Liberal Forum

TAKE ACTION: AWI is deeply disappointed by the Trump administration’s recent decision to lift a ban on the use of cyanide “bombs,” or M-44 devices, across 245 million acres of Bureau of Land Management lands.
M-44s are spring-loaded devices that are smeared with scented bait to tempt animals to bite down on them. Once triggered, the device sprays sodium cyanide onto the animal’s face, causing an agonizing death. M-44s are used by the federal government to kill predators, primarily coyotes and foxes, largely at the behest of ranchers and farmers.
These devices are profoundly inhumane, and their impacts are not limited to target species. M-44s have also injured people and killed family pets and endangered animals. In one case, a 14-year-old boy, Canyon, and his dog, Kasey, accidentally triggered an M-44 near their home in Idaho, severely injuring Canyon and killing Kasey.
Congress could override the Trump administration's reckless decision by passing Canyon’s Law (H.R. 4180/S. 2179), which would ban the use of M-44s on all public lands. 

and for those who say people don't care this got over 22k sad faces and cares and is still going strong------------///////////////////////////


Honoring Sarge
Last night, my heart broke. We lost a true ancient giant of our local waters.
Yesterday, I received a call from the Rensselaer County Sheriff's Office about a massive, 28.5-pound Common Snapping Turtle who had been struck by a car. The injuries were severe—a bridge fracture, several carapace fractures, and a shearing injury across the top of his shell. We estimate this big old man was around 70 years old.
In an incredible act of compassion, the officers drove all the way to my workplace to hand him over to my care. The department asked if we could name him Sarge (short for Sergeant), a fittingly strong name for such a resilient survivor. I brought him straight home to stabilize him, starting him immediately on pain medications and IV fluids to combat severe dehydration from the mid-May heat. I promised him I would introduce him to all of you last night, but instead, I chose to step away from my phone to spend every moment focused on keeping him comfortable and fighting for him.
Sadly, Sarge passed away last night.
I am devastated, but I am infinitely grateful to the Rensselaer County Sheriff's Office. To see law enforcement go so far out of their way to protect and care for our native wildlife means the world. It takes a community to protect these animals, and their kindness is something I won't forget.
This photo is of me holding Sarge's giant hand, Look at the scale of him. He survived seven decades of changes in this world, only to be taken out by a car.
We are officially entering nesting season. Female turtles are on the move to lay their eggs. Just yesterday, I transferred another gravid female to my wonderful friend Melissa at My Little Turtle Rescue, and right as I was leaving work, I got a call about another female snapping turtle on Lebanon Ave in Pittsfield. She was completely destroyed in a school zone, all of her precious egg squashed, it's a small neighborhood where people simply fly down the road.
It is heartbreaking. The loss we are seeing already this season—and every year prior—is completely preventable.
Please, please be aware of the roads. Turtles are slow-moving. Snapping turtles can look like debris or a large stone from a distance. If you wouldn't intentionally hit a giant rock in the road, why would you hit a giant turtle?
Rest easy, Sarge. You were deeply loved in your final hours, and we will keep fighting to protect the rest of your kind.

Who cares. Don't be a ******. Let's go club baby seals.

The Marines went into Iran last night and captured the No. 1 Islamic porn star "lil Mo"