An Unkindness Of Ravens

A group of crows is collectively known as a "murder". A group of ravens, on the other hand, is called an "unkindness." Ravens in Britain have suddenly become very unkind, indeed. Large flocks of ravens been attacking and killing newborn lambs.

High in the darkening sky, a flock of enormous ravens swoop and swirl - narrow black wings stretched wide, heads protruding forward and huge hairy beaks scything through the air.

Every few minutes they let out deep, throaty, honking calls as they soar effortlessly, circling around until, finally, they spot their prey and swoop.

But forget dormice, voles or even small furry rabbits; these sinister looking birds are feasting on something far larger - newborn lambs.

And instead of hanging around for a few discarded bones or a forgotten carcass to pick and claw at, they've started killing live farm animals - by pecking them to death, in horrific scenes reminiscent of Daphne du Maurier's The Birds, turned by Alfred Hitchcock into one of the most chilling movies of all time.

Throughout Britain, traumatised farmers have reported a sudden and disturbing rise in the number of livestock being attacked by ravens.

Farmer John Kirk, 50, from Nethybridge, near Aviemore, has lost more than 40 animals in the past few weeks.

"It's like something out of a horror film. They are horrible, horrible birds. They see the young lambs and just fly down and help themselves," he said.

"Sometimes you find a carcass with the eyes and tongue pecked out, but sometimes all you find is the skin. They peck away until nothing is left." And while some animals have been pecked to death, others have been left to die in agony after birds have feasted on their eyes, tongues and the soft flesh of their underbellies.

Ravens, like vultures in the United States, are protected by law. So farmers can't just kill the offending birds. When there are too many of them, they begin hunting rather than waiting for a dead carcass to feast on. Exactly the same thing is happening in the US with the vultures.

In other words, there are unintended consequences to even the most well-meaning protection of threatened species.

Political Blogging Is A Cruel Mistress

Case in point today from the Daily Kos:

With a handful of exceptions, many members of the press refuse to hold McCain to the standards against which the Democratic candidates are being measured.  Accordingly, McCain has galloped by stumbles that may have doomed any other candidate: confusing Shiite (Iran) and Sunni (al Qaeda), not knowing whether contraceptives prevent the spread of HIV ("you've stumped me"), etc.  

The usual leftosphere meme…but I first read this in my Bloglines reader which saved the original version of this story for posterity.

How's that irony working out for ya?

“Global Warming” Jumps The Shark, Literally

Just when you thought it was safe to read The Guardian: Surge in fatal shark attacks blamed on global warming

Three decades have passed since the movie Jaws sent terrified bathers scrambling out of the ocean. But as any beach lifeguard knows, there's still nothing like a gory shark attack to stoke public hysteria and paranoia.

Two deaths in the waters off California and Mexico last week and a spate of shark-inflicted injuries to surfers off Florida's Atlantic coast have left beachgoers seeking an explanation for a sudden surge in the number of strikes.

In the first four months of this year, there were four fatal shark attacks worldwide, compared with one in the whole of 2007, according to the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville.

'The one thing that's affecting shark attacks more than anything else is human activity,' said Dr George Burgess of Florida University, a shark expert who maintains the database. 'As the population continues to rise, so does the number of people in the water for recreation. And as long as we have an increase in human hours in the water, we will have an increase in shark bites.'

Some experts suggest that an abundance of seals has attracted high numbers of sharks, while others believe that overfishing has hit their food chain. 'I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but it's a convenient excuse,' Burgess said. Another contributory factor to the location of shark attacks could be global warming and rising sea temperatures. 'You'll find that some species will begin to appear in places they didn't in the past with some regularity,' he said.

Oh good Lord….where to begin?  For starters, if "global warming" is the culprit how come the sharks have waited until we have had a cooler year before they got to chomping in earnest? 

Besides, has there actually been a "surge" in fatal shark attacks?  Well, let's look at the worldwide fatal shark attack stats since 1990:

1990-1992: 11

1993-1995: 28

1996-1998: 18

1999-2001: 19

2002-2004: 14

2005-2007: 9

So, the last three years saw the fewest fatal attacks since worldwide statistics have been kept.  In fact, were we to see a dramatic increase in shark attacks one might argue that was evidence of global cooling back to mid-1990's levels!

