Watching another video come out showing clear violence and abuse towards cows on a dairy farm in Fort Morgan, Colorado, is sickening.
The video shows dairy employees, who to me are cowards and monsters, doing what has become common in animal production: simple animal cruelty. If you care about any animal, this video will sicken you.
I am very grateful to Mercy For Animals for their undercover work.
The owners of the cows are horrified. The folks from the dairy cooperative that the dairy farm belongs to put the blame on Mercy For Animals. Both groups are pathetic.
Cruelty is inherent in these places.
It's time to ditch dairy.
There are so many other products out there that don't include inherent cruelty. And that don't financially support individuals who look at the animals suffering in the video simply as product, not as living, breathing beings.
In Colorado, all of the cowards shown in the video can be charged with aggravated animal cruelty.
I hope the Fort Morgan Sheriff does this.
And I hope dairy milk sales continue to go down.
If you would like to watch the Mercy For Animals click here.
If you would like to read the Denver Post article click here.
Thanks for reading!
Zuma beach.
Showing posts with label Mercy For Animals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mercy For Animals. Show all posts
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Friday, April 11, 2014
Your Easter ham
I seldom click on videos showing animal cruelty. It's actually been a long time since I have watched one of those undercover videos showing animals being treated in ways that I honestly cannot believe anyone would support.
That changed today. I don't know why, but I clicked on a video from Mercy For Animals showing men torturing, beating and killing pigs. The men work for a pig factory that supplies Walmart.
On our blog and on all of our social media we do not post videos of animal cruelty. We do offer links to animal rights groups we support that have those videos on their sites.
I believe this type of cruelty happens everywhere animals are produced for food. It happens because there is little regard for the life of these animals and also, in a very simple way, because they can. They have the power to do terrible things to these animals and they do it.
I unequivocally support any group that does these undercover investigations. People need to see what happens to animals in order for them to become their dinner.
Or their Easter ham.
I cannot stop thinking about the video I watched earlier. These workers were hell bent on inflicting fear, terror and pain on these pigs. Nothing was going to stop them.
The only thing that can stop them is the consumer.
If you eat meat, in this case pork, you have the power to stop the cruelty. The video I watched is only the tip of the iceberg of what happens to pigs on a daily basis throughout the country.
Although I haven't looked into the purpose of the video, I am pretty sure it was part of Mercy For Animals campaign to get Walmart to stop using certain suppliers, including the one in the video.
We have the power to stop it. We can be a voice for these voiceless creatures who are treated in such a pathetically terrible way.
If you would like to see the video you can go to the Mercy For Animals website here: http://www.mercyforanimals.org/
The only way to not support animal cruelty like that shown in the video I saw is to go vegan. Don't support the inherent cruelty that is part of taking animals that are living and breathing and feeling to create your steak, pork chop or lamb chop.
Thanks for reading.
That changed today. I don't know why, but I clicked on a video from Mercy For Animals showing men torturing, beating and killing pigs. The men work for a pig factory that supplies Walmart.
On our blog and on all of our social media we do not post videos of animal cruelty. We do offer links to animal rights groups we support that have those videos on their sites.
I believe this type of cruelty happens everywhere animals are produced for food. It happens because there is little regard for the life of these animals and also, in a very simple way, because they can. They have the power to do terrible things to these animals and they do it.
I unequivocally support any group that does these undercover investigations. People need to see what happens to animals in order for them to become their dinner.
Or their Easter ham.
I cannot stop thinking about the video I watched earlier. These workers were hell bent on inflicting fear, terror and pain on these pigs. Nothing was going to stop them.
The only thing that can stop them is the consumer.
If you eat meat, in this case pork, you have the power to stop the cruelty. The video I watched is only the tip of the iceberg of what happens to pigs on a daily basis throughout the country.
Although I haven't looked into the purpose of the video, I am pretty sure it was part of Mercy For Animals campaign to get Walmart to stop using certain suppliers, including the one in the video.
We have the power to stop it. We can be a voice for these voiceless creatures who are treated in such a pathetically terrible way.
If you would like to see the video you can go to the Mercy For Animals website here: http://www.mercyforanimals.org/
The only way to not support animal cruelty like that shown in the video I saw is to go vegan. Don't support the inherent cruelty that is part of taking animals that are living and breathing and feeling to create your steak, pork chop or lamb chop.
Thanks for reading.
