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Rick Lowe
I posted those photos of the Everglades yesterday as a result of this article in The International Business Times and other newspapers.
Here's a heartbreaking snippet from the article by Amir Khan:
"The Burmese python is wrecking the Florida Everglades ecosystem and have devastated small mammal populations in the area, according to a recent study. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the number raccoon and possums spotted in the Everglades has dropped more than 98 percent, bobcat sightings are down 87 percent, and rabbits and foxes have not been seen at all in years.
"Burmese pythons are not native to the Everglades. They were spotted since the 1980s, but were established as an invasive species in 2000. It is not known how they originated, but some believe that pet owners abandoned snakes once they reach an unmanageable size (Burmese pythons can grow up to 12 feet). Another theory on how Burmese pythons came to the Everglades is that a holding warehouse filled with imported Burmese pythons was destroyed by Hurricane Andrew, releasing the snakes en masse in a single area.
Continue reading "Burmese pythons thought to be wrecking Florida's Everglades" »
Tibor R. Machan
Why does the TSA annoy so many of us? Not having the resources to do a survey, I resort here to what might be called educated speculation. I suspect it is because free men and women consider it invasive for government agents to order them around--pat them down, make them endure electronic surveillance, being ordered around by TSA agents, etc.--unless they give their permission.
Just because someone embarks upon air travel it doesn’t follow that such permission can be inferred, especially if the search is conducted by government agents. If a private carrier states up front that utilizing it will require submitting to various intrusions, there is a difference. People may require of visitors to their homes or business establishments to submit to certain reasonable precautionary measures, say, for hygienic or security purposes. That’s because their home belongs to them and they may impose conditions for accessing it to others even if these others do not quite understand the rationale behind the measures to which they are subjected. They can go elsewhere. But when government imposes such requirements, given the overwhelming force it wields and its monopolistic powers, certain due process provisions must be met. One cannot escape the government since it runs air traffic. Thus, not unless there is solid reason to suspect someone of misconduct or ill will may they be interfered with by the government. Otherwise the policy is arbitrary.
Continue reading "Lessons in Freedom: TSA & a Free Country: Are the Compatible?" »
Tibor R. Machan
The invitation was just too nice to turn down despite my increasing reluctance to do very long trips. (I did some such a while back, like twice to New Zealand and twice to Cape Town.) Back and knee troubles tend to impede such ventures these days. But my hosts in Moscow were very pleasant from the start and expressed very serious interest in what I might have to say (about social “contract” theories and Adam Smith and morality) and treated me like a VIP once I arrived. So despite the brevity of the visit, only five days there, I went and found it mostly rewarding. The visit was sweetened by superb accommodations for the trip itself and the stay.
The first thing that struck me -- and all I can report is that, since five days is not enough time to dig into a place -- is just how vast and busy Moscow is. People crowded every place, with the Metro and the immense avenues filled with them.
Continue reading "Lessons in Freedom: From Russia with Trepidations" »
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