Crocs, Frogs, and Turtles, oh my!

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I was feeling frisky, so I left the Melting Pot and decided to bike to the bus stop and then ride the bus the rest of the way home.  Upon arrival at Faragut Square, I was shocked at the traffic, so I pedaled on, straight up Rhode Island, all the way to my back door.  8.2 miles on my clown bike.  (See above for my route.)  Yeah, boy.  I'm not sure if I'm fearless or just plain crazy.  Either way, when I get back to Knoxville I just may park the car and walk and ride my bike everywhere; there really is no need for me to drive on a daily basis. 

Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.  --Maria Robinson

Intern Day 2 did not dissapoint.  I tied up a few loose ends from the Frog Leg project from yesterday.  After a brief phone call with my boss, DJ, I had four projects in my lap.  Three of which are small and ongoing; the other being Excel spreadsheets of all Reptiles and Amphibians that are imported into the United States (the data is from 2006-present).  There is massive amounts of information.  And the more I drill down into it, the more I never want to buy anything made from any animal again. 

Since this project is focused on Reptiles and Amphibians, my stance is a bit different than products that are derived from mammals.  And here is why: in 2010 the US imported over 1 million specimens for use in commercial industries alone (therefore educational and scientific purposes are not addressed here).  Commercial uses are anything from Alligator skin for your boots to frog legs to eat for dinner and everything in between.  Now, the most astounding part of all this data: the VAST majority of these specimens are captured in the wild, and either killed and shipped to the US, or shipped alive.  Did you hear me?  They are captured from the wild, thus depleting the numbers of frogs who eat the mosquito popluation, or further endangering alligator, or crocdile popluations.  And I'm jumping to some conclusions on this one, I highly dougbt the indigenous population financially benefited from the capture of these animals.  Instead they will see an  increase in the pest population. 

So whom is importing all these alligators, crocodiles, and the like.  Chanel, Jimmy Choo, Prada, a few museums.  Yeah, people, the US is importing wild animals, pulled from their natural habitat, so that we can prance around in overpriced heels.  Overpriced heels which get discarded as the season rolls out, and we move onto the next trend.  I was aware of this; however, I was not aware of the large numbers in which we import for fashion.  And the fact that these animals are not farmed, but instead are captured from the wild, sometimes in areas that should be protected, and sometimes the animals that are captured are close to extinction.  /End Rant.

Second project assigment deals with the the International Maritime Organization and some issues involving the pristine waters and ecosystems surrounding the Artic, both North and South.  I "grew legally" with this project and plan on spending most of the day tomorrow on this one.  Hopefully my updates on this one are positive since this has strong ties to the Whaling Industry.

Thrid project assignment deals with a popular website.  All I want to get across here is that wild animals are not pets.  The exotic pet trade is rampant.  "Caged killings" are rampant.  (Caged killings are animals that are pulled from the wild and placed in a small confined area.  The highest bidder gets to walk up to the cage and kill the animal.  Then they can hang the bust on their wall as a trophy.) 

Just because we, as humans, are at the top of the food change does not allow us to to exercise unwielding and complete control over all life that we deem as being below us.  All life is worth honoring.  All of life works together in a cycle.  Care and compassion should be exercised abundantly.  Human's dominion over the animals is not a complete power to control and do as we so wish.  Dominion means we have a sphere of influence; influence that should be used to make the world a better place, not exploit animal, and in turn, human lives. 

Maybe we can start a new day and head down a road towards a new ending.  A new ending full of compassion, love, and respect.  Not an ending that culminates in suffering and exploitation of not only our animal life, but also our fellow man.