerance in the Islamic world, financed by the oil rich gulf nations, is crushing moderation and all forms of Islam except their own fanatical versions. Religious minorities living in Muslim majority lands are being persecuted, slaughtered, raped and made captive, while the world does nothing.
                       

Being Intolerant Of Islamic Intolerance Is Not The Same As Being Intolerant Of Islam

                                      I could care less what someone believes provided that person is not harming others. If someone wants to worship a rock, or a tree, or one God or many Gods, how is any of that my business? It is not my business. We have in the stable countries of this world a little thing called religious freedom. Which means people are free to practice their own religions, faiths and beliefs, free from persecution.
                                      But  accepting or at least being indifferent to the religious practices of other religions is far different than accepting Islamic supremacy, Islamic intolerance, and the belief that Islam must dominate. There are millions of Muslims in this world that are good, decent people that are not intolerant, that are accepting of other religions, and that do not believe Islam must dominate and rule. But there are also millions of Muslims that are intolerant of other religions, including Muslims that worship differently than themselves, and that believe Islam must rule and dominate. And some of these people are eagerly killing, raping and maiming all over the world.
                                        The survival of this planet demands that people of all religions learn to live with each other without resorting to endless wars, violence and terror. Mankind, now in the nuclear weapons age with all kinds of weapons of mass destruction, cannot survive religious wars. Suppressing concern about the rising hatred, intolerance, violence and terrorism in the Islamic world may be politically correct, but it is also idiotic. It is not phobic to fear people that want to kill you.
                                         Dismissing all the violence and terrorism in the Islamic world as not being Islamic is  a convenient way to whitewash and ignore a difficult situation that all of humanity faces. Islam can be a great religion of peace, but it can also be a religion of war, terrorism and intolerance. Pretending that this duality does not exist might be politically correct, but it is misleading. Anyone can read the Quran, the Hadiths, and see for themselves the teachings of Islam. What is unfortunate is that the most violent, intolerant, hate filled interpretations of Islam are what the oil rich Islamic nations of the world are spreading.
                                        If humanity is unwilling to stand up against religious intolerance, which includes not whitewashing or ignoring the hatred and intolerance emanating from the Islamic world, then a very dark age will descend upon us, from which all of humanity will never emerge.
                                       

Where The Jews From Arab Muslim And Muslim Majority Lands Would Be Now Without Israel

