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You are here: Home / Archives for Activism

Stormwater permits approved for three Accomack County poultry houses

April 22, 2018 by Wayne Creed Leave a Comment

Virginia Department of Environmental Quality regulators have approved stormwater permits for three Accomack County poultry houses.

The State Water Control Board voted 5-0 on Thursday.

The poultry farms are located in Atlantic, Withams, and New Church.

View the permits on the Eastern Shorekeeper web site here.

According to Virginia Department of Environmental Quality spokeswoman Ann Regn, “The applicants have been responsive to making changes resulting from inspections, and we expect them to comply with these additional requirements for environmental management.”

While the permits put more onus on farmers to monitor stormwater discharges, environmental groups such as  The Chesapeake Bay Foundation voiced oppositon, and noted that the current regulations continue to leave the health of the Chesapeake Bay at risk.

The CBF said in comments filed with DEQ, regular monitoring of surface and ground water will be essential to protecting the Bay’s water quality. Monitoring would show if pollution is leaving these facilities, which could be addressed by requiring pollution reductions through conservation practices.

Virginia poultry operations produced about 28.3 million more birds in 2016 than in 2010—a 12 percent increase—according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Over the same time the weight of birds produced increased 27 percent, meaning the average bird is now larger and produces more manure. Much of this growth is taking place on the Eastern Shore.

Filed Under: Activism, Animal Activism, Bottom, Environment

Ridiculousness: Comedian John Oliver Targets Pence Daughter’s Children’s Book about a Bunny

March 25, 2018 by Wayne Creed Leave a Comment

On Monday, a charming children’s book written by Vice President Mike Pence’s daughter, Charlotte Pence, and illustrated by Pence’s wife, Karen Pence, launched at Amazon.com. The book is a tour of the White House and Vice Presidential living quarters narrated by the family bunny, Marlon Bundo. It’s titled Marlon Bundo’s Day In The Life of the Vice President.

Cue prescribed outrage…the Left targeted the book.

First, HBO’s mediocre comedian John Oliver launched into a “prescibed” rant about how Pence supposedly hates gay people, then said he would be releasing the competing book. This book is about homosexual rabbits: Marlon is gay and falls in love with Wesley while living at the Naval Observatory. The bad guy: Stink Bug, who looks like Mike Pence.

 But it wasn’t sufficient to launch a book specifically designed to target an innocent children’s book with propaganda about how Republicans hate gay people/rabbits. Oliver’s followers then went to the Amazon page for Charlotte Pence’s book and spammed it with one-star reviews.

Marlon Bundo’s A Day in the Life of the Vice President teaches children about the vice presidency. Proceeds go to a hospital art therapy program called Tracy’s Kids and an abolitionist and anti-human trafficking organization, A21.

Watching his segment,  Oliver flounders trying to explain why the book was worth attacking in the first place. Eventually, he found a reason, noting that the final stop on the Pences’ book tour was at “Focus on the F—king Family” (which you can tell is funny because he said “f—k”).

“Congratulations, Pence, you even managed to ruin Marlon Bundo,” Oliver says to a graphic of Mike Pence, who again, had nothing to do with the book. “Now none of us can enjoy a book about your rabbit,” Oliver continued, forgetting the literal people this book is helping.

Oliver assured his viewers that buying his book would be a way of saying “f—k you” to Pence (again, this is supposed to be funny because he said “f—k”).

On the up side, proceeds for Oliver’s book go to charities for AIDS research and LGBT teen suicide prevention. “Those are two great reasons to buy this book,” Oliver noted. “Another is that selling more books than Pence will probably really piss him off, so that’s three great reasons right there.”

This is the nature of the hard-Left: they hate conservatives so much that they’re willing to smear completely apolitical children’s literature in order to target those conservatives. Charlotte Pence appears to be a nice young woman with no discernable political background other than her association with her dad; the book is utterly apolitical–about a bunny. So naturally, it must be made a target of prescribed LGBT mockery and rage.

There was the bizarre debacle of openly gay, and marginal U.S. Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon supposedly refusing a  meeting with Vice President Pence during the Olympic games after criticizing him for his stance on gay rights.

 On the business side of things, Amazon appears to have limited reviews of Charlotte’s book to verified purchasers.

Oddly, if the Left is so committed to tolerance and equality that they attempt to try to destroy the book sales of a 24-year old woman who doesn’t work in politics and is donating the proceeds to fight sex trafficking, solely because you disagree with her father’s politics, it may be time to step back and reflect on what you feel you are really all about.

Mike Pence hasn’t responded to this idiocy; he’s been busy welcoming home fallen soldiers. For her part, Charlotte Pence responded,  “I think imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. Also, in all seriousness, his book is contributing to charities that I think we can all get behind.”

A little bit of class goes a long way.

Filed Under: Activism, Bottom, News

While you watch the Olympics, South Korean Dogs are being slaughtered and eaten in stew

February 11, 2018 by Wayne Creed 2 Comments

What the Olympics don’t want you to see.

