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Let’s get this straight. There is a problem with zoo animals in Los Angeles, according to PETA. But there are no plans now for the Humane Society to begin a ballot initiative in Nebraska.
Okay, who really cares what the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals are doing now? Not us, really, but for the heck of it, we point you to the latest PETA campaign, which is to end the elephant rides at the Santa Ana Zoo. This apparently hurts the animals, according to Charo (an “entertainer”).
Meanwhile, in Nebraska, the head of the HSUS, Wayne Parcelle, told a crowd in Lincoln, “We’re not launching a ballot measure in Nebraska. We never had any active designs on doing so.”
Moreover, according to DTN’s Chris Clayton, Parcelle said that was “correct to say we (HSUS) want to reform agriculture, but we are not anti-agriculture.”
Earlier the word went out that HSUS intended to introduce a ballot initiative in Nebraska dealing with cattle.
• An interesting change in the 2010 election was the resurgence of Northeastern Republicans. New Hampshire’s two congressional district switched to R, as did the state legislature. And in Maine, the Republican mayor of Waterville is the new governor.
According to the Boston Globe, Paul LePage (above) “is leading a Republican renaissance in Maine, one of just two states that will flip from complete Democratic control of state government to complete GOP control in January.”
The Globe reports that LePage won with margins he piled up among rural voters. LePage reportedly has a temper and is a straight shooter (as in he tells you what he thinks).
• Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the Michigan Democrat who is the new chair of the Ag Committee, talked to Agri-Pulse about her intentions.
She was vague:
I am ready to lead the Senate Agriculture Committee in the 112th Congress. Agriculture is critical to Michigan’s economy, employing a quarter of our workforce. Not only does agriculture create jobs and feed our families across America, but it is also helping us develop new fuels and energy sources. I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle as we begin writing a new farm bill that once again recognizes the importance of America’s agricultural economy and rural communities.