A terrible, criminal attack against an innocent living being

A Dutch television show claimed to have knocked down a chain of more than 4.1 million dominoes Friday in a new world record, but organizers conceded the event was overshadowed by the earlier shooting of an errant sparrow.

The sparrow was killed by an exterminator with an air rifle on Monday after it knocked down 23,000 dominoes. The killing was seen by many as an overreaction, and angered animal rights and bird protection groups.

It later emerged that the house sparrow, though common, is classified as an endangered species in the Netherlands. Its population has halved in the past 20 years to less than 1 million breeding pairs, due to human encroachment on its territory.

Domino Day organizers claimed that 4,155,476 dominoes successfully fell on Friday, bettering their own record of 3.9 million set last year and approved by Guinness World Records.

The show's creator, Robin Paul Weijers, referring to the dead bird, said the record generated "mixed emotion."
"We all feel terrible about what happened," he said.

More than 5,000 people signed a condolence register on an impromptu Web site set up to honor the bird, and Dutch media reported that the guard who shot the bird received death threats.

"I just wish we could channel all this energy that went into one dead sparrow into saving the species," said Hans Peeters, the head of the Dutch Bird Protection agency, who appealed Friday for calm.


Source: AP

 

Latest News!!!

Seven chartered 747's left JFK in New York w/over 500 Lawyers prepared to file lawsuits for any and all who were traumatised by this ghastly event.

Keep your eye on the sparrow, Litigating ed

 

Ed, thanks for this hot breaking news, keep us informed!

 

Well....golly, now I'm gonna feel bad about eating turkey on Thankgiving.

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Not!!!

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Well i for one think it is a disgrace...

All for the sake of some stupid world record.

To think they could not have caught the bird and released it safely?

Idiots....


snowbound

 

Well....golly, now I'm gonna feel bad about eating turkey on Thankgiving. ​

For sure you should, this is all what the poor sparrow left for his family!

 

I have had experience with those domino droppings.


http://www.blognog.com/out.php?id=http://www.tremor.com/news/news_flashgame.aspx&page=Bombs Away

 

So it wasn't even allowed to die with it's boots on.......How sad is that.......I didn't hear anyone complaining when that Sparrow kil't **** Robin......I think Justice has been served here.....

Anyway, whats more important, a Domino or a Sparrow....have you ever seen what a mess a defecating Sparrow can make of a 'Double Six'.......lets face it, did our Heroine Magna Charta die in vain.....


Cochise, Aiming in Amityville...

 

**** Robin.........How about D**k Robin then?......... These precocious little 'bots' are hilarious......

 

How about C**k Robin.....I bet that's fooled 'em......


Cochise, Rude in Roehampton.....

 

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There's sooooo many stars in those last few posts!!
http://img116.exs.cx/img116/1231/z7shysterical.gif​

 

Well, lets play....can you top this!!

In Pittsfield, Ma a few wks ago a small group of turkeys were creating a traffic problem on one of the City streets. The heroic local Police chased one down w/two Cruisers and cornered it in someones garage. The turkey must have been armed and dangerous because one of the threatened Officers drew his 9mm and wounded the bird severely (I forget how many shots were needed). Anyways the bird is blotto and everyone can now sleep safely in their beds again.

 

Bird Funerals and Grave Side Services


Many times when a loved one passes, we are left with a empty feeling and uncertainty of what arrangements to make. How do you say good bye and let go? A grave side service with a dove release presents a chance for reflection and beauty. It can help give closure and a feeling of letting go, a sense that the spirit has lifted and become free. Prices vary depending on the number of birds you want, starting at $125 for a single bird and $175 for our most popular Trinity release.


Our most popular Grave Side release is the Trinity Release. One dove is released, symbolizing your loved one. Then three more are released from our Chapel symbolizing the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost leading your loved one home to heaven. The birds normally fly up and circle around a few times joining together to fly home.

 

The dirty mongrels, shooting a poor defenseless sparrow!
Lets all hope for;
A small earth tremor....
A freak gust of wind....
or a sneezing fit by one of the attendants before completion of the ever so important domino day!

 

All this over a dead bird! Hay I see the news each night where innocent people are getting blown to bits. Sorry but I just can't get that worked up over a dead bird. If you want to get your knickers in a wad, the nightly news should do the trick.

