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White Collar only has 6 Episodes to Wrap up…Unless Fans Convince Them.

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The news that White Collar was to have a Season 6 was not the joyous relief fans hoped for.

Instead it was met with outrage as USA networks idea of a wrap up was only 6 episodes. The fact is Fox network, who owns it, wanted a full season. But USA only wanted a mini series, even though all their other shows had received proper full seasons to tie up the series.

The claim is that it’s expensive to shoot. But Fox was willing to cover some of that cost, and others of its series had also filmed in expensive locales. It’s also hinted that USA wanted to fill up with shows from NBC, their parent company.

Now the question is: are we, the fans, going to take it?

We have nothing to lose by asking for more. What will they do, ignore us, scream at us like Oliver Twist asking for more? White Collar has been a feast. Now they expect us to settle for scraps. Other shows have returned from the dead. Ironically, it is NBC, USAs own parent network, that have suffered serious losses over killing the shows.

Here are some famous return from the dead shows and all of them involve NBC, parent company of USA.

  1. STAR TREK –  It was yours, NBC. Fans got it renewed for one season after they wanted to cancel it. Years later all rights go to Paramount and CBS. Movies, Spin off TV shows….all those lost because they let it go. I’m betting someone in NBC cringes at the thought.
  2. JAG – If you’ve already forgotten, was about the Navy’s Judge Advocate General office adventures and investigations of courtroom lawyer Harmon Rabb (David James Elliot) and his colleagues. You are probably familiar with NCIS, that show is the spin off. Now there is NCIS: LA and another yet to come. Guess who cancelled it? NBC. Again. CBS picked it up and turned it into a long running champion.
  3. CHUCK – Another one on NBC, a funny, adventurous spy drama, was nearly cancelled at season 2. Fans rallied and got it back for another season.

I’m sure NBC has cancelled TV and it was never a big deal. But they have been known to make mistakes that at the time probably seemed like good business decisions. I believe chopping White Collar short is another – USA is, after all, one of their networks.

White Collar is a diamond in the rough, and even if Fox owns it and gets the profits, USA gets the glory. They cut and polished it. Now they seem ready to just drop it in the rubbish and replace that diamond with costume kid’s jewelery.

So I say, no way, no how, do we give up. Write letters, Post on Facebook, Twitter, and alert your friends to do the same if they like the show at all. It doesn’t take long. Join us on Whitecollarclosure.tv and https://www.facebook.com/wcclosuretv for more info.

Don’t forget a picture is worth a thousand words. You can use screencaps and add captions to post to twitter, tumblr or facebook.

Here are a few places to find screencaps:
http://mattbomerfan.com/
http://screencapped.net/tv/whitecollar/

Post on: https://www.facebook.com/USANetwork
https://www.facebook.com/whitecollar

Address your Tweets to:
@WhiteCollarUSA
@FOXTV
 @USA_Network
 @NBCUniversal
 @foxnetworks
@USA_PR

EMail:
http://www.usanetwork.com/feedback
or feedback@usanetwork.com

More ideas can be found at White Collar Closure. Just say Yes to More Neal & Peter

Vid by ravensmoon2 feb 16 2010

References:

On Wikipedia:

Star Trek

JAG

Chuck

On IMBD

Star Trek (Classic)

JAG

Chuck

Save White Collar – Champion TV Should Never End in a Cliffhanger

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There are few things more maddening than to love a TV show and have it cut off abruptly. Still more infuriating is when it’s a show with great reviews, strong fan base and a major cliffhanger ending for the season.

Such is the case with White Collar.

What it’s About:

For those not in the know: White Collar is about an FBI agent who takes on a Art Forger/Con Man as a partner on parole, to take down the bad guys. (The bad guys usually being far worse than our favorite con man.) Their friendship is heartwarming and awkward. Their teamwork amazing. Sometimes they conflict and don’t tell each other things, but in the end they respect each other.

Besides the cool characters it features amazing locations: places in New York that are not seen in the usual police crime drama. They chase art forgers, con men, occasionally killers involved with such. They do it with humor and sheer cleverness, not mere explosions (though don’t assume there is no action involved.)

