Farewell
 
This week brought sad news of the death of Barbaro, last year’s Kentucky Derby Winner. Avalon Farms sends our condolences and kind thoughts to everyone that tried so hard to save this beautiful animal. Here are some links and photos if you, like me, were touched by this horse’s struggle to survive and by all those who worked so hard to help him.  a few words from the vet center that cared for him: While his right leg eventually healed, a final risky surgery on it proved futile because the colt soon developed further laminitis in both front legs. It then became clear he could not be saved, and Barbaro was euthanized on January 29, 2007 The entire Penn Vet family is deeply grateful to all friends of Barbaro who sent flowers and gifts -- along with their prayers and messages -- to Barbaro and his caretakers at the New Bolton Center during his stay here. Our thoughts go out to his owners, Roy and Gretchen Jackson, as well as to everyone who followed his extraordinarily brave battle. An observation...(from Val) I watched the race when he broke his leg. His jockey was struggling to pull him up after it happened. He had so much heart he was still trying to finish. Robyn sent this in and I thought it was a great place to put it... Incredible horse video http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xqvvn_lorenzo My mother says “death comes in threes.” You hear one two more are sure to follow. I don’t know if she’s right but before the week was through I learned of yet another significant passing. This time it was a woman, and one of my favorite newspaper columnists, Molly Ivans. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1999. (I went and had my annual mammogram this week...have you had yours? To paraphrase Molly, Just go get the damn thing done. Make the appointment if you need to...don’t put it off) Emily & I have enjoyed many a morning cup of coffee laughing over the newspaper reading her column to each other. She referred to Bush as “the shrub” and wrote the book “Bushwacked” She’s where “the village is missing it’s idiot” bumper sticker phrase came from among others. She spoke truth to power when it was rare to see. She was a powerhouse of a progressive voice and although she always nailed it when going after stupid political happenings, she never came across angry & mean. She used humor and spared no one. She was friends with former Ann Richards and she was, it seemed to us, a lone voice of sanity at times. She left us with a call to action in her final column... http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/columnists/molly_ivins/ Posted on Sun, Jan. 07, 2007 (In the Star-Telegram) Bubba, we -- yes, we --have to stop the war now By Molly Ivins Creators Syndicate The president of the United States does not have the sense that God gave a duck -- so it's up to us. You and me, Bubba. I don't know why George W. Bush is just standing there like a frozen rabbit, but it's time we found out. The fact is that WE have to do something about it. This country is being torn apart by an evil and unnecessary war, and it has to be stopped. NOW. This war is being prosecuted in our names, with our money, with our blood, against our will. Polls consistently show that less than 30 percent of the people want to maintain current troop levels. It is obscene and wrong for the president to go against the people in this fashion. And it's doubly wrong for him to increase U.S. troop levels in this hellhole by up to 20,000, as he reportedly will soon announce. What happened to the nation that never tortured? The nation that wasn't supposed to start wars of choice? The nation that respected human rights and life? A nation that from the beginning was against tyranny? Where have we gone? How did we let these people take us there? How did we let them fool us? It's monstrous to put people in prison and keep them there. Since 1215, civil authorities have been obligated to tell people the charges against them if they're arrested. This administration has done away with rights enshrined in the Magna Carta, and we've let them do it. This will be a regular feature of mine, like an old-fashioned newspaper campaign. Every column, I'll write about this war until we find some way to end it. Every column, we will review some factor we should have gotten right. So let's take a step back and note that before the war, one of its architects, Paul Wolfowitz, testified to Congress that Iraq had no history of ethnic strife. Sectarian and ethnic strife is a part of the region. And the region is full of examples of Western colonial powers trying to occupy countries, take their resources and take over the administration of their people -- and failing. The sectarian bloodbath we see daily completely refutes Wolfowitz. And let's keep in mind that when the Army arrived in Baghdad, we, the television viewers, watched footage of a bunch of enraged and joyous Iraqis pulling down the statue of Saddam Hussein, their repulsive dictator, in Firdos Square. Only one thing was wrong: The event was staged, instigated by a Marine colonel and a psychological operations unit that made it appear spontaneous. When we later saw the whole square where the statue was located, only 30 to 40 people were there (U.S. soldiers, press and some Iraqis -- and one of several U.S. tanks present pulled the statue down with a cable). We, the television viewers, saw the square being presented as though the people of Iraq had gone into a frenzy, mobbed the square and spontaneously pulled down the statue. We need to cut through all this smoke and mirrors and come up with an exit strategy, forthwith. The Democrats have yet to offer a cohesive plan to get us out of this mess. Of course, it's not their fault -- but the fact is that we need leaders who are grown-ups and who are willing to try to fix it. Bush has ignored the actual grown-ups from the Iraq Study Group and the generals and all other experts who are nearly unanimous in the opinion that more troops will not help. It's up to you and me, Bubba. We need to make sure that the new Congress curbs executive power, which has been so misused, and asserts its own power to make this situation change. Now. In other news this week a report on global warming made the news confirming what we all know and our friends at the richest corporation in the world (EXXONMOBIL) offered their input. Exxon’s profit last year: $39.5 billion — the largest ever recorded by a public company. check out this article.... LONDON (AFP) - A right-wing American think tank is offering 10,000 dollars (7,700 euros) to scientists and economists to dispute a climate change report set to be released by the UN's top scientific panel, media reported. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI), which receives funding from oil giant ExxonMobil according to the Guardian, sent letters to scientists in the United States, Britain and elsewhere offering the payments in exchange for articles emphasising the shortcoming of the UN's report. AEI also reportedly offered additional payments, and to reimburse travel expenses. (read more) http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070202/pl_afp/unclimateusdeny_070202142458 peace & love. Val Join the discussion over on the AVALON FARMBLOG! Comment about this week’s blog & podcast!http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/columnists/molly_ivins/http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070202/pl_afp/unclimateusdeny_070202142458http://avalonfarmblog.wordpress.comshapeimage_1_link_0shapeimage_1_link_1shapeimage_1_link_2
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Monday, February 5, 2007