Man buys toy poodles, discovers they’re actually ferrets on steroids | The Sideshow - Yahoo! News

This is both funny, kind of, and sad. Sad for the animals involved:

Man buys toy poodles, discovers they’re actually ferrets on steroids | The Sideshow - Yahoo! News: An Argentine man who thought he bought a pair of poodles at an outdoor market in Buenos Aires brought them home to the vet only to be told they were actually ferrets on steroids, reports the Daily M

"De-extinction"

Some scientists want to bring back long dead animals. (Scientists Want to Bring Some Animals Back from Extinction - Yahoo! Finance) (Odd this article was listed in the "finance" section.) This is called "de-extinction." Dinosaurs are not on the list of creatures these Mad Scientists would like to bring back from the dead, but not for the obvious reasons, one being: Jesus Fucking Christ, they're dinosaurs!! Did you SEE Jurassic Park?! but because the dinosaur DNA is too "degraded." However, "ethics" or really "criteria" are a part of the process for deciding what gets reconstituted:

They chose the animals using the following criteria: Are the species desirable — do they hold an important ecological function or are they beloved by humans? Are the species practical choices — do we have access to tissue that could give us good quality DNA samples or germ cells to reproduce the species? And are they able to be reintroduced to the wild — are the habitats in which they live available and do we know why they went extinct in the first place?

"Beloved by humans?" Dodos seem pretty cute to me but who can say; that seems hardly the point. And how can one possibly be sure a reactivated animal could be safely introduced into the wild? Astounding that there are conferences where mad scientists gather to seriously ponder such possibilities.

The article includes a list of potential animals on the Dr. Evil Wish List. Among them: the DoDo, the Wooly Mammoth, the saber-toothed cat, and that Fortean mascot, the Thylacine.

The Dodo and the Quagga, among others, were hunted to extinction by man. Will these animals be brought back, only to have that happen again? Will it be legal to hunt these animals? Is it moral to bring back animals just so we can use them for our enjoyment, for example, open "De-extinction canned hunt camps?"

Opinion: Florida’s Great Snake Hunt Is a Cheap Stunt

Agreed.
No one wants to find a python in their kitchen one morning while stumbling around trying to get the coffee made.
But mass hunts like this, which are actually blood lust fueled sprees to satisfy the basest traits within humanity, are not the answer.

Opinion: Florida’s Great Snake Hunt Is a Cheap Stunt: I registered as a python hunter but I did not really intend to hunt pythons. I wanted to see my first wildlife rumble, a fight between snake haters and animal rights activists, something along the lines of those protesters who dress up as wolves or polar bears, or who splash fake blood onto Canadian politicians to protest clubbing seal babies.

Instead I discovered something resembling a scene in the film Jaws—not the one where the town hires a seasoned shark expert to go out and kill the great white, but the ridiculous scene where every idiot with a pitchfork and an inner tube is paddling out to get a piece of shark meat.

I met contestants who had never seen a Burmese python before, who had never handled a snake. I overheard one man telling some greenhorns from Maine that his technique is to swing a snake by the tail and slam its head into a tree. "It stuns 'em," he said.

I was surprised by the following:

The Nature Conservancy showed up, but they're a partner in the Python Challenge, a contrast to their own python control program, and provided the training materials.

Non-Bigfoot Blood Lust

Just my personal little war on a Bigfoot blog that shall not be named nor linked to, but once again I see they have posted footage (vintage TV) of someone killing a deer with his bare hands and drinking its blood, or some such. Details don't matter. What does matter is that this has nothing to do with Bigfoot, and everything to do with animal porn, to drive visitors to their site. Not the first time they've posted this type of blood lust crap; won't be the last. Their excuse, as they once posted, was something along the lines of (paraphrasing, naturally) "Bigfoot probably eats like this in the wild so why not it's all good."Disingenuous bullshit.

West Virginia’s mascot shoots and kills a black bear with the musket we all thought was a prop | Dr. Saturday - Yahoo! Sports

Jonathan Kimble, the psycho bear killer and mascot for West Virginia's Mountaineers, (see yesterday's post on this story)  is sorry and in trouble. Sort of sorry, and kind of in trouble; doesn't seem to be any big issue for the parties involved, it's simply a matter of responding to no doubt what they see as over reactions from the rest of the country. Including Graham Watson, write of the piece, who writes:

OK. Your first thought after reading this should be: "Holy crap, that thing really works?"

Your second thought should be: "Holy crap, does Dana Holgorsen know?"

And then somewhere, in the recesses of your mind, you should be just a little impressed that Kimble shot a bear out of a tree with a musket. I mean, look at that thing.

