tagged w/ Birds
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Los Angeles Times...
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Nine bald eagles counted so far in winter census
December 19, 2011 | 11:56 am
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Biologists and volunteers spent the weekend scouring lakeside areas in the San Bernardino and San Jacinto mountains for the first bald eagle count of the winter.
Nine bald eagles were seen Saturday by a group of about 80 volunteers and state and federal biologists participating in the eagle census. Four of the eagles (three adults and a juvenile) were found in the Big Bear and Baldwin Lake area; two juveniles were at Lake Arrowhead and Lake Gregory; and one adult and one juvenile were found at Silverwood Lake.
The spotters could tell the difference between juveniles and adults by their color. Juveniles have a brown head and tail, while adults have the white head and tail that takes four to five years to grow in.
Eagle countings will take place in January, February and March. The number of eagles in Southern California is typically low in December, but increases at the beginning of the year as more migrate south.
Eagles like to spend their winters here because of the abundance of ducks and fish.
.Los Angeles Times...
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Nine bald eagles counted so far in winter census... more
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CNN...
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Fukushima's animals abandoned and left to die
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By Kyung Lah, CNN
updated 5:48 AM EST, Thu January 26, 2012
Click link to play video
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Animals left to die in Fukushima zone
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STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Nearly a year after the quake and tsunami, animal carcasses litter the region
Animal activists call the dead animals an outrage
Environmental agency says government has tried to rescue as many as possible
It points out the risk posed to people entering the contaminated area
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Inside Fukushima Exclusion Zone, Japan (CNN) --
When you stand in the center of Japan's exclusion zone, there is absolute silence. The exclusion zone is the 20-kilometer (12-mile) radius around the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, an area of high radiation contamination.
On March 12, the day after the quake and tsunami hit, 78,000 people were evacuated out of this area, believing they would return within a few days. As such, thousands of people left with their dogs tied up in the backyard, cats in their houses and livestock penned in barns.
Nearly a year later, animal carcasses litter the region.
Cows and pigs starved to death, their bones still in pens. Dogs dropped dead with disease. A cat skull sits on a neighborhood road.
This is perhaps an inevitable outcome to a nuclear emergency, but animal rights activists call it an outrage.
"It's shameful," says Yasunori Hoso with United Kennel Club Japan. "We kept asking the government to rescue these animals from the beginning of the disaster. There must have been a way to rescue the people and the animals at the same time following the nuclear disaster at Fukushima."
Japan's environmental agency tells CNN the government's position has been to rescue as many livestock and animals possible. But it points out that because of the risk posed to people entering the contaminated area, the government has chosen to take a prudent attitude toward animal rescue.
Last December, the government allowed animal rights groups like UKC Japan to enter the exclusion zone and rescue any surviving animals. Hoso entered with his members, carrying cages and food.
On one of those days, Hoso's group approached a house. A six-week-old female puppy lay dead in the living room in a pool of blood. It appeared to have died from disease. From the back of the house, the UKC volunteers heard weak barking. The puppy's two brothers were still alive, hiding in another part of the house. They were traumatized and afraid of the rescuers, having never been around people before. The volunteers soon rounded up their mother.
Those dogs now reside at the UKC Japan shelter near Tokyo. 250 dogs and 100 cats, all from the exclusion zone, live in cramped cages at the shelter. UKC Japan, which survives on donations, says it has tracked down 80% of the owners.
But that hasn't meant the animals can reunite with owners. Shelters and temporary apartment housing have not allowed the owners to live with their pets, Hoso said.
Unfortunately, he added, the owners can't live with their animals because they are homeless themselves.
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Fukushima's animals abandoned and left to die
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By Kyung... more
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The northern goshawk is one of nature's diehard thrill-seekers. The formidable raptor preys on birds and small mammals, speeding through tree canopies and underbrush to catch its quarry.
link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120119133757.htmThe northern goshawk is one of nature's diehard thrill-seekers. The formidable... more
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The Atlantic
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Dead Cow Walking: The Case Against Born-Again Carnivorism
By Marc Bekoff
Dec 27 2011, 8:53 AM ET 614
Pigs, chickens, and other animals raised for food are sentient beings with rich emotional lives. They feel everything from joy to grief.
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"Eating Animals," by Nicolette Hahn Niman, a livestock rancher, with help from deer hunter Tovar Cerulli and butcher Joshua Applestone, caught my eye because, at first, I thought this essay was authored by Jonathan Safran Foer, who wrote a best-selling book with the same title. While Niman and her friends do rightly argue against consuming factory-farmed animals -- who live utterly horrible lives from the time that they're born to the time that they're transported to slaughterhouses and barbarically killed -- these three born-again carnivores, all former vegetarians or vegans, now proudly eat animals and think that it's just fine to do so. They gloss over the fact that even if the animals they eat are "humanely" raised and slaughtered, an arguable claim, they're still taking a life. These animals are merely a means to an end: a tasty meal.
