Seriously? I thought New Yorkers were more complacent to the wildlife in their city... This is embarrassing!

Maybe it had a gun...?

I can totally understand where Morgan is coming from about the guns thing. I live in Japan now which has very strict gun laws. Virtually no one here owns a handgun personally. Cops are issued one for their jobs but never use them (it would be national news if a cop discharged a firearm in the line of duty). People who do legally own guns (mostly shotguns and rifles) have a legitimate need for one--they live in rural areas and stand a good chance of encountering bears or other dangerous wildlife.

As I understand it, England is very similar (even stricter--their cops don't normally carry guns). So coming from those kinds of cultures, America's gun culture seems completely bizarre. Japanese people find it baffling that anyone living in a first-world country would want to--let alone "need" to--own a handgun unless they were actively engaged in criminal activity. I'm sure Morgan feels something similar.

Personally, I admire Switzerland's approach to gun control--the military trains virtually everyone in how to safely use firearms and has them keep a government-issued military weapon in their home (but without ammo--in the event of an invasion or mobilization of the militia you have to report for duty to be issued ammo). What you get then is a population that respects and knows how to use firearms and therefore enthusiastically uses them for both sports and recreation but rarely for crime--Switzerland has one of the lowest gun murder rates in the world.

Please show proof, URL?
This is the exact same line that people against solar tried to sell us 10 years ago...it was BS then, so I'm guessing it's the same today.

Lets see....How much taxpayer money, exactly, per KWH or per turbine (specify size in KWH and type), is being "wasted"? From your certitude I assume you must have a number. If you don't know that number, you can't possibly know if the money is 'wasted' or if it was a great deal for the amount of energy produced, and I'll believe you are simply stating opinion, not fact.

Over what time period are turbines "not paying for their investment"? Are you claiming that, over the full expected lifespan of an average turbine it costs more than making the same amount of electricity with coal? Or Natural gas? Do you include the cost of climate change in that calculation? Didn't think so.

What type of turbine are you talking about...or are you unaware that there are dozens of different designs, some which are not ugly, noisy, or harming any wildlife at all?

The rather rude BS thinking about solar energy is the same kind of rude BS thinking you are displaying, making claims that all turbines suck and should be abolished (paraphrasing you) without any science or math to back you up. On the other hand, just slight investigation shows at least some of your claims are outright wrong. It was about the BS, not the solar energy...understand now?

That doesn't mean that there are not some instances of the problems you describe, but most of them are problems from well over 10 years ago that have been solved. Just painting regular 3 prop turbines with ultraviolet paint reduces bird and bat strikes considerably...making a turbine that doesn't have props worked even better, and they work better at low and high speed wind.

You do know that the government pays the same kind of people to have electric lines on their property, and phone lines, and road ways, train lines, etc...whether they're being used or not, right? They're paying for the use of the land. This is not a new process in any way, or one used only for turbines by a long shot.

upvote for minitbbb, HUGE grain, and a lotta happy wildlife and hunters.

Yep, he's zoo-bound:

"Because this kitten was so young at the time of rescue, he will not learn survival skills from his mother and therefore cannot be released into the wild.

Although he will not return to the wild population, this panther will help to raise awareness and aid with potential research efforts. Initially the kitten will not be on public display but, once old enough, he will be transported to the Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, where park visitors may observe him."

http://myfwc.com/news/news-releases/2014/february/20/kitten-rescue/

One thing not mentioned here is that the zookeepers were offered $600K to "sell" Marius to an individual. They refused -- giraffes are herd animals and Marius would have had a horrible existence. They could have done a lot of good with that money, but they turned it down as the ultimate ethical decision.

Here's the thing -- zoos are unnatural places and they lead to unnatural results. @A10anis is correct. Against this, one can ask what GOOD do zoos do? Maintain a healthy gene pool to populate the wild. Instill a love of nature in city folks.

And maybe help foster the wildlife conservation scientists and wildlife biologists for the future.

The world isn't perfect. Terrible things happen. The world is a place of scarcity of resources. As thinking, reasoning, feeling beings, we must make choices.

And as I keep thinking -- for those who are appalled at the waste of this young giraffe's happy life, maybe shift your focus to the lions? In this unnatural place of the zoo, those lions got fed their natural diet for a change. Consider being happy for them? In this unnatural world?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-26118748

"Joerg Jebram, who oversees the European endangered species programme for giraffes, told the AP news agency: "Zoos could design new giraffe facilities, but many don't have that option.

"A young bull could theoretically be sent to an all-female group as stud, but experts prefer a larger, more mature male for that, and Marius didn't fit that bill.

