Pity the Ducklings

The oil spill spreading through the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast has people thinking about the effects of the big things on the environment and wildlife, but it may be worth remembering that for some animals, minor parts of the built environment that we don't normally give a second thought can be hazardous to animals.

A duck was leading her brood of ducklings along the side of a road when she lead them near a sewer grate and three or four of the little birds fell in. When I arrived on the scene, the mother duck was still there, with her remaining ducklings gathered around her, calling to them. They, in turn, peeped back, the sound echoing slightly in the concrete pipe. Eventually, the duck moved on, leading her remaining ducklings away. The trapped ducklings remained in the pipe, and in the afternoon, when I walked past again, I could still hear them, plaintively calling for a mother who couldn't reach them, and by now, was nowhere to be seen. Unable to move the grate, no-one could get to them, even though there was a ladder down to the water. Of course, the ducklings weren't the only vocal birds in the area, and if you weren't aware they were down there, you might not have even picked out there calls from the other chirps, peeps and calls.

I suspect that this sort of thing happens all the time. Ducks are ubiquitous, and being unafraid of humans for the most part, they're willing to nest in areas that other animals wouldn't dare. The upside is that this places them near a ready source of effort-free food, as people will feed them without a second thought. But it has it's downsides, something that only rarely occurred to me before today.

Uninjured

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.
A common childhood saying.

The whole recent controversy over South Park inspired me to think about the concept of freedom of speech and I suddenly realized that the little ditty above, that pretty much every American learns in childhood, is its basis. Unlike more physical weapons, words have power only to the degree that the people who hear them give them power. It takes a level of maturity to understand that and to use it one's advantage; and in that sense the ability to say what one will without being sanctioned by officials speaks to maturity of governance.

I think I will have to revisit this subject, and see if it teaches me anything of interest.

Why's Everybody Always Picking On Me?

I read an excellent article in Salon by Glenn Greenwald, refuting the idea put forward by Ross Douthat that everyone but Muslims are fair game for having their taboos trampled in the media. I suspect that part of the issue is that people feel that no-one is afraid of offending them, and therefore they take offense (or, are perhaps simply jealous) of other groups that people do appear willing to tiptoe around. (On the flip side, you could also phrase it that people who feel that they have been insulted have their sense of fairness injured when others are not similarly put down.) Douthat’s lament is simply the latest in a litany of what are basically whines on the part of any number of different groups that they are the last “acceptable target” left for public insults. There have been Whites, gays, men, conservatives and Christians, among others, that have all made the point publicly that their group is the sole constituency left in the United States that people may badmouth without consequence. Of course, were any of these people listening to each other, rather than being on the lookout for anything that provides the slightest pretext for an outraged denunciation, they’d know that there were many other people in the boat along with them.

Far From Home

I've heard it said that we all die alone. But to bleed out on the street of a foreign city while people walk past seems an especially lonesome way to go.

I think people are just afraid to step in; they don't want to get involved; who knows what their reasons are?
Homeless good Samaritan left to die on NYC street

They don't want to get involved. One wonders why not. In the end, there is a simple and nonspecific answer that might sum it up. The people who walked past Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax's body, or stopped to stare at him or even lifted him up to see the blood on the sidewalk all perceived a cost to being involved with him. And whatever that cost was, they decided it was too dear to pay. This is, I think, more common than we like to believe it is. It's a hard fact that a human life is only worth what someone will pay to preserve it. And in this case, no-one was willing to pony up. And I don't think that it's because we have too little - it's because we have just enough to fear to lose part of it.

[...P]erhaps [passerby] had just learned a lesson that Mr. Tale-Yax so clearly had not: better to keep to oneself than to risk the trouble that comes from extending a helping hand.
Questions Surround a Delay in Help for a Dying Man

There will be recriminations, as New Yorkers look to find out who should be punished for this deed. Some people will be genuinely outraged, others will be looking to separate themselves from both the killer and the pedestrians, fearing they will be tarred with the same brush. But the gruesome novelty of this act will die down, and just as quickly as he entered the news, the homeless Guatemalan will fade from it.

His body is being sent home to Guatemala. I hope he rests better in the soil of his native land, than he did on ours.

Hater Versus Hater

I found a DVD at Costco this afternoon, that caught my attention. Collision: Christopher Hitchens vs. Douglas Wilson. Is Christianity Good For The World? Now, I like Christopher Hitchens, even though I regard him as a hater. I like his writing, and was interested to hear him speak. Judging by the quotes they put on the back of the package, Douglas Wilson, a pastor, is also something of a hater. So I was looking forward to a spirited and engaging debate, even though I suspected that it wouldn't operate in quite the way that I would have gone about it.

But this picture is intensely boring. It suspect it in the way that the movie was edited and cut somehow managed to completely suck the life out of what should have been a fascinating debate. And what's up with all the hip-hop?