Tuesday, September 13, 2011

What zoos (and wars) say about us

Posted by Mickey Z on 09/13 at 04:43 AM

  2. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

    Its a very old mind-set…
    Viva La Revolution!
    Thanks for the article about Libya…

    Posted by Frances from coastal bc  on  09/13  at  09:25 AM

  3. A nightmare coming soon to a street near you...

    I am about to go to “expedables” (movie phrase) to buy blanks…

    I am sure there must be a koan in there somewhere…

    Posted by subgenius from hell-A  on  09/13  at  01:30 PM

  4. I like the posts on the new site, MZ. They’re very fresh and the longer form suits you.

    Agreed: zoos need to go extinct. Wildlife recovery centers, on the other hand, should each get a fat federal grants every year. (Yeah, like that will happen!) I’m starting another stretch at the Sarvey center this Friday. http://www.sarveywildlife.org

    Posted by Zen Prole from Pac NW  on  09/13  at  02:30 PM

  5. Hello Expendables…

    Zen: I’m also digging the new site. It’s allows me to re-visit some old material and re-imagine it with a fresher perspective...without a word limit.

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  09/13  at  02:55 PM

  6. Hi again...Iv been thinking more about animals in captivity and thinking about how Earth is kind of a closed system for life...we’re all captives,prisoners of the few powerful deciders...the captains of industry and commerce. I mean, really, where can any of us go to ‘get away’ from it all?
    I recently watched a documentary about the ailing health of the great lakes and their rivers and tributaries…
    I was despondent for days after-ward.
    I agree we should begin dismantling the zoos, release the prisoners back into the wild if they are capable of surviving on their own. We need to set aside larger tracts of wilderness as parks and preserves and start cleaning up the natural spaces around us. We need to start caring for the water ways.
    Now you’ve got me thinking about freedom and interdependence....and the future ones.
    good stuff....later

    Posted by Frances from coastal bc  on  09/13  at  10:02 PM

  7. Hello all

    Re the zoos article. Left a little comment on the site but should have left this…

    The idea about zoos being used as a way to preserve some species has a certain validity if they are in some way preserving some species until better times.

    However, that validity cuold evaporate when you ask the question why can’t they do the same job away from the public and in better living condtions.

    I suppose the people who work in zoos might reply that there isn’t the money or the political or public will (or enough of those things) to do that.

    They would probably be right to say so, so that brings us neatly back to the society of exploitation problem.

    Posted by Michael from not scotland  on  09/14  at  11:51 AM

  8. Good evening everyone...cages, walls, manipulation, limitations of human development...it’s a hell of a mess.

    Posted by Joe of Maine from The Window  on  09/14  at  07:37 PM

  9. ...it’s a hell of a mess.
    Couldn’t say it better myself, Joe.
    Browsing around last night I came across this mind fck:
    U.K. Researchers to Test “Artificial Volcano” for Geoengineering the Climate
    An experiment starting next month in the U.K. will pump water one kilometer into the air to test a new climate-cooling method that eventually could deliver sunlight-reflective sulfate particles into the stratosphere.
    http://tinyurl.com/3sq2coc
    Industrial funded scientific research at its worst? Addicts in denial? Its just plain wrong on so many levels…
    captcha sez ‘ran’... believe me if there was somewhere to run to Id be hittin the bricks.

    Posted by Frances from coastal bc  on  09/15  at  10:50 AM

  10. Frances, the deciders and lunatics will attempt to compensate for their stupidity with another act of insanity.

    Westerners should not be allowed to play with matches.

    Posted by Joe of Maine from The Window  on  09/15  at  04:23 PM

  11. “Addicts in denial”..hmm, perhaps humanity is doing the equivalent of picking at a scab.
    “I know I should stop..but...”
    “OK, I’ve stopped picking at it!..”
    “OK, I’ll really stop in a minute.....”

    Posted by Rick (the Cartoonist) from England  on  09/16  at  04:55 PM

  12. At the onset of the first world war, the zoo was home to 712 species and 3500 specimens, but due to diminishing food supplies during the conflict, the number of specimens rapidly sank down to 900.iPhone 5 release date

    Posted by iphone 5 release date from   on  09/17  at  12:20 AM

  13. Hi all… The reviews are starting to come in as the hurricane clean- up proceeds. Some lost not only their home but also the land that their home was on.

    Politicians, FEMA, Red Cross, Feds, State, and Local officials getting failing grades.

    Some compassionate private citizens are doing a great job. No forms to fill out, no red tape, no disqualifying mumbo jumbo, no gottcha regs. No surprise here.  There are good people, and then there are bureaucrats.

    Posted by RMJ from Ward Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts  on  09/18  at  10:50 AM

  14. Hello again, everyone. I was planning to put up a new post by now but my latest article hasn’t gone live yet...so I figured I’d wait.

    Thanks for the update, RMJ. Ultimately, I feel the powers-that-be know they can get away with anything so why would they bother doing the right thing?

    To give you an idea of the “opposition,” I hit “play” on the video on the “Occupy Wall Street” page and, well...it opened with a commercial. This time around, the revolution will be sponsored?

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  09/18  at  11:00 AM

  15. Hi Mickey… I have been following the Wall Street protest for weeks. Up here it has not been in the news at all. Protesting on a Saturday when the market is closed - maybe the timing could be better? As you often say, we have to change our tactics. I admire those who participated, but the fact is that protesting does not work. 

    About the hurricane relief efforts - once again it shows which side of the desk you are on is all that matters. Also, I am surpised about some of the phone calls I have been receiving from ‘citizens’ who object to others receiving any help. (I don’t qualify for any help. FEMA probably spent at least $1000. to make that determination.) There is a lot of ‘tea party’ type thinking even among those who consider themselves to be above that.  Hard to explain the lack of empathy. The reason things are the way they are is not only because of the government.  A bigger issue is the lack of a social commitment to others in our culture. I keep hearing that European countries are not like this. They have health care for all, etc. In the USA it is every man for himself.

    Off topic...is the government allowing the Post Office to possibly fail as a way of enhancing profits for the tech companies???  There are a lot of people who do not have computers - and some of those who do, might have to give them up because of finances.  Maybe I am just too old - I remember when a postage stamp was 3 cents and the mail man came twice a day.

    Posted by RMJ from Ward Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts  on  09/18  at  11:58 AM

  16. #13 & 14: Yes, things have descended to the level that anything goes - so long as corporations want it. I’ve backed away from my daily political reading and it’s somehow heightened my awareness. Life here has become so twisted that you can see it everyday. This makes utter collapse somehow appealing.

    Hurricane-strength morons: The “don’t help me” attitude is straight off the slave plantation, a fear of being manipulated and victimized. (How many Confederate-flag flyin’ teabagger boneheads would like to hear that?) Something a very tough prof once taught me in a black history course is that you can’t assume that slaves knew better. Conditioning can be powerful, so it’s good that exiledonline.com has a feature called “Class War For Idiots.”

    RMJ, the Post Office was the test model for assaults on the workplace, so it’s no surprise that it’s standing at the gallows. (see Mark Ames’ Going Postal)I see Fedex and UPS picking up the slack, or some modern version of the Pony Express.

    Posted by Zen Prole from Pac NW  on  09/18  at  12:29 PM

  17. Me again...just letting you know a new post is finally up. See you there.

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  09/19  at  03:59 AM

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