"A final option is sending the giraffe to a zoo that doesn't participate in the EAZA-led breeding programme, but that could leave the giraffe or its offspring being sold into worse circumstances, such as those of a circus or private collection."

Copenhagen Zoo had turned down offers from at least two other zoos to take Marius and an offer from a private individual who wanted to buy the giraffe for 500,000 euros ($680,000).

Bengt Holst, Copenhagen Zoo's scientific director, said it had turned down an offer from Yorkshire Wildlife Park in the UK, which is a member of EAZA, because Marius' older brother lives there and the park's space could be better used by a "genetically more valuable giraffe"."

So yah. Who knew that the guys who made caring for animals their like, profession and stuff might actually have some like, reasons. and stuff. I know, I know, it doesn't make as great a headline as "Zoo murders and mutilates innocent giraffe in front of children. also aidsrape."

I rather admire the ethics of the zookeeper. They could have made big bucks for the zoo, but instead made the ethical choice of feeding the lions. Who eat meat.

The NYT article above walks us through the reasoning for this giraffe being part of the cycle of life -- albeit the unnatural cycle of life of a caged animal. And why "selling" the giraffe into a life of isolation would have been the cruel act.

Reminds me of a situation in San Francisco Bay, years ago. I may get some details wrong. There was an island with non-native deer, I think, with no natural predators. The deer were in danger of starving to death, so those in charge decided to do a controlled hunt.

All hell broke loose and the wildlife managers caved to public pressure. At ENORMOUS cost, the deer were airlifted into the wilds of Montana, or someplace like that.

The wildlife managers were smart though -- they put tags on the deer, or locator devices, or something. More than 50% of the deer were dead within six months -- killed on the roads, mostly. They didn't know how to live in their new environment.

We are getting so divorced from common sense in our modern world.

Nature is red in tooth and claw. Things die. Lions eat meat. And why not be thrilled for the lions, that they get their natural diet for a change?

This is incredibly cruel! And illegal in the United States. Why do people hate pigeons? They add such vibrancy to a city. Imagine your city with nothing flying around the skies, no wildlife, and no fascinating behavior to observe? And, you pay attention, there are so many movies and television shows that use pigeons to add energy to scenes. What is to hate about pigeons? Do you know ANYTHING about them?

okay, this had me right up until he announced that this was more than philosophy - That he wanted me to sign up. I could sign up, but that wouldn't make water world a reality - ever.
Did he really just suggest we abandon land and live on floating islands?

He forgot about storms, waves, wind, fuels, food, environmental effects, ocean wildlife, and so much more.

We had a drunk squirrel once. Due to some work being done on the house we moved the compost bin, but not all of the compost with it. One of our local squirrels took the opportunity to sample some fermenting fruit, and got utterly plastered. We watched him from the kitchen for a while - he kept trying to climb a tree and falling off backwards. He'd then stumble around a bit before trying again. Eventually we took pity on him and brought him to a wildlife rehab center near us, and later got the diagnosis from them: drunk. Poor guy had probably just been trying to go home to sleep it off.

I'm surprised that chlorine doesn't seem to bother wildlife.

Seems it survived unscathed ... I just found this:

Brian Kaloper, harbormaster at Seattle’s Elliott Bay Marina, was walking to his office on Monday morning when something caught his eye.

It was a seal on the marina’s G dock. Given that the dock is heavily traveled, Kaloper thought it was odd to see the animal there.

“When I got into my office, we turned on our security cameras to see what was going on,” he said.

Soon, Kaloper was treated to an astonishing sight. As the camera recorded, the seal gave birth to a pup, alternately laboring and taking a few breaks to rest. Immediately after the pup was born, the mother turned around and nudged its face and body, as if to make sure it was alright, then looked around the dock.

Marina staff quickly locked the door to the gate to protect the mother and baby, put up caution tape and kept the dock closed for a few hours, until the mother and newborn were back in the water. Kaloper said though marina staff are used to seeing wildlife around the facilty, the birth was astonishing to witness.

“Our staff sees plenty of seals and pups swimming about, but to catch nature in its most pure form on camera during a regular Monday was unbelievable,” he said.

No, it's an environmental problem. You know, wildlife dying, an ecosystem being destroyed...

Honestly, I can't feel bad for people with boats and waterfront property. I know it sounds callous but, I have more concern for the wildlife than I do for damage to peoples $25,000+ leisure vehicles and meticulously groomed lawns. This seems like Rich People Problems. Then again, this is a low income person speaking...
:-/