Many of us enjoy freedom of speech via the internet among many? other forms of civil disobedience. We have recently learned through the Rhode Island ACLU that Themistocles Faraone and Michael Handrigan have been charged with Cyber Bullying for ranting and raving about public figures via website comments.

There are thousands of us that do this frequently through forums and social media. Granted we may not show anger or toss insults 100% of the time, it is surely bound to happen more often than not. We feel it is healthy for people to vent their frustrations about political figures or particular issues in order to connect and help one another find solutions, even if offensive words are used.

We do not agree that these gentlemen are facing charges for what they have vented via the Internet. We would appreciate your efforts to see that the charges are dropped.

Thank you for your consideration.

Drop Charges Against Mr Faraone and Mr Handrigan

? All of these videos share a common theme: the animals are incrementally crushed by a woman in high heels. Most people view these materials for sexual gratification, but these videos are becoming increasingly popular just for their shock value alone. The crush fetish can be also linked to paraphernalia, which is an atypical sexual arousal to nonhuman objects and humans alike being caused physical distress.

? Crush videos are becoming increasingly popular across America, and will escalate to epidemic proportions due to the Supreme Courts recent ruling to legalize them.
It’s not hard to find such sites on the Internet with any search engine-keep in mind it’s now perfectly legal to download and watch. Minors can access these materials with a click of a button. If The Supreme Court says,”Okay fine, It’s free speech,” please first examine the damage it causes both human and nonhuman lives, and society as a whole.

? Freedom of speech has its limits when it places a society in danger, such as the ban on child pornography as it leads to violence of children. Films that exploit, torture, and kill animals for entertainment purposes also puts society in danger, for it is destructive by inciting violent and antisocial behavior, thereby endangering our citizens. Adults showing their own children these videos can cause emotional damage and lead to Antisocial Personality Disorders. This is not only considered child abuse, but is one of the leading disorders found in serial killers. While there are many factors that contribute to someone becoming a serial killer, the one constant they share is animal abuse.

? In short, there is nothing socially redeeming about? crush videos and animal torture videos when used for entertainment and financial purposes. However, relating to educational or for political and sociological purposes, this should be the exception? such as speaking against, or educating the public about the realities of dog fighting or other issues and how it affects a society, such as the making of a violent criminal or serial killer.
International Petition: Ban Crush Videos in America

A major reason why those of us who support the ban want it to stay in place is because, although the baby turtles may be salmonella-free, they can still continue to shed the bacteria throughout their lives, wreaking havoc on humans and wildlife alike.

When I wrote about this last month, I didn’t realize there were equally compelling reasons to keep the ban intact, and those reasons are practically in my own backyard. The Madrona Marsh Preserve in the Los Angeles area is a 10-acre refuge — basically a suburban pond — and many turtle owners apparently think it’s the perfect habitat in which to abandon their turtles. That’s right, when the adorable, silver-dollar-sized baby red-eared sliders illegally bought at flea markets, on the internet or elsewhere grow up to become not-so-cute, foot-long, high-maintenance adults, they’re often dumped.

Although the turtles can live to be 50 or older in a proper pond, they have difficulty surviving in places like Madrona Marsh. The Daily Breeze reported last week that officials are finding increasing numbers of the turtles either dead or sick from extreme dehydration. They’re also easy prey for raccoons and other wildlife.

“In the last couple of weeks I’ve found three dead ones,” Tracy Drake, manager of the preserve, told the newspaper. “We have people that go up to the gate at night and push them through.”

In a fact sheet, the U.S. Geological Society says that throughout its nonindigenous range, the turtles “are introduced primarily through pet releases and escapes; a situation which has continued for several decades since the 1930s, reaching a peak during the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles television cartoon craze of the late 1980s-early 1990s.”

Sadly, the turtles have no mutant ninja powers in real life, and rarely grow up to become teenagers.

“The animal trade business is a little scary and we see the dark side of it here,” Drake said. “They have their lives and personalities. When they get abandoned, I don’t know if they think like we do, but they know they’ve been abandoned.”

The dumped turtles that are strong or lucky enough to survive have become a major threat to western pond turtles, a species native to California. Because of the sliders’ aggressive eating and reproducing habits, the USGS has labeled them “clearly invasive.”

Since Madrona Marsh represents just one small area inundated with illegally obtained sliders — turtles that carry salmonella, are capable of destroying other species and are typically abandoned and left to die by dehydration or starvation — what’s the point of lifting the ban and opening the floodgates for thousands of more unwanted turtles?

Tell the FDA to continue banning the sale of baby red-eared slider turtles.

Photo credit: Alan Vernon

More Reasons Not to Abandon the Baby Turtle Ban

More than 12 million people are currently diagnosed with COPD. An additional 12 million likely have the disease and don't even know it.

