Further entries on Sunday will be delayed due to my deployment on the Cutter U.S.S. Taney (USCGC Taney (WPG/WHEC-37)).
My two eldest sons and I are scheduled to sleep over on the Taney on Saturday night. Men going off to sea on a warship is nothing new, but not since the Fighting Sullivan brothers has one family decided to serve in the same ship.
Category: Environment
McCune Mayor Don Call, Mayor of McCune, Mo., may wish he lived in McCune, Pennsylvania where shooting dogs was found not to be covered under animal cruelty statutes. Call faces animal cruelty charges for killing two dogs with a rifle that were threatening children in the area. A warrant has been issued for his arrest.
Continue reading “Bad Call? Mayor Faces Criminal Charges for Killing Two Dogs”
After a revolt among students and alumni, comedian and game show host Ben Stein has withdrawn as the paid spring commencement speaker and recipient of an honorary degree. Critics have cited Stein’s attacks on the theory of evolution and controversial views of science. He was to be paid $7500 for the speech.
Continue reading “Taking Back Ben Stein’s Money: Ben Stein Pulled As Commencement Speaker for the University of Vermont”
In a remarkable admission from the Chinese government, a Chinese health official has said that China’s lethal levels of pollution is the reason that a baby is born with defects every 30 seconds in the country. Jiang Fan, vice-minister of the National Population and Family Planning Commission (NPFPC) made the shocking admission at a conference in Beijing.
Continue reading “Chinese Official: Baby Born Every 30 Seconds With Birth Defect Due to Pollution”
The Pennsylvania Superior Court has ruled that pet owners in the state cannot be prosecuted for shooting and killing their pets. The appellate court overturned the conviction of Wendy Colleen Kneller who, in 2006, shot her 6-year-old pit bull-chow mix, Bouta. The state anti-cruelty statute was deemed too ambiguous to sustain such a charge.
Continue reading “Shoot the Pooch: Pennsylvania Court Rule that Owners Can Shoot Their Pets”
It has taken eight years, but Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus are heading to a non-jury trial over cruelty allegations related to its treatment of its elephants. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Animal Welfare Institute, and other plaintiffs allege that company’s use of sharp tools called bullhooks and the prolonged use of chains on the Asian elephants. The case is an interesting use of the federal Endangered Species Act rather than the usual animal cruelty statutes.
Internal documents from the Peanut Corporation of America reportedly show that the company knew that peanut butter was contaminated with salmonella 12 times in the last two years, but shipped out the contaminated peanut butter to customers. The revelation will most certainly increase the liability facing the company from both the government and civil litigants after the death of eight people and the injury to hundreds across the country. Indeed, it would appear that criminal charges may now be warranted.
A Providence, Rhode Island man is in trouble after he abandoned nearly 300 rats on the side of the road. Toby Duffany, 22, was arrested for stuffing 280 rats into aquariums and cages on the side of a road. The rats were forced to turn to cannibalism and 75 rates died. Yet, Duffany has only some community service and $1000 to pay for his cruel treatment of the animals.
You simply can’t make this stuff up. Former French President Jacques Chirac was rushed to a hospital after being bitten by his white Maltese poodle, Sumo. Sumo has been under care for clinical depression, including treatment with anti-depressants.
What is often missing in the political debate over the environment is the direct cost of pollution on the health and lives of Americans. While the Bush Administration was attacking environmental regulations across the board, officials rarely acknowledged that the lower standard meant more children with asthma and earlier deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. Indeed, most citizens fail to understand that pollution shortens their lives. They need to read this week’s issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.
Continue reading “Medical Study Finds Direct Link Between Reducing Pollution and Extending Lives”
Washington is electric this morning. It is morning in America as literally billions around the world celebrate the Inauguration of our 44th President.
Continue reading “OUR 44TH PRESIDENT”
Amnesty International has entered the controversy over Israel’s alleged use of white phosphorus in civilian areas of the Gaza Strip. The use of white phosphorus in a civilian area — let alone a compacted urban area like Gaza — would violate international law. Amnesty’s own investigation found what it claims to be clear evidence of such violations.
There is a very interesting tort case filed in Tucson over a Dutch tourist, a javelina, and a desert museum. Rene Zegerius experienced a real desert encounter when he was attacked by a javelina, a pig-sized member of the peccary family. While the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum has javelinas, they insists that this must have been someone else’s javelina or a wild javelina. This is what torts professors dream of when they go to bed at night.
Continue reading “Dutch Treat: Tourist Sues Museum After Javelina Attack”
A New Jersey man is in custody on a bizarre case of practicing medicine without a license. Daniel C. Tyce, 26, was arrested for allegedly claiming to be Danielle Smith – a real licensed veterinarian. Tyce, an ex-convict, is accused of committing the fraud to pay for estrogen treatments and a sex change operation.
Continue reading “Faux Veterinarian Arrested in Bizarre Cross-Dressing Case of Fraud”
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is going to court to block protections for the diminishing population of Cook Inlet beluga whales off of her state. In an announcement from her office, Palin has again taken the lead in attacks on environmental protection policies.