Why Are People So DUMB!?!

[Seymour]

Hungry Burglars Leave Trail for Police

From Associated Press
May 25, 2006 6:54 PM EDT

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - A trio of hungry burglars helped their own undoing by leaving a trail of snack wrappers after stealing six packages of instant lottery tickets from a convenience store.

"This was a combination of good police work and a stupid criminal," said Sgt. Tom Connellan, a police spokesman.

The burglars smashed a window early Wednesday at a convenience store and fled with the lottery tickets and some Little Debbie Coffee Cake snacks. Officer James Johnson followed a trail of discarded wrappers to a nearby apartment building, where he arrested the trio.

Charged with burglary, grand larceny and criminal mischief were Curtis Hudgins, 17, Adrian Huddleston, 20, and a 15-year-old boy whose name was withheld because of his age.

---

Information from: The Syracuse Post-Standard, http://www.syracuse.com
???
:catface:

[veggiesosage]

Lol. Seymour, I hope it hasn't ruined your faith in humans:updn:

[Peas'nHominy]

:dunce:

:rofl:

[Ped Ant]

???
:catface:
humans make us ants look very smart! :agree: :D

[dreamer]

A few years ago (I can't recall the exact year), I read about an even dumber criminal--believe it or not--in Asheville, NC. He went into a bank to rob it, wrote the note on the back of HIS own deposit slip and handed it to the teller. He then rode his bike home, which was only a few blocks away. The police were there almost as quickly as he was:rofl:

[Willow]

A while back I read about another dumb criminal. He broke into the house of an elderly lady and demanded money. She said that she doesn't have any cash at the moment and that she's old-fashioned and still uses checks instead of credit cards. She offered to write a check, and the criminal agreed. She asked to whom she should make it payable and he gave spelled out his name! As soon as he left, she dialed the police and the robber was caught easily :laugh:

[Bubbles]

And don't forget the Aussies who robbed the bank in Aspen (?) :)

[Peas'nHominy]

And don't forget the Aussies who robbed the bank in Aspen (?) :) What is that story?

[Bubbles]

Some Aussies robbed a bank in Aspen! :rofl:

[Peas'nHominy]

Ha, ha! :D

[Bubbles]

It wasn't Aspen but Vail:http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20050322/NEWS/103220039

Apparently, it was the bank they used regularly and they didn't cover their tracks at all.

[Peas'nHominy]

I particularly liked this part:

The jacket had the words "Valley Electric" on it. The suspect also was wearing a badge or name badge with the name "Dave" on it.
Either he was really :dunce: or very clever.

[Bubbles]

Young Aussie blokes aren't renowned for their intelligence.:no: :D

[BonaDrag]

Do you get the feeling humans are starting a rapid regression (some would perhaps say progression) towards, appearing atleast, to have brain matter (or the ability to use their brain cells) equivalent to that of an ameoba!
No offence intended towards those amoebas that made GCSE Biology slightly more interesting for me to study either!

[Fauxmage]

Drive-Thru Pot Smoke Gives Pair Away


From Associated Press
June 29, 2006 9:35 PM EDT
BUFFALO, N.Y. - A pair of pot smokers picked the wrong day to use the drive-thru window at a KFC restaurant in Buffalo. Two men in their 20s pulled up to the restaurant's window and asked for the Wednesday special.
Meanwhile, a couple of narcotics detectives were inside ordering their food. That's when a cloud of marijuana smoke wafted into the restaurant. The detectives then spotted the two men smoking what one of the cops called "the biggest marijuana cigar your ever saw."
The detectives went outside and arrested 23-year-old Charles Morris and 26-year-old Gregory Quick, both of Buffalo. The two men were charged with possession of marijuana and smoking it in public.
One of the cops said he got the cashier to refund the pot smokers' money for the Wednesday special.


:dunce: :dunce: :dunce:

[veggiesosage]

There was a bit of thing last year in Nottingham where a few local idiots decided it would be a good idea to start smoking weed on the local buses. The bus company has had a 'no smoking' (that means anything) policy for about 13 years so when someone lights a j up it stinks the whole bus out. There was a bit of a strop among the drivers, understandably cos they were worried about being accused of letting it happen and didn't like the idea of having to tackle it themselves.

Anyways, the police had to 'do something' so they first got sniffer dogs out. Like they were needed. Then, when it didn't stop, they had a stop and search blitz, which is a fairly major thing in the uk. Why didn't they just stick a few plain clothes on the buses? They caught a couple of people with a few pills in their pockets and thats it.

This did seem to work in that the smokers have stopped since, but I'm not sure the people who got caught for other offences were that pleased. Pity they didn't catch anybody with knives or guns.

[Phoenix]

Young Aussie blokes aren't renowned for their intelligence.:no: :D Old Aussie blokes aren't either! :whistle:

[Bubbles]

Old Aussie blokes aren't either! :whistle:
You got me there.

[Bowwowmeow]

Calif. 911 Dispatchers Get Wacky Calls
From Associated Press
August 07, 2006 4:21 PM EDT
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - Only a third of 911 calls for help are actual emergencies, according to dispatchers who say some of the calls are simply wacky.
"People have called because they went through the drive-thru and their order was wrong," said California Highway Patrol dispatcher Dennis Kirchner. "People call because they're lost."
There are so many ridiculous calls, dispatchers don't recall many of the details. One, for instance, was a report of a tumbleweed across a highway.
"It's hard to remember the standouts because there's so many stupid things we get," Kirchner said.
Terri Minogue, a senior dispatcher at the Santa Cruz Consolidated Emergency Communications Center, remembers a 911 call from a man who said there were two dead bodies in a car.
Minogue had dispatched sheriff's deputies to the Highway 1 location before realizing the call was a sham. The caller went on to describe a vampire with fangs reaching down from the top of the car.
"He sounded so straight-up before he started talking about the vampires," Minogue said.
Still, emergency dispatchers have to treat every call like an emergency.
"When people call in we will document it, unless it's outrageously stupid," Kirchner said.
Outrageously stupid calls include people who have lost their cars at the mall, misplaced their keys, are stuck in traffic and want to know what's wrong or can't get their baby to stop crying.


:rolleyes2: :wacky: :crazy:

[Oracl]

:lol:

[Bowwowmeow]

Man Picks Wrong Spot When Nature Calls


From Associated Press
August 12, 2006 3:56 AM EDT
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Sometimes when nature calls, there's no time to delay, but a Kentucky man sure picked the wrong spot for a pit stop.
Michael Ray Hunter, 37, found out Wednesday night that the parking lot of the West Virginia State Police headquarters in South Charleston isn't the right spot.
Trooper J.S. Crane just happened to be walking nearby as Hunter was relieving himself.
As Crane approached, he smelled alcohol. That discovery led Crane to the truck where Hunter's friend, James Alan Richardson, 40, was checking phone messages.
During a search of the pickup, Crane and another trooper found a marijuana pipe and pills for which Richardson had no prescription.
Both men were arrested for public intoxication. Hunter also is charged with indecent exposure and Richardson is charged with possessing controlled substances.


:dunce: :dunce: :dunce:
:laugh:

[thevegantwins]

Ok, I admit.

When I was a stupid, young high-school student, I was walking home from a party and yes, I was intoxicated. Very intoxicated. I had to pee so I saw a nice big tree on someone's front lawn, this is suburbia and lawns abound everywhere, nothing else. I was squatting on the front lawn enjoying the relief when the homeowners pulled into their driveway. I had to run to the side of the house pulling my jeans up along the way! :covereyes:

[Oracl]

I was squatting on the front lawn enjoying the relief when the homeowners pulled into their driveway. I had to run to the side of the house pulling my jeans up along the way! :covereyes:
:lol:

[1vegan]

newslink (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14351721/)

NEW YORK - Three-quarters of Americans can correctly identify two of Snow White's seven dwarfs while only a quarter can name two U.S. Supreme Court Justices, according to a poll on pop culture released Monday.

According to the poll by Zogby International, commissioned by the makers of a new game show on pop culture called "Gold Rush," 57 percent of Americans could identify J.K. Rowling's fictional boy wizard as Harry Potter, while only 50 percent could name the British prime minister, Tony Blair.

The pollsters spoke to 1,213 people across the United States. The results had a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.

It's a small poll, so I don't know how representative it really is.

That people don't know certain things can have multiple reasons, but I think this shows that a lot of people basicly get their information from TV (instead from schools)

I'm not sure I could all the answers right myself.