Rounding out the hero con man’s ‘redemption’ attempts is his pal on the other side, who is pulling him back in just as hard as the Agent as trying to pull him out. But you can’t really hate him either.

Our Current Crisis:

Months after a major (character in mortal danger) Season 5 finale, talks are still stalled between Fox (which owns the program) and USA Network (which airs it). Fans are tweeting, facebooking, and battling non stop to make sure an appropriate ending happens at all and doesn’t get abandoned due to their legal conflict. Time is running out – the actors contracts end around April.

This war has been fought and won before. Starting with Star Trek, which went on one more season, then rebounded for movies and spin offs. Firefly bounced back for a movie and comic books. Buffy the Vampire Slayer had another season via comic books.

The catch is Fox, which is ridiculously sad in licensing. While all the other USA programs had fun items available, even a few novels, Fox would not agree on licensing and allowed only DVDs, a few T-shirts and a few other items. Even Castle, on ABC, has spin off novels and comics. Now we, the fans, are caught in the crush between two sides, neither of which want to fund the expensive New York filming.

USA meanwhile has taken a down turn and is putting on shows that many ‘Collars’ would not be caught dead watching. After watching something as smart as White Collar and with so many other of its hit shows having run their course, they seem to be scraping the bottom of the barrel.

If you haven’t seen White Collar: don’t wait, catch it now and join our crusade to SAVE IT – at least long enough for a proper ending. Tweet your support with #WhiteCollarforS6, #CollarsUnite and comment on USA networks facebook page.

One note though: supporting White Collar by watching it legally is important too. Illegal downloads give no money to the actors or studio or sponsors. And without those, we have no hope of a continuation of the show. So rent, borrow or buy but please don’t steal.

Help Our Cause and Help Others Too:

Also you can donate to a program to buy the DVDs for Support the Troops. These DVDS will be bought in the NBCUniversal store (USA parent company) and shipped to our deployed military troops to enjoy.

savewcwidgetDonate here at White Collar Closure  (and FYI, I don’t make a dime off any of this. I’m just a fan who is horrified at being left with an ending like that and very angry at the two studios that would stay in deadlock and deny renewal over their legal and money aims.)

The Final Goal:

To at least wrap up the cliffhanger’s story line. We would prefer an entire season, but at the very least we feel the show, the characters, actors and fans deserve it.

Google – The Playmate that Became a Bully

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Google and Youtube: Playmates

Google began as a friend of the user and an excellent playmate. It could help you search and find nearly anything. It helped keep in touch with anyone almost instantly for free. It was easy to use. Easier than not, in fact, since it’s already installed in every web browser.

Youtube was also a friend and playmate, enabling not only education but fun music videos and discovery of new songs and artists. It was also easy.

Google Eats Youtube

But then, Google swallowed Youtube. And it turned it’s hungry sight on Facebook and Twitter, unable to eat them, it decided to surpass them. Had it merely made it’s own social media site, it might’ve stayed a fun playmate.

Google: The Would Be God of the Internet

But then it revealed it’s full intentions, only hinted at previously. It’s Google Plus would connect it all, whether you wanted it to or  not. It would log you into all of it’s toys through Google plus. And now our nightmare begins. Our playmate is no longer a friend, it is a bully. We entrusted it with our creations, our videos, our personal correspondence and it has betrayed that trust.

Because now, it no longer gives you a choice. If you wanted to use Facebook or Twitter, it was your choice. You weren’t forced too.If you wanted to use just google mail, it would be fine.  But Google Plus is being forced upon us.

My Recent Youtube User Experience

As a longtime user, I suddenly find instead of logging by default into the account I created with my user name, it logs me into an account with  my real name and wants me to comment and like with that. It obviously is not the same account, as the playlists and uploads are missing.

After  much floundering I found that my user account now had a separate ‘google plus’ page. I had to change accounts every time I went to the site as by default it made me go to the other one. Quite obviously these changes are recent and ongoing.
But there was no warning and it’s massive merging was beyond any nightmare change Facebook every made. Because so far as I can see, there is no way to set the default. I even went so far as to delete my original ‘google plus’ page, which I’d only dabbled with. I didn’t even know for sure it wouldn’t screw up my gmail account but I risked it anyway.

