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November 6th 2008

Road To The Dog House: Joe Biden Getting A Pooch Too?

Filed under: animals, politics — michael @ 1:06 pm

As reported earlier, the Obama family is planning on adopting a “first dog” from a shelter and foregoing the traditional AKC route. Of course, this was back in early October when Michelle Obama first announced that they would be rescuing a pooch — but hopefully such plans are still on the table. The one issue surrounding the adoption is that any pet must be hypoallergenic because of Malia’s allergies.

For their part, the AKC says its members want Obama to purchase a purebred poodle. Um, right. PAWS Chicago Adoption Center, the city’s largest no-kill shelter, says they’ll have no problem locating a hypoallergenic pup for the Obama’s to rescue. If they want a puppy, however, it’s going to take a bit longer. Thankfully, as one commenter on PETA’s blog pointed out, Obama is well-read on the subject of Puppy Mills — even being recently snapped carrying a copy of “A Rare Breed of Love”.

On the flip, Vice-President elect Joe Biden may be walking a similar path. Ever since he was on the original campaign trail for President, Biden had been taping pictures of large breed dogs to the back of his campaign bus seat as a personal incentive to win. “Jill had said the only way you are getting a dog is if you are president … we didn’t think about vice president,” said Biden.

The Humane Society Legislative Fund recently released a preview of its annual Humane Scorecard, giving Joe Biden a rare 100+ (the plus, the HSLF says, denotes that a lawmaker has “Scored 100% and also led as a prime sponsor of pro-animal legislation”). Obama came in close to 70 — while John McCain scored a 17.

Feels good to have two people so concerned about animal welfare in the White House, no? Let’s hope both leaders choose to honor their beliefs with rescued companions.

[UPDATE: PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk has written a letter to Biden urging him to rescue a dog. Check out the letter here.]

August 21st 2008

The Many Voices Of Matt Damon’s New ONE Video

Filed under: campaigns — michael @ 10:47 pm

Matt Damon has joined up with Cindy McCain, Michelle Obama, New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg, and many others to once more get behind the ONE campaign and help fight poverty and disease. Damon has traveled to Africa twice for the organization — which includes 100 of America’s most well-known and respected non-profit, advocacy and humanitarian organizations.

In the video, Matt looks directly at the camera while his voice changes to reflect the various other celebrities involved. “The ONE Campaign isn’t about taking sides, it’s about taking action,” Damon said. “America is saving millions of lives in the poorest parts of the world — I saw it myself in Zambia and Tanzania.”

The ads will air on television starting August 24th. Can you guess who’s speaking when? What do you think of the effect?