Thousands of Needy Pets Awaiting Rescue Still Roam New Orleans and the Gulf

Taken from nolapetinfo and sm23 livejournal entries

PLEASE CROSSPOST

KANAB, Utah, Nov. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Three months after Hurricane Katrina, thousands of homeless pets still cling to life on the streets, waiting to be rescued, according to an assessment revealed by Best Friends Animal Societytoday.

The organization, which runs the nation's largest companion animal sanctuary, is launching a petition drive on behalf of these pets and their displaced families.

"Compassionate citizens have already given their money to this cause. Now we're asking them to give their voices, too, by signing a petition to ensure that these dogs and cats in the Gulf Coast region are not abandoned and that donated money be spent for what it was intended," said Paul Berry, Best Friends' director of operations.

Most national organizations suspended rescue operations over a month ago. But three months after the hurricane, independent rescuers report that thousands of displaced pets, belonging to people who have lost their homes, are still clinging to life, and that their situation is critical. Many ofthese pets are in destroyed and abandoned areas where food sources such as garbage cans are not available, and many of the structures these pets are using for shelter will soon be bulldozed.

"We've been working on the frontlines of Hurricane Katrina relief efforts since late August, and have not given up," said Berry. "Our emergency rescue shelter outside of New Orleans still has up to 600 animals on any given day and brings in up to 40 animals a day from volunteer rescuers who continue to work in the field."

Berry said the Best Friends assessment, which was conducted last week, has confirmed some urgent and disturbing facts about the on going need for rescue efforts. The report (http://www.bestfriends.org) cites interviews with local animal control officials, veterinarians, rescue agencies, and volunteers across the region.

"People all over the country donated tens of millions of dollars to rescue these animals," said Berry. "All it takes now is a commitment from the animal welfare organizations to finish the job they undertook."

That commitment includes:

* Providing volunteers to continue rescuing displaced pets still alive on
the streets, encouraging volunteers to continue rescuing pets still alive on the streets, and providing staging areas to get them to safety
* Conducting a national adoption drive for all pets not reclaimed by their families

"Working together, we can do better than simply allowing these pets who have clung to life for so long to become the next generation of strays who will reproduce and ultimately be euthanized," said Berry.Best Friends is asking everyone who donated money to the rescue effort to sign a petition urging national animal welfare organizations to continue the rescue work as long as these traumatized family pets are still alive."We are inspired by Mayor Nagin's plan to rebuild a better New Orleans,"said Berry, who is a native New Orleanian. "If funds remain after the rescue efforts are complete, they should be used to build a better New Orleans for companion animals. Once the remaining pets are safe, we can join together to invest in programs that will radically improve the quality of life for animals in the Gulf Coast region."

These programs would include:

* Low-cost, high-volume spay/neuter facilities
* Neighborhood no-kill sheltering and adoption capabilities
* Affordable health care for pets of low-income families
* Model legislation to end dog fighting and related animal abuse

"This was an unprecedented tragedy for people and their pets," said Berry."But for local humane groups, once the rescue efforts are complete it can now be a unique opportunity to create a new reality for companion animals."So many people have given their time, effort, and money to the cause. Now they all need to add their voice to how the remaining money should bespent.

That's why we're launching a petition drive to support this vision for the animals."For a copy of the report and to join the petition drive, please go to the Best Friends website

http://www.bestfriends.org/

What Did He Know?

What did he know? As the criticism of the Iraqi war has increased, cries that the nation was misled have become louder permeating almost every conversation about the war. At the center of the rebuttal has been Bush's denial that he had any information that wasn't passed on to the Senate Intelligence Committee.

That last vestiage of excuse was banished today as a new report surfaces. 10 days after 9-11, Bush was informed in a top secret intelligence briefing that Saddam had NO CONNECTION with Al Qaida or September 11th. Yet he, Cheney and Rove continually misled the public by insisting Saddam was a threat, had ties to terrorists and even used Saddam and 9-11 interchangably so as to link them together in people's minds.

It's time for impeachment to begin. If a president can be impeached over sex surely one will be held accountable for deliberately misleading a nation to war.