Google: The Monster

Google has become a monster, apparently the concept of privacy had escaped them. They may disguise it as ease of use, but all they are really doing is destroying our ability to remain private online. I’ve never before had the overwhelming urge to bail on google mail or youtube or it’s other toys before. It was only annoying that it tried to sell me ads on gmail online. This is not annoying. This is a monster that wants to swallow my free choice.

I shall be looking at other email options. And video options. And, for that matter, anything whatsoever that does not relate to google. I’m now afraid the monster wishes to take over the world.

Death of the Playmate

I mourn the fun, playful Google we used to know. I loved visiting their playground. But if I have to check in with my real name and have everyone know it every time I visit, then I will start looking for other alternatives. Because it’s not a safe word out there. And my real name is my business when I’m on the boards.

Why not use my real name? That’s up for another blog post…and it’s already have written so it really will be posted soon.

Here is a petition to change it back:  https://www.change.org/petitions/google-change-the-youtube-comment-section-back-to-its-original-form

New York Carriage Horses: What is Compassion?

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This is one of those cases where I have to ask: “What would Black Beauty say?”

I believe he would say that what makes a job good or bad is largely up to the human and whether they are cruel, kind or indifferent. Horse and human are in this together, sharing the environment, the reward and the punishment.
Rearing Black Horse Coaster

“It is good people who make good places”
― Anna Sewell, Black Beauty

From the horses view, (allowing for modernization)  no doubt the streets are even harder. The temperatures may be more extreme, due to the tall buildings affect on the weather. And then the cars add in a new element, complete with greater speeds, reckless drivers and car horns.

From the drivers point of view, the driver has to worry about steering, traffic and weather too. The driver may also have family to think about.

What they have in common is that this is their livelihood: the food, shelter and all rely on this job.

Here are the laws as of now:

  • Horses can’t work in 18 degrees or below weather.
  • In winter, they must wear blankets
  • They can’t be driven faster than a trot,
  • For every 2 hours working they must rest at least 15 minutes.
  • During rest, they  must have fresh water available.
  • They must have enough food and water at reasonable intervals.
  • Horses can’t work when lame, ill, injured or in poor condition.
  • No working in adverse slippery weather.
  • Must obey traffic laws
  • not allowed in tunnels
  • may not be abused and driver may not fail to provide food/water as required.

What is lacking:

  • Factoring in wind and humidity in weather and temperature conditions.
  • Enforcement.

Recently, the NYPD was put in charge of this and seem to feel it a burden. I fail to see how checking if the horses are blanketed (should be obvious) or lame (again, should be obvious) is difficult. And a big enough stall, clean, with sufficient food and water are again, easy to check. Of course, the issue might be they don’t have enough man power (which is hardly a carriage horse only issue.)

How many of those demanding the carriages be made illegal actually know anything about horses? Have those protesting met the horses and drivers, ridden in carriages or been to the stables? Or is it just a wave of well meaning but false information? Or for that matter, does someone profit? Like, for instance, whoever would provide the electric antique cars they suggest should replace them? Or the politicians who may or may not care about animals, but probably would not hesitate to use them to earn votes and points for their political agendas.

In the midst of this apparent compassion, where is the consideration for what comes after? Yes, they claim the retired horses would go to rescues. But even if you believe that, doesn’t that just bump aside horses that would otherwise be rescued from a worst fate? And what about the humans? No one is volunteering to ‘give’ them the electric cars. They apparently are not offering to replace their livelihood.

I love horses. I love riding them and would love to try a carriage. I do believe a city is not the ideal place to live, at least for a horse. A horse should have room to relax and stroll during their time off.  But then again, horses are not the only ones who should have it. How many kids have nowhere to play but asphalt? In the city, those horses may be the closest thing the country some kids will ever see.

I would never wish harm or a cruel handler on any horse. But few people live in ideal circumstances either. People end up homeless and their pets do too. And not all of them are given a choice either: ask anyone with a physical or mental disability. Will these horses handlers also be consigned to the unemployed or homeless? Is that fair, if they were good and kind handlers who cared for their horses as they cared for themselves?

