PETA has released photos taken by a former elephant trainer with the circus of a baby elephant being taught to perform — and hit with sharp metal hooks when it fails to do so. The photos were reportedly taken by trainer who died recently and wanted them published.
The photos are graphic and disturbing. Sammy Haddock worked for the Ringling Bros’ Barnum and Bailey Circus until 2005 and reportedly wanted to clear his conscience. He died last month.
PETA and other groups have revealed such disturbing images in the past, here and here and here.
For the full story,click here.
Buddha:
Bad laws are the worst sort of tyranny.
~Edmund Burke
…and perhaps more to the point:
The more laws, the less justice.
~Cicero
I think AY touches on an important topic in law. One cannot legislate morality OR ethical behavior. It’s a personal choice. The best one can do is use ethics as a guide for drafting laws. Not the tainted dogma of beliefs but the hard logics and proofs of a secular rational framework for defining what is good or evil in human behavior. When that ethical line is crossed we should rightly call the action a crime.
However, this also points to one of Bob’s big buggaboo’s – the abuse of the law of parsimony. Laws should be simple, but not so simple as to be non-functional. Every law is like a building project of any sort except the end result is social engineering, not physical. It has a start and a goal. Well-drafted law meets the desired goal with minimal language and with minimal need for enforcement. Poorly drafted laws result in entire departments of government that are essentially useless they are so malfunctioning: for example the DHS Security Theater Players. They don’t make any of us safer unless you don’t think having any right to privacy is important or to be free from search and seizure or free speech or any other Right those little Gestapo agents in training want to stomp based on what’s expedient, not what is Constitutional. This doesn’t change that law is a system and as such is bound by the natural laws governing said systems. Occam’s Razor and complexity/chaos theory are intimately related. A law that is too complex is bound for error. A law that is too simple may not cover the specific instance factually but that is the function of case law and courts. One can more easily error correct from simplicity than from complexity.
For a prime example of where this ALL falls apart, one need not look further than the Tax Code. It’s a joke. Over complicated and done so to help corporations and the über-wealthy avoid paying taxes all together. It got this way because of the K St. graft merchants buying pols for corporations who would rewrite and in many cases let the corporations proper re-write laws in favor of the 1% of sociopaths and screw the other 99% of the populace. If everyone – and I mean EVERYONE – including corporations had to pay a flat tax or a sales tax? That’d be fair, simple and functional. But what you have here is law used as obfuscation for a criminal (and unethical) act. The simple solution? A flat tax with an earning threshold or a national sales tax and this means for corporations too. Your P/E statements show a profit? You owe X% and IT NOT BE NEGOTIABLE. Taxes are the COB for doing business here and screw corporations if they don’t want to pay. Our current income tax laws are a joke – manifestly unfair to the majority of natural actual human beings and it props up fascism. You want to hurt fascism? Push for tax and lobby reform. Take the graft/abuse of duties out of the system at the systemic level. Make laws direct, simple and easy to enforce whenever possible but make sure they apply fairly TO ALL.
More laws are not always the answer. Especially when they create social discord by myopic and self-destructive behavior based on a profit-motive when the true function of government is NOT to help ‘lil Timmy’s bank book. The function of government is mutual defense and maintaining enough social infrastructure and safety nets to keep civilization in tact and functioning: something that government is failing at right now. And if you ask yourself “Why?” and come back with any other answer than Fascism, you aren’t paying attention to either graft riddled party and their corporatist whoring.
Sometimes less and/or simpler laws are the solution.
And here’s a simple law those in D.C. have forgotten. It’s not a Federal law or a State law. It’s a law of political science. The governors only rule with the consent of the governed. When laws cease to be applied fairly or the law has indeed become lawless (as it has with signing statement abuse), then this law will indeed come into play at some point as a mathematical fact.
But complexity obscuring crimes will become increasingly unstable. That’s just the way complex systems fall apart.
Tortured for family amusement. Even more offensive than birth for slaughter.
I would like to see the letter or request from Sammy Haddock before a comment is made.
However, the article did have an interesting quote. The photographs are being used to spearhead a campaign to tighten up laws on the use of wild beasts in circuses.
The Government here is considering legislation to impose stricter conditions on their care, training and performance, particularly where young are concerned.”
Would Congress pass such a law which could possibly end ones career?
Are children safer because they pass laws? Are we safer? Think of the other consequences of regulation. You cannot regulate one area without another area being affected or is that infected? If they would tie-bar a bill to cease upon other areas of compromise then, maybe.
One right abridged is another taken away.