Respondents were far more familiar with the Three Stooges -- Larry, Curly and Moe -- than the three branches of the U.S. government -- judicial, executive and legislative. Seventy-four percent identified the former, 42 percent the latter.

I couldn't have answered those either :shy:

[Bowwowmeow]

Ah, well, that's probably because they are all interchangeable. ;)
:stooges:

[Rainbow]

Quote from the Radio Times...
Last year, his opinions about women caused a furore. Now Michael Buerk offers his views on animal rights extremists (Don't Get Me Started, Tuesday, Five)

NB He's pro a certain building in Oxford.

[Gliondrach]

Quote from the Radio Times...
Last year, his opinions about women caused a furore. Now Michael Buerk offers his views on animal rights extremists (Don't Get Me Started, Tuesday, Five)

NB He's pro a certain building in Oxford.

Buerk is a berk.

[Gliondrach]

There was a bit of thing last year in Nottingham where a few local idiots decided it would be a good idea to start smoking weed on the local buses.

The best way to stamp out that sort of thing is to have a sprinkler system above each seat that is activated by smoke. Instead of sprinkling water they could spray out petrol. Other people might object but it would stop people smoking on buses.

It might stop people travelling on buses, too. But every solution has its drawbacks.

[Bowwowmeow]

Woman Crashes When Teaching Dog to Drive


From Associated Press
August 28, 2006 7:19 PM EDT
BEIJING - A woman in Hohhot, the capital of north China's Inner Mongolia region, crashed her car while giving her dog a driving lesson, the official Xinhua News Agency said Monday.
No injuries were reported although both vehicles were slightly damaged, it said.
The woman, identified only be her surname, Li, said her dog "was fond of crouching on the steering wheel and often watched her drive," according to Xinhua.
"She thought she would let the dog 'have a try' while she operated the accelerator and brake," the report said. "They did not make it far before crashing into an oncoming car."
Xinhua did not say what kind of dog or vehicles were involved but Li paid for repairs.


:dizzy: :dunce:

[Bowwowmeow]

Panda Bites Man, Man Bites Him Back


From Associated Press
September 20, 2006 4:17 PM EDT
BEIJING - A drunken Chinese migrant worker jumped into a panda enclosure at the Beijing Zoo, was bitten by the bear and retaliated by chomping down on the animal's back, state media said Wednesday.
Zhang Xinyan, from the central province of Henan, drank four jugs of beer at a restaurant near the zoo before visiting Gu Gu the panda on Tuesday, the Beijing Morning Post said.
"He felt a sudden urge to touch the panda with his hand," and jumped into the enclosure, the newspaper said.
The panda, who was asleep, was startled and bit Zhang, 35, on the right leg, it said. Zhang got angry and kicked the panda, who then bit his other leg. A tussle ensued, the paper said.
"I bit the fellow in the back," Zhang was quoted as saying in the newspaper. "Its skin was quite thick."
Other tourists yelled for a zookeeper, who got the panda under control by spraying it with water, reports said. Zhang was hospitalized.
Newspaper photographs showed Zhang lying on a hospital bed with blood-soaked bandages and a seam of stitches running down his leg.
The Beijing Youth Daily quoted Zhang as saying that he had seen pandas on television and "they seemed to get along well with people."
"No one ever said they would bite people," Zhang said. "I just wanted to touch it. I was so dizzy from the beer. I don't remember much."
Ye Mingxia, a spokeswoman for the Beijing Zoo, confirmed the incident happened but would not give any details. She said Gu Gu was "healthy."
"We're not considering punishing him now," Ye said in a telephone interview. "He's suffered quite a bit of shock."


"who got the panda under control by spraying it with water,"????? Who got the drunken a$$hole who attacked him under control, I wonder! :mad: :mad: :mad: I sure hope they keep Gu Gu under observation. Human bites are the most dangerously infectious in the whole animal kingom.

[paul]

they probley wouldnt have crashed if the dog was operating the brake and accelerator.:D

what a f%"*@~# idiot :grumble: :mad: , hope the pandas recovers.:agree:

[forthebirds]

57 percent of Americans could identify J.K. Rowling's fictional boy wizard as Harry Potter

Only 57% could identify Harry Potter? Now THAT's funny since you'd think it would be much higher! :lol: (Not surprised about the 50% for Tony Blair though...sadly :no: )

[forthebirds]

Woman Crashes When Teaching Dog to Drive

At least you've got to give her credit for assuming her dog was able to do it!

:dognnana:

[dreamer]

A friend of mine just emailed this to me:

BELIEVE it or not,
These are REAL 911 Calls!


Dispatcher: 9-1-1 What is your emergency?
Caller: I heard what sounded like gunshots coming from the brown
house on the corner.
Dispatcher: Do you have an address?
Caller: No, I have on a blouse and slacks, why?


Dispatcher: 9-1-1 What is your emergency?
Caller: Someone broke into my house and took a bite out of my ham
and cheese sandwich.
Dispatcher: Excuse me?
Caller: I made a ham and cheese sandwich and left it on the kitchen
table and when I came back from the bathroom, someone had
taken a bite out of it.
Dispatcher: Was anything else taken?
Caller: No, but this has happened to me before and I'm sick and tired
of it!


Dispatcher: 9-1-1 What is the nature of your emergency?
Caller: I'm trying to reach nine eleven but my phone doesn't have
an eleven on it.
Dispatcher: This is nine eleven.
Caller: I thought you just said it was nine-one-one
Dispatcher: Yes, ma'am nine-one-one and nine-eleven are the same
thing.
Caller: Honey, I may be old, but I'm not stupid.


Dispatcher: 9-1-1 What's the nature of your emergency?
Caller: My wife is pregnant and her contractions are only two
minutes apart
Dispatcher: Is this her first child?
Caller: No, you idiot! This is her husband!

And the winner is...

Dispatcher: 9-1-1
Caller: Yeah, I'm having trouble breathing. I'm all out of breath.
Darn....I think I'm going to pass out.
Dispatcher: Sir, where are you calling from?
Caller: I'm at a pay phone. North and Foster.
Dispatcher: ! Sir, an ambulance is on the way. Are you an asthmatic?
Caller: No
Dispatcher: What were you doing before you started having trouble
breathing?
Caller: Running from the Police.

[paul]

:D :rofl: :laugh: :faint: :rolleyes2: :crazy: :call: :tragedy: :comedy: :speechless: :stooges: :slam: :hbang:

[Gliondrach]

Yes, I can believe it.

[Fauxmage]

:laugh: :lol: :laugh: :lol: :laugh:

[Oracl]

:agree: I can believe it too! :lol:

[Bowwowmeow]

I was on the freeway this evening during rush hour when I saw one of the dumbest things I've ever seen on the road. I was in the slow lane, and a police car was trying to get someone off the freeway to give them a ticket (for what I can't imagine, since it was a virtual parking lot, and there was no way the guy could have been speeding), so I slowed up to let them over. Just as the guy was coming to a stop on the shoulder, some idiot, speeding along the shoulder to get to the next exit, nearly hit him, and the police car, who didn't see the speeding idiot, nearly hit him as he proceeded to pull onto the shoulder behind his intended "victim". There was enough space for the idiot to pass between the officer and the victim, so he pulled back out onto the freeway!!! I had a front row seat to all of this since I was the only one polite enough to make way for the officer in the first place.

So the police car gets back onto the freeway, and follows the idiot, who refuses to pull over. I was exiting at the next ramp myself, so I got to watch the chase until they went to the right at the next red light, while I turned left. I wonder what sort of penalty the idiot will be subject to.

I bet the original victim thanked his lucky stars, though, because he got left behind without his ticket. :D

[Oracl]

The idiot deserves whatever the cops throw at him. :bhead: :D

[paul]

:D

[Bowwowmeow]

Carjacker Crashes, Gets Lost, Calls Cops


From Associated Press
December 28, 2006 5:47 PM EST
BOCA RATON, Fla. - A carjacker called 911 and turned himself in to police after he crashed a stolen SUV twice and got lost during his escape from the crime scene. Claude King, 31, called police from a Palm Springs pay phone and confessed to stealing the GMC Envoy Tuesday night, The Palm Beach Post reported.
"Um, I committed a crime," he told the police dispatcher. "I stole a vehicle."
He asked for officers to respond to his location, but when the dispatcher asked where the vehicle was, King didn't have an answer.
"I couldn't even tell you," he said. "I don't even know where I'm at."
Boca Raton police found King waiting on a curb. He being was held without bail in the Palm Beach County Jail.


