Comment Archives
Re: “Staffers at Partnership Health Center in Missoula allege harassment, wrongful discharge”
Mr. JohnSteven, these six courageous individuals did not in fact start this freedom-of-speech blog. Lawsuits are public record and therefore subject to public disclosure. In regards to your assertion that a person should just quit their job, why should any person have to quit their job because they are being treated unjust. It appears by your post and opinion, that you have either been fortunate to have a wonderful job, where you were treated as a human being, or your work history is riddled with job after job. The legal system was founded on the principle of justice....these people are asking for just that. Glad you are not the judge!
Re: “Staffers at Partnership Health Center in Missoula allege harassment, wrongful discharge”
What would you have us do Mr. Steven? Give up? let wrong prevail? Let a couple of bad eggs ruin what would otherwise be a fine institution? Many of us were there before these Incompetent, abusive people. Should dozens of us just continue to clear out so a few rotten apples can ruin the place and continue to waste public money? The turnover rate has been outrageous for a few years, that should be a red alert to any competent leadership. That's whats wrong with America, lack of accountability! And you should inform yourself or shut the hell up!
Re: “Staffers at Partnership Health Center in Missoula allege harassment, wrongful discharge”
I find the treatment of employees and patients by Kim Mansch, Terry Delgadillo, Mary Jane Nealon extremely disturbing. I know some past and present employees of PHC that have had to deal with the wrong doings of these women for years, some of which have had to seek counseling to deal with the issues while others have suffered health issues because of the hostile abusive environment. Patient care should be above and foremost to anything else however Mansch, Delgadillo, and Nealon have made it such a hostile environment that the employees and the patients suffer alike. Some may say "If you don't like your job then quite" and that "these types of lawsuits are the problem with America", however there would be no need for these lawsuits if people like Mansch, Delgadillo, and Nealon did not exploit, harass, blackmail, and plainly just treat people badly. The problem with America is that people like these women are put into positions of power and think they can do whatever they want, whenever they want, to whomever they want. Well they are wrong and there are laws put into place for this very reason to protect the people from such abuse. These employees are not the only ones who suffer from the actions of Mansch and Nealon, the patients suffer as well by losing great medical professionals.
Re: “Appalling testimony”
Mr Moe signed the order to put his mom in hospice. If he was unsatisfied with their care, he could have withdrawn it, but he did not.
Re: “Equine overload”
The Wild horses are an integral part of the ecosystem, especially the grass lands. Scientific research has proven the wild horses are indigenous to this country. Horses help spread native seeds which helps those plants propagate. To the individual who stated slaughter 50,000 horses and send them to africa... horse slaughter is not an altruistic business it's about profit. The largest purveyor of US horse meat is the EU and the only wild equidae eligible to export into the EU is zebra meat. The EU market is closing very soon to US horses of any kind.
The Wild horses are kinder on the water sources than cattle, they will destroy a river bed very quickly. It's amazing that 100,000 acres can only support 100 horses, yet support thousands and thousands of head of cattle.
Re: “Staffers at Partnership Health Center in Missoula allege harassment, wrongful discharge”
This article is just the tip of the iceberg. If anyone wants to investigate there is plenty of information. Although there are only 6 lawsuits, there are plenty of others who have walked away or ended up settling a lawsuit. The board is negligent. When I was at phc I saw harassment on a daily basis. I saw Mary Jane scream at an employee who was a single mother trying to stay home 1 day with her sick child, I heard them talk meanly about women going on maternity leave, I saw them ruin the lives of employees who were passionate about the mission. There were directors of medical, pharmacy and dental who went to the board with concerns and the board looked away..and ended up dismissing them only weeks later. It is time to investigate the treatment of employees there before the medical residents come
Re: “Staffers at Partnership Health Center in Missoula allege harassment, wrongful discharge”
You should all be embarrassed and ashamed, if you don’t like your job or the way your supervisor treats you then quit. Were any of you forced to work at partnership at gunpoint? If there is something you don’t like about your life then change it, don’t file a law suit and then start a pitiful smear campaign on the internet. This is the type of hyper-sensitivity, over entitlement, self-pity and excessive litigation that is becoming a sad standard in America.
