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Last week there was a repulsive demonstration of
just how pervasive the corruption is in Illinois
government. The Springfield Convention and Visitors
Bureau (SCVB), which is part of the government of
Springfield, Illinois, has decided to continue
sponsoring the National High School Rodeo
Association (NHSRA) finals in 2007, just as it did
in 2000, 2001 and 2006. This is incredible, because
every one of the three years the high school rodeo
finals have been in Springfield, rodeo humane rules,
as well as state humane laws were flagrantly and
repeatedly violated.
See video and photos of this abuse at IllinoisCorruption.com.
Is the capitol of Illinois so desperate to rake in
every possible tourist dollar that it is willing to
promote even animal abusers and criminals? The
answer is obviously "YES!" I wrote a letter to SCVB
Director Tim Farley to review the cruel and corrupt
history of the high school rodeo finals. You can
read the letter on SHARK’s website by
clicking here or going to the
IllinoisCorruption.com "Sponsors" page.
SCVB Executive Director Tim Farley's justification
for promoting and supporting the rodeo is that he is
responsible for Springfield Tourism, and when there
is a rodeo, visitors look for places to eat and
stay. My question is, if the Ku Klux Klan decides
to hold its national convention in Springfield area,
will Tim Farley and the SCVB sponsor and promote that?
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WHAT YOU CAN DO
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At right, spiking animals with sharp wires and
shocking horses and bulls with thousands of volts
were just two of the pervasive and criminal abuses
at the high school finals.
Please write, call, fax or email SCVB Executive Tim
Farley to express your disappointment over his
decision to sponsor cruel and criminal behavior.
Let him know that his decision is a black eye for
the city of Springfield, and even for the entire
state of Illinois. Finally, let him know that you
will go out of your way to NOT stay or eat in
Springfield when you are traveling.
email: tim.farley@springfield.il.us
write:
Executive Director Tim Farley
Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau
109 North Seventh Street
Springfield, Illinois 62701
Toll Free Phone: 800-545-7300
Phone: 217-789-2360
Fax: 217-544-8711
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"Mama, don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys"
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Many people know that singer Willie Nelson has stood
up for American farmers for many years. More
recently Willie has also
taken
a stand against horse
slaughter, and this is a great asset to the campaign
to save American horses from a horrible end. SHARK
applauds Willie Nelson for standing up for horses
headed for slaughter.
Unfortunately, Willie is scheduled to perform at
rodeos in San Antonio and Houston, Texas, Willie’s
home state. It is already strange that Willie has
concern for horses headed for slaughter, but appears
to be unaware of horses who are taunted, tormented
and abused in rodeo arenas. But the real irony of
this situation is that the same Rodeo Mafia for whom
Willie Nelson will perform for is fighting to keep
horse slaughterhouses in business, mercilessly
killing hundreds of thousands of terrorized horses.
Read more about the rodeo industry's support of
horse slaughter HERE.
I want to believe that Willie simply doesn’t know
about the suffering horses endure in rodeos. To
change that situation, SHARK has sent Willie a
letter, a DVD of rodeo animal abuse, and a number of
newspaper articles that exposed rodeo cruelty and
corruption.
Just as Willie Nelson is a great asset to the
campaign to end horse slaughter, he could be a great
asset to the campaign to bring relief to the horses
and other animals who are brutalized, broken and
discarded by the Rodeo Mafia.
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U.S. Soldiers Stone Injured Dog
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This issue has been going strong on the Internet for
a few days now, and for very good reason. A video
clip showing US soldiers stoning a badly injured or
otherwise deformed dog is one of the most disgusting
things I have seen in a long time, and is drawing
intense and well-deserved criticism from animal
lovers, and anyone who has a heart.
Click
HERE to see the video and get up to date
information on our ArmyAnimalAbuse.com site.
To hear government propaganda, the US military is a
force of caring professionals adhering to a strict
code of behavior. If that is true, then there will
be court martials in order for the scum who
committed this pitiless act of cowardice. It didn’t
occur to me when I first watched the clip, but it
was suggested that since the dog is first seen lying
in the tracks of a motor vehicle, likely a Humvee,
that the victim may have been injured by the
vehicle, and that the soldiers didn’t want to have
to deal with the carnage they had caused.