:bhead: :dunce:

[Oracl]

:lol:

[Fauxmage]

Suspected Mouse Remains Found in Beans


From Associated Press
January 04, 2007 4:23 PM EST
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. - No child became sick, but the thought of finding mouse remains in cooked green beans at a preschool lunch has officials feeling ill.
About half of the Oak Ridge Preschool's 206 students had been served Wednesday when a teacher distributing the meals spotted suspected rodent remains.
Philadelphia-based Aramark Corp., which provides food service management to Oak Ridge and more than 420 other public and private school systems around the country, was investigating, spokeswoman Karen Cutler said Thursday.
"The object has not been identified. There is no confirmation of what the object is until it is tested," Cutler said, noting that the local health department considered the health risk so minor "they declined to come out. They are not going to take any samples or anything."
Principal Marian Phillips said the children were unaware of the problem "because they didn't see anything. The teacher handled it in a way a professional should."
All of the cooked green beans and remaining cans of green beans were immediately pulled, Assistant Superintendent Ken Green said, and a letter was sent home to parents.
Officials believe whatever it was entered the green beans during the "prepackaging process," Green said, before they were cooked twice and served at the school.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Anderson County Health Department and parents of the 3 and 4-year-old students were notified. Health department official Dr. Paul Erwin described the health risk to students as "minimal if any."
Parents were "very understanding," Phillips said.
---
Aramark: http://www.aramark.com/
---
Information from: The Knoxville News Sentinel, http://www.knoxnews.com

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
"No child became sick, but the thought of finding mouse remains in cooked green beans at a preschool lunch has officials feeling ill."
The thought of finding cow, pig, lamb, fish, etc. remains in cooked green beans would make ME feel ill. :blecch:

This reminds me of my mom telling me about some people she knew who found mouse in their ice cream. I asked "Are they vegetarians?" She said, "No." I said "So what's the problem then? Dead meat is dead meat. People who eat dead animals have no right to be picky." Boy was she mad!
(I was only a kid at the time. :nahnah: :beanie: :gum: )

A true carnivore, upon finding dead mouse in their vegetables, would be ecstatic to find delicious morsels of gratuitous protein in their dull, boring veggies. Those people should have been jumping for joy that the children were getting extra nutrition! :wacky: :bouncy: :pingpong:

[Gliondrach]

They probably wouldn't like maggots in their meat, either. Not even live, fresh ones. These meatheads are really fussy.

[Fauxmage]

Yeah, they haven't got the sense to know that the live, wigglin' extras are the best part. ;) Crunchy on the outside, but with a creamy center. :yum: :whistle:

[Oracl]

Don't let Ped see you post things like that, I'll never hear the end of it. :rolleyes: :no:

[Bowwowmeow]

:D

[Bowwowmeow]

Neighbors Sue Heston Over Mudslide


By ANA BEATRIZ CHOLO (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
January 04, 2007 11:17 PM EST
LOS ANGELES - Neighbors who live down a hill from Charlton Heston's home are suing the actor, alleging that their property was damaged two years ago when heavy rain sent hillside debris pouring into their home.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday by Jerome and Flora Heilweil alleges "slope failure" on Heston's property caused substantial damage to their home in January 2005, diminishing the market value of their property. The couple seeks at least $1.2 million, as well as punitive damages.
Jeff Briggs, Heston's longtime attorney, said the actor owns 10 percent of the Southern California hillside while the Heilweils own the rest. He said, "It's their hillside."
The neighbors and their insurance companies have been battling for almost two years, Briggs said. At one point, the two sides sat down for mediation.
Torrential rains caused the mudslide, and Briggs said his client should not be held responsible for any damage to a neighbor's property. He said the mudslide was among hundreds that occurred in the area during a particularly rainy season.
Patty Glaser, an attorney for the Heilweils, said the couple does not want to comment on the lawsuit.
The Hestons have lived at the top of Mulholland Drive since 1959, according to Heston's publicist Bill Powers. He said the actor built the home with earnings from "Ben-Hur," which earned him an Oscar for best actor.
Heston, 83, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, also starred in "The Ten Commandments" and "Planet of the Apes."


Uhhhhhhh. . .
I think someone's seen "The Ten Commandments" one too many times. Charlton Heston didn't really part the Red Sea. I'm sure he had nothing to do with this landslide, either. ;) :dizzy: :dunce: :bhead:

[paul]

:dizzy: :dunce: :faint:

[Phoenix]

This reminds me of my mom telling me about some people she knew who found mouse in their ice cream. I asked "Are they vegetarians?" She said, "No." I said "So what's the problem then? Dead meat is dead meat. People who eat dead animals have no right to be picky." Boy was she mad!
:yea: :yea: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Bowwowmeow]

Early Labor So Husband Can Watch Bears


From Associated Press
January 22, 2007 5:14 PM EST
PALOS HEIGHTS, Ill. - Nine months pregnant and married to a fervent Bears fan with tickets to Sunday's NFC Championship game, Colleen Pavelka didn't want to risk going into labor during the game against the New Orleans Saints. Due to give birth on Monday, Pavelka's doctor told her Friday she could induce labor early. She opted for the Friday delivery.
"I thought, how could (Mark) miss this one opportunity that he might never have again in his life?" said Pavelka, 28, from the southwestern Chicago suburb of Homer Glen.
At 10:45 p.m. Friday, Mark Patrick Pavelka was born at Palos Community Hospital after close to six hours of labor.
While her husband watched the Bears play the New Orleans Saints at Soldier Field Sunday, Colleen planned to watch in the hospital with the baby wrapped in a Bears blanket - a Christmas gift from his grandmother.
The couple named Mark after his father, who wore a "Monsters of the Midway" shirt during the delivery.
"If he wasn't born by Sunday and the Bears won, I would have named him Rex," after Bears quarterback Rex Grossman, joked Mark Pavelka, 28.
Mark is the couple's second son.


:eek: :eek: :eek:
I have a feeling that these people lack sufficient intelligence even to be ashamed that this has become national news.
I suspect young Mark will grow up wanting violin lessons, and will prefer to watch PBS on Sundays, to the everlasting horror and disappointment of his Neanderthal parents. :crossfingers:

[Gliondrach]

He'll grow up knowing that he was second best to a sporting contest.

[Bowwowmeow]

Yes, its horrible, isn't it. I can't believe the doctors consider such casual reasons for inducing labor. There's always a chance that something might go wrong.

[Charmagne]

Oh, the poor child. Like Gliondrach said he'll always know he was second to a football game. Ridiculous!!

[Oracl]

If he had been allowed to stay in until he was ready to come out, he would have had a different star sign. :star: Maybe he didn't want to be a Capricorn, maybe he wanted to be an Aquarius. :grumble:

[Phoenix]

:eek: :eek: :eek:
I have a feeling that these people lack sufficient intelligence even to be ashamed that this has become national news.
I suspect young Mark will grow up wanting violin lessons, and will prefer to watch PBS on Sundays, to the everlasting horror and disappointment of his Neanderthal parents. :crossfingers:

Well said as always, BWM. :agree:

[thevegantwins]

Sad story :( So many people want children and would do anything to have them while this couple treat a life like its a video to put on for their convenience. Reminds me of the women who electively chose to have cesaerian sections to fit their work schedules or because they don't want to stretch out their vaginas. :dizzy:

[paul]

i could understand if it was proper football, but not that american stuff:D ,EErrr mabe i should shut up now:whistle:

[Keykeypie]

i could understand if it was proper football, but not that american stuff:D :rofl: :wave:

[Gliondrach]

I call it American rugby.

[Oracl]

i could understand if it was proper football, but not that american stuff :D ,EErrr mabe i should shut up now :whistle:
:rollingpin: :lol: :laugh:

[Fauxmage]

It isn't enough to keep them captive for "educational" purposes. Now they are selling people tickets so they can watch them mating as a Valentine's Day turn on?