10 days after 9-11, Bush KNEW there was no connection between Saddam and the attack by Al Qaida.

http://nationaljournal.com/about/njweekly/stories/2005/1122nj1.htm
By Murray Waas, special to National Journal© National Journal Group Inc.Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2005

Ten days after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, President Bush was told in a highly classified briefing that the U.S. intelligence community had no evidence linking the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein to the attacks and that there was scant credible evidence that Iraq had any significant collaborative ties with Al Qaeda, according to government records and current and former officials with firsthand knowledge of the matter.

The information was provided to Bush on September 21, 2001 during the "President's Daily Brief," a 30- to 45-minute early-morning national security briefing. Information for PDBs has routinely been derived from electronic intercepts, human agents, and reports from foreign intelligence services, as well as more mundane sources such as news reports and public statements by foreign leaders.

One of the more intriguing things that Bush was told during the briefing was that the few credible reports of contacts between Iraq and Al Qaeda involved attempts by Saddam Hussein to monitor the terrorist group. Saddam viewed Al Qaeda as well as other theocratic radical Islamist organizations as a potential threat to his secular regime. At one point, analysts believed, Saddam considered infiltrating the ranks of Al Qaeda with Iraqi nationals or even Iraqi intelligence operatives to learn more about its inner workings, according to records and sources.
The September 21, 2001, briefing was prepared at the request of the president, who was eager in the days following the terrorist attacks to learn all that he could about any possible connection between Iraq and Al QaedaThe highly classified CIA assessment was distributed to President Bush, Vice President Cheney, the president's national security adviser and deputy national security adviser, the secretaries and undersecretaries of State and Defense, and various other senior Bush administration policy makers, according to government records.

Take the time to read the article at the website. It is quite damning.

Freedom Of Speech Or Political Payback?

The Hamilton Co, Ohio republicans are attempting to shut down a website. They say the name is too close to their own. It's a situation similiar to whitehouse.org. The website is similiar in name to the White House's official website but is highly critical of the Bush administration. The name issue has never been given creedance by the official White House website, I believe mainly because doing so would A: Let them know the anti governmental website is effective and B: would call more attention to the negatives on the opposition's page.

Hamilton Co Republicans haven't thought things through. They filed a lawsuit seeking to shut the offending website down. A huge mistake IMO.

First, by taking this action they made sure the issue hit the papers. Now those who had never heard of www.HamiltonCountyRepublicanParty.com are running to their computers, typing in an address and reading every iota of information to see what the big fuss is about. Americans are nothing if not curious.

Second, they've sent a loud and strong message to the opposition that the criticism worked! That only strengthens the resolve of those attempting to make a point with their opposing views.

And last, the entire issue of Valerie Plame's outting has centered on the question of censorship. Was Plame outted in order to silence Joe Wilson from speaking out. If the people in Hamilton Co have made this connection in their minds, then it will spill over to Hamilton Co Republicans as they attempt to silence the voice of their opposition.

One attorney deemed the lawsuit "frivolous". I think a better term for the effect it's going to have on Hamilton Co Republicans might be "disasterous".

Read the story here:
http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051119/NEWS01/511190330

Cowards Smear, Heroes Serve

Jean Schmidt is a piece of vermin. That's harsh. That's mean spiritied but it is my thought at present.

Rep. Murtha of Penn. is a well respected democratic hawk. His service record is replete with awards given, among them 2 purple hearts. The man VOLUNTEERED for duty in Vietnam, that's how dedicated he was as a marine.

His comments on Thursday indicating he disapproved of the administration's handling of Iraq was a blow to Bush and Cheney, who had often bragged that Murtha supported them.

Well, they got their digs in. Friday, on the floor of the house, Jean Schmidt of Ohio read a statement that in essence called Murtha a coward.

No, Jean, the coward is you who had to resort to using someone else's words to make your smear campaign instead of having the cajones to come out and say it yourself. My most fervert hope is that the people of the 9th district in Ohio now see you for what you are, a woman who has no respect for the military, and vote you OUT of the house. You do not have the dignity or honor to serve America.

