Quick post before the weekend.

[silveradept]

Have holiday, will travel. Thus, a short burst of newslike bits and then nothing until I return.

Finally calling a spade a spade, Canada has added the United States to a list of countries that torture. The United States joins such pillars of the world community as Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Afghanistan and China. And we'll still probably claim that our "enhanced interrogation" techniques are necessary and life-saving.

Timed nicely to coincide with the end of the Bush Administration, the United States #2 general says Iraqis could take the lead in security operations by the end of the year. Whether this optimism comes from genuine progress or because five combat brigades are still slated to be withdrawn from Iraq and brought home is anybody's guess.

While still not using the word "recession", Mr. Bush has decided that a quick-acting economic stimulus plan composed of $150 billion USD in tax cuts is needed. Tax cuts again, Mr. Bush. And I doubt that, per capita, that's going to amount to a whole lot of money in everyone's pockets.

Chick-dying in time for Easter. Because we love dying eggs, someone got the brilliant idea to dye chicks. It only lasts until they grow in new feathers, though, and then whomever bought the chick has a chick to raise. This is not a cute idea, and it should probably be stopped.

Last for this quickshot post is an actual assault rifle painted in pink and white and decorated with Hello Kitty. Strangely enough, other than how this account will find its way to Hello Kitty Hell, the first response I have is the title of a Bloom County book, "Attack of the Mary Kay Commandos". So, there you have it. Hot lead, cute packaging.

So, now to hit the post button and vanish.

Comments

[annaonthemoon.livejournal.com]

Wow. What a waste of time and money dying those chicks. I don't *think* they are selling them to people to "raise" though, so that's a good thing. But yeah, buying someone a cute little baby chick at easter is a BAD IDEA. Little chicks grow up to become chickens and roosters,and most towns do not allow those types of pets unless you own a farm, not to mention how hard it will become to continue to care for it. Leave them on the farms.

*emailing you some links so you can look at them before you head out*

*edit* Holiday? What holiday?

[2dlife.livejournal.com]

MLK.

[annaonthemoon.livejournal.com]

I know, I was being sarcastic, as it's hardly mentioned anywhere.

[2dlife.livejournal.com]

Re: Chick dying.

I love how they say the dye doesn't contain chemicals. EVERYTHING contains chemicals. Even if we discount common solvents such as water as "not chemicals", there's still something in that dye that is a color and that something is a chemical. This just cracks me up.

I don't think the chicks are for being taken home anyhow, they're just to amuse kids and then they'll be put out to egg-laying or slaughterhouse duties as soon as Easter is over.

(Speaking of slaughterhouses: did you see this week's NYT Dining & Wine section? http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/16/dining/16anim.html?ref=dining&pagewanted=all )

[2dlife.livejournal.com]

Ok, massive typo on my part: dyeing.

[annaonthemoon.livejournal.com]

Are they trying to make the world go vegetarian?

That article just made me ill.

Oh, what about organic dyes? Like using beets to make red, things like that?

[2dlife.livejournal.com]

Those are still chemicals, organic or biological chemicals are still chemicals. And whether it's something synthetic they inject or something extracted from biological matter, it's still a foreign chemical as far as the egg is concerned.

They're not trying to make the world vegetarian, they're trying to make people actually appreciate meat rather than taking it for granted.

[annaonthemoon.livejournal.com]

So they're still modifying the egg, then, right? Why not if they really wanted coloured chicks, just spray some type of organic colouring on them after they're hatched? I mean, I realize they say the dying doesn't do anything to the chickens, but how do they really know?

Bletch. I don't know about that. I'm pretty sure that if you tell the kids those pretty coloured chicks are going to become chicken mcnuggets, they won't want to eat them!

[2dlife.livejournal.com]

To be fair, people do some really messed up things to eggs that you really really don't want to know about. Let's just say that flu vaccine that you got... it's essentially made from eggs that have been inoculated and treated as living petri dishes.

And that's just not anywhere NEAR close to the worst things that are done to eggs.

So injecting a little dye, probably not that harmful.

Also, dying is the gerund for the verb to die. Dyeing (with an e) is the one you're looking for -- and SA is looking for.

[lilacstarprint.livejournal.com]

I first saw this on the network channel Animal Planet's series 'Animal Presinct'. Pet shop owners are dyeing chicks for sale.

Looking around the web, I've only found some fractured news reports that do say most states have laws banning the sale of dyed chicks. (I say fractured because they only have one page still up or very short articles like this.)

I've also found that chicks are dyed by scientists during research on feather growth. But dyed chicks cannot be placed with other chicks. The other chicks will actually kill the dyed 'intruder'.

Another sad example of human interferance for the pursuit of knowledge causing more harm than help.