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Post by radovic on Jan 22, 2008 10:10:46 GMT -5
Romanian "No" to Suicidal Squirrels Email a friend Save article Print article Increase text size Decrease text size22 January 2008 Bucharest _ A darkly humorous cartoon series, showing squirrels killing themselves in different ways will not be broadcast in Romania following protests from general public and the television regulatory body.
"The cartoon will no longer be distributed in Romania as the broadcast of the last episode in early January was, for sure, a mistake", Stephen White, AXN General Manager for Central Europe said on Tuesday.
The British-licensed channel, AXN, which is party of Sony Pictures, has been broadcasting the cartoon series, called "Suicidal Squirrels", on cable television.
The series features some squirrels hanging themselves and others throwing themselves in front of cars.
The Romanian regulatory body for television broadcasting, CAN, late last week said it would make an official protest to the European Commission about the cartoon.
Its move was meant to underline the fact that the CNA has no control over the cartoon series, because it is broadcast on a channel with a British license.
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Post by jerryspringer on Jan 22, 2008 10:50:14 GMT -5
Altough the west enjoys humor pertaining to death, which is represented by animals, this kind of humor does not exist in our culture. If you watch American movies and talkshows, you may often hear jokes about cats getting killed, or squirrels, or the so-called "road kill." You don't hear such jokes in Romania simply because we don't find it funny.
In Romania, squirrels are viewed as a cute animal, whereas in some parts of USA, squirrels are hunted by rednecks for their meat. Such practice is deemed as barbaric in Romania.
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Post by radovic on Jan 22, 2008 11:51:35 GMT -5
^ Same can be said for Serbia (it is like Romania -- this wouldn't be considered funny).
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Post by BibleRiot on Jan 22, 2008 21:25:10 GMT -5
[ftp]http://www.jibjab.com/view/23467#login_popup[/ftp]
Grey squirrels are pests that live on human refuse, like rats. They breed excessively and devour wild birds' eggs, reducing biodiversity.
Red squirrels are cute, but the Greys have almost exterminated them.
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Post by meltdown711 on Jan 22, 2008 22:36:29 GMT -5
As if the Balkans are a haven of animal rights... I've seen more animal cruelty come out of the balkans than anywhere else in Europe or America.
Mind you that when I was in Italy, besides staying behind a bus full of Romanians for 30 mins watching them throw out their garbage from the side windows, I was also told by some that Romanians would throw dogs they no longer wanted out of their car window while driving along the autostrad.
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Post by radovic on Jan 23, 2008 1:09:11 GMT -5
[ftp]http://www.jibjab.com/view/23467#login_popup[/ftp] Grey squirrels are pests that live on human refuse, like rats. They breed excessively and devour wild birds' eggs, reducing biodiversity. Red squirrels are cute, but the Greys have almost exterminated them. As far as I'm aware in Europe the Grey Squirrel is an introduced species present only in UK & Ireland.
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Post by jerryspringer on Jan 23, 2008 1:42:53 GMT -5
That's a bit irrelevant to the thread, I think. And the biggest pests are humans; but again, that's irrelevant to this thread.
As if the Balkans are a haven of animal rights... I've seen more animal cruelty come out of the balkans than anywhere else in Europe or America.
Where do you pull all of this? Out of your azz? I wasn't aware that you possessed over such statistics. Educate yourself on animal testing in Europe and USA, then come back and talk.
If this is true, then for sure they are Muntenians.
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Post by redrake on Jan 23, 2008 2:00:59 GMT -5
If this is true, then for sure they are Muntenians. And you know this for a fact like you knew that in Romania only the large cities have supermarkets, isn't it? Take a look at this: LinkLinkIt seems to me that those moldavians are lacking compassion just like anyone else. They are no better.
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Post by BibleRiot on Jan 23, 2008 3:09:45 GMT -5
Radovic you're right.
The Grey's have only managed to secure a base in Italy. But unless something is done, these American invaders will eventually spread out and conquer the whole of Europe, destroying the pretty and indigenous Reds.
No room for sentimentality here.
