Most Recent Writing
Victory! Smithfield Will Stop Using Cruel Gestation Crates
Animal welfare and food safety advocates just won a big victory! Smithfield Foods, the world's largest pork producer and processer, has agreed to phase out the use of gestation crates by 2017.
Gestation crates are tiny, two-foot-by-seven-foot stalls that factory farms use to confine pregnant sows. Because pigs on factory farms are virtually always pregnant, they spend a huge portion of their lives crammed into these stalls. Most pigs held in these cruel, unsanitary cages don't even have enough room to turn around and are limited to two positions: standing or lying on their stomachs.
Gestation crates are currently banned or in the process of being banned in eight states and the European Union.
Smithfield originally promised to phase out gestation crates back in 2007, but by 2009, the company had gone back on its promise citing economic concerns. Even after the economy rebounded and Smithfield boasted record profits, the company failed to re-commit to its gestation crate promise. That prompted the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to start a petition here on Change.org.
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Gestation crates are tiny, two-foot-by-seven-foot stalls that factory farms use to confine pregnant sows. Because pigs on factory farms are virtually always pregnant, they spend a huge portion of their lives crammed into these stalls. Most pigs held in these cruel, unsanitary cages don't even have enough room to turn around and are limited to two positions: standing or lying on their stomachs.
Gestation crates are currently banned or in the process of being banned in eight states and the European Union.
Smithfield originally promised to phase out gestation crates back in 2007, but by 2009, the company had gone back on its promise citing economic concerns. Even after the economy rebounded and Smithfield boasted record profits, the company failed to re-commit to its gestation crate promise. That prompted the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to start a petition here on Change.org.
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Michigan Senate Passes Bullying Law that Allows Bullying
In a fine example of orwellian doublespeak, Republicans in theMichigan senate just passed a bill meant to adress bullying at schools, but only after inserting an amendment that makes sure schools can’t “prohibit a statement of a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction of a school employee, school volunteer, pupil, or a pupil’s parent or guardian.” In other words, bullying won’t be tolerated in Michigan schools anymore…unless the bully says he is only bullying because his religion tells him to. If you see this as a glaring and absurd addition to the law, you aren’t alone.
The law, which is known as “Matt’s Safe School Law,” is named after Matt Epling who killed himself in 2002 after being bullied because he was gay. Matt’s father, Kevin Epling, joins all 11 Democrats in the State Senate in opposing the amendment. “This is just unconscionable,” said Kevin Epling. “This is government-sanctioned bigotry.” Gretchen Whitmer, a Democratic State Senator, condemned the amendment in a floor speech, saying, “you may be able to pat yourselves on the back today and say that you did something, but in actuality you are explicitly outlining how to get away with bullying. As passed today, bullying kids is okay if a student, parent, teacher or school employee can come up with a moral or religious reason for doing it.”
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The law, which is known as “Matt’s Safe School Law,” is named after Matt Epling who killed himself in 2002 after being bullied because he was gay. Matt’s father, Kevin Epling, joins all 11 Democrats in the State Senate in opposing the amendment. “This is just unconscionable,” said Kevin Epling. “This is government-sanctioned bigotry.” Gretchen Whitmer, a Democratic State Senator, condemned the amendment in a floor speech, saying, “you may be able to pat yourselves on the back today and say that you did something, but in actuality you are explicitly outlining how to get away with bullying. As passed today, bullying kids is okay if a student, parent, teacher or school employee can come up with a moral or religious reason for doing it.”
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Why a bad Mike Huckabee Joke Should Convince You to Run for Office
Mike Huckabee may not be running for president, but that has left him plenty of free time to be a pundit of Fox news and make jokes about suppressing votes…wait what?
That’s right, Mike Huckabee recently went to Ohio to help out the group Building a Better Ohio in its campaign to pass a Wisconsin-style anti-union bill. ”Make a list. Call them and ask them, ‘Are you going to vote for Issue 2 and are you going to vote for it?’”Huckabee quipped. “If they say no, well, you just make sure that they don’t vote. Let the air out of their tires on election day. Tell them the election has been moved to a different date. That’s up to you how you creatively get the job done.”
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That’s right, Mike Huckabee recently went to Ohio to help out the group Building a Better Ohio in its campaign to pass a Wisconsin-style anti-union bill. ”Make a list. Call them and ask them, ‘Are you going to vote for Issue 2 and are you going to vote for it?’”Huckabee quipped. “If they say no, well, you just make sure that they don’t vote. Let the air out of their tires on election day. Tell them the election has been moved to a different date. That’s up to you how you creatively get the job done.”
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Sweatshops in America
Recently the Morning Call, a local newspaper serving Allentown, PA and the surrounding area, spoke with 20 employees of Amazon.com's massive Breinigsville, PA packing and shipping facility. The warehouse is important because it is located within a days drive from a third of the U.S. and Canadian population. It is how Amazon.com can deliver goods so quickly to a huge chunk of the country. The stories the Morning Call heard and published are pretty disturbing. This warehouse is, quite literally, a sweatshop. You see, the warehouse isn't cooled in the summer. Over the last several months, temperatures soared over 110 degrees inside the facility.
Elmer Goris was one of the employees who spoke with the Morning Call. He recently quit after a year working at the Amazon warehouse. He described blistering heat, fellow employees passing out, and, to add insult to dangerous heat rash, poor treatment from management. After more than 10 years working at warehouses, Goris sums up his experience with Amazon: "I never felt like passing out in a warehouse and I never felt treated like a piece of crap in any other warehouse but this one." Another employee said it was like "working in a convection oven while blow-drying your hair."
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Elmer Goris was one of the employees who spoke with the Morning Call. He recently quit after a year working at the Amazon warehouse. He described blistering heat, fellow employees passing out, and, to add insult to dangerous heat rash, poor treatment from management. After more than 10 years working at warehouses, Goris sums up his experience with Amazon: "I never felt like passing out in a warehouse and I never felt treated like a piece of crap in any other warehouse but this one." Another employee said it was like "working in a convection oven while blow-drying your hair."
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This is just a small sample of what Taylor has written; read the full collection in the archive.