Zoo Tours Cash in on Hot Monkey Love

http://my.eimg.net/harvest_xml/NEWS/img/20070213/45d145d0_3ca7_1552720070213-1557054923.jpg (http://enews.earthlink.net/article/pho?guid=20070213/45d145d0_3ca7_1552720070213-1557054923&article_path=/article/str&article_guid=20070213/45d145d0_3ca6_1552620070213-999915557)Adult visitors to the Lowry Park Zoo learn about the sex lives of porcupines during an after-hours tour Saturday, Feb. 10, 2007, in Tampa, Fla. Steve Nesius

By PHIL DAVIS (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
February 13, 2007 6:27 PM EST
TAMPA, Fla. - Genevieve Chandler has been visiting the Lowry Park Zoo since she was a kid, but the tour she got the other night was definitely not the G-rated fare of her childhood. Among the things Chandler, 30, and her date learned on their "Wild at Heart" zoo tour: Male pigs have a unique corkscrew endowment and impressive, um, output; manatees have orgies and don't really care if their partners are male or female; and a male porcupine has only one four-hour window a year to mate - very carefully, of course.
Valentine's Day is the time of year when zoos around the nation seek to woo a new adult audience with risque tours that couple champagne, chocolate-covered strawberries and candlelight dining with impressive facts about how animals do the wild thing.
Credit for the concept goes to Jane Tollini, a former penguin keeper at the San Francisco Zoo. Tollini conceived the idea two decades ago while watching her penguins' courtship ritual, which culminates in what she describes as "bowling pins making love."
"The keepers get there early and we see things that other people don't see," Tollini said. "And I went, 'My God, that's fascinating.' You know the old Peter Sellers line, 'I like to watch?' You kind of go, 'Oh my, my, my. How big? How many? How far?' It was unbelievable."
She set the ritual to Johnny Mathis - the makeout tunes of her generation - pitched it to her bosses and a new zoo tradition was born. The idea soon spread to other zoos.
San Francisco calls it "Woo at the Zoo." New York City's Central Park Zoo calls it "Jungle Love." Zoo marketing folks in Boise, Idaho, named the tour "Wild Love at the Zoo."
Zoos charge about $50 per person for the tours, and crowds are kept deliberately inmate. Many zoos, including Lowry Park, have added additional nights to handle Valentine's overflow.
"It's a fundraiser, but it's definitely not our largest," said Rachel Nelson, Lowry Park's director of public relations. "It's a way to introduce a new audience to the zoo."
Tollini puts it more bluntly.
"Sex sells. No matter what," Tollini said. "I wish I had a nickel for everybody that has copied me. But not every city is as liberal as San Francisco and can get away with what I do."
Even in San Francisco, zoo sex tours are mostly all talk and no action. Animals do it when they please, or, in some cases, when their human keepers deem it appropriate.
Tour guides in Tampa warned of possible manatee make-out sessions. But the giant mammals were content to munch on vegetation while the tour group ate a candlelight dinner in front of the zoo's massive aquarium windows.
"Manatees are not particular," Nelson said. "We have only males right now and they don't seem to care."
Despite the blunt talk on the tour, many in the Saturday crowd in Tampa were coy about their reasons for attending.
"I really like the zoo and I thought it was a nice thing to do with my boyfriend for Valentine's Day," Chandler said.
Her most memorable statistic: "whales have like 10-foot-long whatevers."
Hillsborough Community College professor Mara Manis said the evening's unique educational twist attracted her to the tour.
"People always look to do something on Valentine's Day. It's one of those holidays where everything has been done so many times. It's so forced." Manis said. "And this is different."
Her date, landscape architect John Tate, made it clear he hoped to cash in on the "King of the Jungle" title he won earlier in the evening. His moves were deemed the best in a contest showcasing how some male animals must win their mates with elaborate dances.
"This is the only time of year I have free license," Tate said, smiling.
Statistics about whale endowments and monkey love may not prove useful on the human dating scene, but a scent-marking experiment with big cats could prove useful when selecting a cologne to wear - or not to wear - on a tiger tour in India.
"Apparently," Nelson said, "tigers prefer Obsession."


I suppose there might be some legitimate reason to understand the processes from a scientific point of view, but sexually exploiting animals for entertainment purposes is something I thought only went on in Third World countries. It would seem from the article that there isn't much "action" to be seen on these tours, but its the hope of getting to see some "hot monkey love" on the part of the visitors, and even the desire to call it "hot monky love" by the reporter that I find really stomach-turning. I wonder how any of the people involved would like to be locked in a cell with an unknown member of the opposite sex, and observed while "doing it".

Um, that's a rhetorical question, folks. :flirt:

[Oracl]

Sick!! :blecch: :(

[thevegantwins]

That's vile but it doesn't surprise me, Americans are sick (many voted for Bush after all :devil2:).

[Blueshark]

In my opinion, it is not healthy, but I would say there are various causes here:

1. Looking to animals for guidance for natural behaviour.
2. Following others.
3. Boredom.
4. Perversion.
5. Harmless curiosity.
6. Capitalism.
7. Encouraging others - abuse of power.
8. Misery.
9. Genuine joy.
10. Randomness.

Not my cup of tea, out of choice, but I have seen stranger things.

[Phoenix]

Sick!! :blecch: :(
Agreed.

[Keykeypie]

Mt. Hood climbers rescued in good shape

They should have rescued the dog & left the idiots (http://www.denverpost.com/watercooler/ci_5259385)behind.....I was thinking,
boy if they'd put a child in a dangerous situation like this, they'd have been in big trouble with the law & probably have the child taken away.

But then of course, NOBODY would have been that thoughtless or cruel where their own child was concerned..........would they?

OH NO!!! You gotta be kiddin......don't tell me.....
Ananova - Mountain rescuers save baby (http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2210839.html?menu=)

[thevegantwins]

:dizzy: :dunce:

The dog rescued those sorry human arses too. What gives those humans the right to decide the dog wants to climb a mountain?

[Charmagne]

Boy - people really are DUMB! This is the same mountain those three died on only about two months ago! I bet no one would of had a search for the dog had it been lost on the mountain!!:(

[Oracl]

Crazy! :crazy: :dunce:

[KRITER]

Its natural for people to be dum and to be dum in a big way.Using critters to find bombs and go into places wair people wont. "Thair cood be a bomb in thair send the dog or dolphin in ".We started a dum war in Iraq for no reson.People started factory farms so they cood fill the big deman to supply folks with ded animals to eat.People blo mountains up to get to the coal faster to sell to people to burn for heat and pollute the air.
This week the firehouse here put on thair anual chitlin supper to benefit the firehouse.Hogs get thair inerds pulled out and fryd so the firehouse can make money.People not just dum but hateful too.

[Keykeypie]

Its natural for people to be dum and to be dum in a big way.Using critters to find bombs and go into places wair people wont. "Thair cood be a bomb in thair send the dog or dolphin in ".We started a dum war in Iraq for no reson.People started factory farms so they cood fill the big deman to supply folks with ded animals to eat.People blo mountains up to get to the coal faster to sell to people to burn for heat and pollute the air.
This week the firehouse here put on thair anual chitlin supper to benefit the firehouse.Hogs get thair inerds pulled out and fryd so the firehouse can make money.People not just dum but hateful too.

I hear ya Kriter.....it makes me so sad.

[Oracl]

People not just dum but hateful too.
Sad but true. :(

[Gliondrach]

But at least there are a few good people about.

[Oracl]

But at least there are a few good people about.
Yes and I think most of them are on this forum. :agree:

[Keykeypie]

Ok....this time I'm the dumb one.

In a list of snappy come-backs for vegans to a answer silly questions, this one I don't get.

Do you eat fish?
Nah, that tree is too high for me to climb.

me <===< scratching head.....:confused: can anyone explain?

[Gliondrach]

Where did you see that?

Unless it is a daft answer to a daft question, presupposing that the questioner knows that vegans don't eat animals of any kind. So, a daft question deserves a daft answer?

[paul]

Ok....this time I'm the dumb one.

In a list of snappy come-backs for vegans to a answer silly questions, this one I don't get.

Do you eat fish?
Nah, that tree is too high for me to climb.

me <===< scratching head.....:confused: can anyone explain?

some people think fish are not animals ,i think the person is saying (sarcasticly) that fish are not like fruit etc and they are animals, ( by getting the person to imagine fish in trees they would realise that fish are animals. sorry i cant explain it better im sure some one else will do a better job.

[Gliondrach]

You could be on to something there, Paul.

[Keykeypie]

Thanks guys.....I got the answer by consulting an expert on everything
....in other words, a teenager. She explained that the standard answer to: "But you eat fish, don't you?" is ....."Yes, of course, but only the ones that grow on trees"

I didn't even know about that......but ok.....now I get it.

so Martin & Paul....you both pretty much got it right

[Bowwowmeow]

I suppose if fish did grow on trees people would refuse to eat them. :rolleyes:

[Charmagne]

This may not sound too dumb to some people but it is REALLY dumb to me! Someone my dad knows wants a male puppy so they don't have to worry about puppies! Well, last time I checked it took a male and female to have puppies! Needless to say they won't be getting a puppy here even though they will be "fixed".:grumble: :hbang:

[Oracl]

I hate that attitude that only the females should be "fixed". :mad:

[thevegantwins]

I received the following in an email today. It's too sick to even figure out how to comment.

