The Lady Speaks

This started out as a comment at The Heathlander, but went a bit long.

From The Heathlander:

The video above mainly targets factory farming, which even meat-eaters must acknowledge is a particularly cruel and vicious form of mass torture. But quite apart from that, the moral issue seems to me a clear one - most of us in the West no longer need to kill other sentient, conscious beings for our own health and survival. We continue to do so merely for matters of taste, at the cost of great suffering for the animals being killed and also huge environmental damage caused by the felling of rainforest to make room for grazing cattle.

I’m never going to be a vegetarian, but I have cut down on my family’s meat consumption, mostly because of cost, but also for health reasons. I do make a point of buying what meat we do eat from a local meat plant that raises it’s own beef and pork - all natural, pasture-raised, etc. - simply because I can’t support an industry that treats animals in such a shoddy manner.

Yeah, I hear the wailing about killing animals. Period. End of sentence. But it doesn’t work on me.

I grew up on a 150-head beef farm. I raised calves, spent weekends cleaning out the barn, woke up at 5am every day to feed (grain and/or silage) and fill water troughs. Once the snow melted, the real work started: plowing/planting/harvesting grain and haying, with occasional breaks for chasing loose cows, fixing fence, plowing/planting/weeding/watering Mom’s seemingly 100-acre garden and canning the results, and - as always - cleaning the barn. My first vehicle was a Massey-Ferguson tractor, and I was 11.

I learned a lot from it, like: don’t name the babies, don’t touch the middle strand of the fence with bare hands, don’t take the tractor down the steep hill in high gear, cows really are scared of a human waving her arms and screaming, and climbing the silo is easy… getting down is another thing altogether.

One of the things I learned was “Beef…yummy!” I hated cows. I hated the work that went into them and hated the smell and hated never being able to go anywhere unless we could hire someone to do feedings. So, to this day, I have no qualms about eating one.

The most important lesson was: “We eat this too.” Out of the 40-50 beefers we sent to slaughter per year, we got (if I remember correctly) the equivalent of a side - or half a cow - every 6 months. My mom had a big chest freezer that all those carefully-labelled white-paper packages went into, and that was the foundation for most of our meals. Back then, of course, you didn’t feed cows (who are vegans) anything you didn’t want coming back to you. Antibiotics were used only for illness, and no one thought of feeding other cows to their cows. At least, not anyone I knew.

Of course, back then, nearly everyone I went to school with lived on farms, and together our farms raised enough beef to fill one of those industrial nightmares. But in the 70’s and 80’s, a lot of family farms went under, and these gigantic industrial things sprouted like mushrooms to cover the demand for cheap meat. It helped that they were able to take advantage of subsidies and policies meant to support the family farmer.

Just who is receiving farm subsidies? Not your average family farmer.

From the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: (6/11/07)

Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen, technology executive James Sorenson and Texas oil investor Lee Bass, all billionaires, are among the names found in a new database of U.S. agriculture subsidy recipients.

[snip]

The fact that billionaires get taxpayer money from programs meant for struggling farmers “shows how far off the tracks this set of policies really is,” [Environmental Working Group's Ken] Cook said. “There’s absolutely no reason why we should be providing subsidies to people who have means of that scale.”

[snip]

Subsidies, which encourage lower prices, benefit commodity buyers such as Archer Daniels Midland Co., Bunge Ltd. and ConAgra Foods Inc. and also encourage land conservation. Means tests are popular among advocates of lower government spending as well as some small farmers, who would like a bigger share of subsidies that reached $16.5 billion last year, according to the USDA.

Unless you make a point to educate yourself about where your meat comes from - you’re not only supporting these industrial “farms,” with your net pay and your tax dollars, you’re risking your life (sometimes literally) just by eating a burger.

Environmental Working Group

Environmental Working Group Farm Subsidy Database

It happens to all of us. We go through some event that makes us sick of the rest of humanity. We wake up and think, “Why bother getting up?” Daily life becomes a challenge, and our souls are weary.

