Friday, March 03, 2006
First Cases of Cats with Bird Flu in Malta
NEWS UPDATE NEWS UPDATE NEWS UPDATE NEWS UPDATE Malta's Minister for the Environment has decided to use the same strategy that last year was successfully implemented to catch out environmentally unfriendly cars spewing exhaust emissions, by urging citizens to (spy on each other) send images via MMS to a toll-free number to report sightings of cats suspected of suffering from Bird Flu. The Maltese may be environmentally unfriendly but they are diehard cat lovers and response so far has been very 
enthusiastic. The Minister has said he is to introduce a new measure (all Maltese freeze in terror that it might include the word ECOTAX); effectively immediately: all Maltese cats and dogs belonging to Labour Party members are to be kept indoors. Together with their owners. Particularly during forthcoming local council elections in which Nationalist candidates have been losing miserably). Furthermore, in a bid to defend Malta's shores from any German infestation, I mean, any HI2V5X infestation, the annual bird hunting season will be opened early this year (effective immediately). The Nationalist government hopes this might not only protect Malta from Bird Flu but also win it some votes among the predominently 
anti-Nationalist hunters confederation which hates their guts almost as much as the EU pussies who want to take their guns away. Also, in getting the hunters to do their dirty work for them, the government might not have to organise any further preparatory measures which isnt half a bad thing since said government cant organise a piss-up in a brewery (see note below). If a Maltese bloke cant feel free to dress up in camouflage fatigues just once a year and take leave of his wife and 16 kids for a few weeks and hide out in a bunker with his fellow monosyllablic grunter mates and whoop and holler and let off a double-barrelled pack of shot at any measly European pussie bird that flies into sight, what kinda man is he, eh? (Note: Remember the alarming ECO TAX Directive 766 of 2005 making plastic bags chargeable which resulted in some enterprising supermarkets issuing free cloth bags. The eco friendly changeover lasted for a while..about 3 months. Then after that brief blip in consumer's eco awareness, all went back to the old ways. Plastic bags are still in wide circulation and freely provided by grocery stores, and cloth bags have disappeared - at great expense to the cloth shopping bag providers. Boy that was an effective directive!)
My "Give Us This Day our Daily Gin" quote: The original point and click interface was a Smith and Wesson
Another victim of the false, usually generalising, Birdielajf anti-Maltese hunters campaign!
I think that in Malta, certain people found very good means (and arguments) how to impress and win the simpathy of most people. This also thanks to a minority of irresponsible hunters (may they rot in hell). I condemn this kind of irresponsible shooting but I am more than sure that the majority do not go out shooting anything that flies.
Bollocks? Read this. I have heard an argument once. A woman, to sustain her hunters-killed-all-birds argument said, "You don't see any woodcock any more"
For Christ's sake, I couldn't help intruding and I asked where and at what time of the day, woodcock can be seen flying. She obviously said, "anytime, no?". WRONG! It's at dusk and at dawn preferibly in a valley. Did she ever go there in mid-November to see it? NO. She was just another one who was fed nothing more than lies.
Meanwhile, the last time I saw a barn owl was while out driving near Rabat (near the old train station, to be precise). I pulled over to get a better look, and at the same time, I saw a number of very excited hunters running down into the valley. (Of course, they weren't excited about the owl, because that is a protected species. They must have seen a woodcock flying right next to it...)
The barn owl used to breed in Malta, by the way. Curiously, however, numbers started dwindling roughly at the same time as the exponential growth of hunting as a hobby in the 50s, 60, and 70s.
But of course, this is just a coincidence, because it is a TOTAL LIE to claim that the barn own was exterminated by hunters.
The peregrine falcon is another bird which used to breed in Malta, and it also disappeared in recent years. Hunting had nothing to do with it, naturally, and whoever says otherwise must be lying.
And on it goes. Hunters are all really good, law-abiding and misrepresented individuals, and environmentalists are evil spin doctors who are incapable of telling the truth.
In fact, one day I think I'll set up an SPCH (Society for the Protection and Care of Hunters.)
Anyone care to join?
It is true that the barn owl and the peregrine have decreased locally and hunting might have contributed to that. But, they are not extinct and you seem not to know (or don't want to mention) that a couple of Peregrines did nest at Ta Cenc a few years ago.
It is also unfair to claim that hunting alone did decrease the numbers of such birds as owls and birds of prey. Pesticides like DDT have claimed the lives of thousands of birds abroad. Also, farming has had its effects on populations of birds who nest on the ground, like Harriers. We see that effect as a decrese in the number of birds of passage.
Last thing, coz this argument would take me forever, is the change in climate due to global warming. As many might know, birds migrate over warm currents in order not to waste a lot of energy. Due to the global warming effect, warm currents have become hot and if birds follow them, they will become dehydrated and fall unconcious into the sea. Thus, new 'tracks' are being used and consequently, migratory birds have diminished in amount.
<< Home
NEWS UPDATE NEWS UPDATE NEWS UPDATE NEWS UPDATE Malta's Minister for the Environment has decided to use the same strategy that last year was successfully implemented to catch out environmentally unfriendly cars spewing exhaust emissions, by urging citizens to (spy on each other) send images via MMS to a toll-free number to report sightings of cats suspected of suffering from Bird Flu. The Maltese may be environmentally unfriendly but they are diehard cat lovers and response so far has been very enthusiastic. The Minister has said he is to introduce a new measure (all Maltese freeze in terror that it might include the word ECOTAX); effectively immediately: all Maltese cats and dogs belonging to Labour Party members are to be kept indoors. Together with their owners. Particularly during forthcoming local council elections in which Nationalist candidates have been losing miserably). Furthermore, in a bid to defend Malta's shores from any German infestation, I mean, any HI2V5X infestation, the annual bird hunting season will be opened early this year (effective immediately). The Nationalist government hopes this might not only protect Malta from Bird Flu but also win it some votes among the predominently anti-Nationalist hunters confederation which hates their guts almost as much as the EU pussies who want to take their guns away. Also, in getting the hunters to do their dirty work for them, the government might not have to organise any further preparatory measures which isnt half a bad thing since said government cant organise a piss-up in a brewery (see note below). If a Maltese bloke cant feel free to dress up in camouflage fatigues just once a year and take leave of his wife and 16 kids for a few weeks and hide out in a bunker with his fellow monosyllablic grunter mates and whoop and holler and let off a double-barrelled pack of shot at any measly European pussie bird that flies into sight, what kinda man is he, eh? (Note: Remember the alarming ECO TAX Directive 766 of 2005 making plastic bags chargeable which resulted in some enterprising supermarkets issuing free cloth bags. The eco friendly changeover lasted for a while..about 3 months. Then after that brief blip in consumer's eco awareness, all went back to the old ways. Plastic bags are still in wide circulation and freely provided by grocery stores, and cloth bags have disappeared - at great expense to the cloth shopping bag providers. Boy that was an effective directive!)
My "Give Us This Day our Daily Gin" quote: The original point and click interface was a Smith and Wesson
[+/-] show/hide this post