                                       If the Jews of the middle east and North Africa, whose descendants now make up the majority population of Israel, were not driven from their homes and sent as refugees to the state of Israel (there were more middle east and North African Jewish refugees from Arab Muslim and Muslim majority lands than there were Arab refugees that fled from Israel), what would their lives be like now?
                                        The non Muslim religious minorities of the middle east and North Africa are vulnerable at best and at worst are the victims of genocide. Yazidis have been slaughtered by Islamists, and their women and girls taken as sex slaves. Thousands of Yazidi young women and girls are being raped, tortured and brutalized daily by their Islamist captors, with little to no hope of escape. Many have killed themselves to escape their awful situation.
                                          Christians of the middle east, who like the Jews, have been present in the middle east long before there was an Islam, are being murdered and driven out from their homes. The tragic ethnic cleansing of the middle east Christians continues unabated.
                                          In Iran, the leadership is obsessed with killing Jews and destroying Israel, not addressing the serious environmental and other major issues that Iran faces. Iran oppresses its religious minorities without an outcry from anywhere. There is a small token number of Jews remaining in that country, who are left alone as long as they disavow any connection with the only Jewish state in the world. Most Iranian Jews have already fled the Islamic theocracy. The Bahais, a tiny minority that are threat to no one, are severely persecuted. Other religious minorities are also oppressed, including non Shia Muslims.
                                         In Lebanon, Iranian backed Hezbollah shares its Iranian masters obsession with Jew killing and the destruction of Israel. Fortunately, the Jews of Lebanon have fled from the once independent, now Iranian controlled state of Lebanon.
                                          The Jews of Syria, long persecuted, have already fled from Syria. If not, they would not survive the fanaticism of ISIS Sunni demented Islamists, or the fanatical Jew hatred of the Iranian/Hezbollah Shia Islamists.
                                            Egypt long ago expelled their Jews, sending them fleeing to Israel. If not, they would face extreme persecution. Jew hatred is rampant in Egypt. The Coptic Christians that make up approximately ten per cent of Egypt's population, and that have been in Egypt long before the rise of Islam, are highly vulnerable.
                                           There are no Jews anymore in Algeria. Even without any Jews left, the hatred of Jews is still widely promulgated.
                                             The Jews from Libya have long ago fled to Israel, otherwise they would not survive the Islamist murder spree now taking place.
                                               The Jews from Yemen, Afghanistan, Iraq, if still living in those lands, would not survive the Islamic hatred, whether Sunni or Shia, that rages in the Islamic world.
                                               All over the Arab Muslim middle east, North Africa, and in other Muslim majority lands, including in places like Pakistan, hating Jews and being taught that murdering Jews is not a sin but an obligation, is widespread and pervasive. Teaching Jew hatred is common in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and other oil rich Islamic countries that eagerly are spreading the most hate filled, intolerant versions of Islam all over the world. They have squandered trillions of dollars of oil wealth to spread hate, intolerance, including Jew hatred and hatred for Israel, instead of using their wealth to spread peace, tolerance, goodwill and kindness. Now the seeds of their hatred include suicide bombers and fanatical Islamists that derive joy from literally cutting off with a knife the heads of human beings they consider infidels, one of the most evil, cruel ways to kill. Meanwhile, the elites of the oil rich Islamic nations live pampered, extravagant lives of luxury, while the world is awash in the misery that they have created.
                                               In Europe, with its long history of Jew hatred, culminating in Hitler's destruction of over 90 per cent of Europe's Jewish population, it is now Muslims raised on Jew hatred  that are making the lives of European Jews increasingly difficult. Some of the Jews are already fleeing to Israel.
                                               In the Gaza and west bank, Arab Muslims are being taught to despise and kill Jews, and to believe this is rooted in Islam itself. This makes it increasingly impossible to reach a territorial and political solution to this conflict. Apologists for Palestinian Arab Muslim terror refuse to recognize this pathological religious based hate. The apologists motives may be ideological, or Jew hatred, or the desire to cling to simplistic narratives of victimhood, but the failure to hold Palestinian Arabs responsible for poisonous Jew hatred keeps this conflict enflamed. Many hate Jews or Israelis so much that they would rather see millions die as long as Jews get killed.
                                                 Without Israel, the Jews of the middle east and North Africa would share the horrible fate of the Yazidis, middle east Christians and other religious minorities that suffer under the thumb of an increasingly intolerant Islamic world.
                                           
                                         

The Least Intelligent Species

                                    Living creatures in their many forms are adapted to survive in the environments in which they live. One species rapidly deteriorates its environment, making it impossible for many other species to continue to adapt. And so, species after species are driven into extinction.
                                  This one species is compelled to create weapons that can destroy all life; weapons that many of its kind now possess and of which some will be happy to use. Willfully and by neglect this species has turned much of its environment into poisonous, cancer causing toxic stew. It has made life so uninhabitable that a mass extinction of other species is now taking place.  
                                   If intelligence is measured by the ability to survive, adapt, and maintain or at least not destroy one's environment, then this species must be the stupidest of all.
                                 

The Sad Tragedy Of Syria

                                          How is it that Syria can continue to be ripped apart, and the entire world seems impotent to do anything? How many more violations of the Geneva convention does it take?  This is not about taking sides. Both sides are committing atrocities.
                                         How sad it is that there was a time that the Syrian people protested peacefully for more freedom, only to meet an iron, brutal fist. All of this bloodshed could have been avoided.
                                           Now every day brings fresh news of atrocities, poisonous gas, carpet bombings, barrel bombs, demented Islamists killing and raping. There has to be a way for this insanity to stop, not for more countries to feed into it.

A Simple Job Program That Helps The Chronically Unemployed, Marginalized, And The Environment

                         In response to high unemployment during the time of the great depression, the United States instituted programs like the Civilian Conservation Corp, which provided employment for young people and served the public through its projects. Bringing back a program that will help unemployed youth and serve the public good can be modified to serve the modern times.
                     
