Animal welfare roundup

PETA is not alone

More "animal rescue" fraud: "Noah's Wish, an animal rescue group based in Placerville, has closed operations and is being investigated by the California attorney general's office for how it spent and accounted for millions of dollars that poured in after Hurricane Katrina. The organization, which was founded in 2002 by Terri Crisp, rescued animals in disasters and drew widespread publicity for its work in the days following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Before Katrina, the group brought in between $100,000 and $200,000 a year, according to financial nonprofit records filed with the state. After the hurricane, a staggering $8.5 million in cash and other contributions poured in, according to financial documents obtained by The Bee."

Animal Rescue Workers Face Trial Over Shelter Conditions: "LONG BEACH, Calif. -- A judge Thursday ordered a pair of animal rescue workers to stand trial on animal cruelty charges stemming from the discovery of nearly 300 sick cats and dogs in a shelter they ran. Long Beach Superior Court Judge J.D. Lord found sufficient evidence for Alexia Selma Tiraki-Kyrklund and Gloria Ramos to go to trial on 13 felony counts of animal cruelty. The women, both 39, ran Noah's Ark Animal Rescue. Animal control officers found 152 dogs and 147 cats in the company's warehouse after a police officer responding to an alarm smelled a foul odor. Most animals were emaciated and covered in urine and feces and at least one animal had to be euthanized, said Deputy District Attorney Lakeri Patankar.

Massachusetts fat-cats: "Before the Animal Rescue League of Boston opened its Pembroke shelter in 2002, animal welfare advocates criticized the nonprofit organization for sitting on its money, taking a decade to build a shelter and spending too little on animal care and services. Now, as the League prepares to walk away from the shelter after only five years, critics question the organization's spending habits, including investments and executive salaries. In 2005, the most recent year for which a tax return is available, the League brought in almost $7.2 million in revenue and spent nearly $8.9 million. That year, $6.8 million went to program services and nearly $4 million to salaries. The League's outgoing president, Arthur Slade, was paid $203,909 in salary plus $14,846 in pension contributions and deferred compensation. The incoming president that year, John Bowen, earned nearly $15,000 for his first month's work, starting Dec. 1, 2005. The League's chief operating officer earned about $151,000 and at least four other top employees, one of them a veterinarian, earned between $84,000 and $94,000. The League also paid 12 other employees $50,000 or more."

Anti-fur crowd lecture Pope about "sacredness": "An Italian animal rights group today asked Pope Benedict XVI to stop wearing fur out of "respect for the sacredness" of animals' lives. The Italian Anti-Vivisection League said the Pope should not wear a fur hat the Vatican has ordered from a manufacturer in the northern city of Pavia ahead of his visit to a university there on April 22. "Out of respect for the sacredness of the lives of all living species, we invite the Holy Father to arrive at a choice of high religious and ethical value by giving up fur clothing for that occasion and for the future," the group's vice president, Roberto Bennati, said. Benedict XVI, who will celebrate his 80th birthday on Monday, regularly wears clothing with fur, particularly during outdoor ceremonies in the winter."

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ELSEWHERE

Emptyheaded Obama flagging: "To Democrats expecting repeats of his breathtaking speech to the 2004 party convention, which launched his national political career, Obama has appeared low-key and tired at times during the early stages of his campaign. In meetings across the country he rarely wins more than one or two polite standing ovations. One Hollywood supporter recently noted that the crowd at one of his events "seemed to me unmoved, frankly" and "Barack seemed a little tired, to be honest". A Gallup poll on Friday, taken as news of an astonishing $25m fundraising haul was announced, showed support for him at 19%, well behind Clinton on 38%.... Pressure is growing on the Illinois senator to unveil more policies. While Sorenson said that Obama reminded him of the young Kennedy, another guest said: "It's all very well to talk about hope and idealism and values, but what about specific programmes?"

Globalization and free trade: "Freedom of trade is really a very simple concept. Each individual should be at liberty to buy from and sell to whomever he wishes on mutually agreed-upon terms. Whether the partners to this trade live next door to each other or are separated by thousands of miles should make absolutely no difference to the logic of the idea."

A rare spasm of realism from the Left: "Abolish all agricultural subsidies... This is one of those rare topics that unites right and left. It is also one of the few remaining free lunches in economics from which practically everyone gains. It would galvanise developing countries' agriculture while freeing more than $300bn currently being spent by governments - over $200 per capita - every year on subsidies for other purposes. There will inevitably be transitional problems for some western farmers but nothing like the structural change other industries have experienced. And in the long run it will be of benefit to them, too. They will be able to grow crops they are good at rather than those attracting subsidies. All that the developing countries are seeking is a level playing field on which to compete. Is that too much to ask?"

Police officers and firefighters ... or stupid laws: "How do you feel when you see a police car behind you on the road? Would you be worried if you had a knock on the door and saw a police officer standing there? Now, how do you feel when you see a fire truck behind you on the road? Other than being worried your house was on fire, would you be uneasy to see a firefighter standing at your door? I believe that the only reason the average American has different feelings toward firefighters and police officers, both of whom are there to protect us, is our government has burdened our police officers with stupid laws to enforce."

British police scam: "Motorists whose cars are stolen are being told they must pay the police at least 105 pounds if they want them to recover their vehicle when it is found and check it for forensic clues. The scheme - being implemented by forces across the country - has been attacked by angry motorists. Only car owners who agree to pay the fee, which in theory is to cover storage, are assured their cars will be "forensicated" - which means dusted down for fingerprints or swabbed for DNA. A police letter approved by the Home Office warns motorists who recover their own vehicles that the cars will not be checked for clues. It states: "[The police force will accept] no further responsibility and will be unable to take further action to identify the person who took it." Opposition MPs this weekend attacked the charges, which often cannot be recovered under car insurance policies, for penalising the victims of car crime. David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said: "Taxpayers already pay twice for policing, through central taxation and council tax. "It's ludicrous to charge them a third time for the police to do their normal job when their cars have been stolen through no fault of their own."

"Star wars" system works: "The U.S. Missile Defense Agency and Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] conducted another successful flight test of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) weapon system today, intercepting a unitary target in THAAD's second flight test at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) on Kauai, HI. This hit-to-kill intercept demonstrated THAAD's precision against in-bound threats and its ability to provide increased protection for troops and assets."

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH and EYE ON BRITAIN.

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"Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German?... We recognize in Judaism, therefore, a general anti-social element of the present time... In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.... Indeed, in North America, the practical domination of Judaism over the Christian world has achieved as its unambiguous and normal expression that the preaching of the Gospel itself and the Christian ministry have become articles of trade... Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist". Who said that? Hitler? No. It was Karl Marx. See also here and here.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party".

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