Monday, April 8, 2013
Rutgers and animal rights - stopping cowards
For those of you who read my posts about the Rutgers basketball coach this week, calling for him to be fired, you might have been surprised to read about sports in one of my blog posts. With such violence and anti-gay slurs coming from a person in power, I felt I had to write about it.
But what we saw in the videos from Rutgers we have seen before.
If, like us, you support all of the groups out there who do undercover work to give animals in factory farms and in labs a voice, the actions and abuse of power coming from a coward is nothing new.
Recently Mercy for Animals has made headlines with their undercover work. I decided not to show a video (Mercy For Animals is linked on our main page if you'd like to take a look). Their videos have a lot in common with the Rutgers video: people in power doing unspeakable things to those they are charged to care for. In the MFA videos we see, time after time, terrified animals being kicked, thrown, tortured and sometimes killed. By cowards.
In some stats, legislators are talking about passing bills to stop undercover investigations. In Iowa this is now law. These so called "ag gag" bills are meant to keep people who care about animals away, to keep profit up, and to be able to treat their product as they see fit.
I think "ag gag" is going easy on them. I prefer calling them "coward protection" laws.
Whether it is a group of factory farm workers beating a piglet with a shovel, teens bulling a perceived gay student or a basketball coach who makes $700,000 a year to perpetrate violence and fear on young players, cowards exist among us.
They can be stopped, which is why I felt the need to write about the Rutgers coach. He was fired. And then the athletic director resigned.
We have the power to be a voice for the voiceless and we have the power to stop these cowards.
Sometimes I may sound like a broken record when I write about getting involved, in connecting with your state legislator, in writing a letter to the editor or visiting your local chief of police.
These actions make a huge difference to those affected by the cowards.
Our silence strengthens the cowards. Our voices and actions can stop the cowards.
Thank you for reading!
But what we saw in the videos from Rutgers we have seen before.
If, like us, you support all of the groups out there who do undercover work to give animals in factory farms and in labs a voice, the actions and abuse of power coming from a coward is nothing new.
Recently Mercy for Animals has made headlines with their undercover work. I decided not to show a video (Mercy For Animals is linked on our main page if you'd like to take a look). Their videos have a lot in common with the Rutgers video: people in power doing unspeakable things to those they are charged to care for. In the MFA videos we see, time after time, terrified animals being kicked, thrown, tortured and sometimes killed. By cowards.
In some stats, legislators are talking about passing bills to stop undercover investigations. In Iowa this is now law. These so called "ag gag" bills are meant to keep people who care about animals away, to keep profit up, and to be able to treat their product as they see fit.
I think "ag gag" is going easy on them. I prefer calling them "coward protection" laws.
Whether it is a group of factory farm workers beating a piglet with a shovel, teens bulling a perceived gay student or a basketball coach who makes $700,000 a year to perpetrate violence and fear on young players, cowards exist among us.
They can be stopped, which is why I felt the need to write about the Rutgers coach. He was fired. And then the athletic director resigned.
We have the power to be a voice for the voiceless and we have the power to stop these cowards.
Sometimes I may sound like a broken record when I write about getting involved, in connecting with your state legislator, in writing a letter to the editor or visiting your local chief of police.
These actions make a huge difference to those affected by the cowards.
Our silence strengthens the cowards. Our voices and actions can stop the cowards.
Thank you for reading!
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
The 17 year vegan
This past January was my 17th anniversary of becoming vegan.
The final step for me was Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream. I had one more pint of it and then was ready.
For vegans, the world was completely different from today. For starters, there was no vegan Amy's mac-n-cheese. There was no Eat Pastry cookie dough and no Mercy for Animals. No vegan food blogs and no cool kale tshirts. There might have been some type of vegetarian festival happening somewhere but certainly not in my part of Virginia. (In fact, there was an annual animal conference in Norfolk, VA!)
The cowards who abuse and torture animals were still pretty much free to do so. It's only been in very recent times that felony charges have been brought against workers in the animal production world for cruelty to animals.
My reasons for becoming vegan were not radical, although many thought my decision to become vegan was radical. I simply had learned enough about what happens to animals that made me realize that I did not want to be part of anything that involved harming another living being. My thought process became one that surrounded the idea that every action I took would be one that would do as least harm as possible to other living beings.
I asked a lot of questions. I went to a lot of potlucks. I read a lot of books. Believe it or not, there was no internet (in my life at least) at that time. My learning about how to be a healthy vegan came from interacting with healthy vegans.