I frankly believe these soldiers should have their
careers unceremoniously terminated, and they should
spend a very long time in the brig to consider their
behavior. A very, very long time.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Please, please write and call demanding a full
investigation!
Hopefully someone will recognize these cowardly and
cruel individuals
so they can be prosecuted for animal cruelty.
Please contact your federal senators and
representatives and demand
an investigation into this atrocious and cowardly
act, and demand
that the slobs in uniform be brought to justice.
To find contact information for your federal
representative, go to:
www.house.gov
and enter your zip code.
To find contact info for your federal senators, go to:
www.senate.gov
and use the drop down box to select your home state.
Sign the petition! CLICK
HERE and add your voice to the growing list of
people demanding justice!
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Chicago FOX News Reports on “Religious” Animal Abuse
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FOX News Chicago had a story Sunday night about the
Santeria "religious" practice of animal sacrifice.
Chicago Police made arrests in the cruelty case of
three small goats, each of whose eyes were blinded
by these barbarians jabbing sharp instruments into
them.
The story can be viewed at: Religious
Practice Get
Some Worshippers in Trouble
FOX had another story about the link between animal
cruelty and human violence on Monday and interviewed
Sgt. Degenhardt and child psychiatrist Dr. Bennett
Leventhal. Another excellent story!
Click here to see it.
If we want more news stories about animals and more
police officers taking animal crimes seriously,
PLEASE write, call, fax:
Andrew Finlayson, News Director, FOX News
Chicago
Thank him for doing these animal stories and let
him know you want to see more of these! Let him
know that the reporter, Lilia Chacon, did an
excellent job of covering these issues.
312-565-5533-newsroom
312-819-1332-fax
Philip Cline, Chicago Police Superintendent
Thank him for having dedicated police officers like
Sgt. Degenhardt working on crimes against
defenseless animals. Let him know that this issue is
important to you and that Chicago should be proud of
this key part of its police department!
Phone: 312-745-6100
Fax: 312-745-6963
Mayor Richard Daley
Thank him for having dedicated police officers like
Sgt. Degenhardt working on animal crimes. Let him
know that this makes Chicago look good! Let him
know this issue is important to you. Might also use
the opportunity to mention how disappointed you are
that he is not enforcing the ban on foie gras – that
the citizens of Chicago passed.
Phone: 312-744-3300
Fax: 312-744-2324
Richard Devine, Cook County State's Attorney
Let him know that you want animal crimes such as
these prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Phone: 312-603-5440
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Steve Hindi Responds to Publicity of Colorado Governor's Whining
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Colorado Governor Complains that PETA Won't Help
Cattlemen Feed the Cattle Before They are
Slaughtered
I want to start by saying that I am neither a PETA
basher nor a PETA fan. PETA has at times made me
proud to be a fellow animal protector, while at
other times their antics have left me shaking my
head in embarrassment. I've just never accepted
that taking one's clothes off helps animals, but
that's just me. My feelings about the matter of
PETA refusing to aid cattle in Colorado are,
however, clear and unequivocal, as is my opinion of
the Governor of Colorado after he declared PETA to
be “A Bunch of Losers” and “Frauds” for that
refusal.
According to news reports, as many as 340,000 cows
and steers were stranded by a huge Colorado
snowstorm in January. In response, Colorado
Governor Bill Owens ordered the National Guard to
help feed the cattle. Two second-rate Denver shock
jocks named Rick Lewis and Michael Floorwax decided
to pull a prank and call PETA to ask them if they
would help to get food to the starving cattle. I
listened to a recording of the call, and given the
tone and idiocy of the jocks, I thought the PETA
lady was overly courteous to what were clearly just
a couple of buffoons.
After nicely responding to the loser twins for a
while, the PETA staffer ended the call. To continue
would simply have been a further waste of time.
Anyone with a brain knew it was a prank. Anyone who
wasn’t an utter and complete moron would realize it
was a prank. Anyone whose genes weren’t scraped
from the very bottom of a contaminated gene pool
would realize that it was a prank.