Mollification or Alienation?

The extreme right faction of the Republican party was upset with Bush's nomination of Harriet Miers. Honestly, she may have been a good candidate but the lack of a paper trail and judicial experience doomed her from the beginning.

But the radical right was offended. They wanted an obviously conservative SCOTUS nominee that they felt they could count on to overturn Roe V Wade.

So Miers bit the dust and in comes Alito, who appears on initial perspective, to be very qualified and well liked. Perhaps not a bad nominee.

But in replacing Miers to mollify the most radical of the republican party, has Bush alienated the more moderate conservatives with his actions? Will they feel that Bush has sold out the interests of the mainstream party by bowing to pressure from the extremists?

The next few months will be telling. I suspect if Bush's approval ratings continue to decline we'll see some republicans in close races distancing themselves from the president and his failed policies.

It's time for damage control all over GOP country.

Balance Of Power

Why are the 2006 elections so important? What are three or four senate and house seats, more or less, going to do to help America?

It will help balance the power.

We're out of whack. Our government was not set up to run on a one party system. There was suppose to be balance. There was suppose to be discussions and debates of ideology. Supposedly by having the grand discourse we would end up with a compromise that would be best for America.

There is no debate and discourse underway in US government today. With the republicans ruling both houses of congress and the white house, debate has ended and dissention is shouted down.

We need disagreements. We need a variety of ideas. We need the heated exchanged between passionate men who will bring two pictures to the table of the same situation.

We need balance!

The best thing for our country would be for the democrats to take back one of the houses. Let the dissenting and debates begin again. One party rule is not best for America.

Much Ado About Everything!

What a week it's been. So many things I've let pass without comment not because I wasn't energized by the events of the week but because I've been pressed for time. Tonight I make up for that, however!

Last Friday 5 indictments were handed down by Patrick Fitzsgerald, all pointing at Scooter Libby, the VP's COS. That had to send chills down the spine of every White House staffer. Rove, I'm sure, breathed a sign of relief but that didn't seem to last long as Fitzsgerald declared his intent to continue the hearings until he was satisfied he had gathered all available information or until he knew exactly what had transpired in the outting of Valerie Plame. Fitzsgerald made an eloquent statement about the need of our covert agents to feel secure and know that their own representatives would not betray them.

The talk of the weekend on the news, in the papers, in blogs, and around the watering hole centered on three names: Libby, Rove and Cheney. Not exactly where the president wanted the conversation centered.

Strike One

So Monday morning Bush took the media bull by the horns and announced a new SCOTUS nomination. It worked beautifully! Suddenly now we were centering our attention on Alito and Miers and not on the White House leak.

That, however, lasted only two short days.

Harry Reid was more brilliant than I believe he intended to be. Not only did his motion to close senate chambers pivot the conversation back to the White House leak but it also brought to the front of news coverage the fact that the republicans in congress were dragging their heels on their own investigation of the reasons for the war in Iraq.

The only ace in the hole the White House had left was a quick scheduling of hearings to confirm Alito. That hope faded when the date for confirmation was set to January.

Strike Two

Then came the conference of the Americas. Bush needed to look like a strong competent leader of the US. He needed the media to focus on his ranking among the national delegation and show him as respected and responsible. Instead the media's attention was focused on a number of loud and rowdy protests that took place in the streets of Argentina.

Strike Three.

Thankfully for Bush the week is over.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a further decline in his approval ratings, something he truly does not want to experience.

Perhaps the key to changing the direction of public sentiment lay where he is really reluctant to go: Dismissing Karl Rove.

Despite the fact that no indictments were handed down for Rove, it is apparent that he somehow was involved with the leak to the press in the Plame case. The public longer trusts Karl. They believe he was involved with the outting of Wilson's wife as well as now feel that he is largely responsible for the dirty campaign tricks that came out in both the primaries and the general elections in 2000 and 2004.
According to the polls, which granted aren't always accurate but which I believe to be a reflection of American sentiment, people want him gone - for the good of GW Bush and the country.

Maybe it's time the president bites the bullet and cleans house in the White House.