The below website is "Women Hunters: For Women, About Women, By Women, Dances With Bears, Manitoba Bear Hunt, 2005.

The below was written by animal murderer, Linda Burch:
"I stood there for a few minutes and as it began to rain, I saw two bears come out of the woods 60 yards in the distance. They were fully aware of me and looked my direction many times. They frolicked for ten minutes and appeared to almost dance on their hind legs a number of times before disappearing into the adjacent woods. I got down on my knees there in the rain as the sun set, and I prayed. I thanked God for the opportunity to shoot such a magnificent animal and I prayed my kill was clean and quick and that the animal would be retrieved quickly. Coyotes were staging and howling in the distance as the rain continued."

This is accompanied by 3 photos of the dancing bears and a photo of Linda Burch grinning above the beautiful bear whom she murdered with a bow and arrow.

Why do they always describe their murdering as a religious experience?

If you want to e-mail these murderers, contact the site at: wh-info@womenhunters.com It is probably best, however, to ignore them, as they would no doubt enjoy getting decent people upset at their cowardice and violence.

[Charmagne]

That is indeed sick and sad. I agree the best thing to do is to ignore them as they would probably get great satisfaction knowing how upset people get hearing about these atrocities.

[Gliondrach]

What a piece of scum. If she thought the bear was magnificent, why did she want to kill it?

[Oracl]

Sick. :mad:

[my3labs]

I've said it before..."humans suck".

[Bowwowmeow]

At first I thought this was a joke, then a test to see how stupid the approval process is for guns, but its actually for real:

Baby Issued Illinois Gun ID Card

From Associated Press
May 15, 2007 8:06 PM EDT

CHICAGO - Bubba Ludwig can't walk, talk or open the refrigerator door - but he does have his very own Illinois gun permit.

The 10-month-old, whose given name is Howard David Ludwig, was issued a firearm owner's identification card after his father, Howard Ludwig, paid the $5 fee and filled out the application, not expecting to actually get one.

The card lists the baby's height (2 feet, 3 inches), weight (20 pounds) and has a scribble where the signature should be.

With some exceptions, the cards are required of any Illinois residents purchasing or possessing firearms or ammunition within the state. There are no age restrictions on the cards, an official said.

Illinois State Police oversee the application process. Their purpose, said Lt. Scott Compton, is to keep guns out of the hands of convicted felons, those under an order of protection and those convicted of domestic violence.
"Does a 10-month-old need a FOID card? No, but there are no restrictions under the act regarding age of applicants," he said.

Ludwig, 30, of Chicago, applied for the card after his own father bought Bubba a 12-gauge Beretta shotgun as a gift. The weapon will probably be kept at Ludwig's father's house until the boy is at least 14.
Baby Face Ludwig
:rolleyes: :dunce: :rolleyes: :dunce: :rolleyes:

[1vegan]

I knew you have a gun culture in the U.S, but a 12-gauge gun as a baby present ?:rollingpin:

[Gliondrach]

Someone over here is supposed to have applied for a credit card for his cat. And it was issued to the cat, even though he put the name as Whiskers, or something like that.

And then there is the story of a tax form that was sent to the previous king. It was addressed to Mr. H. M. King, Buckingham Palace, Buckingham Palace Road, London.

[thevegantwins]

I know these choccies weren't vegan but come on, making chocolate non-vegan is just plain wrong. Mars should be boycotted by everyone. What next, Soylent Green (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soylent_Green)?

Mars starts using animal products
Some of the UK's best-selling chocolate bars, such as Mars and Twix, will no longer be suitable for vegetarians.
Also affecting brands such as Snickers and Maltesers, owner Masterfoods said it had started to use animal product rennet to make its chocolate products.

Masterfoods said the change was due to it switching the sourcing of its ingredients and the admission was a "principled decision" on its part.

The Vegetarian Society said the company's move was "incomprehensible".

'Extremely disappointed'

Masterfoods said it had started using rennet from 1 May and non-affected products had a "best before date" up to 1 October.


Masterfoods' decision to use non-vegetarian whey is a backward step
Vegetarian Society

Rennet, a chemical sourced from calves' stomachs, is used in the production of whey.

It will now also be found in Bounty, Minstrels and Milky Way products, and the ice cream versions of all Masterfoods' bars.

"If the customer is an extremely strict vegetarian, then we are sorry the products are no longer suitable, but a less strict vegetarian should enjoy our chocolate," said Paul Goalby, corporate affairs manager for Masterfoods.

The Vegetarian Society said it was "extremely disappointed".

"At a time when more and more consumers are concerned about the provenance of their food, Masterfoods' decision to use non-vegetarian whey is a backward step," it said in a statement.

"Mars products are very popular with young people and many will be shocked to discover that their manufacture now relies on the extraction of rennet from the stomach lining of young calves," it added.


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/business/6653175.stm

Published: 2007/05/14 09:23:28 GMT

[1vegan]

This one, I had troubles understanding it.

Mars bars were never vegan, and I was not aware that (some?) vegetarians want to know how the whey was made.

Whey comes from milk/cheese production, and now that whey is made while they use real rennet in the milk. Though the rennet seems not to be present in the whey, it seems an issue for some vegetarians?

I don't get the problem, the very few vegetarians I know, even buy leather shoes, or eat cheese with real rennet in it.

[Gliondrach]

I hope the company has a dramatic fall in sales. I think Bounty used to be suitable for vegans. Or was it Fry's chocolate cream?

[Bowwowmeow]

non-vegetarian whey
Okay, I guess I'm gonna make another really hard-core comment here (they don't call me vegangelical for nothing! ;) ) but this is a meaningless term. What is the difference between "vegetarian" and "non-vegetarian" whey?

The use of rennet is made possible by killing calves and using their stomach linings to extract the rennet from. That's how you get "non-vegetarian" whey. :rolleyes: But "vegetarian" whey coming from rennetless milk still causes the death of calves who get turned into veal so people can steal the milk meant for them. If "vegetarians" (omnivores) want to avoid using products that involve dead animals, what's the difference between rennet, gelatin, and other stuff that actually comes from the dead bodies, and drinking the stolen lactation meant for calves? Both cause death, do they not?

If the word "vegetarian" no longer applies to people like us, I'd like to see its use end. I don't know what the "Vegetarian" and "Veg*n" Societies will call themselves, and I don't care. I didn't become what can be described as vegan so I could join a "Society" and call myself something. I do what I do because I care about animals, and instead of calling myself and other people like me something, I'd rather call people who don't do what we do for animals something else. Its just easier than having all these hyphenated-vegetarians, and plays on the words "vegetarian" and "vegan' like "flexitarian" and "freegan". :rolleyes:

[Gliondrach]

Vegetarians - those who would be vegans if they didn't eat dairy things and eggs - don't think about the suffering and death involved in dairy and egg production. To them, eggs and milk aren't part of a dead animal. But rennet is. So, they are happy to have cheese made without rennet. Some might have actually convinced themselves that there's no cruelty involved in producing the things they eat. But there would be if they used rennet.

[Bowwowmeow]

Its hard for me to believe that today's milk and egg eaters don't know what's involved in obtaining these items for consumption, considering how much more prominent the activities of groups like PETA are now, than they were back in the seventies when I went vegan. It was reading Peter Singer that made me change from a milk and egg eater to vegan, and he and others like him haven't exactly been silent since then. Though I suppose conditions back then weren't as bad as they are now. But still, as far as milk is concerned, how can folks not wonder what happens to the babies for whom the milk is intended?

[Gliondrach]

Because they're daft and unthinking. Humans have a great capacity for not seeing the obvious when it suits them.

[Bowwowmeow]

Indeed. Daft as brushes.

[1vegan]

Its hard for me to believe that today's milk and egg eaters don't know what's involved in obtaining these items for consumption

I do believe that the majority of the people have no clue what it takes to get food on their plates.

For a lot of kids, milk is just something in a container, they don't know the whole process.
I worked in a hfs and in the middle of summer people ask you why you don't have typical winter veggies in stock :hbang:

Some one was having trouble near the drink section, so I go there to see if I can help. The customer wants lemon juice, but finds the bottle way too big. Don't we have smaller bottles?
I had to say no, so the customer said it was too much juice and was going to look elsewhere.
I told the customer that I did have lemon juice in smaller containers..... but you have to cut it in half, and pointed to the yellow thingy's in the fruitsection.

