OpEds—Why are Pennsylvania animal advocates not helping to stop pigeon shoots?

BY STEVE HINDI

Steve Hindi comforting pigeon victims of human barbarism.

In 1989 I drove from Illinois to Montauk Point, New York to indulge in shark fishing, then my favorite pastime. I had no idea that a detour to the small town of Hegins, Pennsylvania would change my world forever.
I vividly remember to this day my shock and disgust at what I saw in that bloody Hegins park. I also remember the terrific people I met who nonviolently fought against the abuse. The people I would formerly have considered to be on “my side,” the creeps with the guns, were completely outclassed by the people who stood for compassion.

It took a while first for me to realize, then accept, that I was on a new course, and would soon be leading a whole new life. I went from being a prolific animal killer who aimed guns and other killing tools at animals, to being an activist who aims cameras at animal abusers.

There was never a question in my mind that the Hegins pigeon shoot would be stopped, though it took 10 years. The ethics, energy, intelligence and dedication of those fighting on behalf of the animals could not be defeated.

But 13 years into the new millennium, 14 years after the Hegins shoot ended, live pigeon shoots continue elsewhere in Pennsylvania. Damn the evil and corrupt National Rifle Association. Damn the corrupt police and district attorneys who refuse to enforce Pennsylvania Humane Law 5511. Damn Pennsylvania’s corrupt legislatures who dance to the NRA’s tune, and are led around by the nose to do its bidding. Damn Pennsylvania’s media for not reporting these wanton slaughters.

While we’re at it, how about we give a double damn to those who just might have more to do with the continuation of pigeon butchery than all the other guilty parties combined? I am speaking about Pennsylvania’s humane movement. Pennsylvania’s live pigeon shoots have for decades been the most blatant animal abuse issue in the state, if not the country, but you wouldn’t know it from the paucity of Pennsylvania residents actively involved in efforts to stop these wanton slaughters.

Pennsylvania has a population of well over 12 million people, yet I can count the number of Pennsylvania citizens actively involved in documenting, exposing or protesting pigeon shoots on two hands, with fingers to spare.

A trip to China a couple years ago reminded me of what real activism looks like, and hasn’t looked like in the U.S. for two decades. Chinese activists with far fewer freedoms take great risk in their efforts, but they don’t flinch and they don’t quit. The U.S. animal protection movement needs to pay attention.

The effort to expose Pennsylvania’s live pigeon shoots is being conducted mainly by people from Illinois and New Jersey. Pennsylvania’s so-called humane “leaders” not only ignore pigeon shoots, but actively avoid even mentioning them.

I recall with disgust a planned rally of PA “activists” at the capitol in Harrisburg a few years ago, whose organizers adamantly refused to bring up pigeon shoots until I threatened to expose their cowardice and do everything I could to scuttle the posturing opportunity for Pennsylvania’s so-called humane leaders.

NRA lobbyist John Hohenwarter brags publicly about keeping pigeon shoot slaughters going. Pennsylvania humane “leaders” should be in his face and fighting. Instead they tiptoe around as if trying not to be noticed.

NRA lobbyist Hohenwarter (left) . Promoting cruelty wherever he goes, and proud of it.

Pigeon shoots certainly are not the only cruelty issue in PA. As anywhere else, there is plenty of other abuse. But the shoots stand alone in torturing and killing animals by the thousands for no reason other than the thrill of killing.

SHARK will continue to expose Pennsylvania pigeon shoots and the corrupt officials who allow them. SHARK stands ready to work with any and all in Pennsylvania who are ready to work to stop pigeon shoots.

But besides the six to eight Pennsylvania residents who have actually been doing something, is there anyone else who is serious about this humane issue?
––Steve Hindi, President, SHARK
P.O. Box 28, Geneva, IL 60134
Phone: 630-557-0176
Fax: 630-557-0178
<SHARKintl@SHARKonline.org>
<www.SHARKonline.org>

Machiavelli in the House of Saud

Our Weaponized Arab Princes

The Saudi mafia has long enjoyed intimate links with the upper echelons of the US ruling class.