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Post by diurpaneus on Jan 23, 2008 3:31:43 GMT -5
Radovic you're right. The Grey's have only managed to secure a base in Italy. But unless something is done, these American invaders will eventually spread out and conquer the whole of Europe, destroying the pretty and indigenous Reds. No room for sentimentality here. I`ve seen more squirrels that are grey in Romania. I didn`t know they are not indigenous. When and why were they introduced in Europe?
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Post by BibleRiot on Jan 23, 2008 3:50:32 GMT -5
Sentimental animal lovers (like Anittas?) introduced this American brute to England back in the 19th century, because they thought these tree-rats were cute. Now in Britain there's a plan to put them on the pill. Ridiculous. I never thought I'd agree with anything in the Daily Mail but the article below is right.
And if you've seen a Grey in Romania, I hope Romanians will have the sense to exterminate the monsters before they spread.
Squirrels on the pill? Put the pests in a casserole!by ROBIN PAGE -
"Ah, aren't they pretty" - that is one of the most popular phrases used by young children and old ladies as they watch grey squirrels in the park on a Sunday afternoon.
Well their reaction is understandable; grey squirrels with their dark oval eyes and bushy tails are certainly "pretty", but to my mind they would be far prettier if they were still confined to North America where they came from in the first place.
When the grey squirrel was introduced to this country by misguided animal lovers in 1876, it was thought to be a welcome addition to British fauna.
In truth it has been a disaster. Not simply because the grey squirrel devours birds' eggs, steals bird food, eats the bulbs in our gardens, ruins our lawns and damages the trees we love, but also because it has driven our indigenous red squirrel - the original Squirrel Nutkin, which is far prettier and much less aggressive than the grey - to the brink of extinction.
So out of hand is the situation that the Department For Environment, Food And Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has come up with a solution. With the help of scientists in the Forestry Commission and the U.S. it wants to develop an oral contraceptive for grey squirrels - to stop the present five million grey squirrels becoming ten million in five years' time.
The problem is that DEFRA will not get its scheme into operation for at least five years and by then it could be too late, because the red squirrel, now mainly holed up in small woodlands in Northern England and Scotland as its American cousin runs riot, could already be extinct.
But even if we ignore this important time lag, the notion of giving oral contraceptives to squirrels is absolutely dotty. The intention is to mix a contraceptive chemical into food for grey squirrels. What about other wildlife and what about those squirrels rejecting the food?
A feature of squirrels is that they collect and store food in caches for later use. What happens when grey squirrels store the druggedup food and other birds and animals find the food store?
No, the idea of contraceptives for squirrels is not only ridiculously expensive, it is a nonstarter. Which means we are left with the only real solution: a nationwide cull in which squirrels are shot.
I understand why many animal lovers will resist this apparently drastic answer. DEFRA itself - the organisation that happily insisted on the needless slaughter of seven million sheep, cattle and pigs during the 2001 foot-and-mouth outbreak - dares not suggest a cull in case it is accused by the welfare lobby of inhumanity.
But I'm sorry to say that logic - and the plight of the red squirrel - dictates that robust measures are the only option. We have to accept that culling is sometimes called for in conservation.
The trouble is that where animals and wildlife are concerned, reality has been suspended. In our metropolitan society, all furry animals except rats are sacred whatever damage they might inflict, so none of them can ever be killed. But nature is far more complicated than this.
We are now so divorced from the real world where animals are concerned that, when we buy junk food such as chicken nuggets, we don't pause to think they are made from hens kept and killed in the worst possible conditions.
Our meat from supermarkets is so wrapped and packaged and sanitised that any notion of animal slaughter is removed from it.
And this attitude applies to wildlife, too, promoted and encouraged by animal charities (who often depend on squirrel-loving old ladies for their financial bequests) and the politically correct BBC in its nature documentaries.
On the Springwatch programme, for example, the birdwatching presenter Bill Oddie has advocated feeding grey squirrels with peanuts.
How he squares this with research showing that grey squirrels and their passion for eggs are a major reason for plummeting population levels of birds including the nightingale, songthrush, spotted flycatcher and willow tit, I cannot understand. Perhaps he's more interested in viewing figures than wildlife conservation.
