Thank you very much for the detailed summary of what is currently in the WI state budget bill, and likely to stay there [Scott Walker, GOP Slip ALEC Education Agenda Into Wisconsin Budget].
Consider "connecting the final dot": rather than "radical overhall of WI education, the proposed changes described in the article referenced above are most likely building the infrastructure for a totally separate educational system: governing body [state level charter school authorizing/supervising body], live humans to operate it [new teacher credentials for charter school teachers], and funding [vouchers]. Depending on how the voucher stuff is worded, the Governor could line-item veto whatever language limits it to a low number of districts, and voila, a new, parallel school system has been born. Personally, I think that this "parallel universe" is the goal, not restructuring the current system.
Totally agree, people are getting free food! What's the problem again? It would make more sense to limit the amount that could be spent rather than marking organic as 'junk'. That a gallon of milk or pound of meat is twice as much or more than the standard is what makes me agree it should not be allowed.
As Karen points out (see above) the HSUS do tremendous work shutting down puppy mills. They also work to crack down on dog fighting - rescuing thousands of dogs from both of these types of operations and pushing for stricter laws to bring an end to these forms of abuse.
They provide spay-neuter clinics, which is perhaps one of the most puppy-friendly things to do, all the while leading dedicated campaigns for adoption through public service announcements and awareness campaigns that your small local shelter would never be able to afford.
Their website and magazines are always providing information for dog owners on how to care for their pets and solve "problem behaviors" - one of the biggest reasons why pets get abandoned. This helps to stem the tide of dogs that end up in shelters, and create sociable and well-trained animals that can be more easily adopted should anything happen to their owners.
Their Disaster Response teams provide assistance and medical care in times of emergency, and thanks to donors they have the necessary equipment to carry out their missions. Their trained rescuers have helped save thousands of pets in need.
Finally, their Street Dog Welfare program works to help alleviate the suffering encountered by dogs in developing countries, where overpopulation is a problem.
They seem like a pretty dog-gone dog friendly bunch to me! Just because the HSUS does not run any dog shelters per se does not mean that they don't help a LOT of dogs on a daily basis!
When it comes to farm animals (the last on their list, actually) their main concern is bringing an end to factory farming - one cruel practice at a time. In fact, they encourage better husbandry practices (like cage-free farming) and bring much needed public support to farmers who are invested in the welfare of their animals.
Finally, a lot of people working for HSUS do indeed seem to love animals enough to have personally sworn off from eating them, and are not ashamed to let their choices be known.
At the same time, their website and most of their articles concerning diet ask people to simply *reduce* their meat and dairy consumption. I would hardly call promoting Meatless Mondays and a "flexitarian" approach to be a "PETA type agenda".
You say "it's not because I don't support public television as an Idea, but I don't support PBS's weak nature. BBC has many many great shows..." I assume you support funding PBS the way BBC is funded, by direct tax on TV sets, whether you watch or not. I prefer funding by the users to a tax on everyone. Seems more "grown up" to me.
Pages