The Saudi royal mafia has long enjoyed intimate links with the upper echelons of the US ruling class.

by PEPE ESCOBAR

Life is good if you’re a member of the Gulf Counter-revolution Club, officially known as Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). You can crush the Arab Spring at will. You can hire goons all across dar-al-Islam to advance a sectarian Sunni-Shi’ite divide. You can be deeply implicated in the destruction of Syria. You can treat a significant part of your own population as third-class citizens.

Not only you get away with it; you get rewarded with expensive toys. And in one particular case – Saudi Arabia – even with a two-year seat at the UN Security Council.

Not to mention that the House of Saud expertly gets away with manipulating Islam as the pillar of its “legitimacy”. The House of Saud controls the Hajj – which took place this week; an enormous logistical operation that “legitimizes” its role as leader of Sunni Islam, and automatically, the whole Islamic world. Well-informed Muslims though are very much aware of the fallacy – as much as they’re aware of how the House of Saud is fast transforming Mecca into a Vegas-style pay-per-prayer luxury resort. Who’s profiting? Certainly not the pilgrims.

This week, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced it had notified congress about selling more state-of-the-art heavy metal for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). That breaks down into “various munitions and associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support” to Riyadh for US$6.8 billion and to Abu Dhabi for $4 billion.

Weaponizing “our” Wahhabi bastards is the sweetest deal for the industrial-military-Orwellian Panopticon complex. Sequestration? Tight budgets? Who cares? There’s a never-ending contractor bonanza in the Gulf – inbuilt in the narrative of the benign superpower “benefactor” of those helpless oil and gas monarchic monopolies defending them against assorted evildoers; one day the evildoer is Iraq, the next day Iran, the next day could be their own people, so one’s gotta be prepared.

Once in a while Israel exhibits the requisite raised eyebrow, but that’s just for show. Israel and the GCC have a de facto alliance against the bloc regionally known as the axis of resistance – Iran, Iraq, Syria and Hezbollah. Israel would not prevent the GCC from gorging on F-15 Eagles, F-16 Desert Falcons, assorted air-launched cruise missiles, satellite-guided bombs and plenty of high-tech communication gear. Just your average, innocent “military and defense cooperation”.

There are glitches in this cozy relationship, of course. Currently, the House of Saud is livid facing the possibility of a negotiated solution for the Iran nuclear dossier – immediately after the Russian-US deal on Syria’s chemical weapons. Yet now the House of Saud has even managed to find a pulpit to voice its anger; Saudi Arabia has just won a two-year, rotating UN Security Council seat for the first time – taking over from Pakistan as an Asia-Pacific representative.

The House of Saud has always refrained from competing for a Security Council seat in the past. But now – facing its fabricated version of an “existential threat”, which is not only Iran but also Assad in Syria – it’s time to act.

So get ready to watch an angry, fearful, medievalist oil kingdom notorious for its spectacular record on human rights and women’s rights, and so fond of lashings and beheadings, pontificating on the global stage about…human rights. This is what US Think Tankland describes as “seeking a more active role in key international bodies”. When that applies to “our” bastards, of course; otherwise it’s about “terror states” trying to subvert the international order.

A number of House of Saud princes are now engulfed in a lethal battle for the Saudi succession – as King Abdullah is about to meet his maker. Are these princes worthy of Machiavelli? Don’t hold your breath.

Machiavelli taught us that individual will is as crucial as international power play in determining foreign policy decisions. The Florentine stressed how fortuna (fortune) can be capricious, and how history can be contingent. So how does a great Prince steer his state? By deploying virtu (virtue).

Oh no, this has nothing to do with the guilt-ridden Christian mish-mash, which also happens to be a crucial pillar of the “American exceptionalism” concept. It’s all got to do with classical values predominant in the Ancient World – from Greece to Persia. Virtue as in knowledge, strength, courage, and cunning.

So under this gold standard, Vladimir Putin certainly qualifies as a worthy Prince. Deng Xiaoping certainly did. Hassan Rouhani in Iran may reveal himself to be of the same caliber. But what about those angry, fearful, intolerant, yet heavily weaponized Arab princes? You don’t need to be a pilgrim to Mecca-as-Disneyland to find your answer.

