Thanks, Paula..for telling me how to do this!

Happy 4th birthday, Sadie Jane!

I have made my last purchase at Amazon.com.

Here's why:

These are Amazon.com's OWN words on selling items that promote animal fighting.

I sent Amazon.com an email/letter early last month and the response I received was basically, "We have a wide variety of people with a variety of interests, we feel it's necessary to give our customers what they want."

Nice.

Need more?

We had our family pictures taken yesterday.

Of all of the perfect shots, smiling faces and great poses, this one is my favorite.

True life- as it is!

August 3-5 I am going on a women's spiritual retreat with my friend, Beth.

I just can't wait. This is an amazing opportunity.

Women and Religion

Mara is addicted to this song. It's on a mix cd a friend game me. Today she listened to it for an hour...straight.

If I have to hear this song one more time, I will fucking dig my eye out with a spoon!

And this one... shit. I'm in trouble. Sadie's been listening to this one. It's like battle of the bands in my house. One kid listening to 'Barbie Girl' in one room and another kid listening to 'I wanna be a supermodel' in another!

Supermodel

Add to My Profile | More Videos

Now you can suffer too!! Damn songs running through my head all day!

(RaeJane's note: I never do this. I never take an email and slap into my posts. But this is important, so I will. At the bottom of the post are several ways you can take action. Plese do take action. I'll love you forever. The animals will, too.I have bolded some things below because I want those things to be noticed!)

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The story that is impossible to ignore this week is the indictment of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick. He is charged with dogfighting, a felony, and with other hideous crimes that traditionally accompany it. I will share some of the coverage below and encourage you to respond. At the very least, please vote in the ESPN and NY1 polls.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution front page story, by Bill Torpy and Bill Rankin, opens with:
July 18, 2007 Wednesday

"Losers allegedly didn't fare too well with Michael Vick. His pit bulls were often summarily executed after losing fights, according to a federal indictment that portrays a disturbing picture of animal cruelty.

"In April, just before authorities raided his property in rural Virginia, the Falcons' star quarterback was there 'rolling' some of his pit bulls --- that is, putting them through test fights to see if they were 'game,' federal authorities said.

"Eight of the animals didn't make the cut, and were executed by Vick and two co-defendants by 'hanging, drowning and slamming at least one dog's body to the ground,' authorities allege.

"A federal grand jury Tuesday indicted Vick and three others, accusing him of taking part in a well-established dogfighting operation.

"The indictment lists numerous dog fights conducted by Vick and his associates going under the name 'Bad Newz Kennels' since 2002. Often those dogs lost and met terrible fates.

"In March 2003, Vick and others sponsored a 35-pound female pit bull in a fight that had a $26,000 purse. After the fight, Purnell Peace, one of the others indicted, consulted with Vick about the losing dog and Peace then 'executed the losing dog by wetting the dog down with water and electrocuting the animal,' the indictment states."

It is a Cox News Service article, which you will find in full on line at http://tinyurl.com/yqcbw8
You can send letters to the editor at http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/letters/sendletter.html
An outcry from all over the country is appropriate.

Some of the strongest coverage of the issue today was on CBS. You'll find both the text and video of their July 18 CBS Evening News story on line at
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/07/18/eveningnews/main3072425.shtml
Please go to that link and post a comment at the bottom of the page. And please also send the station a quick thank you at http://www.cbsnews.com/feedback/fb_news_form.shtml

The video link to CBS Evening News story is headed, "Spotlight on Dog Fighting."  Underneath it is a link headed, "Dogfighting up Close." That takes you to a superb report by Genesis Award winning report Brad Woodard, from the CBS Houston affiliate KHOU.
It is also on line at http://www.khou.com/topstories/stories/khou070717_ac_dogfighting.849c40af.html
Woodard sums up the awful video when he says,
"Television may be a visual medium, but it's the sounds of animals screaming in agony to the crowd's delight that most would find difficult to stomach." Indeed, the soundtrack is stomach-turning. So are the images, particularly when you see dogs that look sweet-natured and uninterested in fighting.
In the piece, Assistant District Attorney Belinda Smith says, "There are instances in the video tape when the dogs are licking each other. They release them, and they're licking each other. They don't want to fight, yet the handlers bring them back and get them pumped up to fight. It's not natural."
That is hard to hear, knowing those who don't want to fight will often die in the ring or be killed by their handlers for being bad fighters.

Please thank KHOU for Brad Woodard's exceptional coverage. The station takes comments about news at http://www.khou.com/customerservice/helpcenter.jsp?id=1078341169000

You'll find a web exclusive commentary on the MSNBC/Newsweek site, by Mark Starr, headed "Michael Vick's Shameful Scandal."
Starr describes some of the "grisly and gruesome array of savage misdeeds directed at helpless animals."  And he tells us,
"The NFL, not to mention Blank's Home Depot empire, are posited as mainstream American businesses. And there is not a remotely mainstream note in this sordid affair. Vick is almost certain to see all his endorsement deals-Nike, Coca-Cola, Rawlings and others-disappear. While he deserves all the legal protections our society offers, none guarantee him the right to keep his job as the Falcons' starting quarterback."
You can read the whole piece on line at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19834860/site/newsweek/ and most importantly, give it a positive rating and comment on that page. It will take you a couple of seconds to give it a five-star rating, and feedback matters.

Newsweek has more good coverage on the issue, by Steve Tuttle, headed "An Ugly World" at
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19836601/site/newsweek/

ESPN has a survey on dogfighting, which will take you just seconds to fill out. It asks questions such as whether or not the Falcons should let Vick go, and whether or not dogfighting is a serious crime. Please go to the site and take a moment to respond:
http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/polling?event_id=3037

NY1 has a snap poll on whether or not Vick should be suspended at http://www.ny1.com/ny1/Polls/index.jsp?pollactivequestionintid=2855

Sports Illustrated's George Dohrmann has done two great stories on the issue for the magazine's website. You'll find his coverage at http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/football/nfl/07/17/dohrmann.vick/index.html
and can send him a quick thank you at George_Dohrmann@simail.com

Angelenos can check out the Los Angeles Times coverage, on the cover of the July 18 sports section (pgD1),  headed "Vick faces several charges" You'll find it on line at http://www.latimes.com/sports/printedition/la-sp-vick18jul18,1,1972134.story and can respond with a letter to letters@latimes.com

HSUS president Wayne Pacelle's blog calls for both the NFL and Vick's corporate sponsors to drop him. Check it out at http://hsus.typepad.com/wayne/2007/07/vick-indictment.html

And finally: HSUS has made it easy for you to send a letter to the NFL urging Vick's suspension. Just go to https://community.hsus.org/campaign/US_2007_dogfighting_nfl2/nqod5jwnj and fill out the form.

Yours and the animals',
Karen Dawn

(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com. You may forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts if you do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and include this parenthesized tag line. If somebody forwards DawnWatch alerts to you, which you enjoy, please help the list grow by signing up. It is free.)

If you are pulling for Romney, do this....

Take your left hand and use your pointer finger and thumb to create a nice "L" shape. Lift hand to forehead, walk to mirror, look.

Loser.

Why is it that the things most out of reach are the things we most desire?