The Elephant In The Room
Posted by Michelle Moquin on January 23rd, 2012
Good morning!
Elephants are at risk like many other animals that call Earth home. Last night 60 minutes had a special called As you know, animals live very close to my heart. Yet it is hard to give time to all my passions…all the things that I care about. I have said it before, and it is always worth saying again. If we just focus on one thing to hep make lives better, whether it be improving the recycling system for the love of the environment, helping impoverished or abused women get back into the work force, or help in saving elephants, a magnificent mammal from being killed for their precious ivory tusks…and give that one thing a few hours a week, how different our would would be.
Elephants Increasingly At Risk Of Extinction, Group Says
JOHANNESBURG — Large seizures of elephant tusks make this year the worst on record since ivory sales were banned in 1989, with recent estimates suggesting as many as 3,000 elephants were killed by poachers, experts said Thursday.
“2011 has truly been a horrible year for elephants,” said Tom Milliken, elephant and rhino expert for the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC.
In one case earlier this month, Malaysian authorities seized hundreds of African elephant tusks worth $1.3 million that were being shipped to Cambodia. The ivory was hidden in containers of Kenyan handicrafts.
“In 23 years of compiling ivory seizure data … this is the worst year ever for large ivory seizures,” said Milliken.
Most cases involve ivory being smuggled from Africa into Asia, where growing wealth has fed the desire for ivory ornaments and for rhino horn that is used in traditional medicine, though scientists have proved it has no medicinal value.
TRAFFIC said Asian crime syndicates are increasingly involved in poaching and the illegal ivory trade across Africa, a trend that coincides with growing Asian investment on the continent.
“The escalation in ivory trade and elephant and rhino killing is being driven by the Asian syndicates that are now firmly enmeshed within African societies,” Milliken said in a telephone interview from his base in Zimbabwe. “There are more Asians than ever before in the history of the continent, and this is one of the repercussions.”
Some of the seized tusks came from old stockpiles, the elephants having been killed years ago.
But the International Fund for Animal Welfare said recent estimates suggest more than 3,000 elephants have been killed for their ivory in the past year alone.
“Reports from Central Africa are particularly alarming and suggest that if current levels of poaching are sustained, some countries, such as Chad, could potentially lose their elephant populations in the very near future,” said Jason Bell, director of the elephant program for the fund based in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts
He said poaching also had reached “alarming levels” in Congo, northern Kenya, southern Tanzania and northern Mozambique.
Milliken thinks criminals may have the upper hand in the war to save rare and endangered animals.
“As most large-scale ivory seizures fail to result in any arrests, I fear the criminals are winning,” Milliken said.
All statistics are not yet in, and no one can say how much ivory is getting through undetected, But TRAFFIC said it is clear there’s been a “dramatic increase” this year in the number of large-scale seizures – those over 800 kilograms (1,760 pounds) in weight.
There were at least 13 large seizures this year, compared to six in 2010 with a total weight just under 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds).
In Tanzania’s Selous Game Reserve alone, some 50 elephants a month are being killed and their tusks hacked off, according to the Washington-based Environmental Investigation Agency.
With shipments so large, criminals have taken to shipping them by sea instead of by air, falsifying documents with the help of corrupt officials, monitors said.
In another sign of corruption, Milliken said some of the seized ivory has been identified as coming from government-owned stockpiles – made up of both confiscated tusks and those from dead elephants.
Rhinos also have suffered: A record 443 rhino were killed this year in South Africa, according to National Geographic News Watch. That surpassed last year’s figure of 333 dead rhino despite the government deploying soldiers to protect the endangered animals this year in its flagship Kruger National Park.
National Geographic reported this week that 244 of the rhino killed this year were poached in Kruger, and that figure is expected to rise before the end of the month.
South Africa is home to 90 percent of the rhinos left on the continent, and Kruger has more than 10,000 white rhinos and about 500 black rhinos.
Africa’s elephant population was estimated at between 5 million and 10 million before white hunters came to the continent with European colonization. Massive poaching for the ivory trade in the 1980s halved the remaining number of African elephants to about 600,000.
Following the 1989 ban on ivory trade and concerted international efforts to protect the animals, elephant herds in east and southern Africa were thriving before the new threat arrived from Asia.
A report from Kenya’s Amboseli National Park highlighted the dangers. There had been almost no poaching for 30 years in the park, which lies in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro until a Chinese company was awarded the contract to build a highway nearby two years ago. Amboseli has lost at least four of its “big tuskers” since then.