Banning the carriages seems like taking the easy way out at the expense of the innocent. It’s like swatting a fly with hammer. Not all of the drivers can be breaking the rules, or they wouldn’t have their licenses to be renewed. We are a people who have a million gadgets to measure how far we run or walk, how fast our heart beats. We can measure our health on the go. There is even a teddy bear designed to monitor a child’s health. And we are supposed to believe there is no way they could find a way to measure a horses health on the go while pulling a carriage? No way to measure if it’s getting enough rest, water or food? Because I can’t for a moment believe that. What I can think, is that horse, human and family will be without work and tourists, too, will miss out on a piece of history, just because the mayor want to take the easy way out.

Helpful Links and References:

 NY City Tourists Rush Horse Carriage Rides

Eight Lies Advocates Told About Carriage Horses

Just Let Carriage Horses Do Their Job

Save Horse Drawn Carriages

Ban Horse Drawn Carriages

My Little Pony Power VS Bullies and Prejudice

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I came into the story of Michael Morone late, since I was late checking my email. But it quickly got my attention.
I have a few random, thoughts swirling in my head after I read about his suicide attempt after being bullied over being a Brony (Male My Little Pony fan)

I’m female. When I was a kid, I played with both My Little Pony and Star Wars. I was bullied, but not particularly over them. I disliked boys, because several were bullying me. Now that I see reports of what goes on at some of the comic conventions and the ‘white boys club’ mentality, I wonder if some small minded ones were jealous. Maybe they thought I was intruding on their turf. Girls didn’t see why I disliked them, nor why I stayed with My Little Pony and Star Wars (and horses in general) while they were growing into makeup and fashions. I don’t know, perhaps I just saw, and still see, that there are more important things than how you look. More to the point, I notice there is still a big gap in mentality. Some people just can’t see past the ‘kid’ label they have on things. Why do adults watch a  kid show or collect teddy bears or dolls? Well guess what naysaying adults. Some of us do. There is a whole industry supporting it. You don’t have too, but you have no right to deny the rest of us either.

That poor kid must have felt very alone. Did he really have no friends, no support? For in this age of the internet, it seems to me it should be easier to connect to other ‘Bronies’. Did no one know how bad it was? Did no one, even someone unrelated to the ponies say, ‘let me help you find the others?’ It would not surprise me if they didn’t, for no one helped me. Finding so many like minded souls on the internet wouldn’t come for many years.

Another thought is more disturbing. This kid is already being used to chase agendas. Seriously. just from the search terms that cropped up on the internet I can tell. Saying things like a gay boy attempted suicide and homophobic bullying caused it. Nowhere does it actually say the boy is gay in any of the stories I’ve read. It just says he loves My Little Ponies! So there you go. Not even conscious to answer questions and already labeled. Whether he is or not is his own business, in my opinion. But I find the automatic label disturbing because it does imply just because he loves My Little Pony he must be gay, in spite of the broad male fan base. God forbid someone go against the marketing only to female strategy (just as Star Wars is marketed to males.)

On the flip side, as much as I dislike bullies, I have to note that no one writing these articles is a mind reader. The slurs and taunts the bullies used appear nowhere in the articles. Maybe it had nothing to do with homophobia and was just jealously. Perhaps they had nothing they were so passionate about and envied his having that joy over something. They don’t have it, therefore they will tarnish it. It isn’t just fear that causes bullying. The worst of it is, apparently it hasn’t stopped. At least, I haven’t been able to find the web site supposedly set up for him and his Facebook page has vanished. I’m assuming negative comments from people who have too little heart and too much time on their hands caused it to be taken down.

I hope and pray this boy wakes up, healthy and well, no matter what the odds. If an outpouring of love can help, I’m sure he’s covered. For every bully there is a My Little Pony lover to counter, whether a ‘pegasister’ (female eqivalent of brony) or the brony. My Little Pony fans are a generous lot of all ages and the outpouring of MLP art, funds and tattoos in his name should tell him he’s not alone. Wherever there is a My Little Pony lover, he’s got a friend.


