Dogs used as shark bait

I stumbled over a group, on Facebook of course, that claimed people are using live dogs as shark bait. The picture, and the text, was so terrifying I had to do some research. I simply could not believe that this thing was true. And from the comments I read all over the net, I was not alone. Many people simply claimed that all was a hoax.

Well. Let's see what I found:

National Geographic, 19 October 2005:

"Dogs Used as Shark Bait on French Island

Live and dead dogs and cats are being used as shark bait by amateur fishers on the French-controlled island of Réunion, according to animal-welfare organizations and local authorities."

The Sun, 28 Sep 2005:

"Stray dogs are being skewered on hooks and dragged behind boats as live shark bait, The Sun can shockingly reveal. The cruel practice takes place on French-controlled Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean, where Prince William spent two holidays."

ThruthOrFiction.com, 16 Feb 2009:

"In September of 2005, the government of Réunion responded to the outcries by passing into law a bill that would make it illegal for fishing boats to carry any dogs or cats, alive or dead.

Shortly after the law was enacted the article said "the first court case was held involving a person charged with using live dogs as bait. Authorities had found a seven-month-old puppy on John Claude Clain's property in July with three fishing hooks in its paws and snout." This resulted in a 5000 euro fine for Clain."

So the conclusion is; Sadly enough, they really use (or, at least used) live dogs as shark bait.

I was never into racing with animals, until I met John about a year and a half ago. I have found that greyhound racing is cool - and fun!

One of his "pets", Chill Out Cocoa", had a couple of great races. Here is one; look how he enjoy the running!




Listen to what John have to say:

"Video of my racing greyhound, "Chill Out Cocoa," from November 2000 at Belle Vue, Manchester, where he absolutely flew out of trap 1 and led all the way. Born 12th October 1996, he lived with us after he'd finished racing until we had to have him put to sleep on 25th January 2009."

If the embeded clip is slow, please visit the original HERE!

Mafia Wars

The basic idea behind the online game "Mafia Wars" by Zynga is simple; Start your Mafia family, Run 3 kinds of crime business and eventually try to rule all of New York City and eventually the entire island of Cuba.

OK, great, so how do you do this?

Your 2 main goals are pretty simple, grow your family and level up. Recruit as many people into your mafia family as possible to gain strength. You want as many people doing jobs for the family as well as a lot of people for fights. The more people you have the better off you are. Recruiting is pretty simple, first invite your friends and after that there are loads of places on Facebook and other social networks to find new recruits. Remember, to have someone to join in your mafia family you will have to make them your friend on Facebook or Tagged.

You level up by doing various jobs and winning fights. As you increase in level you will have the opportunity to gain more properties, better weapons and other inventory items as well as earn money.

The game itself is really addictive once you start. You will find yourself signing in just to see if you made any money or if anything new has happened. IT can get crazy but all in all it's a lot of fun. To start playing just do a search for Mafia Wars on Facebook. It is also available for yahoo and MySpace and I am pretty sure the iphone now too.

Here are the links, please add me as a friend ;)

Mafia Wars on Facebook
Mafia Wars on Tagged

Modern Pirates

"Armed pirates chased, boarded and hijacked a fishing trawler underway southeast of Mogadishu, Somalia."

"Several persons armed with machine guns, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and machetes attempting to climb onboard with use of rope at Lagos anchorage, Nigeria."

Reading the International Maritime Bureau's Live Piracy Report a catalog of piracy reports from around the world, two names crop up with disturbing frequency: Somalia and Nigeria.

Piracy off the coast of Somalia has more than doubled this year, threatening to make international trade more expensive and offering terrorists a new source of income, says one report.

During the last three weeks those Somali pirates have attacked over 20 ships and hijacked 9 of them.

The level of violence associated with the attacks is rising, with serious harm and even murder of seamen becoming increasingly common.

I find it very strange that the International community can not handle these pirates as the trash they are. Is this what the combined military forces of the western world is worth these days?

Playing around with Lego

While most Christians mark Easter with prayers and song, one Swedish church opened its mass Sunday by unveiling a life-size Lego statue of Jesus Christ.

Churchgoers had donated nearly 30,000 Lego bricks to build the 1.78 metre (5.8 foot) high statue, said Per Wilder, the pastor of the Önsta Gryta Church in Västerås, about 110 kilometres (70 miles) west of Stockholm.

"This work began a year and a half ago so we saw that the initiation date was fitting in well (with this year's Easter holiday)," the local pastor Per Wilder said.

"It is a fantastic installation and it will be there as long as we think it is in a good spot," he said.

"All those I spoke with were full of praise, saying how fantastic the model looks and how much good work we put into this," Wilder said.

The model was based on Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsens's 19th century work Christus, which depicts the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Wilder said the statue would remain permanently at the church and there were no plans to sell it to raise funds.

It took the 40 volunteers about 18 months to put all the tiny plastic blocks together, and their creation shows a standing Jesus facing forward with his arms outstretched.

The Protestant church was filled to capacity with about 400 worshippers on Sunday when the statue went on display behind the altar, and some of the children in the congregation couldn't help but touch the white art work.

Good Friday

Good Friday, also called Holy Friday, Great Friday or Black Friday, is a religious holiday observed primarily by adherents to Christianity commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Golgotha, an event central to Christian theology. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and often coincides with the Jewish observance of Passover.

So what holy and good things do we find from this day in our news. Let's have a look so far:

....

Guessed so. What I find is the normal Crucifictions we se every average day:

- American held hostage by Somali pirates fails in escape bid. Richard Phillips jumped into sea and tried to swim away but was recaptured by the pirates.
- Iraq suicide bombing kills five U.S. soldiers. Five U.S. soldiers were killed Friday in a suicide bombing in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, the U.S. military said.

and:
- Wells Fargo boosts stocks. U.S. bank Wells Fargo (WFC.N) forecast a record profit, South Korea steered clear of recession, and Chinese export data beat expectations, all offering hope that the worst of the financial crisis had passed.

Now.
I am not a very religious guy, but I DO like to hear some good news, that aren't based on economy only, every once in a while. Eastern should be made out of soulsearching.

Happy Eastern to all of You's - Do NOT kill eachother out there. Let's NOT make a Black Friday out of this Good Friday!

Chatterbox, 1905

THE WAY TO WIN.


'I wish I could win one!' a lassie was sighing,
When sitting quite still in a meadow one day,
And thinking of prizes not won without trying--
Not won by mere wishing as time slips away.

And as she sat wishing she heard a hen clucking;
She lifted her eyes and that hen she could see,
And soon it was rapidly scratching and chucking--
As gay and as busy and glad as could be.

She watched how it struggled to upturn a treasure,
A thing it was wishing for, something to eat,
A worm to be dug for with patience and pleasure!
'Twas found, and it gave Henny-Penny a treat!

That worm the hen wished for she could not have eaten
Unless she had scratched it right up from the ground;
And Mabel had seen that the hen was not beaten--
By carefully _working_ the prize had been found.

So Mabel thought quietly over the matter,
And learnt the good lesson, 'No prize can be won
By thinking and wishing, by waiting and chatter!'
And soon she jumped up and to work she begun.

D. H.