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For Fun, Kangaroo Tortured By Group of Young Men
Kangaroo attack caught on tape |
The RSPCA is searching for a group of young men who videoed a kangaroo being beaten.
The video shows a person kicking and punching the kangaroo which looks to be stunned.
The animal tires to defend itself but is eventually knocked out as the person filming the sickening attack laughs.
Native wildlife expert Steve McLeod believes the animal was injured prior to the attack.
“The kangaroo is very disoriented,” he said.
“It is very unusual for a kangaroo to fight like that as they invariably flee.
“I would hazard a guess that it has been knocked over by the car and injured.
“Certainly it has been stunned in some way.”
The RSPCA across Australia has joined forces to launch a nationwide appeal to catch the cowards who shot the appalling footage.
RSPCA Queensland spokesman Michael Beatty asked any body who knew those responsible to contact the organisation.
“Thankfully this sickening footage has now been removed from the website where it was first seen,” he said.
“The next stage is to ensure that those responsible for this film are brought to justice.”
In August, a koala was attacked and magpies were found nailed to a tree.
RSPCA contacts:
Queensland 1300 852 188
Western Australia (08) 9209 9300
New South Wales (02) 9770 7555
Australian Capital Territory (02) 6287 8100
South Australia (03) 8231 6931
Tasmania (03) 6332 8200
http://www.thedaily.com.au/news/2008/sep/11/sickening-k... Kangaroo attack caught on tape | The RSPCA is searching for a group of young men who videoed a kangaroo being beaten. ... more -
IWC issues media blackout on discussions to lift whaling ban
The fate of the ban on whale hunting to be decided behind closed doors.
The survival of whales is perhaps the most successful conservation story of the 20th century. Since a moratorium on commercial hunting, some whale species have staged dramatic recoveries. In May it was announced that the humpback whale population has climbed from 1,500 to 20,000 individuals, resulting in it being "downlisted" from vulnerable to least concern, according to the IUCN's Red List. Others, like the blue whale, appear to have stable populations but recovery remains slow.
The moratorium on hunting, begun in 1982, was the decisive moment for whale conservation. Next week, the fate of that moratorium will be decided by the International Whaling Commission (IWC). In St. Petersburg, Florida twenty-six of the eighty nations making up the IWC will gather under a media-blackout to discuss the continuance of the commercial hunting ban on whales.
"These closed-door meetings pose a grave risk to the future of the IWC and the whales it was established to protect," said Patrick R. Ramage, Global Whale Program Director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). "Whales face more threats today than at any time in history and Americans from sea to shining sea want to see them protected. The last thing we need is a secret deal to re-open whaling.”
Despite the moratorium a few nations continue commercial whaling. Both Iceland and Japan partake in annual hunts, stating that their whaling is only conducted for scientific purposes. Many conservationists, however, believe that scientific whaling is just a cover for commercial whaling. Japan remains the world’s largest consumer of whale products and meat is widely available in grocery stores, restaurants, and even children’s school lunches. Norway also actively participates in commercial whaling...
Whale populations still face a variety of threats, even without commercial hunting, such as collisions with ships, pollution, by-catch, seismic testing for oil, the use of sonar, and climate change. --
--Many of the twenty-six nations attending the meeting in St. Petersburg are suspected of being aligned with Japan and Iceland in their desire to lift the ban on whaling. In an op-ed piece, Ramage states that he believes the Bush administration is preparing to allow the ban to be lifted in order to placate Japan. The IWC chairman, William Hogarth, is a Bush administration appointee.
Ramage says that Hogarth, “should either open up the process for scrutiny, or simply cancel the meetings." The fate of the ban on whale hunting to be decided behind closed doors. ... more -
Who is the Handler? (Palin's, of course)
Sarah Palin's small-town-girl-takes-on-Washington act is a brilliant success, for today anyway. But anytime political parties bring their aw-shucks, folksy Gomer Pyles out in front of the klieg lights, it's time to suspend disbelief. And that's especially true when the Republicans, party of corporate America and Big Oil, are casting the show.
