H$U$ Feeling the Pressure? – One of the most important messages in the campaign against the radical vegan animal rights activists at the Humane Society (In Name Only) of the United States is that while they raise hundreds of millions of dollars annually, they do relatively little to support the actual people rescuing animals in local shelters across the country. While using the term “Humane Society” to perpetrate a long con on unsuspecting donors looking to save neglected puppies and kittens, H$U$ actually uses the money to advance an agenda to place animals above humans in our society, and specifically to end the use of animals for human benefit. Master political strategist Wayne Pacelle has noticed, and is trying to shore up his “animal shelter” creds by playing up what little work H$U$ actually does relative to local animal shelters. Wayne cites spending $20million annually (out of a budget of over $120million) on these efforts, but if you read the list of activities he highlights, almost all are either H$U$ propaganda events, or fundraising opportunities. Very little money ever actually supports local humane efforts. Learn more at HumaneWatch.org.

Scott McKain Makes Another Great Point – …as he has a habit of doing. It’s a shame these customer service stories (not his so much as mine) always seem to revolve around the misadventures of the broken airline biz… Read another great post from one of the best speakers of the day.

Ever Wonder What Consumers Think About Food Prices? – Here’s a great example. Money blogger Annie White at Mint.com takes a crack at the question “Why does food cost so much?” While I’ll ignore the faulty premise of the question (we spend a lower percentage of our income on food than we do on almost any other budgeted necessity), the article itself is illustrative of how the mainstream consumer evaluates the cost of food at the grocery store. We have some winners and losers here: on one hand, she correctly links the price of energy to the price of food, on the other hand, she completely botches the paragraphs on climate change, subsidies, and the biofuels biz. Brazilian ethanol isn’t the solution to every problem. Overall, an important read that will help you understand consumer perception.

Obamacare Puts the Hurt of Farm Equipment Manufacturers – …and almost every other American business. Both CAT and Deere announced the multi-trillion dollar social engineering known as health care “reform” will sap hundreds of millions out of their bottom lines. This bill is already costing American jobs, especially in rural America. If this isn’t egg on the face of the Secretary of Agriculture, who has spent weeks skipping around the countryside touting the benefits of this boondoggle to rural Americans, I don’t know what is. Elections have consequences, folks. By the way, health insurance costs at our small business have already gone up this year, thank you very much, Mr. President.

Remembering Andy Stevens – Our own Lindsay Hill and Ty Higgins produced a touching tribute to the late farm journalist earlier this week, but this post from Ohio Farmer editor Tim White is a moving personal account of his years working for Andy at the magazine. Some great stories from someone who knew him as well as any of us. We’ll all miss Andy.