May 182009
Shhhh… don’t tell Sarah Palin that blue whales are returning to Alaskan coast
environment, humor, politics, science Add comments (9)
Finally some good news out of Alaska!
Blue whales are returning to Alaska in search of food and could be re-establishing an old migration route several decades after they were nearly wiped out by commercial whalers, scientists say.
The endangered whales, possibly the largest animals ever to live on Earth, have yet to recover from the worldwide slaughter that eliminated 99 percent of their number, according to the American Cetacean Society. The hunting peaked in 1931 with more than 29,000 animals killed in one season.
Here’s hoping the former vice-presidential candidate’s penchant for hunting big game doesn’t kick in. These magnificent beasts wouldn’t stand a chance against a harpoon-wielding Sarah Palin.
Via Ameriblog.
May 19th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Look, I despise Sarah Palin as much as the next Democrat, but the point of hunting wolves is that the large population of wolves puts pressure on species which actually are endangered. There’s plenty of things to attack Palin on, stuff like this just makes us look clueless and destroys Alaskan democrats. It might be a good tact down in California where people have no clue, I can see that, but it leaves a fowel taste to be so misleading people just for political gain, especially when their are animals which are actually endangered.
Anyway, it’s the Obama administration that finally removed wolves from the endangered species list.
May 19th, 2009 at 12:25 am
Wolves? I thought the post was about whales… I think the author was trying to make a humorous point about Palin’s obsession with the big game hunting. She lounges on the pelt of a bear with the head still intact for Christ sake, and mugs for a shot when gutting a moose (with daughter in tow). So it’s hard not to make fun of her. As for the entire wolf thing, I’m sure you are probably right, but there is an air of celebrity Palin uses to promote hunting wolves, almost glorifying the act, which many find gratuitous and distasteful, myself included.
May 19th, 2009 at 12:57 am
Palin has that new, white, engraved semi automatic now, combined with a helicopter….Sarah leads by example!
ANYWAY, this is good news about the return of the whales…
May 19th, 2009 at 3:15 am
The point is inane though. Wow, she has a stuffed bear couch, won’t find many of those in Alaska! (except for basically every bar and resteraunt, I’m sure it was already there in the governors offices).
Promoting hunting is gratuitous and distasteful? Sorry, you just sound clueless, either its promoted so private hunters will do it gratis, or the government PAYS people to go out and do it. I don’t know, maybe you like wasting taxpayers money so as to not offend your sensibilities.
Jeesh, THIS is why Democrats are totally screwed in Alaska. People up there don’t care about your touchy feely junk about what you do and do not find distasteful any more than YOU care about whether Alaskans want to drill their oil or not. Having lived in Alaska I was consistently frustrated how Democrats in the rest of the US totally screw over that states Democratic party. Stevens is a weasel and I’m happy he lost, but so long as the dems keep this up you can be sure Mark Begich won’t win re-election. Its frustrating as hell for Alaska Democrats. At least that’s not my problem anymore.
May 19th, 2009 at 3:25 am
I should say, I don’t mean you’ll find a stuffed bear couch, those are hard to upkeep. But you will find bear pelts and certainlly stuffed bears, with the head intact. Personally I don’t get why having the head intact makes it more or less offensive. Do you think the hamburgers you eat came from headless cows? Why is it better or worse if the head is there.
If anything, I would say its better, there’s some connection there to the animal it was, it’s a lot closer to the relationship native americans had with animals. I’ve literally had this conversation with someone WHILE they were eating a hot dog. Sometimes, I think the lower 48 is just a large nut house, people eat meat, but morally despise people who kill animals?? I’ll respect a vegetarian who dislikes Palin on these counts, but such a person should just as much dislike Obama, he eats meet to, he just lets someone else do the killing.
May 19th, 2009 at 11:53 am
Bruce, here we go again on another tangent with the whole meat eating thing… What gives? I never said I objected to hunting, but glorifying it as Palin does is entirely another matter, at least for me personally. And lumping me in like that and making broad generalizations about who or what I support is something I would expect from some one on the right, not the left. And Bruce, if you are so unhappy with the lower 48 states, then why not just let the upper ONE state secede?
May 19th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
You complain I go on tangents, and then bring seceding in? Wow!
I was pointing out how none-sensicle your positions are. Yes she glorifys and promotes hunting, because hunting needs to be done due to the low populations of prey species. That you “object” to the promotion of hunting (I’m not sure what the difference between glorification and promotion is) is quite frankly inane. The alternative is the state uses tax money to pay hunters to kill them. Ontop of that the Alaskan hunting industry provides a hell of a lot of jobs (just like the meat production industry in the lower 48 does).
And the only generalization I made about you was your likely opposition to drilling in ANWR, I oppose it too, maybe you actually don’t. The point is most Alaskans are for it, so obviously people in the lower 48 don’t actually care what Alaskans think – why should they care what you think about about their personal attitudes about hunting. Perhaps that’s what you don’t understand, Palin is not some fringe freak in Alaska, a lot of people share the same passion for hunting, and almost everyone supports it. With these attacks on her as a hunter, you guys are doing a great dis-service to the Alaskan democratic party.
Furthermore, most people in the lower 48 are not vegetarians, so attacking Palin for being a hunter when you (not you personally) eat factory meat is pure hypocrasy. I thought that kind of hypocrasy was supposed to be reserved for the Republicans!
May 19th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
Bruce, please go back to school so that you may learn how to spell. This site has nothing to do with the Democratic party except for maybe the person who writes is a Democrat. Seceding was merely a suggestion, not a tangent. The post was in regards to the gorgeous blue whale and was meant to be partly in jest.
May 19th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Learn how to spell, great. Very impressive. You really put me in my place, I should think twice before questioning the erudite and cultured residents of the lower 48. Oh yes, it’s not enough that I support gay rights and gay marriage, I have to agree with you guys on all the issues, otherwise I must simply be an ignorant dunce! With tactics like that, federal gay marriage is right around the corner!
Go on with the mindless Palin bashing, I’ll leave you guys to it. Nevermind what it means for the Alaskan Democratic party and by extension the rights of gay Alaskans. Who cares about them? Obviously not the rest of the country, destroying Palin on dumb issues is far more important. You know, since there’s nothing else to attack her on, except for: Abortion, school vouchers, healthcare, foreign policy, gay rights, hate crimes bills, education spending, taxation, war in Iraq. Nope, the only issue we have going for us is that she promots hunting.
…don’t worry, I get your perspective and I still support gay marriage. But I was hoping to maybe get some understanding across of the Alaskan take on Palin & hunting issues, obviously a mutual waste of our time. Hell, most anti-Palin people don’t even give a flying f* whether banning wolf hunting would wipe out the caribou in areas due to severely restricted grazing areas (wolves, by the way, don’t graze).