He needed lemon juice, but it never came to his mind that you can get that from squeezing lemons :professor:
(he left with to live lemons :D )

[Bowwowmeow]

I do believe that the majority of the people have no clue what it takes to get food on their plates.
When I was little I wanted to know where everything came from! I was weird. :dizzy: ;)

[Bowwowmeow]

Wow, we are getting a dumbness overload today! :bhead: :bhead: :bhead:

People can learn from Paris, mom says

From AFX News Limited
May 16, 2007 6:16 PM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) - Kathy Hilton hopes young people will learn from her 26-year-old socialite daughter, Paris, who is facing 45 days in jail for violating her probation.

"We can only hope that something positive will come from all of this. Hopefully, young people who look up to people like Paris will learn from this," Hilton said in a statement read Wednesday on ABC's "The View" by co-host Barbara Walters.

Kathy Hilton called her Tuesday night and offered the statement, Walters said.

"She didn't say `my child didn't do it' or `this is terrible,'" said Walters, who has an adult daughter. "She's saying, `You have to take responsibility.' I thought it was a very strong and very good statement."

Co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who is pregnant with her second child, disagreed.
"You want to discipline your children before the criminal system does," she said.

A California judge has ordered Hilton, star of "The Simple Life" TV show with her friend Nicole Richie, to report to a county jail by June 5 for violating probation in an alcohol-related reckless driving case by driving with a suspended license.

Kathy Hilton attracted attention both in and outside a Los Angeles courtroom earlier this month, laughing during a city prosecutor's argument and telling reporters that her daughter's sentence was "pathetic and disgusting."

I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

[1vegan]

I hope she will have to serve time.

Also, maybe it's just me, but have you noticed how carefull the media is with this?
I read several articles about hilton having her petition, but I only once read about the counter petition.

My "gut" feeling is that paris hilton thinks she's got money and is thus above the law.
A fine or a ticket won't hurt her, so she's got to do jail time imho.

iirc, this is about DUI, plus driving with a revoked license.
I hope it "hurts", I've got zero tolerance for drink drivers.

[Gliondrach]

She should be glad she won't have to do her time in the Bangkok Hilton.

[Oracl]

I told the customer that I did have lemon juice in smaller containers..... but you have to cut it in half, and pointed to the yellow thingy's in the fruitsection.
:) :thumbsup:

[Charmagne]

:tantrum: OK - I have to vent yet AGAIN about my nephew - so I had to post in the Dumb People section. I stupidly agreed to let my nephew and his wife have a garage sale over here on Saturday as they live in a second floor apartment. I even told them they could have what was salvagable out of our shed in the back yard that has needed cleaning out since it was soaked during Katrina. So he brought out all the boxes and I went through them and kept the few things that were valuable to me and told them they could sell the rest unless my sister wanted anything. There was A LOT that I told them they could sell.

I should say that this garage sale is to raise money to go toward their "trip" to Africa where they are supposed to be helping to build an orphanage for the orphaned African children. Her intentions are good but he is too LAZY to help anyone. They are paying $3000 each to go for two weeks with their church. In my opinion, this is an admirable thing but I feel that there is enough publicity right now about Africa and Darfur - plenty of aid is going that way with Angelina Jolie and other celebrities speaking out about it. That's just my opinion. Yet I see nothing being done to help the orphaned animals - I've only read how bad poaching is over there to our endangered animal friends - but that is another topic and I've already strayed from my rant which I knew I would do!!

What happened was my father was in the kitchen with my nephew and I walked in just in time to see my father tear the skin off a piece of murdered chicken and feed it to my Foxy. Yes - I may of overreacted when I yelled "don't feed her that crap - if you want to kill yourself go ahead but my babies don't eat that shit". Looking back I can understand my father being so old would do something like that. (don't think he'll do it again however:o )

But my nephew said "if he could order just a bucket of skin he would - that's the best part". I told him he was an inconsiderate asshole as he knows how I feel about animals and knows I do not eat murdered anything. He went on to tell me he could not wait to get to Africa so he could eat the variety of food they have there (monkey, snake, etc.). This is his second trip. The best thing that could happen is he could somehow get stuck over there and not be allowed back. I haven't spoken to him since then and told my sister about the incident - she actually doesn't look forward to his visits either. (I wonder if someone could turn him in as a potential terrorist?)

And another thing - (sorry - I just had to talk to someone) they bought a long haired dachshund about four months ago after ignoring my pleading to go to the shelter. The dog is not house trained and tears up everything it can find. The reason it is not house trained is because they are both too lazy to take it outside. They say it is paper trained - however every time it comes over it has accidents in our house. My sister said this would happen before they even bought the dog. She knows he is lazy and that neither one of them would walk downstairs to let it outside. So the only time the poor little thing gets to go outside is when it comes over here in our fenced yard which is every other weekend when they do laundry here (yeah I know:sigh: ). They both got mad at me the other day when we were cleaning out the shed because I told them they could not bring it - that Precious could not get excited. They have to leave it in a crate when they are gone. They need a dog like a hole in the head.

:soap: OK - I'm done. I'm just glad he only comes every other week. I would conveniently be somewhere else but I WILL NOT leave my babies with him. He is very rough and does not realize his own strength when roughhousing with them. Their own dog spent two days in the hospital on drip because they let him eat a whole 16 piece pack of sugarless gum containing xylitol.:dunce: I got a call about midnight one night wanting to know if it would hurt him!:hbang:

[thevegantwins]

Ok, your nephew is a complete idiot. My first response was to say, 'tell him to f-off' but then I realized he's family so you can't do that (yet) but you can set boundaries for him. Assuming he's an adult or near-adult, tell him what is and isn't acceptable in your home and if he can't abide by your rules then he's not allowed over. You could also let him know something he might not be aware of, HIV was first passed from monkeys to humans due to human consumption of monkeys. Primates share over 90% of our DNA so he might as well eat himself. :blecch:

Just my thoughts...

[Charmagne]

Idiot is being too damn nice! Yes - I have to do something - but first I have to get past this Saturday garage sale. The problem is this is my father's house until something happens to him and I take care of him as far as the laundry, cleaning, yard, etc. I know he likes to see my nephew sometimes but all he does is try to use my father. He keeps asking me if I think my father would help him pay for medical school. Mind he is 27 and just now thinking about medical school. I have to say he is very bright but he weighs 360 right now and on high blood pressure medication - he'll never live long enough to finish school and who will accept him anyway? The military has refused him already.

I let him get to me too much lately. My sister is really laid back - she just ignores him - I just can't do that!

[Bowwowmeow]

How awful Charmagne! :( I don't know how I got so lucky with my relatives, even if they won't go vegan. They would never say and do things like your nephew.

[Oracl]

Wow, Charmagne, that's horrible. :( I think TVT's advice is good. :agree: Make some rules. :professor:

[Gliondrach]

Today was supposed to be World Prayer Day for Animals - or something like that. I only found out when I was watching a discussion programme on telly this morning. One of the topics was whether too much money is spent on animals. They mentioned some figure in the hundreds of millions. The presenter asked if that money would be better spent helping humans in need as there are so many all over the world who need help. I shouted at the television: 'What about the hundreds of millions spent on alcohol, tobacco, holidays, cosmetics, books, records, sweets (and one or two other things I now don't recall)?'

Some people always bring up the amount that is spent on one cause and then ask why it can't be spent on something else that they think is more worthy. Those same people probably spend a small fortune on all those unnecessary things I listed.

[thevegantwins]

:tantrum: I hate that illogical pseudo-argument that people bring up regarding money spent on animals versus money spent on humans. If humans hadn't f***ed other animals' so much, it wouldn't be necessary to help other animals but since we have done so much harm to them, I believe it is our responsibility to help.

[Gliondrach]

Someone in the studio said something like that. I think it was the vegetarian BBC Radio 1 disc jockey.

[Gliondrach]

This is the kind of uncaring attitude that we are up against. Two people on another forum, in a thread discussing halal slaughter, made typically stupid, meathead comments.


One said: 'To be honest, I'm not sure halaal meat is any less cruel in reality. Not that I care. I'll eat either of them.'


Someone replied to another person with: 'By eating meat you are contributing to world starvation, destroying the environment, causing uneccessary suffering to billions of animals every year and damaging your health.'

And the other person said: 'None of the reasons you state are good enough to stop me eating burgers and roast dinners.'

That same person, after a video of slaughter was posted, said:

'The videos linked too were unpleasant. However,I'm sure that most meat eaters would be like me and require a lot more justification than that to stop eating meat. It tastes so damn good.'