As I say, the answer to the grey squirrel problem is not a fanciful high-falutin' contraceptive, it is far more simple: a proper cull should be organised, not for five years' time, but for tomorrow.
The reasons are clear. Apart from eating the eggs of songbirds and woodland birds, grey squirrels do an enormous amount of damage to growing trees and shrubs, causing million of pounds worth of damage each year. In Dublin's Phoenix Park, they destroyed 80 per cent of the saplings.
The damage to red squirrels is two-fold. The greys chase the reds about aggressively during the breeding season, making them too stressed to breed.
In addition, the greys carry a disease called squirrel poxvirus, which does little harm to themselves, but is extremely contagious and almost always fatal to reds.
In a properly organised cull, the grey squirrels should be trapped, shot and - I know this may offend some animal lovers - preferably eaten.
Squirrels are regularly eaten in the U.S. and it is surely time that Britain's host of celebrity chefs stopped patting each other on the back and did something useful like developing squirrel casserole, baked squirrel, smoked squirrel and squirrel pate.
The meat tastes like a cross between chicken and rabbit and earlier in the year I was given an absolutely delicious squirrel burger. In Shropshire there are already some butchers who sell jointed squirrel, which I have eaten in a casserole - sadly I cannot give names and addresses because of animal rights activists to whom Britain's traditions of free speech seem anathema.
One of the simplest ways of introducing a cull in the countryside would be to use the so-called cross-compliance mechanism on the payment of farm subsidies.
At the moment farmers are required to undertake a number of environmental activities on their farms to qualify for their subsidies.
Grey squirrel control should simply be added to this 'cross compliance' list. In other words, all landowners receiving agricultural subsidies would be required to control the grey squirrels on their land.
At the moment the hard work of saving Britain's last red squirrels is being undertaken by private individuals who understand that wildlife conservation is not simply about being nice to fluffy animals.
On Anglesey, a cull of greys is proving successful. Since 1998 more than 7,500 have been culled and it is hoped final success will come in 2008 and the island's residents reds will be safe. Those involved have shown that a cull is possible and works.
Similarly in the Lake District the battle to save the reds is being fought by private individuals, with help from the holiday village organisation Center Parcs, when DEFRA and the National Trust (which owns 25 per cent of the Lakes) should be leading the way.
Jerry Moss, who has the title of red squirrel ranger at a Center Parcs' refuge for more than 150 healthy wild reds, is quite right when he says: "The people who sit behind desks making decisions simply don't realise how endangered the red squirrel is.
"We need more than volunteers, we need more people like me, only paid for by the Government. Without this, the grey will be out of control and the red squirrel is doomed. There is little time left, the situation is desperate."
So, pretty as they are, please don't feed the grey squirrels as Bill Oddie suggests. These tree rats really are a menace. The last time I saw one it was on my washing line and I shot it dead - because that way the songbirds on my farm might begin to thrive again.
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Post by radovic on Jan 23, 2008 10:10:06 GMT -5
As if the Balkans are a haven of animal rights... I've seen more animal cruelty come out of the balkans than anywhere else in Europe or America. Mind you that when I was in Italy, besides staying behind a bus full of Romanians for 30 mins watching them throw out their garbage from the side windows, I was also told by some that Romanians would throw dogs they no longer wanted out of their car window while driving along the autostrad. Lies. How do you know the bus was filled with Romanians. Last time I checked Italians gave a problem with throwing garbage in the wrong areas -- i.e. look at Naples. Also. Such stories are crap. Before Romanians came to Italy in large numbers they were saying that about Albanians, during the wars in Yugoslavia they were saying that about refugees and before that northern Italians were saying that about people from the souith.
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Post by radovic on Jan 23, 2008 10:13:43 GMT -5
Theirs a different American animal I'd consider more of a pest then the Grey Squirrel. I'd consider the racoon a pest. It reminds me of a giant rat & all it does is infect people wqith rabies and east from garbage.
Luckily. As far as I'm aware it's only been introduced to Germany & France.
