A few nice all about animals images I found:
Sheep in the Snow Durham Dales
Image by Ambersky235
I worry about animals in this dreadful weather such as these sheep in the Dales. This photo was taken a few days ago, now today the weather is much worse. I am worried about the rabbits next door. There are three rabbits, one is the mother of four babies. All are out in the bitter cold, they should be indoors On Thursday we saw tiny lambs with their mothers in the Yorkshire Dales. There was snow still lying and it was bitterly cold. Millions of tiny lambs and sheep die of exposure and pneumonia in the severe hill conditions and this unseasonable weather is exceptionally much worse than usual for the time of year.
Please visit my website www.think-differently-about-sheep.com
In the photograph gallery you will find photographs, not only of sheep but other animals. Also photographs sized for desktop wallpaper of a variety of subjects including sheep, cattle, horses, birds , fish, plants, architecture and scenery
Smothered
Image by elycefeliz
www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/06/caught_in_the_oil.html
www.aolnews.com/the-point/article/charlie-riedel-photos-o...
www.huffingtonpost.com/bishop-katharine-jefferts-schori/l...
We Are All Connected
The original peoples of the North American continent understand that we are all connected, and that harm to one part of the sacred circle of life harms the whole. Scientists, both the ecological and physical sorts, know the same reality, expressed in different terms. The Abrahamic traditions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) also charge human beings with care for the whole of creation, because it is God's good gift to humanity. Another way of saying this is that we are all connected and there is no escape; our common future depends on how we care for the rest of the natural world, not just the square feet of soil we may call "our own." We breathe the same air, our food comes from the same ground and seas, and the water we have to share cycles through the same airshed, watershed, and terra firma.
The still-unfolding disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is good evidence of the interconnectedness of the whole. It has its origins in this nation's addiction to oil, uninhibited growth, and consumerism, as well as old-fashioned greed and what my tradition calls hubris and idolatry. Our collective sins are being visited on those who have had little or no part in them: birds, marine mammals, the tiny plants and animals that constitute the base of the vast food chain in the Gulf, and on which a major part of the seafood production of the United States depends. Our sins are being visited on the fishers of southern Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, who seek to feed their families with the proceeds of what they catch each day. Our sins will expose New Orleans and other coastal cities to the increased likelihood of devastating floods, as the marshes that constitute the shrinking margin of storm protection continue to disappear, fouled and killed by oil.
Yet the reality is that this disaster just may show us as a nation how interconnected we really are. The waste of this oil -- both its unusability and the mess it is making -- will be visited on all of us, for years and even generations to come.
. . . There is no place to go "away" from these consequences; there is no ultimate escape on this planet. The effects at a distance may seem minor or tolerable, but the cumulative effect is not. We are all connected, we will all suffer the consequences of this tragic disaster in the Gulf, and we must wake up and put a stop to the kind of robber baron behavior we supposedly regulated out of existence a hundred years ago. Our lives, and the liveliness of the entire planet, depend on it.
www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-wallis/a-time-for-moral-reckon...
Theologically, we are witnessing a massive despoiling of God's creation. We were meant to be stewards of the Gulf of Mexico, the wetlands that protect and spawn life, the islands and beaches, and all of God's creatures who inhabit the marine world. But instead, we are watching the destruction of all that. Why? Because of the greed for profits; because of deception and lies; because of both private and public irresponsibility. And at the root, because of an ethic of endless economic growth, fueled by carbon-based fossil fuels, that is ultimately unsustainable and unstable.
It's not just that BP has lied, even though they have -- over and over -- to cover up their behavior and avoid their obligations. It is that BP is a lie; what it stands for is a lie. It is a lie that we can continue to live this way, a lie that our style of life is stable and sustainable, a lie that these huge oil companies are really committed to a safe and renewable energy future. BP should indeed be made to pay for this crime against the creation -- likely with its very existence.
But I am also reminded of what G.K. Chesterton once said when asked what was most wrong with the world. He reportedly replied, "I am." Already, we are hearing some deeper reflection on the meaning of this daily disaster. Almost everyone now apparently agrees with the new direction of a "clean energy economy." And we know that will require a re-wiring of the energy grid (which many hope BP will have no part in). But it will also require a re-wiring of ourselves -- our demands, requirements, and insatiable desires. Our oil addiction has led us to environmental destruction, endless wars, and the sacrifice of young lives, and it has put our very souls in jeopardy. New York Times columnist Tom Freidman recently wondered about the deeper meaning of the Great Recession when he asked, "What if it's telling us that the whole growth model we created over the last fifty years is simply unsustainable economically and ecologically and that 2008 was when we hit the wall -- when Mother Nature and the market both said, 'No More.'" The Great Spill makes the point even more.
There is not one answer to this calamity; there are many: corporate responsibility, for a change; serious government regulation, for a change; public accountability, for a change; and real civic mobilization to protect the endangered waters, coasts, species, and people's livelihoods. But at a deeper level, we literally need a conversion of our habits of the heart, our energy sources, and our lifestyle choices. And somebody will need to lead the way. Who will dare to say that an economy of endless growth must be confronted and converted to an economy of sustainability, to what the Bible calls stewardship.
Mule Deer at the Grand Canyon by Michael Matti
Image by Michael Matti
As we were leaving the Grand Canyon visitor center area we came upon a few cars parked on the edge of the road. Wondering what all the fuss was about we slowed down and then saw what everyone was taking pictures of; a little ways out into the woods was a massive mule deer walking away from the road. Only the backside of the deer was visible since it was walking away from the road so I decided to go for a little jog through the woods to get a better view. I ran down the road and then out into the woods and then back toward the deer so that it was now walking towards me. I had my telephoto lens on and tried to hide behind a tree but it still saw me. It didn't seem to mind my presence, however, and just continued eating and slowly walking through the woods.
