Great feminist-minded country dominated my mp3 player yesterday, so I’m in a hardy candy kind of mood today. Here are three of my favorite country songs (mostly oldies, the newer stuff generally doesn’t do it for me): Loretta Lynn’s “The Pill”, Jeannie C. Riley’s “Harper Valley PTA”, and The Dixie Chicks’ “Goodbye Earl”. You’ll have to excuse the awful misogynistic video for “The Pill” – ’twas the only listen-able video I could find. Well, not so much “excuse” as “ignore” or “don’t watch, just listen”.

And to round out to selection, NOFX’s “Clams Have Feelings Too”. I think this is one of the songs NOFX initially wrote to mock the concept of animal rights, but the band’s singer did go veg in the late ’80s, and the track is included on PETA’s compilation album, Liberation: Songs to Benefit PETA. And really, I think it’s a relatively animal-friendly song either way.

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Action Alerts

Born Free USA / Animal Protection Institute (API): Be a Voice for Animals in Circuses in Your Community
Ever wish there was something more you could do to make a difference for animals in the circus and help end the suffering they are forced to endure? How about working with us to enact protective legislation in your city?

Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF): Protect Digital Privacy at the Border and Beyond
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently issued an opinion in the case U.S. v. Arnold holding that the Fourth Amendment does not require government agents to have reasonable suspicion before searching laptops at the border, including international airports. Meanwhile, a number of national newspapers have documented unnerving reports from travelers whose electronic devices have been seized as they crossed U.S. borders.

Humane Society of the United States (HSUS): May 1: Make the Call to Protect Downed Farm Animals!
Please call your U.S. Representative and urge support for any bill to protect downed animals—including H.R. 661, the Downed Animal and Food Safety Protection Act, and H.R. 5762, the Food Safety Recall Information Act.

SaveTheEnvironment.org: Help save the home of the black bear! [Yazoo Pumps project]
Your voice is needed to protect 200,000 acres of Mississippi Delta wetlands—habitat of the endangered Louisiana Black Bear. For the first time in nearly 20 years, the Environmental Protection Agency is using its “veto authority” to stop the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from constructing the controversial and environmentally destructive Yazoo Pumps project. For the final veto to go through, however, the EPA needs to hear from as many people as possible that want this project gone!

We Can Solve It: Time is Short: You can help protect polar bears today
The Bush Administration has until May 15 to decide whether to place the polar bear on the Endangered Species list. Tell Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne that the polar bear, and its fragile Arctic habitat, requires protection from the effects of global warming. Sign the petition today.

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