Save The GULF, please!!!!!

(Alternate title: Life's a beach, until you're drowning in oil!)

As some of you may have heard, there was a "little" incident off the coast of Louisiana ~ 55 days ago ~ in the body of water knows as The Gulf Of Mexico.

It seems the current 'powers that be' had not been very diligent in their safety regulations and compliance check duties and there was an explosion on a little oil rig owned and operated by a company named British Petroleum.

The initial explosion was a horrible tragedy in and of itself. Eleven hardworking men lost their lives. Fathers, sons, brothers, husbands....

Unfortunately, the tragedy did/does not end there.

Since the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon on April 20th, an estimated 2.5 million (BP's worst case estimate) and 4.2 million (scientists'/experts' worst case estimate) gallons of oil have been flowing into The Gulf... DAILY.

Both BP and Obama administration officials had been 'lowballing' these numbers from day one.

Well, the truth seems to be out now. At least the truth about just how much oil has been flowing and continues to flow into the Gulf Of Mexico and the truth about BP's use of BANNED dispersants being sprayed over and injected into the Gulf of Mexico.

"Is the EPA aware of this?", you may ask. Why, YES... they are and they're not doing a damn thing to stop BP's usage of these banned (in the 1980's) chemicals.

So, not only is the GOM, our waters, our marshes, our wetlands, our wildlife, our sealife and our seafood industry being POSIONED and destroyed by the millions of gallons of oil spewing into the gulf each day; we're all being posioned by banned disperants and no one is doing a gosh dang thing!

And, did I mention how many people, families, small businesses have been affected by this mess? Fishermen, oystermen, shuckers, crawfishers, crabbers, crab pickers, charter boat operators, family owned and operated restaurants ~ their cooks, waiters, waitresses, buspeople; small hotel/summer rental owners, campground operators... thousands of livelihoods lost.

This disaster is not "just" an ecological disaster physically affecting four states (as if that wouldn't be bad enough). It's a HUMAN TRAGEDY as well. Affecting even more people than Katrina did.

So, my questions are:

WHERE IS THE HELP NOW?

Where are all the people screaming at the federal government NOW?

WHERE IS THE NATIONALLY TELEVISED OUTRAGE NOW?

Hello world... is anybody out there? Is anyone paying attention to what's happening "down here"?

S O S!

WE ARE STILL AMERICANS!

Please visit the following sites to learn more and to help:

http://www.unearthed.earthjustice.org

http://www.gnof.org

http://www.auduboninstitute.org/gulf-oil-spill-resources

http://www.defenders.org/index.php

Wanderlust ... by Nightwish

Lyrics (and beauty) by NIGHTWISH:

I want to see where the sirens sing

Hear how the wolves howl

Sail the dead calm waters of the Pacific

Dance in the fields of coral

Be blinded by the white

Discover the deepest jungle

I want to find The Secret Path

A bird delivered into my heart, so

It`s not the end

Not the kingdom come

It is the journey that matters,

the distant wanderer

Call of the wild

In me forever and ever and ever forever

Wanderlust

I want to love by the Blue Lagoon

Kiss under the waning moon

Straying, claiming my place in this mortal coil

Riding the dolphins

Asking the mountains

Dreaming Alaska

The Earth can have but Earth

I want to find...

It`s not the end...

Look into my eyes and see the wanderer

See the mirrors of a wolf behold the pathfinder

Put your DANCIN' SHOES On.....

For America's farm animals!!!!

(click below to watch the video and dance along)

http://uncaged.yesonprop2.com/

Tune in to the Ellen DeGeneres Show tomorrow, September 26th -- Wayne Pacelle (President & CEO, The Humane Society of the United States) will be talking with Ellen about Proposition 2, and how it will help millions of farm animals in California and across the country. Click here to see when the show will air where you live.

THANK YOU!!!!!

The Wolf And The Donkey: A true tale

The Wolf and The Donkey: A true tale
By: Wendy M. Z.

Once upon a time, in the faraway land of Albania, a man (uneducated in the humane treatment of animals) purchased a wolf that had been captured in the Albanian mountains.

This man claimed to love animals and wanted to open a small zoo.

The wolf was kept in a very small cage and was very unhappy.

The man had been feeding raw meat to the wolf; but, the wolf was not eating much. Someone suggested to the man that the wolf would do much better being fed LIVE prey. So, the man purchased a donkey to feed the wolf.

He placed the donkey in the small cage with the hungry wolf thinking the wolf would kill and devour the donkey overnight. To his surprise, this did not happen.

When the man awoke the next morning, he found the wolf and donkey had become fast friends. You see, they were both frightened, unhappy, alone. These two natural enemies, perhaps sensing each other’s pain, had bonded.

The two new best friends would eat together, drink together, sleep together and play together. If the donkey was taken out of the cage , the wolf would become very upset and try his best to get out of the cage to be with his friend.

Word of this odd couple began to spread. Villagers and local news crews soon came to see the wolf and the donkey. The news spread around the world.

A wonderful man named Nick saw the pictures and read the story of these two animals. He, and many others, realized this was just not right. Something had to be done to free the wolf and the donkey. After all, a wolf is a wild animal and wild animals should be left in the wild!
Nick contacted friends of his from all over the world to help spread the story. He drew up petitions and collected all the necessary contact information to help free the wolf and the donkey. Action alerts went out everywhere!

These petitions were e-mailed, spread via myspace and every other networking site in existence.