I wish the bird would have taken the dominoes and tried to make a nest with them.

Thanks
Wildman

 

Send the culprit to the woods with Miss Murray

http://www.news-herald.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15598408&BRD=1698&PAG=461&dept_id=21849&rfi=6

 

Why bring "Dog" into this?

You Mr Blekie, on the other hand, have no reason to be afeared. The thread title specifically states...."innocent"....and...."living being" so you're safe!

Darwin was right, Evoluted ed

 

Different strokes for different folks..



Sparrow shot for downing domino record bid

Wednesday, November 16, 2005; Posted: 11:55 a.m. EST (16:55 GMT)

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) -- The Dutch animal protection agency said Tuesday it is investigating the shooting death of a sparrow that knocked over 23,000 dominoes during an attempt to set a world record.

The ill-fated bird flew into an exposition center, threatening to derail a world record Monday, before it was chased into a corner and shot by an exterminator with an air rifle.

The bird was a common house sparrow -- a species placed on the national endangered list last year.

"Under Dutch law, you need a permit to kill this kind of bird, and a permit can only be granted when there's a danger to public health or a crop," agency spokesman Niels Dorland said.

"That was not the case. I might add, is it really necessary to kill a bird that knocked over a few dominoes for a game?"

Dorland said the agency plans to submit the case to national prosecutors. The incident came as the national birdwatchers association was preparing a campaign to draw attention to the rapidly declining number of sparrows in the country.

The Endemol production company, which organized the Domino Day event, defended the killing. The organizers wanted to break their own Guinness World Record of 3,992,397 dominoes set last year by toppling a chain of 4,321,000 blocks.

Around 200,000 dominoes were left to go, and the bird knocked down 23,000 of them.

Endemol spokesman Jeroen van Waardenberg said organizers made a "split-second" decision to shoot down the bird.

"That bird was flying around and knocking over a lot of dominoes. More than 100 people from 12 countries had worked for more than a month setting them up," he said.

He said organizers had believed the building was fully sealed against birds and mice. The company is considering some kind of memorial or mention for the dead bird during the television broadcast Friday, he added.

But Dorland said shooting the sparrow to ensure the success of the program was an overreaction.

"I think they were awfully fast to pull out a rifle," he said. "If a person started knocking over a few dominoes they wouldn't shoot him would they?"

A Dutch website called Geenstijl offered a $1,200 reward for anybody who knocks over the dominoes ahead of time to avenge the bird.

Hans Peeters, director of the Netherlands Bird Protection agency, called the killing "ridiculous."

He said rapid urbanization in the Netherlands was threatening the species.

"There were more than 2 million breeding pairs in the Netherlands 20 years ago," he said. "Now there's a half a million to a million at most. We hope this can be a call to action."
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/11/16/sparrow.domino.ap/

**********************

HOUSE SPARROWS


These authors are all veteran bluebirders who have, on more than one occasion, opened their boxes expecting see find a mother bluebird with her nestlings but instead find a box of mutilated birds -- victims of a House Sparrow. Bluebirds - How to Book, Fred Comstock: "The only good house sparrow is a dead sparrow." Mr. Comstock suggests trapping and shooting.
Enjoying Bluebirds More, by Julie Zickefoose: "Trap the adult sparrow if you can. ...Unprotected by law, house sparrows may be destroyed or relocated miles away."
Bluebirds, How to Attract & Raise Bluebirds, Tina & Curtis Dew: "Both sparrow nests and eggs, or young, should be destroyed in every case that they are found. ... Sometimes the sparrow is so persistent that trapping is the only way to eliminate them."
Bluebird Trails, A Guide to Success, Dorene Scriven: "Eradication is the only solution that works! And constant eradication may be necessary over several years before all sparrow threats are taken care of. It is essential to trap and destroy the male house sparrow, even though it is far easier to catch the female." And "Trapping should continue all year, not just on the bluebird trail."
Bluebirds Forever, Connie Toops: "Simply releasing house sparrows somewhere else may result in their invasion of other bluebird habitat. The quickest way to dispatch house sparrows is to wring their necks."
Bring Back the Bluebird, Andrew Troyer: "They are as undesirable as a mouse in your house. When trapped do not take them miles down the road to be released. This is no different than throwing your garbage over the fence onto your neighbor's property. A very humane way to eliminate them is to put them into a plastic bag and hold it to a car exhaust."