It's not perfect. And it grows. The vegan I am today is different from the vegan I was back in January of 1996. I know that although Pepsi and potato chips are vegan, I don't want to consume them all of the time. I have learned that veganism is a path, and my path of veganism does not have to look exactly like yours. I have learned that people go vegan for different reasons, and those that remain vegan for the most part are those who chose veganism because of the animals. I have learned that my veganism threatens other people, even though it really doesn't have to. And one of the big things I have learned, and experienced, is that becoming vegan is like becoming reborn in the food world. I have enjoyed so many different types of foods that I doubt I would have even considered trying had I not become vegan. The African Peanut Stew I made the other night is a great example.
I learned that I can get along with pretty much anyone out there, that we all have more in common than not. I also learned that harsh words, judgements and unkind actions towards me are unacceptable. One does not have to agree with me or even like me, but I don't give permission to those people to treat me any less. This includes everyone. I am not a Focus on the Family type of vegan or activist, meaning that I am not going to attack you just because we disagree. I am also not going to simply shut up.
So at 46 (very close to 47) I am just as excited to be vegan as I was when I was 29 (yes I was 29 at one time). I can only imagine what the next 17 years will bring for veganism and for animals who are tortured, beaten and live in fear just to become food. Or those who live their entire lives in a cage so that humans feel better about the medicines they pump into their bodies. Or the animals who die every day just because some coward has the capacity to kill them, usually without any consequences.
Meanwhile, I will continue on a path of compassion, tolerance, love and bridge building. I will continue to try to be a voice for the voiceless, all of the voiceless. I will continue to learn. And I will definitely continue to engage other in this world of blogging.
Thank you for reading. Will you please pass the kale?
The final step for me was Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream. I had one more pint of it and then was ready.
For vegans, the world was completely different from today. For starters, there was no vegan Amy's mac-n-cheese. There was no Eat Pastry cookie dough and no Mercy for Animals. No vegan food blogs and no cool kale tshirts. There might have been some type of vegetarian festival happening somewhere but certainly not in my part of Virginia. (In fact, there was an annual animal conference in Norfolk, VA!)
The cowards who abuse and torture animals were still pretty much free to do so. It's only been in very recent times that felony charges have been brought against workers in the animal production world for cruelty to animals.
My reasons for becoming vegan were not radical, although many thought my decision to become vegan was radical. I simply had learned enough about what happens to animals that made me realize that I did not want to be part of anything that involved harming another living being. My thought process became one that surrounded the idea that every action I took would be one that would do as least harm as possible to other living beings.
I asked a lot of questions. I went to a lot of potlucks. I read a lot of books. Believe it or not, there was no internet (in my life at least) at that time. My learning about how to be a healthy vegan came from interacting with healthy vegans.
It's not perfect. And it grows. The vegan I am today is different from the vegan I was back in January of 1996. I know that although Pepsi and potato chips are vegan, I don't want to consume them all of the time. I have learned that veganism is a path, and my path of veganism does not have to look exactly like yours. I have learned that people go vegan for different reasons, and those that remain vegan for the most part are those who chose veganism because of the animals. I have learned that my veganism threatens other people, even though it really doesn't have to. And one of the big things I have learned, and experienced, is that becoming vegan is like becoming reborn in the food world. I have enjoyed so many different types of foods that I doubt I would have even considered trying had I not become vegan. The African Peanut Stew I made the other night is a great example.
I learned that I can get along with pretty much anyone out there, that we all have more in common than not. I also learned that harsh words, judgements and unkind actions towards me are unacceptable. One does not have to agree with me or even like me, but I don't give permission to those people to treat me any less. This includes everyone. I am not a Focus on the Family type of vegan or activist, meaning that I am not going to attack you just because we disagree. I am also not going to simply shut up.
So at 46 (very close to 47) I am just as excited to be vegan as I was when I was 29 (yes I was 29 at one time). I can only imagine what the next 17 years will bring for veganism and for animals who are tortured, beaten and live in fear just to become food. Or those who live their entire lives in a cage so that humans feel better about the medicines they pump into their bodies. Or the animals who die every day just because some coward has the capacity to kill them, usually without any consequences.
Meanwhile, I will continue on a path of compassion, tolerance, love and bridge building. I will continue to try to be a voice for the voiceless, all of the voiceless. I will continue to learn. And I will definitely continue to engage other in this world of blogging.
