An Open Letter to Mayor Bloomberg

Dear Mr. Bloomberg…

I understand that you wish to kill Canadian geese. Your remarks regarding this were cruel. Perhaps these birds are nothing but a nuisance to you…for me, they have helped me keep my sanity. These magnificent creatures interact with humans and show love to their young. I have spent the past year and a half watching and photographing these creatures. I do not understand how you can make remarks such as “There is not a lot of cost involved in rounding up a couple thousand geese and letting them go to sleep with nice dreams.”

To use cost-efficient vocabulary regarding a species is heartless. I can only hope that someday the people of your city realize that having you as mayor is not cost-efficient.

I leave you with photographs I have taken.

Heidi-Lore

Plane crashes into Hudson River

NEW YORK CITY — A US Airways flight headed to Charlotte has crashed into the Hudson River in New York City.

Flight 1549 left from Boston and was headed to Charlotte when it tried to divert to La Guardia Airport in New York City.

The plane landed in the Hudson River.

New York City firefighters are responding to the crash. It was not immediately clear if there were injuries.

Witness Barbara Sambriski, a researcher at The Associated Press, said, “I just thought, ‘Why is it so low?’ And, splash, it hit the water.”

http://www.wcnc.com/news/topstories/stories/wcnc-011509-mw-usairways_crash.759d7dc.html

Rabbi Alleges Threat Over Chicken Ritual

New York City police are investigating a rabbi’s complaint that threatening e-mails were sent in connection with the slaughter of chickens to atone for sins before Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement.

Rabbi Shea Hecht of the National Committee for Furtherance of Jewish Education says the e-mails were sent by supporters of a People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals campaign opposing the ritual, known as kapparot. He says some people added threatening and anti-Semitic comments to an online PETA form letter.

The Brooklyn-based Jewish organization slaughters about 4,000 chickens.

A PETA spokesman says the ritual is abusive and unnecessary.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/10/AR2008101002891.html