Pepe Escobar is the author of Globalistan: How the Globalized World is Dissolving into Liquid War (Nimble Books, 2007) and Red Zone Blues: a snapshot of Baghdad during the surge. His new book, just out, is Obama does Globalistan (Nimble Books, 2009). He may be reached at pepeasia@yahoo.com.

This column originally appeared on Asia Times.

Billionaire flogfest: Koch Brothers shills tried to silence early reports on tea party roots

From the outspoken archives—

EXILE TV / GLOATS / MARCH 24, 2011

DYLAN RATIGAN MAKES IT OFFICIAL: MARK AMES & YASHA LEVINE BROKE THE KOCH BROTHERS’ TAKEOVER OF AMERICA

By Team eXiled

The biggest story of 2010 (and following)—the takeover of America by the billionaire Koch brothers—was first reported by eXiled Online editors Mark Ames and Yasha Levine over five years ago, in a controversial article for Playboy. Dylan Ratigan sets the record straight once and for all onMSNBC”s “The Dylan Ratigan Show.” He asks Ames and Levine what the corruption of the journalism world, along with the political and economic world, means for America.

Watch it and weep:

NRA’s Tony Makris Hitler Comment: ‘Under Wild Skies’ Hunted And Killed After Host Shoots Elephant

UnderWildSkiesTony NBC Sports and the Outdoor Channel have both dropped the NRA-sponsored “Under Wild Skies,” which aired an episode in which its host, Tony Makris, killed an African elephant. Facebook

A big-game hunting show is facing extinction following a controversial episode that featured its host shooting an elephant in the face.

“Under Wild Skies,” an NRA-sponsored sports [sic] program, came under fierce criticism last week when it aired the episode, which was filmed in Botswana’s Okavango Delta in September 2012. NRA lobbyist Tony Makris, who hosts the show, shot an African elephant and then celebrated the kill with a champagne toast. News of the episode spread quickly around the Internet, and multiple petitions sprouted up calling for the show’s cancellation. The largest of those petitions, on Causes.com, was signed by almost 100,000 people.

Makris

Makris was unmoved by the blowback. Defending his actions on an NRA News radio show, the host proceeded to dig a deeper PR hole for himself by going where many extremists have gone before: comparing those who don’t agree with him to Hitler. As Makris tells it, the argument that it’s okay to hunt some animals — deer and rabbits, for instance — but not others is nothing more than a “very unique form of animal racism.”

statement to Deadspin the next day, a spokesperson for NBC Sports, one of the networks that aired “Under Wild Skies,” called Makris’ comments “outrageous and unacceptable,” and said the network would no longer air the series. By Monday, that decision had apparently spread to the Outdoor Channel, which also aired the series. The network has since deleted clips of the show from its online archives, and a prompt on its website says, “Under Wild Skies is currently airing on another network.” A spokesperson for Outdoor Channel did not respond to a request for more information. (The Facebook page for the series also appears to have been deleted.)

UWSheader The Outdoor Channel apparently dropped “Under Wild Skies” with no explanation. Outdoor Channel/Screenshot

In the meantime, it’s unclear if the show will continue. The NRA, which sponsors the program, did not respond to a request for comment, nor did Winnercomm Inc., which produces it.

Though highly controversial, big-game hunting is still legal in certain parts of central Africa. Supporters say the hunting industry brings revenue that goes toward conversation and helps protect natural habitats, but animal-rights advocates aren’t convinced.

“I’d like to see the evidence of that,” said Nicole Meyer, an elephant specialist who works with the group In Defense of Animals (IDA). “African elephants are being poached at record levels these years for ivory. The bottom line is there are alternatives for conserving species and protecting natural habitats, rather than killing individual animals for the sheer thrill of the ‘hunt.’”

Meyer added that hunting has contributed to a decline in wildlife populations, forcing African lawmakers to take action. For instance, the government of Botswana, where the “Under Wild Skies” segment was shot, recently passed a law that will ban all wildlife hunting in the country beginning in 2014, as the American Conservation Foundation reported.