The defensive and apologetic tone of this essay also caught my eye, as did the conveniently utilitarian framework of the argument. The animals they eat were raised simply to become meals because Niman and others choose to eat meat. I like to say that whom we choose to eat is a moral question, and just because these three now choose to eat animals doesn't mean that other people should make the same choice. Note that I wrote "whom" we eat, not "what." Cows, pigs, chickens, and other animals raised for food are sentient beings who have rich emotional lives. They can feel everything from sheer joy to deep grief. They can also suffer enduring pain and misery, and they don't deserve to have the good and happy lives provided by Niman and others ended early just so that their flesh can wind up on what really is a platter of death.
Wolves, lions, and cougars are not moral agents and can't be held accountable for their actions. But most humans know what they're doing and are responsible for their choices.
Cows, for example, are very intelligent. They worry over what they don't understand and have been shown to experience "eureka" moments when they solve a puzzle, such as when they figure out how to open a particularly difficult gate. Cows communicate by staring, and it's likely that we don't fully understand their very subtle forms of communication. They also form close and enduring relationships with family members and friends and don't like to have their families and social networks disrupted. Chickens are also emotional beings, and detailed scientific research has shown that they empathize with the pain of other chickens.
Raising happy animals just so that they can be killed is really an egregious double cross. The "raise them, love them, and then kill them" line of reasoning doesn't have a meaningful ring of compassion. And this isn't mercy killing (euthanasia) performed because these animals need to be put out of their pain. No, these healthy and happy animals are slaughtered, and if you dare to look into their eyes, you know that they're suffering. If you wouldn't treat a dog like this, then you shouldn't treat a cow, a pig, or any other animal in this way.
As a field biologist who studies animal behavior, I feel that the authors' appeal to what happens in the natural world -- "life feeds on life" -- is an illogical justification for their food choices. I've seen thousands of predatory encounters. I cringe when I see them, but I would never interfere. Wild predators, unlike us, have no choice about whom or what they eat. They couldn't survive if they didn't eat other animals. And indeed, many animals are vegetarians, including non-human primates, who eat other animals only on very rare occasions.
Jessica Pierce and I wrote about how appeals to nature are misleading and illogical in our book Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals. We argued that wolves, lions, and cougars, for example, are not moral agents and can't be held accountable for their actions. They don't know right from wrong. On the other hand, most humans do know what they're doing and are responsible for their choices. When it comes down to whose flesh winds up in our mouths, we can make choices, and in my view, eating animals is wrong and unnecessary, even when they are "humanely" raised and slaughtered. Let me add a caveat here because, as a world traveler, I do know that many people do not have the luxury of making a choice about their meals and must eat whatever is available to them. However, those who do have that luxury can easily eat an animal-free diet. And we can work to show others that a vegetarian or vegan diet can be very economical and healthy.
Niman and her friends also note that vegetarian and vegan diets have "never really taken hold." So what? This hardly means that we shouldn't try to do the right thing. They write, "The vast majority of Americans who do try vegetarianism or veganism -- about three-quarters of them -- return to eating meat. Rather than urging people to consume only plants, doesn't it make more sense to encourage them to eat an omnivorous diet that is healthy, ethical, and ecologically sound?" No, it doesn't. What it means is that these people should try harder and not give up just because it might seem difficult to change their meal plans. Perhaps they just need more time and encouragement from other vegetarians who can show them how easy it is to stop eating animals.
It's easy to add more compassion to the world and to expand our compassion footprint. Excuses such as "Oh, I know they suffer, but don't tell me because I love my burger" add cruelty to the world, even if the animals people are eating weren't raised on factory farms and killed in slaughterhouses. You're eating a dead animal who really did care about what happened to him or her. When I ask people how they can dismiss the fact that an animal was killed for their pleasure, they usually fumble here and there and offer no meaningful answer. When I ask them if they'd eat a dog, they look at me with incredulity and emphatically say, "No!" When I ask them why they wouldn't eat a dog, they can't really tell me, offering statements laden with dismissive phrases, such as "Oh, you know...." Because I often travel to China to help in the rehabilitation of Asiatic moon bears who have been rescued from the bear-bile industry, people sometimes ask me, "How can you go there? Isn't that where they eat dogs and cats?" I simply say, "Yes, it is, and I'm from America, where they eat cows and pigs, who are no less sentient and emotional beings." Animals really are very much like us.
No matter how humanely raised they are, the lives of animals raised for food can be cashed out simply as "dead cow/pig/chicken walking." Whom we choose to eat is a matter of life and death. I think of the animals' manifesto as "Leave us alone. Don't bring us into the world if you're just going to kill us to satisfy your tastes."