                        There is another public service program that can help integrate marginalized (often multigenerational) people of all ages back into the American mainstream. It is as simple as assembling at an assigned place every day, and then being taken by bus or van to different locations where the day will be spent picking up garbage. This is a needed job, considering the vast amounts of garbage and trash that are everywhere. Marginalized people that lack job skills and education will be offered an opportunity for gainful employment and a chance for a better life. Some will argue this will not be cheap. Marginalized people with no possibilities for a better future that end up in the criminal justice or medical care system cost the government far more.
                          This job program requires no training, little equipment, and is easy to implement. It provides people with the discipline and structure to work a job, something that has eluded generations. It is labor that serves the public good, and that improves the environment and quality of life for everyone. It gives a second chance to chronically unemployed people that sincerely want an opportunity.
                          Garbage will be removed. Cities, countrysides and everywhere else will be cleaner. People that were unemployable will have a chance to improve their lives, and the lives of their families and communities.

Continued Change No One Should Believe In And Four More Years Of Deficit Spending

                            Election season and the same promises are being made that get repeated over and over like a broken record - lower taxes, more jobs, new government spending cuts, etc. Once in office, knowing there is no need or way to accomplish and pay for everything promised, the politicians do the two things they do best - nothing and print money. The democrats want big government, while the republicans want smaller government with a huge military(which is still big government).  The money printing presses roll, and nothing changes as per usual.    

The U.S. Tax Structure Must Stop Favoring The Rich And Wealthy And Must Start Addressing Serious Problems

                               Will raising taxes on the rich and well off collapse the American economy? According to some economists, it will. (Political points of view seem to dictate economic points of view.) The economy will not collapse because rich people have their taxes raised. And for those who threaten to leave the United States because their taxes are raised, where do they expect to go? A European country that already has a more equitable, graduated tax structure? A low tax country with barely any government services and that is highly unstable? There are few places as stable as the United States where the wealthy are this well cared for.
                                  Some scream socialism when taxing the rich in a more equitable manner is suggested, such as having a graduated income tax. Socialism and communism meant having the means of production in the hands of the state. Communism meant having almost everything in the hands of the state. A graduated income tax and a more equitable tax structure is not socialism, and it is not communism. Once the U.S. had a graduated income tax, and we were still not a socialist nation. Trickle down economic theories along with out of control government spending and reduced taxes for the wealthy simply makes no sense.
                                    The U.S. economy will not collapse from a more fair, equitable tax structure. The U.S. will face serious problems if it continues to have bloated government spending, which includes a military that needs to be made far more efficient; all of which is funded by printing money.
                                     The U.S. cannot continue to ignore the large disenfranchised population in its midst, in which millions are not gainfully employed and where many instead are employed in the criminal underworld of gangs and drug trafficking. The U.S. infrastructure needs repair. Serious environmental problems continue to be ignored. There is a long list of serious issues that need to be addressed.
                                      There are far worse things in the world that people have to face than the rich having to pay more than their fair share of taxes. Millions still cannot afford to get sick or injured. Many people cannot afford proper care if they are sick. The world faces an extremist threat every bit as great as the beginning rise of Nazi Germany. Did American taxes go down in order to fight the Nazis? No, they went way up to fund the war effort.The United States may not believe it is at war with its enemies, but its enemies have already declared war on the United States. Nuclear proliferation also remains a huge threat, as does the ongoing threat of an existing nuclear power using nuclear weapons.
                                        The rich and well off receive all of the benefits that America has to offer. They must also share in its burdens, even if it is not anywhere near the degree of sacrifice as the people that put their lives on the line or work a myriad of low wage jobs that keeps this nation running.
                                 
