To focus on the negative side of any issue is the specialty of journalists.
In a “Tiger Summit” at St. Petersburg, Russia, from November 22-24, concerned leaders met to discuss how to prevent the extinction of the big cats known for their fierce beauty and mythical powers.
But if you are to read the reports filed by journalists, the battle is already lost. Tigers are on their way out and we will be left only with stories by Rudyard Kipling and others about how these animals lived, loved and died.
The statistics is certainly grim. Only about 3,200 tigers remain in the wild. Compare that to the more than 100,000 that roamed the jungles a century ago. At this rate, tigers could be extinct by 2022.
The enemies are poachers and humanity’s relentless usurping of tiger habitats. Poachers can command anywhere from $11,000-$21,000 dollars for tiger skins. Bones can be sold for $1,000. These are prized particularly by the Chinese for their supposedly medicinal values and as aphrodisiacs.
The situation in India is particularly grim. The tiger population there has fallen to 1,411, from about 3,700 estimated to be alive in 2002 and the 40,000 estimated to be roaming across India at the time of independence in 1947. Poachers use the porous border with Nepal to continue their trade with rich clients.
The government has cracked down hard on these thugs but industrial expansion and dams near protected reserves are also taking a heavy toll on the cats. A comprehensive plan to protect the habitats has recently gone into effect.
Bangladesh is home to about 400 Royal Bengal tigers in the Sunderban (beautiful forest), a unique mangrove ecosystem in the southern part of the country. The government is determined to protect and increase their numbers, a move supported by Bangladeshis. Other countries with tiger population include Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Malaysia, Myanmar, Russia, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Nepal, and Indonesia.
While there are serious obstacles to protecting tigers from poaching and encroachments, a concerted effort by leaders of the “tiger countries” can overcome them. The “Tiger Summit” is a step in the right direction. The summit has approved a wide-ranging program to double the world's tiger population in the wild by 2022. It has also produced a declaration of commitment from government leaders of the 13 countries where these magnificent creatures dwell.
In 1794, the poet William Blake wrote:
“Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?”
It is easy to be discouraged in these cynical times but when it comes to preserving species threatened with extinction, we often heed our better angels. Tigers will continue to burn bright in the forests of the night. We will rise to the challenge of ensuring that these light are never dimmed.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Saturday, November 06, 2010
"What You've Never Had, You Never Miss"
An elderly couple from Canada gave away their $11.2 million lottery winnings to relatives and charities. Their justification: "What you've never had, you never miss."
Allen and Violet Large of Truro, Nova Scotia, have been married for 36 years. They are in their seventies and have everything they need in their retirement years. Violet was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year and has been receiving chemotherapy at a hospital in Halifax.
Year ago when I lived in Halifax, I once drove through Truro. I still remember the sleepy town. The one thing that struck me about it was that not much happened there, and that's the way the few people I saw on the streets seemed to like it.
Allen & Violet distributed their money first to family and then to the local fire department, churches, cemeteries, the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, hospitals in Truro and Halifax, organizations that fight cancer, Alzheimer's and diabetes.
You read something like this and you sit still to absorb it. Amid all the daily news of bloodbath and greed and ruthlessness, this couple did what perhaps only one in ten million would do. They could have taken exotic trips, bought all the toys they could indulge in, and spend their last years in pampered care and luxury. But no, they just gave it all away.
They unconsciously followed the wisdom in these lines: "I shall pass this way but once; any good, therefore, that I can do, or any kindness that I can show - let me not defer it nor neglect it - for I shall not pass this way again."
Good and kind people live among us, in big cities and small towns. Next time we hear of cruelty and selfishness, let's remember Violet and Allen Large and others like them and be grateful for the human grace that is as much a part of us as its opposite.
Allen and Violet Large of Truro, Nova Scotia, have been married for 36 years. They are in their seventies and have everything they need in their retirement years. Violet was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year and has been receiving chemotherapy at a hospital in Halifax.
Year ago when I lived in Halifax, I once drove through Truro. I still remember the sleepy town. The one thing that struck me about it was that not much happened there, and that's the way the few people I saw on the streets seemed to like it.
Allen & Violet distributed their money first to family and then to the local fire department, churches, cemeteries, the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, hospitals in Truro and Halifax, organizations that fight cancer, Alzheimer's and diabetes.
You read something like this and you sit still to absorb it. Amid all the daily news of bloodbath and greed and ruthlessness, this couple did what perhaps only one in ten million would do. They could have taken exotic trips, bought all the toys they could indulge in, and spend their last years in pampered care and luxury. But no, they just gave it all away.
They unconsciously followed the wisdom in these lines: "I shall pass this way but once; any good, therefore, that I can do, or any kindness that I can show - let me not defer it nor neglect it - for I shall not pass this way again."
Good and kind people live among us, in big cities and small towns. Next time we hear of cruelty and selfishness, let's remember Violet and Allen Large and others like them and be grateful for the human grace that is as much a part of us as its opposite.
Friday, November 05, 2010
Put Keith Olbermann Back Where He Belongs
MSNBC's suspension of the outspoken TV anchor Keith Olbermann is outrageous. The leading liberal voice of his time is the surest antidote to the toxic fumes that emanate nonstop from FOX and other right wing outlets.
What did Olbermann do to deserve this insult? He contributed a grand total of $2,400 to the campaigns of Representatives Rauj M. Grivalva and Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona and Attorney General Jack Conway of Kentucky!
For this sin, a sane voice has been stilled, at least for now.
