And, in our interconnectedness...

...shall we all flourish or die.

From Defenders of Wildlife:

Today, the Bush/Cheney Administration is stripping these amazing animals of vital federal protections, officially opening the door to the shooting, trapping, and killing of up to 1,200 wolves.

Under existing state management plans -- plans approved by the Bush Administration -- all but 300 hundred wolves could be killed. That’s 80% of the wild wolves in Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies!

As I wrote last month, federal officials already made it easier to kill wolves while they were still protected under the Endangered Species Act. Now they’re taking the final step, and eliminating these federal protections altogether.

Idaho officials want to use aerial gunning to kill wolves in their state. Wyoming agencies have left the door open to the use of traps and poison to eliminate wolves. And officials in both states -- and Montana -- have proposed wolf hunts.

States could start the killing by the end of March.

Please make a tax-deductible emergency donation right now and help support our work to save these wolves.

Mother, it is time for the 2-leggeds to reap what they have sown.

Urgent Alert re Polar Bears

From World Wildlife Conservation Action Network, this:

In only three days, on February 6, the Department of the Interior plans to move ahead with leasing nearly 30 million acres in Alaska's pristine Chukchi Sea for oil and gas activities.
Together, the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas support an estimated one-fifth of the world's polar bear population. The polar bear's existence is already threatened by the impact of climate change-induced loss of sea ice. Its chances for survival will be greatly diminished if much of its remaining critical habitat is turned into a vast oil and gas field. The Chukchi Sea lease must be halted until protective measures are in place for the polar bear.

Go to this site and TAKE ACTION! This must be done immediately.

Do it for the bears, do it for Mother, do it for survival.

What Al Gore Knows

After reading a post at Easy Bake Coven who found the article on Huffington Post concerning Al Gore's resolve (so far) to remain non-political (not run for Pres) in his campaign re global warming, I wrote a response as to why I believe Al Gore is not running:

The man honestly believes that the greatest threat to the planet, not just the country, is global warming and that he can be most effective for change by remaining independent of politics...and, he is right.
This country is a hollow shell, now. It has essentially been allowed to die by its millions of lazy, myopic, self-absorbed, tv-watching citizens.
The corporations are the whole show and they exist outside the confines of country. They do not care what happens to this country or any country as long as the bottom line swells.

Gore may yet run. He has capitalized brilliantly on his independent position to forward the issue of global warming and the need for the entire world to start immediately to work for change so as to lessen the inevitable and painful drama that is coming, which he could not have done from a partisan position. When he feels that he has done all he can from that position, that he may be able to do more as President, he may chose to run. I hope so. And, I hope he choses Kucinich for his VP.

Small Steps for the Environment, and We Who Eat Chicken

Tyson Foods,the huge producer of all things chicken in the States, has announced that it has:

begun to produce all of its fresh chicken free of antibiotics and is selling the chicken in grocery stores under a "Raised Without Antibiotics" label. An estimated 70 percent of all antibiotics used in the United States are regularly added to the feed of livestock and poultry that are not sick—a practice with serious consequences for our health. Bacteria that are constantly exposed to antibiotics develop antibiotic resistance. This means that when humans get sick from resistant bacteria, the antibiotics prescribed by doctors don't work.

This quote is from FEED, an e-mail digest from the Union of Concerned Scientists (Bless them) which keeps me informed on the latest good and bad news in the world of food. I am happy to hear this as I am in a quandary as to what to eat in these days of mad cow disease, bird flu, and poisonous chicken/turkey fed god knows what from where. This is a small step, but an encouraging one, and I am happy to see it taken. Now if we can just get all the rest of the food suppliers to follow suite!