[Bowwowmeow]

These are the people to whom the following applies:
"truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather its opponents eventually die and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it." ~ Max Planck

*starts the countdown*
:hourglass: :skull3:

[my3labs]

*starts the countdown*
:hourglass: :skull3:
[/SIZE][/FONT]
tick tock

[Gliondrach]

Perhaps their brains are already being affected by mad cow disease.

[Phoenix]

Assuming that they have brains ...

[my3labs]

Humans suck!!!!!

By Associated Press
BOISE, Idaho (AP) - A young black bear, orphaned during a freak 2006 mountain tornado, then rehabilitated and released into the wild, was shot and killed by a camper after nosing her way into the wrong tent.

State wildlife officials say wildfires, drought and the failure of this summer's wild berry crop may have driven the bear into closer proximity to humans.

Released in June, the yearling female had been dubbed "Twister" by animal rescuers at the Idaho Black Bear Rehabilitation Center in Boise.

Sally Maughan, who runs the rehabilitation center, acknowledges she grew attached to Twister after taking in the then-7-pound cub teetering on the edge of starvation following the June 2006 tornado. But Maughan has no time to mourn; she's got 45 new black bear orphans this year from California, Idaho, Nevada and Utah.

"She tried so long and so hard to survive, so you'd like to have thought that there was a longer life for her," Maughan said. "But there's nothing we could do differently. She made her decision, and it cost her life. I wish it hadn't happened - but now I've got 45 other bears to worry about."

Twister was released with four other bears June 23 in the Boise National Forest, part of efforts paid for by the London-based World Society for the Protection of Animals to convince people around the globe that rehabilitating orphaned bears, then releasing them into the wild, is better than sending them to zoos or circuses.

Of some 150 bears rescued by Maughan's center since 1989, only two prior to Twister are known to have become "nuisance bears" and had to be destroyed, she said.

In 2007, however, more and more wildlife including bears, moose and elk have wandered into Idaho's populated areas. Animals are seeking out food amid the hottest temperatures on record, Idaho Department of Fish and Game officials say. Wildfires also have charred 2 million acres in Idaho, according to federal records, forcing wildlife to seek out new territory.

Jon Rachael, Fish and Game's big game manager in southwestern Idaho, said Twister - outfitted with a radio-tracking collar - was spotted several times near campgrounds in the weeks following her release. To improve her chances of survival, he recaptured Twister Aug. 19 and relocated her to a more-remote area.

One telltale sign that Twister was struggling was her plummeting weight, Rachael says. At her June 23 release, she tipped the scales at 87 pounds. Two months later, she was just 65 pounds.

Following her relocation, Rachael says he received sporadic reports of the bear loitering near another forest campground on the north fork of the Boise River. It was chewing on an elk carcass left behind by a hunter during the muzzleloader rifle season. When Rachael visited the campground, Twister rose on her hind legs to investigate him, then ran off.

"That's the way we'd like to see bears behave around people," he said.

On Sept. 20, however, Twister was found dead at the campsite. A man who later contacted the Department of Fish and Game told agents the bear had poked her nose inside a tent at about 2 a.m. He wasn't taking any chances; in a rare attack three months earlier in northern Utah, a black bear killed an 11-year-old boy.

"There were no charges filed or pending - we considered it a justified take of a nuisance bear," Rachael said. "It was not the way we would have liked it to have ended."

The four other bears released with Twister are also dead, killed in separate instances by hunters since August.

That makes 2007 the first time that an entire crop of Idaho bears raised by Maughan's rehabilitation center hasn't survived a first year of freedom. Fish and Game officials say bear hunters are reporting higher-than-average success rates in the season that ends Oct. 31.

Still, John Beecham, the retired state Department of Fish and Game biologist who works with Maughan to rehabilitate orphan bears, said this year's deaths have caused him to re-evaluate releases during years of extreme drought.

"My preferred strategy is to release them in the wintertime into dens and let them come out in the spring when wild bears do. That gives them the best likelihood of success and survival," Beecham said. "That only works when the bears are in really good physical condition going into the winter. If they come into the rehabilitation center late in the fall, they don't weigh enough at that point in time to put them in a winter den."

[Oracl]

:(

[Gliondrach]

What a shame about all five of the bears. Scummy hunters.

[Bowwowmeow]

Store Ad: Hams 'Delicious for Chanukah'

From Associated Press
December 06, 2007 5:18 PM EST

NEW YORK - This was REALLY not kosher. A grocery store in Manhattan made a food faux pas, advertising hams as "Delicious for Chanukah."

Chanukah, an alternate spelling for Hanukkah, is the eight-day Jewish holiday that began Tuesday evening, and hams as well as pork and other products from pigs can't be eaten under Jewish dietary laws.

A woman who saw the mistake over the weekend at the Balducci's store on 14th Street took pictures of the signs and posted them on her blog.

Jennifer Barton, director of marketing, told The Associated Press on Thursday that the signs were changed as soon as the error was noted.

She issued an apology on the company Web site, saying the company would be reviewing its employee training.:rolleyes2:

[Bowwowmeow]

From TreeHugger (http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/11/treehugger_100m_12.php):
We have a winner in our 100-Mile Thanksgiving Challenge, a local vegan feast from Bahar Zaker of Syracuse, NY, USA. Congratulations, as the winner, Bahar will receive a year's worth of organic milk from contest sponsor Organic Valley! Second place winner, Robin Michaels of Lawrence, NJ, USA, will receive a NapaStyle Supreme Pantry Set compliments of contest judge chef Michael Chiarello, and second runners-up Todd Bradley and Beth Partin of Colorado, USA, will receive a $100 gift certificate to the NapaStyle online store. The other big winner of the contest is the Oakland-based local food advocates People's Grocery, which will also receive a year's supply of Organic Valley milk. If you are interested in the 100-mile diet, take a look at the contest finalists' menus, check out the 100 Mile Diet's website, and chat up your 100-mile diet ideas in the comments. We would like to thank everyone who entered, everyone who voted, our fantastic celebrity judges, and especially contest sponsor Organic Valley for showing their commitment to local food.

:rolleyes2: :rolleyes2: :rolleyes2:

Update: As the winning entry was a vegan meal, the first prize - a year's worth of Organic Valley milk - will be redeemable with Organic Valley soy milk! :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[Oracl]

:rolleyes: :rolleyes2: :dunce:

[gabbles]

How could they even think of sending a boy of 6 to reform school?

Boy suspended over utensil gets reprieve

First-grader faced reform school for carrying Cub Scout tool into school

Yesterday he faced 45 days in reform school. This morning, Zachary Christie is on his way to school for the first time since he made the mistake of taking his favorite camping utensil to school and ran into his Delaware school system's zero-tolerance policy.

On Tuesday night the school board made a hasty change to its code of conduct. The seven-member board voted unanimously to reduce the punishment for kindergartners and first-graders who bring weapons to school or commit other violent offenses to a suspension ranging from three to five days.

A Swiss Army-type combination of fork, spoon, bottle opener and knife, the tool has been Zachary’s favorite ever since he got it to take on Cub Scout camping expeditions. “He eats dinner with it, breakfast and everything else, so it never occurred to him that this would have been something wrong to do,” the 6-year-old’s mother told TODAY’s Meredith Vieira Tuesday morning from Newark, Del.

today.msnbc.msn.com/id/33289924/ns/today-today_people/

[Gliondrach]

On the Big Questions on telly this morning one of the subjects was 'Can the world afford meat eating', or some title like that. A bloke who wrote 'Theology on the Menu' mentioned all the pollution that meat production involves and all the food fed to farm animals that could be fed to humans instead. A farmer said that most of the cattle and sheep in the UK are fed on grass and don't eat grain that could be fed to humans. Which completely ignored the title of the debate. The only way to produce enough meat for many millions of people is to do so using grain and soya beans as farm animal food. There isn't enough grassland to produce enough meat for all those people. Never mind the extra people in India and China who now want to, and can afford to, eat meat. Christina Odone, who sometimes talks sense, said that she is 'a carnivore' who wouldn't wnat to give up meat. She loves it. What's wrong with these ignorant, uncaring people? The information is available and it is undeniable that the world can't afford meat eating.