Unfortunately, Governor Owens apparently hasn’t a
brain, is an utter and complete moron, and, well, you
get the idea. Governor
Not-the-Sharpest-Knife-in-the-Drawer got on the
phone with the KRFX radio shock jocks and KOA-AM,
the “news” radio station, and got all indignant over
PETA’s refusal to swoop in and save Colorado’s
cattle and coincidentally, the profits of Colorado’s
cattlemen. To listen to the governor you would
guess that he was just one of the guys, and by that
I mean a crotch scratching, hung over boorish fellow
that real people try to avoid at all costs. I guess
he was just trying to be "one of the guys," but he
came off like an idiot in his tone even before the
nonsensical rant got under way.
And what is the history to be found in the archives
of Lewis and Floorwax? In 2003 these goofs caused
quite a controversy when they gave an equally
second-rate has-been, Ted Nugent, a platform wherein
Nugent made derogatory remarks towards Asians and
Blacks. Nugent's rant was so offensive that he was
subsequently compelled to apologize, although in
typical fashion he then claimed his comments were
"taken out of context."
With a history like that, who could possibly be
stupid enough to take these clowns seriously? The
answer to that question is, unfortunately, Colorado
Governor Bill Owens. For anyone capable of abstract
thought, Lewis, Floorwax and Nugent are nothing more
than the three stooges of radio. For genetic
rejects like Owens, however, these boobs are
apparently sage-like advisors. That's really a
sorry situation. Even accepting the obvious – that
Owens is a moron among morons – one has to wonder
how anyone could possibly be so dense.
Earth to Governor Owens – PETA isn't responsible
taking care of Colorado cattlemens' cattle. Earth
to Colorado cattlemen -- big snows happen in the
middle of winter in Colorado. You just might want
to consider preparing for what isn't just a
possibility – not just a probability – but a damned
sure thing. I wonder if the cattlemen are going to
repay Colorado taxpayers for the expense of the
National Guard doing the cattlemen's jobs?
The bottom line here is that a Colorado snowstorm,
whether you consider it an act of nature or an act
of God, is just a fact of life. What is incredible
is that Colorado cattlemen don't seem to grasp that.
Then they turn out to be such a bunch of weenies
that go crawling to their opposition, begging for a
handout. That sorry situation is almost as sad as
the stranded cattle.
The problem here isn't a couple of Howard
Stern-wannabes. The problem is that Colorado's
governor is such an idiot. If Governor Owens was
bent on searching out welfare for Colorado
cattlemen, I wonder why he didn’t call the supposed
cattlemen’s best friends and cheerleaders, the Rodeo
Mafia? After all, there are some noteworthy rodeo
associations that call Colorado home, including the
Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), which
happens to be the world’s largest rodeo association.
Then there’s the Professional Bullriders
Association, the National High School Rodeo
Association, Colorado Pro Rodeo Association, the
Colorado Gay Rodeo Association, the Colorado State
High School Rodeo Association, the Women’s
Professional Rodeo Association, and there’s more. I
wonder just how much collective help these supposed
cowboys and cowgirls gave to their fellow cattle
folk. My guess is that the collective dollars and
hours contributed were exactly the same – absolutely
nothing.
There appear to be a few absolute truths that come
out of this very sorry situation. First, Colorado
cattlemen, judging by Governor Owens' behavior, are
such a sorry, wimpy and incompetent lot that, in
addition to all the government welfare they already
get (government land, water, tax perks, etc.), they
have to resort to begging for handouts from their
sworn opposition. Second, that Governor Owens is an
even sorrier excuse for a man than the Colorado
cattlemen are.
Fortunately, there are only a few relatively small
groups of people who could possibly fall for
Governor Owens' sophomoric temper tantrum – an utter
and complete moron, a member of the Rodeo Mafia, or
a right-wing whacko reactionary. If this silly
story has done nothing else, it has established a
litmus test for thinking people versus those who are
dumber than a sack of hammers. It sure is too bad
that the governor of Colorado has done a belly flop
smack into the second group.
Check out RodeoWelfare.com
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