Yes, Governor Palin was born and raised in a town called Wasilla, hunts caribou, married "her guy" from high school who races, in her words, "snow machines" (when did they graduate from being snow-mobiles?) and apparently knows how to load and shoot a gun. She also really is a mother, a mother of a hockey player too, and a member of the PTA.
However, one need only check out Jim Yardley's enlightening reportage from Wasilla in yesterday's New York Times to smell the rat. Sarah Palin is no average Jane, much as she looks and sounds like one. On the contrary, Sarah Palin's entry into politics and subsequent rise has all the hallmarks of having been engineered, coached and groomed by bigger outside forces with a bigger plan.
Her first election to mayor in 1996 was based on "wedge Issues" - abortion, gun control, and proof of hard-core religiosity - issues that had never been discussed before in the town of 7,000, where politicians had run on where they stood on bingo revenue and fixing muddy roads.
Listen to the shell-shocked fellow she beat in that first election, the three term incumbent Mayor of Wasilla, John C. Stein. "Sarah comes in with all this ideological stuff, and I was like, 'Whoa. But that got her elected: abortion, gun rights, term limits and the religious born-again thing. I'm not a churchgoing guy, and that was another issue: 'We will have our first Christian mayor.'"
There was a time when America's small town governments were about local civics and its churches really were mainly about spirituality. That quaint era vanished, within living memory, with the rise of the "Christian right" which literally infected mainstream American Christianity with hateful brochures about gays, guns, and abortion.
For the rest of this story & more on Palin, please visit:
http://www.newscientist.com/blog/environment/2008/09/wi... Sarah Palin's small-town-girl-takes-on-Washington act is a brilliant success, for today anyway. But anytime political parties bri... more -
Loopholes Make the 'Roadless Area' Rules Meaningless - Care2 News Networ...
'Truce' is reached in battle over Idaho forest land after years of political battles with the Bush administration pushing for "less-restrictive" rules. *CONSERVATION CAN NOT ENDURE IF THE PEOPLE MOST AFFECTED BY IT DO NOT SUPPORT IT*
Legal and political battles over the future of national forest land have raged since 2001, with the Clinton administration’s “roadless rule” protecting millions of acres from loggers, miners and development, and the Bush administration pushing for less-restrictive rules.
Other wilderness-protection groups opposed the plan released on Friday. Some, like the Wilderness Society, based in Washington, were concerned about the likelihood of phosphate mining in the acreage with less protection, and continued to press for the full measure of safeguards afforded by the Clinton-era rule.
Craig Gehrke, the regional director of the Wilderness Society, said on Friday that the organization’s position had been that all the national forest land protected by the 2001 rule “should be left roadless and undeveloped.”
The compromise on forest protections was embraced in the federal government’s final environmental impact statement, which will be open to public comment for 30 days. Final adoption would probably come late in the fall.
The new regulation covers only Idaho. The original Clinton rule applied to the entire country. That rule and a Bush administration substitute have been tangled in two-track litigation in federal courts, and it is not clear whether the new Idaho compromise plan will remain free of this tangle.
While the compromise was being hailed in a news conference in Boise, Idaho’s capital, in Colorado the battle continued unabated. That state, where 4.1 million acres were protected by the original roadless rule, has proposed a plan that has drawn fierce criticism from environmental groups for provisions that, they say, cater to ski resorts, ranchers and other commercial interests.
Mike King, the deputy director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, said the draft proposal had exempted some categories of land from roadless protections but had not delineated the boundaries of the land. This prompted assertions from environmental groups that the loopholes made the rule meaningless.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/30/us/30forest.html?ref=... 'Truce' is reached in battle over Idaho forest land after years of political battles with the Bush administration pushing fo... more -
Let Goliath go free!| Turtle tortured then slaughtered
From the Pensacola News Journal:
http://www.pnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080807/...
There doesn't seem to be much that can be done officially to force the release of a 100-pound snapping turtle fished from the Escambia River last week.
We can only hope public pressure will lead to its release by the Jay family that caught and is holding it.
It is sad that this large, old turtle likely more than 15 years old, can be valued by some mainly for its status as trophy to be hung on a wall. It is a mark of how alienated from nature our society is that people find value in destroying, not protecting, such a creature.