Re: “Flash in the Pan”
Mr LeVaux, as a journalist, wouldn't you even minimally research your resources? Tim Sappington? Are you kidding?? If you Googled this guy, you might have written your leading paragraph a little differently. Also of note, the use of "harvest" to replace "slaughter" is passe. People outside of the AQHA realize it's a veiled attempt to make pretty words.
Re: “John Mayer now lives in Montana”
I have lived in Montana my whole life - was born here. My family has been here for 5 generations. We share the same views about Montana for the most part. It's an Amazing place. As Baha'U'allah says "The earth is one but one country and mankind its citizens". Really we are just borrowing this land. Before I was the Native Americans and before them.. well maybe someone else. We should exercise kindness to all that come to live or visit. Wouldn't we expect the same back if we were in their shoes?
~Nathan Johnson - Missoula MT
Re: “Responsible meat”
Poor Eddie whose only crime was to have been born a "food animal". And sadly his only flaw was to be delivered into the hands of someone who would "respect" him in the most twisted, vengeful kind of ways. With "friends" like this - Who needs enemies?
Oh - And that mention of a vegetarian menu not likely in an male dominated household... It's a joke right? As if compassion and the ability to appreciate plant foods was strictly a female attribute. With "logic" like this - No wonder why Eddie met the fate he did. Lori has a tough time thinking beyond the platitudes, myths and stereo-types. How tragic that sentient beings are left in the "care" of such narrow-minded, gluttonous, speciesist, non-thinkers.
Re: “Flash in the Pan”
Seems like Roswell is dead set on becoming the economic and ecological disaster that befell Kaufman TX during the years the Crown Dallas plant was active there. Striking New Mexico off the "visit" list. There goes your tourism.
Re: “Responsible meat”
Dear Lori,
May I respectfully say that you sound like someone straight out of this book: http://www.the-ultimate-betrayal.com
Re: “Flash in the Pan”
I have three comments :
1) Of the 3 posts (so far) commenting on this article, all are by people adamantly opposed to horse slaughter, yet from the comments, none seem willing to do anything about the FERAL (they aren't "wild") horses overpopulating and seriously degrading western public lands.
2) At least one of the comments bemoans the inhumane conditions and treatment in shipping and at the slaughter houses (I certainly agree with him on that point).
Do you protest as loudly and emotionally the same conditions and treatment for other livestock -- such as cattle, sheep, hogs, goats and poultry -- headed for the same fate ?
3) I'm mostly a vegetarian now, but being of German and French ancestry, I ate horsemeat regularly as child, which, at the time was readily available in many butcher shops around Portland, where I grew up in the 1940s and '50s. I must say that as finicky an eater as I was then, I thought horsemeat was pretty darn good!
Re: “Flash in the Pan”
"Selling used up horses"....sounds like blasphemy...do you not know that all animals (yes, humans are animals) have a Life Force? We are not talking about machines! We don't even talk about the cattle we eat with such irreverence. Let's see.....how many of my neighbors would like to eat horse meat; how many of your neighbors would eat horse meat? "...horses that deserve pampering"; do you consider food, shelter and possibly some health care as pampering? Guess all those Baby Boomers on Medicare are just plain pampered! So, why not toss them some of the used up horsemeat; or better, invite those people on welfare to just throw their used up dogs and cats in the oven...save on food stamps! If your intention was to get feedback, for that you have succeeded; if your intention was to present an intelligent argument for and against horse slaughter...then first of all you are not even in the game and second of all, there will never be an intelligent argument for horse slaughter....my regrets to your publisher.
Re: “Staffers at Partnership Health Center in Missoula allege harassment, wrongful discharge”
There's not much to say that hasn't already been said in the above comments. As a former long term employee, my observation is that it's both inexplicable and shameful the way that Mansch and Nealon routinely treat employees. I can't count how many times I heard one of them utter "They've gotta go." Then they would start a campaign to create a hostile and unbearable work environment for that individual. The organization has lost many solid hard working employees due to the two of them. The quality of patient care has suffered as a result, as has the reputation of the organization in the professional community. The mission of Partnership Health Center is too important to let these issues go unaddressed. Kudos for covering this story and to the brave folks putting themselves on the line to make some positive change happen.
