[JamesP]

Thoughts on Leona and her love of animals.....

Is Leona....

- a hero animal-lover

or

- one of so many who overemphasize relationships with small, submissive animals due to inability to successfully manage relationships with people


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Helmsley Leaves Dog $12 Million in Will
AP

Posted: 2007-08-29 11:58:04

Filed Under: Business News

NEW YORK (Aug. 29) - Leona Helmsley's dog will continue to live an opulent life, and then be buried alongside her in a mausoleum. But two of Helmsley's grandchildren got nothing from the late luxury hotelier and real estate billionaire's estate.
....

But no one made out better than Trouble, who once appeared in ads for the Helmsley Hotels, and lived up to its name by biting a housekeeper.

"I direct that when my dog, Trouble, dies, her remains shall be buried next to my remains in the Helmsley mausoleum," Helmsley wrote in her will.

Helmsley died earlier this month at her Connecticut home. She became known as a symbol of 1980s greed and earned the nickname "the Queen of Mean" after her 1988 indictment and subsequent conviction for tax evasion. One employee had quoted her as snarling, "Only the little people pay taxes."

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[-V-]

Re: "Helmsley Leaves Dog $12 Million in Will"
Is Leona.... - a hero animal-lover or - one of so many who overemphasize relationships with small, submissive animals due to inability to successfully manage relationships with people

regardless of her "success in managing relationships with people" she is no animal lover if she left $12 million to one dog rather than the ASPCA, HSUS, or PETA.

Considering this thread as a pointless attempt at denegrating what you consider to be some people's excessive love and humanity for animals, one might wonder if you are having trouble managing your guilt in regards to your own financial support of the inhumanity of the meat and dairy industry.

You're not alone. The media attention on the Michael Vick dog abuse case has stirred up an inconvenient truth in many hearts and minds regarding conflicting standards for animal abuse.

The occasional posters here who "overemphasize" eccentric pet lovers or radical animal activists can no more change the simple truth at the heart of animal rights issues than opportunists who may have tried to use Malcolm X to diminish the civil rights movement, or Jane Fonda or Cindy Sheehan to diminish the opposition to unjust wars.

Furthermore, any informed meat eater in America today who steps up to throw stones at both Michael Vick and PETA when the opportunities arrise is no different than the latest Gay Republican Senator who dissavows and discriminates against Gay rights while peering through bathroom stalls for his opportunity to sink his teeth into some beef steak!

(keep setting up the pins in the Animal Sanctuary and I'll be happy to keep knocking them down)

[JamesP]

Veeeeee,

No need to react so personally and aggressively.
Does "V" stand for "Vulnerable", "Vitriol" or just "Very" arrogant? :-)
Did you re-read your diatribe before posting?

As for me, I've
- no particular problem with Peta,
- much admiration for those who work for more humane treatment of animals
- much more admiration for those who:
- recognize the enormous inhumanity & suffering man imposes on man
- the multitude of human problems that need urgently to be addressed
- and then apply the appropriate priorities

I "think" I agree with you on the "Vick" thing and conflicting standards on animal abuse.

I also feel a sense of deeply misplaced priorities when we spend so much media time and societal angst on what is admittedly a disgusting case of animal cruelty by a celebrity, while scant attention is paid to much more important matters.
For me, hunting is the equivalent of the Vick case: hurting living things for entertainment and a bit of "macho". I see little difference.

I must confess, though, that pit-bulls and thier owners are not amongst my favorite creatures and I have some small shortage of sympathy for both.

and.... you lost me on the Malcolm X, Jane Fonda and Cindy Sheehan analogy. Are they somehow the equivalent of Leona Helmsly? I don't get it.

I do enjoy bowling here in the animal sanctuary.... I just don't understand your delusion that all of your balls are strikes. :-)