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Readers: What passion is personal to you that pulls you to do the things you do? If it is Elephants, do something – don’t let the extinction of the Elephant be “the Elephant in the room”.
Blog me.
Zen Lill: I finally got around to watching that TED video on SOPA/PIPA – thank you. As you can see from my new banner, I am all for stopping SOPA and ceasing censorship.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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January 23rd, 2012 at 9:35 am
There may just come a day when the Elephants, Whales, Dolphins, Polar Bears, Seals, Sea Turtles, et al. decide to morph into their original beings for a moment to simply rid this planet of mankind and perhaps start allowing the planet and its original species to live in the playground in peace.
The irony of the word humane…
I also found interesting that the Jane Goodall story showed us that Chimps and humans are over 98% the same DNA. Her study of their language, emotions and social behavior found them to be nearly identical to humans. Chimps also kill their own kind simply out of hatred, boundries and ego…
January 23rd, 2012 at 11:30 am
A DANGEROUS DRUG KIDS CAN BUY AT THE CANDY STORE
You might not have heard of it, but there’s a seriously dangerous drug that kids in most states can legally buy at a local retail store or even online for just $7 or so per gram.
It’s sold in bright-colored packets (they look like oversized condom wrappers) and usually marketed as “herbal incense”… but the kids buying it and the adults selling it know that it’s really a chemical referred to as K2 or Spice.
Kids consider it “fake marijuana,” because it promises a “legal high.”
In addition to quickly becoming popular among teens looking for a high — a 2011 National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) study showed that 11% of high school seniors reported using it in the past year —
K2 has also become popular among adults subject to drug monitoring (for instance, those who are on probation following a drug arrest), because there aren’t many tests yet that can detect K2 in urine.
What few people realize (especially the naïve adolescents for whom this stuff is way too easy to buy) is that this drug can bring harmful, potentially even fatal consequences, such as suicides, car accidents and heart attacks.
Despite this, K2 is becoming more and more popular. In fact, in just the first half of 2011 there were 567 K2-related calls to poison control centers in the US, compared with just 13 reported in 2009, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers.
IT’S REALLY BAD STUFF
To get an expert perspective on K2, I called Marilyn Huestis, PhD, chief of chemistry and drug metabolism of NIDA in Baltimore.
She explained to me that K2 actually is a synthetic chemical compound that’s relatively easy to manufacture and gets sprayed onto ordinary dried herbs, such as blue and white water lily or honeyweed.
Like marijuana, it’s either rolled into cigarette papers or smoked from a bong.
Dr. Huestis told me that there are more than 100 varieties of the drug, some containing chemicals that are up to 100 times more powerful than THC, the active component in marijuana.
Not that you’d expect manufacturers like this to scrupulously label their goods, but the danger is magnified because packages and contents that are identical in appearance may contain ingredients of widely varying strength.
This is important to know, because it means that having tried K2 once or twice without ill effect is no proof that it will be safe the next time someone takes it.
IS IT WORTH A HEART ATTACK?
K2 produces a high that is almost instantaneous, says Dr. Huestis — and here’s why that is particularly bad.
The smoke contains chemicals that go from the lungs straight to the heart and from there to the brain, where they can heighten anxiety, cause panic attacks and hallucinations, compromise short-term memory, alter hormone production and compromise the immune system.
Hospitals around the country have reported a surge in ER visits by teenagers “freaking out” after smoking K2, Dr. Huestis told me.
If that’s not bad enough, K2 also speeds up the heart and even may cause heart attacks — for example, in just one week last fall, three Dallas teens had heart attacks after smoking K2 days and weeks earlier.
(The doctors couldn’t prove that K2 caused the heart attacks, but the patients were otherwise healthy.)
Don’t rely on the law enforcers to keep this problem under control — they’re trying but without much success.
In March 2011, the US Drug Enforcement Agency banned five types of K2 in the US. Sixteen states and even some counties and cities have outlawed it.
But, according to Dr. Huestis, these measures have had little impact. Because K2 can be sold under so many different names, because it’s marketed as “incense” and because it’s available through so many different outlets, it has been difficult to stop or slow availability, she said.