As you can see, the consensus about the house sparrow is that it is a very undesirable, non-native bird that should not be allowed to invade the nesting habitat of our native bluebird.


http://audubon-omaha.org/bbbox/ban/hsbyse.htm

 

Well...that settles it then! Lets just pluck the little bugger and fry him in a little peanut oil. I hear they go quite well w/a garnish of beets and snickerdoodles.

Chomping at the Ritz (agin), Watch out for little bones ...ed

 

I have to agree with you Wildman. How on earth did it ever happen that animals are given more importance, consideration, respect, and sympathy than human beings? I would consider the death of any person more important than the death of any animal, but the way some people act today, that idea doesn't seem to be very popular.

 

A little whine sauces please..beets give me gas.

 

There should be respect for all living things which has obviously been lost in these recent times.


snowbound

 

Amen, my brother !!!

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People with an (loving) attitude like this get my highest respect.
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Japan radish in intensive care after murder attempt
18 November 2005

TOKYO: A giant white radish that won the hearts of a Japanese town by valiantly growing through the urban asphalt was in intensive care at a town hall in western Japan on Thursday after being slashed by an unknown assailant.


The "daikon" radish, shaped like a giant carrot, first made the news months ago when it was noticed poking up through asphalt along a roadside in the town of Aioi, population 33,289.

This week local residents, who had nicknamed the vegetable "Gutsy Radish", were shocked - and in some cases moved to tears - when they found it had been decapitated.

TV talk shows seized on the attempted murder of the popular vegetable and a day later, the top half of the radish was found near the site where it had been growing.

A town official said on Thursday the top of the severed radish had been placed in water to try to keep it alive and possibly get it to flower.

Asked why the radish - more often found on Japanese dinner tables as a garnish, pickle or in "oden" stew - had so many fans, town spokesman Jiro Matsuo said: "People discouraged by tough times were cheered by its tenacity and strong will to live."


http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3482359a4560,00.html


Growers warned not to hurt plants' feelings
18 November 2005

Hawke's Bay grape grower Chris Howell wonders how he's going to handle pruning this season after learning it could be painful for his vines.


The Tauranga-based Society for the Protection of Organism Feelings has written to Mr Howell and other Hawke's Bay growers calling for a ban on field trials, a newspaper reported.

Spokesman Timothy Pickering said an agri-chemical company was carrying out field trials of its products on live crops, fungi and insects in New Zealand.

"We'll be taking action, and organising protests, to bring to the attention of horticulturists that plants, fungi and insects do in fact have feelings, and suggesting measures to increase feelings of peace, love and harmony within the fields and paddocks of New Zealand," he said.

The Hawke's Bay Grape Growers Association discussed the matter at a committee meeting earlier this year, and recently published a letter from the society in its newsletter, Vitis Informus.

In his letter, Mr Pickering said recent research by overseas biologists had found evidence that plants sensed and reacted to the presence of leaf-chomping grubs.

"Their response was to emit an odour similar to lavender, thereby alerting other plants to the presence of a predator," he said.

"This process also served to attract wasps, which were drawn by the odour to the plant where they either devoured the grub or injected it with eggs that later killed it."

He claimed other experiments had shown electrical resistance changes in a plant when a researcher thought about burning leaves on the plant.

The society was committed to protecting the rights of plants and insects so they wouldn't be exposed to any negative feelings - including fear.

But Mr Howell said grapegrowers were bemused and wondered whether the letter was a university prank.

Not that he's ignoring his own vines' very definite feelings.

"They are sensitive wee souls," he said.

"They like being looked after and pampered, which is what we do. They don't like it too cold or too hot."

Mr Howell, the chairman of the Grape Growers Association, said it had not responded to the society, which gave just a box number as its address.

But he and other members had notices that its initials made up the word "spoof".
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3482332a4560,00.html


Special box for gull stone and hair balls ..Oh sorry gall stone

 

i was watching the dominoe world record. how did they count them all so quickly not all the dominoes fell did a little bird tell them? they got the result very quickly.