As for reputed plans by the family to create a "sanctuary" for the animal, it had everything it needed in the river it was plucked from.
The animal's status with the State of Florida, a 'Species of Special Concern' affords it only limited protection. An individual can only possess one, and it can't be sold.
But that status is based on the fact snapping turtles are in danger of becoming a threatened species, in part due to the risk of human exploitation.
However, state officials have issued a warning letter for violation of a caging requirement, and advised the Phillips family to either correct the problem or return the turtle, alive, to the river.
We urge the Phillips family to comply and set the turtle free.
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HOW HORRIBLE!
The Phillips family even named the poor turtle! I live in this area & this is a disgrace. I am disgusted at the treatment of animals (both domesticated & wildlife) that takes place here. This entire family (which will probably reproduce) is a stain on what it means to be human.
2 comments made to the editor of the PNJ worth posting...
"PNJ failed to mention several items:
Another local newspaper was contacted first about this story and refused to publish it due to the possible exploitation. It appeared the family was interested in garnering publicity and funds and was in fact using public sympathy for the turtle to try to get money.
Secondly, Phillips has a record for wildlife violations as recent as May for possession of a migratory bird or "parts" of a migratory bird and going back for years to hunting at night with a light for turkey and deer. He also has a list of arrests several pages long for numerous crimes, including domestic violence and child abuse.
Finally, the News Journal did a great disservice by participating in the exploitation of this animal while photographing the turtle at the home of the family. Photographers and reporters stood by and watched as the animal was abused with sticks for the purpose of "great photos."
Great job PNJ. You could probably get a "great shot" of them eating a Bald Eagle..."
"I am almost at a loss for words. I did call and cancel my subscription to the PNJ, as I hold them partially responsable for Goliath's fate. Others may wish to do the same. The online photo's were disgusting!
Florida Fish and Wildfile should be ashamed, as should we all. Once again humans prove their true nature. I totally agree with the posts regarding the family being in dire straits and yet have the money to spend $500. to have Goliath stuffed." From the Pensacola News Journal: http://www.pnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080807/... ... more -
Oilsands Development: Killing Canada
"We appreciate the fact that Canada's tar sands are now becoming economical and we are glad to be able to get the access toward two million barrels a day."-George W. Bush, March 23, 2003.
Powers in this world are now salivating to be able to tear apart the boreal forest to satisfy their lust for greed. And make no mistake about it, it has nothing to do with caring about the people or other species because if it did alternate sources of energy that are safer for the environment and cleaner and more economical to use would be the order of the day, not the "new world order" of the Bushes of this world that seek only to destroy it for their own benefit. But then, getting his fix seems to be something Bush is accustomed to in his life.
Making crude oil from tar sands is a dirty wasteful business. It takes two tons of oil sands ore to yield ONE barrel of oil. Put that into perpsective of these people wanting two MILLION barrels a day, and then it is not hard to see the environmental degradation this process is causing. The oil sand is composed of silt, sand, clay, water, and bitumen. On average, bitumen contains 83.2% carbon. At two million or more barrels a day burning, you figure out the environmental impact of that. And there are two methods by which this noxious smelling concoction is brought to the surface.
It is either through strip mining it or situ recovery methods which are used to access deeper deposits. It is an arduous process that uses much water, which then results in groundwater being polluted and river water being diverted as large amounts of freshwater are required to flush bitumen from the sand to make crude oil. It also is increasing greenhouse gas emission in Alberta, which are spilling over. It is also such a complex process that I went searching for a source that could explain it all from beginning to end, and I found one. This to me is the most thorough and comprehensive source out there now to describe this process and the environmental and climate change effects it is having on our world. I HIGHLY recommend you read through this:
More at the link. Compare the picture here to the picture on the blog entry to see what they have done to the beautiful Boreal Forest with this wasteful practice. "We appreciate the fact that Canada's tar sands are now becoming economical and we are glad to be able to get the access tow... more -
Blasting the Appalachian Economy
The Apppalachian people, along with our oldest mountains, are paying the full price for coal. Coal companies are really good at making promises.