Dogs and even puppies are sold openly for food in Moran market, Seongnam, the country’s largest open-air dog market – contradicting claims made last year by local authorities that it was closing.

Up to 80,000 dogs are sold and slaughtered at the market each year, to be made into a soup which folklore claims boosts the eater’s sex drive.

Korean authorities have urged citizens not to consume the animals during the Olympics

The trade is a legal gray area, officially frowned upon but tolerated due to huge public demand. One in three Koreans have eaten dog meat at least once, although just one in 20 are regular diners.

Hungry and thirsty, the dogs spend their final hours just yards from restaurants that will chop up their carcasses and serve them up. Open wounds on their fur from fighting betray the dogs’ stress, and blood is splattered across the concrete floor.

Outside their cages, whole, halved and quartered carcasses fill the tables of meat stalls, their fur burnt off but their paws still attached. Cauldrons of boiling dog meat steam away in a shop fronts.

Restaurants serve up bosintang, the dog flesh-rich soup, that many Koreans believe boosts the diner’s sex drive, for 8,000 South Korean won, less than $7.50 or £5.20.

Hacked into chunks, the dark-gray meat is served with green vegetables in a heavily spiced broth and over rice, fermented kimchi vegetables, sliced onion, sesame oil and three types of chili.

The carcass of a large adult dog sells for up to 200,000 South Korean won, $180 or £130, and about $18.00 per pound or £6.50 per kg – making the dog meat trade highly profitable.

After the fur is burnt off with a blow torch, guts spilled out into a plastic bucket, and head cut off with a cleaver, the dog’s body will be sliced in two (Photo Daily Mail)

Dog carcass on display at Moran Market in Seoul (Photo Daily Mail)

Filed Under: Activism, Animal Activism

Animal Cruelty: Woman Sentenced in Southampton

January 28, 2018 by Wayne Creed 1 Comment

SOUTHAMPTON COUNTY, Va. (WAVY) — A Southampton County woman was sentenced to 30 days for an animal cruelty charge.

Boykins police officials said in September 2017 that Tonya Brown was charged for the living conditions of two pit bulls.

It was alleged that the dogs were being kept in filthy conditions at Brown’s mother’s home. Police said at the time there was an ongoing investigation, and officers had been out to the home on numerous occasions.

Brown pleaded guilty to the charge this week, and was sentenced to 240 days with 210 of that suspended.

Filed Under: Activism, Animal Activism, Bottom, News

Get involved with The Mighty Earth “Clean It Up, Tyson” Campaign

January 14, 2018 by Wayne Creed Leave a Comment

The Mighty Earth “Clean It Up, Tyson” Campaign, is working in 9 communities across the nation to push for more sustainable farming methods.

The group is demanding that Tyson Foods–the nation’s largest meat producer–eliminate fertilizer and manure pollution in their supply chain, which is contaminating ground water, rivers, and oceans.

The Mighty Earth ‘Clean It Up, Tyson’ Campaign will have an initial meeting next Wednesday (1/17) from 6pm-7pm at The Book Bin in Onley to talk about both the national campaign and some of the challenges particular to the Eastern Shore, and take action with  LTE writing.

The official Campaign Kickoff Meeting is the following Wednesday (1/24) at 7pm at the Naomi Makemie Presbyterian Church in Onancock. This will be a larger meeting and the best way to get involved moving forward.

Kickoff Event on Facebook

RSVP Here.

Sign the Tyson Foods Petition Here

Filed Under: Activism, Animal Activism, Bottom, News

Investigation of Tyson Chicken Farm in Accomack Shows Workers’ Cruelty to Chickens

December 10, 2017 by Wayne Creed 3 Comments

Ten employees of a Tyson chicken farm in Accomack were fired Tuesday after Compassion Over Killing, a Washington-based animal rights advocacy group released graphic video that appeared to depict workers beating chickens to death.

The video shows workers stabbing, crushing and stomping on chicks at a Tyson Foods contractor in Temperanceville, Va.. In the video, sick or injured birds appear to be killed, run over by forklifts or impaled on nails stuck into pipes, while dying chickens are thrown into piles of dead ones.

“You need to kill him? Hit him on the head, then kill him,” one worker asks in the video.

In a statement, Tyson said it terminated its contract with the farm and removed its birds from the facility. Ten employees of the farm were fired, the statement said.

Tyson also said it would conduct a video conference with senior managers at poultry facilities to “stress our cultural commitment to proper animal handling.”

Karen Davis, President of United Poultry Concerns in Machipongo told the Mirror, “This investigation reminds us of the fact, repeatedly documented, that the chicken industry fosters sadistic behavior in its employees. It’s the nature of the business. Decades of investigations in the U.S., Canada and Britain have shown the same human viciousness we see here. Don’t wait for this industry to improve – it won’t. The one good, kind, compassionate, productive thing each person can do, and should do, is to choose food that is animal-free. A mouthful of misery is not heart healthy.”

