Archive for the 'news' category
By the by, I totally forgot to mention here that I’ve started to blog with the gang over at the OC Metblogs. Please check us out!
Categories: news
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This article in the LA Times about the “sport” of cock fighting in the Philippines is the kind of thing that makes me embarrassed of my heritage.
Personally, I find the all fighting sports stupid, but maybe that’s because I just don’t get it. Really, I don’t. What’s so exciting about watching people pummel each other for fame, glory, or money? Then when you get down to the idea of dog and cock-fighting, IQ levels seem to plummet even further. Here’s a tasty quote from the article by Jorge Araneta, a coliseum owner, who is trying to explain that cock-fighting should be more acceptable than human boxing because chickens who fight one another to the death is “what comes naturally” to them:
This is a better proxy than human beings beating each other’s brains out. I pleaded with Ali to give it up after that fight.
Um, right. I feel bad for Ali and all, but give me a break! There is NOTHING natural about forcing chickens to fight viciously against one another. YOU (the human handler) are putting them (the chickens) in that position. In the wild, they might fight one another if survival or territory were on the line. But in the cock-fighting ring, they (the chickens) did not CHOOSE to enter that ring to maim or kill another chicken. They are fighting for your pleasure and greed, not for anything natural. Compared to human boxing, boxers make their own choices about entering the sport. Sure, maybe they also have some overzealous handlers, but when you get right down to it, they are (and are capable of) making the choice to enter or leave the sport. Last I checked, chickens who are in the sport aren’t making those decisions, their handlers are.
Here’s another brilliant quote from Manny Berbano, another supporter of the so-called sport and publisher of some magazine called Pit Games:
As long as the Almighty permitted intelligent men, created in his image and likeness, to fight in public and kill each other while the world looks on approvingly, it’s not for me to deprive the chickens of the same privilege.
My immediate thought upon reading that quote was: Are you serious? Did he just bring GOD into this? I really have nothing to say about this dude other than karma payback’s gonna be a bitch.
Categories: animals, news
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Well, not quite yet. Though talks about banning the use of Styrofoam in the city’s restaurants will begin next month (via the OC Register).
Laguna Beach is poised to become the first county city to extend such a ban to the private sector. Under a plan to be discussed next month, city restaurants would have to ditch takeout cups and containers made of Styrofoam. While cheap and effective, the plastic can take decades to biodegrade and can harm wildlife that mistake its crumbled pieces for food.
I say GOOD FOR THEM and I hope the plan to ban is successful. Then I hope all other OC cities follow suit.
The article mentions how “restaurant industry officials” aren’t so hot about the idea, namely because alternatives can cost three times as much as Styrofoam, and that the ban won’t solve the “true issue” of littering.
I know littering is a problem. Trust me, I’m very aware of it. I try not to snarl when I’m out and I see little rugrats mindlessly dropping crap on the ground while their parents do absolutely nothing about it. (What happened to the days of old, when parents would teach their kids about manners??) Anywhoo, I quite agree that even if you take away Styrofoam, people would still continue to litter, and in the long run, there’s got to be something done to (re)educate the masses. In the meantime, just because people will continue to litter doesn’t make it OK to keep using something that takes forever to biodegrade, harms wildlife, and is quite possibly very, very nasty for humans. Just this week I witnessed a kid at work throwing food in a Styrofoam container in the microwave. When another employee mentioned “you know that’s toxic,” the kid simply shrugged it off and replied, “it’s OK, my stomach’s made of steel.” (I’d like to know how much of our tax money ends up in health care to take care of people who make moronic decisions such as these.)
Categories: news, environment
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 I have no love for insects with stingers. At 17, wandering around Boston, I got stung on the ankle by some wandering bee, leaving me pretty much immobile for the rest of my trip. A few years later, I took a day off work to catch up on things like groceries, when an overzealous wasp somehow made its way down the back of my shirt and stung me. Repeatedly. Did you know wasps could do that? I had no idea, but that was the day I learned. There’s nothing quite like spending your day off lying face down on your bathroom floor, whimpering and helpless.
Anywhoo, so yeah, I don’t like bees and wasps, but I DO like my fruits. Because of the mysterious disappearances of honey bees of late, agricultural experts are worried about the effects on pollination of crops (to the tune of $15 billion worth of fruits, nuts, and other assorted crops in U.S. alone). No one still has any clue why the honey bees are disappearing so rapidly, or even where they’re disappearing to. No bodies, no clues. Is some unexpected predator filling its belly with honey bees? Hey, it could happen! Actually, it’s already happening in France, where Asian hornets (that were accidentally imported from China) are attacking the honey bees and turning them into bee-paste for the queen and her brood.
Such violent creatures! I say do away with all of ‘em, but since I do like my fruits and nuts, I am bummed about the disappearances.
Categories: news
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The OC Register reports this morning that Disneyland has also jumped on the green bandwagon. Or is that a party train? According to OCR, Disney’s four operable trains, that run along the Disneyland Railroad tracks, have been running on a mix of 2 percent diesel and 98 percent soybean oil since January 2007.
For Disneyland, the switch to biodiesel saves as much as 150,000 gallons of diesel fuel each year, while potentially reducing carbon dioxide emissions by up to 80 percent, Disneyland Resort spokesman Bob Tucker said Monday.
The article also mentions that the Disney folk are also looking into using biodiesel for other attractions and equipment. Sounds good so far, but I honestly don’t know enough about the pros and cons of biodiesel to proclaim “I HEART DISNEY!”
Categories: news
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