Soon, word came that the powers that be in Albania heard the cries of the wolf, the donkey and animal advocates from around the world. The donkey had been FREED!!!!

Nick and his friends rejoiced; but, there was still much work to be done. The wolf was still being held in very poor conditions. Several more calls were made and eventually THE WOLF WAS FREE!!!! He was rescued and released in the Kurbin region of Albania.

I know these two amazing animals will never forget the friendship they shared. I hope the people who read this story will learn a little more about the humane treatment of animals, compassion and empathy.

After all, if a wolf and donkey can sense each other’s fear and pain and comfort each other in times of distress and loneliness; shouldn’t WE humans be capable of doing the same?

© 2008 Wendy M. Z.

*Nick is a fictional character created to represent ALL the wonderful people who worked so tirelessly to free these two beautiful creatures.

Thank you. Thank you ALL!


Some of the wonderful organizations responsible for freeing the wolf and the donkey are:

Heart of the Wolf:

http://www.heartofthewolf.org

Save The Wolves on myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/savethewolf

Howling Acres Wolf Sanctuary:

http://www.howlingacres.org/

The Best Friends Network

Please visit their sites and help when possible!

Thank you!

WOLF news from Defenders of Wildlife

Earthjustice filed the lawsuit on behalf of Defenders of Wildlife, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, The Humane Society of the United States, Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, Friends of the Clearwater, Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Oregon Wild, Cascadia Wildlands Project, Western Watersheds Project, and Wildlands Project.

Lawsuit Moves Ahead
A federal judge in Montana rejected a request by the government to delay our lawsuit seeking to place the gray wolf back on the endangered species list. In rejecting the agency's request for a two-week extension in the case, U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy set a hearing for May 29 in Missoula. Stay tuned...
Posted by Erin McCallum

Some good news out of Idaho...
Finally, something to celebrate. I am extremely relieved to find out that there were not 45,000 Idaho citizens ignorant enough to sign onto Ron Gillett's Ballot Initiative that sought to remove all wolves from the state of Idaho. Although -- it is more than a little disturbing that it got as many signatures as it did!

Please help save America's wolves!

Take action at:

http://action.defenders.org/site/PageServer?pagename=savewolves_takeaction&JServSessionIdr007=7ce9j33i21.app25a

Thank you!!!

THE RAM AND THE WOLF & 2 more Aesop fables

THE RAM AND THE WOLF

by Aesop

A wolf was walking by a wall, while a ram was peeping over the top, making all kinds of rude remarks. The wolf, gnashing his teeth, replied, 'It is only your situation that makes these insults possible. You yourself have nothing to boast about!'

(Moral: 'This fable rightly tells us all that no one should boast when his prowess is a matter of mere circumstance.')

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE WOLF AND THE CRANE

by Aesop

A wolf swallowed a bone which got stuck in his throat. The pain was excruciating, so the wolf started looking for someone who could be induced to remove the accursed thing in exchange for a reward. The wolf asked each of the animals if they would help him and finally the crane was convinced by the wolf's solemn promises. Trusting her long beak to the wolf's gaping maw, the crane carried out the dangerous cure. Yet when the crane demanded the promised reward, the wolf simply said, 'You ungrateful creature! You extracted your head unharmed from my mouth and still you ask for a reward?

(Moral: If you think a scoundrel will reward you for a job well done, you are making two mistakes: first, you are helping someone who doesn't deserve it, and second, you will be lucky to escape unharmed. )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Wolf And The Raven

by Aesop

A donkey who had a sore on his back was grazing in a meadow. A raven alighted on his back and began to peck at the wound, while the donkey brayed and reared up on his hind legs in pain. The donkey's driver, meanwhile, stood off at a distance and laughed. A wolf who was passing by saw the whole thing and said to himself, 'How unfairly we wolves are treated! When people so much as catch a glimpse of us, they drive us away, but when someone like that raven makes his move, everyone just smiles at him.'

(Moral: The fable shows that even before they act, dangerous people can be recognized at a distance.)

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To help us save the wolves, please visit these myspace profiles:

http://www.myspace.com/savethewolf

and:

http://www.myspace.com/howlingacres

To help other endangered species, please visit:

http://www.worldwildlife.org/endangered/index.cfm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THANK YOU!!!!!

The Final Song by Erica Simpson

Please view Defenders Of Wildlife's video on Alaskan Wolf Hunting at:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=zf2JfgmmRDQ

Thank you!

The Final Song

by Erica Simpson

His song was ancient and pure. The song of the wind and that of the moon. The Ancient ones cried when his music faded forever from their ears, and the children's dreams went sour without his lullaby.

In his music was contained the tales of all that ever was and a longing for what he knew was never to be. Never again was his kind to travel boldly and without fear across the great expanse. Respected and revered by all that heard his song or saw his shadow pass.

His song now a whisper, his bold step but a crawl, he gathered up his strength to cry one final call. He sang of sorrow for those who would never know and for those who knew too well that the song was meant to be.

When the song had ended and the echoes faded away, all eyes opened to what was lost.

Tears were shed and souls did go astray when they knew they had gone wrong, but no one stopped to think of these things... before the Final Song.

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The Wolves (video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20SWz2Gf_BY

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For a list of organizations - around the world - dedicated to wolf conservation, please visit:

http://www.timberwolfinformation.org/info/world/worldorganization.htm

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Thank You!!!