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Image: Kurt De Bruyn
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The Atlantic
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Dead Cow Walking: The Case Against Born-Again Carnivorism... more
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Biological Hazard in USA on Sunday, 01 January, 2011 at 07:06 (07:06 AM) UTC.
Description
Thousands of dead blackbirds rained down on a town in central Arkansas last New Year’s Eve after revelers set off fireworks that spooked them from their roost, and officials were reporting a similar occurrence Saturday as 2012 approached. Police in Beebe said dozens of blackbirds had fallen dead, prompting officers to ban residents from shooting fireworks Saturday night. It wasn’t immediately clear if fireworks were again to blame, but authorities weren’t taking a chance. Officer John Weeks said the first reports of “birds on the streets” came around 7 p.m. as residents celebrated the year’s end with fireworks in their neighborhoods. “We started shutting down fireworks,” he said. “We’re working on cleaning up the birds now.” He said police were working with animal control workers and others to remove the birds and determine a death count. “We’re not sure if they’re going to continue to fall throughout the night. I can’t tell you,” Weeks said. Scientists say the loud cracks and booms from celebratory fireworks likely sent the birds into such a tizzy that they crashed into homes, cars and each other before plummeting to their deaths last New Year’s Eve. The birds landed on roofs, sidewalks, streets and fields. One struck a woman walking her dog. Another hit a police cruiser.
The blackbird die-off, coupled with tens of thousands of dead drum fish that washed up on the shores of the Arkansas River, flung the state into the national headlines and drew conspiracy theorists and filmmakers to the town about 30 miles northeast of Little Rock that shares Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe’s last name. Some people speculated that the birds had been poisoned; others said their deaths marked the beginning of the apocalypse. “It’s just got to be a pain in my career,” Beebe Police Chief Wayne Ballew said. Prior to this New Year’s Eve, Ballew said he wouldn’t be surprised if people sit out on their front porches in case the winged creatures fall from the sky again. “I guess we could have an annual blackbird watch,” he said with a laugh. “People can just bring their umbrellas, open them up and walk through the neighborhood and hope they don’t get hit.” Charles Moore didn’t plan to have an umbrella at the ready, but said he would have his camera out on New Year’s Eve. Last year, he drifted off to sleep before the ball - and birds - dropped. “When we got up on New Year’s Day and walked out to get the paper, we saw all the carnage out there,” he said. “So we thought we would be on the watch for it this time.”Biological Hazard in USA on Sunday, 01 January, 2011 at 07:06 (07:06 AM) UTC.... more
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At the end of every year we evaluate all our relationships. And in this case, our videographer and self-proclaimed folk singer Lumber Jack Bob is asking the question: How close can you get to a wild turkey? It seems to us that this is a story about a family out for a snack in the field. When Jack Bob tries to get close to them, they want nothing of it. We want all our viewers to know that no turkey was harmed in the making of this video. Well, except that one at Christmas dinner.At the end of every year we evaluate all our relationships. And in this case, our... more
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ButterballAbuse.com...
Mercy For Animals....
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Butterball has become synonymous with turkey. But how do the millions of turkeys who end up in the grocery store, or served at restaurants, under the Butterball brand, really live and die?
A new Mercy For Animals undercover investigation reveals the truth: extreme cruelty and violence is the harsh reality for birds on Butterball's factory farms.
Between November and December of 2011, an MFA undercover investigator documented a pattern of shocking abuse and neglect at a Butterball turkey semen collection facility in Shannon, North Carolina.
Hidden-camera footage taken at Butterball reveals:
Workers violently kicking and stomping on birds, dragging them by their fragile wings and necks, and maliciously throwing turkeys onto the ground or into transport trucks in full view of company management;
Employees bashing in the heads of live birds with metal bars, leaving many to slowly suffer and die from their injuries;
Turkeys covered in flies, living in their own waste, with some unable to access food or water and suffering from severe feather loss
Birds suffering from serious untreated illnesses and injuries, including open sores, infections, rotting eyes, and broken bones; and
Severely injured turkeys, unable to stand up or walk, left to die without any veterinary care, because treating sick or injured birds was too costly and time consuming, as the farm manager explained to MFA's investigator.
After viewing the undercover footage, Dr. Sara Shields, research scientist, poultry specialist and consultant in animal welfare, said, "Turkeys are fully capable of feeling pain, fear, stress and of suffering, and the way they are treated in the video is clearly abusive."
Dr. Debra Teachout, a practicing veterinarian with experience in farmed-animal welfare, agrees, stating, "The birds are not living a life remotely worth living. Their world is full of fear, distress, pain, injury and illness as witnessed by this video. A culture of blatant and severe animal mistreatment has been allowed to flourish unchecked, and for that reason, this facility should be shut down immediately."