And then you should be outraged -- if you value animal rights or don't like hunting or -- because it was a small (possible baby) bear he shot out of the tree.

Will Oregon Zoo's prized baby elephant end up in a traveling show?

Tragic, and a disgusting example of humanity's gratuitous need to use abuse animals as "entertainment." Bad enough elephants are in zoos, but the potential fate of the Portland Zoos recently born elephant is dismal: Will Oregon Zoo's prized baby elephant end up in a traveling show? "Trunks Will Travel" cute, huh? Owners may or may not take ownership.

Please do what you can to make sure this doesn't happen. Animals, especially creatures such as elephants, do not belong in circuses or to be rented for entertainment. The bond between mother and child in the elephant world is life long and strong. The good news is the zoo insists the elephant will "stay put." But there is a contract dispute:

Kari Johnson, who co-owns Have Trunk Will Travel with her husband, Gary, told the Times that they were looking forward to visiting the newborn elephant and added that details regarding her future had not yet been worked out.

Perris, California, where the Johnsons have their elephant for hire business.  That sounded familiar. So I went back into my files. Ah, here it is; I posted about lion meat hamburgers available at a Tuscon, Arizona restaurant. Source of the lion meat? Perris, California. Tuscon Restaurant Serves Lion Meat Tacos. I have no idea if there is a connection between the lion meat and the Johnsons; I'm not saying there is one, only that the town of Perris, California seems to be the area for gratuitous indulgences with animals. There's more. Seems Have Trunk Will Travel was sued for animal abuse and fraud, according to this article in Animal Defenders International:

Los Angeles, Monday June 27, 2011 -- Today, in the US District Court, Central District of California, Los Angeles, Animal Defenders International (ADI), together with members of the public, Gail Profant and Leslie Hemstreet, filed suit against Have Trunk Will Travel, as well as the owners Gary and Kari Johnson, over their claims about the training of the elephant Tai, who played Rosie in the film ‘Water for Elephants’. The suit is based on erroneous assurances that the defendants gave the public that the elephant Tai was trained with kindness for her role in Water for Elephants. Video footage released by Animal Defenders International (ADI) showed Tai and other elephants being electric shocked with a stun gun and jabbed and hit will bull hooks during her training for the same types of tricks seen in the movie, at the Perris, CA ranch of Have Trunk Will Travel.

Octopus as Art: Stop Issuing One-Day Hunting Licenses!

I saw this story a few days ago but didn't want to deal with it. Sometimes the greed and arrogance, as well as cruelty of humans just does me in. In this case, Dylan Mayer of Washington state and an over-blown sense of personal entitlement, tortured an octopus.

Mayer got himself a one day license to "hunt" an octopus. He did this in a protected marine area. He tricked the octopus by making noise in order to lure it from its home, then, according to witnesses, punched the still living octopus repeatedly after he hauled it onto his truck. Mayer said he wanted the octopus not just for its meat, but "to draw it for this art project."

Even if the octopus was hunted for food, as in hunting because one needs to survive, the gratuitous nature of the act is unjustified. If you need to hunt, then kill quickly and cleanly, and with gratitude.

A very sad story. So click on the link below and sign the petition. And call out this ass clown Mayer.
Stop Issuing One-Day Hunting Licenses! - The Petition Site

'Snake Eating Itself:' This is Bigfoot News How?

Once again, snakes are the topic and Bigfoot Evidence once again posts a video of a snake being tortured, this time, apparently, by itself. (A few weeks ago same blog posted a video of a young boy skinning a snake alive.) The blog feels its germane to...something, to post a video of a snake eating itself. (Or, attempting to do so, don't know if it was successful, since I didn't watch the video.) If it was successful, why didn't the person filming the poor thing help it? If it was successful, whew, but also, yewwww. In other words, what is the point?

Gratuitous Gleeful Gross-outs: Live Eating

Two recent items about gluttony, indulgence, and general supreme un-mindfullness concerning that thing within us that enjoys such stupid cruelties passing for entertainment.

 Both stories concern eating animals while they're still alive, and both concern snakes.

The first story brings us news of man who died shortly after eating live roaches and worms. As if that activity wasn't bad enough, that activity was one where many participated. It was a contest. And the prize: a live python.

The winner of a roach-eating contest in South Florida died shortly after downing dozens of the live bugs as well as worms, authorities said Monday.
About 30 contestants ate the insects during Friday night's contest at

Ben Siegel Reptile Store in Deerfield Beach about 40 miles north of Miami. The grand prize was a python.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/10/09/man-dies-after-live-roach-eating-contest-in-florida/#ixzz28qhXEfcw

The contest was described by a lawyer for the reptile store's owner who sponsored the contest as a " . . . unique and unorthodox contest." The second item concerns a young man who skins a snake, alive, and eats it. All on video for your viewing pleasure. For some reason, Bigfoot Evidence linked to this story. What it has to do with Sasquatch remains a mystery.