Compassion Over Killing, an animal rights group, released video that shows the abuse of sick or injured chickens at Atlantic Farms in Temperanceville, Va.(Compassion Over Killing)

Filed Under: Activism, Animal Activism, Bottom, News

SPCA to host Pet Pictures with Santa

November 5, 2017 by Wayne Creed Leave a Comment

Santa will be at the SPCA Eastern Shore shelter in Onley on Saturday, Nov. 11, from 9 a.m. until noon to pose for photos with Fido, Fluffy, or other furry or feathered friends.

Buddy had been living at the shelter for about a year and a half when he posed with Santa last year. The sweet pup’s Christmas wish must have been granted because it wasn’t long before he was adopted and started a new life in his fur-ever home. This year Santa will be at the SPCA Eastern Shore shelter on Route 13 in Onley on Saturday, Nov. 11 from 9 a.m. until noon for Christmas photos.

For a $12 donation attendees will be able to choose their favorite shot from their pet’s photo session and receive a framed print of it. Those who supply an e-mail address will be sent all the pictures taken of their pet or pets. All proceeds from pictures with Santa will benefit the animals at the shelter.

Pets attending the event should be on a leash or in an appropriate carrier.

For further information, contact the shelter by phone at 757-787-7385 or by e-mail at shorespca@gmail.com.

Filed Under: Activism, Animal Activism, Bottom, News

FILM SCREENING: Green Fire, tracing Aldo Leopold’s life and legacy Nov. 8th

October 29, 2017 by Wayne Creed Leave a Comment

On November 8th, the Virginia Eastern Shore Land Trust will present an evening of film and conversation discussing how we consider what the land and the waters mean to us as individuals, families, neighborhoods, and a community.

Aldo Leopold (Photo credit www.aldoleopold.org)

The first full-length documentary film ever made about legendary conservation thinker Aldo Leopold, Green Fire explores Leopold’s extraordinary career and his enduring influence – tracing how he shaped the modern conservation movement and continues to inspire projects all over the country that connect people and the land.

Considered by many to be the father of wildlife ecology and the United States’ wilderness system, Aldo Leopold was a conservationist, forester, philosopher, educator, writer, and outdoor enthusiast. Among his best known ideas is the “land ethic,” which calls for an ethical, caring relationship between people and nature.

Conversations about land, people, and community: A Sand County Almanac revisited
Onley Town Center
25020 Shore Pkwy Onley, Va
Film at 6 p.m., doors at 5:30 p.m.
Refreshments will be provided.

Please visit www.veslt.org for more information.

Filed Under: Activism, Bottom, Environment, Environmental Activism

Fantasy Farming vs. Factory Farming: A Faustian Bargain

October 29, 2017 by Wayne Creed Leave a Comment

Special to the Mirror from United Poultry Concerns

Many animal activists are uncomfortable with farmed animal “welfare” initiatives because of their tendency to suggest that an acceptable alternative to “factory farming” is “ethically-sourced,” “locally-sourced,” “humanely-raised,” or “responsibly caught” animals. This approach to gathering support for an animal welfare initiative seeks ominously to sweeten the pot by offering the public a compensatory group of animals as bait for their support for an “anti-factory-farming” initiative. People are tacitly or overtly given permission to hurt this group of animals (“humanely-raised”), if only they will leave that other group (“factory-farmed” animals) alone.

The fact is that all animal farming is factory-farming, a business like any other – only the precursors of the final products, instead of being inanimate, are conscious beings like ourselves. What’s happening now, in the factory farming versus “humane” farming rivalry, is a version of George Orwell’s parable, in 1984, of how the revolutionary Brotherhood rises up to challenge Big Brother, only to become indistinguishable from its evil “opposite.” Turns out there is no real rivalry between them, because they are, at bottom, cut from the same cloth. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Activism, Animal Activism, Bottom, News

Permits for New Poultry Grow Houses do not require Nutrient Testing

October 15, 2017 by Wayne Creed Leave a Comment

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is preparing to issue the first permits to Poultry Grow Houses in Accomac County. These are the first permits issued for this type of activity—at issue, the drafts contain no nutrient testing, as well as neglecting to account for pollution coming from the large fans used in poultry houses.

Links to the draft permits can be found here on the Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper website.

The new facilities will be discharging into Bulbeggar, Assawoman, and Pitt Creeks.

Poultry operations are still a major source of excess nitrogen and phosphorus reaching the Chesapeake from the lower Eastern Shore of Maryland and Virginia. Setting a precedent with these permits by not forcing adequate nutrient and airborne pollution testing is not in the best interest of the lower Eastern Shore which is becoming more economically dependent on having a clean coastal environment.

Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) will be accepting comments until October 20th.

Email comments to DEQ:
robert.smithsonjr@deq.virginia.gov

Mail Comments to DEQ:
Attention: Robert Smithson
5636 Southern Boulevard,
Virginia Beach, VA, 23462

Filed Under: Activism, Animal Activism, Bottom, Environment, Environmental Activism, News

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