Following the investigation, MFA immediately went to law enforcement with extensive video footage and a detailed legal complaint outlining the routine violence and cruelty documented by the investigator at this Butterball facility. On Thursday, December 29, state law enforcement officials obtained a warrant and raided the facility on grounds of cruelty to animals.
Unfortunately, the lives of turkeys in Butterball's factory farms are short, brutal and filled with fear, violence and prolonged suffering. While wild turkeys are sleek, agile and able to fly, Butterball's turkeys have been selectively bred to grow so large, so quickly, that many of them suffer from painful bone defects, hip joint lesions, crippling foot and leg deformities, and fatal heart attacks.
This genetic manipulation creates birds that are so large they cannot even reproduce naturally, meaning that artificial semen collection and insemination have become the sole means of turkey reproduction at Butterball facilities.
Even though domestic turkeys have been genetically manipulated for enormous growth, these birds still retain their gentle, inquisitive and social natures. Oregon State University poultry scientist Dr. Tom Savage says that turkeys are "smart animals with personality and character, and keen awareness of their surroundings." In fact, animal behaviorists, veterinarians, and scientists now agree that turkeys are sensitive and intelligent animals with their own unique personalities, much like the dogs and cats we all know and love.
While MFA works to expose and end animal abuse at Butterball and other giants of the meat, dairy and egg industry, consumers can help prevent the needless suffering of turkeys and other animals by adopting a compassionate vegan diet.
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http://a.abcnews.com/images/Blotter/ht_butterball_abuse_tk_111228_wg.jpg
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Click here to view undercover video:
http://www.butterballabuse.com
.ButterballAbuse.com...
Mercy For Animals....
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Butterball has become... more
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PCRM | PHYSICIANS COMMITTEE FOR RESPONSIBLE MEDICINE...
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Government Announces Plan to Replace Animals in Toxicity Testing
December 20, 2011
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The Environmental Protection Agency, the National Institutes of Health, and the Food and Drug Administration just announced a joint effort to use high-throughput robotics—instead of animals—to test 10,000 chemicals and drugs for potential toxicity. I’ve asked PCRM’s Chad Sandusky, Ph.D., to provide details:
Current testing is largely based on experiments on animals—rodents, rabbits, dogs—and uses methods that are cruel, time-consuming, expensive, and in some cases use thousands of animals in a single test. For example, a reproductive toxicity study uses 2,600 animals and requires a minimum of two years at a cost of $380,000. PCRM toxicologists and government affairs staff have pushed government and industry scientists to implement nonanimal methods.
The new method was developed after the National Research Council issued a mandate (often referred to as Tox21) several years ago to replace antiquated animal-based (in vivo) toxicity testing with testing using mostly human cells and tissues. At PCRM’s toxicology department, we are convinced this will offer not only a dramatic reduction in animal use, but also a faster and cheaper approach to safety testing.
While Congress has been drafting revisions to the law that regulates chemicals (known as the Toxic Substances Control Act or TSCA), we’ve met with congressional offices to make sure that new nonanimal methods are required as they become more widely available. We’ve successfully gained support for these important changes, so animal testing will be greatly reduced—and eventually eliminated—when the bill is passed.
To learn more about how replacing animals in toxicity testing with this technology will make the world a safer place for people—and for the millions of animals now used in these cruel tests—visit www.ReformToxicityTesting.org
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PCRM | PHYSICIANS COMMITTEE FOR RESPONSIBLE MEDICINE...
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Government... more
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ABC News...
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By Gillian Mohney
Dec 8, 2011 2:43pm
80-Year-Old Woman Faces Charges for Feeding Birds
ap claire butcher jt 111208 wblog 80 Year Old Woman Faces Charges for Feeding Birds
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PHOTO: Claire Butcher in a park in Lynn, Mass. (Photo by The Daily Item of Lynn, Angela Owens/AP Photo)
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An 80-year-old woman in Lynn, Mass., faces charges after she fed the birds at her local pond.
Town officials have filed criminal charges against Claire Butcher after she repeatedly violated a local ordinance that prohibits feeding the birds.
But Butcher couldn’t seem to stay away from her winged friends and has been charged with violating a 2009 No Tresspass Order that prohibited her from visiting local parks.
In the years since the order went into effect, police said they continued to receive complaints about Butcher, who allegedly took entire shopping carts filled with food to feed the feathered creatures.
Butcher, however, insisted she merely wanted to save six domesticated ducks from starving and wasn’t feeding hordes of wild birds. “Being an animal lover, I couldn’t leave any animals to starve to death,” Butcher told ABCNews.com.
Officials for the city of Lynn, however, are fed up with what they said was a pattern for Butcher and pressed charges against the octogenarian that could result in jail time.
“Well, look at it this way,” Butcher said, laughing. ”I will be the first 80-year-old woman in the world who was thrown in jail for feeding the animals.”