I had just such a week.

I won’t go into details, for one because it’s a long story, and for two, the actual events don’t matter. All I will say is that it was something that affected every member of my household and sent me into a depression that I’d prefer not to ever experience again. It made me question myself - as a mother and as a human being - and I spent the better part of the week feeling shame and guilt for this situation on a level that would have made Atlas’ shoulders droop.

Normally I’m a pretty upbeat person even in bad times, because I figure that having lost my brother-in-law in a 4-month fight with brain and spinal cancer, watching my father struggle for air as he died from throat and esophageal cancer, and having watched my beloved Gramma White disappear into the fog of Alzheimer’s, there’s not much that happens day-to-day to get worked up about.

A “don’t sweat the small stuff” attitude, y’know? And it’s all small stuff.

Except for last week.

Although the crisis part of things was over this past Tuesday afternoon, I struggled with how to cope with the future. 30 days and then what??

Yesterday I mentioned what was happening to a group of online friends. Just mentioned it and said I was working on finding a solution. Little could I imagine what would happen as a result.

Again, I’m not going to go into details, because I think it should remain a private thing between us, but one of those friends offered help in a way that was stunning in its scope, beyond anything I could have imagined. This person literally became my angel, and I am grateful beyond measure, beyond finding the words to express it. Just when I felt I reached the lowest ebb, there was someone, a “stranger” in only the face-to-face sense, holding out a helping hand.

I’ve always believed in the power of karma and the Three-Fold Law - that what we send out into the world returns to us times three, and that, when we act for the betterment of those in need, our generosity - of spirit, of friendship, of time, of money - will be returned when we need assistance.

So, for jeff: Thank you. The words seem like so little, in return for so much.

*

ANGELS AMONG US
– Alabama

I was walking home from school on a cold winter day.
Took a shortcut through the woods, and I lost my way.
It was getting late, and I was scared and alone.
But then a kind old man took my hand and led me home.
Mama couldnt see him, but he was standing there.
And I knew in my heart, he was the answer to my prayers.

Oh I believe there are angels among us.
Sent down to us from somewhere up above.
They come to you and me in our darkest hours.
To show us how to live, to teach us how to give.
To guide us with a light of love.

When life held troubled times, and had me down on my knees.
Theres always been someone there to come along and comfort me.
A kind word from a stranger, to lend a helping hand.
A phone call from a friend, just to say I understand.
And aint it kind of funny that at the dark end of the road.
Someone lights the way with just a single ray of hope.

Oh I believe there are angels among us.
Sent down to us from somewhere up above.
They come to you and me in our darkest hours.
To show us how to live, to teach us how to give.
To guide us with a light of love.

They wear so many faces, show up in the strangest places.
To guide us with their mercy, in our time of need.

Oh I believe there are angels among us.
Sent down to us from somewhere up above.
They come to you and me in our darkest hours.
To show us how to live, to teach us how to give.
To guide us with a light of love.

To guide us with a light of love.

*

UPDATE :: 6/21/07 ::  Another heartfelt Thank you to another angel: BWS (who knows all and sees all). I’m incredibly lucky to have found such friends.

Nine Charleston firefighters were killed fighting a blaze at a furniture warehouse.

From MSNBC.com:

Fire swept through a furniture warehouse, collapsing the building’s roof and claiming the lives of nine firefighters in a disaster the mayor described Tuesday as “difficult to fathom or quantify.”

“Nine brave, heroic, courageous firefighters of the city of Charleston have perished fighting fire in a most courageous and fearless manner, carrying out their duties,” Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley said at a morning news conference. “To all of their loved ones, our heart goes out to them.”

[snip]

The warehouse was packed with furniture and the blaze “rolled through it like a fireball” while the firefighters were trying to put it out overnight, said Pam Blevins, secretary to the Charleston City fire chief, Russell Thomas.

“All we know is nine firefighters, all at once …” Blevins told Reuters by telephone, choking up with emotion. “The building collapsed on them.”