At least one environmental group, CNemoGlobal, has filed a complaint with the FCC urging it to investigate NBC Sports’ connection to the NRA, citing a “disturbing and depraved indifference to animal suffering and American humane values.”

NBC Sports is owned by NBCUniversal, a unit of Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ:CMCSA). Outdoor Channel was recently purchased by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, LLC.

Got a news tip? Send me an email. Follow me on Twitter: @christopherzara

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America and Its Discontents

The Road to Inequality
by KEN KLIPPENSTEIN

Hard-faced shills for the corporate super-rich. Their expression tells it all. They know what they are doing, and it’s not working for the 99%.

Three Gallup poll records were shattered this week. First, American satisfaction with government is at a record low—18%. Second, the Republican Party’s favorability rating is at an all-time low of 28%. Third, the highest ever percentage of respondents cited “dysfunctional government” as the number one problem facing the U.S.—above even the economy.

Americans’ discontent is plenty justified. In addition to the government shutdown, a default is imminent, which Bloomberg News says would be “a catastrophe dwarfing Lehman’s fall”. To make matters worse, Republicans are making an agreement on the debt ceiling contingent on cuts to social programs. For example, a letter signed by 51 House Republicans shows they want to use the debt ceiling crisis as a “window to preserve the long-term viability of Social Security”. Translation: cut social security benefits.

[pullquote]Notable among Janet Yellen’s professed views is a commitment to the same form of Quantitative Easing (QE) that Bernanke pursued; i.e., giving $13 trillion to banks and investors. Small wonder that American discontent is breaking historical records. Yet another wolf in sheep’s clothes picked by Obama.[/pullquote]

The previous page of that letter considers the following ways to “preserve Social Security’s solvency” (another euphemism for cutting benefits):

* Continuing and expanding the phase-in of raising the retirement age

* Adjusting the inflation formula used for calculating future growth

* Means-testing benefits of high income recipients of Social Security

* Gradually restoring the cap on wages subject to FICA to its Reagan-era levels

Each of these represents either a reduction of Social Security benefits or a threat to the program. The labyrinthine wording—e.g. ‘continuing and expanding the phase-in of raising the retirement age’, instead of simply ‘raising the retirement age’—is natural, given how profoundly unpopular and regressive these schemes are. The road to inequality is paved with vague prose.

If the past is any predictor of the future, Obama will give the GOP the benefits cuts that they’re hoping for. Recall that in July 2011, Obama offered to cut Social Security and Medicare by $700 billion in exchange for passage of his “Grand Bargain”—a grandiose term that tries to evoke the New Deal yet represents the exact opposite: cuts in benefits. This was not the only time that Obama has offered to cut both Social Security and Medicare. The Green Party’s chief economic adviser, Jack Rasmus, covers Obama’s numerous attempts at cutting these social programs.

Without a serious social movement like Occupy to ply the demands of the 99%, it is likely that Obama will continue to serve the 1%, the true beneficiary of his administration. A recent study from UC Berkeley demonstrates that “the top 1% captured 95% of the income gains in the first three years of the recovery.” One interviewer confronted Obama with this statistic and even he couldn’t disagree, offering the lame excuse that “the folks in the middle and at the bottom haven’t seen wage or income growth…over the last 15 years”; the implication being that he inherited this problem and that it is a historical fact, out of his control.

Meanwhile the same group that naïvely expects Obama to advocate for their interests in this debt-ceiling fiasco is celebrating his nomination of the supposedly progressive Janet Yellen. One need not read far to realize she represents the same tried and tragic policies of her predecessor. As CNN plainly stated, “her views are considered to be closely aligned with current Chairman Ben Bernanke, and for that reason, the leadership transition is expected to be smooth once his term ends in January.” New boss same as the old boss.

Notable among her professed views is a commitment to the same form of Quantitative Easing (QE) that Bernanke pursued; i.e., giving $13 trillion to banks and investors. Small wonder that American discontent is breaking historical records.

Ken Klippenstein lives in Madison, WI, USA, where he edits whiterosereader.org He can be reached via email at kenneth.klippenstein@gmail.com or on Twitter @kenklippenstein