In case you missed it | What the pluck?

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You probably didn’t miss this if you were near the intersection of Broadway and Pearl in Boulder on Wednesday, Dec. 19.

A representative from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals was standing on the corner dressed as a half-plucked goose to raise awareness about how animals are abused in the creation of your down pillows and sleeping bags.

Apparently, PETA says we need to be reminded of the “hideous suffering of birds who are often repeatedly — and painfully — plucked alive for their feathers.”

We like how they refer to the birds as “who.”

But the best part about the press release announcing this event was the link (bit.ly/VPYGKy) to a video with actress Alicia Silverstone showing how millions of geese and ducks are plucked while they are still alive, which PETA describes as “a traumatic and painful experience.”

In the video, Silverstone says birds are “violently plucked bloody for their feathers,” and clips of the plucking process show how the terrified birds are stripped of their feathers several times a year. It gets worse when she describes — and we see — how their resulting wounds are sown up.

Let’s just say we decided not to share this with you until after your Christmas goose was cooked and consumed.

DONATE TO FRACKING BAN DEFENSE

On the heels of our suggestion last week that the anti-fracking group Our Health, Our Future, Our Longmont (or Our Longmont for short) launch a national fundraising effort on the wings of a clever musical cartoon like the one that was done before the election, we got wind that a donation page has, in fact, been launched to collect money to help the city defend its voter-approved fracking ban against the oil and gas industry.

A “donate” button has been added to the Our Longmont website, http://ourlongmont.org, and contributions will go toward a legal defense fund. The group is assembling its own legal team to act as interveners in the Colorado Oil and Gas Association’s lawsuit against the city of Longmont and the ban that 60 percent of voters approved in the Nov. 6 election.

“It is unconscionable that the oil and gas industry has decided to sue the people of Longmont to recklessly endanger our health, safety and property,” Michael Bellmont of Our Longmont said in a press release.

Perennial rabble-rouser and Question 300 campaign manager Kaye Fissinger added, “We will not be bullied. We will not permit Gov. [John] Hickenlooper, who has publicly stated he will support a lawsuit and the oil and gas industry, to put this dangerous, industrial activity next to our homes, schools and public parks.”

MO’ MONEY

Speaking of Frackenlooper, did you see where the state revenue forecast has improved by about $160 million for this year?

Fiscal cliffs aside, it’s high time for the state to start investing in higher education again, after letting our own University of Colorado limp along, duct-taped together, for more than a decade.

In a press release, the guv lists several areas that will benefit from the additional funding, and while “education” was included, we certainly hope that doesn’t just mean K-12.

We also noticed a couple of other priorities on the list, like “economic development,” “public health” and “safety.”

Economic development, as in oil and gas development? Public health and safety, as in the environmental concerns associated with fracking?

It’s not too late, John. Do the wise thing. Be on the right side of history. Get off the industry’s lap and listen to your constituents.

Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com