BIRD watchers' hopes they had discovered a new species of hawk have been shot down after a New Zealand farmer was revealed to be spray painting the birds pinkish-red and releasing them for the lulz.
In a judge's decision released this week, Grant Michael Teahan was found not to be innocent of two charges of ill-treating an animal after he defended the charges in the Dannevirke District Court in November, the Manawatu Standard reports.
In early 2009, locals were mystified by the appearance of the strangely coloured hawks and sent photos of them in to the local newspaper. "Check! A graffiti hawk!"
However, when one of the hawks was hit and killed by a car the spray painting was discovered.
The SPCA began investigating and Teahan was uncovered when he asked his nephew to send a YouTube clip to the media, showing a man catching and shooting a magpie in a home-made trap, which was covered in pinkish-red spray paint. "It's a TRAP!"
"It's also a trick."
Computers seized at Teahan's Dannevirke property had files, photographs and films relating to red hawks deleted.
Another file showed a cow that had been spray-painted with "Merry Christmas".
Palmerston North SPCA manager Danny Auger told the Manawatu Standard it was the most bizarre case he had worked on.
"Various people got involved, like experts who thought maybe it was a new strain or a new type of bird or whatever, but then feathers were being found and it was obvious somebody was actually painting these hawks."
Teahan, who will be sentenced on January 30, is considering appealing his conviction.
#3
I remember a similar story about a construction worker on the Golden Gate Bridge. After every sea gull catch and release from the safety nets, he gave them a dab of read paint to see how many were the same gulls coming back - or, just for the heck of it.
Excitable bird watchers began coming to see the red crested gulls that were migrating to San Fransisco for the first time ...
Of course the stupid goose'es head was black headed because he dunked his head into a coffee can of old motor oil while we were taking a beer break (from changing said oil).
Over the past few years we've seen several instances of schools being pressured to change their mascots because of cultural sensitives like Miami University of Ohio having to go through a 25-year process to change from the Redskins to the Redhawks.
But we've never heard of a mascot that offended, well, older women.
The Corner Canyon High School in Draper, Utah, needed to choose a mascot and after 23% of students who voted decided they wanted to be the Corner Canyon Cougars. Falcons, Raptors and Diamondbacks were the other choices on the ballot.
But that didn't sit well with parents who called in and complained that "Cougar" was a derogatory word because of how it's made its way into our vocabulary for older women who like to date younger men.
"We have received numerous e-mail messages and phone calls from parents and patrons in Draper asking us to reconsider the inclusion of 'Cougars' as a mascot option," David S. Doty, superintendent of the Canyons School District, wrote in a memo to the Board of Education. "Opposition to the 'Cougars' focuses on a concern that the mascot, combined with the schools blue/white/silver color scheme, will be too similar to Brigham Young University. Many also have commented on the negative double entendre of the word 'cougar.'"
A cougar mascot doesn't seem to present a problem at well-known Brigham Young, in Provo, where 19 varsity teams, including 10 women's teams, compete under the Cougar nickname.
But down the road in Draper, the school board scrapped "Cougars" from the list of mascots and settled on the Chargers.
Maybe in Draper the ABC sitcom "Cougar Town," starring Courtney Cox, didn't go over real well.
For reference, because we know you were curious, we dug up a few statistics for you.
According to the 2010 census:
Draper, Utah has a total population of 42,274 people.
There were 12,685 people age 35 to 54. The median age there is 30.7.
There are 5,709 women ages 35-54.
Median age for women is 30.1. Median age for men is 31.2
And according to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources:
There are roughly 3,000 total mountain lions in the state of Utah "plus or minus 1,000."
But its tough to get a true estimate. The elusive nature of the big cats, compounded by their penchant for nocturnal activities, makes them difficult to count, Kevin Bunnell, mammals coordinator for the DWR, told the Salt Lake Tribune.
While no doubt everyone has their own view on the matter of picking mascots and what is politically correct, it seems like the list of things you can't call your team continues to grow.
And you never know, this story may not be over yet. "Chargers" may be deemed offensive to people who are up to their necks in credit-card debt.
The elder brother of Prince Al Waleed bin Talal slammed the famous Saudi billionaire over his wife's repeated appearances in the media and warned him of a "severe" response if he does not stop her.
Oh my.
In a surprise statement carried by the so-called Logainat website, Prince Khalid bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz said he had told his younger brother to stop such practices which "violate our family, religion and Saudi values."
He said, "What my brother is doing is a deliberate and stubborn act without giving any consideration to the feelings of his family...man's honour is very dear and harming this honour is very bad and unfair."
"I have told him that our family honour is a red line and if you don't respect this honour, then we do because it is dearer than all jewellery...I now tell you that if you do not come back to your senses and stop your deviation, then our response will be very severe and harsh next time without prior warning."