Thank you for reading. Will you please pass the kale?
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Fighting the cowards
There is a Mercy For Animals video that is out there about the dairy industry, asking folks not to consume dairy. I decided a long time ago not to add videos or photos of animals being mistreated just to give our readers a break from that. If you'd like to see the video I'm sure it's on the MFA website. And I should also add that Mike and I donate a lot of money to MFA because we absolutely believe in their work.
I felt compassion for the cows in the video. I wanted to take away their pain, suffering and fear. I wanted to stop the cowards who were inflicting these things on them.
My compassion extends to all living beings. I mean all. Not just dogs. Not just animals. All living beings. The video I watched this morning while enjoying my morning coffee surrounded by our furry companions brought the cruel reality that cowardly and weak people torture animals and feel good about it.
I wonder what happened to these people to make them so horrible that they have to beat or kick or instill fear into a living being just because they can.
And this is what the meat and dairy and egg industries are all about. This is what happens every day, every night, behind closed doors so everyone who eats the nicely packaged product has no clue how the it got there.
Well, these days they do. Every day that I see an undercover video I feel good that the story of cruelty and torture and fear is being told. The light shines on the cowards. In some cases, they are actually being charged with felony cruelty to animals.
I believe the best way to fight the way these folks treat animals is to not pay them. I mean don't financially support what they do by purchasing or consuming their product. Tell them that you abhor their actions by cutting them off.
Your employees brutalizes an animal; I support you no more. Your industry says it's OK to instill fear on animals and torture them before you kill them for meat; I say that I will not support your industry. You are a politician who takes money from and supports companies that treat animals this way; I say that I will not vote for you and I will fight against your support of cruelty.
Is this radical? No way. Radical is continually watching cowardly people kick, beat and torture animals without doing anything to stop them. Radical is saying "I know it's terrible how they treat those dairy cows" while chugging down a glass of milk.
Cruelty continues with permission. Let's take that away.
Thank you for reading. Please support those groups that are shining a light on animal cruelty and animal torture.
I felt compassion for the cows in the video. I wanted to take away their pain, suffering and fear. I wanted to stop the cowards who were inflicting these things on them.
My compassion extends to all living beings. I mean all. Not just dogs. Not just animals. All living beings. The video I watched this morning while enjoying my morning coffee surrounded by our furry companions brought the cruel reality that cowardly and weak people torture animals and feel good about it.
I wonder what happened to these people to make them so horrible that they have to beat or kick or instill fear into a living being just because they can.
And this is what the meat and dairy and egg industries are all about. This is what happens every day, every night, behind closed doors so everyone who eats the nicely packaged product has no clue how the it got there.
Well, these days they do. Every day that I see an undercover video I feel good that the story of cruelty and torture and fear is being told. The light shines on the cowards. In some cases, they are actually being charged with felony cruelty to animals.
I believe the best way to fight the way these folks treat animals is to not pay them. I mean don't financially support what they do by purchasing or consuming their product. Tell them that you abhor their actions by cutting them off.
Your employees brutalizes an animal; I support you no more. Your industry says it's OK to instill fear on animals and torture them before you kill them for meat; I say that I will not support your industry. You are a politician who takes money from and supports companies that treat animals this way; I say that I will not vote for you and I will fight against your support of cruelty.
Is this radical? No way. Radical is continually watching cowardly people kick, beat and torture animals without doing anything to stop them. Radical is saying "I know it's terrible how they treat those dairy cows" while chugging down a glass of milk.
Cruelty continues with permission. Let's take that away.
Thank you for reading. Please support those groups that are shining a light on animal cruelty and animal torture.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
A few of our favorite things
It's that time of year again, when folks put out their "best of" lists. Last year we did a blog post on our favorite women and a blog post on our favorite men. This years' list includes many of our favorite things: people, groups, restaurants, etc. Like we did last year, we invite you to share some of your favorites with us!
Here we go:
My husband. This is Dan writing this post (and pretty much all of the posts). I am totally in love with Mike and am grateful for every day that I get to be his husband. We have an incredible life together.
Linger. You must know by now that Linger is our favorite restaurant in town. Amazing vegan food and the best service in town. I could go on and on but you can just go to the blog post that I wrote a review on them. If you live in the Denver area and have not been to Linger, go.