The families and communities of Appalachia have, in fact, been the beneficiary of coal company promises for 150 years, with a lasting peace and prosperity always “just over this next dune,” or in the case of Appalachia…just under our next mountain.
Over the last 30 years in Appalachian coal country we have seen more than 1 million acres of some of the most bio-diverse forest in the world destroyed, more than 1200 miles of vital American headwater streams buried and polluted by mountaintop removal mining waste, and over 474 mountains blasted to rubble by mountaintop removal coal mining (check out Appalachian Mountaintop Removal in Google Earth ).
All the while, coal companies have promised up that while there may be some environmental trade-off to mountaintop removal mining – it was SURE to bring great jobs and prosperity to the region. But while many corporate zillionaires from outside the region have profited mightily off of our resources, the Appalachian people have learned that mountaintop removal does the same thing to our economy that it does to our beloved mountains.
In 1995, Harvard economists Jeffery Sachs and Andrew Warner discovered a clear negative relationship between natural resource-base exports, including agriculture, minerals, and fuels, and GDP growth.
They dubbed this phenomenon "The Resource Curse."
Of the 95 countries they investigated, only two achieved a 2% annual GDP growth rate between 1970-1989. A more common occurrence was increased poverty, warfare, and civil strife.
Electric power generation pulled in more than $380 billion in 2005. More than half of that electricity generation came from coal.
If we’ve been mining coal for 150 years...why are the people of Appalachia among the poorest in the country? The Apppalachian people, along with our oldest mountains, are paying the full price for coal. Coal companies are really good at making... more -
Appeals court sets no deadline for EPA on global warming
A federal appeals court refused Thursday to make a resistant Bush administration speed up a decision on whether greenhouse gases and global warming threaten public health and welfare.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia denied a petition by 17 states and several environmental groups asking it to order the Environmental Protection Agency to make that determination within 60 days.
Such a finding is a necessary first step to regulating carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from motor vehicle tailpipes and the smokestacks of refineries, power plants and factories. The Supreme Court more than a year ago ruled that the EPA has the authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, a step President Bush has repeatedly refused to take.
Instead, EPA is expected to issue a proposal in coming weeks that seeks public comment on a range of options the agency could take to control greenhouse gases under current law. It will take no position on whether carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases should be regulated, according to a draft obtained by The Associated Press.
``We are pleased the Circuit court recognized the agency's approach,'' said Timothy Lyons, deputy press secretary for EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson. ``The advanced notice for proposed rulemaking ... will allow for public input on the broad range of fundamental issues involved in regulating greenhouse gases.''
That proposal is expected to be a step backward from a finding the agency sent via e-mail to the White House last December concluding that greenhouse gases do endanger public health and welfare, and should be controlled.
snip
The latest proposal due out from EPA is undergoing more modifications from the White House, sources familiar with the negotiations said.
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Well, we know all about the White House and its "modifications" regarding climate change. This is why it is not a political issue. People waiting for the federal government to do anything about this of any substance will be greatly disappointed. A federal appeals court refused Thursday to make a resistant Bush administration speed up a decision on whether greenhouse gases and g... more -
Censoring Science: Inside the Political Attack On James Hansen
Dr. James Hansen is widely regarded as the leading climate change scientist in the country. For the past twenty-five years, he has headed NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Just over a year ago, Dr. Hansen went public with a charge that made headlines around the world — that the Bush administration had been trying to silence his warnings about the urgent need to address climate change. His story is detailed in a new book by author Mark Bowen titled Censoring Science: Inside the Political Attack on Dr. James Hansen and the Truth of Global Warming. Dr. James Hansen is widely regarded as the leading climate change scientist in the country. For the past twenty-five years, he has hea... more
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Black balloons: making CO2 real
"Check out the Alliance for Climate Protection's first ad in our national advertising campaign. We are helping alert Americans about the urgency of the climate crisis and engage them in solving it."
' "Check out the Alliance for Climate Protection's first ad in our national advertising campaign. We are helping alert America... more
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crimes against nature
