making light

Usually, The Daily Show doesn't depress me. Sure, it makes me aware of things that anger/upset/etc. me, but the show itself doesn't tend to do so. The Jim Cramer interview ep did, and now this most recent (Wed. the 18th) one did too.

Yes, the concept of "Snakes On A Plane" was hilarious (though the execution was horrendous). But 30,000 pythons loose in Florida? Not funny on SO many levels. Mainly, this is devastating from an ecological perspective. What used to take millenia of gradual migration now takes a few plane rides and a hurricane or two, to introduce a new species. There have been countless stories of nutria and those creepy toothy fish than can walk over land, not to mention kudzu, but this story is somehow amusing?

What's worse is I don't know who to be more upset for. There are the snakes, who were deliberately bred for sales (so not a natural number in any circumstance, let alone this one), and are unexpectedly competing for resources in a narrow market. I honestly feel that they are the ones who should be pitied the most - I can't imagine that the number of escaped snakes is remotely sustainable, so the die-off is going to be horrific. Then there are the "natural resources" (AKA the small wild animals and birds, plus the unattended pets) that this giant number of predators is seeking out; that population never expected or evolved to deal with an influx of so many predators! It breaks my heart to think of all those poor animals who would never have been in danger, now driven into "prey" territory by a scarcity of resources.

There are, of course, the people who these snakes "belonged to", who have lost their buildings (one assumes, since the snakes escaped) plus the animal inventory and who knows what else. And the people who will undoubtedly lose pets to this nightmare. Honestly, though, I feel far more pity for the "pets" than for the people who foolishly allow said critters outside alone and unattended.

As I said, I love snakes. I fell in love with a young boa years ago, and never recovered. So as difficult as the ethics are, someday I would like to own/live with one. If it wasn't already living on a diet of humanely-killed frozen prey, I would do my best to convert it to that diet, for the sake of the prey AND the predator. And it breaks my heart that all these poor young pythons are being forced to fend for themselves (to the detriment of the local population) because of human greed/expectations/money/poor planning.

My new hero(ine)

Barbara Walters! Check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjZmErjFhK4

"And that's coming from her!" Priceless.

And then her FACE. Her opinion of Hasselbeck is so obvious in the few moments of "The View" that I randomly capture when people I give a crap about are on.

Babwa can give lame softball interviews to celebrities for the rest of her life. I will treasure her for this moment forever.