Sunday, August 16, 2015
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
National Elephant Day Request
The Bronx Zoo has been given the shameful title of the 5th worst zoo for elephants in the country. The New York Times calls Happy the Bronx Zoo’s loneliest elephant. That’s because this highly intelligent and social being is one of the only zoo elephants in the entire United States who is being held alone. And it looks like her living conditions won’t change anytime soon unless we do something about it.
From Change dot org:
I am asking you, my fellow animal lovers, to encourage the Bronx Zoo Director James J. Breheny to release Happy to a sanctuary where she can be in a more natural setting and live the rest of her life in peace.
New standards regarding the keeping of elephants were recently passed by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), the accrediting organization for American wildlife institutions. Among their recommendations was that elephants be held in groups of three or more, as they are highly social creatures. Now, zoos around the country are scrambling to comply with the regulations by AZA’s 2016 deadline. Yet, the Bronx Zoo seems steadfast in its opinion that Happy is “happy” with her solitary life. This goes against all scientific data about elephant behavior.
Happy and 6 other elephant calves were captured in the wild from Thailand and brought to the States in 1977. For 25 years, she and her companion, Grumpy, were kept as a pair in the Bronx Zoo. When Grumpy passed away, she was paired with Sammy, who sadly died in 2006. It was then that the zoo decided to end its elephant program, but it didn’t relocate the elephants it currently had.
For 10 years, Happy has been in a sort of solitary confinement, unable to truly interact with the other elephants held at the zoo. This is a social being like a monkey or a dolphin. Elephants thrive in the company of their own kind, where they form multi-generational family groups that remain loyal to one another for life, and the elders pass wisdom down to the younger ones to help them navigate their world.
Happy is likely not at all happy. She has endured a decade of loneliness and deserves the chance to be with others of her kind in a sanctuary. Please join me in telling the Bronx Zoo to release Happy to a sanctuary and let her really have a chance at happiness.
sign the petition here PLEASE!! Or
communicate:
Director of the Bronx Zoo James J. Breheny twitter: @JimBreheny or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bronxzoo?fref=ts
Director, Communications, Bronx Zoo Max Pulsinelli twitter and phone number: mpulsinelli@wcs.org or (718) 220-5182
Here is what I emailed/facebooked them:
You are a member of the Wildlife Conservation Society. Yet, your Bronx Zoo keeps Happy the Elephant in captivity alone? Sir, please think about this. There ARE sanctuaries for elephants. Elephants are highly social animals. Please get with your group of WCS people and agree to make Happy and all of the other Zoo’s elephants happy, by giving them a place to spend the rest of their lives with other of their kind. Thank you.
From Change dot org:
I am asking you, my fellow animal lovers, to encourage the Bronx Zoo Director James J. Breheny to release Happy to a sanctuary where she can be in a more natural setting and live the rest of her life in peace.
New standards regarding the keeping of elephants were recently passed by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), the accrediting organization for American wildlife institutions. Among their recommendations was that elephants be held in groups of three or more, as they are highly social creatures. Now, zoos around the country are scrambling to comply with the regulations by AZA’s 2016 deadline. Yet, the Bronx Zoo seems steadfast in its opinion that Happy is “happy” with her solitary life. This goes against all scientific data about elephant behavior.
Happy and 6 other elephant calves were captured in the wild from Thailand and brought to the States in 1977. For 25 years, she and her companion, Grumpy, were kept as a pair in the Bronx Zoo. When Grumpy passed away, she was paired with Sammy, who sadly died in 2006. It was then that the zoo decided to end its elephant program, but it didn’t relocate the elephants it currently had.
For 10 years, Happy has been in a sort of solitary confinement, unable to truly interact with the other elephants held at the zoo. This is a social being like a monkey or a dolphin. Elephants thrive in the company of their own kind, where they form multi-generational family groups that remain loyal to one another for life, and the elders pass wisdom down to the younger ones to help them navigate their world.
Happy is likely not at all happy. She has endured a decade of loneliness and deserves the chance to be with others of her kind in a sanctuary. Please join me in telling the Bronx Zoo to release Happy to a sanctuary and let her really have a chance at happiness.
sign the petition here PLEASE!! Or
communicate:
Director of the Bronx Zoo James J. Breheny twitter: @JimBreheny or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bronxzoo?fref=ts
Director, Communications, Bronx Zoo Max Pulsinelli twitter and phone number: mpulsinelli@wcs.org or (718) 220-5182
Here is what I emailed/facebooked them:
You are a member of the Wildlife Conservation Society. Yet, your Bronx Zoo keeps Happy the Elephant in captivity alone? Sir, please think about this. There ARE sanctuaries for elephants. Elephants are highly social animals. Please get with your group of WCS people and agree to make Happy and all of the other Zoo’s elephants happy, by giving them a place to spend the rest of their lives with other of their kind. Thank you.
Monday, August 10, 2015
Wednesday, August 05, 2015
45 LIFE LESSONS, WRITTEN BY A 90 YEAR OLD
Awesome Quotes: 45 LIFE LESSONS, WRITTEN BY A 90 YEAR OLD: 1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good. 2. When in doubt, just take the next small step. 3. Life is too short not to enjoy it. 4...
Tuesday, August 04, 2015
Listen and Learn
One of the few intelligent Senators from my home state of Massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren. Listen and learn
Monday, August 03, 2015
Sweet Home.......
a lovely piece about why coastal Southeast Louisiana is my home: Great tourist info at this link.
excerpt:
Written by Kimberly Lovato
All week I’ve been trying to pinpoint what it is about this place that intrigues me. I finally recognize it’s not one single thing. It’s the harmony and counterbalance of all of it — the history, tradition, culture and wetlands — that are by turns resilient and endangered, and held together by deep yet fragile roots.
It’s difficult to see, even harder to explain, but I feel it everywhere.
It’s a little lagniappe I’ll take with me when I go, one I hope still exists when I return.
Katrina's aftermath - Gulf Coast
With the ten year anniversary of Katrina coming up on later this month, I'll be sharing videos of her destruction.
Thanks to Alex North, Mississippi Gulf Coast photographer for this beautiful picture
Katrina hit the Gulf Coast head on. Here's a look at the aftermath
Katrina hit the Gulf Coast head on. Here's a look at the aftermath
Saturday, August 01, 2015
Mesmerizing
People who know less always ask why we're spending "so much money" in Space exploration.
Let the money go to homeless, etc.
While I agree in spending more money in domestic issues, I think the system has to change wherein the money GOES to the less fortunate instead of "administrative costs".
But I digress.
Check out this video presented my my ex-employer, NASA (actually, I worked for a NASA subcontractor).
From Youtube user MadHatter: We've all seen images of extreme weather from space. But none of those could prepare us for this video just released by NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio. Using real data, this simulation's volume-rendered clouds depict seven days in 2005 when a category-4 typhoon developed off the coast of China.
Enjoy:
Let the money go to homeless, etc.
While I agree in spending more money in domestic issues, I think the system has to change wherein the money GOES to the less fortunate instead of "administrative costs".
But I digress.
Check out this video presented my my ex-employer, NASA (actually, I worked for a NASA subcontractor).
From Youtube user MadHatter: We've all seen images of extreme weather from space. But none of those could prepare us for this video just released by NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio. Using real data, this simulation's volume-rendered clouds depict seven days in 2005 when a category-4 typhoon developed off the coast of China.
Enjoy:
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