“Researchers are experimenting with feeding squirrels birth control.” Sign me up! Due to the mild winter and a bumper crop of nuts the squirrel population is exploding. Researchers could look no further than my backyard for evidence of this. I’ve got a family of squirrels that seems to be multiplying like crazy. But what to do about them? I have joked with my husband that it could be good practice for my archery skills (though I don’t think I am quite good enough to hit one yet and I’m pretty sure animal control and PEETA from on this). So birth control sounds like a more reasonable approach. Still, as one person commented on the NPR transcript… since we can’t even figure out whether birth control is morally ok for humans, should we be giving it to squirrels? A new gallup pole has found, in fact, that social issues like birth control and abortion are top issues during this election for women in swing states. So birth control for rodents might be walking a fine line. On the precedence side I’m pretty sure we do already spray fruit flies to keep them from propagating. Is it that big of a leap to go to squirrels? And then, if not…. There are quite a few countries I have heard of where wild cats and dogs are a huge nuisance. Take, for example, this article in the NY Times: You wouldn’t want to stop this dog from having a little litter of puppies, would you? Apparently India also has a problem with nuisance monkeys. And, you’ll see from this article they are taking procreation out of the monkey’s hands:Metro News:nuisance-monkeys-captured-and-neutered-in-india So, where does this leave us with the squirrels? Perhaps if we gave them a choice they would appreciate the birth control option. After all, the mommy and daddy squirrel in my backyard can’t be too happy that there are now three little extra squirrels competing for our BBQ scraps and my dog’s attention.
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“Why can’t Obama be more like Clinton?”
Seeing as how this was coming from my very conservative father, it piqued my interest. It turns out he was comparing their positions on helping small business. It took me a couple of days to go in and do my own research on this but here is what I found: -Sept. 2010, CNN reported: President Barack Obama signed into law a $42 billion bill to aid small businesses Monday, saying it would create jobs by providing tax credits and helping banks increase loans. -Feb. 2012, CNN Money reported: The government program, one of President Obama's many attempts to pump capital into small firms, disbursed only $4 billion of the $30 billion it was allotted. The original bill, in Feb. 2012 was designed to help small businesses acquire much needed financing . Unfortunately, as one journalist points out there were two problems: small banks were using it to clear their balance sheets instead of lending it out; and small businesses weren’t convinced that demand would support expansion. -Jan. 2012, The Business Review reported: President Barack Obama’s proposal to consolidate government programs for business into one agency could make it easier for small businesses to find the information and resources they need. They also pointed out it could dilute small business’ voice… but in the near-term this is avoided, because Obama elevated the SBA administrator’s post to a Cabinet-level position... Something it hasn’t been since Clinton’s administration. To be fair, there are many very real reasons why small businesses favor Romney in the election. But comparisons of Romney to Clinton seem simplified, like reading a picture book version of Anna Karenina rather than Tolstoy’s original. This seems to me to be exactly what media would like us to do; ignore the difficult details and accept instead a snap-shot as handed to us by whatever partisan group has the money to spend. I have mentioned before that I have a penchant for wearing rose colored, historical glasses. Now I see that I may have inherited this from my father, who with the distance of time (and a lack of negative ads) has finally begun to acknowledge some of the positive things Clinton accomplished. |
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