For Michael Morones by Astringe on deviantART

For some inspiration on how others are trying to reach this comatose boy, check out this page full of art, just for him. ‘Art for Michael‘.

Here is an interesting vid on the My Little Pony and Brony issue, dispelling some common misconceptions and even explaining how they came about.

Video by : Pinkie3point14

Spotlight on a Design: Isaiah Angel Bear.

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It started with a couple of Bible verses (listed here in KJV):

Isaiah 6 :  The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
and 65 : The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.

The idea that nothing would hurt or destroy on God’s holy mountain was such a peaceful, appealing idea. It still is. I love animals, and apparently the whole predator and prey system will be changed on his mountain. As a member of a species that seems to be hurtful even to its own, I find it such a hopeful promise that someday, that even the animals won’t be like that. And if the animals won’t be, than maybe we won’t either.
No more bashing politicians. No more mocking over insignificant differences. No more fighting and killing over money, land, or race.
Right now, we must leave the wild animals wild or they will be killed, perhaps for poor reasons like sport, by accident like being in the wrong place and hit by a car or understandable reasons like food.
But some day, maybe we too, can cuddle up with that previously wild animal. The bears really will be teddy bears. The wolfs will be as friendly as dogs. A lion may be a bigger wilder but still gentle cat. And we can be friends, not enemies or competition for resources.

That’s my idea of heaven. Where lost loved ones are reunited and new friends of all species are made, and previous ills are just a nightmare that fades away in daylight.

 

Sad over Politics Teddy Bear

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All the heartbreak and anguish of people suffering made me do it. All over the failure of political leaders. I do not blame either party. I, for one, blame parties in general. Both groups in deadlock, refusing to yield until the little people cry in pain. Party labels stick people in a box. The agenda must be this or that because of the label.

People don’t fit in a box. they live and breathe with their own hopes and dreams. Sometimes the dream is greed. Sometimes its misguided. Even people who want the best don’t agree.

I hate politics. To me, every political campaign is like listening to the worst behaved children yelling ‘he hit me’, ‘he broke my doll’, ‘he broke Mrs so and sos window, don’t trust him!’
This is our choice for leadership? It’s mind boggling. Its horrifying. And I don’t believe any of them at this point, even when they claim to have the same beliefs I do.

Speaking of same beliefs, I’ll admit freely I have doubts that the government even belongs in some areas. Where do they get off closing ‘public’ parks? Don’t those belong to ‘the public’? And for politicians not to take their messages is pure cowardice. They know people are upset. They just don’t want to hear it.

In reality things like health care and other issues should never have needed to go so far. The fact that something needs federal regulation means its broken on a lower level.

For instance on a somewhat less ‘hot’ note: The tennessee walker shows were so rife with corruption the feds stepped in.
Tennessee walking horses and the protection against ‘soring’ – a practice of putting painful chemicals on their legs to make them step higher in shows were so prevalent, it required federal intervention. How pathetic, that as many horse lovers as are out there, the horse industry couldn’t regulate itself. No, in spite of many chances, greed won out and the horses kept suffering.

Which means greed won on a lower level. But what happens when the greed has infiltrated so high up the feds themselves are involved? Then everyone suffers. Who is left to regulate?

So, I express my own discontent in my usual fashion: with my art. Not a new bear, but newly used with different background and text.

Patriot’s Day: Light in the Darkness

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Patriot’s Day is coming.
Or, as it originated: 9/11. The day known as 9/11/01 when terror struck America. It hijacked and crashed planes into the Twin Towers of New York and the Pentagon in DC. And it had unexpected side effects: it revealed what we would trade for freedom and what we would do for strangers in an emergency. It showed us our best and worst.

How it affected people may have depended on their situation. For instance, I didn’t even know what the ‘twin towers’ were. The internet was just coming into it’s own, for me and I didn’t much read the papers. The papers tend to take a news event that could be one sentence and complicate it into a page. So I rarely bothered.

But I do live in Virginia and therefore, it was pretty close to home. My Grandparents in Arlington said the house shook. My friends and I, horseback riding in a National Park were turned back as all National Parks were closed. And given how often one wished the traffic would clear up, one suddenly decided that was not entirely a good thing when it did. The streets were eerily empty.