Of course, depending on your locale, you and your neighbors might be able to make K2 harder to find by putting pressure in the right places —
your city council, local business groups, etc. And it’s imperative to educate kids — and others vulnerable to substance abuse — about the true dangers of K2.
Experimenting with it can have disastrous consequences.
Source:
Marilyn Huestis, PhD, chief, chemistry and drug metabolism, Intramural Research Program of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDAIRP), Baltimore.
January 23rd, 2012 at 11:34 am
Friend –
I wanted to send a quick note to thank all of you who signed the card for my birthday.
I’ve been spending some time reading through the thoughtful messages so many of you left. I appreciate every single one.
More than anything, it means a lot to know you’re all out there doing what you’re doing to support Barack and me.
Thank you — all of you.
-Michelle
P.S. — I’m still pretty new to Twitter, but I’ve really been having some fun with it so far. If you want to join the conversation, you can follow me here: @MichelleObama
January 23rd, 2012 at 11:36 am
A happy Monday to all. I hope everyone enjoyed the two tremendous NFL games yesterday.
After a dominant victory in South Carolina, Newt Gingrich storms into Florida today. Fortunately for Gingrich, he also has two more debates — tonight and on Thursday.
Gingrich is leading by up to eight points, according to an InsiderAdvantage poll. Five of those points, however, should be shaved off because Romney has a lot of absentee ballots that have been mailed in his favor already.
With that said, here are five things to look for going into Florida:
1) In 2008, Mitt Romney narrowly won the white vote (read: he ran to the right of McCain), but McCain won the Hispanic vote and ended up winning Florida.
Somehow, Gingrich could actually be positioned to win the more conservative white vote and the Hispanic vote.
Should he do this, it gives Gingrich a powerful message that he could also be a better candidate than Romney in the general election in retaining the conservative vote while competing in minority communities.
2) Florida is a closed primary. I wish all primaries would be closed, but Florida is the first one that actually is. No independents, or, inexplicably, Democrats can vote in the primary.
Since only Republicans are allowed to vote, this should favor the candidate who is perceived as being more conservative, who is Gingrich.
3) Absentee and early voting. Keep in mind that nearly 200,000 people still have their absentee ballots and have not mailed them in. In addition, early voting has started in Florida, so people can vote throughout the week.
This means that every day is a mini primary and events such as debates can make a difference in impacting turnout.
4) Florida is won on television. How much free media Gingrich gets this week versus how much paid media Romney puts up will be worth monitoring.
5) Endorsements. Will Sarah Palin, whose South Carolina endorsement of Gingrich was instrumental in allowing Gingrich to accelerate past Romney, also endorse him in Florida to bring the hammer down on Romney’s candidacy?
Remember to stay tuned to HumanEvents.com for all your Election 2012 news, results and analysis.
—Tony Lee
January 23rd, 2012 at 12:07 pm
Great article Michelle.
Animals are treated so terribly by the humans. I wonder if they will feel that way when a more intelligent species decides humans should be treated the way we treat our animals.
Howie would know better than anyone but I suspect the aliens will feel that we deserve no more consideration than we give our animals.
Norma
January 23rd, 2012 at 12:50 pm
HI Mischa, it’s ridiculous the things humans will do for monetary gain, and ellies like any other animal should have the right to just roam free…
Howie would know best and maybe he or one of the TAO group can answer this: what’s going to happen in the future for humans, is it leaning towards transhumanism/posthuman or will regenerative medicine and the purists win out or a bit of both, depending on who has the cash and conscience? Just curious…I left the political rabbit hole long ago and this is the rabbit hole I’ve been in for awhile, lots of factual info and speculative opinion on both.
I’m glad FLOTUS was happy with her b’day greetings from all of us, I’m following her on twitter now, let’s see if she follows me : )
Pax, Zen Lill
January 23rd, 2012 at 1:53 pm
1. HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHOM TO MARRY? (written by kids)
You got to find somebody who likes the same stuff. Like, if you like sports, she should like it that you like sports, and she should keep the chips and dip coming.
– Alan, age 10
No person really decides before they grow up who they’re going to marry. God decides it all way before, and you get to find out later who you’re stuck with.
– Kristen, age 10
January 23rd, 2012 at 1:53 pm
Zen Lill:
I would love to answer you but I cannot understand the english in your post.
what do you mean exactly by “transhumanism/posthuman”?
Sorry, but I cannot answer something I do not understand.