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Post by jerryspringer on Jan 23, 2008 12:31:36 GMT -5
Sentimental animal lovers (like Anittas?) introduced this American brute to England back in the 19th century, because they thought these tree-rats were cute. Now in Britain there's a plan to put them on the pill. Ridiculous. I never thought I'd agree with anything in the Daily Mail but the article below is right. I still don't understand what this has to do with being sentimental. This is about artistic work that promotes suicide as fun. I doubt they want to send a message about grey squirrels being a pest. If they are a pest and must be removed, then cautiousness and respect should be employed. Those are just animals following their nature. They can't help it. Yes, I care about animals and in fact am a member of PETA. Why don't you go and read on the Brown Dog Affair and come back and talk to us about NOT being sentimental? I won't even post a link to the content. Btw, I read The Fall. Great book and it inspired me greatly, but it still hasn't given me the answers I'm looking for. No book has, so as they say: if you want to do something, do it yourself. I'm also reading the Marriage between Heaven and Hell by William Blake. I love English literature. It's strange that you've had such great writers, while most of you English are devils. Diur, tell the people here who made the first animal protection law in the world (ancient Egyptians don't count in this case). Wasn't it the Moldavians? Reddrake, there are bad apples everywhere, but if we were leading this country, we would seperate the good from the bad.
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Post by redrake on Jan 23, 2008 12:49:16 GMT -5
Diur, tell the people here who made the first animal protection law in the world (ancient Egyptians don't count in this case). Wasn't it the Moldavians? Reddrake, there are bad apples everywhere, but if we were leading this country, we would seperate the good from the bad. The zimbru was exterminated in Moldova in the late 18th century. This hardly constitutes as an animal protection people.
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Post by jerryspringer on Jan 23, 2008 13:54:44 GMT -5
Diur, tell the people here who made the first animal protection law in the world (ancient Egyptians don't count in this case). Wasn't it the Moldavians? Reddrake, there are bad apples everywhere, but if we were leading this country, we would seperate the good from the bad. The zimbru was exterminated in Moldova in the late 18th century. This hardly constitutes as an animal protection people. In Moldavia, not Moldova! Yes, it was a worldwide tragedy, as that race died out in the whole world. In Moldavia and some parts of Poland, the specie continued to live for longer than in other parts of the world. I never said that there weren't idiots in Moldavia. There were and still are; but the core principle of the Moldavian people are good.
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Post by redrake on Jan 23, 2008 17:29:14 GMT -5
Yes, the core principle. But that's because they are humans, not because they are moldovians.
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Post by Dragos Voda on Jan 23, 2008 21:46:35 GMT -5
Well if you eat meat you're contributing to animal slaughter. Do you know how these animals are treated? it's like concentration camps. Animals are actually smarter than people in some ways, I mean a squirrel isn't going to go beat up a grasshopper and start performing all these experiments on it.
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Post by BibleRiot on Jan 24, 2008 3:22:46 GMT -5
Suicidal squirrels seems a bit Japanese as humour to me, cruel but silly. I think people might get upset about it in the UK too, but my point was that this reaction is sentimentality in a world that has battery chicken farms. Sentimentality is always dubious aesthetics.
Thanks for the pointer to the Brown Dog Affair. I didn't know about it in any detail and it illustrates an important point. A lot of animal experimentation is useless and unreliable, because we cannot be sure that animal physiology corresponds precisely enough to our own, but sometimes it is justified by revealing a major new concept; in the case of the work of the researchers involved in this affair, the concept of the hormone as a chemical messenger.
Such discoveries are obviously of life-saving benefit to thousands of human beings, generation after generation.
I'm not cynical about animal welfare. I used to go round lecturing groups of businessmen, schoolteachers or housewives about why whaling was unacceptable. I'm very keen on preserving biodiversity and the habitats that enable animals to survive. I think the way we treat great apes, in the zoos or in the wilds, is criminal. But when people disrupt animal experimentation laboratories or prevent necessary culls of squirrels, seagulls or badgers simply out of sympathy with suffering animals, I think they've got their priorities wrong.
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Post by redrake on Jan 24, 2008 5:40:40 GMT -5
Well if you eat meat you're contributing to animal slaughter. Oh dear! Another one who thinks that eating animals is unethical. At the same time vegetarians are eating all the plants. So much for ethics. ;D
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