The Associated Press: Chimp owner begs police in 911 call to stop attack

Herold, a widow whose daughter was killed in a car accident several years ago, told the Today Show that the incident was “a freak thing.” She said Travis “couldn’t have been more my son than if I gave birth to him,” and rejected criticism that chimpanzees are inappropriate pets. “It’s a horrible thing, but I’m […]

obama is the man we need: he likes big dogs

“It’s like a little yappy dog?” Obama asked Walters, foolishly ignoring his wife’s advice not to criticize. “It, like, sits in your lap and things?” queried the skeptical president-elect. Michelle, still trying to save her husband from himself, pronounced the dog “cute.” Barack wasn’t buying it. “It sounds kind of like a…a girly dog,” he […]

george bush rushes to kill off animals before obama can stop him

classy move, bush. just fantastic: Animals and plants in danger of becoming extinct could lose the protection of government experts who make sure that dams, highways and other projects don’t pose a threat, under regulations the Bush administration is set to put in place before President-elect Obama can reverse them. The rules must be published […]

end Japanese whaling

February 7, 2008—To call attention to Japanese whaling practices, the Australian government released video captured on the ocean near Antarctica. Warning: graphic imagery. Video: Grisly Whaling Video Released the video linked to above is simply disgusting. it’s hard enough to think about killing animals, even for food, but to think about how these very intelligent […]

Rhino Poaching Rise Spurs India to Deploy Armed Guards

Authorities in India’s remote northeast will deploy a hundred armed guards to a protected game reserve after poachers killed a rare one-horned rhinoceros—the fourth this year—at the park, a senior official said Wednesday. “We are alarmed at the seemingly organized poaching by gangs at the Kaziranga National Park,” Assam state Forest and Environment Minister Rockybul […]

fairness is in our genes

there has been a lot said about the article i am going to quote later in this post, but none of it that i’ve seen calls out the glaringly obvious point that i’m seeing in this: Consider one more experimental example to prove the point: the ultimatum game. You are given $100 to split between […]

it.

We began discussing human cloning, and someone mentioned a noted bioethicist who believed that the parents of a deceased child should be allowed to create a clone of that child. My friends were curious: “Would the clone begin life at the age its original version died?” “How would you tell the clone about its origin?” […]