Mercy For Animals. This animal rights group ROCKS it for the animals. Their undercover work in the past couple of years has brought the inside of factory farms to the local news. The brutality, torture and fear inflicted on sentient beings that all animal rights activists know about has been brought to a TV near you, to people who maybe thought this happened but now have the facts. We love them so much that this year we became members of the major giving club and are grateful to do so.
Malala Yousufzai. You have heard her story. She is a true inspiration. She is 15 years old and from Pakistan. She made headlines in the US when she was shot by the Taliban. She constantly speaks out for the rights of women, especially around education. Her courage blows us a way!
Voters in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington. Heck yes! They all supported a ballot measure that was pro marriage equality. In Minnesota they voted down a state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage and in the others they actually approved gay marriage!
Tarascos. The best vegan Mexican food we have had. Amazingly friendly staff. They actually APPRECIATE customers. Imagine that!
Chicago. An amazing city filled with wonderful culture and super options for vegan cuisine. We like The Blackstone Hotel, the Chicago Diner, The Art Institute of Chicago, Naked Pizza and strolling around Boys Town.
Alka Chandna and Bruce Friedrich. When I think of this couple I think of love, inspiration and powerful voices for the voiceless. We are fortunate to count Alka and Bruce as friends, and our world is fortunate to have them here.
Eat Pastry cookie dough. As much as Mike and I like to bake, we are still totally in love with this fabulous vegan cookie dough. If you haven't tried it yet, we suggest you do so right now! Many flavors. We like the chocolate with chocolate. Mmmmm.
Amy's Mac n Cheese. The vegan version of course. This is a staple for me (Dan). Love it. The only thing I wish Amy would do is to offer larger portions of this, like in a party size!
That's it for now. Part II coming soon! Thank you for reading!
Here we go:
My husband. This is Dan writing this post (and pretty much all of the posts). I am totally in love with Mike and am grateful for every day that I get to be his husband. We have an incredible life together.
Linger. You must know by now that Linger is our favorite restaurant in town. Amazing vegan food and the best service in town. I could go on and on but you can just go to the blog post that I wrote a review on them. If you live in the Denver area and have not been to Linger, go.
Mercy For Animals. This animal rights group ROCKS it for the animals. Their undercover work in the past couple of years has brought the inside of factory farms to the local news. The brutality, torture and fear inflicted on sentient beings that all animal rights activists know about has been brought to a TV near you, to people who maybe thought this happened but now have the facts. We love them so much that this year we became members of the major giving club and are grateful to do so.
Malala Yousufzai. You have heard her story. She is a true inspiration. She is 15 years old and from Pakistan. She made headlines in the US when she was shot by the Taliban. She constantly speaks out for the rights of women, especially around education. Her courage blows us a way!
Voters in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington. Heck yes! They all supported a ballot measure that was pro marriage equality. In Minnesota they voted down a state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage and in the others they actually approved gay marriage!
Tarascos. The best vegan Mexican food we have had. Amazingly friendly staff. They actually APPRECIATE customers. Imagine that!
Chicago. An amazing city filled with wonderful culture and super options for vegan cuisine. We like The Blackstone Hotel, the Chicago Diner, The Art Institute of Chicago, Naked Pizza and strolling around Boys Town.
Alka Chandna and Bruce Friedrich. When I think of this couple I think of love, inspiration and powerful voices for the voiceless. We are fortunate to count Alka and Bruce as friends, and our world is fortunate to have them here.
Eat Pastry cookie dough. As much as Mike and I like to bake, we are still totally in love with this fabulous vegan cookie dough. If you haven't tried it yet, we suggest you do so right now! Many flavors. We like the chocolate with chocolate. Mmmmm.
Amy's Mac n Cheese. The vegan version of course. This is a staple for me (Dan). Love it. The only thing I wish Amy would do is to offer larger portions of this, like in a party size!
That's it for now. Part II coming soon! Thank you for reading!
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Chicago is like vegan heaven
Mike and I love Chicago.
On our way from Denver to Michigan we decided to plan a couple of days in Chicago to eat and enjoy the city.
Boy did we enjoy it.
For our vegan readers, this post might disappoint as we only ate at one restaurant, the Chicago Diner. With only a couple of days in town we decided to go with what we know and stayed at the diner.
Vegan chocolate peanut butter milkshake. Need I say more.
