Spill, baby, spill

Yeah, how's that "drill, baby, drill" thing working out for ya now? About as well as coal mining? When are we going to learn our lesson about these dangerous, dirty fossil fuels and just get the hell off of them already?? How many miners are going to be killed (29 a few weeks ago, 2 this week), as well as additional 11 oil rig workers... I don't think anyone has ever been killed due to solar or wind power.

Hardly reported in this country, Australia is suffering a similar, devastating oil spill that threatens the already fragile Great Barrier Reef. This is a tragedy for this area, which was already facing horrific loss of coral and other environmental devastation. The Great Barrier Reef is one of the main tourist attractions in Australia.

We should have gotten off fossil fuels 50 years ago. Coal mine operators have been allowed to run amuck, blowing the tops off of mountains and wreaking environmental catastrophe. Oil spills have ruined coastlines, fishing, wildlife, and the economies of the affected areas. BP asserted to our government that a spill like this was highly unlikely -- so they lied. They lied to Congress and they lied to the President, who should never have decided that expanding offshore oil drilling was a good idea. BP knew they didn't have safeguard equipment on that rig. They also knew that putting it on there would be half a million dollars, and they didn't want to spend the money.

Well, they'll pay up now. Lawyers get ready, there will be plenty of work for you for the forseeable future. Unfortunately money won't bring back the delicate ecosystems this spill will ruin, it won't save the wildlife who will die from it, it won't bring back the fishing trade, the tourists or the local economy.

Now is the time to make the pledge to get off fossil fuels once and for all. There shouldn't even be a question about this now.

The tragic animal abuse behind the Kentucky Derby

This weekend there will be a lot of glitz and glamour at the Kentucky Derby. Outrageous hats, expensive outfits, colorful jockey silks, mint juleps.... it all looks pretty fun. But the outer glamour of horse racing hides some horrific animal abuse.

Many people remember the lengths that Barbaro's owners went to to try to save him after a fall at the Preakness after he had won the Kentucky Derby. But for most race horses, a broken leg means being put down quickly, usually right on the track.

Most people think race horses who can no longer run live out idyllic lives on picturesque farms. It's just not true. This is a business. If a horse is no longer making money for an owner, if there are no stud fees coming in, it is very likely the horse will be sold. And it's quite likely the buyer will be sending the horse, stuffed along with many others, to the slaughterhouse. It's no longer legal in this country to slaughter horses for food; this means they get trucked many miles out of the country to be slaughtered, their meat sold overseas. If you think this can't happen even to prestigious race winners, you're wrong. It can, and it does.

Then there's the hidden horror of the nurse mare foal. These are foals deliberately taken from their mothers as soon as they're born, and allowed to starve to death, or sold for meat. Why does this happen? Because the mother is instead given to a foal thought to be a good racing prospect as a wet nurse. The unfortunate foal of the mother is just considered disposable goods.

We must stop watching horse racing, stop betting on it, stop supporting it. This is the dirtiest and cruelest of "sports," all dolled up in a facade of glitz.