Dear President George W. Bush

Eating Meat Is Worse Than Driving a Truck ... for the Climate

Reducing our meat consumption may not be popular, but we need to view our love affair with burgers in the same frame as gas-guzzling SUVs.

I just had to share the good news.

Good news for vegetarians, we're not contributing to this cruelty!

" A new undercover investigation by The Humane Society of the United States reveals that sick and crippled dairy cows continue to be abused in the livestock industry, even in the wake of high-profile exposes that should have put auction managers and other animal-handling personnel on their best behavior."

" Details of the new undercover HSUS investigation include:

* downed cows repeatedly shocked in an attempt to get them to rise
* calves and cows with broken legs and laminitis
* a downed cow being dragged by a chain around one leg, pulled by a Bobcat tractor, with the animals' leg severely hyper-extended
* a calf being kicked repeatedly in the head
* a blind cow being shocked and struck and other cows with serious and grotesque eye injuries/diseases
* a downed cow forced to crawl on her front knees by workers who repeatedly shocked her"

Because It's Important

NC Congressman McHenry is a dick

Oh, I cannot make this stuff up. Yes, the American people have heard this. Their answer to our fuel crisis, the crisis at the pumps, is: Ride a bike.

I sent the Congressman an email:


Dear Mr. McHenry,

I would like to share with you my little human interest story.javascript:void(0)
Publish Post
I am originally from Cashiers, North Carolina and now live in Nevada City, CA. My wife and I rent a small apartment in town and walk to dinner, movies, coffee, the bank, etc. It's a wonderful life that we live.

I work in Grass Valley, CA, a mere 4 hilly miles away. Over a year ago I sold my pickup and commute by bicycle. Throughout the year I ride my bike to work. Riding my bike to work and on errands makes me very happy. It keeps me in shape, it keeps my weight down, it keeps my cholesterol down, my health costs down, my transportation costs down, it reduces local traffic and it is a great solution to my transportation dilemma.

It is very unfortunate that you view the bicycle as a 19th century solution to 21st century problem.

Sir, it is your kind of jaded disposition and lack of creativity and understanding that is degrading our country. And to think, you are one of our elected leaders who is supposed to be looking out for the greater good of the United States.
You really should be ashamed of yourself.

Think about it. How is the obesity problem in North Carolina? How about the poverty rate and it’s association with transportation costs? Air quality from pollution generated by automobiles?

I’ll be in North Carolina on Labor Day weekend and would be happy to take you on a leisurely ride to remind you how easy it is to ride a bike.

Thanks,

Hyland Fisher

So, what now?

Well, politics have slowed down a bit, Finx and I are less pissed at the administration since they keep shooting themselves in the collective foot. So,how about something interesting and personal?
It snowed yesterday. The first snow we've had all year, we've been in a drought. Since it was snowing I decided to arrive at work late and take the long way into work. After and hour and a half I arrived at work with frozen hands and a feeling of accomplishment. The bike did great on the roads, much better than the cars were doing.

A view of town just minutes before I started out on my exploratory ride.



Heading up Banner Mountain Trail, a road that goes by the gun club, starts as pavement and turns to gravel.

I set the bike down for a few minutes to take a look at the map and snap a few pictures. It didn't take long for the bike to get covered in snow.

This is one of the pictures I took. This is a pacific yew, a relatively rare tree in these parts.

I found some new, albeit short, sections of trail on the route.

As I was coming down a road into town all the cars had stopped. I rode past them and came across this cluster-fuck. So, I snapped a picture and road right through it as they struggled to straighten their hulks of metal. Feels good to be on the bike.

So Tired...

Well, here I am, back for a post-election post. For me, this blog has been like one of those things that you need when you're low and when you swing back high again, you seem to forget all about. So, this time I ain't feelin' too shabby politically but after a long hard weekend of work, I'm sure tired enough to feel at bit of the "lows". Why not use it to post right?

Anyway, it seems that with the stunning victory of the "left" the country has found a way to regain some semblance of sanity for the time being. Hopefully the din of yelping from the fundies has died down enough to let us all think straight again and not preoccupy ourselves with such pointless debates as: "Are frozen soon-to-be-thrown-out embryos able to get the proper abstinence-only sex ed if their 1 in 10,000 chance of actually becoming a fully formed human ever comes to pass?" Things like this are really not that pressing when the blood on the streets of Baghdad is still flowing freely.

It would seem to me that the Dems really have their work cut out with this win. They must do more than pass pretty sounding resolutions. They must fight back the callousness of the folks in Washington that no longer respect the reason of why they work there for us. They must battle the idea that having real hope is considered quaint or meaningless. I say this because ever since Barak Obama has stepped up to the plate I've heard nothing but shallow comments like: "He's a vessel that people pour whatever they want into." Come on people, he's a good man, and preaching promise shouldn't mean you're vapid. He has goals, yes. He is shrewd, yes. But he represents something almost lost to us like Kennedy did, hope. Flaws are present in all of us, that's why a person like him is relatable. His dreams may not be totally formed yet, but neither are most of ours in the real world.

We can get there together though. We can rest up after this last battle for a bit, but then we must come out strong. Ready to do the really hard work of dreaming big.