MSNBC and its parent NBC News are answerable to NBC Universal. That's the problem with these corporations. The pompous idiots at the top think they know what's best for viewers, even though their only concern is money and profit. They will grab any chance to prove their moral superiority only because there is none. By suspending Olbermann they are trying to make the point that, for them, principles trump everything else. And what is the great principle they are trying to protect? That since a TV anchor's vision will be clouded if he we were to make political contributions, they must act as TV's virtuous gatekeepers. What anachronism! By the way, has anyone taught these geniuses the difference between causation and correlation?
All these honchos are now waiting for is a round of applause from coast to coast for their sanctimony.
Well, not only will no applause be forthcoming, these beacons of self-righteousness should brace for boos from every clear-thinking person in the country. The least they can do to salvage some honor from the situation is to immediately reinstate Keith Olbermann.
What did Olbermann do to deserve this insult? He contributed a grand total of $2,400 to the campaigns of Representatives Rauj M. Grivalva and Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona and Attorney General Jack Conway of Kentucky!
For this sin, a sane voice has been stilled, at least for now.
MSNBC and its parent NBC News are answerable to NBC Universal. That's the problem with these corporations. The pompous idiots at the top think they know what's best for viewers, even though their only concern is money and profit. They will grab any chance to prove their moral superiority only because there is none. By suspending Olbermann they are trying to make the point that, for them, principles trump everything else. And what is the great principle they are trying to protect? That since a TV anchor's vision will be clouded if he we were to make political contributions, they must act as TV's virtuous gatekeepers. What anachronism! By the way, has anyone taught these geniuses the difference between causation and correlation?
All these honchos are now waiting for is a round of applause from coast to coast for their sanctimony.
Well, not only will no applause be forthcoming, these beacons of self-righteousness should brace for boos from every clear-thinking person in the country. The least they can do to salvage some honor from the situation is to immediately reinstate Keith Olbermann.
Thursday, November 04, 2010
Obama Will Regain His Audacity
The midterm election was a rude wake-up call for President Obama but it's not the end of the story. We have perhaps read only the first few chapters in a book of many chapters. The death of the Democratic agenda is greatly exaggerated.
Barack Obama has received his dose of humility just in time. Any longer and he would have put himself beyond rescue. All this talk of elitism, detachment, arrogance, 'I am right, you just don't get it' attitude is mostly true.
But what most Americans tend to overlook is Obama's enormous ability to rediscover himself. Anyone who has read his two autobiographical books know it. Why pundits are not using this trait in their judgment is odd. Perhaps it means that they haven't really read the books. Superficial perusal maybe but no serious study for clues to the president's character.
Since his election to the highest office in the land, Obama tried too hard to please his critics while neglecting his support base. He failed in the first and lost big time because of the second. Candidate Obama that young independents flocked to two years ago began to wonder who they really voted for, because the occupant of the White House certainly didn't resemble their hero, their hope.
The enthusiasm gap widened when Obama lost his sense of purpose and began courting the fat cats who gave us the financial crisis that destroyed millions of American families. Although blessed with a gift for words, the president couldn't explain healthcare or the stimulus or the financial reform in a way that common Americans could understand. Obama's packages were too little, although not too late.
The ultimate irony: A man borne on the wings of audacity suffered a failure of imagination.
But here's the thing: Obama can, and will, regain his audacity in support of his principles and in opposition to his implacable foes. It's in his genes.
Americans told him through their votes that they don't like his style and even the substance he has shown so far. They don't like the sense of superiority he exudes. They want a doer in these tough times but find in him an ivory-tower thinker with little or no appreciation of the difficulties they are facing. They want democrats to shed their timidity and boldly take on the Tea Party.
Obama will absorb these lessons in the days ahead and become candidate Obama again. He will recapture the magic by sheer force of will and reconnect with his constituency. He knows that this is the biggest challenge of his career. He will rise to it, not because of the prospect of a second term, but because he knows in his guts it is the right thing to do.
Barack Obama has received his dose of humility just in time. Any longer and he would have put himself beyond rescue. All this talk of elitism, detachment, arrogance, 'I am right, you just don't get it' attitude is mostly true.
But what most Americans tend to overlook is Obama's enormous ability to rediscover himself. Anyone who has read his two autobiographical books know it. Why pundits are not using this trait in their judgment is odd. Perhaps it means that they haven't really read the books. Superficial perusal maybe but no serious study for clues to the president's character.
Since his election to the highest office in the land, Obama tried too hard to please his critics while neglecting his support base. He failed in the first and lost big time because of the second. Candidate Obama that young independents flocked to two years ago began to wonder who they really voted for, because the occupant of the White House certainly didn't resemble their hero, their hope.
The enthusiasm gap widened when Obama lost his sense of purpose and began courting the fat cats who gave us the financial crisis that destroyed millions of American families. Although blessed with a gift for words, the president couldn't explain healthcare or the stimulus or the financial reform in a way that common Americans could understand. Obama's packages were too little, although not too late.
The ultimate irony: A man borne on the wings of audacity suffered a failure of imagination.
But here's the thing: Obama can, and will, regain his audacity in support of his principles and in opposition to his implacable foes. It's in his genes.
Americans told him through their votes that they don't like his style and even the substance he has shown so far. They don't like the sense of superiority he exudes. They want a doer in these tough times but find in him an ivory-tower thinker with little or no appreciation of the difficulties they are facing. They want democrats to shed their timidity and boldly take on the Tea Party.
Obama will absorb these lessons in the days ahead and become candidate Obama again. He will recapture the magic by sheer force of will and reconnect with his constituency. He knows that this is the biggest challenge of his career. He will rise to it, not because of the prospect of a second term, but because he knows in his guts it is the right thing to do.
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