Christopher Kelly of the Lynn Police Department said Butcher had plenty of opportunities to stop before she was charged with violating the No Tresspass Order. “It’s been an ongoing issue,” Kelly told ABCNews.com. ”She’s been warned before.”
Kelly said that the health department had become concerned about community health and safety because of the increase in bird feces in the park that it linked to Butcher’s actions.
Butcher, however, sees it differently. “I have been feeding [the animals] since 1966. I’m 80 years old, and I have no health problems,” said Butcher. “To me, that’s just a lousy excuse.”
In spite of her age and the charges, Butcher remains defiant. While she said a local animal shelter took in three of the domesticated ducks, she said that with winter coming she might be tempted to feed the animals again “in a moment of weakness.
“The animals at the pond do not belong to the city of Lynn. They belong to God,” said Butcher. “If they have an issue, they should take it up with God.”
.ABC News...
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By Gillian Mohney
Dec 8, 2011 2:43pm
80-Year-Old Woman Faces... more
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When I was a kid seagulls were everywhere in the city. You could find them more easily than pigeons. They were all over the place. When you'd be out in the school yard eating your lunch you have to watch out that you wouldn't be attack by one of San Francisco's dragons of the west trying to steal your sandwich out of your hand. Now you have to go to the zoo to have that experience.When I was a kid seagulls were everywhere in the city. You could find them more easily... more
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If you think you know nothing about birds, you are probably wrong. There are some things that everybody knows, and these form the basis for extending your knowledge. First of all, you know that birds have feathers rather than fur for insulation, that most of them fly, and that many of them have characteristic songs or calls by which they communicate with one another.
http://www.tastekulcha.com/birdwatching-australia/If you think you know nothing about birds, you are probably wrong. There are some... more
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Even with the unrelenting snow pack, migrating birds returned to The Valley. An early spring delight is the return of the eastern bluebird.
http://www.tastekulcha.com/bluebirds-birds-happiness/Even with the unrelenting snow pack, migrating birds returned to The Valley. An early... more
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This video is just so adorable, it has to be shared. There’s something so zen-like in the Lovely Owl as he’s being pet that just screams “watch me and love me!”
http://veracitystew.com/2011/11/21/lovely-owl-monday’s-cutie-patooty-video/This video is just so adorable, it has to be shared. There’s something so... more
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“The review of existing literature shows that the EMRs are interfering with the biological systems in more ways than one and there had already been some warning bells sounded in the case on bees and birds, which probably heralds the seriousness of this issue and indicates the vulnerability of other species as well,” the study found. http://naturalsociety.com/cellphone-tower-emr-damaging-birds-insects-humans/“The review of existing literature shows that the EMRs are interfering with the... more
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GM Freeze today described Defra's decision to approve a GM wheat trial at Rothamsted Research as "a big mistake and premature".
The consent [1], issued today, includes provision to prevent the GM wheat crossing with couch grass and to stop wood pigeon feeding on the crop.
The group opposed the application during a public consultation in the summer including [2]:
*The lack of market for GM wheat anywhere on the planet means it is a waste of time and money (some GBP1.28 million).
*Serious doubts about whether the GM wheat will work as stated.
*Lack of any data on potential health effects.
*Presence of an antibiotic resistant marker gene against European Medicines Agency advice.
*Risk of cross-contamination with other wheat crops and some grasses already problematic as arable weeds.
*Unknown impacts on predator and parasites populations, which already provide some control for aphid infestations.
*Unknown impacts on bird species, which feed on aphids as part of their diet.
*The potential for development of aphids desensitised to the alarm chemical after being continually subjected to the GM deterrent over time so that they do not respond to it when it is constantly produced by the wheat plants 24 hours a day 7 days per week.
GM Freeze asked Ministers to hold a public consultation on the use of synthetic animal genes in GM crops, as one of the key genes in the GM wheat "has most similarity to that from cow (Bos taurus)" according to the applicant.
Commenting Pete Riley of GM Freeze said
"It is clear from the authorisation letter that the Government's scientific advisors have concerns about the possibility of the GM wheat crossing with couch grass, a major arable weed, which could cause long-term problems for farmers if this wheat was ever grown on a commercial scale.
"There are also concerns about wild birds carrying the GM seeds off site, but there is no provision to deal with small birds, such a sparrows, or small mammals doing this.
"The key question Ministers need to answer is why they are funding research into GM wheat for which there is no market in the UK, Europe or anywhere else when other areas of proven, less risky agricultural research, such as agroecology, are crying out for additional funds.
