Bottled Text: 2013

2013/08/22

For Some Value of "Magic": Bradley Manning's Post-Sentencing Statement

For Some Value of "Magic": Bradley Manning's Post-Sentencing Statement:

"Our nation has had similar dark moments for the virtues of democracy—the Trail of Tears, the Dred Scott decision, McCarthyism, the Japanese-American internment camps—to name a few. I am confident that many of our actions since 9/11 will one day be viewed in a similar light. "

Thanks to Steve Holden for posting the statement. It's well worth reading in its entirety.

2013/08/19

Cameron Proves Greenwald Right

Cameron Proves Greenwald Right:

"Britain is now a police state when it comes to journalists, just like Russia is."

Well put.

I don't care what Edward Snowden's personal character may prove to be. He has done us a huge favor by bringing these issues to the fore. Now we need to pressure our elected representatives to actually do something about the destruction of our civil liberties.

2013/03/03

Prairie dogs in the NM news

[2013/03/03] Local news briefs - The Santa Fe New Mexican:

"CLOVIS - City commissioners have approved a plan to poison prairie dogs in a Clovis park.

The Portales News-Tribune reported that Clovis city commissioners on Friday approved an emergency budget transfer to purchase 250 containers of Rozol rodenticide to reduce the population of prairie dogs at Ned Houk Park.

The move came after several landowners near the park pressured commissioners about the burrowing rodents.

Resident Glenn Eagle said the prairie dogs have eaten his oat crop in the past, and he's worried they will eat the oats again this spring. He said the rodents are destroying the park by eating the grass and making erosion problems worse.

But Clovis resident Susan Hubby says she was concerned about the long-term effects of Rozol on the park's ecosystem."

I'm starting to collect snippets about prairie dogs. They're interesting creatures, and humans tend to regard them in one of two extreme ways: as dangerous pests to be eradicated, or as cute fur balls to be serenaded by Tibetan monks.

Interesting: Gunnison's prairie dogs, the kind we have here in Santa Fe, have 40 diploid chromosomes, whereas all other species have 50.

Also interesting: prairie dog species can vary quite a bit in appearance and vocalization. Compare this excellent, up-close view of some Denver-based black-tailed prairie dogs, by Yuta Murai, with these clips I took of a small Gunnison's colony here in Santa Fe.

Also interesting, and exemplary of extreme human attitudes toward prairie dogs, is the history of their association with bubonic plague. Some people think they "carry" plague and other deadly diseases such as hanta virus. In fact they suffer from plague, which can quickly wipe out almost 100% of a colony; but they don't carry it from place to place as rats do. And they don't carry hanta virus, or spread it in their droppings.

There's plenty more to write about human attitudes toward prairie dogs (and how we invent myths to justify those attitudes), about their "keystone species" status, etc.

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