Vagueness and the Aftermath - A sporadic diary

[Karabiner]

I think I just saw Ben's wagon on central news Tom.

It was in a piece about new sites near Leicester.

Either his or one very similar possibly made by the same people.

[Redsgirl]

Sadly at the end of the prog they supplied the info that 1 rhino a day had been killed by poachers over the last year.  People are stupid *****. 

Which ones? Those trying to make some money to feed their families or the ones that create the market by believing that rhino horn has magical properties?

I've been thinking about this for a while.  Are there people who need to kill rino to feed their families? I would have thought that someone with the skills to hunt rino would find it relatively easy to kill legal quarry for food.

If they are forced to do it,  it's difficult to judge them too harshly.

There is a spate of charity appeal adverts on telly at the moment.  Often there is one asking for donations to help starving children,  followed immediately by one asking us to save the tiger.  My daughter always goes into rant mode when this happens.  "How can they put those adverts on together? If I were there,  I'd kill the tiger and feed it to the children."

and when they've killed all the tigers, what do thet eat?

Lol, just caught up with this and think there's been a little confusion!
I am a animal lover and would never condone harming an endangered species, I just find it hard to have as much sympathy for the snow leopard when I've just seen a toddler that probably didn't survive long past the filming of the ad.
And how come the snow leopard needs £3.50 when the child can get by on a couple of quid? Human life is cheap, eh?
I did make the melodramatic statement my dad referred to, but it was more to do with what I think of some peoples priorities than suggesting we solve world hunger by feeding people the local wildlife  

[bobAlike]

Hi Tom, I'm reading your diary.

[RED-DOG]

I think I just saw Ben's wagon on central news Tom.

It was in a piece about new sites near Leicester.

Either his or one very similar possibly made by the same people.

Missed it Ralph, but Ben is in the US and his wagon is in storage atm.

[RED-DOG]

Hi Tom, I'm reading your diary.

I always said you had excellent taste.

[kinboshi]

Sadly at the end of the prog they supplied the info that 1 rhino a day had been killed by poachers over the last year.  People are stupid *****.

Which ones? Those trying to make some money to feed their families or the ones that create the market by believing that rhino horn has magical properties?

I've been thinking about this for a while.  Are there people who need to kill rino to feed their families? I would have thought that someone with the skills to hunt rino would find it relatively easy to kill legal quarry for food.

If they are forced to do it,  it's difficult to judge them too harshly.

There is a spate of charity appeal adverts on telly at the moment.  Often there is one asking for donations to help starving children,  followed immediately by one asking us to save the tiger.  My daughter always goes into rant mode when this happens.  "How can they put those adverts on together? If I were there,  I'd kill the tiger and feed it to the children."

and when they've killed all the tigers, what do thet eat?

Lol, just caught up with this and think there's been a little confusion!
I am a animal lover and would never condone harming an endangered species, I just find it hard to have as much sympathy for the snow leopard when I've just seen a toddler that probably didn't survive long past the filming of the ad.
And how come the snow leopard needs £3.50 when the child can get by on a couple of quid? Human life is cheap, eh?
I did make the melodramatic statement my dad referred to, but it was more to do with what I think of some peoples priorities than suggesting we solve world hunger by feeding people the local wildlife 

The amount they ask people to pledge is down to the marketing people at the charities. They'll work on how many donations they think they can attract at different levels, and try to use the optimal point. Might be the children's charity expects a higher volume of donations, whereas the animal charity expects fewer. Cancer Research UK uses £2 as the default donation level, but I'm sure they'd like people to give more.

[kinboshi]

It's also worth remembering that the charities are actually in competition for people's donations, as people could give to numerous charities but tend to only donate to one or two - even if we are talking only a couple of quid.

Even if you want to help children you have a choice of charities. How do you decide which one will get your money?

[Woodsey]

I never give money to overseas charities any more, I know a couple of people that worked for them and hardly any of the money ends up getting to where its supposed to go.

[kinboshi]

I never give money to overseas charities any more, I know a couple of people that worked for them and hardly any of the money ends up getting to where its supposed to go.

There are lots of decent overseas charities.

[Mohican]

This is the only charity that I donate frequently to- http://www.sense.org.uk/
A couple of years ago, for a whole year I gave 10% of my poker winnings as donations. It wasn't much by itself but a few of my poker friends either did the same or gave donations
when they had a win. I think the amount raised was around £500.
 The only thing that really winds me up about charities are their continued use of 'chuggers'. When I lived in Fulham a few years ago, every day for a whole week a different pack of chuggers
were waiting for me on the short walk between Fulham Broadway tube station and my flat. This really aggressive form of fund raising is offensive to me. Chuggers now get a polite no thanks and if they persist, words that are not so polite. It's a shame that charities persist with these as they make me less likely to donate.

[kinboshi]

Yeah, lots of people hate chuggers (me included) - but charities get a massive contribution via them, so I guess it's a necessary evil.  I think the methods of some chuggers is counter-productive though.  Personally, I never donate to them - I'd rather donate online so I know where my money's going (at least initially).

[Rod Paradise]

Lol, just caught up with this and think there's been a little confusion!
I am a animal lover and would never condone harming an endangered species, I just find it hard to have as much sympathy for the snow leopard when I've just seen a toddler that probably didn't survive long past the filming of the ad.
And how come the snow leopard needs £3.50 when the child can get by on a couple of quid? Human life is cheap, eh?
I did make the melodramatic statement my dad referred to, but it was more to do with what I think of some peoples priorities than suggesting we solve world hunger by feeding people the local wildlife  

In a lot of cases the best way to save an animal is to improve the living conditions of the people living in the territory of the animal & who see themselves either as competitors to it, or as needing to exploit it.

i.e. If tourism brought enough money in that it was worth compensating farmers for killed livestock, then the farmers are less likely to risk killing a snow leopard for the price of their pelt.

[RED-DOG]

Lol, just caught up with this and think there's been a little confusion!
I am a animal lover and would never condone harming an endangered species, I just find it hard to have as much sympathy for the snow leopard when I've just seen a toddler that probably didn't survive long past the filming of the ad.
And how come the snow leopard needs £3.50 when the child can get by on a couple of quid? Human life is cheap, eh?
I did make the melodramatic statement my dad referred to, but it was more to do with what I think of some peoples priorities than suggesting we solve world hunger by feeding people the local wildlife  

In a lot of cases the best way to save an animal is to improve the living conditions of the people living in the territory of the animal & who see themselves either as competitors to it, or as needing to exploit it.

i.e. If tourism brought enough money in that it was worth compensating farmers for killed livestock, then the farmers are less likely to risk killing a snow leopard for the price of their pelt.

The real problem is that there are, (or soon will be) just too many people.

No matter how many resources we make available, or how carefully we utilise them, eventually demand will outstrip supply, then nature will take it's course and the majority of mankind will succumb to famine or disease.

Of course by that time, the animals will be long gone, along with their habitat.   

[MANTIS01]

Decided to catch up with this diary as it is always full of positivity and feel good, I discover the whole of mankind will die of famine and disease after wiping out all animals and their habitats

[RED-DOG]

Decided to catch up with this diary as it is always full of positivity and feel good, I discover the whole of mankind will die of famine and disease after wiping out all animals and their habitats

You make it sound bad when you say it like that.