The statistics surely prove that more must be done to bring COPD awareness to the public; through media exposure, community efforts’, the internet, educational publications, and simply by word of mouth. Educating lung disease individuals and their families is the key; in regards to living and coping with COPD on a daily basis and bringing us one step closer to reversing this breathless lung disease.
Spread COPD Awareness via US Postage Stamp

But when do aggressive emails and comments cross this line? This has been an issue in so many areas of our modern life. Sure, the occasional controversial academic could get used to attacks, but in the climate change arena, the discourse is getting seriously out of hand.

When a steady stream of vitriolic hate is directed at a whole pack of prominent scientists whenever they dare venture beyond obscure journals, I think this line is surely crossed. Some of it is almost certainly from individual crazies. Others suggest these attacks are orchestrated, and blogger Tim Lambert notes that one high-profile spokesperson for the climate denial machine regularly publishes the email addresses of “target” scientists. Regardless of the source, I fear it is only a matter of time before abusive words translate to abusive actions.

The Guardian in the U.K. has compiled some of this hate mail, much of it directed at scientists whose private email exchanges were published by unknown hackers last year. These scientists were called “Nazi morons” and told to “gargle razor blades” and “rot in hell,” in a small sampling of hundreds of expletive-laden rants, many from anonymous writers. (I actually can’t a imagine a U.S. paper publishing the language in the above link.) They’ve also received many death threats and been told to commit suicide. Phil Jones, the scientist at the center of the “Climategate” scandal, said a few months ago that he has indeed had suicidal thoughts.

These scientists have called out for help, but U.S. local police and the FBI have generally not taken any action, citing free speech rights. Instead, researchers are left fearful and paranoid, which surely affects their ability to concentrate on their job and most certainly colors what they are willing to say in public.

“The effect on me has been tremendous,” Stanford University scientist Stephen Schneider told The Guardian. “Some of these people are mentally imbalanced. They are invariably gun-toting rightwingers. What do I do? Learn to shoot a Magnum? Wear a bullet-proof jacket?”

Earlier today, Change.org blogger Nikki Gloudeman wrote about growing calls for transparency in the climate science process. I wonder how in the world scientists can be more “transparent” when they fear for their lives. Clearly, these anonymous attackers — the original Climategate hacker, likely among them — are not after any real honesty. They are after blood. I truly hope they don’t ever get what they came for.

Photo Credit: Alan_Cleaver2000, Flickr User

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For Climate Scientists, Death Threats Come With The Job

You know they’re on a no-holds-barred offensive on big government when they go for your local library. When the internet is everywhere and paperbacks are cheap, who needs a library anymore?

FYI, FOX Chicago. Not everyone has home access to the internet. I know, it’s a surprise, given the hoards of people navigating downtown Chicago in Brooks Brothers suits with only their iPhones as company, but much of the city and the nation still doesn’t have internet access.

Among Chicagoans, 40 percent of people don’t have regular access to the internet. Of those, 25 percent have no access at all. In a time where people’s wallets are getting thinner, the internet can be one of the first things to go.

Take a look at this riveting investigative journalism:

Want to pay a bill? Find a job? Look for an apartment? Apply for public housing? Find a day care center? You need the internet. More and more, services are moving online. It does make it convenient — no more waiting in long lines after a trek to your bank branch or service provider. But it also means that if you don’t have the internet, those services move farther and farther from your grasp.

Chicago’s Public Library Commissioner Mary Dempsey responded to the report with a scathing letter of her own, stating that the library provided 3.8 million one-hour internet sessions to people last year (as well as almost 10 million books borrowed).

“There continues to exist in this country a vast digital divide. It exists along lines of race and class and is only bridged consistently and equitably through the free access provided by the Chicago Public Library and all public libraries in this nation,” says Dempsey.

“Some 60 percent of the individuals who use public computers a Chicago’s libraries are searching for and applying for jobs. We’re proud to continue to be able to use our resources to help them do so.”

And those empty bookshelves? Dempsey says FOX’s cameras were focused on the periodical reference section, a part of the library where you can’t even check out books. Go to the the circulating collection, she says, and you’ll see people finding the information they need.

With most states and cities in such severe financial crises, we’re used to questioning every expense on a government budget sheet. But cutting off libraries would only further divide the people in our nation who are desperately seeking opportunity through learning, jobs, higher education and knowledge, not to mention remove a much-needed haven for the homeless.

Cutting libraries? The price is just too high,  according to Walter Cronkite, who once said, “Whatever the cost of our libraries, the price is cheap compared to that of an ignorant nation.”

Photo credit: striatic

Who Needs Libraries? Poor People, That’s Who