Re: “Responsible meat”
How tiresome are these self-indulgent, conscience-driven pieces coming from proponents of (fill in the blank with some manner of exploitation) who search their souls for a moment, examine ramifications beyond themselves in brief passing, then do exactly what benefits them. (In addition to this one, I recall one defending the illegal construction of a visitor center in Wilderness and another about living with the threat of predators after building a house in their habitat).
This writer had an epiphany when she learned about CAFOs--but it was a self-serving epiphany filled with convenient rationalizations. "My desire to understand the life cycle of an animal" - The life cycle? This pig's mom was intentionally bred for profit, and Ms. Bell prematurely ended his life! "...his job on earth was nearly complete." Sadly, these words simply reflect the speciesist attitude that defines the status quo bottom line: treated well or treated badly, animals are nothing more than commodities for human use and consumption. Their "job" is to fulfill our desires.
"It wasn't easy, but I decided to be present at his slaughter." How good of Ms. Bell to make this sacrifice after betraying his affection. "I thanked both him and Elton..." Gag. Perhaps worst of all, "the respect he deserved." Given the choice, what do you suppose Eddie would have rather had--thanks, respect, and a bullet--or to continue living? Why is it so hard for some to understand that sentient animals--all of us--value our lives?
Look, I agree that the pig lived a good life. But "socially responsible meat" exists in the self-delusions of speciesists who won't admit that they're dominated by mere appetite and willing to kill for it. Philosopher Theodor Adorno said, "Auschwitz begins wherever someone looks at a slaughterhouse and thinks: they're only animals." That goes for when the knacker's truck rolls up, too.
Re: “Responsible meat”
As a vegetarian for 26 years (as well as a biologist for 45 years), I would like to thank Lori Bell for writing her story. Allow me to explain.
The last meat I ate was a turkey (Tom) who I had raised from a chick. I, too, thought that if I was going to continue to eat meat I should be absolutely involved in the animal's life and to honor that life, as Lori did with Eddie. I took one step further and did the slaughter as well as the cleaning - after thanking Tom for being our turkey. Problem was I could not do it again and so I put off killing Jerry for Christmas dinner, deciding to wait till Easter. Two weeks before Easter Jerry (now Geraldine) laid an egg and that was all the excuse I needed not to kill her. She lived to be an old bird and gave me delicious eggs every season, naturally. She loved strawberries.
Humans evolved as meat eaters and many other primates eat meat. I do not. I am so far beyond even thinking about it and there is so much nutritious non-meat available that there is no need to eat any critter. At 68 years of age, I am healthy without meat or meds.
So to Lori I say, you are doing it the right way. To others I say, unless you raise it the way Lori did and are involved in its killing it, go veggie. 7 billion humans (and their domestic dogs and cats) eating meat is decimating life on this planet. It is time to acknowledge this.
Re: “Flash in the Pan”
Wow, Did Sue Wallis ghost write this for you. You either published exaggerated numbers or out falsehoods through out this article. Pure propaganda for a crime ridden industry. You even outright lie about the connection Mr. Sappington HAD to Valley meat. he was a employee that was recently fired after posting a video on You tube (now taken off) of him blowing the brains out of a young horse while looking at the camera using colorful language of what he feels about animal welfare people ( yeh , that’s the kind of local citizen I want living down the road from me). The same plant was forced closed last year for sanitation and animal abuse laws while slaughtering cattle, it’s owned by a gentleman that finds pleasure in robbing peoples homes as a side business (recently caught again).
The horse industry in this county does not need slaughter; it needs breed assocs that don’t instigate overbreeding. Its needs people to take the time to be educated in proper training methods of instead thinking that by watching some cowboy they have become horse trainers. Maybe you should note that one of the largest horse industries in the county does not condone horse slaughter and has been in the process of attempting to end it and ban it from its sport in the last 5 years. The TB Horse racing orgs of prominence. But I guess they don’t know anything about horses like you. Get real, get educated and learn your subject before you write about it.
