Comment Archives: Last 30 Days
Re: “Responsible meat”
I am in shock that anyone could kill and then have an appetite to eat a beloved animal much less enjoy it. I lost mine just reading about it. But then I haven't eaten any meat in over 20 years spurred by experiences not unlike this. That meat so hardens our hearts means that no matter how good it tastes, it cannot BE good.
Re: “Flash in the Pan”
There is no humane way to slaughter horses for meat consumption. We don't take our dogs or cats at the end of their lives to shipping facilities where they are crammed into trucks for arduous and stressful transport to slaughter plants where they are then brutally killed and processed while sometimes still alive for people to eat. And all for a measly few extra bucks. Why would we do that to horses? That is not why horses exist. I hear cat meat tastes good too. That is a morally impoverished excuse to eat them. Moreover, creating horse slaughter for profit would insure an industry interest in and lobbying for having a steady supply of horses to kill thus perpetuating the horse over-population problem from all sources.
Re: “Flash in the Pan”
"... selling used-up horses rather than paying to keep them alive is a logical choice."
It is not a fact that old, "used up" horses go to slaughter. According to the Chicago Tribune, "The horse slaughter industry doesn't "euthanize" old horses — but precisely the opposite: Young and healthy horses are purchased at auction, often by people misrepresenting their intentions, and sold to slaughter plants..." http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-04…
If there are too many horses, it's because too many horses are created by breeders in it for the money. Industries like racing, rodeo, showing, etc. along with irresponsible small-time breeders create and cull with impunity (see Forbes, "Racing Industry Silent About Slaughtered Thoroughbreds" at
http://www.forbes.com/sites/vickeryeckhoff… ).
80% of Americans oppose horse slaughter, a brutal and bloody business. Check here for graphically-honest descriptions and images
http://www.horsefund.org/horse-slaughter-i…
The NM slaughterhouse mentioned in Ari's piece was originally a cattle slaughterhouse; it was shut down by the Feds for heinously inhumane practices. You can read about what one bull endured on his way to death here, in "A Tale of Two Horses" at http://www.othernationsjustice.org/?p=7857
This post that brought more traffic to the Other Nations website than any other. Please read it and learn how you can support the SAFE Act, a bi-partisan effort in both houses of Congress that will end the bloody, inhumane prospect of horse slaughter once and for all.
Re: “Responsible meat”
There's nothing "humane" about being raped, having her offspring kidnapped, exploiting her reproductive system (milking for some) and then being brutally murdered in the prime of her life - all for some "caring" consumer? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKr4HZ7ukSE and http://www.veganvideo.org
Re: “Responsible meat”
Tens of thousands of 4-H and FFA students (and their families) learn this every summer. It's not a bad thing to be more connected to your food chain and the circle of life.
Re: “Staffers at Partnership Health Center in Missoula allege harassment, wrongful discharge”
Anyone, be it the press or public or County comissioners can substantiate the claims made here by looking into the exit interviews of any number of PHC alumni. Unless of course the County Human resource dept. has cleaned out the files, and I don't think even they would be that foolish. I have offered my testimony to the Plaintiffs attorneys and know a lot of others that would be glad to do the same. Time to clean house on Mansch, Nealon and Delgadillo! Make this right!
Re: “Staffers at Partnership Health Center in Missoula allege harassment, wrongful discharge”
First and foremost, Hal, an issue has to present itself before an allegation can be made. At least an allegation that a hard-working attorney is going to listen to, reduce to writing, file with the court, and pursue action against an entity. I have yet to see an attorney who files frivolous lawsuits on a contingency basis....knowing they don't get paid unless their client does. Seems as though placing you as a mouthpiece for the facility, has mimicked the attitude that created the complaint in the first place: evasive disregard.