[snip]

Riley called the missing firefighters heroes.

“This is a profession that we must never take for granted,” the mayor said. “There’s a fire raging and they go toward it.” [my emphasis]

*

The Firefighter’s Prayer:

When I am called to duty,
Whenever flames may rage,
Give me strength to save a life
Whatever be its age.

Help me embrace a little child
Before it is too late
Or save an older person from
The horror of that fate.

Enable me to be alert
And hear the weakest shout
And quickly and efficiently
Put the fire out.

I want to fill my calling
To give the best in me
To guard my every neighbor,
protect his property.

And if according to Your will
I must answer death’s last call
Bless with Your protecting hand
My family one and all.

I live in Sayre PA, in a community known collectively as “The Valley.” The Valley consists of 6 communities in two counties, in two separate states, blended together over the border with NY: Sayre, South Waverly, Athens, Athens Township PA, and Waverly and Barton NY. [GoogleEarth map]

It is impossible, except by air, to see where one community ends and the next begins. Our streets and roads blend seamlessly. From the air, you can see NY’s Rte 17 (soon to be I-86) slashing through the upper end, but a section of the highway actually runs just south of the border - through PA.

In 2000, we were the first FEMA-designated ‘Project Impact’ community to cross state lines and FEMA regions, and a showcase for how to run disasters that impact communities on both sides of a border. We even got some great little signs that notify visitors to the area that we are a “FEMA-designated, Multi-State, Disaster-Resistant Community.” Catchy, eh?

Prior to Project Impact and the signing of Memoranda of Agreement by state, county, and municipal officals, it was a bit of a problem for fire, ambulance, and police to cross the border to assist. Now, it’s simply a matter of requesting mutual aid, the same as is done with same-state companies. It’s done fairly often, especially with police. Since these are small communities, there isn’t a large amount of back-up that can be called. So, when calls go out, Waverly NY’s PD can request assistance from any of the PA communities, and vis versa.

All of which is a long introduction to explain “When It Works.”

On Monday night, three tractor-trailers crashed on Rte 17/I-86, between Exits 58 (Chemung) and 60 (PA Rte. 220 junction) where construction had been on-going and traffic was reduced to two-way traffic, using the previously-eastbound lanes.

Apparently, one driver was westbound and crossed into the eastbound lane, hitting another truck head-on, which caused the crash of the third truck as it attempted to avoid the accident.

It was a massive incident, with trucks on fire and several explosions heard by those in the area around it. One driver was killed, another was taken to the hospital and then flown to a burn center in Syracuse where he’s in critical condition, and the third was treated and released. Fire companies responded from all over the Valley, as well as from all over Tioga County. Greater Valley EMS responded with several rigs.

The highway, naturally, had to be shut down. Local police from both states, the Tioga County Sheriff’s Department and the NY State Police were on the scene, and detoured traffic off Rte 17, sending vehicles onto Rte 17C. Even after the fire was out, traffic was detoured as state police reconstruction unit investigated, the trucks were removed from the scene, and the highway milled and repaved. As of 4pm yesterday afternoon, when I returned home after a trip to Scranton, traffic was still being detoured.

Co-ordinating about 15-18 volunteer fire companies, several law enforcement units, and multiple ambulances is one thing. Throw in a Hazardous Response team, the NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation, Dept. of Transportation, and the Red Cross and Salvation Army. Then add in a house fire in South Waverly - complete with a “large amount of ammunition inside and poisonous snakes.”

Then try doing it with two or three county communications centers, in two states. The people at the comm centers in Bradford County PA and Tioga County NY, as well as Chemung County NY deserve huge amounts of praise. They did an amazing job.

Speaking of that house fire, that was also another ‘Project Impact’ incident. (scroll down) And, other than Sayre and South Waverly, none of the departments who fought it normally work together. Their fire districts don’t border each other, and one of them is from almost 25 miles south of the Valley. Yet, they also did an amazing job, which speaks to the dedication and training of all our volunteers, in both states.

When it works, it works.