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.
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Re: “Flash in the Pan”
Cattle and sheep ranchers, the BLM and their sympathizers are co-ordinating their talking points and going public. Last week a rancher stated on the Today show that the best solution for the penned up Wild Horses and Burros is to,”Let ‘em go to slaughterhouses”. Then he added, “What good are they now?"
Joan Guilfoyle, BLM head, tried to downplay the cruel and brutal footage of BLM roundups shown on that Today show and reiterated the BLM talking points that horse populations are basically uncontrollable. The BLM works closely with the powerful ranchers and maintains that the WH&Bs are responsible for the overgrazing of lands which are occupied by guest cattle and guest sheep grazing with permission in a ten to one ratio with the wild horses who are designated by law to occupy these lands.
When grazing in equal numbers, sheep, and cattle to a lesser degree, are responsible for over grazing land because they pull the grass out of the ground by the roots whereas a horse cuts or mows the grass. Oddly, the measurement of grazing used by the BLM is referred to as an Aum which equals the grazing of one cow and a calf to one horse but does not include a foal. Having been raised on a dairy farm in Minnesota it was common opinion that cattle overgraze a pasture faster than an equal number of horses.
Tom Gorey,” BLM spokesman, and advocate for the anti-wild horse ranchers, recently said, “The options are limited because we’re not going to put down healthy horses for which there is no adoption demand, even though the law authorizes it.” However, the law does not authorize that WH&Bs can be “put down”. What the law does mandate is minimal interference, free roaming, a natural lifestyle, and a thriving natural ecological balance on land principally devoted to WH&Bs.
Today's article in the Missoula Independent was rife with misinformation and anti-wild horse rhetoric. They declared that wild horses are actually an invasive feral species brought here from Europe. The truth is that wild horses have been in North America for 58 million years according to Craig Downer in “The Wild Horse Conspiracy” available at www.amazon.com/dp/B009XJ64P4
The Missoula article was very pro-slaughter of the WH&Bs who are the historical wild legacy that belongs to all of us Americans. They refer to the "clean" horse meat from wild horses that might find a market in spite of the horse meat scandal throughout the world. In doing so they reveal that the only interest of the anti-wild horse/pro-slaughter elements in the Ranchers/BLM is in money, profit, and motivated by greed. The article referred to the WH&Bs as an "ecological nuisance". They insinuate that the only horses sent to slaughter are used up, old, unwanted, and neglected. This, of course, is not true. Forty percent of horses slaughtered come from over breeders and are under the age of ten in good health, but rejected by those who care more about a few bucks from the killer than the horse.
Madeleine Pickens reacted to a recent article posted by the Star Telegram which depicts how the Wild Horse and Burro Program needs to be reformed and many mustangs are displaced saying, “We have offered a solution to this very problem. When I started this journey I reached out to the BLM and offered to buy enough land to take the then 30,000 wild horses out of federal holding facilities and provide long-term care back on the range. It’s 5 years later, and we don’t have a single horse from the BLM. We sit here waiting while there are homeless horses heading to auctions and the rest spending the remainder of their lives in federal holding facilities. Something needs to change now. We hope the appointment of the New Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell, will get things going in the right direction.”
Polls indicate that over 80% of Americans oppose horse slaughter. Hopefully Secretary Jewell will represent the public.
The true motivation of these anti-wild horse, pro-slaughter fanatics is finally coming out of the shadows and rearing its ugly public head. Cruelty, brutality, hatred, greed, dissemblance, love of killing, and love of profit are the traits of these despicable criminals who care only about money while desecrating the spiritual wonders of the horse and those of us who love them.
Take action against these hypocrites by going below and VOTING IN SUPPORT OF THESE BILLS, SHARE, and then, CALL YOUR SENATORS and REPRESENTATIVE and ask them to co-sponsor S 541 and HR 1094
HOUSE VERSION
https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/113/hr1094
SENATE VERSION
https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/113/s541