Individual Liberty — Individual Responsibility

For those we lost, We will not forget 09/11/2001

“The task of statesmanship has always been the re-definition of these rights in terms of a changing and growing social order.”
— Franklin D. Roosevelt (Commonwealth Club Address, 1932)

“Roosevelt was wrong! The principles laid down in the Declaration of Independence are the principles of individual liberty. Our unalienable rights, given to us by God are given to us as individuals. Our rights do not come from society or the government, and they cannot be redefined by politicians. The nature of these rights carries with it the implication of individual responsibility, without which we surrender them.”
— Perri Nelson, November 6, 2008

A bheil Gàidhlig agaibh?

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Nature about to be penalized for violating endangered species act

Published Wed, Jan 31 2007 7:33 PM
Technorati Tags: News and Politics

Washington, Oregon, and Idaho have asked the federal government to punish nature for violations of the endangered species act. From the Associated Press, via the Seattle Times:

PORTLAND — The federal government will consider a petition by Washington, Oregon and Idaho to remove or kill troublesome sea lions to protect endangered salmon and steelhead headed upriver through Bonneville Dam to spawning grounds in the Columbia and Snake rivers.

The action applies to fish protected by the federal Endangered Species Act, according to the NOAA Fisheries Service. A decision to remove or kill the sea lions likely is a year or more away.

This isn't really about protecting endangered species though. It's about protecting fishermen's harvests. It's about preserving tasty fish for the dinner table.

If it was really about protecting the salmon, it would be illegal to catch and eat them, period. Instead we're going to forcibly remove sea lions from an area they've decided they want to be in and relocate them elsewhere, or kill them.

I bet the sea lions weren't represented or consulted when ESA protection was given to the salmon. They probably think the salmon are tasty and have no idea that they're "endangered". Still, ignorance of the law is no excuse...

I'm just surprised to find that ESA violations can potentially carry the death penalty.

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