Re: “Staffers at Partnership Health Center in Missoula allege harassment, wrongful discharge”
I too am a former PHC employee and can attest to the abhorrent working conditions. Great mission - absolutely horrible management. Ms. Mansch, Ms. Nealon and Ms. Delgadillo have created an extremely hostile work environment and if contacted by the plaintiff attorney's will be happy to provide documentation. The employees who continue to work there truly care about the patients and do a great job while being berated regularly. They live in fear that if they so much as even look cross-wise at one of those three, they will lose their job. And yes, Missoula County HR knows all of this and has turned a blind eye and a deaf ear. I applaud the brave individuals who had the courage to stand up to the bullying knowing full well that their lives are going to be made pure hell. I believe there needs to be an independent external investigation of the management of PHC. It will reveal that it is not just a few current and former employees out to try and make a quick buck. Real change needs to be made in the management.
Re: “Missoula's Hutchins Hostel closes its doors”
Thanks for the article. Going through Missoula, and found the Hutchins Hostel in a hostel guide, glad I checked to make sure if it was still open. I hope Missoula gets a new hostel soon! There are some of us from the US who frequent hostels as well.
Re: “Staffers at Partnership Health Center in Missoula allege harassment, wrongful discharge”
Hell yah!!! Wish I could have made the meeting and been in the lawsuit, but oh well….I really hope eyes are opened & that justice prevails….do you know how awesome that place would have been without Kim & Mary Jane…..we had amazing people that worked there and cared….what a waste that the county never took into account all the good employees that left there because of the poor management….they knew what was going on and chose to look the other way….you can’t tell me that they didn’t know, because upon exit interviews they got an ear full from many of us….lack of respect for hard working, knowledgeable employees were given no acknowledgement….PHC sucked the life right out of us and caused many employees to go into depression and feel unworthy of themselves….once we left there, wow, the lights & life that returned into our spirits was a refresh to live, love & laugh…PHC is a very dark, evil hole to work in that kind of environment….I feel really bad for the patients as they deserved the best care, but because of being such a high volume facility of seeing many in need, they never got the care individuals deserve….if ever you felt like a number, that place is what you were and are….shame on them….
Re: “Staffers at Partnership Health Center in Missoula allege harassment, wrongful discharge”
As a former PHC employee, I too can attest to the abusive and exploitative work environment there. I also had the experience of appealing to Human Resources at the County level and getting absolutely no support. I am glad that these lawsuits are moving forward, and I hope that the complaints will be heard by the community. I still believe in the mission of Partnership Health Center, and the organization's leadership needs to be held accountable for their unethical treatment of employees over the past several years.
Re: “Homeland on the Range”
Didn't realize this article was so old... Talk about journalistic integrity. But if anyone was curious, Kalispell is still doing fine.
Honest and a bit embarrassed,
Taylor
Re: “Homeland on the Range”
I believe this is a very sensationalist article. And you guys are capable of such well rounded, meaningful investigative journalism! 50 extremists will not take over Kalispell's local government, nor will they gain any foothold in the Flathead Valley's future. They are a brittle ecosystem of narrow minded individuals, and like all brittle ecosystems, they will fail given any direct pressure.
I believe in the journalistic integrity of The Missoula Independent and as such I believe a retraction of this article is in the best interest of the paper and its readership. Kalispell and the Flathead Valley are directly apart of the Missoula region. As such, I believe there is a lot of room for more honest journalism in this article. This kind of blatantly slanted writing belongs on MSNBC and Fox News, not the news paper my parents raised me on. I know you can do better, I have seen it myself.
Please be more forward thinking in your journalism! The world is full of reactionary people on all sides of any issue. When you write about: "Are "patriots" and white supremacists forming an anti-government alliance in Kalispell?" You are speaking to the same demographic that responds to, "I am formally making you an invitation to ‘come home’ to the Pacific Northwest." Life is much more complex than one sided opinions, regardless of rhetoric.
Brittle communities of like minded people fail just as fast as brittle, narrow minded independent papers. Don't loose the trust of the intelligent readers that you certainly have.