Prince Khaled was referring to television appearances and Western newspaper statements by Al Waleed's wife Princess Ameera Al Taweel. Among recent comments in Newsweek magazine, Princess Amira criticised curbs on Saudi women and said women want equal rights as men.
She has spoken out publicly in the US on NBC's Today, CNN International and NPR, as well as in TIME and Foreign Policy in support of both women's right to drive and the broader issue of women's ability to contribute fully to Saudi society.
She recently spoke to a special session at the 2011 Clinton Global Initiative, called, Voices for Change in the Middle East & North Africa, where she discussed her views on the current movements for change in the region with Clinton.
#3
Yes, TW, that would be my guess. Probably a nasty bite from one of the camels, its gets infected and the quick slide into the grave. The Princess had best hope she is not in attendance or in the country at the time.
#4
Someone should tell Al Waleed that its past time to move up and into the 19th century ....
Arab rulers have this problem with a troglodyte populace that, from time to time, rises in violent reaction against any regime it feels to be overly-influenced by foreign infidels. If I were her, I'd tread softly myself. As we've seen elsewhere, but especially in Egypt, where Mubarak's fall was triggered by secularists who then garnered less than 25% of the vote, the presence of a vocal opposition is no guarantee that the rest of the populace shares its disdain for the medieval strictures of Islam.
President Barack Obama's decision yesterday to reject a permit for TransCanada Corp.'s Keystone XL oil pipeline may prompt Canada to turn to China for oil exports.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in a telephone call yesterday, told Obama "Canada will continue to work to diversify its energy exports," according to details provided by Harper's office. Canadian Natural Resource Minister Joe Oliver said relying less on the U.S. would help strengthen the country's "financial security."
The "decision by the Obama administration underlines the importance of diversifying and expanding our markets, including the growing Asian market," Oliver told reporters in Ottawa.
Currently, 99 percent of Canada's crude exports go to the U.S., a figure that Harper wants to reduce in his bid to make Canada a "superpower" in global energy markets.
Canada accounts for more than 90 percent of all proven reserves outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, according to data compiled in the BP Statistical Review of World Energy. Most of Canada's crude is produced from oil-sands deposits in the landlocked province of Alberta, where output is expected to double over the next eight years, according to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.
"I am sure that if the oil sands production is not used in the United States, they will be used in other countries," Fatih Birol, chief economist at the International Energy Agency, said in an interview before a speech at Imperial College in London today.
Harper "expressed his profound disappointment with the news," according to the statement, which added that Obama told Harper the rejection was not based on the project's merit and that the company is free to re-apply.
Canada this month began hearings on a proposed pipeline by Enbridge Inc. to move crude from Alberta's oil sands to British Columbia's coast, where it could be shipped to Asian markets.
Environmentalists and Canadian opposition lawmakers welcomed the Obama administration's decision. Megan Leslie, a lawmaker for the opposition New Democratic Party, said the Keystone pipeline project was harmful to Canada's energy security. "What I'm opposed to is continuing the unchecked expansion of the oil sands," Leslie said by telephone.
What she's opposed to is any expansion. Indeed, any use. There's all that green energy and tens of millions of jobs to be had. It just needs some government loans to kickstart the whole process...
Enbridge's pipeline may now become the new flashpoint between Harper and the opposition. Harper has said building the capacity to sell the country's oil to Asian markets is in the national interest, and the government will review regulatory- approval rules for new energy projects so they can be done more quickly. Harper has also said he will look more closely into complaints that "foreign money" is being used to overload the regulatory process.
"We have to have processes in Canada that come to a decision in a reasonable amount of time, and processes that cannot be hijacked," Harper said at a press conference Jan. 6 in Edmonton.
Hijacked by American greenies, Soros and other nefarious types, he means...
Yesterday's rejection "certainly introduces new uncertainties into the economic relationship," said David Pumphrey, deputy director of the energy and national security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "This is a cornerstone of economic development for the country."
Canadian policy makers said they remain optimistic TransCanada will eventually be able to proceed. Alberta Premier Alison Redford said in a press conference in Edmonton that it is still "entirely possible" the pipeline will be built and said it was good news that TransCanada planned to apply again.
Wait until late January, 2013, and for either President Romney or President Gingrich to look at the plan. Shouldn't take more than a day or so...
Canada will continue to support TransCanada Corp. (TRP)'s plans to build the Keystone XL pipeline, Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird said, adding that it is in the best interests of both Canada and the United States.
"We strongly believe that Keystone's in the best interests of both countries," he said. "We'll continue to be an active supporter of the project."
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/20/2012 10:18 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Thanks Obama and the Greens for continuing to fuck up our economy and put our national safety at risk.
Can we declare them domestic enemies and purge them now?
