Stop The Suffering. Paradise. Update.

 

Belated Posting:

Quick question, Friend?

"Congress just introduced an important animal welfare bill, and your lawmakers need your input.

Assuming that it’s NOT necessary to conduct animal testing to create gorgeous lipstick and great shaving cream, which of these things do you think we should do?

[A] Drip chemicals into the eyes of rabbits without pain relief;

[B] Force-feed mice large amounts of a chemical to see how much might kill them (also without pain relief);

[C] Kill tens of thousands of animals a year by suffocation, neck-breaking, or decapitation (again, no anesthetics or pain relief); or

[D] Use safe and effective alternatives to animal testing instead.

If you said D, we’re with you! And the animals need us to be with them.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives just introduced the Humane Cosmetics Act (H.R. 2858), which would prohibit animal testing for cosmetics manufactured or sold in the United States.

We’re working hard to keep the pressure on your elected officials to move this bill—and other animal protection measures—forward. But we can’t do it without you. Please donate now to help end cosmetics testing on animals! Your gift will be used to help us work on this and many other legislative fronts of animal protection.

Shocking as it may be, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, and mice are still routinely blinded, poisoned, or even killed just to test new cosmetics products and their ingredients.

Why is this still happening? Old habits die hard. These days, modern science has completely eliminated the need to use animals to ensure the safety of products like perfume and hair color. And the FDA doesn’t even require that animal tests are conducted to demonstrate that cosmetics are safe.

But some companies still persist in subjecting animals to hideous practices just to produce nail polish (nail polish they could produce without using animals!).

I’m writing to you today because it doesn’t have to be like this.

Will you please make a gift today—however much you can afford—to help us advocate for this bill and other critical legislation affecting animals?

Animal testing for cosmetics is heartbreaking. A large percentage of the animals used in tests aren’t even covered under the Animal Welfare Act, so while inhumane and unethical, it’s perfectly legal to perform all sorts of crude tests on them without any sort of pain relief whatsoever.

Perhaps worst of all, none of this is even necessary. Non-animal safety tests have been proven to be more effective and less expensive over the long run than animal-centered testing. And more than 600 beauty brands around the world are already using them and the thousands of ingredients already found to be safe to produce quality cosmetics.

It’s clear: humane cosmetics should be the law of the land.

And it can be, but only with your help. Please, make a gift today to help us advocate for the Humane Cosmetics Act and other important bills to defend animals. Your generous donation will also be used to support our lifesaving work in areas like dogfighting, wildlife trafficking, puppy mills, and horse slaughter.

Please, help now. Stop the needless testing. Stop the suffering.

Thank you for all you do for animals."

 http://action.humanesociety.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=107643.0&dlv_id=110001

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Paradise

An Amazing Fact: "Where is the best place in the world to live? According to an annual survey of the Economist Intelligence Unit, Vancouver, British Columbia, has hit the top for the fifth year in a row. Cities are rated in five areas: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure. Second place went to Melbourne, Australia, and third to Vienna, Austria.

But wait a minute! The United Nations listed Norway as the most desirable country in the world in which to live, followed by Australia and Iceland. At the bottom of its list are Niger, Afghanistan, and Sierra Leone, especially because of war and AIDs epidemics. Except that CNN reports that International Living magazine voted France, for a fifth year in a row, the best place in the world to live! You can get 12 months of paid maternity leave in France, guaranteed by law. Finally, Forbes shares the research of international human resource consulting company Mercer, which puts Vienna, Austria, at the top. In fact, not one place in the United States makes the list.

So where is paradise? Where is the perfect place to live? It depends. Most people are pretty happy right where they are at this moment. The environment is certainly nicer in some parts of the world than others, though toxins have touched our entire planet wherever you go. The biggest problem with finding the perfect place to live is that any place that has a human being will be imperfect, including your own home—that includes the person who looks back at you from the mirror every morning.

Paul writes about an acquaintance who apparently had a vision of paradise (2 Corinthians 12:4), also known as the garden of Eden. This special place was our first home, but our planet has undergone some changes since God first created the perfect place for us to live. Someday Eden will be restored (Revelation 2:7). When that day comes, we will have no doubts about the best place in the world to live."
KEY BIBLE TEXTS
And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. - Genesis 2:8

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A Belated Update:

Evicted Ray still hasn't shown up to get his things out of the guest house, so we are having to work around it all.  We did pile some of it up at the end of the living room, but the bedroom and utility room are still cluttered with his stuff.  Legally, I can't get rid of it yet.

Jay is having a hard time staying sober, so I have a new worker, Roy, and he wants to rent the guest house.  He is helping me tear up the floor that was damaged by Ray letting an AC drip down the wall and across the floor under the linoleum for several years. 

We took the middle seats out of my Dodge Grand Caravan, and easily hauled 4x8' sheets of plywood in it.  I can see it is going to be a useful vehicle.

Roy also went to church with me and really enjoyed our little congregation and the fellowship at the potluck afterwards.

The Bible readings were Psa.138,139, Num.22:2-25-9, Micah 5:6-6:8 and 1 Pet. 2.  The Teaching was about Unity, and to humble our hearts.  It was a lovely day.