The Wolves are Under Fire Once Again

A new ad being put out by the Wisconsin Cattlemen’s Association, Wisconsin’s six Safari Club International Chapters and houndsmen from the Wisconsin Bear Hunters’ is trying to portray the wolf as a vicious killer, but not just of animals, but also people.

"Little Red Riding Hood warned us about wolf,” the ad states, “and Little Red Riding Hood was right.” The ad goes on to cite DNR statistics showing that wolf attacks on livestock have tripled over the last three years. The ad concludes with a view of kids at a playground being closely watched by a wolf. Ahh propaganda at its finest.

What I find absurd is the Wisconsin Bear Hunters' contribution to the ad. I have no respect for them. They helped Wisconsin become one of the few states that allows both the usage of dogs and baiting to hunt bear. Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura perhaps commented on this nature of hunting best when he said "Going out there and putting jelly doughnuts down, and Yogi comes up and sits there and thinks he's found the mother lode for five days in a row and then you back-shoot him from a tree?...That ain't sport that's an assassination." To make matters worse, if one of the hunters dogs are killed by a wolf, the hunters are reimbursed by the state. The extra fee on my endangered resources license plates help pay for that.

Still the ad trying to show the wolf as a serious threat to children is disturbing. The truth is, there have been no wolf attacks on people in Wisconsin, and there have been very few anywhere, unless the wolves were rabid or being fed. Ranchers and farmers lose much more livestock to weather, disease, and other predators than they do to the wolves. So why is the wolf being used as a scapegoat? Perhaps it's in our folklore.


Most of the European based stories and folklore seem to portray the wolf as the evil killer. We hear the stories of Little Red Ridinghood, the Three Little Pigs, Peter and the Wolf, and even in Norse mythology with Fenrir, the wolf offspring of Loki, who bit Odin's head off. Even the bible had Jesus protecting the sheep from the wolves implying the wolves as sinful or evil. Perhaps the worst was using wolves to signify the Nazis.

However, I have also found some cultures to view the wolf differently. The historic cultures that had more of a kinship between humans and animals seemed to respect the wolf. In Japanese folklore the wolf was often viewed as a messenger or even protector of the forest and mountains, guarding against fires and excessive cutting of trees. Native Americans had stories of the wolf as a great hunter. The eskimos admired the wolf for its survival skills. Even Romulus and Remus were kept alive by suckling on a she-wolf. Today it's the ecologists who cite the importance of the wolf for diversity and game animal control (we have too large of a deer population here in Northern Wisconsin).

For me, the wolf is a beautiful animal that has it's place in the environment. They were here before the ranchers or the hunters and cause less environmental destruction than cattle or sheep (or the hunters with their ATV's tearing through the woods). The wolf should be here to stay. I'll end my rant now.

Here are a couple links:

The Timber Wolf Alliance has a lot of info one the Wisconsin wolf packs.

Wolf Country has some interesting wolf stories and folklore. As does Wolf Song Alaska

Is the US Senate Actually Attempting To Deal With Sweatshops?

When I first saw this article, please follow my train of thought here, I figured it was just another attempt to limit free trade by Senator Dorgan that would go nowhere fast. Then I read that Republican Graham from South Carolina has also sponsored the bill making it slightly bipartisan. I also remembered that the Senate and House are now controlled by the Democrats. Finally, I thought "maybe this bill will actually do something this time".

Of Course an anti-sweatshop labor bill is long overdue. United States corporations have been reaping the benefits of slave-like-labour ever since free trade has flourished and "buy American" is no longer a mantra among Americans (except perhaps a few ignorant GM/Ford buyers who actually believe the trucks they purchased are purely American). Corporations have fought battles to maintain their precious labels, logos, and trademarks, but how much priority have they put into their workers? Foreign firms that sell to US retailers are frequently exposed for child or sweatshop labour. One such exposure was the Harvest Rich Factory in Bangladesh. After an English news channel broke the story of child labour at the factory, Harvest Rich fired a number of teenagers only to rehire them later as "malnourished adults" instantly changing them from 13 year old children to 18-19 year old young adults. Next time your at Wal*Mart contemplating that sweater for $12.88, picture your 14 year old daughter or neice sitting in a hot factory for 16 hour shifts making only pennies each hour. Is frugality really worth the dark energy that garment is tainted with?

Still, how effective would the proposed Senate bill be if it were to make it through Congress? There are a couple interesting measures to it. One I find amusing would turn corporations on each other. A company could file a complaint with the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) alleging that its competitor was selling products made in sweatshops. If the complaint was valid, the company would be fined $10,000 and ordered to stop purchasing from the firm conducting sweatshop labor practices. While I find $10,000 an inadequate fine for a corporation, perhaps the negative publicity would add to the effect.

Overall, this is a bill that takes a step in the right direction. I'm glad one of my Senators has supported it and I'm sure my representative will as well, due to his supporting similar measures in the past. So please if you are a conscious consumer here in the States please contact your Congress people on the matter. Even if the issue only grabs media attention, perhaps more consumers will begin to think holisticallly about their purchases. Below are some more details:

S.367

Title: A bill to amend the Tariff Act of 1930 to prohibit the import, export, and sale of goods made with sweatshop labor, and for other purposes.