HOWIE
January 23rd, 2012 at 2:41 pm
Norma:
Aliens actually judge humans by the way we treat our animals and lesser life forms.
Since we are the apex beings on this world, with the ability to change our planet for good or bad, it shows them much about how little we care for own own offspring by destroying our planet and not caring about what the future brings.
Why should aliens feel that we deserve any more consideration than we give our animals?
HOWIE
January 23rd, 2012 at 4:15 pm
I feel talkative today. Here is another one from the desk of Howie:
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Is responsible for long lines at Airports while they go through our possessions and strip search and X-Ray us behind a curtain searching for contraband and possible explosives and weapons.
While they are doing this screening, some agents are helping themselves to our possessions as they see fit (If they can get away with it).
They are stealing our laptops, wallets, watches and whatever else they can get away with.
They have been caught on and off camera all over the country.
Who watches over an Agency that watches over us yet steals from us? Who can be trusted to make us feel safer when we fly? We need a department to keep an eye on the TSA. They are a private agency with the power to keep us off our flights and cause us legal problems at their discretion.
Power corrupts . . . A little power corrupts a little. This is saying that even a little power over one’s fellow human can corrupt enough for one to steal from us. After all, they are human and can fall victim to greed. Some do.
The TSA was accused of taking money out of a Florida couple’s luggage. No arrests have been made yet, and the agency refuses to release security camera footage that could implicate the thief because of “security” concerns. The agency also told the passengers that its screeners “never steal.”
Last month, another TSA worker in Memphis was arrested and charged with theft. Police say Ricky German, 48, tried to swipe a laptop that had been left at his screening station. Surveillance video showed Mr. German carrying away the laptop and throwing away papers with the owner’s name on it. After police arrived and said they would view the surveillance video, German then claimed he “found” the laptop.
This fall, a passenger going through security at Phoenix Airport left the screening area $200 lighter. He thinks one of the agents helped himself to his cash when he was checked. Surveillance video didn’t implicate the TSA, but the passenger, Tyson Tibshraeny, is unconvinced. “Where I have a problem is they wanted to separate me from my wallet,” he says.
A few weeks earlier, a TSA agent lost his job and is faced grand theft charges for allegedly pocketing a $450 pen owned by Rick Case, a prominent South Florida car dealership owner. Investigators say Toussain Puddie, 30, admitted to taking Case’s pen after it was left behind during a checkpoint screening at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport.
“Finders–keepers doesn’t apply when you are a public servant and have the public’s trust,” a Sheriff Department spokesman said.
It’s easy to see how agents like Puddie might think otherwise. After all, Congress allows the TSA to keep the pocket change air travelers leave behind — why not their pens or laptop computers?
I could go on. There are dozens more documented cases of TSA agents being arrested and charged with theft in 2011, but you get the idea. (And never mind the items that TSA confiscates from us legally, like cosmetics, liquids and other, so-called prohibited items.
Bear in mind that these are just the agents that are caught. Chances are, there are many other TSA workers who are getting away with their thieving ways. Pay attention to the reported convictions, too. Even the agents who are caught are often given a slap on the wrist. It might be reasonable to assume that now more than ever, the TSA is afflicted by a theft epidemic.
Why do the very people who are supposed to be protecting us also steal from us with such frequency? They do it because they can. They do it because, despite what their Lawyers tell us on the evening news, they know they’ll probably get away with it. They have zero accountability for their illegal actions.
I know that I will hold on tight to every single item that is important to me when I fly. No minimum-wage rent-a-cop is taking anything that belongs to me — not even a pen or spare pocket change which they help themselves to all the time.
HOWIE
January 23rd, 2012 at 4:47 pm
Howie: I pocketed your change when I just now went to the store. Wait a minute, you didn’t give me any money. But I do pocket your change all the time. Don’t worry cause it’s all good.
Al
January 23rd, 2012 at 5:50 pm
desk of Howie…nice
January 23rd, 2012 at 11:31 pm
Howie, hi, sorry…transhuman/posthuman – think bladerunner meets cyborgs, blending of human into robotics/computers rather than regeneratve medicine as in stem cell research and beyond/beyond enough to keep humans alive for well beyond current accepted ages of avg 76 yrs here in US. Perhaps research is already being conducted (on me, beep)? And I dig the ‘desk of Howie’ also.
Al, I hear TSA is hiring or you can add Howie’s sofa cushion change to your stash o’ cash/change : )
- ZL