                                 

Pigs And Animals Raised For Slaughter; Not A Marriage Yet Of Science, Technology And Compassion

                                      Recently there was a front page story in a major Chicago newspaper regarding the treatment of pigs raised for slaughter. Animals raised for food are in one of the most powerless positions of any living creatures on earth. How they are treated, poorly in far too many instances, would cause an uproar if the same treatment were applied to companion animals. Because there is usually little to no human emotional attachment to animals raised for slaughter, the standards for the care and treatment of these animals are often ridiculously low.
                                       These animals should have some measure of legal protection backed by people with the authority to exercise the law. Laws, no matter how strong, are meaningless if there are not sufficient numbers of people with the power and authority to enforce them. Agribusiness fails if it cannot provide minimal standards of care. It is not enough to provide cheap meat if it comes at a heavy cost in terms of animal suffering, poor working conditions and environmental damage.
                                         There are better, more humane ways to lead pigs to slaughter than are presently practiced in many slaughterhouses. There are significant deficiencies, with some exceptions, in every aspect of the way pigs (and other animals used for food) enter this world, live in it, and then leave it.
                                        There are better alternatives than keeping sows kept in confinement pens, without the ability to turn, move, exercise, and that in frustration chew on their metal bars. A simple search on the internet reveals alternatives offered to this severe confinement. It is clear that some people with strong knowledge bases regarding animal science are thinking about these matters, and there are better alternatives. Some of the alternatives are expensive, some are not. There is one design, carefully thought out, that is a relatively inexpensive alternative to restrictive confinement pens, and that does not involve putting sows in a stressful group situation (pigs in general are highly social animals that seek out the company of each other, but not in all situations).
                                          It simply is inexplicable that technology has advanced at an incredibly rapid pace, but the technology for the proper care of animals raised for meat has languished. As long as the nature of a business involves the use of living creatures, simple human decency demands that the animals in their care be afforded the right not to be subject to unnecessary, excessive, gratuitous cruelty, violence or neglect.
                                          In factory farms and slaughterhouses where wages are low and the stress for workers is high, management still has obligations both to its employees and to the animals in their care.
                                           Government has an obligation to protect both these animals and the workers, and to quit shielding factory farms and slaughterhouses from any achievable methods of accountability.
                                         The well funded, lucrative animal welfare, humane, against cruelty, ethical treatment type organizations, who also are never held accountable, have fallen far short. A simple challenge remains for any one of these organizations to debate in a public forum or in any manner of their choosing regarding their position that they help animals, and the opposing position that they are more ineffective, harmful and exploitative than they are helpful.
                                          Few people choose to stop eating meat. Some people choose to eat meat only raised in a manner that meets certain standards. But for the vast majority of people, they do not have the will or interest, or the financial resources, to eat anything other than meat that is least expensive, regardless of how it is produced.
                                          Most animals never receive any measure of protection other than what the industry itself provides. This makes it all the more imperative that there is consistent, across the board standards for all animals raised for meat. The science and technology already exists to mitigate against unnecessary suffering. Unfortunately, the moral will is still lacking.

                                         
                                   

The Conservationists, Scientists, Academics That Failed Bats, And Flawed Bat Counting

                              Highly endangered bats faced with extinction came to the radar of a number of so called bat conservationists and other conservationists, bat scientists and academics, and related organizations and institutions. Being on the radar, studying the bats, having bat related meetings, expensive exotic bat related travel to the distant land, bat conferences, bat scientific studies; none of this stopped the destruction of the habitat upon which the bats depend, or the killing of the bats themselves.
                              A very lucrative project that destroyed habitat was of huge consequence, and no one raised a voice against it. The motives for silence in the face of destruction? Perhaps it was the belief in timidity as the way to remain "constructively" engaged, believing that raised voices would only be alienating. But what did that matter, when everything was going to be lost anyway? Maybe it was the fear of losing travel perks, funding, grants, or being able to operate in other areas of that country.
                                 Meanwhile, a questionable method of counting bats developed by an academic was used as a way to declare bat numbers were on the rise despite development.
                                  If conservation failures were as widely advertised as so called conservation successes, maybe then conservation would be approached differently.
                             

