This and That - Part 8

The federal government and most every state engages in a practice they call "wildlife management." Yet the term 'wildlife management' is an oxymoron. If animal life is managed it's not wild. The American Heritage Dictionary defines wildlife as "wild animals and vegetation, especially animals living in a natural, undomesticated state." The emphasis should be on the natural. If people help to provide food sources for animals and control their population by inserting new breeding pairs, among other things, these animals are hardly more wild than cattle on a ranch.

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If there is as much racism in this country as Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson like to claim there is, how did they manage to build their powerful organizations and achieve their present level of celebrity? Do they think they were given some kind of special pass? The truth is that some racism does exist in America and always will, but it is nowhere near the problem that these hustlers make it out to be. While many people, black and white, start at a huge disadvantage relative to some, anyone in this country with the will to do the hard work can better themselves.

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The Associated Press reports that a sea water desalination plant has been built at Brownsville, Texas. They say that removing the salt from sea water is expensive mostly because of the energy required. Current cost estimates run at about $650 per acre foot as opposed to $200 to purify the same amount of fresh water. At more than three times the cost of purifying fresh water it is certainly more expensive. But is it really that expensive?

An acre foot of water is about 326,000 gallons; so the cost of desalinating five gallons of water is about one cent. Considering how critical water is to our survival, that doesn't seem very expensive to me. And if the glowarm alarmists are right we should have plenty of sea water to desalinate.

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The Associated Press reports that the 7-Eleven chain is converting eleven of its stores into Kwik-E-Marts, the fictional convenience store from the Simpsons television series. This is to promote the upcoming Simpsons movie -- and to boost sales at the stores. It has been suggested that this may have a downside for 7-Eleven because the television series depicts the Kwik-E-Mart proprietor as a man named Apu who speaks with a heavy Indian accent. It turns out that one of the converted stores is operated by Kumar Assandas whose parents immigrated from India. Here's what Kumar had to say:

I know it's a stereotype, but it doesn't bother me. Everybody knows it's a joke," Assandas said. "I'm a big Simpsons fan myself, and maybe subconsciously it even inspired me to become a 7-Eleven owner.

Hey legal immigrants! Take a clue from Kumar. We might occasionally have some fun at your expense, but we don't really care if you look different, you talk funny and your name is unpronounceable. What we want is for you to just become an American. What we don't want is for you to try to turn America into the place you couldn't wait to leave.

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