Environmentalism & Animal Rights, Family, Ilana Mercer, Parrots
Missing from the picture of Oscar-Wood in chicken-bone heaven is operation bone grab. Oscar-Wood Mercer swooped down onto the counter, grabbed the chicken bone and flew up to the top of the cabinet to savor. (It’s hard to believe, but unlike the kitchen, which Oscar-Wood has modified, the rest of the home is tastefully appointed and quite lovely).
They are so much more intelligent than dogs and cats (which, make no mistake, I love)—yet they are treated like ornaments to display, expected to eek out a life (often as long as that of a human being) in the confines of stark, dirty, small cages; their wing feathers clipped to permit only a pathetic, helpless hop (and no fighting chance against the family dog or cat).
Parrots—from which I’ve learned so many lessons about my own humanity—do not have the advocates dogs and cats have. When last did you see the Humane Society soliciting donations with reference to the plight of the ptisatine family? Parrots do not even make the Humane Society’s list of needy.
In fact, the achingly beautiful piece penned by our Charles Bergman (a Washington State treasure), circa 2013, is still one of the few features on the Humane Society’s site pertaining to parrots.
The emotional needs of an animal who can reason on this level of abstraction are considerable. Watch:
Alas, parrots can be “picked up” at a yard sale like objects; discarded old chairs. Here’s the latest in a sad saga:
AVALON – Edmund bites and is “pathological.” Arthur is long-suffering, a sweetheart who tolerates the bad behavior of his roommate. Both talk too much.
Or, more accurately, too loudly — a trait that landed their owner, Elaine Scattergood, in court Monday on a noise complaint citation that police issued her in response to a caller who squawked about the chatty birds. Judge George Neidig held the charge for 90 days, saying if no further violations were reported, Scattergood’s summons would be dismissed.
“I wanted a definite ‘not guilty’ plea,” Scattergood said afterward at her home on 30th Street, where she shared the news of her probation with Arthur and Edmund. “I don’t feel good about this at all.”
UPDATED I (4/30/016):
Bouncing back in #Brazil: Lear’s Macaw. #birds #LearsMacaw #poaching http://t.co/iq0ATj4cbR pic.twitter.com/K9tq0OcsBJ
— Ed Joyce (@EdJoyce) March 6, 2015
Unfortunate name for a worthy effort. https://t.co/6dCPGwKdM4
— Ilana Mercer (@IlanaMercer) April 26, 2016
UPDATE II (12/19/016):
These kind of clips get a lot of admiration. But they are simply awful. An utterly vulnerable, likely clipped,… https://t.co/lNN4NBoTVL
— Ilana Mercer (@IlanaMercer) December 17, 2016
Environmentalism & Animal Rights, Europe, IMMIGRATION, Nationhood, The West
Looting, littering, throwing feces, overturning vehicles, assaulting and pulling the occupants from within: “Never in my short life had I an opportunity to see such scenes and I feel that this is just the beginning,” writes a Polish travel blog writer and eyewitness to the centrally authorized and planned invasion of Europe (Hat tip to Ken Coffman). Behold. This is what you inflict on a land and a people you don’t care about: your generous hosts. A similar specter can be seen on visiting America’s Southern border.
Environmentalism & Animal Rights, Government, Private Property, Regulation
This statement is immutably true: Were we unencumbered by the Environmental Protection Agency, “three million gallons of toxic slurry” would not now be flowing “down the rivers of the West,” “at a rate of 740 gallons a minute.” The sludge was released by “the E-men” into “a creek that is a tributary of the Animas River.” (WSJ)
The reason similar catastrophes are likely to reoccur courtesy of government is because these stooges of the state legislate themselves the kind of legal immunity denied to private companies.
Naturally, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, known as the Superfund law, gives EPA clean-up crews immunity from the trial bar when they are negligent. Yet the Durango blowout was entirely avoidable.
For the same reason, these lethal idiots were disinclined to “warn state and local officials” for a full 24 hours. Locals “learned about the fiasco when they saw their river become yellow curry.”
And Americans want more government!
… The plume of lead, arsenic, mercury, copper, cadmium and other heavy metals turned the water a memorable shade of yellow-orange chrome. The sludge is so acidic that it stings upon touch. Colorado, New Mexico and the Navajo Indian reservation have declared states of emergency as the contamination empties into Lake Powell in Utah and the San Juan River in New Mexico.
The ecological ramifications are uncertain, though the San Juan is designated as “critical habitat” for the Colorado Pike Minnow and Razorback Sucker fish. The regional economy that depends on recreational tourism like rafting, kayaking and fly fishing has been damaged. Drinking water is potable only because utilities closed their intake gates, but pollution in the water table has deprived farmers and rural residents of a source for wells, livestock and crop irrigation. …
UPDATE (7/5/2018):
Nothing even alleged against Pruitt is remotely as bad as the Obama EPA poisoning the Animas River. pic.twitter.com/09ZoHKRaZy
— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) July 5, 2018