Scientific Studies Are Not The Way To Stop Extinctions, Not For Tigers, Not For Almost All Other Wildlife

                                       Scientific studies are not what saves species from extinction. Protecting wildlife and their habitat is what does. Proclaiming scientific studies are necessary to protect tigers or other endangered species from extinction misses the point. The fundamental threat worldwide is the continued failure to protect wildlife and their habitat.
                                       Scientific studies might be good for generating donations for an organization, or for obtaining grants and employment for an elite, but that does not necessarily make them valuable or useful. A few species are faced with diseases that threaten their survival and do require study. But  worldwide, the mass extinction that is taking place right now, the unraveling of biodiversity that threatens the very survival of humans, is caused by the continued loss of habitat and wildlife and the enormous failure to protect both. Governments must become far more involved than they are now, and take over the handling of this crisis. It cannot continue to be left in the hands of highly inadequate and often exploitative nonprofit entities and a few equally self serving for profit animal related media and other conglomerates. Governments do not hesitate to spend trillions on ways to kill each other, but expend little effort and funding to protect the natural world upon which we all depend.

Conservation And Wildlife Organizations That Fail In Only Two Things- Conservation And Wildlife Protection

                             The good thing about running a conservation and wildlife protection operation in a far away third world country is that the program can be utterly worthless and useless, as they are often, and no one will pay attention. Conservation and wildlife protection organizations, eager to impress their donors and supporters back home, will do practically anything to maintain a presence in the third world countries where they are operating, including kowtowing to ineffective, corrupt governments and other entities. Recently in one country, a massive development project destroyed habitat and wildlife, jeopardizing endangered species, while wildlife and conservation organizations, including some that are species specific, refused to do anything.
                             These organizations have their meetings, constructive engagements, expensive travel, so called scientific studies, and are lacking in only two things- conservation and wildlife protection.

Long Overdue Critical Change Needed In Conservation, Animal Cruelty, Wildlife Protection, And Nonprofits

                               There are a number of important roles that government or the public sector must perform. In important areas where government is lacking, weak and inefficient, the key is to improve and strengthen the weakness and inefficiency. Stepping into the vacuum created by weak and inefficient government and exploiting this weakness to promote a nongovernmental organization is not an appropriate role for a nonprofit organization.
                               Nonprofits are not law enforcement agencies, for example. It is not appropriate or useful for any nonprofit entity to try and be the substitute for adequate law enforcement. By doing so, they allow certain crimes to flourish. First, because it enables law enforcement to continue to avoid their responsibilities. Second, as I have already discussed at great length, the so called investigations by nonprofit organizations into crimes such as animal cruelty and dog fighting are not only incredibly inadequate and lacking, but are oftentimes harmful.
                                There are many areas where nonprofits are of enormous service. Law enforcement roles or pseudo law enforcement roles are not one of them.  Regarding conservation and wildlife protection, nonprofits cannot replace, nor should they try, to be the inadequate substitutes for appropriate government involvement. Protecting wildlife and habitat, which they have failed at miserably, especially in the third world (the places with the greatest biodiversity), needs to move fully into the hands of responsible governments that can assist countries in need. Preservation and protection has to be a more financially viable option than continued habitat destruction and wildlife decimation. Mankind is now in the midst of a mass extinction event, in which untold numbers of species are being lost, or are near to being lost forever. The collapse of biodiversity threatens the very survival of humanity.
                                     Conservation and wildlife organizations can supplement appropriate government conservation and wildlife protection, but these organizations must stop being the horribly poor substitute for governments, particularly in the third world. Nor should they continue to be the timid enablers, granting undeserved legitimacy to governments and other entities that are destroying habitat and wildlife. Rather than advocate for endangered species, wildlife and habitat, they choose instead to be "constructively" engaged with the very corrupt forces that they know are destroying flora and fauna. They calculate that being present in a third world country is better for their own promotional and fundraising purposes, even if their presence and activities are utterly useless and even harmful.
                                      Before more habitat and wildlife is lost forever, strong international and national interventions are required. Conservation and wildlife organizations can play important advocacy roles (for nature and for wildlife, not in order to promote themselves), but the bread and butter of wildlife and habitat protection must move fully out of their hands, where they have a long history of failure. Too often conservation and wildlife organizations have put their own interests over conservation interests and wildlife protection,  Protecting habitat and wildlife must become an international priority, if for no other reason than that the survival of humanity itself is at stake.
                                       All crimes, including dog fighting and animal cruelty, must move fully out of the hands of nonprofit organizations, and fully into the hands of law enforcement. Many animals, many people, have paid a huge price in pain and suffering by the actions and failures of these nonprofit organizations. They have made animal cruelty and dogfighting far worse than they ever had to be.
                                       Governments, nonprofit organizations, for profit organizations, all have important roles in society. The failure to hold any one of these three accountable is an enormous mistake. Nonprofits must be scrutinized as to the efficacy of what they do, or claim to do. The failure to scrutinize has rewarded the undeserving, punished the deserving, and exacted a heavy price in pain, suffering and misery.
                                     
