I want to make a plea for people of conscience to support a federal lawsuit by 12 prominent conservation groups to challenge the federal governments delisting of gray wolves from the Endangered Species Act. These groups need our financial support to succeed at this lawsuit and prevent the slaughter of hundreds of wolves this year alone.  See the end of this diary for links you can follow to make contributions that will help stop this slaughter.

Many of you may know already, but the Bush administration delisted the gray wolf from the endangered species status that had facilitated it's partial recovery from catastrophic population decline.

This decision leaves the fate of the wolves in the northern Rockies in the hands of myopic and irresponsible state agencies in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming.  These state agencies are all but owned by wealthy incredibly influential hunting and ranching lobbies who could not care less about the fate of wolves, except to see to it that they are persecuted right back into near extinction.  This year alone the Idaho Fish and Game agency has agreed to allow 428 wolves to be killed, most by hunting.

Cutting red meat and dairy from the diet does more to reduce greenhouse gas emissions than being a locavore (eating locally produced food).

A study published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology entitled Food-Miles and the Relative Climate Impacts of Food Choices in the United States concludes that the choices we make as to what we eat have a much greater impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with getting food to our table than the idea of buying our food locally does.

And, no surprise to vegans like myself, the production of red meat and dairy products once again turn out to be the worst offenders when it comes to food that has a terrible environmental impact. This study shows that the production of red meat and dairy accounts for fully 50% of the total greenhouse gas emissions involved with getting food to Americans tables, regardless of whether they are produced locally or not.

This is going to be quick, as I am sick as a dog today and need to go back to bed.

I personally cannot believe anyone is seriously considering either the idea of having Clinton as Obama's VP, or the idea that Obama should pay off Clinton's debt. I say a resounding hell no to both ideas.  There are tons of  honest, hard working folks out their who would make outstanding VP's.  And I really, really don't want any of the money I have donated going to HRC's campaign or debts.

I have a new tradition.  Every caucus and primary, I like to make a donation to the Obama campaign to keep his numbers and momentum up.  I figure it is one of the ways I can still keep showing ongoing support for him even though my state caucus has passed.

I believe his money raising abilities have been one of the most important keys to his success to date.  The superdelegates cannot ignore this kind of ability to appeal to 1.5 million people to give their hard earned money.

It has been a pretty bad week for animals.  I would like to highlight some of these disturbing incidents and findings, one of which is receiving widespread media traction, the others are sort of flying under the radar.

We all know about what happened to the race horse Eight Belles after her second place finish at the Kentucky Derby.  Also making national news were the illegal shooting deaths of a 3 elephant seals in San Simeon, California and 6 Sea Lions laying in government approved open traps on the Columbia River at the border of Washington and Oregon. Finally, the Agriculture Department's Food Safety and Inspection Service found humane handling violations of cattle at some of the nations largest meat processing plants during a review of slaughterhouses providing meat to the National School Lunch Program.

There was a great ruling for environmentalists today.  A federal judge ruled  that the US government can not stall any longer on ruling whether polar bears are an endangered species.

The full story from the BBC is
here

This is a great step towards hopefully gaining protection for polar bears, which in turn would be an important step towards starting to undue some of the damage the Bush administration has done to the environment, and it could very well be a critical step for many future battles surrounding drilling for oil on the North Slope and ANWR, stopping and reversing global warming and many other critically important issues.

I read about Hillary getting the endorsement of NC governor Mike Easley today.  No big surprise.  Apparently most in NC knew that this carefully timed endorsement was expected, and Easley is considered a relatively weak governor.

What it reminded me of though is the fact that we still have not heard HRC come to the defense of the two folks running for the Democratic nomination to replace Easley as governor of NC, namely Lieutenant Governor Beverly Purdue and State Treasurer Richard Moore, both of whom have endorsed Obama, and been thrown under a bus by HRC as a result.

Over the past week or so I have read several blogs, comments, and a few op-eds from folks that actually voted for Hillary Clinton at one point or another in this primary cycle, but now have changed their minds and consider themselves Obama supporters.

I would love to hear from anyone who falls into this category.  Specifically, I would love to hear about what made you change your mind, and I would love to know when you changed your mind.

This is not to gloat.  I believe Obama is going to need every Clinton supporter he can get in the fall. We better start learning how we can ensure we are all on the same team when Obama finally does get the nomination and starts the general election cycle.

Folks who have already switched from Clinton to Obama could be our best source of knowledge as to what it is really going to take to win Clinton supporters over in the future.

So let's hear it folks.  And welcome aboard!

I want to make a point about Clinton's reaction to Obama's remarks that I have not seen others make. Specifically as a gay man, I want to explain why his comments rang true for me, and why her reaction to them exemplifies why I will never support Clinton.

In her attacks on Obama's comments, Clinton is implicitly saying it is an acceptable, defensible  part of people's belief system for them to be bigots towards gay people.

As a gay man, I watched as Bill Clinton signed away my federal marriage rights.  I watched as President Clinton signed away my right to be honest about who I am and still keep my job in our armed services.