#2
Why doesn't Canada build a refinery so they can ship smaller amounts of gasoline rather than crude? Why let Texas (or China) have those jobs? You might get a lot of Americans crossing the border to go to work and their paychecks can be taxed?
#3
What am I missing?
Refineries are very expensive to build from scratch. That kind of money is hard to borrow nowadays, what with the debt overhang & the worldwide need to prop up Vampire Squids. It probably just makes more economic sense for Canadians to sell their crude petro products as-is.
The staggering scope of the oil sands. Within 4 years, production will vault Canada into the top 5 in world production.
Canadian Oil is completely landlocked. Even if we built enough refineries, there would still be an issue of getting the oil to a refinery and on to the consumer, about 4mil barrels per day. The sheer volume of oil makes pipelines (multiple) necessary. That 4mil is in addition the existing 1mil bpd that is currently pumped by pipeline from Alberta to the US.
Keystone will eventually be built, as the Bakken Field in North Dakota requires it as well. But that pipe will still only handle 1mil bpd. So oil will be flowing to the west coast as well, and on to China and Asia.
Besides, oil shipped to Asia will find a better price than that shipped to Texas.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is giving fresh backing to the Marine Corps' version of the next-generation strike plane, the F-35, a U.S. defense official said.
During a visit Friday to the Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Maryland, where the F-35 program is run, Panetta will announce that the Marines' version is no longer on what Panetta's predecessor, Robert Gates, called "probation," according to a U.S. defense official with knowledge of the decision. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of the announcement.
#5
If you look at a lot of what the pentagon is sourcing these days it is clear we are pushing technologies to the 99th percentile, like 35" color CRTs. Will the F-35 be more successful than the F-15? The Ford over the Nimitz? The Zumwalt over the Burke? The Seawolf over the Los Angeles?
But bureaucratic inertia will keep us polishing the technology until it is proven past its prime by failure in combat. There is a lot of waste here and Panetta has missed a chance to curb it.
#6
The UK/CON and Italy need a replacement for the Harrier. It isn't just the US Marines who need the F-35B.
I expect problems in a complicated procurement like the F-35. Lockheed-Martin needs to show that they are on top of the situation.
BTW, are the F-22's flying yet?
Posted by: Mike Ramsey ||
01/20/2012 9:57 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Nimble,
Pushing things past the 99% is what makes our weapons so expensive.
When I was working on the B-1, the Air Force insisted on going from 99% to 99.9% on one component, even though it made the part 30x more expensive. This was a backup component that would be used only a couple of times in its lifetime.
You do that with enough parts and the cost of the entire system spirals out of control.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
01/20/2012 13:08 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Pushing things past the 99% is what makes our weapons so expensive.
Nothing can be adequate, because of the hue and outcry and the political and legal fallout when things fail.
"It's wasn't the pilot's fault - it was the aircraft she was given to fly."
"Yes, the weapon hadn't been cleaned in a while- it still should have fired."
"It wasn't a mishandling of the ammunition - it was the weapon's loading system."
"The truck should have been designed not to roll over at high speed. Obviously the procurement system failed."
#10
When I was working on the B-1, the Air Force insisted on going from 99% to 99.9% on one component, even though it made the part 30x more expensive. This was a backup component that would be used only a couple of times in its lifetime.
You do that with enough parts and the cost of the entire system spirals out of control.
In wartime, a lot of these practices will go by the wayside, given body counts that become part of the background noise. In peacetime, however, accidents due to under-spec'ed items are a PR nightmare. I understand where the brass are coming from. Take the F-22. Supposedly gold-plated every which way, but still vulnerable with respect to its oxygen supply.
#11
IIRC, the USMC is on record as not wanting this aircraft due to cost and logistics; I expect that lift fan to prove a maintenance nightmare.
My former employer does the 5 axis CNC trim and drill on many of the composite skin panels for all 3 variants. true position error tolerance of 0.004" is the max; the CNC machines have a tolerance of 0.003" and the laser/radar trackers used to measure the finished parts also have a 0.003" error tolerance. do the math, you can have a part deadnutz on and still report it out of tolerance. and Lockheed Martin, (bless their little government contract driven heart) have to do a full scale Material Review Board to determine if the eror ( any error) is reworkable. that costs huge. but the one that really takes the cake is that these panels have many rivet holes. the CNC program only drills the pilot holes; they are taken up to full size later in Fort Worth. if we drilled a PILOT hole oversize, we had to report that to LM for the MRB to review and disposition. and the damnthing was going to be drilled out later so any oversize would disappear!!!!
in fairness to LM, these requirements were contractually driven, so this is the gov't driving this gold plated bus.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
President Barack Obama's decision yesterday to reject a permit for TransCanada Corp.'s Keystone XL oil pipeline may prompt Canada to turn to China for oil exports.