                               

Deflated Numbers Of Dog Fighters, Inflated Numbers Of Tigers

                               I remember a prominent animal organization throwing out a ridiculously low figure regarding the numbers of dog fighters in the United States. When I challenged one of their officials about the number and on what basis his organization arrived at it, he sheepishly avoided answering. Years later, when Michael Vick was arrested for dog fighting, the same organization threw out the same ridiculously low figure. Because of their powerful brand name, everyone took their figures on blind faith. When this organization and others were all over the Michael Vick story, granted expert status and enormous free media coverage by the as usual unquestioning media, no one questioned their "facts".
                            When we approached a number of these organizations with the information and documentation that with few exceptions(such as Michael Vick), law enforcement was ignoring and not responding to dog fighting, they did not lift a finger. Looking back on the matter, I believe now that the weaker law enforcement is in responding to dog fighting and animal cruelty, the more these organizations can continue to fill the vacuum with phony, ineffective programs, campaigns and initiatives. The more they are perceived as the experts and answer to dog fighting and animal cruelty, the more the money pours into their coffers. The Michael Vick situation handed them a cash cow, and they in return gave to the public and to their too often lemming like donors more of their ineffective programs and illusions.
                         In an article in a recent issue of a reputable science magazine, it was implied that certain conservation organizations were using outdated methods to count tigers, perhaps because these methods allow them to inflate the number of tigers in the wild, thus allowing these organizations to appear successful in their tiger conservation efforts.
                          Why would an organization deflate the number of dog fighters, or just randomly throw out a number which happens to be deflated? Why would another organization inflate the number of an endangered species in the wild? The words self serving and lazy come to mind. What also comes to mind is that when people stop being so uncritical and easily fooled, things will finally change for the better.
             
                           

Worldwide, National Parks Must Mean Something

                     National parks are one of humanity's best ideas. In the United States and in some other countries, national parks have set, unalterable boundaries. The parks are patrolled and protected by national park rangers. The government ensures all of this.
                     In many third world nations of the world, places with the world's greatest biodiversity, national parks are not protected. Park boundaries are rendered meaningless. In one once magnificent park, much of the territory was opened up to developers and other interests, and now the park is but a remnant of what it was once. Nature was not protected, and now what could have been a major tourist draw for that country can never be. Endangered species have been driven closer to extinction.
                      National parks are words that have to mean something. Like it or not, human beings cannot survive without nature. National parks are treasures. They not only protect and preserve biodiversity, but they have innumerable benefits to humans, not the least of which are recreational.
                       In many national parks in the third world, familiar words are heard- there is not the funding to properly secure and protect the parks. These parks face all kinds of threats, including exploding human populations, logging, hunting, mining, trapping, live bird and exotic animal capturing, and more. Underfunded national parks are not being properly patrolled and secured.
                          But the money is there. Even in the world of conservation and wildlife protection, a number of organizations are swimming in money. Why is the money and political will not there to protect the world's parks? Why is humanity losing its last chance to protect biodiversity, flora and fauna?
                          In the United States, and in some other countries, the government has a strong hand in the protection and patrolling of national parks. This must become the model for national parks worldwide. The wealthier nations of the world must work with the poorer nations of the world to ensure their parks are properly protected.
                           If we continue down the path of weak government involvement in much of the world's national parks by both nations and the international community, with weak, self serving wildlife and conservation organizations pretending to fill the vacuum, there will be nothing left to bequeath to the future.
                            Governments assume fundamental roles in the affairs of human lives. This includes defense and public safety. It must include the defense and protection of nature. Keep destroying nature, and regardless of whether one loves or hates nature, human life will not survive.