Spider Goats, Bullet-proof Skin, Meat from a Petri Dish and Transhumanism – Oh My! | Farm Wars

Spider Goats, Bullet-proof Skin, Meat from a Petri Dish and Transhumanism – Oh My! | Farm Wars:

In what appears to be a case of the rich experimenting on their version of life for a transhumanist agenda, the UK Telegraph reports that by sometime in the fall of 2012, we will be happily munching on burgers made from meat grown in a lab. Yes, that’s right.

Pro. Post said his team has successfully replicated the process with cow cells and calf serum, bringing the first artificial burger a step closer. He said: “In October we are going to provide a proof of concept showing out of stem cells we can make a product that looks, feels and hopefully tastes like meat.”

Why should we be concerned with this? After all, benefits would include slaughtering fewer animals. What could possibly be wrong with that?

Well there's a hell of a lot wrong with that, and for more, read here.

OH NO….The Idaho Live Bait Kill Wolves Bill…Voted Out of Committee..Goes To Senate For Vote!!!! � Howling For Justice

From Howling For Justice blog, this news about a horrifying bill. Let's hope it doesn't succeed. Live bait? Jesus fucking Christ what's wrong with people? The irony of killing wolves because they're killing the animals we kill to eat by using live animals to lure the wolves that we're killing... OH NO….The Idaho Live Bait Kill Wolves Bill…Voted Out of Committee..Goes To Senate For Vote!!!! � Howling For Justice

Howling For Justice:No Justice For Journey’s Brother, OR9? � Howling For Justice

From Howling For Justice, a blog I recently discovered that is focused on informing us about wolf: (protection, activism, news, etc) this item on the sad news of the harvesting murder of OR-9 in Idaho.No Justice For Journey’s Brother, OR9? Howling For Justice

The Grey

I really dislike rants about books or film where the ranter hasn't read the book or seen the film. But I'm breaking my own rule. Furthermore, I love Liam Neeson. Love him, and I've forgiven him for getting that glazed, empty-eyed plastic surgery job that he got a few years ago. In spite of that awful eye job, he's still dreamy. However, it's impossible to forgive him for starring in a movie like The Grey, which is --  I assume, based on the previews -- basically, Moby Dick. Only on land, and with a wolf and not a whale. No, I haven't seen the movie, and I probably won't, unless it's late and it comes on cable and I think "what the hell..."

I am intrigued by Roger Ebert's review of the film. I respect Ebert, and often agree with him (except with his review of Blue Velvet, though  I might feel differently if I were to see the film again after so many years.) Did Ebert mean the The Grey isn't what we who haven't seen the film and assume it's about big evil meanie wolves killing people isn't that at all? Or that, in spite of the former -- it being exactly that -- there are redeeming qualities? I'm sure the acting and direction are excellent; but in film, like literature and art, that's not enough.

Wolves are not the enemy. Exploiting animals -- using them as allegories for human anxieties and fears, unease and dissatisfactions -- is a tradition in human artistic expression. It's more creative, fun, silly, and interesting, to make up fantastical creatures or frightening monsters, to make up weirdness to scare, creep out, amuse, than it is to feed the greed gene and titillate with supposed horrors from the animal kingdom. 

Because They Can: Chimeras

Disturbing science news on "chimeras" which is the name given to lab created monkeys:BBC News - First 'mixed embryo' monkeys born

For the first time, scientists have produced monkeys composed of cells taken from separate embryos.

The animals were born after researchers combined cells from different embryos and implanted them into female monkeys.

Such animals, which contain genetically distinct groups of cells from more than one organism, are called "chimeras".

The three monkeys have been given names, and they have scientists excited for what "might" be revealed. However, as a Dr. Mitalipov is quoted:

But he stressed there was no practical use for producing human chimeras.

Ted Nugent : Sleaze bag

Nugent is a disgusting person, but we've known that for some time. The reason I'm posting this here is because, among his many sleaze-laden ideas and acts, listed in this article by Stephen D. Foster: Ted Nugent Calls For Punishing The Poor, Claims They Make Poor Decisions To End Up In Poverty is the simply tragic fact that Nugent runs a "canned hunt" operation:

Nugent owns a ranch in Michigan that offers canned hunts. A canned hunt is a hunt in which the animals cannot escape because they are trapped by high fences. I live in Missouri, and I enjoy a being out in the woods myself, and I hunt on occasion as well. What Nugent does is NOT hunting. He might as well cage the animal and shoot it point blank, because that’s pretty much what a canned hunt boils down to. A true has more respect for animals then that. It’s not fair if you gun down an animal that can’t actually get away. It’s unsportsmanlike.

