Pet Monologues

Belligerent donkey gets out of jail.

Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico—A Mexican donkey has been freed from jail after doing time for acting like a jackass. Read the rest of this entry »

The polar bear is finally getting a break and maybe global warming worries have made it possible: The government has declared it a threatened species in need of increased protection. But another round of legal battles surrounding the majestic animal may be just beginning.

The Interior Department put the bear under the protective umbrella of the Endangered Species Act on Wednesday, concluding what biologists have been saying for years—the bear is on the way to extinction because of the rapid disappearance of the Arctic sea ice upon which it depends.

Scientists predict sea ice melting will continue and even accelerate because of global warming.

“This in my judgment makes the polar bear a threatened species, one likely to become in danger of extinction in the foreseeable future,” said Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, punctuating his point with an array of slides, charts and maps showing the changing ice flows of the Arctic.

But Kempthorne also said that he did not view the increased protection of the bear afforded by the Endangered Species Act as a back door to regulate greenhouse gases coming from power plants, automobiles and industrial sources. Read the rest of this entry »

In Chicago there is a visible, successful, inspiring organization, Streetwise.

Who We Are and What We Do
StreetWise is a social enterprise designed to help severely impoverished men and women out of poverty. We publish weekly a general interest newspaper with a gritty “from the streets perspective” to give insite to its readers on what is really going on in Chicago. By using vendors as the distribution mechanism, we are able to personalize the face of poverty and create income for the vendor.

In April, 2008, there was an article about a vendor who was no longer selling Streetwise. He was a vendor for two years and during that time was able to pull it together, save some money to go to school. He is currently paying his rent, buying his food, and going to school. Bravo!

PM supports this organization, the vendors, whenever the opportunity presents itself. If you are in Chicago, please do the same when you see a Streetwise vendor. Also visit the Streetwise site. If your city does not have a similar program think about introducing the business model to your city.

Pets on lap while driving may soon be a no-no in Calif.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)—Pull over and put down the dog. A California lawmaker wants to ban motorists from holding pets on their laps while driving and getting caught can net a $35 fine. The bill passed the Assembly on a 44-11 vote on Monday, and heads to the Senate. Read the rest of this entry »

Australian pokes shark in eye to survive mauling.

SYDNEY, Australia (AP)—An Australian swimmer says he survived a mauling by a 16-foot shark by wrestling with the beast, finally getting free by poking it in the eye. Read the rest of this entry »

$2,500 HSUS reward. Dog killings.

The HSUS Offers Reward In Lincoln County, Mont. Dog Killings. The Humane Society of the United States is offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for killing at least nine dogs in the Libby, Troy and Eureka areas of Montana over the past five weeks. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been a week since Earth Hour 2008. So we looked around to see what happened then, and if anything since…

A student told me Google went black! Good for them. This is how my mind envisioned a black Google.

The normal Chicago skyline at bottom.

This taken from the Chicagoist…

Earth Hour officials indicate last year there were 2.2 million who participated in a one-hour effort to bring awareness to energy conservation. Yesterday, they estimated that number was around 10 million. In Chicago, the Sears Tower, the John Hancock, the Wrigley Building, and the Tribune Tower dimmed decorative lights, while 500 McDonald’s throughout Chicagoland turned off their golden arches. In the theatre district, marquees went dark, and Elphaba, the witch from “Wicked” turned out the lights with a dramatic “spell”. Navy Pier’s iconic ferris wheel went dark and nearly every store on the Magnificent Mile turned out their lights. Read the rest of this entry »

Congressional hearing tomorrow: Kempthorne hides, Center testifies.

The Bush administration’s refusal to list the polar bear as an endangered species took a bizarre turn last week when Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne refused to testify at tomorrow’s Senate hearing. Read the rest of this entry »

Earth Hour 2007 was a Sydney, Australia event to fight global warming by saving energy and raising awareness. On March 29, 2008, Earth Hour
goes global.

Just a few days left before Earth Hour—March 29, 2008. 8-9pm. Between now and then send a reminder to your blogosphere connections to participate. You can continue to remind people about conserving energy for the rest of the year too! Here’s how…

1. Forward this information or create an original. (The image in this post is a photo taken from one of the many posters/signs/billboards in Chicago.)
2. Place your Earth Hour post on your blog along with these instructions…
3. Send a minimum of 5 bloggers—or your entire blogroll—to do the same. Notify them of the tag.
4. ADD your site to the list and place your blog’s name and url in a comment here to let me know you successfully forwarded this info. PM will acknowledge your success with a comment in your post. Email webmaster [at] petmonologues.com if you have questions. Read the rest of this entry »

Dolphin appears to guide whales to sea

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP)—Most days, Moko the bottlenosed dolphin swims playfully with humans at a New Zealand beach. But this week, it seems, Moko found his mojo. Witnesses described Wednesday how they saw the dolphin swim up to two stranded whales and guide them to safety. Read the rest of this entry »