Woolly mammoths stomp through the Siberian tundra as the giant moa strides the forest floor of New Zealand and Tasmania’s dog-like “tigers” stalk their prey under the cover of night. This is not a snapshot of times past, nor next year’s sequel to Steven Spielberg’s…
Swedish zoo cheers rare Siberian tiger cubs
Three Siberian tigers have been born at a wildlife park in western Sweden, the zoo announced on Tuesday, with the striped bundles of fur estimated to be up and running within a few weeks. … Read More
Boao Forum: Chinese convention rivals Davos
The rapid rise of the so-called ‘Asian tigers’ has shifted the focus eastwards, when it comes to world economic development. Initiated by China in 2001, the Boao Forum focuses not only on Asian economic issues, but also address global political and economic problems.The 12th Boao Forum in 2013 has already proven to be a truly global, not just Asian event, once again bringing the world’s attention to the emerging nations’ ever growing economic clout.Heads of state, business leaders and Nobel Prize winners, altogether 1,477 representatives from 43 countries and regions have all gathered in China to discuss pressing global issues.“This is the largest [economic] forum in Asia,” Ksenia Yudaeva, Russia’s representative for G20 summit preparations, told RT. “Here you can see that Asia is the new center of world’s economic growth.”This year the forum is attracting some big names, like Microsoft’s Bill Gates, investor George Soros and head of the IMF Christine Lagarde.“The vision of that forum is really comparable to Davos in representation of speakers of Europe, the US and Asian countries. I would call it an Asian Davos,” said Yudaeva, who also occupies position of chief of the Presidential Experts’ Directorate in Russia.While Europe and the US are battling economic recession, China’s trade volume is growing steadily. For many countries China has already become the number one trade partner, a place previously occupied by the US. So there is little wonder that world leaders and business gurus from countries affected by the crisis are flocking to China’s tropical Hainan Island for some advice and, hopefully, remedy.Unlike a BRICS summit, which is “largely a government to government thing,” the Boao Forum serves different purposes, because it “deepens contact between the civil society, business and academics” professor of political studies at the University of Manitoba, Rhadika Desai, told RT.“One really important thing about this is that they are going to move away from hub-and-spoke relationship that the developing countries once had with the Western world and the advanced industrial countries – and began to create more contacts, investment and trade amongst themselves,” said Desai, who has written extensively on the rise of emerging economies.The global economic crisis made the Eastern countries realize that “the best way to deal with crisis is to widen your domestic market… to engage it a lot more and make it the driver of growth. This is very important for laying the foundation for sustainable long-term autonomous [economic] growth,” she stressed.“The old export-led [economic] growth model, which was being followed and prescribed in the pre-crisis era, is basically defunct. It could work as long as the US was able and willing to observe the goods of the Western world, but as we know, it observed it at the cost of giving excessive crediting to the rest of the world,” Desai concluded.The BRICS countries have recently signed an agreement to trade in their own national currencies, not the US dollar. That move is expected to eventually ditch the American currency. Rumors about China’s yuan becoming one of the world’s reserve currencies have been discussed for quite some time already.Washington has for years been accusing Beijing of manipulating the exchange rate of Chinese national currency to gain some trade advantages. But China rejects all allegations, demonstrating resilience in diplomacy and independence in economic decision-making. … Read More
Sequester is Just Like Sophie’s Choice, But With Cheetahs!
In the next 48 hours to 72
hours (and beyond), get ready for sequestration horror stories
about the monstrous depredations that will occur to the birds, the
bees, and all God’s chilluns with and without wings should the
federal government go through with its unholy plan –
agreed to by Dems, Reps, and the president himself back in August
2011 – to whack an entire 1 percent to 2 percent of planned
spending out of the fiscal 2013 budget.
Here’s an example from the Wash Post about the terrible choices
facing one of the core functions of government, the National Zoo,
where the director Dennis Kelly explains that his crew is already
“to the bone” and sequestration-related cuts may mean that “the
planned acquisition of cheetahs for the research facility in Front
Royal” won’t happen as scheduled. Worse still, he might have to
shutter whole “modules” at the zoo.
“Please don’t make me chose among my children!” pleads
Kelly, declining to speculate on which exhibit would be most at
risk. “Those collections are big and stable and took years to
build. If, God forbid, we have to shut down lions and tigers, it
would take more than a year to find homes for them. And then if the
money was found, it would probably take three years to start it up
again.”
Notice that they never threaten
to shut down, I don’t know, the Invertebrate
Exhibit ;(which is already redundant given the fact of
Congress).
But just to drive home the point of how unconscionable any cuts
to any government program anywhere is, the Post story includes the
requisite announcement by a selfless public-sector worker that,
hey, they’re not doing any of this because they get paid.
They’re doing it because it’s their calling! Says one dedicated
keeper:
“It’s become kind of a lifestyle,” she said. “We do it because
we love the animals.”
And yet like most labors of love, the only way that taxpayers
can truly show their appreciation is by continuing funding at
current or increased levels. It’s a confusing message and one that
is routinely trotted out like a, I don’t know, a lion or tiger or
cheetah exhibit that just might have to be cut if anyone dare lay a
finger on a budget line anywhere. (Hat
tip: New Yorl mag)
Take it away, Chris Elliott, who answers the musical question,
who sings for the lonely wildebeests?:
Prince Fielder, Detroit Tiger, Unveils ‘World’s Largest Baseball Card’ At Spring Training
LAKELAND, Fla. — With his beefy frame and prodigious power, Prince Fielder doesn’t look like a player who can simply blend into a lineup.
Somehow, the slugging first baseman did just that in his first season with the Detroit Tigers.
Jim Leyland, Detroit Tigers Manager, Reflects On 50 Seasons In Baseball
— Detroit manager Jim Leyland arrived at the Tigers’ training camp Monday in Lakeland, Fla., marking 50 seasons since he first showed up there as a pencil-thin 18-year-old prospect.
If you were expecting sepia-tinged memories about a kid from Ohio basking in the sunshine and seeing his dream laid out in front of him, well, you don’t know Leyland. Or at least not well enough.
In defense of the pit bull
For most of the 114 years since the American pit bull terrier was first recognized by the United Kennel Club, the breed was rightly seen as the perfect “nanny dog” for children because of its friendly nature, loyalty and stability. As the ASPCA notes, the pit bulls were “once considered especially non-aggressive to people.”
Today, as any owner of a “pit bull-type” dog* can attest, parents often recoil in horror when they spot one of these animals, pulling their children close as if to protect them from a marauding werewolf. Fanciful myths about the breed abound, and some public officials have compared their bites to those of sharks and tigers.