Actually, the reference to Jaws in the Guardian story is kind of instructive here.  I've always argued the "global warming" hysteria fulfilled the left's need for a simple morality tale, but I've come to realize the storyline it most closely resembles is the classic Spielberg yarn from 1975.  Think about it.  In the film you have the heroes, the earnest public servant (Roy Schieder) and the vaguely hippie pseudo-academic (Richard Dreyfuss), joining forces to battle against the ignorance of the political and capitalistic establishment (think Murray Hamilton as the hapless Mayor of Amity Island).  The powers that be ignore the dire warnings from the voice of science ("this is no boating accident!") and, as a result, friendly dogs and young children are slaughtered (among others.)  If only they'd listened! I could go on about the parallels (I've got a bit about Quint representing the supposed "suicidal" tendencies of tradition), but I think I've made my point.

I just wonder what tomorrow will bring?  Maybe we will learn AGW causes male pattern baldness and erectile disfunction as well. 

I can't wait.

Update:

Others on this stupidity. JammieWearingFool:

This is so ridiculous. The recent fatality off Solana Beach in California was more an anomaly than anything. For one, there weren't exactly too many people in the water that morning and the Pacific Ocean isn't exactly like warm bath water.

I was on that beach two weeks prior to that attack and believe me, the water was freezing. I was one of the few people who actually went in the water without a wetsuit.

Junk journalism like this should be rejected by the editors at the newspapers. Such irresponsible reporting does nothing but bring discredit upon the news business.

The Strata-Sphere:

I wonder how that theory works when the IPCC and others have had to admit the global temperatures have been flat or falling while the shark attacks increased? I guess we just need to ignore the data, and take it on faith, that all is right with the Church of IPCC-Gore. Pathetic.

Gunday Morning

A. Uberti single-action Cattleman Hombre in .45 caliber Long Colt.

This is a replica of the 1873 Colt Single-Action Army, more commonly known as the Peacemaker.

No Landslide This Time

Well, Barack Obama won in Guam, but not by the margins he's had in other places. This time he won by a whopping seven votes. Really.  

WASHINGTON - Even the voters on tiny Guam are split when it comes to picking between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Obama edged Clinton by a mere seven votes Saturday in the remote U.S. island territory's Democratic presidential caucus.

The count - completed earlier Sunday - shows delegates pledged to Obama with 2,264 votes to 2,257 for Clinton's slate. That means the candidates will split the four pledged delegates.

The candidates are expected to split Guam's five superdelegates by a 3-2 margin, though it is uncertain who holds the edge.

The "win" is actually a tie. What's weird this year is that anyone is even paying attention to what happens in Guam. There were breathless stories yesterday about the "heavy" voter turnout in Guam. The total population there is somewhat north of 173,000, so a total of 4,500 votes cast doesn't exactly seem earth shattering.

Commencement Advice

Before you pick up that diploma, P.J. O'Rourke has some grand advice before you leave the ivory tower.

So now, it's my job to give you advice. But I'm thinking: You're finishing 16 years of education, and you've heard all the conventional good advice you can stand. So, let me offer some relief:

1. Go out and make a bunch of money!

Here we are living in the world's most prosperous country, surrounded by all the comforts, conveniences and security that money can provide. Yet no American political, intellectual or cultural leader ever says to young people, "Go out and make a bunch of money." Instead, they tell you that money can't buy happiness. Maybe, but money can rent it.

There's nothing the matter with honest moneymaking. Wealth is not a pizza, where if I have too many slices you have to eat the Domino's box. In a free society, with the rule of law and property rights, no one loses when someone else gets rich.

2. Don't be an idealist!

Don't chain yourself to a redwood tree. Instead, be a corporate lawyer and make $500,000 a year. No matter how much you cheat the IRS, you'll still end up paying $100,000 in property, sales and excise taxes. That's $100,000 to schools, sewers, roads, firefighters and police. You'll be doing good for society. Does chaining yourself to a redwood tree do society $100,000 worth of good?

Idealists are also bullies. The idealist says, "I care more about the redwood trees than you do. I care so much I can't eat. I can't sleep. It broke up my marriage. And because I care more than you do, I'm a better person. And because I'm the better person, I have the right to boss you around."

Get a pair of bolt cutters and liberate that tree.

Who does more for the redwoods and society anyway — the guy chained to a tree or the guy who founds the "Green Travel Redwood Tree-Hug Tour Company" and makes a million by turning redwoods into a tourist destination, a valuable resource that people will pay just to go look at?

His advice on fairness is absolutely perfect, by the way. This is one commencement address worth reading all the way through. Many graduates are about to be mugged by reality when they find out that the world does not quite operate the way they think it should. Listening to O'Rouke's advice could help them navigate the stormy waters of reality a bit more easily.