The decision to approve an open-air trial of GM wheat is a big mistake and premature given the serious lack of information in the application. [3] We need to know far more about the alarm chemicals involved and the formation of wheat-couch grass crosses before we start genetically modifying a staple crop."
notes
[1] See "Defra approves GM wheat trial" at www.defra.gov.uk/news/2011/09/16/gm-wheat-trial/
[2] See GM Freeze briefing See Objecting to an Application to Trial GM Wheat in Hertfordshire at www.gmfreeze.org/site_media/uploads/publications/GM_wheat_final.pdf
[3] See GM Freeze action “Object to trialling GM wheat” in the UK for more details at www.gmfreeze.org/actions/20/
http://www.opednews.com/populum/uploaded/chromosome--300-x-300--31940-20090516-7.jpgGM Freeze today described Defra's decision to approve a GM wheat trial at... more
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Birds do it, bees do it, even perverts in the trees do it. Let’s do it, let’s fuck online.
Chances are, if you’re on the internet (which as of this printing is still the only way that I know you could be reading this, though if you know of any others, please let us know), then you’re probably reading this with one hand in your pants, leisurely pleasuring yourself. That’s just a science fact. Because as you know, every new invention since the dawn of man has come about due to a need to advance the field of physical gratification.
Fire? Invented so cave perverts could violently flog their pre-historic, barbed procreation utensils to crude vagina wall paintings at night.
The wheel? Walking from one clubbed female’s dwelling to the next had worn out its novelty. The pre-men of yesterage also needed some way to easily signal potential mates of their remaining virility at the ripe old middle age of 14.
Sliced bread? The Manwich.
So it should come as a surprise to exactly no one that the internets too were created solely for the transmittal and reception of pornographic images, thoughts and ideas. As with bread, people have simply adapted sex technologies to be used in other walks of life. Now, a study done by a New Brunswick researcher is attempting to shed some light on the internet’s original purpose for existence: cybersex.
Krystelle Shaughnessy, (clearly a made up name, even by Canadian standards of ridiculous namery) a psychology student at the University of New Brunswick decided to research the role of cybersex in the current internet landscape while, not surprisingly, cybering her sex. Engaged in a long-distance relationship, and being a modern woman of the 21st century Krystelle did what anyone would in her position, try to justify her deviant nature with a college research paper.
Her hypothesis was that, “where her grandmother would have put pen to paper to maintain such an affair, and her mother would have picked up the phone, her natural medium was online.”
And she’s right. As I’ve explained, pen, paper and the telephone were all invented for sexual purposes. Just try not to imagine after this painstakingly detailed recounting, your beloved Nana’s penmanship gradually deteriorate as she furiously scribbled her dirtiest thoughts into a steamy letter of passion and naughtyness, then handing it to the postman with a blush, knowing just what it was that he was holding in his hands to be delivered to Peepaw so that he might feverishly pleasure himself to the naughty words of his beloved, before wondering what this harlot who could spew such filth might be doing with the rest of her time not filled with scribbling her most deviant thoughts. Basically, what I’m saying is that your grandparents were distrustful sickos who traded sex drenched letters while they were apart, and carry with them, even today, secrets that they will be buried with…
Now where was I?
Oh, that’s right, the office chair hand dance.
“A key piece in the research that I’m conducting right now is, who do you have cybersex with? One thing that is across the board — whether I’m talking to researchers, students, anybody — is this notion that cybersex is two strangers hiding from their offline partners engaging in sex online, and I don’t think that’s reality,” she said.
Here, the fine researcher and I differ in opinion. But I suppose our only difference is what percentage of which is what…
Let me clarify.
Cybersex, as it has existed since the invention of the internet, has been largely two men pretending to be lesbians having sexy chat times, sans pants. That has remained the one constant in the ever evolving intertubes. The definition of “stranger” then becomes a sticking point. Obviously there is some getting to know this person pretending to be someone else. So when do we go from fake lesbian intercourse with a stranger to fake lesbian intercourse with an acquaintance or even fake lesbian intercourse with a friend? Fewer instances of cybersex are initiated between people who have known each other before chatting online than vicey versey is what I’m saying. More people have come together with the intention to come together than because distance necessitates it.
“I think my key thing going into this was to try to normalize a behaviour I think is fairly normal,” she said.
And while noble, and understandable, there is no normal on the internet. In a place where the words “two girls” and “one cup” now mean something that we could never have previously imagined, the wild west of human sexual deviances doesn’t want to be normalized and doesn’t need to be justified. We are a creature who evolved thumbs solely so that we could encircle our tingly bits with them. It’s our teachings over the years that that impulse is bad that makes it necessary to write a paper proving what you’re instinctively drawn to do is okay.
So what I’m saying is: human beings, get over yourselves.
Birds do it, bees do it, all the sickos and the sleaze do it. Let’s do it, let’s turn on our webcams and take off our pants!
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For all your rickety, windowless, primered comedy needs, visit:
vanfullofcandy.comBirds do it, bees do it, even perverts in the trees do it. Let’s do it,... more
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WLOX...
