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The tragic case of the sparrow


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Anyone else hear about the sparrow shot in the Netherlands? The fuss created over it is mad! its unbelievable how warped some peoples pespectives are these days. There are many far greater tragedies occurring at the world worthy of attention.

The world is fu......

 

 

Animal rights activists in the Netherlands want charges laid in the shooting of a rare sparrow that knocked over 23,000 dominoes as a TV company was setting up for a world-record attempt. The sparrow, which is on the national endangered list, had flown into an exposition centre on Monday in the northern city of Leeuwarden. After knocking over the dominoes, it was chased into a corner and shot by an exterminator with an air rifle. "Under Dutch law, you need a permit to kill this kind of bird, and a permit can only be granted when there's a danger to public health or a crop. That was not the case," Dutch animal protection agency spokesman Niels Dorland told the Associated Press. "I might add: Is it really necessary to kill a bird that knocked over a few dominoes for a game?" he said, adding that the agency plans to bring the case to national prosecutors. The killing has sparked outrage in the Netherlands. Death threats have reportedly been made against the man who killed the bird. A Dutch disc jockey has offered a reward of 3,000 euros ($3,500 US) to anyone who topples the dominoes before the official start. About 100 people with the TV company Endemol NV had spent weeks at the centre setting up more than four million dominoes in an attempt to surpass the official Guinness world record for falling dominoes. The record is 3,992,397. Endemol spokesman Jeroen van Waardenberg defended the killing of the bird. "That bird was flying around and knocking over a lot of dominoes," van Waardenberg said. "More than 100 people from 12 countries had worked for more than a month setting them up." Van Waardenberg added the company may set up a memorial or mention the dead bird during its television broadcast Friday. But Dorland dismissed Endemol's reason for killing the sparrow. "I think they were awfully fast to pull out a rifle. If a person started knocking over a few dominoes, they wouldn't shoot him, would they?"

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Daft perspective on your part. If you ignore one bad thing because there are lots of other bad things going on over which you have no control whatsoever, where does that leave you?

 

Also, what is the value of setting a record for knocking over a lot of dominoes? What could be more fatuous than that? That has negative value (why aren't these people expending all that energy and money helping all the victims of tragedies that you mention?), whereas the life of an endangered animal has positive value.

 

I love the Dutch. They have a good perspective on the environment, which they learned the hard way through lots of tragedies involving water.

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How did I know you would reply? whats the value in doing anything? what could more 'fatuous' than grown man getting played millions to kick a ball? or people wasting time and money to slide down a snow covered slope?

It was a a common sparrow - common - rare in Nethrerlands but not in the rest of the world, now there is some perspective, the rareness of the bird has lost its 'perspective'.

It does seem excessive that the bird was shot, I guess they thought at the time it was the course of action that would cause the least disturbance.

A website created for condolences messages to the bird? nice pespective there too.

 

Whats the value in dominoes? heck they could have been raising money for charity "expending all that energy and money helping all the victims of tragedies" for all we know.

100 people from 12 countries - fostering international relations perhaps.

 

Hans Peeters of the Dutch Bird Protection Agency appeared on Friday's television programme and said that though it was a "very sad incident" it had "been blown out of all proportion".

Amen Hans.

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 Quote:
Originally posted by snowglider:
heck they could have been raising money for charity
lol.gif Heck, the domino chain could have opened a portal that the domino gods would emerge out of and enslaved humanity. Maybe the sparrow was a part of an age old secret order of protectors, entrusted with keeping the domino gods in check and humanity safe. ...I mean, as long as we are hypothesizing.

Hadn't they ever heard of a net?
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For being one of the peons among the biggest number drummed into 'urban beautification' in one day, to satisfy the whim of Matsuyama's pretentious mayor. We all descended on our local park and pulled up every last bit of green on the expanse of dust that nobody uses. (Normally I would refuse, but the wife has her position in the neighbourhood to think of, and I put all the pickings in my compost bin.) Naturally I'm named in the Book, although I suspect the mayor is.

 

Doing stunts for charity is really a bit fatuous too. I also agree that having people paid lots of money to play sport is ridiculous. The mayor of Matsuyama apparently squanders my taxes so that people can play sport too. I find that intensely annoying too. If he also shot endangered species then I would go and throw eggs at him.

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  • 1 year later...

thursday - how on earth did you find this thread from 2 years ago? lol.gif

 

i actually like watching those world record domino attempts. i like all the pretty colours and tricks they use to make them fall. yes, i realise how idiotic that sounds, but i stand by my love of dominoes

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Ironically (literally), I find both sides of this argument insane.

 

Oh... and I love guns. I also love to hunt. Ironically, I have always craved a bird cage in my home so I could wake up to those songs. But I admit, I wouldn't be able to cage things that can fly. Nor would I be able to shoot a bird that wasn't food. I did once, and it bothered me.

 

Did they eat it? I've shot a lot of birds that I ate. Then it's okay. If they didn't eat it, why can't I blow away the crows that stalk my neighborhood garbage posts on Mondays and thursdays? They're fricking huge because they're so well fed. Flying rats, they are. Big, black, flying rats. Shitting on people's homes, cars, squawking up a morning storm, inducing fear of walking under them. Instead, the locals put nets over their garbage. As if that stops the beak.

 

Every week... there's garbage all over the place. Because of birds we can't shoot.

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 Originally Posted By: Ocean11


I love the Dutch. They have a good perspective on the environment, which they learned the hard way through lots of tragedies involving water.


I love the Dutch too, they allow you to smoke weed and take magic mushrooms......nice!! clap.gif

You should shoot crows as well, I hate them big bastards, while you have your gun out could you kill some pigeons and seagulls while you are at it? Cheers
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ok, which wing shall we give the break to?

 

Many years back, a pigeon was on my chimney cooing away while I was trying to watch football, it was a Saturday afternoon thing before the the evening barbie.

 

I got really annoyed and got out my air-rifle, diesled it with lubricating oil down the barrel, and shot at the pigeon. I intended to scare it away but unlukily got its wing or something. It flew away anyway, probably to die.

 

My little niece came out, about 3 at the time and asked if I was being naughtie. Didn't know what to say, so I said I was hunting for the barbie. We had chicken in the end.

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Actually, wood pigeon tastes pretty good.....I just hate those scrawny, diseased, one-eyed, stumpy footed pigeons that live in towns.

Kill them, kill them all!!

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Turkey vultures in Chile. The Atacama desert. Iquique. (you surfers may know the town. If you don't- research it.)

 

back on topic-

Birds the size of thin turkeys. they hang out on palm trees and telephone lines. Their poo drops by the bucket load. If you see it on the street, it looks like some drunk dude vomitted last night. Those things were insane.

I can't remember the casteano name. Anyone?

 

Those things combined with what I called; Domesticated Wild Dogs (because they had no owners, lived on the street, and had no predators either) both work together to completely coat the street in shit. There is no Animal control in Northern Chile, or most parts of South America. So dog shit is fricking everywhere.

 

Pooo... pooo... pooo

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Here's one for Perth people. I was driving north on the Kwinana Freeway one night, just south of the narrows bridge when the pelicans that roost on the high overhad lights decided to leave en mass. Birds being birds, they all crapped. I drove through a cascade of liquid pelican shit.

 

My car stank of fish for a week after that lol.gif

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