Just makes me so fucking damn sad.

Cryptomundo:"New Species Being Raided For Private Pet Trade"

Not quite food porn, since it's not for gratuitously satisfying our gastronomical needs that's the issue here, but "pet" porn. Shameless exploitation in the pet trade. I'm glad Loren Coleman finds this pretty disgusting; he has a post about the raiding of habitat for the newly discovered horned viper in Tanzania:

Cryptomundo New Species Being Raided For Private Pet Trade: There is breaking news on December 15th of a new species of a uniquely-colored horned viper measuring over two feet long (643 millimeters) being discovered. But where exactly it lives in Tanzania is not being discussed.

But the shocking revelation that has been paired with this announcement is that past news of this kind has resulted in large scale raiding operations in the locations described. New species apparently have been targeted by pet collectors to supply a large-scale underground in exciting new animals for private collections. For example, due to this fact, the new viper’s location is “a closely-guarded secret,” say the discoverers.

I didn't know that the illegal pet trade was so lucrative. According to the Wildlife Conversation Society, which Coleman quotes, it's only "...second in the world" with illegal drug trafficking being number one.

And a bit of food porn: "World’s largest insect discovered in New Zealand"

World’s largest insect discovered in New Zealand | The Sideshow - Yahoo! News

I'm not a fan of bugs. Don't much like them, and even while, sometimes, appreciating their beauty and diversity I still don't like them. Even so, I try my best to take insects out of the house and release them outdoors, when possible. I suppose we all have our boundaries; I'll kill wasps, for example, if they're in my house. But overall, I certainly don't go out of my way to kill a bug. I don't understand those - and in fact, find it creepy and telling about a person's character -- who stomp on bugs outdoors as they're casually walking along, talking with you about mundane matters, and WHAM! BUG STOMP! in mid sentence. Whatever is that poor bug doing to you on the pebbled path that you have to take the energy to step on it for no apparent reason other than it's there?

I digress, a bit. This article is both wonderfully interesting and unnerving, about the Giant Weta, a really big bug in New Zealand. What really got my attention however was this comment:

And yes, the man in the video actually eats one of the bugs (and no, bug preservationists need not be alarmed--the smaller Weta is not endangered):

With video clip, which I didn't watch, because I didn't want to add energy to a completely gratuitous act of "food porn." Because it's there, one has the right to kill it, seems to be the message. Underscoring that sentiment is the justification that it's okay, because the bug "... is not endangered."

Bright Blue Lobster saved from dinner table

A beautiful "electric blue" lobster saved from the boiling pot and given to an aquarium.
Bright Blue Lobster saved from dinner table

H.R. 3432: And now they come for the cows � The PPJ Gazette

Chilling. And political, nothing to do with Forteana or esoterica. But it's important, and as I posted on my para-political/conspiracy blog Octopus Confessional, this is one more signal coming at us concerning the new fascism in America. From many seemingly unconnected points, the government-corporate entity in this country has been taking our property in a variety of ways. All these points converge. Like these horses and cows, we too are being herded: off rural properties, away from cash, into being plugged in. You're suspect if you don't have a cell phone, pay with cash, refuse to fly, protest against "smart" meters, live on undeveloped rural property in non-traditional dwellings, grow organic food (or in some cases, any food at all.) It's all about control:

H.R. 3432: And now they come for the cows  The PPJ Gazette: Wild horse advocates warned that cattle and cattle ranching would be next. This wasn’t about saving the environment, or water shortages or any of the other bogus fictional “scientific” reasons for eradicating to extinction the wild horse populations. The wild horses were just the first step in a systematic decimation of the agricultural sector, including cattle ranching, in the Western states.

According to the sponsor of this bill, Rep. Adam Smith [D-WA9], grazing is “impractible” on public lands. But apparently, gas and oil drilling, mining, water diversion and theft, is not. “And for other purposes”, that ubiquitous statement attached to every piece of legislative crapola that comes out of the District of Criminals which signals the insertion of non-related issues, is the red flag that while grazing will not be allowed in perpetuity, that does not mean that other more environmentally devastating activities won’t be taking place.

Mexico to cull 50,000 wild boars from US invasion - Yahoo! News

Boars, coming primarily from Texas where they were kept as "pets" the article states (and canned hunts, they fail to note)that have escaped or set loose and become feral, are invading Mexico and damaging crops: Mexico to cull 50,000 wild boars from US invasion

"We must get rid of these European wild boars because they sleep overnight on US soil during the day and cross over to the Mexican side to feed," Ignacio Legarreta, a state official, told local media.