With honesty,
Taylor Heinecke
Re: “Staffers at Partnership Health Center in Missoula allege harassment, wrongful discharge”
Regarding Partnership: We are glad to have a place to find affordable care for a young friend who has no insurance, but it's true that we've left many, many phone calls and never once had a reply to a message, and it's adversely affected his medical and dental outcome. I asked the young lady at the dental desk if there was a problem with their phones and was told that more calls come in than she can possibly ever return. The employees we've seen have been kind and hardworking... It's obvious that there is a great need for more staff.
Re: “Staffers at Partnership Health Center in Missoula allege harassment, wrongful discharge”
I too have worked at PHC for many years, and can attest to the harrasment, verbal abuse and in one case physical contact that was blown off by Kim Mansch and initiated by Mary Jane Nealon. I have seen emails that my husband having worked for a large corporation for years, called hostile work environment. The harrasment included in many cases reclassifying your job and reducing your wage substantially even though you were required to do the exact same work and volume of work. All of this while a blind volunteer board oversaw and swallowed all the spin that the management gave them. The County Human Resource Dept. is grossly negligent due to the fact they watched all this go on and took many complaints from employees and turned a blind eye and deaf ear. It's all public record anyone can see the files. The people who have stood up to file these suits are some of the finest people I have ever worked with, what a loss for the public who needs them. I consider PHC to be a waste of taxpayer money as it is being managed. Check out the Fat raises the upper management have recieved the last few years, public record also. All this while understaffing and cheating people out of their honest pay by reclassifing their jobs. Fire Kim Mansch and hire someone who will make PHC what it was meant to be by all the people who donated time and money to this endeavor. It was'nt meant to be a personal hell run by two grossly overpaid, under qualified People.
Re: “Staffers at Partnership Health Center in Missoula allege harassment, wrongful discharge”
As someone who worked at Partnership Health Center for many years, I can help substantiate the claims against Kim Mansch and the County which continues to ignore the throngs of employees who have been wronged. The list of good employees who have been victims of poor leadership by Kim and Co. is much longer than the six brave staffers mentioned in this article. I know pharmacists, dentists, physicians, public health advocates, nurses, medical assistants and LPNs who have left this organization due to drama with the administration. At what point does the administration (including the County) stop and say: "Maybe it's us?" Most importantly, does anyone think that this organizational instability doesn't affect the quality of patient care? Mrs. Mansch is an accountant. She needs to understand that patients and employees are more than numbers.
Re: “BREAKING: Montana Supreme Court reinstates Barry Beach conviction”
SO SAD!! HE HAS DONE SO GOOD! I HOPE SOMETHING CAN BE DONE FOR THIS INJUSTICE!!
Re: “Rachel Maddow calls out white "nationalist" nonprofit in Flathead”
Who's funding this NPI thing? Not a lot of minorities, I'll bet. These two comments are so obviously made by NPI fellow travelers that I laughed out loud. As for this NPI -- there's nothing new here. David Dukes had a good haircut too. I am a third generation native Montanan, and it's exactly this kind of crap that made me decide I had to leave. God, it's good to live in a blue state.
Re: “Rachel Maddow calls out white "nationalist" nonprofit in Flathead”
"Racism", "White Supremacism" and the like are all nothing more than epithets the Cultural Marxists in the media throw around to delegitimatize and pathologize the preferences and advocacy that all peoples have for their own groups. Somehow, when Whites advocate for their own future it's basically criminal, according to people like Maddow and the $PLC. Look who's funding these groups and it all adds up.
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Re: “New questions”
A police officer told me a few years ago in a candid moment, everybody has a breaking point. My thought was ....even if that is so....inside a person's core there are some things they would never do. You cannot truly guess what is in someone's heart. Whether you are a progressive, conservative, or independent...you have to see that for at least a decade our society seems to be removing the glue that holds us together. Tradition is getting thrown out the window and tech and "anything goes" is the replacement. So even if you can't pinpoint the exact cause, there is plenty out there to make people come unglued.