Sponsor: Sen Dorgan, Byron L. [ND] (introduced 1/23/2007) Cosponsors (5)

Sen Brown, Sherrod [OH] - 1/23/2007
Sen Byrd, Robert C. [WV] - 1/23/2007
Sen Feingold, Russell D. [WI] - 1/23/2007
Sen Graham, Lindsey [SC] - 1/23/2007
Sen Sanders, Bernard [VT] - 1/23/2007

Bigotry for the 21st Century



With the recent constitutional ban of gay marriage and civil unions here in Wisconsin, I have come to believe that many feel discrimination of homosexuals is acceptable. Even up here in the Northwoods, an area that votes solidly democrat (over 60%), more people voted "yes" to add an amendment to ban gay marriage. That means thousands of people voted a straight dem ticket only to vote "yes" on a discrimination issue. Bastards. I did, however, look at my township which voted 12 -35 "No" (let's hear it for the Keystoner's).

Perhaps I am naive or out of touch, but I really don't understand how educated, normally rational people can openly show bigotry towards another group of individuals that pose no threat to them. Did we not learn anything from the civil rights? Womyns rights? Please, enlighten me.

The Christian Right has spread their hate for too long. Science is beginning to debunk their theories of homosexuality being unnatural, like this Oregon State University study. We will always have paranoid wacko's like this, but the rest of us need to evolve into the 21st century and promote love and equality for all. None of us are really that different from each other.

Get with the Program Steve Jobs


I admit that I am a big fan of Mac computers- their energy efficient design, easy to use style, artistic qualities, no Microsoft programs, etc, but they are slipping environmentally. They have been leaders in certain areas in the past, but recently they have been doing little to reduce toxic plastics and flame retardants in their products. Earlier this month Greenpeace named them the worst electronics manufacturer on environmental issues. This sparked some more protests at the NY Apple Store.

Greenpeace has a campaign called Green My Apple. The site has a wealth of information for taking action as well as some resources for turning activism into art. So please, if you are a Mac fan take action. Otherwise that new notebook I planned on buying this spring may be a *uhggh* Dell *cough*.

Quote of the Day

"McDonald's has been providing nutritious menu options to all of our customers for 52 plus years."

Danya Proud, McDonald's spokesman

When I went to check my email this evening I couldn't help but notice this article regarding "gyms" being incorporated into McDonald's. I guess those plastic balls covered in disinfectant and greasy food from the fingers of children no longer constitute as enough exercise. The new gyms are supposed to have stationary bicycles hooked to video games-which as goofy as they are, are not a bad idea. Still, this is just another attempt by a corporation to improve its tarnished image. Most likely McDonald's is simply trying to stay one step ahead of the lawsuits that are coming its way involving obesity and health issues.

Which leads to my question "Is the fast food industry to blame for the obesity epidemic or is it the poor choices made by consumers?"

Will the Democrat Majority Restrict Free Trade?



Today my partner and I went on a shopping adventure for a new iron, because ours started smoking the other day. The closest sewing shop is about an hour away. I called them to see what kind of irons they carried. They only carried a special German iron that ran about $140. We didn't really want to spend that much or travel that far, so we decided to try to shop local. We checked two resale shops to no avail. We also tried a quilting/knitting shop, but they only carried small hobby irons. We finally had luck at the local hardware store-well sort of. They only had two irons, both made in China. The only choices left were Wal*Mart and Pamida, both of which would probably have the same products (plus I refuse to set foot in Wally World).

The thing is I probably could have drove to Duluth and had the same luck. Either one buys a specialty product from Europe or buys a cheap product from China. What happened to "durable" prducts that carry that "Made in America" logo. Oh yeah, the jobs aren't there anymore. We decided free trade was a wonderful idea.

Well, one of the most promising matters that the Democrat majority may tackle is the ambiguous Free Trade situation. Many of the newly-elected democrats, especially in the Midwest industrial areas, ran on an anti-globalisation platform. Areas such as Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Michigan have seen a great amount of their manufacturing jobs disappear overseas. While I disagree with many of the new "conservative" democrats social platforms, I agree with their populist beliefs. It is my hope, that unlike the 90's, the democrats will stand up against free trade and unchecked globalisation. They will strike down Bush's power of fast track authority and begin to bring jobs back to America. At the same time this will reduce our ridiculous trade imbalance with countries like China that have such poor labour standards.

While I am in no way promoting consumerism, I would like to see a return to more localised manufacturing when one is faced with the decision to buy something. It would be nice to buy an iron that is made in Minneapolis or Milwaukee. Perhaps I would run into a worker from the factory while he or she was vacationing up here. Instead our policies promote a businesses like this or this that thrives on shipping jobs overseas.

For more info on the prospects of free trade with the newly elected democrats check out this Washington Post article.

Or for a more humorous related article check out this Onion article.