But one thing was amazingly, brilliantly clear: the results were not what the terror seekers expected. There were indeed negative side effects. Security tightened and freedom’s compromised. War, just or not, was triggered. But so was sheer heroism and outpouring of generosity.

People sacrificed their lives to save strangers. They ended up with long term health effects after battling horror to find wounded. They gave more blood than could be used. They gave money and supplies. They came together to heal the wounds and comfort those directly affected.

Naturally there was the bad too. People wanted to blame someone and sometimes those even suspected or who looked like muslims were targeted. But even there, people stood up in resistance. The women of one Christian church rose up and wore the veil to show solidarity and support the muslim woman who were being harrassed. Interfaith groups sprang up to create mutual understanding.

Some people who don’t believe in God, say ‘where was he?” Even some who do say that. I say, he was right there. He was the wounded and the healer. He was the fireman running in crumbling buildings. He was the worker who helped a coworker escape.

God doesn’t make the bad happen, and if he allows it, it’s to remind us of the amazing good we can do when we are paying attention. We get lost in our own little problems: tomorrow’s bill, the kid’s bad grade, the frustration with a colleague. We miss how much bad we could easily prevent or the comfort we could give. It would be easier if there was more too it than money: some of us don’t know where to go to volunteer, or have the money to help. But somehow, in a big crisis those things are overcome. In the mini crisis, we often just shrug helplessly.

But we are better than that. We can be. Because: Here is a shock….GREED IS NOT PATRIOTIC. No. The self sacrifice, the reaching out to help, that was patriotic. So let’s stop pretending patriotic wears an elephant or a donkey badge, or runs a big corporation. It’s not sacrificing freedom for security either. Patriotic in American terms is a risk, and has been since the Revolutionary war. It’s also not getting Government do everything for us: because that gives them to much power. We don’t want them to hinder us either. We just want them to make it possible to do what needs to be done. Enable education, roads to get us to work and health care and safety laws so we are able to work without being abused for a paycheck. Food for here and from here to let our farmers have livelihoods. Finally, protection from an enemy who would destroy our freedoms: including themselves and their big corporations when they get too big headed to fit through the average office door.

Wake up on Patriot’s Day America. Be what you say. Real Patriots. People who care about each other because it’s the American thing to do.

Teddy Bear Patriotic Card by Starhorsepax Designs
Teddy Bear Patriotic Card by Starhorsepax Designs
Patriot Day Fireman Pug by: RITMO BOXER DESIGNS
Patriot Day Fireman Pug by: RITMO BOXER DESIGNS

Happy Labor Day! – Spread the Appreciation

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It’s not enough to get Labor Day celebrated as a holiday. That’s just a start.

I love the concept of Labor Day, but I do think there should be more to it than the whole grilling and sales idea. In fact, I have to point out if the store is open, someone is laboring! Seems to me, we should be taking stock of what we can do to truly implement Labor Day and appreciate laborers everywhere. We should reward the ones who encourage ethical behavior in employees, as well as treating them fairly, deny those that don’t our dollars and insist that they also get their products from those with safety and ethical standards.

Let’s reward the companies and small business that really do appreciate the employees, encourage honesty and customer service.

How about a sudden stream of customers for that store that is proven to reward the employees for a good job. That means whether it’s a local shop or even a chain store: for a chain store to pull it off, they might well not be agreeing with company policy to do it. So how about showing that ‘company’ that you prefer this individual link in their chain’s method of doing business?

Don’t support those companies who misuse or abuse the laborers.

That means everything from pressuring to work and shortchanging their pay to not shipping the jobs to a country that has no safety standards and even less pay. That’s a hard thing to do, I know, given that Wal Mart is on the list. And I’ve been in shock over their treatment of the employee who reported the dog in the hot car. Seriously? Forcing employees between ethics and a paycheck is just wrong! I’m sure Wal Mart is NOT the only place who has done this.  I know it’s not always possible, but we can try and even in trying, we can, en masse, make a dent. There are two things that get their attention: bad publicity and profit loss. One leads to the other.