A represenative of the farmers said that all the beautiful open fields and countryside wouldn't
exist if there hadn't been animal farming and animals grazing the fields. This is true. But it ignores the fact that the world can't afford meat eating. And, if meat eating was abolished, wild cattle and sheep could graze some fields. But even that is beside the point - which is that the world can't afford meat eating. That is what the debate was about. No doubt, when slaves worked on sugar and cotton plantations, the land was better for wild animals. Now, with machines and poisons, sugar and cotton plantations won't be so friendly to wildlife. They won't look so picturesque, either. One silly young woman said that all the farm animals wouldn't have been born if they hadn't been bred for meat and that doing away with meat production would condemn them to extinction. Quite apart from ignoring the subject of the debate - which is that the world can't afford meat eating - she also ignored the fact that Jersey cattle aren't a species and neither are Swaledale sheep. There would still be sheep and cattle. Coincidently, in the next programme, Country Tracks, one item was about an old building which had a meat spit in a large fireplace. The spit was connected to what looked like a big hamster's wheel. Dogs used to be put in to run around the wheel to power the spit. In fact, a special breed of dog was used. I think it was called a spit dog. We saw an illustration of one - a terrier-looking dog with a long body and short legs. That breed no longer exists because of the cruelty involved in their use. I wonder if that woman would have objected to the ban on using spit dogs in case the breed died out?

I'd never heard of these poor dogs, so I looked them up on the internet thing.

A kitchen assistant known as a turnbroche or turnspit performed this task, but because the job was a tedious one, dogs and geese in treadmills were also frequently used to rotate the spits. In the sixteenth century, Doctor Caius, founder of Caius College , Cambridge described the turnspit dog, a breed now extinct: ‘There is comprehended under the curs of the coarsest kind a certain dog in kitchen service excellent. For when any meat is to be roasted, they go into a wheel, which they turning about with the weight of their bodies, so diligently look to their business, that no drudge nor scullion can do the feat more cunningly.' An eighteenth century writer tells us that these unfortunate creatures frequently hid or ran away when there was any indication that a roast was about to be cooked~ Geese were said to be able to keep the spits turning for up to twelve hours at a time.
ht-tp://ww-w.historicfood.com/roast2.htm


How well do I recollect in the days of my youth watching the operations of a turnspit at the house of a worthy old Welsh clergyman in Worcestershire, who taught me to read! He was a good man, wore a bushy wig, black worsted stockings, and large plated buckles in his shoes. As he had several boarders as well as day scholars, his two turnspits had plenty to do. They were long-bodied, crook-legged, and ugly dogs, with a suspicious, unhappy look about them, as if they were weary of the task they had to do, and expected every moment to be seized upon to perform it. Cooks in those days, as they are said to be at present, were very cross; and if the poor animal, wearied with having a larger joint than usual to turn, stopped for a moment, the voice of the cook might be heard rating him in no very gentle terms. When we consider that a large solid piece of beef would take at least three hours before it was properly roasted, we may form some idea of the task a dog had to perform in turning a wheel during that time. A pointer has pleasure in finding game, the terrier worries rats with eagerness and delight, and the bull-dog even attacks bulls with the greatest energy, while the poor turnspit performs his task with compulsion, like a culprit on a tread-wheel. subject to scolding or beating if he stops a moment to rest his weary limbs, and is then kicked about the kitchen when the task is over.'
ht-tp://ww-w.thebookofdays.com/months/april/8.htm

The reference to the cruetly of cooks could still be used to describe certain cooks today. Those cruel scum oliver and ramsey, for instance, who like to kill things to promote their television programmes.

[Samantha Saucy]

What about littering charges? They should certainly get those! Also, to answer the title question, I feel "God" (or some other deity) made some people stupid to amuse the intelligent humans.

[Gliondrach]

On the BBC Radio 5 'phone in this morning the question was about urban foxes. After the two babies were attacked in their home on Saturday some callers were saying that urban foxes should be killed. One woman said that a fox came into her house one night and went upstairs. She should have more sense than to leave the door open at night. If a fox can get in, so can a thief.

Two children were attacked and all these idiots are in a panic. They seem to forget that children are more at risk of being killed by their own parents than by foxes. More risk of being killed by the family dog. Many times each year we hear of some baby or toddler who has been tortured and killed by their parents. Frequently, we hear of a baby who has been killed by a dog. Would these fools call for parents and dogs to be killed off? If they kill all the urban foxes, country foxes will move in to take their place.

[nagev]

I don't understand people. I feel frustrated, nauseous, and sad with this kind of stuff.

[Gliondrach]

But there were sensible people who 'phoned in, too. One bloke answered another who had said that foxes are 'alien'. The other bloke said that hamans are the aliens, moving onto land that other animals already inhabit. I shouted at the radio to tell them that humans are alien to everywhere except Africa. No one even tried to contradict me.

[nagev]

Ha! I'm glad you told them, even though they might not have been listening. :)

[ChenLi]

A farmer said that most of the cattle and sheep in the UK are fed on grass and don't eat grain that could be fed to humans.

The point about British Cattle/sheep eating only grass is bullshit. They eat pelleted food too, especially in the winter. And cows regularly are fed silage which is made from crops. Stupid farmer.

As for the foxes thing...they've now caught and killed two cubs and a vixen :(

[Gliondrach]

Yes, there are lots of companies that produce and sell cattle pellets and special food for calves.

The scum who killed the fox and cubs must have just killed the first ones they saw. Are they sure that a fox did attack them?

[ChenLi]

Doubt it. There's no hard evidence it was a fox. Probably just tory supporters using fox as scapegoat.

[Gliondrach]

Do you think they want to set up a Chelsea Hunt, or wherever it was? The Peckham Hunt.

[ChenLi]

It personally would not surprise me if they did...hunters will do anything to satisfy their bloodlust.

[Blueshark]

I am scared to say in case they do something dumb to me. I actually live in fear because of dumb people.

[Gliondrach]

Do you have some particular idiots in mind or just idiots in general?

[Blueshark]

Where do I start? Life should not be taken so seriously. They is no point in being miserable all the time. I am into glamour atm. :dream:

I saw two hot policewoman tonight - they kinda walked in front of me like they were my minders or something. They looked quite hot. :flirt::dizzy:

[Blueshark]

I hate people who think they know how to lead your life better than you. I mean, get an education.

[Blueshark]

I had a meeting at work today and it was kinda funny. Beautiful woman saved me. ;)

[Gliondrach]

Tell us more. :hyper:

[Blueshark]

It was a meeting about Out of Hours Support. They are three of us in the team. My boss was making a fuss and brought in an Union rep. My other colleague was keeping quiet. They made a fuss about their homelife - but I figured it would be wise to give us more time and to prepare proper emergency procedures. There was a lot of hot air and yada yada. It was funny because there is so much fuss, when we get a lot of benefits for doing practically nothing. It is absolutely bizzare why they were trying to resist, however I think my plan was a good one. Hopefully the vegan wins. ;)

[Gliondrach]

It's an indisputable fact that plans made by vegans are superior to those made by non-vegans.

[Blueshark]

I just cant help it. The brain just flows.:smile::whistle::biff:

[Blueshark]

Terrified. Still.

[Gliondrach]

Of what?

[Blueshark]

Just general irrationality and aggressiveness going around. But I do live in a tense area. Leeds is fracking cool.

[Gliondrach]

As a vegan, you can rise above it.

[Blueshark]

Yes you are right. However it is sometimes difficult and I can't help fighting back sometimes. I will try to be more peaceful.

[Gliondrach]

If this toddler gets attacked it will be the fault of the idiot with the camera for not stopping her from tormenting the dog.

Damn it! I can't get the video to work here. It's called:

rottweiler playing with a baby

She follows the dog around and it's obvious he's trying to avoid her. There's another video where she keeps sitting on him until he stands up and moves away. He's obviously very gentle and good natured. I hope she doesn't push him too far. The stupid adults in the second video find it very amusing.

[Bowwowmeow]

Probably not something I would want to see anyway. That kind of stuff just makes me mad.

[Gliondrach]

Some good points here. Haven't read it all.


Vegaphobia: derogatory discourses of veganism and the reproduction of speciesism in UK national newspapers

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-4446.2010.01348.x/full

[Gliondrach]

I don't know why they are.

[Blueshark]

I have my theories...but they will never change until they learn basic communication...:cheeky::chef::grouphug2:

[KRITER]

I dont kno why they got to be so dum.I seen the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile visiting a elementary school like it was serius bizness.Seems like a dum thing to me.I get tired of people alot.I wish I didnt hav to be round them as much as I am.I get to wair I dont want to see them or hear them,surenuff.

[three3nine]

:rolleyes2: :wacky: :crazy:

I've gotten 911 calls from people for things such as "there's a sick raccoon in my yard", "I don't have a telephone book, can you look up a number for me", and "I'm disabled, need help out of my chair, and someone to open my Dr. Pepper bottle."