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Injured pelicans, other birds, rescued in Waveland
Posted: Sep 05, 2011 5:04 PM PDT
Updated: Sep 05, 2011 5:24 PM PDT
By Steve Phillips
WAVELAND, MS (WLOX) -
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A wildlife rescue team is working to save young pelicans and other birds injured by the tropical storm. Strong winds and pounding waves from the storm system washed ashore several birds that were either injured or exhausted.
With a net in hand, wildlife rescue volunteer Randy Hines captures a young pelican on the beach in Waveland Monday. The bird shows signs of storm trauma: Bruised feet and swollen joints.
"They're bruised from all the paddling they've had to do when getting blown off their islands," Hines said.
Tropical Storm Lee's wind and waves pushed baby pelicans off their nesting grounds.
"The Chandelier Island chain in Louisiana have a lot of rookeries, pelican rookeries out there. And we had the same problem happen in Gustav in 2008, where a lot of them were washed in from those rookeries off of the islands," said Allison Sharpe with the Wildlife Care & Rescue Center.
Healthy pelicans fly off as Hines approaches with the net. The remaining bird, an injured juvenile, was frightened, but unable to fly away.
Anyone who stumbles across an injured pelican should not attempt such a rescue.
"First of all, people have to understand these are federally protected birds and they're not supposed to touch them. We've been receiving calls since late yesterday afternoon about a lot of the birds down here on the beaches with injuries to their wings."
And it's not just pelicans. The group picked up an injured seagull at the Pass Christian Harbor. They also found an exhausted northern gannet is also a storm rescue bird.
"They dive into the water, just like our pelicans, to catch their meal."
The goal is the same for all rescued bird: Nurse them back to health, and return them to where they belong.
"Try to get them re-hydrated, get some food into them, get them where they're old enough to start flying by themselves and to obviously release them."
Again, if you find an injured pelican or other sea bird, you should call the professionals rather than attempt a rescue yourself. You can reach the Wildlife Care and Rescue Center at (228) 669-2737.
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Injured pelicans, other birds, rescued in Waveland
Posted: Sep... more
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We just got some important evidence that this protest is working and that we’re breaking through to the mainstream media and the White House.
This morning, President Obama’s press secretary, Jake Carney, was questioned by reporters on Air Force One about our protest happening outside the White House. We’ve been trying to break through to the White House press corps for the last few days. Now, we know that we’ve struck a nerve.
Here’s the transcript from Air Force One:
Q: Also, anything on these protests outside the White House on this pipeline? Has the President decided against TransCanada’s permit for the pipeline? It’s the tar sands pipeline. There have been a lot of arrests outside the White House about it.
MR. CARNEY: I don’t have anything new on that. I believe the State Department has — that’s under the purview of the State Department presently, but I don’t have anything new on that.
Q: Is the President aware of the protests?
MR. CARNEY: I haven’t talked to him about it.
Now, here’s the thing: while it’s great to see the press corps pushing the Administration to recognize our demonstration, the fact that Carney hasn’t yet briefed the President on the protest and the pipeline is a worrying sign about how out of touch this administration is on this issue.
“Just in the last two days everyone from the president’s chief climate scientist to an 84-year-old grandmother was arrested on his front doorstep,” said environmental author Bill McKibben, who is spearheading the White House protest. “This is the largest civil disobedience action in the environmental movement in a generation, and if they really aren’t even discussing it with the president, that signals a deep disrespect for their supporters, especially young people who have demonstrated that the environment is a top priority.”
We’re going to be pushing Carney and the Administration to make sure President Obama is hearing directly from people across the country who are here in DC risking arrest, and the many hundreds of thousands more that support this cause.
more at the link
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That means either one of two things. He really hasn't told him because they already know what they are going to do and could really care less about this. Or this was just a deflection because he couldn't reveal anything more. Either way though, at least he didn't ask, what protest? He knew what was implied and that means they do know. Everyday more and more people are finding out about this and the toxic legacy it is bringing to our planet. And more and more people are standing up to say NO to this toxic carbon timebomb.
And that is because this is getting out through social media, the Internet and primarily because of the bravery and conviction of those who sit and stand in front of the White House. All of them. Some who I am sure thought long and hard of the residual effects this could have on their lives. And I thank them, because they also managed to do something I have wanted to see for a long time. They managed to bring the entire environmental movement together. I have always thought that we have not been as successful in getting this message out as we could be because we were too fragmented. Each organization with their own goals competing against each other rather then joining together for a common cause.
This now is the cause. Standing up at last for health, clean air and water, sustainability, climate balance, climate justice and the beginning of a time when our children will be able to look at us and say thank you for caring about the world they inherit from us.
This is what it is all about and President Obama, you know it too and you know what you need to do.
Keystone XL- NO!We just got some important evidence that this protest is working and that we’re... more
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L.A. considers putting zoo operations in private hands
Officials say the change would save nearly $20 million over five years and prevent possible closure. Critics question the savings and say the move could mean less transparency in animal welfare.