Let’s reward the ones that demand safety and ethical practices in their products.

Why we are shipping clothes from countries that allow their entire work force to be put at risk, because they have bars on the windows and not enough exits. That reeks of slavery. I don’t want blood hidden within my clothes: blood of workers because the store saved a few pennies on safety in a foreign country. And the things I’ve heard about the chocolate industry are horrifying. I DON’T WANT MY CHOCOLATE TAINTED BY SLAVERY!  As for animals, I realize some are not concerned with ‘animal rights’ and ‘welfare’ and figure it’s just for vegan/vegetarians. But how that food is cared for until harvesting matters to our health.  Don’t we have enough health issues without that? Why would you want to eat a sick animal? Whereas an animal slaughtered cruelly in fear leads to stress hormones in the meat. Personally I’ve enough of my own, I sure don’t need the animals! And no, I am not a vegetarian.  How we treat animals is a reflection of how we treat people. People will eat that meat, and odds are, if it’s unhealthy and unkind for the animal it WILL have affects on our own health. As for the plants: well that too affects are health. (It’s also not in our best interest to let someone patent plants that through mother nature’s whims, wind and insects will spread. Do we REALLY want some large individual company in control of the food supply? That’s a terrifying thought!)

If you do have to go shopping today, don’t forget to say ‘Thanks’ to whoever is by the counter.

Thanks for working on Labor day, so I could get the steak for the grill or the sale price. You might just brighten their day.

Finally, the best reason to do all this isn’t just because it’s Labor Day.  It’s because we are all laboring at something and what happens to laborers matters to us all. It’s the difference between mouthing American ideals and patriotism and really meaning them. Otherwise what are we, but hypocrites? I think, and hope, we have more potential then that.

Labor Day Relaxing Card by Sue Taylor
Labor Day Relaxing Card by Sue Taylor
Labor Day Americana Teddy Bear card by Picture This
Labor Day Americana Teddy Bear card by Picture This

The Horse’s Revelation of Societies Weakness

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Well, here it is. The summation of much of the world’s woes, as once again, revealed through the horse world. The fox guarding the chickens. The corrupt judge sitting over his son’s trial. The blind man driving the automobile (no offense to the blind intended, the way technology is headed, it’s only a matter of time).

The first is that the BLM went back on it’s word and went ahead with a mustang roundup they’d promised and sworn was cancelled. Color me shocked. A branch of the government, lie to it’s citizens? Of course they would. What bothers me is that no other branch of the government seems interested in holding them accountable. You have perjury and animal cruelty in one fell swoop, yet no one ever arrests them. What does it say about our government, that it is no longer being held accountable to it’s citizens for such misuse of funds and power?

The second is this bit of news of the confusion over slaughterhouses. Now the Native nations – and for the moment, I won’t try and sort out which ones – are apparently divided, with some in favor of it.  Some still believe the horse is sacred and are firmly opposed. But the others claim ‘overpopulation’ and ‘overgrazing’ and  insist that slaughter would solve their problems.
I can’t help note that if so, they should be trying to get the slaughter plant, with its associated environmental hazards on their own reservation land. Apparently they don’t mind foisting it off on someone else. They don’t seem to be vying for the jobs associated, they just want the horses gone.
I don’t claim to know what the ratio of horses to other livestock is on the Native reservations is, or whether they have a problem. I do know slaughter isn’t the answer. But it’s a sad thing to think that people some of whom have been called ‘people of the horse’, and for some of them, still think it sacred, would consider this an acceptable solution. What is it about today’s society that people are so ignorant and determined to remain so in the name of greed and convenience?

Third, is the trial of the Tennessee Walking Horse trainer. Now what makes me shake my head at this is on the Ethics committee of the Tennessee Walking Horse Trainer’s Association. Ethics. Oh, really, ethics. The man thought nothing of soring and intentionally injuring these animals for a ribbon, prize money, or trophy. I can’t imagine why anyone would reward anyone for cruelty. But the idea of the man being on an ethics committee!! It’s incomprehensible. Talk about the blind leading the blind!

 

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