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Today is a day of change. We watched the inauguration and Mr. Obama’s first speech given as President, and I have to say, I found it to be exceptionally moving. I realize I’m probably one of thousands of bloggers out there blogging about the inauguration of President Obama today, but it seems so monumental, I have to indulge:

Here is one of my favorite parts of his incredible speech:

“On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.”

An interesting fact I learned was that a typical inauguration in the past has had about 400,000 attendees. This one had an estimated 1,400,000. I think the fact that we had about a million more people attend the inauguration than usual really says something about how America feels right now. I think most of us feel that we are ready to turn this country around. I think most of us feel this new leadership is going to make a difference for our country. I think most of us feel this day marks an exceptionally significant moment in our country’s history.

I was on Twitter periodically today, and I saw many others’ reactions as well. Most people I followed seemed as moved as I was. Most people I followed seemed happy to embrace this change.

By the way, while I was on Twitter, I noticed that Mr. Obama also has a Twitter account. Naturally, I clicked to follow him. It was a pleasant surprise that within the hour, he had also decided to follow me. I guess his inauguration day wasn’t quite as busy as one would assume. I sent him a message letting him know I liked his speech and assuring him he could contact me anytime if he ever needs help running the country.  

Respectfully Submitted,
Kelly Palmatier

I hate bad news. There’s a lot to be said for a low information diet, but every now and then a truly depressing piece of news will slip into my awareness whether I want to know about it or not. Such is the case with the news story about two men who were stoned to death in Iran earlier this week.

The story reports that John Watson of Amnesty International says, “Execution by stoning is a grotesque and unacceptable penalty which Iran should abolish immediately. We urge the authorities to heed our calls and those of the many Iranians who are fighting for an end to this practice.”

That makes sense to me. Of course, you may be asking me why I would pass this horrible new story on to others if it bothered me so much to hear it. Good question!

Fortunately for all my Tree Hugging Lunatic readers, I will only pass along bummer news items if they also include something we can do about it. In some cases, the recommended action will be as simple as, “Don’t do that!” (And for the record, I recommend you don’t throw stones at others.)

In this case, there is at least one additional action we can all take: Write a letter to Susan Rice, the new U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., asking her to take a stand against stoning worldwide. You can send it to their official, published email address or you can mail it to the following address:

Susan Rice
United States Mission to the United Nations
140 East 45th Street
New York, N.Y. 10017

(You may want to read the United Nations’ rules for written correspondence.)

If you’d like to learn more about the death penalty issue, Amnesty International has an interesting video and information on their Death Penalty web page.

Fortunately, it does look like the official trend is headed in the right direction. On December 18, 2008, over one hundred countries at the United Nations voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution on “Moratorium on the use of the death penalty.”  Amnesty International Representative Martin Macpherson says, “This increased support solidifies the solid and long-standing trend towards global abolition of the death penalty.”  There. Some good news for ya.

Respectfully Submitted,
Kelly Palmatier

Once upon a time, people hunted animals in order to support their families. Today, most of the $20 billion spent every year in the hunting industry is to support the egos of the hunters seeking a trophy kill.

There are so many reasons hunting is wrong, I can’t even list them all here. (You can read many of them on this factsheet.)

One of the big arguments I hear from hunters is that they are helping to keep the population under control, but hunting for sport does not respect the natural order of the world. Instead of respecting nature’s law of “survival of the fittest,” hunters try to kill the largest and healthiest animals to show their prowess.

So I already thought hunting was ludicrous, but I was especially shocked today to read the article, “Why Are Deer Being Smuggled into Texas?” by Hilary Hylton written for Time Magazine. I was unaware that there were actually deer breeders – Texas alone has 1,100 licensed breeders – and I certainly had no idea that there were such illegal, profit-driven practices going on such as deer smuggling, which has the potential to spread diseases to other animals and livestock. All this for the mighty “buck.” It’s outrageous!

So ya wanna shoot a deer? Use a camera!

Respectfully Submitted,
Kelly Palmatier

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