Los Angeles Zoo
Photo: Zoo patrons view a pair of Masai giraffes at the Los Angeles Zoo. Two potential private operators have expressed interest in running the zoo. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
By Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times
July 28, 2011
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Someone else may soon be tending to the misty artificial rain forest at the Los Angeles Zoo where Bruno, a 300-pound orangutan with a wispy orange beard and a hulking frame, makes his home.
The city opened the zoo and botanical gardens in 1966, but officials are now considering a proposal to turn over management to a private operator. That means the gardeners, plumbers and other city employees who help run the zoo could be transferred to other departments and replaced with private workers.
Like any issue involving labor — or animals — the fight over the fate of the zoo has caused a considerable stir.
City officials say the change would save nearly $20 million over the next five years and rescue the zoo from possible budget reductions or even closure. But opponents of the plan question the savings and warn that privatization could mean steeper ticket prices for the zoo's 1.5 million annual visitors and less transparency when it comes to animal welfare.
The zoo plan is only the latest example of a shift in how budget-strapped officials think about "core services" and City Hall's basic obligations to taxpayers. They are also considering proposals to privatize the Los Angeles Convention Center, an animal shelter in the San Fernando Valley and several arts facilities.
Such public-private partnerships are common in Los Angeles County. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History are two county facilities operated by nonprofit organizations.
"It's not a revolutionary idea," said Miguel Santana, L.A.'s chief administrative officer, who came to City Hall from the county in 2009. "This model has worked across the country as a way of ensuring services are maintained in an era of declining revenues."
According to a draft proposal for the zoo plan, which the City Council's Arts, Parks, Health and Aging Committee will consider Thursday, Bruno and the rest of the animals would remain the property of the city, along with the zoo's Griffith Park grounds.
All current staff would remain employees of the city, but those who do not hold zoo-specific jobs might be transferred to other city departments. Future hires would be employees of the new operator.
Two potential operators have already stepped forward.
One is the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Assn., or GLAZA, a nonprofit headquartered on the zoo's campus that raises money for the institution, manages its memberships and operates its concessions. In 2010-11, it raised about $13 million for the zoo, according to GLAZA President Connie Morgan
The other party is Parques Reunidos, a Madrid-based theme park operator that runs 70 amusement parks, water parks and zoos worldwide.
Dave Towne, a former consultant for the L.A. Zoo, said that if a private company takes over, the face of the zoo may change. "Any private, for-profit operation is going to Disney-fy it," he said. "That's just what they do."
Towne, former director of the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, oversaw the transition of that zoo's management to a nonprofit 10 years ago. He said private operators run the majority of the nation's major zoos and are often more successful at marketing and fundraising than cities, in part because they are less encumbered by bureaucracy.
Animal activists fear that could result in a lack of transparency. Catherine Doyle, of In Defense of Animals, said that if the zoo is privatized, "it will become even more secretive and insular."
She and others have long accused the zoo's management of not being forthcoming about animal care, and have asked that the operator be required to answer to a city-appointed animal welfare commission.
Adriana Hawkins, a zoo gardener for six years, says everyone will suffer if longtime employees are reassigned. The zoo will lose expertise, she said, and the employees will lose jobs they love.
"I don't want to go down to the harbor; I don't want to spend my life on the freeway," Hawkins said. "I have a passion for the zoo."
Santana and others have said that privatizing the zoo will allow it to flourish. A report he commissioned said that under private management, the zoo would be able to reap up to $3.8 million more each year in revenue, thanks to new opportunities for corporate sponsorship, fundraising and special events.
But City Councilman Richard Alarcon said that's all the more reason to keep control of the zoo. "If a private corporation can make it profitable, why can't we?" he said.
It costs $26 million a year to run the zoo and pay the salaries, benefits and pensions of more than 200 employees. The city contributes about $14.6 million; the rest of the budget comes from ticket sales and donations.
Officials say if the city does not privatize management, that figure could grow as high as $19.4 million by 2015. But even if it does complete a deal, the city will still contribute about $13.8 million to the zoo in 2015, according to the proposal.
The savings may be small in the short term, but Santana insists that it adds up. Next year, he and other officials will have to find a way to close a $200-million budget deficit.
.L.A. considers putting zoo operations in private hands
Officials say the change... more
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To celebrate the launch of new Bulmers Nº17 and our experimentation with flavour, we’re all about experimenting here at Bulmers this summer. As part of our experimenting we’ve been wondering, who tweets more - birds or humans?
Join the experiment daily between the hours of 1pm and 2pm by tweeting the hashtag #Bulmers or visit the Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/bulmersuk
The birds have won the last few days so it’s time to get even!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqoHKJzVimoTo celebrate the launch of new Bulmers Nº17 and our experimentation with flavour,... more
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