Echo Cat

Last night we went to Bay Meadows for what may be one of the final Fridays Alive if the racetrack is demolished for future developments.

We enjoyed it, as always, but we decided to leave before the races were finished so we could get back to the city and home by midnight or so.

The last race we watched, I bet on Echo Cat, and was disheartened when the horse didn't even cross the finish line. Then we noticed, however, that she had gone down around the last curve. My heart broke a little because I was afraid she may have broken a leg, but then we tensely joked about her being shot thinking that there's no way it was that serious. We talked about horse euthanasia, and that transitioned into a conversation about Animal Cops, which kept everything light-hearted.

Thinking I wouldn't find anything, I googled Echo Cat today. I'm devastated to report that she was, in fact, euthanized last night. All because she was performing for our pleasure. Poor Echo Cat.

I'm really torn about whether it's okay to watch horse races now. It seems that horses are injured and thus euthanized every race. There are many organizations devoted to documenting the deaths in the UK, but the industry itself seems to hide this information. In the US, the only information I can find is from a blogger devoted to checking up on all the horses that went down on the track. She keeps a historical list at http://scrollsequus.blogspot.com/.

how friggin' depressing.

Equal Pay Day

Yes, yes, I know I've been lax on posting. I swear there are a million posts in my head...they just haven't made it onto the page.

ANYWAY, this is worthwhile and NEEDS to be posted.

Today is Equal Pay Day.

What that means is that if you started recording paychecks for men and women on January 1, 2007, today is the day on which the women would have caught up to what the men made by December 31, 2007. So for 2007 salaries, to make what men made in one year, women had to work 1 year, 4 months, and 22 days.

NOT OKAY!!!

The Business and Professional Women's Foundation adds:

Equal Pay Day is held annually in April to signify the point into a year that a woman must work to earn what a man made the previous year. According to the 2006 Census Bureau, women on average earn 77 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts. For women of color, the wage gap worsens: African American women make 66 cents, Latinas make 55 cents and Asian American women make 80 cents.

Also check out the National Women's Law Center for policy change updates.

Some GREAT Facebook Videos:

Equal Pay Day 2008

Equal Pay Day