Now, if only the feds would get their act together….

There’s an old saying that, “Coincidences are miracles in which the gods remain anonymous.”

What else could this be? On the same day word spread that the lefty blogosphere had lost it’s beloved Yankee-hater, it was announced that:

Roger Clemens is out for a week with a “fatigued right groin.”

The gods certainly have a fine sense of humor… and timing.

The number of US service personnel killed in Iraq will, most likely, reach 3500 tomorrow. Tonight, actually, as we here in America sleep safely in our beds.

I felt sick at heart earlier when I checked www.icasualties.org and saw the death toll had risen by 14 since the last update of Counting the Cost.

3500.

Tony Snow will spin it, like he does every other fact, but I’m sure he won’t make the mistake of saying - as he did just a little less than a year ago - it’s “just a number.”

3500.

Husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, aunts, uncles, cousins, best friends, future spouses, class clowns - all lost in a war of pre-emption turned to religious civil warfare that they did not start and cannot stop.

3500.

The neo-cons and their hardcore base of cheerleaders will tell you things are getting better, really. It’s just the media that’s making things look bad. They’re ignorant of history and oblivious to facts, and yes, they really do prefer to “make their own reality.” (Of course, we drug schizophrenics and paranoiacs who live in their own reality…. just sayin’.)

Things are going fine … last throes … turning the corner … etc, etc, etc. Ad nauseum.

3500.

El Pollo Loco has promised a “long bloody summer.” I wonder how long…and how much more bloody?

It took nearly a year, 295 days¹ or roughly 1.67 Friedman Units, for the death toll to reach 500 combat deaths.

It took slightly less to reach 1000 combat deaths - 242 days¹ or 1.34 Friedmans.

Reaching 1500 combat deaths took 177 days¹ - just under .5 FUs.

2000 combat deaths? Roughly, 266 days.²

2500? Roughly 231 days.²

3000? New Year’s Eve, 2006. Just 200 days.²

When - when, not if - we reach 3500 tonight, it will have been only 154 days² since the last milestone.

3500.

How many more deaths are we willing to take? How many more deaths before the American people stand up, more or less united, and say, “No more?”

Sure we’re telling pollsters that 70% of us want this nightmare to end. 70% of us think our country is on the wrong track. 70% of us don’t believe the President when he tells us we’re winning, that our troops are making a difference, that Al-Qaeda and Iran (and not civil war) are to blame for the fact that Iraq is going to hell in a handbasket.

Too many of us are standing by, allowing the President to continue his “surge” to help “win the war” - all of which should be properly termed “an escalation to continue the occupation.”

But when are we going to stand and fight? When are we going to see mass protests? When are we going to see action in the House and Senate that represent the views of the majority of Americans?

George Bush and Dick Cheney and Karl Rove and Orrin Hatch and all the other Republican tools and fools can continue spewing lies, but it’s time for the 70% to do more.

It’s time to force our CongressCritters to follow the will of the people. No more wavering, no more cowering. No more useless bills that continue the blank check war. No more useless bills and toothless hearings that fail to hold the administration accountable for its myriad failures.

- - -

¹ - Based on info from Where Are The Weapons?

² - Rough estimates based on counting the number of whole weeks between dates and multiplying by 7. Yes, they may not be entirely accurate, but you try it while screaming children raid your workspace, wreck the house in a frenzy of hyper-activity, and eat all the pineapple upside-down cake.

I found Steve and the News Blog by following a link, probably from FDL, and I was hooked from that first visit. I visited at least once a day, usually more.

I wasn’t a commentor, just a devoted reader - though I did once send Steve an email complimenting him on a well-written article (as I sit here, I can’t remember what it was about) and thanking him for giving me a new perspective.

Like so many others, I thrilled over the new site when the News Blog moved and worried endlessly over Steve after he went into the hospital.

My thoughts and prayers are with Jen and all of Gilly’s family.

And how else to conclude this, but with his favorite phrase?

FUCK THE FUCKING YANKEES!!