Trophy Hunting Corruption
In Tanzania there is a great deal of evidence of corruption in the granting of hunting rights and video evidence of horrific hunting practice being employed by Green Mile Safaris. If this is trophy hunting then those who
sanction it should become subjects of one of these hunts. The video attached to this Quartz article is
painful to watch. More of the videos can
be see here.
Regardless, the
extraordinary natural beauty and resources of the land around Lake Natron
remain a key resource to be employed on behalf of the people of Tanzania—or
abused. The rights to maintain and hunt these sites are scarce resources. Now,
a dispute over these hunting blocks between two safari groups backed by wealthy
individuals—one, the Friedkin Conservation Fund from the US; the other, Green
Mile Safaris, connected to the rulers of Abu Dhabi—has spiraled into an
unsettling story of corruption and animal abuse...
The allegations—that
Green Mile, a company banned from operating in Tanzania, was handed the
Friedkin Conservation Fund’s hunting grounds in a back-room deal—have tarnished
the administration of John Magufuli, Tanzania’s recently elected president.
Green Mile’s
reputation came about thanks to a video leaked in 2014. Apparently made in 2012
to promote the company’s safari trips, the video shows repeated and brazen
violations of Tanzania’s hunting laws—indeed, of the sporting norms promoted by
hunters around the world eager to portray themselves as responsible stewards of
the land.
Among the shocking
violations in the Green Mile video are hunting with automatic weapons, having
children hunt with automatic weapons, gunning down fleeing animals from moving
cars, capturing baby animals and torturing dying ones, and using bait and
lights at night to attract unsuspecting animals. The video was brought to
parliament and became a national sensation.
Just In Time For the 4th of July
Maybe those famous Florida beaches won’t be so much fun this 4th of July. There’s lots of
finger pointing going on, but this is hardly a new problem. As much as Florida’s Republican governor
blames President Obama, it is Floridians that generate the pollution and
Republicans in Congress who refuse to fund government services. Gov. Scott, you own this.
Waterways and beaches
along Florida’s Atlantic coast have been taken over by thick, blue-green algae
blooms, prompting Florida Gov. Rick Scott to declare local states of emergency
in St. Lucie, Martin, Palm Beach and Lee counties.
Residents have
described the foul-smelling algae as “guacamole-thick,” “god-awful” and “a
festering infected creepy mess.” One resident has complained of health
problems, telling Reuters, “It is affecting all of us as far as red eyes, runny
nose and the ‘in the throat’ feeling.”
“It’s heartbreaking
for all of us who live, work and play along the lagoon to see how the quality of
the water has declined,” environmental non-profit Balance For Earth wrote on
Facebook.
The source of the
severe bloom is believed to stem from the polluted Lake Okeechobee, which has
become a hotbed of finger-pointing.
ThinkProgress reported
in February that local industries have long dumped an assortment of chemicals,
fertilizers and cattle manure into the lake. David Guest, managing attorney of
the Florida branch of the environmental law group Earthjustice, described the
lake as a “toilet.”
The Guardian reported
that algae samples from the lake taken earlier this month found levels of
toxins 20 times higher than a safety threshold set by the World Health
Organization.
Cars, Buses, Bicycles
We keep hearing how driverless cars with change the urban environment. Hummm.
Maybe not.
For years we have been
showing the image from the City of Müenster, comparing how much road space is
taken up by cars, buses and bikes carrying the same number of people. Versions
of it have been created all over the world.
But now, as there are
so many discussions about how Uber or self-driving cars will change our cities,
Jon Orcutt of NYCDOT Communications and Advocacy director at Transitcenter makes
the strong point that they are still cars, they still take up road space, they
still probably have one person (or two in a human-controlled UBER) and are
perhaps not the panacea that people are saying they are. As Brent Todorian
notes, Mobility in cities is all about space. Uber and driverless cars don't
solve the problem.
Here is the original from Müenster:
On July 2, 1863
As we move fully into the 4th of July weekend, remember how July 2, 1863 went for the men of the 20th Maine. This charge by a small group on men on an obscure corner of the Gettysburg battlefield changed the outcome of the battle and, maybe, the war.
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