Their brand is "Meatless since '83". I have been going to the diner since 1996 and although they aren't always perfect, I have always loved going there. Service can be hit or miss and we experienced totally great service all three times. I always get a shake. This time we both tried the grilled Caesar Salad with blackened tofu and it was DELISH! Christine and Brian were our serves and both are super-friendly and fun to be with.
We happened to be in Chicago during gay pride weekend and were stoked to see Mercy For Animals, one of our all-time favorite animal rights groups and one that we financially support, having a booth at pride. They were also in the parade. This might not surprise many of you, but it is great that an animal rights group brought the voice of the voiceless to gay pride.
There are a ton of vegan options in Chicago. Happy Cow has a great list, including new ones: http://www.happycow.net/north_america/usa/illinois/chicago/
This trip we stayed at the historic Blackstone Hotel on Michigan Avenue. I can't write enough wonderful things about this hotel. Incredible rooms, great, friendly staff, perfect location, great views. The hotel is two blocks from the red line which takes you right to the Chicago Diner's neighborhood.
If you haven't been to Chicago we definitely recommend a trip there. Let me know if you have any questions that you think I might be able to help with regarding a trip there. My email is vegandude@msn.com
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Being a voice in your state legislature
Every day I hear or read about people who complain about something that their governor just signed into law or that their state legislature is discussing.
This week, Iowa's governor signed into law what many groups I support refer to as the ag-gag law. It is now illegal in Iowa for people to go undercover to report how animals are treated in slaughterhouses and animal production plants. And no, there is no live TV feed from these places that makes undercover unnecessary. The deal now is that we won't know of any inhumane actions against the animals unless someone breaks the law. If you have followed Mercy For Animals you know that inhumane acts occur on a daily basis in countless factory farms and slaughterhouses.
I called the governor asking him not to sign this bill. So did thousands of others. Democrats and Republicans. People of all faiths and of no faith. Veg folk and non veg folks.
The point of this blog post isn't really the ag-gag law. It's the idea that those of us who are a voice for the voiceless must use that voice in our state legislators. It's vital that we know who represents us in the state house and the state senate, that they know who we are, and that they know our opinions on what matters most to us.
I realize many activists don't vote and they each have personal reasons why they don't vote. I haven't missed an election, on every level, since I was 18. Yet you can be one who chooses not to vote and still be a voice in your state house or senate.
I'm not sure how many Iowans called their representatives to ask them to vote no on this bill. I'm equally unsure as to how many hard-core voices for the voiceless (whoever "the voiceless" is to you) know who represents them at the state level.
If you are interested in finding out, check out this website:
http://votesmart.org/
All you have to do is type in your zip code and the site will tell you who represents you from the local level to the national level. Once you find out who represents you, send them a nice email introducing yourself. Be prepared to not always be in agreement with those who represent you. What fun would that be!
Thanks for reading! I would love to hear what you find out about your elected officials!
This week, Iowa's governor signed into law what many groups I support refer to as the ag-gag law. It is now illegal in Iowa for people to go undercover to report how animals are treated in slaughterhouses and animal production plants. And no, there is no live TV feed from these places that makes undercover unnecessary. The deal now is that we won't know of any inhumane actions against the animals unless someone breaks the law. If you have followed Mercy For Animals you know that inhumane acts occur on a daily basis in countless factory farms and slaughterhouses.
I called the governor asking him not to sign this bill. So did thousands of others. Democrats and Republicans. People of all faiths and of no faith. Veg folk and non veg folks.
The point of this blog post isn't really the ag-gag law. It's the idea that those of us who are a voice for the voiceless must use that voice in our state legislators. It's vital that we know who represents us in the state house and the state senate, that they know who we are, and that they know our opinions on what matters most to us.
I realize many activists don't vote and they each have personal reasons why they don't vote. I haven't missed an election, on every level, since I was 18. Yet you can be one who chooses not to vote and still be a voice in your state house or senate.
I'm not sure how many Iowans called their representatives to ask them to vote no on this bill. I'm equally unsure as to how many hard-core voices for the voiceless (whoever "the voiceless" is to you) know who represents them at the state level.
If you are interested in finding out, check out this website:
http://votesmart.org/
All you have to do is type in your zip code and the site will tell you who represents you from the local level to the national level. Once you find out who represents you, send them a nice email introducing yourself. Be prepared to not always be in agreement with those who represent you. What fun would that be!
Thanks for reading! I would love to hear what you find out about your elected officials!
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